Importance of Intelligence

People who know me, know that I have a very low tolerance for idiots.  I say this because actors get a bad rap and many people assume actors are stupid. 

Why do people assume this? 

I think a big reason is that actors are forced to take day jobs allowing us flexibility to pursue this dream.  Since, these jobs, like waiting tables, don't normally have a career path, people assume they must be easy.  However, most of you cubicle-dwelling-corporate-ladder-climbers would be surprised to find waiting tables is actually pretty difficult.  Not only does it require brains, but it also requires a lot more patience than most of you probably have.  I've waited a lot of tables and I can tell you many of the people I have worked with in Los Angeles hold advanced degrees and are doing this job because they are busy following the career they came to LA for in the first place.  Not because they are lazy or too stupid to get another job.  Seriously, I have a friend who holds a degree in Neuroscience and works at a bar.

Alright, so that was a bit of a tangent about restaurant servers, but the fact is that being a good actor requires intelligence.  As an actor, you have to have a deep understanding of what makes people tick and most importantly you have to have a deep understanding of yourself. 

How do you achieve this sort of understanding?  Well, for one thing, read a whole lot.  Most of the best actors I know are avid readers and many have a deep desire to learn as much about everything as they can.  Look at James Franco, he seems to constantly be pursuing different degrees and college courses.  If it is our job as an actor to provide a window into different aspects of the world around us, we have to understand how the world works.

The fact is that being a good actor like being good at almost anything - it takes intelligence.  Feel free to question our mental stability in choosing to pursue this crazy dream, but don't assume just because we are actors that we are stupid.  Thanks.

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 Find Your Audience

Acting is always a collaboration.  Last week, I talked about how to Be Brave and Ask for Help.  But, getting a crew and finishing your film is only half the battle.

The reason you create something is to have an audience to watch it.  So, the question is how do you get that audience?

First decision you have to make is where you want to it to show, like film festivals or on the web.  If you decide to post on the interwebs, you have to choose what site to post it on.  I think it's best to focus on one site to drive all your traffic to.  That way all your views show up in one place and they aren't spread amongst a lot of different sites.

But which site is best for your video?  If it's a funny then Funny or Die is the obvious choice.  I've posted a few videos there on my page, www.funnyordie.com/michellecoyle and it has a community of people who watch the videos which can drive up views.  But, remember on Funny or Die people get to vote on your videos, unless you are one of the chosen (and if you don't know if you are, then you aren't.)  Even really funny videos like Sunset Junction: Francophile can get a lot of die ratings.

Of course dealing with obnoxious comments is always something you have to deal with when you post things on the internet.  The only way to fight them is by ignoring them.  I know it's really tempting to scroll down and see what people have said but, trust me, don't.  It's not worth the angst.

So, back to driving traffic to your video.  There is always the usual social media blitz on your Facebook and Twitter pages.  But, you don't want to over-saturate the newfeeds because even your family will get sick of seeing the same video posted over and over again.  Plus, even if every one of your 900 Facebook friends watches the video that still isn't really viral video numbers.

I've had some success in the blogosphere.  I reached out to Topless Robot and TrekMovie and they happily posted my videos and even wrote nice articles about them.   I also follow lots of people who have similar interests as me on Twitter.  I read their blogs, watch their videos, and repost them.  I now have quite a few people who I have developed relationships with on Twitter and we help each other out. 

But, you can't worry about the views you are going to get before you make a movie.  So, the point is to get out there and start creating something.  The audience will come and it's okay if most of your views come from your mom.

Are You Doing Enough?

Last weekend at the Playhouse West Film Festival, Scott Caan did a Q&A about his career.  One thing he said really struck me: he always feels like he should be doing more for his acting and for his career.  Here is a guy who is a regular on two television shows, writes and directs his own films, and is starting his own production company and he doesn't feel like he is doing enough.

If this guy doesn't feel like he is doing enough, how can any actor feel like they are doing enough?  Well, maybe James Franco does, but I assume he has Hermione's Time-Turner in order to do everything.

At the acting school I attend, I've seen some newbie-super-gung-ho actors come through who want to do everything right away.  They'll audit every class they can and want to constantly rehearse.  It is commendable, but what often happens with these actors is that they burn out quickly and end up leaving LA.

The trick is finding the right balance.  Of course you should work on your acting and your career, but there are more ways to do that than just going to class.  For me, I help out at my agency once a week, read at casting offices, go to class, write, and produce my own stuff.  But, don't forget that there is more to life than just your career, so don't beat yourself up when you are tending to your personal life as well.

As actors we chose a career that is more like a vocation or calling.  We don't have office hours, so our work is constantly with us.  When we aren't in the middle of working on something it is easy to feel bad about ourselves.  The hard thing is that this chosen career tends to have more downtime than working time. 

Here Michael Ian Black on SadSadConversation talks about the panic he feels when he is not working on something (around the 50 second mark):

Oscar winner, Michael Caine says he would always say yes to any role offered to him because he never knew if it would be the last role he was offered.  That's why he agreed to do Jaws: The Revenge.  He wanted to work and was afraid that could be his last chance.

Is the lesson here that no matter how many Oscars you've won, how many shows you've been a regular on, or how long you've been in the business you'll always feel that you aren't doing enough? 

No, it's more about acceptance. 

If you know you are doing as much as you can: if you are going to class, rehearsing, writing, reading, actively making new contacts, then accept yourself and don't beat yourself up every time you are without an acting job.