Breaking and Entering by Philip Carlson

Author:Philip Carlson [Carlson, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781623160784
Publisher: Opus Books
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

WORKSHOP FIVE: Walk A Mile In My Shoes

Before we get to your dream client lists, let’s do some improvisation. Not an acting class, I know I promised, but I lied. But not really. This is basically a chance to burrow further into an agent’s mind, although in this case it will be your mind standing in for the agent’s. Let me explain.

How can you possibly expect to be wanted, let alone sought after by someone whose priorities you have never even considered? Someone who is a complete mystery to you. Someone you very possibly even resent? What do you think the agent is looking for? Bottom line: someone who will make money. How does he know when he is talking to such a person? Well, after a while, agents develop an instinct, or hope they do. The truth is, while no agent is infallible on the who-is-going-to-succeed front, there are signs. These signs are interpreted differently by different agents.

An agent who has no use for you in the morning may be shrugged off thanks to the one who flipped for you in the afternoon. While the morning agent’s rejection might sting less thanks to the hours-later acceptance, the morning agent’s reaction should not be dismissed. They each had their reasons for liking and for not liking you. You need to know, or at least think about, what those reasons might be. Why the one in the morning did not like you is every bit as important as why the one in the afternoon did.

What do agents want? I always go for someone I like personally, which makes me a sucker and destined for heartache but that’s me. Obviously, I always tumble for someone I think is gifted. How can I tell? I guess! I suspect and then I go see work. I look at their reel if they have one or I see them in a play when they get one. Do I insist on waiting till they are in something? Yes. I only signed one actor in my life whose work I had never seen because he was irresistible in the office. He proceeded to star in one movie and was little-heard from after that. But if I have responded favorably in the office, it is more than likely I will respond favorably to their work. What makes me respond favorably in the office? I look for someone who is pleasant to be around, who is passionate about the profession and who deeply wants me. (Deeply? Really? Sure. I’m a person.)

I like it best when I want them first. There is no substitute for seeing someone in a play or on film and falling in love with their talent. If they have forced themselves upon me in the office, it always takes me a while to warm up to them. But if I have seen someone in a play, loved their work and called them into the office, they would have to go a very long way to screw up their interview with me.

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