With 35 years of experience in the industry, and nearly 10 of those as an agent, Sue Winik’s love for her job has never dwindled. “You can’t do this if you don’t love it. You gotta love it…It’s too hard!” she says.
As the second of three generations of her family in the industry, the owner of SW Artists understands this business from every angle. In her acting career, she starred in a Dannon Yogurt Light commercial. “I was the woman who should have eaten it,” she laughs. “So I know there’s a place in this business for everybody.”
Now, Winik, chats with Backstage about how agenting has changed and grown over the years.
On how technology has altered the agent-actor relationship.
Winik says, because everything has become so electronic, you can work from anywhere in the world as long as actors are in the place where they need to audition. However, she also admits there’s a downside to the increase of technology.
“This means that we lost a lot of personal contact with each other,” she says. “When I started out there was an open door policy at the place where I was, and pretty much now I have an open phone and email policy. I like my people, I like to know them and I think it’s important for agents to do that.
“It helps you decide what things to submit people for because you know who they are. You know not only what they can do, but what their life plan is and where you’re headed with them,” she adds.
On actors’ expectations of agents.
“Actors sometimes think if they have an agent, because they’re not getting audition, then their agent isn’t working for them,” Winik says. “And that’s not true. Maybe there’s other things not working for them like their pictures or what they’re putting out in auditions, or if they’re not prepared.
“I think it’s really important for an actor to know that if you have an agent, you’re working as a team, and that we all have to do our parts together.”
On things actors do that make the agent-client dynamic difficult.
Winik loves what she does, and wholeheartedly wants the best for any actor she works with, but like anyone, she has things that make her tick.
The first? “People who don’t call me back right away when I put out a call to them for an audition,” she says, something that only hinders an actor’s success and progress in their career.
Followed by when people aren’t themselves in an agent meeting. And lastly?
“Someone came in right from the gym one time in gym clothes,” she says. “Don’t do that!”
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