This guest post comes from Jennie Olson Six, one of our talented ensemble members, amazing and therapeutic yoga teacher, and teacher for a very special engagement with Finest City Improv: Business of Acting

Jennie is truly a person that I would recommend spending time with in any capacity. Her words of wisdom resonate with me often and we are so proud to be able to host her here for this one time learning opportunity.

For anyone who is looking to become more acquainted with the world of professional scripted theater– look no further than this workshop! Jennie had a few words of her own that she wanted to share to help encourage you to take that step and join us on June 12th from 11am-1pm.

What I wish I knew

A long, time ago in a really big University not so far away, there were a small group of us crammed in a dirty room with about 8 different professors, teaching assistants and the department coordinator to talk about what to do after graduation. The conversation was less than an hour and went a little something like this “Well, you need head shots and a resume, and you can look for audition notices on Backstage.” It was a little like saying “The Titanic is a boat and it needs to be sailed by a Captain, and there might be icebergs, hope you can swim.”

There are so many things that I have learned along the way. One of them, I learned here at Finest City Improv, and that is Actors need Improv. Like SOOOO need improv. You will be called upon doing it in a rehearsal and be “like…what???” and if you’ve had just a smidge of an introductory class you’ll be so ahead of the game. And improv has dramatically helped my acting.

But things like “what do you put on a resume, where can I get a head shot, what kind of training do I need, where do I find audition notices, how to do I start getting into commercials/films/tv” Well…..

These were learned the hard way. They are constantly evolving with experience and the evolving entertainment industry, yes, it changes. It’s different in San Diego versus Los Angeles, and your age and your look and your this and that, which is why Kathi and I are doing this together. Kathi has some crazy credits, you need to look her up on IMDB, and if you don’t know what that is, go look it up. We’re going to talk about that as well.

Such came the need for this creation, this workshop. Everyone who comes is going to have a different aspect of the business that they’re right for, but they don’t all fit in the same category. We’re going to talk TYPE, and how that can work for you. We’re going to talk about where to get experience. We’re going to talk about what type of training you need for acting and improv and where to get it. We’re going to talk about MARKETING, yes, because that’s something you need to. We’re going to give you all that I wish I knew when I walked out with my expensive degree from big University. And a little bit of the magic you need to get going.

If you’ve got a resume, bring it. If you have a head shot bring it. If you don’t  have either of these things, don’t worry, come in and we’ll discuss what you may need. Bring a notebook and a pen for notes, because we have a lot to cover in very little time. You’ll be your own captain by the end of this, navigate the icebergs, and hopefully find yourself in a little harbor to set sail.

Jennie is a San Diego actor–you might just see Jennie on TV with her family living the RV experience with a commercial for RV Solutions, or winning at some random casino or shopping for a new Honda or sitting in her cleverly designed home and think ‘does she get paid for that and is that her husband’ and the answers are yes and no and maybe. A graduate from UC San Diego with her BA in Theatre Studies, she’s been acting in commercials, theatre and other weird medical training videos ever since.  She also performs weekly with Mutiny!