Ask an Assistant: Hayley Gruenspan

Hayley Gruenspan

Assistant to Partner at Untitled Entertainment

Interviewed by Natalie Lifson, Agent Trainee and Executive Assistant at Buchwald and your co-Editor-in-Chief at THA

Thanks so much for speaking with us today Hayley! As someone who’s worked at a talent agency, a small management company, and now a large management company, you have so much insight into different types of representation.

How have your responsibilities differed? 

They have all been significantly different.

Working on a theatrical desk at an agency is a self-tape grind. It’s getting as many people as many auditions as possible. The thought process is, if we put 50 people up for one role, there’s a better chance of someone booking it than if we were more selective and put one person up. So it’s a lot of churn. 

When I moved to a smaller management company, I realized there are other things to do beyond submitting self-tapes. At a smaller management company, there’s more of an emphasis on overall career development. I liked that I could work across departments and wasn’t limited to my boss’ coverage. You could put them up for anything, or you could even see them do voiceover and commercials and other opportunities I never worked on at a talent agency in theatrical. There are also more tasks like making schedules, coordinating glam for events, coordinating travel - all logistics that make agents say, “Send that to the manager.” 

When I moved to a bigger management company with more higher-level clients, my responsibilities changed a little too. It's like a little less of, “We need to get this person an opportunity so they can meet the SAG health insurance quota,” and more, well, “This person is going to this many events for a New York Fashion Week, so we have to arrange glam and transpo for all of them.” You have to worry about more of the minute of their day to day because they are really busy. It's much more of a frantic pace.

What was it like to work in representation in New York vs. LA?

One big difference is time zones. In NY, I worked LA hours sometimes. I once submitted a self-tape at 2:00am because a casting director told a client they could send it in at 11:00pm Pacific, which was 2:00am on the East Coast. I stayed up and submitted - to my disappointment, the client didn’t book it. 

There are sacrifices regardless of where you live, but that’s a common one in NY that I don’t see in LA. Casting directors don’t give 2:00am deadlines here. 

I definitely think working in representation in LA has been a better experience for me personally. As mentioned above, casting directors don’t set 2am deadlines in LA. Generally, people are more laid back. There’s less pressure to work through lunch. Because you can’t run down to a bodega, there’s more likely to be snacks in the office. You’ll likely actually be able to leave at a reasonable time. I know I’ve been asked to call people in New York when I know it’s 8pm or even 9pm on the East Coast. While New York is a beautiful city and the access to nightlife and theater is tremendous, you don’t get to enjoy as much of it while you’re working in representation. But if you really hate LA and really like trains - admittedly, I do miss the widely accessible NYC subway system - I think working in representation in New York can be what you make of it and be a more positive experience. 

Even 11pm is pretty late. Is it difficult to maintain work-life boundaries in representation? Which type of representation makes work-life boundaries most difficult?

They’re all hard in their own ways. Regardless of the type of representation, you have pressure from your boss and pressure from yourself. You care about the clients and want to do a good job for them. You want to do a good job for your boss to prove yourself, to prove your work ethic. But I’ve learned that you can’t burn yourself out, or you’ll be worse at your job, for yourself, for the clients, and for your boss. If you’re constantly available and constantly working, then you're easily going to run out of steam. I think when I am rested and take time off and take breaks, I'm able to restore myself and do the best possible job when I am on the clock, whereas if I'm expected to be on 24-7, I am inevitably going to crash, and that's not a thing of weakness. It's a human thing. We all need rest. We're not meant to work 24/7. It's important to have that time for yourself, because not only does it make your life better, make you happier, but it will also in turn end up improving your work performance.

What do you think makes someone a good fit for one type of representation vs. another?

I think it depends on both what you’re passionate about and what you’re good at. Agency work is more about procuring jobs than anything else - you’re given coverage of certain networks or casting directors and you have to book as many people from your company in film and TV as possible. This can be pretty exhilarating - you get people on screens! But there’s less direct work with your own clients, and less involvement in the day-to-day. There is, however, negotiating involved. The license you have to get as an agent enables you to negotiate deals; technically, managers aren’t allowed to negotiate. 

If you’re detail-oriented, management is for you. From coordinating schedules to travel to glam to ADR, you are there for the nitty-gritty. You also only have to worry about your clients. You have more freedom across the board to put them up for different opportunities instead of relying on your coworkers to do the legwork for networks and casting directors you don’t cover. Plus, you can get all kinds of opportunities for your clients, theatrical and beyond!

Do you have a piece of advice that’s been helpful across all desks on both coasts?

The most important thing I tell myself that both helps the stress and helps me not burn out is the phrase, “Nobody died.” Mistakes happen sometimes when you’re moving so fast. If you dwell on them, you won’t do as good a job on everything else. You can’t let yourself melt down at the little things. You have to remember: we’re not working in medicine. We're not working in emergency services. 

If you send a watermarked script to a client where the watermark isn’t their name? Nobody died. You didn’t arrange hair right away for a premiere? The client didn’t die. Maybe they’re inconvenienced, and obviously you don’t want to make that a habit, but if you make it a bigger deal than it is, you’re more likely to make additional mistakes.