Hello Bonnie,
Thank you for all your weekly input. You are quite an inspiration and I pass on your column to as many actors as I can.
I have an individual question that I am surveying from LA CDs in particular as it pertains to the showcase that my MFA class at the USD/Old Globe program is preparing. The problem in question is whether it is better to hold the showcase in the fall (October) or in the spring (April).
Historically our school has a greater turnout at the April showcase but we are contracted to do the rep shows at the Old Globe through the summer and are not available to work with the agents or CDs we meet until the fall. That’s five months between meeting and being available. And our school is under the impression that if we wait until October to showcase when everyone is available for work that CDs and agents are too busy getting ready for pilot season to attend showcases.
So which is better? April when agents and CDs are in showcase mode but we can’t work with them for five months if we hit it off, or October when we will be ready but agents and CDs might be too busy to attend?
Or is the rumor about October being busy totally untrue?
Catch-22. Any advice would be greatly appreciated of 14 eager and talented students.
Thank you,
Christian Durso
Hi Christian,
Well, it is a catch-22 for sure. Absolutely, the industry is more available to attend showcases (and more in the mental space to enjoy and appreciate what they are experiencing, perhaps most importantly) in the spring. I say this not only as a member of the industry who gets invited to the many, many, many showcases that happen each year, but also as a former producer of industry showcases.
When we set up the Cricket Feet Showcase, we set out taking advantage of the three main seasons of showcasing (spring, summer, and late fall; so that’s April, July, and early November). By the end of year two, it was obvious that our April attendance outpaced our July and November attendance by quite a bit, so we ceased holding showcase outside of April altogether. (And since then, we’ve put the whole production on hiatus, but not at all due to issues of attendance.)
Not only do more people show up in April, but they’re more open to “shopping” for talent. They’re more eager to considering signing people to their rosters. They’re more excited to see fresh faces after a long pilot season of the same folks they’re used to seeing. Absolutely, by the fall, there’s a different energy to the town. And while those folks who do show up to your showcase may be fewer in number, I’d imagine those who show up are open to working with you, just by virtue of the fact that they turned out for a showcase outside “the hot season.”
So, I guess it’s a question of quality or quantity, as well as how long your heat can be sustained (which no one can know for sure). Sure, you could have a great turnout in April and then folks might cool off about the actors they were excited about, by the time they can work with ’em. You could also have very few people come out in October, but those that do are so excited to work with your grads, that the results are better, overall. Do you need lots of meetings or actual relationships?
I guess the important thing to ask is what your class values most? Being seen by the most people but then being unavailable to them (yet hoping the heat is remembered, six months later, when you can work together) or being seen enthusiastically by fewer people at a time when they can immediately leap on the opportunity to move forward together? Only you — and your individual classmates — can answer those questions.
(Oh, and even then, you can’t be sure you got it “right.” There’s no way to walk two roads at once, so you pretty much just have to choose and then make the best out of that choice.)
Good luck, whatever season you decide to showcase! Looking forward to my invitation to the show.
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/001133.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.