"crystallize your goals."

as mentioned in my previous post, i wanted to take some time to write out my goals for june  - august 2013.
i've always made dream boards and the like but there's something about not only writing down your goals but how you'e going to go about achieving said goals, that i feel holds you more accountable.
*holy run-on sentence, batman.
it's like paul j. myer once said:

crystallize your goals.

make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline.

then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people's criticisms carry out your plan.

so, i present to you my goals (aka. dreams with a deadline) for june - august 2013:

1) sign with a new agent!
it's no secret that i am unhappy with my current representation.
complaining and whining about the situation i was in did nothing to better it.
i found myself in the same spot...with elevated blood pressure.
so, i've decided to start taking the steps towards finding better representation.
last month, i had a consultation with one of toronto's top acting coaches.
after our meeting, that the acting school will help me get in contact with bigger, better agents in the city.
having their support is amazing and i can't wait to start the process.

2) book my second union project!
one step closer to full union status!
**i'm just going to throw this one out there - DEGRASSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

3) attend the mandated workshops for ACTRA apprentices
this one's pretty self-explanatory.

4) contact YEAA and start attending meetings (network, network, network)

those are basically all my goals for the time frame mentioned above.
i just want to audition regularly!

because the relationship between the number of auditions and the number of bookings is a positive correlation - the more you audition, the greater the likelihood of you booking something...

pray for me.

xoxo,
TA

"i know...it's been sooooooooooo slow."

on friday, i emailed my agent to ask her how the industry was going because i've "noticed" i haven't had an audition in over a month. i also asked her if there's anything i should do to promote myself or if she's heard of any workshops in the city worth attending.

her response:
"i know...it's been sooooo slow!"

my reaction:

28 days.
0 hours.
19 minutes.


xoxo TA

a letter to the person i will not be working for in four months...

aka. my agent:

it's a shame that i'm even writing this letter as i really had high hopes for our working relationship after our initial meeting.
okay, maybe i'm lying.

prior to meeting with you, i met with 3 out of the top 5 agencies in toronto who all had the same feedback: 

- great talent with a lot of potential

- encourage you to work on building an even larger body of work

- please focus on gaining some union status as that will lead to more opportunities to work with established professionals and gain more connections in the business

- please re-submit within six months

- wish you all the best, blah blah

so, if i'm being completely honest, i came into this relationship with every intention of leaving you once i fulfilled the majority of these requirements.
i also felt that during our initial meeting i made it perfectly clear my disinterest in doing anything in the musical/live theater world for a good while.

flash forward seven months later and here we are:
you've gotten me a total of 10 auditions - 2 of which i've self submitted for and 3 of which i had to literally beg and plead to be submitted.
(i still have a feeling that you didn't actually submit 2 of the 3 self-taped video submissions to their respective casting directors but that's another issue in itself...)
oh and, you're still constantly sending me information on theatre auditions in and around the city.

now, i'm one to give credit where credit is due.
so, i do have to mention that of the 10 auditions, 3 of which were for casting directors i had never auditioned for before.
so for that, i thank you.
but that's about all i'm going to thank you for.

i'm constantly doing my part in trying to stay on top of what's casting in the city and have emailed you a few times about projects i feel fit my specs.
responses like "saw it. didn't submit you" irritates me to no end.
but you know what's more irritating?
seeing fellow actor friends of mine with very similar specs and weaker resumes booking projects that you weren't even submitted for...
let's not forget, refusing to submit me for american projects shooting in the city because "the chances of them casting a non-american is unlikely" even after informing you that i am a DUAL CITIZEN!

i'm on casting workbook, aaaction auditions, actors access and mandy a ridiculous number of times a day and for you to send me a submissions list that contains an overwhelmingly large number of projects I submitted MYSELF for, is beyond disturbing.
being scolded for EMAILING you "outside office hours" was laughable.

i could go on but this letter slowly turning into a short story and i can feel my blood pressure rising.

but here is where we stand:
it is tuesday march 26th, 2013 and as of this moment, i have accomplished a vast amount of the items on the "list of requirements" i was given by other agents.
i have also decided to call in some reinforcements to help make my submissions to these agencies much more effective this time around in the form of a working consultation with one of the city's finest acting coaches.
lucky for you, he's in LA until the first week of may or else i would have already started my agent search for 2013.
so, it seems like i'm stuck with you for 40 more days, 20 more hours and 41 minutes...

long story short, get your sh*t together or i'm gone.

deuces,
TA