"Your relationship with an agent has got to be mutually beneficial. If you can't help their careers, then they're not going to be interested"
About this Quote
Strip away the showbiz romance and David Steinberg is giving you the cold, workable math of power. Coming from a comedian who’s spent decades watching careers get packaged, stalled, and resold, the line lands like a backstage warning: an agent isn’t a fairy godmother, they’re a broker. The point isn’t cynicism for its own sake; it’s survival advice delivered in the plainspoken cadence of someone who knows how often ambition gets mistaken for entitlement.
The specific intent is to reset expectations. People tend to frame representation as a stamp of approval: I’m worthy, therefore I get an agent. Steinberg flips it. Worthiness is irrelevant unless it converts into momentum the agent can trade on. “Mutually beneficial” sounds polite, even ethical, but the subtext is transactional: if you’re not generating money, heat, access, or leverage, you’re not a client, you’re a risk.
What makes it work is the pronoun choice: “Your relationship” and “you can’t help their careers.” It’s a subtle ego check. In most industries, your success is the product; in entertainment, your success is also the agent’s resume. A rising client expands an agent’s clout with casting directors, studios, venues, and other clients. That’s why agents chase “interest,” not “talent” in the abstract.
Context matters: Steinberg came up through eras when gatekeepers were everything, yet the same rule still governs today’s attention economy. Whether it’s late-night bookings or streaming deals, representation follows traction. The joke, if there is one, is that the quickest way to get someone to “believe in you” is to become useful first.
The specific intent is to reset expectations. People tend to frame representation as a stamp of approval: I’m worthy, therefore I get an agent. Steinberg flips it. Worthiness is irrelevant unless it converts into momentum the agent can trade on. “Mutually beneficial” sounds polite, even ethical, but the subtext is transactional: if you’re not generating money, heat, access, or leverage, you’re not a client, you’re a risk.
What makes it work is the pronoun choice: “Your relationship” and “you can’t help their careers.” It’s a subtle ego check. In most industries, your success is the product; in entertainment, your success is also the agent’s resume. A rising client expands an agent’s clout with casting directors, studios, venues, and other clients. That’s why agents chase “interest,” not “talent” in the abstract.
Context matters: Steinberg came up through eras when gatekeepers were everything, yet the same rule still governs today’s attention economy. Whether it’s late-night bookings or streaming deals, representation follows traction. The joke, if there is one, is that the quickest way to get someone to “believe in you” is to become useful first.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
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