An Agent Tells All
by Tony Martinez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tony MartinezEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-02-01
ISBN: 0976143305
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Hit Team Publishing
Book Reviews of An Agent Tells All
Book Review: A critical must read for all actors and agents
Summary: 5 Stars
"Now, explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old"
Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), PHILADELPHIA
In a brave act of generosity, honesty and salty discourse, Professional talent agent Tony Martinez introduces the simple, cold hard facts of THE key point in becoming a working actor: finding and working with an agent. In his helpful, thoroughly accessible and entirely entertaining AN AGENT TELLS ALL, Mr. Martinez, assumes two truths about his perspective (and specific) audience.
1) Either they are complete and utter neophytes wearing rose-colored glasses entering a noble profession with visions of red carpet glory.
OR
2) They are experienced actors who have had their souls and bums kicked by the reality that professional acting is ultimately nothing more than an industry and need to heal and adjust after a few years of making the same mistakes repeatedly.
Writing in a direct, unpretentious, jargon-free style that invokes visions of a long conversation over a lunch of cheap margaritas and oysters in the half shell, Martinez refreshingly holds nothing back as he sets out to define not only the agent's job, but the actor's job as well. Like Denzel's character in PHILADELPHIA, he works hard to explain everything to his readers, as though they were four years old. Ultimately the business all boils down to building relationships and being completely committed to constantly evolving as both an artist and as a person.
Cutting through all the empty "positive-think" self- help posings of so many other similar authors, Martinez rightfully portrays acting as a capitalist venture based upon the laws of supply and demand. If an actor has never thought of themselves as a product, it is time they did. If they have never before considered the acting industry as a world of Social Darwinism- it also is time they did.
But Martinez is not here just to micturate upon dreams, dashing them out in the guise of name dropping and power tripping. His ultimate objective is to provide the actor (and ultimately too, the agent) advice and specific tools to increase one's chances of not only survival, but success. His advice is always both practical (get a map of LA, keep working, be prepared and get over yourself) and personal (he provides many fine anecdotes illustrating the "do's" and "don'ts").
At a quick, easy to read 211 pages, AN AGENT TELLS ALL deserves to become a dog-eared personal reference for all who dare to enter the world's most noblest profession. He constantly emphasizes how special actors are and urges all to look at their craft as a business yes, but also a dignified art. He has no intention to install despair- just reality. His experience provides positive solutions to age old problems that seem to plague many who enter the industry without any frame of reference.
His constant litany is: be smart while one keeps working and, most importantly, be a decent human being. For at the end of the day, it is the relationships one develops with themselves and the people around them that will carry one through to the end.
This is a must read.
"Despair is the only unforgivable sin, and it's always reaching for us."
- Sam Peckinpah
Summary of An Agent Tells All
'An Agent Tells All' is an uncensored look at the business of acting from the perspective of a working Hollywood agent. There is no other book on the market written by someone who is currently employed as an agent.In a frank and humorous tone, Tony Martinez lays out a detailed business plan to help actors achieve their goals. Some of the topics covered include:
Tools of the Trade
The Right Way to Get an Agent
How a Meeting Can Go Horribly Wrong
The Secret to Being a Good Client
Do You Really Need A Manager?
The Truth About Pilot Season
It's time to stop listening to all the wrong people. 'An Agent Tells All' is the one book you need to take charge of your acting career.
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