Behind the Scenes with a Talent Agent
Ever wondered what it would be like working in the film industry? While actors may be the faces of the industry, there are plenty of jobs behind the scenes that suit a variety of skill sets and creative interests. From pre to post production, there’s something for everyone on set, in the edit suite, and beyond. BEHIND THE SCENES brings you into the heart of the media arts industry, introducing you to career paths you may have never considered before or thought possible.
Behind the Scenes with a Talent Agent
Talent agents play an integral role in connecting performers to various gigs and projects. Paving the way to a world of opportunities for new as well as existing performers, their primary task is to look out for potential talent for upcoming productions.
Essentially, there are two types of casting agencies. The first agency involves the principal agents, which only deal with lead roles or speaking roles. The second type of agency are background agencies that focus on recruiting background artists for large scale productions.
To get some more insight into life as a casting agent, we talked to Miranda Lukaniuk, a costume designer who owns a background talent agency called Local BG Talent. Initially, Miranda studied Environmental Science at the University of Toronto. In addition to this, she had a six-year career at GreenPeace International. Not long after, Miranda started her journey in the film industry as a background performer before transitioning into special effects. Following this, she worked in costumes with IATSE 873 (Toronto film union) before she opened Local BG Talent.
“I live out in a rural area and so many times I've seen the gap in the market for people who can be cast as BG performers in the locations that they live. This saves time, money and resources for productions and gives opportunities for local performers. So I came up with Local BG Talent to focus on connecting locals to gigs in their area,” Miranda explained.
Her agency’s goal is to diminish the void that the background artists face in terms of looking for jobs. Miranda does this by working with performers to connect them to various opportunities in areas they live in.
"I get to connect people to exciting opportunities on an entry level in film and they all really appreciate it!" Miranda says of her work.
Her typical day as a talent agent includes administrative work while scouting for new and existing background performers. One of the challenges of her role is gathering and understanding the amount of information required in this business in a short period of time, which is why Miranda believes communication is so essential to this role.
We asked Miranda for some tips on being a successful talent agent. Her advice was to build connections in the film industry. For example, having an established relationship with a casting director can come with benefits, such as getting more exposure to more gigs. It is also very important to get insight into the industry by getting on set yourself.
"I would highly recommend that before doing anything in film, GET ON SET. Get on a film set. And the easiest way to meet people and the easiest way to do that is to do Background work. It's a great entry level job that will allow you to view and observe what is going on in the industry. It can change your life,” she tells us.
Thank you to Miranda Lukaniuk for sharing her experience as a talent agent in the film industry.
Learn more about Local BG Talent on their website: https://localbgtalent.ca/
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Areeba Waseem is a student, writer, and film enthusiast from Southern Ontario.
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Want to become part of a local film community or attend a film festival near you? The Durham Region International Film Festival’s events include an annual fall film festival in Durham Region, summer drive-in movie screenings in Whitby and DRIFF in a Jiff short film screenings in Oshawa. Visit driff.ca, become a DRIFF insider or follow us on social media at @catchthedriff for all the details.