so, it's been a little while...

Sorry about that! I would love to say that it's because I'm just so interesting and busy that I simply didn't have a spare moment to sit down and write a blog post, but that would by lying.

Truthfully, things have felt pretty quiet around here. In a way it's a good thing because it indicates that I'm really starting to feel comfortable with my life here. That's not to say I haven't been doing things, because I have! I finally got some new headshots that I'm so very, very happy with, and that enabled me to really get set up on Actors Access! Now this question has been asked to me a couple of times, so I thought it might help to give a teensy bit of extra information.


In some way or another, people have wondered how exactly one embarks on this whole acting thing. Everyone's heard of an agent, so the first question I'm often asked is whether or not I have an agent. It's true, agents are extremely important because they have access (hopefully) to auditions that you, the actor, wouldn't. However, in my experience you want to attract a really great agent who's going to be able to get you in places but isn't so huge that you would get lost in space and forgotten about. Because my resume isn't super impressive by LA standards (90% theatre, not much film/television) and I don't have a professional reel I'm not necessarily at my best place to get an agent that I really think would work. So, what to do in the meantime?

Well, there are websites like Actors Access which enable the actors to submit themselves for auditions! Granted, the auditions are mostly student and short films, but at this point what I (and actors like me) need to do is acquire enough material to balance my resume out more in the favor of film/television and to create an impressive reel. That's where I am right now. Since I signed up for AA (I realize how that looks, but I'm tired of typing it out) less than two weeks ago I've had seven auditions offered to me (of those there is only one I won't be attending and three that have yet to happen) and gotten one callback. I have no idea what this looks like compared to the experience others might be having, but I know I'm pleased! What this says to me is my headshots are working to get my foot in the door, which is their inherent purpose! Soon I should have a little reel up on my profile that will hopefully help shoot me up the lists and get me even more auditions. This is the place I am right now in my career, just moving forward steadily to help polish and create an impressive (hopefully) and marketable brand.

I also made a website! I'm super proud of it, but it's also the first time I've ever done anything like that before so I welcome any (constructive) criticism or thoughts anyone has! I'll post the link to it after this post. The nice thing about my website is that I will work very hard to keep it constantly updated with what's going on with me professionally, so if you're interested in that it's a good way to keep up with me. There's also a direct link to my blog from the website, so you can start there and move straight here!

In other news, I have an interview tomorrow to potentially add another job a few nights a week. Although I do want to be as available as possible for auditions/workshops/classes/what-have-you, I also need the peace of mind afforded by being able to afford LA a little bit more than I can right now.

I'm going to focus on updating this blog more regularly as well. I love reading blogs and check my favorites every day for new posts and it's always disappointing when they disappear for a while. Not to say that I think this blog fills that spot for anyone, but I still want to be more accountable with it. At the very least, it allows me to hash through exactly what's going on with me and see how far I've come!

the website address is fairly simple:

www.shelbyannelee.com

don't forget the 'e' on the anne!