What Does an Acting Agent Do?

When someone is pursuing a career in acting, having an agent is key. Agents can open doors for actors and build careers with their contacts in the entertainment industry and knowledge of the business. Acting agents get their clients auditions and negotiate deals once actors book jobs. Most of the time, big-name studios will submit breakdowns to talent agents, allowing them to submit their clients for potential auditions. Without an agent, many actors never have a chance to submit to the breakdowns and book jobs on big-budget films and famed TV shows.

History

Talent agents fulfill a huge need for actors across America. When actors had legal and financial disputes with major studios, they had no one to fight for them. Talent agents stepped in to negotiate deals once their clients booked acting jobs and to pitch actors to studios and casting directors, providing a more level playing field for actors seeking work.

Benefits

While there are many nonrepresented actors who work in Hollywood and other areas in America, the majority of actors on big-budget films and national TV shows are represented by a talent agent. On a typical day, agents spend their time on the phone and on the Internet, submitting their clients' head shots to casting directors to land them as many auditions as possible. Agents are privy to daily breakdowns, a listing of every role that studios and casting directors are casting for, and submit their clients accordingly depending on what each role is seeking.

Function

An acting agent may also pitch their clients to casting directors or to studios for consideration for projects, especially if that agent has a relationship with a particular casting director or studio.
There are several types of agents who represent a variety of talent types, and an actor may sign with a few agencies to get the best representation for each type of talent that they have. Commercial agents represent actors for commercial work, theatrical agents represent actors for film and TV work, hosting agents for TV hosts, print agents for actors who model or who do a lot of print work in magazines and catalogs, and also voice-over agents, for actors who specialize in voice-over work.

Warning

Legitimate agents tend to be SAG-franchised, meaning that they are considered to be a legitimate talent agency by the Screen Actors Guild, the union for actors. In addition, it is the industry standard that agents receive 10 percent of any of your acting paychecks. If an agency requires more than 10 percent, or any upfront fees, this is generally a scam.

Considerations

Agents tend to be ranked by casting directors and in the industry in general by levels. These levels are commensurate with the agent's experience, contacts, years in the business and their reputation. Agents ranked as A-level agencies represent celebrities and big-name actors like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry. B, C and D level agencies tend to represent actors on all other levels.