My daughter is a senior at UNCSA and she just finished Showcase. Thankfully, she has been offered representation by talent agents in Chicago and Atlanta, and probably has an offer about to come through from an agent in NYC. I am so grateful for this news, but I have a question.
My daughter would prefer either Chicago or NYC. She is an actress, very interested in comedy and improv. She isn’t sure which city would be best for her. Chicago is cheaper to live in, and is the home of Second City. New York is much closer to her home, she has many friends there, and a good roommate option. There is a good improv training in NY too (Upright Citizens Brigade).
Both of the agents seem highly reputable.
Does anyone have any advise on how to pick an agent and/or how to pick a city to start in, after college?
I am no expert but if I were starting out I would pick wherever is cheaper and has a better support system, then I would audition everywhere. If she ends up in NYC she can still audition for Second City and move if she gets work. I would think through the practical aspects of living without a performing job in each place rather than feeling like she has to commit to one city or another right out of school. How is she going to make a living while she auditions for work?
I have a D living in NYC so can answer NYC questions! Does your D have a preference as to NYC or Chicago? Both are great places to be so she probably can’t go wrong if she ends up with agents wanting her in both cities, and shed be happy either place. She could sublet rather than signing a lease for an apartment so she’s not tied to one place. If she does sign a lease and then gets a gig out of town she can find someone to sublet from her. My D’s roommate is currently working out of town (they’re in NYC) and a friend is subletting from her. This is a frequent occurrence in theatre world!
Also, if her agent only works in 1 city or region it’s possible to have more than 1 agent as long as they know about each other and agree to it. This completely depends on the agent/agency and would have to be discussed with them. We are in the southeast and my younger D has an agent in Atlanta. Several of her friends whose agents are only regional also have agents in LA or NYC. As far as picking one, make sure she likes them/feels comfortable and feels like they’ll work for her.
My S graduated last May. He knew he initially wanted to be in NYC but also knew he wanted to start with an agent that had a film/TV presence. He chose an agency very well-known for stage representation, with a good presence in film/TV through their LA office. He really “clicked” with them during the interview process and he feels he has gotten excellent representation his first year out. When he was in LA a few weeks ago, he went and talked with some agents there. He signed a one-year contract with his agency, figuring he would have a better handle on the lay of the land after a year.
As @MTmom2017 says, she could probably research agencies with strong multi-city representation.
Thank you for your thoughtful answers. I know that the Chicago agent is part of a national agency, with offices in NY and LA. I think the NY one is too, but not quite as positive on that one. I know my daughter plans to continue waitressing to support herself…She felt a great “click” with both agents, which is part of her indecision.
From a mom perspective, my relief on her having any representation at all is so vast that I can’t even describe…So I am aware this is a good problem to have. Still, I hope she makes the best decision, and I thought that parents out there might know more about it than I do. CC has always been so helpful.
Kudos to UNCSA for doing showcases in secondary markets and changing up to do their LA showcase to a date that is not right smack dab in the middle of pilot season like they used to! And did I see something about them bringing in Bob Krakower to teach workshops? That’s big. Fishbowlfreshman who got me to start posting my pilot season data here gets a faraway look in her eye when she mentions his name and Lesly Kahn who doesn’t have much nice to say about most acting coaches calls him a divinity.
Just like with choosing a college, she should go where she thinks she will feel most comfortable in her skin. However, there are some practical considerations and I will speak up for ATL as a great place to start if she is not already union-eligible and her long-range plan involves getting into television comedy which will involve an eventual move to LA where most of those shows shoot. In fact, I have been telling new graduates from my own school who are non-union and want to eventually end up in LA to go there first - even though none listen. haha
Why? Georgia and the rest of the states in the Southeastern market that any good ATL agent will cover are right-to-work which means that lack of union membership is no barrier to employment. The producers there consider doing Taft-Hartley paperwork to be just part of the hiring process since SAG-AFTRA cannot enforce those fines and few actors even join until they are ready to level up to LA or NYC. In NYC and CHI, the producers seem to be more prone to Tafting newbies than in LA where getting them to do so is like pulling teeth and most casting directors won’t even let non-union actors read. But it is still a barrier and in ATL, it isn’t a problem at all. Gone are the days when I was coming along and getting union eligible was a matter of doing some paperwork, shooting a little thing on your phone with a member, and calling it a web pilot since the New Media Agreement is no longer a thing and I wouldn’t wish background work on my worst enemy. We are back to the Bad Old Days for newbies and I recommend reading Jenna Fischer’s book, “An Actors Life,” to see what that can be like. There is a new way in through the Short Project Agreement, but she would need to be very proficient at self-production and have a good sum of money to invest in the project to pull that off. So in ATL, she will really be in the game from the outset while it might be a longer wait elsewhere.
While ATL doesn’t have improv schools at the level of prestige that exist in CHI and NYC, they still do it there in a couple of theatres whose names escape me at the moment where I think it is short form and sketch like at Second City. Theatre isn’t as prestigious and doesn’t pay as much although they do have The Alliance and Georgia Shakes along with a bunch of smaller venues where she could practice her craft and feed her soul. However, with the lower prestige comes lower competition which can be a good thing when seeking those first credits.
If you want, send me a pm with the names of the agencies involved and I can tell you what I know about where they stack up with respect to clout in the industry.
@YardleySisa my daughter graduated Tisch in 2017 and is living and working in NYC and has representation. My suggestion is to look at the rosters of the agencies involved. Obviously, it is important that they have a good record of getting people work but do they have too many clients so that they won’t really spend time getting your daughter auditions (many agencies put talent on their rosters but then really do very little to promote them), are there a lot of other clients who fit the same “type” as your daughter (she might be better off with the agency where she is more unique), and how are they at being responsive to your daughter’s questions. Just a few items to think about when making a decision. Congratulations to your daughter and best of luck!
@Gyokoren - your response helps me out - thank you! I’ve just bookmarked Sara Mornell’s website to send to my younger D, who is a film actor & will listen to her podcast. Hopefully she’ll be able to do some classes or intensives with her. I’m also going to share your words of wisdom with D about Atlanta - it’s what people in the business here in the southeast keep saying, so it’s nice to hear it from someone outside of the area. She’s most likely taking a gap year (post freshman year), and it sounds like she should plan on staying here. I am also going to look into classes with Bob Krakower in NYC! Appreciate the information!
@YardleySisa your post made me so happy to see your name and also a bit sad as my D is now in studio 4 at UNCSA. Time flies! Already stressing about a year from now.
You were always so kind when my D was auditioning and had great input. I look forward to hearing the great things your D does.
I saw her in the spring show at UNCSA and she is HILARIOUS. Such a talent. That was among the best theater i have ever seen — anyplace.
Wonderful she has good options. Excited for those graduating. My D will miss them a lot. They r a good group.
@Bromfield2
Some differences between an agent and a manager…
An agent works for a talent agency which is licensed by their state. A manager can just set up shop and doesn’t have to work for a management company or obtain a license.
Agents set up the actor with auditions and negotiate the contract. A manager doesn’t directly get the actor the audition appointment, but can submit their actors to agents to get the auditions. A manager cannot legally negotiate the contract on your behalf.
An agent tends to represent more clients than a manager has on their roster.
A manager might be able to help you find an agent. They can try to promote you to those in the industry.
If an actor books a gig, they have to pay 10% of their earnings to their agent. If they also have a manager, they have to pay 15% to their manager. So, if you have both, that’s 25% of your paycheck. I believe a manager makes a commission on all types of earnings that the actor books in the field.
I believe a manager’s role isn’t just obtaining auditions for their client, but manages their careers. They offer guidance on the many aspects of an actor’s career. Many would say that a new graduate doesn’t exactly have a career to manage yet and doesn’t really need a manager. My own kid got a BFA 10 years ago and just has an agent (she has more than one agent, given different facets of her career, but no manager).
An agent works out of office (legally required). A manager can work anywhere.
Lastly, I believe it is harder to land an agent than it is to get a manager.
I will echo most of what @soozievt said except that most reputable managers take a 10% commision nowadays. And while managers are not supposed to submit clients for work, they do it all the time and even the ones who do not do it straight-up have ways around doing it directly. For contracts? Some managers like my own are also lawyers which allows them to do virtually anything an agent can do while others keep lawyers on retainer and I think some of the big management companies have lawyers on staff partially for that purpose. I even have a friend who worked consistently at the guest star and recurring level for over seven years with only a manager repping her theatrically and she didn’t sign with an agency until the big boys came knocking when she booked a lead on a major network pilot.
I’m stopping myself, but could bloviate about any number of scenarios in which an actor coming straight out of school could benefit greatly from signing with a reputable manager. I could practically write a book about all that mine has done for me, but that would be a lot of writing and I will refrain unless somebody has specific questions about their own situation.
However, I will expand on one thing that soozievt said. Something important to remember about managers is that there are zero barriers to anybody being able to call himself one short of a court order prohibiting it from past convictions or plea deals for scam actitivies . On the high end, there are managers who used to be partners at major agencies who can advise and nurture a green actor’s career all the way to the A-List. On the other end? There are those with no discernible qualifications who can’t seem to do much other than to fast talk a naive greenie into signing a multi-year contract with no outs and impossible to escape rollover clauses so he can kick back in his parents’ basement to enjoy whatever beer and weed money he gets from any non-union commercial work she may book on her own. Seriously. “Managers” like that are like ticks in the tall grass in LA. And of course there are all points between. So make sure to do your due diligence before signing with one. One hint is that their client lists don’t lie and if I were looking, I would not mess with anybody who didn’t have a history of being an agent, an entertainment lawyer, a publicist, a network or studio executive, a successful producer, or maybe a studio or network level casting director.
@MTmom2017 Also have her look into Tim Phillips Studio if she goes to Atlanta. He is another well-respected transplant from LA. Very different personality than Sara, but I’ve heard good things. Another place that might be good is Drama Inc. I think I heard somewhere that the main audition coach is a student of Stan Kirsch and teaches a lot of the same stuff.
@Gyokoren Thank you for adding valuable perspectives from the trenches. You’re doing it. I’m not in the trenches.
While it’s true that managers can take a 10% commission on everything their actor books (any work they do in the entertainment industry), many who have a manager, also have an agent and so that means having to shell out 20% of their paycheck, rather than just 10% to the agent that got the audition and negotiated the contract.
From your posts, I am assuming you are in the LA market, or in TV/Film, etc. and my post was geared a bit more to the theater world in NYC.
You are right that a manager is going to guide a career, and an agent, not so much. The agent gets auditions and negotiates the contract.
For my own daughter, besides the agents she has for different facets of her career, she also now has an entertainment lawyer which she felt was needed for the level of some contracts she’s been involved in. Her career goes beyond acting, but she does that too.