Agents Explained
You need an agent if you want to get work as an actor. That’s the simple truth. A good agent represents you, finds you auditions and is always suggesting you for the right roles for you to casting directors. One thing you must remember with agencies is that they get money from your work – a certain percentage (around 10%) is taken from your earnings when you get a job – so it should be in their interest to find you auditions.
Do you have to pay for an agent? No. They make money only when you book a job. But you must remember it is a risk for them to represent you – they have to see potential in you before they sign you up. From a casting director’s point of view, you are worth hiring if you are represented by talent agency because they believe you can actually get work and will trust their instinct.
Of course, you don’t have to get an agent when you are just starting out and the reality is you won’t have one for a long while. Your agent should have experience in the industry and be in touch with the film, TV and theatre world, finding out what’s new and where there could be a place for you to be involved. It’ll just be very tricky for yourself find out where and when any auditions are when you have little experience. Someone setting up your castings and auditions, managing money talk and booking your availability for you is a lot easier than you having to find out about auditions yourself (either by online casting subscription sites or newsletters like the PCR).
This fantastic page ‘When You Don’t Need an Agent’ talks about what you can be doing when you don’t have an agent – some fantastic tips. Although the article is for singers it applies to actors breaking into the business too.
How To Get An Agent
Getting an agent is a long and tricky process. No agent will be interested in representing you unless you are extremely talented or have some experience behind you.
In the online world we live in it is easier to find agencies that are local and suitable for you. When applying to agencies be sure to research properly. The best agencies are based in London and I would highly recommend investing in the Spotlight Book of Contacts, a book of listings of all agents in the UK as well as casting directors and other industry professionals, simply to familiarize yourself with names you might be meeting in the future. It comes out each year and it’s a must have!
The old school way of getting an agent is by submitting your CV and headshot to your desired agency, but I will say now blind submissions have very little chance of being successful. Why? Although every submission will be looked at, if you are not what they are looking for at that time, your letter will be binned. Agencies receive hundreds of submissions a week and I wouldn’t expect to hear from an agent after a blind submission if you haven’t the experience where someone else will.
Getting an agent is also about networking. Who knows you? Who will refer you to join their agent? Who will come see your showcase? I do not advise you to submit your CV and headshot to a list of agents and then sit back twiddling your thumbs until you hear back – because you won’t hear back. It is not an excuse to wait around! There are more productive ways to get networking.
As the Secret Agent Man writer from BackStage.com states:
“If you’re an actor looking for representation, there are a lot of ways to go about it. The best one is to find somebody who can give you a referral. Another is to get out there, do some stage work, and hope you attract an agent’s attention. But you can also go old-school and send out a ton of submissions, hoping that one lands on the right desk.” Source
I would definitely give the article linked above a read as ‘Secret Agent Man’ professional LA based agent and he gives some wonderful advice to those submitting CVs and headshots.
Tips From An Actor
I’m now going to hand you over to Charlotte Hope, a young actor who has just been signed with one of London’s top agencies. She was kind enough to write about her experience and has even written some tips to give you advice about applying to agents.
“I don’t pretend to be any expert but I spent a lot of time researching agencies when I was looking for representation. When I did it, I made a list of a lot of young actors and actresses that I admired and that were doing well and then used spotlight to find out who they were represented by (IMDB Pro could be used for the same purpose, if you don’t have it already, it’s definitely worth getting as it has all the details of productions and shows you exactly who each actor is represented by). This is the list of agencies that I wrote to inviting them to come and watch a production I was in:
United Agents – represents Kate Winslet and Charlie Cox, to newcomer Lucy Boynton
Curtis Brown – represents Robert Pattinson to Kaya Scodelario
Ken McReddie – represents Lisa Backwell (Skins) and Emily Blunt
Troika – represents Juno Temple and Rachel Hurd-Wood
Hamilton Hoddell – represents Georgie Henley and Lucy Griffiths
BWH – represents a lot of young talent from Harry Potter
Conway Van Gelder Grant – represents Jim Broadbent and Benedict Cumberbatch
Aswell as: Julian Belfrage Associates, Dalzell and Beresford, Independent, Markham and Froggatt, Waring and Mckenna, Cole Kitchenn, Lou Coulson, ARG, Tavistock Wood, Julian Belfrage Associates and CAM.
These are my tips for finding an agent:
1. When you write to agents, include a CV with all the plays you’ve done, and any training, a headshot, and a cover letter telling the agent a bit about you. At this stage, you should invite them to an upcoming performance that you’re in.
2. If they’re interested in you, they’ll get in contact and either invite you to come for an interview, or ask to come and see your show.
a. N.B. In the case of Curtis Brown, they don’t interview before coming to see you perform, so don’t bother writing unless you can invite them to a performance.
3. Give plenty of notice about your show; I would advise writing at least 3 weeks in advance, but preferably more. You don’t want to miss out on an agent who is interested in you, just because you didn’t write early enough.
4. Make sure that you invite them to a performance that you’re proud of that show you at your best. When I first wrote to agents, I was in a show that I didn’t feel did me justice and so was reluctant when they expressed interest in coming to see me perform, which is one of my biggest regrets. It’s tough because your performance can change a lot (or, in my case, not turn out as you originally hoped) between the time you write to agents and when the performance actually is. But try and judge the best you can and make sure the agent is seeing you at your best, otherwise it’s a waste of their time and a potentially lost opportunity for you.
5. Get some professional headshots done. They don’t have to be expensive but they show you off at your best. Whilst I was waiting for an interview one of the agents was going through all the submissions sent in that day. I was shocked by how many applications there were and how professional they all looked. This is such a competitive industry and you have to give yourself the best shot possible.
6. If you get asked to come for an interview, remember that it is as much a chance for you to find out about the agency as it is for them to find out about you. The first interview I did, at the end, the agent asked me if I had any questions and I was so nervous that I went completely blank and couldn’t think of anything to ask. I was so cross with myself afterwards as I was so lucky to have met someone so important in the industry and had the chance to pick their brains, and I didn’t take advantage of it.
7. Check out this extract on Agents, from a great book called An Actor’s Guide to Getting Work for more info.”
What Charlotte has spoken about is spot on and I do hope you find what she has spoken about useful. When writing to an agent do write to them when you are performing something so that they might see you – lots of agencies don’t accept show reels and prefer to see you perform in person. Secret Agent Man from Backstage discuss the best way to invite an agent to see you perform in his article ‘Ye Olde Mail Bag’;
“Would I attend an evening of Shakespearean monologues? My answer is no. I love classical theater as much as the next guy, but I would never in a million years go see this car wreck. Here are three reasons why … ” Source
One More Thing
When you do successfully sign with an agent you cannot however sit back and wait!
“A lot of actors think that once they find representation, they can just sit back and wait for the auditions to start pouring in. Nothing could be further from the truth. Signing with an agent is a major step forward that signals a new phase in your career, but it doesn’t mean you get to stop being an active participant. If anything, this is the time to double your efforts.” Source
In the beginning you will just be a name on a list to your agent, which is why you should build a professional relationship with you agent as this article quite wonderfully points out.
Well I do hope this page has been of use to you and if it has why not let us know? Have you gotten anything to add or any agent experiences to share?
Further Links
Casting Director Taylor’s tips
List of British Theatre agents