Don't call me 'rep'
NW&CO's Nikki Weiss-Goldstein wants the industry to know that the job isn’t just about landing gigs – it’s about building futures.
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We build bridges. Bridges between commercial directors and the brands and agencies that need them. Between creative potential and production realities. Between what’s possible and what actually gets made.
And yet, after decades of strategy, matchmaking, crisis-averting, and career-sculpting, we’re still called something that feels wildly inadequate: rep.
"Rep" sounds transactional. Like we’re pushing product. Like we’re here to sell something we don’t believe in. We’re not.
A good rep is a career manager, a connector, a strategist and a relentless advocate.
We don’t want to sell. We don’t want to hustle reels, upload links to the next director search Google doc without explanation, or blast mass emails hoping something sticks.
A good rep is a career manager, a connector, a strategist and a relentless advocate. We are problem-solvers who dive into creative briefs like blueprints for possibility. We study an agency’s past work, listen for what the brand is really trying to say, and then match them with a director who doesn’t just meet the moment but elevates it.
We champion talent who may not be household names (yet!) but who have the vision, voice and chops to break through – if only given the opportunity. And when those directors lose a pitch to the industry’s go-to name – the one with the shiny brand, ghostwritten treatment and a shelf full of awards – it stings. Not just because it’s a loss, but because we know what could’ve been and how that opportunity should have shaped a director’s career.
This career, if you’re doing it right, is not glamorous.
I always say, a director’s reel isn’t a measure of their talent – it’s reflective of their opportunity. And behind every opportunity is someone fighting for it. And one of those someones is me.
This career, if you’re doing it right, is not glamorous. It’s a lot of rejection that you can’t take personally. It’s late nights, early mornings and sleepless weekends painstakingly building the right reel for the brief. It’s meetings, Zooms, calls, emails, texts – and maybe a tear (the private kind). It’s deep dives into treatments, last-minute brainstorms, and happy dances when it all clicks.
Yes, like Jerry Maguire said: "I am out here for you. You don't know what it's like to be me out here for YOU. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about.” And I wouldn’t have it any other way. This career is a deep commitment, a love story – one between us and the artists we believe in.
Above: Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire, the ultimate career manager, connector, strategist and relentless advocate.
This isn’t just about winning jobs. It’s about building careers, building trust, building creative partnerships on both sides of the industry we serve – and sometimes it’s about work that actually moves culture.
As the landscape has changed, the talent pool has become deeper, the timelines tighter, the expectations higher – and the stakes have never felt more personal.
We reps – if that’s the name that must stick – are a small part of our director’s success story.
Which is why, now more than ever, production companies need us as partners in the trenches, mining for opportunity with clarity and care – not just to win the next job, but to build something meaningful while being a trusted resource.
I care deeply about the directors and production companies I manage, about the agencies I serve, about the work itself – and about doing right by all of the people behind it.
We reps – if that’s the name that must stick – are a small part of our director’s success story. You won’t find our names in the credits, but our fingerprints are all over the frame.
So maybe it’s time to rethink our title.
Because personally, for me, this isn’t just sales. It’s devotion.
