The basic duty of a Press Agent or publicist is to create methods to make an entertainer's name or an entertainment project better known. The best way to do this is to keep the entertainer or the project in the public eye as much as possible. The more popular and well known people and projects are in show business, the better.
Press Agents may work with any type of entertainer, including movie stars, television stars, actors, disc jockeys, radio commentators, models, comedians, singers, musicians, or magicians. A Press Agent might also work with book authors, TV news people, sports figures, politicians, and public speakers or with television shows, sports events, movies, or almost any type of special event. The Press Agent should not have a big ego. Agents must be willing to accept the fact that if a client is successful, the client will take and get the credit. If he or she fails, the Press Agent will often get the blame.
The Press Agent must be able to come up with creative campaigns for placing their clients in the public eye. This might be done in any number of ways, including inducing magazine and newspaper editors to do feature stories and articles on their clients or scheduling television and/or radio appearances. The Press Agent might or might not use some type of advertising campaign that features their client. Press Agents often create hype to gain notoriety for their client. Hype is a supersaturation of publicity in the media used to promote people and projects in the entertainment business. While publicity should technically always be true, hype sometimes exaggerate facts.
Press Agents must write creative press releases that the press will use. The successful Press Agent has the ability to come up with a good hook or angle for a press release. The hook is what will draw attention to that particular press release while it sits on a desk with dozens of others. Press kits consisting of press releases, biographies, pictures, reprints, reviews, and articles must also be compiled by the agent. He or she is responsible for sending the press kits - or media kits, as they are sometimes known - to editors, TV and radio producers and talent coordinators, or column planters. The individual must know how to get through to these people in order to place a client on television or radio, or to have feature articles written. The Press Agent must also have the ability to work under the constant pressure of deadlines. Press Agents are responsible for calling and arranging press conferences for their clients. The agent must know what type of event is important enough to call a press conference, how to put one together, and how to have the right people attend.
Often the media isn't really interested in a client until he or she is so well known that publicity will be self-generating. Some acts are so well known that every editor, television and radio show, journalist, and reporter wants an interview or an appearance. In these cases the Press Agent must be selective and decide which opportunities are in the best interest of the client. For example, a well-known entertainer would gain more media attention from an appearance on The Tonight Show than from a local morning talk show. The Press Agent might also have to act as the “bad guy” to keep the press away from a client if he or she feels it would harm a client's image to give interviews. The Press Agent might also turn down an interview if he or she feels it would overexpose the client in the media.
Press Agents often attend press parties, dinners, luncheons, and other social events on a client's behalf or to make contacts. These contacts are important to the individual in promoting the client and in building a client list for the individual Press Agent or his or her company. A Press Agent is usually responsible directly to the client. He or she may also be responsible to the client's management representative. If the Press Agent works for a company, he or she answers to his or her supervisor or to the owner or president of the company.
Salaries for Press Agents depend on a number of different variables, including experience, type of client, and whether the Agent is working for him- or herself, a radio station, a television station, or an agency. The individual may also work part-time for one or more clients. A Press Agent may earn anywhere from US Dollars 23,000 to US Dollars 100,000. Press Agents working with major stars might make US Dollars 150,000 or more.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
Note: This article was sent to us by: Ronnie Olson at 04232010
1. Weather and business in India
All articles are property of their respective authors. Please read our Privacy Policy!
© 2009 ArticleInput.com.