Day 311 - 314: Updates

Day 311: Went to Power Group at TAN followed by coffee with Y'vonne. I swear there are some people in this world who always make you feel better when you're in their presence, she is one of them.

Day 312: The block schedule I created isn't working for me so now I'm trying something new. Today I took my monthly goals that I shared in Power Group and divided them up week by week to make sure I do the tasks needed to help me meet those goals.

Day 313 -  314: Updated my regional rep target list by using IMDb Pro to find all the agents whose clients were on the last few episodes of VH1's Single Ladies, CW's Vampire Diaries and BET's The Game, Let's Stay Together and Reed Between the Lines since they all shoot in Atlanta.

Day 310: Edited Reel

Day 310: Edited my reel using iMovie {thank goodness for my MAC computer at work} and added it to all my sites: You Tube, Vimeo, Actors Access, LA Casting, CAZT and my personal website. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a fancy shmancy reel like what Lex can do but it will suffice until I have all my scenes ready to go for her. I'm waiting on the "Promotion" scene that should be edited by the end of the month and I still need to shoot one more scene with my classmate Y'vonne. So till then, I'm very proud of my newbie attempt to edit this thing!

Day 294: Office Hours

Day 294: Office hours - Updated my website and went through my notebook of story ideas expanding on the ones that seem viable and discarding those that no longer interest me.

Day 288 - 289: Office hours & rehearsal

Day 288: Sent a thank-you note to the administrator of the Kaiser Educational Theatre Program.

Day 289: Rehearsed a scene for my reel that I'll be shooting tomorrow. Went over sides for an audition on Thursday.

Day 254: Block Schedule Breakdown

Day 254: Today I've decided to give myself a block schedule. I read about this years ago when I was still a wedding planner, as it was touted as a great way for entrepreneurs to organize the many things they need to do on a daily basis. Since I've been feeling kind of overwhelmed lately, I'm going to give this a try. You basically break up your week into categories of tasks that need to be done. See example below...




While the schedule shown above is that of a photographer, my categories as an actor/writer/budding producer are as follows:
Coffee Dates & Meetings
Writing
Marketing {E-blasts, mailings, drop-offs, social media}
Rehearsing
Producing {Scheduling, locations, etc.}
Admin {Processing email, answering email, updating websites}
Blogging

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it's working out for me.

Day 226 - 227: Submissions & Rehearsal

Day 226: No internship today. Stayed home with Jayden since he had a stomach bug and submitted on Actors Access and CAZT {Yep they have a submission site now. I'll write about it in a later post}.

Day 227: Rehearsed a few hours before class with my beautiful classmate Yvonne Truong. We've decided to do scene together for our reel- something in the vein of Law & Order/Criminal Minds/CSI, you get the picture. At some point in the next 2 weeks I have to write it. It'll only be a page so it shouldn't take too long.

Day 225: Manager Meeting Requests

Day 225: Today I decided to email a handful of managers on my target list while I take a minute to decide whether or not to move forward with the manager who offered to sign me. Since I have a week to make a decision, this is what I sent out to the managers on my list...

Subject: Meeting this week?

Hi *****, 

I've recently been offered representation from another management company and would love to meet with you before making any decisions.  

7 quick tidbits about me:

• I wrote & starred in the webseries "Diary of a Wedding Planner." You can view the most recent episode here.


• In my last 7 commercial auditions I've had 3 callbacks and 1 avail. Almost there!


• I'm currently producing the official documentary on the Mitrice Richardson story.


• I'm continuing to study audition & on-camera technique in an ongoing class at Stan Kirsch Studios.


• I'm staying in shape by returning to my former love of hip-hop dance at Your Neighborhood Dance Studio.


• Have a versatile look- rocking my natural hair for commercial auditions & long curls for anything theatrical.


• Have a stable night job in production that keeps my days completely free for auditions. No golden handcuffs!

If you have room in your roster for an adorably sassy mid-20's black chick who values training, I'd love to meet with you at your earliest convenience.

Cheers,
Brandi Ford

Notice what I didn't have on there? Something that says, I recently booked... because I HAVEN'T BOOKED ANYTHING SO FAR THIS YEAR and we're about to be in SEPTEMBER!!!! AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH$*%&^$%$@$#@$!!!!!

If you can't tell, it's frustrating. I'm frustrated. *Sigh* But I had to write something so I called attention to what sounded good in my head.


Well, these were the 3 {mildly depressing} same day responses I received:

1. Who is the other company followed 5 minutes later with I saw your reel. This is a pass for me. 


2. Thank you for your interest.  I do have a couple of clients who would be a direct conflict and it would not be fair to you or them to meet. Best of luck.


3. Hi Brandi: Take the rep offered! I can't take on another actor at your level right now! 

After eating some ice cream {doesn't that make EVERYTHING just feel better, at least temporarily?}, I soaked in what the first manager had to say and resolved to shoot some more footage for my reel. I already knew I needed to add some dramatic scenes to it but this highlights that need even more.

Bottomline: Gotta get this taken care of and until I do, no more submissions to representation.