Actors and Their Re-Presentatives
A favorite pastime amongst actors is to complain about their agents and managers. They don’t work hard enough. They don’t get me the right appointments. They suck. Why don’t these people who earn 10% of my money do all of the work!
Yeah. That’s gonna happen… As a business model, it makes no sense. An agent or manager cannot devote their every waking minute to you. They have bills to pay, too. Simple math dictates that to earn what you earn alone, they would need ten of you.
But let’s move from math to language for a moment. To “represent” is to “re-present,” ie, “present again.” It means that the original presenting has been done. In this case it was done by… you. If you believe your agent doesn’t work hard enough, stop for a moment and consider what they are re-presenting.
(You may not want to hear this. No, it’s them, they really do suck, may be your mantra by now, but I’m hoping you’ll read on.)
As I trace the arc of my own career, with its highs and lows, there is almost a direct correlation between the times when I was pro-active and when things were moving. With much love to everybody I’ve ever worked with, it almost always flowed from me. Conversely, during times when I coasted, or lost my drive, well, funny thing, so did my representatives and my career.
I was responsible for the presentation. And they, as the job description would suggest, were responsible for the re-presentation. Thus it will ever be.
So, if you want to get the most out of your re-presentatives, whomever they are, start with your own presentation.