This week, between marathon work sessions for Bloomberg and rehearsals for the Christmas Show, I met with my consultant at TVI Studios. TVI is a resource center for actors#–a place to take classes and seminars, meet casting directors at nightly workshops, and generally get a handle on your career. They also have studio space for practicing monologues, songs, scenes, and anything you might need to do that’s too loud for your apartment. Their offices are a few floors above the Actor’s Equity Audition Center, so it’s also a good place to warm up before auditions.

My consultant helped me come up with a game plan to attack pilot season for 2006: I’m already on the right track, so her guidance will really hone my decisions for the next two months.

First and foremost, I need new headshots.

Since I’m interested primarily in television and film, I need to keep pace with industry standards#–and that means color photos. I’m scheduling an appointment with Dave Cross sometime in December to get new pics to send out for the Spring. This should lead to some different photos on my demo reel and website as well.

Next on the list is speaking roles on daytime television. I’ve been working steadily on three of the four daytime shows shot in NY (Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and One Life to Live) since July, and it’s high time I started speaking too. I’m taking a class in December from Rob Decina, the head of casting for Guiding Light to glean info from his viewpoint, and I’m looking into a class with Bob Lambert from All My Children. Since GL and ATWT are both CBS shows, I’m concentrating on GL#–if I’m seen on that show, I can parlay the job into others with CBS. AMC and OLTL are ABC shows, and I’m working that network in the same manner (OLTL called me to read tomorrow, so I’m on the right track there).

The idea is that once I’ve been on those shows, I’ll be able to take the next step into auditioning for the Network folks#–the casting directors who cast for Primetime. I should also be more attractive to agents. All of these folks will be working overtime after the middle of January, so it’s imperative that I do the work now.

I’ve been courting an agency that I really like for several months and, on the advice of the agent I’ve been in contact with, working on NY-based plays. I’ve also been auditioning and meeting with casting people, building a solid "business plan", and taking classes. Now that fall is here, it’s time to either work with that agency, or move on to other prospects.

With the end of the year approaching, it’s also time to circle the wagons and get tax info together. I’m not one to put things off, so I’m not going to wait long after getting my W2 forms to file#–I keep extensive, detailed records, and I’m ready to send everything off. I spent the afternoon making sure Quicken was up to date and that all my expenses have been recorded correctly. The next two months are going to be so hectic, I know it will surely sneak up on me. 

All of this while also holding down my crazy schedule#–and working on screenplays. It’s an exciting time here in Colemanland… with little time for extra breaths.

Rehearsals for the Christmas shows are picking up speed, and I’ll post more about that soon…