A Great Week

It's probably right to blog about the last 7 days. I've had the most successful week since I've moved. Tuesday I was asked by the wonderful Kate Hollowood to be an extra in a TV series she's starring in. Thursday I was an extra in a short film with 2 famous faces and Friday night I was involved in a commercial shoot for sofa.com. To add to all this these jobs they were all paid which is was brilliant. Confidence is at a high and concentration is as ever immovable. I was telling a friend the other day about how great these jobs are and how lucky I am, but the thoughts are constantly with the showreel. I am seeing how building a showreel from scratch is possible, and for me I will definitely get one together with the projects I am already a part of, but it will be a while.

It's a waiting game once you've auditioned for something and your waiting to hear back, but there's one giant waiting game happening outside of this. I'm currently waiting patiently to film my first shoot where I will be able to use the material for a showreel. I will then patiently wait for that footage to be released and then wait again to receive the footage. I'll go ahead and wait once more after finding someone to put a showreel together for me to complete it...then! Then I am ready to face an agent. I want a showreel put together by the end of the year. That is my aim and I'm sure with the things I will be filming and finishing that can happen in time. Already at the back of my mind a cautious voice is reminding me it may be possible I will have to pick up a part time job after the new year. A part of me is already feeling the heat to get things going quicker, but then the majority of me tells me to slow and calm down and reminds me how much time this may take to start getting somewhere.

I am fully in the moment now and caught in the current of working harder to keep the momentum going. I think if I did step out for a moment and sit down I would think its amazing what I've done here so far. I've only ever thought forward since I've moved here and when people praise what I believe to be the good luck I've had so far the normal protocol is generally: Thank them a hell of a lot, shrug it off, make sure both feet are on the ground at all times, and make sure I build on getting a damn load more work to be thankful for. I want to come home for Christmas with brand new stories and successful jobs under my belt. I want to enjoy Christmas once I'm home and know that there was never a time I didn't give my all to keep chasing my career so I can relax and enjoy the holidays knowing I deserve this break.

Someone New

Due to recent events which shall be told later in the blog I'm realising how, financially, not a lot has changed. I am currently not earning a great deal from the jobs I am doing and if I want to stay in London I do need to start earning soon. Now despite all this negative talk my morale could not be higher. Right now I am on target for really brilliant things. I've already mentioned the sketch show which I was successful in getting a part in, and have recently discovered an audition I did for 3 films I was successful in getting a part as well as being offered an extra role in one of the films because they were so impressed. I guess I've just been getting on with things and not thinking about the long term plan but really I'm right on track to getting up a great show reel in the coming months and hopefully at least applying to agents before the year is out. I still stand by if I get an agent before 2013 then this will have been by far the most successful year to date for me.

Days are getting busier and busier so I'm happy. Today I auditioned for a short crime thriller and found myself confident and calm throughout. There wasn't a moment of nerves and when they seemed to enjoy my audition all the way home I was feeling so content with how I'm handling everything that's come at me so far. I can only hope my luck continues and in 6 months time I'll be planning my 2nd year living in London. I remember saying before I moved I needed to be a brand new Sam Stevenson when I get to London and already a month and a half into it I can see differences. The first couple of extra jobs I had I generally kept quiet and only became myself until I got to know people more later in the day. The last extra job I had I went in and was shown to where the extras were sitting, about 15 quiet shy looking types, and sat right in the middle of them and talked to the group nearest me. That's the Sam Stevenson I doubted I could be but confidence has grown and I couldn't be happier with who I have become more of.

To date since moving to London I have been:
An extra in 4 music videos, (one of them being for a very famous singer but for legal reasons I can't divulge any more information!)
1 TV sketch,
Accepted as a major role in an up and coming sketch show,
Been chosen to be a model for a clothing company,
Chosen as lead male for a commercial,
And the recent news of the short films for Cannes film festival.

I'm also currently waiting to hear back from a TV series audition I had last week, a video audition I did for a short film in Bristol and a busy day tomorrow auditioning for a music video and a feature film audition next Tuesday. 2 of the listed jobs were low paid and that's as far as its gone financially so far. I don't see this as a negative. You can't if your in it for the long run. Listing all these things I've done and have ahead of me its probably clear to see why morale is so high. I've already done so much and I haven't even started going for serious work yet. I feel like I'm where I want to be now. At the bottom of about 5 different ladders and I can choose to climb them all. It could be too early to say not getting into drama school was the best thing that ever happened to me, but I've a feeling I'll be saying it sooner than I think. I hope so anyway.

Homeward Bound

So I'm heading home this weekend for the first time since I moved. The journey home made me think about whether I am returning proud and happy with what I've achieved so far. I think there's a lot I can be proud of and I'd quite like some point this weekend to find a break and reflect on what I've done so far. I'm so used to not stopping and constantly looking for the next job, I think this weekend will be good for me if I can find some time to relax and just be proud of myself.

It's been a good week. I've had auditions planned and am almost too busy which is how I like it. More extra jobs in music videos meant I met some more brilliant people. A contact from a previous shoot even contacted me and asked my availability for a shoot next week so the networking is really showing its benefits.

I feel a bit like I've earned this weekend. I have kept my focus only in London and I think I'll realise how much I missed family and friends when I see them. I am also starting to see why London may think people from Bournemouth are mostly elderly folk due to 90% of the people queueing for the coach home were above 70. But hey this is my Bournemouth and I wanted to do it proud. So all in all I am returning to Tuckton a happy man looking forward to a hug from my parents and seeing some faces I have missed a hell of a lot. God bless home.

A Tough Week

On reflection its been a tough week. It's not nice when I have a brilliantly busy week like last week and then a very very quiet week afterwards. It's gone so fast and its only today I am happy with in terms of actually applying to jobs and showing my determination. I can't have another lacklustre week like this again. I guess I should look at the big picture and the positives. Things will simply get better and I know that. It's just hard sometimes at the end of the day when you've emailed all the contacts and applied to everything you can apply to. I need more things to do towards it. I know this time last week I was on a massive high about the position I was in and am in now with so many positive things to take from London so far. I beat over 200 people to a role in comedy. Can't have that happen and feel this dejected all in one week. So I will focus on that, only for a moment, and then be my usual self and get my head down under the opinions of positive and negative and focus on the job at hand.

Being lucky enough to get this role for the sketch show made me think about what I'm meant for. I think as far back to Primary School making other kids laugh with lame jokes, entertaining my friends in Secondary School in drama lessons, making up jokes, writing sketches, stand up one liners, sitcom ideas, and writing some proven comedy material throughout Uni and putting it to the test against the audiences and grade and coming out strong. Makes me think about what your born to do if that is a thing and not just a cheesy idea that people say about the greats. This isn't a 'second thoughts about whether I want to do acting' as my heart is in this through and through. It's more of a thought on what potential I have in front of me and how this could be the beginning of something really special and limitlessly enjoyable.

I keep thinking if I could get an agent by the end of the year then it would have been the most successful year of my life so far. But then I think, hang on, I've moved to London this year. I've passed a real life audition. I'm doing comedy which I love with all my heart. No screw that even, I'm doing what I love full stop. This has been such an important year. Already this is a success just moving to London and making that step let alone getting any jobs. The faith is growing as is the determination. I remember before I moved writing down to my future self that its all about tactics and territory. That I should start somewhere and call that my base and just slowly get my name out around that area and take over more and more territory. I have done that but in a different way. The people that I've met carry my name around with them now. I make sure I'm the name that will pop up in the inbox for the third time this week asking for jobs. My territory is already growing fast and I will keep it growing until people know exactly who I am, what I do, and the determination I have in my heart to be first to the role. Yes its been a tough slow week, but next week is a new game and I'm already prepared to make sure its one I can be proud of.

Building Up Steam

I didn't really think I'd be doing another blog this early after my last. I thought I would give it a few weeks of trying to hold some jobs down to have something worthy to write about, but after a call with my Dad I realised I actually have a heck of a lot to write about.

The successes so far to date have been 3 extra jobs for 2 music videos and 1 for channel 4 and a lot of contacts made. If there's one thing I've learnt so far from being an extra its that its dangerously close to the TV series Extras in a lot of ways. The theme so far seems to be that I will encounter one odd person out of all the extras I work with each project. If it is any more than one there will always be one who will exceed the amount of madness than any other. The first extra job I had for a music video included a guy who would laugh for about 2 minutes over nothing and seemed genuinely nuts. I'm not sure if I should be surprised at the high amount of crazy I meet or the lucky amount of people who are really brilliant to know. Already a guy I met at an extra job 6 days ago has asked me if I want to be involved with some more extra work in a few days time. Its showing already how important it is to know these important people and even more so how important it is to be friendly and courteous to the people I meet.

It was only yesterday I already felt truly happy with the position I am in right now. The weekend coming up will be one filled with filming a project for a 48 hour film festival which people have travelled from all over Europe to see and join. I just had an audition this morning for a comedy sketch show pilot in which I made the guy, who was part of the company and reading in for the other part, laugh half way through the audition and told me after that it takes a lot to make him corpse. I've got another audition next week for a photoshoot of a night out and getting some more headshots done with a friendly face. All these positive steps make me think about what I dreamt about happening when I moved to London. I know part of me dreamt about big things happening and really shooting up the ladder, but really yesterday I was so happy because at the moment this is a reality I could never have dreamt of happening after just 2 and a half weeks of living here. I have focused on my goals and I'm becoming a person I really doubted I could become.

London is truly what you make of it and I'm starting to believe I may have the determination and heart for what it takes to stay here for a long time. Its odd for me for the first time to have some real true self belief. I can't ignore that I am yet to have a low point and I'm sure it may come in the next few months but right now I'm living this dream that I created and composed myself, and I can only get stronger from here. I'm happy to say its looking more and more like moving to London truly was the best decision I've made so far in my life, and one that I want to look back on in 5 years time and know that this was the start of Sam Stevenson the professional actor.

My First Week In London

I had a brilliant blog all planned out for this. I would talk about the hardships of London and how scary things are at first and how I miss home, but really I'm absolutely loving it. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got here. I really hadn't thought about what I would do with my time until my parents left and that was it. The London experience begins.

How the last week and 2 days have been is brilliant. I spent a good 5 days finding my feet getting to know where I live and spending a fair amount of money with horrifying ease. The area we live in is brilliant. My flatmate and I walked around the outskirts of Hampstead Heath on the first day which was beautiful. You notice immediately the changes of everyone in London compared to home. People are more open to talking in London. They aren't really louder here, they just talk more. You could talk to anyone so much easier than back home and a lot of the time you just find yourself in conversations you have no idea how they started.

My drink with actress Kate Hollowood set me straight. I always said starting Monday 10th September I would start work and I started it by asking for advice from an old friend. She gave me a plan, a starting place and a solid aim of where the bottom of the ladder was and how I could climb it. I was honestly pretty apprehensive about meeting with her expecting that I would leave thinking the way to start my acting career is impossible, but maybe that was just my worried mind gearing myself up for a nasty reality check. I left Kate feeling really positive. The reality check I got was that there's a lot of hard work ahead of me but entirely possible for me to achieve. She told me about how she had been in my position before and just seeing how successful she is now I was raring to go, and after a week and 2 days, I can't see myself being discouraged any time soon at all. We both agreed I'd be fine and would start climbing the ladder soon. (Determination kicks ass)

If I could draw a diagram of what I need to do it would look something like this:

Star in multiple short films to build up a showreel -->
Send showreel to agents -->
Agents impressed and call  to be my agent -->
Still no where near made it but boy are we doing great.

I always said luck is the heart of an actor a lot of the time and I do feel lucky with how this week has gone. I got cast as an extra in a Channel 4 sketch which will be shown in October for 'Stand up for Cancer', I've got an audition for a comedy sketch show which is trying to get on TV, and I will be in a film that is part of the 48 hour film festival later in September. I really can't complain how this week has gone but I know I need to work harder and harder to keep this up and get the bigger jobs. Really I feel it hasn't even started yet despite some good initial jobs, but I'm a fighter. I've got people back home to prove my worth to, people here I want to make proud, myself I don't want to let down, so negatives are now a thing of the past, dated, history. I'm here for an adventure and I'm excited to say its starting to look like a promisingly successful one.

And Then He Went To London

If I could achieve anything in the next year it would be to make people proud back home. A part of me does it for them. The people at work I was so much sadder to leave than I let on, the friends I camped with on my final weekend in Bournemouth, the family that believe wholeheartedly that I could make something of myself. I see it now. Some of the words that were said as I left by some people. I want to make these people so proud, and its easy to say I already have by doing this move, but I want them to look at me in a years time and say 'you did it'. I will not be happy with trying my utmost best and not making it. I am powered on peoples belief that I, Sam Stevenson can make my mark on London. I want to look at others in auditions and think 'you won't get this part because your not Sam Stevenson'. There's a hell of a lot of fight in this actor. If we were to take star sign personalities into account then, as a Gemini born in early June, I have enough passion to fight until I am the best actor I can be and be proud of who I am and just exactly what I conquered. I have a lot of work ahead of me that I have the heart to resiliently battle through.

This is it really isn't it? This is where life starts and I'm not ready at all, but that's ok. I predict I will have days far too full of doubt to not worry about, but that's ok too. I know wholeheartedly that I have the determination to stand up from those days and take the reigns of the dream. I want to smile through it all and remember no matter how serious things get, or how hard, know what's on the other side and chasing this dream will be the adventure of a lifetime.

I always thought on the journey up to London I would put on some sad music, think about home and just have some time to myself to be sad about what I'll miss. And that's exactly what I did, for about 15 minutes. I realised on the journey up its hard to be sad when you've got such an exciting time ahead, and that's what I felt. After the first 15 minutes of the journey successfully feeling sad I couldn't help but smile and feel so excited about where and what I'm moving to. And now I'm here I couldn't be happier. So now all that's left is to dive head first in and get battered and bruised and take control of this capital.