Hey Bonnie,
I’ve been reading your columns for a long time now and most of the time I’ve used your columns as a sort of a checkpoint for my career pursuit.
I have to admit that majority of time you and I are almost in sync with our ideas and for those times when I’m not, I have relied on your guidance, so you see it’s a symbiotic relationship (definitely from my side!) except for this one thing.
I didn’t have any valuable footage on me and for a long time I resisted (God only knows why) and when I asked my agent/manager and they also advised me to wait till I get some “legit” footage, which is very sound advice and made complete sense to me.
Yet something inside of me kept nagging and I was itching to “do” something about this footage situation and then I read a few of your articles and of course SPCotW and I decided to spend my own money and make a reel for myself
And I’m very, very happy to share that I’ve made my very own reel.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!
What about my agents you ask?
Well, they saw the footage and decided that — even though it’s not actual credits — the footage shows me in a good light, shows “how comfortable I am in front of the camera” and “that I can act” (their exact words) and now I have a reel online and everyone who has seen it has given me some very positive feedback!
I’ve recently booked a web series simply based on my reel!
So I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for being there for me in the exact way that I needed you to be.
Thank you so much for making me push myself just a little bit more.
Thanks Bonnie. I owe you one!
Awesome, awesome, awesome. I love that you finally clicked in with the value in getting it, in doing your own thing, in presenting your own demo reel to the buyers and showing ’em what you have from jump. Excellent! Having something to show off is so valuable. Sure, you’ll re-edit your reel when you have footage from projects you’ve been hired to do, but ’til then, just being able to show folks what you can do and how you look while you do it is a great advantage. Good for you! Glad everyone is enjoying what you’ve put together too. That’s a bonus!
Looking forward to hearing more about your awesome journey. Enjoy it! And thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001077.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.