No one would fault you if your perception of an agent is that they’re going to throw opportunity after opportunity on your lap. But in reality, they may need a second to remember who you are. So, what’s with the misperception as to what agents do for you and your career? Let’s talk about why they might not be booking you the kind of work that you think they should be.
There are a bunch of reasons that agents might not be working for you and I’m going to give you three of what I think are the biggest ones so you’re better equipped when it’s time to land an agent.
Reason number one, the roster is overstacked. This can happen a lot, especially nowadays. People expect their agents to spend a lot of time and energy on them specifically. But what they fail to realize is that agents have to make their money from the majority of their talent. It’s an equity game for them. If an agent is only making 10 percent of your pay, that means they have to work with a lot of different talent in order to make their entire business function. They can’t be expected to function entirely on the 10 percent they get from your work specifically. Even if you were making $2 million a year with them, they’re only getting $200,000 that they then have to distribute throughout their entire agency for staff, agents, and more.
That $200k isn’t going to go as far as you’d first think. So, agents tend to build their rosters pretty big. Especially the more popular coastal agents in New York City and Los Angeles. This is why it’s a good idea when you sign with an agent to know exactly the kind of role you’re playing on their roster. Or, If they already have several different versions of you and you’re not providing them with anything new or particularly unique. Finding a home in an agency isn’t as important as finding the right home in an agency.
Reason number two: You’re not bringing the goods. This could be a problem for more established talent if they get comfortable within an agency. They might all of a sudden find that their bookings go down sharply and they don’t realize that they’ve been sort of resting on their laurels while the industry has changed and shifted around them.
This also comes from the perception that getting an agent is the end-all-be-all of your career. Remember, you’re in charge of your career. You will always be the most passionate advocate of it. An agent is part of your team, yes. But you need to provide the skill and the business sense to make the most of that relationship.
Remember, it’s not the agent that gets the job, it’s your skill. If you’re not keeping up on your skills, keeping up with the trends, looking at what’s working in today’s creative world, then an agent isn’t going to be able to market you. Nobody wants to be the Hollywood has-been. And you can prevent that from being you by never being satisfied with where you are from an artistic perspective.
Reason number three. You’re not building relationships. This is the real one. It’s the one that catches people off guard most often. And it really comes, as all of these things do, from not understanding what an agent really does for you. An agent isn’t just a traffic cop. They’re there to just provide you with jobs as they come to them.
An agent, at its most effective, is the champion of your career. There’s someone that’s going to vouch for you. advise you, give you opportunities on top of that. The only way they can do that with you, is by having a relationship. You need to treat this professional relationship as more than just business. Just don’t be weird about it. You can care about your agent without uncovering everything there is to know about them.
Even if it is a method by which you make money and the agent also makes money, business is just a reflection of the quality of personal relationships between you and your agent or you and your clients. Do you have good rapport with them? Are you checking in with them about what you’re doing for them, what they’re doing for you? Are you setting good expectations? Are you on time with your submissions? Do you make their work harder for them? Or do you come out of every session making your agent’s reputation better as well as your own? You have to be their champion as much as they are yours. Make them look good, and they’ll make you look good.
As you can see, there are a lot of different dimensions to the relationship between you and your agent. And it’s important that you consider all of them if you’re going to make this relationship work for you. Always remember that agents are only one part of your career.
