PerformerTrack.com Will Organize Your Acting Career

As I was riding in a train from Alexandria to Cairo, Egypt I sat contemplating the recession and how I was going to make a living on my return. "Create a web service for something I know a lot about!" I thought. So, an idea was born: a web-based program that would allow you to track auditions, marketing campaigns, and even your mileage to and from a location. I spent the next two hours making an extensive feature list and a basic development plan.

Having been down this road before, I wanted to make sure a good web address was available. So once I got to an internet cafe I checked for actorslog.com, unfortunately it was already taken. By performertrack.com - which I discovered is a service that does exactly what I planned to create.

So folks, it exists and it seems to do everything. So as bummed as I am that my money making scheme won't work out, I'm excited to have this tool available to me. It's definitely worth a look.

I'm not in love with the price (~$10/mo if you buy the 12-month subscription) as I'm tired of paying for subscriptions to various acting-related services. However, given level of organization and analysis it offers, it just might be worth it. This statement assumes you're a couple economic rungs above "starving artist" status.

Cairo, Egypt is Just Like Paris, France

Cairo is just like Paris except it's full of Egyptians. Otherwise, all differences are trivial at best.

This city has a surprisingly European feel to it. Old stone monuments, traffic circles, dilapidated filigreed buildings full of charming hotel suites

Of course all of this is based on my impressions of Europe from films and what Gabriel has told me of his travels. So I have no honest point of comparison. But I'll tell you one thing, Cairo is nothing like I expected.

It's cold in Egypt, I'm wearing a hooded sweatshirt to stay warm and protect myself from the rabid mosquito population. It makes perfect sense that Egypt should have seasons, but I often forget that postcard locales exist throughout the year not just the idyllic time when such photographs are taken. Oh, and the Great Pyramids, they aren't in the desert, they're in the middle of a suburb surrounded by parking lots. Folks, there's no hope of saving your neighborhood from Walmart if we can't even save the wonders of the world from suburban sprawl.

How to Save Gas While Dropping Off Headshots

Almost every agent and casting director will tell you that they don't want actors personally dropping headshots at their offices. Yet every actors' marketing session or career strategy session I have attended has suggested that mailing headshots alone won't work, you should drop them off in person so that you can see the office and get a little face time with an assistant. What I think this means is that it's okay to drop off headshots in person so long as you don't dress up like the UPS man and lock an agent in the closet until they agree to sign you.

While the thought of going out and seeing more of LA while furthering my career has always seemed laudible, I always found myself at home licking stamps: "sure you could drive to hell and back dropping off headshots, or you could mail them and save a ton of your time and gas."

Well, there's finally an answer to the age of old question: What's the most efficient route between home, the 22 agencies I've decided to target, and my place of work?

The TSP Solver, a great little google maps mashup. TSP is short for "Travelling Sales Person" a title that a lot of actors can identify with. It allows you to enter up to 24 addresses, press a button, and get a turn by turn route between your destinations. The great part is, it selects the most effecient route between those points, saving you both time and money. Another great feature is that you can choose between home->destination (on your way to work), or roundtrip (on your lunch break) routing.

Thanks go to Thrillist.com for the heads up on this useful tool.

I Miss Home

I recently used timeanddate.com to do a little calculation, the intent was simple enough: how long have I been away from home?

From and including: Friday, September 5, 2008
To, but not including : Friday, January 16, 2009

It is 133 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 4 months, 11 days excluding the end date

It's a long time to be away from home, friends, and family. To put it in perspective, a typical big-budget hollywood film shoot is 3 months, and 6 months is standard for a hollywood action project. I have no idea how those actors on the Lord of the Rings managed to be away from home for 3 years.

It looks like we've got about 3 weeks left. Wish me luck!

Donovan and the Mysterious Rocks

Okay folks, the first legit info on my around the world film project is eeking it's way onto the Internet. Gabriel just launched the promo website for "Donovan and the Mysterious Rocks". That's the working title and we'd love some suggestions for a better one. Feel free to leave a comment.

Things you'll find on the website:

• Plot summary
• Character Gallery
  
• Filmaker/Performer Biographies
• Production Stills
• And more to come...
  

The more I work on this project, and the further along in the series we get the more I'm loving it. It has elements from my favorite films and genres, it's playful, and I think entertaining. I can't wait for you to see it. It's going to rock your world (pun not intended, but enjoyed once found).

Happy Holidays

I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays! I'm currently in Goa, India surrounded by sand, surf, sun, and way too many raver hippies.

From Drop Box

Guaranteed Ways to Get in Shape

So after weeks of reduced portions and 10 days in the freezing cold of Tibetan Tagong, China I'm back down to my fighting weight. I've got some visible ab definition, and my man-boobies are a thing of dark and soon to be repressed history. I've got a pretty fast metabolism and youth on my side so for me to lose weight is certainly not as tough as it is for some people - howevever, it's still work. Here are some things that have helped me.

1. Public Nudity: I'm filming a nude scene (no floppy bits visible) in India. This means that that whenever someone get's curious and types "Donovan Keith Nude" into google, they'll get a still-frame from the movie of me in the buff. If I'm going to be haunted by this scene for years to come, I might as well look good. I've used the threat of public nudity in the past to great effect as well, I put on 25lbs of muscle over a period of 6months because I knew I would be scrutinized by every gay man in the Castro when I performed in "Take Me Out". Take Me Out is a play about baseball - but for most audience members it's a play about a shower scene. If public nudity doesn't scare you, then maybe you don't need to get in better shape - you seem to think you're just fine the way you are.


2. Meaningful Goal: "Lose 10 lbs" is not a meaningul goal. 10 lbs is just an abstract number, and you could lose more muscle than fat making your situation worse than it already is. Try these goals on for size "I want to see my abdominal muscles before I'm videotaped with my shirt off." or "I want to lose 2 inches off my waist so that I can fit comfortably in my pants and I don't have to buy an entire new wardrobe, or take my box of fat pants out of storage - they're all pleated khakis."


3. Ambitious, but Realistic Deadline: If your goal is to simply get in better shape, it'll never happen. It's like a teacher assigning a paper but saying you can turn it in whenever you like. The last quarter of your Senior year that paper still won't be done and you'll be missing the credits needed for graduation. So give yourself a date to look foward to, for me that's Dec 18th when we land in India. Early in the trip I was drinking nightly and eating all I wanted, but as the 18th started approaching I actually got my act together. So another thing is to set smaller deadlines that are coming up fairly soon - if a deadline is too far away it's almost worse than not having one.


4. Accountability: If we're the only people we will disappoint with our actions or lack of actions - more times than not we'll find ourselves disappointed. Why? Well because in the grand scheme of things, we don't matter that much. But if your kids are going to cry themselves to sleep unless you go out and buy their Christmas presents, then you'll buy their Christmas presents I guarantee it. I've got pretty good accountability with this project in the form of Public Nudity, I've also got this blog, and a number of people in my life who I've told what my goals are.


5. A Buddy: I was a vegetarian for 2 years along with my father. Myself because I was headed to college and it seemed like the cool ethical thing to do. My dad for health reasons. but really, we did it for each other. The first week we might have done for ourselves, but anything past that point we did because we didn't want to disappoint each other. My sister and I once ran a half-marathon in SF. We both wanted to quit after 5 miles. But we never told each other. We kept running because we thought the other wanted to, and we ran at a much faster pace than either of us would have run at our own. So when it came time to pick my buddies for this project, I picked my father for weight loss, and I signed up for a half marathon with my sister. Seriously - find someone who will motivate you and whom you can help motivate and there's no end to what can be accomplished.

My friend Ilana Turner from Richard Seyd's Acting Class recently started on a weight loss plan of her own. She's using a tool called Flaab.com which is absolutely brilliant. It integrates just about everything I've talked about above in a very simple structure:

If you don't meet your weight loss goal by the time that you specify a significant sum of your money will be given to the person, organization, or thing you hate most in this world. For Ilana it's the girl who insulted her for being fat in middle school. For you it might be Kill the Whales or the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. If you put $500 on the table saying you will lose the weight by Feb 1 or the Puppy Killers Association of America will get the money, I guarantee you'll work harder than if you just make it one of your new year's resolutions.

Seriously, flaab.com is a brilliant concept and worth a look.