I’ve been casting a wide net these days, further from home base in the hopes of nabbing interesting projects from abroad. Speaking with a colleague in the UK, his advice was to get an agent, and to make sure I’ve got my Linkedin, Facebook, IMDB, Twitter, and Vimeo accounts are all tip-top. When everyone is findable, credibility goes a long way towards getting your foot in the door.

So, I’m woefully underrepresented on IMDB, but my website gets regular hits from all over the world. Apparently writing infrequent articles about technology and abstract art is a big seller nowadays. Anyway, going through the cobwebs I had a hard time recalling many projects at all except the fun ones, and a zapped hard drive killed old CVs, so goodbye references. But, going through the list of projects I’m happy to say that I can at least look back on most of them contented. Some less so, and some I’m only too happy to have disappeared from existence altogether, but even so…

Linkedin is solid, though a bit out of date, and VIMEO is, for the most part, password protected works that aren’t mine to share. Well, except for the odd trailer or scene. Twitter is ok, though more interesting for the stream of people I follow than anything I post (which is rare).

Flipping pages on Google and the standards pop up: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (How many profiles do we need anyway?) Hit the next page and bam!

NYTIMES! I’m in the big time now. So naturally I can’t stop there. Next page…

WTF? Always wanted to go to Russia, but didn’t think my reputation would precede me. Surreal as it is, I have to hit next page.

I have a feeling that since Steve Jobs was sainted, and news spread of the fact that he’s of Syrian descent ( a distant relative if you must know ), the name Jandaly has been getting a lot more play, cos’ I swear, a year ago you’d be lucky to get many hits on the name at all. Now my family’s big in haiku I guess. Which increases my value, yes?

“Under review” indeed. Well, there’s still time to change that. Brings me back to that question of credibility. Just like when I was going through IMDB looking for projects I’d worked on, the ones that had some sort of pedigree were way easier to give weight to. The others I have to make a professional decision on whether to sacrifice volume for projects that have more girth to them. I mean it’s not like there could be any confusion with anyone else. If I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that there’s only one Phil Jandaly!

Well, at least my doppelganger some lucky yank woman with an unlikely name.

I’m glad to have come across all these new associations. Digging back I kind of expected to dig up the ghosts of projects past, and not necessarily ones I take any pride in. Instead there’s a whole story unfolding across the world. Part of me saw all these Jandalys out there and imagined that some of them are survivors from Syria, settling into new homes, starting new lives (Deborah Sue is definitely native though. I’d love it if there was an Arabic translation though!). It’s a bit freaky to find a profile out there where even box office takes are being measured on me.

0$? Really?

But, semi-creepy though it is, if you’ve read any of my thoughts from earlier in this blog you’ll know I’m a believer in next gen, digital storytelling. Who knows what a family tree might look like soon, or what format it’ll come in. Film? Interactive experience? A VR “be right in the editing room with Phil” fantastic time?

No idea, but I’ll keep hitting next page and someday find out.