DaVida Chanel- Talent Manager Of Etcetera and Company Talks About What Makes Actors Marketable & Best Ways To Seek Representation

After assisting her employers manage the careers Halle Berry, Taraji P. Henson, Mariah Carey, Usher, David E. Talbert, and others at some of the most notable talent management companies in the entertainment industry, DaVida Chanel Smith decided to follow her heart. “I’ve been fortunate to always work for people with strong entrepreneurial energy and that was not lost on me because I’ve always wanted to be my own boss,” Smith explains. “In this powerful time of women taking risks in the name of their career, I felt it was time to bet on myself. I took the efforts that I had been pouring into others’ businesses and focused on my vision for talent representation.” Launched in April 2018, Smith’s Etcetera and Company already boasts a robust and diverse roster of working actors, including Annie Ilonzeh, James Lesure, and John Kassir. Her clients have booked a number of high profile jobs, including a series regular on a hit Dick Wolf show on NBC, a recurring role on an established HBO dramedy, a film starring a two-time Oscar winner, and guest stars on FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, and Starz! Smith attributes her early success with Etcetera and Company to the personal connection she forms with her clients. “Talent managers and clients must work together as partners,” Smith says. “It’s about connecting with someone on a deeper level, being able to figure out what their goals are, what it is they’re trying to do, and help them reach those goals. I’ve always been a dream chaser. Now I get to connect talented people to their dreams.” Growing up in Louisiana, Smith gained confidence in her abilities as a performer and public speaker through her humble beginnings in church plays and school programs. While attending Southern University (Baton Rouge), she held office in student government and with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Smith won several pageants and hosted campus shows and events, opportunities that showcased her talents as a performer, storyteller, and talent scout. Smith earned her Juris Doctorate from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to pursue a career in talent representation and production, landing jobs at some of Hollywood’s renowned firms, including Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Handprint, and VCA. On the production side, she worked on such blockbuster films as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 & 2 and Lee Daniels’ The Butler, as well as the hit television shows Guy’s Grocery Games and Queen Sugar. Smith also wrote, directed, and produced a series of short films, as well as wrote and produced a stage play that toured New Orleans, Atlanta and Chicago. Now, with her own Etcetera and Company thriving, Smith seeks to work with her mix of established and emerging clients to fulfill their creative dreams. “It’s about the client,” Smith explains. “My focus is finding and creating projects that help my clients reach their goals time and time again.”