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HOW
TO GET AN AGENT:
THE
PROTOCOLS OF ACTING AND GETTING AN AGENT
by Anup Sugunan
I
found a site while browsing wikipedia.com's acting pages:
actingchat.com. It's pretty good, but came across a response
to one
of my previous
blogs. So I responded:
I'm
not one to quibble over other people's insular responses, but
I
figured that not doing so would be a disservice to the readers
looking
for insight on this forum.
Let
me start by illustrating my point with an anecdotal story. The
first is of a kid who went to a film school. In screenwriting
class,
the professor was talking about a "brilliant" screenplay.
When this
student asked about Terminator, the professor brushed
him off stating
that you can't learn anything by something as lame as that.
A short
while later for his assignment, the student turned in a screenplay.
The all-knowing professor gave him a grade of C for the assignment.
The kid rebutted something to the likes of, "This is an
old Oscar
winning screenplay that I plagiarized. You don't know what you're
talking about!" He withdrew from school, got a refund of
his tuition
and made his first short film. That kid is Paul Thomas Anderson
who
went onto make Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and more.
So
I'm not saying to not get an agent, but 1) try getting an agent
without headshots 2) try getting an agent without any experience
on
your resume other than `I played a tree with no lines in my
high
school play' 3) even if you get one, it doesn't guarantee anything.
I've got friends with agents who never get sent out on auditions.
Why? Because the agents are busy sending out their other clients
who
have names and a huge resume with lots of acting experience
and the
agent knows that they are professional and have honed their
skills and
won't make the agent look bad in the eyes of a casting director.
I
could run on and on like the sentence above, but stop and think
about
it. Put yourself into an agent's shoes. Would you send someone
out
on an audition who has NO experience? If the "#1 task is
to get an
agent" and not take acting classes, or work on indie films
or plays,
where's the selling-point for an agent in you?
Getting
a commercial agent is easier than a theatrical agent (FYI:
"theatrical agent" is for film, not really for theatre/plays).
Commercials are more for getting a paycheck, not for acting.
It's
based on looks and not just the Brad Pitt-look; just watch a
commercial. However, there's not a whole lot of acting commercials.
I'm shooting one for IBM tomorrow which I got through my agent.
I'm
happy about the paycheck, but I definitly don't consider it
anywhere
near my dream of being an actor. The indie feature that we're
currently shooting on a shoe-string budget IS giving me that
acting high.
Furthermore,
if you get the film jobs you have to ask yourself if
those are the type of jobs you want. I worked for a manager
who's got
acting clients with names like Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Scorsese,
Kubrick on their resumes. However, you would not recognize a
single
one of them. Why? They have dayplayer roles. I'm not discounting
these roles as they are something to be proud of. For me, I
much
prefer my indie films and student films where I get to fully
act in a
character that has an arc than being in a Scorsese film with
one line:
"Here's your coffee, sergeant."
I'll
definitely take those day-player roles in a heartbeat and even
got my SAG eligibility through them, but I'm not solely counting
on them. I believe in making your own opportunity as I stated
above. So that's why I wrote a `stack of stuff to do' because
it's going to make more than what I wrote above to get in. Even
then, nothing's guaranteed.
The
main tenet of acting is listening. Oldwannabe stated that he
didn't have any money and still the retired-professor Kencosp
stated
that you have to get headshots. I didn't see much "listening"
in that
reply. Headshots will run you a good $600 at the low end. Most
people I know with no money can't really toss that amount down.
Let
me close with another anecdote: a studio full of know-it-all
"experts" was soooooooo sure of this idea for a movie
that they
invested $100 million. It opened at $2million. It flopped
financially. The movie: Pluto Nash. Then a few Florida
film students
made a film for $35K which went onto to make about $240M called
Blair
Witch Project.
The
bottom line is that there is no one way of doing
things. Anyone who is so certain of something is usually not
open to
other suggestions. Like a *good* director on set, take in all
suggestions and then use what works for you. Be cautious about
listening to one guy who says other people's suggestion won't
work.
There
are no rules.
"Madness
is not fueled by uncertainty, but rather certainty."
-Elie Weisel
Anup
P.S.
Check out the book, "How to Agent Your Agent," by
Nancy Rainford; as well as the monthly publication at Samuel
French Bookstore which says which agent is looking for what
kind of talent.
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