Audition: “Chex Mix” @ Beth Holmes Casting. Fun audition with a fun partner.

Audition/Pilot: “The Untitled Holly Hester Project” @ Joanne Koehler Casting. I felt a little weird about this one because I had to get re-scheduled and they kinda forgot I was coming in at that time, but I felt that it went well enough to at least get a callback. I think I am right for it. It’s just a few lines, but this character would definitely come back if it goes to series. I must say I’d be a little surprised if they cast me because I’m pretty similar in type the series lead.

Today I’m back as a reader for Dori Zuckerman Casting. It’s always interesting to see and hear the inner workings of how it all comes together. Today they found out that an actress who was already set to work in another film they’d cast was unable to work. It had something to do with her being emancipated or not AND she was supposed to start working tonight. Immediately, they got on the phone with the actress who had been the second choice. She ended up getting a weeks work in a film at a moments notice...starring Paris Hilton no less.

Audition: "T-mobile" @ Spot Casting. Goes really well.

Audition: "AOL" @ Judy Landau Casting. This is a two minute spot with wall-to-wall dialogue. I felt like I delivered it well. Hopefully, they'll bring me back.

Audition: "Southwest Airlines" @ Pamela Starks Casting.

Lots of fun, we get to dance.Shooting: "Boppin' at the Glue Factory". Another long, fun night.

Audition: "Hefty Trash Bags" @ Craig Colvin Casting.

Shooting: "Boppin' at the Glue Factory". I got to do a scene with Mews Small tonight. She was in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". She was really cool to work with. I'm really happy to be involved in this production, I'm learning alot and having a great time with the cast & crew. I hope it gets a distribution deal.

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Back on set in Norwalk for "Boppin' at the Glue Factory". I shoot a scene with Rance Howard; father of Ron Howard and another actress I knew previously, Barbara Kerr-Condon. Then I head back to Hollywood for a film audition.Did I mention that I have a intimate scene in the film. Yeah. WTF? Cool, I guess. I don't know how it's going to be shot, who my wife is or how involved it is. This is definitely going to be a challenge for me. Possibly a really fun challenge. I'M KIDDING!! It's just part of my job.

Audition: "Loveless in Los Angeles" @ Morman/Boling Casting. I felt really good about this one; so hopefully I'll get a callback.

My agent calls to give me the word that I've been released from the "AM/PM" commercial. WHAT!!! That's twice in a week. Oh well, I guess it's better than not having an avail in the first place. I guess.

Production from the pilot "Hot Properties" delivered my script and gave me the date, time and location of the table read. Cool, I'm still employed.

Audition/Producers: Pilot "Friends in the Morning" @ Landsberg/Fiddleman Casting. Man, these small co-starring roles are getting more and more difficult for me. I used to be so good at them, but the last year or so it’s been tough. Not knowing anything about the character is getting boring. Yeah, you can just make it all up, but I think it's a sign that bigger and better things are on the horizon for me. At least that's how I'm going to take it.

So, to sum it up, I don't think I was bad, but maybe just an "also-ran". At the same time I felt a positive connection with the Casting Directors and the producers.

I rarely miss auditions, but two days ago I missed a national commercial audition because I was committed to speaking to a group of actors from New York. I tried my hardest to get seen, but they were only seeing my type for a very short window and it was right when I was supposed to speak. Oh well, sometimes that will happen.

BUT!! My wonderful agents at KSA got me another chance to be seen. THANK YOU!

Audition: “Listerine” @ Craig Colvin Casting. This audition goes great! Craig calls me in often and I get quite a few callback, but haven’t booked…yet!

My agent calls about the “AM/PM” commercial. I am officially put on avail and the dates have changed to a date that I’m not working on the film. Cool! Hopefully, they really want to use me for the spot.

My agents calls back 5 minutes later and the dates have changed back to the original dates. Oh well, I can’t worry about it. We’ll see what happens. The bottom line is, if I book it, I’m shooting it.

Today was my first day on set for the indie film “Boppin’ at the Glue Factory”. My character is “Joe Tones”; he’s a late night security guard at a convalescent home. The script sounds like a lot of fun; it's a black comedy.

We are shooting @ Metropolitan State Mental Hospital in Norwalk, about 25 miles from where I live. It’s a real, operating mental hospital so that is a little odd, but it’s good for my character. The crew is great; I worked with the DP a couple of years ago on an AFI film.

Typical with film production it’s “hurry up and wait”. There were a couple of day shots that I was scheduled to do that we didn’t get to. When I finally got to film it was great! I did two scenes and the other actor was great to work with. I can’t wait to go back on Monday.

Okay, I didn’t hear anything else about the “AM/PM” spot. I’ll just say “no news, is good news”, because they didn’t release me either. Most likely, they would have booked it on Friday if they were going to shoot it Monday. I’ll just hope they are going to book Monday to shoot Tuesday. Time will tell.

Sounds of my pager start the morning with my commercial agent letting me know that I had been released from my avail for the “Star Wars/Lucas Arts” commercial. WHAT!!! I didn’t even know I was on avail! I call them back and get it all figured out. It was a misunderstanding on my part. I thought when they cancelled the callback that was the end of the line. Turned out, they cancelled the callback, BUT still put me on avail. Cool, I guess. I’ll book something soon.

Callback: “AM/PM” @ the first read was at Mimi Webb-Miller Casting, but the callback is @ Alyson Horn Casting. I’ve never booked through Mimi, but I have through Alyson. The callback goes so, so well.

I get to the production office and sign-in. They give me the size card from the first audition and it has complimentary notes on it. It also had some marks that I think are from the ad agency and director separately so I was feeling good. The shoot dates for the commercial are April 4th or 5th. I am scheduled to work both of those days on the film. I knew the dates conflicted, but the film is some days and some nights. Ooops. I informed the Casting Director.

I was paired up with a teen actor and immediately had a cool vibe with the director; he told me what he liked about my first read. So I tried to tap into that, but be open for direction. We did it about 5 different times and I tried to show something a little different each time.

After we finished, the CD asked my partner and I to wait in the lobby. We waited about 10 minutes before they released him and asked me to stay longer. 10 minutes later I was paired up with another young actor and we did it another 4-5 times. As I was leaving, she pulled me aside and said, “The director really likes you, can you call your theatrical agent and find out what you can do with your schedule for the film? Find out and call me back.” She then gave me her cell phone number.

I got on the phone with Production and explained what was going on. They said the 4th was a pretty heavy day for me, but the 5th I had just one scene. They could possibly move everything to the 4th. I passed the info to commercial production and let my commercial agent know what was happening. If they do, in fact, want to hire me for the commercial I do not want to miss out on it. Did I say I do not want to miss out on this job? Yeah I don’t want to………

Today I did another orientation for a group of actors from the Actor's Connection in New York. It went well, the actors were eager and had lots of questions about the LA market.

I got a call today to participate in a staged reading with The Robey Theatre Company in May. Arrgh! I was considering going to Vegas that weekend. But after thinking it over I probably should stay in LA and do some acting. I’ll go home in June.

What a way to start the week. I spoke to students at Reseda High School again this morning about going for what you want in life. The kids are interesting. Some are very difficult to reach, even just to say their name aloud while others are very expressive about what they want in life.

Over the weekend a friend, Joan Blair, contacted me about an independent film she is involved with. I know Joan from workshops and we worked on a project together a couple of years ago.

Anyway, she instructed me to send my URL to the producer. The producer called this morning and wanted me to meet the director on set...right away. So I drive from Reseda to Echo Park and see Roger, the producer. Roger, said he had just seen me in a commercial. Well I knew he was mistaken, I don't really have anything running at the moment. He thought about it for a moment and then I said "The Terminal"? "YEAH!" He replied.

He then takes me straight to the director who was in between shots. The director quickly gives me the low-down on the character and then has to resume shooting. Roger, the producer, says "that was pretty much your audition and tells me that the role is mine if I'm interested". I say "yeah, of course I'll do it." He says, "Great, I'll send a deal memo to your agent this afternoon." They check my availability(I told them that I was on-hold for the ABC pilot "Hot Properties"), gave me a script, get my sizes and agent info. My first day of about 6 or 7 is Thursday. This all happened in like 35 minutes.

Since it's under a SAG Deferred contract I wanted to inform my agent that they may receive a call about the project. Right then my phone rings and it's my agent. I thought they had already gotten the call, but no, the call was telling me that I was booked on the “Hot Properties” pilot. It's an ABC 1/2 hour comedy.

It's been a loooong time since I've booked two things in one day.

HAPPY EASTER! Today, I went to a play with a friend. It was "Medea" @ The Boston Court Theatre. The performance was incredible. Two actors that I did a play with last Fall were in the cast.

Afterwards, we stopped by the hospital to see our friend L. Julian Hamilton-Payne. We all do CD workshops together. He recently had one of his legs removed after having serious problems with blood circulation. It's hard to see him go through this, but his fellow actors at Actorsite are showing support for him in a big way. He has a lot on his plate concerning his recovery, but he cannot give up. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Today is my 4 year anniversary of resigning from my job at The Standard waiting tables. I still have a hard time believing it. I'm not sure why, I always knew I could do it, but the reality of it is still quite surreal. It has been a great rollercoaster ride to say the least.

I am very fortunate to have a great team around me. I developed a plan many, many years ago, stuck to it and it's working. Here's to another year in the game.

I had another session today at Dori Zuckerman Casting. Soon as I walked in Dori told me that the producers and the director really like me and are trying to put me in the film. I guess it helps to get compliments from the actors that are auditioning. Anyway, it was another great time being deep in the process of how it really works. Oh, and when I left the director also told me that they'll find something for me in the film. For me, that would be icing on the cake because just getting to work out with the actors is incredible in itself.

Audition: “Dell Plasma TV” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Lots of fun, it goes well.

I got a callback for the “Star Wars” commercial audition that I had this past week. It was the one that I kinda/sorta crashed when I missed the "Sprint" one, but before I could even call my agent back to confirm I received another call saying that it had been cancelled. WHAT!!! Yeah, I had to find out what that was all about. I was informed that they had cancelled callbacks for that particular role. Okay, that’s not hard to take. I thought, at first, that they decided that they didn’t want to see me particularly. Oh well, on to the next.

I worked as a reader today @ Dori Zuckerman Casting. It’s always fun for me to do. I get to listen to all of the “producer talk”, which is quite interesting and read with actors I see on TV and in films. Today I got to read with Guy Torry, Jennifer Elise Cox, Elise Neal, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Olympic champion Tara Lipinski and others. The thing that really tripped me out is that the director, Brandon Sonnier, is only 22 years old and has already had a film at The Sundance Film Festival. WHAT!!

It’s cool to see what choices these working actors make. I think the biggest thing is that they all take ownership of their performance. They are prepared and have lots of confidence. It looks like I’ll be doing more days as a reader in the near future.

Audition: "Sprint" @ ASG Casting. YES! I made it this time and it went great.

Audition: "AM/PM" @ Mimi Webb-Miller Casting. This one went really well.

Audition: “Sprint” @ ASG Casting. My first commercial booking in Los Angeles came from this office. It’s time for another! Usually, I am able to get through LA traffic pretty well, but today it was not to be. I missed the "Sprint" audition. I just couldn't get from Westside Casting to Riverside Drive in the valley in 30 minutes at 4 in the afternoon. The session runner was really cool about it and told me to come back tomorrow and he would squeeze me in.

I was wearing a suit for the audition, but I saw a few guys that were there for a "Star Wars" audition and they were dressed casually; how I normally look. My plan was to go to my car and change clothes and try to get seen for the other spot. They hardly even recognized me when I came back in dressed casually and they let me read for the other spot too. So it worked out really well for me.

It’s a busy day today with drops and appointments. I really don't want to go a year without booking a commercial; April 22nd ’04 was the last time I did a commercial. The clock is ticking! It would be nice to book a ‘couple’ of things before then. I've definitely had ample opportunities; in fact, I have 3 commercial appointments today.

Audition: "Burger King" @ Bad Girls Casting. This one goes pretty well after getting a lot of help from the session runner. She even let me and my partner watch the first take and do it over.

Audition: "Mastercard" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This one went great.

Audition: "GM" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This one went great too.

Check this out. I read for the pilot "Hot Properties" @ Dava Waite Casting a couple of days ago and, in all honesty, I thought I blew it. I mean, it wasn't a complete disaster, but I got tripped up on some words and you especially want to be careful of the that in a comedy.

Anyway, my agent calls this morning to say that they want to "pin me". "Pin me?" Basically, they are checking my availability and want me to let them know if my availability changes. They aren’t going to hire me yet, but are very interested. WHAT!!! I'll take that. Another cool thing is that it's through one of my two newer agents that I acquired since the merger of my theatrical agency.

Dori Zuckerman Casting called to ask me to be a reader next week for a film project. Cool!

Audition: “CitiBank” @ Cathi Carlton. At the audition I spoke with Danny Wooten. If you don’t know this guy you have most likely seen him. He works in commercials like you would not believe. I mean it’s incredible how often I see him. I can’t believe he didn’t already have a conflict in this category. Anyway, it’s good to see that he’s nice humble guy. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two from him. My audition goes well.

Audition/Producers/Pilot: “Hot Properties” @ Dava Waite Casting. Cool! I remember dropping off a photo for this a couple of weeks ago. Dava hired me for “Yes, Dear” back in the Fall. The role is a young doctor. It goes okay. The character was there, but I got a little caught up in some of the words. I’ll have my fingers crossed.

Audition “SBC Global” @ Joe Blake Casting. It was all good and think I’m sorta right for it.

Audition: “Amica” Insurance @ Crash Casting. In this audition they were looking for couples. I wanted to give someone a chance who wasn’t already auditioning for commercials on a regular basis. I made a few phone calls and ran into some scheduling issues. In the end I had two people show up. Ooops. The audition goes well.

Callback: “Miller-Lite” @ Joe Blake Casting. YES!! One step closer. This had to be the most fun I’ve ever had at a callback.

Audition: “Holiday Inn Express” @ Bad Girls Casting. Ahh, this one went okay. I don’t expect to hear anything though.

Today should be a heavy day for drop-offs. Gotta keep the ball rolling.