July 21, 2005
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Q & A
Here are a few questions recently sent my way via the main website that I figured might be on the minds of some readers interested in finding an Agent or internship with a production company. (Plus, it saves me having to think of material for another entry.)
Q: How did you go about evaluating which talent agency was right for you? On my most recent trip to L.A., I stopped by Samuel French and picked up a copy of the Hollywood edition of “The Agencies”. There are so many agencies that are opening and closing every month. Did you just sign with the first agency that wanted to represent you? Or did you wait for a few offers and then decide? I read your faq about choosing representation, but do you have any other tips/lessons learned? Thanks in advance for all of your help! - Andrew
A: Check out a journal entry I did on March 16, 2005 on a book Tony Martinez wrote called, “An Agent tells All.” He helps in documenting the process–so does, “Your Film Acting Career” by MK Lewis.
Basically I went through “The Agencies” and submitted to those that said they were open to submissions and claimed to be respected by the casting community, etc. There’s another book, “The Right Agent” that delves more into the levels of each agency to help figure out which ones to submit to. I can tell you now, if you’re just starting out, do not submit to: CAA, William Morris, UTA, Endeavor, Paradigm or ICM — you can if you want, but more often than not, you’ll be wasting your time. They rep the big, big guys. And even if you do sign with them, you don’t want to be buried there when starting out anyway.
When I sent out submissions in ’96 (75 of them), I had 2 agencies that bit - I went with the one I connected best with. Take into consideration their ratio of agents to clients: some have under 100 clients and some have 1000 – obviously there’s less of a chance to get lost in a smaller agency. Take notice if their phones are ringing. Is the office nice? Ask how do they see you? How did they treat you — All these things are little clues as to how their business is conducted and if you want to do business with them. Chances are, your first agent will not be the agent you stay with 95% of the time for your career — you just need someone who has access to the roles to submit on your behalf and be excited about you –so yes, sign with whichever SAG Franchised Agency wants you at first (hopefully you’ll have more than 1 to choose from). And then as you build your resume and demo reel, you can be more choosy later on. But remember: an agent only gets a 10% commission because he/she technically does 10% of the work — that means you’ve still got to keep hustling and pick up the remaining 90% after obtaining an agent; a lot of actors forget that part.
Q: I’m very interested in getting into the filmmaking business. Consequently, I’ve been searching for internships on film sets or whatnot that I’d be able to do in order to get a more hands-on experience but none has turned up so far. I’m not sure if this is the right
approach to trying to find one but I’d like to hear some advice on how to get in contact with such companies or productions. As I have no connections to the film industry, it’s very difficult for me to find anything Hollywood-related so I’d really like to hear some
advice you have on getting into contact with filmmakers and such. Thank You. – Jane
A: Jane, getting an internship is fairly easy just because production companies just love having a slave doing any and everything they need for no money. But that’s how you pay your dues. If you get a full-time position from it (because they can’t NOT pay you year-round) just re-evaluate your situation every 6 months to a year to see if there is the possibility of advancement. I know of people working as assistants for over 10 years and have never moved up.
Get a book called the Hollywood Creative Directory, it’s a good $60, but it has the addresses to every production company out there — then shoot out a resume and cover letter (no longer than 5 sentences) to them. Make it catchy & clever but tasteful as well, so it stands out from the 100′s of other letters they’ll be receiving each week.
Remember that having no “Hollywood-related connections” is never an excuse. Most of the people in this business started out that way. There is always some way to bridge that gap and it’s usually obtainable through the right literature, it was for me when I came out here not knowing a soul. Good luck!
Comments (11)
it would suck to live like stars because they are never home.
Also if you’re a student, it’s much easier to get an internship with a bigger company. Check with your University’s TV/Film department for internship listings. Also, if you can snag a copy of the UTA joblist, there are a ton of intership opportunities listed. The only problem is that you have to know someone on the distro list to get a copy- you can’t just call UTA and ask for it. That’s the bizarre catch-22 of getting started in the industry.
Good luck!
thanks
hahah you PLAN your xanga entries. How type A.
hi parry my name is jenny suh and i met you at the FUEL conferance at the university of maryland last year and i was one of the workshop leaders. this summer i am interning at mtv films in LA and met with ppl that aquisitioned BLT like troy poon. just a random tidbit haha but reading this entry it is really true. it is about persistance and getting internships in the business is totally possible. good luck with your future sucesses
Great advice parry. Wish you would have told me those advice sooner…would have sped up my career in the film industry. I’m still agentless at this point! HA! I’ve been approached by some, but I’ll decide when to get one after I finish editing. At this point, nothing should be on my mind but your silly face on 4 monitors….I’ll tell you something though, Asian skin colors handle color correction very nice indeed, except for that time when you have green colored liquid in your face…
I have to add though. If you really want to get in the film industry, internships are one thing…the best thing is to go out and make A FILM! You’ll learn more than anything else you ever worked on. TGG was my crash course at HD filmmaking 101. Don’t worry about whether the film will be the next sex, lies and videotape or clerks or BLT, the most important thing is to never make the same mistakes twice. Make a film, quite asking how to get into the film industry. If you make a project with enough integrity, you’ll be making Fast and Furious 3 very soon…
You can also try entertainmentcareers.net or mandy.com – they have a lot of indie films to get your feet wet in. That is where most of my collegues and I post for crew, and where I started out looking when I first came out here (and got some really cool gigs and connections). There is no lack of the need for help on a set, as long as you are willing to do some grunt work when you first start out.
Thanks Parry! I’m *just* coming off of an 8 hour overnight industrial shoot out here in Boston… *phew* But ya gotta keep workin’!
Hey Parry, much love for your work in the film industry.
Do you think Hollywood is ready for say, an Asian male heart throb? I had extensive acting training and experience as a child but not recently due to my decision to stay in school full time. I gave up acting almost 10 years ago but the itch has come back now that I have developed as an adult, mentally and physically.
Hey Parry… Long time reader, first time commentor… Anyways, it’s great to see how busy you’ve been. I was looking on imdb.com and was wondering who actually wrote your trivia/biography. I have always wondered if actors actually write their own profiles because sometimes they include such private information. Who else would’ve known your daughter was born “5 weeks earlier than expected?”
Keep up the good work.
~Lisa
This is great advice! Thanks a lot for all the great stuff you always post. I recently auditioned for a role for the first time, and it was for a film featuring primarily Asian American roles. All the others trying out were great actors but didn’t get to have much experience in features. They all talked about their previous roles as “Asian girl #2,” “pedestrian in Chinatown,” etc. Pretty daunting environment