Audition/Callback/Booked! - Regions Bank @ POPCasting
Things started with a bang on June 1 with this Regions audition. The rest of the month slowed a bit, but that audition turned into a booking with another funny story. I had to confirm that I could definitely ride a bike, a requirement that would be tested at a potential callback. Though I hadn't actually ridden a bike in I don't know how long, the cliche is that you can't possibly forget it right? So, of course I can! And at the callback, they wheeled up this monstrous tandem bike, which I have never in my life attempted to ride. My scene partner and I helmeted up and I won't lie...I was nervous about it. We got a practice run in while waiting for the CD to get the camera ready. It was shaky. Tough to coordinate and take off with one of those. Our first "take" was a little touch and go on the take off, and we were rudely interrupted by a car trying to use the alley we were in. When we got back, the CD realized the camera wasn't taping that round. So, lucky for all of us, I got a second chance and nailed it. The key, we discovered, is the force of that first push and the second person matching the pedal rhythm. When my "wife", me and our "child" walked into the room for the director, we got the kind of feedback you want to hear. The avail we got was short-lived and we were booked together.
The shoot went great. Very smooth. It took two days, and we did the day with the actual bike riding first, which I was happy to get out of the way. The second day was easy interior stuff. All around - casting, production, agency, client, everyone was great and I had a good time on this one.
At the end of the second day, as I was waiting to be released, my dad called with the news about Granny. Having visited her again so recently and sifted through photos and movies, I'm sure that some of the facial expressions that get me work and laughs derive from her. I made it through my improv show that night and was quite drained by the time I got home around midnight.
A week later, I took a red-eye flight to the memorial service, was on the ground there for about 10 hours and flew back to LA. Got to see some relatives from a side of the family that I don't know as much about, and was entertained by some very funny folks.
There were other auditions and such, but that's the meat of June.
View my REEL and RESUME
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
More auditions, MORE Murphy's Actor's Law, and a Booking
A few quick May highlights...
Audition/Callback/AVAIL - Arby's @ ASG
Audition/Callback - Fed Ex @ Ross Lacy
Audition - Jury Duty @ Burbank Courthouse (you paying attention?)
Audition - Regions Bank @ POP
We got all the Atlanta stuff squared away in the end, and I got to do an extra JaCKPie show. I had plans to do a workshop too, but that didn't pan out, which ended up working just fine for me with all the other stuff going on.
Ultimately, the news on my Granny was not good. She was given just "weeks", in medical expiration parlance. So, as soon as we returned to LA, we began planning a trip to visit her. We made it a fairly short trip, just two week days and one weekend day (Thursday-Saturday). Naturally, guess what happened. Out of the blue, I got a call the week before our flight from Bob Lambert at All My Children. He liked my reel and wanted me to come in for a role that would be shooting...wait for it...the Friday we would be visiting Granny in Texas. Of course! I was happy to get the call, but bummed to inform him that there would be no way I could change these plans given the circumstances. He was very understanding and asked me to come in and audition anyway. So, Audition: All My Children. I got the sides the night before and enjoyed preparing them. It was a good scene, and I felt like I had a good instinctual reaction to the material and a clear choice for my character.
The audition went well, I think. The beats that I had felt seemed to match up with what he was looking for, and I felt comfortable with the character choices. He was gracious in spite of my unavailability and I hope to get back in there when their needs match up with my product.
The visit in Texas was good. I'm so thankful we got to do that, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My family got to visit with Granny one last time, which was a real gift. It's difficult in many ways to know in advance that death is coming and to await it. However, it's good that everyone got plenty of notice to visit with her and say their "goodbyes" in their own way. Granny was in great spirits, and my daughter showed her plenty of love too. Granny passed away a few weeks later on June 14, 2010.
View my REEL and RESUME
Audition/Callback/AVAIL - Arby's @ ASG
Audition/Callback - Fed Ex @ Ross Lacy
Audition - Jury Duty @ Burbank Courthouse (you paying attention?)
Audition - Regions Bank @ POP
We got all the Atlanta stuff squared away in the end, and I got to do an extra JaCKPie show. I had plans to do a workshop too, but that didn't pan out, which ended up working just fine for me with all the other stuff going on.
Ultimately, the news on my Granny was not good. She was given just "weeks", in medical expiration parlance. So, as soon as we returned to LA, we began planning a trip to visit her. We made it a fairly short trip, just two week days and one weekend day (Thursday-Saturday). Naturally, guess what happened. Out of the blue, I got a call the week before our flight from Bob Lambert at All My Children. He liked my reel and wanted me to come in for a role that would be shooting...wait for it...the Friday we would be visiting Granny in Texas. Of course! I was happy to get the call, but bummed to inform him that there would be no way I could change these plans given the circumstances. He was very understanding and asked me to come in and audition anyway. So, Audition: All My Children. I got the sides the night before and enjoyed preparing them. It was a good scene, and I felt like I had a good instinctual reaction to the material and a clear choice for my character.
The audition went well, I think. The beats that I had felt seemed to match up with what he was looking for, and I felt comfortable with the character choices. He was gracious in spite of my unavailability and I hope to get back in there when their needs match up with my product.
The visit in Texas was good. I'm so thankful we got to do that, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My family got to visit with Granny one last time, which was a real gift. It's difficult in many ways to know in advance that death is coming and to await it. However, it's good that everyone got plenty of notice to visit with her and say their "goodbyes" in their own way. Granny was in great spirits, and my daughter showed her plenty of love too. Granny passed away a few weeks later on June 14, 2010.
View my REEL and RESUME
A TUESDAY
In many acting-related areas, the last couple of months has been a little slower. In other life areas, I've been extremely busy.
We planned a trip to Atlanta from April 19-27. The previous several weeks had been devoid of much commercial activity. However, as you should know by now, if I buy a plane ticket...
Thursday, before we were to depart on Monday, I got a last minute audition for Arby's @ ASG Casting. The callback came the very next day, and that night I was on avail. I had booked out well in advance for our travels, but I always stress that I will make adjustments for a job. This, however, was still just an avail. When the assistant asked what I was going to do, I just told her I wasn't going to change anything, but would be prepared to fly back as soon as I was booked. Wardrobe was scheduled for Wednesday. So, we flew out at 7am Monday morning not knowing if I'd have to board a plane and come right back Monday night. I spent the first two days there riding around with a "go-pack" in the car in case I had to go to the airport. Late Tuesday evening, I was released.
Tuesday
The purpose of the trip was to attack my parents' storage rooms and get them sorted, thinned out, and moved to a cheaper place. On the first day of this odyssey, Tuesday, the world went berserk. First, it rained even though it wasn't in the forecast. My mom's car wouldn't start and neither would that of a guy I hired to help me out. Fortunately, he got his going in time to help a lot with the moving along with another kind fellow. I got them both by putting the word out through JaCKPie. I'd rather pay someone in the JaCKPie family than pick people off the corner. What actor/production-type couldn't use a little extra cash? Anyway, we got it going.
Then, my wife calls. Her grandmother was put in the hospital. Then, she calls back. Her parents' neighborhood is on lock-down because some crackpot shot his family up and may be loose in the woods. So, they can't get to the hospital to visit...and they've been terrified by the police warnings.
THEN, I get a text that MY granny is in the hospital. Meanwhile, I'm also waiting to find out if I'm going to fly back to LA. We finally got all the moving done and took the truck back to the rental place. I hop out, borrow a broom from inside. The guy comes out and reads the mileage. Me and one of my friends are sweeping out the truck when something doesn't seem right. "Is the truck moving," I ask. Then, I jump out the back, run around to jump in the cab and stop the truck before it rolls into a busy highway.
Oh, and it was my brother's birthday dinner that night. Yeah, I had a beer or two.
By the time I headed back to the house, the lockdown was lifted. Turns out the guy had shot himself in the bathroom of his house and had been inside the whole time the cops were running around in the woods. There's some crack police work huh? Might want to search the house before you turn your back on the place.
And that, my friends, was a Tuesday.
View my REEL and RESUME
We planned a trip to Atlanta from April 19-27. The previous several weeks had been devoid of much commercial activity. However, as you should know by now, if I buy a plane ticket...
Thursday, before we were to depart on Monday, I got a last minute audition for Arby's @ ASG Casting. The callback came the very next day, and that night I was on avail. I had booked out well in advance for our travels, but I always stress that I will make adjustments for a job. This, however, was still just an avail. When the assistant asked what I was going to do, I just told her I wasn't going to change anything, but would be prepared to fly back as soon as I was booked. Wardrobe was scheduled for Wednesday. So, we flew out at 7am Monday morning not knowing if I'd have to board a plane and come right back Monday night. I spent the first two days there riding around with a "go-pack" in the car in case I had to go to the airport. Late Tuesday evening, I was released.
Tuesday
The purpose of the trip was to attack my parents' storage rooms and get them sorted, thinned out, and moved to a cheaper place. On the first day of this odyssey, Tuesday, the world went berserk. First, it rained even though it wasn't in the forecast. My mom's car wouldn't start and neither would that of a guy I hired to help me out. Fortunately, he got his going in time to help a lot with the moving along with another kind fellow. I got them both by putting the word out through JaCKPie. I'd rather pay someone in the JaCKPie family than pick people off the corner. What actor/production-type couldn't use a little extra cash? Anyway, we got it going.
Then, my wife calls. Her grandmother was put in the hospital. Then, she calls back. Her parents' neighborhood is on lock-down because some crackpot shot his family up and may be loose in the woods. So, they can't get to the hospital to visit...and they've been terrified by the police warnings.
THEN, I get a text that MY granny is in the hospital. Meanwhile, I'm also waiting to find out if I'm going to fly back to LA. We finally got all the moving done and took the truck back to the rental place. I hop out, borrow a broom from inside. The guy comes out and reads the mileage. Me and one of my friends are sweeping out the truck when something doesn't seem right. "Is the truck moving," I ask. Then, I jump out the back, run around to jump in the cab and stop the truck before it rolls into a busy highway.
Oh, and it was my brother's birthday dinner that night. Yeah, I had a beer or two.
By the time I headed back to the house, the lockdown was lifted. Turns out the guy had shot himself in the bathroom of his house and had been inside the whole time the cops were running around in the woods. There's some crack police work huh? Might want to search the house before you turn your back on the place.
And that, my friends, was a Tuesday.
View my REEL and RESUME
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Renting in Los Angeles (and probably elsewhere too)
So, again with a bunch of auditions in the last weeks (well, not the last two weeks). No bookings in the last bit, but still getting the callbacks on a regular basis and getting closer again. I'm due for a hit before Spring leaves us with Summer.
We did have some drama with our ex-landlord, and since I had to do a bunch of research on the topic of security deposits and landlord/tenant law in California, I'll share a couple of links. The short of it is that he didn't mail us our refund within the required 21 days. Then he claimed he did and resent it. We finally received a refund from which he withheld a ludicrous amount for various nonsense. Paint-$425, Cleaning-$100, Carpet Cleaning-$100, Cleaning Fan-$25. Seriously, cleaning the fan? What was more offensive was that we left that place better than we found it. They can't charge you to paint the place if you've lived there for a couple of years as that's considered normal wear and tear, and we were given a clean exit inspection by the manager - verbally. However, sensing the owner might be the type to pull shenanigans, we did a detailed video of the place before we left.
Anyway, this nonsense had gone on since we moved on January 31. I figured we were heading to court, and I haven't had to sue anyone before. I am the type of person who researches a LOT and makes sure I'm prepared. I sent him a final demand letter outlining how he had violated California Civil Code 1950.5. He mailed us the balance of the deposit a few days later.
So, Los Angeles renters, beware! When you move in, fill out an inspection form and have the manager sign it. List all the defects and damage present. When you move out, insist on the process outlined by the law, and get your move out inspections in writing. In fact, every communication you have with your apartment management should be in writing. Also, LA people, you are most likely entitled to interest on your security deposit (Los Angeles Municipal Code is 151.06.02)!
Here are a couple of links that I found very helpful.
California Law and Security Deposits
CalTenantLaw.com
Los Angeles Rent Adjustment Commission scroll down to Payment of Interest on Security Deposits. This will point you to a pdf of the interest rates for each year. Their web addresses seem to change too often. So, you can also Google "rent adjustment commission payment of interest on security deposits".
View my REEL and RESUME
We did have some drama with our ex-landlord, and since I had to do a bunch of research on the topic of security deposits and landlord/tenant law in California, I'll share a couple of links. The short of it is that he didn't mail us our refund within the required 21 days. Then he claimed he did and resent it. We finally received a refund from which he withheld a ludicrous amount for various nonsense. Paint-$425, Cleaning-$100, Carpet Cleaning-$100, Cleaning Fan-$25. Seriously, cleaning the fan? What was more offensive was that we left that place better than we found it. They can't charge you to paint the place if you've lived there for a couple of years as that's considered normal wear and tear, and we were given a clean exit inspection by the manager - verbally. However, sensing the owner might be the type to pull shenanigans, we did a detailed video of the place before we left.
Anyway, this nonsense had gone on since we moved on January 31. I figured we were heading to court, and I haven't had to sue anyone before. I am the type of person who researches a LOT and makes sure I'm prepared. I sent him a final demand letter outlining how he had violated California Civil Code 1950.5. He mailed us the balance of the deposit a few days later.
So, Los Angeles renters, beware! When you move in, fill out an inspection form and have the manager sign it. List all the defects and damage present. When you move out, insist on the process outlined by the law, and get your move out inspections in writing. In fact, every communication you have with your apartment management should be in writing. Also, LA people, you are most likely entitled to interest on your security deposit (Los Angeles Municipal Code is 151.06.02)!
Here are a couple of links that I found very helpful.
California Law and Security Deposits
CalTenantLaw.com
Los Angeles Rent Adjustment Commission scroll down to Payment of Interest on Security Deposits. This will point you to a pdf of the interest rates for each year. Their web addresses seem to change too often. So, you can also Google "rent adjustment commission payment of interest on security deposits".
View my REEL and RESUME
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
This blog has moved
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
The breaks
Well, some good news and some below average news. January was a mad blitz of activity. We returned from holiday travels to find a notice of rental increase on our door. While rent control limits the damage, I still felt it was ridiculous and started shopping around. I found that rents in our area were BELOW what they were when we first moved into our place in 2008. The first place I looked at, purely out of curiosity, was a nice place, similar in size but in a better school district. With that info in hand, I wrote a counter-offer to our landlord offering to return to the amount of our original lease - a rollback/restart. Otherwise, we already had another option and were prepared to use it.
The landlord delayed getting back to us and then wanted to "work something out". What they didn't understand is that I was not negotiating. I made my position clear from the beginning. I also pointed out that a one month vacancy would cost him more than an entire year of what I proposed. They didn't respond, so we immediately submitted a vacate notice and signed a lease at the other place. Three weeks later, our old apartment is still for rent, and they're offering it at LESS than what I offered to pay with a free month's rent thrown in. That's business acumen I suppose.
In short (too late), part of the good news is we like our new place better and it's cheaper.
Good news part 2 is that my cars.com spot aired as expected in the first half of the Super Bowl. It was great to be able to tell people exactly when they could catch one of my commercials.
Now, the below average news. As far as I know, it only aired once. I've seen a 30-second version running since then, but my scene has been cut out. That hurts the bottom line significantly. So, "Hooray!" for major commercial and "Boo!" for lack of running. But "Come on!" for another 30-second version with my scene included.
View my REEL and RESUME
The landlord delayed getting back to us and then wanted to "work something out". What they didn't understand is that I was not negotiating. I made my position clear from the beginning. I also pointed out that a one month vacancy would cost him more than an entire year of what I proposed. They didn't respond, so we immediately submitted a vacate notice and signed a lease at the other place. Three weeks later, our old apartment is still for rent, and they're offering it at LESS than what I offered to pay with a free month's rent thrown in. That's business acumen I suppose.
In short (too late), part of the good news is we like our new place better and it's cheaper.
Good news part 2 is that my cars.com spot aired as expected in the first half of the Super Bowl. It was great to be able to tell people exactly when they could catch one of my commercials.
Now, the below average news. As far as I know, it only aired once. I've seen a 30-second version running since then, but my scene has been cut out. That hurts the bottom line significantly. So, "Hooray!" for major commercial and "Boo!" for lack of running. But "Come on!" for another 30-second version with my scene included.
View my REEL and RESUME
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