My New Year

Hello legions of fans!  My winter break was wonderful, I got to see all my family again which is always great.  It is definitely important as an actor here to have some sort of support network, and it was great to be back in that supportive environment.  And I got lots of great presents from my mom, which was awesome – DVDs, CDs, books, two calendars, some extra stuff, a nice coat, money.  Yep.  But I had to come back to Los Angeles eventually.  I only got to stay a couple weeks.  I was kind of dreading coming back, but now that I’m sort of back in the flow of things it’s alright.

In fact, lately it has been more than alright.  I signed up for improv classes at Acme theatre (where the one and only Joel McHale went), and they start on Saturday, so I am really looking forward to them.  They’re gonna be really fun.  Acme is a little comedy theatre in Hollywood – I haven’t actually been yet but I have driven by there.  My college classes start in February so I will be quite busy soon.

Yesterday I stood in line for like an hour or more at Central Casting and signed up for background casting.  It might give me a bit of extra money, which will help a lot as there are no effing jobs for me apparently – I have been on countless interviews.  But I digest.  I was talking to this funny lady there, who has been working background since 1996 and is a hair model.  She told me a lot about being an extra and how to behave on set and whatnot.  So I’m all signed up now and have been calling the lines (speaking of that, I’m gonna do that now).  There was a job I could have worked, Big Bang Theory, but the message box is full so I guess I won’t be able to do that…  It is for a roller skating scene, which would have been really fun.  And tonight I might be attending a free showing of Michael Cera’s new comedy at UCLA, and he’ll be speaking afterwards with the director… if there are tickets left, the line is reallly long, I just found out.  Ugh.  Maybe not.  There’s a two-dollar showing of The Informant! (Joel McHale again) tomorrow at UCLA again, which I could go to as well.  And also tomorrow, Rowdy Roddy Piper is gonna be doing stand-up at the Improv!  It’s twenty bucks though.  I have to pick one.  I’ll ask my roommate or someone else if they want to go with me.  Okay, I’m getting sidetracked from what I was talking about earlier.

Last night I had another casting workshop.  The CD was probably one of the most approachable ones I’ve met yet, a really nice guy.  I actually performed two scenes, and got good feedback on both.  Both comedies.  It was fun.  And next week I will be going with another workshop actor to the Jay Leno Show!  I’ve  been meaning to get tickets to a talk show, preferably Conan, but I like Jay too, so I’m looking forward to that.  I’ll have to request some tickets tonight – you have to e-mail the show’s website and tell what dates you’re available within a two-week time frame, I believe, and then they give you tickets for one of the dates.  And they’re free, which is great.  Also to do: lately I’ve been trying to strap myself down to my desk (the dining table) and pen that screenplay.

I mentioned a while ago that I had a meeting with an agent.  Well, I’ve been meeting with him a few times and talking with him, and I had another meeting today.  I’ve performed a monologue for him a couple times, and he seems to really want to work with me.  So I might be on the verge of getting an agent!  Great!  He  is the reason that I finally signed up for improv classes – I’ve been wanting to but never actually pushed myself to do so, but he suggested it and he’s glad that I’m going – he says it’ll be good for me.  And at our last meeting I spoke with a commercial agent at the office, so I might be getting a commercial agent as well.  That’ll help my cash flow significantly, if I book a good national.  They haven’t really discussed it yet though.  On Monday I’m going to call back and tell him how the class went.  Since pilot season is fast approaching, he hinted that I might be able to audition for some costar roles (usually no more than five lines), which would be fantastic – I’ll finally have a page up on iMDB!

All this good stuff happening in the past few days just makes me want to buy something nice for myself, hah.  Like a nice new pair of shoes.  I’m gonna go shop online right now, hehe.  It’s sort of a resolution of mine to start dressing nicer, since usually I just wear whatever is comfortable and a bit bland.  I’d also like to start eating healthier and not sleep in so damn late, but baby steps…  Aside from my acting, lately I’ve been looking for stuff to do for fun around Los Angeles since I’m too young for bars/nightclubs.  There’s the night talk show tickets.  Also, on Tuesday night I had myself a little luxury drive around the Hollywood Hills.  The neighborhoods there are just gorgeous.  So I’ve been looking to do stuff in that area too, hah, live as if I’m one of the rich.  There’s I guess horseback riding in the hills for twenty bucks an hour (per person) I think, and when I first moved here that was something I wanted to do, so I’m glad I found that.  And there’s a dog park in the area too; since I can’t have a pet (landlord won’t let us without a big fat deposit), I can visit all the doggies that aren’t mine and play with them.  Maybe I can find a cafe or diner in the area where I can hang out too.  Ah, I can’t wait until I purchase my first home in the Hollywood Hills.  Hah.  Dream big.  I was feeling kind of down and out earlier in the month, but I’m in a great mood now so I’m going to try to prolong it as much as possible.  I think that’s it – next time I write here, hopefully I’ll have secured my first agent!

Just a bit of an update…

I haven’t written in a while, because there’s really nothing to report of late.  I have another agent meeting on Thursday where I will perform a monologue for the agent and hopefully by then I’ll know whether or not I have an agent.  A few casting workshops lately, one with the CD from Actorfest who casted my favorite show, and that went pretty well I think.  I got a pretty good evaluation.  He’s a cool guy.  Then I had one the other night that probably didn’t go as bad as I thought it did, but it didn’t go great either.  I feel like I’ve been in sort of a slump lately.  I went on three auditions in the past week, and I was supposed to have one today but I just couldn’t get myself to go.  It involved singing, anyway, so being that I cannot sing, I don’t think it was much of a loss.  It’s hard enough not getting called back from any auditions in which I do well; I don’t need to be forcing myself to go if I don’t see any chance of landing the role.  This obviously only applies to the student-film and play auditions, all of the ones I submit myself for.

So yeah, that time of year I guess.  It seems everyone is either very upbeat and cheery during the holidays, or on the lighter side of depression.  Hah.  Not to be cynical.  I’m not depressed, just sort of down.  I just have to maintain my spirits until I go home on Friday, where I can relax and not worry about keeping up appearances.  Sometime soon I should probably go Christmas shopping.  The plan was to wait until I got home so I wouldn’t have to carry all my stuff in my luggage, but by then it will be a week before Christmas and the aisles will be clogged with last-minute buyers, so my goal today, or at least this weekend, is to buy a couple things.  The stores are just so crowded though, and it’s been raining, and I’ve been breaking out nonstop lately, and I’m sort of tired… ugh.  My mom keeps asking me to tell her more stuff I want for Christmas, but I just don’t really want anything.  She’s paying a ton of money for me to be down here; I really don’t need to be asking for more stuff.  I haven’t told her since it’s definitely out of the question, but it would be a real benefit to my acting career if I had a video camera.  She already bought me a digital camera though, a while ago, and I don’t even use it (the instruction manual is so long!).  I’m sure if I had more of a social life I would, but everyone I know down here is busy with finals or whatever else right now.  So… I guess that’s it.  Like the title says, just a bit of an update.  Nothing much.  Ta.

Holiday

I guess I haven’t written in a while.  I said I’d get back when I found out the result of the agent meeting, but it is still in limbo.  He wants to see me perform so I invited him to my scene study class next Sunday (not this coming one).  I’m getting a new scene this Sunday to perform with another girl and I have to see if he could come the following week to watch.  But the actual meeting went well, he’s a nice guy and we kind of just chatted about the business.

Tuesday I had another workshop and it went great again.  My scene was good enough that the CD didn’t redirect it – she thought it was real funny, even though I didn’t have too many lines she said my reactions to my scene partner really helped the scene.  I also applied for another job Wednesday and I’m supposed to hear back within the week, otherwise I’ll have to call them.  Yawn.  This blog is so boring, hah.

Working backwards, I drove home with my mom on Sunday after I spent Thanksgiving in Sacramento.  It was nice to be back with family and people that actually care about your well-being, something not abundant here in lovely LaLaLand.  I only got to stay a few days though – I flew in very early Tuesday morning, on a 6am flight (I stayed up all night and slept until late afternoon when I got there) and then we left late morning Sunday, so four whole days.  Great.

I guess it was on Wednesday that I was feeling depressed because I thought the meeting didn’t go well or something, I don’t remember.  So I went on a couple auditions to try to make myself feel like I’m making progress.  Plus lately I’ve had to deal with a car accident I had two months ago – the insurance from the other driver finally decided to call me, and they’ve been bombarding me with phone calls about my statement, so I had to do that today.  My roommate’s out until Sunday so I’m stuck home alone…  I really need to do something with someone or I’m gonna get depressed again.  Hah!  What a downer I am today.  There was something else I was gonna say…  I don’t know.  Oh, I think it was that now I have to sign up for classes again next semester since I had to drop out this semester (don’t ask…) so I signed up for nine units (three classes) online.  They’re 8-week intensive ones though so I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that well in them while also looking for a job and/or working, and going on auditions, and going to classes/workshops.  This is why I hate school.  It gets in the way of fucking everything I want to do.  I won’t have time to work on my screenplay either, which I’ve began working on again lately since I have NO SCHOOL to muddy up my concentration.  And I really need to finish it soon because I will just keep procrastinating.  Fuck fuck fuck I’m gonna be so stressed out starting in February.  I wouldn’t be going if it weren’t for this tedious health coverage.  But if I get overwhelmed with school, work, and acting, sorry, but the first thing that is falling on the wayside is school.  I’m all for getting an education and stuff, but not if it gets in the way of having a life.

Bad Weekend but Awesome News Today!!!

This weekend I went to my first agent workshop.  It was with a well-known, successful children/young adult-type agency.  I read my scene with one of the agents, and the other one (who was signing new people) evaluated my performance.  She filled out this little sheet grading different aspects of my performance, like energy, choices, etc. , and the options were Needs Improvement, Satisfactory, Good, Very Good, Excellent.  I started out good, I guess, because the only “G” I got was on energy at the top of the page, but then she circled “S” for all of the rest of the options, one of which didn’t even apply (taking direction – they gave none).  So she didn’t even care.  Whatever, if she doesn’t like me I obviously wouldn’t want to work with her.  I know I deserved at least a “G” on everything – one middle-school kid I heard got a “VG” on almost everything – so I guess for whatever reason she just wasn’t interested in me.  Oh well.

News on the job front… last week I had an interview and got a job.  Sounds good, but little did I know when I was applying that this was a fast food restaurant (as dumb as that sounds).  I’d never heard of the chain, so I thought it was… well, I don’t know, not the point.  I got my uniform (barf) and started working on Sunday, where I did a four-hour shift.  Today I went in to do the same shift, but I was crying last night I hated it so much.  I give credit to people who can stay in that job because it is not rewarding in the least.  Anyway, my shift lasted about ten minutes before I told the manager I would have to quit.  I said I couldn’t concentrate on a job right now due to familial problems (not a complete lie – one of my immediate family members is in a very bad place and we’re worried about him), and I clocked out and returned my uniform.  I’ll be back next Thursday to get my check and return my shoes.  I’m flying to Sacramento tonight for Turkey Slaughter Day… er, well, tonight for me because I won’t be going to sleep, but actually the plane takes off at 6am.  Easier just to stay up the whole night since I usually don’t go to bed until 4…  unless there’s something important to do the next day.

Which there will be next week!  I literally just got off the phone with a talent agent who received my headshot in the mail.  This is a pretty well-established agent as well – I won’t be specific since I don’t want to give it away, but on iMDB his most well-known clients rank up in the 1000s in their star-meter.  To put that in perspective,  here are some current rankings: Ashley Olsen, #1253; Donald Faison (Scrubs), #1287; Madonna, #1308; Angela Kinsey (The Office), #1317 (all at time of publishing); etc., etc.  We have a meeting next week, and I’m not going to talk too much about it since I’ll overexcite myself and nothing is guaranteed, but I’ll definitely reveal the results.  Even if he doesn’t sign me, the fact that he is interested in meeting means I’m moving in the right direction (I’ll have to keep telling myself that for the next several days).  Good thing I’m young and (relatively) cute (I think) because I will tell you right now this wouldn’t have happened without my SAG card if I were older.  He was very personable on the phone, so that’s definitely a plus – I told him I was going back to Sacramento tonight, and we briefly talked about my attending UCLA.  Okay, that’s it!  I need to calm down now.  I don’t know if I’ll be cold reading or what, but I guess I should work on my monologues just in case (do they do that anymore?).  I’ll be off now, and the next time you hear from me will be after my meeting!

I woke up at 8:00am…

…The earliest I have woken up in years.

Such a busy day on Saturday.  Like I said, I woke up early to go to this workshop with a VERY respected casting director who casts some major TV series that I would love to be a part of, as well as feature films.  We prepared scenes ahead of time, and this was my first time doing a comedy scene in a workshop, which I should have been doing all along.  I know comedy’s my strong suit, but they always give me dramatic pieces…  no fun.  Anyways…  I’m pretty sure I did an awesome job, judging from the crowd’s reception.  Lots of people laughing as I was doing my reading, even the CD!  And he said he really liked it!  Excellent.  So now he will remember me hopefully!

Once the workshop ended, I had to rush over to the Market Center to attend ACTORFEST, where I sat in a focus session with yet another very respected and well-known CD who did the original casting for one of my absolutely favorite shows (too bad it isn’t on anymore).  Afterwards I met up with someone from the workshop site and we stood in line to meet a CD (people could only meet one at a time, so you had to go back to the end of the line each time and wait another thirty to forty-five minutes – no joke).  So of course, I met aforementioned CD and talked to him about the show, and how to go about getting auditions for major networks as a new actor who is nonunion and sans agent.  Really nice guy.  I only got to meet one other CD after him since it was getting late and the fest ended at 5pm, so I met one who did the original casting for a couple of shows that I could easily have been in.  She was nice as well, but she also kind of told it like it is, saying that my first-and-foremost goal as an inexperienced actor is to get in the union however possible.  After that I did some drops in the boxes outside, but I didn’t recognize a lot of the names so I just did five.

What did we learn today?  More like reestablish, but that I need to get an effing agent!  One of the CDs told me that there’s no reason I shouldn’t have an agent, I am legal 18 to play younger and I have a good look.  And people keep complimenting me on my readings.  So I signed up for HCD online last night, which I’ll have to remember to cancel in a month since they automatically bill you, and I’m now waiting for my username and password to arrive in my inbox.  Why it takes several days for them to come up with a combination of letters and possibly numbers is beyond me, but they better hurry their asses up because I only have a few weeks to use my subscription.  To end on a positive note, sort of, I have another workshop tomorrow night.  I also have to apply for jobs tomorrow since I didn’t get around to it today, which is not really positive…  Oh yeah, something I learned today – cats can get acne.  Vomit.

Table Read!

Sunday, at our CD workshop site, we had a table read for a screenplay by a fellow actor/writer who has also produced a successful musical.  I truly admire someone who can start and FINISH a full-length screenplay; I only wish I had the motivation and knowledge to accomplish such a feat.  The screenplay is a comedy, and I have to say it is quite the interesting story… definitely no other movies like it that I can think of, though it reminds me a bit of Office Space, which obviously serves as a compliment.  All… twelve? of us sat down at a table and read through the whole thing, which took almost two hours, but it was a grandiose time.  I read a smörgåsbord of bit parts, all colorful characters…  It would be super excellent if I could have a part in the film once it gets produced.  And I guess I did a pretty good job reading, lots of people told me how good I was, and in this city there is never a lack of need for encouragement, so I appreciate everyone who complimented my “work”.  I have another workshop tomorrow night, plus Actorfest is this Saturday.  I just ordered more headshots to drop on Saturday.  Begeezus I really need a job.  I can just hear my savings deteriorating.  First thing tomorrow!  Apply!  Yes!  I need to just bite my ass and get out there.  Heh.  Thank commercial excess for seasonal hiring.

Oh, also, I think I should start sending out for agents again once I get my headshots.  Maybe managers too.  I say again because I sent before, but stupid me didn’t put enough POSTAGE on my twenty-odd envelopes and thus wasted about thirty dollars I’m guessing.  Who knows where those things are now…  It’s just that I can’t get rid of my ants-in-pants need for representation because everyone keeps telling me how well I’m doing, and how I have lots of potential, and I’m young, or whatever, but I’m only able to audition for student films and such right now, which is incredibly limiting.  But I’m kind of opposed to buying the HRD hard copy, as the addresses are always changing, so I’m going to sign up for it online – once I get my headshots.  I can’t afford to waste any money, like I said.  Donations accepted.

Popping the blog cherry

So I decided that since I’ve moved to LA to become an actor, I should probably try to get as much exposure as possible so that when I become famous I can complain about it later.  A blog seemed like the easiest and most passive way to do this.  I thought this would be the right time to start one, even though I’ve been here since June, since things have started to pick up lately.

I’m from Sacramento, moved here this summer and attended UCLA where I met lots of (very) cool people.  Then I made a permanent move here after that, and right now I live in the west side region not far from the beach.  I’ve been auditioning for stuff since August.  Have not found an agent or manager or what have you yet.  But I have a fairly good resume for a beginner, I believe.  I’ve been acting steadily since I was 16, though I’ve been in plays and musicals and whatnot since kindergarten.

In the past few weeks a lot has been happening for me and to me…  But I will focus on the positive stuff for now.  I auditioned and got into a casting director workshop site.  So far I’ve taken one class and attended two workshops there.  I believe they went pretty well, but I’ll just leave it at that.  I also booked my first role down here in a music video of an up-and-coming girl group, which was unbelievably fun, and I met lots of awesome people there too.  Still looking for a job though!  I’ve had a few interviews down here, but nothing has come of them yet.  Thank you horrible economy.

This is all I have to report now, but I’ll be back soon, so don’t touch that dial!   Heh… heh… nevermind.