Acting - Who's Who?
In this article we're going to cover some of the more important
people in the acting business who have a direct or indirect
impact on the life of an actor.
In the course of an
actor's life he is going to meet a lot of people. Many of these
people will have a direct or indirect effect on his career.
Some, more so than others.
Probably the person who will
have the biggest effect on the career of an actor is his agent.
Love 'em or hate 'em, agents are impossible to live without. By
definition an agent is someone who finds work for an actor at a
fee of about 10 to 15% of whatever he earns for that job. But an
agent is much more than that in reality. An agent is the actor's
mouthpiece. He's the one who tries to display the actor in the
best possible light through his own charm. Agents have to be
very good talkers and have personalities that are easy to get
along with. As an agent they will have an extensive list of
contacts from producers to directors. They use this list to get
an actor every chance that they possibly can. And then after the
actor gets the job the agent works on the terms of ther contract
to make sure that he gets the best deal possible. A good agent
will have the actor's best interests at heart, knowing that the
better the deal he makes, the better he makes out as
well.
Then there is the casting director. This person can
make or break an actor's career. If an actor can't get past the
casting director he has no chance. Casting directors are
specifically hired to find talent for the movie, show or play,
whichever the case may be. This is the agent's first line of
contact. These are the people the agent sends photos and resum