Well, Jimmy is living in Knoxville…but he’s actually acting in Nashville for the most part! So the journey from Los Angeles to the beautiful South, to the Great Smoky Mountains, to the land of greenery and bugs is complete. My beautiful wife and I are all settled in to our brand new house, the border collies are loving the big back yard, and we are in love with the area. And our view doesn’t suck either.
Please Don’t Bore Us Describing Your Home!
Of course I won’t. I WANT to, but I won’t. Let’s talk about the acting work!
When I first arrived, I met with Rachelle at Gage Talent, and we hit it off right away. She recognized that I had a lot of experience and signed me straight away without any kind of audition. Getting an agent in LA was extremely difficult because there are a gazillion folks to choose from. They could care less about you. With Gage, I felt cared about immediately. They were ready to help me grow my career. I make money and they make money is all most agents care about…and any professional agent would…but there’s more of a focus on my needs, so I’m very happy where I am with Gage!
See Jimmy Loram’s Gage Profile here
I started getting auditions within the first 2 weeks of getting my new head shots in. It took about 8 auditions before I finally booked one!
My first acting job in Tennessee
All in all, I’d say in my first month (April), I recorded 8 auditions. Eventually, I got the audition for a commercial, which is where I really want to focus my time and work. The company was MTE Middle Tennessee Electric. They have a main host (I’m so jealous of him, haha) and I was one of the customers. The main host asks, “what are you looking for in an electric company?” I had a few lines in response to deliver, namely:
JIMMY: A company that’s really part of the community.
And…
JIMMY: I want to go green without breaking the bank.
Also…
JIMMY: And manage my account.
Finally…
JIMMY: Solar energy solutions.
ALTERNATIVE JIMMY: Green energy solutions. (Video both)
Ooh, I even got an alternative line! Woo hoo. After recording these lines on my phone’s camera and uploading to the audition portal, it was time to wait. Actually, it was time to record MORE auditions as they kept coming in!
Next Step: The Call-Back!
After a week or so, I got the good news that I made it past the initial audition! In other words, I got a callback. Now, normally, this means you need to drive and meet the casting drew and director and such. With today’s technology, it turns out, this would be a virtual callback! Very cool–and convenient.
I set up my laptop and camera in the spare room and was able to audition from the comfort of my own home. After my audition, the director said, “Jimmy. You did a very good job!” Of course I thought, “Oh, yeah, sure. You say that to everyone!” I closed out and hoped for the best. And I recorded some other auditions!
Did I Get It?
I’ve grown to love emails from my agent, because whenever they come in I know they are going to be about one of two things: 1) A casting agent wants me to record an audition, or 2) I got a part! The “I got a part!” email always starts with a, “YAYY!!!!” Man. I love seeing that word in my inbox.
So, I did get the email that said Re: MTE Audition and also had a YAYY!!! I got the part! I guess the director wasn’t lying when he said I did a good job. I drove to Nashville to work with Fivestone Studios (They are a CLASS act, 100%!) for an entire day.
So there you have it, the story of my first successful audition, call-back, and booking here in Knoxville, Tennessee.