I am excited to say that I am getting my first IMDB credit. Cool huh? For those of you (like my mother) who have no idea what IMDB is, check it out at http://www.imdb.com/. It is the Internet Movie Data Base. It's actually a pretty big deal to for an actor, or anyone in the entertainment biz to get credit on this site, at least I think it is. Everyone always talks about it. When you go to the website, you can put in any actor's name (not just celebrities) into the search field, and it will pull up the profile for that actor, and every film or television project that that actor has worked on. All SAG franchised projects get listed on this site, and also non-union projects that qualify. For example, if you recall, I acted in an independent short film back in March. It's still in post-production. When it is finished it will be submitted to a number of film festivals. If accepted to any of the festivals, all of us actors will get IMDB credit for it. Hopefully it will and then my resume will grow from there! Having an IMDB credit also means that I will be google-able. Hey, I'm moving up in the world.
The film that I got this first credit for was some low budget feature. I think it is going to be titled Jelly, but that could change. There aren't any big names in the film and I don't know if it will get a theatrical release or not. I was part of a club scene, and actually, there was a girl there that was also in the short film that I shot back in March.
I wish I could post more often, but there just aren't THAT many exciting things happening right now. I work at one job, then go to the other job, then sleep for a few hours, and do it all over again the next day. Fun fun. I'm still trying to stay positive, so here's the quote:
Be a Do-er Not a Critic
A non-doer is very often a critic-that is, someone who sits back and watches doers, and then waxes philosophically about how the doers are doing. It's easy to be a critic, but being a doer requires effort, risk, and change.
--Dr. Wayner Dyer
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Britney Stopped By To say "Hi"
Early Thursday morning at 4am, Britney Spears graced my hotel with her presence, and she brought all sorts of madness with her. She was visiting Criss Angel "the mind freak" for whatever reason. He stays with us a lot. Click the link below to see Britney arriving at our hotel and the masses of papparazzi with her. Unfortunately this wasn't one of the nights that I worked overnight, so I wasn't there. I was actually out partying myself! You can, however, see my co-worker, JJ, yelling at the paparazzi to get out of the building. And she means business!! haha
http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah6501.shtml
(If the video doesn't start automatically playing, just click on the picture of Brit and Criss, and it should re-direct you to a page that will play the vid).
http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah6501.shtml
(If the video doesn't start automatically playing, just click on the picture of Brit and Criss, and it should re-direct you to a page that will play the vid).
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Criminal Minds Casting
It's been half a century since my last post, but I've been really busy working and umm..err.....partying! Yes partying. I spent most of my first year in Los Angeles focused on my goals. It was all work and no play. I hardly went out at all. Now, I'm still focused, it's just time for me to get out and meet people and things like that. I'm having fun.
Last Wednesday I had the honor and privelege of working in the casting office of the show Criminal Minds. A HUGE thanks to April and Scott, the 2 casting directors in the office and Erica the casting assistant for letting me spend a day with them even though things are hectic over there. It was so much fun and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things and put my mind at ease for others. I'll try to go briefly through the day.
It was the first day casting for a new episode: Espisode #4. The cast and crew were on location filming episode #3. The day started off with a meeting in which the casting directors, writers and producers get together to discuss exactly what they want the characters to be like. This was the first thing we did and I'm so glad they let me go to this meeting, because I was originally scheduled to come in after the meeting. This meeting really made me feel better about myself as an actor for one reason. They talked about what the characters were supposed to be like in such detail. They already have a preconceived image in their head about what kind of look they want. I hate to say this, but in Hollywood, it really is more about looks than "talent", whatever your definition of talent is. I'll explain more about this as I continue my story. My point here is that, as an actor, you go on so many auditions, yet rarely hear back from any of them. It really is a hit or miss thing. I had read in books that said that when you don't hear back from an audition, to never take it personally and to not get down about it. I never really believed it, but it is true. You still can't help thinking every now and again, "Am I really meant for this?"
After the meeting, I got to do something really fun. I got to audition 4 actresses that they wanted to see for a small role in this episode. I can't explain how relieving this was!! To be in an audition room and NOT be the one auditioning! It was great! In the room were the 2 casting directors, one of the producers, and me working the camera. The first actress came in and read the scene which was about 4 lines. It took a few seconds and she was done. The producer did not ask her to do the scene again. Now see, this is something that it took me a while to catch on to. When an actor goes on an audition, and they ask you to do the scene multiple times, they're at least interested, or see you as a potential candidate for the role. If they don't ask you to re-read, it's probably a no go. This may seem like common sense, but it took me a while to figure out. This is another reason why I really wanted to shadow in the casting office. In any other profession (i.e. -medical school), part of your training is shadowing a professional to get some hands on experience. In acting, you can't just go shadow another actor and watch them audition. You're just thrust out there to fend for yourself and learn everything on your own pretty much. I'm speaking of auditioning in particular, not acting technique or anything. So, for me it was essential to have this experience. They ended up choosing the 4th actress that auditioned for this part. The overall mood for this scene is going to be kind of dark, I think, so they wanted someone who fit that look. The first actress was bubbly and blonde. See, so they were all "talented", but they needed to go with someone who fit the look of the scene.
The rest of the day consisted of me helping Erica around the office. I got to read the whole script and check it against the updated version and make note of any changes. This episode is going to be really good by the way. I helped Erica call actors to bring them in for auditions the next day. How great they must've felt to get a call and hear: "Hi, this is Kris from Criminal Minds. We want to audition you tomorrow". Exciting! At some point in the day, Scott received a delivery from an actor. It was an elaborate fruit basket from a company that can do some amazing things with fruit. They make flower bouquets and stuff all made from fruit. It was good, and I know that casting directors and agents get gifts like this all the time. Honestly, it is SO cheesy and I'd never do it. Thanks to all the books I read before I moved to Hollywood, they said that doing things like this is a waste of time and money. It's true, and besides, it just makes you look desperate!
So, that was my day in the Criminal Minds Casting office (in a nutshell). Great experience and I definitely took a lot from it that hopefully I can put to good use for myself. I wanted to meet Ed Bernero the executive producer (and writer) and also Simon Mirren (also a producer/writer), but I wasn't able to. They know my blog buddy Jill very well and I wanted to say hi to them for her. Oh well, maybe next time.
Last Wednesday I had the honor and privelege of working in the casting office of the show Criminal Minds. A HUGE thanks to April and Scott, the 2 casting directors in the office and Erica the casting assistant for letting me spend a day with them even though things are hectic over there. It was so much fun and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things and put my mind at ease for others. I'll try to go briefly through the day.
It was the first day casting for a new episode: Espisode #4. The cast and crew were on location filming episode #3. The day started off with a meeting in which the casting directors, writers and producers get together to discuss exactly what they want the characters to be like. This was the first thing we did and I'm so glad they let me go to this meeting, because I was originally scheduled to come in after the meeting. This meeting really made me feel better about myself as an actor for one reason. They talked about what the characters were supposed to be like in such detail. They already have a preconceived image in their head about what kind of look they want. I hate to say this, but in Hollywood, it really is more about looks than "talent", whatever your definition of talent is. I'll explain more about this as I continue my story. My point here is that, as an actor, you go on so many auditions, yet rarely hear back from any of them. It really is a hit or miss thing. I had read in books that said that when you don't hear back from an audition, to never take it personally and to not get down about it. I never really believed it, but it is true. You still can't help thinking every now and again, "Am I really meant for this?"
After the meeting, I got to do something really fun. I got to audition 4 actresses that they wanted to see for a small role in this episode. I can't explain how relieving this was!! To be in an audition room and NOT be the one auditioning! It was great! In the room were the 2 casting directors, one of the producers, and me working the camera. The first actress came in and read the scene which was about 4 lines. It took a few seconds and she was done. The producer did not ask her to do the scene again. Now see, this is something that it took me a while to catch on to. When an actor goes on an audition, and they ask you to do the scene multiple times, they're at least interested, or see you as a potential candidate for the role. If they don't ask you to re-read, it's probably a no go. This may seem like common sense, but it took me a while to figure out. This is another reason why I really wanted to shadow in the casting office. In any other profession (i.e. -medical school), part of your training is shadowing a professional to get some hands on experience. In acting, you can't just go shadow another actor and watch them audition. You're just thrust out there to fend for yourself and learn everything on your own pretty much. I'm speaking of auditioning in particular, not acting technique or anything. So, for me it was essential to have this experience. They ended up choosing the 4th actress that auditioned for this part. The overall mood for this scene is going to be kind of dark, I think, so they wanted someone who fit that look. The first actress was bubbly and blonde. See, so they were all "talented", but they needed to go with someone who fit the look of the scene.
The rest of the day consisted of me helping Erica around the office. I got to read the whole script and check it against the updated version and make note of any changes. This episode is going to be really good by the way. I helped Erica call actors to bring them in for auditions the next day. How great they must've felt to get a call and hear: "Hi, this is Kris from Criminal Minds. We want to audition you tomorrow". Exciting! At some point in the day, Scott received a delivery from an actor. It was an elaborate fruit basket from a company that can do some amazing things with fruit. They make flower bouquets and stuff all made from fruit. It was good, and I know that casting directors and agents get gifts like this all the time. Honestly, it is SO cheesy and I'd never do it. Thanks to all the books I read before I moved to Hollywood, they said that doing things like this is a waste of time and money. It's true, and besides, it just makes you look desperate!
So, that was my day in the Criminal Minds Casting office (in a nutshell). Great experience and I definitely took a lot from it that hopefully I can put to good use for myself. I wanted to meet Ed Bernero the executive producer (and writer) and also Simon Mirren (also a producer/writer), but I wasn't able to. They know my blog buddy Jill very well and I wanted to say hi to them for her. Oh well, maybe next time.
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