Baltic film professionals are becoming increasingly visible in the international film industry – their films are travelling to major festivals, while Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are attracting large-scale international film and television productions. Yet alongside this growing international presence, the industry’s infrastructure itself is also evolving. One practice that is still only beginning to take shape in Lithuania is the representation of film talent.
In countries with long-established film industries, talent agents are a standard part of the system: they represent creatives, negotiate fees and working conditions, seek out new opportunities and help talent gain visibility in the international market. In the Baltic States, this model is still relatively new, although, according to Viktorija Cook, co-founder of Baltic Talent Agency, there is no shortage of potential. The challenge is rather that creatives still tend to wait for someone to notice them instead of actively presenting themselves to the market.
This topic will also be discussed at the Baltic Pitching Forum, taking place on 6–9 October. As part of this year’s programme, Viktorija Cook and her business partner at Baltic Talent Agency, Simona Inta, will introduce Baltic talent and discuss how the talent agency system operates across Europe. Ahead of the forum, we spoke with Viktorija about why representation is still approached cautiously in Lithuania, what an agent can actually offer a film professional, and what it takes for the names of Baltic creatives to appear more frequently in the credits of international productions.
– Talent agents are still a relatively new phenomenon in Lithuania. Why do you think this practice is emerging in our film industry specifically now?
V. Cook: Our film industry – and not only Lithuania’s, but those of all three Baltic States – is relatively young and very small. Over the past 10–15 years, our directors and producers have become very actively involved in the international industry: they are winning awards at festivals, while major international service productions are coming to the region to shoot. However, the market itself and the people working in it are still not accustomed to agencies and representation.
In a small market, everyone knows everyone, and people often try to avoid the “middleman” without always understanding the value they can bring. There is also a degree of mistrust: we often think we can do everything ourselves – and do it better.
– For someone unfamiliar with the work of talent agents, what does a film talent agent actually do? Where does their role in a creative professional’s career begin and end?
V. Cook: In short, an agent’s main job is to take over the administrative side of a creative professional’s work: negotiating fees, managing deadlines and communicating with clients. This allows creatives to focus on what they do best – creating. Agents also look for projects and job opportunities and, depending on the terms of the collaboration, may also handle the talent’s marketing and positioning.
– What gap did you identify in the Lithuanian and Baltic film industries that made you decide to work in talent representation?
V. Cook: The Baltic States and their creatives are having a moment right now: directors are winning awards at prestigious international festivals, while Netflix, HBO and many other major film and television platforms are coming here to shoot series and films. At the same time, the people working in creative positions behind the camera often remain in the shadows.
In countries with very strong film industries – Poland, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere – talent representation is a completely natural part of the system. Our goal is to see more and more of our creatives’ names in the credits of the world’s most exciting projects.
– In many European film industries, working with an agent is a normal part of a professional career. How does the situation in Lithuania currently differ most from countries where this system has been established for a long time?
V. Cook: Probably in the fact that there is still a lot of fear and mistrust here. There are cinematographers and directors who work with international agencies, but these are usually people who aimed for a career outside Lithuania from the very beginning. Perhaps the modesty that has been imposed on us as a virtue, together with our difficult historical memory, makes it hard for us to boast about ourselves and “sell” ourselves: we quietly wait for someone to notice, praise and appreciate us.
In addition, art and creativity here are often separated from financial compensation. Creative positions frequently earn less than technical ones, the process is difficult to define, and the outcome cannot always be assessed unequivocally. Creatives usually work individually and rarely agree on minimum rates for their positions based on experience. Even when they do, there is no obligation to respect those agreements or refrain from undercutting rates.
– When should a film professional start thinking about getting an agent? Can it ever be too early to seek representation?
V. Cook: It depends on the kind of career a person wants. The earlier you start thinking about it, the more you can do: work on your portfolio, consciously choose projects according to the career direction you want to pursue, observe which agents are the best, whom they represent and what you yourself can offer them. This increases the likelihood of finding the right agent – or of the right agent finding you.
It is also important to understand that not everyone needs an agent, and not everyone will have one, unless representation eventually becomes an industry standard simply because of its convenience.
– When you consider representing new talent, what matters most to you? Previous work, potential, personality, professional reputation, or perhaps something that cannot be included on a CV?
V. Cook: All of the factors you mentioned. However, talent means nothing to us if the person is simply unpleasant to work with. If we find it unpleasant to work with them, we will not recommend them to our clients either.
We also would never work with people who support Russia in any way. There are already enough stressful and unpleasant situations in an agent’s work, so it is very important for us to know clearly what we stand for and what we are fighting for.
– Do you notice that film professionals from Lithuania and the other Baltic States sometimes underestimate their own potential in the international market?
V. Cook: I’m not sure whether “underestimate” is exactly the right word, but perhaps to some extent. I think they tend to wait passively to be recognised. Creatives know perfectly well the quality of their work, but they do not actively present or market themselves.
– What, on the other hand, most prevents Baltic talent from entering the wider European film market?
V. Cook: There are several factors, some tangible and others less visible. First, a great deal happens through connections and networking: if nobody knows you or recognises your name, it is harder for them to hire you.
Second, there is the financial aspect. Particularly in arthouse cinema, it is common practice to assemble creative teams according to co-production agreements: producers look at whom they can bring on board under the conditions attached to financing, and only once funding is secured does it become clear who will actually be able to work on the project. Until that is clear, neither producers nor talent can properly plan their projects.
Our approach is different: first, you choose the creative professional you want to work with, and then you look for ways to secure additional financing. If that cannot be achieved, you do not simply replace the creative.
– How much of a talent agent’s work is about finding specific job opportunities, and how much is about shaping a person’s long-term career and strategy?
V. Cook: Long-term career development and strategy are a different role – that of a talent manager. It is still rather early for that in our market. First, the work of agents itself needs to become more widespread – finding job opportunities for the talent they represent. Later, once you select several creatives with strong international potential, you can also begin developing long-term career strategies.
– Perhaps one of the simplest interpretations of an agent’s job is: “an agent finds work for you.” In your view, what is the biggest myth or misconception about the work of talent agents?
V. Cook: That the agent will do everything for you and you will not have to do anything yourself. If you want jobs, projects and a career strategy, you need to communicate very closely with your agent. We have to admit that a culture of working with agents has not yet developed here, and people do not really know how to organise this kind of collaboration.
All I can say is this: the more actively you communicate and plan together with your agent, the more you benefit from the relationship. It is a two-way collaboration. We work together with talent, not instead of them.
– How does having an agent change a film professional’s relationship with producers, casting directors or international production companies? Does the very fact that someone is represented by an agency change their position in the market?
V. Cook: It depends on which side you are looking from. If you are an international producer looking for people for your project in the Baltic States, approaching an agency is much easier than searching for individuals yourself and taking on all the associated risk. However, if you operate in a small market and see agents not as partners but as competitors, that naturally creates a certain amount of friction.
From the creatives’ perspective, there is also fear: that if they say they have an agent, clients or producers may decide not to hire them. We have even received unpleasant phone calls simply because someone disliked the existence of the agency or a talent’s decision to be represented.
– Lithuania’s film industry is relatively small. Could that become an advantage rather than a disadvantage for our talent in the international market?
V. Cook: Our agency focuses on exporting talent. We can offer the international market the best of the best. We see the surprise on clients’ faces when we start listing the festivals, awards and brands our represented talent have worked with. You rarely see talent of this calibre anywhere outside the very top agencies. In that sense, we are exceptional.
At the same time, anything that can be an advantage can also be a disadvantage, and vice versa. Being small gives us uniqueness, but it also requires more effort to be noticed.
– Which Lithuanian film professionals are currently the easiest to introduce to the international market? Are there particular professions whose specialists have especially strong opportunities outside Lithuania?
V. Cook: At the moment, it is quite difficult to assess because filmmaking processes are long. However, I have noticed that the greatest interest tends to be in “lower-risk” roles, such as sound designers or composers, who can carry out their work remotely.
– At the Baltic Pitching Forum, you will speak about Baltic talent and the work of talent agents in Europe. What would you most like the Lithuanian film community to take away from this conversation?
V. Cook: That representation is a normal and traditional practice that people should not be afraid of. It needs to become part of our industry ecosystem if we want to grow.
– If we looked at the Lithuanian film industry five years from now, how would you like talent representation – and attitudes towards the role of agents – to have changed by then?
V. Cook: We would like agents to no longer be seen as something “new” in five years’ time, but as a normal part of the industry, just like producers or editors. We would like creatives to see representation as a tool for professional growth rather than as a threat or a luxury, and producers to view agents as partners who simplify and speed up the work.
We also hope to see the names of Baltic creatives appearing more frequently in the credits of international projects, more local agencies emerging, and some talent having not only an agent but also a manager who works with them on a long-term career strategy. Most importantly, we want our creatives to stop waiting to be discovered and instead step confidently into the international market themselves, with a strong team by their side.
– Thank you for the conversation!
Photos by Agnija Stroputė
