A Day in the Life of a Talent Agent... (plus the 5 five essentials that help my productivity!)
Alex is the Managing Director of major UK talent agency InterTalent. He represents his clients alongside overseeing the agency's creative strategy, day-to-day operations & acquisitions.
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🤔 A Day in the Life of a Talent Agent… (plus my 5 five essentials that help my productivity!)
I spend a lot of time with my team at InterTalent discussing the future of the entertainment industry from trying to predict what’s going to happen next to developing the next ideas we want to get off the ground. It guides my vision for the company and why we have several different divisions as well as our production company (check this out). Last month we hosted our annual InterTalent breakfast at BAFTA’s HQ where over 300 top industry professionals came to mingle with our top unscripted clients and agents. It’s the highlight in our annual calendar and opened the door to many new opportunities. If you missed my blog last month where I laid out what the entertainment landscape is looking like this year please feel free to catch up. 2024 is off to a complex start. Some areas are thriving, some are just surviving.
The other day I asked my team, what is the question you get asked the most? Only one answer came back: ‘What do you actually do every day?’ I wondered whether this might just be coming from concerned parents still wondering why their children wanted a career in showbusiness but no, it seems that this question comes from all angles. The truth is it's an impossible one to answer.
Every day, week and month is completely different. In the 15 years I’ve been working at Talent Agencies no 2 days have ever truly been the same. There is no such thing as a normal day. Every call, email, meeting or trip takes you one way, and then another. We all start every morning with the same clear goals for our clients: getting them noticed and getting them paid. How we get there, who we have to meet or call and what fires we have to put out along the way is part of a job that is a unique daily adventure. It’s one of the reasons why I love my job. Every day is a total surprise.
What doesn’t change is what is expected of me. It evolves rapidly, but the core of what being a Talent Agent doesn’t. I’ve written about what an Agent’s role is in a previous blog which you can read here.
That being said, the team told me a ‘day in the life’ blog would make for interesting reading so today I’m going to lay out what the most typical day for me might look like.
Let’s go! ⬇️
You often hear that all an Agent needs is a phone and a laptop to exist, and that’s true… but given that I not only work with incredible clients and all of our first-class partners but also run a top talent agency day-to-day with 45 staff, oversee the next steps in our company growth, interview new staff, meet potential clients and more I need to be extremely methodical to be at the top of my game. So before I lay out a typical day, I wanted to share the 5 essentials that I need by my side 24/7 to enable me to be super productive. I have no idea how I get everything done… and without these things, I couldn’t:
✍️ Remarkable 2: I can’t work with a notebook and pen. I go through pages of notes per day, you can’t file them or access them whenever you need. Remarkable is an amazing notetaking tablet that means I never forget anything and can access my notes in their folders instantly anywhere. You can also send contracts, articles and other things straight to it. It’s been a total game-changer and makes it nearly impossible to forget anything. I have inspired so many people to buy a Remarkable that I am without a doubt due some shares in the company. Being 100% paper-free is amazing, and yes that includes post-it notes - they’re banned!
✍️ Things3: This is my to-do list app. It’s the best one I’ve ever used and allows me to quickly add, categorise and diarise my tasks across all my tech. I have so many thoughts jump into my head that need actioning that I’d be lost without it. Everyone loves making lists but this app in particular makes my life easier. It’s another non-negotiable in my day. It’s open on my phone all the time and is even a widget on my home screen.
✍️ TimeTree: Our calendar app of choice. Knowing who is doing what, when and where is vital. We live and die by the diary!
✍️ Microsoft Teams: This is where I connect with my team every day across a variety of topics. WhatsApp groups too. The conversations never stop. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I also do a lot of deals on WhatsApp now.
✍️ Tagmin: This is the leading bespoke software for talent agents. Our whole agency is connected through it from client information to jobs, invoicing, accounts, legal information and more. It's designed to save me time and money by streamlining our entire workflow. It’s also extremely useful in collecting key data from across the whole group which informs many of my decisions.
Here we go. This is what a (very standard) day in the life looks like…
✅ 6am: I check my phone as soon as I wake up. My Chairman is always up way before this so usually he’s already started a conversation. I reply to any quick messages that have come in overnight, usually emails from our partners over in America or clients who have had a lightbulb moment at 2am. I check my diary to see what the day has in store as it’ll make me decide what to wear (according to one of my colleagues I either turn up as Corporate Alex or Start-Up Alex - not sure if that’s a compliment). The diary rarely stays as is so you have to be ready for anything.
✅ 8.30am: On the train. Quiet time. I’ll always listen to a podcast but this is when I also get a chance to read newsletters and industry websites like Broadcast & Deadline. I have lists on X with industry accounts to keep up to date with breaking news and then if I have time I’ll check out everyone patting themselves on the back on LinkedIn.
✅ 9.30am: I’m trying to walk a lot more so I now get off 3 stops early and walk for 30 mins while making as many calls as I can. It’s become the perfect way to quickly tick off the call log without any distractions.
✅ 10am: At my desk, planning for the day. I know it sounds obvious that Agents have to be proactive but we get so bogged down in fighting fires and dealing with the never-ending emails that land in the inbox that it’s important to set a daily plan. Every day I make a quick list of new conversations I want to have and I make a promise to myself to tick off at least a certain number. This is also my perfect time for Admin. The least fun part of the job. Contracts, Invoices, chasing money, scheduling with my Assistant and more. It’s the basics and they’re integral, so I try to get that part of my to-do list out of the way early. No matter what, I carve out ‘Admin Hour’ somewhere every day. It doesn’t always take an hour but if I don’t carve out the time then I’m on the back foot from the first minute.
✅ 11am: Usually this is when I have a couple of internal meetings either about a specific area we are collaborating on, client strategies or something else MD-related. I always prefer doing these earlier in the day so we can action everything the same day. Sitting down for an internal meeting at 5pm is no fun.
✅ 12pm - 4pm: This is a key time to take creative meetings, make calls, send emails and make things happen. By this point we are full speed ahead, running at 100mph, creating opportunities, suggesting our clients for projects, sending hundreds of messages/emails, making calls or Zooms, negotiating and closing deals. I’ll do a whole blog about closing deals one day. It’s impossible to even look up sometimes but at some point, I’ll eat lunch. I always know how truly busy my day is by the time I eat lunch. 12pm means it’s been a busy but calm day. A 3pm lunch is never a good sign.
✅ 5pm: This is when the inbox and inbound calls start to slow down. It gives me a chance to properly reflect on my to-do list and action on anything that is outstanding/urgent. Or chase people. This is nudging hour. I nudge myself to nudge other people! LA wakes up around now so there’s always the chance of a late Zoom.
✅ 7pm: I usually head home around now unless going to a show, screening, dinner, awards show etc. The train home is my proper chill time. I’ll either watch an episode of something, play a game or just shut my eyes and listen to Bruce Springsteen.
✅ 10pm-Midnight: Yep, I’m a night owl. TV is on but Emails are on too. It’s a chance to clear the inbox and unread messages (and maybe write a blog!). I get over 200 emails a day so I need this time to fully clear the decks. I like to have a clean inbox and making sure it doesn’t get out of hand keeps the work anxiety away!
📥 I would love to hear from you. Any ideas, thoughts and feedback via alex@intertalentgroup.com are always most welcome.
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See you next time.
Alex