When it comes to getting in to meet an agent, the first words out of most people’s mouths will be: “Get a referral. It’s the best way.” Except that…it isn’t. I believe the best way to get into an agent’s office is as a result of the agent having seen your work and subsequently asking you in for a meeting.
I know, it’s hard to make that happen, but it’s best. Why? Because there’s no middle party, i.e the person who’s doing the referring and to whom the agent feels beholden. It’s just you and the agent. It’s pure. So, am I saying not to pursue referrals or not to take such meetings, or that they can’t work out really well? No, not at all. Sometimes they do. I’m simply saying that if someone has seen your work and wants to meet you, they already know and like what you do and want to spend more time with you. It’s just you and them. No favor to anyone. OK, you say, if it’s good to get referrals and they sometimes work out, and you acknowledge getting your work seen isn’t easy, what is your point?
It’s this. Scores of times actors have said to me, “I had a meeting with an agent the other day. It didn’t go well at all.”
And I've said, “Oh, was it a referral?” And over 90 percent of the time, the actor says, “Yes, how did you know?”
Because they didn’t want to meet you, they more or less had to meet you as a favor or a courtesy to someone (client, casting director, mutual friend,etc.).
OK, I’ll give you a couple of examples. Recently an actor told me she had a meeting that “didn't go well.” The agent glanced at her résumé, saw her best credit which happened be Broadway and said, “Wow, that was a long time ago!”
“Referral?” I asked, and she said, “Yes, my teacher knows her.” I told her that there it was; someone did someone a favor. I told her that had the agent seen her in something and brought her in because she was impressed with her work and genuinely wanted to meet with her, she would have been far less likely to sit there and insult her…which is what she did.
So, should she not have gone in? Yes, she should have gone in. It might have gone in another direction. I’m just trying to explain why it happened the way it did.
One more example (I have many): One of my students from a top school had a meeting with an agent after having been seen in a play. According to my theory, so far so good, right? Then the actor said something negative happened. Someone at the agency sat him down and said, “Look, the first year you’re here, we expect screen tests if not a pilot booking. Second year, a pilot, or you’re done here!” So I asked the actor if this was the agent who saw him in the play?
And he said, “No. The agent who saw me in the play walked me down the hall to meet someone else who hadn’t seen my work.” Just as I thought. Agent 1 decided to introduce this actor to Agent 2, who felt interrupted and had no idea of the actor’s work firsthand and just was, well, rude. (Good news: This actor is now an award-nominated name actor who has a series that he booked at another agency where everyone he met had seen his work and welcomed him).
So what I’m saying is this: By all means, take your referrals, but if something unpleasant happens, think about how you got in there. Also, bear in mind that the degree of niceness or impoliteness that comes your way can be predicated on how much the agent values the relationship of the person by whom you were referred. And then give yourself a break by realizing any negativity probably has nothing to do with you. It was the nature of the situation. There, few agents are in a position to get prickly with a casting director, rarely are they able to get prickly with their employer, and cannot (if they’re smart) get too prickly with an important client who now has options to go to other agencies.
So in you come, vulnerable as can be, and someone, unfortunately, has found someone upon whom to take out their frustrations. For this and many other reasons I say to actors everywhere: I salute your courage. Hang in there. It takes guts to do what you’re doing—day after day after day.
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