How to have an acting and voice agent

I ran into an American actress yesterday at a VO casting and she kindly said how useful this blog has been to her. It reminded me that it is definitely time to add another post, seeing as the last was in May. I thought I'd answer a reader's question.


Q: "How does it work when you have a regular agent as well as a voiceover agent? How do the two coordinate? It's complex enough having to tell my agent about days I won't be available because of other commitments. I can imagine a regular agent would feel like I'm taking away business from them. Advice would be great." - Sarah


A: It is very common to have more than one agent. Many people I know have two agents for acting and voice work and sometimes more for modelling and writing. This is fine as long as you are up front about everything. I learned the hard way that transparency is key.

If you are primarily an actor then your acting agent must be your priority. Before you even start looking for a voice agent talk it over with your acting agent. Most will be OK with it as long as you're clear about which jobs should go to which agent. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes the lines are blurred. If you signed a contract with your acting agent it may spell out which jobs they expect to get a commission on. When in doubt, talk to your acting agent first. 

What you don't want to do is get a second agent on the sly then tell your acting agent after the fact. Or worse get a job through another agent - even if you think it's separate territory like a VO - and then tell your acting agent. That is guaranteed to piss people off and may even cause your acting agent to drop you.

Act as you would in any good relationship - with honesty and integrity - and even if your acting agent isn't happy about losing some business at least everyone has agreed to the arrangement.