Representing Talent Hollywood Agents and the Making of Movies

Prologue: an agent at work -- Introduction -- The invention of agenting -- Filling a lacuna in the sociology of Hollywood -- Facing stereotypes -- In the field with Hollywood agents -- What this book unveils: agents and (e)valuation communities -- Mapping Hollywood -- Agenting in big versus little Hollywood -- "The other side": interdependent transformations of studios and agencies -- The new reality of agenting in big Hollywood -- The making of professionals in talent agencies -- "Fulfilling somebody else's dreams" -- An agent's initiatory path -- Under the wing of a mentor -- Forming "generations" in Hollywood -- Agenting as relationship work -- The meaning of relationships -- The definition of an agent's style -- "Trust" between agents and production professionals -- Agents and artists: enchanted bonds and power relations -- Agents' emotional competence -- Controlling talent? -- Embedded identities and hierarchies -- Naming quality and pricing talent -- Agents in Hollywood's evaluation communities -- "What it takes to get a movie made?" -- Pricing the unique -- Agents of change: the formation of new evaluation communities