Here we are again. And by "we" I mean just me, because not even my momma asked for this year-end summary.
Per usual, 2022 had its ups and downs:
DOWN: The commercial agent who signed me in April 2021 left the company at the end of the year to start his own. He never got me one single commercial audition in those ~9 months.
UP: Their new commercial agent decided to renew my contract in April 2022 after a zoom meeting. She got me a handful of commercial auditions within her first few months for legit clients like Estee Lauder, Forward, NBC Universal, and Kate Spade.
DOWN: In July, the agency decided to dissolve their commercial department altogether. Womp womp.*
UP: Also in July, the short film I made with my cousin Marisa in July 2021 finally premiered at home at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, and our supportive family got to come see it on the big screen with a packed audience. Being of the horror genre, it had a surge of screenings at genre festivals around Halloween both at home where it was shot and in LA where Marisa and I live. We even won BEST FILM and BEST EXPERIMENTAL at two horror fests.
Other than that, I did lots of self-taping and had a few callbacks - both on zoom and in person (which I'm mentioning for the sake of historical reference). I was cast in a feature that was then cut down to a short film, and my character was cut with it. I did get to shoot an Amazon demo for their new palm payment technology + a music video with a lifelong musician friend.
I joined an actor training group in May that I wish I had known about during the pandemic. It's all online and covers all facets of acting: the craft, the business, and the mentality.
For the second half of the year, a lot of my energy went towards my brand new camper van rental business venture. Inspired by the newfound prospect of a "free" filming location, I spent September outlining a feature film starring my new Sprinter van. Hopefully, I'll get around to shooting something in it next year.
*Since this blog is really just for me... for the sake tracking my acting career... let me just write out my history of representation:
My 1st agency out of college repped me in exchange for free labor (internship). I was with them for 2.5 years, until they dissolved their entire agency. (March 2010-Sept 2012)
My 1st manager repped me, because I sent her a blind submission email asking to meet with her. We met, and she liked me. Very straightforward. I was with her for a little over 3 years, until she decided to focus on coaching and managing her child actor clients. (Jan 2012-March 2015)
My 2nd agency repped me, because I took acting classes from the commercial agent. My manager had suggested her class to me, so I took it for 1.5 years, and she loved me. They signed me across the board. I was with them for almost 3 years, until they decided to rep only their literary clients and dissolved their entire acting division. (June 2013-Sept 2016)
My 3rd agency added me to their commercial roster because of a blind submission (one email and one phone call). I was with them for a little less than two years, until they dissolved their commercial department. (April 2021-Dec 2022)
If the business is hard for actors, it's just as hard for their reps. If I'm not making money, they're not making money.
Apparently, I went without representation for most of the years when I was producing my own work through Shy Ruby (2013-2019). My agent/manager hiatus also perfectly aligns with the moment in Hollywood when Casting Director workshops were being shut down and exposed for the cons that they were (c. 2016). From the moment I graduated from theatre school in 2009, I was signing up for 2-3 workshops per week ($50 each), to sit through about 30minutes of Q&A before performing a quick scene for a Casting Director (or more likely, a Casting Associate or Assistant). I spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I got so many compliments and words of encouragement, but maybe only a handful of actual auditions from essentially paying to audition for them. Read all about the scam here.
Anyway, it's just interesting (to me) to follow that trajectory and understand why I was jaded enough to step back from Hollywood and only work on my own stuff for the latter half of the 2010s.
#spookyseason has been good to Member’s Mark, the short film we shot in my hometown last summer. We screened with this year’s best genre shorts at Beyond Fest at the iconic Los Feliz 3 cinema here in LA. Back home in St Louis, we WON Best Experimental Film at the Haunted Garage Festival and WON Hysteria Fest’s audience award for BEST OF FEST 🦇 Very proud of my cousin @meese.jpg who had this vision (and the gusto to MAKE it).
Thank you to my mom for having this many all-white costumes from different time periods just sitting in our storage room. 🤍
October was a good one! I shot a music video in Malibu + a commercial in Hollywood, and watched myself acting up on the silver screen at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles.
In preparation for this year’s, I just re-read my 2020 Roundup. On New Year’s Eve 2020, after <10 months of living the pandemic, I sounded truly despondent -- dispirited, discouraged, disenchanted, disillusioned, etc. Now let’s add another 12 months of it, and see how I’m feeling: Not surprisingly, in 2021, I haven’t grown more optimistic. I haven’t suddenly been hit with inspiration to write or make more short films for my neglected Shy Ruby Productions. I’ve officially lost my “one short per year” streak. Both features that I shot in 2020 are still in post-production, so there’s a huge gap in my IMDb credits for 2020 and 2021. I went through waves of submitting myself to other people’s projects on Actor’s Access and Backstage, but wasn’t super motivated. I got 0 auditions through the commercial agent who signed me in the spring (who left the company in the fall for reasons unknown). Things have been bleak!
Regardless, let’s take a look at what I can say happened on paper in 2021.
1. I shot the leading role for a short horror film in my hometown that my cousin, Marisa DeMarini wrote and directed (and is still editing).
2. I shot a comedic role for a pilot that is supposedly going to be available on Amazon Prime. Written and directed by Vince Freeman (a fellow Trojan/USC School of Cinematic Arts alum), featuring an ensemble of 3 lovely, sassy, hardworking women.
3. I shot about 10 roles for a hotel commercial over three days. High school friends from home have sent me messages about seeing me in the ads playing on streaming services as well as on the silver screen before the trailers begin! That’s one new thing I’d never experienced before this year.
4. I shot multiple UGC (user generated content) ads for six clients’ social media campaigns before realizing I was spending way too much time writing, shooting, and editing them for what I was getting paid. An interesting and educational experience, though!
After shooting ten looks at three hotels, the assistant director of this commercial started calling me “the Meryl of the IHG Shoot.” Looks like four of my ten made the cut! (We got so slap happy on this shoot, I’m honestly shocked that they were able to capture this many seconds of normal human behavior from us.) (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWps9rCLcZd/?utm_medium=tumblr
Haven’t color corrected these headshots that my sweet @meese.jpg took for me a few weeks ago, because I like their 1970s warmth. But I got a new commercial agent TODAY, so I thought I should get around to editing them. My birthday’s tomorrow, so I figured I’d post them as-is to commemorate my 33rd year. Marisa had taken my last headshots for me about a month before the 1st lockdown in March 2020. Since then, there’s been this really long pandemic, during which I’ve gained some weight and haven’t cut my hair once (unless you count last week when I got gum stuck in my hair, and Sarah and Ben had to cut it out), so I figured it was time for some new shots. Do I look tired? I feel tired. (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CV175WHrdVx/?utm_medium=tumblr
I've booked enough things at this point to not get too excited until we're actually shooting it. Today's that day!
I auditioned for not one but two pilots written and produced by Vince Freeman this year -- once in the spring for a role I didn't get, but he followed up with an email telling me he liked what I did with the character. In the fall, he sent me his new script. I was cast in the role of a snorting, delusional shoplifter. A proud day.
We made a movie! At home! In the rain & lightning & pitch black night & 100° heat! With family & bugs & poison ivy & a really sweet camera team! ❤️🎥🩸 @rdthomas @stammerheadshark Must love filmmaking to get through this one, and we all clearly do 🎬 Congrats, Cousin @meese.jpg (at Millstadt, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSAkINUpwCJ/?utm_medium=tumblr
Trying my hand at UGC (user generated content) for the first time. Created several ads for 6 different clients. Not sure if it’s my bag, but I learned a lot (including the fact that I wink a lot when trying to be relatable)!
theartofmadeline
baratheonpilled
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines