One Goal Accomplished

So, I accomplished one of my goals for the summer. I signed up for an extras casting agency, which granted was the easiest of the goals to complete, but at least it is progress. So I feel that I am getting into a routine here which I feel is good. Routine helps me stay sane, but at the same time when I want to break that routine it feels all the more difficult.

I have gotten in the habit of submitting myself for auditions during my lunch break at work and when I am off. It helps me feel productive and keeps me thinking about the ultimate goal of my move here.

One thing that they never mention when people talk about moving to a big city to become an actor is homesickness. It sucks. I really like my life here in New York, but nothing will ever replace the PEOPLE back home. My coworkers are not nearly as awesome, and I don't spend enough time with people in my acting class to make lasting friendships like the ones I already have. I think this is actually a good thing, because acting is a cutthroat business, and I am a softie as it is, I don't need an emotional attachment to my competition to stand in my way also. Basically the end of this entry was meant to tell you all that I miss you and am thinking of you, and that I am really thankful for all of the support I have gotten. You are awesome.

Cheers

My Star(bucks) Life

There is something I find very romantic in a bohemian type of way that I have to access the internet at coffee shops. It makes it easier for me to pretend that I am actually this super creative person, when in fact I am not, and just play one on TV. Well hopefully I'll play one on TV some day. I tend to do that a lot. I create stories and characters for myself that I act out in my actual life, in public. Like at this moment I hope to appear to the people around me as a fascinating young author who just had to stop at this Starbucks because he had a breakthrough and couldn't risk forgetting it. I also do this for people that I see. Like the girl sitting in front of me right now is (according to me) a Columbia graduate student who is lounging with her laptop, happy to be done with finals. The lady to her left is a struggling author/cat lady. She writes on her Macbook, hopefully publishing the next New York Times Bestseller, but trying to remember if she changed the litter in the box yesterday. The man with the suitcase behind me just flew in from JFK from England hoping to meet his long distance lover. I know this all makes me sound like a creeper, and maybe I am, but I am amusing myself with my own imagination.

Uta Hagen, the author of my Acting Technique textbook and brilliant actress, says that true actors are story tellers and will make up stories for people that they see on the streets. I guess this is a good sign for me?

Part of me wishes that my roommate/landlord doesn't get internet access. On a practical note, it also gets me asleep faster, seeing as I stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning looking up useless factoids on wikipedia.

Let the Fun Begin

So, I have been in my new place for almost a week. It's been very interesting. I love it, for the fact that I have my own space, but I hate the fact that New York is outrageously hot right now and the one thing I forgot to bring from home was a fan. My roommate basically forced one on me, so I have one in the meantime. I also don't have internet access, which is why my posts are going to be a little bit more scarce. I will try to update at least every couple of days. We should be getting internet access in a few days, but who knows?

As for the acting life. I am really loving my acting class. I know that I have taken this class for a few years now, but now that I am in the city, everything seems to click a little bit better. I really seem to understand the process a little bit more. I also love the fact that I do not have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get there.

I had an audition today, so my average of about one per week it still going strong. I think it went well, but for the first time I had to miss an audition because of work. They only gave me about 6 hours notice and it happened to be the one day that I was working until 9. The role wasn't that great, so it's not a huge loss, but I still would have liked to go. Work is going to to be an interesting obstacle because I have never really been that great with time management, I also need to make sure that I stay employed, but some acting jobs require multiple day shoots on a short notice. Since I have not gotten one of these jobs yet, I haven't learned how my managers are going to react when I say that I need the next few days or week off. Only time will tell.

This lack of internet access has lead to a few really good things. I get a lot more sleep. Also, I realized why some actors become writers, because if you have a computer with no internet access, writing is really all you can do with the computer. So I think I might start doing some of that. I'm not really sure, but it'll give me something creative to with my time.

Well I hope that I will be able to update again soon.

Cheers

My Mobile Connection

So, I am writing this while on the bus, and while Megabus is supposed to have wifi, apparently my bus does not, but I will NOT be beaten. That is actually the theme of today’s post. Not letting anything break you down. I realized that I have been focusing too much on the negative in my life and need to start focusing on the positive. So instead of thinking about things negatively (i.e. I have been in New York for a month and have only had two auditions) I should spin it in a more optimistic manner, such as, I have only been in New York a month and am averaging an audition every other week. Which in the stage of my career, is pretty damn good.

So in my attempt to start working towards something concrete and to feel like I am actually accomplishing something, I am going to make a list of goals that I want to accomplish before the end of summer. The reason I am choosing summer is because it is kind of a break for the industry. No agencies will be taking on new talent until around October, all TV is on hiatus, and most film students are on break. So in my attempt to gear up towards what I hope to be a busy fall, here is my very short list of goals:

1. Get an acting job in a film(paid or unpaid)

2. Begin compiling clips for an acting reel

3. Get back into shape

4. Sign up for an extras casting agency

I know it is only four, but I wanted to make them doable. The reason I like them are because all but one is controlled by me. To be honest I can only do so much to control if I get a job in a film, but I will do all I can. The reason I want to make it a film is because without film credits and experience I cannot craft a reel, which as I have learned is one of the most important devices in landing an audition. When I say reel, I do not mean a few clips of me doing monologues or whatever comes to my mind. I mean clips that appear professional and showcase me in a way that my headshot and resume cannot do alone.

So…three cheers for setting summer goals!! Also, if you haven’t noticed, my twitter feed is on the right hand side of this page. I put it there for a reason, because I am beginning to use the website in a more active capacity. I hope that if you are not already following me that you would begin to (I know shameless plug, but you I have to do it). If you don’t have an account, just check here regularly, because when I want to do a quick update, I will just tweet something instead of doing a whole post.

Cheers