Category: Actors & Agents

Actor Beware! – Another Bad Apple Manager?

[UPDATE 5/11: The talent management company in question has since removed from the company website the quoted material below. Screen shots of the content taken 4/30/15 before the content’s removal follow the excised quotes.]

Cain Talent based in Long Island, NY states on their website that they’ll represent anyone…

“Who We Work With.

Anyone. Literally. We work with all ages, shapes, sizes, genders, ethnicities and so on. Just register and we will help you get started. It doesn’t matter if you have no experience at all, or if you’re a seasoned veteran…”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Cain Talent’s target actor is preferably under the age of 18. While a seemingly wonderful opportunity for any mother who wishes her darling prodigy to be the next Disney Channel star Cain Talent will work with anyone but only after an upfront fee has been paid by the parent or actor as declared on Cain’s website:

“Before registering with Cain Talent, you must agree to the following terms…

You will pay a non-refundable registration fee in one of three ways. If you choose an installment plan, you will still be submitted for work immediately, but we will stop if you miss a payment. Your options are:

  1. a) $500 lump sum payment
  2. b)  $530 split in two payments of $265 now and $265 in four (4) weeks
  3. c) $560 split in four payments of $140 now and three payments of $140 every three (3) weeks for three (3) installments.”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

The starry-eyed may feel well looked after after handing over the upfront payment for representation. But that care by Cain Talent has a financial limit:

“You will remit 10% of all earnings obtained through Cain Talent after earning $750. You must notify Cain Talent of what your earnings are immediately upon receiving your check.”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Cain Talent goes to great lengths stating in all caps that they are:

“CAIN TALENT IS A TALENT MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTATION COMPANY. WE ARE NOT A TALENT AGENCY. YOU SHOULD NEVER PAY MONEY TO SIGN ON WITH A TALENT AGENCY. CAIN CASTING IS NOT A TALENT AGENCY. WE ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM A TALENT AGENCY.”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Yes, Cain Talent is very different: if only by one word “agency.” Operated by Candice Cain (owner also of Candy Cain Travel and the defunct Wedding Lane by Candy Cain), Ms. Cain states on the Cain Talent website that they work the same as a talent agency:

“We open doors to casting directors, talent agents and more in order to help our talent land jobs.”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Not only does Ms. Cain assert she can open doors for talent but she attests she can also assist in her talent in opening their wallets:

“We offer majorly discounted workshops and photo shoots specifically for our talent — To the tune of a mere $20 or $30, all of which are optional. We look out for our talent. We protect them. We help them grow. We make their dreams come true. Take a look at our list of services:

Resume services
Image building
Online profile maintenance
Coaching
Audition preparation
Discounted workshops
Discounted photo shoots
Representation
Introductions to agencies
Liaison between talent and casting directors
Contract negotiations
Assistance with SAG-AFTRA
Submissions for work in the entertainment industry
Travel planning

…And a whole lot more”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Ms. Cain’s enthusiasm for her services may be of such excitement that she overlooked that the upfront fee of $500 (more if on the installment plan) plus the “mere $20 – $30.” for “Representation” and “Submissions for work in the entertainment industry” potentially violates New York ACA. LAW § 37.07 : NY Code – Section 37.07: Performing artists; ads for availability of employment. The code clearly states:

  1. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, association, or agent or employee thereof, holding itself out to the public by any designation indicating a connection with show business including, but not limited to, talent agent, talent scout, personal manager, artist manager, impresario, casting director, public relations advisor or consultant, promotion advisor or consultant, to (a) Make, publish, disseminate, circulate or place before the public or cause directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public in this state an advertisement, solicitation, announcement, notice or statement which represents that such person, firm, corporation or association has employment available or is able to secure any employment in the field of show business, including, but not limited to, theatre, motion pictures, radio, television, phonograph records, commercials, opera, concerts, dance, modeling or any other entertainments, exhibitions or performances when an advance fee of any nature is a condition to such employment; or (b) Accept from a member of the public any fee, retainer, salary, advance payment or other compensation of any nature in return for services or otherwise, other than (i) repayment for advances or expenses actually incurred for or on behalf of such member of the public, or (ii) agreed commissions, royalties or similar compensation based upon payments received by or on behalf of such member of the public as a result of his employment in the field of show business.”

Ms. Cain emphatically states on her company’s WIX website that Cain Talent is: “NOT a casting agency nor a management company. Cain Talent is a talent management and consultation company.”

Ms. Cain need refer to Merriam-Webster for the definition of ‘management’ when she herself states that Cain Talent is not a management company but in the following sentence states Cain Talent manages talent.

Ms. Cain’s misunderstanding of the English language is further taxed when on her website in the Registration Terms she states:

“You will also receive a written agreement to sign, which Cain Talent will sign and return to you.  NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT. THIS IS A TALENT AGREEMENT.”

(4/30/15 screen shot)

Perhaps Ms. Cain should reference a thesaurus for when she next updates her website which carries advertisements for creating a free WIX website.

Ms. Cain also places on her website her reasoning for creating Cain Talent. A former actress who she herself sought a “leg-up” in the industry. Answers for Actors could not find attributable acting credits on Actors Access (a division of Breakdown Services the predominate outlet for casting information between representation and casting) or elsewhere. Ms. Cain also states that she has access to “breakdowns and casting calls that not everyone has the opportunity to get.” Breakdown Services reports that Cain Talent is not a subscriber. How is Cain Talent getting Breakdowns?

Cain Talent targets the parents of aspiring child actors. Image2Youth who dream that they will be in the spotlight on Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel. Sadly both parent and child may be disappointed to discover that for their $500 “registration fee” and commissions, Ms. Cain most likely provides toll access for being a background actor (of which Cain Talent charges an additional $50 per month “Background Casting Service“). Ms. Cain lists her connections to major industry players but those players are extras casting offices. Screen work any civilian can nab on their own if their body type, face, race, and age match what is needed by an assistant director for the silent actors playing background to the principal actors. An exercise that we all do daily for free in our lives as we walk sidewalks, mall corridors, and the aisles of retail stores.

Ms. Cain may believe herself not to be a representative of talent but her words formerly on the Cain Talent website seemingly state differently; why then the change of content for her services to actors? (4/30/15 screen shot)

Address concerns regarding Cain Talent to: The New York State Attorney General.

[UPDATE 5/11/15: Cain Talent has a new website on which is now stated “Cain Talent Management does not charge a fee as a talent manager. There is no registration fee. Those on our talent roster remit 10% of their gross earnings once their check from production is received.”

The $500 registration fee remains payable for “Consultation Services.” A service which is prohibited in the New York code: “…indicating a connection with show business including, but not limited to, talent agent, talent scout, personal manager, artist manager, impresario, casting director, public relations advisor or consultant, promotion advisor or consultant,…”]

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Paul Russell’s career as a casting director, director, acting teacher and former actor has spanned nearly thirty years. He has worked on projects for major film studios, television networks, and Broadway. Paul has taught the business of acting and audition technique at NYU and has spoken at universities including Yale, Elon and Wright State University. He is the author of ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor. For more information, please visit www.PaulRussell.net.

10 Tips Talent from Agents to Actors on a Successful Representation

Actors landing a talent agent may be the simplest career chore on an actor’s to do list. That’s easy. What’s harder? [Read more…]

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Paul Russell
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Actors landing a talent agent may be the simplest career chore on an actor’s to do list. The harder toil? Keeping an agent; growing a successful professional relationship with the talent agent demands of the actor more than just booking gigs and paying the agent commission.

Hollywood and Broadway talent agents are approached and asked, “What can an actor do to maintain a healthy actor-to-agent relationship? The variety of talent agents either have offices on the east or west coast, or are bi-coastal. The agents represent TONY, Emmy, and/or OSCAR winners. Several talent agents represent developmental actors. Each talent agent responding has a long-standing reputation for championing actors with a genuine love for the actor’s craft.

Included among the agents are: Michael Goddard (Owner Partner – CGF Talent), Craig Holzberg (Owner – Avalon Artists), Ann Kelly (Senior Legit Agent – Judy Boals, Inc.), Ken Melamed (Owner Partner – Bret Adams, Ltd.), Jack Menashe (Owner formerly of Independent Artists Agency), Chris Nichols (Owner – Revolution Talent), and Diane Riley (Harden-Curtis & Associates).

10 Tips from Talent Agents to Actors on a Successful Actor to Agent Relationship:

1. Take responsibility for your career.

One talent agent is resolute on actor career responsibility:

“Proactive clients—we like people who participate in their career.  I can’t feel like I want it more than you do. [The actor] knows what’s going on.  I can ask, ‘What’s out there that you are right for?’ and they can name 5 things off the top of their head.

They realize that this is a business, and they engage as if they are the president of their own company.”

2. “Communication, communication, communication!” one agent echoes her colleagues. She continues, “If you want to be seen for a project, give us as much info as possible i.e. ‘I know the director from grad school.’ Or, ‘I did a 4-week intensive with the casting director, etc.’”

A NYC talent agency owner agrees and expands on the importance of actor-to-agent communication:

“Communication is the most important part of the actor/agent relationship.  Any time I have ever had the relationship go south it is because communication has broken down on one side or the other.  Like any relationship, [communication] takes work. I don’t ever want clients to feel like that they can’t talk to me. In this age of emails/text I find that actual communication is often lost.

90% of the contact between actor and agent is on the phone or email. When you are going to be coming by the office MAKE SURE YOU LOOK GOOD.  It is our frame of reference for you. There are times where you will have to come by on a moment’s notice but if our frame of reference is of you with your hair under a bandanna and wearing a pair of Uggs it makes our job harder.”

A competing talent agency owner adds that communication is organic:

“I’ve been either an agent, or an assistant, or a casting assistant for a lot of years now and the one thing I find comforting when talking to my clients or even other actors is the sense of family; that we are all in this together and in that, there is a respect that can’t be made up.  It must feel authentic when deep in conversation about our business and if it doesn’t—you know it. I can’t fake the thrilling moments I have when an actor is so good they sweep you off your feet.  I love it when we can talk; when we can trust each other in the work each of us does in search of ‘the best.’

To call a client a friend really makes me feel good. We are more than just a business relationship. There is passion both ways. A feeling that I treasure and am thankful for.”

3. Be contract savvy. Contribute to negotiations.

4. Be ready when opportunity knocks. Be prepared and on time for all auditions, and meetings with industry.

5. Constantly work on honing your skills. No matter how proficient you believe your skills continue to take on-camera classes, dance classes, acting classes, and actor branding-marketing classes. A good portion of the agents agents stress that their clients take business of acting classes no matter how proficient the actor may believe themselves at marketing who they are in and out of the audition room. One agent was emphatic:

“We’re partners in your business. Equal to me, I expect my actors to effectively engage in expanding their marketability. The business of the business is constantly changing. Continue to learn it by taking classes on the business of acting.”

6. Continually provide your representation with updated materials, headshots, resumes and reels.

7. Have defined goals for your career, and a strategy to attain them.

8. Focus on the long-term and not just what’s happening now.

9. Focus on booking the job for every audition room you walk into.

10. Network. Network. Network.

Each of the talent agents emphasize the absolute need for an actor to be a networker, including this talent agency owner’s advisory:

“Go to EPAs. Get in front of casting directors who may have forgotten or are unaware of you. In addition, attend casting director workshops. The more a casting director sees you the more they remember you.

Revel in your relationships with casting. Send ‘Thank you’ notes. Casting and agents do read and appreciate these. Don’t listen to the naysayer agents and casting directors who babble that they never read a thank you card. They’re either liars, or overly self-centered.”

The talent agent-actor relationship is a marriage. The union is firstly based on mutual compatibility. The actor going into the relationship solely with the thought of, “What can this agent do for me,” is the actor bound for a short-lived career. While an agent collects 10% commission from the actor the duo of actor and agent is a 50-50 partnership promoting the actor to attain desired goals.

Actors who believe the agent “does all the work” while the actor reclines waiting for texts and emails from their champion is the actor with a career coming to a close faster than the curtain fell on the original Broadway musical Carrie.

My best,
Paul

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Paul Russell’s career as a casting director, director, acting teacher and former actor has spanned nearly thirty years. He has worked on projects for major film studios, television networks, and Broadway. Paul has taught the business of acting and audition technique at NYU and has spoken at universities including Yale, Elon and Wright State University. He is the author of ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor. For more information, please visit www.PaulRussell.net.

Casting Directors, Talent Agents, Directors & Actors

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ACTING: Make It Your Business!

AMIYB_Amazon“Humorous and witty…
Actors everywhere who are trying to succeed in the business, young or old, on stage or on camera, anywhere in the world, take note:

This is your roadmap!”
— BERNARD TELSEY, casting director – CSA
(NBC’s Peter Pan – LIVE!, Into The Woods – The Movie, Wicked, Sex & The City)
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and with a generous portion of good humor.”
— SUZANNE RYAN, casting director, CSA
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Paul’s book tells you what you don’t want to hear but really need to know
EVERY actor should read this book!”
— DIANE RILEY, Senior Legit Talent Agent
Harden-Curtis & Associates
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— KAREN ZIEMBA, TONY & Drama Desk Award Winning Actress
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— KEN MELAMED, Talent Agency Partner
Bret Adams, Ltd.
“I had my Business of Acting, BFA Seniors, class do book reports on a variety of “business of acting” books and ACTING: Make It Your Business came out a clear winner—considered to be essential for their bookshelves!
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Dept. Chair – Dept. of Thtr.
Chapman University

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