You are only as good as the last job you get your Talent!

[Paul Fisher]

I have represented some of the most famous faces of all time… Lets see, there was Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Janice Dickinson, Brooke Burke, Carre’ Otis, Nicky Hilton and many, many more. My clients have been on the covers of over 500 fashion magazines, been nominated for Academy awards, Emmy Awards, etc, etc, etc... blah blah blah. I just finished watching the final episode of my favorite TV show, “Entourage”. I love the show... I know some of the boys on the show personally. Kevin who plays Drama is an old friend of 20 years. Kevin Connolly, who plays E, used to date one of my ex-clients, Nicky Hilton.. Both GREAT guys! And Turtle, we played poker a couple of times… Another cool cat. This final episode was my favorite… I had tears in my eyes. It really touched a part of me.

Let me set the stage. Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier)… his career is in the dumps. He can’t get a job after a few of his films “flop”. So his manager, E (played by Kevin Connolly) tries really hard to get him an audition with a famous director, Gus Van Zandt. After hearing a few times that Vince is not right for the part and the director is not even willing to meet Vince or him, he (E) decides to take matters into his own hands and sits in the directors office for six hours. Not willing to take NO for answer, E convinces the director to finally see him and then somehow talks the director into reviewing some of Vince’s dailies from his latest film that the studio decided not to release. After seeing the dailies the director decides that Vince is good in the film but not right for the film. After hearing this directly from the director, Vince fires E… Blaming E for pushing too hard. Blaming E for his career being in the shitter.

You see, actors and talent in general don’t like taking credit when things aren’t going well. But they sure love to take the credit when things are going great. If they get a great job, it was because of their incredible talent or great looks. They don’t get the job… it must be someone else’s fault. This is normal for most talent in the entertainment industry.

Turns out, the director sends the dailies to his friend, famed director Marty Scorsese… Turns out, those dailies that were pushed down the directors throat by E that he got fired for, lands Vince a staring role in Marty’s new film. Vince, realizing that he only got the Marty film because of the hard work, never give up attitude of the manager he just fired (which, by the way, was his best friend since high school) has to do some apologizing to get E back as his manager. Vince had to eat some humble pie.

Moral of the story?

Managers and agents are only as good as the last job they get for their clients. If you don’t get the job, it is NOT the fault of your agent or manager 99.9% of the time. If you do get the job 99.9% of the time it is not because you are so great! These are all ego driven thought process’s. How about destiny? How about, energy? How about all the hard work put in by the agents/managers and the talent? How about the talent being right or wrong for a particular job... DON’T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER! Be loyal! Remember who believed in you when you were washing dishes. Don’t forget your past! Trust in people who are there for you when you are on the bottom because the wolves come out when you are on top! When you are on top and people start to love you… run, run, run very very fast! Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction!

This reminds me of an old Michael Jackson song, “One More Chance.”

“Everyone loves the star when he’s on the top, but no one ever comes around when he starts to drop. But you were someone special, you stuck through thick and thin… But I was much too busy trying to shine to let your love shine in...” (it went something like that but I think you get the message!)

Open your eyes and notice who it is that sticks around when your stars starts to drop and hold on to these folks as tightly as you can!!!!! One cant buy loyalty!

[Beryl Oduor]

Wisely said.I will keep that in mind.

[Colburn Omareo Sanders]

Great advice -- " If you don't Work , then You don't Eat. If you don't Grind , then You don't Shine!"