Dear Actor…..
You may be a good actor… hell.. you may be a great actor….but do not come into my office and tell me you have looked at my list and you are a much better actor than anyone i currently represent. It will not endear you to me and it makes you sound like an ass. And while we are at it don’t tell me that you work harder than any actor I represent.
When I hear an actor say they work harder than all the other actors out there i have to wonder who they are trying to convince….me… or themselves. now I am not here to say you are not working hard… I hope you are working your ass off… that is your job! But saying you work harder than anyone else makes you sound like a kid and not becoming at all. You don’t know what others are doing. And you should not be worried about what others are doing… focus on you…
I have booked like 30 or 40 things in the last 6 months. Uh…. No… i seriously doubt that. But hey I could be wrong… i have been wrong before (well.. not really… but). If you are doing great (and i truly hope you are). And you have all these fabulous bookings….then if I go on IMDbPro and look it will all be up there right? Right? Here is the thing… the number of things you book is not nearly as important as the quality of things you book. Maybe you have done 30 student films in the last six months. And good for you. But if you have done all this work… are not in the union and have no reps… then all I see are big red flags.
If you have a rep and you are not communicating with them… then why do you have them? Why waste anyones time. If you are going to say yes to everything that comes along and not discuss it with your reps then you really don’t need the reps. We are here to work with you and protect you. Let us help you instead of asking us to constantly clean up messes. A good rep is there to go on the whole journey - not just the parts you think they should be on.
Stop testing your reps. When I hear folks say they never here from their managers or agents the first question I ask is do you call them? If the answer is no I wait to see if they are going to call me then you are wasting our time. If you email a couple of times and don’t hear anything pick up the phone… if you are still not getting a response… then you are with the wrong rep! But I tell all my clients the same thing… I am always available. Sure… there are always boundaries…..(don’t call me at 11pm to ask me about what you should wear on a self tape)… if it is a weekend and it really is something that can wait until monday…. For sure let us recharge our batteries….but if a client needs me… i am available… and easy to reach.
STOP doing business on text and instant message…. If you need something or want to to discuss something send an email…. If it is important pick up the phone (i know… soooooo 2005). But I personally don’t like to do business on text or IM - those are not for full discussions… things get lost…. Tone gets misread. And while I am at it… you can’t read tone…. (Ok… you can read the tone here…. )….. but a lot times people will just be sending a message and you are in a bad mood (or sad… or whatever)…. And now you have read something that really is not there…. And I know you kids are all about the texting… or the WhatsApp but if you can’t take a minute or two to pick up a phone (you know.. the one you are texting me on)….I have to assume it is not that important….
Stop making excuses. If you are doing a self tape and you send it it with a page of “excuses”. Then why are you sending it to me? Either do it right so you feel good about it…. Or just own it! But spending half your time justifying it is to me the equivalent of you either searching for a compliment or giving yourself an excuse if you don’t book it.
Things to always remember…you are not going to book everything you go out for…. You are not going to go out for everything you are right for.
Reaching out to folks for representation…. If you have done an email blast out to folks here are a few things to keep in mind.
Make sure if you doing a mass blast…. That everyone is BCC’d. I see a big list… your email is getting trashed.
I can’t speak for everyone else… but i don’t answer every email like that. If I am interested I will reach out. If I am not… I won’t. I don’t have the time to engage with every actor who wants to be here.
There are a few schools of thought about whether or not you should “follow up”. As far as i am concerned….if no one reached back out then you have your answer. If you keep “following up” you start to look like a desperate actor.
Be clear and concise in your emails. I am not a fan of a lot of smoke blowing. I am happy you did your homework…but don’t Eddie Haskell me…. (Yeah.. look that up)
If the answer is no (like no one got back all those times you sent an email)….don’t then send a nasty email… that won’t endear you to us at all.
Don’t take it personally….we get hundreds of emails (sometimes more). If we are not the right fit I am not going to waste yours… or my time…
Don’t lie…..if I do think you are interesting and I do look you up… and what you say in your letter is no where near what is true…I will remember that. I get it.. everyone spins…. But be honest….that speaks volumes to me.
Your name and a line about will I rep you with no other info….gets trashed immediately. If you can’t take the time to put any other info there I am not going to take the time to look you up.
Now…. Go be a rock star!