Aaron Marcus, an actor with 40 years' experience, explains when you actually need a manager versus an agent. Managers take 15% commission and help you break into major markets; agents take 10-20% depending on the job. Build relationships with agents first, then consider a manager once you're booking work.
Hey, if you're an actor trying to figure out, do you need an agent, a manager, or both? Well, the answer is going to be dependent on one really important factor, and most people really don't talk about this. So in the next couple of minutes, I'm going to break down exactly what each person does, how much they will cost you, and a way that you can Easily figure out for yourself what is the best decision for your career. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I've been a full-time actor for over 40 years, and this might be one of the most important business decisions you're going to make. So let me start with explaining exactly what these people do. So a manager— a manager actually manages your career, and what I mean by that is they will help decide what roles are best for you. They will map out a long-term career plan. They will help get you connected with the right agent if you don't have one. They can help suggest headshot photographers, what classes to take. If you're moving to a different city, they can even help find you places to live. And basically, the manager really works with a very small select group of people. They don't have hundreds and hundreds of people if they are an individual management company. And they might have maybe 15 talent tops, and that's all that they can really handle. Now, the way that they get paid is they typically will get a 15% commission fee from Any job that you book. I've heard of some managers only asking for 10%, but I would expect to pay 15%. Now, for agents. Agents are the ones who are supposed to submit you for jobs. I have heard of some managers doing that. They're not really supposed to, but they do it all the time. Agents will negotiate on your behalf, and the way that agents get paid is— and it gets a little complicated here, but it depends on your situation. If you are a union member, then we— because I'm a member of SAG-AFTRA— we're only allowed to pay our agent a 10% commission fee on any union job. If it's a non-union job and you're not a member of the Screen Actors Guild or SAG-AFTRA, then you will typically pay your agent a 20% commission fee. And if it's a commercial modeling job It's also a 20% commission fee. Now, if you're living in a small market and you're not living in New York, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, most likely you're not going to need a manager if you're only trying to work in that city. I mean, most smaller markets don't even have, you know, many management companies. There might be a few, but most of them really don't. So My suggestion is if you're thinking about only working locally and you're working with an agent, I really wouldn't be searching for a manager unless you are thinking about relocating and things like that. Now, one of the things that you can do, and I highly recommend if you can, try to develop a really strong relationship with your agent, you know, so the agent in some ways can help guide you like a manager trying to figure out what is your type, what kind of roles are best for you, also connect you classes, headshot photographers, and things like that. Now, if you are thinking about moving to a major market, then yeah, getting a manager can be really helpful, especially if you don't currently have an agent, because a manager wants to work with an agent who he or she really likes, who who he or she respects. And so the manager might suggest a couple of agents or even make some phone calls for you on your behalf and try to connect you with the agent. And like I said before, the manager can also help find you places to live, industry connections for you, and things like that. So in that case, yeah, having both can be helpful. And I have heard some actors say Well, if I have a manager and an agent and I book a job, I'm going to be paying 25% of whatever I earn out to representation. And that's true because 15% to the manager, 10% to the agent. However, the way that I would view it is you're probably going to get 75% of a job you never would have gotten. And I'm not an accountant, not giving you Tax advice here. I can just tell you for me, it makes sense just even tax-wise to do that. But forgetting all of that, and by the way, tax laws change all the time, so you might want to check it out before you start using that as a tax deduction. Definitely speak to a CPA or a tax advisor. But the point is, Don't even worry about how much you're paying out because if you have a really strong team of a manager and agent who are working together, you can do some amazing, amazing things. And look, if you have just an agent or if you have a manager and an agent, please share it here with us so we can learn from your experiences. You know, let us know, is it working out well? Do you like it? Do you not like it? Please let us know. And if you haven't done this yet, you can subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded. And, um, yeah, share, share the link with fellow actors. One last thing, you can be on my special email list. Just go to howtoactandmodel.com. You can sign up there, and I send out really helpful weekly information to people on my list. And you'll get a bonus video, just my way of sharing some information. It's 6 Secrets to Mastering Home Auditions. It's a great video. Anyhow, hope this was helpful. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
