Audition: Wendy's @ Renita Whited

Another audition today for a young husband, sports fan type role. The new headshots are doing the trick I think. The audition went well. My partner was a performer from Hothouse, so we sorta knew each other in a roundabout kinda way. It was my first meeting with Renita Whited. She's extremely nice and thorough, seems like a great person. I guess I meet 2 or 3 great people for every bad apple.

The audition was in one of the local casting studios (the ones with various projects casting at the same time). While waiting my turn, I heard the following exchange between a CD and an auditioner regarding a different project.

CD
You're here for the swimsuit audition?

Actress
Yes.

CD
Where's your swimsuit?

Actress
I don't have it with me. I came straight from school.

CD
Oh, well I don't have one you can wear. We'll be here til 6.
Do you live close enough to go get one?

Actress
(stares blankly)

CD
Do you have a bra or something you can wear?

Actress
I don't wear bras.

CD
Guess you're SOL then.

Actress
(stares blankly)

CD is clearly frustrated and goes back into the office to "talk to someone about it". Meanwhile, the actress stands there for a few minutes and then starts mumbling to herself that she can go home and get a swimsuit. Finally, the CD returns and the actress shares her pearl of wisdom.

Actress
I'll go home and get one.

CD
Great.

I thought it was priceless the way this girl stood there looking at the CD like he was supposed to solve her problem for her. On top of that, he did offer the option of her going home near the beginning of this whole thing. Instead of just doing that, she tried to whine and wheedle into avoiding it, prolonging the awkward situation for both parties. Very funny scene, and yet another reason some people treat actors according to the Least Common Denominator.

Callback: Castrol @ Kari Peyton

This one was sorta funny. I got the call Friday about this callback for today. I arrived about 15 minutes early for the appointment as is my custom, and they were still finishing up work on a different spot in this campaign. The CD's assistant was calling the agents of 3 or 4 people who hadn't shown up for their appointments. One part of me was thinking, "What kind of professional doesn't show up for their callback?". However, another part of me was thinking that I'd hope my agents would go to bat for me if I had a legitimate problem. Sometimes, though, there's nothing anyone can do. The "powers that be" made their decisions within minutes of the end of that category and called the agents to check availability of their choices.

The session was running late. I was the second person called about 40min. after my appointment time. No biggie. Happens all the time. I basically just did the same thing I did in the original audition, having a little fun with it, and then the director redirected me several times. I did what I went in to do, and I think I responded to his direction. I'm a little out of practice in "letting it go" after an audition, but since it's about 6pm, I'm pretty sure I didn't get it. The next one is coming though.

Event: "We've Been Here a Year" party

My wife and I decided to have a little open house/bbq to celebrate with some people who helped make our first year here so great. We started yesterday around 6pm or so, and everyone that came basically showed up by 6:30 or 7pm. Our place is small, so we have to use the outdoor patio. At 5pm, it was still really hot with no breeze. Luckily, by the time people were arriving, the temperature dropped significantly and the wind kicked in. I grilled hotdogs for about 45 minutes straight. There were two really good potato salads that others brought, chips and salsa, veggies, cheese trays, beer, margaritas and good times. It was really cool to see all those people here together. Sometimes you don't realize how big your personal community is until you see a number of them all in one place. We'll be having another one of these, and maybe we won't wait until next year.

Meeting: Agency that starts with a "Z" - Theatrical Div.

Today, I had a meeting for potential theatrical representation at an agency that starts with a "Z". That should be enough to clue you in on who it is if you're that curious. This isn't a glowing review, so I'm not putting it right out there.

On Tuesday, I received a call from someone there who asked if I was interested in coming in for a meeting about commercial representation. I informed the person that I already have commercial reps, and she asked what I was seeking. When I said, "Theatrical," she asked if I wanted to come in and meet for that. Now, I thought it was a little odd for a number of reasons. First, the picture I sent out to theatrical reps was definitely not a commercial shot. Second, she mentioned they were "having people come in between 10:30am and 1:30pm". Third, if they were bringing people in for commercial representation as she first indicated, why was she so quick to switch gears? My internet research on this particular agency turned up a number of bulletin boards where opinions seemed to skew to the negative. Despite all this, I put aside my misgivings and kept the appointment for the sake of the experience.

I arrived this morning about 10 minutes before my appointment. No one else was in the lobby, but there was a big pile of clipboards and info sheets on the table. Uh-oh. Still, press on. I filled out a sheet with info that mattered (no SS#, etc), and waited a few minutes. Then, a lady stepped out of an office and our interaction went something like this (format stolen from Stephon Fuller's Long Ass Blog):

Agent Lady
Hi, are you here for a commercial meeting?

Chris
No, I'm here for a theatrical meeting with Mr. X.

Agent Lady
Is he expecting you?

Chris
I hope so since I was called in for a theatrical meeting by someone on Tuesday, and I have this appointment for 10:30.

Agent Lady steps into her office to look at a list and returns.

Agent Lady
No, you're here to see me.

Chris
Are you the commercial rep?

Agent Lady
Yes.

Chris
(thinking "didn't I just say I'm here for theatrical rep?")
Ok, then we can cut this short because that's not what I need.

Agent Lady
Sorry for the confusion.

Chris
(exiting)
Yes.

This place...not good. Disorganized and unbusiness-like to say the least. Well, it wasn't a total loss because I did brush up on my monologues this week.

Audition: State Farm @ PopCasting

Another audition today. I'm on a little roll of getting in at least. Callbacks and bookings are what we're looking for now. This one was a quick-hitter, two scenarios involving buddies at a baseball game. I think it went well. I frequently get good feedback from these auditions that rely on facial expressions and general improvisation.

Event: Friends of El Faro Charity

Last night we went to a charity event at The Music Box at The Fonda in Hollywood. It was the first such shin-dig we've attended since we've been here. They had a red carpet area for the celebrities. No, you won't be seeing us in People magazine next week. We actually had to tell the people at the box office who we were. The first people we met inside were Alicia, Brooke and Don, my commercial agents from KSA. Small world. The venue was cool. It was an old style theater/music venue. There was an outdoor patio on the lower level and on the roof. Quite a few restaurants were represented, having donated food and booze for the event. The live music was entertaining. We particularly enjoyed Sara Bareilles.

The Friends of El Faro charity assists a small orphanage in Tijuana. This single event raises enough money to basically run the orphanage for nearly a year. It was a good time for a good cause.

Auditions: Nike @ Ross Lacy; Sprint @ SpotCasting

Two auditions today, both at the same place, but very different times. At least one of them was on my postcard mailing that went out last Friday. The first audition was for Nike with Ross Lacy casting, basketball attire. I arrived at about 9:30am for a 10am call time, hoping to get a look at the copy before going in. The session didn't actually start until 10am, making me first up right after the session runner put out the size sheets and the sides. It was a paired scene with a young lady. On the slate, they asked how often I play basketball and how often she runs. The spot required a specific feel and interaction that was more episodic than commercial. We did 3 takes. I felt great about this one, but we'll see if I'm the look/type they're going for. On the way out, I grabbed the sides for my afternoon audition from the other side of the room.

The second audition was back in the same casting studios but with a different company. The wardrobe for this one was more office-y in the current Sprint style. I think this one was more appropriate for me. I saw that the auditions were still rolling on the Nike spot, and there were a bunch of modelly looking people. But you never know.

Audition: Castrol @ Kari Peyton Casting

My cellphone is on the fritz. Sometimes it rings, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it notifies me of a voicemail right away, sometimes it doesn't. At some point during a lesson yesterday afternoon, I received a voicemail even though the phone never rang. Don, from KSA, called about an audition for today. One of the CDs I dropped off a headshot to last week brought me in to audition for a Castrol national spot. I gotta keep up with those drop-offs.

The audition was fast. I showed up early to look over the sides. It was a one-liner...another one of those commercials relying largely on a "look". I looked different than the other guys who were there at the same time I was for whatever that's worth...nothing. Wait time was probably 15 minutes. Actual time in the room was more like 1 minute.

Audition: The Beginning of December; Michelle Metzner

I had an audition in Sherman Oaks for a short film. It's an engaging script with a lot of visuals.
The breakdown consists of a specific physical description for the character. However, the role appears in the script only in voice over (off-screen). Weird. Before the audition, I dropped off a headshot at another casting office, and managed to make it back up the 405 with a few minutes to spare before my appointment.

As I sat in my car reviewing my notes and the sides, a lady pulled up beside me in another car frantically waving her arms around. Finally, I looked over and she asked if I'm leaving the curb. I shook my head "No." I'm pretty sure this person saw me park in the first place. Besides, there was room to park a 1985 Caprice Classic behind me, and she was just in a Corolla. There was also space at a meter in front of me. Add to that the fact that I was clearly engaged in some sort of paperwork. What was she going to do...sit there for 5 minutes while I did that? She pulled up and parked at the meter. Maybe she just couldn't parallel park.

About that time, I got a call from my wife. Now that I was clearly involved in a phone conversation, what happens? Tap, tap, tap on the window. This freakin' lady again. How rude can one person be? I rolled down the window a little, and she asked if I had a quarter for the two handfuls of pennies she was holding. She couldn't feed the meter where she chose to park! I shook my head, gave her a quarter and said I didn't want the pennies.

The audition itself went well I think. Michelle was very nice, and the director and camera operator were both pleasant as well. They tried to wait a few minutes for a female to show up reading for the other role in the scene, but when that didn't happen, they brought me in. They asked if I had any questions, and I said I thought the script was pretty clear on the setup (apart from the off-screen situation that I didn't bring up). I said, "I'll just do what I have and if you have any adjustments, we can do that too." We went right into it with Michelle as the reader. It was a short scene, about 4 short lines, and it was emotionally charged.

Shoot: The Car Lot

After an early morning lesson, I headed to the location for this shoot, a car lot on Vermont. I had directions from Yahoo! maps which said to take 101S to the New Hampshire exit. There is no freakin' New Hampshire exit. As I found myself looking for a place downtown to turn around, I got the call that the honchos at the location had turned away the shoot, backing out on their agreement. Nice. The location was moved to an empty parking lot in town, and the small production staff quickly rigged our cars up to look like they were for sale. It was a patch job, but a decent one. One of the other lead actors had to leave by 2pm, but with all the moving around we weren't able to start shooting until almost 1pm. We knocked it out though and had a good time. The little girl playing my daughter was a character. Within the scene, she kept forgetting one of her lines which was simply "Right". Finally, we had to shoot a series of just her cue line and her line.

I've had several questions about what I meant by "pilot teaser" in my previous post. If you have an idea for a show, you have to pitch it to the tv execs of whatever network or cable channel you target. The writer of this one is going to use this brief video as part of his pitch. It's sort of like having a PowerPoint presentation in a regular business meeting. "Here's an example of my idea." I did it to get a copy of the work that I can use in my reel. Even if his idea results in an actual pilot, there's no guarantee that he can/will use the same actors. Anyway, in keeping with the speedy nature of this one, the guy has already put it together and loaded it onto the web. You can see the short HERE.

Print Go-See: NASCAR; Audition: The Lot

A sports fan - seems to be right on for me. Had to drive to Culver City for this one. There's just no easy way to get down there from where we live. Ahh...the sacrifice. It's better than driving from Atlanta to Charlotte for a one line audition though. Believe me. For the test shots we had to wear a t-shirt they provided. There were two total t-shirts in rotation for everyone. The guy before me had taken his own shirt off and put the t on. When he handed it to me, I could smell a mixture of about 10 different colognes. I decided to leave my own shirt on. Again, I was in and out in about 5 minutes.

On the way back home, I got a call from someone about a pilot teaser they wanted to read me for this afternoon. I called my supe and let him know that this was out there in the ether for my schedule. A little before 3pm, I headed downtown for the meeting. We got the pages there and read for about an hour. I got the role of a dad who is with his family shopping for a car. We shoot Sunday afternoon, so you can see this one is coming together fast. We'll see how it turns out.

Maintenance: Postcards

Yesterday and today, I sent out quite a few postcards to some of the commercial CDs I didn't meet or drop-off to last week. The intent is still the same. The postcard has my new primary commercial headshot on it with my agency info. I included a short note about the new headshots, and asked that they look for them amongst future submissions from my agents. My goal is to continue to be more proactive in approaching casting directors and marketing myself. It takes time to penetrate the market here, so I want to keep doing what I can to make it happen.

Print Go-See: UPS

A friend of mine from our Atlanta days asked me to come in and meet with Bebe Flynn who is casting a print job for UPS Stores. It's not a direct result of my drop-offs from Friday, but there's that cosmic momentum thing. Anyway, she and her husband moved out here a little while before we did. I really look forward to a time when I'm able to help some friends out in the same way my friends have been looking out for me.

Maintenance

I spent a couple hours today dropping off new headshots at various casting offices. Most of the time, you just walk in and find the "Drop Box", a mail bin of some kind, and drop the shot in there. In one office, I actually met the CD herself and had a nice introduction chat. She was great. I love meeting people who treat this as a business community of peers rather than somehow giving off airs that actors are so much cattle.

I also stopped in for a visit with a friend who now works at CBS. I hadn't really been to this particular lot before, and it ended up being a little production getting in to see her. On the way in, I passed the holding area for the Price is Right audience where they were all standing with their crazy t-shirts and those big name tags. My friend's got a big area to herself in a nice office suite. She used to be a casting assistant for an independent CD, but now that she's at CBS, she's got a job all the time. The independent CD's go from job to job like actors. No work=no pay. It seems like a step up, and she's happy. Congrats to her!