A talent consultant acts as a middleman, negotiating contracts between actors and production companies. The talent consultant not only negotiates working contracts with movie, record, and television studios, but also with the performer’s pay. In order to get a casting call or an audition for clients, the talent consultant usually sends a head shot or a demo tape to studio representatives. The talent consultant keeps in touch with the client and studios, and makes an effort to keep the client’s name in front of industry decision-makers.
There are various levels of talent consultants in the show business industry to handle performers with various levels of talent. The level of talent represented by the corresponding letter begins to decline after the A level, as indicated by the letters A, B, and C, and so on. Because of the A-list consultant’s connections with the highest levels of studio owners, an A-list performer is usually represented by an A-list talent consultant. A-level performers typically do not need to seek out talent consultants because consultants will seek out A-level performers. C-list and D-list performers, on the other hand, have a hard time getting an appointment with qualified consultants.
The best consultants are well-versed in the elite members of the entertainment industry they are representing. In most entertainment businesses, knowing the right people is crucial. The consultant’s fee is frequently determined by how many people in the industry he or she knows. This practice of hiring the best consultant the performer can afford puts the client’s name, photo, and, if applicable, demo in front of the most powerful people, increasing the performer’s chances of landing a deal.
A well-connected talent consultant makes it a point to attend the most important parties, dinners, and reviews in order to have the best chance of presenting a client’s information to a company executive. The fact that most consultants are paid a percentage of the talent’s wage on any given project motivates them to work diligently on this task. This increases the amount of time a consultant will devote to an uninteresting client. If the client shows no signs of being hired, the client is usually assigned to a lower-level consultant. A talent consultant cannot devote too much time and attention to a client who shows no promise of being used in order to be productive and profitable.