Top Welsh talent agent admits errors in handling of self-tape auditions

Martin Shipton

A talent agent who runs an internationally acclaimed stage school in Wales has admitted mishandling some self-tape auditions and misstating his power to cast children in major productions.

Mark Jermin, whose school is based in Swansea, specialises in training and representing child actors. He has helped launch the careers of Heartstopper star Kit Connor, Wednesday’s Evie Templeton and many others.

But the entertainment industry’s online news website Deadline has just published a major investigation into areas of concern relating to Jermin’s business.

Deadline has spoken to several people familiar with Mark Jermin Management (MJM) and the Mark Jermin Stage School (MJSS), both of which are owned and operated by Jermin. They paint a picture of an agent with a keen eye for talent, but voiced concerns about some of his methods. Deadline’s investigation reveals:

* MJM sent an actress self-tape auditions for roles in two TV shows, including Bridgerton, but she was later told that she was not called to audition for the series, and her tapes were not received by the casting teams.

* MJM shared a Coronation Street audition with four actors, but a casting executive on the ITV soap said the self-tape was only intended for one of Jermin’s clients and that agents should not distribute confidential casting materials. Jermin has repeatedly denied sharing self-tapes and scripts without permission.

* Jermin was confronted by a member of the Hunger Games casting team after he wrongly suggested on TikTok that he was casting roles on the Lionsgate franchise.

* MJSS sold acting courses that promised “casting opportunities” for students without including best practice UK Casting Directors’ Guild disclaimers about workshops not being an environment to secure employment. After being contacted for comment, Jermin added disclaimers to his website and social media posts.

* MJM included a clause in actor contracts that gave the company the power to charge commission on chaperone fees, a practice that is not supported by the UK industry body for child acting agencies. The clauses have since been removed.

‘Trusted relationships’

In a statement shared with Deadline, Jermin said his team had built “many trusted relationships” with casting professionals over 25 years, and that his clients “regularly” secure roles in top film and TV projects. He said the self-tape issues raised by Deadline, relating to a stage school course in 2024, were due to an administrative error that has since been corrected. He apologized to actors who may have been affected. Jermin strenuously denied deliberately misleading his clients and students.

Jermin founded his talent agency and stage school more than two decades ago, earning a reputation for being a “fame factory.” His clients often graduate to bigger agencies once they find stardom.

Deadline states: “While most agents operate in the background, Jermin is unusual in his embrace of TikTok, using the platform to promote his businesses, talk up his influence in casting decisions, offer advice on acting and auditioning, and tease his clients’ upcoming gigs — like his viral video on three actors being cast in HBO’s Harry Potter series. Jermin has nearly 70,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, burnishing his reputation as a go-to figure for young actors, many of whom are longing to succeed in a venerated profession.

The message is reinforced in videos featuring clients, such as Hunger Games actress Iona Bell, praising his services.

Self-tape auditions

“The experience of one of his clients, however, has raised questions about his handling of self-tape auditions. Jane, a pseudonym we are using to protect the identity of the actress, joined MJSS classes regularly and was eventually signed by MJM in August 2023 as she sought to further her career and fulfil her dreams. But she told Deadline that the reality of her experience fell short of her expectations from the image projected on Jermin’s social media channels.

“Aspiring actors were encouraged to attend classes to access self-tapes or to brush up on their skills for auditions, according to former clients. Jane was sent auditions for a handful of roles in August 2024 when attending an MJSS ‘weekender’ course, but she now has serious reservations about their legitimacy.

“She was asked to record an audition for the role of a sex worker named Merry in Bridgerton, but a source close to the Netflix drama said it had no record of having requested or received her self-tape.

The audition could not have been legitimate because Merry appeared in Season 3 of Bridgerton, which premiered months before Jane’s weekend class. The actress recalled telling MJSS tutors that the role felt familiar, but said she was reassured that the audition was credible.

“Jermin’s position is that the Bridgerton script Jane received was actually for a mock period-drama self-tape exercise, but the emails sent by MJM administrative staff gave the ‘mistaken impression’ they were legitimate auditions. Jermin recognized this was disappointing for Jane and apologized. The agency updated processes last year around distributing self-tapes to students, with auditions now handled by agents, rather than administrative staff.

“Jane was also sent an audition for a small role in the BBC series What It Feels Like For a Girl, but later learned from a member of the casting team that she was not asked to audition and that her self-tape was never received. Jermin explained that MJM was asked by What It Feels Like For a Girl’s casting director to suggest suitable clients, that self-tapes were submitted, but none were successful. A casting executive on the BAFTA-nominated series did not respond to requests for comment.”

‘Devastating’

Jane said: “I thought I was on fire. I was like, damn, I’ve got all these massive auditions this weekend. This is incredible. It was devastating when I discovered I had not been called to audition. I was inconsolable.”

One of the tapes Jane received in August 2024 was for a minor character called Robyn in Coronation Street. Through his lawyer, Jermin said MJM shared the audition with four actors, but that none of their tapes were submitted to the Corrie casting team because the character was written out of the script. Jane later discovered that Coronation Street’s self-tape request was only intended for one MJM client. A representative for Jane made inquiries about the audition with the Corrie casting team and, in an email seen by Deadline, they were told: “We are very clear to agents when we invite actors to tape for us that the scene/s are strictly confidential and not to be shown to any third parties other than the person taping.”

Deadline states: “The email raises questions about Jermin’s position that he has never shared auditions and confidential casting materials without a casting director’s permission. Deadline sent Jermin key details about the Coronation Street email on May 13, but a lawyer for the agent argued that he did not have enough information or time to respond. The attorney threatened to apply for a court order to disclose an unredacted version of the email. Coronation Street‘s casting director declined to comment.

“Deadline has been in detailed correspondence with Jermin’s lawyer for more than two months, first presenting him in March with the allegations that he had mishandled casting materials. Jermin’s original response was that, if a self-tape was sent to more than one client or student, it was always with the agreement of a casting director.

He added that he never shared confidential scripts or auditions without authority. Through his lawyer, Jermin initially responded that ‘all’ completed auditions were passed to casting directors. He later admitted, however, that mistakes could have been made in failing to submit auditions, though he said this was never company policy or practice.”

In his statement, Jermin said: “As a company, we have previously expressed our concerns about the increasing use of self‑tapes within the industry, and we acknowledge that in this instance it appears we fell short of the high standards we set for ourselves.

“As we have explained to Deadline on several occasions recently, this new information has only just come to light, and we were not aware of any incidents of this nature at the time. Having investigated as thoroughly as we can, we understand these incidents to have resulted from an administrative error, compounded by a failure to properly communicate the work we were undertaking on our clients’ behalf.

“To any actors who may have been affected by this, I apologise, and I want to reassure them that we have taken all necessary steps to ensure this cannot happen again.”