Acting Agents and Managers
Most of what actors are told about agents is written by people selling something. This section is not. It covers how representation actually works, what it legitimately costs, and how to recognise the approaches that are designed to take your money.
An agent submits you for work and takes a percentage when you book. That is the whole arrangement. Everything else — the fees, the mandatory classes, the photographer you must use, the ‘registration’ — is either a different business or not a business at all.
The seven pages below go through it in order: how to get an agent when you have nothing on your résumé, what the commission structure actually is, and the specific tells that separate a real approach from a scam. Nothing here is sponsored and no agency has paid to appear.
Getting represented
How to Get an Acting Agent
What agents are actually looking at when they open a submission, and the order to do things in.
Read → Getting representedHow to Get an Agent With No Experience
An empty résumé is not the obstacle most actors think it is. What to send instead.
Read → Getting representedAgent or Manager?
Two different jobs, two different commissions, and only one of them is licensed.
Read → Getting representedWhat a Real Agent Charges
Commission rates, when they are taken, and the fees that mean you are not talking to an agent.
Read →Staying safe
Spotting a Talent Scam
The approaches that target actors, how they are structured, and what they have in common.
Read → Staying safeIs This Casting Call Real?
A checkable list for a notice you are not sure about, before you send anything.
Read → Staying safeShould You Pay for a Casting Workshop?
What you are actually buying, what the law says about it, and when it is worth the money.
Read →Agency directories
Atlanta is published. Los Angeles and New York are still being checked and are not ready. We would rather publish nothing than publish a list of agencies we have not verified — which is the whole point of the section above.
Learn how representation works before you need it.
Seven free pages, in order. By the end you will know what an agent does, what one costs, and what a scam looks like.