Really Upset After Being Rejected By An Acting Agent? Here're 3 Tips (Short Video)

Hey, are you really upset after getting rejected by an acting agent? Well, I get it. And watch this video and you're going to learn 3 tips that will give you your best chance to get an agent. And if you watch this till the very end, I've got a special free bonus for you that's going to be really, really helpful. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center where I try to do this every Tuesday depending on my schedule, share information from my 36+ years of working as a full-time actor. And if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button and the notification button so that way you always know every time I upload a new video. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. That's always really helpful. Before I give you the 3 tips on what to do if you're feeling bad about getting rejected by an acting agent, First of all, let me just back up for one second and tell you, yeah, it feels bad when you get rejected or you don't hear back from the person that you're trying to get representation with. I get it. And look, we're humans. That makes sense. It's like asking somebody out on a date and the person says no, or they just don't respond to you. Well, it feels bad. But let me also just tell you, and look, I know it always feels kind of creepy and horrible when people say, well, there are a lot of people in Fish in the sea and you'll find someone that's right for you. But the fact is, there are so many factors that go into an agent saying yes or no that we have no control over. Yes, we do have some control over things, and that's why I'm going to be sharing 3 tips with you. But sometimes we just have absolutely no idea why they make a decision. So if you feel bad, That's okay. It's okay to feel bad. We're humans, you know, and, and when something doesn't go our way or we don't get what we want, we can feel bad. That's okay. Now, one of the things to also keep in mind is there are lots of different types of agents out there. You know, if you're thinking about getting, you know, an agent for fashion work, well, then trying to connect with a commercial or a theatrical agent Isn't going to be helpful to you. And theatrical, that's going to mean, you know, like film and television type of projects. Look, probably the best thing you can do, and this is tip number 1, if you can get a referral from another actor to this agent That is going to give you your best chance, assuming once again you've got the right materials. That is going to give you your best chance of getting representation. And I've heard this from numerous agents. You know, some agencies won't even accept people submitting to them, and they only work off of referrals because they respect the person who perhaps they represent. And if that person says that You are, you know, you're good, you're talented, you're someone that they should seriously consider. Well, that's going to be the best way. So look, if you happen to be in an acting class, you know of other actors, they have representation with a certain agent that you want to be represented by, then ask them, hey, would you mind contacting the agent and making a referral? That's always the best-case scenario. Now, You can't always do that because, you know, some actors are not free, all that free with, you know, wanting to help other actors. And, and look, every— everybody runs their business and their life differently. Personally, and once again, I'm not judging in any way, personally, I do like helping other people who I know, people who I trust, people who I feel good about and somebody that I would feel good about connecting my name with and my reputation with. So, I mean, once again, and I know I'm kind of rambling a little bit, but I mean, I truly believe that I, just like you, there's no competition. We're not competing with each other. And if the job— look, we might look very similar, we might have similar skills, But we all have a different upbringing, we have different life experiences, and if the job is right for you, then, you know, you're going to book the job. If the job is right for me, I'm going to book it. So I, I like sharing information. I mean, that's why I, I do the YouTube channel here. So if you can get a referral, that's the best case scenario. Number 2, let's say you have been rejected, or once again you just don't hear back from anybody, from quite a few people. Then you might want to question, do you have the right materials? Look, the most basic 2 pieces of material that you need as an actor in order to get representation, it's going to be a headshot And a resume. Now, just having a headshot and a resume doesn't mean that they are good, and more importantly, that they are effective. And there's a big difference between having a good headshot and an effective one. An effective one is one that really speaks to somebody. It, it allows people to see how they should submit you, what kind of roles are right for you. And then, like, this is not a headshot video. So I'm not going to go into all the details like I have with some other videos, just talking about what are the ingredients that go into creating an effective one. So if you are constantly either not hearing back or getting rejected, I would definitely look into making sure that your headshot is right for the market and for your resume also. Make sure it's in the right format. Make sure you have the right information in there. And look, I know sometimes people will say, well, I'm just getting started. I don't have anything to put in a resume. You would be surprised. There's a lot that you can put in your resume even with little to no experience. And I do have videos for that as well. And you know what? If you look up here, I'm going to share 2 links with you, one for a video about resumes and one for headshots, just so you can go back and take a look at those. So let's say your headshot and your resume is— you think it's perfect. Here's the 3rd thing that you can try to do. If an agent doesn't want to represent you, Maybe you can ask if they would recommend another agent in the area who they think is a better fit for you. Because once, once again, you know, you might have everything in order, but maybe you just aren't a right fit for that particular agency. Maybe they have too many people in your category. Maybe they don't really get the kinds of auditions and jobs for your particular type. And maybe they know of another agency in the area that they can recommend that you contact. Look, chances are they're not going to, but that's a question I have asked sometimes when I've gotten rejected. And, and the other thing too is just to keep in mind, and I, I love I love this quote. I don't know who it's from, but whoever said it, um, I think it was just brilliant. Just remember, no doesn't mean never. And I can tell you, there have been a couple— matter of fact, there's one agency, and this is a while ago, uh, I kept submitting information to them, never would hear back, kept submitting. And when I say kept submitting, you know, I'd probably wait 3 or 4 months. And then I would resubmit. Maybe the agency had too many people in my category at that particular time. Maybe the one particular agent didn't think that I was a right fit. Maybe that agency left and somebody new came in. Who knows why they would say yes or no? But after 2 years of staying in touch with them, letting them know certain projects that I've had, classes that I took, All of a sudden they contacted me and said, we'd like to represent you. And I worked with them, not a lot. I worked with them a number of times and then they eventually, unfortunately, went out of business. But it took 2 years to get representation with this one particular agency in a distant market. And once again, on a side note, but I do want to share this information with you. Sometimes people have asked, well, can I have more than one agent? So it's a complicated question. I can tell you if you live in the Los Angeles area, I don't know of any LA actors who multi-list with agents in the same area. When I say same area, the same types of jobs. Like for instance, I don't know anybody who has 2 commercial— TV commercial agents or 2 film and television agents. agents in Los Angeles. People work exclusively there. In other markets, yeah, sometimes people do freelance and they might have a couple of different agents in a certain area. You know, that's— it is something you would have to talk with the agent about, whether they are okay with that. Some agents ask you to sign exclusive contracts, but once again, exclusivity— what exactly does that mean? And you need to find out. Is that exclusive to your particular state? Is that exclusive to your region? Is that exclusive worldwide? Those are things that you really need to check out if somebody does ask you to sign an exclusive contract. The other thing too is, look, if you have a full-time job, you're a full-time student, you're freelancing, you're doing this periodically, you have other things going on in your life, trying to even multi-list with a number of agents, it might be really complicated. My suggestion would be, why don't you get started with one agent, see how it goes, and if you find that you're getting work, you do have time where maybe you can travel to another state, then that might be a good idea to look into other agents. Once again, just making sure you're not breaking any kind of legal contracts. But otherwise, I would try to find one agent, work with them, see how it goes, and The other thing too is as hard as it can be sometimes to get an agent, sometimes you want to leave that agency. Maybe it's not a right fit for you. And that's the other thing to keep in mind if you are getting rejected and feeling bad. Maybe they wouldn't be a good fit for you. So not getting a contract, not trying to work with them, it might not be the worst thing in the world because maybe it wouldn't have been a good fit. So I wanted to make sure there is another video that I promised. You can see it up here. Just want to make sure that you click on it and watch it. I know it's going to be really helpful to you. It's the number one question you absolutely want to ask an agent. And don't forget, if you haven't subscribed yet, please click the subscription button, uh, or subscribe button. Click the notification bell so you always know when a new video is uploaded. And If you like it, please give it a thumbs up and share, share this link with other fellow actors. You know, the whole point of me doing this is to help other people have success. So please share information. If there are any tips that you have, suggestions on what you do to try to get an agent, please leave them in the comments below, and that way we can all learn from each other. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.