How To Get An Agent’s Attention

There are a few ways to get the exclusive eyeyballs of a top four agent — i.e. a powerplayer at William Morris Endeavor, CAA, ICM, or UTA.  You can do one of three things, essentially:

1)  Sleep with a big agent
2)  Be related to a big agent
3)  Do something unconventional and affectant to a big agent

There are plenty of actors out there that have completed ways 1 and 2 with flying colors… and are now series regulars, movie stars, and ephemeral celebrities.  But you — Talented Method Trained Actor — you aren’t going to fall from your moral precipice and give a producer an… er, a ‘sexual interaction’ of sorts.  You are going to choose door number three, the biggest and heaviest door of them all.   And it’s likely the most… ehem, environmentally (read: career) sustainable of them all.

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How To Do Something Unconventional To Land a Big Agent

You Are Doing… An Off-Broadway Show

Theatre, yay!  Real actors do theatre.  Real agents (or agents who want to appear like they’re still interested in the “art” of things) will occasionally go to a few shows and look at the talent.  If you’re really, really good — you have a shot in hell at being picked up by that agency.  But, let’s face it.  You have to be really… REALLY good.

So let’s say you’re at that level of undeniable, it’s-a-mystery-you-don’t-have-representation, level of talent.  You’re amazing.  You’re Hagen “slash” Meisner.  You can be hilarious and heartbreaking all in the same twelve second timespan.  You should be with William Morris in a heartbeat.

Yet you’re still doing Off-Broadway theatre.  In Brooklyn.

Not to fear — you can still land some industry presence at that show!  Here’s how:

1)  Move the Production OUT of Brooklyn.
Seriously.  You aren’t going to get one decent agent out of Manhattan to attend the play… no matter how good it is.

2)  Hire Someone Who Can Do Some Serious PR
You don’t have to spend a million dollars on 42 West.  Get some kind of charity outreach partnership, give partial ticket sales to said charity, and then approach a handful of PR companies about doing a pro bono work.  Somebody will bite.

3)  Send out Industry Invitations
Do the research, and utilize our Industry Email List to blast out your show invitations to big players.  Write something scintillating (or have the PR rep do so), but not too long.  Nobody wants to read a page long press release.

4)  Include Temptation-Beats-Bad-Theatre Agent Catnip
Tempt them with alcohol, drugs (just kidding), and easy transportation.  Offer a pre-show wine reception (and make sure to be there, in a great dress/suit and Academy Award chic) to make sure they get there.

They might not stick around for the actual show, but you’ll get to do some potentially intoxicated hand shaking.  COLLECT BUSINESS CARDS.  Make them commit to taking a meeting with you.  Then you can (professionally) stalk them to your heart’s content.

5)  Transportation, Baby!
The previously mentioned easy transport is key.  The most annoying part of this entire experience (from the agent’s perspective) is actually getting there.

*** REMEMBER *** An agent has to SPEND MONEY to get to your show.  Sure, you’re comping your industry list with free tickets and a plus one, but they still have to get there.  If an agent goes to your show — they have spent their OWN MONEY to do so.  That’s huge.  And as it is huge — most big agents won’t do it.

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The one thing you should spend big-ish money on?  Give the agent transportation to your show.

Set up a limo service, a car service, a limo/car service that provides them with a complimentary bottle of champagne (the best move — seriously — get the agent good and liquored up before they arrive at the theatre).  They will not only be happier, not spending their own money, but surprised at your ingenuity!  They’ll be curious who the hell not only gave them a free ticket, great marketing material, and a FREE LIMO that they can’t help wanting to talk to you, especially if they stick around — and they will, you just drove them there in a car on your own nickel — and you actually ACT well.

And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?  The craft?  Good acting?  If you aren’t a tool, you have training, and you have a presence that can be marketable (you don’t have to look like every Texas beauty queen that’s ever walked in a bikini… it’s actually better if you don’t), you have a shot at being signed.

The big thing is:  get the agent there, show them you can act, and have them rendered in a state ready to sign you.  In other words?  They arrive happy, potentially a little liquored up, and ready to make a slightly rash decision without the approval of the rest of the agency’s partners.

The goal is:  Get them interested, and GET SIGNED.

There you go.  Champagne and limousines, what can we say?  Does the trick every time.  Now you just have to act.

*** Disclaimer:  This method does not work for Attempted Blonde Homecoming Ingenues or Abercrombie Ab Models Who Don’t Know Who Strasberg Was.