Agency Meeting!

Last week was my first meeting with Commercial SAG Agents at a Commercial Agency in Hollywood!  I joined the Union a couple weeks ago and was finally able to set up a meeting with them that worked with both of our schedules.  It was a great time to be meeting with them since I had just filmed the Dorito's Spec Commercial on Monday and I already had footage from that so they were able to see what I look like on film and it was really current.  I also had new headshots to show them in addition to the photos from the Magazine Test Shoot so they could see a variety of looks.

I got to the meeting about 20 minutes early and as I took the elevator to the 5th floor of the Sunset Blvd building, two gentlemen walked up at the same time, asked where I was going and asked if I was an Actress.  One of the guys actually got off the elevator at the 5th floor with me and said there was an Agency on his floor as well, but that he was in Real Estate.  He asked if I had a card, and because I was going to my meeting I gave him an extra headshot, he thanked me, and it was a nice little confidence boost before my own meeting.

The office had Halloween decorations up and after waiting a couple minutes, N* called me into the office.  I met S* as well, as they were both Agents and worked together and took a seat by N*.  He looked over my resume and asked me a couple questions about where I was from, where I went to college, found out that he had friends in my college town, talked about how amazing the drive was from LaCrosse to Winona, then got started on Football games, the Packers & Vikings rivalry, and games in CaIifornia.  It was great to chat and feel comfortable in an interview setting where normally I would be nervous.  Then we talked about family, and my Hosting experience, what my ethnicity was, and if I had new headshots to show them.  I told them about the Dorito's Commercial and they said they had clients that got 2nd place last year, so that was cool.  They asked if I could send them my new headshots and any new photos I had along with the Dorito's footage.  

Next up, was cold-reading a Commercial monologue about Toothpaste.  I'm sure there were a bunch of different ways to do the reading but I decided I was going to tell them a secret, like I was talking to my best girlfriend and I found an amazing product that really worked.  I smiled, I felt confident, and I shared my reading with N* and S*.  When I was finished they said I did a great job and seemed impressed (yay)!  We chatted for a little bit longer and after giving me their contact information so I could send my additional photos and footage to them, I thanked them, and was out the door.  

The whole meeting took about 40 minutes and I was glad that it didn't feel like an interview, more like all of us getting to know each other, and getting a feel for each other.  Before I left N* said they would discuss if they could get work for me and wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get lost in the group, and I was happy to hear that because I want to stand out!  Basically, they wanted to make sure I wasn't one of 10 girls who all had dark hair with light-colored eyes and ethnic looking; hence, why I want to stand out and be different from all their other clients.

About 20 minutes later I got a call from the Sunset Blvd building, hoping it was a call from the Agency but it was actually from the guy on the elevator from the Real Estate Office.  I should have known something was iffy in his conversation about another Agency being on his floor but asking for my card anyway.  He actually offered me a position in his office, after asking if I had any Real Estate experience, to which I responded, no, I have a Bachelor's Degree in Theater and Mass Communication, but no experience at all.  I said I would think about it and realized the positive thing that came from meeting him was the confidence boost before meeting with the SAG Agents and that is beneficial to anyone!

So now it's a waiting game...I sent out my follow-up at the beginning of this week and just need to wait and see if I'll get lost in their Agency or stand out in the crowd :)