June 3, 2025 • 20 mins
Think rejection hurts? Imagine facing it every day as part of your job. Dr. Albert Bramante, a veteran talent agent with over 21 years in the industry and founder of Bramante Artists, knows this reality well. "The truth is, you're going to hear more no's than yeses, no matter your talent," he says. His transformative advice: reframe rejection. “Use the no as a gentle reminder that your services aren’t needed today.” With this mindset, auditions become less about judgment and more about the joy of performance, turning what could be demoralizing into moments of growth.
Over the years, Dr. Bramante has witnessed seismic shifts in the entertainment industry. Movements like #MeToo spotlighted long-standing issues of exploitation, while the COVID-19 pandemic halted productions and darkened stages for nearly two years. Just as the industry began to recover, the 2023 writers and actors strikes hit, causing what many described as a recession. At the same time, streaming platforms increased visibility for talent while driving down pay, forcing even lead actors to seek side jobs. Success, Dr. Bramante emphasizes, isn't a lucky break but a long-haul strategy. "You need a 10- or 20-year plan,” he says. “This is a lifelong journey.” To dive deeper into surviving and thriving in entertainment, follow Bramante Artists on Instagram or visit bramanteartists.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
what's up everybody?
This is ryan van ornam and weare back for another scaling up
success.
Podcast power by synergist.
Today I have albert bramante.
Albert, how are you doing today, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm doing excellent, uh, thank you for inviting me
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
It's a pleasure to have you on.
Uh, actually it's dr bramante,correct that's correct.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I do have a doctorate in psychology.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Man, man, that takes a lot right there, let alone
what you got going on.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you got going on with
Bramante Artists, sure.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I've been a talent agent for about 21 years.
I represent actors full timefor theater, film, tv,
commercial print, voiceover andVermont the Artist was founded
in January 1st 2024, so arelatively new entity.
But I've been an agent I've hadmy own different companies for
(00:58):
the past 20, 21 years.
So my day-to-day isrepresenting actors for film, tv
, theater, commercial print,voice over.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Man.
That that's.
There's a lot that goes into it.
You know, like you've been inthat business for so long, but,
like you know, tell us what doesit take to to be an agent, for
you know, in that industry Imean, people come in and out of
that industry.
People come in and out of thatindustry a lot, would you agree?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Absolutely.
There's a high turnover rate,unfortunately, in this industry.
It's a really exciting industry, but it's also extremely
competitive and probably one ofthe most competitive industries
out there in the world today.
And it can also be, you know,in a sense hard and challenging
(01:52):
and for some actors have evensaid it, to be soul crushing to
some degree because of all theno's.
The reality of an actor orperformer is that you're going
to get more no's than you aregoing to get more no's than you
are going to get guesses, nomatter how talented, no matter
how gifted of a performer youare.
That's the reality of thebusiness.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And that's so critical.
You know, like with dealingwith rejection is something that
you're probably having to coacha lot of your clients about,
which is is that something thatjust some people just aren't
used to and maybe can't evencan't even function after a
certain amount of time, or is itlike it's it's more just the
resiliency side of it, right Oflike going to audition after
(02:36):
audition after audition and thenlike, yeah, I got my big break?
You know, like, tell us moreabout that.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Sure, that's exactly what.
What is needed as an actor is aresiliency, and I think my wish
is that this is more in actingtraining programs taught more
about the grit and theresiliency that you need to, you
know, kind of not only tosurvive but thrive in the
industry.
So you know, being told no overand over again can sometimes be
(03:09):
, you know, cause self-doubt,and I think the message that I'd
like to hopefully get across isthat to reframe rejection as
more of less personal, becausewhen you hear the word rejection
, that kind of means verypersonal action and it's not you
know, this business is reallynot personal and if you reframe
(03:33):
it as you know, use the, use the, the no as a gentle reminder of
that your services are notneeded today, rather than, I
know, being all automaticallyall together.
So that's one of the things I,you know, would really love to
get across is that there's nosuch thing as rejection.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And you're always learning from those things too
Cause, like whether you're likeyou go into an audition and you
may not get that role.
But man, you, you came so close.
I I don't.
That may not be, it may be hardto swallow the first couple
times, but, man, you're learningevery single time, would you
(04:14):
agree?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
absolutely, and if you look at, you know there's no
such thing as failure, onlyfeedback.
So you take the the nose asopportunities, opportunities as
a stepping stone.
You can learn so much from thatand then therefore get much
better auditions in the future.
And a lot of working actorsthat are successful adopt the
(04:40):
mindset of when you'reauditioning, look at it as an
opportunity to perform and anopportunity to show that you
know your ability to perform,rather than looking at as a you
know, an object, failure so, ortask so when you have that
audition, you have two minutesto perform and performing is
(05:03):
what actors truly love to do.
I have two minutes to performand performing is what actors
truly love to do.
No-transcript and do what Ilove.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, and man that there's there's so many nuances
to that too Like there's peoplethat can probably take it as
like man.
I only got two minutes to showwhat I got.
I got to try to over overpractice and try to over deliver
when probably the mostsuccessful are the people that
are comfortable within their ownskin during those two minutes.
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely.
And that's not about provingyourself, because you already,
you know, proved yourself, youwent through the training and
you're already here.
So it's not about provingyourself, it's about having fun
and being in the moment.
Yeah, still preparing and, andyou know, before the audition is
important, but also, at thesame time, just taking it as a
perform, an opportunity toperform, and as soon as the
(05:54):
opportunity is over, let it go.
You know, opportunity toperform and as soon as the
opportunity is over, let it go.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You know it's over.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, you know as soon as the audition is over,
it's time to move on, and it'stime to focus on your next, you
know opportunity to audition orperform.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Tell me a little bit about that because like you know
, you, you, you said you've beenin the game for like, like
almost two decades now.
So tell us a little bit of likehow that industry has kind of
changed.
Do you see, like that there'sbeen different, different pieces
of it.
I mean, I, I'm, my guess islike that, the, the Me Too
movement has changed a lot ofthat, that, that piece of it.
(06:29):
Would you agree?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Uh, yes, I mean, I would definitely say Me Too too.
Uh, has made people more aware,and you know when I even I,
when I have conversations about,you know harassment or
inappropriate behavior.
I also want to mention thatit's for both genders, it's not
just you know you are towardsfemales, although tell me more
about that well, there'sexploitation, and it, and not
just exploitation on a, you know, physical or sexual, or
violation.
(06:58):
It's also exploitation of yourtalent and money, time.
So and that's with both genderstoo, interesting harassed you
know on set and on stage overthe years from either other male
(07:19):
or even female you know uhviolators in a sense, wow, so
it's, it's a it's, it's not,it's a thing, unfortunately, you
know, an equal opportunity.
Um, so the me too, wasdefinitely 2016, 2017, when, you
know, like the whole bill cosbyand Harvey Weinstein cases
broke.
Then another thing that reallychanged the industry was the
(07:41):
pandemic COVID.
Oh, okay, for a while it wasshut down, you know, not for a
long time, but on the film andTV side it was shut.
You know, production was shutdown for like a good, you know,
five or six months, you know,until you know they started
getting more.
You know, medical advances andtesting situation set up Live
(08:06):
theater was shut down thelongest, for almost two years.
Wow.
So if you were a theater actor,producer, stage hand, stage
manager, worked in a box office,it was a really hard two years
because the business was was uh,so you had to pivot.
(08:28):
And then another obstacle wehad in our industries in 2023,
the, the Writers Guild and theScreen Actors Guild both went on
strike within two months of oneanother and it was a good six
months where they were both onstrike at the same time.
So if you were a screen actor,a writer, you had almost no
(08:52):
career in film and TV for formonths and then.
So the industry had recovered,but not quite yet and it's still
.
We're still on a point where youknow, where some experts are
calling it like an hour versionof a recession or a great
depression in the film and tvindustry because of what's been
going on.
(09:13):
Um, and that's why you've beenseeing a lot in the news about
tax incentives and more fundingand more tax breaks for
productions, because a lot ofproductions were moving overseas
, a lot of productions weremoving outside.
So, as a local actor in NewYork, la or Atlanta, it's now a
(09:33):
little bit tougher experiencenow because there was less
productions that were happening,but my goal is that I'm hoping
that we come back to that.
Right right, we come back toresurgence.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
There's been multiple challenges in addition to it
just being a challenging fieldto begin with, do you feel like
the increase in streamingoptions has changed the way that
actors have looked upon theirgigs?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Absolutely, both in a positive and sometimes a
negative way.
So the positive sign is thatthe amount of productions, the
amount of opportunities has, youknow, multiplied by four or
five times, especially whenNetflix and Hulu and Amazon and
Apple and YouTube all got intothe content creation game.
(10:26):
So you know, when I firststarted, you know, as a New York
agent, we had very few TV shows.
We had the Soaps, you, the lawnorder, the sopranos.
We didn't have a whole lot,yeah, so it was.
If you wanted to be a film andtv actor, la was the place to be
, okay.
You want to be a theater actor,new york was the place to be.
(10:47):
So that's changed.
You know, I'd say the past 10to 12 years that you jumped from
, like at one point it was likewe were going between 70 to 80
shows a year we're beingproduced in New York.
So, as an actor, that's agoldmine.
Now the downside is the paymentin residuals has decreased
(11:11):
because there's so much doubt,space and so much you know
competition.
So the amount of payment thatyou know you would receive, you
know being, you know whetherit's a day player, a guest star
or you know one-off, you know,or even, as you know a series
regular, which means you're inevery TV episode has decreased.
(11:35):
So it's challenging because Iwork with people who've been
series regulars on shows and youwould think, well, they must
have a lot of money and that'snot always the case.
I know people that are seriesregulars that still need
survival jobs to pay for.
So that's where it's, at thedownside.
(11:56):
So there's advantages anddisadvantages of that.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That's kind of crazy that there's so much difference
in the way that the industry haschanged.
Now, like that, you know thatyou have, like you said, the DT
series regulars that are, youknow, stillars that are still
having to have other types ofemployment, maybe even just to
get by.
That's kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It is Well.
You also have that, plus therising just living cost of
living too, so you add acombination of that and also the
lifestyle of it.
Know, the life cycle of theseries regular can change, um,
because initially, when you'rehired as a series regular for a
show, you sign a six year orseven year deal you know, and
(12:47):
now, which that sounds great andit's and it's helpful, but the
show can get canceled.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and thatmeans there goes the contract,
like in 2022.
I had hired a um.
You know, we got somebody onthe series right over an apple
tv show, which is reallyexciting.
(13:08):
The deal was, the contract wasgreat, it was lucrative much
more than this actress had evermade but the show only lasted
one season.
It was canceled.
And that's not in my control orthe actors.
That's outside of the actors'control and that can be
sometimes hard too.
So you can be one minuteworking a series regular and
(13:29):
then a year later be unemployed.
You know an out of work actoragain.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, and and really like the, the way that that
lifestyle is too.
You have to keep up with theJoneses a lot of times, you know
whether it's like.
You know that they're keepingtheir, their acting chops up.
They're doing, you know,probably having a higher like a
(13:54):
physical trainers and stayingand staying active, in peak
shape, because the bodycomposition for people on screen
and stuff like that, it mattersfor a lot of those roles.
There's a lot more that goesinto it.
The cuisine that people eat,the food that people eat, the.
(14:16):
The cuisine that people eat,the.
You know the food that peopleeat.
You know like it's.
It's so much different than youknow.
Uh, just somebody, just youknow that is just trying to get
by working for themselves.
You know you have to keep yourbody in tip top shape.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, your body and your mind in tip top shape too,
you know, and that's both ofthose places need workout you
know, regular workouts andregular now that's and that's,
and that's the thing thatthere's.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
There's so much that goes into it that people don't
know that they're.
They're spending a lot of moneyon that kind of stuff, like
acting coaches.
Don't come cheap.
You know talent.
You know like uh and andhelping you, helping them find
new roles and new gigs.
You know like go into that.
There's probably you.
You have to be connected, youknow, across the country and the
(15:05):
world to you know so many ofthese opportunities that that
your actors are finding Right.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, I mean you know having those connections and
they took me sometimes years tocultivate myself.
You know these connections andthese with with casting
directors and producers, Havingthose connections and they took
me sometimes years to cultivatemyself these connections With
casting directors and producers.
So, Because they need to, it'sall about trust.
They need to be able to trustthat I can deliver and they need
to trust in my ability To findtalent.
And that takes a while Becauseit's about credibility.
(15:33):
The same thing as an actor.
So what I often say In thatrespect the same thing as an
actor.
So what I often say in that, inthat respect, is that as act as
an actor if you want to work ina major market you know new
york la atlanta or a major hubyou need to
have a, not just a five-yearplan, but a 10 or 20-year plan.
Wow, this is not not a marathon, this is a, not a sprint.
(15:56):
It is a lifelong journey, not asprint.
And very rarely is there ever aconcept of the overnight
success you know like, oh, justa quick thing.
I mean that sometimes rarelycan happen, but very often you
don't see the behind the scenesaspect of it.
You hear my heroes Well, theyjust were discovered out of
nowhere, but you didn't hear thefact that they've been working
10, 15 years behind the scenesaspect of it.
You hear me hear well, theyjust were discovered out of
(16:16):
nowhere, but you didn't hear thefact that they've been working
10, 15 years behind the scenesgrinding.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Right, tell me, tell me more about what it takes to
build up like that, thoseconnections in your business
because, like I mean, that's,that's the trust factor that
people are hiring you.
Right, and you've been in thatindustry for so long, you have
those connections.
So tell me what it takes to getto a point where people want to
(16:42):
be a part of your agency.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It's trust consistency.
So being, you know consistencyis knowing that I'm not gonna
give up too easily and I'm notgonna just give up too easily
and I'm not going to just openand close right away.
So you know, it's allconsistent over time.
And there's also a conceptknown as social proof, which
means you know, showcasing thatmy actors are booking, that I'm
(17:10):
able to make successfulplacements, and that is by
persistence.
So that's why it's importantfor consistent marketing in any
field, especially for actors,there's the importance of
consistency.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I love that man, I love that and, as being you that
entire time, you've growninside of that and you have
those connections that you'vebuilt in that industry that sets
you apart from anybody else.
So that that's, that's, that'skey right there.
So what's what's next for theevolution of your business?
What do you?
Where do you see it going?
Like, I know you're in New York, but are you, you?
(17:47):
You making connections acrossthe country?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, making connections across the country
LA, atlanta, chicago how big isthat?
Atlanta and the Chicago areasfor.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Atlanta and.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Chicago.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
How big is that?
Atlanta and the Chicago areasfor film and stuff now?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Chicago is big for theater and there are a couple
of TV shows that film in Chicago.
You obviously have Chicago Med,chicago Fire, chicago PD and
other TV shows like the Chai onShowtime.
You also have Atlanta, which islike Tyler Perry, oprah Winfrey
(18:24):
, all those networks and studiosBET studios.
A lot of homework movies aremade down in the southeast of
Atlanta, new Orleans, so thoseare thriving.
It used to be, like I said, newYork, la mainly.
LA but LA's been struggling inthe past few years and that's
(18:47):
why they just passed more taxincentives to bring back more
production than LA, because LA'sbeen suffering.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Right, right, no, and it is crazy because that was
the Mecca for like 30, 40 yearsand you know, whether it's the
political scene, thesocioeconomic scene, even the
wildfires, there's so manythings that have changed the
dynamics out in SoCal.
So, um, man, this is, this hasbeen a, you know, a really great
(19:15):
insight into that, that careergenre that a lot of people
probably don't even didn't evenknow.
You know these, these, thesethings are happening.
So thank you so much forsharing your story and we really
appreciate you coming on.
Man, how can people get aholdof you if they want to get get
involved into the, the actingscene?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
So you can follow us on Instagram.
Vermont Artists.
We're right on Instagram.
You can go tovermonteartistscom.
If you're an actor and want tosubmit for representation.
There's a form you can fill out.
You can also follow my personalDr Al Vermonte on Instagram or
LinkedIn under Al Vermonte.
(19:55):
So feel free to reach out to meon all those platforms.
I'd love to Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Fantastic, dr Bermonte.
It's been a pleasure having youon.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Really appreciate it.
Go check him out, bermonteArtist.
This is Brian Van Ornum withScaling Up Success Podcast
Powered by Senators.
what's up everybody?
This is ryan van ornam and weare back for another scaling up
success.
Podcast power by synergist.
Today I have albert bramante.
Albert, how are you doing today, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm doing excellent, uh, thank you for inviting me
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
It's a pleasure to have you on.
Uh, actually it's dr bramante,correct that's correct.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I do have a doctorate in psychology.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Man, man, that takes a lot right there, let alone
what you got going on.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you got going on with
Bramante Artists, sure.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I've been a talent agent for about 21 years.
I represent actors full timefor theater, film, tv,
commercial print, voiceover andVermont the Artist was founded
in January 1st 2024, so arelatively new entity.
But I've been an agent I've hadmy own different companies for
(00:58):
the past 20, 21 years.
So my day-to-day isrepresenting actors for film, tv
, theater, commercial print,voice over.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Man.
That that's.
There's a lot that goes into it.
You know, like you've been inthat business for so long, but,
like you know, tell us what doesit take to to be an agent, for
you know, in that industry Imean, people come in and out of
that industry.
People come in and out of thatindustry a lot, would you agree?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Absolutely.
There's a high turnover rate,unfortunately, in this industry.
It's a really exciting industry, but it's also extremely
competitive and probably one ofthe most competitive industries
out there in the world today.
And it can also be, you know,in a sense hard and challenging
(01:52):
and for some actors have evensaid it, to be soul crushing to
some degree because of all theno's.
The reality of an actor orperformer is that you're going
to get more no's than you aregoing to get more no's than you
are going to get guesses, nomatter how talented, no matter
how gifted of a performer youare.
That's the reality of thebusiness.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And that's so critical.
You know, like with dealingwith rejection is something that
you're probably having to coacha lot of your clients about,
which is is that something thatjust some people just aren't
used to and maybe can't evencan't even function after a
certain amount of time, or is itlike it's it's more just the
resiliency side of it, right Oflike going to audition after
(02:36):
audition after audition and thenlike, yeah, I got my big break?
You know, like, tell us moreabout that.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Sure, that's exactly what.
What is needed as an actor is aresiliency, and I think my wish
is that this is more in actingtraining programs taught more
about the grit and theresiliency that you need to, you
know, kind of not only tosurvive but thrive in the
industry.
So you know, being told no overand over again can sometimes be
(03:09):
, you know, cause self-doubt,and I think the message that I'd
like to hopefully get across isthat to reframe rejection as
more of less personal, becausewhen you hear the word rejection
, that kind of means verypersonal action and it's not you
know, this business is reallynot personal and if you reframe
(03:33):
it as you know, use the, use the, the no as a gentle reminder of
that your services are notneeded today, rather than, I
know, being all automaticallyall together.
So that's one of the things I,you know, would really love to
get across is that there's nosuch thing as rejection.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And you're always learning from those things too
Cause, like whether you're likeyou go into an audition and you
may not get that role.
But man, you, you came so close.
I I don't.
That may not be, it may be hardto swallow the first couple
times, but, man, you're learningevery single time, would you
(04:14):
agree?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
absolutely, and if you look at, you know there's no
such thing as failure, onlyfeedback.
So you take the the nose asopportunities, opportunities as
a stepping stone.
You can learn so much from thatand then therefore get much
better auditions in the future.
And a lot of working actorsthat are successful adopt the
(04:40):
mindset of when you'reauditioning, look at it as an
opportunity to perform and anopportunity to show that you
know your ability to perform,rather than looking at as a you
know, an object, failure so, ortask so when you have that
audition, you have two minutesto perform and performing is
(05:03):
what actors truly love to do.
I have two minutes to performand performing is what actors
truly love to do.
No-transcript and do what Ilove.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, and man that there's there's so many nuances
to that too Like there's peoplethat can probably take it as
like man.
I only got two minutes to showwhat I got.
I got to try to over overpractice and try to over deliver
when probably the mostsuccessful are the people that
are comfortable within their ownskin during those two minutes.
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely.
And that's not about provingyourself, because you already,
you know, proved yourself, youwent through the training and
you're already here.
So it's not about provingyourself, it's about having fun
and being in the moment.
Yeah, still preparing and, andyou know, before the audition is
important, but also, at thesame time, just taking it as a
perform, an opportunity toperform, and as soon as the
(05:54):
opportunity is over, let it go.
You know, opportunity toperform and as soon as the
opportunity is over, let it go.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You know it's over.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, you know as soon as the audition is over,
it's time to move on, and it'stime to focus on your next, you
know opportunity to audition orperform.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Tell me a little bit about that because like you know
, you, you, you said you've beenin the game for like, like
almost two decades now.
So tell us a little bit of likehow that industry has kind of
changed.
Do you see, like that there'sbeen different, different pieces
of it.
I mean, I, I'm, my guess islike that, the, the Me Too
movement has changed a lot ofthat, that, that piece of it.
(06:29):
Would you agree?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Uh, yes, I mean, I would definitely say Me Too too.
Uh, has made people more aware,and you know when I even I,
when I have conversations about,you know harassment or
inappropriate behavior.
I also want to mention thatit's for both genders, it's not
just you know you are towardsfemales, although tell me more
about that well, there'sexploitation, and it, and not
just exploitation on a, you know, physical or sexual, or
violation.
(06:58):
It's also exploitation of yourtalent and money, time.
So and that's with both genderstoo, interesting harassed you
know on set and on stage overthe years from either other male
(07:19):
or even female you know uhviolators in a sense, wow, so
it's, it's a it's, it's not,it's a thing, unfortunately, you
know, an equal opportunity.
Um, so the me too, wasdefinitely 2016, 2017, when, you
know, like the whole bill cosbyand Harvey Weinstein cases
broke.
Then another thing that reallychanged the industry was the
(07:41):
pandemic COVID.
Oh, okay, for a while it wasshut down, you know, not for a
long time, but on the film andTV side it was shut.
You know, production was shutdown for like a good, you know,
five or six months, you know,until you know they started
getting more.
You know, medical advances andtesting situation set up Live
(08:06):
theater was shut down thelongest, for almost two years.
Wow.
So if you were a theater actor,producer, stage hand, stage
manager, worked in a box office,it was a really hard two years
because the business was was uh,so you had to pivot.
(08:28):
And then another obstacle wehad in our industries in 2023,
the, the Writers Guild and theScreen Actors Guild both went on
strike within two months of oneanother and it was a good six
months where they were both onstrike at the same time.
So if you were a screen actor,a writer, you had almost no
(08:52):
career in film and TV for formonths and then.
So the industry had recovered,but not quite yet and it's still
.
We're still on a point where youknow, where some experts are
calling it like an hour versionof a recession or a great
depression in the film and tvindustry because of what's been
going on.
(09:13):
Um, and that's why you've beenseeing a lot in the news about
tax incentives and more fundingand more tax breaks for
productions, because a lot ofproductions were moving overseas
, a lot of productions weremoving outside.
So, as a local actor in NewYork, la or Atlanta, it's now a
(09:33):
little bit tougher experiencenow because there was less
productions that were happening,but my goal is that I'm hoping
that we come back to that.
Right right, we come back toresurgence.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
There's been multiple challenges in addition to it
just being a challenging fieldto begin with, do you feel like
the increase in streamingoptions has changed the way that
actors have looked upon theirgigs?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Absolutely, both in a positive and sometimes a
negative way.
So the positive sign is thatthe amount of productions, the
amount of opportunities has, youknow, multiplied by four or
five times, especially whenNetflix and Hulu and Amazon and
Apple and YouTube all got intothe content creation game.
(10:26):
So you know, when I firststarted, you know, as a New York
agent, we had very few TV shows.
We had the Soaps, you, the lawnorder, the sopranos.
We didn't have a whole lot,yeah, so it was.
If you wanted to be a film andtv actor, la was the place to be
, okay.
You want to be a theater actor,new york was the place to be.
(10:47):
So that's changed.
You know, I'd say the past 10to 12 years that you jumped from
, like at one point it was likewe were going between 70 to 80
shows a year we're beingproduced in New York.
So, as an actor, that's agoldmine.
Now the downside is the paymentin residuals has decreased
(11:11):
because there's so much doubt,space and so much you know
competition.
So the amount of payment thatyou know you would receive, you
know being, you know whetherit's a day player, a guest star
or you know one-off, you know,or even, as you know a series
regular, which means you're inevery TV episode has decreased.
(11:35):
So it's challenging because Iwork with people who've been
series regulars on shows and youwould think, well, they must
have a lot of money and that'snot always the case.
I know people that are seriesregulars that still need
survival jobs to pay for.
So that's where it's, at thedownside.
(11:56):
So there's advantages anddisadvantages of that.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That's kind of crazy that there's so much difference
in the way that the industry haschanged.
Now, like that, you know thatyou have, like you said, the DT
series regulars that are, youknow, stillars that are still
having to have other types ofemployment, maybe even just to
get by.
That's kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It is Well.
You also have that, plus therising just living cost of
living too, so you add acombination of that and also the
lifestyle of it.
Know, the life cycle of theseries regular can change, um,
because initially, when you'rehired as a series regular for a
show, you sign a six year orseven year deal you know, and
(12:47):
now, which that sounds great andit's and it's helpful, but the
show can get canceled.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and thatmeans there goes the contract,
like in 2022.
I had hired a um.
You know, we got somebody onthe series right over an apple
tv show, which is reallyexciting.
(13:08):
The deal was, the contract wasgreat, it was lucrative much
more than this actress had evermade but the show only lasted
one season.
It was canceled.
And that's not in my control orthe actors.
That's outside of the actors'control and that can be
sometimes hard too.
So you can be one minuteworking a series regular and
(13:29):
then a year later be unemployed.
You know an out of work actoragain.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, and and really like the, the way that that
lifestyle is too.
You have to keep up with theJoneses a lot of times, you know
whether it's like.
You know that they're keepingtheir, their acting chops up.
They're doing, you know,probably having a higher like a
(13:54):
physical trainers and stayingand staying active, in peak
shape, because the bodycomposition for people on screen
and stuff like that, it mattersfor a lot of those roles.
There's a lot more that goesinto it.
The cuisine that people eat,the food that people eat, the.
(14:16):
The cuisine that people eat,the.
You know the food that peopleeat.
You know like it's.
It's so much different than youknow.
Uh, just somebody, just youknow that is just trying to get
by working for themselves.
You know you have to keep yourbody in tip top shape.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, your body and your mind in tip top shape too,
you know, and that's both ofthose places need workout you
know, regular workouts andregular now that's and that's,
and that's the thing thatthere's.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
There's so much that goes into it that people don't
know that they're.
They're spending a lot of moneyon that kind of stuff, like
acting coaches.
Don't come cheap.
You know talent.
You know like uh and andhelping you, helping them find
new roles and new gigs.
You know like go into that.
There's probably you.
You have to be connected, youknow, across the country and the
(15:05):
world to you know so many ofthese opportunities that that
your actors are finding Right.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, I mean you know having those connections and
they took me sometimes years tocultivate myself.
You know these connections andthese with with casting
directors and producers, Havingthose connections and they took
me sometimes years to cultivatemyself these connections With
casting directors and producers.
So, Because they need to, it'sall about trust.
They need to be able to trustthat I can deliver and they need
to trust in my ability To findtalent.
And that takes a while Becauseit's about credibility.
(15:33):
The same thing as an actor.
So what I often say In thatrespect the same thing as an
actor.
So what I often say in that, inthat respect, is that as act as
an actor if you want to work ina major market you know new
york la atlanta or a major hubyou need to
have a, not just a five-yearplan, but a 10 or 20-year plan.
Wow, this is not not a marathon, this is a, not a sprint.
(15:56):
It is a lifelong journey, not asprint.
And very rarely is there ever aconcept of the overnight
success you know like, oh, justa quick thing.
I mean that sometimes rarelycan happen, but very often you
don't see the behind the scenesaspect of it.
You hear my heroes Well, theyjust were discovered out of
nowhere, but you didn't hear thefact that they've been working
10, 15 years behind the scenesaspect of it.
You hear me hear well, theyjust were discovered out of
(16:16):
nowhere, but you didn't hear thefact that they've been working
10, 15 years behind the scenesgrinding.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Right, tell me, tell me more about what it takes to
build up like that, thoseconnections in your business
because, like I mean, that's,that's the trust factor that
people are hiring you.
Right, and you've been in thatindustry for so long, you have
those connections.
So tell me what it takes to getto a point where people want to
(16:42):
be a part of your agency.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It's trust consistency.
So being, you know consistencyis knowing that I'm not gonna
give up too easily and I'm notgonna just give up too easily
and I'm not going to just openand close right away.
So you know, it's allconsistent over time.
And there's also a conceptknown as social proof, which
means you know, showcasing thatmy actors are booking, that I'm
(17:10):
able to make successfulplacements, and that is by
persistence.
So that's why it's importantfor consistent marketing in any
field, especially for actors,there's the importance of
consistency.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I love that man, I love that and, as being you that
entire time, you've growninside of that and you have
those connections that you'vebuilt in that industry that sets
you apart from anybody else.
So that that's, that's, that'skey right there.
So what's what's next for theevolution of your business?
What do you?
Where do you see it going?
Like, I know you're in New York, but are you, you?
(17:47):
You making connections acrossthe country?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, making connections across the country
LA, atlanta, chicago how big isthat?
Atlanta and the Chicago areasfor.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Atlanta and.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Chicago.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
How big is that?
Atlanta and the Chicago areasfor film and stuff now?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Chicago is big for theater and there are a couple
of TV shows that film in Chicago.
You obviously have Chicago Med,chicago Fire, chicago PD and
other TV shows like the Chai onShowtime.
You also have Atlanta, which islike Tyler Perry, oprah Winfrey
(18:24):
, all those networks and studiosBET studios.
A lot of homework movies aremade down in the southeast of
Atlanta, new Orleans, so thoseare thriving.
It used to be, like I said, newYork, la mainly.
LA but LA's been struggling inthe past few years and that's
(18:47):
why they just passed more taxincentives to bring back more
production than LA, because LA'sbeen suffering.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Right, right, no, and it is crazy because that was
the Mecca for like 30, 40 yearsand you know, whether it's the
political scene, thesocioeconomic scene, even the
wildfires, there's so manythings that have changed the
dynamics out in SoCal.
So, um, man, this is, this hasbeen a, you know, a really great
(19:15):
insight into that, that careergenre that a lot of people
probably don't even didn't evenknow.
You know these, these, thesethings are happening.
So thank you so much forsharing your story and we really
appreciate you coming on.
Man, how can people get aholdof you if they want to get get
involved into the, the actingscene?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
So you can follow us on Instagram.
Vermont Artists.
We're right on Instagram.
You can go tovermonteartistscom.
If you're an actor and want tosubmit for representation.
There's a form you can fill out.
You can also follow my personalDr Al Vermonte on Instagram or
LinkedIn under Al Vermonte.
(19:55):
So feel free to reach out to meon all those platforms.
I'd love to Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Fantastic, dr Bermonte.
It's been a pleasure having youon.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Really appreciate it.
Go check him out, bermonteArtist.
This is Brian Van Ornum withScaling Up Success Podcast
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