3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Agent - Session With Talent from the MMM Agency in Cape Town

Really quickly, just about me. So I've been really very lucky. I've been a full-time actor and a commercial model for a little over 35 years, and I do everything I can get my hands on, whether it's TV shows, feature films, independent films. I've done student films, training films, voiceover work, narrations, commercial modeling. Um, uh, pretty much anything that I— that's, you know, connected in the industry, I try to do. And I find that they all interconnect, whether it's TV commercials or feature films. There are some similarities and there are also some differences. So here's what I wanted to talk with you about today. And at the very, very, very end of this, uh, I am going to, um, share some information. I had spoken with Martez and I'm really excited about doing this. On Saturday, I'm going to be offering you guys a 1-hour workshop. It's 11 ways to prepare. Basically, it's 11 things you need to do, actors and models need to do, to give yourself your best chance to book a TV commercial. And it's a really, really good workshop. I've got tons of slides. We'll do exercises and things like that. So I'm going to hold off to the very, very end, and then both Martez and I can, can tell you a little bit more about it, and you can sign up through her. But here's what I wanted to talk about today. 3 things of how to get the most out of your agent. So, and it's like, it's a little bit weird to tell you, and I have Martez there because she is your agent, and I know, and I'm going to be saying things, uh, but—

I'm on the chopping block.

No, not the chopping block, but no, but I, I am glad you're here, but it does feel a little bit, a little bit strange having you here. But, um, here's what I want to start off with, and this might surprise you, and I'll go on to explain it. An agent can't get you work, and I know that sounds weird because everybody thinks— and when I first started, you know, I thought, well, of course, you know, my agent's going to get me jobs. An agent can't get you any work. What an agent can do— and let me describe a little bit about what agents do. And, Martez, once again, if there's anything either that I'm missing or if there are things that are done differently in Cape Town, please— Always just jump in. Um, an agent can submit you for a job, for an audition. Um, they can negotiate for you. They can give you all the details about the job. They can give you all the information if you book it. They can help make sure that you actually get paid for the job, but they can't get you the job. That's up to you. That's up to the actor and the model. And so what, what you all need to do— and I say you, I'm in the same boat because I'm doing exactly what you guys are doing. I just happen to have done this for, you know, most likely a much longer time than you guys. But what is essential is— and I know sometimes people don't like hearing this, but the fact is, we actors and models— we are running a business. We're business people and we're salespeople. We are selling ourselves. And what is crucial for any sales kinds of business is to have great products. If you don't have great products, people aren't going to buy it. And so what I'm talking about as far as products go is You've got to have— and I never like to say a great headshot or a pretty headshot— or it has to be an effective headshot. It has to be a photo that sells you well, and this isn't the time or place to get into a whole talk about how to create an effective headshot. I actually do those kinds of workshops and work with people privately, but you You have to have an effective headshot, and if you're trying to get commercial modeling work, then you absolutely wanna have eye-catching commercial photos. These are some of the materials that your agent needs. You also need a resume, and I know that sometimes models will say, well, I don't need a resume, I'm only interested in modeling. Personally, I would tell you, you should still have a resume, an acting resume, even if you're not planning on acting, simply because there are lots of times models get hired for TV commercials, or they can be. Matter of fact, some of the most famous actors in this world started off as models and then they branched off into the, the acting world. And so you want to have a resume that's in the right format as well. So the thing is You want to work in conjunction with your agent, and one of the things you need to do is have the right materials. The other things that you need to do with your agent is to be professional. And what I mean by professional is if— let me just give you a perfect example. So I got an email last night from one of my agents, and I work in lots of different markets in the United States. And so there's one agent, uh, who I work with in a state called North Carolina. And so he sent me an email saying, hey, I've got an audition for you for a feature film. So what I like to do is I email the agent back right away, or sometimes text, depending on the situation. You know, it's all dependent on how your agent wants you to contact them. Them and be in contact with them, and that, that's something else we'll talk about. So I sent an email back saying, hey, thank you very much for the audition. I got it. I'm going to work on it tomorrow, and I will submit it by the end of, uh, the end of the day. That's it. And my— the whole purpose of doing that was because I put myself in my— in the shoes of the agent, and that agent probably sent out 15 different auditions to different people for different roles. I want the agent to know, I got it, you can relax, it's going to be taken care of. That's one less thing the agent has to think about. And I know that if I were an agent, I would love to have my talent do that for me, just so I'm not thinking, well, did they get it? Did it go into their spam filter or their, um, you know, or some other place? Did it not arrive? Are they gonna take care of it? It's something that I appreciate, and, and it makes you look like a more professional type of person, someone that your agent can rely on, someone your agent can trust, and it's in your best interest to do that. So I always like to try to make the life of my agent easier. Now, the other thing too is If I ever have a question about— matter of fact, this happened very recently as well. Had an audition and there was no information about slating. So slating is how you introduce yourself. You don't always have to slate at an audition. A lot of times you do, most of the time you do, but not every single time. depending on how things are set up online. And once again, I don't wanna do a workshop here about slating, but slating is really important. And slating can make the difference between casting directors and directors being interested in watching your audition or having them look at your slate and go, nah, not interested, because it's just not done in the proper way, in the right format, in an interesting way, Or you don't follow directions. And sometimes with the slating, it can be very complicated. You know, they will tell you sometimes very specifically how you label, uh, the files that you're sending in, what to say. Do they want a full body shot? Do they want a close-up shot and then pull back to a full body shot? It can run a whole lot of different ways. So the point that I was getting at, I had this audition, there was no information about slating. So I very quickly contacted the agent. Agent gave me all the information. So once again, you want to work with your agent and make sure that they know you're professional and that you are doing things that make their life easier. So, you know, another question that comes up with getting the most out of your agent: what do you do if work is slow? For you. You know, you haven't heard anything from your agent in 2 weeks, in a month, in 3 months, in 6 months. No word from your agent. Well, let me start off by telling you what not to do, because— and I've heard of people doing this— actors and models, uh, they get really angry with their agent. And they start thinking, like, I've been with this agent for 3 months, I haven't heard a single word, no auditions, no go-sees, um, you know, what's going on? And they contact the agent and they're angry, which is never a good way to start off a conversation with— well, not only an agent, but just people in general. You want to take a couple deep breaths and make sure that you really know what you're saying and how you're going to present it. And they'll say, hey, look, I haven't gotten anything from you, and, you know, it's been 3 months now. What's going on? Well, here's another way of going about doing that, because you don't want to give the impression that you think the agent is doing a bad job, isn't thinking of you. There could be a whole lot of reasons why you're not hearing from the agent. So here's what— and I've done this with, with a number of agents, because like I said, I work in many, many, many different markets, and I have different agents for different markets. So I might contact an agent who I haven't heard from for quite some time, and instead of essentially accusing them of not doing their job, here's what I'll do. I'll just say, hey, I just wanted to check in with you. Haven't heard from you in, you know, in 3 months. I wanted to ask, Is there anything I can do to try to get more auditions happening? Not, not that I'm accusing you of anything. I'm asking you, the agent, for advice. What can I do to get more activity happening? And here— and this is really interesting, and I've gotten a number of different responses from agents when I've done that. Sometimes they've forgotten about me. For whatever reason. Maybe there are a number of agents who work for that agency, and maybe there are some new people who just came in. They have no idea who I am. They didn't realize that I've been with the agency, you know, for 15 years. And that's not their fault. I mean, that's, that's my fault for me not staying in touch with the agent well enough for them to know who I am. So that could be one issue. The other thing is sometimes the agents have said, You know what, let's take a look at your headshot. Let's take a look at your resume. Let's take a look at some of your commercial shots. Make sure that they are doing what they should do for this particular market. And sometimes they said, you know what, I just don't think your headshot's going to sell here. You know, I think we should— let's make some changes. And I've made some changes and then things start to happen. Or here are some of the other things that I've gotten. Hey, Aaron, I just got to tell you, I've been submitting you, and I can even show you the list. I have submitted you, you know, 20 times for different projects. For whatever reason, the commercial photographer, you know, the casting director, uh, they just didn't think that you were right for the roles that I submitted you for. In which case, you know, all I can say is, well, thanks, you know, I appreciate you submitting me. Because once again, Agent can't get me, uh, can't get me the job. The agent can submit me, but then it's out of the agent's hands. And so I thought that was really interesting, and I appreciated everything the agent was doing, but for whatever reason, it wasn't working. The other thing that could happen too is, and I've heard this, the agent just said, and I, I feel bad, but I just haven't had Any auditions for you that are, that are right for you. You know, either, uh, they've been for younger, they've been for older, they've been for different types, and I just haven't seen anything that was perfect for you. In which case, once again, that's all I can ask of my agent. So if things aren't going the way that you want and you're not getting the activity that you want, that's the suggestion that I would make. And, and actually, Marta, maybe you could jump in because I don't know what the policy is, you know, at the agency. Is it okay? Because everybody does things differently. I know some agents who will say to their talent, don't ever call me unless it's an emergency. Sometimes they'll say, just shoot me an email, um, you know, that's the best way, or text me. How, how, how do you want your talent to get in touch with you?

Well, we've actually got quite an open-door policy at the agency in terms of, you know, if you need to WhatsApp, if you need to call. A few of you have done that with me in the past, and, you know, for us the most important thing is that you're happy and that you are getting heard and that we can see what we can do to make things, you know, work well for you. So absolutely, you know, popping an email is always a good thing to info@triplemmaagency.co.za because that way all the bookers actually get to see your query If it's something a little bit more personal and you want to direct it to me personally, then you can send it to martez@triplemagency.co.za. Yeah, so, and I must say, Aaron, it's very refreshing hearing you say the things that, you know, I've said in past workshops to other people. It's just always nice to hear it from someone else. And I appreciate the fact that you actually see you know, what agents, what bookers actually go through, 'cause many times people don't understand that and they think, oh my gosh, you know, there's like, what's happening? Why am I not working? Why is— so, yeah, thank you for that.

Sure, sure. So we've got a really great question in. The person wanted to know, firstly they said, this stuff is helpful to know. It would be really helpful to know why we didn't get a job. Because we never get feedback. We never know if we simply blew it at the casting or what happened. That's a great question. So let me just tell you, and I have a very different philosophy about auditioning than most actors and models, and I'm not saying it's the only way to do it. It's right for me, and I'm going to give you a long-winded answer to this, but I will, I will wind up giving you the answer. Some actors and models will go into an audition, let's just say it's for a film, and they're thinking, well, they go in a very positive way. Well, of course I'm going to book this film. As a matter of fact, they like to visualize, uh, getting the Academy Award. They're walking down the red carpet, they see them, they hear their names being mentioned, they're running up, uh, you know, on the stage, and they have their notes as to who they're going to thank. This is their, the positive way of thinking before an audition, and for some people that's very helpful. I tried, I tried that concept once or twice, it just doesn't work for me. So here's what I do, and then I will kind of finish it up by answering your question. I go into every audition really knowing I'm not going to get the job. I'm just not going to get it. And, and I'm not a negative guy. I mean, I don't run around saying I'm horrible, nobody likes me, I have no talent, you know, the sky is falling, you know, I'm never going to work. I, I don't do that. Look, I realize— look, I booked over 1,275 jobs, so look, I, I realize I do some things okay. And look, I'm not I'm not the greatest actor in the world. There are some things that I'm, you know, I'm okay at, and that's what I focus on, and I know my limitations and things like that, but the fact is there are so many reasons why you book a job and don't book a job that that's why I think I'm not getting it. I just know I'm not going to get the job, so instead of going into an audition thinking, I know I'm going to get it, or I'm feeling pressure like I've got to get it. Oh, I, you know, they're famous people on this project, you know, I've got to get this thing. I find that that puts so much more pressure on you and it makes you more nervous. And, and I can tell you that the casting directors, when they are watching actors audition, they're— and I don't mean this in a negative way, but they are like sharks. They can smell blood and desperation a mile away. And that's not who they want to work with. They don't want to work with people who look desperate and needy. They want to work with people who just walk in there and, you know, basically they're kind of saying, yeah, hey, if I get the job, great. If I don't get the job, great. You know, I'll get something else, no big deal. And so what I do for every audition is my number one goal for every audition or every go-see, it's not booking the job because I know I'm not going to get it. There's just too many factors. I'm too tall, I'm too short, I'm too thin, I'm not thin enough, my body's not in good enough shape, it's in too good a shape, I look too much like somebody else, they're never gonna hire me. So I go in and my number one goal for every audition that I have is have a good time. That's my number one goal for every audition. And I think, hey, it's a Tuesday afternoon, I get a chance to act. This is fun. This is fun for me. This has nothing to do with getting the job because I'm not going to get it. And, and here, here's— I always like to bring in real life situations. So there was a TV show a number of years ago. You probably never saw it, never heard of it, but it was, it was the very first show on Netflix.

Oh, really?

Matter of fact, it revolutionized the whole television industry and film industry as well. It was called House of Cards, and it was a really interesting show. Last couple seasons, eh, wasn't so great, but like the first 4 seasons, phenomenal. I auditioned for that show 15 times over 2 years, over a 2-year span. 15 times. Sometimes I had callbacks, sometimes didn't get any callbacks, sometimes I was put on hold for the dates where they were considering a couple of people for that, but for whatever reason, I was never the perfect person for that role until the 15th audition. Then, as it turns out, the one that I did book was a recurring role. But I also just auditioned for a really interesting HBO miniseries. Well, it was about 14 times and never booked it. Actually, it was the same casting director for House of Cards. Never booked it. Um, you just don't know. You have no control. Now, so when you ask, did you just blow it at the audition? Yeah, that's possible. Maybe, maybe you gave a really, you know, poor read. Maybe you were distracted. Maybe you didn't make interesting choices. Maybe some of your auditioning techniques just were not good that day. Maybe you need more work, you know, practicing and learning more about auditioning. All those things are possible, and the other thing that's possible, you might have given the best audition out of anybody there, but once again, for whatever reason, you weren't the perfect choice. And, and Look, I know this happened. I wasn't there, but I think this really illustrates things pretty well. There was somebody I know who was sitting in on a casting, and it was for a film, and a woman— they were having callbacks, so everybody initially auditioned, and they were calling back just a handful of people. Woman came in to read for the role, for the specific role. Everybody loved her. She was really good. So she finishes, she walks out, and everybody turns to the director because on a, on a feature film, the director is king or queen depending on who's directing. And they all said, boy, she was phenomenal, wasn't she? And the director said, yeah, yeah, she was, she was great. And they said, so you're going to offer the contract, right? And he said, no, can't do that. They said, well, I thought you really, really liked her. Yeah, no, she was really good. Why wouldn't you give her a contract? You know, she wore the same perfume as my ex-wife. Oh, just too many bad memories, can't deal with it. It can be that crazy. So, you know, as far as answering your question, no, you will not get feedback, and personally, I would never ask a casting director for feedback. Because once again, that's not their job. They, they— if everybody was asking for feedback, they would spend all their time just critiquing people. They just don't have the time for that. What I can tell you is I've had some agents tell me that the only time they're going to get a phone call or an email from a casting director From one of their talent is if they were absolutely horrendous or they did something inappropriate during the audition, then they'll call the agent and say something. Otherwise, they're not going to do it. Now, I also have heard if an agent— and maybe Martez, maybe you could jump in with this as well— if an agent has a really close relationship with the casting director, Mm-hmm. And let's say the agent sends somebody new, somebody they just signed. They don't know that much about the talent yet. Maybe they would contact the casting director and say, hey, could you just give me a little feedback? First time I sent this person out, and any thoughts at all? Maybe, you know, that could happen. And Marta, I don't know if you've ever experienced anything like that.

On, on the odd occasion, yes. But again, it's that same rule of there are so many agents in Cape Town, and I think people often forget that. It's like my agent is in contact with the casting director and that's where it ends. No, we are about 60 agencies in Cape Town with a lot of talent on our books, and you can imagine if every single agent starts reaching out. So it really is in situations either where we really, really— obviously we believe in everybody, but we really believe in this person and they are just not getting anywhere. And then we would say, you know, they've been to so many auditions, they've had so many callbacks, is there something, you know, any feedback that you can provide? And then, you know, sometimes they'll say, sorry, well, it's just one of those things, they just, you know, haven't been ready for it. Or they might say, you know, they kind of always do the same intro, it can be quite boring. So your intros are really important, and that is something that I know Aaron would touch on in some other workshops further down as well. But it's very important that you, that you stay rooted in self and that you are, you know, that you present yourself well and that it doesn't become this, you know, stuck in the mud, just literally saying the same thing and monotone voice, etc. Because that is your moment for, for actually— thank you— that is your moment for, for really grasping their attention.

Yeah. And, you know, and something else just to keep in mind, If you get called in by the same casting director a second time, whether it's for the same project or a different project, what that means is they really liked what you did. And it's funny because sometimes actors have said to me, you know, this casting director has asked me to read, you know, 4 or 5 times already. Why am I wasting my time? Apparently they don't want me because they never book me. And it's actually just the opposite. If they didn't like what you did, they would never call you in. Whoops, here, let me just mute some folks here. They would never call you in a second time, um, because they don't want to waste their time. So if you get called in again, that means you did something that really grabbed their attention in a positive way. And so just to kind of follow up with this other message, you know, I don't view them as being prima donnas. It's not their job, you know, it's not the casting director's job to critique you, you know, they get hired to cast, so they have people come in, they read, they find the people who they think are the— well, depending on their relationship with the director, sometimes they'll just send everybody's audition to the director, and then they might Number, this is my first, second, third, fourth choice, or sometimes they might, you know, limit how many people they are actually sending back to the director. But, you know, it's not that they're not nice people because they don't offer you feedback. Look, if you're interested in feedback from a casting director, see if they offer a class, you know, and, and that way, if it's set up in a way where you can actually read for the casting director, they give you feedback. that would be a great situation if that's something that's done, and I don't know if that's done, you know, in Cape Town, but yeah, I don't ever expect a casting director to give you any feedback, and here's the crazy thing. Okay, yeah, we'll agree to disagree on that one. Here's the crazy thing, if I walk out of a casting and I have the casting director say to me, and I have no scientific proof with this, just from, just from my experience, and the casting director says, you know, all these really wonderful things, oh, you were fantastic, you know, you were the only one who really understood this character, I, I just love what you did, hey, are you available on this date, this date, this date, and this date? If I start hearing that kind of stuff, I generally kiss the job goodbye because I know I'm not getting it. Normally I finished the audition, They go, cut, thank you. And I walk out and I go, all right, that one felt good to me. And I just find that the less they say to me in a positive way, the better the chances I have of booking the job. And I don't know, maybe they think, oh, this, this poor guy, he just drove 5 hours to get this audition, he's not getting this job, so I'm just going to say something nice to him. I have no idea what that stuff is all about. But anyhow, yeah, don't take Don't take anything away from the audition. What I say, what I'd like to do, once again, I walk out, I'll analyze what I did, you know, do I feel— did I feel like I did what I wanted to do? If I was given direction, did I follow it okay? Um, and then I just try to let it go. And look, to be perfectly honest with you, I know a lot of times people say you do the audition, just drop it, move on to the next one. I That, that's my goal. That's what I try to do. But I can tell you, if it's a job that I really want, if it's something that it looks really cool, yeah, I do think about it. And I do check my emails and think, oh, maybe I'm going to get an email or a text or a phone call today or something like that. But that— those are pretty rare, and I really, really try to just let it go. And, you know, the other thing too is— and once again, I know this isn't an audition, uh, talk, but Give yourself a lot of credit just for doing the audition. Even if you walked out of the audition and you thought, ah, I blew it, I was horrible, I missed some words, I thought I had everything memorized and I got stuck, and whatever it is, don't beat yourself up. Look, it's hard. Auditioning is hard. Auditioning is, is a whole separate animal than doing the job itself. You know, you're not going to get 15 takes to get something shot during an audition. So as long as you hung in there and you didn't burst into tears and you didn't have a tantrum and you didn't, you know, knock the, the camera down because you were so angry and upset and you walked out of there, then be proud of yourself. You got through it. And yeah, maybe it wasn't a great day, and that's okay. Look, everybody sometimes doesn't have a great day at work, even if you are a heart surgeon. Sometimes it's not a great day. Hopefully a bad day for a heart— cardiac surgeon is still a really good day, but look, it happens to everybody. And just kind of getting back to the agent stuff, here's something that I always do, and that's why I was just saying, Martez, it's a little bit weird having you here when I say this, but I always send a little note to my agent just saying, hey, thank you so much for the opportunity to audition for this. That's it. I don't call because I don't want to take the agent away from doing his or her job. I just send a really short little note. That's it, just saying thanks. And I know it— once again, I'm running my business and that's how I'd like to run it and just be thankful and be appreciative because I was one of many, many, many, many people who were probably submitted. you know, for the audition, and then a much smaller group of people actually get the opportunity to audition. So anyhow, that's something I like to do. Now, some people will take it— um, oh, okay, I'm gonna get to— there's a really good question that came in, um, and I'll get to that in a second. Uh, there is a question about, is it okay to give a gift to your— let's say you booked a job And you're just really very happy, you're thankful to the agent. Should you, or is it okay to send a gift to the agent? So I, I can just tell you, look, every agent is different. You know, some agents will say, no, don't, don't send me a gift. Some agents will say, yeah, look, it's fine. Look, I'm not viewing it as a bribe here. I'm just viewing it as somebody who's appreciative. If you do decide to send a gift, just make sure you know what the agent likes. You know, don't, don't send them cigars if they don't smoke cigars, you know, or alcohol if they don't drink alcohol. So I would at least, you know, make it something personal. And certainly you're not spending a lot of money on this. But Martez, I, I'd like to hear your thoughts about— Do people send you gifts?

Pop in there. I don't expect gifts, firstly. Secondly, giving me a gift is not going to get you anywhere faster because I can't give you the job. But we do have on occasion somebody who'll pop past and bring, you know, chocolates or flowers just to say thanks. And, you know, of course it's appreciated, especially for the bookers who work really hard, but it really is not expected. So when it does happen, it's, you know, it's a lovely little surprise. But please, guys, don't think you all have to run out now and buy gifts. I spoke to Aaron, I said, I'm needing some gifts, just tell them that.

And what's the shirt size? Let's, you know, send that out in the chat box. Hey, so there was another good question. So what happens if you get an opportunity to audition for a job that don't think is right for you. And that happened to me very recently. This job seemed so— the role, not the job, but the role seemed so wrong for me age-wise, type-wise. It just didn't make any sense. So I did contact the agent and here's what I asked. Sometimes agents, you know, only will contact their talent after the casting director requests, you know, that person to audition. Sometimes agents, uh, will just send, you know, tons of people in to audition, um, even before, uh, anybody's requested. Maybe, maybe the agent has a good relationship with the casting director, they're working with the agent directly, uh, there's a certain type, and the agent might be thinking, well, you know what, Let me give, let me give the casting director some other options just in case. Instead of going with somebody who's 20, let me send in somebody who's 35. Who knows, maybe, you know, they're going to make some, some changes. So what I did was I contacted the agent and I said, hey, I just wanted to, just to make sure, because even though it was just a home audition, so it's not like I had to travel anywhere, but I spent time. I spent a good amount of time. going over my sides and, you know, really thinking about what I want to do and choices and things like that. So I asked the agent, just wanted to find out, was I requested by the casting director? That's all I needed to hear. And she said, yeah. I said, okay, great, thank you very much. Because sometimes— and actually, it's so interesting, I just booked a feature film. It's being shot, uh, or at least my role will be shot sometime, uh, mid-August. And the description of the character made absolutely no sense for me. I mean, way off base. And, and I— and this was one of those things where I did contact the agent, and she said to me, she said, you know, they're not actually having people read for a specific role. This is more of a generic audition, which does happen sometimes. Not for a specific role, they just want to see what you do with this character, and that was for this feature film. And so then I had a callback, and it still was not a— it was kind of this— there were like a few people in this category, um, and I don't want to get into it. I signed an NDA. I'm not allowed to really give out details about it, but they just were throwing out one-liners. And so they gave me like 3 or 4 one-liners and they said, say each one, you know, 3 different ways. So I did that. So still, I never read really for one specific role. And then I did, then they— I just found out I booked it. So it was a long-winded way of answering your, your question. Yeah, that's what I would do. I would just ask. And, you know, and also look, for most of the agents who I work with, and not all, but most of them, I trust them implicitly. And, and if they are sending me something, I know this is something that I should be reading for. They're not going to waste my time, and they don't waste their time either. And they certainly don't want to look bad for the casting director. You know, if they're sending in inappropriate people to the casting director, the casting director at some point is going to say, am I bothering doing this? You know, this agency, they keep sending me the wrong people. So, you know, the, the thing to also keep in mind is, you know, for, for the talent, for us, you know, we, we are not only representing ourselves, but we're also representing our agent. So when you do the audition or you're on the set, you know, always keep that in mind because, look, you know, if you do things that are inappropriate or unprofessional, That can really reflect poorly on your agent, and those are the kinds of things that could get you released because the agent doesn't need that kind of, uh, those kinds of problems. So anyhow, I guess kind of connecting it back with, with the agent, everything you do in a positive way is a positive influence for the agent as well. And, and look, and I know once again I'm kind of going back to— it's a little strange having Martez here, but I'm just going to tell you. Look, I know agents don't typically say this. They don't have a, you know, top-tier choice of people they submit and a second-tier choice of people they submit. But look, if you— it's just my philosophy. My thought is, well, of course, of course they must. Because look, if there is somebody in a certain category and they are booking a lot of jobs, well, the next time a project comes up and they need somebody in that category, well, of course The person who's booking a lot of jobs is going to be sent out, you know, the first person sent out. I mean, why wouldn't they be? You know, they're making money for the agency. So, so anyhow, the more things you can do in a positive way, you know, makes it better for you and the agent and to get submitted for other jobs, which kind of leads me into the very last thing. Oh, here's something. Speaking of, what are some of the good, good ways to be a positive representation to your agent when at an audition or on a call? Oh, okay, so that's a good question. So look, things that you can do in a positive way: be prepared, show up on time, you know, make sure that you've really spent time, you know, with the copy or with the sides. Um, you know, just don't go in there with a negative attitude, um, you know, and, you know, just walk out of there, uh, once again with the concept of, boy, this was a fun day, got a chance to audition. So those are, those are some of the positive things that you can do. And it's not like the casting director is going to call the agent and say, wow, you know, uh, the person came in and they were very nice. And no. But if you do something like you don't show up, you show up late, you start complaining about the traffic, and you're complaining you couldn't find a parking place, and who wrote this stuff, it's silly, it doesn't make any sense, and grammatically it's wrong— those are the kinds of things that you can do that would be negative. Um, can I pop in there? Yeah, absolutely.

Um, just in terms of that whole positive attitude, I've said this to some already, but the casting director is the gatekeeper to the client. And even though the casting director cannot book you on the job, the casting director can most certainly make sure that you never attend any of their castings again. So the way you behave at your castings really, really dictates the way forward, and they remember that. And we've been getting some amazing feedback actually where people are saying, wow, we want to join Triple M because we only hear good things because, you know, casting directors are taking notes of the talent out there and saying how they're so well prepared. And so that is such a reflection on us. So you guys are what actually carry the agency. It's not really the agent. So there's a lot of pressure actually on you. So please, and thank you, thank you for everything that you do do to contribute to giving us a great reputation.

Great. So the very last thing, and then I'm gonna end things here. If you happen to book a job on your own, and I know that most of the time everything is going to come from Triple M, but if you are in a situation where either you are, you know, trying to market yourself in other areas or somehow somebody approaches you about doing a booking, I know some actors and models will say, well, look, I got this thing on my own. Why should I send it through my agent? The agent didn't do anything. Now I'm gonna have to pay a percentage to the agent. It doesn't make any sense. Let me, let me tell you why it does make sense to do that. And yes, you will be spending some money with a percentage to the agent, but if you send it through your agent, Number one, the agent is going to make sure it's a legitimate job. Number two, the agent is going to make sure that you are getting paid properly. Now I realize, you know, fees are very, very different from New York than in Cape Town for projects, and it doesn't make any difference what the numbers are. But the point is, if you get a modeling job, well, you probably would have no idea what you know, how many rounds you should be getting if it's on a billboard or on a poster or if it's running in a magazine and they want to be able to use this indefinitely, you know, for, you know, for 30 years. You're not going to know what those numbers are. Your agent will. So in some ways, it's possible your agent might even get you more money or at least make sure that you're getting paid the proper amount. And Yes, you will be making an investment. You will be paying an agent for money that you didn't necessarily have to. Once again, I don't have contracts read, but for those reasons, it absolutely is in your best interest to send a job through your agent. Also makes you look more professional if you're talking to somebody and they say, yeah, I want to hire you for that. Hey, that's fantastic. Look, why don't you contact my agent? You know, here's the information. Because now you look like a professional talent because you've got an agent. And the very last thing is, and this kind of goes back to something I was just talking about, look, when you are making money for the agency and you are booking jobs, you know, those are the kinds of things that help put you on the agent's mind when other projects come up, because you're making money for the agency and they know that you are talented and you're booking. So of course of course that would happen. So personally, that's what I do. As a matter of fact, perfect example once again for that show House of Cards, um, the casting director knew who I— she knew me very well because I auditioned for her so many times. When I wound up booking it, I sent it through one of my agents who I happened to really like. And yeah, I mean, I've given up a lot of money to the agent because for me, being a union actor in the States, I have to pay a 10% commission fee. Just so you know, in commercial modeling, typically it's 20%, but union rules in the States, it's a 10% commission fee. So every time I got a check, every time I get a residual check, I'm also still paying 10% to the agent. But it was well worth it to me because there were times I might have questions about scripts, I might have questions about other things. I don't want to deal— with contacting production. It's not my job. I'm an actor, you know, and I wanted my agent to handle that. So anyhow, I just wanted to, to mention that to you as well. I highly recommend that you would send anything, even if you book it on your own, through your agent. So hey guys, um, I only have a couple of minutes, uh, and then I've got to run, but those were the, the main things that I wanted to, uh, get across to you about. You know, how to get the most out of your agent. And I hope these things were really helpful to you. And just remember, you guys are a team. You know, it's not one person, you know, fighting against somebody. You guys are a team. And the better you guys can work together, the better communication that you guys have. And I can tell you from— I've spoken with Martezza, you know, a number of times, and she runs her agency differently than some of the other agents who I know. And She does like people to communicate with her, and she is open. If you have questions, if you have concerns, get in touch with her. And to me, it's like any other kind of great relationship. You have to be able to talk with the person, and she's making that available to you. So first, you should be really fortunate to have representation from such a great agency, and also from an owner who's so open to this kind of stuff. So take advantage of it. The very, very last thing I just wanted to mention, unless there's another question, uh, we will have a breach of contract. We bypass them and— oh, so the question is, is there a breach of contract if you try to book a job on your own? Martez, I guess you're gonna have to answer that.

Yeah, I can answer that. So yes, it is in breach of contract because of what is signed, but I have always decided discussed it with talent who've come to me and said, you know, somebody's reached out to me, which is why I say it's so important to always be transparent and open about things. If you come to me and say, I was spotted on the street and, you know, they really like me, what should I do? Then generally I would say, well, have them contact us so we can discuss it with them and we can make sure that everything's above board. And, you know, guys, it's not always about the money. We, we've stepped in and assisted on situations like this where the agency has taken nothing whatsoever purely because we've seen it as a great opportunity for the talent and we just want to make sure they are safe. In other instances, yes, we would want to take a commission because of the amount of negotiations that are taking place. I've had 2 very different situations, one where talent was street cast, and it was 7 o'clock on a Friday evening when I got a frantic call to say, please, can you assist me? I was street cast and I haven't got a contract yet. And I was like, wow, well, firstly, in contravention of our agreement, and secondly, it's a Friday night, and now all of a sudden, you know, I must jump to it. But of course I did because I'm her agent and, you know, this is what we do. And managed to get it all sorted, but it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth because firstly I said I would waive the booking fee, which is between myself and clients, because it was something that they were approached on. And then, you know, the talent actually still wanted further reductions after that, and I was like, no, sorry, that's not gonna happen, not with the way this went down. Another situation I had was a top brand did castings via social media, but they also went through agencies. And this talent went via social media, and we got the callback though for her. And she was like, yeah, but you didn't send me to the casting. So I said, I'll actually send a screen capture from the system to show you that we did forward you for the casting. So therefore, that's why it is coming through us. And she was like, oh, I still don't see because I also did it on my own. I said, well, how much are they offering you? So she said, well, 6, and after you take booking fee, before commission, everything else, you know, then it's even half, and you know. So I said, but what about the usage? So she's like, what usage? So I said, there's R40,000 usage. And because they were going via social media, they were like, oh, well, you know, 6 grand in anyone's pocket is a lot of money, so we're not gonna, you know, worry about the usage. So that was one situation where I can say she was very, very happy that I put my foot down and said, no, you're going through us. Because even with all the deductions, she ended up getting way more than she ever would have, you know, if she did it on her own.

Got it. Thank you. So there were 2 other questions. I got to answer them fast, but I do, I really do have to take off in a second. What do you recommend wearing for self-taping? So I like— and there are different philosophies— I like to try to dress the part without going overboard with it. And that's something you can speak with your agent about too. You know, at least to indicate it. I recommend don't wear things that are inappropriate for the role. I think that can be helpful. What's it like being on a movie? It's great. It's, you know, it's, it's a lot of sitting around waiting. But it's really, it's a phenomenal experience, and I hope, I hope you get a chance to do that, do that as well. Oh, really quickly, I just wanted to mention, so on Saturday at 2 o'clock your time, I'm going to be offering a live workshop, 11 Things to Do to Prepare and Techniques to Use for TV Commercials. It's going to be phenomenal. The best thing to do is contact Martez, and she is— thankfully, she's handling everything. She can give you all the details, and once you sign up with her, I will send you the link so you can join me on Zoom. And yeah, if you're an actor or a model, and once again, you should be looking into TV commercials. They are fun, they can be lucrative, and you just never know where those TV commercials might take you. Um, so anyway, I really hope you decide to sign up and, and, um, and, and join me on Saturday, uh, 2 o'clock your time. And, and also, like, I realize rand-dollar, uh, it's really tough, so I, I've made sure that it's, um, it's something that people can afford. So definitely check in with her. And I also, in, in the, uh, chat box, I had sent out information where you can sign up to be on my mailing list if you would like. You definitely want to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram. You should have all that information there. So anyhow, this was fun. Yeah, sure.

I'd like to— before you say goodbye, I just want to say that I chatted to Aaron about the courses that he offers, and as some of you have seen in prior communications, before today, his courses, you know, it's in dollars and it's usually $300+ and he has very generously offered it at R560, which as you can imagine, if that you translate that back to dollars, he's not earning very much on it at all. So I'm very grateful for this offer and I really hope that you guys are going to jump at this opportunity and learn from somebody who's been in the industry for a long time. And I want to say thank you so much, Aaron. I really appreciate your time and the fact that you are willing to assist us out here in South Africa where the rand means very, very little. So thank you so much.

My pleasure. And would it be best should people just email you or call you?

What's the best way? Absolutely. I think the best way would be to email so that we can just make sure that you have all the information that's needed to, to sign up.

Okay, great. Well, this was so much fun. Hope to see you guys on Saturday. It's going to be a great workshop. And hey, maybe we'll get a chance to meet in person one day.

Lovely. All right.

See ya. Thank you. Bye. Thank you.