Actor Reels : How to Land a Talent Agent
Updated: Jun 24, 2021
Table of Contents:
Actor Reels : What To Ask Before Your Demo Shoot
Actor Reels: When Is It Time Get Footage?
Actor Reels: Getting a Rep with On-Brand Footage
Welcome, brilliant career-minded actors!
We're assuming, if you've found your way here, you're likely jonesing to move vertically in your career. If you're brand new to the industry, and need a more comprehensive understanding of the industry ins and outs, check out How to Become an Actor.
Now... let's move on to what brought you here. Ok. So you've been hustling your ass off, getting auditions on your own, and even booking more than a few.
Or. The other side of the pendulum. Maybe the auditions have been coming in fits and starts, and you need more consistency of volume.
In either situation, you've decided that landing an agent can really open the faucet.
First thing's first. Let's clarify the whole actor + agent relationship.
What Agents Are NOT
Not your boss. Not your employee. Not your parent.
Quote from Agent Dustin Flores:
Yeah, so I think when I was performing and auditioning, whether or not it was true or not, agents and managers and all of that side seems so scary and so unattainable. And I would, and even from my agent at that time, you know, you're nervous to say, like, "I don't really want to do this or I'm going to be dropped if I don't get this or whatever." And I felt like there was just a different way to do it.
There was a way to be a little bit more kinder and more of a team player and it not be so scary. Right? We all want the same thing. There were, we're not curing cancer. We're singing and dancing and acting. And so it should be fun and it's a business. And there's a lot of highs and there's many more lows. But I feel like if I could be an equal with somebody on this journey with them, then it would at least take away some of the pressure so that they could do more. They can do what they do in the room and only have to concentrate on the work.
So yeah... they aren't scary monsters living under the bed, either.
Agents are, for all intents and purposes: a BUSINESS PARTNER.
Louder for the folks in the back!
Now that we've driven that point home... consider that in any healthy partnership (romantic, transactional, etc.) it should never be one-sided. While agents can be a powerful bridge toward great audition opportunities, you still need to be putting in the sweat equity of A) submitting on your own.
And that's the easy part...
The Pain In the Ass, Yet Incredibly Rewarding Part
The bulk of YOUR hustle contribution will be making sure:
You're staying sharp: no amount of talent will overcome the crippling rust of inactivity. So make it a point to go to an acting class - regularly. Can't afford it? Get inventive. Whether that means scheduling some weekends to get together with actor friends to put together some self-tapes, or devouring and practicing acting books - you want to be primed and ready to knock those auditions out of the figurative park.
BRANDING, BRANDING, AND MORE BRANDING! : I know I've been guilty of hanging on to the feel good mantras you find in Actors Studio YouTube rabbit-holes. You know, the ones where the guest tells a room full of eager student actors to just, "Do the work, and the rest will come." And that work usually implies - JUST ACT! Well, unfortunately, that advice is as simplistic as it is dated nowadays. And while our acting heroes mean well, you have to keep in mind that they grew up in an entirely different time in the industry. A time where you really did stand a good chance of being discovered in a dingy theatre production. But nowadays? It's not enough to kick ass in an Off-Broadway production (that almost no industry influencers are watching nowadays). There's so much more to building a thriving, sustainable career.
Why has it all gotten so much harder? Oh, you know... that damn thing called the internet. See, the digital age has made it extremely convenient for Casting Directors and Agents to vet for talent without ever needing to leave home. Which means if you're not committed to creating a digital branding foot print, it'll be a slow climb toward your career horizons. While headshots and actor reels are a CRUCIAL baseline for branding, it's an intricate process, involving a multi-channel strategy, execution, and a whole lot of consistency... we'll dive in more thoroughly on all things branding in our Comprehensive Branding Guide, coming soon!
So what IS a talent agent?
In a nutshell? They're a broker or liaison that pitches the sellers ( actors ) to the buyers ( casting directors & producers) with the intent of landing an audition spot.
And in a marketplace full of competition, ever-changing demands, talent agents are savvy business folk who are trying to expand their own enterprises. Like any business owners worth their salt, agents have a radar for opportunity everywhere they go.
In this case, the opportunity is you - the talent. If they see that you have a place in the market, agents will leverage their connects to champion your brand to the industry.
That's not to say that agents (or even casting directors) are fail-proof in recognizing potential.
Hello, Mark Ruffalo's 600 Auditions in obscurity.
Hello, Frances McDormand Being Ignored for "Not Being Enough of Something."
I digress...
What's an agent's incentive for signing you?
Well, agents only get paid when YOU get paid. So if they see you as a million-dollar product, you're going to get a million-dollar effort on their end.
No matter where you are in your career. Dustin Flores:
But I feel as agents, we have to work on ourselves outside of the office. Outside of that, so that we can fully give ourselves to our clients. And especially in the sort of midsize office that I'm in, where we are taking people, a lot of people that are brand new to the business and getting them their first Broadway show or their first TV gig or whatever. And then getting them to a place where there's other agencies that are maybe after them because they're bigger and they could offer maybe more or whatever.
And if we don't do, if we don't do the things in between the lines. If we don't become friends with them. If they don't become part of our family, then it's so much easier for them to leave. It's so much easier for them. It's really hard to break up with someone that you love.
So like I, and I fully understand that if I'm able to facilitate someone getting to a place where [Gurche] or CAA or somewhere like that comes after them, then I've done my job.
With that said...
You want an agent - but are you ready for that commitment?
You might be thinking, "No, shit 'I'm ready'. That's why I want one."