Today was good day; I was pretty productive in the streets – which, trust me, is NOT always the case. The heat in the valley caught me by surprise and promptly delivered me a nice headache, but I soldiered through and got the job done.
This was a good new development. There is a really important office in town that used to be on a studio lot. The studio couriers were horrible in getting them their submissions/drop-offs from the mail room in a timely fashion. They recently moved to another studio in town and I went there today and the guard just let me walk on and go straight to the office. I didn’t expect that for me, maybe if I was a female, but I’m not. So I got to hand deliver a general submission to the office. Cool.
Afterwards I went to a spot on Ventura that I hadn’t been to in a while and then I started feeling like I wanted to go home for some reason. I was tired; this staying up until 4-5am was catching up with me. I needed some rest – and some water – and something to eat – and gas for my car, but I wasn’t hungry. I’m starting to think I’m anorexic. Not really; I haven’t vomited since I was 9 years old. Yeah, I played 2nd base for the Plaza Little League Minor Dodgers and guess who the coach was? My DADDY!!!! Yeah!!! LOL!! “Corn pops” (as my brother’s and I affectionately referred to him as) coached baseball, football and basketball and ALWAYS had winning teams. That year the Dodgers were sponsored by the local Pizza Hut. When we won our games, which was most of the time, we would have a pizza party. One time I ate 3 slices of pizza and vomited; it was not a very good experience. That was the last time I threw up and part of the reason I’ve never had alcohol in my life. I associate alcohol with throwing up. I know, weird.
So I just parked for a bit and took a deep breath. I knew I couldn’t go back home without doing more drop-offs; gas is too expensive for that. So I pulled out my PDA, searched “Ventura” and made a quick route to hit some spots.
I was talking to a friend on the phone about how I have targeted certain shows, the “blue-chip shows” and what that has meant. Also, that I’m to the point where I almost avoid shows that are under AFTRA contracts or “SAG at AFTRA terms”. It’s not “the show” itself, it’s AFTRA; I don’t wanna join another guild to do the same work. I mean if my agent calls with an appointment for an AFTRA show I’ll go of course, but I don’t pursue them like I do SAG shows. So up and down Ventura Blvd I go.
When I get back to my apartment more new pages from the “Criminal Minds” script are at my door. No changes for me. Yesterday when I was at the table read I thanked Casting Director Scott David for bringing me in to audition and he made it seem like such a no brainer that I was gonna get on the show eventually. He said, “Yeah, we tried last season and it didn’t work and now here you are”. I mean, I’ve met Scott a couple of times in the past, but I didn’t take it for granted that he knew who I was; especially since last time I read for him it just went okay. They have sooo many actors to choose from, but to be honest, I have done my part to stay fresh in their minds so it makes sense. Maybe I’m underestimating the progress that I’ve made. Something to think about I guess.
Right around 7pm my agent calls with an appointment for tomorrow. Get this; it’s at one of the offices I dropped off at just hours earlier. I slid it under the door, I wouldn’t have remembered that address if I hadn’t search it in my PDA. Just goes to show, there is an unbelievable amount of work here in Los Angeles. In theory, we should ALL be auditioning quite frequently, but I think 20% of the actors get 80% of the opportunities and work – gotta get and stay in that 20%. I pulled that figure of 20% out of my a**. 20%? Do you think that’s accurate or even close?
I forgot to mention that the show is AFTRA!!! I wanna freakin scream! Not really, it’s cool. It’s a funny a scene on a new FOX comedy Starring Brad Garrett from “Everybody Loves Raymond” called “Til Death” and I just so happened to see the pilot last week at the Museum of Television and Radio. I know I’ll eventually have to join AFTRA, but I’ll go kicking and screaming – then maybe I’ll pursue soap work too.
This was a good new development. There is a really important office in town that used to be on a studio lot. The studio couriers were horrible in getting them their submissions/drop-offs from the mail room in a timely fashion. They recently moved to another studio in town and I went there today and the guard just let me walk on and go straight to the office. I didn’t expect that for me, maybe if I was a female, but I’m not. So I got to hand deliver a general submission to the office. Cool.
Afterwards I went to a spot on Ventura that I hadn’t been to in a while and then I started feeling like I wanted to go home for some reason. I was tired; this staying up until 4-5am was catching up with me. I needed some rest – and some water – and something to eat – and gas for my car, but I wasn’t hungry. I’m starting to think I’m anorexic. Not really; I haven’t vomited since I was 9 years old. Yeah, I played 2nd base for the Plaza Little League Minor Dodgers and guess who the coach was? My DADDY!!!! Yeah!!! LOL!! “Corn pops” (as my brother’s and I affectionately referred to him as) coached baseball, football and basketball and ALWAYS had winning teams. That year the Dodgers were sponsored by the local Pizza Hut. When we won our games, which was most of the time, we would have a pizza party. One time I ate 3 slices of pizza and vomited; it was not a very good experience. That was the last time I threw up and part of the reason I’ve never had alcohol in my life. I associate alcohol with throwing up. I know, weird.
So I just parked for a bit and took a deep breath. I knew I couldn’t go back home without doing more drop-offs; gas is too expensive for that. So I pulled out my PDA, searched “Ventura” and made a quick route to hit some spots.
I was talking to a friend on the phone about how I have targeted certain shows, the “blue-chip shows” and what that has meant. Also, that I’m to the point where I almost avoid shows that are under AFTRA contracts or “SAG at AFTRA terms”. It’s not “the show” itself, it’s AFTRA; I don’t wanna join another guild to do the same work. I mean if my agent calls with an appointment for an AFTRA show I’ll go of course, but I don’t pursue them like I do SAG shows. So up and down Ventura Blvd I go.
When I get back to my apartment more new pages from the “Criminal Minds” script are at my door. No changes for me. Yesterday when I was at the table read I thanked Casting Director Scott David for bringing me in to audition and he made it seem like such a no brainer that I was gonna get on the show eventually. He said, “Yeah, we tried last season and it didn’t work and now here you are”. I mean, I’ve met Scott a couple of times in the past, but I didn’t take it for granted that he knew who I was; especially since last time I read for him it just went okay. They have sooo many actors to choose from, but to be honest, I have done my part to stay fresh in their minds so it makes sense. Maybe I’m underestimating the progress that I’ve made. Something to think about I guess.
Right around 7pm my agent calls with an appointment for tomorrow. Get this; it’s at one of the offices I dropped off at just hours earlier. I slid it under the door, I wouldn’t have remembered that address if I hadn’t search it in my PDA. Just goes to show, there is an unbelievable amount of work here in Los Angeles. In theory, we should ALL be auditioning quite frequently, but I think 20% of the actors get 80% of the opportunities and work – gotta get and stay in that 20%. I pulled that figure of 20% out of my a**. 20%? Do you think that’s accurate or even close?
I forgot to mention that the show is AFTRA!!! I wanna freakin scream! Not really, it’s cool. It’s a funny a scene on a new FOX comedy Starring Brad Garrett from “Everybody Loves Raymond” called “Til Death” and I just so happened to see the pilot last week at the Museum of Television and Radio. I know I’ll eventually have to join AFTRA, but I’ll go kicking and screaming – then maybe I’ll pursue soap work too.
5 comments:
Yeah, S, let's talk about it:
Let's not even mention doing our own malings, or investing in postcards, because as one actor put it, "it's a waste of money!"
I sware there's about a good 80% of actors who think because they have representation (mostly reputable) that they don't have to submit or do their own dropoffs. And depending on how you look at it....they're RIGHT! You don't *have* to! Meanwhile, SLEEPING!!!! They're in this town and possibly not ONE Casting Director knows who they are. CLUELESS! Fine with me! That's more audition time and work for us!
Anyway, nice work, S (HARD WORK) that is payin off for you, 'bruh.
I'm right behind you.....
This town is so competitive that if you aren't giving it your "all" then I doubt you'll ever even scratch the surface. So many actors set limits to how far they'll go -- how much effort they'll put in -- and then complain they're not getting more auditions. To me, if you're not getting enough work, that means you have to work harder.
Persoanlly, I think the numbers are actually closer to 90%/10% -- and that may be rather conservative. There's just a ton of non-working actors.
Yeah, I agree with you both. The numbers are tough. You have to be doing waaay more than the average person to make an impact.
Stephon
AFTRA is on our butts.
The last AFTRA show I did was in 1997.
Hey, who just booked a GUEST STAR on the Suite Life of Zach and Cody? ME.
Yes, it's an AFTRA show. I go to table read on Monday!
Congratulations!
The last AFTRA show I did was in '93 and that was background! Have a fun shoot.
I know I harp on AFTRA a lot; I just don't see where they are good for us in television. What are they doing to help us?
Congrats again though!
Stephon
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