Agents have not been spared from the coronavirus pandemic. My longtime agent Viola Staravoj of VS Talent Group has just decided to shut her agency down. Vi has been wonderful to me over the years and among other great projects, helped me book the Nat Geo Wild show “We Move Animals“. Alpaca-palooza forever! The Portland, Oregon-based agency In Both Ears just raised their talent commission to 25%. Agents traditionally charge 10% to 15% and managers upwards of 20%. This has caus

Since I’m not actually here this week (you’ll know what I mean by that next week 😉 ), I thought I’d keep y’all busy by posting some helpful blog posts. Sort of a Tom’s Greatest Hits thang. There’s an app, I mean, there’s a blog for that. Here, by number of reads, are my Top Ten Helpful Blog Posts! Facebook Friends My Sennheiser 416 The Top 5 Top 5 Lists of 2015 (this also has a list of blogs so we’re double-dipping here) The Secret to Getting an Agent The New Tax Code Voiceb

Last week I saw a post on LinkedIn by an individual who claims he can help you land a voiceover agent. Interestingly enough, I just checked the post and he took it down. Anyway, I want to examine a paradigm that many, if not most, aspiring voice talents and some veteran voice talents have. You need an agent to be a successful voice talent. Is this true? First, we need to define “success”. Success means different things for different people. For some, it’s a certain level of i

Another question was posed in reference to my recent blog entry: “5 Questions Most Voice Talents Won’t Answer“. To paraphrase: Is there is an “insider clique” that prevents some talent from obtaining an agent that gets you work, not just auditions? Yes, there is. And the conspiracy is massive. I have a manager and multiple agents. Sometimes I have to audition for a gig, sometimes I book gigs from the client listening to my demo. I get more direct bookings from the representat