(Published in the Fall 2006 Issue)
The Dos and Don’ts of Finding an Agent
Five tips to have Hollywood calling
By Scott and Ann Springer

Picking the best college to attend and selecting your spouse are critical to your future adult life. So is choosing the right agent to propel your career, says Carol Ann Stevens, an international talent scout for J.D. at Miramar Talent and Discover, Inc. Management.

“In most cases it’s more likely that the agent is choosing you and not that you’re choosing the agent,” Stevens says.
Here are five tips that can help you pair with an agent that is right for you:

1. Hit the books. Before you contact a single agent, be sure you have something to offer. “The first thing you need to get an agent is to have good training,” Stevens says.
Consider taking classes in such areas as TV commercials, monologue delivery, image development, and runway. If you’re also trying to land acting parts, classes on improvisation and scene study may also be helpful.
Don’t neglect your school work while you’re daydreaming of what you’ll wear to your first Hollywood premiere, Stevens warns.
“You have to get good grades—A’s and B’s,” she says. “You must have nothing below a 3.0 or you can’t work. All your grades are sent to SAG.”

2. You need a good head shot. “It’s a catch 22,” Stevens says. “You need a good head shot to get an agent, but 9 times out of 10 the agent will want to reshoot the headshot after you sign on.”

Well-planned marketing tools—a comp card for models and an 8-by-10 color shot with an attached resume for actors—are the best way to attract an agent’s eye, says Colleen Collins, national director and owner of John Robert Powers in Chicago.

A comp card (short for composite card) is a naturally posed shot of you with your name on the front. The reverse side highlights several body and facial angles and looks you can achieve and lists your stats (age, hair color, eye color, etc.).

“By having a comp card you can get an agency faster by showing them that you have some knowledge of the industry and you are one step closer to being work-ready,” Collins says.

You can plan on spending anywhere between $300 and $2,000 for a head shot. Classes are offered to help you put together these marketing tools.

3. Get tech-friendly. “Go online and get a listing for all modeling and acting agents,” Stevens says. Many of the websites have coded listings, showing those that work with youth for example, so you can narrow down your field of players faster.
Send the agents a DVD of a 10-second commercial or a one-minute monologue packaged along with your headshot. “If they like your picture then they see how talented you are, too,” Stevens says.

4. Make a follow-up phone call. A week after you send in your head shot give them a jingle to see if they need any follow-up information or if they’d like to meet with you in person, Stevens recommends.

“When you call in, say something like, ‘Just checking in. Do you have anything for me?’” Collins suggests. “Remember to be professional and polite. Don’t chit-chat and waste their time.”

The agent may not have time to take your call, but it gets your name out there more. You never know when they’ll have a last-minute call for a job and they’ll know you are available, Collins says.

5. Don’t give up. Just like Cinderella’s slipper was only a perfect fit for the princess, not every shoe is a perfect fit. Don’t stress if a casting director says you’re not the right fit for a part.
“A lot of this industry is accepting when you don’t get a job and then not quitting,” Collins says. “You never know if the next audition is what starts it all.”