Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiauna Jackson.
Tiauna, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am born and raised in Phoenix, South Mountain to be exact. My family has been in Arizona since the 1800s. My father went to Phoenix Union High School, which was where all black students were bussed to during segregation. I have very deep roots here and know a lot of Arizona’s history from when it was a territory. Growing up, I fell in love with television and film. In high school, I started writing my own scripts, producing projects, learning film editing, and just absorbing as much information as I could about the entertainment business.
In college, I met my best friend who is a writer and director. Together, we formed a production company and started pitching projects to production companies and studios. Along the way, he kept telling me I should be his agent and I’ll admit, I ignored him for 15 years. In the end, he was right. Being an advocate for artists is something that I naturally excel at.
The catalyst for my permanent journey into talent representation in the field of Entertainment was in 2014, after experiencing discrimination in the workplace. I was repeatedly harassed for showing my natural hair. Having no support throughout that process, I realized that I am the only person that’s going to fight for not only myself but for the fair treatment and compensation of others. That’s when I became the “Champion.” Five years later, I’m in the New York Times, getting invited to red carpets, and speaking engagements.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road at all. Navigating this terrain alone is very challenging. I have no mentor. To this day, I still haven’t met someone who started his or her own agency with no previous agency experience. They cannot identify with anything I speak about because they took the traditional path. Which means I’ve been navigating my successes all off instinct.
One of the major struggles I encountered as a start-up was the lack of desire by the talent for a non-white agent. I am well educated, Jackson State, Chapman and UCLA, but I was a unicorn as an independent boutique during a time where there were so few independent agents of color. I found that I had to defend my credentials and educate people by regurgitating my knowledge of the industry more than anything.
What I struggle with now, is making sure my clients get seen. I once asked a casting director why she didn’t call my clients in and she first told me that my clients didn’t “pop” then I pointed out that I had placed these clients at other agencies with the exact same photos and they were getting called in, one of which was on avail with her. She then changed her response to “you don’t have a name.” To me, what she really meant was you’re not one of my favorites and I don’t respect you.
Hopefully, this practice will change but I doubt it. Casting sites have filters built in to sort out submissions by agency, so if any agency isn’t on the favorites list of a casting director, our submissions will be ignored. It’s a cliquish practice that I hope to change as well over time.
Please tell us about your business.
The Jackson Agency is a Talent and Literary Agency committed to Championing Diversity. Last year, I had affectionately called us the “Underdogs” but a colleague pointed out that we were winning the fight, so now we’re the “Champions.” What I’m known for is being a fighter. Being a tenaciously and unapologetically focused CEO, Entrepreneur, and Creative Executive. My clients enjoy my straightforward approach to business and how everything I do is “For The Culture.”
I’m known for being the only boutique profiled in the New York Times article about the “Uphill Battles of Black Agents in Hollywood.” I’m also known for being an agent that will take on talented artists with no credits and help them build their resumes so they are more competitive. I’m doing the same thing now with writers.
I’m proud that like my father and grandfather I am moving through business ventures in my own way. My father was the first black Superintendent of an aluminum manufacturing plant and my grandfather was the first Black mechanic hired at Los Angeles County.
Now, I’m making history as the first black woman with a Writers Guild of America West Franchise and became the first-ever WGA Franchise in Georgia. I’m also one of a few Black women in Los Angeles have their own talent agency.
What’s great about all of these milestones is that Championing Diversity has been the heart and soul of this agency. I’ve never shied away from doing what was right, even if it meant I had more hills to run and I am honored to play a part in bringing diversity mainstream.
What sets the Jackson Agency apart from the other is that my agency is a talent agency rooted in the core values of integrity, passion, and trailblazing. My clients and I don’t back down easily. We’re fighters. We’re Champions.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Our plans for the future are to continue to be the place where artists get their start. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching an unknown artist that you saw potential in, breakout in entertainment. Seeing a talented client go from scratch to series regular is exhilarating and being blessed to play a part in that is very fulfilling.
I’m looking forward to finally starting more coaching, branding and development, and financial literacy programs. Everyone has been on me about that, they really love what I’ve done with my “Getting Started” program. I’m excited to apply the same techniques with writers and their development through “For The Culture.” I’m eyeing Atlanta for my inaugural class. That market has been extremely underserved.
One of my goals for 2020 is to be an author, if I can push through a few more things on my agenda I can make it happen for the last quarter of 2019. I’m this huge resource of knowledge for these artists and I’ll rattle it off at mixers and dinners, but I haven’t actually taken the time to write it all down and put it out there for people who want help.
With the Agency expanding officially into the literary space, there are going to be enormous changes there. My laser precision focus with that arena is finding and developing content creators of color. To do that, I immediately reached out to writing communities of color with an open door for discussion so I could personally hear their stories and experiences navigating Hollywood. Those who decided to participate gave me enough information for me to plan and execute the present workflow for our literary department. I’m excited to announce that Atlanta will be ground zero for that effort.
So I’m not doing anything different from what I’ve normally done. I’m keeping community building as the heart of my organization, consciousness as my sword, and Black Excellence as my shield. I’m crushing marginalization by any means necessary.
Before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story?
I’ll be brief because my story has been suggested to be a film one day by an executive that represents reality tv mogul Mona Scott-Young.
Despite several interviews, I was never able to get hired at an Agency for entry-level positions. I tried to first learn the business via an internship at an agency, but when the owner made racists remarks about a Latino, I abruptly left.
After being ignored or told no, I decided that I am responsible for my destiny and no one gets to dictate how my life turns out but me. So, I started my agency from the ground up. That is significant because most agents who start their boutiques have a client list from their other employer, casting and production contacts, with general relationships, respect, and visibility. I didn’t have any of that. So, I had to start with nothing and work extremely hard for every dollar because I didn’t have those contacts.
To this day, I’m still unable to get hired for entry-level positions at agencies. One executive was so uncomfortable by my presence that he conducted most of the interview with his back to me looking over his right shoulder when he spoke to me. Given the ethnic makeup of agencies and executives in Hollywood, I knew getting hired was a hail mary, but I still hiked the ball.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It was not a smooth road at all. Five years later, it’s still not a smooth road. Struggles have been dealing with the emotions of artists. There have been times where we have lost opportunities because I couldn’t get a hold of an actor. A casting director has told me that I don’t have a big enough name to warrant her calling my clients in. One time, I had an actor that was a potential client become violent in my office because they were late for their meeting with me and I couldn’t fit them in for a reschedule. I get calls from people who try to name drop or tell me that we have a meeting scheduled when we don’t. I’ve been told by a mom-ager that I’m a shit agent because I’m willing to go to college showcases and scout new talent.
These things are stressful and hurtful. But I acknowledge it goes along with the culture I’ve created here. I personally answer the phone, respond to emails for representation, respond to messages on social media. That’s not the norm. It shocks a lot of people when they call and can speak to me.
I recognize that when you are open and easily accessible, people have no problem sharing their criticisms. So it just comes with the territory of being visible in the entertainment industry. As long as these people don’t marginalize and prevent the great things that I am actually doing for this community, I’ll take the hits.
Please tell us about your business.
I own talent and literary agency that represents artists, producers, crew, and content creators all over the world. The easiest way to explain it is, the people you see on television, I’m one of the people who helps put them on television.
I’m known for being a straightforward leader of the underdogs. The Underdogs are the underserved, the underrepresented, and the underestimated. I’m proud that I’ve been able to find like-minded individuals to add to the team we have here at The Jackson Agency. Together, we fight to open doors and create opportunities that other executives are afraid to do. We root for each other, and look out for one another as well, that’s VERY rare at an agency. We have a very unique culture, and it works for us. To the naysayer, I simply state, “it’s just not for you.”
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have started the agency sooner, as there has always been a need for what I’m doing. When I was growing up it was a big deal that Gabrielle Union and Aisha Tyler were the first Black people on “Friends.” By the time I found my way to talent representation, I was one of thousands of agencies in California. So I entered into a market that was extremely over-saturated and very cliquish. There isn’t a warm welcome for anyone in entertainment you have to fight for every inch you get. However, given Hollywood’s history and present day lack of Agents of color, I often wonder if I had started back in 2000 would it have been any better? Considering it is 19 years later, and I’m still pioneering certain niches, and fighting keyboard warriors in the trenches, probably not.
Contact Info:
- Address: LA – 1901 Avenue of the Stars, Second Floor, Century City, CA 90067 | GA – 715 Peachtree Street N.E. Suite 100 & 200 Atlanta, GA 30308 | PHX – 2 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004
- Website: http://tja.agency
- Phone: 818-538-5305
- Email: submissions@thejacksonagency.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jacksonagency
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejacksonagency
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tjagency
- Other: https://linkedin.com/in/thejacksonagency/
Image Credit:
Tuxedo shots – Vanie Poyey
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