Wow, it looks like I am conducting my first consultation this week. I got a call the other day from an actress who has inquired about it in the past and I was flattered, but now she wants to officially sit down and see what I can offer in the way of strategies. Oh well, I guess it’s time to get my act together and start "really" doing it.
Ah man, my commercial agency just won't quit, bless those wonderful, hard working women. I'm kinda in slow-down mode, trying to make a clean get-away, meaning getting out of town for my vacation without anything immediately pending. Especially since I've committed to being a reader for Dori Zuckerman Casting all day, for the rest of the week. Trust me, I never hope to not have auditions, but I really want to get out of Los Angeles for a while.

Luckily, my agents at KSA are very aware that I need to make some money and keep calling with appointments so that I don't have to go back to waiting tables....at least not anytime soon...I hope, LOL!

I’ve already turned down 3 or 4 appointments because I didn’t think I would be here, but that’s changing because I keep getting rescheduled for “I’mPerfect”. So, I guess I’ll start auditioning again, especially for this one. It’s for "IBM" @ TLC/Loree Booth Casting and the director is the legendary Joe Pytka. He directs some of the highest profile commercials anywhere. He has a reputation for using actors over and over and I'm trying hard to get on that list. I worked for him about 3 years ago on an "IBM" spot and I would love to do it again. I've gotten close to booking again, but haven't sealed the deal yet.

Okay, I am finally scheduled to shoot my scene for “I’mPerfect”. My call time is 1:15am. Yes, in the morning. So I show up @ LA Center Studios downtown, park and make my way to the set. I check in and am taken through a maze of buildings to the wardrobe department, then to my room. The PA, Vanessa, gives me my contract and all of the usual paper work and then gets a call on the radio. Right as I’m taking my back-pack off to fill out the forms, she says, "you're wrapped".
Stephon:
huh?

Vanessa:
Yeah, sorry, they just said you’re wrapped.

Stephon:
You’re kidding.

Vanessa:
No, they’re going to be shooting the karaoke scene for the rest of the night and won’t have time to get to your scene.

Stephon:
Okay…I’ll be rescheduled. Right?

Vanessa:
Yeah, we’ll call you.

Stephon:
Okay, cool.

Go figure. That’s cool though. I guess, I’ll get an extra day of work out of it, I can always use the dough. So I finish my paperwork and hang out on set for a couple of hours. I meet Wayne Brady, who is a really nice guy and reacquaint myself with Sydney Tamiia Poitier, who came in the first day of auditions and is just…like…5’11” and hot. I also chatted with the writer of the script, Marcus Folmar, for a while. I told him that I am working on a script myself and he shared some of his experiences with me. The director, Brandon Sonnier, assured me that the scene wasn't cut, just rescheduled. I put a big in his ear about when I am leaving for Summer vacation, so hopefully, I'll shoot before then and won't have to change my ticket. So, all in all, it was still productive night…morning.

Audition “Staples” @ Kathy Knowles Casting. This one goes well, I was paired up with an actor I did a play with last Fall. Afterwards, I attended a memorial service for Julien at the Actorsite. Quite a few member of the Actorsite and others were in attendance to pay respects. Rest in peace Julien, you will be missed.

This morning I decide to go to the doctor to get something to make me feel better. I was $60 lighter, but I felt better right away. It’s amazing what drugs can do.

On the way home Dori Zuckerman Casting calls to see if I’m available to be a reader for another project. Um yeah. Right away they give me 6 dates, but I can only do 3 because I am leaving on vacation to Virginia soon. I happily agree to do the 3 dates next week. The project is called “Easier, Softer Way” and the director is Mekhi Phifer of “ER”. I've worked with Mekhi twice in the past. The first time was in New York on a feature called "Hell's Kitchen" and here in LA on "ER".

It’s been pretty quiet lately acting wise lately, which is fine because I am preparing to leave town soon. Still feeling kinda crappy, so I go to the gym to sit in the sauna and try to sweat it out.

Afterwards, I go home and try to sleep for a while and I get a call from a friend. She informs me that a fellow actor friend of ours, Lee Julien Hamilton-Payne, has died. She and I know Julien from the Actorsite, where we do Casting Director workshops. I’m not sure all the details of what lead to his condition, but I know it had something to do with the lack of circulation in his legs. About 5 weeks ago he had one of his legs removed and seemed to be on the road to recovery, but started having complications that he couldn’t seem to get beyond. The last time I visited him in the hospital he was heavily medicated and probably wasn’t even aware that I was there.

Right after getting off the phone with her, the owner of Actorsite, JP, calls and asked me to take his brother Bill out to get a bite to eat. Bill arrived in town to take care of the estate and things like that. I know exactly what he was going through, having experienced it with the loss of my mother. So we went to Barnie’s Beanery to watch the NBA Playoff game and just take his mind off things for a moment. Hopefully, I’ll be able to spend more time with him before he leaves town.

Last night was a rough night of sleep. I didn't even get out of bed the entire day yesterday. By mid-day I felt a little better. I wanted to go out, but I just didn't have any energy. Nyquil was doing wonders with clearing my head, but it also put me to sleep. Still, no word on my status with the film.

THEN, at 12:36pm a major, major film casting director calls and asked if I could be a reader from 2-4pm. Uh yeah. I immediately felt "less sick".

This is a CD that has cast me in two films in the past. Two weeks ago I went to her office and volunteered to open submissions or whatever else I could do to help. I had been meaning to volunteer at this office for months, but I didn't want to walk in at the wrong time. Actually, it was my first stop after I saw that my car had been broken in to.

Auditioning at this office is a dream for an actor. I was there for two hours. Guess how many actors I read with in two hours..........four. Yeah, four actors scheduled with 30 minute time slots. They have studio lights, they mike you, the CD is in the scene with you the associate is running camera. They rehearse with the actor before taping, they give direction, they answer questions, they are definitely on the actors side. The actors were auditioning for a huge film with an acclaimed director.

Okay, my agent gets word from “I’m Perfect” that I have been rescheduled for Saturday. Cool.

NO! Sigh…my younger brother calls to inform me that his next-door neighbor in Virginia Beach, whom I know as well, was killed a couple of hours ago. He was struck by lightening while riding his motorcycle. He was riding his street bike to a motorcycle school out of town. I’m speechless.

Oh no, I'm sick. What happened? I'm not sure, I went to a motocross race over the weekend up in Sacramento. It was a lot of driving in a very short period of time, almost 1,000 miles. I'm probably just exhausted and caught a bug or something, I rarely get sick.

Most of the trip was cool. I had great company for the long drive and I just love being out on the open road. Seriously, most of the trip was really fantastic, BUT a couple stretches were a bit ^&& up at times. Actually, it was really, ^&& up at times, yeah straight up, it was.........ANYWAY, we made it back safe and sound, the ride back was great too. It's all good, no really it is. I wanna take more road trips!!

Back to matter at hand; I feel horrible. I hate getting sick. Meanwhile, I am scheduled to work on the independent film, ImPerfect, tomorrow, but its after 10pm and I havent received a call time yet. Oops, did I get written out and not know it?

Okay, today is the big day ABC announces their Fall schedule and the pilot I worked on, ABC comedy "Hot Properties", made it! It stars Gail O'Grady, Nicole Sullivan, Audra Blaser & Sofia Vergara. I played a doctor in the pilot episode. I don't expect to be back on the show, but I got to work with writer/creator Suzanne Martin and director Andy Ackerman. I just gotta keep chippin' away at it.

Also, my friend, Jonathan Julian, also worked on an pilot that was picked up. It's called "In Justice" an hour drama for ABC and co-stars Constance Zimmer who I worked with on "Good Morning, Miami".

Tonight I attended the wrap party for the independent film I worked on last month "Boppin' at the Glue Factory". I gotta tell you, the footage looked absolutely fantastic. It was great to see most of the cast and crew too. I really think this piece is going to go somewhere.

Audition “AOL” @ Anissa Williams Casting. This was a 2-minute spot and had wall-to-wall copy, but I think I handled it pretty well.

Another day in the field, actually a short day. I had just a handful of drops to do today. I’m in slow-down mode because I’m preparing for my Summer trip back to Virginia Beach. The last thing I want is to get calls while I am gone so I’ll stop doing drops about 10 days before I go.

So I get my act together to get out of the house and on my way. When I got to my car there was bird crap all over from the tree above. I thought to myself “I have to wash my car today”. I put some things in the trunk and walked around the passenger side to see just how much bird crap is on the car and ….UGHUGHUGH!!!!!

My passenger window was completely smashed. I immediately saw that my stereo/CD player had been ripped out. I was speechless, I just stood there shaking my head. Those mot^%&fu^&#$ finally got me! Whoever they are. Ya know, the low-lifes who go around breaking into cars and stealing things? Well, after almost 7 years in LA they finally found my name on the list. BUT I’m not mad, at least not anymore. It’s SUCH a violation to say the least.

I had alot to do today, I really didn’t factor this is in. You’re never ready for something like this. I know it could have been much worse, but it shouldn’t have happened at all. So I sat there and figured out the reality of what I was going to do. I learned long ago that “what happened?” isn’t so important; “what are you going to do about it?” THAT is what matters. It makes all of the difference in the world. So what did I do about it? I continued on with my drop-offs wearing a smile. There was glass all over the place, but I gotta keep on keepin’ on. I’m not gonna let some thief ruin my day. It takes much, much more than that to get me down.

Yes!!! I made it! Today is my 10-year anniversary of moving to New York from Virginia. Wow, I can hardly believe it. So many things have happened along the way, mostly really, really good things. I so vividly remember getting on that Greyhound bus with William Gregory Lee for the overnight trip to Manhattan. At the time, I felt like I was being released from the prison that my life could have become if I didn’t opt to follow my dream. Here I am, almost 4,000 days later, still doing what I said I would do. I have to say, it feels good. It feels great!!

I can’t promise I’ll still be doing it in 10 years. Not because I don’t like it, because there are other things I want to do as well. One day I would like to get married and have children, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine doing it in Los Angeles or New York. Maybe those feelings will change in time. Who knows what the future will bring. I can say this, I am very, very excited about tomorrow and beyond whether it’s in Hollywood or not.

YES!! What a great gift I got today for my anniversary. I worked on a show! Yeah, it’s a Showtime ½ comedy called “Weeds” starring Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Perkins. I also worked with Andy Milder and Matt Nolan. I had a bright and early call @ 5:30am. Well not bright and early, because it was still dark when I got there. It was a great day of shooting for me and I even got to do a little improv. The series premieres Wednesday August 10th @ 10:30pm.

Tonight I participated in a great staged reading at the Renberg Theatre. I called got for it through the Robey Theatre Company. The hour drama script was called “Pont’s Orleans”, by Myra Taylor. We had a nice turnout and a good time was had by all.

My theatrical agent calls to tells me that I'm booked on "Weeds" for Britt/Coloff Casting. I shoot Tuesday the 10th.

Okay, so the call comes in AGAIN!! I’ve been released from the “Pampers” national commercial. This is really getting old, but I’m going to hang in there and stay strong. I joked with my agent about it and she’s confident that I will strike again soon. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later. Commercials have been good to me and miss doing them. I’m kidding, I know it will happen again soon!! If I didn’t feel that way I would need to find another job.

Audition: “Hyundai” @ Michael Sanford Casting. Another really good audition.

Audition: “Weeds” @ Britt/Coloff Casting. This is for a dayplayer as an assistant on the show. It goes well. The creator, Jenji Kohan, is the sister of the creator of "Good Morning, Miami" David Kohan. Maybe having "GMM" on my resume will give me an edge.

Audition: “SBC” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This went great too.

This is good. Lauren from Dori Zuckerman Casting called to book me on "I'm Perfect", the film I've been working as a reader for. It's a day of work later in the month as an "AD". I asked her to call my agent for the official booking. Ya know, don't want them to think I'm sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. I work on the 24th.

Everyday someone would say that I was going to be in it, but you never really know until you know. For me, it's just the icing on the cake because I get so much out of just reading with the actors. I'll take the icing, yes I will. Thanks!

Callback: “Pampers” @ Sheila Manning Casting. AHHHHH!!!! So I go to the callback @ for the “Pampers” national spot at Sheila Manning Casting. I listened to the message a second time from my agent to make sure I was going to the right place because the initial audition wasn’t at her usual place of business. I walk in, right on time, @ Village Studios in Santa Monica and through the sea of absolutely stunning women I don’t see a sign-in for “Pampers”. I asked one of the young men running another session and he says that it’s not there. WHAT? Oh Sh*t.

So I call my voicemail to listen to the message AGAIN. Yes, I am in the right place, at least according to the message. So I call my agency and tell them what’s going on. She tells me that they just called for me to find out where I was. I tell her that I’m in Santa Monica @ Village Studios. She puts me on hold and calls the casting office. She clicks back to me and says “they gave us the wrong address”. Ahhhhhh!!! “You’re kidding” I say. She replies, “No, the callbacks are being held at Dektor Film on Highland”. I tell her that I am way in Santa Monica and ask how long are they going to be there. She said they weren’t going to be there too much longer. I tell her that I was going to try to make it there through rush hour traffic.

I don’t get pissed off very often, but I was pissed off. I wasn’t upset with my agency or the casting office; these things happens. Many, many calls are put out everyday and occasionally mistakes are going to be made. BUT!! This is a callback AND it’s a national spot AND I’ve worked through this casting office before AND I’ve worked for this production company before. I don’t want to miss this, not for this reason.

So I get back on I-10 heading East @ 4pm, yeah, the slow moving parking lot. I had to let off some steam so I called my little brother. I knew I would get my laugh on talking to him or we could talk business. 35 minutes later when I arrived at Dektor Film I was back to my normal very positive self. I didn’t expect to get seen, I figured they would be gone for the day.

Guess what? I made it in time and I was the last person to be seen. The callback went great. It was another personality interview. Mark Dektor is directing the spot and, get this, he is a big motocross fan. So, of course, we talked about riding dirt bikes. Mark directed the “24 Hour Fitness” I did several years ago.

During the interview I was asked why I cut my hair, if I had a girlfriend and why not, whether or not I should date actresses, if I liked kids and what other things I do in my life. So the interview went really well. I am so glad I was able to get there in time.

Two hours later I get the call that I’ve been place on avail. They give me the shoot date, which is the same day of my staged reading with The Robey Theatre Company and ask if I have any kids. Getting close…again.

Today we celebrated the life Eric Gelman. It was really hard for me to say goodbye. It just tears me apart to see people go through this for no good reason. I know how hard it is to lose someone and I hate to know that people are hurting. But I guess that is the way it goes. One thing is for sure there are many who loved and cared about him.

I was able to give his family a framed photo of the 6 of us that had dinner together in March shortly before he died. They really appreciated it. I think it helped for me to see his family so that they were no longer nameless, faceless people. It was quite easy to see how Eric became such a great person. I wish his family well and I hope they are able to move on with Eric in their hearts. I have no doubt that they will. Eric J. Gelman, July 10, 1972-April 17th, 2005. R.I.P.