Interviewing for an entry level position at a talent agency is a memorable experience because agencies do not abide by the same standard of employer codes of conduct as almost every other institution and firm in corporate America. The stories of legendary outbursts and verbal/physical (if throwing small items and phones counts) abuses often dramatized in television shows like Entourage and films like Swimming with Sharks are disturbingly examples of art imitating life in the entertainment business. These characters are amalgamations of the actual daily instances of unfiltered, unapologetic, one-sided discourse between many agents and their tirelessly, overextended support systems…which is typically one assistant but can include up to 5 or 6 full time assistants, working concurrently for one agent.
Across the board at the major Hollywood talent agencies like CAA, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, ICM and UTA, most of the firm’s owners, partners and operations managers are also talent, literary, TV or music agents as well. They balance managing the company’s day to day operations along with the demanding needs of their high profile client lists. Given this corporate hierarchy structure, it’s only natural that HR’s decisions serve the interests of the agents first and foremost in order to protect their own employment status.
Of course, no human resources manager in entertainment will ever admit it, but it’s universally understood and you can ask anyone who’s worked at the entry level ranks of an agency…if ever a conflict comes up between an assistant and an agent, HR will go from your best friend to your worst enemy in a heartbeat. I hope I don’t sound like a bitter former employee, but yes I did have my own personal experiences with HR that left me feeling profoundly indignant…but that’s neither here nor there.
I know I digress, but it’s important to understand HR’s perspective in order to get past them as the first barrier to entry on your way to becoming an entertainment agent. Speaking from my own experiences successfully interviewing at ICM, Endeavor and CAA, and the shared experiences from friends in the industry, there are clearly common themes and agendas in each HR department to be aware of. Hopefully the following tips and strategic advice will help you bypass this impediment toward achieving your goals.
Your first introduction to the firm may be meeting with one of the junior HR execs which would just be a 5 minute formality meeting to see if you fit in aesthetically and can converse at a basic level. Entertainment is probably at its most shallow on the business side so don’t ever underestimate how important it is to look the part…There’s no need to drastically change your persona or look cheesy with your hair slicked back, you just need to make sure you look your best and feel confident.
Following your warm up meeting, your next challenge will be to meet with a senior HR exec who will determine your future placement after a brief 10-15 minute evaluation. HR is a small department, so often you’ll be meeting with the head of the department who is ultimately responsible for every entry level employee that works there. You only have one chance to make a first impression and to quote Bud Fox, “Life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them.”
When I first interviewed at Endeavor, her goal was to try and scare me off by saying that this will be the most demanding, humbling job I ever have…working long hours, under intense pressure for base wages. She continued that it would be at least 5 years combined, starting off in the mailroom and then as an assistant, before I’d have a shot at becoming an agent…and that’s only if I was on the fast track.
The positive about listening to her routine performance is that she didn’t care what grades I had in college, what my SAT scores were, whether I could do advanced math, or even if I took drugs recreationally. She was only trying to figure out if I’d have what it takes to withstand the intense, exhausting, potentially abusive and always volatile type A personalities of most agents, while multi-tasking administrative responsibilities and maintaining continuously affable interaction (on the phone and in person) with clients, executives and other internal figures.
If you know this monologue is coming, and I’ve learned it often does from others’ experiences as well, all you have to do is listen attentively with a constant smile, nodding your head and conveying enthusiasm at the opportunity to thrive in that type of fast-paced environment…if your body language and facial responses appear genuine, you’ll have quickly and successfully passed this first hurdle and she’ll start taking you seriously as a candidate.
The natural progression in these meetings is for the HR exec to next review your resume in front of you and discuss your experience. Why do you think you want to work at an agency or be an agent? Often, their tone will be patronizing but recognize their attitude as just another tactic to throw your confidence off…assuming you have no experience working at an agency up to this point, you are going to have to spin whatever experience you do have or tell a convincing story as to why and where you think you can succeed in this exclusive, highly competitive, cutthroat ecosystem.
My advice here is to just speak genuinely as to why you love entertainment, which films/shows/music you like and why, why you want to be an agent, what character traits you have that suit you to work with talent, what previous experience if you have any has prepared you for this opportunity, and what type of talent interests you the most (MP Talent – actors; MP Literary – writers/directors)…
Use whatever you have on your resume to illustrate transferable skills to working at an agency…if you worked at a camp, describe the multitasking, organizational, and leadership skills you developed…if you were a waitress, describe working efficiently in a high pressure environment for a demanding boss…if you worked in an office, explain how those administrative and organizational skills prepared you for an agent’s desk.
It’s also important to have done your homework so you can take this opportunity to shine by using references that illustrate your knowledge of the history of the entertainment business as well as its current state of affairs & trends. The HR exec is not an entertainment insider so there’s no need to over indulge, save that for your interview with an agent; HR’s content if you know the fundamentals of the landscape…but for your own education and competitive advantage, you should definitely become a student of the business if you’re not one already.
The HR head will want you to have read THE MAILROOM, but other more in depth books include WHEN HOLLYWOOD HAD A KING, THE AGENCY, THE OPERATOR, OVITZ, INDECENT EXPOSURE and DISNEY WARS among others. Those books will give you a pretty good foundation of the industry’s history, who the players are and how everything and everybody operates together both professionally & socially. Stay current with Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Nikke Finke’s website (she gets good news even though she seems evil), and I also like Hollywoodwiretap.com because of its daily newsletter that aggregates the major stories in media, new media, entertainment and gossip for the day.
Your HR portion of the interview will conclude at this point and assuming you’ve sailed through with sufficient responses, at worst you’ve earned yourself a position as a “Clerk” with a one year commitment in the mailroom at a premiere talent agency. At best, you’ll be moving on to a series of meetings with the senior agents in charge of the agent trainee program for them to evaluate you as an immediate candidate for entry. Be prepared though, because often if HR likes you, sees you as a fit for a desk, or they have an immediate position to fill, they will rush you to meet with an agent right after your meeting.
When I first interviewed at CAA, HR sent me up to meet with the head of the unscripted/reality television department right after our meeting. Their reality department was the leader in the business at the time with producer clients like Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) and Mike Fleiss (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette). Even though I made it clear to HR in my interview that I was interested in the motion picture departments, I wanted a job so badly that I would have blindly taken any position offered.
There is not much public info available about agencies and agents, but if you search the archives online of publications like Variety/Hollywood Reporter/NY & LA Times you can find announcements, news, articles and some profiles to paint enough of a picture of the market landscape and find background info on specific execs. I was at a disadvantage going right into an interview with the reality agent though, because I didn’t have the opportunity to research who I was meeting with, his clients, his background, an agent’s role in the reality TV business, current news/trends in reality TV, or even CAA’s position within the reality TV market…but as I said, HR is out to serve their own/agents’ interests and agendas without considering yours.
Unbeknownst to me until my first introduction and after working at CAA later on, the agent I was meeting with had an infamous track record with his assistants and had fired his previous 4 in the last 6 weeks. His current assistant was a temp and warned me right before my meeting that the agent was insane, which caught me completely off guard and sunk my confidence at the worst time possible.
Sitting in front of him, he asked a few questions about where I was from, my background, my experience, etc. but he admitted he didn’t really know how to interview me which was weird. He asked if I liked reality TV, so of course I said yes, that I was a fan of certain shows like Project Greenlight, American Idol and some of the Real Worlds (earlier ones). I got lucky that American Idol was a CAA packaged show, because the others weren’t…and it didn’t help that I mentioned them, but how was I supposed to know?
He then kept asking if I really wanted this job and almost tried to see through my BS like Larry David does when he tilts his head and they play that incredulous music on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I kept reiterating I wanted it more than anything and was willing to do whatever it takes to make it work…but when he asked what questions I had, I couldn’t think of any on the spot and avoided the awkwardness by saying that I was eager to learn as much as possible.
He then brought in his colleague who tried to warn me that the agent was crazy and if I knew what I was getting into…she said he was Republican and drove a Porsche…and then he asked me if I was Republican (highly inappropriate interview question) and of course I lied and said I was too.
The interview ended with him telling me to set a follow up interview and come back with some questions…naively I thought he meant it, but when I continually called to set the next meeting I was ignored until it became clear he had hired someone else. I then followed up with HR who told me he liked me but went with another candidate and they would get back to me about future openings to come in for…but after 2 weeks I didn’t hear anything and kept emailing & calling to no avail…
At this point, I was feeling pretty depressed and sent the below email as a desperate last attempt to get back on HR’s radar…
— On Mon, 10/11/04:
From: Liam Buckley
Subject: Liam Buckley and the CAA training program
To: XXXX, XXXX
Date: Monday, October 11, 2004, 7:08 PM
Dear XXXX:
I hope you are doing well, and I am writing to follow up on the last time I came in two weeks ago. My understanding from the communication between XXXX and Richard Lovett was that I was coming in to meet with the people that headed the training program. When I spoke with Mr. Lovett, he told me to contact XXXX to set up the proper meetings to interview for the trainee program.
I only had a brief meeting with Mr. XXXX that was left off with me coming back to discuss the job in greater depth. He filled the position before I came in again, so I am a little confused where I stand. I really want to get my foot in the door at CAA, and I would even be willing to start working unpaid until an opportunity to interview for the training program or another assistant position opens up. CAA is the only agency I want to work for, and I really would appreciate any suggestions you might have for me to get an opportunity at entering the trainee program.
I am coming in to meet with XXXX next Friday at 10:30am to say hello and get any advice he might have for my future in entertainment/the agency business. I really would like to know from you what options or opportunities there might be immediately for me to get my foot in the door.
Thank you again, and I have attached an updated version of my resume for your reference.
Best Regards,
Liam Buckley
The following Sunday, I got a message from the head of HR offering me a position to start as a “floater”. I didn’t really understand what that meant, but I accepted it immediately and told them I could start the following day.
Floating turned out to be the perfect entry level opportunity for me, because your role is to substitute for assistants who are out sick or on vacation (internal temp but more than that). You learn about all aspects of the entertainment business by getting a taste of desks in different departments, don’t have the pressure of a direct boss yet, can get away with making mistakes, you’re treated like an equal by other assistants because many of them started just like you…and when assistant positions become open, HR or other assistants will approach/recommend you to interview…if you’ve made a good impression.
As a floater, you also have the opportunity to be more selective where you’d like to work, requesting to float in the department of your interest and letting HR know you’d like to be considered for any permanent openings in specific departments. You also learn which desks you do not want to work for, either through experience or word of mouth. In hind-sight, I couldn’t imagine what my future would have been like or if I‘d even have had one starting out under the head of reality who turned out to be one of the most abusive agents toward his assistants, often making them cry and firing them unjustly…
I spent two and a half months floating before getting the assistant position I wanted most…working as the first assistant to a senior motion picture agent whose previous assistants had often become agents including the current president of the company. If you can, wait until you find an opening with an agent in the department you want to work in who’s not abusive and has a track record of investing in his assistant’s career development. Those desks are competitive to get and not common, but they definitely exist and are worth waiting/fighting for.
Whatever desk/position you start with has a big influence on your status and future in the company as well as your social life, because your professional and personal life quickly blends together…and unavoidably in entertainment circles, your job will define your identity.
Remember, nobody is going to hand you the opportunities you want…make them happen by being humble, prepared, persistent and most importantly patient…then kick in the door to get what you want.
