HIRING PROFESSIONAL TALENT
TIPS FOR HIRING PROFESSIONAL TALENT
Whether you are a videographer, photographer or other creative, chances are you opened this blog to learn more about booking talent for your projects! Our team has worked on productions for over 10 years and have a wide range of experience booking and managing talent, so let’s dive in!
First things first - what is “professional” talent?
When we refer to “professional” talent, we typically mean working with an agency to hire models, actors, etc. that have experience being on camera! There is absolutely nothing wrong with using friends or family for your projects (trust us, we have been there), but if you are looking to level up a project, hiring talent that has experience can be a total game changer!
Finding and booking talent can definitely seem overwhelming at first. To get you started on the process, we are breaking down our top 3 tips for sourcing + managing talent.
Budget
This is definitely the first thing you want to review before approaching any talent. If you plan to go the professional/agency route, you want to make sure you have the budget for it! Here are some things to think about when building your or your clients’ budget -
Time + location - How long will talent be needed? Will there be any travel involved? All of these details will impact the budget.
Usage + duration - Where and how long will final products be used? Web, print, broadcast, etc. - these are all details you need to hash out before finding talent.
Agency fees - If you are going the agency route, always leave room for an agency fee - typically these are around 20%.
2. Talent demographic
Next thing you want to determine is what your talent looks like. Who do you want to represent the characters on screen? Examples - age, gender, race/ethnicity, style, etc. Putting together a list of requirements for who the talent is will definitely help make your search easier! Plus, agencies love when you know exactly what you are looking for - it makes their job much easier!
3. Managing talent
Once talent is secured, our next tip is to make sure you provide them with allllll the necessary information for the shoot. Professionals know to come to set prepared and ready, but giving them all the details prior will make your project run that much more smoothly! Here are some tips on things to provide prior to shoot -
Location + call time
Theme + shoot details
Character details - Who are they? What are they portraying on screen? Do they have any speaking lines?
Wardrobe details - If you aren’t working with a stylist on set that is providing wardrobe, we always recommend sending talent a mood board so they know exactly what you are looking for. Think outfit inspo, colors, patterns, etc.
Hair + makeup - Are you providing hair + makeup? Are they doing hair + makeup on own? If so, what is the look you are going for?
The more information you provide to talent, the better the on set experience will be for everyone involved!
Now, those are some of our biggest tips as a video production company. However, we couldn’t do our jobs without the help of some of our favorite local talent agencies! Here are some of their biggest tips from the agency perspective -
PRIORITY TALENT
“My biggest tip to hiring professional talent is to audition them! Auditioning is the great way to see if talent is best fit to represent your brand or product. It can be as simple as a quick self tape with talent answering personality questions, delivering lines if there is a script or requesting same-day digital photos so you can get a sense of their current look outside of their professional headshots.”
Ciarra Blackwell
Owner/Agency Director
E: info@prioritytalentagency.com
https://www.instagram.com/prioritytalent/
AGENCY AZ
”My best tip for hiring professional talent is for clients to communicate wants and expectations and then trust the agency to fulfill those needs. As an agent, I am here to serve my talent, but also the client. If I have a clear directive that I can relay to the models or actors, then I know the shoot will run smoothly for the client and everyone wins!”
Katie Masters
https://www.instagram.com/agencyaz/
FORD/ROBERT BLACK AGENCY
“Know the scope of your project – whether it’s video or print or both along with how the video or imagery will be used (specific usages – broadcast, outdoor, web, social media, etc.) and for how long. Of course, knowing your talent budget/rates and talent specs (genders, ages, ethnicities) in advance is always helpful along with the relevant dates for casting, callbacks (if needed), and shoot dates. Of course, if requests are coming from a casting director, all of this information is generally provided upfront. As an aside and for new producers, I highly recommend they engage a local casting director who can get them organized and help streamline the process of hiring talent so producers can just focus on the creative/production aspects of their projects (this might be the biggest tip of all – come to think of it -- if it’s in the budget).”
Matt Englehard
On-Camera/Commercial Print Director
https://www.instagram.com/fordrba/
Be sure to check out these agencies for your next production! Let us know below your favorite tip below!