January 23, 2024 • 38 mins
Unlock the secrets to landing interviews on broadcast television with Kenicia Cross, a dynamic talent agent and former television broadcast producer. In this exclusive conversation, Kencia talks with television news veteran Jamie Maglietta to delve into the essentials of securing that coveted spot on the screen. 🌟 Gain insights into the intricacies of the television industry as Kenicia shares her expertise from both sides of the camera. Learn about the key elements that make a candidate stand out and discover the insider tips that professionals need to navigate the competitive world of broadcast television interviews. 🎤 Join us for a discussion on when and why a professional might consider partnering with a talent agent. Kenicia Cross provides valuable advice on how a skilled agent can elevate your career, opening doors to opportunities you may not have imagined. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting in the industry, this conversation is a must-watch for anyone looking to make their mark on broadcast television. Subscribe now and take the first step towards mastering the art of getting noticed in the dynamic world of television interviews! 🔗 Stay Connected Don't miss out on exclusive content and updates. Click SUBSCRIBE to become a part of our community and fuel Jamie's motivation to keep creating valuable content for you. 🙏 Thank You A heartfelt thanks for supporting On Cam Ready! Your engagement makes a difference. Let's grow together! Kenicia Cross with OTA: https://otatalent.com/team-members/kenicia-cross/ Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:05 Kenicia Cross with five things to include in a pitch to the press04:00 Kenicia Cross introduces herself04:22 When to pitch and how05:00 Kenicia Cross offers her five tips to help business owners, lawyers, political analysts, etc.08:00 Jamie on what a guest needs to do on social media 09:30 Kenicia's 5 things to do when you pitch the press 13:15 Kenicia mentions how being on camera requires you to know your WHY16:00 Kenicia on pivoting from a broadcast news producer role to becoming a talent agent with OTA | What it is like becoming a talent agent21:20 When you need a talent agent | Do I need a talent agent to appear on broadcast television22:00 Why pay a talent agent to negotiate your contract25:00 How talent agents bet on the clients they list29:00 What to include in a reel. This is perfect for MMJs, journalists, etc. interested in becoming on-camera reporters or anchors. Influencers and social media experts also should listen in30:00 Motivation and Inspiration to help you truck through the challenges31:00 When you need a talent if you want to become a contributor or a paid broadcast news guest32:00 Discussing how Wendy Guarisco advises clients to become desired by appearing on multiple networks | Earned media33:30 Two questions Kenicia asks when interviewing prospective clients 📱 Connect with Jamie: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-maglietta Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamie_theproducer 📧 Contact: For inquiries and collaborations, reach out to Jamie at jamie@oncamready.com #OnCamReady #MediaTraining #PodcastingTips #ContentCreation #KenciaCross #TalentAgent #BroadcastTelevision #InterviewTips #CareerAdvice #TelevisionIndustry #JamieMaglietta #MediaInsights
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
On this episode of On Cam Ready when you need a talent agent and
what it takes to get booked as abroadcast news guest.
The five must haves that you need to include in your picture
producer if you want to be on a show is number one.
You must prove that you are a credible guest.
You must prove that you have a perspective and that you're
(00:30):
wanting to talk about a relevanttopic, trending topic, something
that's in the news cycle right now.
You need to prove that you're going to provide some sort of a
benefit to the viewer. We want to know.
If it's going to be good TV, areyou good on TV?
Is your subject and and how you're going to present it.
Is that going to be good on TV? And then also, we need to be
(00:52):
clear about your perspective. You know I need to know after
reading this, okay. Here's what they feel about
this. Here's what they want to talk
about this and and quick easy snapshots.
Those are the five must have andyou're in your bitch.
You want to get both back Participation.
That's can you see across. She's a talent agent based in
California. And we have a lot to talk about
(01:12):
on this episode of On Cam Ready.Hello everyone.
I'm Jamie Maglietta, a season television news producer who's
turning the camera on herself tohelp you shine on social and
look outstanding on camera. I have experience in production,
management, podcasting and live broadcast news.
In addition to this conversationabout what it takes to really
secure an opportunity on television news, we're also
(01:35):
going to take a deep dive into when you need a talent agent and
why you might need a talent agent.
This conversation is really for professionals who are looking to
either pitch the press, expand on their media appearances, or
for producers who are actually looking to pivot into a new
career within the media ecosystem.
(01:56):
And if you are someone who is looking for a producer, I also
offer services as a consultant, podcaster, and content creator.
So be sure to check out my website on camready.com.
One question I get asked the most is when do I need a talent
agent and why do I need a talentagent?
(02:17):
I've even had people insist thatthey need a talent agent in
order to get television appearances.
I always say that's not the case.
And one thing I say quite often is, you know, you need a talent
agent. When the talent agents are
coming for you, if they're coming to you, then you know
you're in a place where you should start figuring out if you
(02:38):
need a talent agent or actually who you want to go with.
So with all those questions, I figured, let's reach out to
Kanesha Cross. She is a talent agent now, but
she actually started her career as a television news producer.
She's a journalist, and what I love about that is she can bring
that experience to her work as atalent agent.
She can also help you figure outwhen you need one and when you
(03:03):
don't. So on this episode, we're going
to start off by talking about how you can secure on camera
opportunities without a talent agent.
Let's welcome Kanesia Cross. Kanesia is with us now.
Kanesia, why don't you tell us alittle bit about what you do?
I gave a small intro, but why don't you explain more about how
you're a talent agent and what you did before you became a
(03:26):
talent agent? So, yes, now I am a talent
agent. So I was a news producer for
about 15 years and now I've transitioned into becoming a a
talent agent. So what I do is I represent on
air personalities, so news anchors, news reporters.
I also represent news producers as well, some news managers,
(03:49):
entertainment hosts, yeah. So people that are working in
the media industry, I would say.And before that I was a news
producer for 15 years. So yeah, I produce everything
from, you know, typical newscasts, you know, health
shows, lifestyle shows, politics, sports, little bit of
(04:11):
everything, yes. And one thing that producers get
a lot of our pitches and you know, I constantly have to tell
people, you know, how to pitch or how to connect with the press
and when to pitch. What would you tell people when
they ask about, you know, hey, Isaid, if they say to you, hey, I
sent a pitch, what do you think?Like what?
What do you usually tell? People, OK, Yes.
(04:33):
That is, that is like one of themost popularist questions.
You know people who are like authors or owned companies, or
you know experts and servers. Yes.
Yeah, always want to, you know, be featured on the show.
And so the big question is, you know, how do I do it?
So the number one thing is, it really starts with your pitch.
So as a producer, you know, we come to work every day in our
(04:56):
e-mail. We have like tons and tons and
tons, dozens, hundreds sometimesof pitches, right?
So but The thing is, we need to go through these pitches because
just like, you know, you guys want to be guests, we need
guests too, to kind of fill our show.
So we're going through these pitches and there are five key
things that every producer is looking for in a pitch to
(05:18):
determine, OK, if this is going to be a good guess, right.
So I'll tell you what the five things are.
So first thing is that we want to know is, you know, are you a
credible guest? Our job as producers is to, you
know, we're servicing our viewers.
So I want to know within your pitch that whatever your talking
points are, whatever your perspective is that there's
(05:39):
going to be a take away from theviewer, you know.
So it's really important that when you think about what you're
going to be talking about, you think about it from that point
of view too. You know is is the viewer going
to be able to walk away with at least one tangible tip tool
strategy. And I always say too, it's maybe
you it's, it's sometimes good tooutline your talking points or
(06:01):
your segment And you know, here's the strategies for this
or, you know, here's the keys tothis or here's the steps to
this, you know, So that way it'seasy for the producer and then
also the viewer to see that and identify that take away, you
know. And so that that shows that
you're giving, you're adding value and there's some sort of a
(06:24):
benefit there to the, you know. And another way way to offer a
benefit too is by having a new perspective.
You know, a lot of times when there are popular topics or, you
know, things that people are talking about are even, you
know, just something simple. You know, if you're like a
psychologist and you're talking about, I don't know, maybe
(06:47):
there's, you know, a school shooting or something.
A lot of times similar professions come on and give the
same type of tips or the same thing, the same perspective, the
same point of view, right? So no, you can add value if
you're offering a different perspective.
You know, you're adding something to the conversation
that not everyone's talking about.
(07:08):
So we want to know what benefit you're going to offer to the
viewer when you come on the show.
Is it going to be good TV? You know, do you know how to be
on TV? Do you have a good personality?
You're going to be able to bringenergy, you know?
Are there any visuals that are going to go along with your
talking point? So you know, those are some
things to think about too. If there any props you can
bring, you know, show something,you know, if there are some like
(07:31):
strategies or tips you want to give that to the producer, we
can make a full screen. So again, good TV, is this
segment going to be good TV? Because a lot of times, you
know, we don't want to always just see someone just talking,
talking, talking, talking, you know, for 5 minutes.
So is a good TV. So these are, these are all the
things that you need to be thinking about improving to the
producer in your pitch that we're looking for, you know,
(07:55):
clarity about your perspective. So I need to be able to read
this pitch and be very clear. OK, I get it.
I get what they're going to comeon and talk about.
I understand their perspective. This is good.
So I feel like if you can present all five of those things
in a pitch, you'll get booked, yeah?
I would agree and I'm actually going through this right now.
(08:17):
I've written out like 50 tips. I started to record them.
I have one video up at this moment of 10 first 10 tips and
really I'm focusing on the social media element like
because you know, as producer producers, when we get those
pitches as she's saying we are going to look at or is this
person a legitimate guest, Does this person hold the weight and
(08:39):
can they provide value? And then we're also trying to
figure out would they be even good on television?
And those three things you can find out in this day and age on
social media. Because if you are a
professional in my opinion, who wants to be on TV or wants to be
quoted in papers, you should already be putting your
professional foot forward on social media knowing that the
(09:02):
press is also there potentially looking at you and considering
you as ATV guest. Absolutely.
So if I were to sum up, you knowthe points that she just made,
actually Kenisia, if we were going to have a guest on to talk
about this, they would have to at the end of their their tips
list out the five for a sound bite.
(09:23):
So why don't you just tick through the five that you just
mentioned real quick and maybe I'll use it as a sound bite.
OK, the five must haves that youneed to include in your picture
producer if you want to be on a show is number one.
You must prove that you are a credible guest.
You must prove that you have a perspective and that you're
(09:43):
wanting to talk about a relevanttopic, trending topic, something
that's in the news cycle right now.
You need to prove that you're going to provide some sort of a
benefit to the viewer. We want to know if it's going to
be good TV. Are you good on TV is your
subject and and how you're goingto present it.
Is that going to be good on TV. And then also we need to be
(10:05):
clear about your perspective. You know I I need to know after
reading this OK here's what theyfeel about this and here's what
they want to talk about this andand quick easy snapshots.
So those are the five must havesin your in your pitch if you
want to get booked by producer. And even when it going beyond
the pitch, you know here we are two producers essentially
talking things out to help you guys who are watching or
(10:27):
listening figure out how to secure that earned media.
And you know, beyond the pitch, you also want to be building
relationships with producers andjournalists who are behind, you
know the scenes on a print article.
Because you your pitch may not work right now, but it could
work down the road, and you wantto make sure that they remember
(10:48):
you. Right, absolutely.
I mean. Is there anything that you would
suggest that people do to try tobuild relationships?
Yes. So one thing I always say is
that you know even if let's justsay you, you actually do get
booked in that first time on always try to meet the producer
personally, you know, bring a thank you card, you know, a
small Starbucks gift card, you know what I mean?
(11:09):
Anything that you can do to you know so they so that they can
remember you because like producers we're looking for
guests all the time you know andif you're someone who was good
and and you're you know we met you as memorable we're going to
book you over and over again. So I just think get being
creative and and you know like you said building a relationship
with producers is very important.
(11:31):
I I don't recommend calling on the phone just because during
the day, yeah, we are swamped. We're slammed and you don't want
to go into the category in our minds of this annoying person
such and such. You know you don't want to
remember you by that. So anything that that you could
do to even if you know if you stopped by and dropped off
something, you know, you may nothave time to you know meet us
(11:52):
face to face we're working. But anything you can do, you got
to be creative to get your foot in that day.
But like you said, building relationships is important.
Even reaching out on, you know, on LinkedIn, you know, things
like that, Anything personable you can do because, you know, I
think a lot of times people just, they just look at us as
like producers oh, and put us onthis pedestal.
We're just people just like you.And if you're cool, of course
(12:16):
you're. We wonder.
That's what we want to work withpeople that are cool.
Professional. Yes, That we can just call and
be like, come on. So yeah, that's what I was
saying. And the.
One thing I'll say, yeah, I'll tell the people, I'll tell
people is you want to look at this like dating or building a
friendship. You know, when you meet someone
for the first time, are you like, let's get married?
No, you're not. You're taking your time.
You're trying to feel them out. You know, you're figuring things
(12:38):
out and saying, OK, let's get toknow each other.
The same thing needs to be thought, thought about.
When you're about to pitch the press, you don't want to just
pitch, pitch, pitch and never put in any work to build a
relationship because that producer is instantly going to
put you in the delete folder thenext time they get a pitch if
they start to think of you as anannoying person who just wants
(13:00):
to get married, right? Yes.
One, one other thing I was goingto say too about like you know,
even just when you're at the stage of just kind of even
wanting to be on TV, you know, it's really important to pay.
What is, what is your intention,You know what I mean?
(13:21):
It's really all about the intention.
And if if your intention is really just about you, you know
just for you to get air time or just you know for you to try to
get some more customers, you know that that is putting out
less energy towards you probablygetting what you want.
Whereas if you are your intention really is to help or
to you know shed light or just really be of service, you know
(13:44):
that that energy will come through too.
So I think it's very important to to even before you start this
process of wanting to be on TV, like be clear, you know, what is
your intention, what's your why?Yeah, what is your why?
And that's important for anyone really, even your why on social. 00:14:01,520 Like we're saying, if you're
going to pitch the press, the press is going to look at your
social media. The the two places.
(14:06):
I say you really need to be, foras a professional nowadays is
you should be on Twitter. You should be there weighing in
on stories that are relevant to your industry.
If you're an expert and you wantto get noticed by the press,
potentially, you know, without pitching and I'm going to say
I'm saying Twitter, but I shouldsay X, because you know, I'm
sure that name is officially being changed at this moment.
(14:28):
But the other platform I would say is pick a social media
platform, either Tiktok or Instagram, whatever really works
for you and your audience like the people you want to offer
that value to. If they're all on Tiktok, you
should be on Tiktok. And if your audience that really
consumes what you're trying to put out there in the world is on
(14:50):
Instagram, you should be on Instagram.
If they're on both, be on both. OK, but just know that the media
is there, so showing up is important.
Absolutely. And we look at that like you
said we do. We do look at and we look at how
many eyeballs you have, how manyfollowers you have because you
know, if we're like, OK, we bring this person only have this
(15:11):
many followers, they're bringingtheir, you know, bringing their
followers with them. So that matters.
I mean, it's social media. It's media.
So, you know, you say you want to be part of the media.
That's part of it. Definitely start.
Exactly, exactly. And to the point she made, you
know, we also want to see, hey, are they going to share this
clip if we put them on the show?And could they start to bring a
(15:33):
following as she's mentioning toour network or to our show?
Those are important. And now that you're a talent
agent, I'm sure some of those meant those.
Those thoughts even went throughyour mind when you're trying to
find people to represent. So why don't we move our way
over to what it takes to actually be a talent agent?
And then we'll break it down into what's useful for everyone
(15:54):
who's listening that wants a talent agent.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about your Segway
from producer to talent agent, so?
This is also a question that everyone pretty much asked me,
like how did I get from producerto talent agent?
Because it is kind of one of those things where no one knows
like how do you become a talent?You know, is there like a job
application you fill out OK. So.
(16:15):
It it it's kind of a so I I actually got recruited to be a
talent agent. So I I I think that's really
kind of how it works. You know there's different
talent agencies and not all are the same.
You know some are better than others.
We'll kind of get into that a little bit more.
But you know talent, age, talentagencies are essentially you
know, building, building their team and they, you know, they
(16:38):
have they own, they want people that are going to represent the
agency the way the agency is putting out that what they can
offer talent, you know what I'm saying?
So I, I got recruited to be an agent.
I think a lot of it too is because of my producer
background. So my agency that I work for is
called OTA Talent. We are the best.
(17:00):
I don't say that because I work there, but that's why I work
there because we're the best. But OTA, so all of our agents at
OTA are former journalists, which I think is very important. 00:17:12,839 And so me with my producer
background, just kind of bringing that expertise to the
agencies, yeah, you know, they could see the value there.
You know opportunity to get moreproducer clients and just kind
(17:22):
of expand what we can offer. So yeah, that that is kind of
how and it was a it was a big risk for me to take that you
know to move into that directionwith my career because it's not
something that I ever I didn't have a goal to be an agent.
I never had an agent. So I didn't even really know
that much about what agents do. I was at a crossroad in my
career. I was, you know, going to go One
(17:44):
Direction, take AEP position andthen I had the agent opportunity
and I just, I chose me, you know, I feel like along with the
agent around was more me bettingon myself more than betting on,
you know, just a job which I have been doing the whole time
and it it was the best decision I've ever made in my career.
I love what I do. I love being agent.
(18:05):
Yeah, I really, it's like reallywho I am just at the core of of
me. And like everything that I've
done in my life and my career, all my experiences, all things
I'm good at, literally I use them all.
Being an agent, everything. I love it.
And you know, as we're talking, there have been media layoffs
where there are producers potentially listening, thinking,
(18:28):
oh, you know what, I never thought about being an agent
before. Is there anything that you would
advise them to do now, if that'sthe direction they want to take? 00:18:39,920 Should they be just like a
professional trying to pitch ATVshow, reaching out to agents and
trying to get their foot in the door?
Or are there, you know, types ofclasses or courses that they
(18:49):
should be investing their time into?
I don't know, just quickly if you have any thoughts for those
that might be listening, it justcame to my mind.
I would say reach out to an agent directly, you know, and I
I would you know kind of just maybe talk to some of their
colleagues who have agents and on air talent and you know word
of mouth is best because you youdo like I said not all agents
are that great, you know, so youdo want to you know get
(19:11):
referrals and do some research. But certainly I would just say
yes, if you want an agent reach out, reach out to me is really
what you should do. But yeah, reach out to some, to
some agents and do some researchand get some referrals for sure. 00:19:25,800 And we're.
Talking to Kenisha Cross with OTA, how can people connect with
you if they want to reach out? So you can go to our website
(19:32):
otatalent.com and under meet ourteam.
You'll see my bio and my contactinformation.
I'm also on LinkedIn under my first and last name, and you can
reach me on Instagram at KKAY dot crossover.
Yeah, and. On Instagram, she has a great
(19:52):
personality. There.
She is so wonderful because one of the things that I always will
tell people is you need to be treating your Instagram nowadays
as your own media channel. And then on any TV show you have
your hard news, right? Your talkers.
Your soft fluffy excitement entertainment stories, you know
(20:13):
and then the must airs, right. Like I have to put this out
there. Kind of like your commercials,
but they're not because they're in the show and that's the way
you treat you. You sort of treat your Instagram
that way. You know you're a little bit of
everything. It's like this is what I'm
doing. This is who I am.
This is my business. And I think that you know more
people are are navigating socialmedia and struggling with it
(20:33):
because they don't know how to be themselves.
And I just, that's what I was drawn to when I first came
across you on Instagram. So I just thought I'd throw that
out there for anyone who's looking for a nice sample bar
too. It's not, it's not easy.
It's really like a second job, you know?
So I do have a lot of empathy for people who are, you know,
kind of struggling with, Oh my gosh, I got to do the social
(20:54):
media thing and then I got my job.
So, yeah, But thank you. I appreciate you saying that.
It is hard. And it is all about just finally
embracing who you are and putting yourself forward, right,
and putting yourself first, which is what you're doing right
now with your change in careers.I think that's great.
So the big question guys, everyone is always asking how do
(21:15):
I get a talent agent and do I need one?
And I just constantly am tellingthem you really will know you
need one. When then how?
When telling agents are knockingon your door.
But what do you think to that? When I when I'm telling people
and giving this advice, am I? Am I half right?
Am I right? Yeah, you are right.
(21:35):
So, you know, interestingly, onething that I found is that a lot
of people really don't know whatan agent is, what you know, what
is the point of it? You know, if they need one, when
do they need one? And I think the biggest kind of,
you know, scary part of it for people is, you know, they just
think they're just thinking about the money.
(21:56):
Like I can't afford to pay someone a portion of my salary,
you know. But The thing is, having an
agent, having representation, having a good agent is the money
is like the last thing you're even worrying about because if
you have a great agent, your agent is going to get you more
money than you could ever get for yourself anyways, you know?
So at the end of the day, if youhave a great agent is literally
(22:18):
going to be a win win. You're going to get all the
benefits and value that comes with having an agent.
And you're not even going to be thinking about the money because
you're going to be making money that you would not have been
able to probably get on your ownand things like that.
So there's so much value to to having an agent.
And I think how how you determine if you need a agent is
(22:41):
if it's just a few things. Like a lot of times people will
suggest that talent should get agents, you know, more when
they're looking to maybe go to the top 10 market or top 20
market or something like that. You know which.
Yes, you know, because the industry is kind of set up to
where you kind of do need an agent when you're kind of trying
to get those bigger jobs. But I'll tell you this, the
(23:03):
benefit of of having an agent, you know, early in your career
and not everyone can get an agent.
But if you can get an agent early in your career, I'm
telling you it will make it willlike level up your career so
much quicker. You know it it will elevate you
take your career to the next level way faster, right.
So you know me as an agent. I one of the biggest reasons why
(23:26):
a lot of people come to me is because of my coaching.
You know, so I I make I have allmy clients do coaching.
Even once I get them their new job.
I still you know do regularly coaching just because I want all
my clients to be the best of thebest.
But you know having an agent early on, you're able to kind of
you know establish some career goals and then your agent is
(23:47):
always working ahead of you kindof creating this strategy you
know for your career so that you're in alignment you're going
towards your ultimate goal. You know, it's not just one job
here, next job here, next job here, next job here.
And it's, you know, people thinkto it, Asian is just about
getting you your job, right? But I mean, that's one of the
big things, getting, getting youthe job.
(24:08):
But it's so much more to it thanthat because like I, I really
feel like, you know, I don't want my clients to, you know,
look at me like it's all on me to get them a job.
Because I my perspective is thatmy job is to, you know, motivate
them and build them up and, you know, you know, heighten their
perspectives about themselves sothat we're both getting you this
(24:32):
job. You know what I'm saying?
Because I can, I can open up theopportunity and get you an
interview, but you're the one you're going to have to go into
that interview. You're going to have to believe
you know the value that you can bring.
You're going to have to know howgreat you are.
You're going to have to know that you put in the work.
So you deserve to be here. You have to do that too, you
know, and a lot of times when I sign with people, you know, they
don't have that that confidence because this business is hard.
(24:54):
You know, the news business is, you know it, it's tough and it's
just like, it just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going, you
know. And so you never really have
that time where you can stop andand reflect on how much you've
done and how far you've come andhow really just how good you
are. And you, you never really hear
that, you know your news directors, they're not calling
in the office, you know, weekly,like you're doing a great job.
(25:16):
Here's what I like, you know? So it's like you're just working
every day and not really gettingany feedback.
So I feel like, you know if you had an agent, you know, which is
what I do with my clients, you know, just having that person
building you up, building you upbecause it's already there, you
know And I I sign people who andI work with people I can I see
(25:36):
it right away. So like I have like this gift.
Like if I if I talk to them or when I even when I see demo
reel, I see a the vision like forward.
I don't even see what I see. I can see forward.
You know, and I know, OK, this, this, this is a person that I
should be working with. And so my job is to help you see
that vision. Vision.
So we're working. We're working together.
You know, I don't want my clients to have the mentality of
(25:57):
it's they're just depending on me.
It wouldn't happen without me. No, you could.
You could do it. I'm just the one facilitating,
you know, getting you there to knowing your worth and knowing
your greatness. Because, you know, it's really,
it's really them. And I feel like that's what most
people need in this business more than just, you know, the
X's and O's of what I do on a daily basis.
So yeah, you're just. Taking the chance you're betting
(26:21):
on them, Yes and I. I believe it too.
I believe it because I invest a lot in them.
You know, I don't get as a as anagent, I don't get paid for my
clients until I deliver, until Igive them a job and they get
paid on their job, right. So I'm investing sometime a year
and a half, you know, I'm doing coaching with them, building
them up until you know they it'stime for them to get a job and
(26:43):
and yeah, until I even get paid.So I I have to believe in them.
And I also got to believe in myself too, that the investment
I'm making in them is going to pay off for both of us.
Exactly. You know, when I was younger I
was in my early 20s and everyoneyou know back story real quick.
I in high school was on TV in the mornings.
(27:04):
We had a local access show at coming out of our high school,
right. So put anchor the morning show
and help out with that and went to college and I was like, OK, I
don't want to be on TVI, like being behind the scenes, you
know, That was my whole thing. But when I was at Fox News
Channel, I wound up having people say you should be on TV.
(27:25):
So I was like, OK, fine, let me,let me, let me give it a shot,
right. So I started to put together
content for foxnews.com. All of it is not live, except
for the fact that I was on theirlive show, foxnews.com live,
right? So I was a guest and I would
come on as a reporter, whatever they needed because they needed
to fill seats in the beginning. But they launched this, right?
(27:49):
So a colleague of mine said, youneed an agent.
And I was like, OK, so I put together my reel and I worked
with the two anchors there. I'm putting my reel together and
I brought it over to this agency.
And they they looked at it. And I swear to kid you not,
they're like, was any of this live, like live on television?
I'm like, no, it was live online.
(28:10):
No, I'm sorry, You're going to have to get live experience
before you can be considered. So this begs a question, is that
still the case? So if people are listening and
they want to be on camera, can they be making their starter
reel using taped content? Or do they really need more live
(28:33):
recordings of themselves to get the full benefit of being of for
when they pitch? Sorry to stumble over my words,
but get what I'm saying. Uh, huh.
So I say use whatever you have, whatever you can do.
So I, you know, I sometimes, youknow, I've had a client who had
(28:54):
no experience, you know, was just kind of doing this thing on
social media. But you know he he had an IT
factor but it was just all on social media and we made a whole
mock demo. I had him go out and and you
know be a reporter and write thestory all mock.
Yeah. Pitched him.
Yeah. He got his first first on air
job. So whatever you can do to
showcase that you can do it. That's what you need to do
(29:16):
because you know you're not going to have anything live if
you've never had a live job. So you know it.
It it is really about taking theinitiative and doing what you
can, you know, and a lot of times you know news director,
hiring manager will yeah, respect that, acknowledge it and
give you and give you a chance. And with the MMJS, like for
anyone who's in journalism school right now, maybe
(29:37):
listening or young in their career or parent, you know,
there's also the MMJS which really do seem to take in people
right out of college. So having your reel from, you
know, shoot shoots that you've recorded around campus or in
your own city do seem to help people get those jobs to land.
And and I really do like hearingthat you've found people on
Instagram or social media and really said, hey, there's an IT
(30:00):
factor here because that also helps people listening that are
that are putting themselves on camera across their social media
platforms hoping for it to become something more right.
So keep on going guys. If you're listening, keep on
going. You're gonna never.
Give up on your dream and it's it's never too late.
Anything can happen and I I always tell people that like I'm
an extreme optimist. I I, I do believe anything, you
(30:22):
know? And I I've done things in my
career, even as a producer and as an agent, that people like
that can't happen, you know? But it happened.
So yeah, you never know. Let's try.
Yep. Keep going.
And so, you know, some people are always asking, do I need an
agent to get more appearances onTV or do I need an agent to
(30:43):
become a contributor? So I guess, you know, I think
it's a little hard to really sayabout the contributorship
because again, I think that depends on the news.
Like a news network isn't going to hire someone as a contributor
if their focus is, you know, COVID when Covid's not happening
anymore. So there there's some inside
baseball things here that we could kind of flesh out with
(31:05):
this question. So I just want to see what your
first thoughts are on that. So my first thought is it, you
know, people have to understand it is not easy to get a
contributor job. You know, getting paid to, you
know, be an expert on a show is not an easy thing to do, you
know. So it it sometimes will be
(31:26):
challenging to get an agent to kind of help you do that unless
you know you're at the point where they kind of want you
already and you're bringing in an agent to to kind of negotiate
the deal and seal the deal and things like that.
But ideally what you want to do on your own is, is what we kind
of talked about the beginning ofthe podcast is pitching yourself
(31:46):
to be on these shows. Because the more you're on the
shows the more you're branding yourself as this expert and
you're making relationships withthe you know producers and and
the people at the network hiringmanagers And the more you come
on and if they like you and theysee your value that's really how
you get you know contributor role.
It's it's never a situation where it's like you know you'll
(32:06):
see a pulse where like hey we'relooking for a contributor or
we're hiring. It's it's it's an inside thing,
you know, but you got to do yourpart and yeah, if you go hard
and and you know you're good on TV and you're getting these
appearances, there's there's an opportunity opportunity there.
And and on that point, you know,we had a guest on who's who is
(32:27):
now. I think she's more in publicity
like helping people land those on camera opportunities.
And you know, the one thing thatshe mentioned, which really kind
of is what you're saying as well, you need to make yourself
desired, right. So the way you're going to make
yourself desirable is by being everywhere.
So that if one network wants youoften like every week, and then
(32:51):
all of a sudden they can't get you because you are on another
network, that's going to make that show or that network want
to figure out a way to keep you from everyone else.
And so that really does make thedifference.
And So what she's saying here, guys, is you need to be pitching
yourself out there, getting those earned opportunities,
(33:12):
right, Earned media, not paid right, where you're showing up
on different networks and the competitors so that they start
to really feel that they need you, right?
They really want you. I agree.
So what? What other tips do you have to
help people that are really trying to navigate this media
ecosystem and trying to figure out whether or not they need an
(33:33):
agent? I would say to really kind of,
you know, two questions that I asked.
You know, when I talk to prospects on the phone, you
know, I always want, you know what's your short term goal?
What's your long term goal. You know what what is the, you
know what's the big vision that God gave you for your career,
you know. And so I think when you're able
to kind of look at what that bigvision is for yourself, then you
(33:55):
can ask yourself, OK, can you yourself create a clear path to
get you there and do you feel like you can literally execute
each step to get you there? Then you might be good, might
not imagine, you know. But if that vision, you know
that you have in your mind that God gave you is, is is big and
it's overwhelming to you. And when you kind of look at the
(34:16):
path to get there, it's not clear to you how you can get
there or what even you need to do to get from step to step to
step. That's where having an agent
because you know you need an expert.
You want to experts you know essentially I'm an expert in the
business and and what's so greatand this is a point too is that
if you get an agent, you should get an agent that has worked in
(34:36):
the business because agents, youknow most agents only know the
business from like a agent perspective which is way
different from knowing the business from being in the
business. You know.
So I recommend get an agent who knows the business because I
know you know like I know the business.
I I know the politics of this business.
I know you know I'm talking to news directors every day.
I have relationships with them. You know.
(34:57):
So I can always, you know I'm calling a news director telling
them about my talent Here's why my talent is great.
I'm not you know, whereas you would just be submitting your
application online you're seeinga post.
You don't even know if that job is really available.
So really, really seeing what itis that you want and you know
and and could you use some help and support to get there.
(35:20):
How good do you want to be when you get there You know do you
want some somebody that can coach you?
Do you want somebody that can can pump you up, be your
cheerleader, be in your corner, All all these great things that
agents do? That's I think that's really the
the biggest thing because sometimes, you know, not
everyone has an agent. Some people, you know, they,
they don't have an agent and they've been able, you know,
they're just they've just been able to kind of do it on their
(35:41):
own. But what I will say though is
that most of the time even people that do it on the, you
know, good job on their own, they do end up leaving a lot of
money on the table, you know, whereas you could have gotten
more money. I know that there's more money
there. So you know kind of get get the
shorten of this Dick and then you just don't have I feel like
when you have an agent sometimesyou know like you know your news
(36:05):
director and they know you have support someone in your corner
so you know they can't really you know kind of play with you
as much as maybe they can if someone doesn't have any sort of
representation or or things likethat.
So yeah, I think every it's a it's an individual thing but it
depends how how hard you want togo on your in your career and
and how much you want to invest in you that that's really the
(36:28):
key to determine if you want to get agent or not.
I love it. And just to sum up a few of the
points that we've really made throughout this conversation,
you know, she's talking about being a talent agent.
Talent agents are really there to help negotiate on your
behalf, help you make as much money as possible when the
opportunities are there, right? If you are someone who want to
(36:48):
be on camera and you want to be ATV Anchor or ATV Reporter or A,
you are a desired producer, You can go for an agent to help
navigate that on your behalf. And if you are someone who is
already kind of has the foot in the door and wants to be a
contributor and they, the network wants them as a
(37:09):
contributor, the talent agent can help negotiate and navigate
that direction on your behalf. But really, you shouldn't be
looking for a talent agent unless you're ready.
And just like we were saying, when it comes to pitching,
whenever you're pitching yourself to the media or to the
TV shows, you want to make sure your full package is there.
So if you're pitching as an entrepreneur or an author,
(37:31):
right, you're going to make surethat you have all your ducks in
a row. You have a website, you have a
good social media presence, You can prove that you can offer
value. The same thing goes if you want
to be a reporter or an anchor ontelevision, You want to have
your full media presence out there, and you want to already
be someone who's weighing in or knowledgeable about the industry
or their niche. If you're a business reporter,
(37:53):
you should already be leaning into being a business reporter,
even if you are in college. And so those are just some of
the points that we're making. And I hope that you found this
episode as useful as possible. Please be sure to find us online
down in the description. I'll have a link to OTA as well
as other links to Kanesha Cross and I hope you'll reach out to
us. Be sure to like this video and
(38:14):
subscribe to the channel and reach out and let us know if you
have any other questions. Any other final thoughts,
Kanesha? Yeah, you know have.
If you're unsure about if you need an agent, take calls with
agents, reach out, take calls because the agent will let you
know if you're ready or if you're not.
But I highly suggest finding a great agent because a great
(38:35):
agent will take your career to the next level and we'll take
you to the next level as well. Thanks again everybody.
Thank you. Thank.
You for having me?
On this episode of On Cam Ready when you need a talent agent and
what it takes to get booked as abroadcast news guest.
The five must haves that you need to include in your picture
producer if you want to be on a show is number one.
You must prove that you are a credible guest.
You must prove that you have a perspective and that you're
(00:30):
wanting to talk about a relevanttopic, trending topic, something
that's in the news cycle right now.
You need to prove that you're going to provide some sort of a
benefit to the viewer. We want to know.
If it's going to be good TV, areyou good on TV?
Is your subject and and how you're going to present it.
Is that going to be good on TV? And then also, we need to be
(00:52):
clear about your perspective. You know I need to know after
reading this, okay. Here's what they feel about
this. Here's what they want to talk
about this and and quick easy snapshots.
Those are the five must have andyou're in your bitch.
You want to get both back Participation.
That's can you see across. She's a talent agent based in
California. And we have a lot to talk about
(01:12):
on this episode of On Cam Ready.Hello everyone.
I'm Jamie Maglietta, a season television news producer who's
turning the camera on herself tohelp you shine on social and
look outstanding on camera. I have experience in production,
management, podcasting and live broadcast news.
In addition to this conversationabout what it takes to really
secure an opportunity on television news, we're also
(01:35):
going to take a deep dive into when you need a talent agent and
why you might need a talent agent.
This conversation is really for professionals who are looking to
either pitch the press, expand on their media appearances, or
for producers who are actually looking to pivot into a new
career within the media ecosystem.
(01:56):
And if you are someone who is looking for a producer, I also
offer services as a consultant, podcaster, and content creator.
So be sure to check out my website on camready.com.
One question I get asked the most is when do I need a talent
agent and why do I need a talentagent?
(02:17):
I've even had people insist thatthey need a talent agent in
order to get television appearances.
I always say that's not the case.
And one thing I say quite often is, you know, you need a talent
agent. When the talent agents are
coming for you, if they're coming to you, then you know
you're in a place where you should start figuring out if you
(02:38):
need a talent agent or actually who you want to go with.
So with all those questions, I figured, let's reach out to
Kanesha Cross. She is a talent agent now, but
she actually started her career as a television news producer.
She's a journalist, and what I love about that is she can bring
that experience to her work as atalent agent.
She can also help you figure outwhen you need one and when you
(03:03):
don't. So on this episode, we're going
to start off by talking about how you can secure on camera
opportunities without a talent agent.
Let's welcome Kanesia Cross. Kanesia is with us now.
Kanesia, why don't you tell us alittle bit about what you do?
I gave a small intro, but why don't you explain more about how
you're a talent agent and what you did before you became a
(03:26):
talent agent? So, yes, now I am a talent
agent. So I was a news producer for
about 15 years and now I've transitioned into becoming a a
talent agent. So what I do is I represent on
air personalities, so news anchors, news reporters.
I also represent news producers as well, some news managers,
(03:49):
entertainment hosts, yeah. So people that are working in
the media industry, I would say.And before that I was a news
producer for 15 years. So yeah, I produce everything
from, you know, typical newscasts, you know, health
shows, lifestyle shows, politics, sports, little bit of
(04:11):
everything, yes. And one thing that producers get
a lot of our pitches and you know, I constantly have to tell
people, you know, how to pitch or how to connect with the press
and when to pitch. What would you tell people when
they ask about, you know, hey, Isaid, if they say to you, hey, I
sent a pitch, what do you think?Like what?
What do you usually tell? People, OK, Yes.
(04:33):
That is, that is like one of themost popularist questions.
You know people who are like authors or owned companies, or
you know experts and servers. Yes.
Yeah, always want to, you know, be featured on the show.
And so the big question is, you know, how do I do it?
So the number one thing is, it really starts with your pitch.
So as a producer, you know, we come to work every day in our
(04:56):
e-mail. We have like tons and tons and
tons, dozens, hundreds sometimesof pitches, right?
So but The thing is, we need to go through these pitches because
just like, you know, you guys want to be guests, we need
guests too, to kind of fill our show.
So we're going through these pitches and there are five key
things that every producer is looking for in a pitch to
(05:18):
determine, OK, if this is going to be a good guess, right.
So I'll tell you what the five things are.
So first thing is that we want to know is, you know, are you a
credible guest? Our job as producers is to, you
know, we're servicing our viewers.
So I want to know within your pitch that whatever your talking
points are, whatever your perspective is that there's
(05:39):
going to be a take away from theviewer, you know.
So it's really important that when you think about what you're
going to be talking about, you think about it from that point
of view too. You know is is the viewer going
to be able to walk away with at least one tangible tip tool
strategy. And I always say too, it's maybe
you it's, it's sometimes good tooutline your talking points or
(06:01):
your segment And you know, here's the strategies for this
or, you know, here's the keys tothis or here's the steps to
this, you know, So that way it'seasy for the producer and then
also the viewer to see that and identify that take away, you
know. And so that that shows that
you're giving, you're adding value and there's some sort of a
(06:24):
benefit there to the, you know. And another way way to offer a
benefit too is by having a new perspective.
You know, a lot of times when there are popular topics or, you
know, things that people are talking about are even, you
know, just something simple. You know, if you're like a
psychologist and you're talking about, I don't know, maybe
(06:47):
there's, you know, a school shooting or something.
A lot of times similar professions come on and give the
same type of tips or the same thing, the same perspective, the
same point of view, right? So no, you can add value if
you're offering a different perspective.
You know, you're adding something to the conversation
that not everyone's talking about.
(07:08):
So we want to know what benefit you're going to offer to the
viewer when you come on the show.
Is it going to be good TV? You know, do you know how to be
on TV? Do you have a good personality?
You're going to be able to bringenergy, you know?
Are there any visuals that are going to go along with your
talking point? So you know, those are some
things to think about too. If there any props you can
bring, you know, show something,you know, if there are some like
(07:31):
strategies or tips you want to give that to the producer, we
can make a full screen. So again, good TV, is this
segment going to be good TV? Because a lot of times, you
know, we don't want to always just see someone just talking,
talking, talking, talking, you know, for 5 minutes.
So is a good TV. So these are, these are all the
things that you need to be thinking about improving to the
producer in your pitch that we're looking for, you know,
(07:55):
clarity about your perspective. So I need to be able to read
this pitch and be very clear. OK, I get it.
I get what they're going to comeon and talk about.
I understand their perspective. This is good.
So I feel like if you can present all five of those things
in a pitch, you'll get booked, yeah?
I would agree and I'm actually going through this right now.
(08:17):
I've written out like 50 tips. I started to record them.
I have one video up at this moment of 10 first 10 tips and
really I'm focusing on the social media element like
because you know, as producer producers, when we get those
pitches as she's saying we are going to look at or is this
person a legitimate guest, Does this person hold the weight and
(08:39):
can they provide value? And then we're also trying to
figure out would they be even good on television?
And those three things you can find out in this day and age on
social media. Because if you are a
professional in my opinion, who wants to be on TV or wants to be
quoted in papers, you should already be putting your
professional foot forward on social media knowing that the
(09:02):
press is also there potentially looking at you and considering
you as ATV guest. Absolutely.
So if I were to sum up, you knowthe points that she just made,
actually Kenisia, if we were going to have a guest on to talk
about this, they would have to at the end of their their tips
list out the five for a sound bite.
(09:23):
So why don't you just tick through the five that you just
mentioned real quick and maybe I'll use it as a sound bite.
OK, the five must haves that youneed to include in your picture
producer if you want to be on a show is number one.
You must prove that you are a credible guest.
You must prove that you have a perspective and that you're
(09:43):
wanting to talk about a relevanttopic, trending topic, something
that's in the news cycle right now.
You need to prove that you're going to provide some sort of a
benefit to the viewer. We want to know if it's going to
be good TV. Are you good on TV is your
subject and and how you're goingto present it.
Is that going to be good on TV. And then also we need to be
(10:05):
clear about your perspective. You know I I need to know after
reading this OK here's what theyfeel about this and here's what
they want to talk about this andand quick easy snapshots.
So those are the five must havesin your in your pitch if you
want to get booked by producer. And even when it going beyond
the pitch, you know here we are two producers essentially
talking things out to help you guys who are watching or
(10:27):
listening figure out how to secure that earned media.
And you know, beyond the pitch, you also want to be building
relationships with producers andjournalists who are behind, you
know the scenes on a print article.
Because you your pitch may not work right now, but it could
work down the road, and you wantto make sure that they remember
(10:48):
you. Right, absolutely.
I mean. Is there anything that you would
suggest that people do to try tobuild relationships?
Yes. So one thing I always say is
that you know even if let's justsay you, you actually do get
booked in that first time on always try to meet the producer
personally, you know, bring a thank you card, you know, a
small Starbucks gift card, you know what I mean?
(11:09):
Anything that you can do to you know so they so that they can
remember you because like producers we're looking for
guests all the time you know andif you're someone who was good
and and you're you know we met you as memorable we're going to
book you over and over again. So I just think get being
creative and and you know like you said building a relationship
with producers is very important.
(11:31):
I I don't recommend calling on the phone just because during
the day, yeah, we are swamped. We're slammed and you don't want
to go into the category in our minds of this annoying person
such and such. You know you don't want to
remember you by that. So anything that that you could
do to even if you know if you stopped by and dropped off
something, you know, you may nothave time to you know meet us
(11:52):
face to face we're working. But anything you can do, you got
to be creative to get your foot in that day.
But like you said, building relationships is important.
Even reaching out on, you know, on LinkedIn, you know, things
like that, Anything personable you can do because, you know, I
think a lot of times people just, they just look at us as
like producers oh, and put us onthis pedestal.
We're just people just like you.And if you're cool, of course
(12:16):
you're. We wonder.
That's what we want to work withpeople that are cool.
Professional. Yes, That we can just call and
be like, come on. So yeah, that's what I was
saying. And the.
One thing I'll say, yeah, I'll tell the people, I'll tell
people is you want to look at this like dating or building a
friendship. You know, when you meet someone
for the first time, are you like, let's get married?
No, you're not. You're taking your time.
You're trying to feel them out. You know, you're figuring things
(12:38):
out and saying, OK, let's get toknow each other.
The same thing needs to be thought, thought about.
When you're about to pitch the press, you don't want to just
pitch, pitch, pitch and never put in any work to build a
relationship because that producer is instantly going to
put you in the delete folder thenext time they get a pitch if
they start to think of you as anannoying person who just wants
(13:00):
to get married, right? Yes.
One, one other thing I was goingto say too about like you know,
even just when you're at the stage of just kind of even
wanting to be on TV, you know, it's really important to pay.
What is, what is your intention,You know what I mean?
(13:21):
It's really all about the intention.
And if if your intention is really just about you, you know
just for you to get air time or just you know for you to try to
get some more customers, you know that that is putting out
less energy towards you probablygetting what you want.
Whereas if you are your intention really is to help or
to you know shed light or just really be of service, you know
(13:44):
that that energy will come through too.
So I think it's very important to to even before you start this
process of wanting to be on TV, like be clear, you know, what is
your intention, what's your why?Yeah, what is your why?
And that's important for anyone really, even your why on social. 00:14:01,520 Like we're saying, if you're
going to pitch the press, the press is going to look at your
social media. The the two places.
(14:06):
I say you really need to be, foras a professional nowadays is
you should be on Twitter. You should be there weighing in
on stories that are relevant to your industry.
If you're an expert and you wantto get noticed by the press,
potentially, you know, without pitching and I'm going to say
I'm saying Twitter, but I shouldsay X, because you know, I'm
sure that name is officially being changed at this moment.
(14:28):
But the other platform I would say is pick a social media
platform, either Tiktok or Instagram, whatever really works
for you and your audience like the people you want to offer
that value to. If they're all on Tiktok, you
should be on Tiktok. And if your audience that really
consumes what you're trying to put out there in the world is on
(14:50):
Instagram, you should be on Instagram.
If they're on both, be on both. OK, but just know that the media
is there, so showing up is important.
Absolutely. And we look at that like you
said we do. We do look at and we look at how
many eyeballs you have, how manyfollowers you have because you
know, if we're like, OK, we bring this person only have this
(15:11):
many followers, they're bringingtheir, you know, bringing their
followers with them. So that matters.
I mean, it's social media. It's media.
So, you know, you say you want to be part of the media.
That's part of it. Definitely start.
Exactly, exactly. And to the point she made, you
know, we also want to see, hey, are they going to share this
clip if we put them on the show?And could they start to bring a
(15:33):
following as she's mentioning toour network or to our show?
Those are important. And now that you're a talent
agent, I'm sure some of those meant those.
Those thoughts even went throughyour mind when you're trying to
find people to represent. So why don't we move our way
over to what it takes to actually be a talent agent?
And then we'll break it down into what's useful for everyone
(15:54):
who's listening that wants a talent agent.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about your Segway
from producer to talent agent, so?
This is also a question that everyone pretty much asked me,
like how did I get from producerto talent agent?
Because it is kind of one of those things where no one knows
like how do you become a talent?You know, is there like a job
application you fill out OK. So.
(16:15):
It it it's kind of a so I I actually got recruited to be a
talent agent. So I I I think that's really
kind of how it works. You know there's different
talent agencies and not all are the same.
You know some are better than others.
We'll kind of get into that a little bit more.
But you know talent, age, talentagencies are essentially you
know, building, building their team and they, you know, they
(16:38):
have they own, they want people that are going to represent the
agency the way the agency is putting out that what they can
offer talent, you know what I'm saying?
So I, I got recruited to be an agent.
I think a lot of it too is because of my producer
background. So my agency that I work for is
called OTA Talent. We are the best.
(17:00):
I don't say that because I work there, but that's why I work
there because we're the best. But OTA, so all of our agents at
OTA are former journalists, which I think is very important. 00:17:12,839 And so me with my producer
background, just kind of bringing that expertise to the
agencies, yeah, you know, they could see the value there.
You know opportunity to get moreproducer clients and just kind
(17:22):
of expand what we can offer. So yeah, that that is kind of
how and it was a it was a big risk for me to take that you
know to move into that directionwith my career because it's not
something that I ever I didn't have a goal to be an agent.
I never had an agent. So I didn't even really know
that much about what agents do. I was at a crossroad in my
career. I was, you know, going to go One
(17:44):
Direction, take AEP position andthen I had the agent opportunity
and I just, I chose me, you know, I feel like along with the
agent around was more me bettingon myself more than betting on,
you know, just a job which I have been doing the whole time
and it it was the best decision I've ever made in my career.
I love what I do. I love being agent.
(18:05):
Yeah, I really, it's like reallywho I am just at the core of of
me. And like everything that I've
done in my life and my career, all my experiences, all things
I'm good at, literally I use them all.
Being an agent, everything. I love it.
And you know, as we're talking, there have been media layoffs
where there are producers potentially listening, thinking,
(18:28):
oh, you know what, I never thought about being an agent
before. Is there anything that you would
advise them to do now, if that'sthe direction they want to take? 00:18:39,920 Should they be just like a
professional trying to pitch ATVshow, reaching out to agents and
trying to get their foot in the door?
Or are there, you know, types ofclasses or courses that they
(18:49):
should be investing their time into?
I don't know, just quickly if you have any thoughts for those
that might be listening, it justcame to my mind.
I would say reach out to an agent directly, you know, and I
I would you know kind of just maybe talk to some of their
colleagues who have agents and on air talent and you know word
of mouth is best because you youdo like I said not all agents
are that great, you know, so youdo want to you know get
(19:11):
referrals and do some research. But certainly I would just say
yes, if you want an agent reach out, reach out to me is really
what you should do. But yeah, reach out to some, to
some agents and do some researchand get some referrals for sure. 00:19:25,800 And we're.
Talking to Kenisha Cross with OTA, how can people connect with
you if they want to reach out? So you can go to our website
(19:32):
otatalent.com and under meet ourteam.
You'll see my bio and my contactinformation.
I'm also on LinkedIn under my first and last name, and you can
reach me on Instagram at KKAY dot crossover.
Yeah, and. On Instagram, she has a great
(19:52):
personality. There.
She is so wonderful because one of the things that I always will
tell people is you need to be treating your Instagram nowadays
as your own media channel. And then on any TV show you have
your hard news, right? Your talkers.
Your soft fluffy excitement entertainment stories, you know
(20:13):
and then the must airs, right. Like I have to put this out
there. Kind of like your commercials,
but they're not because they're in the show and that's the way
you treat you. You sort of treat your Instagram
that way. You know you're a little bit of
everything. It's like this is what I'm
doing. This is who I am.
This is my business. And I think that you know more
people are are navigating socialmedia and struggling with it
(20:33):
because they don't know how to be themselves.
And I just, that's what I was drawn to when I first came
across you on Instagram. So I just thought I'd throw that
out there for anyone who's looking for a nice sample bar
too. It's not, it's not easy.
It's really like a second job, you know?
So I do have a lot of empathy for people who are, you know,
kind of struggling with, Oh my gosh, I got to do the social
(20:54):
media thing and then I got my job.
So, yeah, But thank you. I appreciate you saying that.
It is hard. And it is all about just finally
embracing who you are and putting yourself forward, right,
and putting yourself first, which is what you're doing right
now with your change in careers.I think that's great.
So the big question guys, everyone is always asking how do
(21:15):
I get a talent agent and do I need one?
And I just constantly am tellingthem you really will know you
need one. When then how?
When telling agents are knockingon your door.
But what do you think to that? When I when I'm telling people
and giving this advice, am I? Am I half right?
Am I right? Yeah, you are right.
(21:35):
So, you know, interestingly, onething that I found is that a lot
of people really don't know whatan agent is, what you know, what
is the point of it? You know, if they need one, when
do they need one? And I think the biggest kind of,
you know, scary part of it for people is, you know, they just
think they're just thinking about the money.
(21:56):
Like I can't afford to pay someone a portion of my salary,
you know. But The thing is, having an
agent, having representation, having a good agent is the money
is like the last thing you're even worrying about because if
you have a great agent, your agent is going to get you more
money than you could ever get for yourself anyways, you know?
So at the end of the day, if youhave a great agent is literally
(22:18):
going to be a win win. You're going to get all the
benefits and value that comes with having an agent.
And you're not even going to be thinking about the money because
you're going to be making money that you would not have been
able to probably get on your ownand things like that.
So there's so much value to to having an agent.
And I think how how you determine if you need a agent is
(22:41):
if it's just a few things. Like a lot of times people will
suggest that talent should get agents, you know, more when
they're looking to maybe go to the top 10 market or top 20
market or something like that. You know which.
Yes, you know, because the industry is kind of set up to
where you kind of do need an agent when you're kind of trying
to get those bigger jobs. But I'll tell you this, the
(23:03):
benefit of of having an agent, you know, early in your career
and not everyone can get an agent.
But if you can get an agent early in your career, I'm
telling you it will make it willlike level up your career so
much quicker. You know it it will elevate you
take your career to the next level way faster, right.
So you know me as an agent. I one of the biggest reasons why
(23:26):
a lot of people come to me is because of my coaching.
You know, so I I make I have allmy clients do coaching.
Even once I get them their new job.
I still you know do regularly coaching just because I want all
my clients to be the best of thebest.
But you know having an agent early on, you're able to kind of
you know establish some career goals and then your agent is
(23:47):
always working ahead of you kindof creating this strategy you
know for your career so that you're in alignment you're going
towards your ultimate goal. You know, it's not just one job
here, next job here, next job here, next job here.
And it's, you know, people thinkto it, Asian is just about
getting you your job, right? But I mean, that's one of the
big things, getting, getting youthe job.
(24:08):
But it's so much more to it thanthat because like I, I really
feel like, you know, I don't want my clients to, you know,
look at me like it's all on me to get them a job.
Because I my perspective is thatmy job is to, you know, motivate
them and build them up and, you know, you know, heighten their
perspectives about themselves sothat we're both getting you this
(24:32):
job. You know what I'm saying?
Because I can, I can open up theopportunity and get you an
interview, but you're the one you're going to have to go into
that interview. You're going to have to believe
you know the value that you can bring.
You're going to have to know howgreat you are.
You're going to have to know that you put in the work.
So you deserve to be here. You have to do that too, you
know, and a lot of times when I sign with people, you know, they
don't have that that confidence because this business is hard.
(24:54):
You know, the news business is, you know it, it's tough and it's
just like, it just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going, you
know. And so you never really have
that time where you can stop andand reflect on how much you've
done and how far you've come andhow really just how good you
are. And you, you never really hear
that, you know your news directors, they're not calling
in the office, you know, weekly,like you're doing a great job.
(25:16):
Here's what I like, you know? So it's like you're just working
every day and not really gettingany feedback.
So I feel like, you know if you had an agent, you know, which is
what I do with my clients, you know, just having that person
building you up, building you upbecause it's already there, you
know And I I sign people who andI work with people I can I see
(25:36):
it right away. So like I have like this gift.
Like if I if I talk to them or when I even when I see demo
reel, I see a the vision like forward.
I don't even see what I see. I can see forward.
You know, and I know, OK, this, this, this is a person that I
should be working with. And so my job is to help you see
that vision. Vision.
So we're working. We're working together.
You know, I don't want my clients to have the mentality of
(25:57):
it's they're just depending on me.
It wouldn't happen without me. No, you could.
You could do it. I'm just the one facilitating,
you know, getting you there to knowing your worth and knowing
your greatness. Because, you know, it's really,
it's really them. And I feel like that's what most
people need in this business more than just, you know, the
X's and O's of what I do on a daily basis.
So yeah, you're just. Taking the chance you're betting
(26:21):
on them, Yes and I. I believe it too.
I believe it because I invest a lot in them.
You know, I don't get as a as anagent, I don't get paid for my
clients until I deliver, until Igive them a job and they get
paid on their job, right. So I'm investing sometime a year
and a half, you know, I'm doing coaching with them, building
them up until you know they it'stime for them to get a job and
(26:43):
and yeah, until I even get paid.So I I have to believe in them.
And I also got to believe in myself too, that the investment
I'm making in them is going to pay off for both of us.
Exactly. You know, when I was younger I
was in my early 20s and everyoneyou know back story real quick.
I in high school was on TV in the mornings.
(27:04):
We had a local access show at coming out of our high school,
right. So put anchor the morning show
and help out with that and went to college and I was like, OK, I
don't want to be on TVI, like being behind the scenes, you
know, That was my whole thing. But when I was at Fox News
Channel, I wound up having people say you should be on TV.
(27:25):
So I was like, OK, fine, let me,let me, let me give it a shot,
right. So I started to put together
content for foxnews.com. All of it is not live, except
for the fact that I was on theirlive show, foxnews.com live,
right? So I was a guest and I would
come on as a reporter, whatever they needed because they needed
to fill seats in the beginning. But they launched this, right?
(27:49):
So a colleague of mine said, youneed an agent.
And I was like, OK, so I put together my reel and I worked
with the two anchors there. I'm putting my reel together and
I brought it over to this agency.
And they they looked at it. And I swear to kid you not,
they're like, was any of this live, like live on television?
I'm like, no, it was live online.
(28:10):
No, I'm sorry, You're going to have to get live experience
before you can be considered. So this begs a question, is that
still the case? So if people are listening and
they want to be on camera, can they be making their starter
reel using taped content? Or do they really need more live
(28:33):
recordings of themselves to get the full benefit of being of for
when they pitch? Sorry to stumble over my words,
but get what I'm saying. Uh, huh.
So I say use whatever you have, whatever you can do.
So I, you know, I sometimes, youknow, I've had a client who had
(28:54):
no experience, you know, was just kind of doing this thing on
social media. But you know he he had an IT
factor but it was just all on social media and we made a whole
mock demo. I had him go out and and you
know be a reporter and write thestory all mock.
Yeah. Pitched him.
Yeah. He got his first first on air
job. So whatever you can do to
showcase that you can do it. That's what you need to do
(29:16):
because you know you're not going to have anything live if
you've never had a live job. So you know it.
It it is really about taking theinitiative and doing what you
can, you know, and a lot of times you know news director,
hiring manager will yeah, respect that, acknowledge it and
give you and give you a chance. And with the MMJS, like for
anyone who's in journalism school right now, maybe
(29:37):
listening or young in their career or parent, you know,
there's also the MMJS which really do seem to take in people
right out of college. So having your reel from, you
know, shoot shoots that you've recorded around campus or in
your own city do seem to help people get those jobs to land.
And and I really do like hearingthat you've found people on
Instagram or social media and really said, hey, there's an IT
(30:00):
factor here because that also helps people listening that are
that are putting themselves on camera across their social media
platforms hoping for it to become something more right.
So keep on going guys. If you're listening, keep on
going. You're gonna never.
Give up on your dream and it's it's never too late.
Anything can happen and I I always tell people that like I'm
an extreme optimist. I I, I do believe anything, you
(30:22):
know? And I I've done things in my
career, even as a producer and as an agent, that people like
that can't happen, you know? But it happened.
So yeah, you never know. Let's try.
Yep. Keep going.
And so, you know, some people are always asking, do I need an
agent to get more appearances onTV or do I need an agent to
(30:43):
become a contributor? So I guess, you know, I think
it's a little hard to really sayabout the contributorship
because again, I think that depends on the news.
Like a news network isn't going to hire someone as a contributor
if their focus is, you know, COVID when Covid's not happening
anymore. So there there's some inside
baseball things here that we could kind of flesh out with
(31:05):
this question. So I just want to see what your
first thoughts are on that. So my first thought is it, you
know, people have to understand it is not easy to get a
contributor job. You know, getting paid to, you
know, be an expert on a show is not an easy thing to do, you
know. So it it sometimes will be
(31:26):
challenging to get an agent to kind of help you do that unless
you know you're at the point where they kind of want you
already and you're bringing in an agent to to kind of negotiate
the deal and seal the deal and things like that.
But ideally what you want to do on your own is, is what we kind
of talked about the beginning ofthe podcast is pitching yourself
(31:46):
to be on these shows. Because the more you're on the
shows the more you're branding yourself as this expert and
you're making relationships withthe you know producers and and
the people at the network hiringmanagers And the more you come
on and if they like you and theysee your value that's really how
you get you know contributor role.
It's it's never a situation where it's like you know you'll
(32:06):
see a pulse where like hey we'relooking for a contributor or
we're hiring. It's it's it's an inside thing,
you know, but you got to do yourpart and yeah, if you go hard
and and you know you're good on TV and you're getting these
appearances, there's there's an opportunity opportunity there.
And and on that point, you know,we had a guest on who's who is
(32:27):
now. I think she's more in publicity
like helping people land those on camera opportunities.
And you know, the one thing thatshe mentioned, which really kind
of is what you're saying as well, you need to make yourself
desired, right. So the way you're going to make
yourself desirable is by being everywhere.
So that if one network wants youoften like every week, and then
(32:51):
all of a sudden they can't get you because you are on another
network, that's going to make that show or that network want
to figure out a way to keep you from everyone else.
And so that really does make thedifference.
And So what she's saying here, guys, is you need to be pitching
yourself out there, getting those earned opportunities,
(33:12):
right, Earned media, not paid right, where you're showing up
on different networks and the competitors so that they start
to really feel that they need you, right?
They really want you. I agree.
So what? What other tips do you have to
help people that are really trying to navigate this media
ecosystem and trying to figure out whether or not they need an
(33:33):
agent? I would say to really kind of,
you know, two questions that I asked.
You know, when I talk to prospects on the phone, you
know, I always want, you know what's your short term goal?
What's your long term goal. You know what what is the, you
know what's the big vision that God gave you for your career,
you know. And so I think when you're able
to kind of look at what that bigvision is for yourself, then you
(33:55):
can ask yourself, OK, can you yourself create a clear path to
get you there and do you feel like you can literally execute
each step to get you there? Then you might be good, might
not imagine, you know. But if that vision, you know
that you have in your mind that God gave you is, is is big and
it's overwhelming to you. And when you kind of look at the
(34:16):
path to get there, it's not clear to you how you can get
there or what even you need to do to get from step to step to
step. That's where having an agent
because you know you need an expert.
You want to experts you know essentially I'm an expert in the
business and and what's so greatand this is a point too is that
if you get an agent, you should get an agent that has worked in
(34:36):
the business because agents, youknow most agents only know the
business from like a agent perspective which is way
different from knowing the business from being in the
business. You know.
So I recommend get an agent who knows the business because I
know you know like I know the business.
I I know the politics of this business.
I know you know I'm talking to news directors every day.
I have relationships with them. You know.
(34:57):
So I can always, you know I'm calling a news director telling
them about my talent Here's why my talent is great.
I'm not you know, whereas you would just be submitting your
application online you're seeinga post.
You don't even know if that job is really available.
So really, really seeing what itis that you want and you know
and and could you use some help and support to get there.
(35:20):
How good do you want to be when you get there You know do you
want some somebody that can coach you?
Do you want somebody that can can pump you up, be your
cheerleader, be in your corner, All all these great things that
agents do? That's I think that's really the
the biggest thing because sometimes, you know, not
everyone has an agent. Some people, you know, they,
they don't have an agent and they've been able, you know,
they're just they've just been able to kind of do it on their
(35:41):
own. But what I will say though is
that most of the time even people that do it on the, you
know, good job on their own, they do end up leaving a lot of
money on the table, you know, whereas you could have gotten
more money. I know that there's more money
there. So you know kind of get get the
shorten of this Dick and then you just don't have I feel like
when you have an agent sometimesyou know like you know your news
(36:05):
director and they know you have support someone in your corner
so you know they can't really you know kind of play with you
as much as maybe they can if someone doesn't have any sort of
representation or or things likethat.
So yeah, I think every it's a it's an individual thing but it
depends how how hard you want togo on your in your career and
and how much you want to invest in you that that's really the
(36:28):
key to determine if you want to get agent or not.
I love it. And just to sum up a few of the
points that we've really made throughout this conversation,
you know, she's talking about being a talent agent.
Talent agents are really there to help negotiate on your
behalf, help you make as much money as possible when the
opportunities are there, right? If you are someone who want to
(36:48):
be on camera and you want to be ATV Anchor or ATV Reporter or A,
you are a desired producer, You can go for an agent to help
navigate that on your behalf. And if you are someone who is
already kind of has the foot in the door and wants to be a
contributor and they, the network wants them as a
(37:09):
contributor, the talent agent can help negotiate and navigate
that direction on your behalf. But really, you shouldn't be
looking for a talent agent unless you're ready.
And just like we were saying, when it comes to pitching,
whenever you're pitching yourself to the media or to the
TV shows, you want to make sure your full package is there.
So if you're pitching as an entrepreneur or an author,
(37:31):
right, you're going to make surethat you have all your ducks in
a row. You have a website, you have a
good social media presence, You can prove that you can offer
value. The same thing goes if you want
to be a reporter or an anchor ontelevision, You want to have
your full media presence out there, and you want to already
be someone who's weighing in or knowledgeable about the industry
or their niche. If you're a business reporter,
(37:53):
you should already be leaning into being a business reporter,
even if you are in college. And so those are just some of
the points that we're making. And I hope that you found this
episode as useful as possible. Please be sure to find us online
down in the description. I'll have a link to OTA as well
as other links to Kanesha Cross and I hope you'll reach out to
us. Be sure to like this video and
(38:14):
subscribe to the channel and reach out and let us know if you
have any other questions. Any other final thoughts,
Kanesha? Yeah, you know have.
If you're unsure about if you need an agent, take calls with
agents, reach out, take calls because the agent will let you
know if you're ready or if you're not.
But I highly suggest finding a great agent because a great
(38:35):
agent will take your career to the next level and we'll take
you to the next level as well. Thanks again everybody.
Thank you. Thank.
You for having me?
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