Steve Skrovan was a standup and actor in New York, but Hollywood turned him into a writer and television producer. Here's his story:
"[In New York] I got a commercial agent first through doing showcases like Manhattan Punch Line. [The] agent sent me up on an audition where I got a job hosting a talk show on MTV. That job led to the job out in L.A. It's always the chicken and the egg. I would say usually it's the job comes first. I got out of the acting performing game after three years out here. I have an axiom: Writers are people who are not good enough to be actors, and writers are not good-looking enough to be actors."
Skrovan appeared on Seinfeld, which led to his writing for Seinfeld, which led to writing more than 30 episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and becoming one of its executive producers. His current project is a comedy special on global warming called Earth to America airing on TBS on Nov. 20.
About agenting differences between New York and L.A., he says, "In L.A. everybody is represented, so it's more about people switching agencies…. In New York it's more about developing talent. You're more likely to be able to get an agent in New York without credits than in L.A."
Karen Sillas is a successful actor by any measure, starring frequently in films and on television as well as on stage. But now she is in transition: sans agent and sans manager. How is the business different in L.A.?
"There are so many people out here—so many agents…so many managers, everything.… It might be the same animal on both coasts, [but] in New York it feels a little bit more pure. In New York it's a smaller animal.… Los Angeles is just the huge machine that's eating and spitting out.
"[Starting in L.A.], you gotta have the résumé, the pictures, the great up-to-date stuff.… I even have to have my demo reel edited all the time to make it quick, because there's a different energy."
Can you exist in L.A. with only a manager?
"Yes, I think that you can, [but] you have to get out there. That's what an agent does: gets you out there…. The agent is like a city person who just says, 'Here's 10 auditions', and the manager goes, 'Yeah, maybe two of these are really appropriate.' …Let the agents come to you. Maybe I was blessed. I never had to go looking for it."
Dan Hagen was a New York actor; now he's a Hollywood actor.
"I came out here in '95. I asked my New York agent to hook me up with a Los Angeles agent, and the [L.A.] commercial [agent] said, 'We have these people we want you to meet.' They wanted to work with me.
"It's harder to get a theatrical agent…. I had to know somebody who recommended somebody. It took me six months. They started to work with me and things started to work out okay…. I figure it's more important to have an agent out here."
How else is it different?
"You gotta have tape. I was out here doing a [play], and I went up to the agents and I said, 'I'm going to be on stage. Come see me.' And they said, 'Well, do you have any tape?' I said, 'No, it's a theatre.' [They said], 'No, no, we don't really do that.'
"The difference between voiceovers in New York and L.A. [is that in L.A.] you go into your agent's office. I found that in New York you go to see more people. So it's easier to get a job [in New York] because you're actually meeting the client and the casting person.
"[My agent] decided he wanted to produce a musical…. He couldn't and be an agent, but he could and be a manager. He said, 'Do you want to come with me? I'm going to be a manager.' So I went with him. I'm actually in the process of adding an agent to my manager: Work being so scarce, the more people pitching you, the better."
Mary Linda Phillips was a successful commercial actor when she left New York in 1989. In Hollywood, she does TV dramas, commercials, and looping. How is it different in L.A.?
"I feel it's a numbers game out here. In New York it's more an agenting situation.
"The 'look' factor annoys me…. My agent called and said, "You have one business suit and a happy face. I don't see anything where you're real weepy.' And I said, 'But I'm an actor and my résumé [indicates] that.' But 'they wouldn't believe that you could cry. Do you have a picture that [shows you] crying?' It seemed like [the picture] was really going to be selling me and not my agents.
"But you've got to have an agent. There are people who submit themselves through Breakdown Services and they have managers—that's a change.
"I never did the manager bit because I did so well with commercials and I knew that a manager would have 15 percent of everything. I thought, Okay, [either] that or I don't get to read the few [legit] things I get to read for because [the manager] pumps behind the agent.
"I just read for two feature films in the last 10 days. But if [the manager] calls me directly, I have to call the agent, they'll take their 10 percent…. It's my call, but boy, that's 15 and the agent is 10, but if [agents go] to 15…. I don't know where this business is going if that ever happens."
Does doing commercials in L.A. hurt your chance of getting legit work?
"It doesn't hurt you. I was in the business when it probably did type you. My Sure deodorant spot ran for two years. Nowadays commercials run three months. The industry doesn't have that kind of memory…. I would believe that the exposure on the commercials helps. It can be a good showcase."
Craig Dorfman is an L.A. manager who was an agent in both New York and Los Angeles. He's been a manager since 2003. How does he view the differences?
"In New York it's much more of a community. Everybody knew each other. It was friendlier. In New York, everybody seemed to really like actors. Out here someone can be a great actor, but they're never going to make the money necessary in this town…. If somebody isn't completely commercial—meaning already known—or 18 and beautiful, [they] can't even get an agent to rep them. It's terrible…. In New York we met at the theatre every night. In L.A. you meet on the phone."
In Hollywood, should an actor get an agent first or a manager?
"A manager. A manager can do the beginning work and acclimate an actor to L.A.… Agencies have to have a lot of clients to make their overhead; managers know more of their clients' needs than agents. You kind of need a cheerleader within the agency."
How do you tell who's a good manager?
"If anyone asks you to pay them money in addition to a commission, that's a bad manager. If they ask you to sign a contract that's indentured servitude, that's a bad manager…. Everyone can sign an actor and get them work if they're passionate about it…. There are many ways to get that actor seen. A lot out here is the one-job snowball. There's a kid out here who just got the lead in a Fox series from a casting director at a free read. It can happen."
Holly Powell is a casting director who started in New York at Manhattan Punch Line and now runs Hollywood's Powell/Melcher Casting, which casts television's The 4400, Eve, Cuts, and One on One. Regarding New York versus L.A., she says:
"You can leave a meeting with an agent [in L.A.] and think they love you. You could be wrong, because people are pretty nice and completely insincere. In New York, people kind of tell you like it is.
"You can freelance in New York, and you really can't do that in L.A.… Also, you have to be in your car and go find things.
"Showcases are not treated here with the same weight…. In New York, if someone was in a showcase, the agent would say, 'He's unavailable.' Here they say, 'Yeah, he's in a play, but I can get him out.'
"Managers have really sprung up. More actors are operating with just managers…. Actors have to pay an additional 10 or 15 percent, but sometimes it can really pay off.
"Actors have to do their homework…. Buy [a book] about casting directors, find out which shows they cast, and target them. Send them a picture and résumé and say, 'I know you cast NYPD Blue, and I'd like to be considered.' If an actor sends out a postcard with a picture on it, that's a better bet that you'll be called in for a two-line part…because a lot of actors that I know won't do them."
What else can you do?
"Get into a play. Even if [industry people] don't show up, you will be doing something…. Get in some kind of class. And a good picture is a large thing."
What kind of picture? And should it be black-and-white or color?
A shot with "some mystery going on.… Color helps me see the eye and hair color and they pop out…. I like [it to be] further back, a little off-center thing—I really respond to those kinds of shots."
Bob Waters was a New York agent and is now an agent in L.A.
"The reason I came out here was to develop really hot people that were doing well. We knew we'd lose them if we had no presence in L.A. What I didn't know was you could lose them anyway...because when you have someone who's young and hot, everybody comes out of the woodwork.
"I've always liked California…but I don't think the business [here] is anything to be excited about.… It's much harder in Los Angeles than it is in New York."
For agents or actors?
"For everyone...because there's so many of us…. Clients sit down at a very small table. We always thought California was the land of milk and honey…but [success] happens to very few people. If anything, there are more scale jobs out here than there ever were.… The people who come out here with no experience, unless they're the most beautiful things that ever walked the face of the earth, don't have a shot…. Unfortunately, a lot of people come out here with absolutely no experience and no talent…. They go to the movies and it looks so easy.
"The manager was born…because the agent got so greedy taking on so many clients that the actor couldn't even get the agent on the phone. They have to speak to somebody to find out how their career is going. So they hired a middle person…. A manager was never supposed to do the same thing an agent does. The managers took [it] upon themselves to double submit.… It's a rat race, let me tell you…. They don't give a shit about actors in California, but I think they always had a positive attitude about actors in New York.
"In order to be successful out here [as an agent], you need to be ruthless and very aggressive—much more than in New York."
How can an actor succeed in Hollywood?
"An actor has to be serious about his craft, [he] has to be in class. Because if you're not acting, you have to go somewhere to do it.… There are a lot of classes out here now, and I really think that's because actors have no place to act."