Why sign an exclusive contract in non-exclusive South Florida?

For actors and models who are starting out in the business in South Florida, making the decision of which kind of contract to sign with an agency can have enormous impact on their careers.

Of course, finding agencies who accept their submissions and request an interview is one grueling aspect of the business, but once prospective actors and models have gotten past that, the contract offered should be examined closely.

Hopefully, these points will aid in any decision you have to make, or at least this will make you think twice about the contract you are about to sign.

Reasons a talent might want to consider exclusivity with an agency:

In large markets:

• The agency will guide the new talent to develop acting, modeling and other skills relevant to a successful career. The agency will have a great deal more control over a model’s look, or an actor’s training. This could be beneficial if the talent is a fresh face and needs the guidance.

• The agency invests time and money and has motivation in getting the talent work.

• The agency will help train the talent, get them test shots, lay out their portfolio, and put together comp cards and other printed materials. Usually, the agency pays for these materials. But some agencies actually prefer to represent new talent non-exclusively.

Reasons why agents and talent prefer non-exclusive contracts:

• In the beginning, both the talent and the agency test each other out to see if the relationship is a good fit.

• It is easy to end the relationship if one or both parties are unhappy with performance. With an exclusive contract the talent and the agency could be bound to each other for a few years. That is a long time to wait if the talent isn’t getting any work and is stuck with the one agent.

In smaller markets:

• The talent is expected to provide all of the training, portfolio, composites and other marketing materials before an agency will work with them. So at least in South Florida, which has been a non-exclusive secondary market for decades, signing an exclusive contract doesn’t benefit the talent because there won’t be the perks of free comp cards and photo shoots.

• Smaller agencies do not have the capital to take a risk on a fresh face by offering an exclusive contract with all the perks. The costs are too high and failure could ruin an agency.

Benefits of non-exclusive contracts in South Florida:

• Actors and models tend to like the freedom because they can approach several agencies for representation and that might mean a bigger net with more castings and bookings.

• In a secondary market, signing with a few good agencies could mean the difference from working part time to making it into a career.

• If the talent finds work on their own, they do not owe the agency anything.

• Some markets such as South Florida operate seasonally and non-exclusivity works to the advantage of the talent who wishes to travel to bigger markets such as New York or Los Angeles during the slower months. There is no contract to adhere to so the talent can seek other markets for jobs.

Finally, even though Boca Talent does sign talent exclusively, the agents understand the reality of South Florida’s non-exclusive market and the advantages for the talent who works with different agencies. Thus, Boca Talent will not press any talent to commit to an exclusive contract. The talent must decide what choice is right for them.