Wonder What Agents Can And Can't Do To Help An Actors Career - Here's 6 Things

In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you 6 things that agents can and can't do to help your acting career. So if you're just getting started and you want to find an agent, well, you need to know very specifically what their responsibilities are. If you already have an agent and you're not really moving your career forward in the way that you expect, well, after watching this video, you're going to have a clearer idea of their job description so you know what you can ask of them. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Actor Career Center, where I help people who are just breaking into the industry, uh, and also helping take people who have been working as actors or models for quite some time to the next level. I try to shoot at least 2 videos a month. I try to upload them on Tuesdays depending on my schedule. And the most important thing is this is an opportunity for us to share information with each other. So please leave comments below the video so that we can learn from, you know, you as well. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget to click the subscribe button and the bell, the notification button, so that way every time I upload a new video, you will know about it. And, and don't forget, please share, uh, the link with all your friends, um, place them on your social media platforms so this way we can help spread the word and share more information with each other. And if you like the video, don't forget, give it a thumbs up. Okay, let's get going. Okay, number 1, the first thing that an agent can do to help you is to make sure that any job that they are submitting you for is a legitimate one. I've spoken with quite a few people, mostly I would say more in the modeling world. People have told me they found out about jobs online and they showed up and it really wasn't what they had expected. And so one of the things that agents can do is to investigate and make sure that That any— whether it's an audition or if it's a, a direct booking, that they can make sure that this is a legitimate job. Topic number 2, a crucial part of the agent's job is to submit people for projects. So what happens is, if it's an acting job, and this does— it doesn't have to be this way, but they might get something called the breakdown service. And in the breakdown service, they— the casting directors send out information about different projects, or it could be from an advertising agency if it's a TV spot, if they're not going through a casting director. But they'll send out information to the agents. The agents will see all the breakdowns of the different types of characters, age ranges, ethnicities, and things like that. And then if they feel that one of their talent is perfect for this particular audition, they will submit your headshot and resume. That's a crucial thing, and, and it's one of the advantages of being with an agent, because an agent is going to hear more about jobs than just individuals. On a side note, of course, I always suggest actors and models, they should be proactive, they should be marketing themselves, but it is really helpful to send anything that you might find on your own through your agent, even if you don't have an exclusive contract which stipulates that you have to send it through the agent anyway. So agents submitting talent for projects is, is the probably the most important aspect of their job. Number 3. The third thing that an agent will do is after they submit you, if you are granted an audition, the agent will be able to send you information, send you details about the audition. Whether it's the copy, the words to a TV commercial, whether it's the sides, the words for an audition. If you are going to an in-person casting, they send you the information of where you need to go, the time you need to go. Certainly if you have questions about the character, they can get that information for you. They also can give you information if you book the job about wardrobe, whether you have to go Hair and makeup ready, or any other details that you need to know about the product, the organization, or the film itself. Number 4, being able to negotiate on your behalf is crucial for an agent, and that's another reason why it's so helpful having a really good agent, because if you get hired for a job Unless you've been working in the industry for a long time and you're really familiar with the different fees that you should expect, you're not going to have a clue. Let's say— let's just say this is a commercial modeling job. And if you took this job on your own, you didn't go through an agent, and the photographer says to you, tell you what, I can give you $150 an hour for this particular job. This is going to be running on billboards across 3 states in your area. So we're going to give you an extra $100 bonus for the billboard usage because that's considered a high exposure format. Well, had you sent it through your agent, maybe your agent would have gotten the $150 an hour. Who knows? Maybe you should be getting more than that per hour in your particular area. But the agent also will know that you should probably be getting much more than $150 Or $150 for billboard usage in 3 states. Now, it's true, you know, when you book the job on your own, you can save either a 10% commission fee if you are a union actor and it's a union job, or a 20% commission fee if you are a non-union actor or it's a non-union acting job. But you might not really know what is the proper, you know, the amount that you should be getting in your area. So your agent is going to be able to negotiate for you and get you the best rate possible. Number 5. So let's say you book a job on your own and you don't get paid. You know, it's been 3 weeks, it's been 4 weeks. Now, just so you know, if it's a commercial modeling job, it's not unusual, uh, to not get a check for 90 days. That's just how the business works. There's no union for modeling. They're like, if it's a union acting job, there's a very specific time period where you should be, uh, getting paid. And once again, I, I don't want to go into all the details because there are Different reasons why it might take longer depending on who the client is. Is it a government job? Is it a PSA? But typically I find that you're going to get a check like within a couple of weeks of doing the job. That's a union job. Commercial modeling, like I said, it could be any, any time period. I would never think of contacting an agent until 90 days after a booking. So if you do get paid, Prior to 90 days for a modeling job, consider yourself very fortunate. But let's say you did a modeling job and you— or it doesn't make a difference whether it's acting or modeling— and you don't get paid. What do you do? You're an individual. Are you going to start going after a company? Are you going to threaten to sue somebody for, you know, a $150 project? You know, unless you are an attorney, you have a friend who's an attorney, you're probably going to spend more on attorney fees than what you would actually earn, which, hey, you still might want to do because you're just so angry about, you know, not getting paid. That's a possibility. As a union member for my acting job, they actually have late fees, and they will start charging people extra money if they don't pay within a certain time period. So if you do have an agent, one of the great things that an agent can do is that they have much more of a threatening voice than an individual. You know, if an agent says to an advertising agency, you are never going to be able to use any of my talent again if you don't pay us within a certain time period, well, that could have an impact on the ad agency, especially if it's in a smaller market and a lot of the talent comes from this one particular agent. And the same thing if it's a commercial modeling job, you know, if they're threatening the photographer not to be able to use any of their talent anymore. So in agent has so much more leverage than, than an individual. So, you know, making sure that the actor or model gets paid is, you know, it's one of the things that agents can do that can really help your career. Number 6, as you might or might not know, I do a lot of private online mentoring, and I save 5 days every month to Help actors and models. Probably one of the things that I hear, it's a common theme, people are upset with their agents because they're not booking, they're not getting any bookings. And so one of the questions I'll ask, well, are you getting auditions? And they'll say, yeah, I'm getting plenty of auditions, I'm just, you know, but the agent's not getting me any bookings. So Here is something that an agent can't do, and it's really important that you keep this in mind. An agent can't get you work. And I know that might sound a little weird because you're thinking, well, why do I have an agent? They can't get you a booking. What agents can do is all the other— the first 5 things that I mentioned. They can make sure it's legitimate, They can submit you, they can give you all the details, they can negotiate on your behalf, they can help make sure you get paid. They can't get you a job. That's up to you. So if you are not getting any auditions from an agent, then here is my suggestion, and I've done this and I found this to be incredibly effective. Number one, I make sure I set up a time with an agent so that they are free. And, and I know agents are really busy, so sometimes they might have to change things. You might have something set up and then a last-minute audition pops in and now they're swamped. So make sure that you can get their undivided attention, whether you can actually go to the agent's office and speak speak face-to-face, which would be the best. If not, maybe you can do it online. If you have to, just do a phone call. But here's a suggestion: if you are not getting many auditions and you've been with the agent, you know, for months, a half a year, a year, whatever it is, here's a line that you can steal from me, and it's a great one. Instead of going in there and saying, hey, I've been, I've been with you for, you know, 7 months now, I've gotten one audition. What's going on? I'm not happy. Forget that. Here's what you want to do. You go in there and you can start off, so I've been with you for 7 months, I've gotten one audition so far. Wanted to ask, what can I do to help get more auditions? Don't pin it on the agent. Don't start pushing the agent into a corner. Backing them into a corner and essentially accusing them of not doing their job. That's not what's going to give you the results that you want. And instead, if you ask them for advice as to what you can do as the actor to try to get more auditions happening, then listen to what they have to say. And here are the responses I've gotten when I've done that. It might be, well, you know, Aaron, let me check. The records and they'll go through the auditions that they have been submitting me for. Maybe it's through breakdowns, and some agents will do this for you. Some agents don't do this, and that's fine. But sometimes I've been able to actually get a list of all the different projects I was submitted for, and they might say to me, look, I've been submitting you a lot for whatever reason. The casting directors have not been requesting you for an audition, in which case maybe you need to look at your headshot more carefully. Maybe it's time for a different type of headshot. Maybe your resume, which will also be submitted along with your headshot, maybe it's not in the right format. Maybe it needs to be changed. Maybe some of the information is outdated. Whatever it is, maybe that's something that you can do. Maybe the agent will say to you, I don't know what it is, but we're just hitting a time period where they are not requesting people in your category. I just— I've had very, very few auditions for people in your category for the past 7 months. In which case, then I go, okay, well, at least I know that the agent is thinking of me. And Will be submitting me, but for whatever reason, this just hasn't been a good time period for my type. So that is a really important concept for all actors to understand, that the agent can't get you the job. All you can ask of them at the very beginning stages is to submit you, because it's up to you, the actor, to actually book it. And on a side note, and as you guys know from all of my videos, sometimes I, I, I kind of wander off a little bit because I think, oh, I got to tell you about this. It's just really important to also understand that you have complete control over your audition. You have absolutely no control over who gets booked for the job. And that's why for every audition I go to I truly don't believe I'm going to get it, and it's not because I'm a negative person and I don't think I'm any good or anything like that. It's just because I understand there are just so many factors that go into booking a job and not booking a job. So for me, as long as I'm getting the auditions, I'm really happy. That is winning. When you get an audition, you've won. There are so many people who are being submitted And such a small percentage of those people actually get a chance to audition. So if you're getting the auditions and you're not booking, hey, look, I'm not saying that maybe your audition needed some work. That's a possibility. Maybe you need to take some private sessions. Maybe you need a class. Maybe you need to do some more work and practice more. You know, who knows? Maybe, you know, some of your, your work Needs work. That's a possibility. But it's also possible that your audition was really good and you just weren't right for it for whatever reason. So anyhow, for number 6, just always keep in mind the agent can't get you a job. You know, they can get you the audition, but then it's out of their control as well. So anyhow, just, just remember, those are the things that agents can and can't do. Very last thing. Once again, if you haven't done this, don't forget click the subscribe button, click the little notification bell so that way you always know when I upload a new video. If you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. That's helpful. And if you have any information about your experiences with agents, what they can and can't do, what you've tried, was it helpful? Was it not helpful? Please leave a comment below so that way. We can all learn from each other and continue to build a channel where, you know, people are helping each other. We're not competing with each other. We are all individuals. We all bring something unique to the table. Let's help each other. It's a nice way to run your business. It's a nice way to run, just to lead your life. So anyhow, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.