GARY MASON

Voice Over Talent

443.624.3014

gary@audiomaticvoice.com

Encouragement

A late start….

Encouragement, General, Getting Started, Uncategorized

Welcome back! 

Thanks for reading!  If you are a new subscriber, thanks for joining us!

This week I’d like to talk a bit about getting A Late Start in the performing arts.  Well, I suppose this applies to nearly any profession, except maybe professional sports.

It’s never too late to start over…

It’s been said that you are never too old to learn something new, and while that’s true I would add “and to start a new career”.  That’s definitely true for me, who has started a new career at the tender age of 60 years old.  It’s been an experience, for sure, but it has also been a really great experience.  Let me tell you why starting a new career at 60 has worked for me.

Experience…

My dad used to say “Experience is something you get just AFTER you need it” …and for the most part he’s not wrong.  When you start to get a little older, one thing you definitely have going for you is experience.  Now, you may not have any experience in the new field you are trying to pursue, and that has definitely been true for me.  However, I am finding I have a LOT of relevant experience in general that has helped a lot.

Work/Study ethic…

While I have little actual experience in voice over and acting, my 60 years on this earth definitely taught me the value of establishing and maintaining good work and study habits.  In some ways, being an independent small business owner makes these things more difficult in that I only have myself to motivate me.  No boss making demands on my time is great, but that then means the task of motivation and drive fall squarely on my shoulders.  Thankfully, my 40+ years of service to the US Navy, both as an active-duty member and later a government civilian, gave me a lot of experience in self motivating behavior and a drive to succeed.  Starting later in life has given me an appreciation for training (that I also now have to pay for myself, which is ALSO a motivator) and for setting goals/deadlines and driving toward them.

Finances!

OK, I get not everyone is at the same place in life as I am , and I also get that I have been fortunate enough to have great jobs with good pay and have saved for retirement – so this is going to work out differently for each person, but I am talking about me and my own personal circumstance.  Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).

For me, I am fortunate to be in a position where my VO and acting income is in addition to what I need to live on.  I’m blessed with two retirements (and eventually, if it is still solvent, I’ll add Social Security to that) along with savings and some other residual income from previous jobs.  Frankly, I COULD just play golf all day every day.  But I don’t want golf to get old and I am incapable of just sitting around all day.   So here we are!

But my suspicion is that most, not all but most, people my age who have retired, are in a similar position.  To be clear: The position I am talking about is not being wealthy, on the contrary I am suggesting there are many (most?) retirees who have sufficient income to live on while they pursue a second or third career.

Patience…

OK, I confess I am not really all THAT great in this category.  I actually used to have a sign in my office, and a tagline on all my emails, that said “BE IMPATIENT”.  Yeah, I want things to happen right away, or at least as fast as possible.

That’s the key.  AS POSSIBLE.

I believe that being a little advanced in age has given me the experience to know that successful careers don’t happen overnight.  That you have to work at it.  Work HARD.  And over time success comes. Under the heading of patience, I’ll say that, while I still want things to happen instantly, I recognize that they don’t.  And that knowledge means I don’t stress out over booking every job I audition for.  I recognize that “good things come to those who wait”, and that it is the work I PUT into this that will reap the rewards.  I think those rewards are worth waiting for.  Twenty-year-old me would have disagreed. Hell, FORTY-year-old me would have!

Thick Skin…

Again, I recognize this may not be true for everyone, but it is my firm belief that most people my age have developed somewhat of a thick skin.  At least, thicker than when they were in their 20’s.

There was a time in my life when any negative comment or critique would just pierce my SOUL and I would obsess about them for weeks or sometimes months.  These days, it just rolls off my back.  So maybe not totally…I mean, there are some people whose opinion of me I worry about…but not “people”.  As a natural extension of this, rejection, which is a common every day occurrence in this business, doesn’t affect me the way it once did.  Sure, rejection stings, I’d be lying if I suggested otherwise.  But it has become MUCH easier to shrug it off and move on.  It’s actually kind of freeing.

It’s not really rejection!

Besides, I view casting as a process of SELECTION vice REJECTION.  They are not rejecting you; they are selecting someone else.  The only ones who know why someone else was selected are the people who actually make the casting decisions.  In some cases, they may not have even listened to your audition.  Maybe they didn’t like the sound of your voice, or it just wasn’t what they heard in their head when they were setting out to book someone.  Maybe they loved you audition but can’t find it in the 100’s they received. Maybe they have an arch nemesis whose name also happens to be Gary Mason.  Who knows?  It doesn’t matter, and you’ll never find out anyway.

Competition…

Ask yourself THIS question: How many 60-ish year old people are starting an acting career?  I can answer for you – Not many.  But there ARE quite a few characters in the 50–70-year-old age range.  Certainly, not as many parts as there are for the 20-40 crowd, but far fewer people competing for the 50-70 range.  What that amounts to is fewer people competing for each role, which means it is easier to get noticed.  This is a distinct advantage to starting out a little later in life, but it IS a double-edged sword.  SOME of the people competing for those roles have been doing this work for 20, 30 even 40 years and have a lot more experience, but honestly, they are not going for the same projects I am as a relatively new VO/Actor, so competition is much less fierce.

Freedom…

Hey, It’s America we all have freedom!  Well, some would argue that, and may have a point, but in truth there are many things in life that limit your freedoms, and the biggest one (from my view) is a J O B.  Yeah, this is a job too…but it is NOT one that is controlled by a supervisor or an organization.  I’m retired from my “day job” so I have the freedom to schedule gigs and meetings whenever I want without checking to see if it interferes with my work schedule.  Which means I can work during “working hours”.  Or not, as I desire!  Freedom.

I am also fortunate enough to have a woman who doesn’t attempt to restrict me from doing what I need to do, even though it sometimes means being out of town, or working late in the evening.  Thanks babe!  Again, YMMV.

At the end of the day…

It may seem to some that starting a voice over or acting career at nearly 60 years old is a waste of time.  I suggest otherwise and have found that being my age and starting a new career is actually easier than it would have been when I was much younger.  Sure, I would have had more time to perfect the craft, build a reputation…but I also would have been a lot more stressed trying to raise four kids like this and probably would have needed a “day job” to make ends meet, at least early on.  I think that stress would have negatively impacted my career all by itself.

What have you got to lose?

Would like to start a voice over or acting career, or any other career for that matter, but are hesitating because you feel like you are “too old”?  YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD (I mean, unless you want to be the Starting QB for the  Washington Football Team, you ARE too old for THAT).  As long as you are on the sky side of the grass…DO IT!  It’s not too late to start anew!

 

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Encouragement, General, Politics, Voice Over

Welcome back! This week we talk about: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly…

First, sorry I am posting late this week…it’s been a doozy – long story.  Anyway…

Well, here we are – March 2021 – one year in COVID lock-down. Actually, I remember clearly it was March 17, 2020 when the folks at my “day job” sent us home to work telling us to expect 8-10 weeks of remote working due to the pandemic.  Here we are just over a full year later and even though I retired from that job in December, the people I worked with are STILL working full time remotely.

So, as I look back over the last year and consider what the world looks like today, I have to ponder what has transpired through what maybe for some a different lens.  When I was a kid, I remember a saying: In every dark cloud, there is a silver lining.  I believe that is true, and I believe you can find good in just about any situation; whether that is learning a tough lesson, finding new hope or identifying something new, there is always something positive to come of it.

Without further ado, let’s take a look back over the last year and see if we can find: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Do you hear it?  Wah-ee-ah-ee-ah…wah, wah, wah…).

Let’s start at the end and work our way back so we end on a positive note, shall we?

The Ugly

I could write this section using just two words: Politics and People.  But I won’t.  Let me expound.

Politics seem to ALWAYS be the ugly in this country for some reason.  And in 2020, the politics of COVID were sometimes overshadowed by what was a very contentious Presidential Election.  We won’t talk much about the election, it is “passed and opening” as we say in the navy.  No longer a threat is another way to say it.  But I do want to touch a bit on the politics of COVID and politics in general.

How do national elections really impact you?

Here’s the thing; especially at the national level, and even to a large part on the state level, the politics of the day have very little impact on our daily lives. Local politics is where I pay the most attention, because THAT is where there is an effect. It irks me when politicians politicize events to make themselves look better, usually at the expense of some other person or group.  It is particularly irksome during a global pandemic when people just need to know the truth of what is going on to protect themselves, family and neighbors.

There are LIVES at stake!

The politics of COVID have been particularly ugly, likely thanks to the contentious election.  People are getting sick, people are dying…this is not the time to take advantage of the situation to get people to give you money and get you into office.  Now is the time for levelheaded, fact-based reporting so people can do what they need to do.  The politics of COVID have been particularly ugly if just for the fact that the dichotomy of positions puts people at risk.

And the government in general?  

Having been employed for many years (40 plus) by the Federal Government, one thing I know is that the government, the bureaucrats, need to look to the public as though they are knowledgeable and taking the appropriate actions – even when neither of those is true.  Early on in the pandemic, government officials stated as fact thigs that were really no more than theories. Come on people…it’s fully OK to say, “This is what we know for sure, this is what we think, and this is what we have no clue about”.  Our government never does that.  We have much better information today than we did a year ago, and that early misinformation, in large part I believe, leads to the next “Ugly” thing: People.

I love individuals, but dislike people.

Have you heard the term “herd mentality”?  Yeah, me too.  And herd mentality SUCKS…especially since there are multiple herds all with different mentalities.  It’s bothersome that there has not been clear, concise, truthful information about this pandemic (among other things.  Some people still believe the earth is flat).  I’ve seen people on my social media feeds who have been long-time friends arguing about transmission rates, death statistics and everything else about this disease.  If it weren’t so serious, it would be comical.

For some, the death rate is 100%

Here’s the thing.  The death rate for at-risk people who contracted this disease and passed away is 100%.  Their families are dealing with it 100% of the time.  It is horrifying to diminish the loss of those people by pointing out that overall the death rate is some smaller number.  As I just googled the death rate in the US, it is true that out of the total population of roughly 331 Million people the death rate is just less than .2%.  However, that statistic (remember, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics) compares everyone, even those who did not contract COVID, against the number of deaths (539, 659 as of the time of this writing).  It’s a bit higher if you only look at the number of deaths compared to the people who HAVE contracted the disease (29, 664, 869).  THAT number is TEN TIMES that national average at just under 2%.  And the infection rate is just under 10%.

It seems small, but put another way…

While these numbers appear low, remember that they represent real lives and real families.  10% of the US population (and I am just focusing on the US here, the numbers are different world wide) is THIRTY MILLION PEOPLE.  And the 2% of those people who died is just under 540, 000 people.  The operative word here is” PEOPLE.  Real people with families and friends they left behind.

For a given person…

Yeah, your chance of not getting COVID is greater than your chance of getting it (and I wonder what those odds would be WITHOUT mandated precautions? We’ll never know, so anything anyone says is conjecture).  And your chance of dying if you do get it is pretty small as well, for those people who died from COVID, those small numbers mean absolutely nothing.  Have some compassion people!  There are more than half a million people suffering unimaginably and you are arguing about statistics.  Stop, please. I hate the mask, and not being able to throw a whopper of a party, but I hate people dying even more.  Wear the mask and distance yourself from others, if not specifically for YOU , for the people you come in contact with.

So, yeah, politics and people are the ugly part of the last year.

The Bad

Many bad things happened this year.  What follows are just the things I can think of off the top of my head, and I am sure there are many more.

Social Distancing

The first thing that comes to mind is the social distancing aspect of this pandemic.  Sure, no parties, no family gatherings…those are bad but not THAT bad.  What is really bad is people going through rough times all alone.  I think of the people I know who lost a loved one last year (not due to COVID) and who could not see them in the hospital in their final days.  And then to add insult to injury their funerals and memorial services could not be attended.  I know several people who are affected by this, you may as well, and many are putting off a memorial till the pandemic is over.  It’s sad when a person’s life cannot be honored and celebrated as it should.  It’s horrendous that some people have to go through hospital stays or being home bound without the physical support and encouragement of family and friends.

Bad for business…

Next, I consider how many small mom and pop businesses have had to close up shop as a result of the pandemic.  So many, particularly public facing, businesses have closed, dashing the hopes and dreams of the proprietors.  It is horrible to consider the people who worked and saved and worked some more to open their own business, only to have it ripped away by a virus you can’t even see.  I sincerely hope at least some of the people in this situation can re-open and flourish once the pandemic is behind us.

Vacations…

This one is somewhat related to the last bad thing, and that is vacations.  While things are now starting to open back up, with appropriate safeguards, places to go where you can unwind and take a break from the daily grind are still few and far between.  I personally have had two vacations cancelled in 2020, and now our rescheduled cruise is rescheduled once again for 2022.  I know…first world problems.

The Good…

And so, here we are at the silver lining.  What good came of this pandemic? Keep reading.

The Vaccine…

It goes without saying that the vaccine, which appears to be pretty effective, has been released (OK, not released in 2020, but developed in 2020 to allow release early in 2021).  And that’s a good thing.  But what is REALLY great is that the government pretty much got out of the way and let the scientists develop and release it quickly.  Regardless of how you feel personally about vaccines in general, and what negative side effects they may have, I don’t think anyone can argue there is much empirical evidence that they facilitate herd immunity and reduce or remove altogether the odds of contracting a disease.  Think of Polio, measles, mumps and more.  My hope is that as they roll out the vaccine, conditions will improve to start getting things opened back up again.

Remote work…

One enormous thing we learned, and which I consider a good thing, is that corporations learned that much of the work they do can be done by their employees remotely, away from a traditional office.  I know my former employer, the Federal Government, is considering sweeping changes to their telework policy to allow employees to work remotely a significant amount of time.  In some cases, even allowing employees to move to a different location VERY remote from the office and work remotely full time.

Perhaps this will mean we need less dedicated office space (and therefore lower corporate costs) which could lead to lower prices for some goods and services (let’s hope) and maybe it means there will be a lot more empty office space (which means cheaper leases) for those who just get started after the pandemic.  Only time will tell, but I consider this good.

Home based business…

Home based businesses have flourished in 2020.  If you have a service or product that can be done from home and either delivered online or through the mail, chances are you have seen an increase in business this year.  For me, I’ve had the opportunity to open a voice over business that is done completely online and from the comfort of my home.  And while I see this as a “good” for me and others, there is also a lot more competition in the last year.  Anyone thinking of getting into voice over had the perfect chance to get started in 2020.  Maybe this one is two sides of the same coin.

Voice Over…

The voice over industry had moved online long before the pandemic, but with COVID precautions in place at studios around the country, the online voice over industry has flourished.  Where once large jobs were being recorded in professional studios by a small percentage of working artists, the big name, the industry has really opened up to allow lesser known artists to start competing for this work.  While this area of voice over is much more competitive, I believe it has given some very talented, unknown people a chance to compete (and sometimes win!) with the big boys.

What about you?

If you have been negatively affected by COVID then I am sorry you are struggling right now and my hope is that things will brighten up for you soon.  If you have experienced a positive affect then I am happy for you and hope that you recognize (and capitalize on) the opportunity to thrive in the face of so much bad.

In either case, I hope this post finds you well, and with luck, in line for the vaccine!

Now may be the time for you to start your own home-based business.  If voice over seems to interest you, why not either check out my earlier blog posts or head over to Amazon and pick up my new book “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Getting Started in Voice Over But Didn’t Know Who to Ask”.  Or, if you are being frugal, just subscribe to this blog and I’ll send you a link to a free copy!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

The coolest thing….

Encouragement, General, Getting Started

Welcome back! 

Any of you following my blog for the last few months know that I started out doing Voice Over work, and then branched out into screen acting.

Truth is, I did it on a “lark” initially, applying for and getting a role as a background (BG) extra on an upcoming Hulu Original Limited Series show.  I’d love to share more, but my NDA prevents it, however, I will let you know as soon as we have a release date.

Anyway, I got, and worked, a BG role in this series and let me tell you: It was by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done!

I’ve done a lot of cool stuff before…

That’s a pretty big statement, because in my sixty (SIXTY!?) years on this earth, I’ve done some pretty cool things.  For comparison, I’ll tell you about some of them here.

Joined the Navy (Yeah, it WAS cool)

Growing up in Ohio in the 70’s there were not many prospects for work after high school, so just a couple months after graduation I joined the US Navy in the advanced electronics field so that I’d have a trade when I got out.  Little did I know at the time I’d spend 20 years of my life serving in the world’s best Navy (No offense to you guys in “lesser” navies…LOL).   Interestingly, the recruiting motto at the time was “join the navy, see the word”, and I DID do that!  Of course, they forgot to mention that somewhere north of 70% of the world is water, and I may have seen every molecule of that.  Anyway, serving in the navy allowed for many opportunities to see and do pretty cool stuff.

Around the world…

To start with, I have visited more countries than I care to count.  From Europe, to the Middle East, to Africa and the Far East and as far south as Australia and South America, I’ve been there. Of course, the OTHER thing they don’t tell you is that you spend WEEKS at sea and only 3-4 days in a port.

On my first deployment, on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN70), we started our trip out of Norfolk with the plan to change home ports from there to Alameda California.  We spent a little more than 11 months deployed.  During that deployment, I saw aircraft take off and land, also saw a couple “crash” and one that slid off the angle deck and into the sea (the pilot ejected).

Crossing the line…

We crossed the equator at 0/0 and I became a “shellback” on this cruise.  We also stopped in both Monaco and Casablanca (Did you know there is NO “Rick’s American Café’ in Monaco?  Did you also know if you tell the taxi driver to take you there he will drive around for hours looking just to run the meter up?).  Traveled south around the Cape of Good Hope and back up the Eastern coast into the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, then passed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean to sit off the coast of Libya for a while.

And Russian Bears…

At this time, we were having a bit of a scruff-up with one Muammar Khaddaffi and our transit through the Red Sea was punctuated daily with Russian Bear (aircraft) dropping huge bags of red dye in the water around the ship because Mr. Khadaffi said he would sink our ship and turn the Red Sea into a “Sea of Blood”.  I suppose it was supposed to be psychological.  It was actually comical, and we would gather on the weather deck daily to watch it.

We also spent about 90 days straight in the Indian Ocean without a port visit.  Those were some LONG underway days!

CAT shot!

On our way to the Philippines for a three-week maintenance period, I re-enlisted and one of the perks was to fly off the ship three days before the ship arrived to enjoy a couple of liberty days “alone”.  As a result, I had the pleasure of riding in the back of a C3 aircraft (We called it the COD) when it was catapulted off the ship.  What a ride THAT was!  Zero to 180 knots in the space of less than a second!  Better than any roller coaster!

And a little slower arrival/departure…

Also during my long career, I had the good fortune to be both delivered and removed from a ship via helicopter.  Several times on helicopters that were unable to actually land on the ship, so I was suspended by a wire and dropped (well, not LITERALLY dropped) and/or lifted from the flight deck.  Being terrified of heights made that just a LITTLE more exciting.  I’ve flown out to and back from more ships on helicopters than I can count (I was a “field service rep” for one of the shipboard systems and would travel to whichever ship was having a problem they couldn’t fix).

Abandoned on the runway…

On one trip, I was flying (by plane) into Hurghada Egypt.  At one point, we had a detachment stationed at the airport there, but not anymore…the plane landed, opened the door, handed me my luggage and then took off, leaving me standing on the runway as far from civilization as you could get.  About an hour later, the ship’s helo showed up to ferry me to the ship, but they were low on fuel, so we had to sit, surrounded by Egyptian police, for three hours till the ship was in range of the fuel.  By this time, it was getting dark and the rules say no transporting passengers over water after dark…but we went anyway.  Nothing like looking out the window at extreme darkness and suddenly thumping down on a deck you didn’t know was there.

Bella Napoli!

Probably the BEST experience though was having the opportunity to live and work in Naples Italy for five years.  Man, I love that place!  If I close my eyes I can see, smell and taste it.  I fell in love with Italy and its people in those five years.  I’d love to move back one day!

Anyway, all that (and there is a LOT more, but this post is not about that) to say: Yeah, I’ve managed to do some pretty cool stuff.

But the COOLEST was…

But the coolest, by far, is being on the set of a television show being filmed as an ACTOR.  A background actor, but an actor nevertheless.  If you ever wanted to be on TV, this is a great way to get started.

But listen, do you even notice the background actors in TV and movies?  I never did.  What ARE background actors?  They are the people behind the principal actors who are milling about, walking through the scene, or generally “filling out” whatever scene is being shot.

What do BG actors do?

Think about it.  A coffee shop scene in New York just wouldn’t be believable if there weren’t a throng of people moving around outside the window.  Or dozens of people in line or sitting at tables.  All of those people are background actors. Here’s the thing (and one of the production assistants even said this to me while I was there): A scene just doesn’t work without the background folks.

And now TV has changed…

Having this experience has almost ruined TV and movies for me.  I barely pay attention to the principal actors now, as I tend to focus on what the background people are doing to make the scene more realistic.  Try it sometime.  Next time you are watching something, instead of paying attention to what’s going on in the scene, pay attention to all the people in the background.  Or watch it, then back up your DVR and watch it again with a different focus.

Sorry if that ruins it for you too, but misery loves company.

A real learning experience…

More importantly I learned a TON about film making working as a background actor. You know that 30-second scene that was a minor, but important, point in the story?  It probably took them 4 HOURS to film it.  Each scene is shot over and over again from different perspectives and then cut together in post-production.

I always wondered how you could be watching a conversation where the camera first focuses on one person and then the other…without being able to see the camera over one actor’s shoulder.  I just assumed there were several cameras rolling and they just did some trickery in the cutting room so you couldn’t see it.  Nope.  Between each take they move the camera around and shoot the same scene, over and over, from different angles. It’s amazing to watch.

Outside MAY be inside!

And that scene in an office building, where you can see out the boardroom window to the trees beyond?  Yeah, likely they are shooting in a warehouse, with some trees in pots sitting outside the window and a nice big mural of trees painted behind it.  Sometimes, if you look real close, you can tell…but since you are generally looking at and paying attention to the action in the scene, you don’t notice it.  It’s sleight of hand, and probably why they call it the “magic of television”.

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Oh, and “lights, camera, action”?  Not a thing.  It goes like this: “Roll sound” …and they turn on the sound recording equipment, “Roll Tape” and the cameras start to roll, “Background” and all the background actors start doing there thing and then, finally, “Action” when the principal actors do their thing.  It’s all very well-orchestrated and professional.

Consummate Professionals…

Speaking of professional, everyone, from the background actors, to the production assistants, to the director and everyone in the crew, are some of the most professional, no-nonsense people I’ve ever worked with.  All-in-all, a fantastic experience and the coolest thing I’ve ever done.  I look forward to spending a lot more time on set.  I’ll let you know when the series is released.  I am presently working on a new project called “The Wages of Sin”, a feature length independent faith based film that begins filming in April.

Aint retirement grand!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Ah, the doldrums…

Encouragement, General, Training, Voice Over

Welcome back! 

So, have you ever heard anyone say they are in “The Doldrums”?    It seems that January and February are the doldrums for both Voice over AND acting, at least my agent tells me that these first two months of the year are traditionally, agonizingly slow.  And then there’s COVID…but let’s not talk about what’s happening “in these unprecedented times” (Aren’t you tired of THAT one now?)  And to be honest, that has definitely been true for me.

Not saying I haven’t been working…I certainly have.  I’ve managed to land a role in a feature length independent film, I’ve finalized and published a book and produced two audiobooks to boot.  I’m also working on a production for a ZOOM play. But man, I’ll tell you, for me anyway, the opportunities sure have been sparse!

SHAMELESS PLUG

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OK Marketing over…for now anyway.

So, what ARE the doldrums exactly?

If you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve probably heard people talking about “The Doldrums”.  At least I did.  I never really knew what that meant, except that it was bad.  Later, after joining the Navy and traveling by sea for a while, I learned that old sailors (those wooden ships and iron men types) referred to the doldrums as periods when there were no winds to move the ships through the water, so progress slowed to a crawl.

Both of those ideas are true to a degree, but I wanted to know for SURE what it meant, so I looked it up and here’s what I found:

noun (used with a plural verb)

a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art: August is a time of doldrums for many enterprises.

the doldrums,

            1. a belt of calms and light baffling winds north of the equator between the northern and southern trade winds in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
            2. the weather prevailing in this area.

a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits.

What surprised me most about this definition is that the term “doldrums” actually refers to prevailing weather in a particular part of the world.  Which is interesting, but not what I’m talking about when I mention doldrums in this context.  What I am discussing here today is that “a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art”.  I suppose, if it lasted long enough, it could also describe “a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits”, but we are not there yet!

Not everyone is in the doldrums…

Maybe it’s a localized phenomenon, or maybe it’s just me (Please God, not just me…that would crush my fragile ego) (Can you see my virtual eye roll?) because several of my fellow narrators are definitely NOT experiencing a slowdown in the last couple months.  My friend Joshua Alexander is reporting some pretty stellar, record breaking, sales in the last couple months.  Envy much?  (Yep).

Now a shameless plug for Josh!

Listen, if you are in Voice Over, Josh is a fantastic resource to learn all about self-promotion and direct marketing.  He is always willing to help a fellow VOA, and he administers a great FaceBook group to boot!  If you are IN the doldrums, head over and sign up for Josh’s blog and receive not zero, not one, but TWO free e-books that will help you learn how to effectively market yourself!  On top of that his blog is always informative, relative and humorous to boot.  You’ll enjoy it, I know I do!

OK, back to the doldrums

While the methods Josh preaches work wonderfully (and implementing them has been fruitful), what I need is to be more consistent. All of my failings in consistently marketing myself aside, it’s not to say I haven’t been busy.

What follows are some things to help you keep busy during slow periods and avoid the doldrums.  At least, these are some ways I’ve found to keep busy, and keep moving my business forward, during the “doldrums”.  After all, the last thing we need is a bunch of VOA’s who are dull, listless and depressed!

Training, Training, Training!

Can you ever be so good at your craft that you don’t need to continue training?  If you are struggling to find the answer to that question, I’ll just give it to you here to make it easy for you to keep reading.  No.  The answer is NO.  You are never so proficient that you won’t benefit from more training.  Using my above example, I happen to know that Josh continues to train with a coach he introduced me to (THANKS JOSH!) Scott Burns.  Josh introduced me several months ago.  He still thinks Scott is HIS coach…HA HA HA – He’s MINE!

Sorry, I got a little carried away…where were we…Oh yeah, training.

Book some sessions with your coach

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll have already found yourself a coach for your VO work, now, while things are slow, may be a good time to book some sessions.  Maybe you need to refresh your demos or produce a new demo in a new genre.  This is a PERFECT time to work on that until work picks up.  If you don’t already HAVE a coach, now is a great time to FIND one.  Reach out to Scott if you like (just remember he is MY coach, Josh!) although I have no real idea if he has availability for any more students.  Or spend a few mijutes reading my post on training here.

Start Blogging

You don’t have to be an expert or a polished author to write a blog.  This post is living proof of THAT.  Everyone has something to say, and that includes you.  Take a few minutes to sit down and brainstorm a dozen or so blog topics.  Do some research if you have to, and then think about what you’d like to say about them. You may feel like you are not a writer, like you’ll never figure out how to write something every week – just like I did – but if you spend a little time (30 minutes?) just thinking about what you’d like to write about, you are SURE to come up with some great ideas.

You MAY think no one is really interested in what you have to say, and at the start, that may be right, but eventually you will attract some followers who DO care about what you have to say.  Like I tell my kds, you NEVER KNOW how something you say may impact someone.

A story about impacting people

Let me give you an example from my own life of how things you say may impact people around you.  I recently reconnected with an old friend from my days being stationed in Naples, Italy (yeah, lucky me, I know), Phil.  (HI PHIL!) Anyway, as we were catching up over email Phil told me a story about something I had said that has stuck with him.  Now, I want to tell you I have no real recollection of the actual conversation he was recounting, nor do I remember saying what he remembers me saying – it was a throw away comment to me – but to Phil it had meaning, and it has stuck with him for more than 20 years.

Rather than write it all out, I’ll just paste what he wrote to me here below:

“Back in Naples, Italy, I had that small business fixing VCR players for my friend in the PX, who rented them out. I would troubleshoot the machines, order the parts, and wait weeks for the parts to arrive before I could fix the machines.

I really couldn’t keep up with the work, due to extensive travel. I gladly relinquished the jobs to you.

When I returned from my next trip, I asked, “Hey, Gary, how are the repairs going? Do you need any help?”

You responded, “No, Phil. I took all the parts I needed from the worst of the lot and fixed four VCRs for the PX. They agreed that the trashed machines weren’t worth fixing, so they are going to order new ones.”

“And they’re happy trashing the old machines?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re only interested in the rental income. The VCRs are worthless sitting on the shelf, waiting for parts.”

That was when I realized that you understood the value of time much better than me.”

All I was doing was explaining how I was handling the business he had bequeathed me, nowhere in my mind was ANYTHING about time management or the value of time.  I’m sure Phil fully understands the value of time, and in this instance, apparently, I got lucky and made a good decision, the point is that you never know how something you say may impact someone.  So SAY IT.  Write that blog!

Perfect your setup…

Another good use of your time during a slow period is reaching out to an engineer and tweaking your audio setup to make it better.  Especially if you are a new narrator or have limited audio engineering experience (like me) it is possible your audio setup or editing/mastering chain could use some optimization.  Best case, it makes you audition submissions sound better (when you get them) and worst case you find out that everything is tuned properly for you.  More likely, somewhere between the best case and worst case, you’ll streamline your processing and make recording/editing/mastering quicker.  In this business it is WAY better to be first in than last.

Add a complimentary skill to your portfolio…

There are a number of ways you can add to your VO business, or even start a secondary part of your business.  If you are accomplished, experienced and have been IN the business for some time, become a VO coach.  If coaching is just too much for you, become a mentor to someone with less experience than you.  Maybe you are an AWESOME sound engineer, pick up a sideline to work for less skilled narrators editing and mastering their audio.  Maybe you always wanted to be a Hollywood star and you can start looking at stage or screen acting as a sideline.  Acting proficiency can ONLY help your VO abilities and could land you a couple paying gigs to boot.

But don’t just do what I suggest…

There are a LOT of ways to not only stay busy, but stay busy building your business, when times are slow.  Think about some of those “Quadrant 4” (for all you Steven Covey fans out there) items you’ve been putting off that could probably use some attention.  If you spend just a few minutes a day thinking about all the peripheral things that need to get done, I’m sure you can come up with a pretty long list.  Then, when the work starts to pick up you have fewer things to worry about, and can dig in and give the performance of your life!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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How do you define success?

Encouragement, General

Welcome back! 

Hey everyone, we’re back again and this week let’s talk about how to define success!

What IS success?

What does success look like for you?  Success will definitely mean different things to different people and I’ve been doing some thinking about “What is success” in the last week or so. Of course, in this blog I’ll be talking about success as a voice over artist and actor, but honestly most of this could apply to any area of your life.

What I’ve come to realize is that not only is success defined differently for each person, but there are also different levels of success along the way.  In other words, while you may not have achieved your ultimate goal, you can still consider yourself successful at different stages if you are accomplishing intermediate goals on the road to your ultimate success goal.

What success means to me

So, I’ll start with what success means to me, and then give you some things to think about and apply to your own situation.

For me, as a voice over artist and actor, my ultimate goal is to be a recognized professional that casting directors seek out for roles (as opposed to pouring through casting calls and auditioning like mad the way I do now).  Ultimately, I’d like to be known to industry professionals who think of me for roles I am a fit for and who then seek me out either directly or through my agent.  In my mind, success is NOT how much money I am making (although, I DO like to make money!), but to have some level of “fame” or notoriety…even if it is just among industry leaders in the entertainment field.

A look at my cousin

Here’s an example to give you an idea what I’m talking about:  I have a cousin, on my father’s side of the family, who is a professional musician.  I’ve actually never met him (I’d love to) but my dad talked about him a lot.  He is a percussionist to be more exact.  I’d tell you his name, but I’m sure you’ve never heard of him unless you are a professional musician in the LA market…then you MAY have heard of him.  He is not a household name, yet I would consider him extremely successful.  Why?

If you are in the music industry and you need a percussionist, and assuming you can afford him, he is the guy you are going to call…almost every time.  He has played in the band on the tonight show, he has toured as a percussionist with the likes of Frank Sinatra and has played as a studio musician on so many albums for well-known artists it’s nearly impossible to count them.  He is considered a master at his craft by music industry executives and producers, yet no one outside of the music industry even knows his name.  He has never headlined a band, but he has played for many, many, big-named performers for decades.  He also makes a ton of money – but that’s beside the point here.

He is not successful because he makes a ton of money (in my mind – you may feel differently) but because he is recognized as an expert in the field of percussion instruments, In my opinion, the money is the RESULT of his success, not the reason for it.

But why does this matter, and why am I spending time talking about it?  I mean, each person is going to define success in their own way, but – and here is pretty much the key to this entire blog post – If you don’t ever actually DEFINE what success means to you (for any given endeavor) then how will you KNOW when you are successful?

You have to plan your route

It’s like taking a road trip.  Before you set out heck, even before you pack the car and fill it up with gas, you FIRST have to define a destination (success).  First, it’s important to know where you are starting from, then you have to have a target location in mind, or you will wander aimlessly. You NEED a destination.  And you’ll know the trip was successful when you reach that destination.

Your trip may be long or short, but in every case, you don’t start out until you have identified your present location and destination.  The same is true of your VO or acting career, before you start you have to know where in your journey you are, and have a destination in mind, or you are just wandering aimlessly hoping to trip across something that interests you.  You’ll never KNOW whether or not you were successful!

Even the simplest things, things we typically don’t think about in terms of success or failure, require this “destination” (to stick with the road trip analogy).

Lunch success

For example, let’s pretend for a moment that you want to make lunch but are out of bread and cold cuts.  What do you do?  Well, you decide you want to make a bologna sandwich for lunch (defined an end goal), identified what items you needed to accomplish that goal, and then determined what steps you would take to make that happen.  So, you grab your keys, jump in the car, head to the grocery store and buy bread and bologna…maybe some cheese and mayo as well.  Then you return home and make your sandwich.  SUCCESS!  You defined your goal, identified the actions to take to achieve the goal, and then executed the plan.

While this is a veery simplistic example, the same principal holds true for nearly any endeavor you decide to undertake.  The steps are essentially the same for anything you want to accomplish even though the number of action steps and length of time to achieve them are going to vary.  Sometimes dramatically.

Back to the road trip

Let’s go back to the road trip analogy.  Assume you live on the East Coast of the USA and need to go to California to attend your daughter’s wedding.  You are afraid of flying (otherwise, why the road trip across the entire continent?), so decide to drive.  Pick any starting ending location, I chose these because this represents a very LONG trip.  In this instance, the definition of success would be to arrive in time for the wedding with the appropriate attire and to be present to walk your daughter down the aisle.

You have to have a plan!

Simple, right?  Pack a bag, jump in the car and start driving west.  What could be simpler?

Not so fast!  For a trip like this you are going to need to do some planning and preparations.  You’ll need to make sure your car is ready for a trip of several days, you’ll need to make sure you have sufficient finances for gas, food and lodging.  You’ll need to plan a route across the USA, with intermediate stopping points along the way and you’ll probably want to plan lodging ahead of time to make sure you have a place to stop and rest during the trip.  There is a fair amount of advanced planning and arrangements that you’ll make before you even start packing the car.  You’ll know you were successful when you are AT the wedding, on time and in your best suit to walk your daughter down the aisle.

In this imaginary trip across the US, you have an ultimate goal (walk your daughter down the aisle) and several intermediate goals along the way to ultimate success.  You’ll have mapped out a route, found hotels along the way and made reservations and planned how far you’ll drive each day to reach your ultimate destination on time.  You’ll know you are on track to achieve success as you meet each of the milestones of the trip along the way.

But what if you miss one of the milestones?

In life, nothing ever works out perfectly.  In the military we have a saying: “The best strategic plan never survives first contact with the enemy”.  So, what do you do?  You assess the current situation and adjust the plan, so you reach the ultimate goal in spite of setbacks.  Flat tire?  Fix it and drive longer than originally planned.  If the car breaks down along the way? Get it into the shop and rent a car to finish the trip.  You start executing the plan, periodically assess and readjust the plan always with the ultimate goal in mind.

The same idea applies to your VO or acting career.

Where are you starting from?

The first step in your career requires that you honestly determine where you are in your career, and where you ultimately want to be.  Then lay out a plan to get from where you are, to where you want to wind up.  Next, identify intermediate goals that you can use to determine if you are on the right path and headed toward your ultimate success goal, and start executing them.  Once you are “on the journey”, you’ll need to periodically assess your progress, and potentially (PROBABLY) adjust your plan to get back on track.  You MAY even modify your ultimate goal along the way.

Only you know what success means to you

At the end of the day, success for you will be defined by YOU.  Don’t ever let someone else define your success for you and try to ignore the negative Nellies in your life who try to tell you that you’ll never make it.  As we used to say in the Navy: “Aim high.  Even if you miss, you’ll be better off than when you started.”

My journey

All of this sort of psychobabble and philosophical rambling sounds great and fills up pages for a post, but what does it all mean to YOU?  Well, ultimately only you can decide, but let’s take a look at what it means to ME to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

I started this career way back in 2014 when, as an avid listener of audio books, I decided “I could do that”.  I didn’t have a plan beyond doing some quick training and then jumping right in.  I had no plan, and no “destination” in mind.  I pretty quickly decided a couple of things:

  • This is not as easy as I thought
  • This took a LOT more time and effort than I thought
  • I was not very good at it.

Before we go on, let me explain what I mean when I say I was not very good at it.  Producing audio books require a number of skills that, at the time, I simply did not possess.  Sure, I could read through and entire book and capture it in software, and I was (am) a pretty good “storyteller” so that the reads were not flat and monotone, but, and this is a big but, I was not at all good with making sure the audio was good quality.  You’re welcome to go search for my name in audible if you like to verify that.

Quitting (or more correctly “pausing”) my VO career

Once I realized the time investment, and measured against my “day job”, I realized my goal of becoming an accomplished audio book narrator (and I had no idea what I meant by “accomplished” BTW) was going to take more of an investment in time than I was willing to invest…so I hung up my microphone.  For a while.  I adjusted my plan so that I would re-start after I retired from the day job.  And I have – so – success (in an unusual sort of “I give up” sort of way anyway).

Re-Start!

When retirement was looming, I realized I needed a plan and an idea in mind what success would mean to me.  Initially, I defined success in a monetary way, such that I would break even on my investments – a goal I am working on but have not yet achieved.    My initial plan looked something like this:

  • Research and buy equipment including a treated vocal booth, interface, microphone, headphones and software: Check.
  • Study Audio engineering: Check
  • Identify coaching to become better at my performance: Check
  • Audition for and book audio book productions: Check

Within a month of beginning to audition, I landed my first audiobook gig.  The title is available here if you are interested: Alpha Squad: The Sixth Martyr.  I had achieved my initial goal, so had to re-assess my goals.

Branching out

I decided that long form narration (audio books) was not my favorite type of VO work and began to investigate other forms.  I adjusted my plan to this:

  • Investigate commercial and documentary VO: Check
  • Find appropriate coaching: Check
  • Produce professional demo reels: Check
  • Subscribe to online casting sites and begin to audition: Check
  • Book commercial VO work: Check

Again, I achieved the goal I was shooting for…but now what?  All this time, I have been aiming at what I consider intermediate goals, but what was it I was REALLY aiming at?  I had no idea.  Up till now, I had really just been sort of flailing around trying to find a foothold.  I had no idea if I was on a path to real success or not.  I was just letting the wind take me in whichever direction it happened to blow.  I had not charted a course.

Along the way, and really on a whim, I applied for and was cast as a background extra in a TV series.  After being on set for several days, it struck me that I really LOVED acting for film and        TV.  Time to re-assess again!

Stop focusing on intermediate goals

Since I really didn’t have any idea what a career in film and TV looked like, I first had to seek out professionals and try to assess where I was.  I contacted an acting coach and started training with him.  Apparently, and according to my acting coach, I have some natural ability, although it is clearly raw and needs work.  I began to seek out training not only in the craft of acting, but also in the business of acting.  How DOES one proceed methodically and steadily through and acting career and achieve success?

I managed to find training material with both Master Class and with a professional Casting Director Amy Jo Berman and her Next Level Membership at Unstoppable Actors.

If you ever wondered what a career in acting looks like, with all the goals and milestones laid out and defined for you…take a look at her material.  It has helped me define success in a much different way.

Dream big and shoot for the stars

Now, as mentioned earlier, I define success for me, for both VO AND acting, as being a recognized expert in the field and having casting directors searching me out for roles or narration gigs.  I still have the goal of breaking even on my investment into this career, but I now have an action plan mapped out to someday achieve that goal.  There are defined milestones along the way like signing with an agent, making industry connections with local casting directors, appearing in supporting roles and becoming a co-star.  As a VO artist I am aiming at character roles in animation and audio drama and working with a coach to produce a character demo reel.

These are just a random sampling of the items on my action plan, the point is I now HAVE an action plan…and so should you if you want to succeed in any endeavor.

Do you know where you are now in your journey to success?  Do you know what the destination “success” looks like and where it is?  Do you have an actionable plan to move in the direction of success and eventually arrive there?  If you answered no to these, then how will you know when you achieve success?  It is imperative, no matter what effort you are working toward, to make sure you have a well-defined destination and a plan to achieve it.  Sit down today, decide what success means to you and think about what activities you need to focus on to achieve your success.  Will this be your final, chiseled in stone, plan forever?  No.  As you can see with a brief look into my journey, your plan will evolve over time, as will your goals.  So, here, in a nutshell, is my “Plan for Success”:

  • Decide what you want to do and what success in that field looks like
  • Assess where you are in relation to what your success goal is
  • Research what it takes to achieve what you are aimed at
  • Lay out an actionable and measurable plan to get from where you are to where you want to be
  • Execute your plan
    1. Don’t forget to “check off” milestones as you achieve them!
  • As you progress, re-assess not only where you are, but where you are headed. Course changes are OK.
  • Refresh your plan and actionable steps based on where you are and where you now want to go.
  • Lather, Rinse, Repeat (forever).

Most of us (me included previously) just sort of blindly try things until something sticks.  If you are OK with that, then you gotta do you, but if you have a goal, a destination, in mind in terms of success your chances of reaching that goal are greatly diminished without a plan.  It really doesn’t matter what you are trying to achieve.  If you have a plan and continually execute to that plan you are going to achieve success.

Now, before you go any farther, go figure out what you want to achieve and lay out a plan!  I’ll see you at the success party!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Go For It: But BEWARE!

Encouragement, Getting Started

Welcome back! 

I know I said Go For It…but I had an interesting experience this past weekend, and thought today might be a good time for a cautionary tale!  So I reprise my admonition to Go For It, But BEWARE!

A Tale of Two Castings

As I mentioned last week, I’ve branched out into on-screen acting along with my voice over pursuits.  It’s definitely been an interesting time, and Ive had more success with it than I could have ever imagined.  Who’s have thought a middle aged man would be able to BEGIN an acting career at the ripe old age of sixty?  Not me, that’s for sure.

On top of the background extra work I booked on a Hulu Original limited series (I promise I’ll write more about this later, when I can in accordance with the NDA I signed), I booked two additional jobs for last week, one for the 14th and one for the 16th.  Needless to say I was excited about each of them.

On Thursday I was scheduled for filming at 11AM, and expected to be working till 2130 (that’s 9:30PM for all you non-military types).  Initially, because of the company I was working with, I expected this work to be for a documentary film, but it turns out it was pick-ups for ANOTHER TV series (this tine a NETFLIX original series.  I didn’t find this out till I showed up on set.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Before you start looking for me on NETFLIX, it was extreme close-up work, so my face is not part of the show.  Again, I’ve signed an NDA, so can’t mention the name of the show or who the characters are yet.

Both the Antagonist and Protagonist

The really interesting part of this job was that I would be playing both the antagonist (the bad guy) and the protagonist (the sheriff who is chasing him.  I showed up on set and brought the wardrobe indicated, but soon found that the director/producer in LA had provided the wardrobe for me to wear.  I was given a sheriffs outfit (which looked legit to me!) complete with a badge and gun belt.

Interesting note: The gun belt was completely full of all the paraphernalia you’d expect like a gun, radio, handcuffs etcetera…all rubber.  They definitely LOOKED legitimate enough, but would never pass for the real thing in real life, so I was not likely to get shot by a real policemen thinking I had a real gun if he saw it.

I was also given a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, long sleeved shirt and boots.  I learned these were the actual items worn by the actor in the series.  Kinda cool.

A note about the importance of size cards

If only they had fit.

For any aspiring actors, ALWAYS keep your size cards up to date.  While I was able to get the clothes on and fastened BEFORE dinner, after dinner…not so much.  Part of the issue, I believe, is the clothes (primarily the pants) were not actually the size indicated on the cards attached, they were actually at least one size smaller.

On location…

Once in costume, we got the actual director on the line (Zoom) so he could watch and direct and began filming in their studio.  Well, not an ACTUAL studio, but locations in their office set up for use as a studio.  All of the filming concentrated on my hands/feet and…well…almost anything but my face. We spent several hours in the studio, then a quick wardrobe change, and we headed out to the first on location site.  I’d love to tell you all about THAT site, and maybe in a later post, but…NDA again so I won’t.

I’ll just say that it was more hands and feet. Precision walking sand item handling for me.  I am now a hand and foot actor!  LOL

Professionalism, dedication, talent…

I was working with a local documentary film maker who was subcontracted by the production company in LA to do this pick-up work, DDC International.  I’d like to give them a BIG shout out and thank you for the work.  These guys, Colby and Lance, were consummate professionals and very dedicated to their craft.  On top of that they really knew their trade, and came up with some framing and lighting that blew me away.  If you need any camera work done, or have a documentary you need produced, I couldn’t possibly give them a higher recommendation.

Colby worked like a machine on the camera, and we kept retaking scenes until we got them just right…several times.  His favorite phrase for the day was “OK, one more time for safety”.

Needless to say, my 10 hour day turned quickly into a 12 hour day.  Of course, much of that was driving as we worked at three separate locations throughout the day/night.  We finished up about 2300 (11PM), packed up and headed home.  These guys paid me the daily rate for the acting, a stipend for helping to move and setup up equipment as well as mileage for driving all over the state.  I consider this a professional job, with professional pay.

All in all, while it was a long day and hard work, my day with them was completely enjoyable, and once again I learned a TON about film making.  I sure hope to work with them again some time!

And then, the OTHER job…

Maybe it’s the hazard (or one of the hazards) of online casting sites, but the next job was a COMPLETELY different experience.  I WILL note that I booked the previous gig through an online site, so they’re not all bad.

I applied for a role in a “feature film” to be produced by a local independent film maker.  Some of what ultimately transpired was probably my fault, based on my eagerness to be considered for a speaking role in a feature film, but part of what transpired is a less than forthcoming production company.  I won’t name them here, and I am sure they are not the only ones like this one.

Initial contact…

I reached out through the casting site, sending my head shots and an acting resume, and received a response that they’d like to see me for a supporting role as a “factory supervisor”.  Note that as an independent film maker, this minor role (only 4 lines) would be unpaid, however, I felt the opportunity to be in a feature film was enough, and agreed to meet with them to do my lines.  I mean, it’s only 4 lines after all!

Of course, I emailed back and agreed to do the role.  I received an email directly from the producer/director letting me know that my lines would be provided along with the details I needed at a later date

Preparing for the role…

To prepare for a role, it’s necessary to “build” your character based on what you know about them and the scenes they will be in.  As I’ve learned in my acting classes, the character doesn’t just “show up” in the scene and then cease to exist once the scenes are over.  Each character in a play, movie or TV show, show up on scene with a full life behind them, and some life ahead of them when it is over.  In order to make a character believable in the story, the actor needs to know about their prior life and their plans for the future.

Each scene in a production is there for a reason, and each character has a goal in the scene.  The character’s past life and experiences, along with their relationships to other characters (in or OUT of the scene) and what the scene is attempting to accomplish all color how the character acts in the scene.  As Samuel L. Jackson says in his Masterclass, each character enters the scene coming from somewhere, and exits the scene going somewhere and his actions are controlled by what HE (or SHE) is trying to accomplish in the scene.

If the project is based on some source documentation, like a book or some actual historical event, preparing for the part includes reading source material to get a sense of who this person is.  If it’s a book, the author has given the reader many details about this person that can’t be given in a film, and if it is a historical figure there are likely many documents that talk about what happened and the people involved.  To portray someone as a complete human being with a past and a future, you HAVE to get to know who they are so you can decide how they’d react in a given situation

But, what if there are no source documents?

In the event the character is completely fictional and the project is not based on a book, how do you find the “whole person”?  Well, in a nutshell, the actor makes it up. You read the script to get some clues, then just sit down and write a brief bio of the character, maybe any prior dealings with other characters they interact with throughout the script and just make up a back story that fits how you see them acting.  Knowing this back story well helps the actor know how to play them in each scene and makes them that “whole person” for the audience.  The audience HAS to believe them a real person with a past and a future, or it just doesn’t work.  Think about all the bad shows or even bad characters in a good show you’ve seen, and you can almost always see that it is because the character is too one dimensional.

All that to say…

After I was given my four lines, I started asking a bit about the movie, what was going on and who my character was.  I wanted to be able to portray this person as an tire three dimensional person so that I acted in character based in his experiences and what was going on in the scene.

My lines were pretty easy:

“Rest assured, we’ll get to the bottom of this”

“Get me all the names of the employees who worked 3rd and 4th shift last night”

“I want to see all department managers.  Emergency meeting in 5 minutes”

“I’m not letting this go any time soon”

Pretty easy lines, right?  But it makes you wonder what kind of guy this “factory supervisor” is, and what thing occurred to cause him to say these things.  Also important is who he was talking to in this/these scene(s)?  Is he on the phone?  On the factory floor?  What kind of factory is it (what do they make)?  How in the WORLD can I accurately portray this person if I don’t know these things?

It was all a little surreal…

So, I emailed the director and I asked these questions.  Reasonable, right?  Otherwise the persona I came up with may be WAY off base for the character and what is happening in each scene!  Consequently, I asked for them to set the scene for me, let me know who I am talking to and what event I was talking ABOUT.  I asked for either the entire script of at last the script for the scene I was to be participating in.  I wanted to not only understand what was happening, but also what are my cue lines…when do I SAY these things?  I was excited, and wanted to make sure I did this right so I didn’t look like an idiot in front of the crew and especially in front of the camera!

Red flags…

There were a number of red flags even before I showed up “on set” (and I’ll talk a little more later about why on set ins in quotes here).  First, I was told that they don’t release scripts to the actors (WHY?), that the lines were as the lines were written and I was told to “make them my own”.    I mean, how am I supposed to do THAT if I don’t know who this guy is?  Finally I was told that this supervisor was beat down and felt trapped in his job.  Not much to go on, but OK, something.  I asked about this character so many times, the director had one of the other actors call me to tell me I was “overthinking” this.  Plus (a BIG red flag here that I ignored) I was admonished to say my lines exactly as written, but that we were encouraged to improvise lines.  Sort of mutually exclusive there.

On the phone call I was let in on one of the secrets.  First, this was not a part in a feature film, but a part in a trailer for a feature film that might be produced some day.  There IS no full script, which is why it can’t be released to me.  I should have bolted then and there…but eagerness.

And MORE red flags…

I received several more emails from the producer/director (I keep saying it like that because I was never sure exactly what role they played).  One admonished me to research the part (WHAT?  I’ve been TRYING to do that and you are preventing me!) and even suggested several old movies to use as a guide.  I was also instructed to “Be on time” and understand that masks were required and I may be working alone or perhaps with one or two other actors.  My time was scheduled (1830-1900) on the 16th, and again admonished to “be on time”.  I asked for the address so I could plan the drive to make SURE I was on time (clearly punctuality was important to them!) and was told I’d get that later.  Oddly, I received the location just one day before filming.  Along with that, I was given the wardrobe instruction to “wear back and white”.  Black and white WHAT?  Black pants and white shirt?  Black shirt and white pants?  Black pants with white socks?  I was SO confused and nervous and certain I was going to get it all wrong!

The big day arrives…

On the heels of the work I did on Thursday, I was feeling a lot more confident.  I donned a pair of black jeans, a white button-down shirt, black tie loosened with open collar, black boots and a hard hat.  I should at least LOOK the part of a factory supervisor (although I was still confused about fourth shift…24 hours in a day, and three eight-hour shifts….where did fourth shift come from?).  I plugged the address into Waze, an hour and fifteen minutes, ugh.

Now, a quick note:  My son and his family were visiting from Indian, so this was going to take time away from visiting with them.  But hey, it was 2 ½ hours driving and 30 minutes filming.  So only three hours.  I can deal.

I apologize to my guests, let them know to have dinner without me and jump in the car to go to the gig.  After driving for an hour and fifteen minutes I arrive at..

A Hotel.

Along the way I receive a text letting me know we would be in “Suite 515”.  Hmmm…OK.

Something is NOT right…

I pull into the parking lot of the hotel, And I am feeling some kind of way about this whole thing.  I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been roped into some sort of porn movie (and believe me, you don’t want to see me in a porn movie) or even worse a snuff film, and I am the victim.  Ewwww.

SO I did what any reasonable person would do (NOPE, I didn’t just leave)…I texted home to give my location, the name of the hotel and suite number and let them know to contact the police if they didn’t her from me by 1930.  Smart, right?  At least that way they’ll find my body right away and have a chance to catch the murderer.

Seriously, that’s what I did.

I entered the lobby to find several of the other actors standing near the elevators.  They introduced themselves (one was the guy I spoke to on the phone) and I felt better about it.  So, I texted “It’s legit.  Don’t worry”, and headed to the 5th floor with them.

Then it gets REALLY weird…

As if it wasn’t already weird enough, right!?

We arrive at suite 515, knock and are let in.  Inside are 3 other people, and the scene is set as…a hotel room.  Where the HECK is the factory?  How in the world ae we going to film a factory supervisor in a HOTEL ROOM!?

I look around.  There is no sound or video equipment set up, no props, no crew…nothing.  Just a bunch of people hanging in a hotel room!  And they are filming with (wait for it…)…a hand held GO PRO!  WHAT!!??

I could go on and on about what happened in the next 45 minutes (yeah, I was trying to be patient and give them the benefit of the doubt)…but I won’t bore you with all of it.  Needless to say, it was the least coordinated, least professional, fly-by-night 45 minutes of my life.

I’d had enough…

At 1930, thirty minutes PAST my scheduled “filming” time, when we hadn’t yet gotten to my lines, or even the trailer I was supposed to be in, I looked at my watch and asked “How much longer are we going to be?  I was schedule 1830 to 1900, it’s 1930 and I have a 90-minute drive (I exaggerated a little) and guests at home.”

Apparently, that was the WRONG thing to say!  After being admonished several times about being punctual, and having been kept 30 minutes past my scheduled time without yet being able to perform my lines, I was told “Oh, NO…rule number one is we never ask how long.  We are being creative here and that takes time!”.

I explained (again) my situation, and told, you can stay or go, it’s up to you.

I left.

The moral of the story…

Here is the thing.  I should have recognized all those red flags ahead of time and gracefully detached myself from this “project”.  However, I let my eagerness and desire to be in a feature film outweigh the reservations and clear signs that this was not a REAL job.  I wasted 3 hours of my time and time with my family.  This was a BAD idea.

While I clearly understand the emotions involved here, I would caution everyone to do a little more research than I did and not let your desires to overtake sense and reason.  I had a negative gut feeling and should have followed it.  If things just don’t “feel right”, listen to your instincts and bow out beforehand.  My kids will tell you I didn’t listen to my own advice, given to them over and over again: 1.) Don’t make decisions based on emotion and 2.) If it seems too good to be true, it is.

To my kids, if they ever read this, I say – I am human too.

In conclusion…

Even though this was a bit of a goat rope, and I wasted a bunch of time (and gas), it was still a pretty good learning experience for me.  I learned a little more about what to look for in agreeing to work for people, and gained valuable experience in how NOT to produce a film.  I also re-learned there are predatory people out there who are willing to take advantage of people’s eagerness to work for their own motivations.  As my dad used to say “Experience is the thing you get just AFTER you needed it”.  I’d like to say that won’t ever happen again, but I’m not sure I can say that definitively, but I CAN say it is less likely now, even though it MAY mean passing up a good opportunity due to red flags.

For those of you just getting started, please learn from my mistake.  Again, as my dad used to say, “A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes”.

Be Wise!

 

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