Replies?

[SighNoMore27]

Hi guys,

I'm aware that there's probably not a single answer for these questions, but I was wondering if you would mind sharing your opinions and experiences?
I applied to a few agents by email about a week and a half ago- haven't had any replies as yet which didn't really surprise me (they're really busy right?) until I saw a couple of other threads with people saying that they've had positive replies from agents within a couple of days. So, do you think the lack of replies after nearly 2 weeks mean they're not interested at all? How long would you normally expect to wait to receive a reply from an agent? And if they decide they're not interested would you expect to receive a reply from them saying that, or is that not likely? As I've said before, pretty new to this business-type part of performing, so would be really grateful if anyone could shed some light on this in any way!
I'm 16 by the way, in case that's likely to have any bearing on the answers!
Thanks very much

[ActingMad26]

Hey there,

I'm 14 and have been having a similar problem. Here's some advice I was given If you can post your CV rather than email it - do! An email can be deleted at a touch of a button but a piece of post can land on desks and get opened! Check the agencies FAQ's if they have them, sometimes they say 'we will aim to respond' and it can vary from days to weeks, depending on the agencies. Don't get too worried about it, keep researching for agencies and sending out your CV - if you don't have 'Contacts' yet - it's basically the actors bible!

I hope this was okay advice and wasn't too patronising!

good luck

[pg]

Excellent advice from Actingmad26!

If you have applied to an agent by email without any prior contact, then I think it is unlikely that you will get a response unless they are interested. They are likely to be inundated with email submissions. Some agents do prefer you to apply via email - so it's not the necessarily the wrong way to do it, it's just that your application may be "under consideration" and then put to one side and not responded to.

If you send your CV in by post with a stamped addressed envelope you are more likely to get a response eventually - though it might take a few weeks.

It is unfortunately true that many of the answers will be "no thanks" - that's just the nature of this overcrowded profession.

Another useful book is Actors' Yearbook which gives quite a lot of contacts (not as comprehensive as Contacts, but still useful) and also contains advice on how to contact agents and lots of interesting articles.

[SighNoMore27]

ActingMad- not patronising at all, as I said any advice I can get is a huge bonus, so thank you! Have in fact got a copy of Contacts on the way to me in the post, hopefully should arrive tomorrow, my thinking is to look at applying to some of smaller agencies listed in there. Interesting thought about posting rather than emailing as well!
Good luck to you too!

pg- When you say making "prior contact", what would you say this entails exactly? For example, I did ring up a few of them to check who I should address the email to; does that count? Will look into getting that book as well then, sounds like it could be useful!
Yeah, I have friends who have graduated from top drama schools who are not getting any work so fortunately (for me, not them!) that has sort of prepared me for how tough the business is and I'm just going to keep trying at it!

Thanks both very much

[wildgingerthing]

Hmmmn, I utterly agree with the first reply - brilliant advice. It took Abacus 6 months to reply to my application and invite me to audition, so it also depends whether the agency's books are open/they're auditioning at the time.
Good luck!

[pg]

Hi sighnomore. Yes, that's more or less what I meant by prior contact! It sounds as though you've approached it all in exactly the right way and the silence is probably just down to how busy they are and numbers of applications.

[SighNoMore27]

Wow, that must've been a bit of a shock after such a long time wildgingerthing!
Thanks, pg, that's encouraging at least! Encountered a bit of a problem with my parents, but am determined to keep going at it until I get somewhere!
Thanks all for your help