Am I Represented?

I have no idea how my "open call for representation" went today.  I don't even know if I'm represented, but I think I am.  The guy who interviewed my said they would "push my voice out there"  whatever that means.  Took me an hour and a half to get there--during the tail end of rush hour in the DC area.  But then again going anywhere across town can take an hour and a half any time of day.  I got to the agency about a half hour before the beginning of the "open call" hours--about what I had planned.  Fortunately someone was there--it's in a small building with only a few employees.  I had to use the bathroom really badly and I didn't see anywhere nearby.  Some quaint little shops--seemed like a nice part of the Baltimore environs--but no Starbucks or other kind of cafe where I could have stopped.

So I waited about 1/2 hour.  Only one other person--another woman--was waiting.  So I felt better than if 50 people had been milling around--"open call" can mean anything, can't it?  I came prepared with reading material (yoga books), so I didn't get nervous waiting.  I'm fine with waiting as long as I have something to do.  When I was invited in (I arrived first, so was the first person to be interviewed, the interviewer said he'd put me on camera and I could start my monologue, if I had prepared one.  Well, I hadn't, since all the email said was:  "we'll put you before the camera, and answer any questions you may have".  And since they tell you not to contact them, I didn't know they expected a prepared monologue.  So I asked him how much time he wanted me to speak--he said a couple of minutes--so I said I would talk about why I wanted to do voice over work.  I don't really get unnerved by not knowing what to expect--I actually kind of like it.  I have no idea how I did.  I felt pretty natural (although I heard a few "ums" when he played back the first part) and a few times I had a little trouble coming up with new descriptive words.  But the 2 mins. went by quickly and I wasn't nervous.

Then he sat down with me to talk about how they operate--they get calls for work and match people--but he really didn't give any indication what was in store for me.  He said a lot would depend on the demo.  I had mailed in a demo, head shot and resume a few months ago, but he didn't have any of that.  Almost like different portions of the business (which seems to consist of maybe 5 people) don't communicate with one another.  So it's not clear how they even contacted me for the "open call".

He made it sound like there was a steady stream of work, but who knows?  My session lasted about 1/2 hour--seemed like that's about what was alloted, since he signaled we were finished.  But it seemed like a good amount of time.  I got the impression from something he said that he may have been taping me as we were speaking--which is fine with me.  And anyway, I have no way of knowing how long the other two women's sessions were, or what he said to them.  I'm often better off not knowing too much.

When I left only one other woman had arrived.   Maybe they recently got a request for a woman to act or do voiceovers, so called a few of us in.  Who knows?

When I spoke with him, I told him I was just getting started--not my nature to embellish.  He suggested I not do that when I got work; which I wouldn't.  But I figured an agent should know what they've got.  I did talk about what I thought my strengths were (from a voice acting standpoint).  I just wasn't the mood to "sell" myself in a way that would have felt artificial to me.

He asked me how I would describe my voice--I answered by talking about the types of readings I liked the best--PSAs and children's books.  He said he thought I had a "practical" voice--as in "if it works for her, it should work for me."  Hmmm...my immediate thought was that I sounded boring.  So I started speaking with a liltier voice and said I thought I'd be good at PSAs (which I referred to as PSRs at one point--oops).

Took me 1 1/2 hours to get home--this time because it started pouring rain when I was on the beltway--the kind of rain where you can barely see in front of you.  And it didn't let up once it hit.

This is where doing multiple things comes in handy--I won't be waiting around for them to call. Or email.  Or whatever it is they do.