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Wow. A couple of funny things happened over the weekend. Not funny 'ha ha" but funny "WTF???".
#1
The father of a child we interviewed a while back popped up on our LAC account. I mean, his photos and profile were actually on our roster! What??? He must have snuck in somehow using his current account and telling LAC that he finally got himself an agent. Problem is, HE ISN'T A CLIENT. We did NOT sign him with the agency. He was trying so hard to get us to sign him at his child's interview -- so much that when we asked him what her skills were, he answered, "Nothing." then went on to talk about his own skills. This guy wasn't even a contender. When he was making arrangements for us to meet his daughter, he told us he was a stuntman so we thought, hmmm, maybe if he's SAG we could consider the father-daughter team. Turns out he just WANTS to be a stuntman. O-tay! And we explained to him NICELY that he wasn't SAG and he had no co-star credits so we couldn't consider him for representation at this time.
Afterwards, he kept emailing us to ask if we had re-considered and if we could get him SAG extra work so he could get vouchers so he would become SAG eligible and we could sign him. HELLO? First of all, we're not an extra agency and secondly, he still didn't have all the basic requirements.
Remember, when you interview with a potential agent -- WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY LIKE YOU. In fact, we have to LOVE you! Basic, simple, true. If you are a pain-in-the *ss at the interview, we aren't going to want to deal with you on a daily basis for the next year. What was he thinking??? What he did was really offensive and insulting. Don't be a moron and think we aren't going to notice that a NON-CLIENT is on our roster and accidentally submit you on projects! WE KNOW AND LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR CLIENTS. That's the beauty of being a part of a small, boutique agency. We're family.
Don't blow your chances of ever getting an agent by pulling this kind of stunt. This guy has been permanently removed from LAC.
Yup, his account is in the trash bin.
#2
A guy submitted his photo,resume and website link via our client submissions form on our website. We don't have time to reply to every single submission (just like casting directors do not have time to call people to let them know they DIDN'T get a callback) but since this was over the holiday weekend (yes, we do work on weekends!) we were able to answer this guy and tell him that unfortunately we weren't taking adults who aren't in SAG with at least two co-star credits. Do you know what his reply was?
"OK, I will contact you in 20 years."
WTH??? Is he that big of a loser? Low self-esteem, much? Hmmm. Too bad he was such a tool. You never know when something may come up and he happens to have the right look. There is such a thing as a Taft-Hartley, remember?
His submission is also in the trash.
#3
OK, this next thing happened a couple of months ago but I wanted to share because it fits right in with the others.
We were cc'd on an email from some lady who said she was pulling her son from the agency because he has never gotten an audition and to kindly stop charging her bank account for our services. WTF??? After going through some lists, we realized this lady was someone who sent in a client submission for her son over a year ago but we had never called them in for an interview. We are guessing she signed with another agency but her son never got an audition so she wanted to drop them. And the other agency on the email was also a SAG-franchised agency so we know that there were no service charges on their end. So we emailed this lady back telling her that she was mistaken in contacting us and was probably referring to the charges for an upgraded LAC account and if she wanted to cancel the service, she would need to contact LAC support. We never heard from her again.
Yup, this one was embarrassing. DON'T be like her and mistakenly send nasty emails to people who don't rep you (but might sometime in the future). And please DO your research before accusing people of taking money from you.
Any possible chances of this agency representing her son are now in the trash.
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#4
Wow. Just wow. We got bitched out by someone from a casting office who thought our client was a no-show at an audition. The client was NOT a no-show, apparently there were a lot of people at this audition and it probably got a little chaotic over there. In any case, we let them know that our client was in fact there and even proved it by repeating what the client said they discussed at the audition. After all that, they didn't even apologize. Just said, "oh, OK." and hung up.
Proof positive that anyone can be a tool.
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Just some advice for those of you who are seeking representation:
DON'T use your kids to try to get an agent. It isn't becoming and it doesn't work. It's pathetic and you are jeopardizing your kids' careers.
DON'T be annoying and pushy. Be the professional, nice people that you are. No one is going to rep you if they can't stand you.
DON'T try to add yourself to an agency if you aren't actually a client. It's not like we won't notice and *oops* accidentally submit you on projects.
DON'T accuse someone of charging you money unless you get your facts straight first. DO your research.
And DON'T piss off potential agents who may actually consider you for representation in the future. That would be just plain dumb.
Bottom line: DON'T BE A TOOL.
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Anywho, thanks for reading. Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!
Yowza!
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