NotaPushyMum.Com

Hi,

I am looking for an agent for my daughter. We have never used an agent before as she was previously interested in musical theatre roles and we were able to manage this ourselves directly with the relevant casting directors, however she is now wanting to focus on acting roles - TV etc so we feel we will need an agent for this (it seems most programmes will only consider / see children register with a certain agent.)

We have been contacted on numerous occasions by a casting director called Tina Hartley via my daughters profile on Stars in my eyes. She links to a website named bdiscovered.com, has anyone heard or had any experience with her? She is registered with Spotlight.

So far I have contacted her to ask for some more information, she asked me to send her some pictures (she did want to talk to me via phone as well) and basic information - height, hair colour etc. she has written back saying she would like to represent her, and invited us to meet her and have some photos and possibly a show real taken. The photos will cost £200 for all the styles she has suggested, plus £60 if we would like to have the two show reals as well. Does this sound normal? Does anyone have any other agency they would recommend me approaching as well?

Thank you in advance!

Hi GemmaL

I have never heard of Tina Hartley or bdiscovered.com, but I would be very wary of a £260 bill for photos and showreels.

There is a lot of information on these forums about agents and how best to select and approach them. So my advice is that you put the kettle on, put your feet up with a cuppa and work your way through the threads. You'll find the answers to questions you wouldn't even think to ask and share the minute-by-minute experiences of NAPMs who have been down this road ahead of you. And you should end up with a list of agencies who you would like to approach who are respected in the industry and have a track record of obtaining work, as well as a clear list of ones to avoid and the tactics they use to part well meaning parents from cash for very little return.

Good luck - hope this is helpful. Let us know how you get on

Deb x

Thank you Deb

This agency has been discussed on NAPM here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17032&p=189838#p189838

I would certainly advise looking for one with fewer clients.

I would also be a little wary of an agent that contacts you - rather than you contacting them. The exception to this would be if they had seen a live performance and left a card or something after the show, but touting for business from something like Starnow would make me suspect that they were just after more money from people signing up for photos etc.

I have looked at the site. The photos they give as examples are not the sort of photos that most CDs would want. The headshots are not particularly good quality and the "portfolios" are not needed (and the examples really make me cringe ). Most actors don't have a portfolio "range of characters" - they just have a headshot. A showreel is a good idea - but until you have broadcast/film material to put in it then a simple, home-grown piece to camera may be sufficient. The ones that I can see as examples on BDiscovered could quite as easily be done at home - they are just filmed in front of a backcloth... There aren't enough close ups in them either.

Hi GemmaL
I would strongly advise pg and flosmum's advice. It rings alarm bells to me when someone comes up with prices and charges. If she feels your child will bring her a good wage she shouldn't be asking for £260 to get her going. My son is with an agent who gets him lots of auditions and has never expected a penny off us, apart from her commission for jobs. She advised me to get headshots and suggested someone to me but we found someone else who was suitable and that was absolutely fine.
Take a look at the agencies page and search a few websites. Take your time over these holidays to look as I don't reckon anyone will be working too much over the next week.
Good luck and well done to your daughter for her past theatre projects!
Michbv


www.starnow.co.uk/adambeaver

To give you an idea of costs: the agent representing my dd asked for £90 for Spotlight (that goes directly to Spotlight), £15 admin costs, £55 for photo to go on Spotlight (I decided to go with the one they suggested).

begolina, why did it cost you to put photos on spotlight? I did give my agent £90 for spotlight. I forgot about that. But I have been able to upload photos myself and she hasn't charged for this?

Thank you everyone, that is really helpful. I will start trailing through the old threads to try to find some more suitable and better recommended agents to contact. Does anyone have any names you know to be good for me to start with?

I was a little skeptical before, as they had e-mailed me so often - I guessed they were mainly interested in getting as many people on their books as possible, and I too thought I could probably film a show real / organise pictures myself for a lot less. The extras comment on the thread you liked to looks very likely to me.

Thank you and Happy Christmas

Tbh I didn't ask what the admin costs exactly were for, it was one off and it is the sort of money I am happy to pay for an agent that does show real knowledge of my child and treat her like a client. I did shop around and found other agencies asking exactly the same money AND keeping for themselves the chaperone money which this agency doesn't. My dd did pass a very demanding process to get in and she gets very good quality auditions.

GemmaL wrote:Does anyone have any names you know to be good for me to start with?

My girls have had good experiences with Top Talent (auditioning in February) and Abacus (rarely open their books) others speak highly of Daisy and Dukes and Bonnie and Betty, so that gives you a starter for ten. But there are loads of good agents out there and what suits one doesn't suit another, so you can't beat doing your own research and working out which ones you might want to approach.

If your DD has talent (and it sounds as though she has experience so that's a great indicator) she should have no trouble getting representation by a well-respected agent. If she doesn't get offers from well-respected agents, it's probably worth waiting a while, getting more experience and trying again.

Good luck - let us know how you get on

Deb x

Thank you Deb