So, since my last post I have done a lot of research and reading about how to Tweet and internet-network and blog (etc) effectively. One of the tips I read was to read similar blogs to yours. Honestly (and I'm so embarrassed to say) it never really crossed my mind to do that. Don't know why. But I did some googling and found a couple of blogs - one of which was REALLY helpful because she (Brandi Ford) listed a TON of acting blogs. Her blog is fabulous - love the way it looks - and has a lot of great recommended reads, resources, etc. I randomly scrolled down the list of about 40 blogs and opened maybe 10-15 of them. I was mostly interested in female actors' blogs since their experiences in the business will be more similar to mine. I found a couple of good ones, a couple of great ones and closed out the ones that didn't have anything that caught my eye. (Which now makes me think I should revamp my blog to do the same thing. Kind of like resumes in the "real world" and headshots, reels, and resumes in the "acting world").
One of the pages I kept open, after reading a couple of posts, I realized was Stephen Amell's (star of Arrow). I'm still surprised that I found his blog amidst a bunch of actors who are like me - struggling, essentially nobodies. Well, anyway, I emailed Brandi and asked to have my blog listed as well, she agreed (yay!) and I don't know how she determines what order she lists them, but for whatever reason, my blog is near the top. (Secretly happy about that! Okay... not so secretly. lol). Hopefully my blog will get some more traffic from that.
Another tip I read was to promote others. I'd tried to do that already, but I'm now trying to do it more. I tag people in my tweets and mention their blogs or pages or work they've done, I retweet them, and mention them in this blog, etc.
Lira Kellerman has a great blog with great articles on how to use Actor's Access effectively. First let me say that if you are an actor - especially in the LA area - you need to know about Actor's Access. She has some great tips on how to maximize your chances - what to do and what NOT to do when it comes to headshots, reels, notes, etc. Now I won't steal any of her thunder and tell you the whole article. I just hope I've peaked your interest enough to go read it now. :) She also has a great list of gift ideas for actors. To anyone who's interested... *ahem* I love this super cute crutch necklace (to remind the actor to "break a leg).
Briefly, other articles I have found on the twitterverse to be helpful:
Seven Tips for Surviving the (Independent) Film Industry
Twittering for Actors
8 Steps to Actor Happiness
Showing posts with label imdb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label imdb. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Shoot, Agent meeting
So, last Wednesday (one week ago) I had the House of Cards shoot. My call was 1:00 and there were 19 other extras in my "category." We were all colleagues of Kate Mara's character, Zoe. We were there for about 8 hours (short for a day on set!) and one guy was lucky and got a line! (It was "hi!" haha). But, we were told that we are supposed to be recurring characters. So I'm just hoping to get a call soon asking me to come back in! :) haha.
Today I had a meeting/interview with an agent. I left so that I would get there half an hour in advance, but the traffic was AWFUL because they were doing construction, which I did not know ahead of time because I never go that way. I arrived only a couple minutes after 1:00, but luckily the agent I was supposed to meet with was also stuck in traffic. Haha. So I waited for her to arrive for a little while but then the owner took me back and did the interview himself, though, interestingly, he didn't really ask that many questions about me. He told me about their company and some of their clients, and then filmed me doing two monologues. Then he got on the phone with the woman I was supposed to meet, and they talked about submitting my monologues to a movie that they are doing the casting for. But I had to start my monologue twice, cause after I started it the first time he stopped me cause the phone rang and he then proceeded to yell at his daughter/receptionist to not answer the phone again and to turn the ringer off. After he came back into the room and I was about to start, the phone rang and guess what? His daughter answered it and he went back out to fuss at her. He unplugged the phone and then I was able to start my monologue - but I was kinda off my game at that point so I don't think I did it as well as I have in the past.
I talked to my manager tonight about it, and he was thoroughly upset that Connie didn't show up and thought they behaved rather unprofessionally. Also, this company is an agency, casting company, and has an actors studio where they have workshops and classes. The owner told me that though they do not charge any up-front fees, they get a 15% commission (rather high for an agent) unless it's a large role, for which they get 20%. Also, their clients are not required to study at their studio, but most apparently do. Basically implied that they would want me to. AND, he said it would cost me $55 to get my headshot and information on their website. To which my manager said is total bull****. It's disappointing that the agency turned out to be a bit of a scam and not very professional. But, it was good experience. I have at least now talked to an agent and have a bit of an idea of what to expect when I get to California.
I don't have any more meetings or auditions or anything lined up at this time, unfortunately. But I'm constantly searching.
The commercial I shot in June was posted to Facebook today, and I'm just trying to figure out a way to get it onto my blog. I may have to wait for my acting coach to get me a copy of it on a cd but once I have it, I will put it up here.
Also, my IMDB rank went up, yay! I'm currently ranked at 38,993. This is so exciting! :) Especially considering I don't have any credits on my page. I can't wait until I finally do get some credits listed and then hopefully it will just continue to go up and up and up til I get the lead in Fifty Shades of Grey or some other blockbuster. :) heehee.
Well, that's all for now.
Thanks!
~Laura
Today I had a meeting/interview with an agent. I left so that I would get there half an hour in advance, but the traffic was AWFUL because they were doing construction, which I did not know ahead of time because I never go that way. I arrived only a couple minutes after 1:00, but luckily the agent I was supposed to meet with was also stuck in traffic. Haha. So I waited for her to arrive for a little while but then the owner took me back and did the interview himself, though, interestingly, he didn't really ask that many questions about me. He told me about their company and some of their clients, and then filmed me doing two monologues. Then he got on the phone with the woman I was supposed to meet, and they talked about submitting my monologues to a movie that they are doing the casting for. But I had to start my monologue twice, cause after I started it the first time he stopped me cause the phone rang and he then proceeded to yell at his daughter/receptionist to not answer the phone again and to turn the ringer off. After he came back into the room and I was about to start, the phone rang and guess what? His daughter answered it and he went back out to fuss at her. He unplugged the phone and then I was able to start my monologue - but I was kinda off my game at that point so I don't think I did it as well as I have in the past.
I talked to my manager tonight about it, and he was thoroughly upset that Connie didn't show up and thought they behaved rather unprofessionally. Also, this company is an agency, casting company, and has an actors studio where they have workshops and classes. The owner told me that though they do not charge any up-front fees, they get a 15% commission (rather high for an agent) unless it's a large role, for which they get 20%. Also, their clients are not required to study at their studio, but most apparently do. Basically implied that they would want me to. AND, he said it would cost me $55 to get my headshot and information on their website. To which my manager said is total bull****. It's disappointing that the agency turned out to be a bit of a scam and not very professional. But, it was good experience. I have at least now talked to an agent and have a bit of an idea of what to expect when I get to California.
I don't have any more meetings or auditions or anything lined up at this time, unfortunately. But I'm constantly searching.
The commercial I shot in June was posted to Facebook today, and I'm just trying to figure out a way to get it onto my blog. I may have to wait for my acting coach to get me a copy of it on a cd but once I have it, I will put it up here.
Also, my IMDB rank went up, yay! I'm currently ranked at 38,993. This is so exciting! :) Especially considering I don't have any credits on my page. I can't wait until I finally do get some credits listed and then hopefully it will just continue to go up and up and up til I get the lead in Fifty Shades of Grey or some other blockbuster. :) heehee.
| Date | Rank |
| 2012 Jul 22 | 38,993 |
| 2012 Jul 15 | 73,373 |
| 2012 Jul 8 | 64,709 |
| 2012 Jul 1 | 99,953 |
| 2012 Jun 24 | 1,000,209 |
Well, that's all for now.
Thanks!
~Laura
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Lesson, auditions, agents, etcetera
So, yesterday I had my acting lesson. It was my third one with this instructor - Russ Randall at Final Act Drama in Richmond Virginia. That's one thing about me - I'm very dedicated to anything I do - especially acting. Richmond is 2 hours away - so that's 4 hours in the car!
Well a little over a week ago, my manager told me to call this agent - Connie Lamothe (at 24/7 Models and Talent)- based in Virginia (he had already talked to her and told her I would be getting in touch to set up a time to meet). I called her and left a message and then never heard back. Yesterday I emailed my manager to tell him I hadn't heard back (while I was in Richmond) and then when I got home checked the messages and she HAD called. So I need to call back. Hopefully I will get in to meet her soon and maybe I'll get signed and will get some gigs while I'm still here in VA!
I also have to call Central Casting to find out about the House of Cards shoot on Wednesday as well as call the restaurant I work at to find out when I'm scheduled for this week.
I also have scheduled an audition next Wednesday for a web series called Shotgun Mythos. It sounds very interesting, but it would not be paid and it's in West Virginia - an hour and a half away. But it would be something to add to my resume, IMDB credit list and demo reel.
But grr... my IMDB starmeter dropped! I knew it would... but man I was hoping it would just keep going up! lol. I just need to keep submitting myself for auditions so more people will look at it and then it'd be so nice to get a job so I can add to my IMDB page!
I just called both Central Casting and Connie Lamothe - Central Casting told me to call back in an hour, and no one answered at 24/7 Models and Talent. Haha. Seems like I may be playing phone tag with Connie Lamothe for a while unless she calls back today and I don't miss the call for any reason! lol.
So... just going to try and pass time for another hour so I can call the Casting office. haha.
Well, that's all for now!
Thanks
~Laura
Well a little over a week ago, my manager told me to call this agent - Connie Lamothe (at 24/7 Models and Talent)- based in Virginia (he had already talked to her and told her I would be getting in touch to set up a time to meet). I called her and left a message and then never heard back. Yesterday I emailed my manager to tell him I hadn't heard back (while I was in Richmond) and then when I got home checked the messages and she HAD called. So I need to call back. Hopefully I will get in to meet her soon and maybe I'll get signed and will get some gigs while I'm still here in VA!
I also have to call Central Casting to find out about the House of Cards shoot on Wednesday as well as call the restaurant I work at to find out when I'm scheduled for this week.
I also have scheduled an audition next Wednesday for a web series called Shotgun Mythos. It sounds very interesting, but it would not be paid and it's in West Virginia - an hour and a half away. But it would be something to add to my resume, IMDB credit list and demo reel.
But grr... my IMDB starmeter dropped! I knew it would... but man I was hoping it would just keep going up! lol. I just need to keep submitting myself for auditions so more people will look at it and then it'd be so nice to get a job so I can add to my IMDB page!
I just called both Central Casting and Connie Lamothe - Central Casting told me to call back in an hour, and no one answered at 24/7 Models and Talent. Haha. Seems like I may be playing phone tag with Connie Lamothe for a while unless she calls back today and I don't miss the call for any reason! lol.
So... just going to try and pass time for another hour so I can call the Casting office. haha.
Well, that's all for now!
Thanks
~Laura
Thursday, July 12, 2012
IMDB
Ever since I created my IMDB page (imdb.me/lauraannrussell) I have become slightly addicted to checking it fairly frequently. I check the casting calls, I check to see what my starmeter is (right now Emma Stone is #1 for females and I'm 64,709) and compare mine to other actresses that are either other clients of my manager or that went to school with me or something like that. 64,709 may sound really low... but considering when I created my page it was 1,000,209 and a girl I know who has some credits listed on her IMDB page (whereas I do not) is currently ranked over 300,000. So I'm quite excited about it. And clearly quite competitive. lol. Also, even Emma Stone who is, as I said, currently number 1, did not get into the 5 digit rankings until over a year after her page was created (September 5 2004, ranked 601,832, then September 12 2004, ranked 60,325). So, I'm hoping this bodes well for me. ;)
I'm a terrible person, but I do find joy in the fact that I am currently ranked higher than other female clients of my manager who all have a lot of credits on their imdb page. Like I said, I'm very competitive. lol. I know that it will fluctuate and my ranking will go up and down a lot (Emma Stone's did!) but I'm hoping it will tend to go up more than it goes down. :P
 |
| My Starmeter data table as of July 12, 2012 |
I'm a terrible person, but I do find joy in the fact that I am currently ranked higher than other female clients of my manager who all have a lot of credits on their imdb page. Like I said, I'm very competitive. lol. I know that it will fluctuate and my ranking will go up and down a lot (Emma Stone's did!) but I'm hoping it will tend to go up more than it goes down. :P
Well, that's all for now.
Thanks!
~Laura
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