I’ve decided that I need to sit down and finally answer a question that seems to be on many people’s minds. What’s the difference between agents and managers?
Its no secret that I have a manager and I find working with her to be one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.
My day job is at an acting school, and every day a different student asks me the agent vs manager question.
The best response I can come up with is, “Agents help you get jobs; managers make careers happen.”
Now, this statement isn’t entirely true and I’m sure my manger would look at me funny if she read it. But for the most part I find this an accurate description.
Does this mean that everyone young person who wants to work in this business should run out there and get a manager?
Not all managers are created equal.
In the last ten years we’ve seen an explosion of managers pop up. They are highly unregulated and now just about any Tom, Dick or Harry can claim they are a manager.
We are seeing agents from top tier super agencies like CAA & ICM leave to become mangers.
These days’ manger and producer are almost synonymous. (At least with most of the good ones.)
But a word to the wise, there are a lot of people out here who claim to be managers and won't really do anything for you.
There are folks who are mangers where all they do is place their clients with agencies (their friends) and then they collect their 10 percent. (I find that mangers 5 years ago were still asking for 20 percent, but in the last few years that number has gone down to 10.)
Then there are those managers who will hold your hand and be your biggest cheerleader, supportive in your darkest hour.
Finally there are those mangers that produce and really should be viewed as business partners in the company of you.
Also, any manger worth their salt realizes that some clients will be powerhouses if given the opportunity to develop. That takes vision, drive and planning on their part. Developing a client is an investment and some managers are willing to do that.
One has to keep in mind just how much the business has changed. 10-15 years ago I think there were still a lot of agents who had a larger personal investment in their clients. There were still a lot of agents who would take on developmental clients and weren’t afraid of the risk.
Now managers are taking on that risk.
The business has been shrinking. Boutique agencies have been closing and I remember 2-3 years ago when a lot of the top tier agencies were cleaning out their client lists. It was pretty brutal. But it did allow boutiques to then snatch up some bigger name clients.
As more boutiques close, other boutiques take on clients and so on and so forth. You get the picture. Now we have some small agencies with hefty client lists and at least every small agency has a couple of series regulars.
Where does that leave the developmental actor?
It means that 9 times out of 10 they are searching for a manager that is a right fit.
For the record I love my manager.
Best decision I ever made.
Cyd is a business partner and an advisor.
She has a smaller client list than any agency I’ve ever been with and she is invested in the business of me.
I frequently think of my fellow clients in her company as a team, and if one of us does well, that opens doors for the rest of us.
She is helping me to attain my bigger picture.
I do feel I need to very clear, I might be a bit different than a lot of people. I started writing again a few years ago and I am now sitting on a lot of literary property. I also have my own theatre company. I have plays, TV Pilots, a few film properties, some ideas for a young adult series of books along with other ideas for properties.
In addition to my legit career I also have a lucrative commercial career.
In short, I have stuff to manage. (After this last tax season I'm finally thinking about incorporating and opening up my own production shingle . . . crazy I know.)
I need help navigating these waters and keeping my eye on the prize.
One of the greatest things about my manager is that she is my friend as well as my business partner and we are invested in each other - both personally and in business. When I run the ING New York Marathon she's going to be there. When I get married she's going to be there. (She better be or I'll kill her.) And when I'm finally a show runner, she'll be there. (I'll need someone to tell me what to do.) In turn I care and want to know what her kids are up to, who the dog has peed on today, seriously critique her vacation itineraries and mock her taste in bad movies.(I have to be careful on that last point, my taste isn't so hot itself.)
Is she this way with every client? I don't know and I don't care. The point is she's this way with me. If I were a boxer she'd be my trainer, my cut man and setting up my next fight. She's in my corner and I'm in her's.
I think that’s a key element of why I love my manager. I’m just as invested in her and her company as she is with me. I plan on being in business with her until she retires. (Or kills me, which ever comes first.)
Do we have fights?
You bet, but that’s what happens in creative endeavors. Whenever passionate people come together to do something great there are going to be strong, colliding points of view.
That's life in a creative business.
That's art.
In closing, are mangers for everyone?
That's depends upon you as a person and an artist.
I didn't think I would ever have a manager.
I thought they were silly and unnecessary.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
But I'm willing to admit my mistakes. I'm also willing to let my point of view change and reshape itself. In this business if you don't evolve and grow you end up in trouble. (Just look at the internet as a prime example). I'm glad I was willing to change my mind. Best thing I ever did.
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