FIVE Free Class Spots Available!

The problem with scheduling an actor's life in advance is that life tends to get in the way. There's the old actor joke: Want to get an audition? Book a vacation.

The FREE class with William O'Leary happening TONIGHT at 6 pm in Studio City now has FIVE spots available due to last minute cancellations.

Email me NOW at LiraKellerman@yahoo.com so I can email you the sides and address. It's a super fun class with an acting coach who has been acting in the business for thirty years. You've seen him on tv. You've seen him in the movies. You could see him as your acting coach who teaches you not how to act, but what to act.  He shows you camera techniques that makes you look light years ahead of your competition, and when he breaks down his Template and shows you how to break down a scene in only 5 steps - well, you'll see why his slogan is Act Less, Book More.

Check out the soon to be totally relaunched website here, and his acting resume here.

My friend Kris took the free class three weeks ago, kept talking about how great it was to his girlfriend, and she signed up with him based on his excitement alone!

It's a great class! Come play!

1/2 Off Isgo Business Cards!

This hot tip comes from actress/producer/friend Jen Nikolaisen. Perhaps you've seen her in such films as "Bundy: An American Icon," or "Love Royale"? 

She notified me that Isgo is running a special on business cards! Half off until July 31! And if you do want business cards, I strongly suggest putting your blog, twitter, and imdb listing on there. The more info the merrier!

Check it out!

If you don't know a thing about business card design, hit me up! I only charge $10 for business and postcard designs. Didn't know I was a bit of a graphics designer, did you?

(And thanks, Jen!)

Where Have You Been!?

Hello my darlings! I know, I know, you're mad at me cause I left and didn't say where I was going. Well, okay, here's the weird thing - I didn't actually go Anywhere! I've been swamped with class, rehearsals, writing a personal project, and shooting a pilot for a webseries! I know, right?!?

All whilst looking for a survival job that doesn't involve refilling anymore gosh darned diet cokes, cause the money isn't what it used to be, and those jobs have been crushing my soul for a while.

I'm currently interviewing for a very part time admin job that would allow me to scurry off to auditions (in this town, finding a job like that is practically impossible) and it's for a company I really like and believe in.  And if ya'll know of any other jobs a lady of my skill set would be great at (uh oh- is a degree in pretend limiting my career opportunities?!) do send along any thoughts and suggestions.

We shot the webseries pilot over the weekend, and co-star David H Lawrence XVII, who you've seen on Lost and Heroes kept eyeing me until he said, "Were you in the Haunting of Winchester House?" I was recognized! For a really bad B movie I swear no one else besides my family has seen. He said he thought I was very good in it. Well, I'll take that, Thanks David!

This webseries, called "Busted," is a comedy in the over the top vein. The goofier faces, and bigger reactions, the funnier it was. A teeny tiny crew and two mornings, and we were done! They're hoping on a finished edit by next week, so if they post it, ya'll know I'll show it to you.

Annnnnnnd that's about all I can write for today. I need to have some lunch before heading off to Westwood for a rehearsal and then rushing back to the valley for class.

I still have TWO spots open for the Wed free class that's at 6-8, tomorrow. You want in, email me!

Oh! And if you haven't yet, you can click on that Blogger's Choice icon at the top right and vote for this blog to win! I'm up to 6! SIX!!! That's two more than I thought I'd get!

Have a lovely Tuesday!

6 Spots Left for Free Acting Class!

Start your summer right with a FREE acting class from William O'Leary.

He normally charges $25 to audit but is giving my friends and readers a deal. I had one other class before this and it was a huge success with all but two signing up! We even had one actor talk about how great the class was to his friend who didn't attend, who then signed up immediately  - with no questions asked! That's right! That's how great William O'Leary is. But you knew that from this post.

Email me (it's on the right over there somewhere --> )
if you want in, and yes, this fills up fast. I will be starting a waiting list for another thing we'll have going on (super secret now, more to be revealed later!) so do email me even if you're reading this weeks after I've posted.

All class expenses ARE tax deductible! And you'll be a better actor for it! And you'll see me there!

Summer is slow and it's a great time to get back in creative acting shape!

{via}

Acting Is Hard

I'm off to an audition, a rehearsal, and then another audition, so I'll be gone for the day doing actory stuff (yay!) but I just wanted to share this video to remind everyone that Acting IS Hard. There's a ton of psychology to it, and one needs to constantly study how to say things naturally when you really mean something else entirely. Like, when your girlfriend says, Happy birthday, you're old! and you reply back, I hate you!

You don't really hate her.

So, watch a person who was in over her head on a set where no one had the time to help her (time is money, people, this is a business!) and where you can tell lines got cut. I don't think this poor girl even knew what she was saying. At any rate, Acting, just like any other creative endeavor, requires practice and studying for as long as you live.

Hollywood & Highland

I once visited Hollywood and Highland when I was younger, having gleaned that this was a fancy, glamorous place where movie stars hung out. When we got there, it was already dark, we felt unsafe, and lo and behold, Hollywood and Highland was an empty dirt plot. Where was the magic? The stardust?

Cut to 2010.

Kevin Fukunaga, who directed fellow USC alum TJ Thyne in TJ's first student film, has created a new series launching this fall called "Hollywood & Highland."

Guess who's in it!

That's right, me! Good job!

After auditioning for the role of Sydney, the struggling stand-up comedian, he called me the next day to schedule a callback at a cafe. This is unusual, but he assured me that he just wanted to get a feel for my personality, as, he said, it was only between me and one other girl.

I met him, we talk, we're having a blast, and then he asks me if I'd accept the role. "Uh....what about the other girl?" I mean, yay! But, the other girl should still have her shot, cause I'm a middle child and very empathetic and believe in being fair. He replied that he had to have a second choice in case I said no, but the role was mine. That, after my audition, he became extremely excited because I had brought a level to her that no one else had. That he was so excited about me and what I had given the character, that he had rewritten parts of some episodes so that Sydney would fit me better.

Awesome, right?

We had our first table read the other week, and it was fun! Kevin has some really brilliant marketing ideas that I'm super excited about and we've already done some promo shots and videos!

Where can I find them, you ask? Right Here! This is our Indie GoGo page where you not only see a video of all the cast members explaining why we need this page, but if you go to the Gallery tab, you'll also get to see a rehearsal of Katie Wilson playing struggling songstress covering The Climb. And she's good! No bleeding ears, I swear.

Our fundraising goal is only $6,000 and so far, we've already raised $395, with 34 more days to raise the money we need. You donate money, you get some fun perks! Go ahead and check it out. Get your Lira fix.

Since my first visit to Hollywood and Highland, things have changed. The dirt plot was just in preparation of the huge mega shopping center they were planning, with stores, restaurants, and glitter in the concrete. I'm confident Hollywood & Highland is going to have a similar, magical unveiling.

It's an Honor Just to Be Nominated!

Well, lookee here!


Seems I gots me a nomination for Best Entertainment Blog from the Bloggers' Choice Awards! Isn't that awesome?!

What?

Yeah, of course I know who nominated me. One of the most talented, sweetest, thoughtful, bitchiest, craziest, fantastic, loveliest people I know.

Me.

It seems anyone can nominate their favorite blog or even their own, so that's what I did Saturday. First I nominated Phoenix's blog, cause I freakin love it, and I bet you do too, and then I nominated mine, cause you know what, I also freakin love it. I mean, you know? Seriously!


Just click on the Nominated icon and you can sign up and vote!

After that, check out some of the other blogs in the categories, especially if you have a ton of time to kill, because I found a lot of really good blogs with interesting articles.

Now, however, I just want to take this moment to sit back and marvel at how this here little blog was nominated for Best Entertainment Blog of 2010!

What an accomplishment of shameless self-promotion!

The Weirdest Audition....

I had the strangest audition and wrote about it here, but thought I'd repost it:

I finally found parking on the second story of a small lot, and rushed over to my audition. I had memorized the six pages of sides (three short two page scenes) and was dressed, made up, and feeling fantastic. I head over to a patio area and find about 16 other girls waiting in front of me.
We are outside. And it's hot. "Is there a sign in sheet?" I ask politely to one girl and she replies that there isn't one. Ugh. "What's the wait?" "About two hours."
Two hours!? But I'm dressed, made up, I know the scene inside and out...I guess I'll stay. I don't have much else to do. I sit down.
Suddenly, a guy I hadn't noticed tells me that he's the director and
it shouldn't be much longer, they're just printing scripts for everybody, and that his assistant had to go to Kinko's and he should be back soon. We're just all waiting for the scripts so everyone can have one to audition from.
"We're not auditioning from the sides we were given?"  "No."
I can't stand it. This is now not worth it. It's non-union, low pay. Barf. I get up and walk past the director. "Learn how to run a casting session," I say as I breezed past him.
I'm angry, and yet, can't believe I just said that to someone. Why did I say that!? He'll never call me in again! I just ruined my chances of ever working with that guy again...even if the only thing he knows how to do is waste time.... Hmmm.
I get back to my car and find a parking ticket. Of course. There was a meter in front of my car I didn't notice.
And then I woke up.
I hadn't had an acting anxiety dream in a long time! And they're usually of the "I'm a lead in this play that opens tonight and I forgot to memorize my lines!?" variety. Still trying to dissect it. Thoughts?

 Fellow blogger Sarah was kind enough to interpret:

Dreams are fascinating. I have done quite a bit of studying on different methods of dream interpretation, and while Freud would probably have a lot of things to say about your relationship with your father, it seems to me the main themes in your dream are 1) Confidence (you felt great, you looked great, you were well prepared) 2) Positive Expectations about Yourself (you had done your prep work and had a positive approach to the situation) 3) Frustration when those expectations are let down through no fault of your own (the poorly run casting session and your reaction to it) 4) Feeling guilty for demanding that your expectations be met (the parking ticket is a punishment)
So - very basically - You are working hard for something you really want and deserve, but your efforts are largely going unrewarded. Your unconscious wants to blame it on someone/something else but your conscious mind won't let you because of a fear of somehow being punished for doing so.
Maybe.
Who knows what dreams really are or what they mean :)

 What do you think? Do you have any other thoughts on my dream and what it might mean?

The Reel Deal

I mentioned Kill the Door is doing FREE Reel Critiques, and I just got mine a few days ago.

First off, in case you've missed it, here's my reel so you can see it and understand what they're talking about. It's a little tricky, but if you click on the Video tab right next to my headshot thumbnails, you should be able to see my two reels.

And here's what they said:

Hey Lira. Thanks very much for the email and for sending us your stuff.  We think it's in the actors interest to hear honest, productive feedback so that is what you'll get. 

Bottom line is, you're talented. Congratulations. 

The seriocomic clip is good but we're not sure why a short clip of it isn't in your reel. We think you can include it in the reel. Combine the two. 

The reel is technically pretty good- the length and the cuts are right, we think. The little introduction bit threw us off a touch as we didn't know why you were looking around the room with sexy-eyes.  We think just a title card with your name or a still of your face with your name works better for the intro.  That particular slow-mo clip of you gives off something too specific. Save it for the scenes.   

As for the work, you're clearly talented like we said. There are moments when you are truthful in your work and it is absolutely wonderful. Then there are small moments during which we feel like we're not getting all of you. We think there is a lot more in you. Like you have more to give.  That's exciting to us.  But we feel like you can go deeper. That you can bring more of your joy, sadness, anger, etc to the world of your play. But we only feel that way because what we saw we really liked and it made us want more. 

All in all, well done. 

 

Well! Not too shabby, right?  And after doing a couple of castings, yes, my little sexy-eyes thing needs to go. There's no need. I, (and you!) should have a reel that jumps right into your best work! When they said there are small moments where they felt like they're not getting all of me, I completely agree. I have some things in there I will gladly take out and replace once my new material comes in. But you know what I love focusing on? That they think I'm talented and that my reels are well done.

 

One of my goals for this year was to have my comedic and dramatic reels separated so that if I was submitting for a comedic role, I could just attach the comedic reel. I asked them what they thought of that. Here's what they said:

Our opinion is that having a bunch of different reels spreads you too thin. We think a smattering of strong comedy and drama in one reel that is no longer than 4mins 30sec is terrific. We know some directors who only hire actors for dramas if they can handle comedy. The notion is that comedy is more difficult and if they can handle comedy they can do anything.  Having one reel that shows all of you gives them a full sense of who you are. 

That said, if you have 3-4mins of REALLY solid comedy (no not-so-great-moments) and then another 3-4mins of REALLY solid drama then you might want to have two reels on the off chance that you're going in for a purely comedic role or a purely dramatic role. But so much of the stuff now is serio-comic, dramedy, etc that it's rarely one or the other.  But if your agent/manager wants you to separate then go for it. 

 Again, just our opinion. 

So there you go!

If you have a reel and haven't submitted it to them, what are you waiting for? Tell all your friends! Support each other! Get your package to be the best it can be so that when they say they need a fantastic actress, they know they're getting the reel deal when they look at your stuff.

Thanks, Kevin!

The writer/director of Hollywood & Highland, Kevin Fukunaga, found this video for me. He wrote, you'll be part of that 4-5%.

Thanks Kevin. What a wonderful start to my day!

Do This! Do This NOW!

I don't even remember how I found Kill The Door, but you need to go there! It's a secret supergroup of agents, managers and casting directors who, in the name of Love and Anonymity, give actor tips to help you get to the next level. They started giving out tips on major auditions, but it's growing to be more than that...

This is a relatively new website, as they will be having discounts and other advantages offered soon, but right now, they are OFFERING A FREE CRITIQUE OF YOUR REEL!!!

Go to the contact page and send them your link, and they'll review it in about three days or less. I just got mine and it was very helpful!

And if you don't have a reel up on Breakdowns (Actors Access) yet, what are you waiting for? Submitting with a reel (even just a demo reel) gets you filtered to the top of the list the Casting Director looks at when opening their submissions folder. Once I had mine up, my audition ratio had a huge spike.
And since Glee is now so popular, and almost everyone has a webcam, sing a snippet of a song and post it up there! Do it! You never know!

Who loves you?

I Like Saving Money!

I'm in love with a man I want to marry, and although we've decided, yes, let's do the whole getting old thing together, we just haven't made it official yet. What do I do in the mean time? Wedding porn.

I've been following a few sites and bumbling around a few others, but I really like The Broke Ass Bride. I've been reading them for a while now, and I've seen their wedding photos, and when The Fresh Hubby got a commercial gig for Del Taco, I recognized him and was so happy for them both! Yay!

So imagine my delight when I get to a callback and There The Fresh Hubby Is! It's hard to miss him because we have the same Jew hairfro going on, but I sat down with him and told him how great his and his wife's blog is. AND NOW I WAS TALKING TO HIM. I gushed. I did. But they're my online world one-way friends! I've read their wedding vows for crying out loud!

He was very gracious, and, I think, very surprised that I even knew who he was, what the blog was, and that I had known I had seen him on tv. He wasn't, bless him, creeped out. He was great.

Today, I'd like to steer you over there because they've got a great blog on group coupons and how to save money on a few other retail items.

So go ahead, meet Dana and Hunter!

Be a Patron of the Arts

As my acting coach William O'Leary said to me this afternoon, it's not the submissions, it's the networking...

I had booked The Happies, playing hipster Sam, and the director and producer of it, T and Matt, liked me so much they said, hey, listen....we've got this other project in the works....and we want you in it....and we want you to help us write it.

Okay! T has guaranteed distribution in a couple of art movie houses and I finally got the script (or, rather, the script so far,) and let me tell you. It's good. It's really good. The dialogue is sharp and witty, true to life, and so very funny.

They have a small budget but need a bit more. Would you like to become a patron of the arts? Patronize us!

They put together a fun short asking for money (Click on the picture below and watch the video. That's T, the director/writer) and with your monetary donations, not only could they make this thing, but you would get fun stuff! Donate $20 or more and you get a copy of the DVD!  Donate $10,000 and you get a walk on role, AND a paid trip to LA! How cool is that? If you get the walk-on role, that's not all you'd get  - you'd also get lunch and a trip to the Craft Services table, and the chance to meet ME! If we're not shooting the same days, I'd make a special trip! Sign one of my headshots for you too! What? You just want the trip, the walk-on role and the dvd? Really? You don't want one of my headshots? Oh. Okay. But still, that's cool that you're gonna be in a movie!!!

We've got 42 more days to get these funds raised, otherwise, we lose it all. That's the fun part about kickstarter - you can get sooooo close.....and if you can't market the project appropriately, your financial dreams are crushed.  Just like in Hollywood! Right now we've got $225 pledged, and of course, even $1 would be appreciated!

Some Other Things

Sometimes I look at this blog and think, How Boring! How can anyone be so interested in all this acting stuff I'm doing? I sometimes find my own writing boring. How can this be entertaining to others?

So, here's some other things I'm thinking about in life.:

My guy.
I love my boyfriend. So much, in fact, that sometimes I want to throw up in my mouth a little bit when I think about him. When I first brought him home to meet my family, my sister's then husband told their 2 year old son and daughter to call him "Uncle Anthony." Now, our family is rather small and my parents didn't really have friends due to my mother's very erratic behavior, so the name Uncle was reserved only for the men who married our parents' sisters. (I have no uncles related to me by blood!) Instructing their kids to give Anthony the name Uncle as a show of respect and familiarity seemed so incredibly sweet to me. The kids turn 7 on the 30th this month, and it struck me that they have only known Anthony as Uncle Anthony. I love that. No matter what, they have grown up knowing that Auntie Lira will most likely visit with Uncle Anthony in tow, and for some reason, that fills my heart with happiness. The few times I have visited without him, they were always quick to ask where he was. We are understood to be couple. A unit. He and I are a team, and yet more. We are our own 2 person family. That makes me happy.

My sister.
She is quitting cigarettes! She's been smoking since before she could legally buy them, and right now she is on day 10 without them. I am proud and keeping my fingers crossed that this time will be the end of nicotine forever!

My dad.
I get the feeling he's depressed. My sister and her two kids moved out of the house and he's feeling empty nest syndrome again. I thought my dad was a guy who was born to have kids, but it turns out that instead, he was a guy born to have grandchildren. I know he misses them. His last contract just ended so he's also looking for work. I hope he gets an Android job he wants. (There's this saying, "You know you're from Fremont..." and one of them was "when you know your parents work in computers, but aren't sure what they do." So true. )

My mom.
My mom's sister, my aunt, is passing the Conservatorship torch to me. What is a conservator?

Function: noun
1 : a person, official, or institution appointed by a court to take over and manage the estate of an incompetent.

My mother is unable to care for herself or her estate (money, property, etc) and we are going forward with having my aunt get the proper legal papers started so that she can retire and I can legally take care and responsibility of Mom. I'm nervous, I admit. My aunt lives in LA and is going to be available to me for any questions, help, etc, so really, it's not going to be difficult, but I'm nervous none the less. Sometimes I feel like I'm not capable of taking care of her, as I know nothing of the adult world stuff like Social Security (which she'll qualify for this year) and Medicare (ditto) and whatever else, but my aunt has done a fantastic job this last year of making sure all this stuff was in order for her so that this transition would be very easy for me. I think, what I'm really scared of, is that now that I'll be in charge of her, something will *magically* change and I'll somehow have the mothering mother I never had and always wanted. That the Conservatorship Fairy will make my mom better. Ugh, I don't know. I just have to remember that my mom isn't a mom - she's an incompetent; she is the same person, our relationship won't change, and that no matter what, I'm going to be okay.
I filled out some paperwork today to apply for a bond, which is step number 1. It's happening.

Ventriloquism
I want to make a sock puppet. I've been practicing talking with my mouth closed and learned the other day that everyone does NOT do this like I thought. Why not?

 And doesn't this look fun to make?















Burning Man
This one in a lifetime event that happens every year is something I've been thinking about every day. I'd like to have a few guest bloggers entertain ya'll while I'm gone, so Ashley, Sarah, Tracy, and Robin, I'd love to have you if you're interested.

The Gym
Why haven't I found the motivation to go lately?

Hosiery
I really want fence-net (think fishnet, but way bigger) stockings, but then I saw these

which are faux fishnet and faux garter! They're screenprinted on pantyhose! I want! You want? You can get them too! We'll be twins!














And that's what's been going on in my brain lately.

Success!

So the free class I was promoting with William O'Leary was a huge success! I knew almost everybody and because of that, was able to offer them a spectacular deal. Woot!
If you weren't able to make it but are still interested, keep Wed, June 30th, 7pm-9pm open. We may do another one....
See my email on the right --->
to sign up.

In other news, the submissions I mailed have so far resulted in 0 meetings. I did have one manager write me back, though, and what she said was pretty unbelievable. 

In other news, that little pilot thing where I played a hipster, The Happies, that had been pushed back indefinitely, (which to me, meant dead as a door nail) is now back! We have a tentative schedule for the end of the month, and we are going to now do the full thirty minute episode instead of the presentation reel! Hooray! They believe they'll eventually have it online for your viewing pleasure, so once that happens, you know I'll be link happy and giving you plenty of ways to find it.

I will also be location scouting this Sunday with webseries producer Tanya Giang! She decided to go SAG herself, and wrote and is producing a very clever vehicle for herself and her union card, called "Busted". She asked me to help and be in it (no audition required! woo hoo!) and we shoot at the end of the month! I play a ditzy best friend and am super excited! It's a very clever script. Super proud!

So with Busted, Hollywood & Highland, and now The Happies all happening, I've got me some things to do!

FREE CLASS! 5 Spaces left!

So I've got five spaces left for the free class being offered to my readers and I realized I didn't write WHY I like this class so much.

Ready? Let's go!

When it comes to auditioning for the small stuff, the independent stuff, the stuff they audition over at CAZT, I know I can pretty much rock it out if the material is halfway decent. If it's bad, it's really hard for me. I'm not that good, you know? So I'm pretty confident in my small stuff auditioning skills because the people I'm competing against are new. They're green. They still need a few more years before they'll be at my level. For the indie stuff, I'm kinda top tier.

For the network, studio backed stuff, I'm nowhere NEAR the level I need to be. And why should I be? I've had 3 auditions for sitcom/drama television shows the entire time I've been out here. I did well enough on one to get to producer callbacks, I did not so good on another, and pretty much bombed the other one. Why? Because everything was different. The rooms are different, the people are different, and casting needs me to be at the level everyone else is and I know I'm not. I'm excited to get seen, but it's pretty obvious I lucked out on these auditions and they know it. It's a different technique for characters I'm not used to, and my college training only went so far.


William O'Leary does not teach you how to act. That's not the approach he takes at all. He teaches you WHAT to act. He comes at everything from the network executive's perspective: Is this person going to make me money if I cast them in my show? Is your work compelling enough to have 20 million people watch it and buy the products that air during the commercials?

William O'Leary is not a talent manager or agent teaching a class. He has been working for so long, you grew up watching him. He's still working on tv today. His methods work. They WORK.

It's an on camera class, and at my first one with him, I felt pretty darn good about my audition work. When everyone finished, he gave us notes and we watched the tape. After that, we worked the scene and he teaches you how to break down every scene for every show that, trust me, is like magic. We had time to tape our worked on auditions again, so we did. You guys, the difference in my two takes were astronomical. I went from having a pretty good audition to having one that immediately screamed I was a professional who's been working on network shows for years. I had an audition that looked like I could be booked immediately off the tape. And that's the audition I WANT casting to see.

I don't have to be intimidated in the waiting room of these major casting directors anymore. I know what they need and I'm the actor who's going to give it to them.

Do you want to be the actor who's going to give them what they need too?

Email me. :)

FREE CLASS!

I have ten spots left for the amazing on-camera class taught by William O'Leary, an actor you've actually grown up seeing in movies (Bull Durham, Hot Shots, Terminator 3, Miss Congeniality 2)  and television (Tim Allen's brother in Home Improvement, Big Love, 24, etc.)

You get your sides the night before and can actually prepare your classwork like it's a real audition. Stop getting sides in class with only 10 minutes to prepare!

And, as I said, this stuff's on camera! The beginning of class is treated just like a real casting, with the actors being called one by one into the casting office where your audition is taped. We are given notes after everyone's been up, then watch the footage, and then work the scene. WE REALLY DO IT ALL.

I am so incredibly serious when I say this class will change your acting life. You'll go from having a struggling actor's audition technique, to a constantly booking and working actor's audition technique.

This Thursday, from 12-2, in Studio City. He normally charges $25 to audit because of all the information given and all the work done, but he is offering my readers a FREE CLASS.

Don't you feel loved?! Find my email on the right side over here --->
and I'll save you a spot! But hurry!!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

When I was a wee little girl, I loved helping my dad. He would indulge me, showing me how and why he did each thing and let me help, sometimes doubling or tripling the amount of time it would take him to complete a task. Once or twice a month I would help him with bills. My job grew and grew until I, at seven years old,  opened the bill, said the amount, and while he was writing, signing and recording each check, would stamp our return address, lick the postage (BLECH!) tear the stub off the bill, collect the check from my dad, stuff the return envelope, and lick it. (BLECH!)

I loved helping my dad with this job, but absolutely hated licking the envelopes and stamps. The envelopes were bad enough, with their large area I had to taste, but stamps, although smaller, were way worse. They were disgusting. So gross. What did they put on those things?! When the United Postal Service added sticker stamps, Hallelujah! I was one happy little girl.

I just sent off 20 more headshot submissions to managers, and as I was affixing the postage, was so incredibly thankful for stickers.  And for a dad who took the time to teach me how to manage money when most would think I was too young to understand. That's love.

Great Words of Wisdom

 After reading my last post, wise Gil Christner, who's been an LA Actor since the mid 80s (and when you meet him, you always ask "where do I know you from?" cause he's been on tv so much, you really think you've met him in real life) had this to say to me:

here's the truth: if you can be happy doing anything else than be in show biz, go do it. you will be saner for it. but if you can't, then you must have patience and perseverance and a huge belief in yourself. plus senses of humor and perspective both can't hurt. know that every gig you don't get is only a rehearsal for the one you do, know that every audition is between two people: you and the person that gets it. and sometimes, it's the same person! another trick i found is to stop staring ahead at all the people who are farther along in their careers than you are, and turn around and look back at all the people who have given up and whom you have surpassed. and last but not least, they say that the sea is a harsh mistress. but i say show biz is harsher. at least with the sea, you get a place to get buried.

Gil makes excellent points. If I just turned around and look at all I've accomplished this year, I would be feeling pride and happiness as opposed to discontent and anxiety. I've come a long way, Baby, and who's to say I stop here? I'm just gonna keep on trucking and see how far I can go!

Thanks Gil.

The 30 Mailed Submissions

About two weeks ago, I sent out 30 submissions knowing full well that in this age I basically can't move up without having a referral from either an acting coach, manager, or friend, and let me tell you, they are really hard to come by. I have a bevy of actor friends who would gladly refer me to their agent, however, either they aren't happy there, or they haven't booked anything in a while, rendering their referral moot as they feel they have no clout.

Two weeks ago, I sent out 30 submissions. I got three replies. All of them, "our roster is full." Which, if I'm going to be thrown away, thank you for telling me, even though that really wasn't the reply I was seeking.

I'm kind of at a loss. How do I get where I want to go when I seem to have absolutely no means of getting there? I'm booking on my own quite regularly, so wouldn't that mean I would book frequently on the much bigger projects, like....co-stars on television shows? I can slap Barney on the face on How I Met Your Mother. I can accept Leonard's awkward advances on The Big Bang Theory. I can swallow a couple of pills on Nurse Jackie.

As wonderful as it is to have directors and acting coaches say, "you're very good," while sitting me down and being very serious about it, it still doesn't do me any good. I mean, yeah, it's a great feeling, but it's kind of like not being promoted from secretary because you're such a good secretary. Except it's not like that at all.

It's a pity party here, and forgive me. I'm just frustrated. When you're doing well in your chosen field but can't move up, unlike every other single career in the world, it's daunting. How do I get to the next level?

I'm taking suggestions.

In the meantime, I'm off to go pretend I'm a paraplegic psychic for a non-union show on Animal Planet. A project I submitted for and booked myself.