Going the Agency Route
Do you really need a manager, agent or agency to be in porn?

No, you don't need a manager, agent, or agency to be a successful pornstar. There are a few women in the porn industry who are completely independent and self represented, however generally at some point in time in the beginning of their careers, they had representation of some sort of whom assisted them in booking their first porn scenes and movies.

When you first make the commitment to yourself that you're going to work in the porn industry, and after you've built your Solid Pre-porn Foundation you can go one of a few routes.

1) You may want to approach one of, or several of the larger studios directly about shooting your FIRST SCENE with them, then you may (or may not) decide to find an agent for additional work.

2) You may want to self produce your first scene and distribute it through your website or on a network such as Clips4sale and then find an agent for additional porn scenes with other studios.

3) You may want to approach several agencies or agents from the start (PLEASE do your research on ANYONE you select to represent you), who can set you up with a studio (or studios) who may want to shoot your first scene(s).

For a list of agents and agencies I feel good about recommending, click here.

Generally new women to porn, should try to find an agent or agency that works with other women who are also new to the industry. Agents of this type will "hold your hand" a bit more than agents who represent more established performers. Of course there are always exceptions to this rule, but this is just my advice from my personal experience.

Some agencies actively promote their girls while others just kind of sit back and wait for the phone to ring. My suggestion is before meeting with any agency, check out their website, and take a look at the girls they represent. Then Google the women's stage names and try to get a feel for how much work these women are actually booking (of course sometimes women change representation between when they booked a scene and the present, but this method WILL give you a good idea as to whether the agency's clients are actually working regularly or not).

Remember, you do not work for the agency you select - THEY WORK FOR YOU.

"So what exactly does an agent or agency do?", you ask.

Well ideally, they are the ones who have connections/relationships with the porn studios. They should setup meetings or "go sees" fairly regularly in which they take you (or you drive yourself), to meet with the studio owners or casting directors who may potentially hire you work.

Remember, some porn studios may only work with certain agents/agencies and not with others due to past negative or positive experiences they may have had. My suggestion is to ask the agent who they regularly book with, BEFORE signing with them.

On go sees, IT IS NORMAL for the studio owners or casting directors to ask to see you naked. After all it is porn so they need to see what your body looks like, if you have any scars, marks or tatoos, etc. HOWEVER it is NOT NORMAL or REQUIRED for you to perform ANY sexual acts at all on a go see. If someone tells you otherwise they are NOT someone that you need to work with.

The whole "casting couch" thing might take place for naive performers who don't know better and certain studio owners or other employees may try to trick women into thinking it's "the norm", but you are NEVER required to have sex or perform any sexual acts for ANYONE OTHER than your male or female co-star/talent (or talents) on a BOOKED PORN SCENE of which you will be or have been paid for. Visit the "Porn Industry Danger and Problems" section of this site for more details.

Agents generally take 10% of your pay for the porn scenes they book you for. 

Some women who get into porn through an agency, may incur other fees that need to be paid back to the agent such as:

travel expenses (if the agent bought the porn performers plane ticket from wherever they live out to where they have booked work for the performer)

housing (if a porn performer is from out of town and can't afford her own accommodations, the agent might put the performer up in a "model house")

transportation (if the out of town porn performer doesn't have a car, a driver may be provided to and from shoots).

I strongly suggest that you not get into porn from a situation in which you have almost $0 because as I stated in the Your Pre-Porn Situation section of this website, there are MANY evil "agents"/"managers" who's goal, is to get you in DEBT to them. YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THAT SITUATION.

A good agent, will give you a realistic overview of the porn industry and actively promote you to studio of which they know have worked with someone who has a look along the lines of yours before. A good agent will also always seek out new markets of which to promote the talent he or she represents.

Good agents usually have an in house photographer or know of one who will take standard industry casting photos of you. In time you will accumulate other photos from scenes you may be booked for but in the beginning you just need clear photos of your face and nude ones from the front, side and back.

Good agencies inform their talent of industry events, happenings and upcoming conventions. I'd imagine the best agents keep up with their client's careers and send out press releases as their clients climb the "porn ladder".

Good agents negotiate the best dollar amount that they can possibly get per booked scene for you. Also if a studio is interested in offering you a contract, they will negotiate the best possible terms in YOUR FAVOR.

Having a good agent or agency can also keep you safe. Lets say you get to a porn set and you are under the impression the scene is a basic boy/girl scene (no anal), but then the director tells you that the scene is a boy/boy/girl double penetration anal scene instead. When you have an agent, if they are good, they will get on the phone with the director and tell them that you are only going to do what you initially were booked for OR they can cancel the scene but pay you a KILL FEE.

A kill fee, is a fee which is less than your rate, but pretty much covers your trouble for having showed up for the porn scene/shoot though for whatever reason the shoot didn't take place. Sometimes kill fees just don't happen, but generally if the porn studio is professional and wants to work with your agent or agency again, they will pay it.

Of course, some agents and agencies are complete bullshit and/or scams. Some agents will do anything to get you to sign with them, but then not do a damn thing to book you or promote you. For some reason some agencies think that just posting your photo online is enough.

Other agencies only actively promote certain girls and ignore the other ones until the girl begins booking work independently (then of course they magically acknowledge your existence because they want their 10%).

If you find yourself in a situation to where you've been with an agency for a few months but they've rarely booked you, let them know that you need to find yourself alternate or supplemental representation.

Some agents may try to bully you and say "no, you signed with me so you can only work through me" , but honestly, its your body and your career so you can essentially do whatever you like. Just keep it within reason and ALWAYS be professional.

Remember, you want to at least appear reliable and solid to the studios who hire you and who may potentially offer you a contract. If you bounce from agency to agency frequently it gives the appearance that you're flakey and the studio may not want to work with you. Also remember that studios need to be able to FIND YOU if they want to work with you, so unless you have your official website up and running, your agent is your first point of contact with you for most studios.

One last point I have, is that agents also act as SCREENERS for you when it comes to people trying to book you. You as a professional porn performer want to be booked by REAL, ESTABLISHED, PROFESSIONAL adult content studios - NOT Joe the plumber who has a makeshift porn studio out of his garage that he works out of on the weekends.

A good agent generally will keep you safe from potential harm, and as a new performer - safety is your #1 priority - and paying 10% for it is VERY worth it.