Talent Agency Assistant and Freelance Theatre Producer

Full name/age/job title:

Alex Segal, 25, Assistant to the Managing Director of ARG Talent Agency and Freelance Theatre Producer.

Please give us an overview of your average day.

An average day for me starts wearily at 7am. I live in Essex so I have time on the train to actually wake up and go through any producing-related emails before work starts at 9am in Central London. Right now I’m working on producing a series of concerts, a documentary and being a creative advisor for the comedy group Amateur Transplants, so there’s lots to be getting on with.

My full-time job is working for a talent agency, ARG, helping to manage many high profile actors and personalities, so as soon as I get into the office my focus is purely on this until I finish at about 7pm. It’s non-stop, always extremely busy and no day is ever the same, which I love. Quite often I will use my lunch hour to hold meetings about my own personal projects, but other than that my theatre projects only come into my mind once work is finished.

I spend the evening multi-tasking between having a social life and working on my own projects before making it back to Essex and heading to bed at about 1am. I’m a night owl.

What is the most common misconception about your job?

The most common misconception is that my life is like an episode of Entourage; all glitz and glamour with non-stop parties and events. Don’t get me wrong, the perks of the job can be amazing – from premieres to award shows – but 99.9% of the time it is a lot of hard work in the office: very intense and long hours. 

From a producing point of view – [there’s a misconception] that I can’t be 25 years old and actually be a theatre producer. That always baffles me. Age doesn’t make a good producer. Oscar Hammerstein II summed up producing best when he said that a producer is “hard-headed, soft-hearted, cautious, reckless, a hopeful innocent in fair weather, a stern pilot in stormy weather, a mathematician who ignores the laws of mathematics and trusts intuition, an idealist, a realist, a practical dreamer, a sophisticated gambler, a stage-struck child. That’s a producer.”

What is the hardest thing about your role?

To stay organised. So much can happen in a single day that you really have to keep track of everything. One lost Post-it note with a really important date on it can be a catalyst for a major problem further down the line. 

When did you decide what you wanted to do with your life and how did you set out to achieve it?

I didn’t get into drama until I was 15 years old – before then it was football or nothing –but by the time I went to university I knew that I wanted to be involved in arts and entertainment. There was nothing else I was passionate about but I knew I didn’t want to be an actor or director. It was only at Portsmouth University when I was arranging shows for the drama department that I suddenly wondered if this bizarre role I had taken on actually meant anything.

I then found a Producing course at Central School of Speech & Drama, trained there and then found myself on The 24 Hour Plays at The Old Vic. It all followed on from there. It gave me a thrill being a realist and idealist at the same time. As for the talent agency side, I wanted a job in between university and drama school and thought that because my grandfather used to be a music agent and my uncle is a football agent that it might be in the genes, so had a spell at Curtis Brown talent agency and I absolutely loved it. On another day, I may have ended up as a Special Agent. Or Newsagent.

What can you do to get a head start?

Make things happen for yourself and seek out every opportunity. Nothing is going to fall on your lap, so work hard and prove yourself everyday. Also, network like your life depended on it. As they say, it’s often who you know – so get out there and meet people. 

Could you describe the creative element to your job?

I find producing extremely creative. You are at the helm of a production and have to make sure that everyone, from director to set builder, shares the same vision. The producer needs to ensure everything – from the visual style to the right choreographer to the perfect backing singer – is perfect.

My favourite part of producing is making sure the marketing and PR truly reflects what the show is about and puts bums on seats at the same time. In regards to working at the talent agency, I find building a career arc for clients extremely creative. It’s not just about saying “yes” to this and “no” to that. Everything is carefully considered to create longevity. It’s a jigsaw puzzle. 

What’s the one thing you wish you had known at the start of your career that you know now?

I’m not sure I can narrow this down to one – I wish I knew so many things – so in no particular order:

1. Don’t take anything personally. You need to be thick-skinned; emails get deleted, shows get panned and ideas are ten a penny. That’s the nature of the beast.
2. Be patient. There seems to be an ideology among young people in this industry that if they don’t hit the heights in their 20s then they never will. That’s rubbish.
3. Money makes the world go round.
4. As a producer you need to balance the artistic integrity of your production with a realistic business model. There’s nothing wrong with doing anything you can to put bums on seats. I really wish producing was just a creative job but those spreadsheets will always keep tapping you on the shoulder.

Which organisations/websites/resources do you think would be useful for people entering your industry?

Old Vic New Voices are incredible for young actors, directors, writers and producers. It opened so many doors for me, and without it I would never have worked in the West End. Stage One is the best place for young producers. IdeasTap boasts a wealth of exciting people and jobs. Royal Court, although not specifically for producers, has brilliant young people’s programmes. A few other worthwhile places: Dark Weeks, National Youth Theatre, Spotlight and IMDb.

Twitter is also a haven for being able to contact companies and people. It’s by far the best networking tool around. You can find me on @alex_segal.

Fancy winnng £30,000 of funding? Apply for Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund. 

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