last weekend at the beach

I've had a few cool things happen this week and I have a few minutes, so here we go.

Work's been really interesting because I have been given a few opportunities to write, act and co-produce a few video spots-- comedy sketches, really-- that have been used for a variety of purposes. The few I did over the summer were used internally to help some sales groups (they were pretty funny but were really specific to the business...still, they were well received in context) and they went over pretty well. Over the past few weeks I have been working on some other spots that are going to be in broader circulation--you'll see them next month--and I have to say, it's been a lot of fun, this whole writing thing.

The thing about writing screenplays is that it's basically all about the dialogue and I really, really like writing dialogue. I just love writing how people talk. I think this mostly comes from reading scripts by David Mamet and, more recently, Wes Anderson (who writes a more formalized, more stylized way of speaking, to be sure, totally, but still, it's great dialogue). While I have the normal struggles with figuring out plot and arranging scenes in a way that keeps the audience engaged, the dialogue comes pretty easy. Half sentences, self-interruptions, stammers...bring it!

Anyway, this week we did some filming of a few of the new scripts I wrote (four, to be exact) and we brought in two other actors, and filmed them as if we were on location on the real shoot day. I gotta say, it was a really cool experience to watch them do the scenes--it was really, really rewarding, in this different way. Not in a "wow, my words are so great" but in this weird, like "hey, you're helping create something" kind of way. It was just really fun and I came home feeling pretty jazzed (and relieved) that the actors were able to do the scene without fighting the lines, you know? Although I still have quite a few pages left on my current screenplay, but this was a good sign--it encouraged me to keep working on it.

I also had a really, really good audition for an upcoming TV show this week. It was a pre-read (that's the one where you go to the casting director and do the audition and then, if s/he likes you and thinks you are good for the part, sends you to the producers to see what they think of you), but, again, if it goes well, the casting director will keep your stuff around for the other projects they are casting. This is the second time this has happened, and I think it's because the scripts I am getting are actual scenes, where I can work on a full arc within the scene, specific beginning, middle and end, you know? I worked on this one with my (amazing) coach and, like last time, the audition went exactly as we had worked on.

And, now, of course, we struggle against the hardest aspect of acting: you can nail it, you can do it as well as you possibly can, both from a technical perspective and an...honesty? perspective (ie, you're making it up, but it's completely grounded in something real within yourself that relates t the character's personality or the situation), and it doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get anywhere near getting the job. All the other funky applies--how you look, what the other character looks like, your build, your experience, favors people might owe to other actors, etc etc. But still, all you can do--and I think we've said this before--all you can do, whatever you do, is your best. And if you become this person that always delivers their best, eventually the world will sync up with your hopes.

HA!

Just while I was writing this, I got an email back from my manager--apparently the casting director thought I was good and if another role on the same episode opens up, they are going to call me in for that. I wasn't misanthropic enough--one who dislikes other people--which I really did try to do, but...well, there you go. Almost a compliment, in a way? My manager just noted that "a good performance is all that we can hope for"--I'm mean, in my soul, I am not misanthropic. I can act it, yes, and I've played similar characters on stage, but when casting for film and TV, you can't "trust" the actor as easily when you know you can find people who are more naturally a certain way in their beings. This is good, folks, I am really happy.


Regardless, we move forward...

Other stuff. Wedding to DJ at the end of the month, trying to figure out what to do for Whit's birthday, seeing Pineapple Express tonight with Gary, gong to a BBQ tomorrow, going to a birthday party tomorrow night, totally screwed up my hip after running 3.5 miles the other day (to see if I could and I could but wow, the next day I was all kinds of sore)...

have a good weekend!