1:28 pm - Saturday, Aug. 19, 2006
Being \"Proactive\"

Fri 8/18/06 (2:06 p.m.)

There�s something I haven�t written about much in here�Actually, I don�t know if I�ve even mentioned it yet�because I�m not sure exactly what it means at this point. But potentially, it�s big news: Brett K. (Of Actors Co-Op Group fame) is starting an actor-management company, and I�m one of his �clients�!

The company is called Proactive Management Group (PMG), and he�s moving forward with it pretty quickly�As a Manager, he�s going to be getting Breakdowns starting Monday.

At this point, his getting Breakdowns is the biggest development in my favor. I�ve been getting breakdowns (Notices that casting directors send out to agents and managers about what roles they�re looking to fill) via email since March, but Brett will be getting them legally, and be able to get and send electronic breakdowns as well.

So now I won�t have to pay for breakdowns on my end. And his being able to get electronic breakdowns is important, because 1) electronic breakdowns get put out throughout the day, as things come up (As opposed to the email breakdowns I was getting), and 2) sometimes casting directors only send out electronic breakdowns for a role (Particularly when it�s a �rush job�).

So Brett will be able to submit me for a lot more things than I�d be able to submit myself for (Technically, managers aren�t supposed to be able to solicit work for their clients, but they do). And by virtue of running the ACG for the past two years, he knows a lot more casting directors than I do (So if a casting director�s been to ACG and feels good about the level of talent they saw there, but haven�t met me yet, they might be more willing to take a chance on Brett�s say-so).

Hard to say if Brett�s got the stuff to be a good manager or not, but one thing that makes me feel optimistic is the ACG itself; he�s already shown he has what it takes to start a business and keep it running (So it�s not as if I�d suddenly decided I was going to start managing actors).

And maybe most importantly, he has a good feeling about me. He�s gotten a sense of what I can do, he knows I�m a good guy, and he knows I�ve booked things. And I feel like we�re on the same page�If I could just get more auditions, I�d book more gigs.

Because he doesn�t have that much start-up money, he�s doing something managers don�t typically do, which is charging for the service (Typically, managers, like agents, get a percentage of what you earn). But he�s going on a case-by-case basis, and in my case...well, let�s just say I�m getting a very good deal�saying more than that would be saying too much-- which adds to my sense that he has faith in me, and knows he�ll make money on his investment down the line.

So really, far as I can see, the worst that might come of this is nothing, and life goes on pretty much as it has before. But I think with more submissions, more of a push from Brett, and more of a general �career support system� with him and Molly (Have I mentioned what a sweetheart she is?), there�s bound to be at least some positive movement.

On Thursday, I had a workshop with Sheila Landsburg, with Landsburg/Fiddleman Casting.

It was another scene where I was the �Dad�, but a more dramatic scene this time, and again, it went very well.

I left feeling good�It�s not happening as fast as I wish it would, but my ACG experience has already proven that if you keep throwing good stuff out there, eventually they�re going to start calling you in for things.

Some things Sheila L. said about acting/auditioning are making me want to write about what other casting directors have had to say on the subject, but I think I�ll save that for my next entry...

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