Nine9 Talent Spotlight with Brandon Horton
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Hi there and welcome to another spotlight of just one of our successful talent. This is where our talent get a chance to share their experiences and impressions. And sometimes their advice with you. These people are just like you and came to Nine9 with just the dream. And now they’re being featured nationally and locally in commercials, TV series, movies, and more enjoy.
I’ve been a talent with Nine9 for one year. I got with them back in May of 2020. And I finally decided to make that jump because I needed a little bit more exposure and the casting calls they had was really, really good. So before Nine9, I didn’t have any representation. So I was always afraid to have representation in that aspect and try to really commit to being an actor. My full commitment came when I had the interview and I forgot the young lady who was speaking to me, but she gave me so much confidence that it allowed me to be like, okay, maybe I can do this. So, you know along with all the auditioning that I did do and just gain the confidence in, it helped out a lot.
Ultimately what made me want to go at Nine9 would be a lot of the emails that they came to me with and they were just showing me some things that they were doing, and it looked really good. And, you know, it seemed like they were trying to groom the next phase of actors. And I wanted to be a part of that. So Nine9 gives people a platform to get their feet wet in the industry. So, you know, once you get your feet wet and you get comfortable that platform that Nine9 puts out, it actually helps you to be able to go in with more confidence. And that speaks volumes when you’re in front of the camera. Yes. Some of the workshops that I have attended with Nine9 would be hosted by Lauren Hudson.
Anything that Lauren Hudson puts on I’m in there. So those workshops helped out a lot. I think the most important one was the marketing of yourself. So that would help me out a lot. And once I got a list of things that she said that we needed to work on. It was very interactive. It just wasn’t her talking to us, those workshops are very interactive. They talk back to us, they give us good feedback and they answered all the questions that we have. So that was a big plus because I didn’t know what to expect, but it was a really good experience. In 2021 I’ve been on BMF started series multiple times. So now I’m a featured extra in, in those. And I think it is about three they are, three of their episodes.
So the audition process was very easy. I did a self-tape because everything’s interactive. And I learned how to do these self-tapes from the classes that I’d taken and the virtual classes at Nine9. And so, the self-tape got me to the next step of being in front of the director. The director says, Hey, this is who I want. And, you know I played a very pivotal role. I was a VIP bouncer in one of the episodes. I was one of the drivers for I think the BMF crew in one of the episodes. And then I went back to being a bouncer because we be shot in the club. So that was like I said, it gave me a platform to get in front of and get the trainings to actually learn how to even get the self-tape out to the director.
So that was a good thing. Let’s see, Cobra, Kai same thing happened, Cobra, Kai contacted me. So your name gets around town too. So they’ve heard that I do a good job with, you know, being a featured extra. So with that experience from one audition, then one audition translate it to the second audition to Cobra Kai. Then it came to a place where I’m right now. “The Games People Play”, which is going to be on BET Plus maybe ‘The BET Network’. And so when I’m doing those right now, I’m one of the entourage guys. So, you know, one of the entourage guys is going to be one of the featured extras, almost got speaking lines.
I was that close that I was that close about two weeks ago. So you didn’t sneak in lines and they pulled back on it, but it’s okay. With the experience that I’ve gotten now with all of the stuff that I’ve done, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg on things that I’ve done. The one speaking role that I did do was a lead role. It was an independent film that’s actually being marketed around right now being shopped around to Netflix and Amazon prime, and it’s called ‘The Lyric’. And that was the first full feature film. And the product, the finished product of it was really, really great. And it gave me the feedback that I got from the director was that you’re really comfortable. And you’re really in tune with what you’re trying to do as an actor.
I was like, yes, I got a lot of practice. So but everything, even the smallest roles, even the extra roles, even the background stuff, it leads up to, you know, you being prepared for that lead role. And being able to say, okay, I know how to, I know how to handle myself on set. I know what the different terminology is. And, you know, producers see that, and directors see that, and they respect it.
My advice for anyone thinking about joining Nine9 is to do it. But it’s my advice. My advice is to take a chance on yourself and then, and this is a very easy process and Nine9 makes it very easy to be involved with them. And so that’s the thing about it and the communication between Nine9 is very good. So, I think the hands-on the hands-on training and the hands-on aspect that Nine9 has with their talent and them being able to be transparent and answer any questions that you want to ask them.
That helps out the young actor that helped me out a lot. It’ll help out a lot of young actors and it’ll help them get moving in the right direction from there. And so, I mean, it’s basically up to the actor or actress, wherever they want to go. You know, how much time they want to spend it, how much time they want to put in, how much training they want to put in and you know, being patient, you know, I think that’s one thing that a lot of people don’t understand about it, but Nine9 allows people to come in get their feet wet, learn, and then execute what you’ve been taught. And you know, hopefully you get the part.
Thanks so much. We are so proud of all of our talent and love to share their stories. As told by them every chance we get it motivates us to keep working, to help all of our talent succeed. And hopefully it helps you to know a little more about us. We hope you’ve enjoyed this talent spotlight and encourage you to check them all out past and future.
To learn more about Nine9 and how you can possibly become our next breakout talent… feel free to attend our next Virtual Open Call.
