Yesterday, I sat with an agent at a cafe in Washington Heights. We had good "coffee" talk and she asked me questions about my career and where I see it going. Hm...
Where I see my career going?
I know this is a question we all ask ourselves, especially today in this economy. But I'm an artist; I identify as an actor and writer. So, I'm testing out these theories of career, seeing if I can actually make a living for myself and my partner. Yup, I am with someone. It's beautiful. And new. And scary. And brilliant. And an education on love. But this is another post all together.
Back to the business.
So, I'm sitting in this cafe with this agent-being asking me this existential question. I have to think. And what I come up with is a formulation of a business plan:
As an actor, I want to perform on stage. So I will seek the projects and those creative individuals who are like-minded and love the kind of work that I want to be a part of. I want to do theater. I want to do television. I want to work for HBO. They're sexy and hip and smart and risky and put out some damn good programming.
As a writer, I want to write stories with characters I can relate to. Guys and Gals that look like me, or have sensibilities like mine, and situations that are common and strange, unique to Latinos and Blacks, but essentially human. I want write for the stage. I want to write for the page- more specifically, I want to create graphic novels. I want to write for the camera. Television sounds very appealing because of how deep you can go in on characters, themes, multi-storylines with twists, or mini-plots that live within one episode. An exciting challenge to say the least.
Doesn't sound like much of a business plan. More like a statement of purpose. But guess what: It's clearer now than it was when I was first starting out. The agent-being did help me with resources, ways to search for interesting projects, and thoughts to mill over as I continue to focus my career choices. But one thing I know with certainty:
I will make a living making art.
