Selling Stories: Changing Sales with 'The Gentle Rep'

In the latest iteration of ‘Selling Stories’, Ross MacRae chats with longtime industry sales rep Ann Asprodites on what it means to be a "gentle rep", and how the term evolved over 30+ years of industry shifts.

Drawing on his successful career as a graphic designer across multiple industries, Ross has found his calling in supporting, connecting, and championing fellow artists. With long-held expertise spanning from sales for post-production to producing for PBS, Ann Asprodites co-founded AIR (Alliance of Independent Representatives), an agency of talent representatives. Understanding the challenges of connecting the right artists to each project, Ann created AIR to help advertisers bring their creative visions to life.

Amanda Drum> Ann, you’ve built such a distinct brand for yourself as “the gentle rep”—and your comic book–style website really shows your personality. How have you refined your approach to your role over the years, and how does it help attract new clients?

Ann Asprodites> I approach it all with a sense of humour. I’m persistent, sometimes to the point of being almost annoying, but in a “gentle” way. Think of it as having a wine glass in one hand and a sledgehammer in the other.

When I started, 25 years as an independent, 13 in-house, the reputation of reps wasn’t great. People would roll their eyes when you showed up (you know who you are). I realised I had to make the job funny and approachable to break that barrier.

Ross MacRae> Where were you in-house, Ann?

Ann> With Morrison Productions. We expanded from New Orleans to New York, LA and Austin to other markets, but were thrown off course by a SAG strike and 9/11. Around that time, I went independent.

Ross> 9/11 caused many schisms in the world.

Ann> Absolutely—it shook everything up.

Ross> If covid hadn’t happened, we might never have built all the advanced features on Agency Source. We’d wanted to for years, but never had enough development time. Once lockdown hit, we could concentrate on the “Wish List” new features we had on the back burner for years. Then we launched, and within months, we were talking to AIR members.

Ann> AIR also started because of covid. As they say, an ill wind blows no good.

Amanda> Have client perceptions of reps changed since then?

Ann> Completely. The “rep shows up with pizza and reels” stereotype is gone. Now I’m treated as a trusted partner and resource.

Ross> And that’s because you deliver—and people know they can trust you.

Ann> Thank you. Trust is everything. You have to feed it, nurture it, and prove why people put their trust in you.

Ross> In the ’80s and ’90s, “sales” was considered a dirty word in production. Agencies had people in-house, Creative Secretaries, Art Buyers, and Production Department staff, whose job was to feed the latest creative supplier expertise to the production and creative teams. Reps built relationships with them, and through them, with producers.

As those agency roles began to disappear in the 2010s and 2020s, production companies and reps had to work smarter to build more direct relationships themselves. There used to be people at agencies whose sole job was to go out and find talent, production companies, and the reps representing them.

So it was almost like there were two sets of people doing sales:

1. The agency-side people, who were keeping aware of what was out there.

2. The production companies and reps, who made sure those agency people knew about them.

These days, those agency-side people are gone. There’s nobody at agencies constantly scouting and building relationships with production suppliers. So now, it’s down to the supplier side to work smarter and build those relationships directly with producers and creatives.

Ann> 100% agree.

Ross> So in terms of sales, reps and production companies have had to adopt a more sales-oriented approach. The role of anyone in production supply now has to include sales, whether they like it or not—otherwise, they’ll wither.

Ann> Having a database where agencies and production companies can find each other makes everyone’s job easier. These days, you can’t just post reels online and hope the phone rings—in fact, it never really worked that way. Sales is now an essential part of the creative supply chain.

I really have two sets of clients—production companies and agencies. Before 2016, I’d bring a director directly to an agency. That doesn’t work anymore. Now I focus first on understanding what the content-needers require, then match them with the content-providers.

Ross> And if you don’t have the right person for the need?

Ann> I’ll call one of my Rep-In-Laws! I still show directors’ work in screenings, but I never force-fit a creative.

Ross> I like that—“Rep-in-Laws”!

Ross> Are screenings generational? Do older creatives still show up? Do younger teams avoid them?

Ann> Not at all. In Austin, younger creatives actually turn out more than veterans. People still want connection, it’s just often paired with lunch now! My business has always been in-person. Zoom is only a backup.

Ross> That’s important. Brands, especially, need to be educated about the value of screenings. Sometimes just taking the meeting off-site, coffee shop, bar, lunch, makes all the difference.

Amanda> What do clients most misunderstand about what you do? Ross, same for you in sales.

Ann> When I started, the misunderstanding of reps was enormous. I’d go door to door with a pizza and beg creatives to meet me. There was a lack of dignity. Confidence is dignity. If you walk in knowing you can help, people listen.

I used to take the Yellow Pages and a box of index cards, and I’d write the name of each ad agency at the top, along with the phone number and address. Then I’d make the call, find out who the right person was to see, book a flight to that market, and try to meet with each one. That was time-consuming, and I did it for every single market.

These days, among other uses, I rely on Agency Source a lot to set up travel. I travel about twice a month,it helps me see who’s moved, who’s new, or where an old contact might have resurfaced. That connective tissue is invaluable.

Ross> Exactly. Keep your pipeline flowing, even for an hour a week. If it dries up, it’s too late.

The biggest misconception for us is that production companies can just blast out an email template of projects to 10,000 contacts and expect the work to roll in. It won’t.

Do your homework. It’s about insight, knowing who’s at each company, what their role is, and how to build a real connection. Target 50 or 100 dream clients, not 10,000 strangers. Email, message, call. There’s no one-click solution.

Ross> People want you to make their job easier. Say, “Here’s my director, he worked with the XYZ brand, and he can do the same for you.” Everyone’s looking for partners who help them look good.

Ann> I love what I do. I love being at the intersection of art and commerce. I love stories, and the artistry of condensing one into a short, powerful moment. The people I work with are passionate, on both the agency and production sides. Every day is new, challenging, and rewarding.

Ross> We’ve been through a lot as an industry.

Ann> We always have. But I’m still optimistic. Things change, but the need for connection and storytelling doesn’t. Our job is to use our talent and ability to communicate, adapt, and keep the industry moving forward.

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