How Do You Get a Hollywood Agent?

Every year millions of "wanna bees" move to Hollywood in hopes of being "Discovered", getting a big Hollywood Agent and Making it in Hollywood. Well now you don't have to move to Hollywood to get a big Hollywood agent.

I had the chance of catching up with ICM digital content Agent George Ruiz and I asked him about what he looks for when he's searching for talent to sign.

George explained that first and foremost he's looking for passion. George believes that you as a online video creator or performer need to be passionate about your work but he also needs to be passionate about your work. He can't sell you if he doesn't believe in what your doing.

Keep in mind that you as a online video creator succeed in helping other people. You succeed in helping people laugh. You succeed in helping people cry. You succeed in helping people with information and you succeed with advertisers by helping them get the message out about their brand.

You also have to have something that an agent can use as a sales tool. An agent isn't going to pick up the phone and say, "Hey I met this great guy who thinks he might be able to make some videos that might be able to get some views."

Agents are salesmen who need to believe in the products they are selling and they need to have sales tools.

Sales Tools? What are you talking about Tim? Agents are cool and creative they don't do sales.

Wake up.

An agent needs to be able to show a studio, network, production company or Web 2.0 company something that will make them believe that you can do something for them. If you are a writer it would be a good idea to have a few really good scripts written. If you are a director it would be a good idea to have a demo reel of really good videos that you have directed. If you are an actor it would be a good idea to have a demo reel and resume of the best work that you've done.

Now the chances of you getting an agent right now if you only do one thing is pretty low. Your best chance of getting a new media agent is much better if you write, produce, direct and act or are part of a team that does all that. Right now agents are looking to sell turnkey solutions for studios and networks. There's very little money flowing in online video right now and people who can do multiple jobs and have already proved it are of the most value.

Already Proved it?

Are you smoking crack Tim?

I need an agent so I can get work. I don't have anything to prove it.

Well you better get off your butt, go make a video, post it on the Internet and get an audience.

Get an audience?

If I had an audience I wouldn't need an agent.

There is a bit of a Catch 22 going on here but the bottom line is that you are going to have to put out for free to get an agent and the bigger your audience is the more studios, networks and production companies are going to want you. Even if you have an audience of millions you can still use an agent to set up meetings for you. Agents are dealing with buyers everyday and know what the buyers are looking for. They can work for you setting up your next project while your working on making your current online video hit.

That's just stupid Tim. If I have millions of viewers I don't need an agent.

Well, I can only think of a few online video creators who are making money with online video content that don't have agents but they do have companies and funding behind them.

Agents don't cost you money on the front end the way a staff sales team does and they could get you more money on the back end because agents know the deals that have already been made, they know things to ask for in a deal that you might never think of and all for the low, low price of 10%.

How Do You Get a Hollywood Agent?

Have something to offer that an agent can use to sell you:

An online series with millions of views
A resume and demo real
Emotionally engaging written material
Passion

Then contact a new media agent by email or contact someone who already has a new media agent and have them recommend you. That's how I got an agent. Kent Nichols of Ask a Ninja recommended me to UTA and after I had been signed awhile I recommended Blake Calhoun who produces Pink. Now there are other people that I've sent to my agents at UTA and for what ever reason they weren't passionate about those people and they didn't even call them in for a meeting even though they had millions of views.

One of the people George Ruiz has been able to sell is Video Blogger Brigette Dale from Lincoln Nebraska who has signed a deal with ABC Family.








For Online Viral Video Consulting or to Sponsor 1TimStreet Contact 1timstreet at gmail dot com.

Why Do Some People Get Millions of Video Views?

The First Couple of Online VIdeos








Over the last two weeks I've been traveling to meetings, events, pitches and consulting gigs in New York for the New York Television Fest, Las Vegas for Blogworld, San Francisco This Week In Media and a VIP Tour of Pixelcorps, San Jose for Streaming Media West, Emeryville for a VIP tour of Tubemogul and back to Los Angeles. 10 days on the road can make you really tired but not tired enough to miss TubeFilter's Hollywood Web Television Meet Up last night at the American Film Institute.

The TF boys rounded up the First Couple of online video Kim Evey and Greg Benson of Mediocre Films and one of Digital Hollywood's biggest power brokers George Ruiz of ICM for an intimate night of Q & A about making a living in online video.

Kim Evey and Greg Benson have a pretty impressive list of online video projects they have worked on:

Retarded Policeman
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show
Two Hot Girls in the Shower
The Guild
Greg Hits Hollywood
Phone Call to God

Why are Kim and Greg getting millions of views?

Well in my opinion it's pretty simple. They have talent. They have lots of talent and their videos contain the secret ingredients of viral video success.

What are the secret ingredients of online viral videos?

1TimStreet's 5 Secret Ingredients of Viral Video Success:

1. Don't Suck
2. Move Two or More Human Emotions
3. Have Spectacle
4. Have Story
5. Have Talent

DON'T SUCK
Sure it's easy for me to say that but sometimes it's hard to understand if your videos suck. People don't want to admit they have an ugly baby and people that know you aren't going to tell you that your child could cause someone to gag choke and die.

I know that the little videos that I shoot for my blog aren't going to get millions of views because to most people they suck but I also know that to a small group of people who read my blog and watch my little videos the information on my blog videos is way more important than the episodes of French Maid TV that I create that get millions of views. I also know that even if I spent a lot of time and money lighting, shooting and editing my little interview videos I would never see a return on that investment.

MOVE TWO OR MORE HUMAN EMOTIONS
Examine any viral video and depending on who you are you will find that it moves two or more human emotions. What are those emotions?

The Primary Emotions are:

Love
Joy
Surprise
Anger
Sadness
Fear

Combining any two or more of them will get you views.

You are so full of crap Tim. There are no emotions in French Maid TV.

Sure there are, Lust is a sub-emotion of Love and Humor is a sub-emotion of Joy. French Maid TV is funny and sexy. There are however other people who find French Maid TV surprising. Some are full of anger, sadness or fear when they see sexy women dressed as French Maids explaining products and services to young men for money. C'est la vie.


HAVE SPECTACLE
I written before about how according to Hollywood screenplay guru Robert McKee, when ever there is an advance in entertainment "spectacle" comes first then "story." So go use the search box and to find some ideas for a great spectacle that will fit into your online video because you are still going to need spectacle if you want to get millions of views of your Internet video.

HAVE STORY
We are slowly moving into "story" in the evolution of online video as a form of entertainment and if you want your online video to have shelf life make sure it has a story element to it. Two years from now fewer and fewer people will be watching the Star Wars Kid on a daily basis.

HAVE TALENT
I can give you these secret ingredients but you may just not know how to cook. You may not have the talent or the vision to see what emotions are in a script when you read it. There are people that are tone deaf and I think there are also people who can't hear or see when something just "works" or doesn't work. Talented people have little voices that tell them when something "works" or doesn't work. Talented people know when they need to do better.

Being able to create something from nothing, building onto something and making it better or knowing when something sucks and having ideas on how to fix something when it sucks is talent. If you want to have millions of views of your videos you must have talent.

If you don't have talent you can always hire it.




For Sponsorship Opportunities or Online Viral Video Advisory Services Contact 1timstreet at gmail.com