Making yourself "agent friendly"

One of the topics that discussed in my book SO YOU WANNA BE A NEW YORK ACTOR? is, of course, how to get an agent. My co-author Josselyne Herman-Saccio of Josselyne Herman and Associates Talent Management (and not coincidentally, my manager) was interviewed this week by Backstage on just that topic:

The way to get an agent is to become what I call "agent friendly," and there are a number of steps you should take to get there.

First, have your materials in order. Your photo, resume, and website should look great. Then you need to get to know casting directors. I've found the best way to do that is through the casting director workshops. (In New York, there's either One on One, Actors Connection, or the Green Room.)

Get the casting directors to love you and call you in, because they will -- they want to find new talent -- with or without an agent. Then after you have about 10 CDs who are your fans, you can go to an agency and say, "The following casting directors are familiar with my work." So to an agent, it doesn't look like you're starting from nothing. You will have done the groundwork, and there are CDs they can call and ask, "Do you like this person? Do you think they are worth signing?"
- Josselyne Herman-Saccio

Here's the link to entire article, where she also cover a few more important topics.

Take the survey! Marketing for actors in NYC.

Here's the survey I've been talking about.
Please take a moment to fill it out, and please pass it along to your other actor friends. I'd like to get 500 responses.

Thanks!!!!

Here's a direct link: http://tinyurl.com/bo3gv8d

Big-ass survey!

Last week I blogged about opening up a discussion: What part of your marketing works, and what part doesn't.

I did a lot of thinking about it, and I just kept coming up more questions, so I decided to make a survey. I discovered a website that will allow me to make a big survey, and send it out by email, and by social networking. I'd love to 500 actors to take it - I think we'll get some really important information.

If you have any questions you'd like to see answered, let me know! I plan to make this live in one week, on April 6th, 2012.

Here are some of the questions:
Have you paid for a meet-and-greet (one time only, not a multiple week class) with an agent, a manager or casting director at a place such as Actors Connection of The Network? (mark all the answers that apply)

No

Yes - legit agent

Yes - commercial agent

Yes - modeling/print agent

Yes - manager

Yes - legit casting director

Yes - commercial casting director

Do you find postcards effective? (Leading to auditions, maintaining relationships, forging new relationships)

Very Effective

Effective

Neutral

Ineffective

Very Ineffective

If you do, in fact, have a voiceover demo, do you feel like the investment was worthwhile, in terms of future income?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

So, you get the point.

I think together, we can come up with some smarter strategies for personal marketing.
Suggestions are welcome!!!

What works?

Hi blogoshere,

I'd like to open up a discussion about what works and what doesn't? What part of your personal marketing has yielded results, and what part hasn't?

This occurred to me as I was signing up for yet another class. From my viewpoint, if you want to get into episodic TV, and either your agent isn't getting you the appointments, or you have no agent - then paying $100 to meet the casting director directly seems like a smart move. But, does it work?

So, who can leave a comment of a specific example of that happening? Please feel free to be anoymous (there's an option for that in the comments section.)

And what else works?

-A mass mailing of Voice Over demos?
-A mass mailing to commercial agents?
-A mass mailing to legit agents?
-Maintenance postcards - every 4 to 6 weeks?
-Making a kickass website?
-Looking for work through Twitter?
-Looking for work through Backstage?
-Looking for work through Actors Access?

As a marketing coach, I suggest these things all the time - you have to have some plan - but what works? I can guess based on the results of my clients, but I'd like to know what other people have learned.
Thanks!
Guy

Snoop to find an agent.

Since I'm a marketing coach for actors, I need to keep lists of agents and managers. I give each client a personalized list, if we decide doing mailing is a good idea.

If you want a list of franchised agents, you can go to The Callsheet or other such digests. But, man, the world is changed, and there are a ton of agencies working that aren't franchised. They don't have to be. They can make money doing non-union commercials. Just like actors.

So where are they listed???

They're not.

So, every time I go to an audition I snoop: at my sign-in sheet, at every sign-in sheet. If someone signs in with an agent I've never heard of, I write down the name and google them when I get home. This way I have the most comprehensive list of agents that are getting their actors auditions.

Now, I'm not going to share them all with you for free, but a few names have been popping up more frequently.

If you're looking for an agent, check them out, and maybe you'll get a meeting. They can't be receiving a lot of mail - they're not listed!!!!

Across The Board Talent

Dream Makers Talent

Take 3 Talent

Lauren Green Management

Forgive me if you know these agencies, and I've just overlooked them, but you get the point: If you want more auditions, find out which agencies are getting actors auditions, and make sure they know who you are.

That's good business. Snooping.

Save $1400! by joining AFTRA

There is a lot of information out there about the SAG-AFTRA merger. (I voted yes!) [ I can see both sides, but for me, the number one reason to vote yes is because it seems like it'll be easier for me to have health insurance more often. That's important.]

But, there is one nice little loophole that keeps on popping up. You probably know that it's tough to join SAG when you want. You the most common ways to qualify for membership are to book a SAG role, or to get upgraded to SAG extra jobs 3 times. On the east coast, my advice is still - DON'T JOIN SAG UNTIL YOU HAVE TO. But on the West coast, rumor has it you're nobody until you have a SAG card.

And getting a SAG card is expensive! When I joined it was $2400. After the merger it'll be $3000!

Anyone can join AFTRA, right? You just walk in and pay your $1600. BOOM - you're AFTRA!

AND, after the merger, any AFTRA member will be given the free option of becoming a merged SAG-AFTRA member. No additional cost.

So, if you are dying to go SAG, or if you're on the verge and it's inevitable... why not join AFTRA soon (before the end of March, is the rumored cutoff) and save yourself $1400!?

I went through the booklet of information about the merger, and this was not spelled out specifically. (Duh, they want your whole $3000!) But, I think this is true.

If you're on of the people who would benefit form this, do yourself a favor, call AFTRA, find out the details and JOIN.

The easiest way to be an Actor Who Makes Money is to be an Actor Who Saves Money!

And let me know if you've done this - I'm sure my blog and twitter followers would love to know!

I got a job, now how do I get an agent?

When my writing partner, Josselyne Herman-Saccio and I were writing our book, So You Wanna Be a New York Actor, we realized the number one question actors have is: How do I get an agent?

We interviewed tons of actors to find out how they got their agents, and we learned a few things:
1 - Quite a few had no agents. (Wow, right? Mostly musical theatre people.)
2 - Quite a few got theirs through college / grad school showcases. (That's no help to most.)
3 - The rest got theirs by:
a) Booking their own work, through whatever manner they could,
b) Publicizing the shit out of it,
c) And exploiting their friends.

Let's deal with 3B and 3C today.

So, you've gotten yourself into a play or a short film, now what?
-Collect still frames or production shots for promo material
-If it's a play or a screening, invite EVERYONE. (They won't come, but that's not the point.)
-Postcard everyone you know and let them know. One before to invite them, one after to brag.
-Ask the people you meet if they have agents attending, or viewing.
-Ask permission to contact them, and permission to drop their names in the letter.
-Ask for an introduction.
-Use this job to get you more jobs. Network!

It may feel gross to ask your new friends for contacts, but... you know you should.

I often recommend putting together a one sheet of the event to add to your regular maintenance mailing. Make an 8.5x11 sheet with pictures, reviews and such. Mention the casting director. You can use a fancy program to do it or SendOutCards, but the important thing is to do it. Not just for mailings, but for the package of promo material you're getting together for when you meet agents and managers in person.

This is the time to get creative. What can you do? Now is the moment!

As for invitations to agents, like I said, they probably won't come. But try to entice them. Maybe offer to send a car. Maybe give them drink coupons. Maybe drop off a personal invitation. They still probably won't come. BUT - they know you did something. They know you were cast. And they know you're serious about working with them.

This may seem like slamming your head against a brick wall, but you never know here the opportunities will come.

Keep at it! One of these days you'll get noticed.