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Aaron Marcus explains when to leave your agent and how to do it without burning bridges. He walks through steps to improve the relationship first, shares his own switch between agencies, and emphasizes leaving on good terms.
Aaron Marcus explains when to leave your agent and how to do it without burning bridges. He walks through steps to improve the relationship first, shares his own switch between agencies, and emphasizes leaving on good terms.
Hi, here's another acting and modeling quick tip with me, Aaron Marcus. I know I look a little scruffy today. I've got a shoot happening and I'm not sure if they want me to have a partial beard. So anyhow, so my decision was to certainly not shave, show up, and if they want me to shave, I can. If they don't, then I've got it. So anyhow, that's why I look a little scruffy today. Hey, so here's what I want to talk with you about. When and how is the best way to leave an agent? And having an agent is kind of like having a relationship. You know, you want to do everything you can to make it work, and there are times where it just simply can't happen. And but you don't want to just jump ship very quickly. You want to do everything you possibly can to make this relationship happen. So let me just give you a real-life situation. It was Uh, with an out-of-town agency for me, and I'd been with them for a while, and I just wasn't hearing much from them. Now, that in itself isn't a sign that you need to split, because there are lots of factors that go into why you hear and don't hear from an agent. And quite often it has nothing to do with the agent's job, and it's really more to do with the actor or commercial model. So, so what I always do is I will contact the agent, I will talk with them, I will ask them, And this is really important. What can I do? You know, I might have said, look, past 6 months I've hardly heard anything from you. Is there anything I can do to make more work happen? And then sit and listen to what they have to say. You know, they might tell you that your photos don't represent you well. Maybe your look isn't great for their particular market. Maybe they've been submitting you and you haven't been selected by the casting director or the people at the ad agency or the photographer. Maybe there hasn't been much work in your particular category for them. So there are so many factors that go into it. And then if you've done everything that they've asked you to do and still nothing is happening, then maybe it is time to leave. And just as another suggestion, you want to leave on good terms, always. It's a small business. You never know when you're going to run into people again. You're never— You're going to know when your old agent is going to be talking with other agents, and you don't want to have that reputation of being nasty, being vindictive, being unprofessional. And so what I did with this one particular agency where things were just completely dead, I did everything I could, and I just said, look, I just want to thank you very much for the representation for the last couple of years. I just feel like I need to move in another direction. And they weren't happy about it but they seemed to be okay and at least I left what I thought was on good terms. And the other agent that I decided to start working with in that particular state has been incredible. And so sometimes, yes, it is time to make a change but just make sure you do everything you can to Hang on to a relationship if it can work. Also, just to let you know, I've got an incredible online workshop, How to Find the Right Agent for You, both locally and in distant markets. It's happening on June 20th. If you're not available June 20th, it doesn't matter. Uh, the online workshops are always recorded and, uh, you can watch the entire recording, uh, 3 days after the workshop. the workshop happens. And I'm going to teach you step by step how to find great agents, how to prepare before your interview, the kinds of questions you want to ask, the answers you want to get to make sure you're dealing with good people. And you can simply click on the link below and you can get additional information. If you're watching this on YouTube, please give it a thumbs up. If you're watching this on Facebook, please like it. And that way you'll be able to receive additional information when I post things on the Facebook page. I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you soon.
