FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- How do you guys know who the top agents are?
- I heard that when looking for a new agent that I should not put SAG Eligible on my resume.
What’s wrong with that?
- Should I join SAG when I’m eligible?
- How Do I Determine My “Type?”
- Do I have to wait until my contract expires to fire my agent or manager?
Q. How do you guys know who the top agents are?
A. Our scouts (veteran actors that have worked in commercials successfully for at least 10 years) noticed a pattern going back several years now, that on mostly all of the bigger, higher paying commercial auditions-American Express, AT&T, McDonalds, Lexus etc…, basically, a consistent pool of the same names of commercial agencies were always on the sign in sheets at commercial auditions. For the first few years our scouts did not jump to any specific conclusions before doing more research. We interviewed top Casting Directors and other “A Class” actors to be certain about this elite group of Agencies. More years of research proved that our ideas about these agencies are absolutely correct! There are a very strong Top 25 commercial agents (the agencies with the asterisks by their names in the Top 50 Commercial Agents guide), and another very respectable 25 give or take, that have developed strong relationships with Commercial Casting Directors over the years. Keep in mind though, no matter how great an agency is, all of its clients are more than likely not happy with them. In other words, even some top 25 agents have clients that complain that they’ve heard how great their agency is, but they don’t seem to be great for them. But, we at Info4actors suggest that when looking for a commercial agent, focus on these agents. Eventually you will find a great fit in this focus group of top companies.
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Q. I heard that when looking for a new agent that I should not put SAG Eligible on my resume.
What’s wrong with that?
A.According to several top agents that we have interviewed, it does not work in an actors favor to put SAG E or SAG Eligible on your resume when seeking agency representation. Unless the agent is only looking to fill their Non-Union division roster with actors they plan to keep in that division, the agent believes that actors who are in the “Union” to be more profitable for them than an actor that is not in the Union. Basically, Union jobs pay more and are protected by SAG payment and work safety standards as opposed to Non-Union jobs.
Being SAG Eligible means that after the 30 day time period from the date of your eligibility or actual work date, you must join the Guild in order to work on a Union job. You must then fill out a new membership application and pay the fee to join. This can be done on an emergency basis for work clearance. Contact New Memberships at The Screen Actors Guild, 5757 Wilshire Blvd., LA, CA 90036, 800-SAG-0767.
The problem agents have with an actor that is “eligible” is that based on experience, once the actor books a Union job and is required to join the Guild in order to work on that job, the actor usually does not have the funds to join. This is very frustrating for the agent because of all the work they put into submissions, follow-up and actually securing the booking for the actor. An agent is less likely to take a chance on an actor that is SAG Eligible as opposed to an actor that is already in the Guild (same “type” of course) when considering new actors for representation.
The bottom line is if you are SAG Eligible, you are only a payment away from being an actual Guild Member (just like a Guild member behind on their dues and must pay up to get work clearance). When you put SAG on your resume when looking for an agent, it appears to the agent that you are in the Guild (remember just a payment away). The agent sees no potential “Union” problems and usually does not even question your SAG status (paid up dues etc…) when meeting with the agent for representation.
Now, here’s the rub. Start saving your money NOW in increments to join the Guild. When you are up for a job you don’t want to give your agent the excuse that you don’t have the money to join the Guild, and the job goes to another actor. Get the money somehow, borrow it, get a loan, beg family members etc…Remember you will be able to pay it back when the residuals start to flow in!
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Q. Should I join SAG when I’m eligible?
A. Absolutely! But watch out because there are some agents out there requesting that you DO NOT join the Guild until you absolutely have to. They claim that you won’t work as much if you are in the Union because there’s too much competition out there for the Union jobs. Here’s the problem with this faulty idea. Most actors plan to have a successful television and film career after they get their start in television commercials. But, you will never get to step onto the lots of Warner Brothers, Sunset-Gower, Studios, Paramount, Raleigh Studios, LA Center studios and the like, to audition for Guest Star, Co-Star, Recurring, Pilots, Series Regular and Film roles if you are not a member of the Screen Actors Guild. So by all means, JOIN THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS AN ACTOR BY DECISION MAKERS!
Many agencies today have non-union commercial departments for the ever growing list of companies like The Target Corporation that use advertising agencies that are non-SAG signatory. These agents want to benefit from having Union as well as Non-Union talent, working them both to increase the overall profits of the company (ex: The Morgan Agency, Dorothy Day Otis Agency etc…). Some of the smaller, less reputable agencies that are mostly recognized by Casting Directors for having Non-Union talent, are seen as the go to agencies for Non-Union jobs. For the latter, if these agencies can’t fulfill the needs of Casting Directors with the talent necessary, and Non-Union actors are that agency’s “bread and butter,” their doors are sure to close soon. Look in the guide published by Acting World Books entitled “THE AGENCIES,” and look under the title AGENCIES THAT RECENTLY CLOSED and you will see some of the agencies that have experienced this. Maybe you’ve experienced the closing of an agency yourself and you felt as if you were starting all over again.
Also, Non-Union work is not protected by the Screen Actors Guild. Meaning, if you do a non-union job and the company does not pay you or your agent, the only recourse you have is small claims court. If Union jobs are late paying session fees and residuals there are penalties assessed to the production companies. Most union signatory companies want to remain in good standing with the Guild and abide by the rules.
For more information about the Union and the benefits of being a member go to www.sag.org
So, it depends on what you see as the outcome of your career. Are you a fully committed actor or do you have one foot in and the other on a banana peel. If you do your homework you will see that any actor that ever had and or has a successful career was, and is, a member of the Screen Actors Guild. We’ve never witnessed an actor that accepted an Oscar that wasn’t!
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Q. How Do I Determine My “Type?”
A. We’ve seen actors (especially young women) baffled by this question for years now. Young women, usually 18-25, when trying to figure out their type, usually take all types of weird pictures (cheerleader photo with pig tails, homeless look, nurse, sexy night gown look etc…) and send them to agents thinking that the agent will be able to determine what type they are. First off, your type is inextricably tied to your personality, so until an agent actually meets with the actor, they would not properly be able to determine the actors type. If an actress is more of the laid back, soft spoken type, she has no business taking a cheerleader shot that requires high energy in auditions and shoots unless she is able to make then necessary adjustments in personality instantaneously.
Here are some easy steps to help you determine your type and it’s very simple:
1. Take photos of yourself dressed in the correct colored clothing based on how you see yourself and your personality (colors are important, do your homework and test what colors look good on you before your shoot). As far as the type of clothing to wear in a commercial headshot, the Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew look works great. (Agents in the know call it the Proctor and Gamble look or
P&G look.
Theatrical photos usually require only a dark colored shirt with collars or V-neck shirt. Do not shoot in stripes, polka dots, small plaids or busy patterns and logos. Red is still questionable. I don’t recommend it.
2. Ladies, I suggest you wear your “everyday” hairstyle in the photo. Your everyday hairstyle is the “go to” hairstyle you wear often, and is easy for you to prepare because you are most familiar with how to create a “good hair day” for it quickly for same day/last minute auditions.
3. If you Photo shop your picture, make sure you don’t remove too many frown lines or things that will be obvious to the agent when you meet with them. A major turn off for an agent is when an actress does not look like her photo or has the “glamour shot” look due to too much Photo shop.
Here’s the important fact in “type” determination. The Casting Director is actually the person that has final say in what type you are not your agent. We’ve experienced cases where the agent sees the actor as a certain type and the Casting Director sees something else once the photo is submitted and does not call in the actor. If this happens consistently, it’s only obvious that the agent has the actor “typed” incorrectly. Soon the actor becomes frustrated and leaves the agent, having to start the search again for another agent (this whole case scenario is, of course, if your agent is even submitting you and has clout with Casting Directors).
You’ll also notice that after you get well established as an actor, you will have at least 7 or 8 Casting Directors calling you in for castings. Three or Four of them may call you for castings consistently to play a young mom, while the others call you in consistently for the “upscale, hip girl.” This usually seems strange to actors but the casting community will have varied opinions in the roles they see you playing.
Again, we can’t reiterate this enough. Take photos that look like you consistent with how you see yourself (do your homework, how do you want to portray yourself? Does the way you portray yourself in your photo really represent who you are? Stop looking for others to define who you are. Casting Directors will be clueless as to what type you are until you have clearly defined yourself!
Also, send only 1 photo to an agent when looking for a commercial agent (smiling or at least a photo with a) and 1 photo when looking for a theatrical agent (non-smiling more mood, serious photo). When you get a meeting, take any other photos from the shoot with you to the meeting (usually a business look) in case the agent asks to see them.
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Q. Do I have to wait until my contract expires to fire my agent or manager?
A. Absolutely not! This information is so important, I wish every actor that is unhappy with their agent or manager could read this. Think about it, in any other field if a person is hired and expected to perform certain duties and the person that hired them has proof that they are not performing to their satisfaction, the individual is fired. They don’t wait in pain until the probationary period is over. It’s should be no different in the relationship between the actor and the agent or manager. And for actors in the know, there is no difference, they fire agents and managers that under perform.
The bottom line is even if the actor has personality conflicts with the agent or manager they will put up with them as long as they are getting auditions. The actor will not want to terminate their relationship as long as the actor feels the relationship is mutually beneficial for the most part. Why would an agent or manager want to hold onto a relationship where there is no productivity? It’s a waste of everyone’s time and very detrimental for the actor. Seeing that they must start all over and look for an agent or manager to carry out the duties that last one was supposed to carry out in the first place.
If you feel you need to terminate your contract with your agent or manager “prematurely” here’s how you do it:
Send the agent or manager a certified letter (this will prove that they received it) telling them in 2 or 3 sentences that as of today’s date you are terminating your contract with them and it is now null and void. You will receive a return receipt that they received the letter. And that’s it!
Most actors make a big deal out of terminating their relationship with their agent or manager. All of a sudden the relationship becomes really important to them when it comes to letting them go even though there has been no productivity in the relationship.
Here’s the rub. The agent or manager couldn’t care less about your letter of termination and more than likely you will never hear from them again because there is no money involved. Remember this, if there was money involved (meaning you have booked jobs with them) you probably would not desire to terminate the relationship unless you have had extreme personality conflicts with the agent or manager. Stop wasting time in relationships that are not working. Take action!
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