How to Get an Agent for Acting

Series Summary

An actor is a person who suppresses or augments aspects of their own personality in order to reveal and illustrate the motivations and aspects of a character's personality. Acting has its roots in ancient Greece and over time has become one of our most compelling and revered artistic enterprises. Actors must possess a range of skills including: singing, dancing, imagination, clarity of speech, physical expressiveness, vocal projection, and the ability to emulate emotional and physical conditions. In this free video series on the film industry, an independent actor and filmmaker discusses tips for actors and filmmakers. Learn how to get auditions as a beginning actor or actress, and find out how to build up a resume to get better parts. Discover the importance of having an agent, and learn how to shoot short films. Get tips on surviving as an actor or filmmaker in this competitive field.

Video Transcript

"Now, this clip, we're going to talk about how to get an agent. Now, you may ask yourself, "Why is it important to get an agent?" Well, here's the thing. When you get into L.A., you absolutely have to have an agent. It's like you're going to be lonely. You're not going to get any acting -- serious acting -- roles. With being in L.A. without an agent is like being in a desert without water. You're not going to survive very long, okay? So how are you going to get an agent? Well, an agent wants someone that they can count on -- someone that they can give to the producers or give to, you know, casting people and say, "Hey, this man is the man for this part." Now, if you don't have any experience, why would they...why would they want to represent you? Why would they believe that you can do the job? So here's what you're going to do. You're going to want to build up some things. You're going to want to go out, you're going to want to do community theater. You're going to want to go out, you going to do small things -- maybe student film. Just kind of do something to build up your resume. Put something on the list. Take some acting classes. Agents like to see that you've been successful at some sort of classes of acting that are reputable. Now, once you have that resume built up, you're going to want to start submitting yourself to the agents. You can do that in many ways. First of all, you can...you need to have headshots. So on the back of your headshot, you're going to have that resume and you can...you're going to mail out your headshot with your resume to different agents. Maybe you put in a letter, say, "I would be more than happy if you could represent me. My name is so-and-so. Here's what I've done. Please, I'm looking forward to hearing from you. We'll set up a meeting." Now, okay. Now, how are you going to know who...what agent to submit to? There's different resources on the Internet where you can find out a good agent that's not going to scam you. And make sure your agent isn't an agent that's going to ask for money up front. Most reputable agents always only take what you make -- 10 percent, 15 percent, whatever. You should not have to pay to have an agent. Now, where do you find a good agent? If you go to the SAG website, the AFTRA website. There's these represented agents are in contracts with these unions so that they're not scams. Go there. There'll be a list of agents as well their phone numbers, their addresses. Look them up, send out your resume with your headshot, and hope to hear from them soon. Good luck. So that is what you need to do to get an agent. Good luck."