How I Got My Commercial Agent in LA (2023)

I’ve been an actor ever since my older sisters asked me to perform for our parents when I was 5 years old. Our troupe didn’t last long, only a few performances (it was for the best as my sister Nikki’s timing was terrible) but I’ve stuck with this job for over 30 years. Though learning it as a profession was (and is) extremely tricky because unlike 9-5’s there is no one clear path when you work in the arts. You’re often drawn to projects based on your passion and passion rarely equates to money, so most actors rely on commercial work to supplement their income. Enter: the Commercial Agent.

Over the course of my career I’ve had five commercial agents with wildly varying results. You see, commercial work is high volume and can be extremely lucrative, with some national spots paying out six-figures. No joke, I had a friend put himself through UC Berkley on one commercial. A good actor can go out on multiple commercial auditions in a day, so an agent who makes 10% can make a lot of money. As a result some agents are great people who care about you and the health of their industry, and other agents would sell your eyes if they could.

My first agent was Nate Tico from The Stars Agency in San Francisco. Nate was a good agent and has worked his way up to VP, so he cares about his industry. I wanted to impress him with wild characters, spot-on impressions and a variety of accents from around the world, but San Francisco in the early 2000s really just wanted someone dressed in office casual informing you on how to get a better monthly plan for your pager. When I packed my bags and headed for LA, Nate kept me on his list and continued to get me auditions for the next year which was delightful, because LA is about as excited to get new actors as most people are getting a fun venereal disease.

I crashed an audition with a good friend and fellow stand-up comic, Andrew Norelli, and ended up booking the job. It was an industrial where I performed along side Josh Brener who would go on to play Big Head on HBO’s Silicon Valley. On the way out to the parking lot I asked Josh if he’d put in a good word for me at his agency.

“Naw man! You want my guy, Big Mike!” Said the other-actor-guy we’d just worked with who did not go on to work for HBO.

Turned out that Big Mike (real name: Mike) worked for Rod Baron at Baron Entertainment. Other-actor-guy put in a good word and I was brought in for a meeting. It was a rigorous and inspiring interview:

“You have a car?”

“Yeah. It’s a —“

“You get my call, you get to the audition. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I’m excited —“

“Thanks, bye.”

HooRay! My first LA agent! I would get bi-monthly calls by a “junior agent” who was a scared kid that never lasted more than a month. I’m assuming they weren’t being paid, but I was sure they had a script to follow. If you ever received a phone call regarding an audition and you were unable to attend, the poor kid on the other end of the line would have to say: “Are you sure you want to miss this audition? That may jeopardize your future at Baron Entertainment.” I quickly discovered that my future at Baron Entertainment was never in jeopardy, because Rod was taking me places! Well, not taking me, but rather inviting me along with all of the other actors on his roster to a cruise. If Rod got enough of his actors to sign up he would get a free cruise. In all fairness, Baron Entertainment is still in business and he has over 50 clients, so good luck to Rod and his associates and if you’re repped by him, have fun on the trip.

Soon after signing with Rod a very wonderful and very lucky thing happened to me. The then brand new TV show, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, had a contest at the end of its first season. Film makers could shoot a short and pitch it to FX. I jumped at the chance and shot my short. I poured all of my money into it which, at the time, was about $80. I sent off the tape… and was swiftly rejected. I posted the short to MySpace Comedy (yes, I’m older) and forgot all about it. Six months later an audition for a TV pilot came in. Turns out the casting directors weren’t happy with the talent they were seeing and went to the internet. I auditioned, booked the job, it went to series, I was signed to a fancy new agency and that turned out to be one of the best years for my career!

Unfortunately that year was 2008 and for those of you whom follow economics, it was a bad one. The production company that produced the show went under, channel that we were shown on went under, the entertainment industry, the very same that had weathered the Great Depression, got hit – hard. I lost my job, and since I was low man on the industry totem pole, my fancy new agency dropped me. The one ray of sunshine was that my wife was pregnant, and when you’re unemployed that ray of sunshine can be blinding. I didn’t go out for another audition for nearly three years.

A few years (and another child) later, I decided that it was time to clean the baby food off of my shirt and get back in the game.

Cue the montage music.

I posted on social media, “hey, can anyone recommend me to their commercial agent?” Then I took a shower and checked my account. My friend wrote back, “sure.” End montage.

My friend is a comedian and kind of a flaky guy, but he held to his word and recommended me to a woman by the name of Sabrina Sparlin with the Network Talent Agency. I met with her and she was very pleasant. After our talk she agreed to sign me and that was that! I was back in the game. Six months passed and no call, no audition, nothing. A quick phone call to Sabrina later and I discovered that Network Talent Agency has closed its doors and Sabrina had left the company two months ago. They didn’t even bother to call their clients.

I was upset, but getting upset don’t pay the bills! Instead I doubled down and enrolled in the most popular audition class in Los Angeles. Killian McHugh owns and operates Killian’s Workshop. I recommend the workshop, but people should know a few things going in:

-One, it’s a really good deal for the training that you receive. Killian covers a lot of ground over the course of four classes and the price is very reasonable. The classes cover everything you’ll most likely encounter when it comes to commercials.

-Two, Killian runs the class like Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross. He paces across the room, refuses handshakes or eye contact and oozes disappointment. Just know going in that your payment will be, in part, humiliation.

Once I had my training in place I decided it was time to get some decent headsets. In the past I had done everything from taking on-the-street pics, to having my wife take pictures, but this time I wanted to do it right. Not just a professional photographer, but someone with a industry name and a legit studio. I hired Joseph Llanes, who has shot countless celebrities and bands. The price tag: $1,500. Yup. $1,500. That’s a lot of clams for a family man. Never the less, the studio was booked, the clothes were bought, and the make-up woman was hired.

This time I tried to target my search a bit more. I had learned that most actors who look like you are less willing to give recommendations to their agents out of fear that you’ll take bookings from them. Commercials are heavily booked based on look, so if you and your friend are both tall men with short hair and a thin build then you’ll be competing for the same roll. My solution? Ask my female friends. Enter, Heather Woodward. Heather is a very talented actress and teaches improv at UCB, a prominent improv theater in LA and New York. She gave my info to her agent and the next week I had a meeting set-up.

The agency was Allegory and the agent was Tyler Kahl. Tyler was a very fit man with lots of energy. We talked for about an hour and he agreed to bring me on as a client. Naturally, the first words out of his mouth were: “You’re going to need new headshots.”

“I just spent $1,500 on these.”

“Yeah, but your hand is in your mouth.”

“No, it’s touching my jaw.”

“Let’s just get some new ones.”

To show that I was a team-play and dedicated to my job I hired another photographer… who cost $200 dollars. I took the new pictures, that were noticeably lower quality, and turned them in. Tyler was delighted and we were in business. Over the course of a full year I managed to get one audition. Yup, in twelve months I went in for one commercial audition. Something was not working.

I went back to the drawing board and like most things in this town I was helped out largely due to luck. I run a short film showcase the first Monday of every month at The Parlor in Hollywood called The Night of Shorts Night. It’s a cool spot with a side bar that houses eight flat-panel TVs, a full bar and kitchen. It’s free for film makers to exhibit their work and free for audience members to come watch. Due to my schedule at the GSN gameshow, America Says, I was going to miss the showcase so I asked an extremely talented actress, improvisor, and friend, Harriet Fisher, to fill in for me. As expected, she did a great job hosting the show and screening the shorts. When the show was over I asked both her and her husband, another a talented actor named Mark Elius, if they would mind passing my material along to their agents and they agreed.

Harriet was and is represented at a very reputable agency named BBA Talent. I was grated an interview with their head of commercial talent, Christine Tarallo. Christine is charming and funny, and after a couple of quick copy reads we shook hands and that was that. A week later I got the call that Christine was going to sign me. I couldn’t be more delighted and am cautiously optimistic.

My take-away in revisiting my commercial journey has been this: 1. Have your package together. That means a decent headshot, a reel (this can be shot on your phone, just something of you looking to camera and reciting copy), and some proof that acting means something to you. Google ‘best commercial workshops’ and enroll in one. Agents have to work very hard to build relationships. When they send you in it means that they’re putting their reputation on the line, so don’t let them down. A career in the arts is very romantic and many people arrive in LA expecting the world to come to them. Agents want someone hungry and reliable. Finding the right agent really comes down to asking reputable friends for reputable agencies. One of the tools that helps me on a weekly basis is my subscription to IMDB Pro. I can go over all agencies around the world, see their client base as well as standings in the entertainment community. Not every agent will work best for you. A big part of your job is to find the right one that works for you.

Good luck, and as my friend Jordy says, stay creative!