Looking for an agent

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watchthisspace
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Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

Hey, I'm new to this site, so still slight unclear of how it all works, but I am an 18-year-old actor looking to find an agent so that I can spend my gap year acting full time! I have sent my CV and headshot to:

Troika
CS Management
A&J Management
BWH
Gordon and French
Curtis Brown

Are there any others people would care to suggest? And are any of you represented by any of these agencies?

Thanks so much, I'm happy to have joined these boards! :)
xebonykissesx
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by xebonykissesx »

You could also try abacus? I'm sure there are many more, although i'm not to sure myself.
Try and get as much experience as possible, maybe in shorts and stuff, for that you can try sites like mandy and talentcircle. Good luck :)
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watchthisspace
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

I sent a headshot and CV to abacus a while ago and they allowed me to come and audition despite the fact my application was late because they were really interested,but on the day I was really ill and didn't perform to my best abilities, but also didn't want to cancel. Should I write to them explaining this? Or should I just leave the excuses and hope they will see me again?

Thanks so much for replying :)
pg
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by pg »

Welcome to NAPM!

I'm sorry to hear you were ill when you auditioned for Abacus. In my opinion I don't think you should write and tell them so. They will have been able to tell if you were off colour and writing to tell them so after the event will just make you look a bit needy and won't do you any favours. Very often one can tell whether someone has potential even when they are not firing on all cylinders, so don't write it off just yet, you may have scored brownie points by showing that you could turn up and perform even when you were not feeling well! Did you get any feedback from them?

What are you doing after your gap year? Are you hoping to go to drama school? Are you intending to try to make a living as a performer?

Here's some tough stuff though:

You are competing for attention with hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of actors wanting representation in the late teens/early twenties age group. You need to put yourself in the agent's shoes and ask yourself why they should take you on in preference to someone else. Many actors emerging from three years' training at top drama schools don't get agency representation immediately and have to keep searching and asking just as you are doing. Can you compete with the graduates? What makes your CV stand out? Do you look particularly young for your age? (If so, make sure your photo reflects this fact as your details may well be of interest to agents). Do you have a fantastic CV? Do you have excellent dance skills or do you play several instruments? Are you in something they can come and see? Do you have a showreel you can show them? Is there something really remarkable about you that agents can't do without?

I recommend reading some or all of the following to give yourself the best chance of securing representation:

Actors' Yearbook
An Actor's Guide to Getting Work ( Simon Dunmore)
Make Acting Work (Chrys Salt)
So You Want to Tread the Boards? (Jennifer Reischel)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but your remark: "I am an 18-year-old actor looking to find an agent so that I can spend my gap year acting full time" suggests that you don't yet know very much about the profession (hopefully, this site and others like it and these books will help you to find out more).

Apart from anything else, actors don't work full time! (Though that's probably not quite what you meant). The average number of weeks worked by professional actors in a year is 11. That's the average. I suspect that for actors under 25 that it's much less than this, because this is where the competition for work is at its fiercest (especially if you happen to be a white female...). 85% of Equity members are out of work at any one time. Paid work is incredibly hard to come by. So whereas some well-established or just plain lucky actors may work for 6 months in the year, there will be those who only have a few days work in a whole year - or maybe even none at all - and it certainly won't be for want of trying!

If you want to spend your gap year acting, you may be best looking at amateur/youth theatre and profit share work - and for this you don't need an agent (an agent will be more interested in work that pays, for obvious reasons!). This will help you build up experience and a CV. If you can find a reasonably flexible job, you could also pursue other acting work or try to get some work as an extra and you can continue in your search for agency representation.

Also, agents don't get work for the actors they represent. Not usually anyway. They will ensure that your details are submitted for any job for which you are suitable, but a Casting Director may have 300 CVs submitted by agents and only see 6 actors. Some widely advertised jobs (e.g. Pitlochry Theatre) receive thousands (literally) of CVs. Most agents don't have the clout to insist that actors are seen for roles (though of course CDs do have agencies they know and trust and will be more willing to consider submssions from some agencies than others).

I know all that seems really negative, but it is realistic! If there is any other information you would like or any other questions you have, please don't be put off by my response. I understand the desire to earn your living as a performer (I share it!) but it will definitely help you to succeed if you are armed with knowledge about how the business works.

Good luck!
watchthisspace
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond in such detail, it's all very helpful :)

I just noticed what this- : "I am an 18-year-old actor looking to find an agent so that I can spend my gap year acting full time" - must have sounded quite ridiculous! I more meant spending a year acting doing courses, training and stuff! Not as in- 'I'm going to spend a year being a superstar'- which I realise now is what it sounded like :P

I didn't get any feedback from my Abacus audition, would you recommend I re-apply or no?

Thanks again for the warm welcome and all the time you spent responding :)
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missmoneypenny
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by missmoneypenny »

Did you get a reply from Abacus either way? I believe that they do let everyone know, so if you didn't maybe do get in touch. In any case I would send your cv etc in again, it is certainly worth applying again - hopefully you'll be on top form next time!

Lots of luck to you x
Last edited by missmoneypenny on Mon May 03, 2010 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pg
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by pg »

Best of luck watchthisspace! I hope you have a great gap year full of interesting and fulfilling experiences.
What are you doing after your gap year?

The books I recommended are really useful if you are interested in working professionally. When you are first starting out it can be difficult to find out how things really work: how plays/TV/Film are cast, what an agent's role is, what a CD does etc.
The information can be hard to get hold of (and there's quite a lot of misleading information about).

Keep us posted with how you get on!
watchthisspace
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome :)

I wrote to Abacus a couple of days back to ask if they still had any feedback on file, they are yet to reply to me.

After my gap year, I'm intending to go to University (is all goes to plan with my grades!)

Thank you all again!
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nextinline
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by nextinline »

Welcome watchthisspace :D You have done the right thing logging on to this very useful site as a first step. It will hopefully help you avoid the pitfalls that so many fall into as they start trying to work in this business. I have found the advice on here invaluable for my 13 yr old ds and 10 yr old dd. Best of luck in your efforts. One of the biggest things to learn is that if you do get turned down it doesn't mean you are not talened just that you weren't right for that role at that particular time.
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It's Showtime
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by It's Showtime »

PG - on a side note thanks for sharing the reading list, have ordered from my local library :D :D
Bad Hair Day Anyone?
**It's Showtime Folks!**
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Art
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by Art »

You coul try Mark Jermin Management. They have recently been advertising for teenagers/young adults to apply...they are based in South Wales but they now have an ofice in London also. He has a lot of cantacts and does seem to be getting a lot of work. Hope that helps :D
watchthisspace
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

Fantastic! Thank you!
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Art
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by Art »

You're welcome ;) ...how did you get on???
watchthisspace
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Re: Looking for an agent

Post by watchthisspace »

Ken Mcreddie replied- they sent back my headshot, CV and a very polite and geniune letter saying they had no room on their books at the moment (thought it was particularly nice of them as I didn't include an SASE!).

I got a response from Mark Jermin asking me to come in for an audition! Very much looking forward to that!

So far, that's all I've heard :)
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