An extremely common question that newer actors have about the industry (which is something that isn’t exclusive to new actors, by any means) is whether they should have an agent, a manager, both, or sometimes neither… this is something that I sometimes think about too, and I finally decided to stop wondering and do some real research on the matter because, frankly, I just NEED to know.
     Agencies are BIG. The smallest agency you will come across will probably have around 150-200 clients. That’s a lot of people to be in charge of. There’s different types of agents, some are commercial, theatrical (film and TV), theatre (on the stage), voice over, etc… some are all of those things. The trick to finding an agent is getting one that wants YOU. Agencies have a lot of people and finding one that doesn’t have any people like you will help your chances of getting out on more auditions. They are there for the faster paced things, they want to get you in, get you out, get you booked.
     A manager is someone who has a lot less clients and can hone in on your career specifically and help you make the right choices about where you should go, what parts you should take, what you should wear to the audition, all of those things that someone who really just focuses on YOU would be doing. A manger will help you make the big choices in your career (like “Help! I’m being offered two films at the same time!”), and will be alongside you the whole time to get there.
     In my opinion you need a manager when you’ve “made it” at least to the point that you aren’t going out for the non speaking roles, and when you are getting called back and booking more than you are not.
     Agents will help build your career to the point that you cant handle it all yourself and you actually need the manager to come in and MANAGE, because that’s what they do. Of course if you have a manager in the beginning stages of our career who loves you and wants to help you, that cant hurt, but it is not necessary to start out with one. That being said, make your own choices by doing your own research about it. If you find something that works for you, let us know!

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