Menna is a beautiful, 5-years old, Ethiopian-American girl who wants to act (cue Master Thespian, Jon Lovitz: “Aactiiinngg!”). I know Menna via her Mom.

For those interested in who I am: biographical information.

We are both in Washington, D.C.

This is the first post of “Representing D.C.,” an ongoing piece about Menna and my endeavor to help her realize her young acting dream.  Throughout the series, I will take some liberty and cover aspects and issues arising from talent-representation along the way such as one might find covered in this EntertainmentAgentBlog’s Entertainment Law and Entertainment Business sections, etc.

And now, a brief look at the setting of this story, i.e. the target market:

Not many associate D.C. with music, acting, and assorted other performing arts. I believe this is largely because of its relatively small population compared to other, well-known locales like New York City and Los Angeles. The media infrastructure does not loom large—there’s no Hollywood sign, Broadway plays, or Grand Ole Opry. And D.C. is, of course, a political city. However, according to the always-venerable (wink-wink) Wikipedia, the D.C. “metro area […] is the eighth largest designated market area in the U.S.”

D.C. has a long history of providing a home for artists—from the long-standing home and storied stomping grounds for jazz artists such as Ellington, Armstrong, and Holiday (the U Street corridor)—to the home of the National Symphony Orchestra (The Kennedy Center) to the lesser-known theater-houses such as Sidney Harman Hal (The Shakespeare Theatre) to the White House itself. And while most of D.C.’s media is news-driven, it’s popularity as a location for films is in a resurgence as evidenced by the following films recently shot here: The Bourne Ultimatum, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Transformers, Get Smart, and Burn After Reading. It’s a similar story for Television shows. And let’s not forget that Chocolate City is where the funky Go-go got started.

One might say D.C. is politics from the start, but still got art in its heart.