What Does an Acting Agent Do?

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Athena Reich, and I'm an actress and acting coach, here in New York City. In this clip, I'm going to talk about, what does an acting agent do? Well, first of all, where do you find an acting agent? If you go to backstage.com, and you click on the Ross Reports here, you can do an agent search, and you have to become part of Ross Reports, and spend the money ,but it's worth it, because you get a list of legitimate agents. Now, what does a real acting agent do? They, after you have your head shot and resume all put together, and you've been going to your acting classes and everything, they submit you to breakdowns. Breakdowns, are when producers put out a call looking for actors, for specific projects, so your agent will submit you, either electronically or on paper, for those parts, and then hopefully, the producer will love your picture and resume, think that you fit the role, call the agent, and the agent will call you in for the audition, and then if you book the show, if you get the gig, then, your agent will negotiate the money in the contract, the producer will pay the agent, and the agent will pay you. What does an acting agent not do? A legitimate agent will not charge you a lot of money. They make their money based on commission. That's a really important point, because there's a lot of false agents out there. An agent will promote you, and put you out there, basically. This is Athena Reich, in New York City."