12:47 pm - Sun 7/4/04
Time To \"Fish Or Cut Bait\"...Whatever THAT Means

(Feel like I'm falling way behind here, in terms of reportage, but I'm going to be getting home a couple hours early tonite--Short day at work, in honor of our Nation's independence--so I'll "catch up" then...)

Sat 7/3/04 (12:34 p.m.)

Well, the month has gotten off to a good start, in terms of auditions�I had one yesterday, and I have another one coming up on Tuesday.

The one yesterday was for AllTell, a cellphone company. It was SAG�regional, I think (Less $$$ than a national)-- and it would be a fun one to get: It opens with two guys who work at a "Brand X" cellphone store, watching an angry customer approaching from the parking lot.

First Guy: Hey, isn't that the guy that always complains about his dropped calls?

Second Guy: Yeah.

First Guy: Well, are we ever going to do anything about it?

Second Guy: How about this?

Then the second guy gets up from his desk, walks to the door...and locks it. Then the two guys wave at the angry customer, who storms off.

First Guy: Genius...

Second Guy: You're Welcome.

Then there's a voiceover about how AllTell�Unlike what we just witnessed�actually cares about the customer's satisfaction.

I think it's a pretty funny spot (God knows I've wanted to do that at Borders more than once!).

It was a good audition. They called me in with another guy, who looked close to my age, letting us run through it once, then giving us notes afterwards. Then we did a couple takes�I was "First Guy"�then we switched roles, and did a couple more takes, getting little "tweaks" from the casting person as needed.

I had a good feeling about it. They were interested enough to direct us, and when we were done, I certainly couldn't say I hadn't been given a good shot at it.

So we'll see what happens (Callbacks are next Thursday; If I book it, it'll shoot the following Thursday through Saturday. Not sure why this would take three days to shoot, but I'm not gonna fight them over it; I'd be happy to grab three days of session fees!).

The spot on Tuesday is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for some new conservation initiative for California rivers..

The bad news? PSA's don't pay much, typically�basically a stipend�and of course, it won't be airing outside of California.

The good news? It'll probably air a lot, and even if it's just airing in California, California is where all my favorite casting directors just happen to reside.

And of course, it would be nice to be able to use my awesome acting powers for good, for a change...

I don't know anything about the spot, but I'm supposed to be a fisherman, which means dressing like a fisherman (For the record? I haven't fished in my adult life).

I always feel a certain...tension when the audition requires me to play "dress-up": On the one hand, I'd like nothing better than to go to every audition in full regalia, if that's what they want, but on the other hand, I can't afford to run out and buy a new whatever each time out of the gate, especially if I feel like I'm going to get limited use of the "whatever" in question.

But I've been thinking again lately about how "I can't cry poverty to the point where I can't get the job done out here". If the work, or the effort to secure work, requires that I buy this or that, well, I need to buy this or that!

But I'm annoyed, because I've had a yellow beachcomber-type hat for years which would be perfect for this...and I can't find it. I don't know what the hell I did with it.

But I'll figure something out.

I always do.

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