How to get a Presenter Agent with Karen-Witchalls Plunkett

On Saturday 15th May, Agent Karen-Witchalls Plunkett from Perfect Match Presenters joined us for our online presenter training webinar.

We were excited to hear that ITV’S HOW won at the RTS (Royal Television Society) Southern awards on Friday 30th April in the Factual Entertainment category. One of HOW’s presenters Frankie Vu is represented by Karen at PMP. Karen has recently had her presenters seen for several high-profile castings including Channel 4’s Place in the Sun.

During the session, Karen gave valuable advice on how to contact agents for representation, how to self-shoot auditions at home and some of the big mistakes presenters make. She also gave an insight into what the actual casting and audition process is like for high-profile mainstream tv shows such as Channel 4’s Place In The Sun.

Here are some of the tips from the session:

Getting a Presenter Agent:

• Having an expertise, niche or skill might get you noticed more. Make sure this is apparent when you apply.
• Do your homework and research Presenter Agents and see who they already have on their books. There might be a gap you can fill in if you have an expertise or a niche. If you don’t have expertise or niche, find out if the presenter agent missing a presenter with a different style or look? Often it can be ‘right time, right place’. So if you don’t hear back, don’t give up, keep trying. Persistence is key in this industry.
• Find out who to contact at the presenter agency. Many have different agents working for them, although some presenter agents only have contact forms to fill in, it’s always best to get a specific name so give them a call and ask for a name. It might be worth checking the company out on LinkedIn and seeing if they have a contact on there.
• Think of your USP and what you have to offer a presenter agent, what is going to grab their attention. Essentially you are selling yourself to that agent.
• Send either a short video of yourself or your presenter showreel. Don’t send just a link to your YouTube channel hoping the agent will pick the right video to watch. Make it easy for them. Also, another big mistake presenters make is sending a link to BBC iPlayer or ITV’s Hub stating you’re on at 42 minutes 30 seconds in. Extract the clip first and edit the clip you’re in. There is more information on best practices for Presenter Showreels in our blog.

How to Self-Tape for Auditions 

• Film in good lighting, have a clean backdrop, so no washing in the background. You want the focus to be on you and not a distracting background. You would be surprised to hear how many times we see peoples drying laundry in the background of self-tapes or their videos. Remember you’re trying to make a good impression so the producer or casting professional will give you an audition!
• Always film in landscape (horizontal) mode and not portrait (vertical). Your video will likely be viewed on a laptop and if you’ve filmed in portrait, your video will have 2 black lines at the side.
• Read the casting brief and any instructions are given carefully and make sure if you’re fully prepared. If there is a script to learn don’t leave it until the last minute to learn.
• Include an ident at the start of your video which includes your name and agent if you have one if not state you’re self-represented. This is so the producer or casting profile knows who you are.
• Work out where your lens is as it’s not the same as presenting to a studio camera, on your phone, it’s often over to one side so make sure you’re looking into it for your delivery.

If you missed the session, don’t worry you can check out the replay in our members’ area and of you want to join Karen’s next session join our mailing list to be the first to hear.

Karen one of our media trainers here at Presenter Academy and is running 1-1 virtual presenter training sessions. So, if you’re looking for bespoke career advice or branding, you can book your session via mentoring page.