Aaron Marcus, a commercial actor with 30 years and 1,200+ jobs, says contact your agent in person when work slows down. Ask what needs updating: headshots, reels, resume. Agents can only submit you for auditions, not book jobs, so staying visible keeps them pitching you.
Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and if you're not familiar with my work, I've been making my living as an actor and a commercial model for over 30 years. So far, I've booked over 1,200 jobs. Perhaps you saw my work on Mr. Robot, Gotham, had a recurring role on Halt and Catch Fire. I've done hundreds of TV commercials, commercial modeling ads, radio spots, training films. But let me tell you what I want to talk with you about today. Oh, and before I do, don't forget, if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure you subscribe and click the notification button, and that way you will always receive information every time I post information here. And you can also check out some great information on my Instagram page, and it's just Instagram @AaronRMarcus, A-A-R-O-N R for Robert Marcus. And you can get some great information there as well. So what do you do when work is slow? And there are a lot of things that you can do, so let me tell you just one thing, and maybe I'll do another part That will give you some different information. But if you're working with an agent, without a doubt, contact your agent, set up an appointment, see if you can talk with your agent in person. That's always the best thing. Sometimes I realize you can't, but if you can, that's the best. But here's the key thing. Don't go into this meeting and start complaining. You know, I haven't heard from you for a month. It's been 2 months. What's going on here? That's not a good approach. So what you want to do is Ask your agent what they can recommend you do to get more work and find out. Maybe the agent is saying, I've been submitting you a lot. And for whatever reason, the casting director or the photographer, uh, they haven't, um, asked to have you attend a go-see or, or, you know, have you come in for an audition. If that's the case, then maybe it's your headshot. Or, and/or resume. Maybe if you don't have a reel, maybe you need to put together a reel. If you have a reel, maybe you need to update that as well. So that is one of the key things that I would find out. The other thing is maybe the agent will say to you, there just hasn't been work for your category in this area for a little while. Maybe the agent is going to say to you, you know, right now things have just been slow across the board. Um, this is a time of year where people just aren't doing very much in the industry. So instead of guessing and wondering, wondering, set up an appointment, ask your agent what you can do to get more work, what they can recommend that you do. And it's a great way to also just stay in touch with your agent. And that way you are allowing your agent to remember you. And hopefully when things, you know, do pop up, they will continue to submit you. Because just remember, all the agent can do is submit you for, for an audition or submit you for a job. They can't book a job for you. So if they are doing that and it's not working, check out your materials. Hey, do me a favor. I'd love to hear from you and share your thoughts on what do you do when work is slow. You can go to facebook.com/howtomodel. Certainly check out my Instagram page. It's instagram.aaronrmarcus. There's great information there as well. Don't forget, if you haven't done this yet, if you're watching this on YouTube, on my YouTube channel, subscribe, hit the notification button, and feel free to share this information. with other people as well. I'm always, you know, that's why I'm doing this, to try to give out other information. I've been very fortunate in this industry, and it's great to be able to share it with others. So anyhow, I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you again really soon.
