MICHAEL VERITY: Welcome to Portland Industry Insider, our monthly sit down with a key player in the acting industry here in town. Our hope is that we're going to provide you with some information that will make you more successful as an actor in the industry and, if we word our questions right, we'll be able to give you a little inside information, as well.
DENNIS TROUTMAN: Don't count on it.
MV: He said he's going to be a wise guy and he's proven it to be true.
DT: He's a wisenheimer.
MV: I was going to say something nice about him, to introduce him …
DT: … no, that's not necessary.
MV: … but I'm just going to say: here's Dennis Troutman from Option Model and Media.
DT: Good to see you brother.
MV: Thank you.
DT: Thanks for having me down here.
MV: Thanks for being here. I really appreciate it. I’ve known you for a while —both as a photographer and as a parent of an actor — but I don't really know that much about you in terms of the path you took to become THE Dennis Troutman of Option Model and Media. Tell me just a little bit about yourself and how you ended up doing what you're doing today.
DT: Wow. It was a pretty indirect path. My mother was actually an agent for years and years and years in the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast, in general, so I just kind of grew up in that environment. I didn't really have any interest in the arts whatsoever. I was more of an athlete and a troublemaker but I had been a child actor for years. By default, I've grown up in an agency but didn't really have any proclivity towards it.
Then 17, 18, 19 rolls around and I didn't have much of an education, barely squeaked through high school and had to figure out — "Okay, what trade am I going to pursue?" — because I’d kind of grown up in front of cameras and whatnot and I was comfortable and it was something I enjoyed doing. So I decided to make that my trade. I became a screen actor and trained and work as an actor for years and years and years. Then there was an agency in town, Option Model Management; they were a modeling agency and I've known the owners for years. They had actually worked for my mom's agency when I was a kid.
In 2010, they decided they wanted to become a full-service agency with an on-camera division. In 2010, that's when I came on board. So it'd be about 10 years now. That's how I kind of find my way to being an agent.
MV: What are the changes you've seen in the industry, in general, and in Portland specific, over the course of the ten years you've been doing this?
DT: You know, it's digital. It's part of the digital evolution. Everything used to be manual and everything used to be hard copies and messengers. Submissions weren't digital. Images weren't digital. Nothing was digital. I think that's the biggest change. As an actor, it's the expectation that you're going to take a physical headshot and resume to every audition. But for the most part, everything is digital. Really no physical media with it. I think that's probably the biggest change.
MV: How does that translate for actors? If I'm reading it correctly, it's just a matter of speed.
DT: Definitely. Yeah.
MV: I remember looking at videos of casting directors and they’d have a stack (of headshots and resumes on their desk).
DT: Right. Yeah. Actually, the turnovers are a heck of a lot quicker now. Absolutely. It's instantaneous
MV: Where you might have had a few days to prepare, now you have two hours to prepare.
DT: That's exactly right.
MV: How do you coach your talent to be better prepared faster? Because it's a highly competitive industry and it moves [clap] like that.
DT: You know, I don't know that their turnaround has really been affected them as much. I think the biggest effect is on the agency side. I supposed the turnaround for the actors is a little bit quicker, as well. But they still have a kind of a similar timeline. As far as when they get a notification from us, they have either an audition or when we reach out for an availability check.
MV: You’re (in effect) an Agent/Manager. Is that an accurate?
DT: Every agent outside of large markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago are agents and managers and publicists and counselors.
MV: Counselors [laughs]. Therapist ...
DT: Yeah, Therapist.
MV: And you're always answering the phone with plenty of therapy whenever necessary.
DT: Oh yeah.
MV: What do you bring to the table to help them deal with the the business
DT: Anything they need. Coaching, accountability, helping them with their accountability, points, and checklist and making sure that they're staying on top of their business and giving them pointers and letting them know specifically what it is we need to help to be more competitive for them and to help them be more competitive out there in the audition or on the job.
MV: Talk to me about social media because I hear different opinions depending on who I talk to that for a young model, social media is everything and for a young actor, social media is nothing.
DT: I know I’m a little bit more of a curmudgeon that way. I'm not really much of a social media guy.
But I also kind of have to remove myself from that and see where the value is for the actor and for the agency and for the industry as a whole. I think there is absolutely value in it. But I think that there are also drawbacks as well.
I think it has created a lot of envy. It's created, I don't want to say paranoia. But on the other hand, it also can help create a little bit more urgency and a little bit more professionalism in regards to how people present themselves.
MV: Do you find that there are people falling into the trap of putting more energy into their brand and less energy into their craft?
DT: I think so.
MV: How do you gently tell somebody, "Hey dude, you know, I love the four Instagram posts you're doing every day but when you're in the room..."
DT: Yeah. The likes are great but you could really benefit from the scene study workshop or your audition technique is a little soft. Maybe don't worry so much about the Instagram likes and the Twitters and the Facebooks stuff and find a good workshop or connect with some fellow actors and do a reading.
MV: And that's a great idea.
DT: There is this weird misconception that actors need permission to do their craft, to exercise their craft or to compete or to do whatever. At a certain level and at the progression level absolutely. But there is absolutely no fee for getting together and doing Glengarry Glen Ross with five of your buddies.
MV: So it's good to be on doing no pay stuff?
DT: Depends. I mean, it depends on what the no pay stuff is. Is this something that could be paid? Is it something you could at least get a gas stipend in? Is it something where you could get something? As opposed to just being taking advantage of because I think that happens a lot as well.
And that's not to say that there is not legitimate independent production, especially in the indie film scene, where there is no pay. It's just people coming together and trying to make something awesome and there is honor in that, absolutely. But I think there are also situations where there is probably money that can be found and that's our job as agents, to help find that money. Whether it's some gas money or some kind of a daily stipend or something.
Yeah. I spend a lot of times having those conversations and that's where you kind of get on with the coaching and the mentoring and kind of the manager aspect being an agent. All those lines are so blurred now. Even in large markets, they're fairly blurred. Managers, actors, agents now. it is really weird. Back in the 1800s, when I was an actor--
[laughs]
DT: -- your agent had a specific purpose and a specific duty and a specific service they provided. It's kind of a blurry line now. Agents: they're the once that are giving you auditions. Lots of actors don't have an agent. They just have a manager that acts as their agents.
Even in large markets that have that, those lines are a little bit blurred and in a small market like the Pacific Northwest, they're absolutely blurred, they have to be.
MV: Right. Because it's not cost-effective.
DT: You're not going to have a publicist, and an entertainment attorney and a manager and an agent in Portland or Seattle or any other small market.
MV: And you have to be making some pretty good money for people to pay all those people.
DT: Yeah, absolutely.
MV: To pay that kind of team. So digital and speed is what has changed about the industry. What's that one core thing that actors absolutely have to have to be successful?
DT: That's a really good question.
MV: And it's always been there since the 1800s when you were a young actor.
DT: That's exactly right. In the prospecting days.
MV: You’d take the horse and buggy to the audition.
DT: I think different people are probably going to have a really different opinion about this. I have a pretty strong opinion that the most effective and important piece of marketing that any actor can have is a great headshot. I think you are so much better serve having one fantastic, all-purpose headshot than you are having eight mediocre headshots in a half-ass reel and kind of just mediocre materials but you got a lot and you got a website and you got Twitter likes and Insta feeds and things like that. I think the most effective piece of marketing just that one great headshot. I represent actors who just have one terrific headshot and it serves them so well as opposed to having a lot of marketing materials that aren't as effective. That's the single most important.
MV: What does that headshot looked like?
DT: It could be different for everybody. It really kind of depends on the subject and the actor. Because the Pacific Northwest traditionally has been, we'll likely continue to be what's known as a lifestyle market goods and services.
A fantastic commercial headshot is a really, really great tool. That can serve you theatrically, that can serve you in episodic as well. Because the bulk of what we do is in the commercial sector. Having that great commercial shot is really really helpful.
MV: I tell people that, for better or worse, Portland is generally a smiley town because commercial is where the work is. Generally. If somebody wants you to look grim, they can always request the picture of you that looks grim or they can take that snapshot in the room.
DT: But for the most part, all of the actors, they're being submitted through either a casting frontier or a casting networks and those profiles typically have one image and a really well fleshed out profile, hopefully. That's what the casting directors are seeing. And for their larger projects, they're cycling through hundreds of hundreds of submissions per role. They're not really going to dig into what's this person's look and what's this person's look. Where's the grim look, where's the commercial look. It's just they're seeing that one headshot and then doing that hundreds and hundreds of times to decide who they want to bring in for an audition.
MV: A theatrical casting director said to me one time, he said, "Beyond, knowing that you have brown hair and brown eyes, and with your skin complexion is this, what I really want to know" -- because if I'm looking for a Hispanic woman and you're blonde hair and blue-eyed clearly, you're not going to be someone I'm looking at-- "Beyond seeing basically what you look like, what I really want to know is if I want to spend that much time with you".
DT: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
MV: And generally, that smile, your basic “who you are” personality.
DT: I think that goes a long way especially in a market like this. As you put it, kind of a smiley market. Charisma and enthusiasm goes such a long way and I feel like that's kind of our brand or one of our brands is the enthusiasm for the client, that we show the client. And the enthusiasm that we show the actors in getting the opportunity to work with them and help create affluence and opportunities for them. I just think enthusiasm really goes a long way. I really do.
MV: My introduction was going to be that one of the best known and most well-liked agents in town would be you.
DT: No. No.
MV: That's my introduction for you. But it really is to me and this is not to aggrandize you but this is something that's useful for actors is this that when I work with you in whatever capacity I work with you, I know that I'm going to hear enthusiasm and I know I'm going to get communication right away.
DT: Thank you.
MV: Those are the two things that I can count on from you and to me, that translates to actors. If an actor does the same thing, they're going to increase their odds in being successful a hundred fold. Relative to those who were like, "Yeah well you know I got to do this and I got to do that".
DT: Right. Like you're doing a favor for somebody or--
MV: Yeah.
DT: I'm humbled by that. Thank you. That's awesome.
MV: I come across a lot of moms or acting studio people who are kind of just getting into the industry. They're doing it because the kid loves to act or he's funny at the kitchen table or whatever the case may be. And I say, "Well, it's not always what you expect it to be." So from the perspective of an agent, what should new actors expect? What are the appropriate expectations versus the misconceptions when it comes to what you do for them? We've gotten into a little bit into the, "I'm a coach and I'm this and that” but--
DT: I think where the biggest misconceptions for an actor, old or young and maybe doesn't have all of the experience in the industry, is that we are the ones who decide who gets the opportunities and who doesn't. I'll have conversations with the actors and there are the misconception that we are the ones who decide who gets the audition and who doesn't. That's not our job. We don't get to make that choice. There are certain jobs that are a little bit unique in direct booking with the clients where you present the people that are appropriate for those roles. But, for the most part, especially when it comes to audition-based opportunities, we're presenting options and casting directors are selecting who it is they want to see. It's not our call. So I suppose that's a misconception. Another would be, in other words, that we're miracle workers that we can just snap our fingers and make something happen.
MV: Like I'm signed, now I'm going to be a star.
DT: Yeah. The expectations are we're going to hand deliver you a job. Of course, we are able to that occasionally. Absolutely. But I think that's a misconception.
MV: Right. What I say is: “the first thing you need to do is learn how to be an actor.
DT: If you're a grown adult and you wake up one day and decide you want to be an actor, the first thing to do isn't to go out and get an agent.
MV: Exactly.
DT: You want to research it. You can find anything on a website that starts with G. You can do research, you can find books from the library. Eventually, maybe find a good class. There's a lot of different really, really good classes. That's the first step. Not going out and buying professional headshots, not to take of course-- not to discredit what you do or the great work that--
MV: Oh No. Everybody needs headshots.
DT: But that's not the first step.
MV: I want to make sure everybody knows that.
DT: That's where you get to after.
MV: The one thing that I say to moms of kids. Because they've done school plays. They have done this, they have done this with community theater whatever the case is. The one thing that this will do for your child if your child is truly invested in this and truly wants this, the one thing I can guarantee. I can’t guarantee that they're going to get roles or be famous but I guarantee that they will learn how to deal with rejection.
DT: Yeah. Absolutely.
MV: Unlike any other kid who's on the playground.
DT: It's a business of rejection. Really is. It's a numbers game. It's persistence and that's where I think really enthusiasm really goes a long way.
MV: Enthusiasm and persistence.
DT: And charisma and character. Don't wait for something to be handed to you. There's a lot of things that you have to go out and audition for and go through the process of maybe eventually booking something but you don't need permission to get together and do readings or you don't need permission to collaborate with classmates or even put together a short. You can put together a short especially in the digital age. You could write seven pages of two people on a park bench and shoot it off a hundred dollars. If you really need something to do, you don't need permission. Just do something.
MV: And you can distribute it on YouTube and--
DT: Yes. And if it sucks, do better next time. And then do it again.
MV: Exactly.
DT: Until--
MV: Until it doesn't suck anymore.
DT: Until you do something that's really, really good and you get noticed for and it feeds you and it charges up your battery--
MV: And you want to do more.
DT: Yeah, and probably in forms. All the other aspects of your acting career.
MV: I was in a bookstore in Austin, Texas several years back and Jason Siegel was there and he was actually hyping a kid's book that he had written, which I had no idea about. We're so far away from him. We can't even see him but we can hear what he's saying and he said: "After Freaks and Geeks, when I was like this big deal," he said, "I couldn't get arrested in LA".
DT: Really.
MV: "No one will hire me"
DT: Interesting.
MV: And finally someone said: "If no one is going to hire you then maybe you ought to make your own stuff".
DT: And then he goes and writes this brilliant screenplays and puts together and produces these amazing films.
MV: And there you have it. But it was all driven by the same thing that we're just talking about. If it's good enough for Jayson Siegel, it's probably good enough for me.
DT: Probably. Yeah. Good enough with me.
MV: What are you excited for that's coming off this spring in Portland.
DT: Gosh.
MV: You're going to give us inside information--
DT: You know, I don't have any.
MV: Then we're done here. That's a wrap. [laughs]
DT: Honestly, you know I don't-- there is a lot, and I think this is where social media does a real disservice to this industry is there's a lot of rumors and you hear lots of things. My philosophy is until I get a breakdown from a casting director, it's not real, it's not tangible, it's just talk, it's in the ether. But once I see that breakdown come from one of our casting directors then I know, yes, that project is actually happening or actually going to work on that. As far as what's coming up in the spring. I really don't know, I just don't know. I heard things but I don't really put a lot of stock into it until I know that it's actually a reality. I'm looking forward to another great year for our business. I'm looking forward to finding new relationships and working and coaching and developing. But nothing really specific.
MV: It feels like a lot of the work that has been done by people in the industry, I don't honestly count myself as-- I'm talking about acting studios and actors and agencies and those people. It feels like the reputation of Portland incrementally continues to build a little bit over time.
DT: It's always been a really well-respected region and it's always been a region prior to this massive influx of population for the last five to seven years. It's always had a deep acting pool. It's always been a really well-respected market but in 2009 when TNT brought Leverage here and things really started to pick up and accelerate at a really fast pace. Then, we had this kind of influx and some of the overpopulation of actors at the markets. It just continues to tick up and up and up. Absolutely.
MV: You're one of my favorite people in the industry. You're enthusiasm, your humility.
DT: Thank you.
MV: I truly appreciate it.
DT: I appreciate you
MV: It's great having you here. I always enjoy talking to you so thanks for coming in.
DT: Likewise. Thanks, Michael.
MV: Great man. Thank you.
