A Day in the Life of a Director’s Agent (Or, How I Became a Human Time Zone Calculator)

Being a director’s agent isn’t just about matching talent with the right jobs, it’s about surviving a never-ending tidal wave of urgent emails, WhatsApp messages, and last-minute crisis calls from every continent.

You think you’re just helping directors land dream jobs, but in reality, you’re part career strategist, part therapist, part negotiator, and part international crisis manager.

My day doesn’t start when I wake up. It starts when Vietnam wakes up.

Morning: Vietnam Needs Answers. Now.

I open my eyes to an avalanche of WhatsApp messages.

“Hey! Super urgent. Client wants director options NOW. Shoot is in two weeks. Budget TBD. Can you send reels in five minutes?”

I take a deep breath. I check the time. It’s 6 AM. I check my phone. 42 new messages. I check my soul. It has left the chat.

I fire off a few names of directors who might be available (and more importantly, awake), and just as soon as I rush through a shower, getting dressed and nursery drop-off….

The Middle East joins the party.

A producer in Dubai needs a director, but first, they need to know:

✅ Have they shot in the middle east before?

✅ Have they shot something identical to the brief before? (spoiler: if they have the agency will cancel the job)

✅ Are they free to write a treatment by lunchtime?

The requests are coming in at the speed of light, and I haven’t even had my first coffee.

Midday: Europe Takes Over

By now, I’ve made peace with the fact that I won’t be having breakfast. It’s fine. Maybe lunch will happen. (Narrator: It will not happen.)

Now, it’s Europe’s turn to keep me busy.

📌 London wants a budget friendly director for a luxury campaign.

📌 Bucharest has sent a brief that is both extremely detailed and completely unclear.

📌 Paris is wondering why I haven’t responded yet (even though they emailed me five minutes ago).

At the same time, I’m juggling calls with directors. Some are excited about a job. Some are panicking about a job. Some are ghosting me when I need a quick answer about a job.

Meanwhile, I’m also negotiating deals. These conversations usually go like this:

Producer: “We love this director. But, uh… can we do it for half the budget?”

Me: “No.”

Producer: “Okay, okay, but what if we…pay them their fee but 6 months from now”

Me: “Still no.”

Producer: “What if we paid them in exposure?”

Me: “What if I expose you instead?”

Afternoon: The East Coast Joins In

Just as I start feeling like I have things under control, New York wakes up, and suddenly I’m drowning in email chains with agency creatives, producers, and five people who definitely don’t need to be cc’d.

American agencies love a good director call, even if the brief isn’t locked yet, even if the client might change their mind, even if we’re all just talking about vibes at this point.

📞 “Can we hop on a call in the next hour?”

Me: “The director is on set.”

📞 “Can they step away for five minutes?”

Me: “They are in the middle of filming.”

📞 “But just real quick?”

Me: “They are hanging out of a helicopter with a camera.”

📞 “Cool, cool. So can they do it?”

I check my inbox. A New York agency has sent me a 45-page deck full of strategy insights, but no actual script. Perfect. Just as I start deciphering it, I realize what time it is.

Evening: LA Wakes Up, and So Do My Nightmares

Just as I’m thinking about logging off for the day, Los Angeles wakes up with a whole new wave of problems.

🌴 “Hey, let’s jump on a call real quick!”

Me: “It’s 9 PM.”

🌴 “Oh, didn’t realize you were in a different time zone!”

Me: “…”

LA briefs arrive late, chaotic, and full of contradictions.

📌 “We want something fresh! Different! Totally unexpected!”

📌 “Also, we don’t want to take any risks.”

At this point, I am running on caffeine and the sheer force of will. My inbox is full of producers changing their minds, and agencies who have somehow only just realized that their campaign shoots next week and they have no one confirmed.

I check my phone one last time before bed:

✅ Did a director email me at 2 AM with an existential crisis? (Yes.)

✅ Did a producer misunderstand an entire conversation and book someone without confirming? (Very likely.)

✅ Is another client about to wake up in a new time zone and start emailing me at 3 AM? (Absolutely.)

Final Thoughts: Why I (Mostly) Love This Job

Yes, my days are chaotic. Yes, I work across time zones that mean someone is always awake and needing something from me. But honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

✔️ I never stop working, but I also never stop learning.

✔️ I juggle a hundred things at once, but I also get to help great talent grow.

✔️ I deal with wild clients, but I also get a front-row seat to how the industry works around the world across cultural divides.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m putting my phone on silent for exactly five hours before Vietnam wakes up again.

Looking for a rep who thrives in this chaos? Let’s talk. Just maybe… not at 2 AM.