We were lucky to catch up with Tina Contogenis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tina, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
After being in the entertainment business for most of my life, I had an idea of how I wanted representation to look like and feel like. I started as a child actor, and then moved quickly behind the camera into production. I worked briefly in Casting and really landed in the television area on network television shows. I initially wanted to create a company that could bring talent from Mexico into the United States and put them in roles that were empowering. This was about 15 years ago so it wasn’t as popular of a topic as it is today. Around that time I transitioned into talent representation, and knew that I wanted to do things differently. In 2016 while working as an agent for another agency, I started working with a manager in Mexico to transition their talent into the US market. I knew I was onto something when we were having bookings after bookings. We were placing Latin talent into roles such as doctors and lawyers. I felt like we were making a difference. In 2017 I launched Eris Mexico, and immediately after, I opened Eris Talent Agency (in the United States). My goal was to represent people in a way in which they felt valued and respected and not categorized. As a foundation of the company, kindness and respect has always been a topic of all of our staff meetings. Today we continue to represent people from all over the world. And always with kindness and respect. We take pride in responding quickly to our clients and making sure they know how special they are to the Eris family.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Eris Talent Agency is a full service, bi-coastal talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Mexico City. We have a footprint in Atlanta and we have an affiliate in England. We not only place our clients in television and films, we also have a strong literary department which packages, movies, and TV shows. We represent over 2000 actors and creators worldwide.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic hit us all in a very difficult way. Especially those of us in the entertainment industry, where there was little relief offered in terms of support. We knew at that time we were not going to be booking any television shows or movies, which were our livelihood, so we decided to pivot to opening a family division of our commercial department. We started going places and scouting and Posting ads to get as many great families on board as we could. We knew that the commercials were using true families. During 2020 and 2021, our Commercial family division far exceeded our expectations and allowed us to not only stay afloat during this time, but to actually expand. Today, even through two strikes this past year, our family division continues to be one of the strongest divisions in the agency.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I am so fortunate to have an amazing business partner, Amy Lord Posey. I had met her several times at industry events because she was an agent, and so was I. The day we actually discussed joining forces, we were at a party. Immediately, after having an in-depth conversation with her, I realize that she shares the exact same philosophy. We are so similar, it’s ridiculous. We think the same things and will text them to each other at the same time. I was fortunate enough to actually officiate her marriage to her husband (actor John Posety) and be a part of that special day for her. She is like a sister to me and I believe is the reason that our company is doing so well. There is no one I would rather have as my work wife.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.eristalentagency.com
- Instagram: ErisTalentAgency
- Facebook: Eristalentagency
- Linkedin: Tina contogenis
- Twitter: Eristalentagency
Image Credits
@deidhrafahey