Lights, camera, action! You’re ready to promote your product or service and you want to bring it to life with real people. But where will they come from? And what will they be paid?
Hiring paid talent for your video or broadcast / streaming advertisment through an agent can be a large portion of your production budget. We’ve seen it add 25-50% to the total production costs. That can seem like a lot – particularly for Kickstarter videos and ads for small businesses.
So you might think, “Why not just ask our friends or put up an ad on Facebook? That’s gotta be cheaper, right?” And it’s true, you could do that – with some tradeoffs.
Speed: If you’re on a tight schedule, an agent can have talented individuals ready for action within 24-48 hours. No waiting around for weeks with crossed fingers, hoping someone responds to your Craigslist ad.
Diversity: You want your brand’s story to resonate with everyone, right? Agents have talent from all walks of life.
Experience: Paid talent has already been there, done that, and rocked the camera. They’re seasoned pros, ready to take directorial cues like a charm. No awkward moments or deer-in-headlights stares. And they always show up…
Imagine this nightmare scenario: you’ve got everything set, cameras ready to roll, and then…surprise, surprise! Your volunteer or low paid talent bails on you, leaving your production stranded in a sea of expenses. Yikes! Hiring talent through an agent significantly lowers that risk. These folks mean business and will be there, ready to shine on your big day.
Of course, hiring an agent isn’t required and can come with big savings. We’ve seen success with unrepresented talent when we have plenty of time for casting and offer a reasonable rate. And some clients have a posse of friends and colleagues just waiting to show off their acting chops, which is great too.
We can help you figure out what’s right for your production, provide ranges for talent costs or put you in touch directly with agents depending on your project needs.
See you on set! 🌟🎬
