How to Get a Talent Manager in Los Angeles

You get a talent manager the way you get any representative in Los Angeles: be ready before you look, research specific managers instead of blasting everyone, submit exactly what each one asks for, and treat the first meeting as a two-way interview. The readiness bar, per working LA managers writing in Backstage, is professional headshots, real training and at least a few credits, because managers develop careers that already exist. The tools are public: SAG-AFTRA's affiliated managers list, the Talent Managers Association member list, Backstage's Call Sheet directory and IMDbPro's client rosters. What a manager legally is, what they charge and how to read the contract is covered in our managers guide; this page is the process.

Are you ready for a manager?

Ready means there is something to manage. Tammy Hunt, a Los Angeles manager at CSP Management, put the bar in writing in Backstage: managers do not want to build a career from scratch, and before you pursue one you should have professional headshots, training from an actual industry professional and at least a few credits on your resume. That matches what this site sees across the representation landscape: the actors who land representation are the ones whose materials already work.

So before you research a single name, audit yourself against the checklist a manager will run:

1. Headshots that look like current LA casting. Start with our headshots guide if yours are old or wrong for your type.
2. A resume with something on it. Student films, plays, co-star credits, real training. Format it with our resume guide.
3. Footage. A reel, or at least clean self-tape clips. Manager Wendy Alane Wright told Backstage that polished production value is not the point: if the acting is good, that is what managers care about. Our demo reel guide covers how to cut what you have.
4. A casting profile that is live and current. Managers submit through the same platforms agents use, so your Actors Access profile is part of the pitch.

If you fail your own audit, spend the next six months on training and materials instead of submissions. That is not a consolation prize; it is the faster route, because a premature submission burns a name on your target list.

How do you research managers in LA?

Build a target list of ten to twenty specific managers who work with actors like you. Four public tools do most of the work:

IMDbPro is where the list gets sharp. The service's own guidance for actors is to look at the careers of people whose footsteps you want to follow and see who they are signed with. Company pages carry a Clients tab listing every client alongside the staff member representing them, which answers the two questions that matter: does this manager work with actors at my level, and is the roster small enough that I would get attention?

Two caveats the sources themselves insist on. SAG-AFTRA states that inclusion on its affiliated list indicates only that the manager agreed to its code, not any guarantee of ability or quality. And the TMA's FAQ says outright that the association does not represent actors and does not help match actors to representation. These lists are raw material for your own vetting, which the managers guide covers in detail.

How do submissions to managers actually work?

Follow each company's instructions exactly, and send only what they ask for. Backstage's manager-search guidance is blunt about the mechanics: research each management company's submission guidelines, do not call, do not visit, and send the standard package of cover letter, headshot, resume and reel.

The cover letter is the part actors get wrong. Per the same guidance, it should say why this manager specifically, why now, and it should invite them to something: a play run, a screening, a showcase. A letter that could have been sent to any manager in town reads as exactly that.

Referral first, cold submission second. SAG-AFTRA's published advice for finding representation is that the best connection comes through referral from another industry professional: a casting director who called you back, a teacher, a director you worked with, another actor. LA manager Tammy Hunt told Backstage the ideal way to reach out is through personal referral. Cold submissions work often enough to be worth doing properly, but every referral in your network outranks the pile.

Let managers find you, too. Casting Networks' Talent Scout lets premium members opt in so verified agents and managers can discover their profile; you can specify that you are seeking manager representation and attach a note that works like a cover letter. It costs nothing extra if you already subscribe, and it runs while you sleep.

One structural fact worth understanding: casting breakdowns are distributed by Breakdown Services, which states that licensed talent agencies receive breakdowns throughout North America and that personal managers in Los Angeles and New York can also subscribe, after providing company information and being approved. Actors on Actors Access see only the projects casting directors choose to release to them. That access gap is a real part of what representation buys, and it is why a manager's submission relationships matter as much as their enthusiasm.

What should you ask in a manager meeting?

A meeting means they are interested. It does not mean you say yes. The questions below combine Backstage's suggested first-meeting list with the vetting questions Casting Networks' representation guidance recommends:

1. How many clients do you have, and how many are at my level?
2. What would you do with me in the first six months?
3. Which agencies and casting offices do you actually work with?
4. What are your commission terms, and are there any fees besides commission? The only right answer to the second half is no.
5. How do you like to communicate, and how often?
6. What happens if I get an agent, and how do you split responsibilities with one?
7. What mediums do you focus on: film, television, commercials, theater?

Then verify what you heard. Check the roster claims on IMDbPro, ask to speak with a current client, and run the contract questions from our managers guide before anything gets signed. SAG-AFTRA's representation advice includes a line worth keeping: it is better to have no representation than bad representation.

What is a hip-pocket arrangement?

A hip-pocket deal is representation without a signed contract. SAG-AFTRA's guidance on management contracts notes that handshake and verbal agreements are common in the personal management world, and Backstage describes hip-pocketing, also called freelancing, as working with a representative who submits you without signing you: a trial period for both sides.

What it offers: a lower bar to a first relationship, real submissions, and the chance to prove you book. What it lacks: commitment. A hip-pocket client is nobody's priority, and the arrangement can end without notice. Treat it as an audition you are both taking, set a rough check-in date, and get clear on commission terms in writing, even by email, before any money moves. If the relationship works, the contract conversation follows naturally, and the contract terms to check are the same as for any signed deal.

What about managers for kids and teens?

Two California-specific facts, then the same rules as adults.

First, anyone providing "child performer services," which the Labor Commissioner's page says includes managers and coaches working with performers under 18, must hold a Child Performer Services Permit under AB 1660, renewed every two years and requiring FBI Live Scan fingerprinting. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement publishes a public search page for current permit holders. If a prospective manager for your child is not in that database, stop there.

Second, SAG-AFTRA's young performers guidance is direct about the structural difference: managers are neither franchised nor regulated by the union and rarely regulated by state law, generally charge 10 to 15 percent against an agent's 10, and in California cannot obtain employment without working through a licensed agent. The union's advice is to have an attorney review any management contract before signing, which for a minor's multi-year deal is money well spent.

Materials for young actors have their own conventions, covered in our kids and teens headshots guide, and training options are comparable on the directory at laactingschools.com/ages/kids/.