Yesterday's meeting went well... That's all I can really say about it. Nothing concrete. As I predicted yesterday, it fell slap bang in the middle (a position that's uncomfortably comfortable for me). I met with my commercial agent, as I knew I would and then, after much waiting around, the head honcho was ready to see me. She opened the meeting by pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. She then peered over the top of her bifocal lenses and asked me, "do you ever have those days where absolutely everything and everyone irritates the hell out of you?" Not a good sign y'all! I nervously joked that I felt like that every other day, hormones ya know. She actually laughed and by a few mins in, I had her happily chatting away. Phew! It was clear to me, right away, that today was not the day to ask for anything. Instead, I decided, today I would make her love me. I think it worked. Time will tell. I keep trying to remember to just be myself and continue to put good vibes out there. Hopefully the good karma will come on back my way. Needless to say, there were no offers made on her part and no demands on mine. We just had a nice conversation. I hopped in my car and drove on home.
During my ride home, I thought about my product of the day. Although I do enjoy making silly jokes via awkward product placement, I do think I should be a responsible blogger. Its not just about making money. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be in it for the money, but so far, nahda, so I may as well pimp things I actually believe in. So I asked myself, what was the best book I ever read about acting/auditioning? That's not a difficult question to answer. By far and away, the best book I've ever read about acting is Audition by Michael Shurtleff. Even though its slightly dated, good advise is timeless. In fact, I should probably re-read it. To any young actor out there who needs to be brought back down to earth, this is the read for you.
So that's it for now my friends. I have a rehearsal and a shoot lined up for this weekend. The best part about that is, I'll be able to update my resume for the first time in about a year!!!! Oh happy day!
Showing posts with label The Biz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Biz. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
I’m Schmacting My Ass Off!
First of all, I'd like to credit my dad with the title of this post… If you know my dad, this totally makes sense ☺.
The title also makes sense because that is exactly what I’ve been doing. I have managed to book 4 schmacting jobs and 1 acting job in, like, three weeks. Just like the old adage says, “it never rains, but it leaves me in a soggy, muddy puddle in the middle of the 101 North.” On the one hand, I feel great about it all, on the other hand I feel really broke, and so does my bank account. (It called me the other day complaining about how all I do its take, take, take.) You may wonder, “how are you broke when you just booked so many jobs?” As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t get paid for non-union work for three months! Mid July is gonna be awesome people, that is, if I don’t get arrested for robbing a liquor store in the mean time. 24601! That’s a little Les Mis reference for all my theatre geek friends. I’m such a Jean Val Jean type ☺.
Now to tell you a little about said jobs. The first was a low budget regional commercial for a jewelry dealership. Hardly my big break, but the shoot was actually really fun and I made connections with at really great production company. I’m always happy to work for nice people.
The second job was a web video for an apartment complex. This company owns 90 properties around the Irvine/LA area and they were making introductory-type videos for all of them. Lots of work!!! The shoot was super fast, (my hair and make-up took longer than the shoot itself!) but it was painful, and here’s why. One of the cardinal rules for a director is never to give “line readings.” What this means is that you should never ask an actor to simply imitate the way you’re saying something. The reason being, is that the director is a director, not an actor. He or she may think that what they’re exemplifying is what they want, but because they’re not trained as actors, it may look very different from what they meant to communicate. It’s much more affective to explain the objective of the piece, what you would like to communicate, give “motivation,” as it were. I know this sounds high maintenance, but it’s really to only way to accomplish quality work. This being said, the director of this web video stopped me after the very first line and immediately gave me the strangest line reading I’d ever heard. I would never speak that way in a million years, nor have I ever seen anyone else speak that, way on purpose, unless they were trying to be bizarre. It was so weird. Before we began, he explained that the piece should feel conversational, as though I was speaking to a friend and not selling something. It sounds simple enough right? You can imagine my confusion when he said my lines at me in an odd slow motion that reminded me of a cross between Mr. Rogers and The Riddler, from Batman, creepy. It continued that way for the next hour or so. He stopped me every other line, with an equally maniacal reading. I got through it, but I’m a little worried about how it turned out. I would hate for there to be a video of me, floating around the internet, eerily beckoning strangers to rent Irvine apartments like Snow White’s wicked stepmother temping with her juicy red apple.
The third job was for a communications company. This one, you might actually see! I think might be a funny one, but I can’t tell you anything about the concept for confidentially reasons. Fingers crossed! The shoot was very strange because I spent the better part of 8hrs making the same facial expression (shocked, surprised, happy) over and over again. When shooting a commercial, many times, there’s a director who acts as a middle-man for the marketing agency. The people from the agency sit in a separate room and watch the shoot on a tv monitor. The director has a wire in his ear so that the agency can tell him what they want him to tell me… You can see how this could be a disaster. What’s the phrase? Too many cooks in the kitchen, um yeah. Anyway, throughout the shoot, everyone seemed unhappy with what I was doing. They wanted me to, "smile more and laugh a little, but not too much. Don't move your shoulders, now you look stiff, don't raise your eyebrows, be natural but don't move. Keep your eyes focused in one spot but look around!" A miserable 8hrs later, I was on the shuttle that takes everyone back to the parking lot. Sitting next to me, were the people from the ad agency… They were beaming at me! “Oh my gosh you were so great!!! So funny! We’re super happy with what you did!!” Huh? I’m thinking wha???? Whateves. I was just so happy it was over with, I jumped in my car and zoomed home!
The fourth was a print/video job that will be shown at a major convention in Vegas. It was for a very large company that owns a tv channel, theme park, and much, much more. Just wanted to give you a bit of a hint. In this one, I was a young mom. I’ll keep it short as I know this is a very long post. I’ll just sum it up by saying as soon as I got there I was taken to hair and make-up. No sooner did I sit down, but the make-up artist said to me, “oh my gosh you look like poo!” Um, excuse me? She cackled like a crazy person and said, “oh no, no, I mean like Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh!” Cuz that’s better, right? WTF? I look like a yellow, crop top wearing cartoon bear? What is going on? This pretty much summed up my day. There were crying babies with over attentive, yuppy parents, khaki capris, and sensible button down shirts… That was about it.
I have a rehearsal for an actual short film tomorrow. Excited about it. Nervous that it won’t, actually, get shot. Looking forward to doing some real scene work. Very glad it’s here in SD and doesn’t involve adding more miles to my already creaking vehicle. I love you my little Elantra, you make me proud. We’ll hang in there together!
The title also makes sense because that is exactly what I’ve been doing. I have managed to book 4 schmacting jobs and 1 acting job in, like, three weeks. Just like the old adage says, “it never rains, but it leaves me in a soggy, muddy puddle in the middle of the 101 North.” On the one hand, I feel great about it all, on the other hand I feel really broke, and so does my bank account. (It called me the other day complaining about how all I do its take, take, take.) You may wonder, “how are you broke when you just booked so many jobs?” As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t get paid for non-union work for three months! Mid July is gonna be awesome people, that is, if I don’t get arrested for robbing a liquor store in the mean time. 24601! That’s a little Les Mis reference for all my theatre geek friends. I’m such a Jean Val Jean type ☺.
Now to tell you a little about said jobs. The first was a low budget regional commercial for a jewelry dealership. Hardly my big break, but the shoot was actually really fun and I made connections with at really great production company. I’m always happy to work for nice people.
The second job was a web video for an apartment complex. This company owns 90 properties around the Irvine/LA area and they were making introductory-type videos for all of them. Lots of work!!! The shoot was super fast, (my hair and make-up took longer than the shoot itself!) but it was painful, and here’s why. One of the cardinal rules for a director is never to give “line readings.” What this means is that you should never ask an actor to simply imitate the way you’re saying something. The reason being, is that the director is a director, not an actor. He or she may think that what they’re exemplifying is what they want, but because they’re not trained as actors, it may look very different from what they meant to communicate. It’s much more affective to explain the objective of the piece, what you would like to communicate, give “motivation,” as it were. I know this sounds high maintenance, but it’s really to only way to accomplish quality work. This being said, the director of this web video stopped me after the very first line and immediately gave me the strangest line reading I’d ever heard. I would never speak that way in a million years, nor have I ever seen anyone else speak that, way on purpose, unless they were trying to be bizarre. It was so weird. Before we began, he explained that the piece should feel conversational, as though I was speaking to a friend and not selling something. It sounds simple enough right? You can imagine my confusion when he said my lines at me in an odd slow motion that reminded me of a cross between Mr. Rogers and The Riddler, from Batman, creepy. It continued that way for the next hour or so. He stopped me every other line, with an equally maniacal reading. I got through it, but I’m a little worried about how it turned out. I would hate for there to be a video of me, floating around the internet, eerily beckoning strangers to rent Irvine apartments like Snow White’s wicked stepmother temping with her juicy red apple.
The third job was for a communications company. This one, you might actually see! I think might be a funny one, but I can’t tell you anything about the concept for confidentially reasons. Fingers crossed! The shoot was very strange because I spent the better part of 8hrs making the same facial expression (shocked, surprised, happy) over and over again. When shooting a commercial, many times, there’s a director who acts as a middle-man for the marketing agency. The people from the agency sit in a separate room and watch the shoot on a tv monitor. The director has a wire in his ear so that the agency can tell him what they want him to tell me… You can see how this could be a disaster. What’s the phrase? Too many cooks in the kitchen, um yeah. Anyway, throughout the shoot, everyone seemed unhappy with what I was doing. They wanted me to, "smile more and laugh a little, but not too much. Don't move your shoulders, now you look stiff, don't raise your eyebrows, be natural but don't move. Keep your eyes focused in one spot but look around!" A miserable 8hrs later, I was on the shuttle that takes everyone back to the parking lot. Sitting next to me, were the people from the ad agency… They were beaming at me! “Oh my gosh you were so great!!! So funny! We’re super happy with what you did!!” Huh? I’m thinking wha???? Whateves. I was just so happy it was over with, I jumped in my car and zoomed home!
The fourth was a print/video job that will be shown at a major convention in Vegas. It was for a very large company that owns a tv channel, theme park, and much, much more. Just wanted to give you a bit of a hint. In this one, I was a young mom. I’ll keep it short as I know this is a very long post. I’ll just sum it up by saying as soon as I got there I was taken to hair and make-up. No sooner did I sit down, but the make-up artist said to me, “oh my gosh you look like poo!” Um, excuse me? She cackled like a crazy person and said, “oh no, no, I mean like Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh!” Cuz that’s better, right? WTF? I look like a yellow, crop top wearing cartoon bear? What is going on? This pretty much summed up my day. There were crying babies with over attentive, yuppy parents, khaki capris, and sensible button down shirts… That was about it.
I have a rehearsal for an actual short film tomorrow. Excited about it. Nervous that it won’t, actually, get shot. Looking forward to doing some real scene work. Very glad it’s here in SD and doesn’t involve adding more miles to my already creaking vehicle. I love you my little Elantra, you make me proud. We’ll hang in there together!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
On Avail...
Just an update on the status of my audition from the other day. I'm now on avail. What the heck is avail? Well, it basically means you're in a holding pattern. For example, this commercial shoots tomorrow. If I get a another job offer today that shoots tomorrow, I have to check with the company that has me on avail before I accept the other job. They have "first dibs on me." I used to get very excited about being put on avail because I thought I was that much closer to getting the job. In recent history, I've learned that most companies put everyone who got called back on avail. This way, if something goes wrong with their first casting choice, they have a back up plan. Dirty trick I say! Way to get my hopes up! Anyhoo, that's where I stand. If I do get the job, I hope they let me know in enough time to cancel my audition for tomorrow, cover myself for work, and find a place to crash in LA. Its always so complicated... but these are good problems to have.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Schmacting Review
That's right people, I've been a very busy bee. For any of you who are a little foggy on the concept of schmacting, I have two a perfect examples today!
This last Wednesday, I got a call from my local agent asking if I would be available to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I said of course! For the past few months, I'd been put on hold for this same job and then released over and over again. Apparently, the client liked my look but kept changing their mind. Whatever!!! Turns out, at the last minute, one of the other girls got fired for missing the orientation, so they settled on me. The next day I reported for duty.
The gig was selling exercise equipment at a convention. May I remind you that my talent agency booked me for this. This type of job is called "promotional modeling." Its such a good example of schmacting because you basically spend all day standing around in a foolish outfit schmacting like you love the product on display. The idea is that a group of attractive girls standing around in tight clothing attracts people (men) to your booth. The fact that we're actresses is so funny to me, and the fact that people don't seem to put this together is even more funny. Men will approach me with these super specific questions regarding the mechanical workings of the equipment. I have to schmact my way out of revealing that I'm an actress being paid to be there and couldn't really give a crap.
The best part of the whole weekend was that this company was based in Sweden and they (at great expense) sent 15 sales reps to San Diego to sell the machines. The problem was that they didn't all speak English!!!! Hilarious! The poor guys just kept referring everyone to us schmactresses!! Needless to say, after spending three consecutive days demonstrating weight machines, I'm super sore. Its not acting, but I was getting paid to do what I should be doing for free. Life could be worse.
My second example, for those of you who are new to schmacting, comes to you by way of a callback I had today. At the original audition for this commercial, I had to pretend to eat chicken, enjoy it (but not too much), then look over as though I just saw someone enter the room. Apparently, I was freakin amazing at fake eating chicken, because I got a callback for today. They called at 11am to let me know I needed to be in Santa Monica at 2:30pm! Typical. I abandoned my job, jumped in the car, ran home to change into the outfit I'd worn yesterday (per their request), grabbed a Cliff Bar and zoomed up to Santa Monica. I got there about 20 mins early and proceeded to wait around for about 1 hour and 15 mins. I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. When it was finally my turn, I was taken to another holding area. The casting director came out of the room and explained to us in, great detail, that we would not only be pretending to eat chicken, but pizza as well!! Oh my! Pizza too!!! However would I communicate this emotional complexity? Seriously, this was what was taking so long! Take a moment for yourself right now and pantomime eating a chicken wing, now pantomime eating a slice of pizza. Am I being narrow-minded, or are these two actions pretty darn similar? Is this schmacting? I say aye!
Oh, and it took me 4 hours to get home today! That sucked! The end!
This last Wednesday, I got a call from my local agent asking if I would be available to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I said of course! For the past few months, I'd been put on hold for this same job and then released over and over again. Apparently, the client liked my look but kept changing their mind. Whatever!!! Turns out, at the last minute, one of the other girls got fired for missing the orientation, so they settled on me. The next day I reported for duty.
The gig was selling exercise equipment at a convention. May I remind you that my talent agency booked me for this. This type of job is called "promotional modeling." Its such a good example of schmacting because you basically spend all day standing around in a foolish outfit schmacting like you love the product on display. The idea is that a group of attractive girls standing around in tight clothing attracts people (men) to your booth. The fact that we're actresses is so funny to me, and the fact that people don't seem to put this together is even more funny. Men will approach me with these super specific questions regarding the mechanical workings of the equipment. I have to schmact my way out of revealing that I'm an actress being paid to be there and couldn't really give a crap.
The best part of the whole weekend was that this company was based in Sweden and they (at great expense) sent 15 sales reps to San Diego to sell the machines. The problem was that they didn't all speak English!!!! Hilarious! The poor guys just kept referring everyone to us schmactresses!! Needless to say, after spending three consecutive days demonstrating weight machines, I'm super sore. Its not acting, but I was getting paid to do what I should be doing for free. Life could be worse.
My second example, for those of you who are new to schmacting, comes to you by way of a callback I had today. At the original audition for this commercial, I had to pretend to eat chicken, enjoy it (but not too much), then look over as though I just saw someone enter the room. Apparently, I was freakin amazing at fake eating chicken, because I got a callback for today. They called at 11am to let me know I needed to be in Santa Monica at 2:30pm! Typical. I abandoned my job, jumped in the car, ran home to change into the outfit I'd worn yesterday (per their request), grabbed a Cliff Bar and zoomed up to Santa Monica. I got there about 20 mins early and proceeded to wait around for about 1 hour and 15 mins. I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. When it was finally my turn, I was taken to another holding area. The casting director came out of the room and explained to us in, great detail, that we would not only be pretending to eat chicken, but pizza as well!! Oh my! Pizza too!!! However would I communicate this emotional complexity? Seriously, this was what was taking so long! Take a moment for yourself right now and pantomime eating a chicken wing, now pantomime eating a slice of pizza. Am I being narrow-minded, or are these two actions pretty darn similar? Is this schmacting? I say aye!
Oh, and it took me 4 hours to get home today! That sucked! The end!
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'd Like To Thank the Academy
I actually watched the Oscars yesterday for the first time in a couple of years. I know, you're probably thinking, "Aren't you an actress? Isn't it required viewing?" To be honest, I normally find them incredibly boring and a little awkward. There are inevitably, sweaty teleprompter malfunctions. The presenter stumbles over their lines and the audience politely chuckles at the actor or actress' attempt to joke their way out of the embarrassing snafu. I also get extremely uncomfortable on behalf of those who don't win. I can only imagine how it feels to be told that the most important thing to ever happen to your career has just happened to someone else's career instead. Then, to have a camera shoved in your face. You have to sit there listening to someone else's acceptance speech whilst smiling and trying not to cry. Its just too much and it ends up making my feet and palms sweat. I'd rather watch Pat Boone on PBS.
Yesterday, however, I was flipping through my five channels when I saw Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin standing side by side on a gorgeous, glowing, glamorous stage. The visual was stunning. Then, I stopped, I listened, and I actually laughed. The two of them were hilarious! They playfully made fun of everyone, including themselves and the crowd took it well. George Clooney and Morgan Freeman, however, did not look amused at all, ever... Who knows maybe they were having digestive issues. (I recommend Activia)
I have to say, I felt inspired by the speeches and the overall energy of the evening. The first woman ever, won an Oscar for best director! Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for his first major American movie role at the age of 53. There's hope for me yet people!!! The films that won this year, were films in which people really believed. Avatar was in production for something like ten years!!! That takes dedication!
I think that the Academy Awards served their purpose this year. They created a platform where worthwhile movies of all budgets were showcased. Important messages where communicated, and the glamour of old world Hollywood was resurrected in a time when our country needs it most. Well, if nothing more, it put a smile on my face.
Yesterday, however, I was flipping through my five channels when I saw Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin standing side by side on a gorgeous, glowing, glamorous stage. The visual was stunning. Then, I stopped, I listened, and I actually laughed. The two of them were hilarious! They playfully made fun of everyone, including themselves and the crowd took it well. George Clooney and Morgan Freeman, however, did not look amused at all, ever... Who knows maybe they were having digestive issues. (I recommend Activia)
I have to say, I felt inspired by the speeches and the overall energy of the evening. The first woman ever, won an Oscar for best director! Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for his first major American movie role at the age of 53. There's hope for me yet people!!! The films that won this year, were films in which people really believed. Avatar was in production for something like ten years!!! That takes dedication!
I think that the Academy Awards served their purpose this year. They created a platform where worthwhile movies of all budgets were showcased. Important messages where communicated, and the glamour of old world Hollywood was resurrected in a time when our country needs it most. Well, if nothing more, it put a smile on my face.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Back to Blogness
I know, I know, its been a while. Quite frankly, I haven't had much to write about til now. Its basically been the same old chase. Random commercial auditions here and there. Nothing to blog home about. Oh, I did have one funny audition where we were taken into a room two at a time, told to make a plate for ourselves out of three different types of bread. 1) a hamburger bun, meant to represent a sandwich 2) cubes of bread, meant to represent a salad 3) a tortilla filled with bread, meant to represent a taco... We were then instructed to eat said items one at a time, pretending to enjoy each bite. The casting director actually used the word "luxuriate!" Long story short, the guy I was auditioning with ate the bread taco with so much vigor, that he ended up choking and almost vomited!!!!!! I know its mean but I almost lost my shit. That was what I like to call an over-audition!!!!!
Things had dried up a little in the commercial world lately so I decided to restart my crusade for a theatrical agent. I've been sending out headshots and resumes to absolutely every agent with an address, possibly even a few real estate agents... I finally got a response the other day and scheduled an appointment for Thursday to meet with one of these much revered agent-type beings. I showed up armed with headshot, resume, reel, and monologue. Yes that's right, I said monologue. The monologue is something every actor dreads. The concept of a person speaking for such an extended period of time with absolutely no interruptions is a little far fetched as it is, not to mention the difficulty one has finding well written material that isn't overused or overly emotional. There are tons of monologues that require the detailed retelling of a molestation, contraction of an STD, a beating by a boyfriend, or the likes. Not such a good idea to get too issuey, you never know what repressed memories you could be dragging up for your audience... Anyway, I actually struck gold with a good one a little while back, and felt confident that it was appropriate without being dull. A good fit for me, ya know. I went in, performed my monologue and actually nailed it. I couldn't believe it!! The agent loved me and basically told me right there and then that she wanted to sign me and told me to expect a call the following day. I left on cloud nine!
On my way back to SD, a couple of hours later, I received an audition notice via the usual text and email. I have to say, I'm happy to get the opportunities but these ones are always hard to take. It was an audition for an amusement park that, if I booked it, would only make me around $1000. I know that sounds nice, but if I don't book it, I've lost $40 in gas and an entire days work. This particular audition was for the following day. I would have to get back in my car and drive another 2 1/2 hrs there and 2 1/2 hrs back. Ugh! I complain, but I gotta do what I gotta do, so, I got in the car the following day (this was yesterday). I was on my way up when all of a sudden the traffic came to a grinding halt. I was sitting there in front of the Dolly Parton Monument going zero miles an hour for about 30mins! WTF! I knew it was Friday, but this was ridiculous! Turns out, there was a freakin grenade on the south bound 5!!!!! Traffic in both directions was being diverted. I called my agent to let her know that there was no way I was going to make it in time, hoping she would tell me not to worry about it and go on home. She did not tell me what I wanted to hear. Instead, she told me to call her in an hour and let her know where I was. Um no. The rate I was going, I would end up arriving in LA just in time for rush hour. This means I would have been stuck in traffic coming home. Let me put this simply, I left SD at about 12pm, by 2:30pm I hadn't even reached San Clemente at that speed I would probably reach LA at about 5pm. I would be back on the road again by about 5:30 which means I would be lucky to get home by 8pm. This is at least 8hrs of driving for one 5min audition that may or may not make me $1000 before agent fee and taxes. SO NOT WORTH IT. I turned around and went home. What a wasted day. Although, as always, it made for a good story... Oh and on a good note, that agent did call me the next day! Yay! Have to call her back on Monday. I'll keep you posted!
Things had dried up a little in the commercial world lately so I decided to restart my crusade for a theatrical agent. I've been sending out headshots and resumes to absolutely every agent with an address, possibly even a few real estate agents... I finally got a response the other day and scheduled an appointment for Thursday to meet with one of these much revered agent-type beings. I showed up armed with headshot, resume, reel, and monologue. Yes that's right, I said monologue. The monologue is something every actor dreads. The concept of a person speaking for such an extended period of time with absolutely no interruptions is a little far fetched as it is, not to mention the difficulty one has finding well written material that isn't overused or overly emotional. There are tons of monologues that require the detailed retelling of a molestation, contraction of an STD, a beating by a boyfriend, or the likes. Not such a good idea to get too issuey, you never know what repressed memories you could be dragging up for your audience... Anyway, I actually struck gold with a good one a little while back, and felt confident that it was appropriate without being dull. A good fit for me, ya know. I went in, performed my monologue and actually nailed it. I couldn't believe it!! The agent loved me and basically told me right there and then that she wanted to sign me and told me to expect a call the following day. I left on cloud nine!
On my way back to SD, a couple of hours later, I received an audition notice via the usual text and email. I have to say, I'm happy to get the opportunities but these ones are always hard to take. It was an audition for an amusement park that, if I booked it, would only make me around $1000. I know that sounds nice, but if I don't book it, I've lost $40 in gas and an entire days work. This particular audition was for the following day. I would have to get back in my car and drive another 2 1/2 hrs there and 2 1/2 hrs back. Ugh! I complain, but I gotta do what I gotta do, so, I got in the car the following day (this was yesterday). I was on my way up when all of a sudden the traffic came to a grinding halt. I was sitting there in front of the Dolly Parton Monument going zero miles an hour for about 30mins! WTF! I knew it was Friday, but this was ridiculous! Turns out, there was a freakin grenade on the south bound 5!!!!! Traffic in both directions was being diverted. I called my agent to let her know that there was no way I was going to make it in time, hoping she would tell me not to worry about it and go on home. She did not tell me what I wanted to hear. Instead, she told me to call her in an hour and let her know where I was. Um no. The rate I was going, I would end up arriving in LA just in time for rush hour. This means I would have been stuck in traffic coming home. Let me put this simply, I left SD at about 12pm, by 2:30pm I hadn't even reached San Clemente at that speed I would probably reach LA at about 5pm. I would be back on the road again by about 5:30 which means I would be lucky to get home by 8pm. This is at least 8hrs of driving for one 5min audition that may or may not make me $1000 before agent fee and taxes. SO NOT WORTH IT. I turned around and went home. What a wasted day. Although, as always, it made for a good story... Oh and on a good note, that agent did call me the next day! Yay! Have to call her back on Monday. I'll keep you posted!
Monday, November 23, 2009
This Past Week
Okay, lets get down to the nitty-gritty! This last week was one of the worst audition weeks I've had in a really long time. On a positive note, I actually had auditions...
The first two auditions were on Wednesday. I left work early to head to an audition for a print ad. The company shall remain nameless (as will all companies a speak of in these here blogs). I'll just say that it was for a large company that provides products for animals. We had to pose for pics with an actual, live, non-model dog. I have to say, that dog was totally unprofessional. I guess no one told him that its considered rude to ignore your fellow actor and then hit them in the face with your nose... Needless to say, it didn't go well.
Next up, later that night, I had an audition here in San Diego for a short film. I showed up to the freezing casting studio where they promptly ushered us to another "area" where we could "relax" and run our lines. Turns out the "area" was actually outside... Yes I live in San Diego, but at night, its friggin cold!!!! What the shell? Fortunately, I got to read first. It seems that the crappier the production, the crappier people treat you. I walked into the room and was introduced to the team by the monitor... the team continued to talk amongst themselves without so much as looking up... nice. At this point, I completely stopped caring about doing well, and began concentrating on getting it over with.
The next day I had a super exciting prospect. Long long story short, I'd turned down a callback for beer campaign because I thought it was trashy (girl on girl spin the bottle, and lap-dancing). I get a call from my agent telling me that they really really want to see me. Apparently, it had gone to the director and they had changed the script. Wow, I thought! $30,000 and a trip to Chile? I'm in! So I agreed to go to the callback...
I drive all the way to LA in my shaky-mobile, arrive at the audition to learn that the script is exactly the same as before. I'm proud to say, I was professional and courteous, but stood up for myself and left... then cried the whole way home.
Had another one yesterday, a short film, it sucked too... I won't bore you with details, just run-of-the-mill bad. Hopefully, I'll have better news soon. At least the week was eventful!
The first two auditions were on Wednesday. I left work early to head to an audition for a print ad. The company shall remain nameless (as will all companies a speak of in these here blogs). I'll just say that it was for a large company that provides products for animals. We had to pose for pics with an actual, live, non-model dog. I have to say, that dog was totally unprofessional. I guess no one told him that its considered rude to ignore your fellow actor and then hit them in the face with your nose... Needless to say, it didn't go well.
Next up, later that night, I had an audition here in San Diego for a short film. I showed up to the freezing casting studio where they promptly ushered us to another "area" where we could "relax" and run our lines. Turns out the "area" was actually outside... Yes I live in San Diego, but at night, its friggin cold!!!! What the shell? Fortunately, I got to read first. It seems that the crappier the production, the crappier people treat you. I walked into the room and was introduced to the team by the monitor... the team continued to talk amongst themselves without so much as looking up... nice. At this point, I completely stopped caring about doing well, and began concentrating on getting it over with.
The next day I had a super exciting prospect. Long long story short, I'd turned down a callback for beer campaign because I thought it was trashy (girl on girl spin the bottle, and lap-dancing). I get a call from my agent telling me that they really really want to see me. Apparently, it had gone to the director and they had changed the script. Wow, I thought! $30,000 and a trip to Chile? I'm in! So I agreed to go to the callback...
I drive all the way to LA in my shaky-mobile, arrive at the audition to learn that the script is exactly the same as before. I'm proud to say, I was professional and courteous, but stood up for myself and left... then cried the whole way home.
Had another one yesterday, a short film, it sucked too... I won't bore you with details, just run-of-the-mill bad. Hopefully, I'll have better news soon. At least the week was eventful!
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