Hello readers, welcome back to the blog!
Today I’d like to share an experience with you in order to hopefully impart some knowledge that I wish I had when I first got to LA. When I moved here from Philadelphia, PA I wanted to hit the ground running. As I have shared in the past, I set about the task of reading every industry blog I could get my eyes on. Trying to understand how to navigate this town and it’s strange business ways was a learning curve. Honestly, I feel like I still learn something new every day and I probably still have a lot more to learn. At any rate, I read and read and talked to people I met in my classes. I was warned about certain agents to steer clear of and the way managers worked and found out that it was gonna take a long time to realize my dreams, all great info.
Well, all I wanted to do was work, as I said in my last post, there is no such thing as a small job. So I took every audition and meeting I could muster from the self submission sites. Most of the time this worked out well. Working on small independent and student films gave me lots of set time and practice at my craft. One area I did not glean enough information about was the world of print work. I had done a bit of print work on the East Coast and really liked it; it was fun and lucrative. When I moved to LA I had no representation and print rep wasn’t at the top of my list. So I ventured out on my own. I took a meeting with a photographer who wanted to hire me for some stock photos. I didn’t see any harm in it and I wanted the paycheck, to be honest. I shot two sessions with the company. I got some of the photos for my portfolio so I thought “great, a win”. Well here I am two years later and for some reason my face has fallen into favor.
Up until last month, I had never seen a single shot from those sessions. I bet you know where this is going…I have recently found 3 companies using my image for their print campaigns. This is what I signed up for. At the time I did the shoot I was just starting out. I was happy to get a paycheck, happy for the time on set in front of a camera. I didn’t have the ability to look into the future and imagine that a few years down the line I would be a working actor being paid what I deserved for my time, energy and likeness.
There is technically no conflict with print and it doesn’t fall under union jurisdiction, so I didn’t cause actual harm to myself or my career (fingers crossed). But there is an amount of regret, a certain amount of wishing I had known better and wishing I had bet on myself and allowed myself to imagine a bright future for my career. I know first hand that it is hard to imagine 2 years down the line much less 5 or more. I generally operate on a much shorter time line and I don’t like to get ahead of myself. Unfortunately,we must all change that perspective, we need to start making decisions with the end game in mind.
Bet on yourself, bet on reaching your goals.
