Top Talent Agency has grown since 2008 and the booking team now supports two divisions of developing talent: TTA Kids and TTA Adults.
From Top Talent Agency Ltd To TTA Kids & TTA Adults
The Top Hat Stage & Screen School opened in Hertfordshire in 1994. In 2008 experienced actor and singer Warren Bacci became the owner and Principal. The same year he opened the Top Talent Agency Ltd, to give the Top Hat young performers access to professional roles on stage and screen.
Later the agency expanded to represent young performers from around the UK, to submit children for modelling work, and to represent adult performers.
In 2014 a big revamp of the business followed, creating two separate companies to represent adult performers through TTA Adults and children through TTA Kids. Only clients can view the profiles of young performers on the TTA Kids site. This is good from a child protection perspective, although once children gain film and TV credits their identity becomes open knowledge from a variety of online sources.
The agency has strong links to the Top Hat Stage & Screen School, Stagecoach, and the Razzamataz Theatre Schools.
Furthermore, Top Talent Agency is partnered with Eris Talent Agency to help secure work for adult performers in the USA, and offers sponsorship for work visas.
Warren is supported at work by company directors, including his husband, and a structured team where everyone has their specialist role. Social media suggests this team is a happy one, enjoying regular social events.
Both young performers and adults have secured work in many household name TV series, hundreds of commercials, feature films with famous actors, theatre roles including West End musicals, and modelling campaigns.
Some extra work for children is also undertaken. However, this isn’t an extras agency so look elsewhere if you can’t commit to regular castings.
Who Do TTA Kids and TTA Adults Represent?
TTA Kids represent about 200 young performers, from babies until their sixteenth birthday.
Child licensing is taken seriously and the forms are available on the website. Licensing ends on the final Friday of June following a young performer’s 16th birthday. The agency charges £25 if they complete the forms on behalf of the parent or guardian. Whilst this is somewhat unusual, the forms are easiest to complete by parents who know all their child’s personal details by heart anyway. Agency staff can concentrate on finding work for young performers, and parents can build a working relationship with their local LEA licensing officer.
TTA Adults represents talent aged 16 and over. The advertised upper age is 90, reflecting the increased demand for older actors and performers.
Adults can concentrate on acting, musical theatre, and/or work as a presenter.
The Top Talent Agency Team
The TTA Kids and TTA Adults websites have pages introducing their staff. You can see photos, read a mini biography, and find the relevant Twitter and IMDb information.
There is a wide range of skills and experience amongst the agency staff. Backed up with key industry professionals running regular workshops, performers are getting support through knowledgeable representation to nurture their careers.
How To Apply To Top Talent Agency
Send in your application for representation by Top Talent Agency via their TTA Adults or TTA Kids website. Attach the headshot and showreel as required in the instructions there. Communicate clearly the skills and experience already gained through a basic CV. Then wait to see if you are invited to an audition at the next round.
As with all agencies which specify the application route, do as they say. Do not turn up at the offices asking for an appointment. Applications by post are a nuisance. Following up applications with pestering calls, letters or visits mark you out as an individual to be avoided.
Sometimes upcoming audition dates are advertised on casting websites such as Starnow. If your profile is up to date that makes for an easy application.
Top Talent Agency also regularly attend showcase events to meet prospective talent.
The agency receives more than one hundred applications a week. Only a tiny percentage will ultimately receive an offer of representation; rejection is very much part of showbusiness life.
If you are unlucky, enhance your CV with more training and experience. Join relevant Facebook Groups to see if you can get some showreel out of local microbudget film projects near you.
Top Talent Agency: Auditions In London, Hertfordshire, and Manchester
If the agency thinks an adult performer or a child of four years old or above may be suitable for the industry, they offer an audition. They only offer representation after meeting a performer. This is a good sign of a reputable agency.
In February and August, TTA Kids have auditions in London and Hertfordshire. Manchester auditions normally happen in February each year; most of the work is in the London area.
Three times a year adults can audition for representation, either in Manchester or Central London.
The auditions are not open auditions. Do not arrive without an invitation. Instead, apply via the website and wait for a response. If the agency thinks you may have a realistic chance of obtaining work as a performer, you will be invited for an audition.
You will be given instructions about where to attend and what to prepare. Arrive on time. Think carefully about how to present yourself in terms of outfit and personality. Prepare thoroughly.
Do not allow children to wear makeup and leave all props and accessories at home. They audition in groups of about 30 children roughly the same age.
Inform Top Talent at the earliest opportunity if you can’t attend your audition. Otherwise, you deny an audition spot to someone on the reserve list.
The Business Of Acting: Top Talent Agency Fees
In 2018, the agency charges £90 plus VAT (£108) for representation. Whilst we would raise an eyebrow for a mandatory fee, it does include a workshop and a photo session in Manchester, Glasgow or Hertfordshire. So every performer has three house style headshots and photos for their profile. The performer receives a digital copy of the photos.
There are obviously risks if you don’t like the photo, but the agency wants their performers to book work so if they think the photo is acceptable then it probably is. After all, by doing modelling and acting work you are effectively selling your rights to your image so you will not have the control you do now.
Child performers will pay a commission of 23% plus VAT on all acting work. Commission for modelling and photographic work is a higher 30% plus VAT. The agency receives the full payment, then transfers that sum less their commission into the young performer’s bank account.
It is normal for performers to pay the annual Spotlight membership fee.
A £25 admin charge is levied for child licensing forms completed by the agency. However, parents can complete the straightforward forms for themselves for free.
Further charges are levied for regular workshops. These are often a good opportunity for performers to build industry contacts with well-known casting directors.
Remember, all costs and commission incurred are allowable expenses before calculating the tax due for any income received. It is a worthwhile investment if you book several well-paid jobs. But most performers in the industry never make back their money. For some people, trying to follow their dreams and the excitement of new experiences is worth the financial sacrifice.
Top Talent Agency On Social Media
The social media accounts of TTA Adults and TTA Kids are run as one, under Top Talent Agency.
Their Twitter Feed and Facebook Page contain different news streams, which sometime overlap. Follow both accounts if you want to hear all the Top Talent Agency news.
Top Talent Agency Reviews: Is Top Talent Agency Good?
As we set out in our list of 20 Reputable UK Agencies For Child Actors, different families will have varying opinions of any agency. Whether a casting director picks one performer over another to audition and book for a role depends on so much luck and the right looks and chemistry at a particular time.
Obviously, if an agency gets a reputation for representing performers who don’t turn up for castings, the other performers on their books do unfairly suffer. A bit of searching on social media will normally be enough to get a picture of low-quality agencies. Moreover, by researching thoroughly you should identify those that are outright scams and fake agencies.
You will see that Top Talent Agency performers are regularly booking quality jobs. And yes, that is a small number of them, and often the same performers. But that is the nature of the industry, and the reason each family has their own view on whether an agency is good or not.
One place we always recommend you seek help is the Not A Pushy Mum forum. Before you start asking questions, start by reading previous postings and use the search facility. Once you have examined all relevant areas you can ask your own question in the light of the information you found.
