Consolidation in the agenting business has resulted in, (and will continue to) massive lay-offs at the agencies...
All those agents and support staff who'd been hoping to become agents are out on the street, some of course will get picked up by other agencies..others will drop out of the game, and others will wonder, well what now....
What is the new new for the agenting business? I mean besides being part of the mega-agencies. There are so many more outlets for talent now...but of course, very few of these new outlets pay.
Like in every other part of the world of show biz, will a DIY breed of agent arise? Already, talent are taking control of their careers like never before. Felicia Day anyone? But....of course she has a real agent, George Ruiz. (I think.)
This new breed of agent needs to be multi-platform conversant, they need to know where Web 3.0 is headed, they need to acknowledge that everything is broken and up for grabs, they will need to be way way way more involved in strategies that didn't exist just a few years ago...they need to be able to find and spot talent that aren't necessarily looking to get found, and then be able to craft a strategy that exists and is relevant to that moment.
Felicia Day couldn't have become who she is 5 years ago...and next year her career paradigm will be old news. Maybe it already is. Like I've said before, business models (and by extension...careers) have to become incredibly granular...each PROJECT needs it's own business model, that's a whole new way of thinking...there will always be a "Twilight" that can/will blow a hole in the fabric of popular culture...but the rest of the show biz world is in flux...and adaptability, technical facility and creativity are going to have to be part of the new world of "agenting" in a way they never have before. Hey....who's your agent?
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