Questions to Ask a Talent Manager
Questions to ask a prospective talent manager about their roster, commission on top of an agent's, conflicts of interest, contract term, and where their work stops.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How would you describe the difference between what you do and what an agent does?
Why ask it
Managers advise and develop, agents procure work, and in some jurisdictions only licensed agents may solicit employment for you. A manager who describes their role as getting you auditions is either working around that line or has not thought about it, and both are worth knowing before you sign.
What is your experience in my particular field?
Why ask it
Management skills do not transfer neatly between music, acting, comedy and online video, because the buyers and the deal structures are different. Ask what they have actually worked in rather than what they are interested in expanding into.
How many clients do you have right now?
Why ask it
Managers charge more than agents because they are supposed to give more attention, so the number matters. A roster of thirty people handled by one person is an agency workload at a manager's rate.
Which of your clients would you be happy for me to speak to?
Why ask it
This is the most informative question in the meeting. Willingness, and a name provided within a day or two, tells you the relationships are good. Reluctance, or a promise to check followed by silence, tells you more than any answer they could have given.
What would you actually do in the first three months?
Why ask it
You want specific actions: fixing materials, introductions to particular agents or labels or producers, a plan for the next release or season. Answers about strategy and building the brand with no named steps describe an intention, not a plan.
How do you decide which opportunities are worth pursuing?
Why ask it
Their filter is what you are paying for. Listen for whether they weigh money, credit, audience and long-term positioning against each other, or whether everything with a fee attached sounds appealing to them.
What is your commission, and is it calculated on gross or net?
Why ask it
Management commission is a percentage of your earnings, and gross versus net changes what you keep considerably once expenses and other fees are involved. Get the calculation written out with an example rather than described.
Would you commission work I booked before we met, or work I generate myself?
Why ask it
This is where the real money is decided. Some managers exclude prior bookings and self-generated income, others commission everything you earn in the field. Both exist, and assuming the first while signing the second is an expensive mistake.
If I also have an agent, what does the combined commission come to?
Why ask it
Manager and agent commissions stack, and a lawyer or business manager may take a share as well. Add it up out loud in the meeting. People are often surprised by the total, and it is much better to be surprised now.
Do you have a financial interest in anything you would want to put me in?
Why ask it
Managers sometimes produce, publish, or own companies that could employ you. That can be an advantage, but it has to be disclosed, because the person advising you on a deal should not quietly be on both sides of it.
How do you work with agents, and would you expect a say in which agent I use?
Why ask it
A manager with strong agency relationships is genuinely valuable. A manager who insists on one particular agency may be steering you into a reciprocal arrangement rather than the best fit for you, so ask why that agency specifically.
How much time would you have for me in a normal week?
Why ask it
Ask them to describe it in calls and hours. Reassurance about always being available is the standard answer and predicts nothing. A manager who says they do a call every fortnight and reply to messages the same day has given you something you can hold them to.
How do you handle it when two clients want the same thing?
Why ask it
On a small roster this happens rarely but decisively. Listen for whether they apply a rule consistently or whether it comes down to who is earning most that year, which matters if that is not you.
What would you expect me to change?
Why ask it
Specific criticism at this stage is a good sign: it means they have looked closely enough at your work to have an opinion. A manager who says everything is great and only needs exposure has nothing to offer beyond optimism.
How long is the term, and how does either of us end it?
Why ask it
Management agreements often run longer than agency ones. Read for the length, automatic extensions, and whether ending it requires cause. A long term with no clean exit is the worst thing to discover after the relationship has soured.
Would you keep commissioning anything after the agreement ends?
Why ask it
Post-term commission on deals made during the relationship is common, and both its rate and its duration are usually negotiable. Ask directly, because a broad clause can follow your income for years after you have stopped speaking.
How do you handle press and public problems?
Why ask it
Ask what they did the last time a client had a bad week. You will learn whether they have a publicist they work with, whether they answer the phone at night, and whether their instinct is to get ahead of things or hope they pass.
What do you not do?
Why ask it
A clear answer, that they do not handle bookkeeping, tax, contracts or daily logistics, tells you which gaps you still have to fill and pay for. A manager who claims to do all of it is either exaggerating or spread far too thin.
Have you had a client relationship end badly, and what happened?
Why ask it
Anyone with a real career has one. What matters is whether they can describe it without putting the whole fault on the client, because how they talk about a former client is a preview of how they will talk about you.
How would we know in a year whether this has worked?
Why ask it
Push for markers you can check: income, the level of rooms you get into, specific projects completed. Without them, review conversations turn into arguments about effort, and it is very hard to leave a relationship you cannot measure.
How to approach the meeting
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Work out first whether you need a manager
Managers develop, agents procure
If your problem is that nobody is submitting you for work, an agent addresses that more directly. Management earns its percentage when there are more decisions than you can handle alone: competing offers, a team to coordinate, or a direction that needs a plan.
Do the arithmetic on total commission
Add the manager's percentage to your agent's, plus legal costs on deals. Run it against last year's earnings before the meeting, so you can tell whether the arrangement only makes sense at an income level you have not reached yet.
Warning signs
- Any upfront fee, retainer, or charge for being taken on.
- Pressure toward their own photographer, studio, producer or course.
- Guarantees about specific opportunities or timelines.
- A long term with no clear exit, or a broad post-term commission clause.
- Undisclosed interests in companies that would employ you.
- Refusal to put you in touch with any current client.
Before you sign
- Have an entertainment lawyer read the agreement. This is the normal cost of entering a long commission relationship.
- Ask for the commission calculation written out against a real example of your own earnings.
- Check whether prior bookings and self-generated work are excluded, and get any exclusion into the document.
- Speak to at least one current client and, if you can, one former one.
Things people get wrong
Treating enthusiasm as evidence
Managers are persuasive for a living, so a meeting that leaves you excited is not information. Judge on named clients, recent results, and a concrete plan for your first months.
Relying on verbal promises
Anything that matters, response times, who handles what, which agent you use, belongs in the agreement, or at minimum in an email you send afterwards summarising what was said.
Signing while a deal is pending
Being brought in during a live negotiation is how people end up paying commission on work the manager had nothing to do with. Settle the scope first, in writing.