 Good morning. So I talked to six agents yesterday and probably like 10 or 12 actors So definitely less actors that I talked to last year. Oh, yeah, and then Kaz from She does like self-tape coaching like audition coaching So I talked to her too. Definitely want to hire her like her personality is just one that I would love to have when I'm Doing self tapes especially ones that I'm like, okay Why am I not booking these like this is literally asking for me yesterday I said that my goal is to somehow make a connection to get representation in LA And I did end up talking to an agent that represents in LA as well as a couple in Arizona That seemed interested in at least, you know, save my work. It's 625 I'm getting ready this early because Breakfast is served at 7 and I definitely want to make sure to eat breakfast because even though I got a VIP ticket this year We don't get a lunch. We get a VIP mixer a goodie bag to them the front row for the perks And I remember last year did not eat much yesterday. I didn't eat much I'm gonna have breakfast. I would have checked in and have the same VIP badges The conference hall lobby is where we registered and got our badges as well as free coffee and tea all day And then once you enter those double doors all the vendors were set up So Savage Universal and Joby which I have lots of self-tape gear most of my self-tape gear is actually from them I got to say hi to them and see all of their new stuff I also visited Act Up Studios, Arianne Martin, headshot photographer, sugar, cast, lion, runner, tapes, SAG-AFTRA, casting networks And so much more than it was time for the sessions to start So they opened up the walls and this is the only room this year because it's only one track And we made our way to our seats for Belis Kino, which was a casting director workshop And I was an actor in the mock audition Already like a little mini-callback, little chemistry First tip in callbacks, you're gonna stand uncomfortably close to the other person I would almost say it's almost your foot is touching each other So the further you are away, you are, the further out we as casting have to pull out We did the audition one at a time and then took some notes then we went up together and did it again First of the gentleman's career is sinking hook shots to half-court I like what I like in her reaction and her facial and even like a little head roll I felt like it was like an inside joke between you It was cute, like it translated really well Great work everyone, this was awesome Bella gave a bunch of tips on self-tapes and how to incorporate different tools to make your auditions even better Networking for Humans by Brian Pataka Brian might have been my favorite of the entire weekend because as an extrovert I do already enjoy networking and he provided tips on how to approach people in a natural way and what kind of things to talk about I am learning who you are by how you respond, not just the detail It's appropriate to walk into a group and kind of introduce yourself Great, great, great, great, great He also allowed us to ask questions and provide a bunch of examples He's so sweet and he's like the perfect amount of spiritual for me I would love to take one of his courses He has so many like make managers and agents want you and audition magnet Naduan Johnson who was here last year He's an actor that helps actors get booked through self-tapes and he wraps it all in a super funny and inspirational way Thank you for my man The scene, what do you need? He also had audience participation by having Laurie and Adriana each perform a monologue on stage and give direction Kaz from Line Runner Tapes did a fun self-tape workshop where she also chose three actors to do an improv commercial self-tape Audition then provided us with a ton of information on how to actually do different takes Doing a one that's a little bit bigger and a little bit smaller or pretty much do the same thing You want to bring in something completely different After all of that she had the same actors come up and implement what she shared Which I could see a huge difference and I learned so many great tools from her Like how to make the audition feel more alive and allowing myself to Adlib and really choose like who I'm talking to behind the camera Even when the prompt is something so simple Like you're a mom laying on the couch waiting and you don't have any lines Up next we have casting networks And we're going to be talking about some of those tips and tricks To make yourself have a perfect profile on that platform Now how do we stand out? Well photos and video are really where you want to start right? You want to make sure they're up to date? I'm hoping that you know we've been around for 2025 years You guys are seeing casting platforms as more of a tool for your success versus a necessary people The talent agent panel was hosted by Darren D'Amburo creator of We Audition The question here was do agents watch auditions before sending it off to casting? Someone on my team watches it Whether it's me or my assistant or a junior agent Somebody watches it specifically with that in mind Did you sleep properly? Did you label your files properly? Did you follow the instructions? Because some casting directors if you don't follow it they're just going to delete it They won't even watch it The scene that I've performed went really nice And then we've just had a bunch of talks in time in between to network It's just been so packed I've been taking lots of notes We have one more panel today and then the VIP mixer Which I am so excited about because I've already started some conversations with some people And excited to continue the conversation in an intimate way And so far compared to last year it has been really different Even Dawon's talk today because he was here last year was different Some of the agents were here last year The information they provided was different for questions I was a little bit concerned about basically repeating last year I knew it was going to be different But I was like oh it might be a lot of the same information But it has not been And because I was here last year and some people do recognize me There's just like another level of comfortability like familiarity of Oh yeah I remember you from last year And especially this year because I performed a scene People are like oh my god I saw you up there That was you up there right So that's been really cool And everybody behind has been so nice Of like oh you guys stood greeting your scene Things like that Oh the next one is the LA talent manager So the last one was agents And this next one is the managers And then that's it for today Unless you're VIP then you have the mixer Now the manager panel hosted by Tony Robinet What is the difference between a manager and an agent? A manager is really there to structure your like five to ten year plan Agents are really there to book you the job Like they're there to like get you that audition Book the job Negotiate your contracts It's business business business They typically have like three times more clients than managers Specifically because managers they manage your career You know so it's more personal It's more like it takes time You don't want to like oversaturate your roster Your agents have your attorneys They're like you wouldn't necessarily call your attorney and be like Hey which ship should I go today? For my headshot session But here and your manager is more like your lifeline It's the person that you're reaching out to For all the other stuff that you wouldn't reach out to your agent for As a manager my job is bodyguard and cheerleader And so whatever falls under the and sometimes psychologist And oh yeah they sell some other stuff But mostly it's um it's that So your agent is because they carry such like a heavy roster So you say three times you know like something there's a lot more people on the roster They just don't have a bandwidth to do it And so having a team with the managers Is going to give you the accessibility To get information for your career That you can't get from your agent We asked so many questions And I loved how honest the panelists always are at this conference Like they never try to sugarcoat anything They just give their honest opinions And that was the end of day one Unless you have a VIP ticket which I do So I only have like 20 minutes to change And go to the mixer right now But I just want to see what's in my VIP bag I tried not to peek But I did like quickly look inside And there was a notebook So I'm like I'm just gonna use a notebook A notebook to write all of our notes in Communication method for actor's pen The goodie bag is actually a bag An energy drink I should have opened this this morning Because I've been so tired all day From not sleeping very well last night I was hungry today I couldn't have a snack One complimentary B12 shot from Skin Spirit $25 gift card for sugar sugar And some starburst candy Electrolyte drink mix It's a sticker that you can put in the sun And then it like sparkles different colors Maybe they gifted these not Regina makeup removers But I got a couple of these A diamond glow facial And then last, oh last year we got a discount code For we audition And then we also got a discount broadcasting networks Last year And off this year darn This I am very excited about It's so you can put your phone pretty much anywhere I don't know what time is it It is but I probably I need to I need to change What time is it? Oh it's right here $5.23 oh my gosh I have seven minutes to change And decide what I even want to wear A lot of people asked about representation for influencers And people that have like multiple things Like podcasts or do coaching on the side or whatever For the most part at least the managers here First of all the managers here said that Every manager is going to be different Like however many managers you talk to Everybody is going to be a little bit different As far as the answers that they give you The managers today did not seem very interested In doing like influencer work They're more interested in representing for theatrical Like acting or commercial These heels are already hurting I love that we had a more intimate mixer And pretty much every panelist and speaker was there As well as some of us actors And I was able to comfortably talk to people And not feel like oh my god I'm taking too much of their time There's probably somebody else that wants to talk to them The only downside of this was that It was a smaller room And there were a lot of us So it got very very loud Like at the end we were just like screaming at each other To try and hear each other