Harold Lewter, CLA Partners

From Kat: Harold Lewter is the perfect remedy for a wild first week of 2021. Or, as he would call it, 2020.1: Not a new year, just the next version of 2020. 

I started admiring Harold, a manager and partner at CLA, during my time at HCKR. In every email you could sense his zest for the business, his creativity, his compassion, and a personality that never left you without a smile.

Getting to know Harold better throughout this interview, he’s even more than your industry dreams could hope for. From a rapped introduction, navigating a career he didn’t plan for, and dreaming of what the business could be tomorrow, Harold has us laughing, thinking, and ready to get to work. 

We think it takes a heart of gold to fill out our lengthy questionnaire, but Harold might have one of the best. Enjoy his wisdom, his heart, and his two life mottos that we all should adopt.

Harold! We’re thrilled and honored you’re taking the time to chat with us. We’ll get into the business facts; would you introduce yourself to our readers with some “human facts”?

Absolutely! (Begins to rap) My name is Harold and I’m here to say, “I’m from the Bronx and I’m here to stay! What’s to tell about the Bronx? It’s uptown and to the right!” (hehe) …Let’s see what else, I am the youngest of 5, my interest for musical theatre began at 8 years old, when my older brother took my mom and I to see Starlight Express on Broadway, which coincidentally he would end up booking the 1st National Tour as Electra later that year.

My mom has always had a love for theater, and so we would go see shows all the time. However, I did not fall in love with musical theater until I saw Vanessa Williams in Kiss of the Spider Woman (Kander & Ebb) in 1994 (P.S. She replaced Chita Rivera). There’s this fabulous moment in the show where she comes out in a cage in this Birds of Paradise inspired costume (UGH JUST THE BEST) and she sings “Gimme Love”, during the dance break there is this fantastic Trumpet solo (I played the Trumpet from 2nd grade through High School) …I WAS HOOKED FROM THAT MOMENT ON! Also, not to mention the choreography was just to die for! 

…I could go on, but I don’t think we have time for that (so I will save the rest for my memoir one day). 

You went to Wagner College for Musical Theatre and also went on to study acting at the University of Buffalo. You taught classes and performed in Costa Rica after receiving the Promising Artists of the 21st Century award in 2006. As such an accomplished actor, what made you want to get into the representation side of things? What were the first few steps you took in transitioning to agenting/managing?

Well first let me say this, I had 0 intentions of going into representation, this all happened by happenstance. I had been working off and on throughout college and continued to work as an actor after graduating from college, and then in late Fall of 2009 a good friend of mine Mike Cruz asked me if I would come intern for him at Independent Artists Agency, and I said sure because I didn’t have anything else to do. So, there I went, and as time went on, one thing led to another and another and before I knew it was July of 2010 and I went on vacation and while I was on vacation, I got an e-mail announcing that the agency was going to be closing in a few weeks. No clue of what to do next, I said to Cyd and Mike that whatever happens next, I want to continue to help out. So, there we all went and because Cyd had only sold the roster when she left the business in 2001 we reopened her management company Cyd LeVin & Associates. 

Now, I should rewind back to the beginning because the thing that really pushed me into representation was the realization that I was getting tired of seeing actors spin their wheels, and not get the feedback they needed to move their careers forward. Being at Independent I realized quickly that as rep you could do that. 

You joined CLA in August 2010 after crossing paths with Cyd LeVin at Independent Artists Agency in late 2009. What has been the most rewarding thing to come from that partnership? 

I have always been a hard worker, but working with Cyd has taught me how to not only work hard, but how to fight for the people you believe in. As for rewarding, there have been so many rewards that have come from this partnership…when I was first starting out, I had all of the passion, but none of the training, so the first reward was training. The second reward (or rewards) was the importance of honesty, integrity and the power of building relationships, for however large this business it, it really is so very small once you really get into it, and you will do business with the same people over and over and over again, so who you are at your core is really important, especially when it comes to your clients and their livelihoods. The third reward is a true mentor who will tell me when I’m wrong and when I’m right, and I feel very fortunate to have someone like that as a friend and a business partner. 

Part of your specialty has included transitioning Broadway actors to TV/Film. Any advice for readers who are theatrical trained and looking to make the switch?

Study, study, study, study!!! It baffles me how many times an actor will walk into the office for a meeting and say, “I want to be on TV, or I want to be a Film star” and which leads me to ask, “ok, so what are you watching? What the last film you saw? Have you watched every single movie on the AFI 100? Have you watched every single Oscar Award winning film?”  and of course, the answer is no, no, no and no. So, how can you want to do something and not have studied it. A doctor doesn’t just wake up one day and say, “I think I will go be a heart surgeon today” no, they study and study and study, and study. As an artist, you should be doing the same. You have to know the craft inside and out. As an actor and even as a rep, I am still a student of the craft. Everyone that knows me, knows that I keep my iPad open while I’m working so that I can watch television or films. 

At the end of the day, it boils down to understanding that when working in TV or Film you as the actor are responsible for telling the truth. On stage you play to the last row, so everything is heightened including your most grounded moments. On Television and on Film it is about real life and living in the truth of the moment. There is no hiding from the camera, and quite frankly why would you want too? It is the vainest medium out there.

It’s no secret that there is a severe underrepresentation of agents and managers of color. What walls need to come down to make a career in representation more accessible?

There are so many walls that need to come down, but the first is you have to go to the HBCU’s and the Colleges & Universities that have a heavy BIPOC enrollment, especially the inner city schools and recruit. Contradictory to that, I have realized that we place so much emphasis on higher education, but we forget that many of the agents and managers we admire did not go to college or for that matter finish High School. Until Talent Representation is taught at the University level, it remains an apprentice trade, which means we shouldn’t be afraid of scouting “talent” early on, no different than construction unions who source talent at the High School level.

What’s the change in our business you hope to see coming out of this time of a racial reckoning and a global pandemic?

Well, I think we are already beginning to see that there is now an expectation for Truth and Transparency in the Entertainment Industry as a whole. What I am hoping is that the playing field begins to level out now, and that it doesn’t feel like a never-ending uphill battle. Truth be told what I want most is for the word “diversity” to stop being such a hot button topic. When Cyd and I re-opened CLA in 2010, it was never about oh we need to get a black actor, a white actor, a Asian actor or LatinX actor, it was just we want talent, the color or race or gender didn’t matter, it still doesn’t matter to us, we want to represent the best (periodt). 

We’ve used the metaphor of a mountain to be analogous to our career accomplishments, dreams, and changes. We feel a lot of our reader’s “climb” is on pause. Has your mountain ever changed? Is it changing now? What’s keeping you moving?

My mountain has changed several times throughout the last 10 years, and I finally feel like I’m on the mountain that I want to be on and most of all I know what my purpose is. I have always had two life mottos, “innovate or die” and “never stop learning, never stop growing” and 2020 has really challenged me to reaffirm my commitment to those mottos and to also challenge and push myself. Pre-Pandemic I was feeling STUCK, in the midst of the pandemic in June I was feeling like the world was passing me by and that I needed to shift my focus and do something else. In July after a client, I had spent so much time developing and putting the building blocks of his career in place dropped me I started to put building blocks in place to build a company that was focused on Diversity and Training for positions outside of the performance realm, because I felt like I didn’t want to be in Talent Representation anymore and also because I felt like I didn’t know who I was without representing this person anymore. Low and behold in August, I took a trip to the beach and it brought me back to the center, my center. I realized I was listening to everyone else’s thoughts and opinions, and worrying about what everyone else was doing, my focus was on the wrong things. Now, I’m solely focused on myself and building CLA Partners into the global powerhouse I believe it can be. Can’t stop won’t stop! 

RAPID FIRE:

Favorite Quaran-TV: The Queen’s Gambit is the best thing I’ve seen all Quarantine. 

Quaran-reads: Currently reading Television Development by Bob Levy

Exercise routine (if you are into that): I was doing so good with taking my lunch time 3mile walk up until September when things started to come back online, and we got busy. I really need to get back to that. 

Favorite food: Obsessed with Greek Yogurt, Honey & All of the berries I can get my hands on!!

You can only choose one, tennis or golf: Tennis

Thing you have missed most since March: Being with people

Quick advice to actors looking for rep: Put yourself out there, don’t wait for permission. Also, DO NOT BE A SUITCASE ACTOR and follow some given list that someone has prescribed for you. If there’s an agency you really want to get a meeting with, be persistent, keep showing them more of your work. I guarantee you someone is always looking at submissions, especially if they’re doing their job right. 

Favorite part of the job: A clients first major booking…nothing better than making that call. 

Religious, Spiritual, or Nah: Definitely spiritual!

Social Media Feelings: Social media and I have a real love hate relationship. 

Advice to your younger self: FOCUS LEWTER!

Social Media Handles: @itsmrlewter (on insta) and @clapartners (on insta)

Anything you’d like to promote?: NOPE…except if you haven’t watched The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, watch it.