My Own Speed Reel

I can have the prettiest headshots, the best training, and party with all the coolest people and still have it mean nothing when it comes time to get work. Why? Because how well you market and who you know only opens the door, it doesn't get you inside.

But almost no one, including casting directors and producers, can turn down something that's free. So, if you're an actor with no real credits to speak of, like me, the way that you get in the door is by working for "food and copy". This basically translates to a bagel, bottled water, and a copy of the film on DVD. I've been acting in a lot of student films recently, and I've been requesting that my directors give me my copy in MiniDV format so that I can edit my own reel.

The demo reel is becoming an industry standard. In particular the Speed Reel, a one minute distillation of an actor's best work on film, is the thing to have. For an example of a speed reel, you can check out my cold-reading buddy Carl Peterson's reel here: http://www.speedreels.com/talent/carlpetersen

My problem is that all of these MiniDV tapes are stacking up and I have no way of capturing the footage onto my computer. I need to get my hands on a MiniDV camera somehow. As a member of the proletariat, I'm really wishing that I was in control of the means of production right about now...

Protecting my Money from Myself.

Since my arrival, I've been dipping into savings on a monthly basis. On average, I've been taking $1k-$3k out each month. In part this has been due to move-in costs, classes, headshot reprinting, etc - but mostly it's been due to my own complacency.

Before the move, I had $17,232.43 in savings. Earlier today I had $12,474.50 in savings. That was until I took out another $2000 to make rent and pay my various bills.

Clearly this pattern of spending way more than I make is unhealthy and unsustainable. As a stop-gap measure, I've taken 8k of my remaining 10k and placed it in a 6-month CD through ING Direct. That means I can't touch the last of my savings for at least 6 months.

My goal: Change from a monthly loss to a monthly surplus.
How to get there:

1. Finish the application process at LA Unified (I just need an ID Photo) so that I can work as a substitute teacher.
2. Finish my current training project, and begin on the next immediately.
3. Take every paying gig I can get my hands on.
4. Prioritize my spending and make some cuts.

Realizing how poorly I've been handling my money is absolutely terrifying. Let's hope the fear can fuel my productivity.

Upcoming Commercial Agent Interview

A lot of working actors make the majority of their income by performing in television commercials. Most commercials are shot in a single day, but if an actor negotiates their contract well they are paid royalties based on where and how long a given commercial runs. A national commercial that runs on network television can bring in tens of thousands of dollars for an actor.

Getting a commercial agent is a very common first step towards a career in film and television. One of my goals for this year is to secure commercial representation. SAGE has been submitting me to various agents, and I just got a call today from a great agency that wants to interview me for placement in their commercial department. I'm excited about the interview, and am currently trying to work out how to best present myself.

I attended another Q&A at The Actor's Network tonight and I was able to glean the following list of agent-meeting turn-ons and turn-offs from the agent's perspective.

• Turn Ons
  
  • When an actor says "Let me show you what I can do," and then he/she performs a scene, monologue, or cold-reading.
    
  • When an actor is well-groomed.
    
  • When an actor is on-time and prepared.
    
• Turn Offs
  
  • When an actor says "I got the goods, I'm a killer actor."
    
  • Over-selling themselves.
    
  • Showing up late, unprepared, or looking nothing like your headshot.

Why Some Actor's Are Stiff As A Board

If you've ever watched a film and then found yourself jerked out of the world of the film by the crashing realization that a character switched which hand they were holding their coffee with in a microsecond, you have witnessed what is called a "continuity error". Films, and most good fiction, are constructions made mostly of lies in order to get at the truth. In film, actors perform the same actions repeatedly over a period of hours so that they can be photographed from different angles. These different shots are eventually edited into what appears to be a single continuous series of moments. For the editing process to work, the actor needs to perform their physical actions in exactly the same way, with the same timing.

Today, I was shooting another USC film school project (the director from a previous project, produced this one). In it, I played the more responsible of two good friends who are seeing each other for the first time in years. (For the sake of ease, I'll write in first person as the character) The scene takes place in my good friend's bedroom. I come in, kick his bed and wake him up. He then throws on his shirt, pants, tie, socks, and shoes. At one point, I hand him a sock and then he heads into the bathroom to take care of his morning routine.

I had my lines down pat, had done my homework regarding these characters and their relationships and felt connected with the given circumstances. However, I kept turning in what I felt were flat reads of the lines. It took me a little while, but I figured out why: I was so terrified of messing up the continuity of the scene, that I had made the conscious decision to move as little as possible. With my body locked down tighter than dick's hat band, it was no wonder that I didn't have great emotional access. It's an understandable fear, because if I made a spontaneous hand gesture in one shot, and forgot to include it in the next – I personally would be making the editor's job harder.

A film actor is responsible for knowing every single gesture, nod, and dart of the eye, before the camera rolls on the first shot. I'm still adapting to this style of working, but in short order I should be able to move from conscious incompetence to unconscious competence. Physical acting is one of my strengths, I can't wait to leverage that in my film acting.

I Believe the Children Are Our Future

While I certainly don't want "Another Actor in LA" to degenerate into another ham-sandwich blog, the following video was just too compelling not to post. My film and gender theory professor could certainly go to town with this one.
Laleesha and Maleesha fightin 4 a MAN!

Good News & Bad News - Feature Film Callbacks

I've been using the phrase "I've got good news and I've got bad news," a lot lately. Its typically in reference to an audition or a shoot conflicting with a commitment that I've made with a friend. But for now, I'll give you the run-down on the good news.

In the past week I've booked two USC student films and I was called-back to two different feature films (one shot on HD, the other 16mm).

The Roles:
Role 1*: An autistic kid. Wait, The Devil. Wait, God. This would be a totally fun role, and a good opportunity to show my range.
Role 2*: A 19-yr old computer geek who desperately wants to have sex with a 19-yr old gal that he met online. he eventually has sex with her and steals her heart, money, credit cards, and self-respect.
Both characters appear to be one thing and then get a fun twist towards the end of the script.

*Names are not included to protect the innocent.

The Auditions:
Role 1: The first audition went well, I focused on stealing lines (no looking at the script when I say my lines) and I was able to establish a good rapport with the casting table. They laughed and a had a good time.
Role 2: I found this role through LA casting. I submitted, and the producer contacted me via email and asked me to send in a video of myself pleading with the female character. Before I recorded the video, I attended an LA Casting mixer (I can't turn down free drinks and an opportunity to network). While I was there, the producer of the film picked me out of the crowd and said that he knew me by my headshot. It was both flattering and a scary reminder of just how accessible actors make themselves to the world (a pretty girl's headshot w/ her cell phone number on it is every drunken man's dream). I ended up chatting with him for the better part of the hour, and he encouraged me to go into directing… Anywhoo, after meeting him I felt encouraged, recorded the video and sent it in.

The Call-backs:
Role 1: I rehearsed the sides in my acting class. The first side (me as an autistic kid) went well, but the second side (me as the devil) was a little flat. However, the CD pointed out specific things that he liked before dismissing me, which was encouraging. I shifted travel plans in hopes of landing the part.
Role 2: The format of this audition was a dramatic improv. The director gave me a scenario and said "go", and then I did. Thankfully I'd been doing a lot of long-form dramatic improv in my acting class, so I was able to key into it all pretty quickly. As a finished, a celebratory mood flowed through the room. Before I left, the director and producer were saying things like "I think we've got a lead." "Did you see his eyes when she said… it was fantastic."

The Pudding:
The proof as they say, is in the pudding. It seems like today is a sad day for Bill Cosby .

Role 1: I never heard back about this project. People almost never tell you that you haven't been cast. It's a lot like breaking up with a person by withholding affection. Still, I feel like I established the beginnings of a relationship with the production crew, and I'm curious to see how the project turns out. It was a darned good script.
Role 2: I ended up emailing the producer that I'd met at the mixer asking him "When are you sending out info to those actors who have been called back?" That way he didn't have to outright reject me, he could just give me a date and not call. People don't like to feel cornered.

Useful Feedback
The producer went above and beyond the call of duty and was kind enough to call me directly. He explained that he and the director really enjoyed my audition, thought I was a good actor, and that he'd bring me in for the next project he was casting. He gave me a really specific note as well "The character is 19, and vulnerable. Now, I know that you can play vulnerable. But your eyes are very intense and have a lot of strength on camera. So we're going to go with someone who is actually 19." When I told my acting teacher this, and asked "So how do I go about getting dull cow eyes?" He replied "It's not about that. You can't change that. This town gets very confused by people that can't be easily fit into a box. You look like an ingénue but you are much older than your years. You just need to find that part."

Here's hoping I find that part.

“Oh, so you wait tables for a living?” - The Survival Job

Almost without fail, when someone asks what I do and I say "I'm an actor", I get one of two responses:

1. Oh really?! My cousin/uncle/brother/coworker is an actor too! Do you know ______?
   
2. Oh. So I guess that makes you a waiter, huh?
   

I don't tend to mind response number one. But response number two can become a little grating. It's usually said to get a laugh, but there is often a sense of condescension in the statement. But then again, maybe I felt it was condescending because I didn't have a proper response outside of "actually, I'm unemployed for the moment. But, I'm doing some freelance work when I can."

I've been dipping into savings each month that I've been down here to pay rent and my credit card bills (darn you frequent flyer mile incentives!). Knowing that I wasn't actually pulling my own weight, my sub-conscious sent me into a malaise in all aspects of my life outside of acting as a punishment. It's just taken me this long to get my procrastinating butt into gear.

Working as a Substitute Teacher
Today (10/16) I decided to set matters straight and drove down to the LA Unified School District central office. It's a 40 story high-rise in downtown LA and it makes my last district seem like some serious small fries by comparison. Despite being large enough that it could have been a bureaucratic nightmare, the employees were all chipper enough that it seemed to move pretty efficiently. However, I feel this has less to do with it actually running quickly and more to do with the Zen mentality about waiting that LA traffic has forced upon me.

As I sat down to wait for my number to be called, I overheard another applicant mention ACT (American Conservatory Theater in SF). When I piped up and said that I had attended ACT, I quickly discovered that 4 of the 7 people waiting to be called were actors. I guess substitute teaching is a pretty popular gig.

UPDATE (10/18): LA Unified IS a bureaucratic nightmare.

After my first trip on Monday, I began going down the checklist of what I needed to bring in to them after my initial interview.

I started by driving to the Hollywood Health Center, a small doctor's office that seems to specialize in physicals and TB tests for LA Unified employees. A visit to the doctor and one test ran me $90 without health insurance. Not terrible, but certainly not ideal. The following day I went to the Social Security Administration and got a replacement card.

For fear of subjecting you to the same boredom that was my experience, I will summarize. I went back to LA Unified. Four hours, four initials, and two official stamps later I was done. But I have to go back for further processing once my fingerprints prove me to be innocent.

Benefits of the Waiting Room

The best thing about waiting around and filling out redundant forms is getting to meet some interesting folks. Whilst waiting for a signature on one of my health forms, I met a gentleman who took issue with the Halloween decorations up on the receptionist's desk.

MAN: I'm surprised they can get away with having that religious holiday in here.
ME: I don't think of Halloween as being particularly religious at this point.
MAN: Oh it's religious alright. It's a holiday for devil-worshipers.
ME: I just think of it as an excuse to dress up.
MAN: And praise the devil… I heard that scientists hit salt water with sonic waves and it made sparks. They're saying that could make electricity for everyone.
(Donovan stares furiously at his book and listens to his iPod)