actorfest '08

Observe, don't imitate.
- John M. Ford

Today was Backstage's ActorFest NY at the Hammerstein Ballroom. It's a one-day event, a conference of sorts, where actors, singers, dancers, and performing artists, meet with acting teachers, headshot photographers, casting directors, agents, and a multitude of other industry professionals. In addition to meeting with exhibitors, there are a number of workshops and panel discussions you're given the option to attend.

Since I already have headshots and an acting studio (also one of the featured exhibitors), I was there more to learn about agents and casting directors. Probably the highlight of the day - I got to meet Jonathan Strauss, casting director for Law and Order: SVU. And I was not at all dorky about it, or even awkward, which is more than I can say for some others who were at the panel discussion and approached him afterward. Once again, the theory that no question is stupid was busted. Based on what I heard asked during the workshop, that statement couldn't be any further from the truth.

Second only to the casting director Q&A was the cool black Actorfest bag I got out of the whole deal. That's a reusable keeper.

I'm glad I went. It reaffirmed certain things I already knew about the industry and alerted me to some new ones. The casting directors we heard speak also emphasized the importance of - obviously - honing your craft, whether you're in a production at the moment or not. So classes, private teaching, individual work - they can tell when you get up there to audition whether you've done your homework or not. Right now I'm taking Master Classes at PTS, which builds on the work I was doing in the on-camera classes. A couple of months of this, more work on my monologues, and getting into the habit of submitting myself for auditions, and then I'll be ready to start submitting to agents and casting directors.

Yeah, luck plays a part in all of it, but it's just the start.

After all, luck favors the prepared, right?