Q: What is Performarket?
A: The annual gathering of professional and student actors, dancers, musicians, and performing arts managers will include performing arts specific portfolio reviews and advice, as well as a giant internship and information fair.
Portfolio advice will be delivered by Jazz Singer Erin McDougald, Headshot photographer Aaron Gang, Voice-over agent Laurie Lambert, Casting director Rachel Slavik and Vocalist/ Musical Theatre performer Jamie O'Reilly.
Performarket begins at 11am and will be held in the HotHouse at 31 E Balbo. Complete details are available on the PerforMarket website
It takes more than good looks and talent. Industry bigwigs will discuss the best ways for emerging performers to market their work and themselves.
Aforementioned Bigwigs: Andrea Shipp, Musical Theatre/Dance Talent Agent with Lily's Talent; Wade Childress, Talent Agent with Stewart Talent; Jazz Singer Erin McDougald; music label impresario Seven from Chocolate Industries.
This annual discussion is one of the seminal ways Columbia helps prepare our performers, musicians and arts management students for the reality of getting gigs, getting signed and getting a rep.
Marketing the Performer is part of Performarket and is co-sponsored by the Portfolio Center, The College Advising Center and the Alumni Relations office.
The panel begins at 10am sharp on Friday, March 9th in the Hokin Annex, 623 S Wabash.
Five years ago Outsider Inc. producer Charlie Sato was participating in Show Off as a student. Now the circle is complete. Charlie, whose post production credits include work for Playboy and PBS special Design: e2 will visit to meet post students, advise them on building a professional caliber reel, and scout talent for internships and freelance positions with Outsider. Outsider is one of Chicago's largest and most visible post production studios with extensive credits in both television and advertising. This session is open to juniors, seniors, graduate students and December '06 grads.
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show off your work. Don't be shy. You're an artist. It's part of the deal.
If you're reading this after the fact, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
Bill Hogan does a little of everything. He's a photographer with the Chicago Tribune who specializes in studio and food shots and in room interiors/architectural work but also has a body of work in global location photography. He is know for his very precise and often inventive approach to lighting. Bill will visit to meet and review the work of photography students from a variety of interests. This session is open to juniors, seniors, graduate students and December '06 grads.
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show Bill your work.
If you're reading this after Bill Hogan came and went, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
Phoebe Connelly, Managing Editor for the social / political-themed monthly In These Times will visit the Portfolio Center to meet students interested in magazine writing and advise them on their clip packages in terms of content, presentation and delivery. This session is open to juniors, seniors, graduate students and December 06 grads.
Participating students will be asked to send two clips to the Portfolio Center ahead of time for Phoebe to review. Clips can be dropped off to 623 S Wabash, Room 307 (aka The Portfolio Center) attn: Mercedes Cooper, or emailed to mcooper@colum.edu. Be sure your email is titled 'In These Times.'
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show off your clips.
If you're reading this after this review came and went, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
Sharon Langley, the Langley in Langley Creative will visit the Portfolio Center to meet illustration students, review their body of work and give feedback and advice on developing a professional illustration portfolio. Reps are to illustrators what agents are to actors. It's pretty hard to find meaningful work without one. While unlikely any emerging illustrator would get signed by an established rep like Sharon, this review will help you understand how to build and package a body of work worthy of representation.
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show off your work. Don't be shy. You're an artist. It's part of the deal.
If you're reading this after the fact, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
It is a simple fact that everyone, potential employers and clients, loves a winner. And, lucky for you, every year, thousands of organizations, companies, schools, non-profits and foundations sponsor design competitions.
What can this do for your portfolio? Think how much better everything sounds with "Award-Winning" in front of it.
Linda Goin of Graphic Design Basics keeps a handy, well researched and frequently updated list of design competitions worldwide. They're sorted by application deadline and, after a quick glance on your behalf, we can confidently say, you could be entering a minimum of three competitions a week. A week!
So, get crackin'. We'll be here to help for any last minute advice or feedback you might need- all you have to do is remember who gave you the hot tip on how to make it big.
For set & costume designers, showtime takes place long before opening night. Although their creations live only as long as the production itself, the artists who make them must preserve their work in a portfolio. Join set/tech/costume designer Tom Burch Scenic/Lighting Designer Brian Sidney Bembridge for a discussion about theater tech & design portfolio possibilities.
This event is open to all Columbia College students and alumni.
Join marketing professional Wendi Lalli for a conversation about the importance of target-marketing, self-promotion and a consistent identity when marketing your wares as a writer.
This event is open to all students and alumni of Columbia College Chicago.
The Marketing Store does it all. Like other integrated marketing agencies they create communications that span advertising, direct mail, in-store promotions, event promotions and interactive websites. Unlike other agencies, their clients are global consumer giants like McDonald's, Dasani, Snapple, Dove..and the list reads on and on. Each spring The Marketing Store visits the Portfolio Center to scout talent for internships and possibly freelance work. Students pursuing work as a copywriter, graphic designer, ad artist or flash designer will get portfolio advice from a global agency creative who can speak to your strengths and weaknesses in the eyes of the big agency employers.
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show off your work.
If you're reading this after this review came and went, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
Jewelry designer and owner of Under the Wire Sue Rosengard will join our own artist and art critic Ann Wiens for a discussion about the importance of documenting artwork and developing a strategy to market yourself with your materials.
The session is open to all students and alumni of Columbia College. No RSVP required.
Intuit (aka The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art) is both an art gallery and an organization with an agenda. Their agenda is to promote, encourage and educate artists with a unique vision. All artists *think* they have a unique vision, but Intuit looks specifically to work with and help artists whose work is highly original, and may defy easy categorization. Farris Wahbeh, the Program Director for Collections and Exhibitions at the Center, will visit with students and discuss their work and more specifically, the presentation of that work to galleries, festivals, showcases, etc.. This session is open to seniors, graduate students and December '06 graduates who have an artisitc body of work in any medium.
If you haven't already, register with the Portfolio Center and make sure you select the 'Show Off' option. Then, call 312.344.7280 to sign up to show Farris your work.
If you're reading this after Intuit came and went, check the Show Off page for a current schedule of guests.
Straight from the horse's mouth. The horse being Communication Arts magazine.
Communication Arts invites you to enter your work in the 48th Photography / Illustration Competition.
Now is the time to promote your talent by having your work selected for the largest and most important juried competitiona for photographers and illustrators .
Selected award-winning pieces will appear in the August Annual of Communication Arts magazine. More than 70,000 copies will be distributed worldwide, assuring important exposure for the creators of this outstanding work.
Deadline: March 13, 2007
For submission guidelines, PDF entry forms and FAQs, visit: www.commarts.com/competition
Sure, this is intended for "professionals," but what are you? Chop liver?
Is it 'Coutre' or 'Couture'...? We've heard both....
Regardless, your manilla folder, amateur photography and plastic covered material samples really aren't all that impressive. But, your work is. Join our own Allie Adams and She Complete's Karen Cooper for a conversation about samples, branding and self-promotion in the fashion industry.
This event is open to all current students and alumni of Columbia College. No RSVP required, but space is limited.
Southside gallery 32nd & Urban is hosting an open portfolio review for artists across several media on Saturday, February 24 from 6 to 8pm.
What to bring?
The process is really informal but we do request that you bring something/either/all of the following for review:
Portfolio Images on CD for projector viewing Slides Resume Movies/documentaries on CD Business card Artist statement Leave behind Actual pieces/Current project Exhibition proposal (solo, joint, collaborative, curatorial, etc.)
We're located at:
32nd&urban: gallery&space
3201 South Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60608
312.846.6569
Hours: Thursday -- Friday, 5:00pm -9:00pm
Saturday, Noon -- 6:00pm
Or by appointment
Films are about the final product. In addition to what's being seen and heard on screen, your films are also being evaluated on how they are presented. Whether it is assembling your reel, developing a website or designing a film's marketing materials the output must be a professional representation.
We'll show examples and have several local film professionals & film festival organizers comment on what sells and what doesn't. This session takes place in conjunction with Production Week (pdf); a handful of sessions designed to help you (the student filmmaker) better pitch, produce and package your film work to attract the attention of crew & film festivals. This event is open to all current students and alumni.
Our guests: Mike McNamara, Co-Director of the Midwest Independent Film Festival; Annie Porter, Producer for Image Union; Dixon Galvez-Searle, Editor for Screen Magazine; Joanna Mackenzie with the Chicago International Documentary Festival; and Kimberly McArthur, Publicity and PR expert with Edelman PR (and formerly the Chicago Latino Film Festival)
All student and alumni filmmakers are welcome to attend and to bring copies of their marketing materials (stills, DVD covers, headshots, etc.). We will be able to show and discuss web-based reels as well.
The discussion begins at 4pm in "the HUB" of the 1104 S Wabash Bldg.
Your interior architecture portfolio is more than renderings and models. Layout, organization, format and even branding are important issues to consider while developing your portfolio. Join us for a show & tell where you'll have the opportunity to discuss your work (both content and presentation) with professional guests in small groups.
The portfolio review is open to all juniors, seniors, graduate students and 2006 graduates. If you're interested to show portfolio samples to the guests, please email Mercedes Cooper at mcooper@colum.edu no later than Feb 21st. All students are welcome to observe.
Guests include reps from Gensler, Perkins + Will, Exhibitgroup-Giltspur and HOK.
For the generation(s) of creatives that came before, a portfolio was a leather book that was typically the size of a kitchen table (a slight amount of hyperbole is being employed here). It contained, at best, printed examples and more commonly, hand-drawn layouts. Most of these pieces were original, so for their own protection, they were placed behind laminate pages that held them still and protected them from smudges.....But that was then.
Like all species faced with a changing environment, the portfolio was forced to either adapt, or fall by the wayside. Luckily for us, it adapted.
As more and more creatives found themselves competing for jobs, they found themselves being asked to drop their books off. Lugging a kitchen table around on the El isn't convenient, so big black leather books began to give way to smaller books and boxes.
Sometimes the portfolio would come back damaged, or not at all. So original pieces gave way to digital copies. (Thanks of course to the advent of digital technology.)
In the past few years there has been an exponential diversification of portfolio types. Mini-books became standard practice and creatives on the look would produce tens if not hundreds of them. Websites like coroflot and portfolios.com made online galleries an alternative to the never popular option of attaching several images to an email. Eventually, PDF portfolios emerged as the standard way to send portfolio samples via email.
Most recently, there is a growing expectation that creatives of any type will have a their own web-based portfolio. A custom site showing off their work, and their work alone.
Complicating things is that with all these options (and we didn't even touch on the issue of leave-behinds), the talent recruiters and hiring managers got greedy. Ask ten hiring managers how they want a portfolio sent to them and you'll get at least seven different answers. (Your results may vary.)
In such an environment the creative is left with no alternative but to create portfolios. Armed with a book or box, a mini-portfolio, PDF portfolio and web-portfolio, the modern creative is positioned for success in any number of hiring environments. Assuming of course that the work is good....and it all starts with the work.
If you feel intimidated by all this, don't. Here's your action plan. Get your book (or box) in order first. Get feedback on your samples, and not from your friends or faculty. Get feedback from people in your field. People who (probably) don't know you.
Once you're feeling good abut your samples and have your book / box looking sharp, now it's time to diversity. Make a pdf portfolio. Get busy making a website, or finding someone who will help you make it. Miniaturize your portfolio and build several mini-books. This order may vary based on what you can do, and what people are asking you for. Eventually though, you're going to want them all.
Let us know if we can help. We'd love to.
'Show Off' is a term we use for our portfolio review program, but we've been reminded more than once that you can't show off a radio demo, nor is it really called a portfolio. Semantics.
Regardless, Matt DuBiel, the director of programming and an afternoon talent with Nine FM (and an active voiceover artist), will visit the Portfolio Center to listen to demos from radio students pursuing work on air or in studio. Matt will give feedback and advice on building and editing an effective demo, and might have some ideas about which regional stations are open to getting demos from fresh voices in the business.
If you've never 'done' a Show Off before, it goes something like this. You bring your working demo or mp3s you think you'll use on a demo. You sit down. Say hi. Introduce yourself...and then Matt asks you to play what you've got. Helpful advice and hints on perfecting the art of the demo ensue. All in twenty minutes. It's as easy as that. Almost...
Before you sign up, make sure you're registered with the Portfolio Center. After you've registered (or if you already have), call 312.344.7280.
PS: If, like a normal human being, you're a little nervous about playing your samples for someone beyond Columbia, make an appointment with one of your portfolio advisors (Alexx, Laurie or Michael). Portfolio advising gives you more than twenty minutes to discuss your demo and ask in-depth questions.
First, let's deal with the term 'commercially viable.' We know many of you are here to practice "your art," (these quotes are in no way meant to be condescending) not necessarily to shoot the slick, dolled-up and heavily edited shots used in mainstream advertising....And yet the money has a way of needing to be made. Someday soon, you may find yourself presented with the choice of using your skills to make ads, or using them to make sandwiches. Mmmm...sandwiches.
According to recent Show Off guest, and photo rep, Melissa Hennessy, many "commercial" photographers are actually artists who shoot one way for clients, and another way for themselves.
So what can an artist, such as yourself, be doing to explore the possibility of finding commercial work? Melissa shared a few thoughts....
1. Start with what you have. Take that beautiful photographic essay you've been working on for your thesis and pull the two or three images that, compositionally, can stand alone. These might just make it in your final book, but these alone are only a beginning.
2. Build on it. There is no doubt about it, you're going to need to shoot more. On your own time. Outside of class and/or after work. If you're not willing to do that, stop reading, the rest won't matter.
3. Find your niche. Every single working photographer gets work based on their ability to shoot one (maybe two) things really well. Faces in a crowd, beverages mid-splash, people drinking in a club, etc.. It doesn't always have to be that specific, but specific helps. Begin to develop a body of work that advertisers and photo editors will recognize as yours. Remember, it isn't about you and what you like, it's about them and what they'll pay for.
If only it was as simple as all that. Of course there's that little thing about the work being good, and actually getting people to look at it in the first place. That's where a rep would come in handy, and it's why we have so many reps visit each year to provide counsel and advice on developing a viable book.
If you didn't get to meet with Melissa, no worries. We'll have at least two more reps in this semester. To be sure you hear about them in time to sign up, make sure you're registered with us. Once you register, we'll email you every time a professional from your field visits the Center for a portfolio review, discussion or event.
So, we'll catch ya next time right? Until then...you should be shooting.
DuPuis Creative Director Ivana Dzadzic (formerly of Kornick Lindsay) will rejoin us for a set of design portfolio reviews on February 22nd, beginning at 10am.
Ivana will meet and advise graphic design students with an interest (and preferably samples) in consumer branding and package design.
DuPuis is one of a handful of Chicago design firms specializing in brand identity design for 'name' clients like Nestle, Kellogg's (Pop Tarts!), Dole and a host of others you see every time you visit the grocery store.
Ivana will be scouting talent for the DuPuis internship program so this Show Off is open to juniors, seniors and December '06 graduates.
If you've never participated in a Show Off before, it goes something like this. You bring your design portfolio-in-progress. You sit down. Say hi. Introduce yourself...and then Ivana asks you to show off your stuff. Be ready to talk her through it. Why did you design this piece this way? Who is the audience? Don't make her ask all the questions. Helpful advice on putting together a portfolio and some honest feedback ensue . All in twenty minutes.
Before you sign up, make sure you're registered with the Portfolio Center. After you've registered (or if you already have), call 312.344.7280.
Kara Taylor is:
Kara will visit the Center on Monday, February 12th at 3:30 to deliver a presentation on ad portfolios that covers the basic do's and dont's, but also some of the really unique and interesting techniques employed by emerging ad creatives looking to break through the deluge of portfolios swirling around the offices of your typical talent recruiter.
The presentation will last about an hour and Kara will stick around to answer questions, following.
This event is open to all students and alumni of Columbia College.
A: Your demo reel
If you're a senior or recent grad and didn't answer "my demo reel," then it's time to ask yourself how serious you are about breaking into this field. If you're a game designer and/or animator your demo is your hand shake, your business card, your resume and in the eyes of talent recruiters...you. A 'sunday-night job' won't make it past the receptionist at any respectable game design firm or animation studio. In fact, most of these places employ portfolio screeners whose main job is to discard 90% of the reels and books that reach their doorstep.
So how do these people, who are generally not animators or designers, make these decisions? Sure it has something to do with the quality of the work, but it has as much to do with format, presentation and media; and this is where too many of our talented artists aren't taking the time to construct a professionally relevant portfolio / reel.
Of course that's why we're here. ...And we're not alone. The animation world magazine (AWN) has an online "career column" stocked with good advice, some of it specific to demo reels. We also suggest taking Martin Murphy's animation portfolio class. We're not sure if it's required, but it should be. Martin is a bigshot (our words, not his) at Midway Games, a guest at last year's Reel Exchange and a portfolio expert. You'll walk in 'saying' you're an animators and walk out 'showing' that you're one.
Melissa Hennessy represents a number of outstanding and accomplished photographers, who themselves represent a variety of focus, style and ability. For photographers interested in commercial representation (someday), Melissa will be looking over samples, providing feedback on what pieces she believes to be viable, and giving advice on selection, order and presentation.
Melissa will visit the Portfolio Center on Feb 7th (Wed) at 10am
If you've never participated in Show Off before, no sweat. Make sure you're registered with us, and then call 312.344.7280 to sign up to meet Melissa. Meetings run about 20 minutes during which time you'll get some feedback, advice and just maybe a solid networking contact in the field.
