Fall Television

Premiere week is like a really bad Christmas.

You're all excited for snow, presents, caroling, egg nog, family and fun.

You're met with smog and a random heat wave, a bunch of crap you have to return, a failed caroling trip because everyone's too busy watching the voice to hear carolers outside, egg nog that's not spiked because everyone has kids now, a big fight with your mother over your hair, and fun, what fun.

That's what the 2013 premiere week has been.

Anyone spotted anything out there with an ounce of creativity, intelligence, wit, uniqueness or interesting point of view? If so please tell me, because I'm dying here, and bordering turning into the Grinch.

Bad Workshop Scenes

We've all had it happen. You are super excited to meet a guest, because they're doing some hot new drama, that you think you're totally right for.
Then they hand you a scene from some 90's sitcom, playing the lead character, who went on to win five Emmys for the role, and it's not even that funny.
You spend the first couple of minutes venting at your crummy luck, then you spend another couple of minutes trying to figure out how to get the voice of that actor out of your head, then you spend another minute bemoaning your life and how they're ever going to see you when all they'll be doing is hearing how much you DON'T sound like that famous actor, then five minutes rehearsing the scene where you feel not funny at all, and then you sit in the back dreading your turn.

Happens right?

I don't have the answer. I don't think there is an easy solution. Except this: Throw It Away.

If you come to every workshop hoping for the perfect scene that is gong to match that breakdown you just saw come out yesterday, and they'll bring you in tomorrow you're coming for the wrong reasons. It's a place to stretch, to have fun, to work with your peers, to jump up on stage and be fearless, to be brave, and put the very best of you out there. The more in your head you get about the scene you've been given, the less that becomes possible, and the more likely you will be unmemorable.

Are webseries the new indie film?

Webseries are the Indie Film of the 90s. So I've been told. What does that mean? Here's the best way I can figure it out:

1. There were a lot of really bad indie films in the 90s. There are a lot of really bad webseries.
2. There were some amazing indie films in the 90s that revolutionized the way films are made in this town.
3. There are some amazing webseries that are revolutionizing the way we watch content.
4. If you wanted to get discovered in the 90s, you went through indie film, now you go through webseries.
5. The caveat to that, is that never worked unless you landed in a good indie film, and it doesn't work now unless you land on a great webseries.

So what does all this mean for the working actor today?

It means the simplest truth about the business still holds true today:

Find meaningful, electric, exciting, fresh, well-written content.

How do you know?

You know. Do you turn off a terrible TV show after ten minutes and then it gets canceled a few weeks later? See you know. You have taste. Use it.

If webseries are the indie films of the 90s then be smart, trust your taste, and your instinct and find your way into the next Run Lola Run, Swingers, Clerks or Usual Suspects.

And while you're at it, take Pamela Frazier's workshop on Saturday!

Your thoughts on webseries?

Picking a Class

Picking a Class

A lot of times we stay in a class for years out of comfort, familiarity, or maybe we haven't been in class for a long time, so we want to go somewhere safe. 

Sometimes we're referred to a class with a fancy name or a fancy teacher, because we think it will look good on our resumes. 

Or we don't go to class at all, because we think we're done learning. 

Does a ballet dancer stop practicing? Does a painter stop painting? Does a musician just show up at the concert hall? 

It is a required part of our job to be constantly training. 

So how can you be sure you're in a class that is helping you achieve your goals?

Here are my: "Top Five Things To Look For To Guarantee You're In The Right Class":

1. Are there people in the class that are better than you are?

2. Are you scared to go every week, because it's hard AND leave class every week feeling great?

3. Does class energize you?

4. Does your teacher relate the work in class to the real world of life as an actor?

5. Are your fellow classmates working actors?

Any you'd like to share?

Giving up?

There was a great piece on NPR about students in the United States versus other countries. They took a sample group of high school students from the US and various other countries around the world and gave them an unsolvable math problem. 

The American students on average lasted 30 seconds before giving up. 

On the other end of the spectrum, after 2 hours, every Japanese student in the sample was still trying to solve the problem. 

What does this mean? 

My thoughts on the American education system aside, I think this is really important as regards our work as artists.

We forget the struggle. We forget that the struggle, the journey, the process is the best part. THAT is where the reward comes from. 

The industry constantly pushes us to place our value or self-worth, our energy on the end goal, the Oscar, the series, the money, but how critically important is it to not lose sight of the joy that comes from the process, and the struggle.