So hi.

I just got a call from an actor, a

student that I had at school.

And the actor is now professional

and in Los Angeles.

the call was really interesting,

because they said, you know what?

Jeff, I don't know what to do, because

my agent isn't sending me up for those

jobs that I think I'm right for, and

they're sending me out on things that I

just don't feel really connected to.

And so my next question to them was,

have you talked to your agent?

And then there was this long silence

like,

no,

well, why not?

I said,

they said,

because I'm afraid they're not going to

like me after that.

I'm afraid they're going to think I'm

too pushy.

They're going to think that I'm I'm a

more amateur, not ready.

Oh man,

so I thought this episode would be

really, really helpful.

Today's episode flips the script in a

really fun and useful way.

I think we're going to call it, act

like an agent

that's right.

We're going to look at your acting

career from the perspective of the

people who represent you,

your agents and your managers.

Why

not only to help this actor friend in

Los Angeles, but because the better you

understand the world,

their pressures

their priorities, their process,

the stronger and more effective you'll

be as their client

listen.

This isn't just about being easier to

work with,

it's about empathy,

strategy

and collaboration.

So if you've ever wondered how to get

more auditions,

how agents make their decisions, or how

to keep that relationship healthy, this

episode is tailor made for you.

Let's step into the agent's office and

see what it's like

on the other side.

I'm Jeffrey driesback.

This is casting actor's cast.

Well, hello, and welcome to today's

episode of casting actor's cast.

I'm Geoffrey driesbach.

As I said in the introduction, welcome

aboard.

It's so nice to have you here.

This is that moment where I get to say

thank you for tuning into casting

actor's cast.

It's a pleasure bringing these podcasts

to you.

All I ask is that you let other people

know about it.

Perhaps if you enjoy the episode, would

you mind leaving a thumbs up or review,

or some stars, or whatever you can do,

especially on iTunes, that would be extremely

So I invite you also to check out the

website, casting actors cast, all one

word dot com.

There you're going to find some goodies.

My book is available called bookedit.

The actor's play book for getting cast.

Also there's a course on auditioning.

Plus there's a form that says diving to

the talent pool.

If you just fill out that form by

giving me your name and email address,

it opens up some free bees, a book

undoing voice over work, a free video

called casting secrets, what they don't

tell you, all kinds of cool things

happening on the website.

Also there's the blog that corresponds

to each of these episodes.

So you can check that out as well.

You could print it out.

You have sort of a cheat sheet, if you

want,

all of that available to you.

And I am so happy to be able to bring

this tool to you.

Also, I just wanted to share my shout

out to my good friends at actors

connection, actors connectiondot com,

slash, New York.

So let's talk about this.

Why

acting like an agent matters?

Because that's the thought process that

I had.

Because most actors, they only see

their side of the equation right,

consumed with the auditioning,

consumed with classes and waiting and

hoping in all of those emotional roller

coaster rides, actors put themselves on

we need to understand from the agent's

perspective.

See, agents are working on behalf of

talent.

But also

understand this, they are under

constant pressure from casting,

constant pressure from producers and,

of course, a large client roster.

I think that developing agent empathy

is the right way to go,

because that will help with stronger

communication.

It'll help with smarter self promotion

on your part, and better alignment.

See, it's not just, what can my agent

do for me,

but how can I help my agent help me?

That's the question.

So looking through that lens, what

motivates agents

to submit talent?

Well, first of all, we know it's

commission based.

Income.

Agents only get paid when you get paid,

typically ten percent, or if it's a

manager, fifteen percent,

that's it.

You can see that this motivates them to

prioritize talent with strong booking potential.

It's not about risk taking,

it's not about a shot in the dark.

It's, if you demonstrate strong booking

potential,

you can bet that they are going to be

submitting you for projects.

Because a submission

is an investment of time.

It's an investment of reputation and

belief.

And so your market ability, your

readiness,

agents look for talent, who are easy to

pitch and ready to work.

That's why your head shots, reels,

resumes, self tapes.

They all have to be really strong

and ready.

See, they know casting preferences.

They will submit actors who align with

breakdowns

and are likely to deliver from that

breakdown.

I can tell you, it's so interesting to

me how the breakdown stimulates the

agents to think of those clients that

are right for the role and get those auditions.

I don't want to call it the game, but

that is a game.

That's what has to happen.

And so the goal for you,

as you think about what an agent has to

go through, is to ask yourself, what

can I do

to help be that first top of mind talent

to get sent out for the right project?

See, agents

are

out there, and they build relationships.

They build relationships with casting

directors.

Casting directors need to trust their

agents by being reliable

and submitting thoughtfully,

not just flooding with names.

I can tell you firsthand that there are

some agencies that we work with at

mccorical casting.

And any time that there's a project

that we're working on, especially a

film or a television project, that

agency pretty much sends their entire

client list every time.

Well, the reason why that doesn't work

is because I don't like being flooded.

I think if the agent can feel that the

casting director is in collaboration

to try to find the right fit,

then that agent does the following one.

That agent will read the script,

they're just not reading the breakdown

and reading the character description,

and then kind of throwing all of their

clients that are close to us as casting

people, because they know that that's

not helpful.

I also know that casting directors,

like our office, we do have our

favorite agents that we like to work

with.

Why?

Because we have similar taste.

Because we know that they're going to

be thoughtful with their submissions

about their clients and not just

throwing names at us.

So

if you're

constantly reliable,

if you're bookable

and you're more likely to rise to the

top of their list,

that's where you want to be.

Let's talk about how agents

juggle so many clients,

many reps, including

managers, as well as agents, can handle

anywhere from thirty to 100 plus

clients at once.

How do they do that?

Well, they have their own system.

They have their own database.

They have their own submission

platforms, like breakdown services,

casting networks and then they receive

the daily breakdowns of each of the

projects from casting directors or

producers.

So what they'll do is they'll

categorize their talent.

Now, I don't like the word type, so

that's different than what I'm speaking

about here.

It's not about type, but it is about

the kinds of roles that are being

written and how you fit into the vision

of that.

So if you want to call that type,

that's fine.

The other aspect is availability,

and

what I call heat.

So the actor that's had a few recent

bookings

that equals more visibility and

therefore more likelihood of getting

submitted for that project.

Hey, I just got a client who booked as

such and such.

And I think that they're really they're

turn in the corner stuff is really

happening for them.

You know, cassing loves to be on the

ground floor of discovering those kinds

of dallads, because it makes casting

look really, really good.

So,

and of course, I've said this before,

work begets work.

A working actor always seems to get a

little more heat.

That's just kind of the way I think

about it.

And communication

is often

triage based between talent

and agencies.

See, urgent bookings have to come first.

And then career development that's the

way to look at your agent it's the

I have to find somebody really quick,

because we drop somebody in blab labla,

you know, there's all of that.

And I like that word triage based,

because the most

serious issue gets the most attention

first.

And that kind of makes sense.

It's only then that agents can take the

time and deal with career development.

I can also say that in my experience,

managers are known for a little more

career development than agents, who are

really

handing out as many auditions to their

talent, to their roster as possible.

And hopeful that there's going to be

some bookings as a result.

So let's talk about your job.

Given those parameters,

here's your job,

stay visible,

stay booked

and make their job easier.

Does that make sense?

And here's how you stay booked.

You have to think about career

development, and how career development

factors in, is that reps often play

both short and long term game with your talent.

On the short term, they want to get you

into the room.

They want to get you booked as quickly

as possible.

It's also true that if you get sent out

with a lot of interesting bookings and

the feedback from casting, the feedback

from producers,

isn't fantastic.

That agent has a decision to make.

Not to just necessarily drop you,

that's not what I'm suggesting,

but do they have the time and the

energy to help get you up to the level

you need to be to start booking?

Now, if you have the solid talent, if

you have all of the tools in place,

then that agent is going to decide that

this is a long term relationship, and

they're going to position you for

higher level work.

They're going to position you for

larger roles.

So going from day player

to guest star

reading for contract roles

that's kind of a logical progression.

And a lot of agents are very

conscientious about making sure that

that progression

can exist for you.

They assess your trajectory.

How do they do that?

Are you growing?

Are you still training?

Are you rebranding yourself?

Are you diversifying your skills?

You see,

this is the

cornerstone of what I'm talking about.

When they see you investing in your

career,

they're more likely to invest energy

into guiding it.

So let's talk about the step by step,

how to be a great client and keep the

relationship strong

I'm going to have those answers right

after this.

So we're talking about the agent,

and we're talking about seeing what an

agent has to deal with and go through,

so that you have a better understanding

and a better strategy on how to

approach your reps,

should you have the opportunity to do

so.

So, how to be a great client and keep

the relationship strong.

Step one, communicate effectively,

but not excessively.

Oh, I love alliteration.

Communicate effectively, but not

excessively.

So here's what I mean by that.

Update them on bookings,

update them on classes, on the fact

that you've updated.

You're real.

You want to keep it concise and very,

very professional.

If you know that there are 100 clients,

and each one of them are hoping that

they're going to get an audition or a

call or be negotiated when the time

comes for the role, then keeping it

concise and professional is the

smartest thing that you could possibly

do.

Please don't Spam,

make your messages really valuable.

So here's an example of that.

Dear.

So, and so here's my new real hope.

This helps for episodic submissions

You see what that does?

That's suggesting something.

But that's also showing how you are

still in charge of your career, that

you're making headway by reassessing

your own work and availability,

by making sure that all of those tools

are in place.

I love that.

So step two,

I want you to be reliable and

professional.

I know that that makes sense, but

here's what I mean specifically about that,

submit tapes

on time,

but more importantly,

submit tapes

the earlier the better.

It's so true that if you've given the

dead line, and I know we're all

creative people, we all have lives to

live.

But I can tell you that we get the bulk

of the submissions on the last day, and

guess what?

I don't have the time to go through all

those submissions on the last day.

I just don't.

You're not getting the same kind of

consideration.

If you do it earlier, there's a

stronger chance I'm going to be

spending more time with you and your

work.

So when I say, submit tapes on time,

I mean, be the first if you can.

As long as the quality is good and you

have the ability to do it efficiently,

then

do that.

Please

also be early for auditions,

especially because our callbacks are

happening in person now for all of our

projects, whether they be theatre, film

or television.

So being early just make sense.

You've heard that before.

I can't tell you how many times we

still have late arrivals for callbacks.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

Only because as a casting director, I'm

trying to run an efficient room.

I'm trying to keep it moving.

I'm trying to make

the best out of that session

and keep the client, the producers, the

directors, happy with what they are seeing.

So being early for auditions makes me

look good.

It makes you look good.

It helps the entire energy, in the

entire environment in that callback.

I want you to also be gracious, even

when the results don't really go your way.

It's really ok to understand that you

just might not be right for this

particular role.

If you personalize it, you're going to

be

putting yourself

into a box.

You're going to be putting yourself

into a place that, in my opinion, and

in my experience, just kind of spirals

you're this perfect apple.

But the director, the producer, is

looking for an orange.

No matter how brilliant your apple is,

the orange is going to get the consideration.

So be gracious.

If it doesn't go your way, be thankful

that the opportunity came.

And the best kind of feedback you're

going to get is when that casting

director brings you in for another

different project.

That's an indication that they really

like you.

They really like your work.

And so that should reinforce

your level of confidence

and your level of professionalism.

Also,

on a different note, agents don't like

surprises.

This is something that happens more

frequently than you might imagine.

Keep your calendar current and let them

know about availability changes.

There have been times when actors have

come into audition.

We really like them.

They come into the call.

Back it's going great.

And then we get a call from the agents

saying, oh, they can't do the job

because their sister is getting married.

I want to say, you mean they auditioned

knowing that there was going to be a

wedding in the family.

What happened?

Did they not know the dates?

Please

be really considerate.

The agent is now embarrassed that they

didn't know that information, or if

they did that information, they forgot

it.

There's all kinds of reasons why those

kinds of things happen.

But if you keep your calendar curve,

let them know your availability.

Make sure you take the dates down of

the project, whether it's a shoot date,

whether it's a theater gig, whatever,

you're responsible for that.

But you must keep communicating.

So step three,

I want you to think about making sure

that your materials are current.

That means,

again, don't hate me.

New headshots,

maybe some fresh footage,

maybe some additional, interesting

training,

maybe more film and television audition

technique classes, whatever.

All of this keeps you what I call

submit ready,

a well edited,

appropriate real

on the variety and the versatility that

you can demonstrate in the roles you've

already played.

change your audition volume.

You will be getting more auditions.

So step number four, be proactive

without being pushy.

It's really valuable for you to ask

smart questions.

Here's one,

is there anything else you need for me

for pilot season?

You see, when that question is asked,

you're planting the seed for the pilot

season.

But you're also making yourself

malleable.

Oo, good work.

That means that you're able to say,

what kind else can I do to help make

this happen?

That's the right kind of attitude and

approach to the work.

There's just no room for building any

kind of resentment.

If you put yourself

in the agent's shoes, if you understand

what they have to deal with, what

they're going through.

And so I would check in occasionally

with clear goals.

I would really be careful about

complaints.

I think it's ok to say things like, I'd

love to focus more on commercial this quarter

make sense.

Good

here's another step.

Step five, show gratitude and team

spirit.

A simple thank you.

By the way, goes a long way.

Agents work hard behind the Scenes,

and when you book something, always

credit them publicly.

And personally

that's a big deal.

Sometimes agents feel like it's a

thankless,

calling out auditions and hoping for

the best.

Stopping and acknowledging their good

work and their creativity

within that job can go a long way.

So here are some closing thoughts, my

call to action, perhaps.

let's talk about this.

Are you ready to think like an agent?

When you shift into their shoes, even

just a little,

you unlock smarter strategies,

you unlock more trust and a better

working relationship.

Remember, you and your rap are a team,

but you're also a brand.

Help them help you.

And if you don't have representation

yet, I understand this mindset will

still apply.

See, everything we talked about to day

helps you prepare to attract the right

agent when the time comes.

So if this resonated with you, I'd love

to hear your thoughts or stories, send

me a message or leave a review.

And

hey, you could send this episode to a

fellow actor who might need a new way

to think about their team

until next time.

Prepare smarter,

act better and

book more.

Let's go.

I'm Jeffrey driesback.

You've been watching and listening to

casting

actor's castle