Trying to keep the momentum going after coming off of the play. The year started pretty well, mostly commercials. That was okay for me at that point, but I did want to get more chances in TV/Film. Commercially, I was freelancing with The Gage Group, Acme, Paradigm, William Morris, Abrams Artist, SEM&M, The Krasny Office, J. Michael Bloom, Gilla Roos, Fifi Oscard & others. Almost all of these connections came through workshops. I was sometimes getting 3, 4 or 5 calls for one audition. It felt good to have a little demand, but I was ready to sign with a top commercial agency. I research the market, I had experience with most of the top agencies and I knew who I was interested in. At the top of my list was Don Buchwald & Associates. I had no experience with them because they didn't freelance. Then why was I interested in them? They only worked with signed clients, one of the few in NYC to do business that way. I didn't want to have to compete with a hustler like myself. I am my fellow actors' worst nightmare. I say that because I am relentless and just won't stop because I love the business side as well. I was on a mission.

Now was the time to concentrate on getting on stage. I had participated in a couple of staged readings at NYU and Columbia, but I had never been in a full-fledged stage production. I figured I would be performing in some hole-in-the-wall spot downtown and get seen by very, very few people. That would be fine; I just needed to get onstage. So I get this audition for a play and it goes really well. The director stopped me before we were even half way finished and gave me a same day callback.

I go to the callback and see the other guys warming up their voices and stretching in preparation to sing and dance. WHAT!!! I don't sing or dance--at least not for money. We are paired up in groups of three and are given pieces to sing as well as movements to act out. I was horrified at first to be expected to do these things at the same time. I did the best I could and got another callback two days later. This time it was just scene work. The next day I was booked!!

I had no idea what the magnitude of this show was. I was working with an award winning director & choreographer, an amazing musical director, getting my Equity card, performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as well as in New Jersey and on salary!! I was tripping out. The cast was incredible, I was fortunate to be working with them. I remember asking some of the other cast members "if it was normal to get a standing ovation every night" they assured me that it was not normal. While performing in DC all of the cast members had our own apartments. We were living better than we did in NYC in our regular apartments!!

The husband of Oscar nominee Laura Linney was in the show, so I got to meet her a couple of times. Oh yeah, the best job I ever had gave me 3 months off to do this show! The Harley Davidson Cafe in NYC was definitely important to my progress.

My "Burger King" residuals are now coming in and I get a couple of gifts for myself. One is a mountain bike and the other is a bed. Yeah, a bed!!! Since moving to NYC 2 years ago I had been sleeping on cushions or futon mattresses (except for the 4 months of sharing a bed with Greg). At least now I won't be down on the floor, I'll still have to deal with mice though.

I knew today was the day I'd get the news on whether I booked the "Pepsi" gig or not.

INT. Harley-Davidson Cafe 11:15am15-20 employees are attending a staff meeting before the lunch rush. STEPHON, an African-American male, mid 20's sits eating a breakfast sandwich in a booth with 3 employees. Lance, the manager, briefs the staff.

LANCE
We have a group of 30 in the middle @ 12:15. Who's the HOG?

STEPHON
Right here.

Stephon's pager starts to vibrate. He immediately recognizes the number as Paradigm Talent & Literary Agency. He starts to feel numb. "Did I get the gig in Spain?"

LANCE
The soup of the day is Lentl.

MICHAEL
Again.

Stephon's pager goes off a second time and he reluctantly makes a call to his agent while hiding under the table.

ASSISTANT
Commercials.

STEPHON
Good morning, Doug Kesten please.

DOUG
Stephon! Congratulations. You booked the job in Spain.

STEPHON
You're kidding right?

DOUG
No, they loved your tape. So....what's going on with your passport?

STEPHON
I can get one right away.

DOUG
Good, because they think you already have one.

STEPHON
Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem.

DOUG
Let me give you the rundown. You leave Saturday afternoon arriving in Madrid Sunday morning. You'll have most of Sunday to rest, possibly a fitting and you'll work Monday thru Friday. Leaving Madrid Saturday morning returning to New York that evening.

STEPHON
Okay, I can deal with that. I can't believe this.

DOUG
It'll be $1500 a day, plus $500 a day for travel and rest days and $1500 buyout for one year. They are faxing the itinerary here this afternoon. You can stop by and pick it up and we'll finally get to meet.

STEPHON
Okay, I'll see you this afternoon.

Stephon sits back up in his seat white as a ghost.

BILL
Dude, what's up? You alright?

CUT TO: Staff meeting.

LANCE
The beer of the month contest winner was Monica and she gets to go on the company ski trip for free. The new uniforms are scheduled to arrive around the first of the month......and I think that's about it. Have a great shift everyone.

Bill and Stephon walk approach Lance, the manager.

BILL
Lance, Stephon has a situation he has to deal with.

LANCE
What happened? Did you cut yourself?

STEPHON
No, remember that gig I was telling you about last week that shoots in Spain?

LANCE
Yeah.

BILL
He booked it.

LANCE
No shit?

STEPHON
Yeah, I need to go get a passport.

LANCE
Congratulations! Do what you have to do, we'll handle this here.

STEPHON
Thanks Lance, I really appreciate it.

Bill and Stephon walk away.

STEPHON
Bill, I've never even met the agent before. That was the first time I've ever spoken to him.

BILL
No shit?

STEPHON
No shit.

So I leave on my journey to somehow get a passport. I tell Keilana and share my news with the rest of the crew at work and call my family. By time I get back my "Burger King" spot is running everywhere in the country.

Oh Snap!!! They called today to put me on avail for the "Pepsi" gig in Spain!! They even requested my sizes. WHAT!!! I don't even have a passport. I'd been meaning to get one, but kept putting it off. I didn't want to start the process after getting the audition because I didn't want to be "caught in the passport system" in case I booked the job. I figure, if I get the job I can get a passport in a day......at least that's what I've heard. They said they would make their choices next week on the 24th.

Today I had an audition for a Pepsi commercial that is shooting in Madrid, Spain. It had a different kind of feel because it was for Spain and they are a bit more edgy over there as far as advertising. The audition went really well.

I finally get the word that I booked one of those films from January. It was a small role as a crack head in a film titled "Hell's Kitchen" with Mekhi Phifer, Angelina Jolie, William Forsythe and Rosanna Arquette. I actually got to work on the streets of New York City 54th between 9th & 10th!! My scene was with Mekhi, ironically he got the role from the open call that Greg and I had gone to for "Clockers" a couple of years earlier. I also booked a big national commercial for "Burger King/The Lost World/Jurassic Park". The agent I was freelancing with at Paradigm was Stacye Meyer; I'd met her at a workshop at The Actor's Connection. Thanks for taking a chance on me Stacye. Both shoots were a lot of fun.

I didn't go home for Christmas, I opted to stay in New York and make money at the restuarant. A week after Christmas I took my vacation and Keilana came with me to meet my family. I had never done anything like this before, it was a big deal for me. She really enjoyed my family and they loved having her. We had a great time until I fell on my face while ice skating. I don't know how I didn't break my nose, because a week later I had two black eyes. Starting the year off with a bang I had two callbacks for films. They both went really well. I was really getting used to auditioning, working out the nervous energy and figuring out what the hell I was doing. I was already SAG eligible and decided to take the step to become a member of the union. I knew it was just a matter of time before I was booking and I just wanted to be ready.

Around this time I landed a theatrical agent Penny Luedtke @ The Luedtke Agency. I really liked her; she listened and believed in me. I was freelancing commercially with a couple of agencies and getting a few appointments theatrically as well. I started attending CD and agent workshops at The Actor's Connection and these really made things happen. I was learning a lot about how things worked and getting an opportunity to meet CD's and agents directly and it was encouraging because it helped me understand how things worked. Soon agents started calling me for auditions. Things were looking great.

I slowly started getting auditions through these new connections that I was making on my own and I also felt that I was right for most of the stuff that I was getting appointments for. Around this time I got my first callback for a commercial in New York and it felt good. Things were going well, my job at Harley was working and I was making headway in business.

I had had it with my talent manager; she couldn't even get my name right and almost rarely were any of my auditions right for me. I asked for and received a release from my contract. She told some others that she didn't feel I would get work in New York. Cool, I was free. It was then that my career in New York really started. I did my resume over and bought a word processor. When I re-did my resume without the manager's logo on it I felt like I had taken a shower. I had taken the power back in my career. I did a mass mailing to CD's and agents with some success. I also took the initiative to make follow-up calls. I did this because I knew most other actors wouldn't and I also had nothing to lose. I got numerous meetings with agents this way. Within a year I was freelancing commercially with Abrams, Acme, SEM&M, Paradigm, William Morris, Carol Baker, Gilla-Roos, The Gage Group and several others. Things were looking good.

After being in NYC for 11 months things were coming along slowly but surely. I was getting auditions, even though I wasn't really right for most of them. I was figuring out how it all worked. I was also having second thoughts about my management; I wasn't working directly any agents so she was all I had. Normally, I am a hands-on type a guy and this felt kinda weird. When I signed with her I felt that Greg was who she really wanted. She told me that she felt I was the "brains of the duo" and I would determine if "we" signed or not. Not true at all, Greg did his own thing. I felt like I didn't have anything to lose, at the very least it was a major factor in getting me to New York.

At the restuarant they hired a stunning, vibrant new hostess named Keilana. She was beautifully radiant, but I was trying to "get my hustle on" with my career and not really interested in dating anyone. She eventually suggested that we get together a few times and finally we did. We spent a lot of time together and I have to say, up to that point, I hadn't really clicked that well with anyone I dated before. I really thought she could be the one. Those were some really fond memories.

MY EYE!!! MY EYE!!! Something is going on with my eyes. I've been wearing contact lenses for the last several years and...... I've been slipping on the maintenance part. Well, now it's time to pay the band. The pain had been brewing for a day or two.

It started with the feeling that I had a grain of sand in my eye. It quickly progressed to downright terrifying, I mean unbelievable. Any sort of light absolutely killed me. I didn't have any health insurance, but I had to go get checked out. I actually had to wait until the sun went down to go to the hospital.

So I go out and it's snowing, I like really cannot see. The first cab I hail wouldn't take me to the Westside; he said the roads were too bad. That was crap; he was just being a jerk. I get another cab to take me to the hospital. He takes me to the wrong place; the right place is a couple of blocks over. I am in unbelievable pain, it's snowing, I'm in the wrong place AND I can't see. I am a sitting duck.

I finally make it to the right place and am quickly diagnosed with ????? I am prescribed an ointment sent on my way.

I call my manager at the Harley-Davidson Cafe and inform him that I will not be able work the following day. It's the first time in my life that I have ever called in sick.

I had many friends in my room at night in the form of bats without wings.....RATS!!! Or mice, they are all the same to me. Get this I had a reading light up on my fancy loft bed. Well, it wasn't really all that fancy. The light cord ran down to the floor. One night I woke up and saw 3 or 4 mice scurrying. One was literally running down the cord of the light, another on top of the TV and another on the floor. I was officially freaked out. I mean, in one sense, it was really cool because it was clear that I was doing for my future. They added character. I guess.

I finally found a place to live in Manhattan!! I moved into a 3 bedroom apartment with 3 other people. There was a Korean girl and Chinese guy; they were a couple, a Jewish girl and I. We were like the United Nations.

My room was so small it was unbelievable. It was the size of a walk-in closet with the bed built up on a loft. I could barely stand up under the bed and I'm on 5'8". It served its purpose for eleven months. It also had plenty of mice. I would hear little noises at night. At first I didn't know what it was. I soon caught onto their game.

It was rough, bussing tables at a theme restaurant in NYC. The money sucked!!! I was so broke that I had to wash my uniform in the sink. The neighborhood in Hell's Kitchen, where we lived, was another story. Can you say "crackhead city?" Greg couldn't seem to understand that we were "no longer in Kansas". This was "HELL'S KITCHEN, NYC"!!! NOT Virginia Beach, VA!! You don't have to talk "every" crack head. I remember one night on the block a guy thought Greg said something to his girlfriend. I think it was a set-up of some sort. He could tell that we were new in town. I was like "Greg c'mon!! Let's go!!"

Anyway, we both started taking classes at New York Performance Works downtown in Tribeca. I booked my first New York acting job in September; it was a promo/trailer for a pilot. At this point I was sleeping on cushions on my brother's floor in Park Slope, Brooklyn. This is also when I decided that living in Brooklyn was NOT going to work for me. Nothing against the planet Brooklyn it's just working the hours that I do I was spending way too much time on the train. Greg had decided to go back to Virginia to regroup. New York was much more difficult than he expected. Also, I think getting so close on that soap gig kinda got to him.

Meanwhile, at work I was having some "issues" with my pay. I confronted the GM about it a couple of times and the second time he said he was thinking about promoting me from a busser to a server. Hmmm...I was very skeptical. I knew I was a good worker and I thought he was going to keep me through the Summer and then fire me when business slowed down. I'm in New York, now I don't trust anyone!! Lo and behold Scott Young was true to his word and one of the worst jobs I ever had turned into the best job I ever had. Waiting tables was quite a challenge for me. I didn't know how to balance a tray of drinks very well and I had NEVER had a drink of alcohol in my entire life. I had alot to learn, but I had so much fun being there. I met so many people that I really liked; it was a very good time. Thank you Harley-Davidson Cafe management & staff.

Okay, this is the deal. Greg and I have been searching for jobs since we arrived in NYC two weeks ago. We haven't been very successful, thus far. On Friday we applied at a "TGI Fridays" in mid-town Manhattan. The gentleman we spoke to, 'Rocco' was very encouraging. He said that it didn't matter that we didn't have experience as waiters because "we train all of our staff anyway." Cool!!! He told us to go to another location and see another 'Rocco' and he would take care of us. The first mistake we made was to think that this would actually work and the second was to stop looking elsewhere for employment. Today, Monday, we show up to see 'Rocco' and he totally dissed us, New York style. Welcome to the big city kids!! I just sat there and laughed because he was so rude to us.

Afterwards Greg had an appointment with a photographer for headshots and I decided to go back to the Harley-Davidson Cafe, alone, where we had inquired twice about employment. The two previous times we were there I felt the GM, Scott Young, liked us but couldn't do much with us since we didn't have experience. I walk in and see Scott and I think he was surprised to see me AGAIN, so I told him my situation. I said "Scott we'll do anything". He says "I know". I say "No, you don't know. We'll do ANYTHING". He sees that I am serious and just looks at me for a moment. He motions for me to hold on a second and disappears downstairs. A second later he returns and says to "come in tomorrow @ 4:30pm, wear all black." YES!!! We finally got jobs, both of us. Did I mention that we were hired as bussers?

It's time!!! The moment of truth is here. We had finished a year and a half with our private teacher and we were leaving. Our friend Dalbe Markman had set us up with two girls who were willing to let us stay with them in New York on a temporary basis. We traveled to NYC by Greyhound. While we were waiting for the bus to leave I felt like I had been released from prison. I just didn't feel like I was going to get what I wanted if I stayed in Virginia Beach. We sat at the very back of the bus 3 seats across for the 6+hr journey. I turned to Greg to see if he was feeling the same. He wasn't. As I was getting ready to speak I saw that he was crying his heart out. He was leaving a girlfriend and close friends and it's just hard. He was fine moments later. NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!! We arrive. Greg and I actually had to share a bed for 4 months!! The shower was in the kitchen!!! This apartment was a trip, it was in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan (46th bet. 9th & 10th). I only had two-hundred dollars to my name. In New York City!!! We hit the ground running, I starting auditioning right away mostly for commercials. Within 3 weeks Greg almost booked a role on "All My Children", he got down to the last 5 guys who tested at the network. It was an interesting time and I wanna thank Lindsay Dickon & Shaunda Bradley for letting us stay with them and Dalbe Markman for setting it all up.

I made my decision to move today. I am really going to do it. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The longer I stay in Virginia Beach the more time I put between now and obtaining my goals. Again I get a nudge from talk radio. I was on my way back from a long trip to North Carolina for an audition and I was listening to an interview with Sandra Bullock. Sandra was talking about her journey and how things had worked for her and she said "..........and then I moved to New York." Right at that point I answered the radio and said "I'm moving too!!!" I got home that night and called Greg and he was thinking the same thing. The big question was how we would make this happen. We had a mutual friend, Dalbe Markman, who had friends in New York who were willing to let two strangers come to stay with them. I put in my two weeks notice at both of my jobs. That night I lay not able to believe what I had just done. I guess I had to move now.

In early January Greg and I made the trip up to NYC. We didn't really know what to expect, we just knew that someone in New York was interested in us. We both did monologues and they were pretty bad, but she wanted to sign us anyway. I guess she saw potential in us, she gave both of us contracts and we were on our way back home to Virginia Beach. We were so excited that we don't even remember the trip back home. We really felt as though we were on our way and we were!! The kicker was that she wanted us to move to New York within 2 weeks. What!!! We knew we couldn't get there that soon, but we were working on it. In the couple of months that followed we both got a few calls for auditions in New York. It was a taste of things to come.

We were making plans to either move to LA or NYC. Mind you I was completely broke. I had no idea how this was really going to happen, yet I knew it "had" to happen. Anyway, we started doing mailings to New York and Los Angeles. I remember getting a call from a commercial agent in LA; it was Doug Murphy @ Media Artists Group. Greg got a call from a manager in New York; she wanted him to come to New York for an interview right after Christmas. I was much more familiar with NYC than he was so he wanted me to go with him. I couldn't afford to go unless I was going to get seen as well. So I called her up and she was cool with me coming up to interview. I had just booked my 2nd national commercial; it was for "Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service".