So I ended my last blog with what I wanted to do... so now on to the easy part, right? WRONG!
So after my trip to Europe, while I was working full-time with summer camps, in all of my spare time I was looking on ways to get to be a talent agent.
In the city where I am currently living, there are 2 talent agencies. 1 of them is dedicated to models and only hire family within - they do not even offer internships to outsiders, and the other agency basically went out of business and after 0ver 50 phone calls and emails later, I decided that if an agency is that hard to get a hold of... they obviously are not going to be a good agency to work for.
So my search had to go to google.ca - and low and behold: Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia are the cities to look into it.
So I started emailing agencies, every day! I sent out probably atleast 10-15 emails a day expressing interested as a talent agent, or a talent agent assistant, or just simply inquiring on the "how to be a talent agent..." out of all the emails I sent - I received a total of 3 emails from a few of the agencies I contacted. Instead of feeling deflated, I was elated.
I was finally getting somewhere! I couldn't ask for more!
Since the agencies who contacted me were not hiring at the time, it gave me the opportunity to just ask questions, how to get in the business, what programs to study in school, how the business works....
1. this is the industry of selling people - not for illegal reasons of any kind. But, essentially - that is exactly what it is. You are trying to sell your client to casting directors, producers, directors, managers, other talent agents, etc. You have to digg your heels, claws, stiletto heels and get their attention and make your client sound beyond fantastic... and you have to do it to the point where its interesting and not boring! not only are you trying to sell your client, but so are 50 other agents or managers trying to do the exact same thing.
2. There is not a program in any college or university to get a "Talent Agent" degree... yet. So that is where I hit a bit of a snag, but a post-secondary education in Business, marketing, communications is a very good idea to have. Also a law degree is also a major plus. I, myself, have a diploma in Business Marketing Management and Communications. I am also still considering law school, but first I wanted to get some work experience under my belt before I take another 4 year law school degree.
3. Thinking outside the box - critical thinking and solution making is very important in this business. You need to think, and be a smark, quick thinker. Anything can spring up on you. It is very important to be that person.
So after the more or less unsuccessful emails and some occasional phone calls (this was long distance for me at the time) I decided to really do a lot of research on my own.
Like I said before, in 2004, I briefly looked online for any job descriptions and requirements needed to be a talent agent, and back then there was a lot less information on the career choice. Still to this day, there are millions of websites and books and contacts on how to be a actor, and what talent agents look for in an actor, but very little on how to be a talent agent.
Most agents were former actors themselves, not necessarily former either, they also are still very much in the acting scene, but just have divided their time between signing clients and getting them work and getting themselves work.
many websites were very useful to me:
www.actorsaccess.com
www.nowcasting.com
www.imdb.com
any of those websites really give you an idea on what agencies are looking for and where to start your client search.
The one big "snag" I landed on, is where to start... how do I start to become a talent agent...
stay tuned friends :) I will explain what I did to get started in my dream to become a talent agent...
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