NotaPushyMum.Com

Twinkle1 wrote:Hello
Wow what a minefield for newbies I have a few questions and would welcome any advise.

Over many months I have been logging on and generally getting a feel for the world of agents etc. Based on what I have read, we recently applied for Bonnie and Betty agency and have been lucky enough to get an interview with them, to see if my twin girls are suitable for their agency.
Firstly does anyone know what happens at the interviews? Any advise welcome.
Also am I supposed to apply to a few agencies and see which ones would like to take on? And then from that make a decision on who to go with? I have really only applied to B&B at this point.
Do I have to contact my education authority before we join any agency for their permission etc?
Any advise gratefully received.

You might want to look at my original thread started back last year, 'Choosing the right agent, help', It is a minefield but reading through all of the information on here should help. I applied to many agents and made my decision for my two dd's based on information and knowledge collected/learnt on this forum. One of my dd's is with BoBe, they are fabulous and you quite rightly should be proud to have been offered a chance to join them. Not sure of the ages of your dc but normally it's a very relaxed meeting, prepared monologue/poem (if interested in acting etc) and just an opportunity for BoBe to meet and assess your child. Very relaxed. I didn't check with my education authority at the time, as to be honest was completely new to the industry. I wouldn't worry about this until you have an agency offer, unless you are aware of a problem with child performer licensing in your area. Have a look at my previous thread, I applied for quite a few agency's but you really do whittle it down quite quickly and I personally have only great things to say about BoBe. They are an amazing team, professional, very personal, super efficient plus get an enormous amount of briefs/jobs. PM if you would like anymore information, I really do understand how tough this decision is. Good luck with your journey into this madness xx

If you've done your research - which it sounds as if Twinkle1 has - I'm not sure it is necessary or even better to contact more than one agency. We've just signed DS with an agent for the first time (he's done WE musicals till now so hasn't needed one, but fancies trying to get some film and/or TV experience). I read everything on here, talked to friends and contacted two agents. Both are good agencies and luckily both were interested, and we were impressed with both and had no good reason to choose one over the other. In the end I was honestly relieved that only one wanted to sign him. I felt uncomfortable not being able to give them a definite answer, as we were waiting to hear from the other one. They were keen to get going with headshots, form-filling for Spotlight etc, and I like to appear to be efficient and found myself making excuses. Perhaps I should just have said we were waiting to hear from another agency, but I didn't want this one to feel as if we saw them as second-best if we did end up going with them. In retrospect, I would have contacted one at a time, so that we could respond quickly and positively if an agent we were happy with wanted to take DS on.

Thank you for your advise.
We are frantically learning a monlogue
We will see how it goes.

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TomS wrote:don't think that because you are paying them then they work for you, you need an equal relationship and they are as important to you as you are to them.

Totally agree about the equal relationships - I think that's very important between actor and agent, but I just thought I'd chip in and mention that you shouldn't be paying your agent for their services, all good agents should work solely on commission (apart from headshots/spotlight etc) and I'm fairly certain that charging upfront to join an agency is actually illegal now.