Actors Should Avoid Bad Talent Managers

College guys often sign contracts with worthless talent managers because they are desparate. Guys come to Los Angeles to become actors and think the first thing they need to do is secure a manager and an agent.

You do not need a manager if you can get things done. managers are best for actor who are already bringing in $50K per year and need career direction. You are just starting out. If you can call to get you headshot done, go get prints made, look up auditions on Actor's Access and make it to acting class, you do not need a manager. However, some managers arrange for some new actors to obtain an agent. This is valuable, but keep in mind signing with an agent means giving away more of your income.

Unregulated

Personal managers are not regulated. TV and film Agents regulated by the state of California. Because of this, anyone can print business cards, call himself a personal manager, hang out at night clubs, sign any and all aspiring actors to contracts but never help them... The manager just signs as many guys as he can and hopes one will hit it big from his own hard work, so he can collect his percentage. The odds are in his favor. (Acting Managers earn 15 percent of actor's earnings. 15 percent of $5000 is $750, so that leave you with $4250, less if you have an agent.)

How do you find out if an manager is worth messing with? Ask around and don't be in a hurry. Networking is most valuable: Listen to fellow actors/models, not people who hold a contract in front of you.

Clues a Manager is Bad

Your first clue to the fact that you are talking to the wrong person is if he offers to sign you to a contract without hearing you recite at least a paragraph of acting dialogue. How the heck does he know if you can be an actor if he has never seen and heard you act? Just because you are good-looking doesn't mean you can be an actor. Acting is not pretending. It is hard work, paying attention to 3 hour acting classes 2-3 times per week, reading plays and books and even harder is the business tasks and hard work you must contribute to get to know all the casting directors who hire talent and somehow land an agent. If you think you can be an actor without even attending one acting class, you are being foolish. Choose a manager who is a member of the Talent Managers Association.

Contracts

If you sign a contract with a manager, don't be afraid to ask for a change to a "standard" contract. Don't be desperate. Management contracts usually state that you are responsible for reimbursing them for the expenses they incur in promoting you - which is reasonable. But if they are a worthless manager who does nothing to help you, and you landed a roll because you met a production coordinator, you will still be responsible for giving your manager his share. For example, he could take a trip to Acapulco and claim it was to promote you for an acting role.

Impossible to Know Everything When You Are New

Don't let your ego delude you. There is much you do not know even if you knew a lot back home. Scammers thrive on the lack of experience of small town guys who are eager beavers and want to take shortcuts to success. No matter how much you know, you do not know all the angles/tricks/traps that your negotiation counterpart knows. He knows every question you will ask before you ask it because he has dealt with hundreds of people just like you - who came before you. He knows how to get you excited and feed your ego.

He knows to have someone in a suit walk into the office and say he is an entertainment attorney who will say you are incredible and need to sign a contract today! And everyone drops names and can get you into some club where Paris Hilton was at last week. Just because someone knows Adam Brody doesn't mean it is going to help you in any way. Celebrities have tons of "hanger-oners" and are constantly surrounded by people who want something and are not going to help some kid who just landed in town. the person to get to know are the casting directors and agents.

Little Fish in a Big Pond

Get ready: Back home you were a big fish in little pond. In Los Angeles, you will be a little fish in big pond. You may have banged all the hottest chicks back home, but the hot ones here are trying to bang a director or producer, not some farm boy who has nothing to offer them.

Agents are Not Managers

What you need is an agent. But agents get fired if they do not bring in enough revenue to their agency. So, they only want to work with people who can bring in revenue to the agency. Some guy who just arrived in LA and is not even signed up with an acting class and hasn't been on any auditions is not going to bring in revenue. So, it takes time to land an agent, and hard work.

Campus Men acts as management for a select group of young guys who have the highest potential and are willing to outwork their competition by being dedicated and motivated. To understand what we do, visit the Talent Managers Association