Think Before Blaming Your Agent

Although this experience dealt with a commercial print booking, the information will be helpful to you with whatever type of booking you have through an agent.

A while ago I received a call from my agent in New York, letting me know that I had a print booking. This was a direct booking, meaning that I did not have to attend a go-see (the audition for models). It is always nice not to have to attend a go-see and just get a call from an agent inquiring about my availability. In New York, unlike some other markets, most of the bookings in today’s time, come from attending go-sees. Direct bookings in New York simply don’t happen as often as in the past.

One of the questions I asked the agent was about the “usage.” This tells us how the ad is being seen by the public. An example of the usage would if the ad is running in a magazine, billboard, direct mail piece, etc… I was told the usage for  this ad was a poster. The agent said he will have to get back in touch with me about the additional  money I would receive because of the usage. A poster is considered a “high exposure format. Typically, in the commercial print world, a bonus is paid to the model if the ad is running in a high exposure format. These are ads that run on billboards, posters, on the side of a bus, etc… The reason for the additional fee is because talent can lose money if their ad is running in a high exposure format. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to be seen in a large format, but when an actor or model is so closely connected with a product or company in a large way, no competitor will hire the talent. People can also get over exposed in a market, and not get hired, even for non-competing ads. That is why we are typically paid a bonus for a high exposure ad.

I was told by the agent that I would get the standard $250/hour (we don’t always get that fee in today’s market, but that is the going rate for commercial models in New York), but there would not be any bonus payments.

I did not say anything to the agent. Honestly, I was very happy to do the job. Money is important to me, but even more important is the fact that I would meet and work with a new photographer and art/creative director. What better way to introduce myself to other industry professionals, then to actually work with them. I assume they will like my work, and keep me in mind for future projects.

I do have to say that I was disappointed that there would be no bonus for the posters. However, after I was told that the posters would only run for 3 months, I felt better.  When I got to the set and was shown a lay out of the ad, and saw that it was primarily a profile shot of me, I felt a whole lot better about not receiving a bonus.

What I learned was that I should have trusted my agent to do whatever he thought would be best or could do in the negotiations for this job. I also was reminded that I should have asked the agent about the non-bonus aspect of the shoot to simply clear the air and not have me walk around with any negative feelings about an up-coming project.

About the Author: Aaron Marcus

Aaron Marcus has been a full-time actor and commercial model for over 33 years. His new book, How to Become a Successful Actor and Model is an Amazon Best Seller. Aaron has given his seminar: "Book the Job" over 700 times spanning 3 continents. He also offers online workshops. Aaron saves 5 days each month to give private on-line coaching sessions.