5 essential books and articles that are required reading for Hollywood up-and-comers, according to a top TV agent at WME
- Bradley Singer is a partner at the talent agency WME. He joined the firm in 2009.
- He’s built a practice in unscripted, representing top names in journalism, media, and broadcasting.
- Here’s the list of books and articles Singer recommends to newcomers at the legendary agency.
Bradley Singer aspired to be a theater director while studying for his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Carnegie Mellon University.
He’d eventually choose a different path, motivated by his interest in the business side of entertainment, to become an agent at WME, the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency he joined through its storied mailroom training program. Singer, who joined WME in 2021 and is based in New York City, represents journalists, unscripted TV talent, publishers, and production companies.
Singer remembered a piece of advice given to him by one of his college professors: “If you can imagine yourself doing something else, you should go do that,” the professor said. “Working in theater, being an actor, being a director is really only for people who cannot imagine doing something else.”
“I could imagine myself doing other things,” Singer added. “I liked the strategic thinking that came with putting things together, with working behind the scenes.”
‘Find a niche where you can be unique’
Singer, who is passionate about the news business, has a star-studded client list that includes CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins, MSNBC host Symone Sanders, ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, “The View” co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, and other top figures from national and international news outlets. His clients include Wall Street Journal Studios, Bloomberg Media, and Puck News.
Singer recalls how his early days in the mailroom program provided him with “exposure to every facet” of the business, as well as the opportunity to meet agents and rub shoulders with peers who would go on to become high-powered network and studio executives. As he honed his professional skills, he realized that representing news media personalities hadn’t yet become “oversaturated,” so he decided to dive in.
“I often tell people, find a niche where you can be unique,” he told me, “where you’re not competing with a bunch of other people all doing the same thing.”
Despite the numerous challenges confronting the media industry right now, such as crippled advertising revenues and newsroom layoffs, Singer and his colleagues are looking ahead.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about what’s going to happen to news content going forward,” he told me. “How will we consume visual, informative content?” The market is currently under pressure. Linear television is undergoing a dramatic transformation. You’ve heard about it from every broadcaster. Nobody knows what the answer is yet.”
Singer’s advice to newcomers: Read as much as you can
Singer has become a mentor to agency newcomers at WME, and one of his top pieces of advice is to read voraciously.
Indeed, reading is “one of the top pieces of advice I give to people when they ask what they can do to get ahead,” he explained, adding that he reads a variety of publications every day, including industry trades, national newspapers, and magazines. They assist him in advising clients, signing new ones, and understanding the trends that affect his work.
He specifically refers industry aspirants to a list of must-read books and seminal journalism to assist them in understanding their workplace and industry. Some of these works honor legendary WME agents’ legacies. “To be able to say you work at this place that goes back so many years, that was responsible for a lot of things that we take for granted now, is a really cool feeling,” he went on to say.
Here are Singer’s 5 must-reads to help give newcomers to the entertainment industry — especially in talent representation space — an edge:
- “The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Hollywood by Frank Rose” (1995): “This is a classic in my opinion, and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand both the general thrust of Hollywood innovation and the general influence of agents behind that innovation, beginning in 1898 with William Morris.” While the book is no longer in print, used copies and an audiobook version are readily available.”
- Connie Bruck’s 2004 book “When Hollywood Had a King”: “You can’t understand modern Hollywood without understanding Lew Wasserman, who revolutionized both the talent agency business and the studio business between MCA and Universal.” “From cradle to grave, Connie Bruck’s biography is a must-read.”
- “The Quiet Guy in Lindy’s Part 1” and “Part 2” in The New Yorker (1946): “I love this two-part series about the legendary Abe Lastfogel from the fantastic New Yorker writer EJ Kahn.” Lastfogel was William Morris’ first “office boy,” and he helped build the agency into an East Coast behemoth before moving west to “the Coast.”
- Vanity Fair’s “When Sue Was Queen” (2000): “Bestselling critic Peter Biskind transports readers back to the go-go 1970s and 1980s when uber-agent Sue Mengers ran Hollywood alongside clients like Gene Hackman and Barbra Streisand.” Sue defied the axiom that the agent should never outshine the star… but it worked for her!”
- From Sports Illustrated (1990), “The Most Powerful Man in Sports”: “You can’t separate sports from entertainment any longer, and Mark McCormack, who founded IMG, is the man who made sports figures larger than life.” Longtime SI writer EM Swift describes McCormack as “prolific and powerful; in terms of representation, you have to put McCormack up there with Wasserman, Ovitz, and Emanuel.”
