Category Archives: Acting

TV Prep Time (or Here Are Some Helpful Links About Scheduling Your Viewing)

I can’t believe how fast the summer is flying by! I remember when I was younger and my mom would tell me that time goes by faster the older you get. It’s true.

TV networks are starting to get ready for the fall tv season. And if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I’m a little OCD when it comes to my prep work for the new shows.

I noticed that the website where I get my fall tv schedules have put up some of their information already, and I thought I’d share the links and some helpful tips on how to use them. And if you aren’t an actor, as long as you enjoy watching some tv shows, you might find this helpful as well!

First of all, here’s the link to a print out of the tv lineups for networks shows in the fall.

How is this helpful? First of all, you can use it to see if any of the shows you watch regularly have changed time slots. You can also see if there is anything that you aren’t able to record (I can only record 2 shows at once on my DVR, so if I like to watch 3 that air at the same time I have to watch one on Hulu).

For actors trying to do your research, you can plan out when you can watch certain new shows (since you should be trying to watch at least one or two episodes of everything on tv). I use this to plan what shows to watch and take notes on each day of the week. Unless I’m personally super excited for a new tv show (it happens plenty), I will schedule time to watch a show the day or two after it airs. That way I’m not staying up super late to catch a new show and take notes. Sometimes when taking notes, I will watch a show all the way through once, make some quick notes, and then go back to the beginning and watch it again for more detailed notes (like character family relations). I don’t always do this, but for some dramas, it’s hard to get everything I need in one viewing.

The second link is for the premier date schedule for all tv shows. You might recognize the grid from this picture in a previous blog post.

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I always print out this schedule and keep it near my tv. This shows when each show is coming back for the fall. So even if there are 6 new shows I need to watch on a Monday, perhaps only one or two are premiering in a particular week. When I have this printed out, I highlight the premier dates of all the new shows that I need to watch. I’ll either print out a second sheet to highlight the shows that I already watch (and just am antsy to start watching again), or I’ll sometimes highlight it in another color.

Using both of these sheets, I can coordinate my DVR (and Hulu if necessary) so that I’m ready for the new tv season. The only change that I’m making this year is to digitally record all of my notes. In the past, I’ve used notebooks and hand-wrote everything. This year, I’m creating notebooks in Evernote to track and organize all of it. I’m not sure if I’ll like it more than handwriting (something about writing it down and not typing it seems to make me remember it more), but I’m willing to test it out!

I hope that for all of you actors, this helps you get more prepared for the fall tv season! If you have any questions about anything, please ask. I’m more than happy to share my knowledge with fellow actors. I don’t believe that we are really ever competing against anyone but ourselves in the audition room.

And for you non-actors reading this, I hope that you now know when all of your shows are coming back, and maybe you’ve learned something too!

Now I’m off to print and highlight the heck out of those pages!

SAG-AFTRA Conservatory (or Feeling Like I’m Back In College)

This weekend was the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory intensive weekend. Throughout the year, the Conservatory hold various events. But during the intensive weekend, you can attend up to 9 events in a weekend.

This was my first year being part of the Conservatory. And due to my crazy schedule, the intensive weekend was the first thing I had been able to attend.

Out of 9 available class times, I went to 3 (1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday).

Saturday was a panel of casting directors. This class was very reminiscent of events that I used to go to at The Actors’ Network. First, the moderator asked the panel some questions, then it was a Q&A open to the audience. Most of the questions were goo. There were a couple of beginner questions, but nothing too amateur (all attendees were members of the union after all). The only part of the panel I didn’t really like was when the casting directors said that to get seen for some of the smaller parts (like the 1 or 2 line parts), you have to do one of the paid workshops that they do. I’ve already mentioned my opinion on workshops, so I won’t repeat that.

First for me on Sunday was a class to help us find our “type”. For you non-actors reading this, it means what type of characters that others (preferably strangers) can imagine us playing by just looking at us. There were 12 people who took notes on my type. When I got my notes back, most of them said similar things. People see me playing a working class or middle class character. Possibly the funny best friend of the lead. And I look friendly, fun, and kind. These were things I already knew about my type, but it’s always good to hear what new people have to think about my look.

My last class was a panel of showrunners. I got to sit with a bunch of my friends in this class (which always makes things more fun for me). I loved hearing from these producers/writers about what their life is like working for their shows. This is not something I get to hear about very often, and it was a nice lesson on what their jobs are on set.

All in all, it was a pretty full weekend for me. I took a lot of notes (and still need to go and organize them!) and learned many new things. I still need to reapply for the Conservatory for the upcoming year, but I really am going to try to make it to more of the regular classes. I pay for it, so I should take advantage of it!

Ms In The Biz Picnic (or Spending My Day Off With Some Awesome Women)

This past Sunday, there was a picnic at Griffith Park for the writers of Ms In The Biz. Even though it was my only day off and I had a bunch of errands to run, I didn’t want to miss this. I’m trying to be more social in life (it’s easy to be a hermit outside of work when I’m working so many days a week), and this was a perfect opportunity for me to get out and enjoy the outside and great company.

This picnic was held at the same area as the Blognic, so I knew where I was going (which is nice is a huge park). It was pretty hot outside, but we had a nice shady spot in the grass so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures because all of us were having such a nice chat about lots of random subjects, but I did get a picture of me with Ms In The Biz founder, Helenna.

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Please excuse my giant hair. With it being so hot, I’m trying to not use any heat tools in my hair. Not only is it damaging, but I feel no need to make my house hotter than it already is.

Some people brought their lunches with them (as we were instructed to do in the invite), but for me, it was too hot to eat. So I brought a giant bottle of ice water and some pita chips to share with the other ladies.

After being there a few hours, sadly I had to leave. I knew that I had a lot of errands to get done before my work week started and I didn’t want to be up all night trying to get it all done.

Thank you Helenna for organizing the picnic! I had a blast and it was the perfect thing for me to do on my day off!

I’ll end this post with this random photo that I took at the picnic while I was showing one of the other girls my camera. I love when I take a candid photo and it comes out looking so cool. And I feel like this picture really represents the vibe of Ms In The Biz. We are women in the entertainment industry trying to help each other out and having fun while doing it.

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Enjoying My Union Perks (or How To Take Advantage Of Things That Are Offered To You)

I’ve been a member of SAG-AFTRA for over a year now. I originally joined AFTRA prior to the merger vote, and now I’m a member of the merged unions.

And besides having better work opportunities, better pay, and protection on set (something I could have used in the past), there are lots of other things that are out there for union actors.

First of all, there are free casting director workshops through the SAG Foundation. A big controversial thing in the acting world are casting director workshops that you pay for. I don’t want to start a debate on here, but my belief is that you should not pay to audition for a casting director. You wouldn’t pay to have a job interview in a day job, so why would you do it for an acting job? If you don’t understand what paid casting director workshops are and want to know more about them, I suggest watching this video.

The SAG Foundation also offers free screenings and Q&As throughout the year. In fact, the podcast that I work for did a live 100th episode at the SAG Foundation interviewing the leadership of SAG-AFTRA.

Another great thing through the union that actors can take advantage of is the SAG-AFTRA Film Society. You have to pay for the membership and you can only apply in the spring for the upcoming year. But there are free screenings for Film Society members about twice a month (I’ve already gone to “The Great Gatsby” and “Star Trek Into Darkness” and will be going to “Man of Steel” tomorrow). Plus, you get this awesome membership card!

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Another membership within the union that you can join is the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory. I’ll admit that I haven’t taken advantage of being a member of the conservatory this past year. I need to get better about that. However they do have a big weekend event coming up next month and I’m planning on signing up for at least 4 classes.

Also, as many people who belong to other unions know, there are discounts available to union members. This page lists just some of what you can take advantage of as a member of SAG-AFTRA. I personally use the IMDBPro discount. And a lot of my friends use the ATT discount (my cell service is Verizon and there isn’t a SAG-AFTRA discount for them).

If you are a union actor, hopefully I’ve given you some new ideas of how to take advantage of your membership. And if you aren’t a union actor, maybe I’ve made you think about joining. Either way, I have to say that for me, becoming a union actor was one of the best things that I’ve done for my career. And whether or not you are a union actor, if you have any questions, you should give SAG-AFTRA a call. They are so wonderfully helpful and really want to make sure that all actors are taken care of.

Audition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring)

I had an audition for a tv movie yesterday. Everything in the audition room happened the way it should happen. I said my lines, I got a smile from the casting director, and I left the room quickly. However when I was leaving the audition, I did almost get trapped in the hallway (there were two doors between the audition room and waiting area and when I closed one door it was so dark I couldn’t find the handle for the other door). I have no idea if I booked this job, but to me, it’s more important to impress the casting director so that they want me to come back again then to book every job I audition for.

But overall, this was a typical audition. But those few seconds of being stuck between the doors made me think of some of my bad auditions, and I figured I’d share some of them so you can all enjoy some of my not-so-graceful moments.

One of my absolute worst auditions ever happened when I was auditioning for a job in a theme park. We were all held outside the audition room and were only taken in one at a time. I probably had waited about an hour or two before it was my turn. I walked into the room, and right in front of the boss’s table, I fell banana peel style on the ground (and by banana peel style I mean I flew up into the air and landed hard on the ground). After trying to recover, we all noticed that there was a huge puddle of water on the floor. Someone who auditioned before me must have spilled it and I was the lucky one to walk right into it. After the audition, I was taken to the first-aid at the park to have my toes taped because they were looking pretty bad. I didn’t need first-aid, but I’m sure that they did it for their protection. I didn’t get that job.

I also remember an audition years ago for an employee training video for the fitness industry. In the audition notice, it was written in bold and in all caps that ALL ACTORS MUST READ THE SCRIPT EXACTLY AS WRITTEN. NO IMPROVISATION ALLOWED. I took this very seriously so I worked very hard at getting all the lines exactly as they were on the paper. I was partnered up with another actor in the audition and we got started. I read my lines as written but the other actor was making everything up as he went. I still said my next lines as written even though it made absolutely no sense. I wish that I had the courage to have asked the casting directors if I could try that scene again (hopefully with a new scene partner), but I didn’t.

Another audition for a commercial was a little crazy. I don’t remember what type of commercial it was, but I remember that the premise was that the character I was auditioning for was caught in bed with another character by my character’s husband. In the audition notice, they asked us to wear skimpy clothing to help imply a state of undress. I wore a tank top and shorts (with a sweatshirt to wear over the outfit when I was walking to and from my car). Once in the audition room, the guy I was paired with stripped down to a speedo. It was pretty funny, but I wish the other actor had given me a heads up.

The final story to leave you with today was another commercial audition. All I had to do in the audition was climb into a duffel bag and zip myself inside. I might not be the skinniest girl out there, but I am pretty flexible (I can do the splits and bend down and touch my toes with little effort). So in the room, I got in the bag and got it zipped up. The only problem came when I was trying to get out of the bag. I got a little tripped up in the bag and straps and had to get out of the bag while sitting and pulling it off of my feet.

So there are some highlights of some of the crazy auditions that I’ve been on. Most of the crazy stories happened years ago, before I knew how to stand up for myself (and before I had union protection). There are so many more stories that I could tell, and I know that there will be more stories to share that happen in the future. But I wanted to give you all a glimpse inside my sometimes crazy life.

My Love Letter To The Actors’ Network (or Sorry Kevin, I Couldn’t Keep It Under 500 Words)

Today, The Actors’ Network will be closing their studio doors. TAN (as we members like to call it) has been around since 1991, and I’ve been a member since 2006. Kevin E. West, president and founder of TAN, asked the members to share a favorite story of something that happened at TAN to put on their blog. It was requested that our posts not be more than 500 words. I wanted to share some things, but couldn’t keep it under the word limit, so I’m putting it all out here.

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I first heard about TAN in 2004. I was at Loyola Marymount University in my first semester of my senior year (I finished early so this was during the spring semester). I took a theater class called Performance Training 4 (I believe it now is called Career Development). This class was taught by a manager and his goal for the class was to prepare us for the real world of acting. So he took us all around town so we could meet casting directors, agents, managers, photographers, and actor organizations. TAN was one of the places that we went to, and I remember being very impressed by it from the first moment. However, after I graduated, I tried to have a “real” job. It wasn’t until I was laid off in 2006 that I decided to pursue my dream for real. And one of the first places I went to was TAN. I became a member in October 2006.

One of the first things I attended at TAN ended up changing my life. This is a long story, so sorry in advance.

It was in November or December of 2006. An editor from Backstage West was doing a focus group at TAN. Initially, I wasn’t going to go, but Kevin sent out an email asking for more people to attend. Since I wasn’t busy that day, I went. While in the focus group, a few of us suggested that they follow around actors that are trying to make it so they can share their stories with everyone else. While we loved reading about actors who are successful, they weren’t relatable. And the editors decided to follow me and four other actors around for a year and write monthly updates on what we had accomplished.

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That’s me in the blue on the front of the cover looking super short (and much thinner). I wasn’t paid for the articles I wrote, however I did get a free subscription to the magazine. And in August of 2007, I saw an ad for Halloween Horror Nights auditions in one of those Backstage Wests. I went to the audition, booked it, and had an amazing time. I met some truly amazing people including one guy named Todd. He mentioned he had a great agent and that I should submit myself for representation. I did, and got a meeting. I brought my articles from the past year to that meeting, and based on those (and a great referral from my friend Todd), that agent decided to represent me. And I’m still with that agent (and super happy with her and the team that she has created).

I know it’s a long path, but if I never joined TAN, I wouldn’t have been in that focus group, I wouldn’t have been featured in Backstage West, I wouldn’t have seen the ad for Halloween Horror Nights, never would have met Todd, and I doubt that I would have met my agent or would have been offered representation. This is all due to TAN.

I’ve also met so many amazing people at TAN. Some of my best friends are people who I’ve met in various lectures there. I’ve also met some amazing casting directors there. And I know for a fact that there is one casting director who cast me because of seeing me at TAN and at least two casting directors who have brought me in for auditions because of TAN.

I’ve learned amazing things at TAN as well. My tricks for watching everything on TV or organizing my contacts and calendar come from things that I learned from Kevin.

And over the past 7 years, there have been times where I questioned if I was doing the right thing. I felt like I was right in my heart, but sometimes my head liked to disagree. And all I had to do was go to TAN and hear some great motivation from Kevin or one of the amazing guests and I felt like I could take on the world.

Outside of TAN, I have to say that Kevin has been a wonderful supporter of me. He made a quick appearance in the twitter documentary that I produced. He also was a guest on Inside Acting Podcast (I’m the production coordinator for the podcast). He has always cheered for me for my victories. And yesterday, when I went to say goodbye to the studio, he told me how much he enjoyed that I did 5Ks. I had no idea that he knew, but again, I love the support.

I’m sad that something that has been such an amazing part of my life is closing. It won’t be gone forever as the membership is now going to be 100% online with webinars, but I will miss going to the studio, seeing my friends, and leaving with amazing information.

So, thank you Kevin for creating such an incredible place. I’m so happy for you that you are going to be able to focus more on your acting career. After running TAN for 22 years, you deserve it! I hope you know how much TAN has meant to me. I know that I haven’t attended events lately as much as I would have liked (hazards of having an evening thrival job), but I still use information that I got from you from 2006. I know that I would not be the actress that I am today without TAN. It has taught me, motivated me, and made me a businesswoman instead of only an artist. I will forever be grateful for everything that you have done for me.

And I’m putting in the request again, Kevin, that we need to have the Holiday party still (or some other annual TAN gathering). That way, I’ll know that I will at least get to see you once a year.

Seeing Signs (or How A Smurf Put Me In A Good Mood)

This week hasn’t been the best week for me. I’ve been in a bit of a funk. My eating hasn’t been that great. And I haven’t worked out in a while. Part of the lack of working out was the fact that I didn’t have a sports bra for a while, but I’ve had a new one for 2 days and I still haven’t done anything.

As much as I want to get out of the funk, something is holding me back. I don’t know what. I do have a 5K this weekend, and I will do that no matter what, so hopefully that will turn my attitude around.

But this week, I had an encounter that made me smile. First, a little back story.

I studied with my acting coach, Kip King, from 2002 until he died in 2010. I had a very special bond with him (our birthdays are 2 days apart so he called me his birthday buddy). He knew how to push me but not go too far. One of Kip’s big acting jobs was being Tailor Smurf on “The Smurfs”. So when Kip was sick and in the hospital, I brought him Smurf things I found at various stores, like a Smurf Christmas ornament.

Ok, back to the regular story. I was in Babies R Us the other day getting a gift for a baby shower that I’m going to this weekend. I was walking around the aisles looking for the perfect gift when in the middle of a diaper aisle I saw this.

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It was a set of Smurf toys that said Happy Smurfday! on them. Technically, none of these Smurfs are Tailor Smurf (who has a needle through his hat), but it still felt like a sign to me. Why would there be a bunch of birthday Smurfs in the middle of the diaper aisle (and yes, I know the reasonable explanation is that a kid put them there)?

I saw those toys and I smiled. I thought about Kip and how much he believed in me no matter what. He saw me lose and gain weight all the time and loved me no matter what. He said that he knew that I would make it as an actress as long as I was patient enough to wait my turn.

Maybe I need to have that same mentality to my weight. I’m not going to sit around and not do anything, but I’m not going to let myself get this upset and in these slumps again like this. Right now might not be my turn to lose weight, but if I keep working at it like I do with my acting, eventually it will be my turn and things will fall into place. If I’m willing to work hard and be patient with my acting career (which I’m more than happy to do), why am I not allowing myself to have that same mentality to everything else in my life?

So thank you to Kip (or the kid that stuck those toys there) for helping me to see things a little differently when I was in a low spot.

Job vs. Career (or Being Undercover At My Day Job)

Having a day job when you are trying to be have a career as a creative person is pretty typical. Most of my creative friends have had at least one job outside of their desired career to pay the bills. While some actors are pretty secretive about what they do, I’m pretty open myself.

There’s no shame in having another job while you are trying to follow your dreams. But at your job, it can be shameful to try to also follow your dreams.

I’m lucky that at my day job, it’s expected that people in my position are pursuing other careers. Most of the telesales team are actors, but there are also writers and costume designers.

But I haven’t always been this lucky. At my last day job, my first boss was very understanding about my life. If I had to go to an audition, I could make up the hours within the same pay period. That was it. But when I got a new boss, she started to ask for unreasonable things such as 2 weeks notice of when I needed time off for an audition. Most of my auditions are the day after my agent submits me, so there’s no way to normally give more than a day or two’s notice.

At my old job, I almost had to be secretive about my acting. That’s not what I want to do at my day job. I’m there to work, but I don’t have to make that job my forever job.

For some of my friends who aren’t creatives and don’t understand the idea of a day job, I explain it this way. For most people, a job and a career are the same thing. For my brother, for example, being a resident at the hospital he works at is working on his career as a doctor. But for me, my job and career are two separate things (at least for now). My job is whatever I’m currently doing to pay the bills, but my career is always acting. I currently spend 40 hours a week at my job, and probably an additional 10-20 hours on my career (when I get back into class that number will be higher).

It’s a tough life that we live as creatives, but honestly to me it’s completely worth it. Every time I get to perform, whether it’s at an audition, class, or booked job; I feel that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And yes, I wish that I could survive on just acting, but I’m also realistic. I have rent, bills, my credit card, and life to pay for. Sometimes you have to just suck it up at work a job you don’t love. You just have to keep in mind that it is a temporary situation and one day, you can look back at your time working days jobs as just a memory.

The New TV Season (or Starting My Research Early This Year)

It’s upfronts time!

For those of you that don’t know what the upfronts are, it’s the time that the tv networks reveal their fall tv schedules to advertisers (and the public). This is when you know what new tv shows will be on the air in the fall and what old shows will have another season.

Sometimes, the new tv shows or old tv show renewals are announced earlier, but everything is revealed at the upfronts. All the networks will be revealing their schedules next week (here’s a schedule and guide to the networks).

Why does this matter to me? Because this is when my preparation for my fall tv research begins!

I’ve previously talked about how I watch everything on tv to know what shows might be good ones for me to target. Normally, I start doing my tv research then. The only thing I did after the upfronts was send the casting directors of the new tv shows a quick congratulations note.

But this year, I’ve decided to do things a bit different.

There are a bunch of websites with information on the new tv shows (I like TVLine for the summary and IMDb for the production information). I’m going to start my notes right away. I can figure out who the casting directors are for the new shows and which ones I have a relationship with (good information for my agents to know). I can get most of my notes done early so when the tv shows premier in the fall, I can focus on watching the shows and understanding the tone and plot points.

Also, once the networks announce the new tv shows, they typically release a 3-5 minute trailer with highlights of the show. I’m going to take notes on those so I have something in case I get an audition for a show before it premieres (it’s happened before).

I think these are all positive steps forward that I’m making with my acting career. It might seem a bit overkill when I don’t get a ton of auditions compared to some of my friends (which I don’t mind since most of my auditions are for series regulars or guest stars), but when I do get that chance with that audition, I want to go into the room the best and most prepared that I can be!

Hollywood Mixer (or Ms. In The Biz Is Almost Here!)

This week, Ms. In The Biz launched the sneak peek of the site. As I mentioned before, I’m a writer for the site (in fact, 2 of my articles are on there right now!).

To celebrate the sneak peek (and the official launch which is coming up soon), Ms. In The Biz partnered up with Film Break for a really great mixer event.

It was held at the Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt in Hollywood. I’ve lived in LA for almost 12 years (my LA-nniversary is in August), and this was the very first time that I’ve been to the Roosevelt.

I got a bit lost in there, but I realized I entered from the back entrance (the one on Hollywood Blvd). But once I got out to the pool area, it was gorgeous!

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We were right next to the pool, which was all lit up.

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I got there on the early side (because I didn’t want to stay out late), and immediately ran into some friends and fellow Ms. In The Biz writers.

But it quickly got very crowded there, and I tried to keep finding places to mingle that weren’t full of people (I had a fear that somehow I’d get pushed into the pool in the crowd!).

Even with that set back, I met so many amazing creative people. And for the first time at a mixer event, I think being an actor was in the minority. I’m used to the LA Actors Tweetup where it seems like everyone is an actor (and that’s awesome). But at this event, I met directors, film critics, make up artists, sound mixers, and writers. It’s nice being around all these creative types that do different things than you!

Thank goodness for business cards because with all the noise, I didn’t quite get everyone’s name.

After being there about 2 hours, I decided it was time to head home so I could be up early the next morning to get errands done before work. Based on tweets and FB posts I’ve seen, the party went on quite a bit more! I’m a little sad I didn’t stay longer, but I know that I’d be miserable at work the next day if I didn’t get sleep!

If you haven’t already checked out the Ms. In The Biz site, please do! It’s an amazing project that I’m so proud to be a part of! Make sure to sure to sign up for the newsletter so you know when the new posts are up.

I believe there will be an official launch party for the site in the next month or so, and if it’s open to everyone, I’ll make sure to post the info on here!