Ok, your brand has been created. You’ve honed your skills and now you are ready to book gigs and rake in that income. You might find yourself seeking a Manager. But what you need to find is a Talent Agent. But what and how do you find a talent agent? A talent agent is a legal artist and act representative that is bestowed permission to practice from the State they reside in. Talent agents are the only individuals that can legally negotiate and book gigs on behalf of their clients.
But where do you start this search?
Note To Those Seeking A Talent Agent
Understand Rejection Is Essential
Of course it might not be your intention to fail but rejection is a part of the process of acceptance. Do not pitch yourself if you don’t expect a few closed doors. It is important to not take these rejections personally. There are two main reasons why you might be rejected.
Firstly, you simply might be too similar to a few of their clients. People under-estimate the effects of sounding or looking like another person. But this plays a major role in the opportunities your agent can bring to you. If they have too many similar acts who will the job go to? You don’t want to be apart of an agency that makes you compete for gigs. Thus most agents limit the the amount of people in one genre they will work with.
Secondly, you just might not have the experience they are looking for. You probably think that experience is not relevant when it comes to talent, but it is something that talent agents look for. Don’t be ashamed to gather more experience and re-pitch yourself.
Take rejection gracefully and go on with your career. The more agents you email, the higher the odds of finding one. Never give up.
How To Find A Talent Agent
Contact The SagAFTRA
Besides popular misconception that the Sag only deals in the interest of major creators or actresses, they are always willing to help. The best way to find an agent is to contact the Union of Actors and request their list of franchised agents. Working with a franchised talent agency is in the best interest. As non-franchised agencies are more likely to be unregulated.
Create A Pitch Kit
After contacting the SagAFTRA compile a list of the agencies that peeked your interest. Now its time to pitch yourself. Lead with your best assets and skills.
Remember the goal is to get a professional agent to represent you and the first step is to peek their interest. Create an enticing enough self pitch to make the Talent Agent want to interview you. Whether you are an artist or actor/actress always include a headshot to catch the eye of the talent agent. Like any good pitch, include a CV section to demonstrate how professional and qualified you are, and should include your cover letter. Try to include bits of your work, whether it may be mix tapes, your art work or clips of your performance, it is key to include it.
And lastly, include a cover letter explaining why you would like to be represented by that agency or agent.
To improve your chances of getting an agent at the earliest opportunity. Mail and Email your package to to the agency and wait about seven days before following up with a phone call.
The Interview
Now if your pitch kit landed in the grasp of an interested agent they would want to meet you! Thus you are one step closer to fulfilling your dreams.
Ensure you are punctual to the meeting. Dress well and be prepared to answer questions. Most likely, the talent agent will have a copy of your package, but, be sure to bring copies. Also, be prepared to perform. Don’t be shy to show the agent what they are working with.
Conclusion
You need to decide which type of agent is right for your professional advancement. Remember that not every agent is going to be the one for you. The process is long but it is rewarding.
Some great advice here on finding a good talent agent. I especially like your advice about being a little more original so that you can be noticed and not be the same as everyone else. So here we will need to think outside of the box a bit.
Because this is such a competitive field, it is good to have lots of perseverance as you are going to get a lot of rejections. Do you know of any people who offer to put together a professional presentation so that the online application will look better and get noticed?
How to find a talent agent is often a big problem that confronts the upcoming artists in the industry, some of this upcoming artists do not understand that rejection is still part of the game in the industry, hence it can discourage some and then create unnecessary grievances. Just like you said they should accommodate rejection and move on with their career..
Its also important to get ready for performance when going fir interview so as not to disappoint when called upon. And lastly its important to adhere to the advice given in the review that after mailing your email, wait for like 7days before following it up with a call, this is really a great idea.
Please endeavor to push this article, tons of folks out there need to read it.
Hi,
Thanks for the article and the website.
I like the fact that you make Artists and Actors / Actresses (who are usually young people) that rejection does not mean that they or their work, are worthless. This is important because if they get discouraged, they are unlikely to hang on in a process that could sometimes take hundreds of applications ± interviews. We all go through that, whatever our field of work, and no matter how “special” our skills can be classified as.
And indeed, the very agent who rejects them, is the one who could be doing them a favour by leading them on to a much better fit, and a brighter future!
In the Entertainment sphere, people sometimes disregard the fact that it’s work like any other, and that there should be no clowning with work issues. Thanks for advising them to look the part when they go for interview.
Regards.
Great insight and information! I really liked how you discussed right away that ‘rejection’ is normal and an ‘essential’ part of the process. Too often, our personal psychology can get in the way of our own success when it comes to rejection. It is so important to know that rejection is a very normal part of life.
Hmm, this is interesting that you mention to contact sagAFTRA to find a talent agent. I had previously heard that it was too difficult to get your foot in the door without having a strong reel to show off. Do you have any good examples of what the CV section could look like for someone new to the industry? A template might help me kickstart the creative process and craft something a little more eye catching and memorable. Thank you so much!
There is no template for success and there is no telling what each talent agent or agency is looking for at what time, it is always key to not embellish you CV and always provide proof.
Sometimes they want a few inexperienced acts to fill lower tier gigs, who knows. But to my best knowledge a brief description along with tangible proof is always best. Showing off your past paid gigs is always a step in the right direction. Feel free to create you own reels if you haven’t done any paid gigs.
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Hello there, thank you so much for this very detailed an informative post on how to find a talent agent, I must say that is indeed a very timly post for me as a singer and songwriter, i have always thought that what I needed was a manager but now i really know better, I’d put to work all that I have learnt from this post on how to find a talent manager