Ask the Agent: Networking, Commission Rates, Daily Non-Negotiables, Tech Set Up & Lines of Communication
Alex is the Managing Director of major UK talent agency InterTalent. He represents his clients alongside overseeing the agency's creative strategy, day-to-day operations & acquisitions.
Welcome to Dealmakers with Alex Segal ✍️, a Substack on the realities of being a talent agent, packed with weekly insights to keep you ahead of the game 🚀.
Having negotiated £40m+ in talent deals 💼 and grown company turnover 5x in 5 years 📈, I am sharing my experiences and knowledge of 17 years representing some of the biggest stars in the UK.
We’re now hitting 14,000+ monthly views 👀 and ranking as high as #12 in Substack’s Global Top 100 Rising TV & Film Newsletters list (hitting #36 on the Business list too) 🏆, so I really appreciate you taking the time to be here.
If you’re not already subscribing, please do so for free (or go paid for a whole lot more), and join everyone who gets Dealmakers straight to their inbox.
Reminder: I’m going to be hosting a Dealmakers Zoom Q&A on Wednesday 10th December 2025 at 5.30pm (GMT) for an hour.
🗓️ If you would like to join, please email alex@intertalentgroup.com with the subject ‘Dealmakers Zoom Link’, and the details will be sent to you.
🤝 I hope to see as many of you there, and I’ll be ready to tackle as many talent agent questions that you can throw at me.
Feel free to send this to anyone you know who might be interested!
It’s Christmas! 🎄 We are running a 25% OFF discount throughout December. Grab it now and subscribe for just £3 per month to access every single Dealmakers post for lots more real-world talent agent insight and intel.
👉 GRAB YOUR 25% DECEMBER DISCOUNT HERE 👈
Follow the brand new Dealmakers with Alex Segal WhatsApp channel to receive news, intel, advice & strategies straight to your phone. Click here!
Welcome to Ask the Agent.
This is a new strand on Dealmakers, exclusive to our paid subscribers.
I often get people reaching out asking quick-fire Agent questions, so instead of answering just to that person, I’m going to answer them here. It’s a quick Q&A. I will answer 5 questions each time, and hopefully you’ll find them useful.
As a reminder, my main ‘thought piece’ is always going to be free to all subscribers, as well as What Caught My Eye every month. Paid subscribers will receive my 10 Questions with… interview series with top industry VIP’s, my opinions on the latest news and now EVEN MORE talent agent insight with Ask the Agent.
If you have a question you’d like answered here, please email me at alex@intertalentgroup.com or message me on LinkedIn.
Let’s get to it!
🤔: How do you build your network as a Talent Agent?
Get out there and meet people. Go to events, go to everything. People often ask me how I know so many people, and it’s not rocket science. There’s no cheat code. I go to a lot of events, I take a lot of meetings, and I reach out to people I’ve never met asking for a coffee. I do that all the time.
Zoom is not meeting someone. You can’t build a contact list from home. You might know someone through email, but that’s not really a relationship.
You have to build your network the old-fashioned way. Don’t turn down an opportunity to go to something, even for one hour, and see what happens.
🤔: What are your daily non-negotiables in the job?
