Well, as I explained in a previous post I did not get the audition I wanted for a small speaking role in Gone, Baby, Gone; however, I did get called in to do some background extra work last week. It was a fun, yet grueling day of work. Fun because I was on a big budget movie set, and got to see Ben Affleck doing his directing thing and his brother Casey doing the acting thing. But it was grueling because I was standing on my feet in the hot sun for about 12 hours. And to add a complication to the matter I had been bitten by a deer tick earlier in the week and found the tell-tale bulls-eye mark that means I have been infected with Lyme disease. The antibiotic they put me on makes you very susceptible to sunlight and burns. Needless to say I put on my own sunblock before going out to the set, and after lunch, and they also had an EMT walking around through out the day offering sublock and I always made sure I found him. I also tried to get in the shade of a tree or truck or something when they were not rolling or rehearsing. In the end I did not get burned too bad at all, but I was worried about it and it made my day a little less fun. The great thing about the day however was the fact that this was my third time doing background work on a SAG set with SAG wages, so that means I am eligible to join SAG now. As soon as I get the check stub I fax it in to the office and I can join. A $1400 dollar expense but I think it will be well worth it.
Also I have heard from the director/writer of Route 1 and except for one minor hitch (they won’t be using HD but 24p instead), everything else is going along smoothly and he told me things with getting the union squared away are going good.
‘Tis all for now.
Some quick updates about the last week.
The Good: On Friday and Saturday I was down in Rhode Island at the “Pretty Dead Things“shoot. We shot the office scenes in which the hero of the movie comes to see my character on two separate occasions. These scenes where basically all about my character, and I had quite a few lines and some very funny site gags like talking on two phones at once and dipping my donut and in duck sauce; yuck! My character is this movie is a totally hyper, super sleazy porno producer named Moe Blu. I wish I remembered to bring my camera so I could have had a picture of me to post; the get up was hysterical. I had these huge 70’s sunglasses, a pencil thin mustache, a French cap, and a flowered shirt with an ascot tucked in.
I had a great time filming the scenes and it was a total treat because I finally had a chance to act with my good friend William DeCoff; we have not acted together in a scene for three years. The director and the other people on the set seemed to really enjoy our performances. This movie is being filmed in HD and looks amazing as far as I could see in the bits of footage I saw.
The Bad: So I hinted in my last post that some good news might be coming but alas it did not happen. The great news was that at the end of one my classes with CP Casting I was asked to read for a small speaking part in “Gone, Baby, Gone” the Miramax film being directed by Ben Affleck. I was super excited about this, they gave me the sides (a small chunk of the movie script) to look over and wanted me to read it first before deciding if I wanted to do it as the character was really nasty. After reading it I let them know I wanted to do it, but unfortunately the LA office of Miramax was not accepting any more auditions from the Boston casting offices and had starting looking in New York and LA. So I had my chance and lost it in a matter of days. I am very excited that I was asked in the first place. This means that Carolyn Pickman who runs the class and the casting company thought I was good enough to try for the role. I am hoping she will keep me in mind for others.
The Ugly: I was cast and then re-cast again in another movie due to my union affiliation. I auditioned for a movie a week or two ago, and they called me and said they would love to cast me and then after I reminded them of my union status they said they needed to get back to me, and I have not heard anything since. So I am assuming I have probably lost another gig. Oh well, it is still worth it, I am getting some good opportunities with the union so I am going to stick with it. And it is nice to know that people are interested in me being in thier movies.
‘Tis all for now.
That movie called Elevator Chasers that I was very excited about was unfortunately put on hold for now. At the eleventh hour the Director, Arnon Shorr, and Producer, Kerreanna DiMauro, had decided that they could not make the film under the current circumstances. On the last working day before production was about to begin they decided the artistic differences between what they wanted to make and what the people funding the project wanted to make was not the same thing. I applaud Arnon and Kerreanna for not selling out, a lot of money was on the line, but they wanted to make sure the movie they were going to produce was something they could believe in. I have full trust in them and am glad they did the right thing. So, for now they are off to find a different source of money to fund the film. It could take some time; I don’t expect I will be acting in this film until the fall at least, maybe longer. This was a disappointment because , as I posted previously, this movie was going to be my first movie with a budget over $100K in which I was cast in a speaking role. Most of the movies in which I had a speaking role were made for less than $30K. Oh well, I know the movie will be made; it is just a matter of time.
One good thing is that I do have some good things in the works but I don’t want to announce them until I am 100% sure of it, maybe next week I will have some good news.
‘Tis all for now.
The May 2006 Book of the Month is Michael Caine’s “Acting in Film”. I found this book to be really helpful when I first got started with film acting. Michael has a no nonsense tell it like it is approach, and he imbues the book with plenty of his entertaining humor. There is a companion video that goes by the same name that is awesome if you can find it. The video is no longer sold, but you can find it on eBay or other places if you look around. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that is in their first year of film acting.
‘Tis all for now!
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