Paonessa Talent Agency

What Paonessa Talent Agency does

Paonessa Talent Agency is a woman-owned, independently operated boutique talent representation agency founded in January 2010 by Marisa Paonessa in Chicago. The agency represents actors for on-camera work (television, film, streaming), voiceover (commercial, animation, narration), and theatre, operating under SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity franchises. Talent is sourced and served across four geographic markets — Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta — with the agency's reach evidenced by placements on premium productions including Saturday Night Live (three consecutive years), HBO's Barry and Lovecraft Country, Netflix series, Hulu's The Bear, FX's Fargo, Starz's Power Book IV, Pixar's Win or Lose, and A24's 20th Century Women, alongside theatre bookings at Steppenwolf, Goodman, and Broadway.

Name

Paonessa Talent Agency

Legal name

Paonessa Talent Agency, LLC

Website

https://paonessatalent.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Paonessa Talent Agency is a Chicago-based, woman-owned boutique agency representing actors for on-camera, voiceover, and theatre work across Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. Founded in 2010, it serves union and non-union talent with a focus on comedy, diverse, and trans/non-binary performers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Talent Representation Services

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Talent Agency & Representation Services (HSACAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Talent Casting & Auditions (Casting Directors, Open Calls) (HSACAHAL), Talent Booking Agencies (Live Performance) (MPAIAGAB)

Keywords

• Talent representation services
• Actor booking agency
• Voiceover talent representation
• Film and TV casting
• Theatre talent agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Talent Representation & Booking: Paonessa Talent Agency earns revenue through commissions on bookings secured for their represented talent. The agency represents actors for on-camera, voiceover, and theatre work, booking them on projects with major studios and networks including Netflix, HBO, Hulu, FX, Starz, CW, Showtime, Pixar, and others. This is a standard talent agency commission-based revenue model.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Paonessa Talent Agency is a boutique talent representation agency that represents actors for on-camera (TV, film, streaming), voiceover, and theatre work at a national level. The agency books talent on productions with major studios and networks, supports new talent through an online submission process, and provides individualized career guidance from a small in-house team of agents and assistants.

Product overview

Paonessa Talent Agency is a boutique talent representation agency offering a unified platform of services for actors seeking national-level representation. The core offering combines on-camera talent representation and voiceover talent services under one agency, supplemented by dedicated trans/non-binary talent division (the first in Chicago). The agency provides end-to-end services including talent submissions management, career guidance, and bookings coordination across major film, television, and streaming productions. The product portfolio operates as a service-based agency model rather than a software platform, with divisions for different talent categories (On Camera, Voiceover) all managed through the same boutique agency structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• On-Camera Talent Representation Full-service talent representation for on-camera actors working in television, film, and streaming productions, with a searchable roster filterable by classification (Children, Men, Trans*queer, Women), location (Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York), and union status (Equity, Non-Union, SAG-AFTRA).
• Voiceover Talent Representation Representation of voiceover actors for animation, commercials, audiobooks, and other audio productions, featuring an online voiceover talent page with embedded SoundCloud audio player widgets for demo reel playback.
• Trans/Non-Binary Talent Representation Specialized division representing transgender and non-binary actors, the first such division opened by an agency in Chicago, supporting diverse representation in entertainment industry casting.
• Theatre Talent Representation Representation of premier theatre actors performing on professional stages including Broadway, national tours, Steppenwolf, and Goodman, with Equity franchised status enabling union representation.
• Talent Bookings and Placement Service Agency service managing talent bookings for film, television, and streaming projects, including representation on productions such as Fast and the Furious 9, HBO's Barry, Showtime's The Chi, Netflix's Duster, Hulu's High Potential, and Pixar's Win or Lose.

Quantifiable outcome

• Talent booked on Saturday Night Live for three consecutive years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gray Talent Group: Chicago-based boutique talent agency representing actors across on-camera, voiceover, and theatre. Directly comparable in market, scale, service mix, and SAG-AFTRA/Equity franchised model.
• Stewart Talent: Chicago-headquartered boutique agency representing actors for film, TV, voiceover, and theatre. Closely matches Paonessa in geography, business model, and boutique positioning.
• Grossman & Jack Talent: Chicago boutique talent agency representing actors across film, TV, voiceover, and theatre. Comparable boutique size and Chicago market overlap.
• Bohemia Group: NYC-based boutique talent and literary agency representing actors and writers. Comparable boutique scale and representation model, with broader New York/LA reach.
• Dattner Dispoto: Mid-sized Chicago talent agency with multiple agents covering on-camera and voiceover. Direct competitor for the same Chicago-based talent pool and casting director relationships.
• Shirley Hamilton Talent: Chicago boutique talent agency representing actors for commercial, on-camera, and theatre work. Comparable scale, Chicago base, and full-service talent representation.

Others

• Breakdown Express: Industry casting and talent hosting platform used by Paonessa's roster for hosting actor resumes. Functions as enabling infrastructure for boutique agencies rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Innovative Artists: Larger full-service talent and literary agency with offices in LA and New York. Represents talent across all formats Paonessa covers but at significantly greater scale and with broader packaging power.
• Gersh: Major full-service talent agency with deep LA and New York presence. Represents actors across the same formats as Paonessa but at mega-agency scale, often acquiring mid-tier boutique talent.

Regional players

• Metropolitan Talent Agency: New York-based boutique talent agency serving a similar function across on-camera, voiceover, and theatre but operating primarily in the New York market with limited Chicago overlap.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/paonessatalent
• Facebookfacebook.com/paonessatalent

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Paonessa Talent Agency