they hold the keys...managers and agents...

acting managers and acting agents...those words can resurrect all kinds of emotions -some good...some not so good! for me, that first word, manager, is a good one...well at least now anyway...and on that i will not expound! LOL
and also for us, the word agent is an awesome one...we believe we have one of the best...not only to like him as an agent, but as a person...ahhh...what more can you ask for? sorry...i digress...

what is a manager anyway? let me give you a proper definition: a talent manager, (personal manager), is someone who guides the career of actors in the entertainment business...the responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day to day business affairs of the actor... to advise and counsel talent about professional matters and personal decisions which may affect their career...for child actors, to help find a good headshot photographer...to steer their client toward good acting classes...to pitch your child to the powers that be...to secure an agent for your child if they don't already have one...to hold the hands of the moms and dads when their child is not dakota fanning after one year in the biz...

a good manager is worth every penny of the 15% off the gross of what your child makes...in some areas of the country, they seem to be more necessary than others, for example...

in nyc, where my daughter began her acting career, she started with a manager...why? because she didn't have any professional film/tv credits (but lots of theatre)and she started at a tough age...13! in los angeles, 13 is young...for some reason, 13 in nyc is not as young as l.a...don't ask me why, i don't have a clue...but in nyc, agents look for kids to be much younger in order to sign them and they want them to have some decent acting credits and acting training...so we signed with a manager who was very connected with great agents...so she free-lanced for the first year (which means we didn't legally sign with any one agent, but her manager used several who were interested in her and they would send her out on auditions but via her manager...capiche?)...especially for kids in the "black hole" (ages 14-17) this works very well...but in other areas of the country, this is not the norm...go figure...

re: signing with a manager...please beware of the error we made...we signed with the first manager that wanted our daughter as a client...read my lips DON'T DO THAT! LEARN THROUGH MY MISTAKE! that's one of the reasons i'm even doing this blog...this is what i know...people learn through two ways in their lives...through wisdom of others or through experience...do me a favor? learn through wisdom...you'll spare yourself much heartache, pain and financial loss...okay, again i digress...now back to our originally scheduled programming... *smirk*...

after we got by that manager (1 year down the proverbial toilet)...we found an awesome one...but we were much more careful this time around...not only did she interview us, but we interviewed her...here are some questions i asked her:

1. who are the agents that you work with?
2. how many clients do you represent?
3. how many of your clients are in my child's age range?
4. do you have anyone else her type?
5. how do you communicate with us? by phone...by email? are you a communicator, meaning, how often will we be in communication?
6. what do you expect from us?
7. how long is your contract? (3 years is standard...many connected mgrs. want 4 or more years...again, that's your call)
8. what percentage of your clients are working?
9. do you represent both children and adults?
10.about how long on the average do your clients stay with you?

there are many more questions that i'm sure you can think of...but those are the basics...but remember, test your gut! the ole "gut test" is what i go by with most everything in this business...if your gut says NO! listen to it...it will never lie...

tomorrow i will discuss agents...they are your ally, always remember that!

have a stinkin' great day!
hugs and out~