How to Get an Acting Agent

How to Get an Acting Agent: The Ultimate Guide

2/17/2021

By the end of this guide, you'll know everything you need to about agents, from how they work and what they charge, straight down to how to get one as quickly as possible.

All About Agents

What Does an Actor's Agent Do?

An agent is someone whose job is to find work for someone else.

There are all different types of agents, including literary agents who find deals for authors, employment agents who help people find jobs, and talent agents who help actors find auditions.

It's an agent's responsibility to advocate for you by doing the following:

Submit you to productions you're right for (through a website called Breakdown Services).
Pitch you directly to their casting director contacts with the hopes that you'll be able to bypass the submissions process altogether and get a direct invite to the audition room.
Negotiate salaries and contracts on your behalf so that you can spend your time focused on your craft
Offer guidance and suggestions in the form of suggesting where to get training or new marketing materials (like headshots, resumes, etc.)

A great agent is someone who is invested in your career enough to get on the phone when it matters most and push for a casting director to hire you.

A great agent can generate up to 5-6 high-level auditions per week during the busiest months of the year, and they can get you into productions that are often game-changing.

Through their relationships and access to the Breakdown Services website, they can submit you to auditions you'd normally never have access to without an agent (or years of networking yourself).

What is the Difference Between a Manager and a Booking Agent?

A manager is someone whose typical role is to guide an actor and help them get the day to day work done so they can be more efficient and make it to more auditions.

Managers typically help actors with:

Connecting you to the right people. Many managers have great contacts in the industry and can connect you to other experts such as acting coaches or headshot photographers. Some even help their clients find talent agents.
Offering career guidance and mentorship. This is one of the primary roles of a manager – in fact, most managers only work with 20-30 actors so they can spend a lot more time with them (whereas agents typically have a roster of 200-300 actors).
Some managers will submit you for productions or negotiate deals for you, but that's technically not a manager's job. Some managers have access to Breakdown Services and will do this for you, but it's not something many managers are able to do.

The biggest difference between agents and managers is that agents are licensed by the state to help you find employment opportunities and are usually not allowed to take more than a certain percentage of their client's earnings (10-15%, depending on where you're based). Managers are not licensed and can therefore take whatever percentage they want (some go as high as 30%).

How Much Does it Cost to Get an Acting Agent?

Do you have to pay for an acting agent? Yes. No one will work for free, but agents charge a percentage of the revenue they generate for their clients. This means that if you found a job on your own, you don't need to pay your agent – but if they found a job for you, you have to pay them a certain percentage of whatever you made.

Do talent agencies charge a fee? No. Agents should not charge you a flat fee – if they do, run the other way because it's a scam! They should only take a percentage of the work they generate for you, so their cost will constantly be changing depending on how many jobs you book each month.

How much do acting agents cost? The typical percentage is 10-12%, but there are some agents who charge as high as 25-30%. In my opinion that's just way too much. I know some actors who have an agent who charges 30% AND a manager who charges 30%, leaving only 60% of revenue for the actor!

Should I Get an Agent for Acting?

There are actors out there who book tons of work and don't have agents, but it's not very common. To do that, you need to be spending just as much time on your marketing and networking efforts as you do on your acting and training! This is why most actors get agents – so they can focus more of their time on acting and less on building relationships in the industry.

To know whether you're ready for an agent, you should ask yourself a few key questions. The more of these questions you can say yes to, the better your shot at getting an agent, and the more you should make the decision to go after one NOW:

ABSOLUTE MUST: Do you have plenty of availability for last-minute auditions? If you've got a job that prevents you from making it to auditions, most agents won't want to bring you on because a lot of the work in this industry comes up last-minute and you need to be available at a moments-notice.
ABSOLUTE MUST: Am I talented and good at auditioning? This is a critical question because no agent will hire an actor whose acting is unrealistic or who is no good at auditioning. If you have trouble memorizing lines, or your acting seems melodramatic, or you get way too nervous whenever you go to auditions, you should get more training first. A simple way to know whether you're talented and good at auditioning is to look at your booking rate. If you're booking about 1 out of every 7 auditions you attend (about 14% or more), it means you're talented enough for an agent – even if the auditions you've been going to are just for unpaid student projects.
Are your basic marketing materials professional and up to date? You absolutely MUST have a great, expensive looking headshot. Having some decent footage of yourself performing is a must, but unless you're looking for a high-level agent, it's not critical to have high-budget professional footage of yourself, though it really does help. You can consider hiring a company like Actor Screener Shoot to shoot footage for your reel if you need to update it. You also need a professional resume, and even if you don't have too many credits yet, it's OK, especially if you're young (more on that in a moment). A social media presence and a website are not critical to getting an agent, but can help.
Are you still in school (this includes college)? Younger actors have an easier time getting agents because their age tells agents that they should have almost nothing on their resume yet, meaning it's way easier to get an agent. There is a limited supply of young actors and agents are always looking for new ones to add to their roster. The younger you are, the better chance you have at getting a talent agent.
Have you trained with any well-known names in the industry? If you're to sure, simply google your teachers' or coaches' names and see how many articles show up about them. If their name is all over the internet on lots of different websites, you can use their name recognition to improve an agent's interest in meeting with you by mentioning your teacher's name in your cover letter.
Are you friends with anyone deeply established in the industry? If you know a casting director well or you have a manager with lots of connections, it becomes easier to get an agent because they are looking for actors who already know people so their job of pitching you becomes easier.
Are you in the union? If you're in AEA or SAF-AFTRA, it can improve your chances of getting an agent because it shows agents that you're established and take your work seriously. They'll be able to submit you for more productions as well, which is appealing to them.

If you've answered yes to at least 4 of the questions above (including both ABSOLUTE MUSTS), you should start the hunt for a great agent as soon as possible, because you're not getting any younger. Chances are you'll be able to sign with someone in just a few months!

If you didn't answer yes to 4 questions above, you can try getting an agent, but chances are you'll have a very hard time and it might take you at least a year or two. But that's totally OK! You can use the time to continue improving your craft and networking. You can create profiles online to submit yourself, and you might even be able to find a manager who can give you some personalized guidance to help you start booking more work.

Is it Hard to Get an Acting Agent?

It can feel very hard to get a talent agent when you're first starting out, especially if you're not strategic about it.

Most advice online tells you to mass mail your headshot, resume, and reel to 20-30 agents and hope to get a response, but there are some simple strategies you can use to vastly improve your chances of getting called in for a meeting. We'll discuss those strategies soon.

Another important thing to be aware of is that there are different level agents in the industry. Lower-level gets can be much easier to sign with than top-level agents because top-level agents are so busy working with their current clients that they are very discerning when deciding to bring on someone else. It can take years to get signed by a top-level agent, even if you have a strong resume and lots of experience.

It's most difficult to get an agent when you're between the age of 22 and 30 because most actors are around that age and if you don't have anything visually that noticeably sets you apart from other actors who look like you, most agents will already have someone just like you on their roster and they won't want you to compete with their current client(s) for roles.

What is the Best Agency for Acting?

What is the biggest talent agency in Hollywood? As of 2021, William Morris Endeavor is widely considered to be the top acting agency. That being said, it's not necessarily the best agency for acting because A) it only signs well-known actors who have an extensive resume and B) even if you did get signed, they most likely wouldn't have the same time and attention to devote to you (an up-and-coming actor) as they would for one of their more established clients.

There are tons of agencies out there and you need to research their client roster (just search them using IMDB Pro) to find out whether you'd be a good fit. More on this soon.

What are the Big 4 talent agencies? The Big 4 talent agents are considered to be William Morris Endeavor, Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency, and ICM Partners.

How Many Talent Agents Can You Have?

Technically you can have as many agents as you want, as long as they don't conflict with one another. Examples of non-conflicting agents are having a commercial agent and a legit agent, or have a Los Angeles agent and a New York agent (as long as neither represents the other region).

Most agents require you to sign a contract with them (unless you're freelancing) and the contract will stipulate whether you can have other agents in addition to the one you're signing with.

Freelancing means you can test run an agent and see how they are before actually signing a contract. They'll send you on auditions and you'll pay them their fee, but there is no written agreement. Signed, on the other hand means exactly that – you've signed a contract with them for a specified length of time.

Should I Get a Manager or Agent First?

Most people will tell you to get a manager first, but the real answer depends on your personality.

A manager will help you get organized and do what you need to start booking more acting work. An agent will submit you for bigger auditions.

If you can manage yourself effectively, you might not need a manager. You can keep your money and spend your time networking with people in the industry and organizing your own career. Many actors invest in courses to learn how to market themselves and save themselves the money on a manager, and instead just find a great agent. Then down the line when they're so busy with acting work that they can't manage their schedule, they eventually add a manager to their team.

On the other hand, some actors hate dealing with the day to day work of networking and figuring out what to do next, and so are happy to get a manager first. Then their manager will eventually help connect them with an agent to start submitting them for bigger roles.

What is a Legit Agent? What is a Commercial Agent?

A legit agent refers to an agent who submits you for professional film, TV, and theater productions. A commercial agent submits you for commercials – whether they're on TV, the internet, radio, etc.

Commercial agents are typically much easier to sign with because they're always looking for new talent, whereas legit agents are much more discerning because they need cream of the crop actors to submit for primetime television shows and major Hollywood films.

How to Get a Talent Agent

Many actors this getting an agent is almost impossible. That's because they've been told to just mass mail their headshot and resume, and so they do it over and over again to hundreds of agents, only to never hear back.

Other actors believe they'll get an agent by attending a showcase or agent meet & greet event. They have high hopes, and then are disappointed when they send a followup email a few days later only to get back crickets.

In this section, we'll outline the most important things you should do to improve your chances of getting an agent.

Step 1: Getting Your Marketing Materials Together

Your headshot, resume, and reel are critical to capturing an agent's attention. Without them, you'll never have a shot.

The first step is to make sure you have an excellent, high-quality headshot that fits within your brand. Your headshot needs to look expensive – if it looks like a friend took it, no agent will sign you because they'll assume you don't take your career seriously enough to invest in a headshot.

Next, you need to ensure your resume is formatted properly and up to date. As mentioned towards the beginning of this article, if you're still in school, agents won't care if you don't have any professional credits because they're expecting you not to since you're still young! On the other hand, if you've been out of school for at least a few years, you should have at minimum three lead roles in short films that have IMDB credits before expecting to sign with a decent agent. Don't try to fake it – agents will know whether your resume is legit because they typically cross-check it with your IMDB profile.

Finally, your reel needs to have fantastic acting. If your performances are not natural, you'll never have a shot. Agents are just as discerning as casting directors when looking at footage, and at the end of the day a great reel is less about the environment and more about your acting ability. Whether you just have self-tape footage in your reel or you've got tons of high-budget footage, you need to show agents you can act, and that's best shown through emotional scenes that show internal conflict, where you're going through something extremely difficult and don't know how to deal with it as a character. One other note about your reel: Although we said self-tape footage is OK, you'll always have a better shot at landing an agent if your footage looks high-budget.

Step 2: Avoiding Scam Artists and Unsuccessful Agents

The first thing to be aware of is that there are two types of legitimate (non-scam agents): Union Franchised and Non-Union.

Either one is fine to sign with, but generally speaking, if they're a Union-Franchised agent, the chance of them being an outright scam artist is extremely low because they're held accountable by the union. PLUS, they're allowed to submit you for union productions, which is extremely important. Otherwise, what's the purpose of getting an agent, right? You want them for their ability to send you in to the major productions.

SAG-AFTRA contains a full list of their franchised agents here.

Actor's Equity (for theater) contains a full list of their franchised agents here.

There are plenty of non-union agents, but unless you do your homework and find out from actors they represent how good they are, I generally suggest staying away and focusing on the union-franchised agents. If you're not sure whether an agency is legit, you can try searching them using the Better Business Bureau search tool.

Can I sign with a union agent if I'm non-union? YES! It's challenging but definitely possible. There are tons and tons of non-union actors out there with union-franchised agents.

To avoid scam artists and terrible agents, do not sign with agents who:

Require you to pay up front. All agents take a percentage of your earnings. They should never ask you for payment up front and should never require you to shoot your headshots with a particular photographer (they might be getting a cut, and that's illegal for an agent to do).
Pressures you to sign a contract without allowing you to take it home for a few days to review. Never sign into something without reviewing it carefully, or asking a lawyer to look it over. If you have a friend or family member who is a lawyer, they might be willing to do you a favor by looking through it quickly to let you know if there is anything to be wary of. You can also see a standard agent contract by clicking here.
Work as acting coaches on the side. Hardworking and successful agents generally don't have the time to work as acting coaches, and even if they promise to both represent you AND offer you free coaching as a part of a package deal, don't get sucked in by it because you'll regret it when months later they're rarely ever submitting you and you realize you've wasted a year of your limited time with the wrong agent.
Takes more than 15% of your income. Most agents should not take more than 10%, but this number varies from region to region and country to country. Most good agents won't take more than 15%, and honestly if they do, they're either a scam artist or they just want to take your hard-earned money, which is wrong in my opinion.
Advertise with pay per click, on Craigslist, or on other websites. Great agents generally don't need to advertise, scammers do. Avoid clicking Google ads or banner ads that show up offering representation because they are most likely scams.
Don't have an easy-to-find roster on their website. Agents almost always list their client roster online so casting directors can find their actors easily. Agents who don't have their roster or seem to hide it (you can't find it easily on IMDB Pro) are most likely scam artists or very unsuccessful with their clients. If, on the other hand, you do see their roster, check to be sure that their actors have color, modern headshots and their profiles look up to date.

Step 3: Finding the Right Agent for You

Agents have different specialities and are connected to different people in the industry based on their specialty.

A commercial agent is going to know tons of people in the commercial world. A film/TV agent is going to know tons of people in the screen acting industry. A voiceover agent will know people in the voice acting world.

You need to be specific because signing with just any agent won't help you get closer to your goals. If you sign with the wrong agent, you'll constantly wonder why you're never getting any auditions!

You can reach out to friends in the industry, speak with your acting teachers, and use online tools like IMDB Pro, Google, and even a website called Call Sheet or Backstage to find out which agents focus on which specialties.

You should make a list of agencies to target based on the following criteria:

Where they are based. Are they in NYC? LA? don't sign with someone who doesn't represent clients in your area.
Their client roster. Make sure they don't already represent numerous actors with your look. If they already have 2-3 other actors who look just like you, chances are slim that they'll want to bring you on too.
Size of the agency. Most majors agencies will not sign an up and coming actor. Unless you have a lot of credits to your name and a fantastic reel, you should focus on small to mid-sized agencies unless you know someone who can personally connect you to a major agent. Another benefit of smaller agencies is that they'll often have more attention to devote to you.

Once you've decided on a few agencies, you need to look through their list of agents and see who specifically you'd like to represent you. Some boutique agencies might have just 3-4 agents working there. Larger companies can have hundreds of agents!

Read their bios and see who aligns with you most closely. you can also google their name to check out their social media accounts and see if they've been featured in any videos or articles. Looking through all this ahead of time will not only tell you whether they're a good fit, but can give you a great ice breaker for your cover letter.

Create a list of about 20 agents you want to target (10 should be "first choice" and 10 should be "second choice"), and then reach out to people in your network to see if anyone knows any of those agents. You can ask other actors, teachers, or even your family members if they know them, and if they do, you can ask for an introduction! Referrals will be huge in getting responses.

Step 4: Contacting the Agency

You're only going to be contacting the 20 agents you came up with in your list. Why? Because you want each person you contact to get a great, personalized message. Your cover letter is critical and will determine whether they ever look past it to see your headshot and materials.

I recommend contacting your second choices first, seeing whether they respond, and then making some tweaks and adjustments to your cover letter before reaching out to your first choices. Test the water with the second choices – go to interviews and auditions with them just to get a sense of how things will go, and then when you're ready for your first choices you'll be more prepared. Plus you'll know some of your second choices are there as fall back options if your first choices decline.

Here are the most important things to keep in mind when contacting each agent:

Follow their submissions instructions. Their website will tell you how best to get in touch, so be sure to follow those guidelines (unless you're getting an email introduction from someone directly to a particular agent). If they want you to use an online submissions form, do it. If they want you to email a particular address, do it. Avoid directly emailing an agent because it will definitely annoy them and decrease your chances of getting a meeting.
If you know someone who knows the agent, ask for an introduction or "preframe." They can either directly introduce you to the agent via email or they can send an email to the agent shortly before yours comes through saying, "Be on the lookout for so and so's email." This way the agent is expecting you!
If submitting via email, be sure to use a simple, straightforward subject line. "Actor seeking representation" is good, and "Referred to you by [someone they know]" is even better.
Write a fantastic (and short) cover letter. Your cover letter must be personalized to the agent you are interested in (Dear Margaret – not Dear Agency) and explain why you want to work with THEM specifically. This is where research comes in. What can you use to break the ice? Be sure to include in your cover letter info about your Type & Brand so they see how you're different than the other actors they already represent (and see that you have a realistic idea of the kinds of roles you're right for). You can also mention names of well-known actors you've performed with or coaches you've trained with.
Don't submit more than three headshots and two reels. Sending too many links or attachments can land your email in their spam box, and can also confuse them.
Spell their name correctly. There simplest spelling mistake or grammatical error can cause them to think you're unprofessional or don't care, and get your submission tossed.
Follow up 5 days after submitting if you haven't heard back. Set a reminder so you don't forget to reach out a second time – you can just use their online submission form or the same email address you reached them at originally.

If you don't get any responses to your submissions, you need to go back to the drawing board and check your marketing materials again. Perhaps something isn't as good as you thought it was.

Another reason you might not get invited to a meeting is that the agencies' rosters are simply full. If you submit 3 months later, you might get a response because new slots are opening all the time.

As you begin reaching out to agents, some might respond saying they're not looking for new actors. If they tell you this, it's an invitation to keep them up to date on your work in the industry. You can occasionally reach out letting them know about shows you're in or new things you're doing, and eventually they might bring you in for a meeting.

A long term but more surefire way to eventually get representation is to intern at an agent's office. You'll build a strong personal relationship with them and most likely eventually get signed if you're a great actor and ask them!

Step 5: Interviewing & Auditioning for Representation

So, you've been submitting for a while, and an agent emailed you back saying they're interested in setting up a meeting. Congratulations!

So what do you do to prepare?

Well, don't under-prepare. You need to do your homework on the agency and make sure you're completely prepared for your meeting, otherwise you'll probably lose their trust right away and never make it past the audition.

Here are some things to keep in mind for your agent meeting:

Show up on time. This is absolutely critical – if you're even 2 minutes late, no excuse in the world will save you. Get there way early just in case something happens and causes you to run late. Remember – getting an agent is a HUGE opportunity. It's what will get you TONS of auditions, so treat it as importantly as you would the audition of a lifetime.
Dress well. Don't wear something extremely specific, but do show up clean and with solid colors. Wearing professional clothing will help agents see you in a good light and assume you're responsible and easy t work with.
Do not lie. If an agent asks you a questions about your training or experience during the interview, never lie. They'll eventually find out and it will come back to haunt you.
Bring a folder with your headshots, resume, and even a DVD copy of your reel just in case. Chances are they won't need it, but you should have it if they do. You can also include a business card and a printed version of your cover letter.
Prepare at least three monologues ahead of time. Most agents will require you to perform a monologue as part of the audition, so you should have three different emotional monologues you feel comfortable with. They MUST be fully memorized and should each represent a different side of you – funny, sad, and angry, for instance. Having three different monologues memorized will give you the opportunity to do something different if they want to see a different side of you.
Be aware that they might hand you a script on the spot. If they ask you to do a cold reading, it's OK if you don't have it memorized. they just want to see how you perform and sound when reading the lines. Keep calm and carry on!
Have questions prepared in advance. They'll inevitably give you the chance to ask questions during the interview, ad if you have none, it will look like you don't care. Some great questions to ask them include the following:
- I see myself as _______, but out of curiosity, how do you see me?
- How do you feel about me submitting myself to projects?
- How involved do you typically get with your clients and helping them move their careers forward?
- What can I do that will make your job easier if you decide to represent me? (agents love this question)
- How do you prefer your clients contact you? Text? Email? Phone?
Do NOT ask stupid questions. This means that you should NOT ask questions that you could have found out the answers to by simply doing your homework. Everyone tells you to ask these example questions, but they are some of the biggest red flags for agents, so do NOT ask these:
- Who will represent me from your agency? You should already know who you're targeting. The only time this question is fair is if the agent you were interested in has a full roster and you might get connected with someone else.
- How many clients do you currently represent, and are any my type? You can easily find this information online. If anything, ask them a modified version of it to show them you did your research: I saw you currently represent 156 actors. A few of them look similar to me, so I was wondering, how do you submit actors who are similar, or do you see me as a different type?
- What kind of work have you gotten in the last six months for your clients? This is a borderline offensive question and might really annoy the agent – especially since you could have easily researched this online. Who are you to ask what kind of work they've gotten their clients? A much better way to phrase this is, "I noticed you got some of your clients into amazing productions, including Production A, B, and C. What are some other great gigs you're in the process of getting for your clients?"

Once the meeting/audition is finished, it might take 3-4 days to hear back. If you haven't heard from them in that time, a brief followup email is recommended.

Don't be discouraged if you don't sign with the first agent you meet with. It can take numerous attempts before you find a right fit. Getting rejected is usually due to one of two things:

You look too much like other actors they represent. As mentioned previously, agents don't like signing actors who look too similar to each other because they'll be competing for each other's roles, which creates a conflict of interest amongst their clients.
You do not have enough training or experience for that agent to represent you. But this might not be the case for all agents, so keep submitting to others – someone will likely want to take you on (again, assuming you're well trained and good at acting).

Step 6: Creating a Strong Relationship

Agents drop actors for many reasons. If you're not booking a lot of work or you don't do much to move your career forward and just leave them to do all the work, they'll likely look for another actor to represent instead.

To avoid getting dropped, you need to maintain a strong relationship with your agent! Here are a few things you can do to ensure you don't get dropped:

Be quick to respond. Your agent might text, call, or email you and nothing bothers an agent more than an actor who takes more than an hour to respond. you need to turn all your notifications on and respond within just a few minutes to make the best impression. Generally speaking, the actors quickest to respond are going to be sent on the most auditions, so keep that in mind!
Be sure your agent has access to your latest marketing materials. If you shoot footage for your reel or update your headshots, let you agent know. And make sure to invest in those things when your agent tells you to. This involves saving up some money so it's there, ready to be spent at a moment's notice if your agent thinks you need new headshots. They hate having to wait months and months for you to finally get your marketing materials up to date.
Be respectful of your agent's time. They hate getting calls or texts late at night or early in the morning. Keep your communication to normal business hours, and only update them with things they need to know.
Listen to them... but make sure they also listen to you. If your agent makes a recommendation on taking a certain class or paying for new headshots, don't simply say "Yes." Instead, ask them what specifically they want and why so you can be sure to get them exactly what they need. And if you disagree, find out why they're asking you for that specific thing, and if you still disagree, set up a phone call to discuss. Being on the same page as your agent is critical for a strong relationship.

In Summary

Getting a great agent is all about being prepared and doing the hard work necessary to get one. You might get lucky where an agent finds you (instead of you finding them), but that's very rare and shouldn't be counted on.

You need to be the one that goes out there and submits, otherwise the chance of getting a great agent is always going to be out of your reach.

Good luck, and leave a comment below letting me know your goal: By when do you want to get a great agent?