Dear exclusive talent agency

Dear greedy bastards aka my Former Talent Agent,

  After a long heartfelt consideration, I have decided to sever my association with the agency due to the fact that I am unwilling to sign and adhere to the agency's new contract terms at this time. I intend to seek out and acquire new representation that does not request me to sign an exclusive contract as the only viable option for me financially is to remain able to seek out work on my own in order to cover my living expense. Given the fact that my talent is my only means of earning a living and my income does not exceed my minimum requirements, I can not afford to pay commission fees on work I find myself nor hand over sole responsibility of seeking & acquiring it until such time that paid work is either in abundance & consistently available in the area or my rate of pay has been negotiated & increased to a level that would warrant an exclusive arrangement like if I were to meet SAG requirements. Basically it doesn't make sense for me to be exclusively starving and homeless while having to pay for the privilege of a public portfolio listing while not keeping all earnings that come as a result of the investment. As a business, there doesn't seem to be any benefit in the arrangement as it merely agrees that I have to pay for all costs while giving up a percentage of the return on my investment on top of serving as a commodity being bought and sold by the agency since the contract would have me agree to pay commission even when the agency receives a fee for providing personnel services on top of earning affiliate income on sales of the overpriced casting website listing meaning you invest absolutely nothing into me and profit off me threefold. I'm saddened to be told this is industry standard as it appears to be economically a step backwards towards slave ownership rather than an industry that could surely afford to provide honest living wages for the labor and love of talent. 

*********************************yikes! 😬

Revised version after getting my emotions in check:

Dear Talent Agent,

  After a long heartfelt consideration, I have decided to sever my association with (agency's name) due to the fact that I am unwilling to sign and adhere to the agency's new contract terms at this time. I intend to seek out and acquire new representation that does not require an exclusive arrangement as it's the only viable option for me financially until such time that my earnings are equal to my means and needs. I appreciate the service that you offer and the need to maintain a profitable business but as I also consider myself a business as your contract suggests, I do not find that the benefits outweigh the costs for me personally so it would be unwise for me to agree to those terms. I wish you nothing but the best moving forward and thank you sincerely for the knowledge and experience I have gained from my first dealings with an agency. (This is starting to sound like a dear John letter..) You'll always be my first! <3 Thank you ever so kindly. :)

Sincerely,

 Asraiya 

PS. DEAR BLOG READER: 

This is the nicest and politest I'm able to be out of respect for what's known as "professionalism". Thank gawd I do have a sense of preservation! However I'm publishing it to the interwebs in hopes that it will enlighten other aspiring actors saving them from literally the toils and torment as I described that I had to go through being unable to find advice from others in a similar position as no one else is willing to speak out for fear of retaliation as everyone is told that your reputation will make or break you in the industry and its very easy to be blackballed. I look to those who's work and careers I most respect and say that I beg the differ!! None of the greats have ever forged their way by playing it safe. On the contrary, they made intelligent decisions at each and every critical moment. When they found something not working out for them, they changed it! How else do you expect to break out of background? Yeah, seriously! I was being asked to be an exclusive background actor (extra) if you can believe it... woosh

Namaste. 🙋🏻