Meeting Standards, Making Friends and Influencing People

Today was the day the day I got my headshots back from the local photographer that I work with.  The reason I went and got headshots was that I figured I'd try my luck with one of the local talent agencies in St. Louis called Images.This isn't the first time I've had headshots done.  Last year I had operatic headshots done for my audition applications to various music productions.

I did find this one place online, claimed to be run by a casting director that offered headshot critique.  So I bit the bullet and actually sent my picture in.  I explained, that "This isn't my sole ambition in my life. My real ambition is to become an opera singer, but I figured I should try my luck at acting if I could get a job or two and get some money coming in."  Well I guess the guy trumped it up to me not being "serious," because he told me my headshot wasn't "bad but not great either"  he said I was "washed out and that the white background didn't help" well, I'm sorry Mr. High-Mucky-Muck Casting Director, but it wasn't my choice to have a white background for this particular headshot. My agency requested a white background.  And no, I'm not washed out or overexposed. I have extremely pale skin and almost black hair.  In the end, he said it should be a fine headshot since I'm not serious.

Exactly how serious can you be in a business where everything is about the luck of the draw? I'm not about to delude myself in to believing that I'm magically going to make some big splash in the entertainment industry JUST because I got out from my parents' thumb and FINALLY had the freedom to talk to some agents.  I KNOW it takes years of work,education, and a lot of LUCK.  The people who have gotten where they are have paid their dues and then some.

I'm not about to put all my eggs in one basket. And no smart person in that industry would.  Last I checked, everyone has to make a buck to survive and make ends meat in this country. Since when has realism and prudence become equated with a lack of seriousness?

Only in La-la land.  And some people think that La-la land is Los Angeles.  I've lived in LA and I miss it terribly.