With two clients currently nominated for Gemini Awards (that's the Canadian Emmy, y'all), my friend Bryan Misener is, by his own estimation, "the most powerful agent in Canada." Though he's being self-deprecatingly self-aggrandizing with that title, I can say, having known him several years, that he is certainly the nicest agent in Canada. He was kind enough to make time for me last week.

Wing Chun: So I guess you and Ari Gold of Entourage are basically indistinguishable at work. Is that right?

Bryan Misener: Pretty much. Yes. It's funny -- I get that a lot now; since the show's been so big, I get that a lot. You know what? That's a really American sensibility. There are a couple of agents I know who are kind of like that, but for the most part, we're not as ruthless as that kind of thing -- though we can be, in some cases -- but it's not like we'll sell our babies. But if I had babies to sell, who knows?

WC: You say that it's an American sensibility; maybe you can talk a little bit about the differences between the industry in the U.S. and Canada -- or do you just mean culturally as opposed to professionally?

BM: For sure, there are differences, both in the way that they work, because a lot of times, a client is a client of the agency, and there are several agents who work on different projects. They have a film agent and a TV agent and all that sort of stuff, and there are six or seven agents working with one actor, whereas here, we have our rosters, and we work on those people for everything. So that's one difference. And here, we kind of work as both agents and managers, whereas in the States, they're separate. The agent hustles to get the job, and the manager manages the whole career. So we kind of do both of those things, because you kind of have to here. The American style -- which you've always seen in television and movies and stuff -- there's a little bit of that here, but we're a little more Canadian, really. A little nicer about it all. Not so evil. Though I do know evil agents.

WC: Well, sure. Even I know evil agents. The agenting job in pop culture -- what do they get wrong? How is it for you watching fake agents in pop-culture products?

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With two clients currently nominated for Gemini Awards (that's the Canadian Emmy, y'all), my friend Bryan Misener is, by his own estimation, "the most powerful agent in Canada." Though he's being self-deprecatingly self-aggrandizing with that title, I can say, having known him several years, that he is certainly the nicest agent in Canada. He was kind enough to make time for me last week.

Wing Chun: So I guess you and Ari Gold of Entourage are basically indistinguishable at work. Is that right?

Bryan Misener: Pretty much. Yes. It's funny -- I get that a lot now; since the show's been so big, I get that a lot. You know what? That's a really American sensibility. There are a couple of agents I know who are kind of like that, but for the most part, we're not as ruthless as that kind of thing -- though we can be, in some cases -- but it's not like we'll sell our babies. But if I had babies to sell, who knows?

WC: You say that it's an American sensibility; maybe you can talk a little bit about the differences between the industry in the U.S. and Canada -- or do you just mean culturally as opposed to professionally?

BM: For sure, there are differences, both in the way that they work, because a lot of times, a client is a client of the agency, and there are several agents who work on different projects. They have a film agent and a TV agent and all that sort of stuff, and there are six or seven agents working with one actor, whereas here, we have our rosters, and we work on those people for everything. So that's one difference. And here, we kind of work as both agents and managers, whereas in the States, they're separate. The agent hustles to get the job, and the manager manages the whole career. So we kind of do both of those things, because you kind of have to here. The American style -- which you've always seen in television and movies and stuff -- there's a little bit of that here, but we're a little more Canadian, really. A little nicer about it all. Not so evil. Though I do know evil agents.

WC: Well, sure. Even I know evil agents. The agenting job in pop culture -- what do they get wrong? How is it for you watching fake agents in pop-culture products?

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