Getting an agent is virtually the most important aspect of a beginning actor’s journey towards a career as a successful artist. First and foremost, if your desire is to branch out into film and commercial television, your best bet is to relocate yourself to Los Angeles where the heart of the industry exists. From there, you have taken the first step in obtaining an agent.
Before getting an agent, an actor must understand what their agent does for them and how their relationship works. To avoid scams, the aspiring actor shoud know that an agent never asks for any fees up front and does not require classes or photographer’s to their client. An agent can suggest – but never force – outside services to the actor. The sole purpose of an agent/actor relationship is for the agent to get work for the actor so that the actor can book work which results in the agent taking anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the income.
In Los Angeles, there are two major types of television agents: a commercial and theatrical agent. Most actors begin with finding a commercial agent because these agents are looking for fresh faces and can assist you in joining one of the two major unions – SAG & AFTRA. Once you have done this, you can begin building a demo reel with your work and thus send them out to theatrical agents who will be more willing to consider you for representation. The job of a theatrical agent is to book an actor for movies and other film related aspects of the industry.
Many actors are under the assumption that a mediocre agent is better than no agent – but that is hardly the case. If you have an agent that does not have a very good relationship with casting directors (CDs), you are risking the chance of being blacklisted by certain CDs and ruining opportunities for future projects.
Finding a decent agent may seem difficult, but there are a few websites and books that can assist the actor in this task. Backstage (formerly known as Ross Report) has a list of all the agents in LA and New York and whom they represent. Websites such as LACasting and ActorsAccess are services that provide the actor with information to all of the agents in Los Angeles. These websites are also the two most crucial and legitimate sites to have accounts on because agents solely use those services to electronically submit you for work. Any outside sources that require money for breakdowns (or casting calls) are a scam.
Once you have found a group of agencies that you would like to submit to (probably commercial agents), put together your headshot and resume in a sleek envelope along with a cover letter (on heavy resume paper) addressed to the exact agent in the department you’re looking for. Do not put “ATTN: Commercial Agent” but instead “ATTN: John Smith”. This will be far more personal and will allow you to be taken seriously by the agent if you take the time to address him/her.
Upon submitting your headshot and resume, wait approximately two weeks with a follow up phone call. Introduce yourself, be brief, state your objective, and conclude the phone call. You will either be asked to set up an appointment, be rejected, or told to submit again in the future.
I will be writing other tutorials on how to take proper headshots and assemble decent resumes as well as other industry related tutorials, so feel free to follow those as well.
