Arizona Talent Agencies: The Six We Refer Actors To

Every agency on this page sends actors to us, and we send actors to every one of them. That trade has run for most of twenty years, and it only works in one direction: an agency can’t sell an actor who hasn’t trained. So read this as a list of the people we trust with our students, written by the people those agencies trust to get the students ready.

Which talent agencies in Arizona are legitimate?

Start with the ones SAG-AFTRA has franchised, because a franchised agency has agreed to the union’s rules on fees and contracts. In Arizona that list is short, and these six are the ones we refer actors to: Dani’s Agency, the Leighton Agency, Signature Models and Talent, the Deborah Maddox Agency, FORD/Robert Black, and Priority Talent. None of them charges you to be represented. Any agency that does is not on this page for a reason.

The six agencies

In no particular order. Phone numbers and addresses checked in September 2026; tell us if one changes.

Dani’s Agency

Tempe. Founded in 1987, franchised and bonded. Actors, models and voice talent, all ages. danisagency.com · (602) 263-1918 · 434 E Southern Ave, Suite 550, Tempe, AZ 85282.

Leighton Agency

North Scottsdale. Franchised since 1988. Actors, commercial print, voice-over, for film, television and advertising. Submissions go to their talent address, and they read them. leightonagency.com · (480) 704-8800 · 10049 E Dynamite Blvd, Suite D-125, Scottsdale, AZ 85262.

Signature Models and Talent

Scottsdale. A full-service model and talent agency with more than forty-five years in Arizona, which makes it the oldest name on this list. signaturemodelsandtalent.com · (480) 966-1102 · 3370 N Hayden Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251.

Deborah Maddox Agency

Scottsdale, with reach into New Mexico. More than thirty years booking commercials, print, spokesperson work, film, industrials, voice-over and promotions across the Southwest. maddoxagency.com · (480) 478-2847 · 7135 E Camelback Rd, Suite 230, Scottsdale, AZ 85251.

FORD/Robert Black Agency

Scottsdale. The FORD name in Arizona: fashion and commercial print, television and film, commercials, voice-over, promotions and runway, children to seniors. Franchised. fordrba.com · (480) 966-2537 · 9300 E Raintree Dr, Suite 115, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.

Priority Talent Agency

Phoenix, with an office in Albuquerque. The newest of the six, founded in 2019 and franchised, with more than 160 actors, models, children and voice artists across the Southwest. prioritytalentagency.com · (480) 313-6450.

How do you get signed by one of them?

You get work first. You don’t need an agent to get started, and you should begin working before you approach one, because an agent’s job is to make money from helping you get work, and you walk in with evidence that you can. Train until you’re ready to audition, book a few things on your own, put them on a résumé and a reel, then submit. How to get an acting agent is the long version: what an agent actually does, the two warning signs, and who works for whom.

Two things every one of these agencies will tell you themselves. Don’t audition for an agency until you are truly prepared, because you can’t undo a bad first impression, and agents in this town talk to each other. And when you’re signed, the agency is contracted labor inside your business: their job is to present you on a pedestal, yours is to earn their focus and work harder than anyone else on the roster.

What about the modeling side?

Four of the six carry a modeling division alongside talent, and in Arizona the two overlap more than people expect: most commercial print work here goes to actors who can hold a moment, not to models who can hold a pose. If you’re coming to this page for modeling agencies in Arizona, the list is the same, and so is the advice. The agencies book the people who show them something. Training is how you have something to show.

Why they send actors here

An agent can only sell what an actor can do in the room, and nobody has time to teach it. So when a new actor asks one of these agencies where to train, the answer comes back to us, and when one of our students is ready, we send them across town with our name behind them. There are no shortcuts in that loop. The class is where it starts.