Goals 2012 - How did I do?

Last year I posted my 2012 New Year's Goals here to keep myself accountable.  While going through these one thing I'm going to remember is:

If it's important to you, you will find a way.  If not you'll find an excuse.

So, let's see what ended up being important to me this year.

ACTING/CAREER: Goals Achieved:5  Got Close:4

• Attend class unless working an acting gig or sick.  *Mostly. Although, towards the end of the year when I was going to 4 classes a week I played hooky a couple times.*
• Work on scenes from plays I can put up. *I did work on scenes from plays, but we never got any of the plays up. Next month, I will be in "Boy's Life."*
• Read two plays a month. *I lost count. Some months I read more, other months I reread old plays. In the end I am happy with the number of plays I read.*
• Find and attend a good on-camera class to supplement my acting classes. *I attended an on-camera commercial class.*
• Complete editing on both my films before the PWFF early bird deadline. *One made it for the early bird deadline. The other made it by the late deadline.*
• Write and produce two more shorts this year. *We are halfway done filming one short I wrote. I didn't get a second one done, unless you count the 72 Hour Film Fest.*
• Continue to help at the agency once a week. *Went to the agency most weeks.*
• Find three casting offices that I can help out at as a reader. *I did!*
• Blog every Monday. *This will be my 47th blog this year. I did miss a couple weeks and some weeks were late - but I think that's an okay record.*

HEALTH: Goals Achieved:1  Got Close:1  Did Not Do:1

• Do something exercise-like at least 4 times a week. *Haha, yeah, not even close.*
• Cook at least 3 homemade dinners a week. *I didn't keep track, some weeks I made dinner every night, other weeks we ate more fast food than I would like to admit.*
• Make my own cleaning supplies.  Including laundry detergent and Windex. *I made both detergent and Windex. Plus, I tried to use cheaper, more natural cleaning products like baking soda.*

PERSONAL: Goals Achieved:1  Got Close:2  Did Not Do:1

• Do one craft per week. *I made a lot of crafts, but by halfway through the ear the one a week goal was too much - plus, I didn't have room for all these crafts.*
• Go see/do one cultural thing per week. *I did a lot of cultural stuff this year, but again the once a week goal was overwhelming. I am happy with the amount of culture I got.*
• Work on those novels.  Write 2 pages a day and reach 300 pages of a rough draft by August. *Nope, not even close.*
• Have friends over at least twice a month for movie night, dinner party, etc.  Can be low-key. *We had lots of small events throughout he year including Walking Dead nights and movie nights.  I am pleased with our social life this year.*

Now, it's time for me to start working on my 2013 Goals.

2012 Year in Review

I recently read one way to improve your spirits is to say out loud 5 positive facts about yourself - not opinions like I am nice or I am pretty, but actual facts such as I won best ugly sweater at the Christmas party, etc.  For my end of the year review I am going to state positive facts about me from the past year.

1. I GOT PAID TO BE AN ACTOR.  This year I started off with being cast as a costar in the pilot, Graceland, set to premiere next summer.  In the last month, I was cast in a supporting role in the new feature from James Franco's production company, Rabbit Bandini Productions, called Holy Land.  Plus, it was my first opportunity to act in front of a green screen.

With my "Okie Family" on the set of Holy Land

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work with Eckhart Schmidt on his latest documentary about Los Angeles, reading passages from literature about the City of Angels.

2. I GOT TO ACT THIS YEAR - A LOT.  Besides the productions I was paid for, I had lots of opportunities to act and many were with my super talented friends - such as The Revolving Doors, Gibbon's Tail, and Nick Acosta.

I got to be in a Revolving Doors short,

in a Gibbon's Tail music video,

and in a Nick Acosta fan film!

Other than the films and plays I worked on, I had an amazing year of acting classes.  I had a master class with Ashley Judd and an intense 3 month class with James Franco, Val Lauren, and Jim Parrack.  We worked on plays I always wanted to but never had the guts to do like Clifford Odets.

3. I WAS AWARDED BEST SCREENPLAY AT THE PLAYHOUSE WEST FILM FESTIVAL.  Just completing the short film, All You Need, that I wrote and produced was a big achievement for me.

With my award and the director, Ricardo Ultreras.

All You Need was then accepted to the Oscar qualifying Los Angeles Shorts Festival.

With some of my cast at the LA Shorts Fest.

4. THE SHORT I DIRECTED FOR THE 72 HOUR FILM FEST WON BEST COMEDY.  This was my first attempt at directing and it was especially difficult since the film had to be conceived, filmed, and finished in that 72 Hour time allowance.  You can watch the whole film here, Little Bride Lie.

Discussing the scene with my DP and actors.

5. I GOT A HUG FROM NATHAN FILLION at Comic-con while I was dressed as The Doctor.  Not gonna lie - this might have been the highlight of my year.

Nathan Fillion is hugging me - this is pure awesomeness.

Also, my Effie Trinket cosplay was featured in Entertainment Weekly Comic-con issue.

That's me as Effie on the far left.

Bonus, I witnessed Chipper Jones' Walk-Off of the Year at Turner Field.  I'm sure going to miss seeing him in a Braves uniform.

At Turner Field with my Mom and a Craig Kimbrel bobblehead.

So, I had a pretty good year and I didn't even mention the trip up to Carmel, dinner at the Magic Castle, my nerdtastic birthday party, or all those wonderful nights spent watching TV and movies with my amazing friends.

Next week, I will take a look at the goals I set last year at this time - see where I succeeded and where I failed.  Probably won't be as cheery of a post.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

How to Keep my Goals

Since the beginning of this year, I've been making an effort to focus on my career.  I started by created some professional goals to help me measure how I am doing.

As you know some of this work has already paid off.  I got to film a co-star role on a pilot for USA Network, I'll keep you updated if it airs.  I also completed three short films that have been accepted to the Playhouse West Film Festival.  Plus, I've been cast in a couple projects that are set to start filming in the next couple months.

But, one thing that helps me keep track of the goals I set is by telling you guys how I am doing with them.  So, here is how I did in the month of April (a couple weeks late.)

Goal: Attend class unless working an acting gig or sick.
Actual: I believe I missed a day or two when I was helping out at a casting office.

Goal: Work on scenes that from plays I can put up.
Actual:  Still working on "Vanities."

Goal: Read two plays a month.
Actual: I actually read a ton of plays to find a scene for a web series I am involved with.  So, I am probably good for the next few months.

Goal: Find a good on-camera class.
Actual: GOAL COMPLETED!
**UPDATE ON GOAL: Attend acting workout sessions that my friend, Tammy Taylor, is setting up with actor friends.**

Goal: Complete editing on my films for the Playhouse West Film Festival.
Actual: All three of my films were accepted to the festival.   Final touches happening on ALL YOU NEED, just waiting on final sound.
**UPDATE ON GOAL: I want to submit All You Need to 10 more major film festivals by the end of the year.**

Goal: Write and produce two more shorts this year.
Actual: I have two new shorts written and hope to start filming them after the film festival.

Goal: Help at the agency once a week.
Actual: It's been very slow, but I have been helping out when I can.

Goal: Find three new Casting offices to help out as a reader.
Actual: One new one and one old one.  I'd like to find two more new ones!

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!

Is Your Demo Reel Helping or Hurting You?

Every actor I know is constantly talking about the need to get tape on themselves, so they can put together a demo reel.  They say things like: "Hey, lets go shoot that scene from that super famous play we did in class that everyone said was really good" or "Tape me doing this monologue in front of my curtains."  Okay, so maybe they don't actually say those things, but if you look at their demo reels you'd think that they had said that at one point.

Yes, it can be very helpful to have a demo reel.  It can help you get an agent and it does put you to the top of the list for submissions on the Breakdowns.  But, having a bad demo reel is much worse than not having one at all.  In my agency and at casting offices, I've seen actors not get a meeting because of a bad demo reel.  The following tips are things I have heard directly from casting directors and agents.

First of all, just because you have tape of yourself acting doesn't mean you need to put it on your reel.  Let's be honest lots of those student films and webisodes you did, don't always look great.  Even if your acting is stellar, poor production value will distract anyone watching it and reflect poorly on you.

When choosing footage for your reel here are a few hints that will make you look good:

1. Do you have professional footage from a professional set?  One thing casting is looking for in your reel is: can you act effectively in all the craziness that is a professional set.  In their mind this will help to ensure that you will not make them look bad if you get the part, that you know how to handle yourself professionally.  In Hollywood, most people don't want to be the person that takes a chance on a newbie and gets burned by it, so that's why they want evidence of your credits.
2. Is there someone famous in your scene?  It seems very silly, but if you have a scene with someone recognizable, even if you just have one or two lines, make this scene one of the first ones on your reel.  It shows that you can hold your own with someone considered very good, it shows that someone trusted you to have this scene with  this person, and if the viewer likes this famous actor then some of that may rub off on how they think about you.
3. Do you have very, very, very good looking non-professional footage?  Of course, there are some short films that you've done that look really nice.  The lighting is nice, the shots are professional, and there is even a score.  All of that will help sell you.

Now that you've chosen your footage; here are some other basic rules about demo reels.

1. The length of your demo should be between 2 and 3 minutes.  A good length is about 2 minutes and 15 seconds.  The truth is that most people won't watch the whole thing, if you're lucky they'll get all the way through the first minute.
2. Since most people only watch the first minute, make sure your best stuff is at the beginning.  I recommend starting with any scene with a famous actor, then professional stuff, and ending with the amateur work.
3. Start with you.  Even if the other actor is famous or if they have the first line in the scene, always start with the camera angle that is on you.  This way they know who they are supposed to be looking at and you are highlighted.
4. The scenes in your demo reel don't have to make sense.  No one is watching for context, they are watching to see your acting ability.  So, cut as much of the scene that the camera is not on you as possible.  Don't cut the other people out completely, just make sure you are the focus. 
5. Don't waste time with pictures of you.  It's an annoying trend I've noticed where people feel the need to spend the first 20 seconds of their reel as a montage of pictures of themselves set to music.  It is just wasting the viewer's time and now they are probably going to spend less time watching your actual footage.  If they wanted to see a picture of you they would look at your headshot.
6. It is appropriate to have your headshot at the beginning with your name and contact info that you display for 3 seconds.  It's not too long, but it's long enough for them to read.
7. Montages in general have no place in your demo reel.  We don't need to see you playing basketball or knitting or running.  Any of that sort of thing is what your "Special Skills" section of your resume is for.  If you do have an extreme special skill like Parkour or Belly Dancing, then I recommend having a separate tape of just that.
8. Post your reel on Vimeo or YouTube so they don't have to download it.  That way they can just watch it streaming.
9. If you are posting your demo on Actor's Access or the Breakdowns, I recommend breaking it up into individual scenes.  That way when submitting to casting you can be specific in what video would be right.  Plus, it costs the same, the charge is only for the amount of time not the number of clips.
10. In general avoid anything that seems fancy or artsy.  Casting just wants to see you and if you can act, not how skillful your editor is.

Editing your own demo reel is not that difficult.  If you have Final Cut or even just iMovie, you can put it together easily.  I just fiddled around with the software til I figured it out.

Wanna check out my demo reel?  Check it out here:  Michelle's Demo Reel

When Should You Start Working?

The short answer to this question is: yesterday.

I often hear people say things like I'm just not ready yet to start auditioning, or writing, or producing, or whatever it is they want to do.  Their main excuse is that they aren't as good as they want to be.  They are so focused on being perfect that they are scared to get off the starting block.

In the arts, perfection is not the goal.  Not being perfect is not the same thing as failure.  Failure is never trying. 

This time of year is when the Playhouse West Film Festival submissions start coming in.  (The final deadline is April 21st.)  And every year I see friends of mine scrambling to finish (and sometimes start) projects that they really meant to be working on all year.  Deadlines are good; deadlines force you to act and I am really proud of all my friends who are working on projects.  But, if this is your passion; if this is what you really want to be doing with your life then you need to learn to do it without the deadline. 

Don't let your perception of not being perfect stop you from starting.  At the film festival every year the most common advice is to just go out and do it.  So, stop judging yourself.  Get out there and try. 

What I Learned in a Year

It's officially been a year since I started writing this blog.  The reason I began was to share some of my experience and pitfalls with my actor friends out there.  I explained Why You Should Listen to Me, which is pretty much that you probably shouldn't since anyone who claims to know anything in Hollywood is probably wrong.

I have to say I've learned a lot just from writing this blog.  Reminded me that I need to enjoy the journey, not to worry about my competition, and how to face rejection.  I got to share with you guys my success at making a movie in 72 hours, what inspired me at the Playhouse West Film Festival, and how I survived the Los Angeles Actorfest. 

Of course, I'm always learning more and am often reminded that I don't know everything.  Just this last week, I had one of those auditions that was not perfect and I forgot some of my own advice, by not owning my audition and losing my confidence.  But with every failure comes a chance to do it better the next time.  You know, what doesn't kill you ...


As the last blog in February it's time to see how my Career goals are going:

Goal: Attend class unless working an acting gig or sick
Actual: I didn't miss a single class this month :)

Goal: Work on scenes from plays I can put up.
Actual: Working on "Vanities" with a couple ladies from my class.

Goal: Read two plays a month.
Actual: I read "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday" and "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress"

Goal: Find and attend a good on-camera class to supplement my acting classes.
Actual: Finishing up that commercial class with Chris Game.  I am thinking about starting to get a group of actors together to work on camera once a week.

Goal: Complete editing on both my films before the PWFF early bird deadline.
Actual: Not looking so good, but they will be finished!!!

Goal: Write and produce two more shorts this year.
Actual: Let's finish these other two first.

Goal: Continue to help at the agency once a week.
Actual: I've gone to the agency once a week and have been working on a Pilot Season project to help them be super organized.

Goal: Find three casting offices that I can help out at as a reader.
Actual: This month I continued helping out at the TV office and got to help them on their new Pilot.

Goal: Blog every Monday.
Actual: Blogged every week.  Plus you can check out my other blog: Being Crafty and Cultured in Los Angeles. 

January Career Goals Update

One way to help you stay on top of your resolutions is to have people to keep you accountable.  So, you guys are now my accountability team.  At the end of each month we are going to revisit my career goals I set this New Year's and see how I am doing.

CAREER GOALS

Goal: Attend class unless working an acting gig or sick
Actual: I skipped one Thursday class to go to Disneyland with my sister.  My excuse (I know, excuses are a terrible, terrible thing but ...) I had attended 5 classes already that week and needed a mental health day.

Goal: Work on scenes from plays I can put up.
Actual: I have worked on two new scenes already this year, but neither come from a play I would actually put up.  I am starting a new scene next week that has a possibility of being a cool play to do.

Goal: Read two plays a month.
Actual: I read "A Few Good Men," "Play It Again, Sam," and "Vanities."

Goal: Find and attend a good on-camera class to supplement my acting classes.
Actual: Started a commercial class with Chris Game.

Goal: Complete editing on both my films before the PWFF early bird deadline.
Actual: The five minute one has a rough cut, but b-roll footage is needed to round it out.  The 20-minute one is being worked on by Ricardo.

Goal: Write and produce two more shorts this year.
Actual: Let's finish these other two first.

Goal: Continue to help at the agency once a week.
Actual: I've been helping out at my agency and at some casting offices.  On weeks I couldn't go in on my normal day, I would try to go in a different day.

Goal: Find three casting offices that I can help out at as a reader.
Actual: Worked as a reader at two offices already!  A feature office and an episodic!  I think I will try to add more to this goal.

Goal: Blog every Monday.
Actual: Blogged every week.  And I added a new blog: Being Crafty and Cultured in Los Angeles.  There you can see how I am doing on my personal goals.

Pay Attention You Might Learn Something

One of my goals for the 2012 was to intern at three casting offices this year.  This particular goal is going along good because today I got to be a reader at a casting office working on an exciting new webseries. 

As a reader you get a great insider look into the casting process and if you pay attention you will learn so much more being a reader than you would ever learn at some cold reading workshop.

Today the lesson I learned was that even if you don't think your doing enough you are probably doing too much.  So many of the actors came in with all these planned out movements and pantomimes, like knocking on a door or making a kissing face.  None of this type of extraneous stuff helped their acting.  You could see them trying to remember what they had planned instead of actually listening and responding.

The best actress of the day, the one that gave everyone goosebumps, didn't move from the chair.  She spoke quietly, but loud enough for us to hear.  Everything was there in her eyes.

You don't have to pad your performance with all that extra stuff.  The most important thing is that you are natural and that you listen and respond to the reader.

On a side note, as the reader I hear all the notes that casting has given to the actors that came in before you.  I know what they are looking for and will do my best to direct your performance with my read, so it helps you to pay attention to me. 

Remember casting is on your side.  They want you to be so amazing that they don't have to see anyone else for the part.

Who is Keeping you Accountable?

Every New Years we make resolutions.  Last week, I wrote about the proper way to set goals.  But, once you figure out what your goals are, what keeps you from forgetting about them a month from now?

First, make sure you post your goals somewhere that would force you to see them as often as possible.  You could print them out and tack them to your mirror, make them the home screen on your phone, or do what I did and make them public by posting them on your blog.  You can see my 2012 goals here.

This leads to the second step on how to keep your goals.  Find a partner who will hold you accountable.  Get a close friend to meet you once a week or so for coffee and discuss where you are at with the goals you set.  By posting mine, I am using all of you to keep me accountable.  I will update once a week to keep me honest on my professional goals. 

For my personal goals I started a new blog called Getting Crafty and Cultured in Los Angeles, where I try to become more like Martha Stewart but on a budget. 

Hope everyone's New Year started fabulously! 

Good luck with all your New Year's goals.