Hollywood agents.

The  I. M. Pei Building in Beverly Hills.

 

One or two people have asked me about the agents in Hollywood; the theatrical agents that is. The people that actually run the place.

Yes they are very powerful and one or two can't compare to any agency in London. They are CAA – (Creative Artists Agency); William Morris Endeavor, ICM (International Creative Management) and United Talent Agency.

CAA are the big ones and were the super agents in the 90s. A few agents headed by Michael Ovitz, who actually assumed power, broke away from ICM and started up on their own in 1975. Their first office was rented, they had 2 cars between them, folding card tables for desks and the agents' wives were the receptionists.

They went from humble beginnings to running the world; they had the top stars, the top writers, directors, producers and they put packages together – that is what I mean when I say they ran the world; and still do.

They went from rented offices in Century City to hiring the world famous architect. I. M. Pei to design a very striking building on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills; it cost $25 million and that was in 1989.
Things kind of cooled in the 90s when Ovitz went to work for Disney but they are still up there. They represent Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Stephen Spielberg and many more and according to Wikipedia In March 2009 Fast Company named CAA among the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World, alongside Apple, Google and others, noting that "in Hollywood, there's CAA and then there's everybody else." Fortune named CAA "the entertainment industry's most influential organization.
If you start to make it in the business they will approach you – no need to contact them.
The other agencies above do packaging too but at the moment CAA have 10 movies in development, 14 in production and 94 past films. But they don't produce them they are the 'sales representatives'.
Apart from the agents mentioned above there are other agents – some good, some not so good and they are known as boutique agencies; those are the ones people like me have to approach to be represented – and it isn't easy.
To get an agent in Hollywood you have to be introduced by someone in the business and that doesn't mean they will take you on.
If you are my age they look at your résumé to see if you have worked with any of the Hollywood casting directors – in other words have you been in ER, Friends, LAPD Blue or even New York casting directors who do Law & Order etc.
If you don't know any of the casting directors through work the agent will not take you on. It doesn't matter if you have been working with the Royal Shakespeare Company or The National Theatre of Britain, they will pass; 'great reel' they say and show you the door.
They don't want anybody my age with no Hollywood credits; if they take you on it means they will have to work.
I did have a few agents over there. The first one I called up asked me to send her a head shot. I did and she took me on on the strength of it. I asked why and she said the casting directors only go on head shots – so she was prepared to work.
She asked me to get some more head shots taken which I did. She wanted to see all the proofs so I sent them to her and she picked one she liked.
No one else liked it. They said it just wasn't 'me.' That was her problem – she had never met me so she didn't really know me.
But she got me my first job on TV – it was the only TV job I did there.
After a few months I decided to leave her and go to a manager – a manager in Hollywood takes 15% - agents are only allowed to take 10%.
Sometimes if you get a job for scale the producers pay your agency commission so it's 'scale + 10%.'
I did one commercial with the management company and then my first agent called me one day and asked how things were going – I said not too good that I'd only worked in one non-union commercial (I wasn't a SAG member then ) and she asked me if I'd like to go back with her.
It was an unusual request so I said yes.
A couple of days later she called and said she had an audition for me in the movie Titanic. She had seen that they were after Irish and English actors which is why she called me and fair play to her for that.
It didn't work out – I got a 'call back' but that was it.
The Hollywood actor usually has 2 agents: a theatrical one and a commercial one.
The theatrical agent, by the way, wouldn't be for jobs in the theatre, like in London, but would be for TV and movies.
After I did a play at Santa Monica Playhouse, my friend, whom I met there, suggested me to his Commercial Agent who took me on that's how I managed to do voice work on movies.
After a few theatrical agents I went my own way and the movies I got in to, which were usually low budget and which I'd got myself, were arranged by my commercial agent; but they wouldn't take any commission. I'll say that again an agent wouldn't take commission.
When I did a commercial through them I went for the audition, got a call back and was then kept waiting for 2 hours. I told them about it and they invoiced the advertising agency who eventually sent me about $400 for being kept waiting – some of that was for late payment – and when I went in to their office (the agents) to give them their 10% they wouldn't take it. They said they were not entitled to it – I actually made them take it and buy lunch.
So agents are not all that bad.
I actually did a movie called Father Joe Blow with my agent – he played father Joe and I played a randy college professor.
One agent I called on the phone for representation told me to come in to see him; this was a boutique agent called Capital Artists on Wilshire Blvd; no big deal.
I arrived and waited in the waiting room; he was a stout young kid of about 30 and his assistant showed me in to see him; he took one look at me and realised I wasn't in the age group he wanted; I was too old. Obviously I sounded younger on the phone.
I sat down in his office and waited for him to finish his phone call. When he did he made another call. We made very little small talk but it became obvious to me what the score was.
When I left the shit bag didn't even shake hands – I asked him if I should call and he said yes.
Of course when I called he wouldn't come to the phone and in fact every agent I went to see who passed on representing me wouldn't come to the phone either; so what does that say about them?
The guy from Capital went on my shit list but you know what – I've forgotten his name.