Getting an Acting Agent

How!? How exactly does one do this getting an agent thing? And by that I mean one of the good ones. 

Oh I've had agents. I've had one who was okay and got me auditions for things like Crimewatch and a particularly good medical role playing job for the GMC but ultimately wasn't very get-up-and-go and never came to see me in anything I was in. A couple of years later I had another agent who, frankly, was one of the growing group of what I call Cowboy Agents. These are people who sign up to every casting call website going and call themselves agents for submitting other people's CVs and Spotlights to these online cattle calls and unpaid jobs. They have no contacts in the industry and few to no skills in contract negotiation or entertainment law. Yet wannabe actors and newbie graduates go flocking to them and lock themselves down into pointless year long contracts because they feel that any agent is better than none. Frankly, an agent who fails to chase up contracts, forgets to respond to a major casting director with whom you set up a meeting and calls regularly to ask "Did you say you could sing again? Oh sorry I thought you said you couldn't, that's why I turned down a well-paid job for you earlier", is not only a hindrance but also a great liability. 

Having said that, I totally understand why people are hedging their bets and going with these guys when it seems impossible to otherwise find a footing even right at the very bottom of the ladder in this profession. Like the other billion actors out there I've been curled up around the computer for days with a copy of Contacts at my side, painstakingly contacting one agency after another and selling myself hard. I'm not a Drama School actress (though this does not mean I'm untrained - I'll leave this for another blog) and I don't have a CV boasting an extraordinary body of work with big name companies but I have done a respectable amount of work in theatre and film both paid and unpaid over a significant number of years playing major and minor roles and have received some really good reviews. I have also worked in a variety of other positions in the business including running a live comedy company, directing two fringe plays and interning in the casting department at the Donmar Warehouse. I've written a play which has toured and had fantastic reviews. I have a MDrama & Theatre Studies degree. I have clearly made every effort to stay within the profession and be involved in the creation, presentation and production of theatre and film. I'm not sure how else I can show my commitment to the industry, my get-up-and-go mentality or my clear need to work as an actor. Yet not one agent has shown an iota of interest in meeting me. 

I know I'm not the only one in this position and it doesn't affect my opinion of my talent. None of these agents have seen me perform or read my reviews so their opinions are based on something other than my potential abilities. Plus some of the most incredible actors I know are unrepresented. And you can work without an agent, of course you can. But you have to be terribly organised and disciplined and many actors aren't or don't have the time to be. Plus, an agent's connections really help in getting seen for those important auditions. Many of the casting directors I have spoken to are very open about the fact that they tend to mostly audition from a list of actors pitched to them from the major agencies. 

So how do you get one of these magical Fairy Godmotherly types? From the responses I've had what I have worked out is that you should either: 

a) Stand-out in a end of year major Drama School production

b) Have a kick-ass showreel 

c) Be in a current show that they are able and willing to come and see and be good in it

a) has worked for many many people and is a major reason for going to Drama School (in addition to the training of course). Doing so is not, however, an option for everyone nor is it the be all and end all to being a great actor. Also, a great number of those who do pay thousands and do three years of training do not end up with agents out of it. 

b) is getting more and more common for a way of attracting both agents and casting directors. Most of us have done innumerable short and student films to bulk up our showreels but, of course, not everyone has been as lucky as others in the quality of the productions they have ended up in. Without the agent to help you attract the professional TV and film makers it is not always easy to create a solid showreel. The thing that actors are now doing more regularly is paying £500 to shut themselves into a studio with a script and a cameraman and creating a showreel. 

c) is something I personally find quite hard to master. Firstly the type of theatre productions one tends to end up getting involved with without an agent to guide the way are often profit share, fringe shows and personally I get very nervous inviting agents to come and see something when I have no idea how it might turn out. This is true with any show of course but a little more risky on the fringe circuit. However if you wait for the show to develop before inviting people it's often too late. Putting on a showstopping vehicle starring yourself is not always the great marketing tool that people think it might be since casting directors and agents tend to like to choose shows where they'll get the opportunity to view numerous potential clients at once. 

Yup, despite the fact it's the first step in getting yourself seen for most serious and properly paid opportunities, getting an agent is a real tricky business. 

A Day with Danny DeVito

For those of you young creative 'uns out there: If you haven't heard of Theatre Royal Haymarket's Masterclasses then listen up. These are free (for under 30's and there's a membership scheme for those over that age) talks, Q&A's and other forms of discussion each hosted by a different professional, experienced and often well-known actor, director or playwright. Sometimes other creative disciplines are profiled - one memorable experience at Masterclass was having the multimedia theatre company Forkbeard Fantasy show us examples of their work and explain how they created it. Sometimes 

the class is an opportunity to ask questions about an actor's career, other times a few lucky audience members become participants and get the chance to work on a song or monologue with a prolific mentor. Often sessions become a chance for participants simply to ask the questions they never thought they'd get to ask to someone they never thought they'd get to meet. I've been to lots of these classes sporadically over the last few years with hosts including Patricia Hodge, Bill Nighy, Clarke Peters, Patrick Stuart, Sienna Miller & Sheridan Smith. Yesterday I was lucky enough to nab one of the extremely quickly disappearing tickets to see Thea Sharrock and Danny DeVito in conversation. It was such good fun I thought I'd share a little of it here with you: 

When Thea Sharrock and Danny DeVito entered the stage together they looked such a mismatched couple. Tall and slender, Sharrock strolled quickly across the stage and folded herself gracefully into her chair. DeVito, on the other hand, short and rotund and wearing crocs, padded comically to his chair, his crazy upstanding hair and wisecracks immediately eliciting amusement from the audience. It went from good to better as they both let the audience know they were fine with photos and would take questions at any point since, as Sharrock pointed out, while she was meant to be holding a conversation with him about his career, in reality DeVito would tell the stories he wanted to regardless of the questions she actually asked. 

The relationship between the two was really playful and it seemed they'd obviously enjoyed the process of working together. It was a big surprise to hear that the current production of The Sunshine Boys in the West End is the first time DeVito has been on the stage in 30 years! They discussed the differences in the rehearsal process for theatre and film, and despite DeVito berating Sharrock "You make it sound like we just mess around on the set of It's Always Funny in Philadelphia. We do have writers you know!" he admitted that TV was an opportunity to use the script as a launchpad for further development through improvisation rather than having the discipline of being true to every word, pause and punctuation mark in the script as one does in a theatre setting. 

On how the team on Sunshine Boys worked together, DeVito had nothing but praise for Thea Sharrock and his co-star Richard Griffiths. He  said he thought that peoples' preconceptions of him might be that of an asshole Hollywood diva and noticed that the producer, Sonia Friedman, was very much walking on eggshells around him during the first week of rehearsal. He laughed as he told the story of how he broke the ice when, after noticing her creeping around outside the rehearsal room, he suddenly started throwing furniture around the rehearsal room and screaming and swearing until he was certain she had just imagined all her money and reputation flying straight out of the window. Grinning he said, "We let her in on the secret though didn't we?". "Yeah," replied Sharrock. "After we wiped away her tears". 

At times DeVito seems really a normal guy (kicking his shoes off, scratching his legs "What!? It's hot up here!" and blowing raspberries at the audiences) and at other times it hits you what a massive Hollywood legend he is as stories about David Mamet, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Tim Burton and more abound. DeVito is a real storyteller, a joker and, clearly, an entertainer. We heard how, during a screening of Hoffa at 20th Century Fox, DeVito held a garbage can for a desperate Jack Nicholson to pee into while they both continued watching the film. His first telephone conversation with Woody Allen is rehashed as "Hey Danny. Nice to speak to you...blah blah blah...Really enjoy your work....blah blah blah...Big fan...blah blah blah" and he explains about how he had to do a heart attack/falling down the stairs scene where Woody Allen entered and had one line. "I had to fall down those stairs nine times" said DeVito. "Finally Woody managed to get his line right". On his first conversation with Sharrock: "I got a message telling me he was waiting for my call," she said. "So I called. And what was the very first thing you ever said to me?" "I said," remembers DeVito. "I said 'Look I gotta bone to pick with you! You never offered me the role of the kid in Equus!" "Our first conversation," said Sharrock dryly. 

DeVito has a story about everyone. As an audience member asks a question about Woody Allen, DeVito quickly pipes up with "Now here's an interesting story bout Woody Allen" and goes off in another conversational direction and Sharrock, vindicated, quips "Welcome to my world". Some actors get a bit panicky about holding a Masterclass, DeVito seemed right at home. 

While the whole session was entertaining, it wasn't all fun and games. Obviously a hard worker, DeVito had a lot of useful advice to share. He talked about developing a character and how it isn't always necessary to share everything you're thinking about or creating with the rest of the cast and/or the director. He said that on One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest he looked into Martini's backstory. He knew that, in the past, Martini had been a gunner in the war and had nearly drowned. He used this in his development of the character, having Martini constantly sit on his feet in response to still being aware of  the memory of the water on them. He said that no one needed to know why he was doing that but it helped him to find that character, it's physicalities and emotions. He also spent the day in a psychiatric day room, not interacting but just observing, and trying to see where Martini's mental state would fit in. He complimented Sharrock on her feedback, commenting on how important it was for the director to have a clear point of view of the piece and its characters. 

His main aim, he says, is always being 'in the now', always being focused on the current project or opportunity rather than worrying about "Well, what will I be doing in five years". He didn't go into the profession with a set game plan other than knowing that, ultimately, he wanted to be involved in movies in LA. His past body of work might be impressive but also includes Theatre in Education, short films and summer stock. Taking opportunities where and when they come is essential. He said, "Stay right in the moment. Keep your eyes open and keep working". 

http://www.masterclass.org.uk/

Real life conversations on the tube.

Tube Journey in London: 

(Mum and I sat reading trashy magazines. Man sat next to me.)

Man: Is that your Mum or your Aunt?
Me: My Mum.
Man: Ok.
(Pause)
Me: Why.
Man: Just curious.
(He returns to his activity of staring into the nether.)

(Fifteen minutes pass.)

Man: You seem to be engrossed in that trashy magazine.
Me: I am.
Man: Do you enjoy reading them?
Me: Yes. I do. It's an easy read.
Man: Does Mum enjoy reading them?
Mum: Yes, I do.
Man: I wouldn't know about them. I read Shakespeare and stuff like that.
Me: Good for you.
Man: Do you actually read books
Me: Yes. I read books.
Man: Just checking.

(Train stops. He gets off.) 

Man: Have a lovely evening you two.


...


Same tube journey. Moments later. A large, smiley lady opposite us strikes up a conversation. 

Lady: Ooh I've been riding this tube line for...oh about 40 years. 
Mum: Don't you think you better get off then?

Lazy Creative - A true story of procrastination triumphing over artistic creativity

I've written an awful lot of light frothy blog posts on here about people I've met, things I've seen and issues that wind me up. What I've done a surprisingly small amount of - seeing as how this is supposed to be my blog about attempting to be creative and work professionally in the Arts & Entertainment industry - is chronicle the real ins and outs of what it's like to be right on the bottom rung of this ladder. 

I think one of the reasons that this is so, is entirely down to the fact that I can be uncompromisingly lazy even in the face of trying to make strides in one of the toughest and most insecure industries in the world. Guilty and repentant as this may make me, I don't feel alone in this regard. 

Lazy Creative is a paradox that is a pretty efficient way to describe a large number of people working in this industry. While it rarely springs to mind when we're confronted with the in-demand, agency represented actors, directors etc. who we see dashing from audition to show to meetings to heaven's knows what, it's a more commonly associated term with the sporadically working artists, those self-employed freelancers searching for a break, for their big idea and recognition. While there are those who truly do sink into sheer laziness (daytime TV, all day lie ins) and those who will maintain a determined work ethic (gym, writing/acting classes, networking events) regardless of their professional success, I believe there is a more general middle ground of artists who, like me, have great bursts of energy and creativity followed by a moony, mundane period of existence where the urge to create is tempered by the lack of focus and direction normally created by a surefire publication date, TV role, upcoming major audition or world arena tour. 

So while I absolutely understand that the fact that sometimes I can go days just staring at a computer screen idly expecting inspiration to strike, that rejections from agents or producers can send me into a tailspin of reruns of Gossip Girl and giant bars of chocolate and that the thought of finishing scripts just to have them sitting unpublished and unperformed in front of me can make me give up and pop out to see a real show at the theatre is a reality that hundreds of you out there are facing, I can't help but be embarrassed and ashamed of it. Hence the lack of blogs about the more negative sides of the business. 

In my opinion it is much easier to produce something - a show, a play, an event - than to create something new. It's not that the work load is lighter at all, it's simply that the relationship between problem, solution and deadline is more tangible than the more abstract issues between creating and adapting a piece of art for public consumption. For me, while irritating, the first step needed to take to deal with a problem obtaining the rights for something is more clear cut than where to begin rewriting a script to add an extra 40 minutes onto it when it seemed the perfect length to begin with. It's not that I can't do both jobs, or even that I might not do the latter better, it's simply that first step, that entry point is so much more fineckity and slow-moving that frankly, it's clear why most of us procrastinate like all hell to avoid having to start. 

But this year I have started to fight against the haze that can descend when the monotony of days staring at computer screens, self-promoting and near-begging are broken only by the need to make money or reassess one's life plan and instead I have set myself the task of imposing a much more tangible game plan onto this airy fairy profession I refuse to separate from. So from now on I promise that my blog will stop shying away from being a slightly more personal account of what an exciting and ridiculous life I've set out on.