Developmental Talent and the Developing Agent
Am I a Developmental Talent?
Often when
entertainment industry professionals get together they have a shorthand lingo for
the levels of talent that they work with.
This article is
intended to clarify not only the definition of ‘developmental talent’ but to
help those very same talent understand some helpful methods for working their
way into the Hollywood ‘system.’
Topics:
·
Things
Developmental Talent Hear
·
LEVELS OF SUCCESS, HOLLYWOOD STYLE
·
TALENT CAREERS:
AGENTS WHO BUILD VS. AGENTS WHO BORROW
·
TAKE YOUR AGENT
SERIOUSLY
·
HOLLYWOOD IS 'HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY'
·
REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS
·
TAKING ACTION
·
DEVELOPMENTAL ROSTER REQUIREMENTS FOR MOST AGENTS
·
MOVING FROM ONE REPRESENTATIVE TO ANOTHER
·
Things
Developmental Talent Say
·
WHAT DEVELOPMENTAL TALENT MAY EXPECT FROM A TALENT AGENT
Things Developmental Talent Hear:
“We’re going to
hip pocket you”
“We’re not
going to sign you just yet but we’ll do an experiment together.”
“We’re going to
let our Junior Agent work with you initially.”
These are phrases and
expressions often heard by both ‘newbie’s’ who just got into town with their
Masters degrees in Theatre, as well as by actors with years of experience in
regional theatre but without any big name theatre credits on their resume.
LEVELS
OF SUCCESS, HOLLYWOOD STYLE:
NAME
TALENT: These
are talent who have name or at the very least face recognition among the
American and sometimes International public. They are easy to 'sell' and
projects are plentiful for them.
These talents would be
repped by the lead or senior talent agents at any reputable agency.
WORKING
TALENT: These
are talent who work regularly as Guest Stars on TV and Supporting Roles in
Feature Films and/or work regularly in Commercials and Print. Many agents
desire to work with these steady income earners.
DEVELOPMENTAL
TALENT: These
are talent who are either experienced in other aspects of entertainment (Live
Theatre, Student Films, Modeling, Sports Figures, Dancers etc), or have
recently completed academic training or are simply BRAND NEW to the
entertainment industry.
- Developmental
Talent could have appeared in 30 or more stage productions. Unless they
are recognizable theatres in NYC or other parts of the country--these are
still Developmental talent.
- Developmental
Talent could have appeared in 20 commercials. They are still Developmental
for feature films and televisions series.
- Developmental
Talent could have gone to Yale, Harvard, Northwestern--the finest dramatic
education money can buy--they're still developmental talent.
- Developmental
Talent may have trained with the best independent acting schools in Los
Angeles or New York--still developmental.
In general, developmental
talent come in with materials that need to be added to, worked on or improved.
Pictures, digital reel,
resume. In some cases a Talent Agent may ask a person to change their hair, teeth,
body, make up, wardrobe to become more marketable.
In other cases the Agent may
love a Developmental Talent’s look but feel strongly that they must quickly get
into more advanced dramatic or comedic training with recognizable teachers in
New York or Southern California.
TALENT CAREERS: AGENTS WHO BUILD VS. AGENTS WHO BORROW
Essentially,
when an agent takes on a ‘developmental talent’ they are performing an informal experiment. The experiment is to discover if the talent
is easily marketable or presents more of a marketing challenge.
Each agency and
talent agent are unique in their approach to developmental talent.
Some large
agencies won’t get anywhere near ‘developmental talent’ unless they walk in
with a recognizable face from some other
industry (sports/politics) or are under 13 years old.
Some small
agencies wont take on developmental talent because they cannot afford to wait
until the talent has achieved a fair amount of success in the industry. They
need talent who already have a track record because those agencies live and die
based on their bookings which must be plentiful.
And the
opposite can also be true. There are large and small agencies that are more ‘risk
takers’ and ‘long term investors’ in talent.
Some agencies
do operate like nervous stock brokers. Like the stock broker who won’t take on
a stock that isn’t almost guaranteed to double in price (and who’ll sell off
stock at the first time it drops even slightly in value) these agencies only
want ‘the sure thing.’ They wont touch developmental talent. Instead they’ll
wait for the hardest working men and women in show business do that FOR them.
They’ll let a boutique agency build the value of a talent through sheer
tenacity, assertiveness and a large dose of faith. Then once the blood, sweat
and tears have been shed by the pitbull of an agent who forced his client up
the food chain, the ‘Borrowing’ Agent will capitalize on the first agent’s work
and take on the ‘ready-made’ client that has been built up.
It’s certainly
understandable. Who wouldn’t want the easy sale? Who wants to court rejection? But when it comes to commitment and hard work,
it’s the Builder Agent you want in your corner.
TAKE YOUR AGENT SERIOUSLY
Some agencies
will take on a ‘developmental talent for 3 months. Some will hold on to them
for several years.
Some agents
will hold onto a developmental talent as a favor (to a manager, to the client
themselves, etc) and allow the manager to do the ‘heavy lifting’ of submitting
the untested client and simply come in at the end when the deal must be
negotiated and the work procured.
But when an Agent is
INVESTED in the success of the developmental actor, they will provide some
guidance to set the actor on a path out of development and into the the arena
of the Working Actor. They will submit that talent aggressively and
consistently to CDs and Producers .
As indicated, every talent
agency is unique. In general however we can say that most agents have less time
for grooming talent than do Personal Managers. It is for this reason that
Developmental Talent must take very seriously, the advice given by any Talent
Agent offering formal or informal representation.
Taking your agent seriously
means that when the agent requested it, you:
changed your portfolio
materials (pictures, video, resume) if and when requested.
joined appropriate acting
classes
explored different
photographers.
The agent will then take you you
more seriously. And when, based on the new changes, they see you achieve
multiple auditions and multiple callbacks or bookings within 3 months to a year
(depending on the agents representation philosophy) the agent may offer more
formal and aggressive representation.
Here’s what would let an Agent know that an actor is not ready to move out of development but IS ready to move out of the agent’s talent roster.
--The actor didnt change or
upgrade or edit materials as requested.
--The actor didnt confirm
or respond to auditions.
--The actor didnt begin classes/trainings
when requested.
--Casting Directors did not
respond to the same old materials that the actor kept (showing that they
ignored the agent’s advice).
Yes Booking
the job mean Success: But
for some Agents, success is something that is built over the long term and they
define success more broadly.
Sometimes the actor does
everything right:
·
You
make the agent-requested changes,
·
you go
to workshops,
·
you
increase training,
·
you
get into lots of unpaid productions to increase your reel,
·
you
film your own reel, etc.
When some Agents see
this kind of HUSTLE they will often give credit by continuing the business
relationship with a ‘non-booking’ actor as an act of faith.
HOLLYWOOD
IS 'HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY':
As an agent, I'm a strong
believer in talent, regardless of industry experience or credits.
However, while you may have
reasonably good credits in Theatre or a unique look or training, Hollywood is
indeed sometimes similar to a High School Popularity Contest. If you are a ‘Developmental
Talent’ right now you're not 'popular’ by Hollywood standards. But a good Talent Agent may create strategies to
fix that.
In Hollywood
POPULAR means you have all of these elements:
- You've been
in one or more well-known television shows or movies with speaking roles.
- Casting
Directors are familiar with your acting skill through workshops.
- You've got a
dynamic digital video online on your various casting website profiles.
- You've got
amazing pictures that 'pop' and are impossible to ignore.
If you are a Developmental
Talent, more than likely you're missing one of these popularity elements.
So how do you become
'popular' in the entertainment industry?
Just like the 'new kid in
school' your best strategy is to hook up with someone who IS popular, whom
everyone knows and likes. You want to connect with an AGENT (or Talent Manager)
who has gained the trust of the 'high
school' and whose taste in people everyone generally agrees with.
Essentially, when a Talent Agent takes you on as a Developmental Talent, that is what s/he is offering to you.
The Agent is offering their aesthetic seal of approval and lending you a piece
of their reputation as a ‘tastemaker.’
But remember, even the
‘popular kid’ in school cannot force the other kids to like the ‘new kid.’ The
established, popular kid can only give his approval and hope others follow his
lead. If the new kid acts foolishly during the introductions, he hurts himself
AND he lowers the reputation of the established popular kid as well.
REASONABLE
EXPECTATIONS:
As the 'new kid in town',
the Talent Agents have various expectations of you if you want them to
represent you. The right Talent Agent will offer you the chance to prove yourself
while they are proving to you and themselves that you are indeed marketable.
The most popular girl in
high school can make high demands on her friends if she's a real pain...she can
insist on 'more attention' and constantly demand that her friends call her
every day or 'prove' to her that they admire and respect her and are actively
doing things for her benefit.
Like the most popular girl,
successful Talent Agents have actors who are getting lots of work, are on lots
of tv shows and films, and yes, Talent Agents do have the rare successful actor
who may sometimes act like a prima donna and demand lots and lots of attention
from their agent. They can become demanding and insist on directing the efforts
of the agent. For example, insisting that the agent submit on roles for which
the talent may not be appropriate or insisting on a certain number of auditions
per week.
Now all of these demands
would be reasonable WANTS or DESIRES. But they are not reasonable if they
become COMMANDMENTS. And they are certainly not reasonable for actors who are
‘developmental.’ or the ‘new kid in town’ (even if you’ve lived in NY or LA all
your life you can still be the new kid as far as film and tv industry is
concerned).
Sometimes these popular but
demanding actors can have demanding managers as well, insisting on much more
micro-management of their represented actors career. Frankly, if the talent is
Jim Carey or Jack Nicholson or Brad Pitt, most agents will swallow their pride
and do whatever it is they need to do to please the talent and/or their
manager.
And frankly, to
most agents, it’s worth it.
And someday, when the
Developmental Talent is in the luxurious position of achieving that level of
success, they too could become a demanding talent (although everyone in
Hollywood prefers the diplomatic talent who works together with the agent
rather than as their boss).Until that lucky day, however, Agents expect Developmental
Talent to be REASONABLE talent with REASONABLE expectations.
TAKING
ACTION:
So when a Talent Agent offers Developmental Talent a formal or
informal place on their talent roster, the agent will need to see the talent take
fast and decisive action based on a critique of the talent’s materials.
Of course, for many actors, changing materials costs money. But there are cost cutting measures a clever actor can take.
- Getting a
friend with a high end digital camera may or may not achieve desired
results.
- Working with
other actors and writing your own webisodes may be your only alternative
if you cannot get into lots of productions quickly.
While a
non-broadcast production is not the most desired digital video, it it is high
quality in all aspects, sound, lighting, content, acting and its focus is on
YOU, it is preferable to no reel at all.
A poorly acted
reel, however, can have a devastating effect in that once viewed by a CD, it is
far more likely that the CD will avoid bringing that talent in to their office
at any time.
DEVELOPMENTAL
ROSTER REQUIREMENTS FOR MOST AGENTS:
1. Ability to get viable
video on ActorsAccess, CastingNetworks, Casting Frontier, NowCasting and the
other electronic profile sites within the first month of representation
2. Ability to get great
pictures that 'pop' on your profile within the first month of representation.
3. No daily calls from
Developmental talent.
4. No requests to submit
developmental talent (i.e. talent without great credits) on major guest star or
major feature film roles. Talent must achieve smaller roles in recognizable
Hollywood productions before this can take place.
5. Trust from talent that
they are being submitted.
6. Many agents wont take
phone calls about projects in pre-production or on which the CD has not been
selected because a developmental talent 'loved the book' and this is their
dream role. .
7. Developmental talent
must own a quality digital video camera or have access to one in order to
record their own auditions when a Casting Director (CD) requests it (or when
their agent has been given the permission by a CD for a talent
self-submission video.
8. Developmental talent continue
to build a reel of independent projects including webisodes, student films etc.
High quality pixels, sound, script. Doesnt need to cost money--does need to
show your skill.
MOVING
FROM ONE REPRESENTATIVE TO ANOTHER:
Sometimes a talent will meet
a new Talent Agent after already having worked with previous agents or
managers. Here are some of the statements we've heard:
Things Developmental Talent Say:
"I
got auditions at least once or twice a week but I didnt get the bookings."
Getting 2 auditions a week
without getting bookings could mean many things including:
a. Your agent sent you on
auditions for which you may not have had the requisite skill.
b. Your agent may have sent
you on auditions by submitting pictures that didnt reflect your actual look and
thus you might never get a callback just for that reason alone.
c. Your look and training
may have been accurate but your performance in the audition room didnt meet CD
expectations.
For this reason you might
see the number of auditions with a new agency DROP in frequency, at least until
you get better, more accurate pictures/reel/training...OR the new agency may be
more selective based on how they perceive your skill level and thus may not
send you out on EVERY project that matches your age and look. The talent agency
may also be too busy with too many paying castings to get you out on
independent non-paying projects. That too could lower your audition rate.
Think about it this way: If
your old agent got you out to 40 auditions a year and you booked 1 of them; and
now your new agent gets you out to 15 auditions a year and you book 5 of them,
who is the better agent?
Or, consider this: if your
old agent got you auditions on every webisode, undergrad film school deferred
pay project, and your new agent only found auditions for you in pilots,
episodics and feature films, who is the better agent?
But, the opposite could
also happen. New representation could potentially meet and beat your previous
agent's audition stats.
"My
previous agent always called me back the same day I called them."
The previous agent might
have had too much time on their hands if they were calling you and shmoozing a
lot. That might be a sign of poor work habits, not conscientiousness.
Successful talent agents spend lots of time getting bookings, negotiating
contracts for talent who are WORKING in features, episodics, commercials and
print. Talent Agents have to go where the heat is.
WHAT DEVELOPMENTAL
TALENT MAY EXPECT FROM A TALENT AGENT:
- Representation
from an established agency with a reputation for booking talent as series
regulars, guest stars, recurring co-stars, starring and supporting actors
in features.
- Regular
submission of talent materials to paying (and sometimes deferred) projects
by the Agent, with strong support from assistants.
- A deeper
commitment when the agency sees evidence of talent progress in creating
proper materials, getting proper training, and Casting Directors
responding to submits.
The Talent
Agent/Developmental Talent relationship, like any relationship, requires
clarity and forthrightness. Both parties want to see if it’s a good fit. We
find that relationships are best when expectations are (diplomatically)stated
up front.
Sincerely,
Ross Grossman
Director
Affinity Artists Agency
Licensed,
SAG/AFTRA/AEA/WGA/DGA/AFM
