If you have agents in multiple markets - commissions?

[AlexisAdair]

For those of you with agents in multiple markets, how do you handle commissions?

What do you do if you book your own work, and it's not in the same market as any of your agents? Do you pay them any commission? Split it?

Just curious, as I may soon have agents in multiple markets myself, and want to make sure whatever contracts I sign don't get me into trouble...

Thanks,

Alexis

[JoeActor]

Hi Alexis,

Whoever lands me the job, gets the commission.
(including me)

My agents are all non-exclusive. And if you have a contract, be sure to have it reviewed by a lawyer before signing. You'd be surprised how much some contracts cover (we own everything you do forever). Granted, some of it is not enforcable, but why bother with the hassle?

Chime in Multi-Agent VO's - I know you're out there!

Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

Originally Posted by AlexisAdair

For those of you with agents in multiple markets, how do you handle commissions?
What do you do if you book your own work, and it's not in the same market as any of your agents? Do you pay them any commission? Split it?
Just curious, as I may soon have agents in multiple markets myself, and want to make sure whatever contracts I sign don't get me into trouble...
Thanks,
Alexis

[Julie Williams]

Usually, if agents are exclusive...it's market exclusive. There is one Texas agent who demands to be exclusivity statewide.

Agent who lands the job for you gets the commission.

[ScottLarson]

I'm sorry, I may be in the wrong here, but I've been trying for years to get an agent/representation. But every "Agent' I've come in contact with wants me to pay to have my demo listed with them and that's not going to happen. Can't give money that I haven't made yet.

Here's my question, Whom do you have to contact to get quality representation? I mean, I've sent emails, made phone calls, tried to network with as many people as possible and still can't get an agent to even listen to my demo(s).

It can't ALL be who you know can it?.
Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks
Scott

[connieterwilliger]

Originally Posted by ScottLarson

I'm sorry, I may be in the wrong here, but I've been trying for years to get an agent/representation. But every "Agent' I've come in contact with wants me to pay to have my demo listed with them and that's not going to happen. Can't give money that I haven't made yet.

Here's my question, Whom do you have to contact to get quality representation? I mean, I've sent emails, made phone calls, tried to network with as many people as possible and still can't get an agent to even listen to my demo(s).

First - your "Can't give money that I haven't made yet." statement. Wrong! You MUST spend money to make money. There is little to no chance that someone is going to ask you to be the voice for their product or presentation if they don't hear what you can do. That means knowing your abilities, a marketing plan and a demo.

Check AFTRA for the list of franchised agents in your area. You can usually trust them.

But when you say that every Agent wants you to pay to list their demo - how much are we talking here? If someone want hundreds of dollars on an annual basis, then walk away from that, but some agents do charge a small one time fee to pay for the time to upload the files and the bandwidth. Most professional websites these days have lots of bandwidth, but they may have to pay someone to be the webmaster. The argument could be made that this cost should be part of THEIR cost of doing business, but if it is a good agent who gets a lot of calls and your demos shine, I think it is worth the bucks.

We also must pay to create our demos, to duplicate them, to establish and maintain our own websites, to pay for marketing, build studios, buy software, etc.