Prelude to a Big Break

What a day.  The move feels real.  I’ve engaged the acting industry and come out the other side.  All of a sudden.

Lots to talk about.  Let’s get going…

It’s not just the acting industry, it’s the entertainment industry.

Everything in Hollywood ebbs and flows because of the entertainment industry.  Accountants are accountants because Agency’s need their expenses tracked.  Ralph’s designs their pricing around the prototypical “starving artist”. Kinko’s is monopolized by people printing scripts.  Yesterday, there was a massive premiere 3 minutes from my apartment. It was a Tuesday.  Here’s my point:

Despite the fact I haven’t been auditioning, I’ve been making progress.  I’ve been contributing to the overall purpose behind me being here.  I’m trying to become a player in the entertainment industry.  If that statement was a pie chart, it would look like that chart up above.

At the moment, everything begins and ends with acting.  Methinks that chart will look a little different in six months.

Headshots.

Apparently, they matter.  I’ve had the same headshot since 2003.  This was never an active consideration for me, principally because I’ve never had any problem getting an audition.  Isn’t that what a headshot is for?

My manager and my agent would beg to differ.  They would rather I go to an audition without any pants on than go with my ‘03 headshot.  Okay.

Monday I met up with Shaun Benson.  Shaun and I share the same agent in Toronto.  After the experience I had with Shaun I’m going to turn headshots into a regular event.  It’s so easy.  You’ve got a terrible beard?  Do headshots. You’ve got the Don Draper look happening?  Do headshots.  You’re on the Sly Stallone Rocky IV diet?  Do headshots. Bank some options, is what I’m saying.  Here’s a link to the final 23 shots and here’s our choice:

Since we’re 8/10 of the way down the path towards self-adulation, allow me to say the following things:

1. That’s a terrible beard, folks.
2. My nose looks a little like the bottom half of a semicolon.
3. I’m never losing my hair.  Not ever.

Run, run, running.

There’s a select few runs that are especially painful.  The “post-marathon run” comes to mind first, though, to be fair, it’s a little more like having impotent quadriceps.  The “you’ve run too far” run is awful.  There will be chafing. Tuesday I did the “post bachelor party run”.  Sweet Georgia Brown, she’s a toughie.

The key to this particular run is simple: Run as far away from your place of residence as possible.  Bring water.  Do not bring cash, credit cards, debit cards or anything else that would pay for a taxi.  Start slowly.  When you start breaking into hives, don’t itch.

Retrospectively, I’m annoyed that I didn’t head east on Beverly Blvd.  That would have been hellacious.

The Audition.

I auditioned today for a pilot called (I’ll let you know soon).  The character had to throw down with a southern accent. Heavenly.  (I wrote about the lead up to this audition earlier.)

Here’s how 2006 Me would have written about his first audition in LA:

Bottom line, it was a good experience.  I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to in the room, but I’m setting myself up for good things in the coming weeks.

Yeah, that’s bullshit.

I’m in LA to succeed and that means walking away from each audition without a single pang of regret.  That’s what happened today.

Prior to the audition I met with Chad McCord.  Chad’s an acting coach that gets down to the basics of… wait for it… what gets an actor hired.  He doesn’t just talk about the beats as they relate to a scene.  Chad dissects the way you need to walk into the room.  What to say, how to act and what to wear.  This stuff matters.  Everything – from the moment you arrive to moment you leave – matters.  If you’re an actor in LA, go see Chad.  He turned me 180 degrees 90 minutes before I walked in the room.  He was bang on.

This was a pre-read for the producer / director session.  It could not have been more relaxed and collaborative. There wasn’t even a camera recording.  Just me and the casting director in a neat little studio doing the scenes together.  When we were done he sat me down and gave me extensive notes on how to approach the next round of auditions.  Yeah!!

You can either get in the audition room / boardroom / classroom / locker room / court room / operating room / stage / diamond / ice / court / hill / course and throw your balls out there, or you can find creative ways to justify mediocrity.

As I been firing up this post my agent in Toronto emailed me with a self-tape request and my agent here sent me word of another appointment for next Tuesday.

I’m going to make this happen.