Transition from sports to screen not easy

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Toi Cook, like Alston a Stanford alumnus, landed in a different area of the business. As an agent and senior vice president for business development at The Gersh Agency, one of the top boutique agencies in Hollywood, it’s Cook’s job to find ways for Alston and others to find work in the entertainment business and to begin the transition from sports to Hollywood.

“We’re in L.A. Everybody’s trying to be an actor or writer or director,” said Cook, a former defensive back who played 11 seasons in the NFL, most with the New Orleans Saints. His client list also includes Rodney Harrison, Mike Patterson and Marcus Spears.

“How do you break through the clutter? One way is to be a pro athlete. In this town it’s all about getting a meeting. It’s much easier to get a meeting when you’re a pro athlete.”

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Cook pointed out that being an athlete can also work against you. “It’s a double-edged sword,” he explained. “It helps you get in the room. Unfortunately, sometimes you’re also compared to all the other athletes who couldn’t act. So you kind of have that baggage on you.”

That’s why Cook urges his charges to take classes and work with private acting coaches. He said most athletes understand that success in the acting profession requires a significant level of commitment. “It’s a small percentage of guys who can do it,” he said.

But just as some athletes like to move from the playing field into coaching or into an executive position, so too do some with Hollywood aspirations seek to become producers.

Fox recently wrapped his first producing endeavor, a low-budget horror film called “Hysteria.”

“I was involved in every angle, every department in the process,” he said.

He’ll have some competition. Ephraim Salaam, an offensive tackle for the Houston Texans, has set up a production company based in Sacramento along with partner Deon Taylor to make low-budget features and television series. He too dabbled in acting, but is now focused on producing.

“We had a record label a couple of years ago,” Salaam said. “But you can put a lot of money and effort into a label with minimum payoff.”

Salaam worked with Taylor and friend Brian Hooks on a horror film called, “7eventy5ive,” and is helping to develop a football-themed drama entitled, “Free Agents,” which is in the same realm as “North Dallas Forty.”

Salaam also said being a pro athlete has greased the rails for his foray into entertainment.

“We go into a meeting and people talk about their favorite teams,” he said. “It’s an ice breaker, it eases the tension in the room. They’re interested in what I do. It’s a bridge between sports and entertainment. It’s easier for me to get a meeting also, being a pro athlete.”

Like most athletes who appreciate how fortunate they are to play a game for a living, Salaam also feels lucky to have a second passion to pursue.

“This is like a boyhood dream,” he said. “I figure if I can play football for 10 or 12 years, then leave and go into making TV shows and films, I’ve lived a pretty good life.”

Michael Ventre writes regularly for MSNBC.com and is a freelance writer in Los Angeles.

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