TDM Professionalization Workshop: Agents and Managers Roundtable

TDM will hold two Professionalization Workshops for students interested in making their way into the performing arts industries as writers, directors, performers and more after graduation. Led by leading industry professionals in theater, dance, TV and film, these workshops offer practical perspectives on self-promotion, networking and representation for early career artists.

Session Two: Agents and Managers Roundtable

Join TDM for a roundtable discussion with three industry leading agents and managers who represent actors, dancers, writers and self-producing artists to discuss how the world of representation works and what agents and managers look for in their clients! Ben Sands of Artists and Representatives, Laura Colby of Elsie Management and Harry Lengsfield of GrandviewLA will gather via zoom to discuss the work they do and to answer your questions about taking those first steps.

Open to all undergrads. RSVP required.

About the Panelists:

Ben Sands is an agent and partner at Artists & Representatives, a talent agency, where they run the New York office. They have been an agent at the company for over 12 years, and prior to joining A&R they were an agent at another NY agency for 5 years. Artists & Representatives represents actors bicoastally with offices in Los Angeles and New York. A&R clients are currently working on Broadway, off-Broadway, as series regulars on every major television and streaming network, and in lead roles in many features from big budget franchise films to independent features. 

Laura Colby is founder and President of Elsie Management, a company representing companies and self-producing artists in dance, theater, circus and spectacle. Colby formed Elsie Management in 1995 specifically to provide representation to friends and colleagues she was working with as a dancer at the annual APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals). Since then Colby has represented performing arts touring companies from five continents, coordinating tours to over two hundred global venues and has served as Creative Producer, forming presenter consortiums and securing funding to support the development, creation, and touring of new works. 

Harry Lengsfield is a literary manager at Grandview LA which manages writers, directors, actors and artists. Lengsfield began his career at WME before transitioning into management at LBI in 2014, then joining Grandview in 2022.