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Brian McCabe joined IAB as the head of its Theatrical Department after running his own agency for many years.
Brian McCabe has been in the agent business for over 20 years now. Like many people he did not start out wanting to be an agent. Brian was a stage manager in a prior life and was looking to get involved on sets by doing a comparable job in film/television, being an A.D. One needed connections, however, to get those jobs he did not have any. In the meantime, Brian answered an ad in the Hollywood Reporter looking for an “assistant.” In truth Brian did not know what an assistant was, but had performed paralegal work in high school, so figured that whatever it was, he could do it. And thus, Brian McCabe started answering phones part time at the Henderson/Hogan Agency, going full time a few short months later. A decade after that, Brian actually bought the west coast office of Henderson/Hogan. There were a few name changes in the following decade, but he owned and ran a talent agency for the entire time. In May 2010, Brian closed up his agency and went to work for Venture IAB. There were many different reasons for this decision, but primarily because they were doing things that he had wanted to do with his company and doing them well. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, Mr. McCabe joined forces and took over as the head of the Theatrical Department. Brian never wanted to be an actor, but did get good experience breaking down scenes by being a stage manager, a skill he has used with his clients when they have questions about their sides. Brian even gets the occasional phone call from an ex-client asking for help with their sides. While he is not a coach, nor pretends to be one, he does know scene structure. Brian truly likes actors that underplay a scene as opposed to the ones that do the gaudy roles. I think it takes more technique to make that work (and sometimes it does not, but he appreciates the effort). Brian would rather see actors who are fearless in the roles they choose and appreciate their willingness to do what it takes to get a role they want.