Getting back in class is something I've really wanted to do but just couldn't afford {both financially & time-wise}. Well a friend of mine made a great suggestion that I start by taking a few private sessions with an acting coach until I have both the time and the money to commit to an on-going class, so I did! I had my first private session with Amy Lyndon and boy was it an eye-opener.

We started our session with a career consultation as one of the main things she works on is helping you put your package together so that everything's in order when you begin seeking representation. She looked at my clothes, my hair, my headshots and my resume and gave me her thoughts on the type of first impression I make- adorable, cute, fun, sassy, spunky... I can get with that. We talked about the main roles I have on my resume as well as the type of roles I generally go out for and she immediately gave me some homework...

1. Take new headshots and shoot 3 looks: All American Girl Next Door, Young Lawyer/Doctor/Businesswoman and Sassy Spunky Sidekick. Three very different, very distinct looks that I can believably pull off. Each of these looks will become a character on a TV show that's currently on air and I even have to give each one a name and bio so that on the day of the shoot I can portray these 3 women, rather than just take pictures. I like!! She even gave me very specific suggestions on the type of clothes to wear and to avoid for each one. And since I had already scheduled a 2-look session for November with Bradford Rogne I simply upgraded to 3 looks. 
2. Make a rough cut of my reel that's between 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds. I have a bit of footage from one scene in Dating Dilemma, the short film I did last year and of course I can now use something from Diary of a Wedding Planner as well. We may even use a clip from What I Hate About Me just to show a tiny bit of my personality. Typically that sort of thing wouldn't go on a reel since I'm not acting in it but we both agreed that until I get more material I can use it for now, especially since it was something that aired on network TV.

With my image and materials assessed, we moved on to the actual coaching. I brought in sides from the new season of The Game since that is one of the shows I plan to target {so glad it's coming back!!!}. The character was a guest star who had 3 scenes with the lead so I chose one and gave a read as if it were a real audition. Ha! Over the next hour Amy showed me how to really break the scene down in a far more detailed way than I ever have before. And I must admit, with each new read my character became much more specific. I didn't necessarily change any of the choices I made but I definitely realized that my approach was far too general, superficial and ultimately, forgettable. And she told me I need to work on my timing, apparently I was reading a half hour sitcom like a one hour drama, not good! It was a lot to take in in an hour but I loved every minute of it.

I left with Amy's book, The 15 Guideline Map To Booking and have to prepare scene 2 for our next session. Can't wait.