So how do you get your first agent? What do you look for?
One of the things I discovered early on was that it’s really easy getting an agent, but the key is finding the right one for you and for where you are in that stage of your career is THE key.
Now, what do I mean by that?
If you’re early in your career with hardly any credits whatsoever, you don’t want to be signing with a huge agent like William Morris or CAA. Instead you want to try to find somebody that’s young and hungry like you. And the truth of the matter is a new actor with very little credits, not much experience, no SAG card or maybe just SAG eligible – that actor can get lost in the system with a large agency.
The bottom line is you’re very new in your career and you need to find an agent who’s ahead of you and where you are so that you can grow into them. The part you’ll have to embrace is unless they really grow with you, in a very short time you’ll probably outgrow that first agent pretty quickly.
Now that’s a good thing, because the reality is a really solid agent is probably not going to want to represent you (that’s nothing personal and it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t). Typically it’s hard to get the attention of an agency that’s further up when we’re way down “here.” They have clients they’re repping who are much further along than you and are much easier for them to sell.
So, the topic of the day is how do you get that first agent? The best way to find that first agent is through a referral. The best way to get into any door is to get an introduction through somebody who knows the agent you want to be with.
So what are we saying? Getting an agent is actually fairly easy. Getting the right one for where you’re at in your career, that’s the tricky part.
Again, the criteria for what the right agent is – it’s one that’s ahead of you, but not so far ahead that you’d get lost in the agency because they’re busy promoting people with much stronger credits, relationships, and tape, etc. I know it’s a dance and it can be tricky.
Let’s recap:

1. Get a referral from somebody who’s already with the agent.
2. Do your research and find out the agency’s reputation in the area, what their strengths are, but not so far ahead of your career that you’ll get lost in the shuffle.

This topic will be a three-part series, so we’ll talk more about it soon. As always, we’d love your feedback and comments and I look forward to it.
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Jim