All actors are guilty of self doubt and wondering if your agent still believes in you, especially when the industry is slow. How many times are you wondering if your agent is still submitting you? During times such as a pandemic or actor strike it is hard for the biz to bounce back. Unfortunately, our industry has taken many hits in the last few years and we are seeing that it is taking some time for productions to regroup, get budgets together, get investors and to get projects off the ground and running. Even big tv and film studios are more cautious these days about what they want to invest in. Tv series get cancelled every day and with all of the streaming formats we have now, the competition is at a all time high.
I say all of these things to say this: take a breath, relax, you are getting submitted. As a agent the way I look at my clients is that why have you on my roster if I'm not going to submit you? I do believe that most agents feel the same way. If you are with a agency that has hundreds of clients then you may want to contact them every few months to give them a update on your location, and what you have been doing as far as training, any independent content you may be producing on your own, updated materials. However, when you are with a boutique agency such as my agency KTA Talent Group, having less than 200 actors on my roster, you can rest assure you are getting submitted.
Have you ever asked for a submission report? Some agents may delete you from their roster if you ask because agents are very busy and to pull reports is time consuming, but asking for a report a couple of times a year should not be a problem. I have some clients who ask quarterly and this is fine with me. Keep in mind that not all submissions are going to show up on a submission report generated by the website that we use (breakdown services) because there are some productions that do not post on breakdowns and a casting director will email a agent with a breakdown. So if you begin comparing your agent's submission reports against projects that you were hoping to get submitted to, you may not get the full picture. Most agents are submitting their clients because if we do not submit our clients then there is no possibility of booking any projects and this would be a very poor business model. So just know that you are being submitted. If you feel that you are not being submitted, have a conversation with your agent. Ask your agent what you can do to make your materials stronger.
One last piece of advice if you do get a submission report. Never use it as a weapon against your agent. What I mean by this is do not ask your agent questions about why you weren't submitted for certain projects. A better approach would be to ask to set up a meeting and discuss the characters and roles you would like to be submitted to. Be very realistic about what characters/roles that you are right for. Not every actor is a leading actor. Learn what your character type is. If you take casting director workshops, ask the casting director about what characters they see you in. Ask your agent what roles they see you as because this is most likely the roles that you will be submitted for.
I hope this blog has been of some value to you. Please check out my favorite products at the links below. I have used most all of these products or have clients who have and this is why I am suggesting them.
Thank you for reading and check back for more blogs,
Your friend,
Kimberly
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