It’s OK, you don’t have to answer. In fact there may not BE a right or wrong answer…it could be sort of a personal thing.
Talent agencies pretty much were the T-1 line to VO jobs back in the day. Now — depending on who you ask — agents are STILL the path to the best-paying jobs for top clients in NYC and LA…or…no longer a necessary part of your successful VO career at all.
Then there’s the chicken-or-the-egg argument. It goes like this: you don’t get the attention of an agent until you’re getting the big jobs VS. you don’t get the well-paying jobs until you get agency representation.
Whatever you think of the talent agency system, most would agree that the internet coupled with market forces have changed the way that system now works. Good? Bad? Indifferent?
This week’s Wovochat tackles those questions, and a few more.
Have you participated in a Wovochat yet? They’re fun, fast, and fulfilling. Every two weeks, World-Voices Organization tackles a seminal issue in the voice acting community. Predatory Coaches, P2P’s, ISDN Alternatives, and other topics were the focus of past sessions. We plan ahead with prepared questions, and feature some of the best minds in the business as guests.
Voice actor, WoVO pro member and content marketing whiz Pamela Muldoon moderates the hour-long sessions, and compiles data on the resulting stream-of-consciousness.
This week, the guests are seasoned VO pros Chuck Davis and Bobbin Beam. They would tell you that they’re not experts on the 
agency system, but they’ve had plenty of hands-on experience in such matters, and will be sharing some wisdom. I’ll be along as host and contributor.
So set your calendars: Wednesday, March 25th at noon Pacific / 1pm Mountain / 2 pm Central / 3pm Eastern. Below is the list of questions we’ll be working from during the #Wovochat. BTW, remember to use that hashtag (#wovochat) on everything you post during the session.
New to TweetChats? Many of us have found tweetchat.com and tchat.io to be useful interfaces to follow the conversation as well as offering your own thoughts (they’re free). Tweetdeck and Hootsuite also work fine, just set yourself a search column for #wovochat, and at the appointed time watch the fireworks begin!
Here are the questions we hope to answer:
1) Why do people always think they need an agent?
2) When SHOULD you think about getting an agent?
3) Should you have more than one agent?
4) What should you expect an agent to be doing for their talent?
5) What should you – as the talent – be doing for your agent?
6) Should you be expected to pay your agent a fee to be signed?
7) What is the standard range of commission most agents get today?
8) What to know when working with an agent or multiple agents ?
9) How do large and small agencies differ?
10) How do you interview an agent?
See you Wednesday!
CourVO
