If you guys may recall, my friend Jesimiel wrote, a couple of weeks back, about why he chose to move to LA in pursuit of his dreams of working as a host in the entertainment industry. Below, my dear friend elaborates one what he's learned in the last six months since he's been there. It's an eye opener and I think for all artists hoping to make it in LA, or any major metropolis (read: NYC, London, Paris, Tokyo, Rio... etc), you can learn a lot from his experiences.
Three things I’ve learned so far:
A career in the
entertainment business is EXPENSIVE.
-You must be willing to make a sizable investment in
yourself to be taken seriously
-This means
paying for really great headshots
-This means
enrolling in ongoing acting classes at a good studio
-This means
buying great clothes that make people notice you when you walk into the
audition room
Many people in LA
want to be successful but few want to work for it.
-Many people want THAT life, that Beverly Hills life, but
few will invest in themselves and work for it.
-It’s important to consistently work towards your goals in a
sprawling city like LA and do things that you’re passionate about
-You don’t want to end up another
embittered and angry artist serving tables and waiting for Steven Spielberg to
walk in and notice you- take your career and your life into your own hands
Drugs are very very
real
-I had a very sheltered upbringing in the suburbs of
Virginia. I knew what drugs were but they were a very distant reality
-In LA, drugs are a close reality
-Seriously,
keep your drink close at bars and don’t go to an “after-party” with someone you
don’t know, there will probably be drugs there
None of the families in Wilkerson’s book aspired to grace
the big screen, they just wanted higher wages for their families and to live
without threat of racial violence.
However, as I near the end of Wilkerson’s book, I am humbly reminded
that I stand on the shoulders of giants and that I am not the first to take
this journey. Though my experience dims
in comparison to the present and blood-drenched reality my ancestors lived in
the south, I take pride in their bravery as they, like I, made the courageous
decision to act upon their dreams.
follow him @jesimieljenkins on Twitter