3 Comments
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The Talent Director's avatar

Lovely Monday read - thanks for writing this up - couldn't agree more. I think being armed with knowledge is key and doing your research on the person. Clients want to feel important and loved and showing that you really do care is crucial.

Alex Segal's avatar

Thanks Nads, appreciate you!

Alice Johnson's avatar

First off, yes, research, I love this part, I am a proud nerd. All agents represent different people and creatives. I spend around 3-6 days going into full research mode. Who they represent, what they've done that fits my specific genre, their age never matters to me, but their previous work does, where the agent came from, their specific talent. While agents will claim to be very much behind the scenes, everything you need to know about them is fully on display *insert cheeky wink* . I've gone through hours of YouTube, social media, client lists, TV, and Films, IMDb, The Talent Manager, and more, an embarrassingly large amount of research goes into every letter, every query, every approach, and why? Agents are really busy, the last thing I want to be doing is wasting their time if they're an okay fit. I always make it personal. It's important to mention, agents are real human people, they're not gatekeepers, they're just really busy, really human, really stressed, human people. Don't waste their time with a maybe they'll want this because they like something similar?

As Alex will say, due diligence is a necessity, don't take it lightly. I don't chase, I follow, I interact, I see what else they can offer by way of learning, listening, and just showing up.