Callback: "ESPN Promo" @ Skirts Casting. I arrived at the casting office, put 30 minutes in the parking meter and went inside. It didn’t seem to be way, way crowded, but it moved along very, very slowly. I kept an eye on my watch as I waited, then I met someone from back in the day in New York who I hadn’t seen since like ’96-’97…we’re catching on the New York days…Ooops my meter!!! I go outside and &%$#^&!!! It’s too late…LA’s finest parking enforcement officer is already writing me a ticket. I didn’t even cross the street to beg and plead with him, I just went back to the audition. Parking is something that drives me insane about LA. I mean really, I hate the parking situation here. Another $35!!
Back to the audition. Since I hadn’t been to the first call I didn’t know what was really going on in the spot. I finally got an explanation from the session runner and it seemed pretty clear. Sometimes when people explain something that they’ve been repeating over and over they kind of gloss over the finer points; what they don’t really understand is that you’re hearing it for the first time. So my big question was “Do I have any dialogue?” the answer was “no, you’re just concentrating on the bottle of shampoo”. OK, I can do that.
Thirty minutes later we get another explanation from someone else and she also says “no dialogue, you’re just dealing with 2 bottles of shampoo”. Ok, a little while later I am finally paired up with a nice woman and we go into the audition room. We slate and do the usual stuff, I check the board, no dialogue for my character. We finish the first take and the director says, “you gotta say ‘Black’ when the groomer ask what color”. I’m think, dag, I didn’t even know he was talking to me. I couldn’t clearly see who was talking to me because of the lights in my eyes. We do it a second take which went better and he gives me more direction. Then I recognize the director, Brian Aldrich. He’s definitely one of the top commercial directors working today and he's hired me twice before through Cathi Carlton Casting. The first time was for a “California Lottery” spot. The callback for that was the worst callback I think I have ever had……but somehow I got the job. The second time he hired me was for “Wrigley’s” 6 months later…that spot ran really well and they split it into another spot.
The third take went pretty well. So maybe since I had no clue what was going on it will come off as really real. I don’t know, gotta think positive. So after an hour and 15 minutes I was on my way…to get a good look at the parking ticket on my car. Ugh! So I get in my hot car and pull off, then I remember that I didn’t sign out on the audition sheet. Since I was over an hour I should be paid…that could offset getting the parking ticket so I made a U-turn and went back to sign out. I don’t expect to get paid for the audition running over and I don’t expect to book the spot either, but you never know.
Back to the audition. Since I hadn’t been to the first call I didn’t know what was really going on in the spot. I finally got an explanation from the session runner and it seemed pretty clear. Sometimes when people explain something that they’ve been repeating over and over they kind of gloss over the finer points; what they don’t really understand is that you’re hearing it for the first time. So my big question was “Do I have any dialogue?” the answer was “no, you’re just concentrating on the bottle of shampoo”. OK, I can do that.
Thirty minutes later we get another explanation from someone else and she also says “no dialogue, you’re just dealing with 2 bottles of shampoo”. Ok, a little while later I am finally paired up with a nice woman and we go into the audition room. We slate and do the usual stuff, I check the board, no dialogue for my character. We finish the first take and the director says, “you gotta say ‘Black’ when the groomer ask what color”. I’m think, dag, I didn’t even know he was talking to me. I couldn’t clearly see who was talking to me because of the lights in my eyes. We do it a second take which went better and he gives me more direction. Then I recognize the director, Brian Aldrich. He’s definitely one of the top commercial directors working today and he's hired me twice before through Cathi Carlton Casting. The first time was for a “California Lottery” spot. The callback for that was the worst callback I think I have ever had……but somehow I got the job. The second time he hired me was for “Wrigley’s” 6 months later…that spot ran really well and they split it into another spot.
The third take went pretty well. So maybe since I had no clue what was going on it will come off as really real. I don’t know, gotta think positive. So after an hour and 15 minutes I was on my way…to get a good look at the parking ticket on my car. Ugh! So I get in my hot car and pull off, then I remember that I didn’t sign out on the audition sheet. Since I was over an hour I should be paid…that could offset getting the parking ticket so I made a U-turn and went back to sign out. I don’t expect to get paid for the audition running over and I don’t expect to book the spot either, but you never know.
2 comments:
friggin' meters... i hear ya on that one... but at least that i can somewhat control, it's the "valet" parking situation that's waayyyyy out of hand, like "sir, you need to pay us 3 dollars so we can move you car three feet while you go inside and pick up your to-go order of poquito mas"!
It's stressful worring about an expiring parking meter. I make it a habit to park a few blocks away from the casting studio, in the residential neighborhood. That gives me peace of mind and a zero risk of a parking ticket.
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