Episode 10 / Benjamin Dwyer, Global Director and Head Agent at North Artist Management
/by Roj Whitelock
London-based photographer and HSM Associate Member
Benjamin Dwyer, Global Director and Head Agent at North Artist Management, talks about a contemporary approach to running an agency, how clients are selected for representation, what to consider if you're trying to break into the US market as a performer and offers some advice for influencers looking to raise their profile.
Note: View on YouTube for captions.
"We as agents are glorified marketers. We work in marketing. We work in recruitment and marketing and the the product that we're marketing and the product that we're trying to get recruited is the performer that we are representing. And individuality for us is so important because we want to be providing the right people for casting directors and producers to to employ."
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DescriptWhat Does A Contemporary Agent Look Like?
I think for us at North Artist Management, we really pride ourselves on the fact that we're young and we're fun and we've as performers or other kind of creatives, we've been working in the industry in that sense very recently. And I would say that actually the making of North Artist Management and what we've been about has been since covid and the industry has changed drastically since then. So this contemporary outlook and this approach that we have to working with the industry or working within the industry now um I think is really important. There's a lot of people that have been involved in the industry for a really long time and dare I say the term industry dinosaurs is is what I like to use. And lots of these individuals and lots of these kind of work ethics and mindsets are very outdated. And we pride ourselves on not being like that and trying to learn and trying to develop and trying to learn new approaches to work in the industry especially with our clients and and to kind of give them the impetus to work in exactly the same way as well. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Being responsive to the changes is so important because it's such a rapidly evolving industry and the needs and requirements for performers and agents and casting directors and directors. Every every asset of the industry needs a different kind of approach and nowadays we there are so many different kind of approaches to be trying and we want to be involved in all of those different approaches for sure.
How Do You Choose Who To Represent?
I think for us at North Artist Management individuality is is so many different things. We as agents are glorified marketers. We work in marketing. Um we work in recruitment and marketing and the the product that we're marketing and the product that we're trying to get recruited is the performer that we are representing. And individuality for us is so important because we want to be providing the right people for casting directors and producers to to employ and and put through the process for their projects and put in put in Wicked, for example. We want to give them solid uh unique examples of the clients that we represent rather than just kind of bulk submitting and sending 50, 60 options. We want to have that one unique person where we can go to said casting director and say "Sally, our client, is perfect for your project because..." rather than Sally and James and Jack and Jill or they're all right for the project. And yes, there are instances when that is the case, but for very specific projects, we want to have very specific options to be able to provide to the casting directors and producers that we work very intensely with. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Like we want to know our clients as as as people just before before they're professionals as well. And that helps us understand their mindset and the way that they work and also helps us develop ways to specifically work with them as individuals rather than just having this blanketed approach or this blanket approach to talent management and what an agent does.
I Want To Break Into The US Market. What Do I Need To Know?
I think a performer wanting to break into the US space that's primarily based in the UK should be very aware that the energy of the industry in the US is so totally different. Um, Americans seem very intense in terms of their personality and the way that they work, but actually they are so laid back professionally and they kind of um from the uh the US industry that we've kind of experienced, it's very laid-back and it's very like yeah, we'll do it and but we have to take the right streams. Whereas I think the US, sorry, the UK is very much like now let's do it or let's not do it at all. it's very, it's very quick to the mark whereas the US is very is very much the opposite of that I would say um obviously individuals the the casting individuals the industry professionals are totally different out there there is a bit of a crossover some UK casting directors do stuff in the US for example James and Rosie Pearson there's production companies that work in the UK and also in the US for example RWS they do a lot of cruise work in the UK whereas in the US they work um for other cruise companies. They also have a casting agency um which the name has completely escaped me now. Ark is the name of the casting agency in the US. They cast the Lion King. They cast Chicago on Broadway. So there are there are there are similar connections but the industry out there is very sort of boxed off. I would say the same as it is here. And for some of the clients that we represent that are dual national or they're Americans wanting to work in the UK or the UK's work wanting to work in the industry, our best advice for them is always to immerse yourself in it as much as possible. Meet people, network, go to class. For example, a dancer in the UK should go and spend a week in New York and go to Steps on Broadway and do do as many different classes and and go to as many different networking opportunities as you possibly can to just immerse yourself in that area of the industry.
What Are The Challenges And Opportunities For Influencers?
I think influencers are also marketers and what they're marketing is themselves. So, finding a uniqueness in what you're doing publicly on social media is a really important thing. The influencer market is so saturated. Dare I say it, everybody thinks they're an influencer now, but these big short influencers that are maybe in the 1% of the top Tik Tockers have been doing this for however long. They got very lucky maybe during covid, but they all have their very specific niche that allows people to recognise that this is them. This is their branding. This is what they're about. This is what they're putting out on social media. Um, there's a fantastic influencer that did very well during covid that has now skyrocketed into the entertainment industry because she was all about posting and talking about the industry, but in a really light-hearted and fun way as someone that was a trained performer that is also now an influencer that is now channeling her influential work into or influencing work into the industry as a professional as well.ion text goes here
