Time For Another Change

If I had a nickel for every time an actor said, "My agent doesn't get me out," I would have a private jet fly me to my island in the Bahamas.  (And that's just the hustlers.  Hell, if you reduced it to pennies and include all the numskull morons who don't even do anything for their acting career, I could probably still buy that island.)  Unfortunately, I think I used my last real nickel in the meter at my audition today.  But in case you happen to have that arrangement established, here's another nickel for you...

My stinkin' agent doesn't get me out.

You may remember, but in case you don't, here's the quick recap:  I left my long-term but ineffective agent last summer, and shortly thereafter signed with another.  They didn't have a great reputation, and it wasn't somewhere I wanted to be for long, but I figured they may as well send me out on a few auditions while I search for a new home.  Then I took an offer and switched to another rep in December.  They didn't have much clout so I wasn't planning to sign with them, but when a commercial showcase in December was postponed, I figured I'd grab them while I could.  Again, maybe they could get me an audition or two while I hustled after another.

We've been working together now for just shy of two months, and guess how many times they've sent me out....

Zero.  Zilch.  Zip.  Sixty days and I haven't seen the inside of a commercial casting office.  I haven't even been close enough to smell one.  (Well, aside from the one I went to yesterday.  But I got that one myself.)

Do you know how many commercials aired in the last 60 days?  Bear with me... I'm about to do some math:

The average thirty-minute television show is actually only twenty-two minutes long.  Networks have to pay the bills, so eight minutes are devoted to advertising revenue.  (Generally, the same rule applies to hour long programming as well, just multiplied by two.)

8 minutes X 60 seconds each = 480 seconds

Divide 480 by 30, and you'll discover that for every 30 minutes of television, there are 16 commercials. 

If we're just focusing on primetime, that's 96 commercials.

You want to talk about the entire day?  768 commercials.

That's just one day. 768.

Granted, some are repeats.  Some are 60 seconds.  Some are film trailers and TV show promos.  Let's be generous and say only 25% are unique.

That's still about 77 192 unique commercials per day.  On one channel. (Correction... my fingers typed 25%, but my brain read 10%!!)

Sixty days of 192 unique commercials? 11,520.  I don't think eleven thousand commercials were shot in the last sixty days, but I would wager a day at SAG scale that on any given day in Los Angeles, there are at least 30 commercials being cast.

There is no reason why I shouldn't be shooting some of those commercials.  But I'm not shooting them because I'm not nailing the auditions.  And the only reason why I'm not nailing the auditions... is because I'm not getting in the room.  Some of those commercials should be mine, but I haven't even had a shot because I haven't stepped foot inside the room. 

Anyway, I'm not one of those actors who will sit around with an agent for three years while they send me on two auditions every six months.  My type is very commercially marketable.  My headshots are fantastic.  My skills are professional and polished.  I should be in commercial auditions at least 2-3 times a week.  And I need a team who can help me get there.

I gave these guys a shot while I waited for my commercial showcase to be rescheduled.  Well, it was.  Last week I performed five spots for a group of agents.  And next week, I have two meetings for new representation. That's movement.