In an earlier blog, I noted that it would be
tempting for the creative mind to share their great idea when the production
has encountered a hurdle. My advice was to keep your great idea to
yourself unless addressed by the production lead to share your thoughts.
In one case, a friend told me about an incident on her set that involved a
child actor, a parent, and the ad agent. There was tension on set between
the production team at a certain point during the day and the child actor was
told to break while they discussed a problem in the script. The actor’s
guardian was on set and overheard the discussion. The guardian boldly
offered an opinion on the subject, interrupting the intense discussion between
director, producer, and ad agent. Unfortunately for the child actor, this
outburst came at the wrong time and left a sour taste in the ad agent’s mind,
who advised the ad agency to find a different child actor for future
productions.
The ad agency is the creative force behind all the
commercials, billboards, fliers, catalogs, etc., for their client. And we
should stop here to clarify that this client is the one who signs your
paycheck at the end of the day. Generally, clients are going to follow
their ad agent’s advice . And, if the ad agent isn’t on your side, you’re not
playing for the right team. Ad agents work under extremely stressful
conditions and have difficult demands they have to meet. (Watch the show Madmen for a better
idea of what an ad agent’s responsibilities are. Although our culture has
changed a lot since this television series, their role in entertainment hasn't changed all that much.)
Anything the talent (that’s YOU) can do to make the
ad agent’s life easier will guarantee a long lasting relationship that will
reap the residual effects of your likeness being used in their future
projects. That makes it a win-win situation, and puts you on the goal of becoming
a career actor!
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