Self Sabotage the Importance of a Great Actor Headshot

This is to get your wheels turning. If you're listening and you're an artist. Hello, welcome. I honor you and your journey. And if you have any questions or thoughts or comments, please, you know, write a review. You can reach out to me, send me an email at Katie Chonacas at gmail.com or imagine Katie at gmail.com. I have been in the entertainment industry for two decades. Now is 2021. And I have been in the entertainment industry for two decades. I have been traveling the world for two decades and I am here to pave the way and gift you insight. And you know, hopefully shapeshift your journey and I'm here for you.
So anything that you know, that comes up, rather it be acting modeling, TV, film, hosting, being a photographer, being an artist, you know, a doodler, I'm a doodler in the art world. Like anything, anything you can think of at all around the world about travel, hacks, you know, networking, anything you can think of, like I am here for you. It can be any subject. And if I don't know, I know someone who does know, and I can put you in touch. Please subscribe to the podcast and smash the five star button and share with all your family and friends.
There's going to be links in the below of my new EAP. It's a music video that I had Nikki Scorpio put together. He is amazing. It's on our YouTube channel. So if you check out the sophisticated psychos, YouTube page, follow us there and watch all our videos. We have content releasing every single week. We actually have a new Improv series coming up. It's called couples therapy. It's all Improv. We did it during the pandemic and our friend Ali, Sandra Levy, boss lady. She's a friend of mine producer, and she's a voiceover artist as well. She plays in the Improv series with us. It's called couples therapy. It's I'm going to be coming out shortly here in the next couple of weeks.
So you'll be seeing and hearing more about that. So let's just jump into the nitty gritty of things. So it's show business, right? So you can create all you want. That's cool. And I love creating, and it's so important to have a team people that you can trust people that you honor and value, you know, and it's a business. So legally things have to be done properly. And recently I met an attorney, Jared Fox law. I highly suggest if anything you need taken care of in the law department, contact his office, Jared Fox law.com. He actually has a podcast too. And I highly suggest listening to his podcast. It's called the verdict is in and it's streaming probably everywhere.
And I know it's on Apple for sure. So recently his law firm has helped me as an artist do some trademarks. So I'm really grateful for Jared. Yeah, so he really, really believes in artists and wants to help artists. And he has a whole team of people east coast to west coast and around the world. So he's definitely a go-to person also moving right along if you're an actor and you need a website or a musician, DJ model, whatever, my friend Ben, he owns actor gear.com. And then when you contact actor gear.com, he'll give you a 10% discount, maybe 15% or something like that. Just let him know that you found him through my podcast and he'll hook you up.
It's great. It's, it's like, it's so friendly. It's really friendly. And how the modules are set up. It's it's really like a, B, C, D E blocks putting it all together. So just check out my website, if you haven't already it's chonacas.com. He did my website. So you can get a little sneak peek of what I'm talking about. The other thing I want to talk to you about, which is really, really important to do, always make sure you have great headshots, you know, growing up as an artist and as a model and person who just loves to be on camera. I was doing photo shoots all the time. I was always test shooting with all these different photographers. And then along the way, I don't know, I just like was traveling and just kinda like fell out of taking photos a lot. I just wasn't in front of the camera.
I was doing things more behind the camera, actually like just a lot of voiceovers and stuff. So I didn't, I dunno, I just wasn't like on camera and I just kind of took a break for awhile, which is a part of the artist journey, taking a break from, you know, being on camera. So I didn't do headshots for a while. And they're really, really important. It's important to have new headshots every six months. I mean, if you're changing your hair every time you change your hair, you just really need new headshots. Like if you're doing red or green or brown or whatever, you really need to have a great Headshot that represents who you are. It took me a year, literally. Like, I don't know. I mean, I know why it took me so long to select the headshot photographer that I did along the way. I've had some great photographers, but along the way, it's been really challenging to find the right photographer, you know, when they do your hair and the makeup, and then they have a makeup person and hair person and the photographer, and then you see the photos and they just don't even look like you.
It's like, you know, they make you up and to be all this and your Headshot is just supposed to look like you. So it doesn't have to be like glam and stuff. And she can be very simple if they know what they're doing, it's really all about lighting. Great, great lighting. I found this amazing lady through my agency, KMR and seriously, I searched up and down left and right in Los Angeles, New York, it didn't matter. I just wanted to have the best headshots. I'm really excited to be posting them on my social media soon. Yay. And also it's like when you have a great Headshot, so I had 195 amazing shots. And I sent him around to all my agents. So TV film on camera commercials, you know, in different markets, LA New York, Texas, New Mexico, Atlanta.
I got all the headshots back and out of the 195, there were 15 that were selected. So I had 15 retouch and it's so amazing. And I feel so empowered. I had so much resistance before the headshots, but now that I have the headshots, it's like, what was I waiting for? You know, sometimes we get in our own ways. I don't know why. Well, I do know why, but we, we, it just happens. And it's so annoying, but it's the best investment you'll ever make. And seriously, when you invest in yourself, there's no better investment. You know what I'm saying? You can wait all day for other people to invest in you and you'll go all day and spend money on other people and buy all these things. And then for some reason, sometimes we have such a hard time spending money on ourselves.
Right. I dunno, like I'll just literally drop money and won't even think twice about it. But then when it comes to certain things with myself, for some reason, I am really hesitant. It's a, it's a totally like Self Sabotage, speaking of cell Sabotage. Wow. Have you seen the morning show on apple TV? Reese Witherspoon is a dream goddess. She is seeing in this role in Jennifer Aniston is great in the role too. And the Billy Crudup guy. Oh my God. He's like fantastic. His smile. And he's like fun, fun. He's all about like having fun. He's like this amazing executive. I don't know if you guys have seen the show yet, but it's really, it's so exciting.
And you just get like lost in all of the chaos. I was even like having motivation. I was like, oh my God, they're a part of sag, AFTRA like journalism. Like I should totally look for an agent and get involved and be on a news channel. And that was thinking, wait a minute, I'm going to have to report like weather and news and all the chaotic things happening in the world. And I'm like that doesn't align to who I am and what I want to be talking about. So I'm like, even though it's really exciting, their homes and the building and the dinners and, you know, the excitement of like being on set and stuff. Like, I just definitely couldn't deal with all that drama and chaos. And you know, like Steve Carell says all the pain, you know, like all the, all the pain they put themselves in anyway, you'll need to see the show.
It's amazing. And the ladies really represent Mimi leader. I think she's an executive producer on the show as well. And she directs a bunch of the episodes, had the honor of working with her on the code with Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas in Bulgaria on this feature film. It was a really cool project. I was a part of. And so yeah, I had the cool honor to work with Mimi leader. Whoo. It was pretty, pretty awesome. Okay. Moving right along. Yeah. So head shots, make sure you get the headshots and not only do you have an amazing Headshot, you know, comedy drama, commercial theatrical for your team. And it goes on all the, you know, boards, actors access.
If you don't have an account for actors access as an actor, you should have an account. You can upload two free photos and you can act as your own agent until you get an agent and submit yourself for projects to get your feet wet and get going. And the cool thing with how the world is right now, you can be anywhere in the world and put yourself on a self-tape for commercial TV, film, voiceovers print jobs. So the business is really changing at a rapid pace, the way we're all doing things clearly. So actors access is great. If you have an agent and you'll definitely be on there. And if you don't have an agent, it's definitely great for you to be on there, to get started in different areas in entertainment and also casting networks.
You know, you have to be on there too, when you're working with your agents, because that's where they put your photos to submit you for projects. The other cool thing about having amazing headshots. Okay. So I'm not really big on Facebook, but I have an account and I just, I posted three photos on Facebook and all these people came out of the woodworks. And I have, I have about like, I don't know, so many hundreds likes on, on one of my photos. And it's like, it's really cool for people to see like, boom, like, this is how I am in 2020. Cause people know you, they see you, they don't see you, all this stuff happens, but then you post like an amazing Headshot, a professional headshot. And it's like, boom, like this is a stamp of who I am and what I'm up to now. Right. And then I'm on LinkedIn now.
And I was, I was like, so anti LinkedIn for such a long time, I like had a LinkedIn, I canceled it. I didn't use it. I didn't have it for years. And then my assistant got me back on LinkedIn. I don't know about a year ago. I use it for like two weeks and then I didn't and then I got into it and now I'm like all about LinkedIn and it's just like, so professional. It's really great for networking. Yeah. I don't know. I, I probably, I probably am honoring myself more. I'm probably valuing myself more. I'm probably finally getting rains on, you know, creating my brand and my platform and building and taking it seriously instead of, instead of just like building it up and taking it down and building it up and taking it down and building it up and ripping it down.
Right. Self Sabotage, like Reese Witherspoon in the morning show. So it's a process, no harm, no foul, you know, everything's a learning experience and a practice. So I'm in gratitude for what I've been through. I'm in gratitude for who I am. I'm in gratitude to see, you know, how far I've come. And I'm really excited to keep building and building on these empires that I've created, that I've always wanted. Right. I've always wanted to build these things and I've built them up. And then I've like, just, I don't know. I don't want to say abandoned them, but I just like, just like, I was like building, building, building, and right when you're about to put the cherry on top, I would just be like left turn and then just like leave and take off and like travel somewhere exotic and just like, let it disperse and melt away just so I could just build it up again.
You know, it's like, I dunno, w what is it called? Fear of failure, something like that. Fear of failure or something. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. But no, on a psychological level, I can definitely see my actions and patterns. Now that I'm a lies one. Just kidding. Anyway, I was given the most amazing compliment. The other day. I was telling someone who was very successful in his career. Who's worked with many artists. Who's worked with, you know, on air talent for years. And he gave me the coolest compliment. And he's just like, he heard my whole entire story. And he's like, yeah, he's like the arc of your career.
He's like on air. You need to have your own on-air radio show. And then after you have your own on-air radio show, then have, you know, a TV show. And I've just been like fantasizing and dreaming about it. And I actually applied somewhere. It was just yesterday, the other day I applied somewhere to be, to be on air for the radio. It's just like, that'd be so cool. And then, and then I had some other opportunities for on-air radio today. It's just, it's just wild. How sometimes when you think about something and then it's just like right there in front of your face, like the opportunity, speaking of, I have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, voiceover auditions do exciting. So they just come, right?
You have like a 12 hour turnaround, normally 12 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, but it's like, boom, you just like, get all these voiceover auditions come in. And it's like a rush. And you just like, and then like, you deal them all. I talk about voiceovers, but I really don't. I kind of just like, do my work. I just kind of like, do what I gotta do. I put my head down, I just put my face into my iPod, I, or my iPad. I studied the characters and I make choices. And I look up references if there's references and I'll look up, you know, the casting directors, the producers I'll look up the projects that they've been a part of. I do all the research. You know, you have to make sure you do the research, make strong choices and, you know, practice and then go into your studio and record.
And then if you don't have a studio, create a studio and get help with that. If you need help with building your home studio and in voiceover stuff, I'm here to support you. So it's, it's a process and you're always adding, you know, new tools in the toolbox, super excited. Cause I'm gonna get a new interface soon and I'm going to, I have like four Mike's, but I'm going to get this new Newman TML 1 0 3, Mike that's that's like the next mic I'm going to get. So yeah. Step-by-step so that is the show for this week. And I'm so excited this week, 11, 11, it's my birthday week.
Woo-hoo I love celebrating my birthday all month. It's also my dad's birthday, 11, 11. So I was born on his birthday and I always tease him and say, I was the best gift he's ever received. So check out the sophisticated psychos, YouTube channel couples therapy, the Improv Web Series, check out my new EAP, the sophisticated cycles. You can see the music videos on YouTube, and also you can check out the Hypnotic Energy EAP solo on all music streaming platforms, subscribe to the podcast. She's all over the place. Check out some other episodes. If you're an actor, we have a great one on branding.
We also have amazing episodes. Voiceover episodes with Tom lawless. Who's the president of Vox. And then also Alex, Socolow. He is the original writer for toy story and a bunch of amazing other Hollywood films, including cheaper by the dozen Garfield. He has two animation films coming up one with Jamie Fox. And he's just a great sincere man. He's so kind so generous. He's amazing. And also he is available to any writers who want to get in touch with him. Let me know because he's connecting with upcoming writers to support and help them on their journey. So if you are interested in having him mentor you and connecting with Alex, Socolow the writer.
Let me know, email me. Imagine Katie at gmail.com. Text me, call me (646) 820-5311. If I don't leave a message, leave your information. I'll directly connect you. And then if you want me to talk about a topic on one of the episodes, let me know. And yeah. So subscribe, leave a comment, rate it, all that jazz. And until next time we'll see you later. Okay. Take good care of yourself. I hope this episode has inspired you and I want you to go out there and take massive action. Starting today. Get messy, start messy. Thank you so much for joining us.
We'll see you next time, Kyriaki, over and out.