Audition: “e-bay” @ Shane Casting. This one goes well. As I was leaving, I thought how amazing it is that I even got an appointment for this commercial. There was 6 men of virtually all types in my group. I’m sure I know 100+ men that were right for it, but not everyone will get an appointment.

I look at it this way:

I go from one of the 10,000’s of men that are right for it
To fewer that have representation
To even fewer who are actually submitted by agents
To even fewer that have agents whose submissions get looked at
To WAY fewer who get appointments, maybe 100-200 I’d think.

To all of that I say “wow”. I am very fortunate. Thank you KSA!

Audition: “TBS Promo” @ Beth Holmes Casting. It goes well, simply and easy.

Audition/Print go-see: “Adidas” @ Vicki Goggin Casting. WHAT!? This is like the fourth print go-see I’ve had this year. I’m actually getting less surprised when I get calls from the print department. Thank you Jenny & Rose! I even finished those drop-offs from yesterday.

GASSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh! Many are saying to boycott Exxon. I’m not sure what it’s all about, but I’m jumping on the bandwagon. BOYCOTT EXXON!! BOYCOTT EXXON!! I’m sure there are many others that are laughing all the way to the bank too.

I did drops all day today and I am exhausted. I didn’t even get them all done, I’ll finish tomorrow……I guess.

Audition: “CitiBank” @ Joe Blake Casting. This one was mostly improv and it was a blast. I was paired up with Wayne Wilderson, who is also a KSA commercial client who I see him on TV waaaay more than me. We had a great time. Hopefully, we’ll both get called back.

Audition: “That 70’s Show” @ G. Charles Wright Casting. I really wanna get on this show! I’ve auditioned for it a couple of times now and hopefully I’ll score one of these days. I felt great about the audition, so we’ll see.

After I left I went to do drop-offs at some of the other offices at CBS Radford and ran into Craig Welzbacher. Craig is the one who let me in on his callback for the “Honda” commercial 3 years ago. We both booked and got to go to Tokyo, Japan for additional spots. He’s a great actor and a great guy.

Then I went over to the “Will & Grace” casting office where another friend was auditioning. I dropped an updated photo and resume. They are currently casting 4 shows.

This is where something really, really cool happened. I was looking for Jeff Greenberg’s office, which I believe has moved, and spotted David Kohan. David, along with Max Mutchnick created smash hit “Will & Grace” and I worked for them on “Good Morning, Miami”. We chatted for a bit, he was testing out a new road racing bike. He asked what I was up to and said “when something comes up, we’ll get you right back in there”. That was cool, they are doing “W&G”, “Twins” and “Four Kings”. I won’t wait by the phone, but hopefully it’ll turn into something in the future. I just like having as many possibilities as I can out in the universe.

Reader: “Dreamgirls” @ Debra Zane Casting. I just have one question. How in the heck did I get so lucky? Today I had Tisha Campbell and Raven sing to me. I mean SING to me. Let me tell you, those women got skills! It was unbelievable, I walk in the door and 2 seconds later Tisha is right front of me spilling her heart out in song. It’s painfully obvious why these women are stars…there is no question about it. Also, they are both very, very nice and personable.

Go-See: "Verizon" @ Brigid McBride Casting. Another print go-see?! Yeah! This is the third print go-see this year. I hope I can get another avail that would eventually lead to a booking.

YES! Back in the saddle as a reader for "Dreamgirls" @ Debra Zane Casting. As I've said before - simply amazing. It's such a great thing to see the other side of the business in such a high profile office.

Today, I was treated to the most amazing singers - and they “was all up in my grill” singing to directly ME!! It was like a dream come true. One of the songs was Jennifer Holidays' version of "And I'm Telling You". It was crazy. After the first actress/singer performed, I had goose bumps. They even had a pianist. It was completely surreal. Fortunately, for everyone, I wasn't required to sing. The other scenes had dialogue so I got to work too..

As I've said before, being a reader is an incredibly insightful way to learn about the casting process. I got a chance to see and hear some really cool things; I’ll wait to see the final product on the big screen. Ooops, I forgot, I myself auditioned for it several weeks ago!! Maybe I’ll be in it too! I probably would have heard by now. Well, who knows, it doesn’t start shooting until January.

Audition: "Sprint" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This goes well. My callback ratio isn't the greatest at this office. Hopefully that will change; at any rate, I had a great time.

Tonight I attended, what was supposed to be, a SAG Presidential Debate Meeting. The only problem is that the opposing side chose not to participate. I usually attend a couple of meetings a year and more often than not I leave with not such a great feeling. To be honest, I sometimes wonder exactly what side the higher-ups of the Guild are on. I don't pretend to know the real in and outs of all the contracts, but some things just seem weird. I could never understand why "we" hired Bob Pisano, the former the CEO that recently resigned. I mean, he was on the board of directors of Net Flix the whole time. I don't blame him for not giving up his seat on the board, I’m sure he was making a lot of money but I don't understand why SAG hired him. I believe it was pretty obvious what side he was on...and it wasn't ours. I don't know, it just seems that SAG, in so many ways, is playing catch up while the producers watch us fight.

If you, like me, used to not too much attention to the Guild stuff that comes in the mail I beg of you to check it out. We need guidance and soon. We have to have more informed voters so we can all earn a living in this crazy business. As I wait for my residuals for “The Terminal” it pains me to know how little of the pie we get while the studios get so, so much. On the surface, it seems to me, that if we actors were aligned with the directors and writers we could get our fair share.

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This is an email I received as an example during a recent negotiation. It shows how things can be:

Thank you SOOO much for your recent email. I have tried till I'm blue in the face to explain what happened to me on the movie Seabiscuit, which you referenced in your email? [Note: we pointed out that the Writer and director of "Seabiscuit" each made $650,000 from DVD sales.]

Please feel free to share this information in ANY of your materials as it will further breakdown HOW LITTLE will show up in the actors' pockets and how MILLIONS of dollars will be lost in the future.

A few key points on "Seabiscuit" and another movie I worked on, "Catch Me If You Can".
Seabiscuit - pay rate for me: 1 day, Scale plus 10%. "Take it or leave it." Sound familiar? I took it. THINKING, great book, big movie, big budget, RESIDUALS - WRONG!!!!

The movie grossed over 200 million at the box office, then went on to become the #20 Top Selling DVD of ALL TIME at 6.6 MILLION UNITS. But I had to split the 12 CENTS that actors got for each of those 6.6 MILLION UNITS with 90 other speaking roles!

Net pay for me for one day: $538.00
Residuals: $458.00 - And that's for EVERYTHING - DVD, Cable, Pay TV.

Films of this size are skipping cable and syndication and cutting right to cheap, mass-produced DVD's which offer PURE PROFIT.

Now I will use Catch Me If You Can as my other example:
2 days at $800 (my quote at the time - you'll see why fighting for your quote is worth the risk of losing the job.) [Note: this is also a good example of why the proposed 3% increase in minimums is meaningless.]

My residuals for Catch Me If You Can: $5,200. Almost 3 times my initial salary. Same 200 Million at the box office - BUT - not anywhere near the DVD sales of Seabiscuit. BUT - A LOT of HBO, Cable and Pay-Per-View.

The DVD issue is worth sending these guys back to the table. Any penny above what we have now is worth MILLIONS in the long run. The STARS have to come out on this since they have even more to lose than we do. They came out late in the Commercial Strike - I say - bring them out now.

I will send your email to all my friends with that thought in mind that ANYTHING we get above NOTHING now is worth the good fight. WE MUST NOT be fed this b.s. from up top. They misjudged us when they tried to sell us on the merger and on the dues raise. I think they're doing that here, too.

Yours in Brotherhood,

[Name deleted at writer's request.]

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Is that a wake up call or what? Arm yourself with knowledge and then vote!!

Audition: “Diet Pepsi” @ TLC/Loree Booth Casting. YES!! I’m assuming this is another Joe Pytka-directed spot. I recently did the “IBM” spot for him. Cool.

Word on the street has it that the role of the young husband is being recast on the ABC Comedy “Hot Properties”. I worked on the pilot and in the same scene with the husband. So, of course, I’m wondering that when they recast it are they going to re-shoot the scene……and are they going to hire me again. I know they replaced one of the four female leads so I’m wondering if they are just going to re-shoot the whole pilot.

Anyway, I talked to the casting associate today and she said they only re-shot the females leads scenes. So I guess I’m safe.

Drops, drops and more drops. Other than that it’s been cricket sounds round these parts as far as appointments. That’s cool, I had a busy week last week and was hoping to book something. I didn’t……….yet. All of the auditions went well and I am very happy about that. I’ll get something else soon.

I talked to the ad agency for the “IBM” spot today to see when it might start running. She said it was going to through market testing at the moment and they should know next week and she’ll call me then. I hope it test well!

Audition: “Bailey’s Irish Crème” @ Melissa Martin Casting. It goes well and I think I’m really right for it, so we’ll see.

Audition/Producers “My Name is Earl” @ Dava Waite Casting. It’s an NBC comedy starring Jason Lee & Jamie Pressly. Dava has called me in twice before, for "Yes, Dear" & "Hot Properties" and I've scored both times. I'm ready to be 3 for 3.I was happy with how this one went, it was quick-fast in and out.

Audition: “Dreamgirls” @ Debra Zane Casting. This is the feature film starring Beyonce Knowles, Usher Raymond, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. Debra and casting associate, Tannis Vallely, have been very loyal supporters of my career. It’s funny that I got an appointment for this because just last week I had to fight the urge to drop another photo to their office for a new Steven Soderbergh project that I think they are casting. Steven cast me in “Ocean’s Twelve”, but the role was cut before I even film it. I don’t know if I’m right for anything in the project, but I’ll try and try again.

Their office, just down the street from my apartment, is a film casting gold mine. I do drops there on a regular basis. As individuals, we sometimes think the casting community forgets about us and in many cases, it’s true. They have so many others from which to choose. I’m trying my best to prevent them from forgetting about me; without being a nuisance. When this call came from my agent I said “YES!!”

I gotta tell ya, getting to read @ Debra Zane's office is a pure treat. It's more like a rehearsal or even shooting. Tannis runs the camera, they put a wireless microphone on you, they have studio lights and Debra is actually in the scene with you!! I mean, as an actor, you kinda have to switch gears because it's odd to get that much attention during an audition. Oh yeah, they schedule actors in 20-30 minute time slots. WHAT? Yeah, so you rarely even see another actor while you're there. These people really want to help you be the absolute best you can be.

When I arrived I had 5-7 minutes to warm it up in the space where I would be reading. They gladly answered my questions and we put it on tape. In the end I was happy and they seemed happy so we'll see what happens.

Audition: “Gilmore Girls” @ JaM Casting. I actually booked a role on this show back in September of 2002, but I wasn’t able to do it because I was already booked on “Good Morning, Miami”. So here is another shot for me. It’s for two episodes.

I felt really good about the read; at minimum I think they’ll bring me back if I don’t book this time. The only thing I didn’t like was that my character yelled in the scene; he was breaking up a fight. I was pretty loud in the room, but I don’t think it was a deal breaker.

Wow another audition?! Almost. Before I even got this message for the appointment I got the message that it had been cancelled. It was for "Strong Medicine" and Lori Sugar Casting, but the role was written out of the episode. They said they'll get me in for something else soon. Cool, at least I'm on the radar. I've auditioned and gone to producers for the show 3 different times, but the last time was like 3 years ago. I will keep trying.

Callback: "Cheese Nips" @ Mimi Webb-Miller Casting. This was from last week; the same office where I got into the little spat with the session runner. She was there today and approached her, tapped her on the shoulder and told her "that I was on my behavior today". She just laughed; I told her that I felt horrible about it and even wrote about it in my journal. She said she told her boyfriend. We are fast friends now; things usually work out. Anyway, this callback went really well. Time will tell how it really went.

Tonight I attended the wrap party for the film on “Easier, Softer Way”. It was a great time to say the least. It was held at Mekhi’s crib. Can I just say “Oh sh*t!”? His home is unbelievable; I just shook my head……did I say his home is unbelievable? What a great guy he is to open up his residence to hundreds of people.

It was cool because I got to see many of the actors I was a reader for during the auditions. I didn’t know who landed a lot of the roles until I saw them at the party and on the gag reel. Ya know, I have a friend who works at one of the Hollywood Hotspots on the Sunset strip and he often invites me to stop by there for private parties and such, but I never go because………I don’t know, it just seems weird for me to show up with no connection to the event. Plus, I’m not any good in the network or schmooze department so I think I would just be uncomfortable. This was different; I had a real reason to be there and felt like part of the group. I had never been to a wrap party of this magnitude that I had direct connection to. I could get used to that.

One of the first people I saw when my guest and I arrived was the Big “O”. No, not Oprah….Omarosa from “The Apprentice” fame. Admittedly, I was never a big fan of Omarosa, but I figured I would give her a chance to prove me wrong. She was shooting pool with another woman that I later found out was her mother, “Mamarosa”.

I had seen and heard about her beefs with Janice Dickinson on her new show. So I decided to ask her about it. The first thing she said to me was “Do you want to be next to get beat on the pool table?” I just laughed and said, “no, I’m not too much of a pool shark these days”. So we got to talking about her situation with Janice and I have to say she was really cool; at least with me. She’s no dummy; she’s working it and extending her 15 minutes of fame into who knows what. So I must say that after talking with “Lady O” my opinion changed….for the better. I mean, I don’t know that we’d, like hang out, but she definitely wasn’t the monster she’s portrayed to be...at least not then. Oh yeah, she’s very, very “womanly” with many curves in the right places.

Later in the evening, I was able to speak at length with some people involved in the production of the film. I can tell you that as actors “we don’t know the half” of how some of these casting decision are made. There are so many variables that have nothing to do with the audition. Sometimes it works in your favor and other times…..well there are too many other times!!

While conversing with one of writers and leads in the film, Ronnie Warner, I found out a bit of the journey of the script. He shared with me how things came together for the film and that you just have to stay dedicated to “your” dream because other people will come and go throughout the process. I asked him if this was his first project that he’s written and gotten produced. What he responded to me with just confirmed my long-time belief of “anything can happen if you ‘truly’ believe it can happen”. He said “I ain’t never been on no movie set before this one”. Here he is on his first movie set and he is one of the stars of a film to be distributed by Sony. He also said that “he was naïve enough to believe that it could actually happen”. I say, congratulations Ronnie Warner for keeping your dream alive.

Today is my 7 year anniversary of moving to Los Angeles. I have survived……and cried(I miss my mom)…..and laughed………and thrived………

Whew!! Another day in the hot seat!! YEAH! I’m just trying to get it done, ya know, make it happen. I‘ve got to get these photos out there and KEEP ‘em out there. That is the key, staying power.

This new TV season is young and I’m trying to set myself up to have a nice, successful rest of the year. I would also like to eventually buy some property; that would make it easier for me to want to stay in Los Angeles. Not that I am trying to leave; it would just make it easier to really want to stay. I just my piece of the rock ya know.

I’ve been on the phone with my youngest brother Todd a lot lately. I mean we normally talk numerous times a day anyway, courtesy of Sprint free PCS to PCS. Matter of fact, often times I stay up until 3:30 am, 6:30 am for him on the East coast and we talk on his way to work and then I go to bed. We normally talk about business ventures back in Virginia Beach, but now it’s in a higher gear. I believe some things are ready to happen that will effect our family for years to come.

I connect really, really well with Todd; he understands me and he understands the way I think. He is definitely my ace. I can be kinda difficult sometimes because I am so curious about life and most people don’t have the patience to hear me rant. Not rant in the complaining sense; I just like to speculate about things……everything. I don’t blame them because I can go on and on……and on………and so on. I just love learning and listening…but I hate being misunderstood.

I’m really excited about my future, in and out of Hollywood. Then, another side of me says, “Truth be told; if I didn’t feel I was in such a wonderful position in my quest I don’t know that I’d stay in Los Angeles long term”. That may sound funny, but there are so many other things I‘d like to do in addition to what I’m already doing. The notion of going back to Virginia Beach to be with my family crosses my mind every week if not several times a week. Hmmm……maybe I’d feel different if I had my own family here in Los Angeles………maybe not. I’d have to get married first and that doesn’t seem to be in my immediate future. I couldn’t imagine raising a child here, many people do it successfully.

I feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. I have a great team doing their part. Thank you Alicia, Brooke & Linda, Erin, Jeralyn, Kelley & Gordon, Cynthia & Pammela, Josh & David, Tracy & Kelly, Jenny & Rose, Michael, Steven, Julia, Hesper, JP @ Actorsite and many other special people at my agencies and various other places over the years. It’s great to work with, not only capable people, but nice, good hearted people too. I can’t believe it’s been 7 years already.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs; we’ve had a thriving, successful family business for over 25 years back in Virginia Beach. That is where the core of my business sense comes from. Even though I didn’t and still don’t see eye-to-eye with my father I learned a lot just because I was there working everyday.

As I was driving today to my first drop-off I thought about the fact that I am running my own business. I haven’t punched a clock in almost 4 ½ years. It hasn’t necessarily been easy. Actually, some of it has been unbelievably difficult and other parts of it have surreal, but I am still here doing my best to make it work.

I don’t know, today it just hit me kinda different and it really pumped me up and I’m usually pretty pumped up as it is. It feels great to be going after my future vs. just waiting to see what happens.

Audition: “Cheese Nips” @ Mimi Webb-Miller Casting. I guess I didn’t ruin my chances at this office for getting into a little “discussion” with the session runner last week. They called me in again. I think this one went pretty well; yeah it did!! Hopefully, they’ll call me back.

Audition: Short film “Robbers” @ AFI. It’s, if I understand correctly, a spoof on “Cops” called “Robbers” with a reality element to it. I felt that the audition went well.

Today is my day of work on “Easier, Softer Way”. Since I had a 12:30pm call I was able to get some drop-offs done in the morning. The first thing I notice after arriving on set was Danny Masterson’s name on the call sheet. All along I thought that Scott Grimes was playing one of the leads. Well I guess things change don’t they?

After checking in with the appropriate people and going through make-up and wardrobe I decide to go to the set and check out what they were shooting during the “hurry-up and wait” period. I catch up with Mekhi and Ronnie and say my hello’s and am meet Mekhi’s little brother; he’s a cool young cat who is looking to make moves himself.

The first AD on the shoot is Babu Subrumaniam; Babu directed the episode of “ER” that I worked on a couple of years ago. Matter of fact many of the crew are from “ER”. Mekhi is an actor’s director; he knows how to communicate to actors. He knows what he wants, is direct, but willing to listen. He also is the first to let you know when he likes something: you’ll see that big smile or hear him laughing out loud.

The scene was pretty quick for me; I was just in the very beginning of a larger set-up. All-in-all, it feels great to see what he’s doing and watch his career develop. I went to one of the open calls for “Clockers” back in 1993 in Philadelphia. Mekhi was booked for that film from an open call in New York. It didn’t matter how wrong I was for that character, I went anyway. Of course I had never heard of him because it was his first job. I was thrilled to get to work with him in 1997 in the film “Hell’s Kitchen”, again in 2003 on “ER” and now to be directed by him in “Easier, Softer Way”.

After I wrapped for the day I thanked Mekhi and said to call me if he ever needs a reader; he responded by saying he’ll call when needs another actor. I probably sounded like I was selling myself short, ooops. Anyway, he is a very down to earth, cool dude.

I spend an insane amount of time in my car doing drop-offs and stuff like that. I even drove out to Chatsworth today, Saturday, to drop-off for FOX drama “24” (nobody was there, I threw it over the fence to the security booth). I was in the area and didn’t wanna make another trip out there.

For the most part, I listen to AM talk radio. Whatever I can find, right wing, left wing, Dr. Laura, financial, real estate, computer, auto shows with a little Howard Stern and Tom Leykus thrown in for laughs….well the right/left wing shows make me laugh too…..and wanna cry sometimes too. I don’t listen to music that often, although I LOVE music but the radio doesn’t really do it for me and since some jerk stole my CD player a couple months ago I’m kinda stuck. So what happens is that I start feigning for some music in my car. Maybe I should put my old CD player from my old car back in…..

Actually, that was all prelude to saying that the new Mariah Carey CD “The Emancipation of Mimi” is really, really hot. Yup, I’ve been a Mariah Carey fan since 1990. I’m not like a fanatic or nothing like that. I don't follow her tour or anything like that, but I wouldn't mind seeing her live. I mean, I don’t know who “Mimi” is; I thought her name was Mariah. Maybe it’s like Puffy/P-Diddy or Prince and that weird sign thingy. Anyway, Mariah's CD is hot and worth checking out.

Audition/Producers “Just Legal” @ UDK Casting. Imagine that!! I was just telling a friend that I haven’t had an audition at UDK for three years. THREE YEARS!!! I still drop-off there, but I rarely get in. Matter of fact, I dropped there two days ago, but for a different project. I think the last time I auditioned there was when I worked on “CSI”.

Anyway, the read went well and it was great to see casting director Robert Ulrich whom I know through my friend William Gregory Lee. Maybe this will help me get back on the map at this office. No matter what, I will keep dropping off my photos.

After doing some early drops this morning I was looking forward to going home to chill, but my commercial agent called with an appointment for this afternoon. It was straight to callbacks for a “FedEx” national spot @ Mimi Webb-Miller Casting. YES!! This one goes well…sorta. I mean the read was good, but I had an issue with the session runner.

I like to think I’m a nice, understanding guy, but I don’t like to be disrespected for no reason. I could see that the young lady running the session was really busy so I tried to stay out of the way and have all my stuff ready. It just seemed like everything she said to me specifically was rude and nasty. Again, I understood that she was really busy. Well, the third time I’d had it and I told her that she was very rude to me numerous times for no reason. We kinda got into a bit and she apologized….I didn’t. I had no reason too.

I work as a session runner too and I know how busy it can get, but I do my best to treat people with respect. Maybe she was doing her best, I don’t know. Sometimes, people just need a reality check and I think we both got one. After a while, I got her attention and sincerely apologized. I didn’t want her to think I was a prick that just didn’t care about her because I’m sure she’s a wonderful young lady. I told her I understood that she was under a bit of pressure and that I was sorry. She accepted and even gave me a big hug! That, in itself, made the whole thing worth it! I’m kidding. All in all it was good experience with a little bump in the road. We all make mistakes, the important thing is what we do about them. We both will be able to rest easy tonight because we did the right thing and said we were sorry.

No news on the print job for Tuesday or Wednesday. I guess I’m still on hold, at least I hope so.

Cool! I get my call time for Monday on “Easier, Softer Way”. We are shooting in downtown LA.