Everything

Music is the most powerful thing in the world. I love how it can change the tone and emotion of everything you see. I have taken the tube for two weeks now, but today I decided to really blend in and be a true Londoner by listening to my Ipod. Who knew it would be so refreshing. It took a boring and dry commute and turned it into a refreshing wake-up call. Buble was singing in my ears, putting me in a good mood, and giving me a bit of a hop in my new high heels. As I headed off to work, feeling good with my packed lunch, my seven jeans and the turquoise scarf my sister gave me from Italy wrapped around my neck, the music brought my surroundings to life. It brought me to life.

So into work I went and got ready for a long, but fulfilling day. I am finally really comfortable and the nervousness I felt on Monday has certainly diminished. I feel like now, I know what I am doing, I feel resourceful and helpful. I feel as though I am learning a lot about the industry and that my questions are welcomed whole-heartedly. This new stage of the job – feeling comfortable and finding a routine – is exciting and relieving.

My duties for the day began with the usual email check, sorting through messages and answering phone calls. We had a busy day in which three castings were made. This process includes phones calls that have to be made to the actors and scheduling can be a bit of a balancing act between the client and the casting director. We juggle everyone’s schedules in a big black book, which I keep track of.

I took the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about the job today. I see everyday how an agent is very much a liaison, doing all the planning for the client and facilitating castings around their schedule. They also push the client and have to form strong relationships with casting directors in order to build and uphold a strong reputation. Being an agent is very much like being a parent to 25 small children- Robert has to take on all the high stress of the planning and promoting so that the client does not have to do it themselves, much like a parent plans and provides for their child. He has to nurture their careers, direct them and believe in them. Robert says that the most challenging part of the job, in addition to all the small legalities that many people do not consider, is handling all these clients at once, making the frantic phone calls. This I can understand as I have certainly watched and participated in balancing it all myself – and its not even my agency…yet J. Just kidding, don’t worry I am coming home in December J

Another challenge for Robert is having friends, who are also agents. He constantly has to walk the fine line of friend, while also trying to use that relationship to a slight advantage by talking about some business. Everyday is a rollercoaster of highs and lows – one minute we could be booking a high profile casting, and the next we could find out another client didn’t book a job. I had to make a call today to tell a very vulnerable client who just got her start that she did not get a role, and I could tell she was defeated. She is the same client I worked on the American accent with, and I could tell how bad she wanted the part. So, that was a hard call to make, and Robert has to do that all the time.

Robert also tries to be different in the way he handles business. He is young, was once a part of a boy band (that is where him and Gordon met, I learned), has performed and been in the business for years. This allows him to have a very fresh perspective on his work. He is a firm believer of being an active agent – calling casting directors and pushing his clients in a subtle way to keep his clients working, and thus, keep the business going. He says that many agents do not do this, they just sit around waiting for casting directors to call them. I think Robert has the right idea. When he opened in February 2007, he could only hope that the agency would be successful, and I think he has a lot to be proud of.

Working so closely with him allows me to ask these questions about the profession and really get in his head so I can learn. In addition to these discussions, I searched for monologues for the children’s workshop, created improvisational situations for them to use in class, and all the while dealt with calls and castings. I am really getting the hang of it all and I love that I feel more comfortable.

My biggest accomplishment of the day was that I wrote a press release introducing the youth clients to casting agents. It will be emailed out, and Robert loved it. He only had one edit on my first draft, so I was very proud. Not to mention, I wrote it in only about twenty minutes before we rushed off to the workshop, so to perform well even in a time crunch felt good.

At the workshop the children all performed a monologue for me and some were very impressive – some were like a bad American Idol audition. I worked with them from 6pm -9pm, and saw both the younger and older clients (younger are from 5-12 and older are from 13-18. Robert was harsh when he had to be, but overall encouraging, and we all had a good time. I was like a second teacher, allowed to make suggestions and critiques and I think the kids really like me, respect me, and hopefully, find me helpful.

 The youth clients are my official project and I will be working with them not only at the workshops, but also getting to know their strengths and weaknesses as best I can so that I can actually call casting directors and push them for certain projects I think would suit them. Building these relationships will certainly help me in the future and I look forward to taking a more integral part in the business. But I must admit, watching them makes me feel like I could so do this. I am critiquing their acting and it makes me realize I kind of know what I am talking about. Maybe I should have given up on my dream and tried harder – gotten representation and made a real go at it. But, I think I do well on this end of it too, and that is where my journey has led me.

On the way home, Ipod in ears, I thought back on my day and felt really good inside. I may not be doing press parties every night or meeting celebrities, but I am helping these clients follow their dream, and in turn, they are helping me figure out what mine is. That, like the song in my ears, is everything. 

 

Love and hugs,

Jenny