With intense and extensive power, influence and money in industries that have a global following (ex: Hollywood and the NFL), entertainment representatives have built a reputation of prestige, importance and sometimes even greed. As these industries, and clients within said industries, grow and pull in more money, fame and love from the world, so do these representatives. In this regard, agents and managers have developed certain positive and negative perceptions from various groups of people, both within and outside of the entertainment industry. It is important that as young men and women looking to graduate and enter this career path that we understand that we may not always be perceived the way that we want to be. Though they do command a lot of respect, entertainment representatives do not have an exclusively positive perception.

Depending on who you speak to and what they believe, talent representatives are either very well-respected or greedy individuals who take advantage of others for their own monetary gain. By the very nature of their job description, agents and managers need to be aggressive, talkative, have strong negotiating skills and be able to command respect from those that they work with. Naturally, this abrasiveness and passion can certainly rub some the wrong way. These people include studio heads looking to negotiate with these agents for their clients services, media moguls or anyone else in the business that needs to go up against such men and women. One of these powerful leaders of the management business is Ari Emanuel. Today he owns one of the largest talent agencies in the entire world and has individuals in the business fearing him based on what he brings to the table.

 

Ari Emanuel is described as the most abrasive, aggressive and difficult agent to work with in the industry. However, he is also extremely well-respected. Most in the business agree Emanuel is a brilliant mind and a titan of the industry.

Emanuel is the prime definition of the aggressive, loudmouthed and powerful talent agent that rub lots of others the wrong way.  For instance one TV executive was quoted as saying, “nobody wants to be on the wrong side of Ari Emanuel” and described Emanuel as a “hardball player.” Emanuel is the prototypical type of representative that is respected by those who work with him, but also loathed and feared by those same people.

While this is certainly one perception that people have of talent representatives, there are certainly more positive viewpoints, specifically from actual clients and people not within the industry. Even though clients compensate their representatives out of their own earnings from a particular project, they still maintain profound respect for and hold a lot of appreciation for these managers.

Talent representatives handle almost all of the daily important tasks for their clients in regards to earning their next job and being compensated for it. In this sense, without their representatives, clients would not be able to find their next job and gain any money. This is a fact that is well documented and is one that these talented people have understanding towards. In that regard, because of a manager’s importance to their own livelihood, clients become very close to and have very positive views of these men and women.

It is not just the clients that have these positive views on entertainment representatives either. I am almost certain that most college students, like you and I, have a positive perception of these men and women. Not only are they extremely successful, but they hold such profound influence and power in industries that are so exclusive and interesting. This type of power and skill are characteristics that I hope to see within myself if and when I enter this career path.

Overall, I think it is extremely important for students and others looking to enter this career to understand that not everyone will look at you in a positive light. Though there are these stigmas of aggression and lack of empathy, there are certainly people who have a lot of respect and appreciation for those acting as representatives. No matter how we are to be perceived in our career paths, it is important for this audience to be aware that there are a lot of different ways that we can be perceived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this particular blog post, I want to discuss the logistics of, and the details surrounding one specific path in entertainment management: literary management. When referring to literary management, I am talking about representing clients that are in the business of novels, short stories and other written works being sold for profit. Though an entertainment system in general, representatives of literary clients have a slightly different task than for those representatives of clients in athletics, Hollywood or music.

For the purpose of this specific post, I want to highlight the major similarities and differences between literary entertainment management and film entertainment management. These comparisons and contrasts will touch on daily job duties, expectations and logistics of specific jobs including salary, locations and trends.

While working with clients in the film entertainment industry, it is mostly expected for an agent or manager to work on a day to day basis with studio heads or people higher up in the film business in order to gain jobs for their clients. These kinds of entertainment managers would spend a majority of their days negotiating contracts, setting up potential meetings, networking their clients around the city in order to gain jobs, or traveling with their clients for jobs that required it. Literary entertainment representatives would spend their days a little bit differently. Instead of negotiating with studios and finding and setting up meetings to gain jobs for their clients, these representatives would focus on selling the art created by their clients. More specifically, if a client were to write a specific piece of work, say a novel, it would be the representatives job to sell the rights to this novel to publishers for the best possible deal.

In this regard, the job description of a literary agent is less intensive and strenuous then for other fields, but that doesn’t mean it is any less challenging or rewarding. Furthermore, if a client’s work becomes famous and successful enough, it can be the job of his or her representative to negotiate with the film industry in order to purchase the rights to create a visual interpretation. In the real world, authors like Stephen King and George RR Martin have seen their novels become world famous in a visual art form, including The Shining and Game of Thrones

When looking at aspects of this field, such as salary and hours, it is safe to say that there are a multitude of differences between literary and film entertainment management. For one, since a majority to the money made by a representative comes through commission from the money earned by clients, it is not difficult to understand that the wage gap is prevalent. Since the film industry, and clients in said industry make more money for themselves than novelists and poets alike, representatives money compensation would be affected just the same. Furthermore, since the requirements and expectations for tasks for a film representative would also exceed those of literary representatives, it is clear that hours and expectations for film representatives would exceed those of literary agents.

I believe that is necessary for college students like us nearing graduation and looking to enter this career track to understand the inherent differences between the two types of entertainment management. Based on what particular side a student would find themselves more comfortable with, they would most likely choose a certain career track and that is what I have hoped to achieve through this post.

For this particular blog post, I want to touch on the importance of, and the means in which internships are a useful and necessary experience for college students looking to break into the entertainment management profession. Like any career track, this is one in which experience and exposure to the true nature of the job is vital for young college students who are approaching graduation and getting ready to start their careers. In this post I will attempt to talk specifically about the logistics of these internships, as well as how they can be important in the grand scheme of things for entertainment management.

Depending on what type of entertainment management track one would want to go on (films, music, sports, etc.), the locations of internships for college students are varied. For the purposes of this post, and based on most of them being present in one of these locations, let’s focus on Los Angeles and New York being the home base for these job opportunities. That being said, most of these internships are during the summer months, and can be either unpaid or paid, however most of the time they are unpaid opportunities.

For a detailed list of opportunities for this upcoming summer in Los Angeles from Entertainment Careers, click here. For another strong resource in pursuing an internship in entertainment management, click here.

Internships for college students at the top entertainment firms in Los Angeles are extremely competitive, with companies taking the best and brightest from respected institutions around the country. Companies like CAA, one of the world’s most famous entertainment representative companies in all major entertainment genres, has a very detailed application process, provided above, that allows students to apply for work in major cities around the country, including Miami and Nashville.

While most internships are open to undergraduate and graduate students, I think it is better suited for upper level undergraduates to pursue these internships. While it does not hurt to do it as an underclassman, doing so later into one’s college career would leave him or her better suited to enter the industry after an upcoming graduation.

As mentioned before, having a student internship in entertainment management before graduating is a smart bet for a number of reasons. Not only will it provide great experience and knowledge about this job path before making a career out of it, it would also provide an opportunity to make a lasting impression on those who matter. In other words, hard work in a summer internship would go a log way in ensuring that those making job hiring decisions at various agencies would know who you are, and feel confident that you could provide something to help them. In this sense, internships in this field, as in others, are a means to be hired based on what you can provide in these internships.

Overall, whether or not students feel the need to pursue internships in entertainment management, it is simply important to understand the realities of these internships.

 

 

 

For this post, I want to talk about something a little bit outside of the box in terms of talent management as a career choice. I want to discuss something that I find extremely interesting and how it relates to entertainment management in terms of work: traveling. Like millions of students around the country, I have profound interest and desire in traveling, and fortunately this is a career path that is receptive to said enthusiasm.

With world-wide client lists and international job prospects for said clients, travel is something that is not only accepted in this community, but also necessary at this point. For instance, a “talent agent’s duties involve traveling, and some agents even travel abroad quite a bit when representing non-native clients.” With this growing technological and globalized society, talent agencies have become increasingly international and connected between a multitude of countries. For this reason, it is entirely plausible to believe that an American talent agent could represent, or do business, with someone from Europe or Asia. In this sense, traveling becomes almost integral to ensure that a talent representative does his or her job in the best way possible.

With all this being said, it is without question that a representative would need to travel out of sheer necessity. Whether it be to accompany a client working overseas, to meet with representatives to strengthen a brand, or to partake in necessary negotiations, worldwide travel is a must for any talent agent looking to do his or her job well.

Even with central and home offices located around the United States, agencies have been able to extend their reach into European and Asian markets. Take the situations in Bollywood and the Chinese film market for example. These days, actors and actresses from

these successful areas are being brought to the USA for mainstream film roles and interactions with the United States industry. They are not being assimilated into the business on their own, but are being specifically sought out and brought in by US entertainment representatives. One of these men is Jai Khanna, who has brought in new clients from India and landed them roles in critically acclaimed films like Slumdog Millionaire and Life of Pi. In this sense, a representative based in Los Angeles or New York would need to be knowledgeable of and willing to interact with and recruit talent from around the world to help their business, and create more success for their agencies.

 

Whether or not a student looking to became involved with the entertainment management business has interest in travel, it is best to understand that it is something that is necessary in the world that we live in. The way the entertainment business is structured today, international talent has become vital for the success of talent agencies in the United States. It is essential to be knowledgeable of this idea, and to accept it as a necessary aspect of the business. For college students reading this blog, it is best to understand that the changing and connecting world that we live in requires us to be involved in travel.