The usual route to finding a talent agent involves sending out headshots or reels (if you are an actor or model) or query letters and screenplays (if you are a writer) or query letters and reels (if you are a director or producer) or CDs (if you are a musician).

The key to being represented as an artist is for an agent to be convinced that he or she can sell you. Most agency rejection comes, not because of a lack of talent, but because an agent cannot clearly see how to sell the artist. This is the central hurdle artists need to overcome.

What does it mean for an agent to believe he can sell you? It means that he clearly sees where you fit in the business. He must either know someone looking buy what you are selling or he must believe that he can convince someone to buy you because you represent a type that is in demand.

What many people do not understand about Hollywood is that it is not just about talent. You may be a very talented actor, writer, director, or even a strikingly beautiful model, but that does not mean an agent will believe he can sell you. What is important to understand is that the agent’s job is a marketing job. They would do well to change their names from talent agents to marketing agents. The best way to understand what an agent looks for and how they do their job is to look at how other products are sold in other industries.

Many artists pride themselves on being different, new, or innovative. They have written a screenplay like no other. They have a style like no one you have ever seen before. From a marketing perspective such newness can spell disaster. How hard is it to get someone to buy something they have ever heard of before? And how expensive is it to get people to know and understand something brand new? Will it work? Does it last? Who can fix it? Will it be around in the future? Does it do what it claims? Is it worth my money? Why buy that when I can buy the one I have used for years? If it is so great, how come no one ever thought of it before?

One example I recently came across was in Bed Bath and Beyond. I was standing in line with my daughter and saw there was an item on display that claimed to replace dryer sheets. From all appearances, it was a small pink rubber ball with little dull spikes on it. It claimed to last for years and to save hundreds of dollars in fabric softener. They were selling a set of two for $9.95.

When we see something like that we can have different opinions. Some of us will buy it based on the novelty of it-we like new things and want to try them out. If they work, great; we will tell our friends. If they do not, cool; we may or may not tell our friends. But the vast majority of people will only come to buy or use a new item after it has been proven-after a few demonstration ads on TV or a segment on the Today Show where some expert claims the dryer ball to be the greatest thing since hamburgers. Over time, more may come on board if the new thing proves to be better than what they are using. That is why when dryer sheets first came out, they mailed them free to millions of people to try in their own homes. Through actual experience, they won people over.

New and different to an agent is very much like the dryer ball. Will it sell? How long? What is the market? How do I sell it and where? What are the risks to my reputation for recommending it if it is not a hit?

If, however, an item is similar to known successful brands, there is more faith the item will sell. That is why there are tons of MP3 players on the market. The Ipod may have been the first and may still be the best selling, but the fact that people know there is a market for Ipods or vampire book or coffee chains, means the chances of developing more and more to reach different segments is possible. Make your MP3 player hold more, costs less, play more formats, etc, and you can steal off a bit of business from Apple.

But, on the other hand, if your MP3 player costs the same, holds the same, and does the same as Ipod, why would anyone bring yours to market? The only reason would be if there is such a demand that Ipod can not keep up. Such is the case with the Twilight Saga. People can read books faster than Stephanie Meyer can write them. So to fill the gap between her releases, there has sprung up a slew of teen angst vampire love books all over Barnes and Noble. Some of these “sagas” have four, five or six books in the series already. They sit on the shelves next to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, awaiting the wave of dedicated vampire love story reading girls and ladies to crave again. They are designed similarly to the Twilight books, but promise a bit more sex, more abs or more grit. They take place in college instead of high school, or in the office, or a hospital. You get the point. They are “like Twilight, but different enough to stave off lawsuits.” Likewise, an actor who fits the same type as Taylor Lautner, Keira Knightley, or Natalie Portman could more easily get booked based on the number of films made for actors of that type and the fact that Taylor, Keira and Natalie can not possibly do all those roles themselves.

An agent looks for a client in the same way that any marketer looks at a product it wants to sell. That is why fourteen agents passed on Twilight before one finally accepted it. Twilight was the first rule breaker to get though. Afterwards, every agent went looking for something like Twilight-that is, until the market flooded. Once it floods, being able to sell “another teenage vampire love story” becomes difficult and all the agents go on to the next thing.

So, how do you apply this information to help you get an agent? Let us tackle this by craft. Each discipline has its own angles that lead to agents.

If you are a writer, write the best screenplay you can in the genre you enjoy writing the most. Then write another in the same genre. Many writers make the mistake of thinking the way to impress Hollywood is to show their versatility. In reality, it is a surefire way to confuse an agent and even lose representation if you already have it. Agents and studios need to know who you are and what you do. You either do comedy, drama or action, romance, adventure, etc. You do not do one for one script and another for the next. Being a one trick pony keeps the agent from being confused when he is talking about you. Agents can sell forks and they can sell spoons, but they can not sell sporks or foons because no one buys them. No one buys them because films cost too much money to experiment with. So choose your genre carefully because, if you make it as a writer, you will be writing that genre for a while.

Next, get your screenplay out to agents, producers, and contests. Your agent and producer list can come from the Writer’s Guild of America West (WGAW), which can be found on their website. The WGA lists shows agents and producers who are open to receiving unsolicited screenplays. You can send copies to them and follow up with emails and phone calls. Placing or winning a well respected writing contest will also open doors for you to connect with agents, lawyers, producers and other executives. Such connections can lead to referrals and it is always easier to get an agent via a referral.

Referrals are the best way to get an agent and referrals can come from anywhere. A friend of a relative could get someone to read your screenplay. If you studied writing formally and impressed your professors, most likely early referrals will come from them. A producer who liked your work, but did not feel it right for their company might be willing to refer you to an agent. Or you could hire a lawyer to represent you and he could recommend an agent. All of these are legitimate ways to be referred to an agent.

In the meantime, it can help to start a blog and put your writing out into the world. Get people interested in your stories and perhaps even write for a web series. Doing so can grab the attention of agents who browse the web looking for talent regularly. With the advent of the web and blogging, you can create and instantly publish your stories to a world-wide audience and demonstrate your marketability if you are having trouble convincing agents to rep you. And like the free dryer sheets in the mail, giving away some of what you have can show the quality and style you bring to the table as well develop your fan base.

Although many of these methods apply to actors, models, musicians, and directors as well, we will take a look at those artists in the next article as they have other unique needs to address.

This is the third in a series of articles about relocating to Hollywood or New York to follow dreams in the entertainment industry.

Part III—Singers/Musicians

When should a singer or musician move to Hollywood or N.Y? It’s a good question. And what’s interesting about this one is we’ve finally gotten to a category of entertainment that has a nationwide televised contest that actually tries to answer that very question.

American Idol has come a long way towards helping us understand what the music industry is looking for when they look for singers to turn into stars. Of course talent is necessary, but it’s not the only thing. The vast majority of singers who progress to the final rounds are those who have already had success on the local level. They’ve learned how to perform before an audience, they know who they are—their style, their range, their genre—and by the time they are on the show, they look as comfortable as any star performing on the Grammys.

Musicians and singers have more outlets for their talent than other performance artists. A band or a singer can set up in a bar, a coffee house, a church or even all three any night of the week. And if they’re good, they’ll get paid, too. They can rent a hall and throw a concert any time they like. They can also pull a “Hustle and Flow” and set up a studio in any room lined with egg crates, pillows and blankets to record the next number one hit to sweep the nation. That’s because music has the simplest and cheapest distribution system available today. Any artist anywhere can easily record and fully produce a song on his computer using software that’s either free or cheap and get audibly the same quality many studios turn out. In fact, here’s one such software from one of my sponsors that turns your computer into a studio for only $29:

After musicians create a song, they can then post the file on MySpace, Amazon or any of a dozen or more other sites and watch it sell around the world. They can even film their own viral music video and release the song through YouTube.

So when should a musician or singer move to Hollywood or New York? This one is simplest of all to answer. They shouldn’t. Stay where you are. Do your thing locally and put your stuff out online and independently. Hollywood will notice you when you’re ready and they will come to you.

Why? Well, the fact of the matter is that you have much better chance of being able to get on a stage in your hometown than you do in Los Angeles or New York. Besides that, in your hometown you already have fans. And it’s those fans who will be your most loyal customers even after you become a nationwide sensation. It’s those people you will need to help boost your popularity worldwide—to run your fansites, to brag about you on social networking sites. Hometown fans are so strong because they not only are supporting you, but they are supporting where you come from. They are representing your town to the world. You help put each other on the map.

And that’s another reason you don’t want to move to N.Y. or Hollywood. You aren’t from there. Music tends to have this local loyalty that’s much stronger than other art forms. I mean, there are New York writers, but nothing compares with the kind of slavish loyalties that music fans have.

Consider this: Jay-Z is from New York. He’s loved around the world, but he is worshiped in Brooklyn. He didn’t move to New York, he grew up there. His music is as culturally and lyrically linked to New York as Snoop’s is to L.A., and as T.I’s is to Atlanta.   Similarly Dave Matthews Band blew up in Virgina and released their album independently before sweeping the world. The same story is repeated for country, rock, and rap stars all across America. Blooming where you were planted is the rule in the music industry, not the exception. If you bloom big enough, Hollywood and N.Y. will take notice. At that time, they may call you to move. That’s when you may want to consider it.

One of the artists I interviewed in my book is a multi-platinum hip hop producer that I’ve known for years. His story is that he moved to Hollywood only because one of his friends got a contract with Death Row Records back in the 90s. Death Row found his friend in Atlanta and brought him to L.A. This artist went along. And because he was always hanging out at Death Row helping produce beats for free, he too eventually got offered jobs. So I concede there is one other time when you might want to move to N.Y. or L.A.—when you have a friend who gets a contract with a major label and wants you to come along.

But even when Hollywood takes notice, it doesn’t mean you need to move. Many producers and musicians, like writers, find their hometowns to be greater sources of inspiration for their art. Flying out to meet with other artists or agents in the industry centers will usually suffice. Keeping connected to your roots helps you stay authentic. There is nothing worse for an artist than to lose his authentic self-expression. An artist who does so risks losing the very thing Hollywood seeks to exploit to make him a star.

With all the options for performing, recording and releasing music that exists today, there is no sensible reason for any musician to move to Hollywood unless invited.

Please tell me what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Have questions? Please share from your experience in the comments below and share this article with others. Also look for my next article on Directors and Producers in the next few days. And please check out my book for all the advice from my producer friend as well as great insights from gold-selling and Grammy nominated singers and songwriters and many other successful celebrities.

Good Luck,

TRL

This is the first in a series of articles about relocating to Hollywood or New York to follow dreams in the entertainment business.

Part I—Writers.

If it’s not obvious to you, let me just state this clearly up front—this is not a question a beginning writer should be asking. In my opinion, the only people who should really be asking themselves this question are writers who’ve had some success with their craft. By “success” I mean that you’ve won awards for your screenplays or teleplays, you’ve gotten some type of representation, you’ve been optioned, you’ve produced your own plays or movies and have built an audience or you’ve placed in a film festival or writing competition. At the very least you’ve finished some writing program somewhere, have gotten feedback indicating you’ve got great talent and have written, edited and rewritten multiple screenplays. If none of these have happened, you may want to consider a move to either Hollywood or New York a bit premature—unless you’re moving here to go to school.

This section should be called Screenwriters. I called it Writers because the mass of the publishing business is based in New York. There are book writers who dream of moving to New York in the same way that Screenwriters dream of moving to Hollywood.  But unless your goal is to write for TV News or to be an editor at a publishing house, there isn’t much need for you to relocate to New York. Book writing and journalism isn’t really considered part of the entertainment world even though it most definitely is—evidenced by the lines blurring more and more every day. Nonetheless, book writing can be done from anywhere and emailed to editors and publishers around the world. If you need to take a meeting as a book writer, a teleconference or a day trip will usually suffice.

Screenwriting is a bit different.

Screenwriters’ options for if and when to move depend on whether they want to write for film or TV.

TV writers pretty much need to be local to where they work. TV writing is a collaborative effort. TV is run by writers (producers in TV are also the senior writers). The rigorous schedule of putting out weekly or daily shows requires teamwork. Teamwork requires the team be together. Different teams work different ways. Usually the writing staff meets and brainstorms the direction of the show. If the show has a strict bible (show plan or series arc) then the teams determines how far the show will move this season and may assign individual writers to write specific episodes based on the input/pitches from the whole staff. Writers may then get to work on their show for the most part, but still must participate in the rest of the show writing and development as necessary.

Most TV shows don’t have that strict a bible or are episodic. Shooting schedules demand quick writing and more minds equals more ideas faster. TV writers are salaried employees that generally work 60 hour weeks and more. On top of that, they must be there even after the scripts are written to make changes even during filming.

If a show is episodic, individual ideas for shows can be pitched and planned by the show runner. In the case of episodic shows, there is more of a chance the writer will not have to be in the room every week. The main writing staff must be present, but it is possible for episodic shows to produce a screenplay by a writer who does not live in the city. It is, however, unusual and unlikely.

Finally, if you’re writing a daily show—such as a news show or Tonight Show, etc. It would be impossible to be a regular writer without being in the room. In that case, you could live elsewhere only if you serve as a writer of a special segment.

Film writers have more options. If you chose to be a spec writer (one who writes original screenplays, then offers them for sale to production companies), you can do that much the same way as novel writers. You are free to live anywhere you like and send your screenplays in to agents, managers, producers or whatever contacts you might have in the industry. No one cares if you send your script from a cabin in Vermont or from Sunset and Vine.

If, however, you desire to be hired as a screenwriter—the predominate form of film screenwriting employment—you benefit from being in Hollywood because you have to take meetings to get those jobs.  Still, before Hollywood will consider you for employment as a screenwriter on a film, you will need to have an agent. To get an agent you need a spec screenplay. And spec screenplays, as I mentioned above, can be written anywhere. So unless you’ve garnered an agent from the quality of your screenplay, and your agent is ready to get you working in TV, you do not yet need to move to Hollywood. And if you have gotten an agent and he has meetings set up for you at Warner Bros tomorrow, you might still want to fly in for a week, take a bunch of meetings and see how they go before you take the plunge. It is actually easier, in many cases, to schedule meetings if you are known to only be available for a period of time.

Here’s a final thought on this. One thing I Wish I Knew (or WIK, as I call these ideas in the book) is this: WIK #20: It may well be that what inspires you to write is native to your hometown and not to Hollywood. Do you get that?

I moved to Hollywood from Chicago. In Chicago, the change of season, the rain, the snow, the oppressive heat, the big urban jungle, the roar of the El Train—the essence of Chicago—inspired and informed the writing that landed me an agent in Hollywood. All those inspirations disappeared when I moved to L.A. The perpetual sunshine, beautiful weather, palm trees and flowers did nothing to help me conjure up the harsh images I’d penned before. That’s another thing to keep in mind before you move. If your family gatherings or your crazy neighbor helped your pen those great stories, what happens when you’re not there anymore?

On the other hand, L.A. or New York can spawn new inspiration—at least that’s what the title of my book suggests. And as the photo at the top of this article confirms, there aren’t too many other places where you can watch Inglorious Basterds with Quentin Tarantino.

Good Luck

Next article will take a look at when an actor should move to Hollywood.

TRL

It was reported last night on NBC news that a source close to Michael Jackson said the superstar was so distraught about being forced to do fifty concert dates in London, instead of the ten he wanted to do, that he may have accidentally killed himself through an overdose while trying to make himself too sick to carry out the contract.

The mere accusation of such a disturbing possibility shines a light on the reality of the dark side of Hollywood. When people talk about Hollywood, they are generally talking about the entire world of entertainment. Entertainment to the average person is fun-movies, music, dancing, television, sports, live theater, magic. It’s all the great stuff we pay to see or do because our participation takes us away from our day-to-day.

But for those who are the creators and producers of entertainment, a better term might be “Show Business.” There is the show. And there is also the business.

Michael Jackson loved the show. The same source on NBC reported he could talk about old movies, dance moves and music for hours, but when it came to negotiating contracts and the legal technicalities, MJ took a much dimmer view. Most artists do likewise.

That’s why Hollywood is full of people who make the business side of show business happen-agents, lawyers, producers, promoters, marketers, advertisers, accountants, banks, corporations, distributors, publicists, secretaries, assistants, drivers, construction workers, electricians…

For an artist, Michael Jackson was a very shrewd and intelligent negotiator. He was one of the first artists to maintain ownership of his own masters and publishing rights to his music (something Paul McCartney actually advised him to do). MJ took the advice so seriously that he also purchased the rights to half of the Sony music catalog that controls the Beatles music as well.  No doubt this shrewdness grew out of the massive experience of Michael Jackson’s 45-year career and having been on the short end of negotiations early on.

But just because Michael was good at negotiating doesn’t mean he enjoyed it. Most artists don’t. The vision artists have of coming to Hollywood might include getting rich, but it rarely includes the minutiae and details required to actually make getting rich happen. Artists usually just want to be discovered-to have the chance to make their living doing something they love. They’ve seen the money come for others and they hope it will come for them, too, but someone else usually handles that. And that someone else gets rich too. Very rich. And usually that someone else is much more powerful than the artist-no matter who that artist is.

When the artist (the show) and the people running the business of that artist are in sync, Hollywood is at its best. Great art can be produced and the world can get to enjoy it. The artist grows wealthy and famous and the money flows. But when the artist and the people running the business of that artist get out of sync, lawsuits, threats, drug addiction, depression, sickness, exhaustion, confusion, disappearances, bad artistic products and even death occur.

This is the dark side of Hollywood. It’s what awaits every artist who comes here. Whether the artist falls victim to this dark side or not, he will certainly face it. Eventually, the artist, whose art most freely flows from his own willing creativity, will find himself being forced to do something he doesn’t want to do because it interferes with the business side of his show.

Business people don’t really understand what it takes to create art. They’ve studied a system of rules, formulas, legalities, educated guesses and leveraged hunches to determine what they believe (or sometimes know) will create money. So as an artist, if your lyrics, your story, your jokes, your self-expression, your movie ending, your energy level, your friends, your family, your desire to try something new, your vision, your look, your new wardrobe, etc. doesn’t jib with their scheduling, market testing, product lineup, distribution policy, Asian market strategy, image consultation or calendar, etc., you’ll find yourself confronted with the dark side. And in the worst cases, that dark side cannot only kill your art, but it can kill you.

The dark side of Hollywood reminds me a bit of that that old fable of the goose that laid the golden eggs. The man takes and kills the goose in order to more quickly get at all the golden eggs inside. In the fable, there are no eggs inside the dead goose. The man learns his lesson about greed and patience and caring for precious possessions. The goose must keep living, be healthy, and take his good time to produce golden eggs one at a time. But in Hollywood they can kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and no longer get the new eggs, but instead sell Golden Goose t-shirts, make Golden Goose movies, sell GG collectibles, copies of other eggs, commemorative special edition DVDs of the Goose’s Best Golden Egg Lays, televise gala events of famous people talking about their Golden Goose experiences and sell advertising spots, play old Golden Goose movies and, of course, dress up a duck in goose feathers, paint some eggs gold and shove them up the duck’s ass-the people won’t know the difference when they pop out.  Now, instead of one Golden Goose, there are twenty-all aimed at different markets, all saying and doing exactly what the surveys and market research says they should.

The dark side of Hollywood is that any artist, any art is first and foremost a product to sell. It’s one thing when the product being sold is a machine, a coffee cup, a wallet or a car. Such things can be marketed at will or disposed of without much consideration if it doesn’t sell well. It might seem another thing altogether when what’s being sold is a human being-his thoughts, ideas, dreams, visions…his music. But in Hollywood there is no difference.

Develop a very thick skin.

I just happened to see the job listings from UTA (United Talent Agency). The job listings are supposed to be internal openings that agents and their assistants browse to learn what production companies, or their own clients, are looking for in terms of support staff. Most of the listings are for agent assistants, celebrity assistants, interns/trainees and other lower-level studio executives. They are the kind of jobs many people who come to Hollywood hope to land in order to get a foot in the door.

These lists get swiped and passed around through email. Join almost any creative support group and you’re likely to come across one or more from a major agency. They all have them. And some of the jobs pay decent wages, too. You can be a celebrity assistant for instance and earn “$48K/year–no benefits.” However the reply link was via a country music company, so it might not be enough money.

What traits do many of the jobs look for? Well, along with, “must be willing to work flexible hours and be utterly committed to the job,” one very telling request was as follows: “Must have thick skin.”

What makes someone put that in a job posting? Not sure, but I would guess they lost their prior assistant because they cussed them out one too many times.

Thick skin. It’s not only good for assistants working for agents and celebrities, but it’s a must for any creative person who puts their talent up for judgment.

In fact, thick skin might be too soft a term–try armor plating. “Must have armor plating.” Armor is better than skin for repelling the knives that often fly at you. “Must be bulletproof.”

Whatever dreams you might have in Hollywood, unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ll encounter lots of rejection before you find it.  Not letting that rejection penetrate,  not taking the harsh comments to heart–letting them bounce off your thick skin will definitely help you stay on track and give you a better shot at reaching your goals.

Keep at it,

T. R. Locke

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