Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Taylor-Fagan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kimberly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my journey by having a passion for the arts. In the 1980’s after graduating from college, I moved to NY and became a print model and got an agent for commercial work as I took acting classes. I’ve always enjoyed the business but after leaving NY behind and returning to the south to pursue another career and have a family, I worked for many Fortune 500 companies (General Mills, RJ Reynolds, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals/Adams USA/Warner Lambert) I decided to open a personal business and one was a children’s gift and specialty clothing store named after my children “Jake and Jaycie’s Place” then I branched out into having additional store in our local mall where we offered girls makeovers and birthday parties. I am entrepreneur at heart.
One day a friend called to tell me about a acting showcase she was going to with her daughter in Orlando FL and invited myself and my son to come to because it would be fun to see if our children were interested in acting, singing, modeling. I was very reluctant but my son Jake was very outgoing, was doing some theatre and a singer so I said why not. I attended the showcase and my son did very well and was asked to move to LA. We decided to give it a two week trial and this turned into 9 years on and off in LA with my son and my daughter Jaycie. My oldest son Colby had modeled as a baby when we lived in Portland, OR, so I guess you can say, showbiz has always sort of been a part of our life in some way or the other.
In LA both of my children were auditioning for commercials, student films whatever we could do to get some experience. I managed both children and they started working at age eight (Jake) and age four (Jaycie). I was able to get them both with top LA youth agents and some days we had a combined 10-14 commercials a day. Eventually “showbiz” started going back to the SE and we started taping auditions. I coached my children basically with scene analysis and my son Jake was finding success in tv and film while my daughter Jaycie was booking national commercials. I never allowed them to be “overcoached” and directors seemed to like what we were doing with very natural “organic” reads, so we kept with what was working.
Soon I had mothers reaching out to me to learn more about what we were doing to find success and I found myself not only managing my children but I created KTA Talent Management Company and was a member of the TMA in LA and took on about 20 actors both adults and youth.
My son landed his first big break back in the SE as a series regular for a Sundance Channel series called “Rectify” and I had to be his set guardian for almost 4 years so we relocated to ATL. I decided to switch gears and become a talent agent, thus KTA Talent Group Talent Agency was established.
My daughter decided to have a “normal teenager” life and left Hollywood behind and the focus became my son’s career. I managed him (for 12 years) and set him up with his first talent agent in LA (Abrams Artist) and at the age of 22 he is still with this agency and decided to move on with another manager so that we could go back to being “mom and son” and I agreed. Sidenote: although we had a lot of success together I do not suggest representing your children in this business because it can place a lot of stress on your relationship when your child begins to find the success they most likely move on at some point because in their eyes you are “just their parent” ha!
My son has gone on to become multiple series regulars on tv series “Five Points” for FB and most recently the DC series “Star Girl.” I never wanted to be referred to as a “stage mom” therefore, when I started working with other actors I didn’t want them to want to work with me because of my success with my son but because I know the business and I am a very hard worker. I am a very good agent for youth and parents in this business, however, because I truly understand what it takes to be successful in this business and the sacrifices as a mother of multiple children and a business person who walked away from a very nice corporate job and salary to help my children pursue their dreams. I get it. It’s not easy. Also, we are from Mississippi and have “made it in Hollywood” so of-course others were curious.
Currently, I have less than 300 actors on roster adults and youth and I focus on the SE markets ATL, Louisiana being the largest markets. I have less than 30 youth ranging in ages 12 months to 16 on the roster, and the remaining actors are adults. I never want to be managing 500 plus actors because at that point I feel like I would not be able to know my actors well and my actors are not just actors to me but they are “family” and my goal is to help guide their career properly and this means knowing as much as I can about them so that I can better submit and pitch them to potential projects.
Our motto at KTA is “do you” because we are unique in that we are small but fierce, do not compare to others and have a loyalty that is hard to find in our business. Everyone is working toward a common goal and this goal is to have every actor on my roster working. I only open talent submissions when I have so many of my actors working in projects that it’s needed. I accept submissions a few times a year.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I feel like having my agency has been a smooth ride but the struggles are when I help develop an actor and when I get an actor a lot of auditions and they get known in our market and even book some nice tv series and feature films than out of the blue they decide to move on with another agency because the agency is bigger they feel they will be “better.” Usually, these actors will want to come back to KTA because they do not find that their emails, phone calls, personal texts are getting returned within 24 hours and that most agents do NOT give their clients their personal cell phone numbers. I am extremely hands on and I do not think actors understand how much so until they try out another agency. Actors dropping you for no apparent reason, is the biggest struggle I have because I invest so much in my actors, so it’s like losing a family member to me.
Please tell us about your business.
I am a talent agent, specializing in helping my clients find work in tv, feature films, commercials, print and voice over work. I do represent some singer songwriters as well. I’m known for having a successful track record with developing actors particularly youth actors.
I’m very proud that I have been able to be a successful talent agency without having to take on 400-800 actors as most agencies do to make a living. I feel my small roster sets me apart from other agencies and I am extremely selective about the actors I take on and if I do not feel that a prospective actor will be a true “team player” and if we do not feel comfortable in a phone conversation or person meeting, I do not care if an actor is a “name actor” I have a lot of integrity and am true to myself in that I work 15 hours a day if not more and I have to be sold on working this many hours for someone and making 10% of their pay. If someone is “drama” or I feel doesn’t have the quality of “loyalty” then I simply will not work with them. So I’m also proud of the fact that I can pass on the actor who possibly could make me money. I would rather develop an actor who is kind, no drama and has raw talent than to deal with someone who is going to make my quality of life miserable.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Plans for the future include a possible expansion of adding a agent or partner agent. I am a writer, director as well and have one feature film that has been picked up by two distributors “F5 Teraphobia” (the name will be changed but I can’t give any news away just yet) and I have a tv series about social media and teen suicide in the works. This is my “weekend hobby” but I do develop content and plan to continue to do so.
I am also very active along with my husband award winning singer song writer Jeff Fagan Jr in helping children learn more about the arts. You will see photos of being on set with these youth actors learning more about being on set. We have organized a Script to Screen film camp and we donate portions of proceeds to different organizations as well as give scholarships to youth actors who may not be able to afford to attend camp. The children write, cast, direct, act, edit, score music to their films. It is very rewarding to help guide the youth through the process and see their vision come to fruition. We plan to continue to be active in moving forward to help as much as we can to teach local actors what it takes to make their dreams come true in the music and acting industries.
My daughter Jaycie Walker will be starring in my new project “10 Minutes” which will explore teen social media bullying and suicides caused by the bullying. My daughter has been a victim of this herself and our stories are based on true events. We hope to film in and around the GA area.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ktatalentgroup.wixsite.com/ktatalent
- Email: ktatalentgroup@gmail.com
- Instagram: kta_talent_group
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktaentertainmentgrpoductionsgroup/
Image Credit:
Summer Hill Films (F5 Teraphobia artwork dvd cover) NA all other photos
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