Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

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Fitz
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Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

Post by Fitz »

I've spent quite a lot of time looking through all the posts on this section but can't quite find the specific answers I'm looking for- can anyone with experience of agencies for teens nearly out of licensing age help me?

My daughter is trying to find an agent for her.

She will come out of licensing age this June, but is still 15 at the moment. Should submission e-mails be only from her, or only from me, or from her, copying me in? And by post should we both sign the covering letter? Or just her?

When the agency submission guidelines say "send headshot, CV and covering letter" what does it mean by CV? Can I just add a link to her spotlight profile in the covering letter, or do you need to create a separate standalone CV with more detail than spotlight? Should it have a small headshot incorporated on the CV?

Does the headshot need to be professional? The professional ones don't really look like DD now.

Do you usually invite agents to see a show, even if it is amateur/ youth theatre? And would you actually buy tickets and post them to the agent or just mention the show and say that you would be very happy to send tickets if they may be available.

If you approach a pretty well=known agency and hear nothing (as DD doesn't have any high profile credits) does it ruin their chances for good or will agencies look again at teens once they have more credits?

How easy is it to manage without an Agent?

Thank you for your advice!
Brighterthanstars
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Re: Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

Post by Brighterthanstars »

Hi Fitz, I had this problem for ages too and am now with an agent who is great, so don't worry too much, you'll find the right one eventually and its not as scary and flustering as it can seem at this stage.

When I was sending emails to agents, I did it myself unless otherwise stated, and copied in my mum just to be on the safe side and so that the agent knows that you have permission/your parents are cool with it. I kind of think that it shows a bit of maturity to the agent, especially if you write a good cover letter. If you are going to send it yourself, I would say that she should definitely sign it too- It's her whose going to be doing the job, after all and her who should want to be doing it.
I always wrote a couple of paragraphs on why I want to be signed to that particular agent, what kind of actor I am and aspire to be, just really showing real passion and gratitude for their taking of time to consider me. The CV is better if it is one page- all your best bits, skills, training, details,(keeps it simple to draw attention to the most sellable bits) and then I attached one or two recent headshots separately to the email.
My headshot wasn't professional, at the time, although it was taken by an older friend who was doing photography and had a good knowledge of what a headshot should be, as well as a proper camera. You will need to get headshots done if you get signed so I don't know- maybe it's worth just getting them done now?

Youth theatre shows are good to invite agents to, just make sure you feel that it's really showcasing your talent well. I think that there are preferred youth theatres that agents will recognise (my agent had previously seen productions that I took part in with my youth theatre, so I didn't need to invite her) and really stand out on CVs. Another thing- I wouldn't expect agents to definitely take you up on an invite because they are so busy a lot of the time.

Not sure about whether chances would be ruined by getting rejected now or having no 'big' credits so far- I wouldn't think so. I have friends who got into really good agencies without high profile credits; they were just really good actors and part of my youth theatre.

Going without an agent is doable, but there aren't that many open castings for TV, commercials, film compared to the amount you can get with an agent. I always felt a bit outside the loop, but some good castings did come out of it and networking is invaluable as is audition experience.

Finally, good luck! I know it feels like a massive jump and it looks, from the outside like the hardest thing to navigate, but once you just take the plunge, everything begins to fall into place a little by little.
~B
If you think that you're too small to make an impact, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.
Fitz
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Re: Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

Post by Fitz »

Thanks for sharing your experiences Brighter.
Including the reasons why she would want a particular agent in her cover letter might be tricky-what kinds of reasons are there?
Do you mean the type of actors they represent? Or the size of the agency? It seems quite hard to work out the differences from their websites, once you get beyond the very well known agents (e.g. Curtis Brown, Waring McKenna, United Agents etc.) and eliminate those with "dodgy" looking websites. Any tips?

Good luck to you too :)
Brighterthanstars
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Re: Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

Post by Brighterthanstars »

So for me it was the size of the agent, the types of jobs their actors seem to get cast in and just the fact that I have seen that they are experienced and will really push me personally rather than having loads of actors who they will put up all for the same role. You probably don't want to go into loads of details but just show why you want to be with them somehow. (Like if you were applying for a uni or a job).
I found that looking at the agents page on screenterrier(rip :( ) was really useful when looking for agents as they are all legit. Otherwise I just trusted my gut and went for places that looked professional and did a little bit of internet digging around the people running the agencies- even twitter can give you a good sense really.
Hope that helps
~B
If you think that you're too small to make an impact, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.
Fitz
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Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2016 8:03 pm

Re: Nitty gritty of finding an agent at nearly 16

Post by Fitz »

Thanks for your advice, I'll pass it on to DD and suggest she does some more digging!
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