Spotlight on my career

It's a truism in acting that you'll get nowhere without an agent. (It's also a truism that you may also get nowhere with an agent, but the chances of getting somewhere with one are somewhat better than without one.)

To get an agent you don't necessarily need talent. It's enough to have a Look that the agent can sell. And as well as a Look, many agents expect Spotlight membership, because Spotlight membership confirms that you have some history in the profession.

I'm not 100% certain what Spotlight is, apart from a website and - I believe - a printed book listing all its registered actors. To get onto Spotlight you need four professional engagements with speaking parts.

I have been contacting agents for almost a year and for most have that time have been ignored. In recent weeks, however, interest has grown. Agent A has met me briefly, corresponded regularly and told me that they want me as soon as I appear on Spotlight. Agent B turned up at the Lord Stanley on Saturday night, saw my dreadul performance in Angel and told me he wanted to sign me immediately I got on Spotlight - and he would help my application in ways by retroactively casting me in a film.

I was intrigued but not impressed. Agent B talked far too good a talk. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but 48 hours later a little trawling through the internet confirmed my suspicion that Agent B had form in good talk and poor delivery.

Agent B and I parted company, but he and Agent A were a stimulus to my applying for Spotlight yesterday. I went through the online form listed my four professional engagements (professional in the sense of [a] a speaking part, [b] being paid, [c] a regular theatrical venue). Within a few hours I received a note that my application had been rejected. I was not Amused. I emailed back, politely, asking for an explanation. I am now waiting, patiently, for the explanation to come.

I am a little annoyed, because as far as I am concerned, I am working professionally - to the extent of receiving payment and declaring income to the Inland Revenue. But if Spotlight defines professional by West End / BBC / Disney, I am caught in the proverbial Catch-22: unable to get work without Spotlight membership, and unable to get Spotlight membership without their definition of work.

Ah well. Time for my next task: applying for Equity membership. Let's see if they have similarly impossible demands.

Three hours later, we have an update
It was, it appears, a glitch in the system. After some emails to and fro, Spotlight has now confirmed they will accept and process my membership. The West End, BBC and Disney, get out the red carpet, because here I come...