Ok, so I’m an actor in the process of moving from Vancouver to Toronto and one of the first things I had to do to make the transition a smooth one was find an agent to represent me in Toronto. I have a decent resume, nothing humongous but I have been fortunate enough to work on some very good projects with excellent people. Getting the meetings was easier for me than it would be for someone just starting out but there were some things that occurred in these meetings that were huge eye openers for me. The entire process was an exact opposite of what I expected.

I looked at the list of agencies in Toronto and asked some colleagues and friend to make recommendations. I targeted a number of different agents as my ultimate wish list and then I chose some smaller boutique agencies as back-ups just in case I got the proverbial door slammed in my face. I know that times are tough right now, and many agents are cutting their rosters, not looking for new clients, so I proceeded humbly expecting it to be difficult to find a good agent.

My top choices were:

Larry Goldhar at Characters

Penny Noble at N.C.A.

Brad Garrick at Goddard

Perry Zimel at O.A.Z.

And my back ups will remain anonymous because I don’t want to get into any trouble for bad mouthing anyone. (It’s a small world after all!)

I expected the big guys to be very busy and unavailable and the smaller agencies to be more accessible. I was wrong. The bigger, more powerful agents were ready to meet with me at the drop of the hat and the boutique guys were almost insulted that I had the nerve to assume that they had the time to meet with me. I do have to mention that I did meet with Kevin Jensen at Fountainhead, which is a smaller more boutique style agency, and he was a solid guy. Kevin took the time to really chat with me and find out what I was looking for. So he is exempt when I refer to the smaller agents.

When I spoke with some of these smaller agents in Toronto I truly felt like I was interrupting their busy V.I.P. day and that I “should be so lucky” to have them even look at me. The bigger agencies were excited at the idea of a fresh face and came across as people who really enjoy their job and want to be a part of my career. I was shocked and confused. When I hear people talk about the bigger agents I always heard them say things like -they are like factories, churning out performers like Reebok does shoes in China. I was delighted to have been completely misled on this fact. Each large agency divides the clients up and in some cases will represent another agents client if necessary.

The other fear that I had was that my amazing agent in Vancouver would be cut out of my career by a bigger agency because they would demand full control of my career. This misconception was destroyed and I now see things in a new light. The smaller agencies flat out refused to share me with another agent in Canada and the big guys share clients as a policy. The stronger agencies saw my agent, Jayson Marshall (Howard Hill), as an extension of my team in a region that they did not cover. Even The Characters who have an agency in Vancouver were glad to split commissions with someone else, if it meant establishing a stronger position across the country. Some of the smaller agents were surprised and a little insulted that I even wanted to have another agent in “their country.”

All in all, I was surprised by the openness of the more powerful agencies in Canada and disappointed that the smaller ones felt the need to pretend to be more than they are. I guess that’s why “The Characters” of the world know the secret to success and most of the little guys will always just scrape by.

I am pleased to announce that I have signed with Larry Goldhar at Characters and I look forward to starting work with him.

Keep an open mind and dream big. Also don’t listen to anyone’s advice. If you have a question about something, go find out for yourself, you might be surprised at what you’ll find out.