Think like an agent

Everyone in town seems to be talking about (dare I say "complaining"?) how hard it is to get an agent.

One actress friend of mine told me that she had mailed her headshot, resume and demo reel to her target list of agents four times, with not a single response. Not only was she questioning her marketing efforts, she was starting to feel pretty bad about herself as well.

Here's my response: think like an agent.

Let's say you come home, open up your mailbox and inside are marketing mailings from Bed Bath and Beyond, The Vitamin Shoppe, Sephora and (of course - this is LA!) the Church of Scientology. Well, last week you bought a new set of towels, so you toss the BB&B mailer. Just this morning you stocked up on multivitamins. And you're all set with your spiritual beliefs, thank you very much. But you might need a new eyeshadow. So the Sephora mailer doesn't quite make it into the recycling bin. Rather, you put it in a huge pile of other vague "to-do" items and proceed to forget about it.

This is what agents are experiencing every day. They are receiving dozens if not hundreds of unsolicited submissions from actors, and unless they have a specific need for you at the moment they open your envelope, you're headed for the recycling bin.

OK, now this seems pretty bleak. But here's why it's not: you have two options. You can hope to be the Sephora mailer, and keep mailing to them until they happen to need your type. Not a terrible idea - it worked for the eyeshadow =) Or, you can reach out. What if right after you tossed that BB&B mailer, a friend called you up and said, I know you just bought towels last week, but I just got the cutest little frog soap dish. You have to get one! You love frogs (doesn't everyone?) so you get right in your car and rush to get a cute frog soapdish before they're all gone. That's a referral.

Referrals, as we've all heard, are gold in this town, precisely because there's such a glut of marketing materials. Consult your network, and ask who would be willing to refer you to a new agent. Once you get the meeting, it's all up to you, but referrals definitely grease the wheels.

But wait, you say, I don't have a network! Hmmm... well, this may or may not be true. I can't say for sure unless you write in with your specific question. I will say that strengthening your network should be a top priority at all times. You see a listing that would help your friend the DP? Send it to him. Someone needs a make-up artist and you loved the one from the last student film you did? Give her a call. As I've said before, if you're in this game for a lifetime, it takes a village...

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