Should Actors Work With More Than 1 Agent?

Something that I've been asked quite a few times is, can an actor have more than one agent? People have even asked, is it legal to have more than one agent? And there are different answers depending on your situation. So that's what I want to share with you today. If you watch this to the end, I've got a great bonus video for you. It's what actors absolutely need to do before signing an agency contract. And if you don't see the link at the very end, I will put the link in the description here on the channel. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. So a major question is, you know, Should an actor have more than one agent? And that is dependent on a few different factors. So let's get started. First of all, the question is, are you working as an actor full-time? Are you doing this part-time? If you have a full-time job, if you are a full-time student and you're periodically taking some time off and trying to get some acting work, My recommendation is only have one agent. You probably don't have that much free time anyway. And so if there's an agent that you like, an agent you respect, an agent who is submitting you for work, sure, just work with one agent. Now, if you find that you want to get more involved in the industry, then maybe searching for agents in other markets could be helpful. But now here's the, here's the other question that comes up. Is it legal to have more than one agent? Well, it's going to be dependent on your contract. So I can tell you that I only have a, you know, a hand, you know, handshake agreement with one agent because I do work with multiple agents in many different markets. And that one agreement is for his state, I will not have another agent. Didn't sign anything, but, you know, it's our word, and I certainly will keep to that. He doesn't care if I have agents and try to get work in other markets, but in his particular market, it's only him, and that's fine. Now, if you signed a contract— and I'm not an attorney, so I'm not giving you legal advice here— but if you signed a contract Then you have to understand the contract really well. Is it exclusive? You could sign a contract that is not exclusive, which means you can work with as many agents as you want. But here's something to really look into, and that is, even if it's exclusive, it's exclusive. Does that mean that it's exclusive for that particular market? Or is it exclusive throughout the world? If it's exclusive throughout the world, then I would think that legally, no, you can't sign with other agents. But let's just say that is the agreement. It's exclusive throughout the world. Still, if you want to try to work with an agent in another market because that agent doesn't get work in that particular area, then maybe you could talk with your agent. And say, look, I know I have an exclusive contract with you. It's worldwide. Just wanted to find out if I worked with another agent in another market, could I just split commissions with you? And, you know, would that make you happy? And then would you allow me to work with another agent? So that's something that you can always try. And if it's not exclusive, then look, Having multiple agents can be very helpful to you because there could be projects that come up, let's say in Oklahoma, and you have an agent in Philadelphia that's exclusive, but they're not going to be getting information about auditions happening in Oklahoma. And I realize there are things called— it's called a breakdown service, and agents and managers subscribe to those things which will give them information. I mean, and there are a bunch of them— Casting Networks or 800 Casting— there are a lot of different ones. And even though they might have information about some of the bigger projects, let's say in Oklahoma, but maybe there are small projects, maybe there are some that are much smaller that wouldn't necessarily be placed in the breakdown service or in Actors Access. So I think it's a— I think it can be really helpful to you. The only thing is you just have to make sure that if you are working with an agent in another market, that you can get there easily, that if you need to, you can work as a local hire. That's a whole other quick tip video about working as a local hire. But basically, if you're working as a local hire, That's going to mean that chances are— not necessarily, but chances are— they're not going to pay for transportation. They're not going to pay for hotels. They're not going to give you a per diem because, let's say it's a smaller role, they want to hire somebody locally. And then it's going to be up to you to decide, are you willing to work as a local hire and cover all of your travel expenses? So If you are okay with doing that in other markets, then yeah, it could be helpful to have another agent or 2 agents or 3 agents or a number of different agents. But the important thing is, if you're really happy with your agent, you're getting as many auditions as you would like to get, stay with one agent. Or if you don't have that much free time, stay with the one agent. And if you're not happy with the agent, that's a whole other quick tip video as well. When it's time to leave the agent and how to go about doing that. But anyhow, yes, I work with multiple agents, but not everybody should be doing that. And that's going to be a decision for you. And legally, it's going to be all dependent on how your contract reads. About 3 o'clock this morning, I woke up and I thought, ooh, I got to add this to the video. Hey, if you are living in a major market like New York or LA where they have agents who specialize in specific divisions of the industry like film and television, voiceover, commercial modeling, things like that, then it's very possible that you will have multiple agents, but each agent has its own specialty. So yes, you can have multiple agents in those major cities, As long as they are in different divisions and they don't overlap. So just wanted to make sure you had that information. Look, if you work with multiple agents, please share the information here with us so we can learn from you. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe to the channel, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded. If you like it, Give it a thumbs up. And if you have any questions or comments, share it here, and I will personally always answer it for you, or at least give you my, my thoughts. Cool. I did promise a bonus video. You'll see it right up here. If you don't see it there, just go to the description section and you'll see the link there. It's all about what actors need to do before signing a contract. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.