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>> KRISTINE: Hi, this is Kristine Oller! Welcome to the Actor’s Library How-They-Did-It Success
Story Newsletter. This issue features L.A. based actress, Nikki Tomlinson who shares
her bold moves that resulted in signing with a manager. Take it away Nikki.
>> NIKKI: I had been looking for new representation for a little while and it had been on my mind
so I ended up being able to go to a free panel of speakers that was associated with a film
festival. A friend invited me to it sort of last minute. There were panels all throughout
the day but the only panel I was able to attend was the agents and managers panel.
So I went and saw one of the managers that was speaking on the panel and just absolutely
loved what he had said. And I thought, “that’s the guy. That’s who I want to represent
me” based on just a lot of what he said. I had been kind of knowing in my head that
I really needed to find someone who was excited about developing new talent. I couldn’t
work with someone who went, “Well you don’t already have a lot of credits, so there’s
not much I can do.” I needed to find someone who was excited about new talent and going,
“Oh my gosh this is an amazing person who’s talented, who doesn’t already have a lot
of credits, let’s get the ball rolling.” So a lot of what he had to say spoke to that
and he really loves his clients and he does these beach walks with his clients where he
gets to know them. I just as I heard him speak, I went, “That’s the guy. He’s now at
the top of my target list.” He was very open in the panel and gave his Twitter account
and his Facebook page and even gave his email address which I thought was amazing. I had
to go to work right after the panel so I think even while I was at work I sent a tweet, I
started following him and I sent a tweet that said, “It was so wonderful to hear you speak
at the panel. You don’t know this yet, but we’re going to be working together soon.”
Which was a little bold for me but kind of exciting. And I started following him on Facebook
and I sent him a Facebook message and I knew I wanted to send him an email but waited until
I got home from work to do that because I wanted to really make sure it was good. So
I got home from work later that night and sat down at the computer and composed an email,
the subject line was called “Tweet Follow-Up” because I had been so bold in my tweet, I
figured I should follow it up with an email. So I composed this email that said, “It
was so awesome to hear you speak; I loved what you had to say. I think I’m exactly
the type of actor that you want to work with,” Because he talked a lot about the type of
actors that he enjoys working with and I seemed to fit the bill. Pointed that out and laid
out bullet points, “I’m this, this, this and this, which you said you wanted. And here’s
links to my new demo reel and scenes. Please take a look. I think we should meet.”
So I sent it. I think I sent another tweet after I sent it. Saying “Hey, just sent
you an email, looking forward to our conversation” or something like that. I got a message back
from him that said, “I’d love to have you come in for a meeting/audition.” So
I went in and I met with him and I auditioned. It went really well. And I’m signed with
him now. We signed a two-year contract.
>> KRISTINE: I love this story. What I love most about this story, though, is how you
prepared behind the scenes to make space for this new to come into your life.
>> NIKKI: Yeah. I had definitely done that because I had known that my relationship with
my previous manager wasn’t working. I had left my agent six months ago. I just knew
that it wasn’t working. So I knew I had to make space otherwise I was just going to
be spinning my wheels.
>> KRISTINE: Right. You made space with your representation you also physically were clearing
out your house at that time.
>> NIKKI: I was.
>> KRISTINE: You cancelled stuff in your schedule as far as regular things you were doing. You
really cleared your plate.
>> NIKKI: Yeah. Absolutely.
>> KRISTINE: You did some major things for yourself to shift your energy and then it
was space for this new to come in. I was confident. You’re going to get new representation at
some point. It’s interesting how sometimes I think I interpret this as the universe will
just sort of start whispering to you at first to see if you’re kind of ready. It whispered
with this little panel thing - like “Hey there’s this free thing you can go to Nikki.”
>> NIKKI: Yes.
>> KRISTINE: Not to say you wouldn’t have met him in another way or you wouldn’t have
met another manager in another way, but because you were open to this and had the space to
do it, and you then did it - it happened sooner rather than later.
>> NIKKI: Uh-huh. Totally.
>> KRISTINE: But another thing - because I really want to give you the credit that you
deserve for this happening - is you were prepared to get the attention of someone like this.
You redid your website with a focus on really showcasing you the way you wanted to be showcased.
Previously to that you had shot scenes through a company to compile a reel that looks excellent.
You’re reel is amazing for something that’s not actual; you have some shows on there;
but you’ve got some clips that are amazing, that you would never know wasn’t from a
television show.
>> NIKKI: Thank you.
>> KRISTINE: Yes. It was definitely preparation meeting opportunity.
>> NIKKI: He even said that in our follow-up meeting. He said “You read me right. You
knew that being very bold and sending a tweet that said, we’re going to work together,
tugged at my heart strings. You knew how to get at me. You knew how to catch my attention”
he said, “and then you came in here and you were fantastic.” I had to do a couple
monologues and had to do a cold read that went really, really well. He said “you came
in here and you backed up everything you’d said. I couldn’t not work with you. You
were bold and you were excellent.” So that was nice to hear as well, that it was those
two things combined.
>> KRISTINE: I’ve never asked you this before, but what do you think it was that allowed
you to do such great monologues and cold reads in an office? Why had you got to the point
in your life where you were able to deliver like that?
>> NIKKI: I think I’ve just sort of come to terms with the fact that I’m very, very
skilled at what I do. I work very hard at what I do and I’ve trained hard at it with
a lot of different people. And I continue to train and I’m very good. I don’t think
that I have let myself really admit that, at least admit that to other people before.
I think I’ve always had such a, “Oh, you have to be modest; you don’t want to be
arrogant; you don’t want to be cocky.” And I kept that to myself for years and years.
I knew I was great; but I would never, never tell anyone else because heaven forbid they
think I’m arrogant. I don’t remember who said, you might have
even said to me, someone said, “Who knows you’re fantastic and how are they going
to know if you don’t tell them and show them.” And I thought, oh yeah, that’s
true. I’m not telling anyone. I’m hoping that they see if I get an opportunity.
>> KRISTINE: Right.
>> NIKKI: Well, that’s not good enough. I really think that I, in last few months,
along with cleaning out my life, have started to allow myself to be great and to not be
embarrassed about it. When he said schedule a meeting and I called the office and said,
“hey, I got a message from Phil and I need to schedule a meeting; an audition” and
they said “great, here’s what you need to prepare - two monologues and sing if you’d
like to sing. And then if he’s enjoying your work and your conversation then he’ll
have you do a cold read.” And I thought “Great. I’m gonna knock this out of the
park. I can prepare great monologues and I’m fantastic at cold reading.” And then I did
and I was. I just think it was not questioning my ability.
>> KRISTINE: And that is truly stepping in as we’ve talked about before, to ownership
of what you do. And when you really have ownership it doesn’t waver depending on the circumstances.
It’s not I’m good, but am I good enough for this person?
>> NIKKI: Totally.
>> KRISTINE: No. I’m good. They can decide if they want me or not, but I know I’m good
enough for anybody.
>> NIKKI: Exactly. Well, and it’s so funny because I actually really felt proud of myself.
This is something I don’t think I’ve said in our meeting, the way the first meeting/audition
went was very strange. He said, I have learned his MO for the first meeting is to test actors.
He pushes them a bit. He intentionally pushes their buttons. He intentionally tries to rattle
them. I didn’t know that going in so I went in expecting this wonderful, warm, fuzzy,
supportive guy who I’d seen speak at the panel. And what I got was someone who was
rude. Someone who was sort of mean. Someone who criticized my acting teachers. Someone
who criticized really harshly the fact that I didn’t have any credits. He poked at my
age. He would ignore me when I was talking. He would ask a question; I would begin to
answer; he would look at his computer and type and ignore me. A couple things I would
be talking and he would wave his hand in front of my face and cut me off. “No, no, no,
what you’re saying is stupid.” Which threw me because it wasn’t at all
what I had expected and he was being mean. He was being mean and rude. I was like whoa.
I tried to figure out how to handle it and still be a normal person in response to what
he was doing. There were a couple things he said that I said, “No I don’t agree with
that. I don’t think you’re right. No.” Which I think he looks for. I think he looks
for an actor who has a little bit of a backbone, but also looking for an actor who’s not
going to crumble in the face of rejection. He knows this isn’t an easy business and
90% of what you’re going to deal with is going to be no. So how do you deal with that?
Are you going to be able to withstand it? Or are you gonna get hotheaded and go, “Well
screw you, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Well that’s not going
to be a good actor to work with. I was really, really proud of myself in the
fact that every single piece of acting I did was still really good. I was still able to
hold on to the fact that I do good work and however this conversation is going, which
is weird and you’re calling into question every part of me - I’m still going to show
you that the work that I do is really good. And I left and called my boyfriend and I was
- what just happened. That was the weirdest thing in the world. I don’t even know. It
turns out then when he offered me representation, he said “Let’s schedule a follow-up meeting
which is also just part of the routine.” I then went in for a second time and had an
actual meeting which was much more comfortable. Much more of the person I’d seen speak at
the panel. And he said, “Did you have any questions about our meeting?” with this
kind of smirky grin. I said, “Well you had said something about my acting teachers.”
He said, “I lied.” Okay. That’s what I figured. I realized that was sort of his,
that’s kind of his game. And I passed, which I also felt proud of myself for doing.
>> KRISTINE: I do think actors don’t realize that there are several components that people
are looking at in order to decide who to represent. And it’s not just talent, and it’s not
just looks, and it’s not just fancy websites. It’s if I send you into a rough room or
if I send you into a bigger room than you’ve ever been in before, are you going to be able
to handle it? And how am I supposed to know unless you can handle meeting me, that’s
why when actors come in they are so nervous just to meet the manager, that tells - if
I was a manager, I’d be like “Oh God, if you can’t handle me, how are you going
to handle Steven Spielberg when I hook you up?”
>> NIKKI: Exactly.
>> KRISTINE: That’s part of ownership - it’s just sort of like, okay, this may have nothing
to do with me, it may have everything to do with me, but I’m just going to hold steady.
I’ve talked in the past about the difference between arrogance and ownership, but there’s
also a difference between ownership and humbleness. You can have them both.
Humbleness is just realizing that the success and the talent and the things are all blessings.
It’s not because you’re anointed the holy one, it’s just that you have come into this
world and you have certain blessings and your ownership of those blessings is just “Okay,
my only job with my blessings is to use them to my best ability to make the world a better
place in some way.” That’s your obligation with your blessings
and if you understand they’re blessings then you are humble about them without losing
the ownership of I have these blessings. Like, I can do this. I’ve got these super powers.
And when you really own them there’s no need to be arrogant about them. Ownership
really allows you to be humble. It’s insecure arrogance that doesn’t allow you to be humble.
>> NIKKI: Yes. That’s true. That’s very true.
>> KRISTINE: To leave you from this call just know that the more you sink into this ownership
the more you will be seen as humble. Not by the people who are jealous of you, but by
most normal people.
>> NIKKI: Exactly.
>> KRISTINE: Thank you so much for sharing this Nikki. That was fabulous.
>> NIKKI: Of course. Thank you.
>> KRISTINE: And that’s just one more example that you can bet on yourself and win! If you
need to get on the Actor’s Library newsletter list, you can do so at TheActorsLibrary.com.