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Industry
Professionals
(by K. Rucker, author of Showtime Kids,
2006)
Industry Professionals
Every Actor Should Know |
Your agent has the most clearly defined
role. Your personal manager is responsible for advising
you on all facets of your career, from your image to your
choice of collaborators. Your attorney is responsible for
a wide range of legal issues ranging from setting up your
business structure to reviewing your contracts to
protecting your intellectual property. The agent has only
one function, getting you employment.
Talent agencies range
from the giants such as CAA, ICM and William Morris to
smaller one-person operations. While the large agencies
cover the whole section, the smaller agencies often
specialize in different areas of the entertainment
industry such as nightclubs, dance companies, film,
corporate parties, etc. Talent agents (also known as
booking agents) not surprisingly tend to sign performers
who have a demonstrated ability to fill a room with warm
bodies. This means that many artists end up doing their
own booking initially.
An Agent is a
state licensed individual who sends models, actors,
singers, etc. to auditions and castings. They are only
supposed to make their money off a percentage of bookings
generated by the models talent they handle. Legitimate
agents tend not to take a major interest in directly
guiding the careers of models or talent (actors, singers,
dancers, and comedians).
A Manager is
the personal mentor and guide for an individual model or
talent. Managers, or talent management companies, are
among the sources that are intended to be packaging and
training resources by such regulated states as Florida.
This keeps the services competitive. Managers are more or
less the quarterback of the team (model/talent, manager,
and agents), setting a direction, telling the model/talent
what they need to do to compete – and giving them the bad
news in terms of what they cannot do.
Casting Directors
are the counterparts of the agent. Whereas the agent
represents the model/talent at an audition, the casting
director represents the client; the film Production
Company, commercial production company, ad agency, and
catalog house in finding talent. They also do nothing to
guide the talent. They just look for the best possible
candidates to present to their client.
A Talent Scout
works usually for a manager or management group. They can
work for an agent but are often more of a voluntary
service to the agent. Normally, talent scouts work for
management groups, finding new talent in a variety of ways
and convincing them to work with the specific management
group.
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