Hey friends,

Does anyone know much about Venture Talent and Market Agency? I've been approached by their commercial dept.

Is this Venture IAB?

Yes it is

They're real. I heard they had to give up their cool office in Santa Monica and move to Koreatown but it's all good.

Venture IAB has a very good commercial and hosting department.

Do you remember Rufio from Hook aka Dante Bosco? He's with them.

I have been with them for 6 month's. Maybe it's because of the tight economyor maybe it's the way they work,but, I am frequently sent on calls that do not match my profile .For instance ,I recently went to a call and when I got to the audition I was 20 years older than everyone else there. the part was for Jesus. I have a beard but look nothing like Jesus. Another time they sent me to a call for a "national spot" but when I got to the audition it was for a "Spec" commercial that was being shot at Orange County Dramatic Arts High School? After a few phone call's to them the quality and quanity of the auditions improved greatly.

One of their assistants hangs around Daniel Hoff on Fridays and he approached me there for my headshot resume. I've since sent an official submission to them, followed by postcards, so hopefully I can get a meeting.

Hi SAM and Actors,
I signed with Venture for commercials at the end of July, and have since gone out on ONE audition, and it wasn't really an audition (just where you slate, smile and leave). I have called, left msgs, and sent a few follow-up emails. The agent's assistant called me back once; have never spoke to the agent since my interview/audition. Since I've never spoken directly to the agent, I feel weird asking to go to coffee, or lunch, and am sure he doesn't have time for that. How else can I be proactive without bugging them?

Second question- Why the heck to commercial agencies sign a whole bunch of people, with no intention of sending them out??? I've had this happen before, and just don't get it (neither do my other actor friends). I researched commercial agencies and on the BSW msg boards it seemed that Venture was decent, which is why I was happy to sign with them.

Any and all responses are appreciated Thank you!!!

Commercials are SLOW right now, especially during that past 5 months! Crappy economy=less commercials. It's so bad that I saw a Pizza Hut Deep Dish commercial from the early 90s air recently. Also, it's so bad that a lot of the top commercial casting directors are starting to teach classes as well.

Commercial agencies take a lot of people because they're NOT like theatrical agents who call casting directors and producers to pitch their clients and get feedback. Commercial agents DON'T do that. When a commercial agent gets a breakdown, he or she will go to LA Casting, click everyone who fits the descriptions and mass submit. It's then up to the casting director to pick a select few.

Commercial Agents ARE submitting their clients in hopes that they all get sent out. From a business standpoint, it wouldn't make sense not to. They want to submit as many people as they can, hoping that some of them book a job and thus make them money.

Your agent could be submitting you 24/7. Sometimes it's a combination of your headshots, looks, relationship with casting directors, casting directors not seeing and selecting your headshot amongst thousands of tiny thumbnails sent to him or her, etc.

Calling your agent to complain about not getting sent out isn't going to help. The best thing to do in my opinion and experience is send an email or a voice message at least once a month about what you're doing to advance your acting career. ie. "Hello Noel, this month I will be studying at Second City and taking this commercial class..."

Thank yo *so* much for the quick reply!! I feel much better. I will keep updating him once a month or so. Honestly, my headshots are okay, and when I tried to talk to him about getting new ones/his opinion, he never returned my calls. I'm going to get new ones anyway, and then can drop them off and say Hi. I do know that they can drop me after 4 months of no work, which it will have been (time flies!), so who knows. Thanks again for your help. That is funny and sad about the Pizza Hut commercial. Good to know!