Day 2 in L.A. (Signed & Sealed First Class)

First let’s cut the finish line real quick. I signed with a talent agent today.
“Whoop there it is!” Now let’s bring it back to the starting line so I can elaborately share how the day started. 

My day began early again around 6am again. I started my normal routine until it was time to get ready for my big appointment with the talent agency at 1pm PT. I wanted to give myself at least two hours in advance to arrive at my destination. The night before my roommate showed me how to plan my trip on the transportation website, so I had the directions ready to go. Everything was going well until I couldn’t find my dress shoes. Then I thought about what I wrote in my Departing from Tampa, post “I either over pack or under pack.” Well there you have it; I unbelievably forgot my dress shoes. Here I am wearing a light blue dress shirt, navy blue blazer and black dress pants with black low top Nike's. That’s definitely not what I had in mind for my meeting/interview but I had no other options at the time.  

Wide shot of the entrance to the train

Train entrance.

After I spent a few minutes dusting off the smell of my Nike's I equipped myself with my presentation material, directions, camera and GPS from out my car back in Tampa. As I started my walk I couldn’t help but appreciate the beautiful cool weather. It’s a gentle breeze anyone would fall in love with. According to my directions I was suppose to take a bus to the train station. Since I noticed the train station was so close I decided to walk instead. When I arrived at my destination I was suppose to take   the Metro Red Line (Train). I was thoroughly confused because I couldn’t find the entrance to the train station anywhere. What I should have done was ask someone where the train station was but instead I tried to ride the bus. I attempted to enter two buses but the drivers told me they are not going my way.          

The 2^nd driver however, pointed out where the train station was located. When I finally found the entrance to the train station I was shocked. It was discretely hidden between corporate businesses in a mall type complex. Being born in Brooklyn, N.Y I’m accustomed to seeing the entrance of a subway on a street corner not between businesses.
As I entered I couldn’t help but be amazed on how massive the underground infrastructure is. The escalator ride by itself was an eye catching experience. 

Metro Rail Red Line (Union Station Gateway Transit Center)

By the time I got down stairs I noticed the pathway for the train and somehow I unintentionally made it here without paying. Apparently, I was suppose to by a pass and walk in with it. That still seems weird to me because I can’t figure out how anyone would know if you purchased a pass or not. There was no security or employees nearby. I just walked right through. Moreover, the train station was extremely spacious. Within a few minutes I entered the first train that arrived. Before the door closed, someone outside the train screamed out “Is this the Red Line?” I brushed my shoulders and said, “I think so.” The person next to me said “no its not.” Thankfully, he was nice enough to explain to me how to get back to where I stared and find the Red Line.

The train is coming!!

After the smooth train ride I had to take a bus (Metro Rapid) that will take me walking distance away from my destination. Finally after 2 hours, 2 wrongful bus ride attempts and 1 wrong train ride I arrived and noticed the building for my appointment at 12:58. Literally, I knocked on their door at 1:00pm and was exactly on time. Once I walked in the receptionist welcomed me in and notified Cynthia the agent. As soon as she came out she greeted me with a hug and said “I feel like you’re a distance family member.” We have been in contact since late July and since then they have really did their homework on me. She told me she watched all of my parody’s on youtube and I believe her. She was able to quote some of them word for word and tell me her favorite ones. Once I was seated she immediately began to recite my story in detail. She stated numerous times throughout the interview how impressed she is with my accomplishments and loves my work. She read everything she could find about me, follows my blog and genuinely expressed her excitement about my potential. 

With knowledge of my financial situation and awareness of my skills in video production she recommended I try to bring in extra money by editing reels for some of her other talent. I then shared I my semi retirement from video production and my complete focus to be in front of the camera. I also shared how blessed I’ve been to receive a few donations from my supporters to help me survive for a while. When that runs out I plan to at least work as an extra.

My early desires to be in front of the camera begun in college however, after graduating I felt it was necessary to establish my production company first. Deep down inside I knew my return to the front of the camera will come again. Slowly but surely I started to revisit my return with my talk shows in Tampa between 2007 and the first quarter of this year. My relocation to L.A. is my full circle transition and opportunity to hone in on my performance skills in front of the camera. Besides, I’m exhausted from over 10 years of straight editing and video recording (lol).

Once we agreed on my focus I shared my long term vision for my quest. I believe in my heart that everything comes around full circle when you plant seeds. For example, my first desire to have a talk show was while I was in college. After many failed attempts I finally created a show called The Combination that lasted for only one episode fall of 2002. There was so many technical difficulties beyond my control I was discouraged from producing another show. Nevertheless, I held the idea close to my heart and mind for years. Finally, May of 2007 I recreated The Combination as a web-cast talk show. One month later I created a discussion forum called Wide aWoke Wednesday’s. After a year Wide aWoke evolved into a live interactive talk show and inspired the creation of The Motown Maurice Show which launched January of this year.

Hosting my own late night talk show is my ultimate goal but I’m in no rush to return as a late night host just yet. As famous as I am in Tampa, FL I don’t have any national exposure yet. My vision is to begin commercial, television and film projects that will help me expose my brand nationally. After a few years of national work I will return as a stronger national late night talk show host. After sharing my vision with Cynthia, she thoroughly agreed and we began to go to work. First we went over a list of needed photographs and video demos. Then she popped the big question. She asked me if I want to sign with First Class Talent Agency. With a smile and over extended answer I said “yes.”

The summer of 2009 I started my first attempts toward finding an agent and I basically wasted my money on postage. During the late stages of my 5 month hiatus I started again until I finally received a response from First Class Talent Agency. They sent out a posting on Craigs List in July and stated they are a brand new agency looking for new talent. Just from the Craigs List posting they received over a 1,000 replies. They interviewed 150 and now they have about 80 clients and I’m proud to say I am one of them. Cynthia told me booking an agency on my 2^nd day in L.A. is pretty good based on how hard it is to find an agent these days. Many agencies or closing down and others are not able to find enough work for their rosters. I felt special. As a matter of fact Cynthia told me I was special a couple times throughout the meeting and she also said many people will open doors for me.

During the rest of the meeting she spent time working my profile, issuing contracts and explaining the procedures between the agency and the talent. One of the most memorable moments of the meeting was when she was trying to describe my hair type on a website. She said “why isn’t there an other option on here for hair type.” I came to the meeting open minded about the chances that I may need to cut my hair style but she said many times how much she loves my hair. That’s inspiring because believe it or not I’m sometimes bipolar about my hair (My hair has a story of its own. I’ll share that in future post or my book one day). The meeting lasted for an hour and a half and we concluded shaking hands in a historical photograph.

Cynthia signs Motown Maurice with First Class Talent Agency.

My current assignment is to gather up select profile pictures of myself, update my resume and register my profiles on two websites. I told Cynthia I will have everything in order before the end of the week. She replied and said, “I know you will.”As great as all of this is I’m not ready to celebrate yet. There is much work to be done. When I left I found a pizza place and purchased two unexpectedly huge slices. While I was there I had an interesting conversation with the server. He’s in California to pursue his passion for acting but somehow lost track after awhile. He stressed how competitive the market is and how important it is to create and find work for yourself. He also said since the writers strike its been hard to find work even if you have an agent. I still have to be proactive agent or not. Agencies are a plus but they are are looking for clients that are self sufficient and are eager to find work for themselves. I’m far from content but I’m happy to know I’m moving forward. If I came to L.A. anytime before now I’m sure the results wouldn’t be as progressive.

On the way back home I noticed the train station was right by Universal attractions.

I guess it makes sense why the station was called Universal City Station. Next to door I also noticed a very tall NBC Universal building.
 
I started to walk in to let them know Motown Maurice is in town but I have a feeling they will be calling me in due time.  

Day 3 in L.A. has a lot to live up to. As for now the plans are to focus on providing all the requested information to my agent. Thank you all for reading my blog and sharing your comments. Since I began my quest I realized that many people are bi-curiously living their dreams through me. Knowing that motivates me even more. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. Thank you very much for the comments and please keep them coming.

Until the next post

Motown Maurice