"The label you give yourself cannot impact external forces that are not motivated by your own psychology or influenced by a third party's pre-existing consciousness of you. We are all presented with reasons to struggle which come from completely external forces; to pretend that one is not struggling is either arrogance or an admission of defeat. To admit that one is struggling is a sign and a source of strength." - Evan A. Baker

Sunday, December 8, 2013

IndieSO Actor Demo Reel Review

Let's face it. As Struggling Actors in this town, every once in a while we'll book an amazing project, and we film it, and we're like, Yeah! This is some good shizz! It's gonna look great on my reel! ...And then the project never gets finished. Or we'll book something only to have it fall through before production begins. And you're looking at your AA account and thinking, Hot Damn, When am I ever going to get some new material up? Or, if you're newer, Hot Damn, when am I ever going to get reel footage?

If you don't have a posse of peers to help you produce your own material, and you want it done right, you can hire small LA production companies that specialize in Actor Reels.

I was contacted by Joe and Matias at IndieSo.com, and they told me, hey, we like what you're doing for actors with your blog, and we'd like to pay it forward - can we shoot some actor demo reel scenes for you?

Um, YES. YES, YOU CAN.

I was given the option of finding my own scenes, or working with them to create something specifically for me. I had a few scenes I really loved from an acting class years ago, and wanted to use those. They gave me the option to use my own actors, or if I needed help, using a few of their actors they love working with.

I have to say, I probably was not the easiest client to work with. I had very specific ideas about what I wanted, how I wanted it done, and who I wanted with me, but Joe and Matias were absolutely wonderful - they kept reminding me, "This is your reel, and we want to give you exactly what you want." Bless them. They allowed me to feel like a collaborator as opposed to someone with a high list of demands. True professionals!

I sent them the scenes I wanted and we discussed a few ideas how to shoot it. I got my actors in place, we settled on a date, and bing bam boom, we finished 6 pages in 5 hours, with a break for lunch!

They're a production company, so they have all their own equipment and a few locations, and unlike a lot of other reel companies, Matias, who directed, used his experience and creativity to make the scenes look like we ripped them from a bigger production. These scenes don't look like they were shot specifically for demo use.

And the quality!! YAY!

Do I recommend them? YES. YES I DO.

But of course, Joe and Matias also want to do me a huge solid by offering my readers a special!

You get, just by saying you were referred by me from the Struggling Actress Blog:
2 scenes (you can have more, just let them know and they'll discuss rates)
AND
1 FREE edit, included before the final cut (if you're like, hey, instead of the two shot on this line, can we use my close-up?)

All for only $500, which is a full $100 off their normal price!

You can find more info here, and check out my final product here

Again, great guys, great product! Love them!