“So what do you do all day?”
I get that question all the time. It’s hard to answer, because every day is different. So to provide you with an accurate answer, I decided to keep a diary for an entire workday. What follows is the straight dope, unedited—except for the names I’ve changed to protect the annoying.
9:50 a.m. I get in every day at just about the same time with a cup of coffee and a bag of hope.
10:10 a.m. I always have three windows open on my computer: The first is breakdowns, so I can jump on them as they come in. The second is Outlook, so I can check emails. And the third is Deadline. That’s where agents go for the latest news in the entertainment industry.
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10:50 a.m. I’ve been here less than an hour and I’m already flooded with breakdowns. Submissions are a crucial part of my job. They’re the first line of attack, so they need to get done.
11:30 a.m. A client named Janice just sent me a passive-aggressive email where she explains how much she loves me but she hasn’t had an audition in over three weeks and what’s up with that?
11:31 a.m. There’s a role on “NCIS” that’s perfect for Janice, so I call the casting director and score! He agrees to see her the next day.
11:32 a.m. Janice tells me she’s not available the next day. It turns out she’s working on a commercial and forgot to book out.
11:33 a.m. My assistant convinces me it’s too early to start drinking.
11:50 a.m. Good news! There’s an article on Deadline about a client of mine who just booked a recurring role on a network series. Bad news! My agency isn’t mentioned because the idiot manager forgot to include us in the email she sent the editors.
11:55 a.m. My assistant hands me a brochure about an anger management class.
12:42 p.m. I’ve been keeping track and, so far, I’ve received 12 submissions from actors I would never sign.
1:00 p.m. Agents eat lunch at 1. Anyone who wants to meet at 12:30 or 1:30 is an amateur.
1:30 p.m. I’m having an amazing meal with a lawyer who represents my most successful client. He invited me, so he pays. Them’s the rules.
2:45 p.m. I’m back in the office, and my first call is from one of my neediest clients. He explains that he’s just checking in to see if he’ll have any auditions soon. I agree to ask my crystal ball as soon as I buy one.
3:10 p.m. The count on submissions is up to 17. One of them is from an actor in his 40s who isn’t in the union yet.
3:15 p.m. I tell my assistant to hold all calls so I can spend the next 30 minutes pitching. I usually score one audition for every five pitches.
4:00 p.m. I take meetings with potential clients every day at this time. Most of these actors are referred by someone I trust, but today is different. This is an actor I’ve been chasing. He’s at a larger company, but his point person just left so he’s feeling a lack of love.
4:30 p.m. I crushed that meeting. The two of us bonded over our love of Chicago. He was super impressed because I knew a bar he didn’t think anyone else knew. Will he sign? It’s too soon to tell. He’s got other meetings set up. This whole business is about delayed gratification.
4:35 p.m. Damn, the breakdowns piled up while I was in the meeting. Back to the grind!
READ: “TV Shows Always Filming in Chicago”
5:10 p.m. This is the best part of my job: calling clients with auditions. The only thing that beats it is calling them with offers.
6:25 p.m. The final tally on submissions is 26, mostly from actors with no credits. This is disappointing. I actually like bringing in people from blind submissions if I see a spark of promise in them.
7:00 p.m. That’s it, game over. Tonight, I’m attending a workshop. Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing a client in a play. And the night after that, I have a date lined up with a bottle of scotch and my DVR.
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