Well, it's not exactly my first day. I did this for two weeks back in March... but this marks a bigger milestone. I'm going to be here a month, so I'd better make it count every second I'm here.
I'd like to start this post off by saying that my manager and her immediate family are among the most generous people I've ever known. My manager took time out of her undoubtedly busy schedule to pick me up at the airport and drive me to meet one of her brothers, who is letting me borrow a car while I'm here. Then I follow her to her other brother's house, where I'll be staying for four weeks without paying any kind of rent. I thanked them all more times than I can count, because really: they're helping me out immensely. I stayed with her brother the last time I was here, as well as a producer friend of mine, Edwin, who also gladly opened his house to me. I always knew that these people had faith in me and what I'm capable of as an actor, but when I stand back and look at exactly how much time and money they're investing... it hits home.
One thing that I'm nervous about is the truck that I'm driving around in. My manager's brother who loaned me the truck... let's call him Steve. Steve works for the Teamsters, which as I understand it, is a union in the entertainment industry that specializes in transporting film equipment from one set to another. I think they also take care of transporting the performers to the set, but I could be wrong. Anyway, Steve has around four trucks that he uses. I'm using one of these trucks, which from what I can tell, is a little old and was probably about to be sold anyway. Don't get me wrong, it will get me from A to B. But the one thing about this truck... it's gigantic. It's a friggin' Panzer. I'm used to driving small economy cars. The biggest car I've ever driven is my Jeep back at home, and even that is small for its model. This thing is like a bus. I've driven around in it a little to get the hang of it, and I'm scared to death that I'm going to hit something. As long as I'm driving this truck, I'm avoiding the highways in LA. This means I'll be taking back roads to my destinations, so I plan on leaving at least two hours early for any appointment I may have.
So what do I have lined up while I'm out here? So far, on Wednesday, I'm going for a callback on an audition I did a week ago. Before I go, I have an appointment with my acting coach, Dennis. My manager said that I could attend some of his acting workshops, which I'm really excited about. I haven't had a chance to really work on my acting skills apart from the occasional audition, so this will do me a lot of good.
Also, for those of you interested, my acting coach is in a series of Youtube videos. These "webisodes" are based on a book that he is co-writing with a friend of his called "The Modern Married Man's Guide to Survival." Since Dennis has helped me out so much, I agreed to post his videos on my Youtube channel every once in a while. He's still getting a grip on the whole Youtube thing. Here's one of his videos:
Dennis is the man in the hat and the Hawaiin shirt.
Besides that, I'm waiting for my manager to schedule some meetings and such for later in the week. In the meantime, I'm just sort of kicking back in her brother's apartment watching the first season of The Wire. It really is amazing show, and I feel embarrassed for not watching it since I've lived a few miles or so from Baltimore my whole life.
That's pretty much it. I think I'll probably make a video tonight announcing my plan to upload my Jimmy Kimmel Reenactments.
More to come.
Monday, August 25, 2008
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12 comments:
Hope you have fun and do well. Keep us posted.
The first time I worked on location they had me drive the van to get coffee. 10 coffees, no cup holders (I used a Bud Light box for half of them and strategically placed the others so they would lean against the box and not fall), and the bumpiest roads known to man. I drove so unbelievably slowly thinking that I would get so fired if I spilled a drop of coffee in their rental vans. Then, later that night as we were driving back to the hotel, they were driving way too fast and throwing things at each other like cups, fruit, and cheetos...both in the van, and through open windows and doors at the other crew members in other vans, and later jumping on the hoods and such...
So the moral of the story is to relax and don't spill any coffee in the truck until someone else throws fruit at it. Then it's okay.
rackfocus,
Thanks for that advice, lol
It's great to see how much your agency is investing in you.
But don't undercut yourself.
A lot of people see the potential you have because of the re enactments series.
When you mention the series it seems like just a glance, or a thing in the past, but it really shows the full spectrum of talent that Hollywood is looking for.
It's also good you're thankful for everything because i can tell you how hard it is to get into an agency.
I live 10 minutes from LA and still can't seem to find any serious audition without a manager. And i can't get a manager/agency without paying for their services which is immensely high.
The worst of it is, every manager that is willing to waive their fee, that i seem to speak to wants me to pay 1,000 dollars worth of acting classes just to take me on for free and only for a trial basis.
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So yea, even with a great location, i can't seem to do what i love, which is acting.
It's refreshing to see when someone really deserving does get that chance, that they truly appreciate it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As for the truck... wish you the best of luck, and i'm the same way, i hate driving really big cars and i feel like i'll crash when i drive them.
time to explore the wonders of public transportation? a lot of good people-watching there. . .
Here's hoping that one day your manager will look back and remember how grateful you were for the help, from the vantage point of how grateful she is to have been the one to tag along with you on your rise to the top!
thee phoenix,
The Reenactment Series is definitely what got everyone's attention. It's like a secret weapon... everyone loves it. Back in March, everywhere I went, I talked to agents, producers, entertainment lawyers... and the thing they kept coming back to was those reenactments.
I hate to talk about them as a thing of the past. I'm still very much interested in doing some more, it's just hard to find the time to do so. Although, if Jimmy Kimmel asks me to do the Academy Awards thing again... that's another story.
Good luck in all you endeavors. Just keep trying. Take an acting class, work on your craft; it's like a muscle. I plan to do that while I'm out here.
- Brandon
lmao at least you know, in a truck, you are slightly intimidating/feared on the road.
also, the fact that they let you live in their house and drive their car doesn't only show how generous they are, how much they believe in you, and how much they care for you, but also shows how much they like you, and how good a guy you really are.
obviously your not an annoying s.o.b., otherwise they'd just say "there's a nice motel up the block".
so its a reflection on your personality that they are willing to extend their hospitality to you so freely. they can literally live with you being around 24/7!
*thumbs up* you're in a very good place. don't change.
ps
"the one in the hawaiian shirt and hat"
....why do you mock us so?
It took me damn near forever to remember my password.. I had to reset it and everything. I only made this account to leave comments on your blog. I hope you appreciate the trouble to get these words here! Irony is, I really have nothing to add.. Have fun in Cali.
I think the greatest thing about the reenactment series was the fact that you were able to take each character in all the scenes and reenact them to a tee. The Willy Wonka one blew me away, and that was only your first one, but your Jean Wilder was bang on. It was impressive. So, this shows everybody that you're a man of many faces and characters. You don't really seem to have a problem being anybody in the script. Now that's talent. Of course, this is what I gathered from the reenactments. It might have been difficult for you to do this, I don't know.
Cool. Nice to see your blog working out. I'll be reading it for sure. I hope things work out great in L.A. for ya'. I'm sure someday you'll manage the breakthrough :) Take care.
thought i'd like to add, like twitchris, that i restarted my password and everything just to read and comment your blog. *thumbs up*
i thought i was the only one!
Good effort with The Wire, an absolute masterpieced. Perhaps a reenactment of the famous McNulty/Bunk f*** crime scene is in order? :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbsnSVM1zM
The Wire is brilliance, enjoy it.
If there's anybody I want to find success, it's you Brandon. All the best, bro.
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