Thanksgiving Ups & Downs

Oh what a week it has been. I did not book that bigger commercial, but I did do the smaller one. During the close-ups and other parts where the focus was all on me, the notes were all about coordinating with the camera and not about my facial expressions, so that was encouraging.

I got auditions for two different roles in a western feature, but they gave me a week to submit, and this was the week in which we had to move all of my grandma's things out of her house. I kept assuming that the job would last a couple hours, but the disorganization and sheer amount of items turned the jobs into full-day affairs over and over. And it also required counseling with each party involved, so it was very draining. That being said, the pay was decent. But as I tried working on my lines last night with a few hours to go before the audition deadline, I found myself frustrated not only with the lack of time, but also with the instructions to have a reader. A reader is another person reading lines with you, something that I do not necessarily have. I live with family and my schedule for working on these things tends to be different from theirs. So this week, I traded my chance at a part in a feature film for helping family. That being said, I needed the time to work on the characters because they were both a bit of a stretch for me. So maybe I would not have been cast. But maybe I would have! For that reason, I felt guilty about giving up on it. I am trying to say "yes" to whatever opportunities arise in the world of showbusiness, so I feel the loss. But then again, family did need me.

So despite those setbacks, I am more financial sound than I was a week ago. And because I did not book that commercial, I am able to commit my time and mind more fully to this short horror film that shoots tomorrow. The director and I have talked about it multiple times, and it will involve a decent amount of improv. I must admit that I enjoy these roles that involve zero line memorization, since they basically involve showing up, playing, and then getting paid. For someone who has only been back in the game for  a little over a month, it has been an easy transition back.

Oh, and I was apparently doing my previous auditions wrong. There is a standard recording style for auditions and I was absolutely not doing it. So now I know about that and slating. And my brother's friend has a band and had apparently asked about my standup comedy shows, and when he heard that I had just been writing without any specifics planned, he offered to have me open his show with a five minute set. So now I have to actually pick a good five minutes of what I have written.