Beginnings with an agent!

I met with my agent to show him all of the new pictures I took with the photographer and he liked a LOT of them. It took him a good while to sort through the final choices. He picked 19 of the 130 I brought in and those were out of over 1000 pictures I took featuring 12 different looks. Definitely a process finding the right shots. Anyways, now I have to do touchups before I can put them online for submissions and touchups cost even more money!!! Ah!!!! everything is so expensive! And I'm only a waitress, there's no sugar daddy over here coughing up money to help me out :( jkjk. I am so grateful. I just happen to be brooding over ways to make more money/ reduce my spending. But, I am so HAPPY.

Having an agent is like having a personal tutor for a class. He gives me "homework" to do every time I leave, but this homework is like the funnest, most exciting homework ever!!! I know that its new and the new jitters may wear off over time, but right now I am celebrating. Getting an agent is one of my big goals for myself, something at one point, I thought would be impossible... and yet, here I am! Ah!!! It's real. Of course now, I actually have to book things. But I'm excited for auditions; I'm excited for a challenge; I'm excited to have someone on my team and I'm ever so stoked to be living this actress lifestyle. It is totally up my alley. It's a life that I could love and enjoy; it's a life of adventure and often never the same adventure twice... so I decided I don't care how much money it takes! I am worth it! Living passionately and vitally is worth it!!!! And so is being happy! The longer I live, the more I discover how truly rare happiness can be, so I am grateful and clinging to these early "starving actress" days! I was driving back from the agency and I started to tear up thinking of the possibilities. My hope and joy have been restored! Sheesh, I'm such an emotional being... but this is the one career where that actually works to my advantage! yay!

My next assignment after paying for touch-ups and putting them on the appropriate sites is to fine tune my resume and be SAG eligible. Another mountain. But, like my agent told me, "It's gonna be a battle, but we can do it!" I love that attitude and I'm so ready to get my boxing gloves on!

Manager Workshop

Wednesday, I went to a manager workshop with my actress friend. We did a scene together from the odd couple. It was a LOT of energy. Not sure if it was received well or not, but it was a blast. I have gotten to the point where I just love to perform and audition. They are always new, exciting and suspenseful. Adrenaline junkie much? There were five managers on a panel. I felt good about how our scene went and it definitely helped that we ran it in class Monday. The managers were SURPRISINGLY personal and fun and nice! It was so strange. They gave us great notes on fine tuning our resumes and took time to talk with us. They very much emphasized the "ethnically ambiguity" of my last name and how that would help me at this point in the industry. Being ethnic is trendy now. Only in America will a Caucasian patriot with generations of passion invested in America's great history struggle more than a foreigner. It's so sad and ironic, but true and if that offends you its because its true. Sorry, done with my soapbox. Well, that's the game, so I have little option, but to play it. Anyway, I felt my money was well invested. I got to say hi to a friend from dinner theatre and it always is fun to run into people you know at auditions and the like. It means you have done a little mileage I suppose. Meanwhile, my friend and I rehearsed our scene in the middle of a residential community in Beverly while casual onlookers were either scared or entertained. The night was beautiful and we even got to sit and chat while the fancy cars droned by on Robertson.

I went to an audition today for a phone company. In the script, I had a dad and it was so much fun to work. We did three takes in the room with some direction and the third read was so strong, dead on! I'm getting better at reading and hitting the beats for commercials. That was the high of my day. I'm beginning to feel the financial strain. I want to take all these classes, but I have bills to pay. I'm prioritizing and making a wish list. I'm also thinking of getting a third job. We'll see. The last time I had three jobs, I hated my life. I personally need some form of downtime or I'll go crazy!!! I meet with my agent Monday to go over new photos I took. I am very excited and I think I might pay a little extra to get more specific photos on LA Casting... once again weighing the finances. Life is good and I'm so grateful. I am following my dreams and doing what I love best!

This is the Year!

So much is happening!!!

I took pictures for my agent. I was able to do a 7 hr shoot of 12 looks for an unbeatable price and I'm stoked with how the photos turned out! I have specific casting looks which will help me out a lot I feel. I'm trying to sort out the top ten of each look, but even that is proving to be a project. I'm excited to bring them to my agent and go from there.

I took a break from improv group for Christmas and New Years. We resume this week with our improv group. I'm so excited for how it is growing. We are really learning each other which makes us stronger as a team.

Tonight I went to a class to work a scene with a friend of a friend. We are both doing a manager workshop in two days and so her acting teacher coached our scene this evening. So, I got to semi-audit the class for free! I loved it. After my little acting class break for a few months, I was able to look at it with fresh eyes and I was reminded of why I do what I do. Sometimes, just for the art of it, for the fun rehearsals, for the growth and stretching. It's all so fun and fascinating to me! We are doing a scene from the female version of the odd couple, which is a fun script. He helped direct us to the style of how it is written and to heighten the stakes and focus our energy and voice. It felt like a work out, but so rewarding. We are going too trim the scene a little so we can "bam" when we perform.. you know? Anyway, I was reminded of how much I do actually know about acting. I sometimes forget I studied it for years because I'm so "green" in the industry.

Well, I'm exercising my acting muscles. The next thing is to get those auditions rolling and book, book, book. I was speaking with a mentor figure today in the center where my partner and I practiced before class and she said something that struck me: "The entertainment business in LA is designed to break you, to tear you down, but even when you're all torn up, if you keep going, something's gotta give." She took a break for a couple years because of life. We never stop being artists. At least I probably never will. I will continue to do what makes me happy in class or theatre or elsewhere, even if I can't make a ton of money at it and I've decided that I'm okay with that. If something bigger does happen, it's all a bonus. That perspective has helped me persevere here. I made the decision that I want to be a great actress. People may not see it yet, but they will.