Some Things I've Been Excited About Lately...

1. The second season start of Mad Men. Loved the first season, and I'm hoping they can maintain the high level of writing and acting they achieved coming out of the gate last year.

2. The Dark Knight (I keep wanting to call it The Dark Knight Returns, like the Frank Miller graphic novel. Which I'd love to see as a movie, by the way). And of course, like pretty much everyone else who's seen the movie, I was particularly taken with Heath Ledger's amazing work as "The Joker"; Going in, I was prepared, because of all the hype, to be underwhelmed, but now I'm on board in hoping he'll get a posthumous Oscar nod for his work. Cause it's just that good.

3. Dexter. I'm coming pretty late to the Dexter party - A couple weeks back, after sampling an episode on the Showtime website, I bought the first season box set, and am in the process of buying season 2 off ITunes as I write this.

4. Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Again, I'm late to the party, but I just saw this at a friend's house over the weekend, and thought it was great fun (Since watching it over the weekend, I've watched it again at Hulu. The whole thing reminds that I really want to work for Joss Whedon at some point - The sooner the better).

5. So You Think You Can Dance. While I think I've voted exactly once since the show began, this is my dance competition show of choice (Sorry Dancing With The Stars). Great dancing, pretty girls, and Cat Deeley, perhaps the best host ever - What more do you want? Take away Mary Whats-Her-Name's trademark screeching, and it's maybe the most purely entertaining thing I'm currently watching on tv.

Thanks For Dropping By

I wanted to take a moment and say "Thanks!" to the people who've checked out this blog.

I'm especially appreciative of those of you who've helped a struggling actor out by clicking on my unobtrusive little ad, since I'd very much like blogging and acting, in some combination, to pay the bills in the future.

(As of today, I've made $3.07, which is $3.07 more than I've ever made from writing before. So I guess I can now say, for whatever it's worth, that I'm a "professional blogger".)

At this early stage of the game, I'm still thinking about exactly what I want this blog to be.

I imagine, to a certain extent, you'll tell me what you want this blog to be (BTW, comments are appreciated and encouraged. I'd enjoy knowing who's out there, or for that matter, knowing if anyone's out there).

But till then, I'm basically envisioning entries about my day-to-day life as an actor out here in Hollywood, interspersed with entries on acting and acting-related subjects in general.

I hope what I write will be of interest to a general audience. But I also hope I can offer helpful info to my fellow actors starting out in the business - I'm by no means an "expert" in any aspect of show business, but if you're just starting out, I might be able to help you avoid a pitfall or two.

So thanks again for stopping by. I hope you'll stay awhile.

If you do, I promise to try, best I'm able, to make it worth your time and effort.

Auditions And Workshops

Since my last entry, I've had another commercial audition.

Considering how slow it's been so far this year, having three commercial auditions and a callback in the past two weeks has me almost doing a happy little jig (Though I won't actually do "a happy little jig" till I actually book something).

The latest audition, this past Thursday, was for Marshalls, for the role of "Blue Collar Guy".

Like with Campbells, there wasn't much to it - I had to inspect and fold a pair of jeans (After I did a take, the camera guy had me do another, directing me to "not care so much") - which basically means it's going to come down to a "look". Which, as I think I've suggested before, is a lot of what commercials are all about.

I think callbacks are scheduled for this coming Thursday, so cross your fingers.

Interesting note (Interesting to me, anyway): The audition was for Ross Lacey at the Casting Studios on LaBrea (I like having auditions there cause it's an easy bike ride from my apartment in K-town). And who should I see when I went upstairs but 80's porn star Ginger Lynn (I think she goes by Ginger Lynn-Allen now), sitting by herself on one of the benches in the large waiting area.

I thought about saying something - but what? "Thanks for all the orgasms"? - but contented myself with a simple "How's it goin'?" and then left her be (I never saw her filling out paperwork or being called into one of the rooms - a number of auditions were going on that day - and it's hard to imagine your average advertiser overlooking her pornographic past, so I don't know what her story was. Maybe she'd just accompanied an actor friend there for "moral support". But anyway...).

It's another thing I like about what I'm doing - You never know who you might run into.

So beyond hoping for a callback, there's nothing currently on my acting dance-card in the coming week, beyond some casting workshops on Tuesday and Thursday.

And speaking of casting workshops...

In last week's Backstage West, there was a "Letter To The Editor" from Casting Director Billy DaMota, responding to a July 2nd article on casting workshops ("Worth The Price?") by Stacey Jackson.

Long story short, Mr DaMota is vehemently opposed to casting workshops, seeing them as clearly illegal activity - basically, paying potential employers for a job interview, which is illegal under California labor law (the word "bribery" comes up in his letter).

This strong opposition to casting workshops has apparently made Mr DaMota something of a pariah in the Los Angeles casting community, since it's a pretty major "second income" for a lot of CDs and their associates.

(I don't read Backstage on a regular basis, but I went online afterwards to read the original article, which was more a "how to benefit from casting workshops" piece than something addressing the "paying for access" controversy).

Personally, when I first came out to LA, I didn't do casting workshops for years - Partly because I didn't want to "pay for access" to casting people ("I came out to LA to make money acting, not to pay people to watch me act"), and partly because even if I'd been willing to "pay for access", I didn't have the money.

I don't have the time or inclination to hash over the debate in here (It's beyond the scope of one blog entry, in my opinion), but I have to say that I'm not unsympathetic to Mr DaMota's views.

But for about three years now, I've been going to workshops at the Actors Co-op Group in Studio City, and at this point in the game, I only wish I'd started doing workshops sooner.

You can debate the merits, the ethics, what-have-you, of casting workshops (Whether they're "educational" or whether they're "auditions for pay"), but in my personal experience, they've worked - my first theatrical auditions (And bookings) came directly from seeing those casting people at workshops - and it's very hard for me to argue too strenuously against something that's worked.

Besides, as an actor, they're tax-deductible.

Losing The Battle, But Winning The War

(Just started this blog, and I'm already "falling behind". But anyway...)

The Campbells thing isn't gonna happen. Mildly disappointing - it's always nice to book things, after all - but only "mildly"; my bills are getting paid, I'm not going hungry, and it's not like it's going to be an especially funny or memorable spot, so in the great scheme of things, it's no big deal.

I was actually more disappointed over a commercial audition I had last Wednesday (For a mysterious spot identified only as "Project X", that was supposedly for some computer product, but with copy that had nothing to do with computers).

That audition took place at an agency I like - Kathi Knowles - where they typically give you a really good shot at doing your best. And there was copy, which I like, and it was a funny spot, which I also like, and I'd left pretty good about my chances. I'd gotten a chance to "act", and had felt good about what I'd done.

I didn't even get a callback.

Which just goes to show - As an actor, you have no idea how these things are going to go. You can't see yourself (Which is why "on camera" classes are a good idea), you don't know what they're looking for, and in all likelihood, you'll never know why you didn't book the gig.

So unless you totally screwed up - which most of the time, you probably didn't - you can't attach a lot of "meaning" to any one audition. You just have to, as much as humanly possible, do your best, then forget about it and move on.

That's something, seven years down the road, that I'm still "working on".

The way I've come to look at auditioning is that, realistically, I'm going to lose most of the time. That's just "the nature of the beast". So to spend my time being heartbroken every time they say "thanks, but no thanks" just doesn't make sense.

But by the same token, I have enough faith in my "look", and my "talent", to feel confident (on my good days) that I can win often enough to make headway in the business. And to, over time, have something resembling an honest-t0-God "career".

On Sunday, I had a special day-long casting workshop with Nan Dutton, the casting director for CSI Miami.

Nan is quite a character - big, loud, very profane, and very funny - and she was worth the money for the entertainment value alone. But looking past the bombast and the f-bombs, I think she imparted some pretty valuable information.

I haven't seen the show in years - shame on me, really; I should have made a point of catching an episode or two before she came in - but at the end of the day, I didn't feel like I'd made any big impression on her (I don't think I'm the type of actor they typically need for the show, and with the way she was name-dropping, I don't think she has any interest in "discovering" a middle aged character actor when she could be finding "the next Brad Pitt").

But like I said about commercial auditions - You can't really see how you're coming across, and you don't know what they want (Or what they may want in the future), so who knows?

Somewhere down the road, a part might come up on the show that I'm exactly right for. And the little "seed" I planted on Sunday will grow into the guest-star role that takes my career to the next level.

It could happen.

And that's one of the things that makes doing what I'm doing worth doing.

Maybe Not "Stunned", But Definitely "Surprised"

Well, shows what I know...

I have a callback for Campbells on Monday.

Who knows?

Maybe they liked the mustache.

Commercial Blues

Just got off the phone with my commercial agent...

I called him recently, after noticing the Cold Stone Creamery commercial I did last year was still running on their website; I wanted to know if that meant I was entitled to more $$$.

And it turns out, I am entitled to more $$$. The Internet contract expired on the 20th of last month (And I just checked - as of now, the website is still up, and the commercial is still on it).

Anyway, my agent called Cold Stone, and he called the ad agency - I believe it was Saatchi & Saatchi - and has gotten no response (He actually called them a couple of times).

He hasn't heard back from anyone, and told me they clearly plan to do nothing about it, hoping it'll just go away.

So now the ball's in my court - While I'd like my agent to take this further, he's got 200 actors to deal with, so he's pretty much done what he's gonna do for his 10% - so I've downloaded the "claim inquiry" form from the SAG website, and me and SAG will be taking things from here.

(I'm not the happiest actor in the world as I write this - Why can't the people in power in these situations ever just do the right thing? - but this is the "business" part of "Show Business". They want to screw me, I don't want to be screwed, and this is why professional actors need a union.)

While we're on the subject of commercials...I had the Campbell's Soup audition yesterday.

It was nothing - I was basically supposed to act like I was making soup - and I left feeling vaguely depressed; as often as I tell myself not to look for acting satisfaction when doing commercials (Or commercial auditions), it's still tough sometimes to feel like it's basically a "face lottery", as I once heard an actor refer to the process, that has little or nothing to do with acting.

(Sometimes you go in for something that involves a little acting, something funny and fun, but more often than not, not.)

Anyway, I didn't leave with the sense that "I could book this". On the contrary - I'd be stunned if I booked it. To be honest, I don't even think I managed to look credible making soup.

(But don't get me wrong - I'd be "stunned" to get it, but in this particular scenario, I'm up for being "stunned".)

So anyway, I'm feeling a tad "bluish" right now.

But it'll pass.

Auditions Are Good

I have a commercial audition later today, for Campbells Soup (For the role of a chef).

It's at Danielle Eskinazi, a place that, happily, calls me in quite often.

It's also the place where we once had a mini dust-up over my being turned away at an audition (If you're new to "the biz" and reading this: If you ever go to an audition and are turned away, because of some miscommunication between the casting agency and your agent, don't say anything to the casting people, unless it's "sorry for the confusion...". Don't complain, don't explain, don't anything-they really don't like that. Just leave, call your agent, and let them sort things out. That's what your agent is for, after all).

All I need for today's audition is a white shirt and dark pants, which I have. But my white shirt has seen better days, so I'm going to buy a new one.

Shirt-buying is pretty much all the preparation there is to do; all I know of the commercial is what I just told you (That, and that if I book the spot, I'll be required to sip beef broth, which basically makes it "The Role I Was Born To Play" in "The Spot I Was Meant To Book").

For commercial auditions, you just have to go in, be up-beat, try to be "loose" - since you don't know what's going to be required of you - and have fun.

But now it's off to the shirt-buying-place...

What Happens Now?

So the AFTRA contract has been ratified.

I've read that these things typically pass by 90% or better, so SAG's "Vote No" campaign apparently had some effect (The vote was 62% in favor).

Just not enough effect.

I somehow thought that meant SAG would be quickly agreeing to the deal on the table, but clearly, I don't know my SAG leadership very well - I read earlier this evening that they rejected the "final offer" from the AMPTP.

And the dance goes on.

(For the record: I've been in SAG for three years now, and am about as involved in my union as I am politically, which means that I vote...and that's about it. So I'm not likely to be a font of wisdom and clarity here, since I'm trying to figure things out myself.)

In a perfect world, I'd like to see SAG get everything it's asking for, because it's all pretty fair, reasonable stuff. But with the economy like it is, with people still smarting from the WGA strike earlier this year, and with the AFTRA membership ratifying their contract, it doesn' t look like its in the cards for SAG to get anything appreciably better than the other unions got.

That being the case, I would like to see the AMPTP offer some face-saving extra incentive for SAG to agree to the deal, so we can put this year's ugliness behind us.

And hopefully, SAG will start working immediately on how to not have this be the outcome the next time out.

Very Humble Beginnings

I am an actor.

A 47-year-old, "distinctive looking" character man.

While I wasn't always 47 years old, I've always been "distinctive looking", and I've always been a character, even before I knew what the word "character" meant. But it's only been in recent years - the past seven, to be precise - that I've committed to being a professional character.

Which brings us to the present day.

Now I live in a K-town single in LA, just me and Kipper (My 9 year old "Craigslist Cat"), as I try making an honest-to-God acting career happen in mid-life.

(Okay, maybe the far end of "mid-life", but why quibble over semantics?).

I've had a small measure of success - at this writing, and for about a month-and-a-half now, I'm doing what many actors can only dream of, and living off the proceeds from my work (Fortunately, beyond basic food and shelter - and cable and high-speed internet - my needs are few) - but in terms of "climbing the ladder to success"? Well, on a good day, I feel like I've finally got a foot on the first rung.

I have another blog I've kept for years, since before I came out to Hollywood, but recently, I've started wondering if a more specific blog, about my acting experiences, would be worth exploring.

I've also started wondering - I'm just full of "wonder" these days - whether I have it in me to be a "hyphenate" actor/writer.

I've "wondered" about it, I've "thought" about it, but as a writer friend told me recently, "Writers write".

And that made sense to me.

So here I am. Not "wondering", not "thinking", but writing about it. Seeing what I have to say, what stories there are to tell. Wondering, in the days and weeks to come, if I'll find an audience (Or if an audience will find me).

I'm starting this blog not knowing exactly what it'll be, but hoping it'll be interesting to find out.

Hopefully, you'll find it interesting too.