Whether you're thinking about pursuing a career as an agent, want to learn more about what your agent does or should be doing for you or are new to the industry and 'don't know nothin' about nothin'...read on:

The Center of the Universe in Hollywood is the Agent

With the fall of the old studio system, agents have become more and more important. They are the information holders and deal makers. Virtually no deals are made without an agent because almost every desirable director, actor and writer has one. Even with the evolution of the personal manager (see Agents vs. Managers) the Hollywood agent is still at the pinnacle.

The Phone is Your Friend

Every agent lives by their phone sheet. Rolling calls is like breathing for an agent. Everyday an agent makes call to generate new business, maintain relationships, check in with clients, producers, studio executives, D-people, etc. One former assistant to a senior CAA agent said, "My boss would flip through his rolodex every afternoon and say who are we going to call? And I'd shout names and keep dialing for two hours. Sometimes he wouldn't even know what he was going to say until he got on the phone with the person. The point was his name was getting out there everyday and so were his client's names. "

Negotiator

An agent's strongest asset is their ability to make a deal. An agent must master the art of negotiating. We can ridicule agents for being greedy. Is it really greed or good business? Of course they want to get the most for their client and they will. They live and die for their 10% and clients should be grateful for that. The more money they can close a deal for, the more money for you both. This is why so many lawyers or law school graduates become agents. Jon Huddle, agent at the William Morris agency, said, "I wanted to be more creative but I was also good at negotiating, that's why I went to law school and was a trial lawyer for a year. Being an agent gives you license to do both (negotiate and be creative)."

Persuader

So they're shmoozers...isn't that what we love about them? Agents spend a good amount of their time picking up the tab, buying dinner for most of Hollywood on any given night and giving the most elaborate gifts. This past holiday season CAA's top clients' assistants, not the client, were given Sony boom-boxes. (Sorry to those assistants who got t-shirts... I guess your boss wasn't high enough on the priority list). They spend thousand of dollars patting clients on the back in the trades. It's an agent's job to make all of the industry believe they have clout, that they are an effective salesperson and that they believe in their client and the client's material. So, yes they're persuasive...it's their job.

Stealing "wooing" Clients

Saying agents lie is so cliché. They don't lie.... they negotiate, they persuade and when they want you to sign with them they'll woo you as well. Here's an example of how they do it:

TV star is happy with X agency. Then he decides that he wants to do movies. X agency manages to land him in a film. What do you know, the film does better than expected and TV star is now a "hot" commodity in Hollywood . Y agency, which is a larger agency and highly powerful meets TV star at an industry function, chats him up and invites him to dinner the next week. Over dinner Y agent says he could have gotten TV star more money for the film and mentions a few films Y agency is currently packaging. TV star sure would like to make more money and is interested in the films Y is packaging. A few more dinners with Y agent, Laker tickets and doting phone calls and X agency just lost their hot commodity to Y agency. This is also an example of why agents are often referred to as the "sharks" of the business.

Pitching Clients

Selling your client is the agents' most important part of the job. After all it's how they earn their 10%.

"The most difficult part of my job is getting people to say yes and convincing buyers to buy our project or hire our writer for an assignment. Basically I have to be able to convey my belief and passion for that writer so that they can see what that writer can offer them. Yes is a very difficult word in this business."
--Garth Pappas, literary agent at Metropolitan Talent Agency

The first step is to use your contacts. For an agent if you don't have buyers it doesn't matter how good or talented your client is. This is why it's so important to build your rolodex, return favors, lunch, wine and dine. It's the agent's job to get their client and their work in front of a buyer or decision maker. Agents should have clients they believe in or at worst believe others could believe in them. Agents should sound enthusiastic, excited and passionate about what they're selling. An agent is a salesperson and the client is their product.

For the new, young agent it's even more important to pitch clients to as many people as possible. It's a numbers game and the more people you get to the better the odds are that you'll sell your client. This is another reason why agents keep such long hours. It takes 16 hours plus a day to try and cover the town. Not even Michael Ovitz is his prime was able to get to everyone, although he would never admit to this. It is virtually Mission: Impossible, but the best agents and agencies come very close.