What Do Talent Managers Do?

When we first started to pursue an acting career for my daughter, I did not know anything about talent managers. I didn’t know what services talent managers provide or how much money we’d  pay for having one.

My daughter’s first talent manager “discovered” her at a talent competition in Charleston, SC. His talent management group wanted to represent her and convinced us to move to California to pursue an acting career.  They started promoting her before we even got to California.

I did not ask a lot of questions because I did not know what to ask. I know now how important it is to ask a lot of questions.

My daughter had been acting professionally in SC for a few months.  I’d never considered going to Los Angeles. In fact, anyone who knew me would never have expected me to leave the Southeast.

Shortly before we left for California, I spoke with Craig Wargo, one of her talent managers.  He told me we had to stay at least 3 straight months, that we should live in Burbank,  and that my daughter should stay in public school. He  even suggested areas in Burbank where we should live.

Less than three weeks after our arrival in California, the talent managers had set up meetings with agents for us, picked out headshots for us, created a resume, and helped us decide on an agency for my daughter.

My daughter’s talent manager gave us information about everything I needed to do to get her ready for acting in LA.  He answered any questions we had. He immediately started trying to get her into auditions.

He was very nice, and my daughter was quite fond of him. He made us feel welcome in LA. He was one of my daughter’s biggest fans, and he was convinced that she could become a successful child actor.

He only had a small number of clients, and he believed in and worked hard for each one.  He also provided coaching for his clients before auditions.

We were fortunate to have found someone like this.

Talent managers do so many things, and at the same time, there is so much variation in what they do. That is one of the reasons it is important to do your research and ask questions.

So how do you answer the question “What do talent managers do?”  Read more »

How Do You Prepare Your Child for Interviews with Talent Agencies?

When my daughter first interviewed with talent agencies for representation, we really did not do anything to prepare her.  She already had a talent manager, and he told me to dress her in something cute and to tell her to be herself.

My daughter was not quite seven years old when we were looking at Los Angeles talent agencies.  She was very outgoing and confident and had no fear when talking to adults, so we just let her do her own thing.

It worked out well for us, and I’m sure my daughter’s talent manager knew what he was doing.  And I trusted him because I certainly did not know what I was doing.

If your child does not yet have representation, you may be wondering what you can do to help prepare your child for interviews with talent agencies and managers.

Read more »