Commercials. You know it’s pretty funny, because had you asked me a few years ago about this part of the business, I would have had a completely different answer. Some might even go as far as to say I’ve made a complete “180″ or “sold-out.” But, I think that the stance I had on commercials years ago has helped me book them thus far.

When I first moved out to LA everyone said I had to get a commercial agent as well as a theatrical agent. (As a side note, I think they should NEVER be at the same place. “Across the board” they call it) My first couple of commercial auditions were very strange. I’d go into the room, say my name and they would ask me some random questions on camera. Or my favorite was eating a twizzler on camera. That’s it. Just ate a twizzler. After each of those auditions, the camera operator thanked me for coming and and it was over. Just like that, I thought? What? You don’t want to see me act or show you what I learned in my 4 years of acting school? HUMP.

I had a few more ridiculous auditions like that before I came to the conclusion that commercials were just not going to be my thing. Within the group of friends I hung out with, I was the only one not booking them. But, I kept going on the auditions that my agent got for me still secretly hoping some would click. Then something strange happened. I booked my first commercial.  A Verizon Business national commercial. (I didn’t say anything…I simply walked by the frame in a nice suit looking at the camera and looked damn good I might add.) Then shortly after that I booked another and another…and then a big Japanese commercial with Brad Pitt! What the!?!? The guy who hated commercial auditions slowly started booking.

What was different? Well, i can’t give you ALL my secrets, but the one I will tell is this… When I started being myself in the audition rool, I started booking. Seriously. I know, I know…it’s so damn cliche that I want to barf typing it. Also, I, slowly began to stop caring so much about auditioning correctly and booking the job.  I still went to the audition prepared as possible and ready to rock, but I made a conscience decision NOT to obsess over it.

In a nutshell, I came to understand that there is only so much you can do for a commercial audition. (or any audition for that matter) Show up, do your absolute best & then leave it at the door. They’re either buying what you’re selling or they’re not.

Finally, I will say this about taking all the commercial acting classes or workshops out there. I think they have their place and I’m sure there are some that I haven’t tried that are amazing, but once you’ve taken ONE good one – that should be good enough. NO need to go around to more than that. They can show you the camera tricks and the technical sides of it all, but really…it’s all YOU! And taking it a step further, I’ve found that the class I took only prepared me on how to book the job…not for what happened when I  got it. I was totally unprepared…

But, that’s another blog. Thanks for reading and check back next week when I post some of my in & outs about commercials post booking! Especially some stuff GUYS should do that we probably don’t always think about!

I’ve been gone for a minute, but trust me I’ve been wanting to blog. There’s so much that has happened since my last post. And I never got to write what I wanted to about working on the McDonald’s commercial. Which by the way, is running! There’s a long & short version being aired.

But, I’m writing today because i saw a great movie last night, PRECIOUS. It’s been a while and many movies since I’ve been inspired to write, to act. All the performances in the movie were excellent – yes, even Mariah Carey. But, I wonder if hers was great because I wasn’t expecting too much from her. But, Monique – wow! If you haven’t seen her work before, this is a great time to start. Along with Monique’s performance of note is Paula Patton and Gabourey Sidibe. Simply put, amazing. 

I wonder how much press this movie will get or how many theaters it will play in? It’s not really what you would call a mainstream/crossover movie. But, I think it’s enjoyable by anyone who watches it. My hope is since juggernaut Oprah and Tyler Perry are producers on it – it’ll get noticed. Go See it!

So, if you’ve been following my tweets and facebook updates then you already know that I’ve been asked back to guest star on private practice. I’m still very very excited about all of it. My first stint on the show wasn’t that big, but I was thankful to have it & to work with such amazing people. This time around I get be more apart of the actual storyline and I’m digging it.

Yesterday, I had the honor to attend the table read and sit two seats down from THE Shonda Rhimes. She was actually the first person in the room. Very nice, very business and to the point…well, at least I thought. Once all the usual suspects to the show started showing up she was cracking jokes and conversing with the best of them. Which put me at ease and made her seem not so intimidating and scary to me. At the other end of the table were all the series regulars from Private Practice and they gave off the vibe of a close knit family. It was pretty cool to see.

I’m sharing all of this with you, not only because it was an amazing experience, but to take some of the nerves away when it’s your turn. (yeah, right!) I, also, want to stress that if no one told you before about table reads here it is: They are NOT the time to sit back and rest on your laurels of just booking the job. Just because you’ve gotten the part through the audition process, doesn’t mean you can’t lose the part at the table. I walked into that conference room 15 mins early, found my place at the table, got my script, got water & sat and got ready for business. Of course, when the other actors and crew, etc came in I stood up to greet them and engaged in pleasantries (especially with Amanda Foreman who sat next to me & calmed my nerves), but make no mistake – I was there to work! And let me tell you, everyone else there was too! It was very obvious.

Just like prepping for the audition, read the script the night before the table read. Or if you didn’t get it beforehand, get there early so that you can. Once you get there, check over the latest draft of the script for any last minute changes. It would suck to be caught off guard by some big word that you miss pronounce. One of my acting teachers always told me, the series regs have the job already – THEY can afford to mess up a little. YOU, need to go in there and nail it – every time! Again, I believe it’s one of those business things that sets me apart from the others – HARDWORKER!

…and then just like that it was over. Everyone thanked each other for being there and went their separate ways. Shonda started a huddle and the other execs began to listen to her notes. I wanted so badly to listen in, to be around such brilliance, but again I was there to work – which did not include eavesdropping.  The guest cast hung around for a second and chatted with each other, myself included. The series reg cast thanked everyone and headed out, I’m sure back to work because they were shooting that day too.

Keep following here, facebook and twitter. I’m shooting next week and I hope at least one more episode in the future.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to end this series and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s never going to end. Simply because I’m always learning things that I wish I knew way back when. The more I try to figure out what I wish I knew, the more I come up with. I’ve found this is true for life too.

SAG

When I first got here everyone was talking about SAG. “You need to join SAG.” “You need to get your SAG vouchers.” I’d walk into casting director workshops and some would say, “we don’t have time to see non-union actors.” And on and on and on. I started to develop this anxiety about joining SAG and joining fast! But, how was I going to do this?

Every book I read said you should get yourself with an extras casting office, do extra work and “HOPE” for a SAG voucher. But, that you were NOT allowed to ask the production office for one once you got on set. (of course because they would get mad) I thought to myself, let me get this straight…I’m supposed to do countless hours of extra work with only the HOPE of possibly getting 1 voucher? Something wasn’t right about this formula to me. Still isn’t.

Here’s what I’ll say about doing extra work and getting your vouchers. I hated it. I never really bought into the school of thought that you had to “pay your dues” doing extra work before you graduated to speaking roles. I did it ONE time and quickly said I’d never do it again. Voucher or not, NO THANK YOU! It’s true that you get to get on a set and see how things work, but you’re treated so poorly you barely have a chance to learn. I truly felt going to watch a live tapping (which I do highly recommend) would have been more beneficial than the 9 hours I spent getting yelled at from PA’s.

What I want to say to all reading this blog is that getting into SAG will happen. There will come a day when those vouchers are easily handed to you or that you are taft hartley’d into the union. I recommend keeping it in the forefront of your mind, but not letting it hold you back. Remember there are NO rules out here and this is one of them. Focus on getting GREAT at your craft. Making yourself irresistible to casting directors, agents, managers. The best way I know to get into the union is through commercial bookings. Try taking class that focus specifically on commercial technique.

Some will tell you that with the current state of the industry and the economic climate, shows and commercials can’t afford to Taft Hartley you anymore. This may very well be true. And when placed up against an equally talented SAG actor you might lose the job. That’s going to hurt & you’re going to hate me. But, trust me when I say if they want you…they want you. Now, this isn’t to say don’t work hard at getting in the union. No, on the contrary, work very hard at it. Just don’t let it hold you back!

(visit SAG’s website to understand the terms I’ve used and just to read up on the guild, very important. www.sag.org)

Marketing

How to Market yourself. This is one of those topics that I wish were covered in ALL colleges/universities across the world. (in regards to acting) Maybe it is and I skipped that day of class. Once you truly start to understand how to market yourself – you’ll start to work. I remember getting out here when I left college with the mindset of, “I can play any character you want!” Well, that’s what I was taught in school. You want a tree? I can play a tree! You want a 6′4 basketball player? I’m 5′10, but I can pull that off too. Oh, jezz. Wouldn’t it be much simpler if I were just myself and I rocked what I rock well?

Start trying to figure out where you fit in this crazy town. And LA has a way of putting you in a category: Leading Man, best friend/sidekick, character actor, etc.  If you’re not sure, ask the people in your acting class. If you’re not in an acting class, ask the people where you work. And if you’re still not sure or refuse to believe that you’re the sidekick because you always played the leading man when you put on the plays in your backyard – there are classes you can take. I recommend asking a lot of people what you give off. What they see you playing. Take everyone’s suggestions and compile a list you can work with. This might suck because you saw yourself one way and people are getting something different. Try not to fight it too much. Honestly, I thought for years I was going to play Superman and no one was going to tell me different. Finally, I had to hang that up because I’m not of the lighter skin tone and when has superman ever been black?

Nothing will shoot you in the foot faster than thinking you’re the stoner surfer guy when you’re really the leading man type. Now, yes, if you had a personal trainer, tons of money, and a nutritionist like George Clooney or Will Smith, you could change all those things about you. Or you could bulk up like that kid in the next TWILIGHT movie. More thank likely that’s NOT the case.

“Don’t fight the universe, ride the horse in the direction it’s going.” –SK. Great quote from a teacher I still work with.

Other Marketing Tools.

Here’s what I’ll say about having your own website. Get one. And get it fast. I have found right now in the business people want it fast. They want to be able to click on something and have all the information they need about you. I’ve booked jobs by having my reel and resume online. Do you need to go off and spend a ton of money on one? Not really. But, you do want it to be presentable, professional & easy to navigate.

Social Networking? Well, I’m on the other side of the fence here. I was just at dinner last night with a group of folks. Some in the industry and some not. Facebook came up and one of the ladies there said she hates it when actors use their facebook sites for self-promotion. I immediately disagreed. I explained to her, that in our field we can either pay someone $1500 -$3000 a month to do our PR or we can take to twitter or facebook or where ever for free! You do the math. I think you just have to strike up a healthy balance of what you are posting about. Try to keep yourself well rounded. Every single post you are doing does not have to be about the biz. But, remember you are an Actor. Period. That’s your career and if people can’t handle that then maybe they should unfriend or unfollow you. At least that’s the way I feel about it.

Oh, and also…keep these places professional. If you don’t want to then get a dual identity page thingy. You know, like a FAN page and a personal page. One of the reasons these sites are awesome is because a lot of industry professionals use them too: casting directors, agents, managers, producers, etc. Not sure they want to see the person they’re thinking about casting doing bong hits or streaking Sunset blvd. From this point on, think like a professional when it comes to your image.

Finally, probably one of the most important things I wish I knew when I first moved out here…but quickly found out…you need to have a strong support system in place. I was lucky because a group of people I went to college with moved out here too or had already made the trek. (One of the cool things about being in a theater program I guess.) But, having this already built in support system I truly believe made a difference out here. This group became my family away from my given family. The people I celebrated the highs with and drank about the lows with. Made up of actors, agents, directors, etc.

If you don’t have something like this in place, find good people you connect with. It helps if they’re in the industry or at least if they get the industry because you’re going to be talking about it a lot. I know, I know…I just said be well rounded too. Well, you can be well rounded after you’ve talked about how your day was in the biz!

I hope I helped even a little. Remember these are the opinions of an actor going through it right now. Real Time. None of this is full proof. Just my journey. I often wonder if I’ll look back on all of this and have something different to say. Probably not. As always, if you feel something in here has helped you, please let me know. Same goes for the other side. I enjoy constructive criticism too.

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