We were lucky to catch up with Jett Wilder recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jett , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?

.I do! I have an amazing team. I have a theatrical agent for television and film auditions, a voice over agent, a commercial agent and a manager who is kind of like the overseer of everything I do professionally.

I have a system that I used to reach out to potential reps when I was seeking representation that worked for me, and that I now use to help my clients find representation. I could go on forever on this topic! I’m so passionate about it and love helping actors explore and find their places in this abundant industry. But I will keep it brief.

So when I was un-repped I was doing a lot of research. First about myself and where I felt I fit into the market. This consisted of watching tv shows I felt I may fit seamlessly into the world of, at that moment in time that were also casting in my local market of Los Angeles. Like, if that casting were to happen tomorrow, my essence and skill level and “type” are already a fit. I was also looking at tv shows I would love to be a part of and what might it require for me to believably fit into that world.

Then I did a lot of research of the reps who represented people on those shows with a focus on the supporting cast like the co-stars and guest stars. And basically researched until I found a rep who, based on their clients and their clients work, I felt they may also be a good fit for me, and I would reach out with the specific reason why I felt that way. That’s actually how I met my current manager, and then my manager set up meetings to build the rest of my team. What I love about my manager is that he is always thinking of my career in the long term, not just trying to “make me famous”. Don’t get me wrong, I think both my manager and myself would love that big breakout role! But I appreciate that he knows I’m in this for the long haul, that I want this as my career forever, not just to get famous. So he is incredibly strategic and unbelievably innovative when it comes to my career, the sustainability of it and the choices we make as a team, which I am so grateful for. He’s down to experiment with me as well, like when I decided to make a radical change in my look and shave my head, he was like “go for it”! I now have an entire team that I feel thinks like this. It feels amazing to have a team that’s invested in your entire long term career.

As far as why they may have wanted to work with me, I can’t be entirely sure! I do know I am extremely fortunate to have the team I do. I think possibly part of it was the knowledge I’ve gained from working with my manager and also my coach Victor Villar-Hauser, both in industry knowledge and audition skills. I do think it’s clear that I know how to work professionally and am very committed to doing my best work at all moments. I also secured my current team with a fair number of professional credits under my belt, so professional experience was a plus I’m sure. When I met with my commercial agent for the first time I had spray painted my hair bright red for an audition I had right before our meeting and didn’t have time to clean it out, and I actually think maybe she thought it was cool to see how committed I would be for an audition and that I wasn’t afraid to be bold. I think she also has a fun, bold side so we bonded over that and also my dance background. I have a few different professions. I think being a professional dancer and singer in addition to acting was helpful at securing reps. That and I train all the time. I’m always in class.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Jett is a muti-hyphenate who has been working in the tv/film/stage industries for over a decade. She began her hollywood journey as a professional dancer appearing in Disney Channel’s smash hit TEEN BEACH MOVIE, and continued to dance on countless television shows and productions across the country and major networks such as Nickelodeon, America’s Got Talent, Good Morning America, The View, Bunheads, 90210 and many more. Jett gracefully segued into the life of a working actor, having grown up training as a triple threat in her home state of Minnesota. You have seen her acting on hit shows like Will and Grace, 9-1-1 Lone Star, The Goldbergs, Ghosts and Home Economics to name a few. You can catch her Guest Starring in the new season of QUANTUM LEAP coming this fall, in a role she has to keep under wraps at the moment.

In addition to a successful acting career of her own, she also helps others achieve this dream as a coach. Her clients can be seen starring in shows spanning all the major networks, streamers and stages, including Nickelodeon, ABC, Broadway and Disney +. (There are photos with Jett and two of her students in this article. One with the talented, Celia Mendez, who is now recurring on Nickelodeon and the other of Jett congratulating her student Milo Maharlika as he exited the Hollywood Pantages Stage, as he is currently starring as Gavroche in the Broadway touring production of Les Mis). In addition to helping actors and performers book jobs, she also has a knack for helping her clients find and secure the right representation for them. As an example, this past year alone she has helped over 25 clients through the Voice Over client submission at Osbrink and A3 successfully resulting in representation.

Jett is passionate about her craft, and dreams of a career that allows her the platform to give back and help other creatives achieve their dreams.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe most of the time society is supporting the arts without even knowing it. The world is constantly enthralled in entertainment from TV, to film, and music! What has been most interesting to me lately as a creative is hearing a lot of feedback in a negative light, like “everything is a reboot” or “no one makes anything original anymore” for example. But then the same individuals are supporting that type of art by going to watch it and paying money for that content.

The world runs on dollars. The studios are going to make what makes them money, and costs them the least. So if there were people interested in supporting new artists and new perspectives, my answer would be buy THAT art. Go see THAT movie. Even if those pieces are a bit experimental. I think supporting those artists in their endeavor to explore untapped territory is extremely valuable.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’ve been asked about my “dream goal” a lot in my career. I think it expands constantly. If you were to ask baby me she would say “star in my own tv show”. Which is still a dream of mine! But, the reasoning has expanded outside of myself. The reason I would want to star on a television series now would be because of my love for collaboration and because it would, hopefully, place me in a position to bring other people and causes up with me. There is something so indescribably special to me being on a set and feeling the energy of literally tens or hundreds of people around you, from all different departments like wardrobe, make up, sound, lighting, set design all coming together to tell a story and achieve a common goal. It’s my favorite thing. And I think I have this idea that if I were a lead in a series I would be in a position to take care of all of these people, and invite more people into the “club”. To be the one on set who has some power to speak up for people around me and make sure everyone is having as much fun as I am, and that they are heard and taken care of. And the ability to bring on board hardworking, talented people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting on my journey, that I am so excited for the world to meet and witness their work.

So yeah. I think that’s what drives me to keep going. The promise of being able to do what I love at all moments of the day, and the ability to take care of as many people as I can.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_JettWilder
• Other: A little short film I made with my production partners, for zero dollars, during Covid. Mature audiences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma7nry0frb0