Managers vs. Agents for Actors

Video Transcript

"SCOTT DUPONT: Scott duPont, producer of the DVD "Acting 101." I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. Welcome back. Now, in this segment, we're going to talk a little bit about managers. Do you really need a manager? We just talked in the last segment about agents. And some of the things agents expect, they expect you to have a--once you get signed with an agent, they expect you to be professional, always be on time, always have your information on your headshot or whatever because you're representing agent and they get you auditions which are the opportunity to book a job and make money and then they take their 10% or 20% out after they book the job. The manager's a little bit different. Manager manages your whole career. They will look out for different opportunities and work with your agent. They'll also form some long-term goals. In some cases, managers will help you manage your money when you start making a SAG, residuals and if you do get a lucrative TV show or something down the road. You know that's not going to happen for everyone. So here's the point on managers. You usually do not need a manager when you're starting out. Okay. Because you'll--I'll be blunt here. When you're starting out, you have nothing to manage. Build up a little bit of a career, build a little bit of a resume first. Eventually, you want to get an agent and then down the road--okay, in most cases, that's when you get a manager. And managers can take an extra 15% on the average. So you don't want to throw away 35% of your money especially when you're starting out because in the first few jobs, they might $200, $500, $700. And 35% of that is a big chunk of your earnings. So give your agent a little bit of money if you're lucky enough to get an agent eventually, but hold off on the manager. That's my advice when you're first starting out. We'll be back for our next segment here on Expert Village."