To not include agent in every lead I get for work for my daughter from initial contact?

[Travelfairy]

Daughter acts. Has had some work but nothing that has come through her agent. Work I have sourced myself from scouring various platforms and referrals from contacts made in the industry over the past 2 years.

In short, the agent isnt very good. The agency is an add on to the acting school my daughter attended. The agent is one of the mums doing this on the side of her other 'real' job. She has no experience other than her own daughter has had a bit of experience in the past.

When I am applying for anything she is requesting I CC her on everything from the initial contact so she can 'offer the opportunity to other kids in the agency too'.

AIBU to not do this until my DD has had a callback audition etc? I feel like she is using me to source work and then put it out to all in the agency and then IF a child is successful she gets 20% of the fee!!!

AIBU not to do this? I feel its only her concern if it looks like my DD is actually going to get a part!! I am not on the payroll for the agency, I don't feel my hard work of looking online for opportunities then should be handed on a plate to her to take credit for!

Thoughts?

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread.

1. Is the agent a sole agent or non-sole? If sole then it is expected there is a clause for being paid commission on any Out Of Agency (OOA) sourced work. If non-sole you don’t need to tell them. Just block out your calendar.
2. It is illegal for attendance at classes to be required for representation by an agency.
3. If your child is on spotlight then you MUST be with an agent to be on there. So you must secure new representation and swap it on spotlight before removing the previous agent. Or your child’s profile will be unavailable.
4. There is no notice period required for children to move agents. There will be a protected list (any submissions (subs) that have been made by the old agent would require commission to them if your child secured the role). The old agent must supply the protected list to the new agent and everyone moves on.
5. As PPs have said, it is entirely appropriate to request a list of subs from an agent. Many children are subbed and so competition is huge. Has your daughter had self tapes at all via the agent?
6. For the OOA jobs - are they all licensed? Sadly there are some OOA jobs that are not licensed and managed properly and these put children at risk, that is the reason many good agents ask to be cc’d in so they can do due diligence.
7. Are you a member of the Facebook group for Children’s acting modelling advice for parents. They have lists of reputable agents and valuable advice from parents who understand the industry.

I was just coming on to say what @QuirkyBrickSwan has said. This is the correct advice.

Get a decent agent. What you describe is not a professional agency. At all.

She should not be asking you to do that, and I agree that you should leave her as an agent. I used to work as an agent and I'd never have done that, its unethical and it shows how completely useless she is at her job.

Thanks everyone. Out of interest what qualifications did you have/need for this? She has zero from what I can tell.....

There are no qualifications needed to be an agent. There is very little regulation. Therefore you have to do your research.

1. Is the agent spotlight registered? I.e do you have a spotlight account for your child?
2. Look them up on companies house
3. Are they members of an association- AYPA or PMA? Not all good agents are, but you should ask why, if not.
4. Do they charge fees / mandate attendance at their own classes to be repped - red flag.
5. Are they actually getting clients work? What evidence is there for this.
6. Facebook group - as previously mentioned has recommended lists and lots of parents who know the industry.

No you don't need qualifications, but you do need really good contacts, which are very difficult to find unless you work for a decent agent- then you have a issue with poaching contacts.

PP is correct - you need excellent contacts / inside information.
The problem with your current agent is they haven't achieved this or seemingly worked out its the key to it all. AKA rubbish agent, clueless human, etc.

Children can’t be held to a contract so you are fine to notify them that you are leaving and then leave.

Can't you just leave the agent ? Sounds like you are doing a better job than they are .

Don’t lie and make up stories. Honestly I find adult women who do this so spineless. You’re entitled to leave if you want to, you can communicate this in a straightforward way without being rude (unless you want to be rude).

No dont want to be rude. But dont want to hurt her feelings either as shes not a nasty person or anything and her DD is friends with mine through another activity. I was going to quit the acting school attached to it and then just send a message saying we are taking a break from it all or something for a while

I remember an actress having severe difficulties with her agent in the 2000s, being interviewed on TV news as agent was basically a conwoman who collected fees from hundreds of wannabees for a role in a big new UK series and then disappearing.
The interviewed actress was given a job on a Channel 5 soap two days later and said something good had come of it.
If I recall the fake agent had a name very close to a legitimate agent's firm - like Lindy Smith instead of Linda Smith (obviously I made those up) - so was able to fool loads of people.
Wonder if she was ever caught? Time to Google 🤔