Talent Agent Tracy Christian Examines The Hollywood System And Talks About Her Production Company ‘It’s A Way To Express Ourselves’

Hollywood agent Tracy Christian fondly remembers spending time with writer Joseph Doherty and the late film director and screenwriter John Singleton. He once told her that she should either become a Madame or an agent when they were discussing her next step in life.

"I said, well, as good as I look in orange, I'll try agenting," says Christian regarding her start in the entertainment industry. When Christian left San Francisco and moved to Los Angeles, California to start her career, becoming a talent agent was not on her radar. However, when she began seriously considering the profession Christian was intimidated by the requirements that she thought most agents retained.

"I didn't think I had enough education to be an agent," she confesses. Christian goes on to describe the attributes of a Hollywood agent like a character description in a script, in her mind, an agent was a White man with an East Coast education primarily from Harvard, adorned in a $3,000 Brook Brother suit with wingtips who knew everyone in town and at the studios, similar to the agent character Ari Gold depicted by Jeremy Piven in the HBO hit show "Entourage."

Christian immediately summed up that she did not fit the prototype,"That's not me; I've got blue hair. I can't discuss film the way I hear John and Joe discuss films. But I found out very quickly that most agents have no working knowledge of film, whether they're representing talent, directors, or writers. But, one thing our community knows is we exalt work ethic."

Christian calls to attention how the Black community perceives Black women as synonymous with laboriousness, and it is not uncommon for Black women to work a full-time job, go to school, raise children, and care for their parents. "You're doing the job and living the lifestyle of three or four human beings. So when I felt insecure about my knowledge, I said, 'Oh no, I know what to do,'" she says. Christian decided to immerse herself in film and obtained AFI's (American Film Institute) top 100 films and it registered that she had viewed 75% of the movie on the list. "I started realizing there's a reason this is interesting to me [and remembering when] my parents took me to see small independent films like "The Man Who Fell To Earth" when I was six years old, or, I've read that book, I know who that director is, I'm already watching the credits of a film. Let me fine tune my knowledge. But I'm already there," she said reassuringly of her current skill set.

Christian's relationship with the renowned film director Singleton developed when she attended USC and Singleton was the star graduate. She worked in the advertising department of Robinson-May corporation while going to school and met a young writer, Joseph Doherty, from Detroit. They were the only young Black people working in the company's promotional division. Doherty's infatuation with Asian culture, comic books, and independent film helped Christian navigate and deepen her understanding of film through their many discussions. Both men would serve as her entry point into the industry. Christian entered the field of talent scouting by landing an internship at a management company where the owner carried out unscrupulous business practices such as charging actors upfront to represent them. Before leaving the company, she did assess that if her boss at the time, a woman, could run a management company and Christian could also become an owner of her firm.

Soon after, she became employed at a small boutique agency and instantly acclimated to the work culture.

"Have you ever had the experience of walking into a place you get no training, but you know what to do? I sat down at that desk, and I was just an assistant, and it felt right in my body. I remember the agent that I was working for he said, 'Hey, so when you process a booking sheet, this is how I want you to do it," she remembers and when the agent asked if she wanted to write down his instructions, she replied, "I said, I already did it." She then gave additional pointers on how their system could work more efficiently based on a book she read. They recognized that Christian was capable and knowledgeable about how to do her job well.

"I was managing the office and an assistant to the president. I got promoted to being a junior agent within six months. The first client I signed won a Peabody that year. So I was off and on my way," she says.

Christian facetiously outlines how an agent leaves their organization, usually under the cloak of midnight, almost mirroring espionage. While intriguing and fittingly dramatic, especially for the industry she works in when Christian set forth to launch her agency, her roster included several clients that she represented for many years. After being initiated into Hollywood, she pledged to herself that her business methods would be "methodical," "clean," and "above board." She frankly stated that there was no need to act duplicitous.

"When I left, I didn't even call any clients. I only brought over the clients who were not under contract and that I personally signed. So if I was responsible for 50 people, I only reached out to five or six and invited them to join me, and they did," she reveals. "Who opens an agency with five or six clients who are not like Brad Pitt? Look, business is a financial undertaking, but it was a spiritual walk."

Today, her agency has been operational for ten years and her clients have won Oscars, multiple Golden Globes, and Peabody awards. Yet, she would like to see other Black agencies operating at her caliber. So far, there is another Black woman who also owns a talent agency in Los Angeles and Crystal Ship, located in New York. But according to Christian, having only three Black-owned agencies "is not winning."

"I hope it encourages others; part of the challenge is our mindsets. When we think of entertainment, our community first thinks from the art perspective. 'I can be a writer, director, actor, musician, that's great. Not enough of us think about the backlink and who's orchestrating those careers. Who's making those deals?" she asks, underscoring the true power structure of show business, "Look, here's what I always tell people. The revolution has to be financed. Behind every radical social movement is a dollar; without someone [going out to march, [and] without somebody to bail your ass out of jail, there isn't a movement. So that's me. If you want to be in that kind of power position, if you want to be the tip of the spear, you're looking at a different role."

Christian impresses on the next generation of players in Hollywood to think in addition to being an artist and having financial stakes in the business by honing their enterprising spirit. She especially wants women to consider attacking the Hollywood system from the business angle.

"This is the age of the Black woman and Brown woman. So there are women on boards now that look like us, and they recruit and hire more women. But is anybody making a place? No. Frankly, I'm not applauding anybody's efforts after 100 years of the entertainment industry blocking us, and now I'm supposed to do cartwheels because you're recruiting at Spelman. First, you wouldn't give us any jobs, but now you think you're going to take our best and brightest? And we're supposed to cheer you on? No, sir," she observes, speaking about the initiatives Hollywood launched amplified during the aftermath of the George Floyd riots.

Christian mentors women interested in the entertainment business but encourages them to pursue ownership because she believes that is where the true power lies. She also motivates artists to bring about change by "voting with their dollars" by hiring representatives who reflect the community they come from or ensuring their team has their best interest. To enhance her point, she shares an anecdote concerning former Los Angeles Lakers and billionaire entrepreneur Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr.

"There's a famous story in Hollywood. I don't know if it's true, but when Magic Johnson, who was making the change from ballplayer to businessman, he had this meeting at William Morris. A young Black male walked in with his notepad like [one of the] partners, and they had the meeting. In the preamble to the meeting, people walk in and say, 'Hey, you want some water,' and they're telling you jokes, and Magic looked around the room and said, 'Hey, where are all the brothers at?' Then one of the partners ran out and grabbed the first Black face that he saw and said, 'Get in the meeting, sit down, shut up, don't say a thing.' when the meeting was over, Magic announced, yes, I'm going to come to this particular agency, but Magic knew what he did. He did that very consciously, and because that young man was pulled into that meeting, he went from being an assistant or coordinator to an agent, starting a new way of thinking. We need more talent, more artists to do that."

Although she acknowledges that the Black community has advocates and allies, there is a need for more, making the industry more complex, engaging, and sustainable for the next millennium.

"We can no longer be successful having the industry run exclusively by Ari Golds," she warns.

Researchers from UCLA's Center for Scholars and Storytellers assembled the Air Report that analyzed films that showcased diverse characters and storylines, often positively impacting the bottom line of those movies at the box office.

Analysts reviewed 100 films from 2016 to 2019. They found films like "Coco," "Black Panther," and "Wonder Woman" were significant earners at the box office and ranked high on the diversity scale based on Mediaversity. Yet, films such as "Joker" and "Shaft" showed mediocre results.

The report also discovered that films that lack diversity lose money with ticket sales; for example, big-budget films with little or no variety risk making $27 million less when the film debuts, following a possible loss of $130 million collectively.

"Regardless of the critical acclaim of a film, money is still being left on the table if the film lacks authentically inclusive representation," the report indicates.

Christian is baffled by the stronghold of institutional racism and how it blinds the industry from purposely ignoring this lucrative storytelling sector. She references the film "Fear Of A Black Planet," a title adopted by Public Enemy's 1990 album of the same name. One underlying reason may be the fear that globally projecting a more egalitarian society might change the hierarchy of authority.

"If you got into this business, 'cause you want to make art, you want to make money, and there's a bunch of people over here doing exactly the things that you said you wanted to do, why would you ignore them and why would you even try to change the way they speak, or look, or the stories that they want to tell?" she astutely inquires.

Christian represents a diverse directory of talent. Although she may now relate to stories or communities, she must sell their stories to their specific audience.

"But we know, when we welcome a Serena [Williams], a Venus [Williams], a Tiger [Woods]. When we have [Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones] who's on the U.S. Olympic swim team [and] Simone Biles, if you look at sports as an art form, we raise the level of competition globally and interest. That's how you get the best and brightest. Not only the trust fund kid whose parents can afford the pursuit, or a Ryan Lochte, whose parents invested in [his career], but you get that kid that you never thought of before; you sustain your industry. But people weren't looking at it like that," she says.

While most Black pioneers and the subsequent generations have to fight against institutionalized racism no matter what sector of the type of career or business they work toward, they must also battle against internalized racism within themselves and when interacting with community members. Christian has encountered that brick wall when convincing Black talent to sign with her agency.

"There's an adage that every Black person of a certain age knows called 'the white man's ice is colder'; the joke is ice is ice. We have prejudices within our community, and we have those that we've taken on; we believe some of the stereotypes people have given about Black people," she says.

Christian flashes back to a moment she spoke to a young man who sat in her office and told her upfront that he was not interested in acting in any Tyler Perry projects. She assured him that he would decide the type of work he wanted to go after and that they would work together. "I said the Jewish community has a Catskills kind of humor that they create, and we named some comedians that came from that environment, and they accept that it's not high art. I think of Tyler Perry in the same way. I'm not telling you that you need to do it. I have my opinions about Tyler Perry, but why diminish him? I know what you said. But I know what you mean, and why do you assume, with me, [and] my six-figure education, my agency, all of these awards behind me, that my first thing was going to be that I'm Black, you're Black, you got to do Tyler Perry? Is that what you're thinking? That's the first conversation; you don't even know what my aesthetic is; you don't even know what I watch? How many languages I speak, what I've done. But you're in a rush to put me in the Tyler Perry ghetto?" she says, taken aback by the actor's assumptions and mentions that many white movies utilize caricature.

Many newcomers would not be opposed to working in an Adam Sandler film. However, Christian thinks Black performers are in a hurry to prove they are the New Black. Yet, white actors are privileged not to have to prove themselves from the stereotypes imposed on them by a racist infrastructure. "The other thing is he would have never said that to a white agent. Never. They would never have had that conversation," she remarks. Black-owned business owners face never-ending challenges, including finding capital to sustain their operations, garnering customer support, and combating being pigeonholed. When Christian started her agency, the question frequently was whether she only represented Black talent. She argues if her roster included actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Viola Davis, she would go out of business.

"Denzel makes one film every three years. Will even less, and Viola is not making 20 million a year, so I would not survive. I represent artists that I'm interested in and that trust me, period, irrespective of their color, but apparently, it's still 1922," she adds. Christian leadership and sagacity have earned her the spot of one of the five most prominent Black women agents in the industry. During the pandemic, her agency experienced massive expansion due to her planning that she wanted everyone to emerge from the fatal contagion with a 25% raise based on a program she rolled out. Her shrewdness gave TCA MGMT the latitude to open offices in New York in 2020. Under TCA MGMT, she has represented trained character actors, writers, and producers since 2011. Past clients include Oscar winners Melissa Leo, Octavia Spencer, Mo' Nique, and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Elizabeth Moss.

Overseeing her literary talent, she is directly responsible for selling over 1,000 hours of primetime on-air programming. Her immense contributions have not gone unnoticed, and Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon honored Christian this year and felt the recognition was paramount coming from the Black community.

"My experience, as a Black woman, is lauded by other communities before ourselves. So I think it's important for the sisterhood, it's important for the information, it's important for the fashion magazines in my household were Essence and Vogue, sometimes, Harper's Bazaar. My mom thought Essence was way more important and relevant than the other two," she says, adding, "It's an acknowledgment [that is] important to a younger generation even to know that these jobs and opportunities exist. It's just not about getting the job. It's about getting the job that fits you where you are allowed to speak your voice and write your aesthetic. If they don't allow you to do that wherever you are, you can build your own house. You don't have to accept the meal that's presented."

Christian continues to develop additional components to her brand by forming a film production company called Black Leather Jacket that opened pre-pandemic. The name derives from the idea that agents traditionally wear suits, whereas her creative team dons black leather jackets reminiscent of the Black Panthers, who may have crossed paths with the Ramones. Christian's objective for the inauguration of her dream factory was to support the work she believes in by becoming a content creator. Christian produced a 2018 film titled "Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy" starring Laura Dern and Kristen Steward that closed the Toronto International Film Festival, and in 2019 Universal Pictures released the movie.

"We've been focused on raising more money, finding work, and supporting some pilots. It's just a different profit center and a way to express ourselves. Luckily everybody I work with is a film snob," she laughs heartily.

Christian's brilliance is identifying areas where representation is lacking and initiating a change. As a plus-sized woman, she knows first-hand that the fashion industry and show business are infamous for dismissing women who are not a size six or less. At the point of her career where she was invited to prominent events like the Cannes Film Festival and could afford luxury lines like Armani and Christian Dior, finding something appropriate to wear was always an arduous task. "As usual, I'm not going to sit home and complain about it; I'm going to make my own. So for about ten years, I designed my wardrobe," she declared. When the pandemic padlocked the global community, Christian enrolled in online classes at the Parsons School of Design and launched her clothing line named Sante Grace, meaning Saint Grace, after her grandmother, who taught her how to sew.

"I started this company, and I wanted fat girls to be able to express themselves and their clothing. Women wear what we're told to wear, what's available to us. What's available to us by price and what some arbitrary person out there puts out," she says of her fashion collection that is not mass produced and touts that her pieces will make women feel confident. Currently, consumers can purchase items online and find the brand in Los Angeles at the two brick-and-mortar stores, Matte Argyle and the Plus Bus.

Christian never set out to make a political statement about plus-size fashion. Still, she says the comments on TikTok reaffirm what society, directly and indirectly, communicates to women who do not fit the paradigm of beauty, "It's all a part of telling women you're not good enough; you got to be something else" it is a path that she has no intention of trodding down, and based on her professional track record, Christian has told society that she marches to the beat of her own drum and demands others follow suit.