Customer Reviews

An Agent Tells All

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"Now, explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old"
Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), PHILADELPHIA

In a brave act of generosity, honesty and salty discourse, Professional talent agent Tony Martinez introduces the simple, cold hard facts of THE key point in becoming a working actor: finding and working with an agent. In his helpful, thoroughly accessible and entirely entertaining AN AGENT TELLS ALL, Mr. Martinez, assumes two truths about his perspective (and specific) audience.

1) Either they are complete and utter neophytes wearing rose-colored glasses entering a noble profession with visions of red carpet glory.

OR

2) They are experienced actors who have had their souls and bums kicked by the reality that professional acting is ultimately nothing more than an industry and need to heal and adjust after a few years of making the same mistakes repeatedly.

Writing in a direct, unpretentious, jargon-free style that invokes visions of a long conversation over a lunch of cheap margaritas and oysters in the half shell, Martinez refreshingly holds nothing back as he sets out to define not only the agent's job, but the actor's job as well. Like Denzel's character in PHILADELPHIA, he works hard to explain everything to his readers, as though they were four years old. Ultimately the business all boils down to building relationships and being completely committed to constantly evolving as both an artist and as a person.

Cutting through all the empty "positive-think" self- help posings of so many other similar authors, Martinez rightfully portrays acting as a capitalist venture based upon the laws of supply and demand. If an actor has never thought of themselves as a product, it is time they did. If they have never before considered the acting industry as a world of Social Darwinism- it also is time they did.

But Martinez is not here just to micturate upon dreams, dashing them out in the guise of name dropping and power tripping. His ultimate objective is to provide the actor (and ultimately too, the agent) advice and specific tools to increase one's chances of not only survival, but success. His advice is always both practical (get a map of LA, keep working, be prepared and get over yourself) and personal (he provides many fine anecdotes illustrating the "do's" and "don'ts").

At a quick, easy to read 211 pages, AN AGENT TELLS ALL deserves to become a dog-eared personal reference for all who dare to enter the world's most noblest profession. He constantly emphasizes how special actors are and urges all to look at their craft as a business yes, but also a dignified art. He has no intention to install despair- just reality. His experience provides positive solutions to age old problems that seem to plague many who enter the industry without any frame of reference.

His constant litany is: be smart while one keeps working and, most importantly, be a decent human being. For at the end of the day, it is the relationships one develops with themselves and the people around them that will carry one through to the end.

This is a must read.


"Despair is the only unforgivable sin, and it's always reaching for us."
- Sam Peckinpah

An Agent Tells All is filled with alot of useful information for anyone desiring to get get ahead in the acting business. The author is an Agent, and gives tons of useful advice on what to do to get ahead in your acting career.
There is helpful advice on agents and managers, headhsots, auditions and lots more. I really found the chapter on TV Pilot Season very useful.
Also scattered through out the book, are a few true-to-life stories of situations that happened to this agent. I really laughed at some of the stories he told about actors who came to interview with him. These stories really got his point across about the Do's and Don'ts of the acting business.
All in all, a very useful and informative book for the Actor.

This could be the most useful and concise of all the books I have on the acting business. I have just finished reading it the second time and must say that I still find it enjoyable and informative. It's an easy read with decent sized text and best of all... it doesn't take six months to plod through. If you are looking for a tome on everything acting, including places to walk your dog, look elsewhere. A lot of information without a lot of fluff, and from the pen (or word-processor) of someone who IS an agent as opposed to an ex-wanna-be actor who thought they might learn a little about the business by asking some questions of a few agents. It also gives you the perspective of the least understood job in this business. The last Chapter should be printed and hung on the wall of anyone aspiring to be a professional actor.

This should be the first acting business book you read. ...And next time you see your agent, give her/him a hug and tell them how much you appreciate them.

I recently re-entered the entertainment industry, Hollywood, to be specific, and I thought of buying this book. I had gotten an e-mail for it about one year earlier and I had wanted to buy it then. Upon reading this book, I began to understand things I had always wanted to have an inside scoop on when I was in the industry before. Tony Martinez may not give ALL the inside information on agents and their dealings, but he gives enough of a "bigger" picture to give an actor a leg up on what an agent wants and how the two can best work together. I think that Mr. Martinez genuinely cares for actors and that it shows in the way he has written the book - concisely, the content of the book - broad-ranging and specific examples, and how he delivers his truth as an agent - straight. I thank him for having the foresight to do it and though he may be short-sighted in some of his stories about his clients and who needs who most, I think that he delivers what he says he will on the back cover.

My acting teacher recommended this book to me and having just moved to LA to pursue my acting career, I decided to give it a try. Well, that was one of the best decisions I ever made. The book has great inside information and it's really funny too. But here's the best part. By following Tony's advice, I have, in less than 6 months, gotten my SAG card and first theatrical agent!

So I really LOVE this book and I've been telling my actor friends about it. It's so much better than the other advice books I've seen. If you're an actor or thinking of becoming one, you're crazy not to buy it.

In AN AGENT TELLS ALL, Tony Martinez has created a wonderful little book that takes you behind closed doors, and de-mystifies an aspect of the film industry that tends to be the source of considerable (and unnecessary) stress.

As I read this book, I kept wishing it was around twenty years ago, when I was in the early stages of my acting career. To think of the countless mistakes I made, and all the opportunities I missed out on, simply by not being privy to this information. In many ways, reading this book made me wish I was starting my career right now. I would be so far ahead of the game, it's almost an unfair advantage.

Over time, much of what's in this book will be learned through trial and error by most professional actors (although I'll admit that after 20 years, I still learned a thing or two). But the problem is that most actors won't have thick enough skin to stick with this business long enough for these lessons to sink in. For example, understanding how to handle yourself in a meeting with an agent is incredibly helpful advice. Just simply knowing how the agent thinks puts the actor in a tremendously empowered position. And thanks to Tony's friendly writing style, he humanizes the agent. It seems like a simple thing, but the effect is quite powerful.

I've dealt with hundreds of agents over the years, both as an actor and as a producer, and the bottom line is always the same: You're dealing with a professional -- understand their position and deal with them as a real human being, and you'll get along just fine. This book is the clearest I've ever found to help you understand their position.

Save yourself ten years of heartache, and get this book. As far as I'm concerned, any actor that doesn't read it doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.

I m an actor in L.A. and without a doubt this is the best material available on the actor/agent relationship available. Everything you could ever care to know is in this book and its all told in a funny highly readable manner. Its an absolute must have and one of the true jewels I have in all my books on the business of acting. Most of em are the same, and much of those are garbage, but this one simply cant be missed.

I am an actor who recently moved to Los Angeles. During the seven months I've been in L.A., I've worked as an associate producer and also acted in two world premiere plays.

An important step for me and any other actor starting off in Hollywood is to acquire representation. AN AGENT TELLS ALL clearly explains just that--how to get an agent. Author Tony Martinez also details what your responsibilities are as a professional actor as well as what an agent should do for you. I found his chapter on Managers especially helpful and informative.

If you are an actor planning to move to L.A., or are already here, READ THIS BOOK. Tony Martinez has supplied an amazing amount of information and guidance. I now know what I have to do to get ahead in this business and to truly begin my career in the entertainment industry. I'm so glad this resource is available!

This book is amazing. I have met Tony before and he gives you the same advice in person as he does in the book, so buying the book is probably as close as you can get to sitting in a room with a working agent who will tell you all the things you need to know about an acting career in LA. After I read it for the first time, I got a sense of security in terms of my career, because the advice he gives in the book helps you plan out a "plan of attack" and lets you gauge yourself and where you stand in terms of your career. As an actor, I wouldn't want anyone else to read this book, because it gives me more competition as it prepares anyone who reads it in an amazingly positive way.

Many actors are in the dark when it comes to what an agent expects of them as a client. Well, not if they've read this book! Tony Martinez tells it like it is. Especially helpful is his chapter on what to do when you get that "all important meeting" with a potential agent. This book will definitely help you be ready when the phone rings.