How to prepare for an agent or manager meeting

Hello. Yeah. Yeah. Let me tell you something. I got in this new actor. He's fantastic. I love him, baby. Wait till you see him. Oh, hold on. I got to go. I got I got to I got to shoot this video. Okay. All right, baby. Bye-bye. One of the hardest things is getting a manager and agent, getting some representation. It's one of those things that they there's a lot of actors and only so many managers or agents. So, let's say you've got a meeting, they've reached out to you or maybe you reached out to them and they want to take a meeting. Fantastic. How do you prepare for that? First, is it in person or on Zoom? So much is on Zoom today. Don't feel bad if it's not an in-person meeting because I know people who have worked and worked and never met their agent face to face. So, don't worry about that. I don't we all love in person that connection, but they can see you meet with you faster, easier on on Zoom or online. So, don't worry about that. Preparation is still the same. What are you going to wear? Dress as you would in what the characters are that you want to be going out for. That said, let's say you're the kind of person who's always auditioning to be a homeless person or um I have those actors, a gang member. Uh that's not them, but those are the characters that they booked the most. I wouldn't dress in grubby, grimy clothes, but also I wouldn't wear a three-piece suit and make sure that every hair is in place. If you're dressing as a college student, if you're dressing, you don't have to wear the clothes that you might if you were going on a professional job interview that didn't have something to do with the acting world. If you're somebody who often auditions to be lawyers, doctors, then go right ahead, dress in a professional attire. Do your research as much as you can on the people that you're meeting with. Make sure that you're following them on social media, seeing what they're posting. Have they done any interviews with backstage casting networks, variety, deadline? Read all you can about them. Maybe you're going to discover something in their background. Oh, the two of you went to the same high school or something. Do your research. You'll maybe you'll find out that you don't want them to represent you. Maybe there's something that's fundamentally not a good fit for you, but do your research. You're going to want to know as much about them as possible. It will really help. Maybe you can go on IMDb, see who their other pro, see who their other clients are. Oh, I really like what they did with this person's career. That of course, you don't know how long they've been with that particular manager or agent. They could have just moved there last week, but it still gives you an idea of who their client base is. Who are they working with? Do they have anybody who's just like you, which is okay. It's not back in the old days, people used to say, "Oh, well, you want to make sure that they don't have anybody else in your category." If you're an attractive guy in his 20s, I would hope that they're going to have a lot of people in your category. That's going to make sense. And if they have somebody who's a working actor, that's great because they can't do everything. So maybe somebody's calling them to, this is just an example, get Timothy Shalomé. Timothy is not available, but we've got this guy instead. You might not be taking Timothy Shalomé's uh uh jobs, but you understand what I'm saying. That said, show up when you're talking with them about an idea of how you see yourself and where you see yourself. What are the shows that you think would be a slam dunk for you to be on? What are the shows that or movies, things that make sense? Oh, you know, I was a professional football player. I'd really like to be on shows like, you know, Friday Night Lights. So, be prepared to let them know the shows that you want to be on or the movies that you want to do, those things that make you special. Were you in the military? Let them know that. Oh, there's so much less work that you have to do to show up on some of these shows. Did you grow up in Texas? Do you want to were your was your family in the oil business? Does being on land man something that really excites you? Also letting them know who your fans are. Who are the casting directors or producers or directors who keep bringing you in or who like you or when you mention when your name comes up, they're going to be like, "Oh, Shannon Sturgis. I love her." Yeah. Because they want to and asking them who their relationships are with. Maybe they have a great relationship with somebody's office who you've never been able to get in to see. Fantastic, right? Oh, I really want to be on this show and so and so casts it. I could see that. That might be a really good rep for you. If you're meeting in person, I'm kind of old school. I'm been around so long. Uh bring a headsh shot and resume. Most of the time they have them already. They have them digitally. They don't need uh a hard copy, but if they do, let's have one available. Get them printed every once in a while. We put them up on our on our wall. Sometimes that's the only reason anybody prints them, but it's kind of nice to have them on our wall. When you're in your meeting, get feedback on your materials. Do they like your head shot? Do they like your reel? What is their feedback? And if they have critical feedback, that's great. Let me tell you why. It means that they looked at it with a real eye where they didn't just tell you it's good. They're looking at how they want to sell you and they're saying, "Oh, you need to get rid of this scene. Move it around. I'd start with this scene." I would really listen to them because they know what they're doing. They know how to sell you and it can't hurt. Beware, of course, of any managers or agents who tell you, "You have to shoot a reel and you have to do it with this company. You have to shoot new head shots and you have to do it with this one photographer." They should always give you a range. Of course, anybody who asks for money upfront for any reason, not legit. I wouldn't do it. But they might have a few people that they're going to suggest. They might have a few acting classes or teachers that they suggest that you check out. They shouldn't just have one. Of course, I wish it was only Spis or Sturgis, but they should have a few recommendations. Be clear on what it is that you're selling. Be clear on what it is, the roles, and the things that you want to get. Make it easy for them to pitch you and sell you. I know we want to be able to play everything and anything, but give yourself a lane and then you can branch out from that. Have an honest conversation with them about what their fees are. SAG ARA limits the fees that franchised agents can take from you, but managers don't. So, you might need to have a discussion. You don't want to fall in love with somebody and then find out that they're going to take 50% of your earnings. Doesn't really happen that way anymore. But you never know. If they want you to sign a contract right then and there, no. Take it home and take a look at it. Even if they're the meetings on Zoom, don't let anybody pressure you into anything. When you're meeting with them, ask them how they would prefer to communicate. What's their communication style? Do they like email? Do they want you to call? Do they want you to leave them alone and not contact them only for emergencies? What is their communication style? And then having an open communication. It's so important. If you're leaving town, make sure that they know where you are, where you're going, any of those things. If you're not based in Los Angeles, don't lie to them and tell them that you are. I have friends and family. I can come to LA. I can stay. I can. But I'm actually living in Phoenix. Jenna Fischer wrote a great book. It's some things are not up to date with the latest and greatest of what's happening in Hollywood, but she wrote it as the book she wished she would have had. I have it on my list of recommended books. There's another video about that. But she had such a wonderful point in that book where she said, "It's not true that any agent is better than no agent." Sometimes we just want to have an agent or a manager and it's better than nobody. Having a bad person pitch you is better than nobody. No. Because often times it makes you take your eye off the ball, makes you stop working and hustling and you're just hoping and planning that that other person is going to be doing all the work. Not always the case. So make sure follow your intuition, too. If you're meeting with somebody and you're getting red flags or just your gut saying this isn't a good fit, this isn't the right place, listen to it. There'll be other managers. There'll be other agents. There'll be people who want to represent you. It's not always easy. Sometimes you really have to hustle, but don't just sign with the first person who's interested in you. It's like dating, right? You've got two sides and you want to see, do you like who I am and do I like who you are? And sometimes there might be wonderful professional people that is just not the right fit. Always stay in contact with those people. Never be unprofessional. Thank them for their time. Thank them for taking the meeting. And you never know where they might end up. They might end up somewhere else that does feel like a better fit for you. And the only thing that I'll add about having that manager agent meeting is to listen. clearly listen to what it is that they're saying. You don't want to be with the person who just wants you to pick them. Do they have a plan? What are they saying? Pay attention and see if they're listening to you. Most managers and agents are fantastic and all they want is for you to get work and to keep working and they are 100% in your corner. But sometimes we take a meeting and it's like I said, it's just not the right fit or they're not listening to you. You're saying, "I want to go out for these things." And they keep talking about selling you for something else or maybe they've got a point, but make sure that the two of you have good communication. That's kind of a good life lesson, too. Let's say the meeting went fantastic. What are the next steps? You can ask, "What are the possible next steps? What are the next steps?" Or maybe they'll let you know. Here are some sides. I'd like for you to do a self tape and send it to me. Very common. That's good. They're going to invest the time in watching a real, a tape that you send in. Good. Maybe they're going to say, "Let me talk to the team and get back to you. Here's a contract." Maybe if you're not, you haven't left a former uh manager or agent, maybe you need to go in and do that clean break. Maybe they'll say, "I'm not interested until I don't want to be poaching anybody else. I don't want that reputation." So, you can ask what the next steps are and hopefully they'll also give them to you. But if they want you to do any kind of an audition, that's great. Sometimes they might even send you out on something. They might say, "Oh, you know, I've got this. Let me send you out on this and let's see how that goes." When you are ready to do what you came here for, whether in person or online, I hope you join us for a class. In the meantime, like, comment, subscribe. Let me know if there you've had a great agent meeting or a disastrous one or how long you've been with your manager or agent. Maybe you forgot to ask any questions and it went great, but I'm really curious to what worked for you. And I'll see you next week. I just want to make you happy. Okay, I think we've got time for one more and then