Okay, the headshots were a complete wash. Out of 40 photos, only this one was even remotely worthy of being seen in public, and that was after two hours of digital touch up to tone down the black sludge around my eyes. It will work for now, but I will definitely have to get them done again.
However my voiceover demo was quite a success. I have six well produced commercial spots that I feel highlight my voice quite nicely. Now I need to figure out how I will have CD copies made. I have a couple of options, and it just comes down to cost, really. I could send the master to a CD-duplicating lab and have them run off copies. They would create labels and case covers and it would look polished and professional. Expensive, though, and there's a minimum run of at least 100 copies. If I make any changes to my demo or to my information (like get an agent or something) then I'd have to go through the whole thing again every time.
I could burn copies myself on my Mac and create labels with a CD-Stomper. That would be the most cost-effective way to do it, and I could burn only as many copies as I would need for any given mailing. If I wanted to make changes or rearrange the content, it's easy and there would not be any wasted CD's lying around. But that would also be quite time-consuming as I can only burn one copy at a time, then print the label, stick it to the CD... on the other hand, it also frees me up to try different types of media, such as the little mini-CDs or the new business-card shaped CD's.
I think I'll try a test-run and burn a few on my Mac. then I can take a day and drive all over LA and drop them off at selected agencies and see if I get a bite. I can save a few to mail off in case there's a voiceover casting call somewhere, too, and see if I can drum up some jobs on my own. If I can manage to land a couple of jobs, then that will give me some more content for my demo, as well as put some money in my pocket.
I've actually been quite industrious lately. I created an acting resume and posted it on the Backstage.com's resume section. There's a zillion of them in there, and unless someone is specifically looking for a 30-40 year old redhead with green eyes that sings alto, chances are it probably won't get a lot of hits. But it's there, and I can send a link to anyone via email, and that means if there's an online casting notice, I'll pop off a note and a link and see what happens. If you'd like to take a look at it, you can click on the link at the bottom of this page. Let me know what you think. Be brutally honest. I can take it.
On the other job front, things are looking pretty grim. I was actually turned down for a store manager position at Starbucks. Here's what they said, "Thank you for taking the time to submit your profile for the store manager - San Fernando Valley position. We have carefully evaluated your profile, and while your qualifications are impressive, regrettably they do not meet our present need for the store manager - San Fernando Valley position."
Is that joke or what?? I spent eight years managing the entire grip and lighting department at a motion picture studio, and they don't think I can "meet the present need" for a Starbucks??!! Can someone tell me what the heck that's all about? I'm so insulted, I could spit. If any of you work at the Starbucks corporation, please, by all means, tell me why someone who's intelligent, educated, and experienced isn't suitable for managing a Starbucks retail location. Or better yet, give me a freaking job at the corporate level so I can find out for myself.
Well, kids, it's off to CompUSA to pick up some blank CD's and a label stomper. If anyone is interested in hearing my demo, drop me a line.
