Now that Pilot Season is over ...

A little over a month ago I asked how your pilot season was going.  At that point, most people were feeling a bit crappy about the whole thing.  So, now that's it's over and all the pilots are done, I'll ask again, how was your pilot season? 

Mine wasn't busy.  I'd love to be at the point where I was going out for all the series regulars, but I'm not.  I did however book a co-star on a pilot and I am super grateful for that.  But, of course I always want more work and it would have been great to test for a pilot.

Why is Pilot season so tough?  Well, first of all it's the process of casting with all the hoops actors have to jump through.  You have to go through pre-reads, call-backs, producer sessions, and finally the network test.  If you are one of the lucky ones to get to the network test phase, then it's the network producer's choice.  They are more interested in profits than art and it's not always the best actor who wins, but rather the one who they think will bring in the most money.

Who ended up booking pilots this year?  Well, here are a few of the faces of pilot season.  They look familiar, right?  Networks like to cast people who have already proven themselves.  So, they cast Connie Britton in Nashville and Lucy Lui in Elementary.  Or they want those who they think will bring audiences with them, the movie stars.  Now you have Sigourney Weaver starring in Political Animals and Dennis Quaid, who has never done television before, in a western pilot for CBS.

But, it's not all bad news.  Now that the pilots are pretty much shot, they will be shown to test audiences.  The networks will decide which pilots they will make into shows and based on the tests they may end up recasting some of the roles or even rewriting the pilots entirely. 

The Upfronts, where the networks announce their new line-ups, are in May and until then casting will be pretty slow.  So, if you didn't book a pilot, take a bit of a breather or get in lots of classes or work on your own projects for the next couple weeks.  Then get ready to get back into full swing as episodic season starts.

What you Learn from an Editor

I am always going on about how you need to get out there and produce your own stuff, that you can't just sit around waiting for someone else to write a part for you.  There are lots of benefits to creating your own stuff and more than just the opportunity to do what you love. 

Recently, I spent some time editing a couple of the shorts that I wrote.  Hours upon hours of staring at my computer screen, analyzing and over-analyzing every moment of acting that I did in those shorts.  But besides being hyper-critical of your performance and questioning every choice you made, there is a lot to learn from seeing a film through an editor's eyes.

First, you see why sometimes the clips that get into a movie aren't the ones with your best acting.  When you are on set there is so much that can go wrong from a boom dropping into the shot or the light just isn't right or someone is holding their hand differently from how they held it in the master shot.  That is why you have to be so professional and don't let them get a bad take of you.

Second, you see the importance of matching what you do from take to take to take.  If your drink is in your right hand in the master, it darn well better be in that hand in the close-up or they will never be able to use your close-up.  On major productions you have script supervisors who take notes of all these sorts of things.  On low budget shorts generally you are the one who has to be responsible for this, that is why I always take good notes in my script as to what I was doing.

Third, when acting on camera a little goes a long way.  Every minute facial expression comes across.  After editing my first film, I realized how much less I needed to do to make the moments clear.  Since editing my own films, my acting has certainly improved by making me a more natural person on screen.

I recommend all actors should get an editing program and learn how to use it.  Shoot something and see what you can do with it on it your own.  Besides being able to edit your own stuff will save you so much in the end, even if you just edit your demo reel.

Pretty-Girl-Syndrome

Last week Samantha Brick made a lot of headlines by complaining about the downsides of being a beautiful woman.  Many people immediately attacked her and disregarded her point entirely claiming she isn't that beautiful.  But, the truth is that whether you thinks she is beautiful or not is besides the point.  She thinks she is beautiful which gives her confidence and confidence will make others see her as beautiful. 

So, back to the point of her argument.  Are there downsides to being a pretty girl?  I know what you're thinking: this is Hollywood, being pretty is all you need to make it.  If you were actually thinking that, let me stop you and say, You are wrong.

Girls come to Hollywood after being the prettiest girl in their high school, small town, or college acting program.  I've noticed these girls often suffer from what I call Pretty-Girl-Syndrome.  No one has ever told them no; they have never had to wait in line for anything; they have never once in their lives been rejected. 

But, now they are in Hollywood, the land of beautiful girls and they are competing for parts with some of the most beautiful women on the planet.  They better learn quickly how take rejection.  Most don't.  These are the girls that after not "making it" in a year go home.  Or maybe they do make it into a movie, but then get panned by the critics or the movie bombs and suddenly they are facing a new thing: rejection.  They are often the ones that collapse and then you never hear from them again.

One of the things that I am grateful to have is the protective shell of thousands of rejections.  I am used to being rejected.  I don't expect anything to work out, so when it does I am pleasantly surprised; but when things don't go my way, I am not shattered.

Now for those of you who are Pretty Girls.  If you aren't finding immediate success, remember rejection is part of the game of Hollywood.  If you are doing well in this crazy town: don't expect things to always be easy.  This is a fickle place.  Enjoy it now, but be prepared to work later and be nice to everyone you meet.

For those of you who aren't pretty girls, don't forget to be proud of being a character actor and take comfort in your protective shell of rejections.

Monthly Goals Check-In

As you guys know, I am trying to keep up with the goals I made at the beginning of the year.  So, this is my monthly check-in to see how those goals are doing.

This month was very busy for my acting.  I got to be a Star for Day on a Pilot.   We finally got to do A Mixed Tape, a super fun play where I get to be a gorilla with Eric Edwards and Jonathan Lipnicki, again after a long hiatus.  I booked two more acting gigs that will be starting soon.  Can't wait til I get to share about those with you. 

Here's how my year is going so far:

GOAL: Attend every class unless sick or working an acting gig.
ACTUAL: The only class I missed this month was the day I shot my co-star on a USA pilot.

GOAL: Work on scenes in class that I actually put up.
ACTUAL: Still working on "Vanities."  We've set up a regular rehearsal schedule, but have had some set-backs because of vacations and each of us booking work (great for us, not great for the play.)

GOAL: Complete all three of my films for the Playhouse West Film Festival.
ACTUAL:  Two are complete and the third is a good rough cut with some sound editing left to do.  All have been submitted and I am hoping the final cut of the third will be done by April 20th so I nice version of it will be seen by the PWFF committee.

GOAL: Write and produce two more shorts this year.
ACTUAL:  Have not started work on this one yet.  I have a couple ideas, but need to start the work of writing them.

GOAL: Continue to work at the Agency every week.
ACTUAL: I've been going to the agency at least once a week, sometimes more.  What was really great during Pilot Season is that they asked me to take notes on the pilot meetings they had every week.  It really helped me to see what was happening with all the Pilots.  I also helped keep up our database on who was getting cast in what.  This helps keep things in perspective when you wonder why you aren't going out, but then see people like Sigourney Weaver and Allison Janey are the ones getting cast.

GOAL: Find three casting offices to help out as a reader.
ACTUAL: Still only helping out at two offices, but am going in whenever they need me.

GOAL: Read two plays.
ACTUAL: I was lax on this one and didn't manage to find time to read one.  We were working on Nursery Rhymes in class, so I focused on those a lot (this exercise is much tougher than it sounds.)  I'm also halfway through book three of The Song of Fire and Ice, and those books are long and very dense so it's difficult to find time to read anything else.

GOAL: Blog every Monday.
ACTUAL: Doing good with this one and blogging over at Getting Crafty and Cultured in Los Angeles as well.

For next month, I am hoping to turn all this positive momentum into more opportunities!