Since I last wrote, I've had 4 auditions through my commercial agent for Bally's, bluefly.com, Saturn, and Time Warner Cable. In the bluefly.com audition, I had to act like my wife and I were getting ready for a nice formal evening out at the symphony. We were flirting, fixing each other's clothing, etc... and then we decide to forget the symphony and just spend the night in (or in other words, make out!). Well, we got to that point where we get it on (although there was no actual making out) and I had to pick her up and take her to the couch. Well, being single and not having a beautiful woman in my arms that often, I guess I was out of practice. The couch went across the floor about 5-10 feet and was real nice and noisy. The director said "Cut, why don't you just take the rest of the day off and go have a beer". It was pretty funny, although the girl seemed pretty perturbed. Oh well...

Got some footage from another film I did called "Rita the Meter Maid". It was a short film that we shot back in April and I play Rita's boss. I posted 3 clips on myspace so click here, and here, and here to check them out! (If they don't work, myspace.com may be having issues, as they are at the writing of this.)

I and 2 other actor friends have made a group to do drops now for the breakdowns that come out each day. A "drop" is just submitting your hardcopy headshot/resume to a casting office (the office usually has a drop box). Say there are 9 offices that have roles we fit. Instead of doing those 9 individually, we each just hit 3. So it saves on gas and time. Drops are one of the best ways to get called in for an audition (it'd be nice to be able to walk up to NBC studios and say, "I'd like to audition for 'My Name is Earl'", but that's not the way it works... they'd either laugh or yell at you!). These are the 8 ways to get an audition (JUST an audition):

1) Through your agent (best way, that is, if you have an agent)
2) Casting director workshops where you perform a scene in front of them ($20-$40 a pop)
3) General submission drop to a casting office
4) Breakdown drop (submitting for a role that they're currently casting)
5) Postcards to a specific casting director to let them know any new news about you
6) On-line submissions: you pay a fee and submit for projects the site has posted (most are for roles that they have to cast superfast, or for very specific roles like a man with one leg). And most of these are work-for-free.
7) Connections (even better than #1)

That's just the part of acting where you're seeking auditions. Add to that actually auditioning, training classes, getting stuff printed/preparing your headshots and resumes, rehearsing, actually performing, doing showcases for agents (if you don't have one), and networking. So that's what you do. Unless you're the 0.001% that gets discovered on a street corner. Or is it lower? But hey, ya never know.

My next blog will say that I got a role in a television series. In addition, I will have a theatrical agent, have joined SAG or become eligible, and I will also be in talks for a major movie deal. Just letting you know.

And as a little family promotion, check out my Aunt Kirsten's White Bear Graphics business site. "The business of White Bear Graphics is to promote ethics and good character through the original design and publication of environmental friendly bookmarks." She did all the photography on the bookmarks and they're beautiful and focus on ethics. Point your nearest school system there!