So You Want to Be a Talent Agent?

So You Want to Be a Talent Agent?
Author: "Wolf" Elliott Tom "Wolf" Elliott
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2010
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1450227228

A down-to-earth, detailed guide to every aspect of establishing and running a small, local talent booking agency, written by someone who has done so successfully for over 30 years. You don't need any particular background or a fancy college degree or even much money, just a desire to own and operate one of the most fun businesses you could ever imagine. It's all here how to find the talent, how to build up a clientele, how to promote yourself, the contracts you'll need, and a fascinating insight to where you can go from here, including becoming a modeling agent, a TV producer, a writer, a record album producer, and much more.

Ask an Agent

Ask an Agent
Author: Jason Lockhart
Publisher:
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2020-05-05
Genre:
ISBN:

This book is no bull, straight from the mouth of a blunt talent agent, currently hustling for over 500 clients and closing deals daily. His words are legit instructions on how to be a working actor in film and TV. Organized into three sections: Getting an Agent, Working with Your Agent, and Thriving with Your Agent, this Q&A format addresses actor questions at all stages of a career. After nearly a decade of sitting on panels and acknowledging that the majority of raised hands are never called upon, Jason Lockhart decided to answer them ALL, right here, right now, in an energetic, honest, and organized place. Getting inside the mind of an agent is crucial, as they are generally the first gatekeeper to an actor's success. Consider this book your secret weapon to breaking in or leveling up.

The Lyndon Technique

The Lyndon Technique
Author: Amy Lyndon
Publisher: Amy Lyndon
Total Pages: 67
Release: 2009-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0615275281

Amy Lyndon is Hollywood's Premiere Booking Coach and creator of the revolutionary Lyndon Technique: The 15 Guideline Map To Booking Handbook. Besides being a Coach and Mentor, she is also an Actress, Award Winning Director, Producer, Casting Director, and was a CEO of a successful Personal Management Company for 9 years. Her clients are Series Regulars, Guest Leads and Starring in Feature Films around the globe. Some of her Clients include: Nadine Velazquez (My Name is Earl), Adam Brody (The OC), Christel Khalil (The Young and the Restless), Hosea Chanchez (The Game), Sterling Knight (Sonny with a Chance), Kenton Duty (Shake It Up), Matthew J. Evans (Bad Teacher) and Raini Rodriquez (Austin and Ally). Lyndon won one of the Best Cold Reading Teachers in Los Angeles Backstage Magazine 2010, 2011 and 2012! The Lyndon Technique proves to be a practical approach to auditioning and booking the job on the first take. Each chapter provides detailed insight into each of Lyndon's 15 Guideline Map to Booking Technique. Lyndon travels Internationally to teach the principles of Booking, Marketing and running a successful business as an Actor. The information is applicable no matter where you live or where you are in your career.

The Mailroom

The Mailroom
Author: David Rensin
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2007-12-18
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0307417220

It’s like a plot from a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. But for many, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment—including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz— started their dazzling careers in the lowly mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, David Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution—in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you’ll go where the trainees go, learn what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. A vibrant tapestry of dreams, desire, and exploitation, The Mailroom is not only an engrossing read but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed in Hollywood.

Ask an Agent

Ask an Agent
Author: Margaret Emory
Publisher: Backstage Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Acting
ISBN: 9780823087952

Actors at every stage of their careers have a lot of questions, and Ask an Agent gives a lot of answers. Do I need an agent? How do I get one? What will an agent do for me? When is it time to switch agents? Help is on the way! Author Margaret Emory--a talent agent for more than fourteen years--writes Ask an Agent, the most popular column in America's foremost publication for working actors, Back Stage. In clear, straightforward text, she gives the agent's spin on everything from headshots and resumes to auditions, casting directors, and managers. Ask an Agent offers real help for the real world of acting.

An Agent Tells All

An Agent Tells All
Author: Tony Martinez
Publisher: Quality Books
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0976143305

A working Hollywood talent agent gives honest and humorous advice to aspiring actors.

Who Is Michael Ovitz?

Who Is Michael Ovitz?
Author: Michael Ovitz
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2018-09-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1101601485

If you're going to read one book about Hollywood, this is the one. As the co-founder of Creative Artists Agency, Michael Ovitz earned a reputation for ruthless negotiation, brilliant strategy, and fierce loyalty to his clients. He reinvented the role of the agent and helped shape the careers of hundreds of A-list entertainers, directors, and writers, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Bill Murray, Robin Williams, and David Letterman. But this personal history is much more than a fascinating account of celebrity friendships and bare-knuckled dealmaking. It's also an underdog's story: How did a middle-class kid from Encino work his way into the William Morris mailroom, and eventually become the most powerful person in Hollywood? How did an agent (even a superagent) also become a power in producing, advertising, mergers & acquisitions, and modern art? And what were the personal consequences of all those deals? After decades of near-silence in the face of controversy, Ovitz is finally telling his whole story, with remarkable candor and insight.

Instincts of a Talent Agent

Instincts of a Talent Agent
Author: Marc Guss
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780998785493

Instincts is an entrepreneur's guide to success in the entertainment field, whether in front of the camera or behind it, on the creative or the business side. Marc's advice is impeccable; he says the things no one else in show business will, things that those who want into the business need to know. Marc has a heck of a story to tell-it's powerful, outspoken talk from a widely recognized agent on how to master the industry using an entrepreneur's specific skill set. Marc shares deeply personal experiences from the trenches, experiences he's shared with such eminent names as Lauren Bacall, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Christopher Reeve, Quentin Tarantino, Whoopi Goldberg, Dr. Phil, and others, along with as what he learned and how to apply the knowledge. He also offers cautionary tales and hilarious moments, all of which add up a book that tells it like it is for those who are truly serious about a career in entertainment.

Powerhouse

Powerhouse
Author: James Andrew Miller
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2016-08-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0062441396

“Magisterial. ... A must read for anyone who wants to work in Hollywood or just know how Hollywood works.” — The Hollywood Reporter A New York Times bestseller, now updated with an afterword and exclusive new material From the #1 bestselling author behind acclaimed oral histories of Saturday Night Live and ESPN comes "the most hotly anticipated book [in decades]" (Variety): James Andrew Miller's irresistible insider chronicle of the modern entertainment industry, told through the epic story of Creative Artists Agency (CAA)—the ultimate power player that has represented the world's biggest stars and shaped the landscape of film, television, comedy, music, and sports. Started in 1975, when five bright and brash upstarts left creaky William Morris to form their own innovative talent agency, CAA would come to revolutionize Hollywood, representing everyone from Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, and Steven Spielberg to Jennifer Lawrence, J.J. Abrams, Will Smith, and Brad Pitt. Over the next decades its tentacles would spread aggressively into sports, advertising, and digital media. Powerhouse is the fascinating, no-holds-barred saga of that ascent. Drawing on unprecedented and exclusive access to the men and women who built and battled with CAA—including co-founders Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer and rivals like Ari Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor—as well as the stars themselves, Miller spins a unique and unforgettable tale of brilliance, ambition, betrayal, and outrageous success.

Acting as a Business, Fifth Edition

Acting as a Business, Fifth Edition
Author: Brian O'Neil
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2014-04-08
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0345807073

The essential handbook for actors—a modern classic—in a newly updated edition. Since its original publication, Acting as a Business has earned a reputation as an indispensable tool for working and aspiring actors. Avoiding the usual advice about persistence and luck, Brian O’Neil provides clear-cut guidelines that will give actors a solid knowledge of the business behind their art. It’s packed with practical information—on everything from what to say in a cover letter to where to stand when performing in an agent’s office—including: -- Tactics for getting an agent, including preparing for the interview -- How to research who will be casting what—and whether there is a role for you—well in advance -- Examples of correspondence to agents and casting directors for both beginning and advanced professionals -- A detailed analysis of the current trend of paying to meet industry personnel -- How to communicate effectively with an agent or personal manager -- Creative ways to use the internet and social media O’Neil has updated Acting as a Business to keep up with the latest show-business trends, making this fifth edition a reference no actor should be without