Help! My booking agent is an idiot!
What do I do?

Even some of the best booking agents can be scattered. They represent a lot of people and may not always pair the appropriate talent with a given job or audition.

For example, there is a model that I work with who is in her mid-twenties but looks about 18. One of the agencies she works with routinely tries to send her for parts that require her to look like she is in her thirties or older. She even regularly gets called for mom parts even though she could easily still play the teenage daughter and never looks older than 25, even on a really good day.

This model called me in frustration recently after going to a casting that she was told was for someone in her late twenties. When she walked into the casting room, the first words that she read off the side were, "I'm a busy mom." At this point, the client stopped her and asked her how old she was and made it clear that she could have given the best audition but just didn't look the part so she would not be getting the job. She felt like she had wasted her time going on this casting. Even worse, this was not a one time occurrence but something that was happening with increasing frequency.

What do you do when this happens to you?

Remember, YOU are the one that hires the agency. It's not the other way around. This means that YOU need to take ownership of your career.

This is not to say you should be rude about it when your agent repeatedly sends you castings that you don't fit the bill for. You should be politely but firmly turning them down citing the reason why - you don't fit the requirements for the part, etc.

If you find yourself unexpectedly in a situation like the casting that this model has been on, it is very important to call your agency and let them know exactly what happened. You need to get the message across that you weren't right for the role and probably shouldn't be going out on castings for similar parts until you are.

Finally, keep reminding your agent what parts you feel you would be a good fit for. For example, anytime this young lady speaks with this agency she specifically asks if there are any castings for parts playing college students, teenagers, or young twenty-something's.

Be proactive. Do not fall prey to the trap that your agency is the one that controls your career and continually allow them to waste your time.

Note:

I don't want to insinuate that these scenarios happen often - but they do occur. Occasionally an agency will receive a request from a client to look at 5 potential candidates for a job. The agency may only have 4 people who fit the requirements perfectly. They may then select a fifth candidate who is close but really just filler.

Additionally it has been known to happen that an agency has a girl who they know to be absolutely perfect for the part or who is in favored status at the moment. To increase the odds of that girl being selected for the job, they can fill the remaining spots with talent who has no chance of getting hired, therefore making the favored girl look that much better in the eyes of the client.