Brett Rigby, CGF Talent

Side Note From Kat: Brett's reputation, as an agent and a person, runs far ahead of him. As a performer, he worked consistently. As a student, he received his Master of Music Degree, with an advanced certificate in Vocal Pedagogy, from NYU Steinhardt. Now, he's worked at Carlton, Goddard, and Freer ("CGF Talent" on the resumé) for the past seven years, climbing his way to agent five years ago. 

Brett's thrown a lot at the wall and, somehow, found a way to make all of it stick. Naturally, he was a dream interview for what we stand for here at The Obvious Path. Pre-Coronavirus, we set up an in-person interview at his apartment and arranged to have it supervised by the Associate Director of Public Relations at the Public Theatre. (Okay... that's his wife, Laura. How COOL though, right??)

And... we left giddy. Every person who implored us to meet them couldn’t have done them justice. What was supposed to be a 20-30 minute interview turned into a three-hour lesson in life, attitude, marriage, the business, and laughs. He and Laura are authentically human, constantly striving to be better, and completely devoid of the arrogance that normally accompanies those of their immense success. 

Below we listed his question about COVID-19. You can find the rest of his feature under ‘All Features’ or our ‘Agent’ section.

We started this blog because we wanted to highlight those in our business that are sincerely good people. And we've gotten to meet a lot of wonderful folks. Brett? He's one of the best.

How has Coronavirus changed your perspective on the business and/or your life? 

Ugh! It’s changed my perspective more than I ever could have possibly imagined. What our industry has gone through over the last 5-6 weeks is truly upsetting and very surprising. From a business standpoint, we are dealing with the immense challenge of not being able to gather together in an industry that requires that from all those who participate in it. Whether you’re seeing a Broadway show, watching a movie, shooting a TV series, or going to a concert, you are surrounded by dozens, hundreds, and thousands of actors, employees, and audience members who are also taking part in that experience. When you remove the ability to gather, you lose the industry on the whole immediately. 

Right now, everyone who celebrates and relies on this artform for income is doing all they can to breathe life back into it. This is a scary, but really inspiring thing. People are fighting for our business fiercely and in a multitude of ways. Casting is leading the charge by moving forward with some projects by way of self-tapes and virtual meetings with creative teams. Other full productions in development are having Zoom rehearsals and work sessions with the full casts to keep things moving forward. The voiceover world is still very much alive and they quickly adapted by sending equipment home with actors so they could continue to work professionally and safely in their own home. That is resilient and gives me hope. 

I personally think we should all embrace the new technology and use it as an opportunity to stay creative and improve while we work towards some semblance of our industry returning. I do think it’s important to mention that things will be different. I hear people throw around the term “normal” a lot and how when things go back to “normal.” It’s very important to realize that when we emerge on the other side of this, and we definitely will, it will be to a new normal with new ideas, protocols, and approaches, but that can still be a future to look forward to.