How to Get an Acting Agent

Many actors are scared of their agents. So they either cower in the corner or annoyingly suck up, and neither one gets them a single audition. Here’s the situation, and it changes how you go about getting an agent in the first place: your agent works for you.

How do you get an acting agent?

You get work first. Train until you’re ready to audition, book a few things without representation, put them on a résumé and a reel, and then submit to the SAG-AFTRA franchised agencies in your area and audition for them like it’s a job, because it is. An agent’s job is to make money from helping you get work, so you walk in with evidence that you can. There is no fee, and there are no shortcuts.

What an agent actually does

A good agent advocates for you. They open doors, make connections and give guidance as you move through the stages of a career. The higher quality jobs usually run through their agencies, which is why you want one. But understand the job before you go looking. Their job is to make money from helping you get work. Subtext: your agent doesn’t have to be your best friend. If you aren’t producing income for them you will be dropped from the agency, and, without meaning to sound harsh, you should be. The relationship only works if it works for both of you.

When you’re ready to approach one

You don’t need an agent to get started, and you should begin working before you approach one. You’ll want something on your résumé and something on your reel to demonstrate your value. Student films count. Industrials count. The unpaid short you did for a film student counts, if the footage is good. Don’t audition for an agency until you are truly prepared and have trained enough to be ready to work. You can’t undo a bad first impression, and agents in the same town talk to each other.

How to find the right one

1. Start with the franchised list. SAG-AFTRA publishes which agencies it has franchised in each state. That list is where legitimate representation lives. In Arizona, the agencies are listed here.
2. Read the reviews. Then do the thing I tell every student: google the agent’s name with the word “scam” next to it and see what comes up.
3. Talk to the actors they represent. The very best way to get a feel for an agent is to ask the people already on their roster. Glowing reviews from your peers are the sign you want.
4. Choose sincere interest over a big name. Be patient with the process and pick the agent who shows the most real interest in your talent. That is the one who will get you working, and working is what keeps you motivated to stay on your game.

The two warning signs

Fees at signing. There should not be a fee for a legitimate agent to represent you. Some agencies charge a modest amount to upload your materials to their website and keep them live. That’s different from the scam schools and agencies that want hundreds or thousands of dollars up front just to put your name on a list.

Pressure to sign today. No agent should ever push you to decide on the spot. Take the contract home. Read it carefully. Come back tomorrow. If the offer evaporates overnight, it was never an offer.

Who works for whom

Your agent works for you, which makes them contracted labor inside your business. Sure, you may have to audition for them to get signed, but after that they are working on 100 percent commission. So be professional and mature enough to understand the deal: their responsibility is to present you on a pedestal, and yours is to earn their focus and work harder than anyone else on the roster to stay at the front of their mind.

Check in periodically. Ask what the market looks like and how they plan to get you seen. Ask if there’s anything you can do on your end to make their job easier. Maybe they’d land you more auditions with new headshots, or with a stronger section on your résumé. Whatever it is, make it happen, and know the details of how you’re being shopped. If it isn’t working, wait until your contract expires and move on. No excuses. It’s your career, and your success is nobody’s fault but your own.

One caution. Don’t move agents too often. Agents know each other and they talk, and you don’t want to be known as the actor who jumps all over the place. Before you leave, make sure you’ve done everything you could on your end, and keep the relationship positive on the way out. The grass is not always greener.

Managers and entertainment lawyers

Everything above holds for both. The difference is timing. You won’t need either until later. A manager helps you manage your auditions and roles once there are too many to handle alone. An entertainment lawyer negotiates the big contracts once you’ve climbed above standard rates. Agents, managers and lawyers all take a percentage of your acting income, so be sure you’re ready and can justify each of them before you add them.

The agent is not the shortcut

Here’s the order I recommend, and it’s the opposite of what most beginners try. Focus on skill first, so that you can go after the very best agent in your area. Then rise to become the top earner at that agency. Then work like hell to widen the gap between you and everyone else in your demographic. Every step of that starts in a class, and none of it starts in an agent’s office.