It’s almost SEPTEMBER... and while I’m very excited for the Fall... I’m kind of wondering what happened to Summer.
Fall is awesome. How can you not love September and October? It’s football season.. AND its MLB playoffs season... Nothing like watching late season Pennant races, while SIMULTANEOUSLY following early season NFL action.
The turning of the season and the falling temperatures would also be a nice feature of September and October... but in Southern California.. we don’t get any of that... in fact LAST year... we were getting assaulted by 95 plus degree days up until late October... and since this Summer, So Cal has had a relatively MILD season... I’m guessing Mother Nature is saving a nice little can of Whup Ass just for us.
So as Summer comes to a close... I’m trying to remember what the hell happened... I’ve been so busy the past few months that most of the Summer has buzzed by in the form of a blur.
Most importantly... Summer highlight number 1: I got engaged... actually the Summer highlight of all Summer highlights... but I wont go into another long soliloquiy about that...
I got a team together for another Legal industrial project... which had it’s share of triumphs and tragedies... AND... the crew and I got together and took part in the 2010 48HRFP.
We all got together to attend the official GROUP C screening last week at the Laemmle 4-Plex in Santa Monica. The Wednesday night screening (I believe they hosted screening events for 4 or 5 groups on different nights) showcased 14 films. I would say our film probably landed in 3th or 4th place for the group. Highlights of the evening were a Western genre film that I’d say was the best ACTED, but hard to follow; a ROMANCE genre film that was beautifully shot, but kind of dragged on in the form of a melodramatic montage... it could have been 2 minutes shorter. The hands-down BEST of the night was the film CHICK-FLICK. It was funny, entertaining and well-acted, with a great closing segment with rolling credits that paid homage to the movie THE HANGOVER and it’s now legendary “Photos from the Missing Camera” bit.
Since we had to cut and chop and desecrate our masterpiece to fit contest requirements... I feel like all of our work... from the writing to performance to everything post production was unfairly represented... so we decided to put together a FULL version...or Directors cut... actually I should call the EDITORS CHOICE version... HUGE thanks to Editor Extraordinaire Josh S... got everyone together for a little screening party at the house on Friday night.... food... drink... watched the full version of our film... watched the outtakes and bloopers... again.. THANKS to Josh... then we had an egg toss... a three legged race... and scavenger hunt...
I’m kidding. We didn’t do any of that stuff.... we did have fun watching the film and a few extras. Enjoying a handful of party snacks and a few drinks. My head was pounding the next morning.
Totally unrelated side note....
I got an email this morning from Amazon offering this Pogoplug machine for $50 with free shipping... I know its PINK and its UGLY... but I think I'm going to get it..... main reason I would get this would be to share MOV files with clients and actors who want a copy of their scenes... I BELIEVE I would also be backing up all of my data on an external server... which is always a good thing... AND... I have a LACIE eSATA hard drive that shut down on me about a year ago... and I’m hoping I can fin a way to use this Pogoplug machine to recover that data... fingers crossed...
48 HRFP kicked my ass all weekend. It was fun but it's going to take me a week to recover.
Friday night we met up and put our heads together to come up with a story. That meeting had a few shining moments and quite a few OBNOXIOUS moments. I sat down in front of my laptop around midnight and tried to bang out a script. I shut it down at 4:15AM and went to sleep for 3 hours.
We shot all day Saturday... from 8AM to 2AM.. when we finally wrapped Saturday night... more like EARLY Sunday morning (1:45AM), I was so tired that my speech was slurred and I was hallucinating. We were ALL pretty EFFIN tired at that point. Director Wes Greeson was so delirious and delusional that he was having long and involved (2-way) conversations with our sound guy's CAT... and during a conversation about what to order for a late dinner, he claimed... and emphatically insisted that he had never heard of a TURKEY BURGER.... he was losing it.
Sunday morning we still had 2 last minute shots to grab before sitting down wth our editor.... who had been working on Saturday's footage through the night.
Late Sunday afternoon, with plenty of time to kill... we finished editing. We put our best foot forward, used all of our best footage to carve out a cohesive story... and ended up with a decent ten-minute film.
Wait....
The maximum length for the 48HRFP is SEVEN minutes.
Aaaaagh! So we started trimming..... then we started cutting... and then we started chopping... I started throwing up.... and I think Wes actually started crying.
We turned in our emaciated masterpiece at 6:43PM PT.
The Indie City Entertainment 2010 LA 48 HR Film Project submission will officially be known as: CATACLYSMO
The Film came out so-so. We had to cut so much out to meet the requirements that pace, performance, rhythm and writing were all compromised to some extent.
But it's done... we officially completed and submitted an entry....
I think the outtakes/deleted scenes/blooper reel will be far more entertaining.... stay tuned.
Tuesday evening... watching BOOK OF ELI on DVD....
So far so good... I really like it... LOVE the way its shot... the way its color corrected... very cool.
(I'm skeptical. I heard the ending sucks and ruins the movie. We'll see)
So... its that time again....
The 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT is back in town... and that is a BADASS BUS that WE are getting ON.
I put together a team in 2008 and INDIE CITY ENTERTAINMENT was representin... we placed and our film THE PLAYING FIELD was selected and screened as part of the final round of entries.....
it is now 2010... and we ae gonna give it a go... again.
TEAM LEADER LOG: Monday, August 02, 2010 8:27 PM >>>
Whats up y'all!
Get ready for a good... old fashioned... 48 HR FAST AND FURIOUS FISH FRY...
I think I just came up with our title.... just kidding.... maybe....
So the big dance kicks off on Friday, August 13th
So for starters... Here is the preliminary plan
Friday at 6... I will be attending the kick off meeting... any and all of you are welcome to attend.... but its not necessary... I will be checking us in as a team, collecting materials, paperwork, etc... and I will also receive our assigned GENRE and our 5 INGREDIENTS... the genre's vary... and are assigned to each team randomly... but EVERYONE gets the same 5 ingredients to work with.... working with assigned ingredients means we will be required to include a mandatory line of dialogue, a character name, a prop... and some other stuff...
here is the info for the Friday Night Kickoff >>>
Date: Friday, August 13th
Time: 6-7pm
Place: Cinespace, 6356 Hollywood Boulevard
Later that night... we will get together and brain storm, collaborate...come up with a concept... characters... and an outline for a story... I'd say we meet at my place around 8?
Once the concept, characters and locations and what not have been established... we can disperse and I will write the final script.
As soon as that is finished...and that is likely to happen either very late or very early in the morning... once that is finished... I will email everyone the script.
THEN... we shoot all day Saturday and Saturday night
Editing starts Saturday night or Sunday morning... we have to have our final product double checked, rendered and turned in by... I think 6 or 7pm on Sunday the 15th.
So FRIDAY is not necessarily MANDATORY... it would be great to have the whole team involved in the conception and creation... but if you absolutely positively CANNOT make it... its ok....
SATURDAY... we DEFINITELY need everyone there on Saturday... all day..
Sunday is a flex day... hoping everyone can kind of be ON CALL.... we SHOULD spend the entire day in POST... but there is always the possibility of needing some Wild Lines...or an insert or something
We will turn in our masterpiece Sunday night by 7:30.
Here is the DROP OFF info >>>
Date: Sunday, August 15th
Time: 6:30-9:00pm (by 7:30pm to be on time!)
Place: Cinespace, 6356 Hollywood Boulevard
THEN... all the films will be screened as part of round one.... films will then be judged and SOME will end being screened AGAIN as part of round 2...
But lets worry about that later... here is the info for the PREMIERE SCREENING
Date: August 24, 25, 26
Time: to be announced
Place: Laemmle Monica 4-Plex, 1332 2nd Street Santa Monica, 90401
Tickets: $11.00 (Purchase them here...)
Our team... INDIE CITY ENTERTAINMENT is part of GROUP C... and our film will be screening on Wed, Aug 25th at 7PM... so mark your calendar... tell your friends
Ok... so I think that's it as far as logistics and important dates and times...
I will be sending out another email tomorrow that will deal with stuff of a more CREATIVE nature... hoping to help everyone get their thinking caps on.... or maybe just take the Thinking caps OFF and let the freaky shit FLY....
LETS DO THIS!!!!
BOOK OF ELI... still watching it.... it's still pretty good... I must say.... Denzel just got shot...
TEAM LEADER LOG: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 11:22 AM >>>
Hey guys...
Here is a little more info from the 48HR FP people.....
(I'm not planning on attending the mixer tonight... so disregard... I mean if you are free and want to swing by... go for it.... I'm not going to be able to make it....)
As we enter our final week of preparations, prepare yourself for a
deluge of crucial information to hit the inbox. We’ll be sending out a
few more emails this week but this one is packed with goodness to read
it carefully and take notes...
And don’t forget, tomorrow night (Tuesday) we are gathering from 7 to
9 at Cinespace for another get together. This isn’t mandatory by any
means - just a way for us to meet up, get familiar with the kick off
and drop off location and perhaps fill any last minute cast or crew
spots.
Feel free to forward the info on to all your team members.
1. 2010 Genres
We've done our customary genre shake-up. Detective/Cop, Holiday Film,
and Superhero have been retired for the year. In their place we've
brought back the popular genres Film Noir, Road Movie, and Silent
Film. And it wouldn't be the 48 Hour Film Project without those three
beloved words: Musical or Western!
Here’s the complete list of genres:
* Buddy Film
* Comedy
* Drama
* Fantasy
* Film de Femme (see below)
* Film Noir
* Horror
* Mockumentary
* Musical or Western
* Road Movie
* Romance
* Sci Fi
* Silent Film
* Thriller/suspense
Film de Femme
Never heard of a Film de Femme? That's because we invented it! This
genre is specifically designed by the 48HFP to encourage strong roles
for females in 48HFP films. A Film de Femme is a film featuring one or
more strong female characters. Romantic comedies or "chick flicks" are
included in this genre, but are only a subset. What's a strong female
character? Think Ellen Page in Juno, Salma Hayek in Frida, Reese
Witherspoon in Election, or Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Smart
and complicated. Try to avoid having a woman doing a man's job like a
man would do his job. And contrary to public opinion, strong women
characters are not required to kill someone!
2. 2010 Wild Card Genres
After genres have been selected, filmmakers will be given the option
to trade in their genre for a Wild Card Genre. Once you switch, you
can't switch back! Wild Card Genres will be randomly assigned to each
city. See the list of possible Wild Card genres below.
* Adventure Serial
* Dark Comedy
* Foreign Film
* Heist
* Historical Fiction/Period Piece
* Mystery
* Surprise Ending
* Time Travel Movie or Doppelganger Movie
3. We have increased the camera limit from 2 cameras to 3 cameras.
Here is the pertinent rule. “Rule H: Any type of video or film
camera may be used, however, a maximum of only three cameras may be
used to shoot footage for use in your film. Sound recorders are
allowed in addition to this three camera limit. Cameras used for a
purpose other than recording video footage (for example, as props,
editing decks, sound recorders, or to record solely behind-the-scenes
footage) are allowed in addition to this three camera limit.”
4. While teams are still prohibited form using stock footage as part
of their films, we have relaxed the rule regarding 3rd party special
effects programs. See Filmmaking Rule D and the FAQ for more info.
If you have further questions, please email info@48hourfilm.com.
5. We’re happy to report that once again the 48HFP is partnering with
the Screen Actors Guild to allow SAG members to participate in 48HFP
films. If you are thinking about using a SAG actor, here’s what you
should keep in mind:
* You must complete the SAG Short Film Agreement as modified by the
48HFP Rider (2 copies - both with original signatures)
* You must have your SAG actors complete the SAG Employment Agreement
as modified by the Rider
* You must complete the SAG Internet Use Rider for each SAG actor, if
you would like to put your film on your personal website for resume
purposes only. (Other internet uses will still require permission from
SAG.)
* You will have more limited distribution options. For any but the
most basic uses, you will need to contact SAG to secure additional
rights.
Go to http://www.48hourfilm.com/filmmakers/sag.php for more information.
6. As a reminder, each team must deliver a Team Leader’s Agreement
signed by the team leader to the Kickoff Event. The team leader
doesn’t need to be at the Kickoff, but his or her signature does! The
Team Leader’s Agreement is at:
TEAM LEADER LOG: Wednesday August 11, 2010 7:45 AM >>>
HEY.... Yes... I'm excited too... we are all excited....
For those of you who can't be there for brainstorming.... it would be great to have you... but you go ahead and do what you gotta do.
we will come up with an amazing story and count you in for sure as we are developing the script and coming up with characters...
I will call you Friday night to update you... clue you in to the concept and storyline.... and I will send you a script as soon as its ready... late Friday... or really... reeeelly early Saturday morning...
And... any PROPS that you might have laying around... anything you can add to the mix... anything.... let me know........
And plan on being ready to start shooting nice and early Saturday morning....
AND... just throwing this out there... if you have any of you have any friends who aren't doing anything Saturday and want to join us and help out in ANY (non acting) capacity... bring them along... we can use all the hands we can get.
Cool?
Also... in the meantime... go to the 48 HR FP site and see if you can watch a few films from previous years... different entries... different markets... see what works and what doesn't... what do you like and dislike....
if any interesting ideas pop into your head this week... by all means... shoot me an email... share that shizznit
keep in mind ... we are looking for to tell a story that incorporates multiple characters... as of right now, we have 4-5 men... 2 women... a few interesting, long and steep stairways in the neighborhood... my house... which has a patio and and roof deck... and another rooftop at Hollywood & Vine... which is like a sky scraper rooftop... really cool looking... with girders and metal sheds... as well as a little sexy lounge area....
so that's it for now... talk soon...
SO THIS COMING FRIDAY... I'm ready to whup ass.... the shit is ONNNNN.....
AND... BOOK OF ELI is over... and I liked it... I'm not sure what everyone was talking about... as far as the end... I thought the end was cool.... glad I watched it.
I know everyone is busy and on the move... so I figured I would send everyone a quick email just to address a few things....
There are too many FLIES in this house... I came home yesterday and the screen door was left open on the patio... I'm sure that's great for the pets... but its BAD for the PEOPLE. ALL DOORS must to be kept CLOSED as much as possible... NOT left open..... the flies are annoying and gross... they are flying around me in the kitchen... they are flying around me when I'm watching TV... they are flying around me when I'm trying to have sexy time with my fiancee.
So please... don't leave the doors open.
Speaking of annoying and gross.... I just cleaned a pile of dirty dishes in the sink that don't belong to me.... and I don't mind that so much... I have no problem washing another persons dirty dishes from time to time.... but it gets a little annoying when it becomes a regular thing.....
Dirty Dishes should NOT be left in the sink overnight.... ever.... let alone for 48 hours... especially dishes that were used by an animal and have chunks of dog and/or cat food all over them...
When I come out and make myself breakfast in the morning... it sucks to have to look at and work around a bunch of dirty dishes.... especially dirty dishes that have cat and dog food all over them.... its disgusting, its disrespectful, its lazy and its obnoxious... if you have time to cook... you have time to clean... I'm making dinner 3-4 times a week in that kitchen and how many dirty dishes do I leave in the sink overnight? not one.
AND I swept the downstairs floor for the 2nd time this week... I've been sweeping twice a week for the past MONTH.... your welcome.
The floors upstairs and downstairs need to be swept twice a week... especially the kitchen... again... I come out in the morning and there is food all over the floor... so I start sweeping... and end up sweeping the entire downstairs because there IS SO MUCH CAT AND DOG HAIR everywhere.
PLEASE....
You guys all have to start cleaning up after yourselves on a DAILY BASIS... especially of you own pets... because you are cleaning for 2... or 3... or 4.... We are ALL busy... we ALL have stuff going on.... being busy is no excuse...
There is cat and dog hair everywhere... cat and dog FOOD everywhere... and dirty dishes in kitchen constantly... that's gotta change.
I think all of us are MORE than accommodating when it comes to the pets in the house... I love animals... I really do enjoy those cats... let them run around in my room... pet them... play with them... give them water when they need it.... even FED all 3 cats AND Abby last night.... the cats were acting especially crazy.... they were tearing around the house... fighting and then started jumping up on the counter when I was trying to make dinner... which is TOTALLY unacceptable... so I grabbed some of that canned cat food in the fridge... split it up 3 ways... and put them all out on the patio with the food... and they inhaled it.
Again... I dont mind doing that for the cats when necessary... it would have been nice if SOMEONE had picked up those dirty dishes and washed them.... instead of leaving the out there on the patio all night
Which leads to me another thing....
Just so we are clear... for future reference... if you own an animal in this house... the responsibility is 100% yours. and the last I checked ... i dont own any animals. So in the spirit of positive and harmonious communal living, I'm happy to spend time with the animals, pet them, play with them, give them food and water when necessary....
but when the cat gets out... if its YOUR cat... its YOUR problem.
Karla came home the other night after a long days of work, her hands were full of stuff, and when she opened the door, Romeo bolted out into the night... Kristen, Karla and I walked out there and tried to persuade him to come back in the house... and he was not interested...
Wasn't Karla's fault...
DAMN sure wasn't my fault... Kristen and I had just finished dinner and we were watching movie... enjoying some nice relaxing downtime together...
Did we get to finish our movie... NOOOOO.... we ended up walking around outside... up and down those dark and scary stairs... using my PHONE as a flashlight.... trying to find the CAT... and let me tell you... it's scary up there at night... we definitely heard some big rustling going on up there in darkness...
Romeo eventually returned... and the crisis concluded... hooray.... but I'm telling you right now... I will not do that again.... your cat... your problem... period.
so... in summary... PLEASE do not leave dirty dishes in the sink over night... PLEASE be more thorough in cleaning up after yourself... and PLEASE take responsibility for your pets... I'm not saying you DON'T... but here is plenty of room for improvement... for the sake of the SIX other people that share this house...
I hate to have to spend time writing all this... makes me feel like a nag... but this stuff needs to be addressed...
Thanks.
PS: one other thing... somebody chopped up a buttload of fresh garlic the other night and left it in a container in the fridge that was unable to contain the odor... the ENTIRE fridge smelled like ASS... for 48 hours.... come on... how do you not smell that? How do you not smell that... and realize that YOU did that... that your house mates will probably NOT appreciate it... and you should probably DO something about it? I'm just saying... a better container? throw it in a paper bag? TWO paper bags? Use it the next day and then get rid of it?
I have this strange need to share music... personally I'm insatiable when it comes to new music... and I can't stand most of the mainstream garbage that's out there.... so I'm on a constant and consistent mission to find new and interesting artists and sounds.... when i FIND stuff... I just want to spread the wealth... spread the news... the happiness.... share my recent discoveries.... I burn little mix tapes onto CD's on a regular basis for Kristen so she can have cool new stuff to listen to when she drives to and from work...
I also like to give each CD a quirky little title... like AMERICAN SINISTER, POP DIGGITY and DAY OF THE DREAMING CAMEL...
So... as a result of all this obsessive behavior... I'm a big fan of PANDORA... created a new playist this morning... gave it a name.... and here it is >>>
SUNSHINE IN A TRASHCAN: "A hefty mix of hipster blues in various hues, toast, jam and country ham."
Enjoying a rare Sunday morning Yankees game.... thank you TBS.
Fixing to whip up some of my special recipe CHEESE EGGS for a late brunch... cut up come broccoli, thow it in the pan with a little butter... sautee that for a minute or two... then drop in a few eggs... I dont beat the egs prior to dropping hem in the pan... I just crack the eggs into a bowl... where they sit whole until its go time... theonce the eggs hot the pan... let them cook a ittle before start t scramble... you get a nice mix of egg white and yolk on your plate. So while the eggs sit in the pan with the broccoli, I throw a handful of cheddar jack cheese on top... sprinkle in some black pepper and maybe some crushed red pepper... and let the scramble begin! I eat that with some sliced avocado, a little bit of salsa... and I am feeling GOOD.
So on Friday I got tickets for kristen and to go see JONSI in San Diego on October 15th.
My buddy JJ has been RAVING about this show... he's already been a couple of times to see the first leg of this tour., which is a solo tour for JONSI... one of the founding members of SIGUR ROS. The show is coming to LA Oct 17th... but that's a Sunday night... so we decided to get tickets for the Friday night in SD.... give us the option of staying down there for a night... or the weekend.
JONSI has a handful of shows scheduled to make up chapter 2 of a North American tour... so if you are looking for a concert that will blow you away... this might be the one...
"so jonsi of sigur ros is going on tour for his solo album and is absolutely blowing the doors off. this tour looks so insane. i have to see it as many times as possible.... the videos for this production look so great. it is mixing theatre, live action, animation, and a team of experts in theatre/ballet (some from the met in new york) to build this insane set and show. check out the link below and watch some of the videos.... nobody in the rock world is doing anything like this anywhere."
Got up at 6AM this morning to run the stairs in front of the house with my PHEYONCE.
We've got some SERIOUS stairs in this neighborhood.
I think I've mentioned this already but Kristen and I have moved into a house in the Silver Lake hills. It's kind of a winding story, with more drama than I care to share at this juncture, but my good friend JJ bought this house a coule of months ago. It's a fantastic house, nestled in the hills. JJ is really excited about it and he has big plans to build a pool and a jacuzzi in the back yard. One interesting tidbit of gossip is that this HOUSE... was previously occupied (although not OWNED) by another good friend of ours, Cate. Cate has been known to host the occasional epic party at this house and I have ATTENDED quite a few of these parties myself... and they were certainly epic. Cate and JJ.... were good friends at one point... for years.... but then they had a falling out... and are no longer friends. Somehow, through some act of absurd fate or coincidence, JJ ended up BUYING the very house that Cate has been living in for 3 years. So while JJ wont be moving in until January... possibly even later.... as he and his wife have yet to even put their super shnazzy loft at Hollywod and Vine on the market.... Cate remains... with plans to move Sept 1... and the rest of us, Kristen and I, Colin, Karla, Adrian and Ciel... are all here indefinitely.
So here we are... living in this house... one big happy....or pleansantly dysfunctional family... with an upper deck, a lower patio and 4 bedrooms... a gorgeous house with an amazing view, LOTS of space... and a handful of animals... 3 cats and 2 little dogs... to be exact.
There is MUNCHIE... Cate's cute mini pomeranian. Abbey is a Yorkie belonging to Adrian and Ciel... the couple upstairs. They also own the three cats... ROMEO, WHITE BOY and JACKIE BROWN.
And WHITE BOY... BTW... got hold of a sparrow this morning on the upper deck and went tearing through the house with a squealing dying bird in his mouth... creating quite the scene.... Kristen was freaking out... I was chasing White Boy with a broom yeling at him to take that shit back upstairs.... it was CRAZY... feathers everywhere.... you should have seen it
But wait... let me finish....
"CAN I FINISH? CAN I FINISH??"
Ok, I have to go back to before the squealing sparrow incident...
Kristen has been feeling extra tired lately so we are trying a few different things to see if any little changes to the daily routine, diet and whatever else might help boost her energy levels... so we've got this gigantic staircase that runs from the street below up to our front door... its actually the ONLY way to get from the street to the front door... its 97 steps to be exact..... I would say roughly 500 feet... and quite the workout just getting to and ro the car every day.
So we rolled out of bed... threw on some shoes.... and hit the stairs 3 times. I'm hoping that a quick 15 minute workout first thing in the morning might be good for both of us. I mean we both get in to the gym 3-4 times a week... but maybe hitting those stairs first thing in the morning and having some breakfast together will result in my PHEYONCE feeling more ENERGIZED.
So yes... "THE SQUEALING SPARROW INCIDENT" happened right after that.
And THAT'S RIGHT... I called Kristen my PHEYONCE
When we got engaged... and I was Twittering and texting back and forth with friends and family... many of whom were waitng to hear the big news... and eager for the ball to drop since they were privy to the plan.... once it was all said and done.... the question had been popped... and Kristen would officialy no longer be referred to as my girlfriend... or my GF... she would be referred to as my FIANCEE... or my.... or.... my....
"Hmmm" I wondered. "What cute little interweb acronym does one use to describe a fiancee? FC? F-SAY? FI-ON-CE? The Artist formerly known as MY GF?"
I don't know... that's a tough one.... the only thing I could come up with is not quite an interweb acronym with viral viscosity... just a cute litle celebrity spoof...
She is my PHEYONCE.... and I will be her JAY-C....
Its totally corny... I know.... but I'm gonna go wth it.
More stairs, sparrows and special needs scenarios tomorrow?
I'm getting ready to go to an audtion ths morning in Sherman Oaks. My life as an actor is still on defrost. I've had a few auditions... but I have to stress the word FEW. I definitey have work to do.
My Mother said somehting cute to me the other day. We were talking about all this work I've been doing as a producer... I've been working hard and things have ben going really well.... but she told me that I needed to go on more auditions. She said "Don't you give up on that." She is apparently reading Goldie Hawn's biography... which I'm sure is filled with stories of struggle and success in Hollywood. I promised her I wouldn't give up.
What I have to do is devote more time (TIME? who has MORE time?) to gaining some momentum as an actor. I have new pics... I need to choos one, get it printed and introduce that sh%t as the new offcial James Hufman headshot. Then I need to start a new campaign for a new agent. I have one... but she not doing a whole lot... granted it is Summer... and Summer is slow... we will see what happens in the next few months... I'll let you know.
Yankees are playng well. First place in the AL East. I havent heard a PEEP from any of my college buddies up in Boston... which, during baseball season.. is a good good thing.
Is A-Rod gonna slump and take 30 days to hit # 600? Thats what he did trying to hit 500! THAT felt like yesterday when he was aiming for 500.
I think this whole Lebron James is a joke. I think he just made a huge mistake and when he looks back on his career and his legacy... he is going to say to himself "I played it all wrong."
(Thats actually a quote from FUNNY PEOPLE. Adam Sandlers character says that while reflecting on his life... in the face of his own passing. Good movie)
I had basically lost all interset in the NBA before Lebron James came around. I was so sick of all the obnoxious personalities around the league. I didnt enjoy watching anyone play... becasue they all fristrated and/or annoyed me. Lebron James came around and breathed new life into the league... he was gifted to the point of being blessed... the mark he was making was magical.
Now he is just another whiney, uber egoccentric professional JOCK... enabled and made rich by We The People... blah blah blah... Lebron James is on his way to becoming a cliche... and I've once again... lost my taste for the NBA.
WHEW... feels good to get that off my chest... havent had the chance to sit down and write much of anything lately.
Honestly, dealing with the move, shooting my latest video project, the engagement, the blissful aftermath of getting engaged... all of that has left me with very little time for blogging.... I'm kind of struggling right now to get myself organized... our bedroom is still kind of a mess, with boxes stacked in corners and clothes... clean and dirty... and some undecided... laying around on the floor, the bed... the boxes... we tossed out the desser that we were using at the apartment on Hoover Street... so we are in dire need of some sort of clothing storage apparatus. I'm having trouble finding my groove over here as far as getting my work done.... I have writing to do.... and I have my day to day duties as the So Cal Field Force rep for IZZE... I need to get a little work station put together in the bedroom... just havent had the chance to do that yet.
So I've got my hands full... and I'm not quite feeling grounded the way I think I SHOULD...
BUT... some of that is a GOOD thing. Not feeling grounded beacuse feel like I'm floating because I just got engaged... that is awesome. There is no shortage of excitement or optimism on that front. I feel as smitten with her as I did during our first few weeks of dating. When she walks in the door I drop everything, wrap my arms around her and squeeze her. I close my eyes, breathe her in and thank God for bringing her into my life.
Interesting how I found myself feeling much more spiritual lately.
We are still discussing dates for the wedding... but its looking like Dccember of 2011. I had initialy thought that we would get married on July 4th 2011. We met Juy 4th 2009. We got engaged July 4th 2010. We get married July 4th 2011. Now, its looking like December migt be best... Number one because Kristen has always wanted a December wedding... Number 2 it gives us all a little more time to plan (My Mother called me in a panic after hearing from my Brother that we were planing a December wedding. She thought we meant THIS December). Plus it will enable us to invite my family out for the weding and hopefully get them to stay for Christmas... that would make everyting perfect for me.
It's also looking like Catalina Island is going to be the spot. Catalina Island is beautiful.... Plus Kristen's parents got married at Catalina Country Club... and MR HARYUNG is very excited about the idea of us gettiing married there. I love the idea idea of helping to lay the groundwork for a family tradition. Maybe our kids would want to get married there as well... you never know... but I think it would be cool to create that option. Plus I dont know how we could NOT get married there and disappoint Kristen's Dad. He REALLY likes the idea. SO... unless we find some amazing deal somewhere else... some offer we cant refuse... I'm pretty sure we will be getting married at Catalina Country Club.
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies at age 80 following a massive heart attack....
Newt Gingrich says he is considering a Presidential run...
The Mel Gibson rant recordings have been released. Among other things, he threatens ex-girlfriend's life twice.
Lebron James was booed at Carmello Anthony's wedding in New York.
Brad Pitt shaved his beard...
and.... I got engaged.
THAT'S RIGHT....
I proposed to my to sweet, sexy, sassy, smart, super special specimen of a girlfriend last week in Chicago. She said YES... and now we are engaged to be married.... and i couldn't be happier. Happy doesnt even even quite cover what I'm feeling right now...
I feel blessed... I feel LUCKY... I feel strong... I feel so many things....
What I feel more than anything.... I feel SURE.
Kristen and I have been together for a year. In fact we met on July 4th, 2009. I pretty much KNEW immediately.
Two partying groups of friends collided in a crowded bar on The Strand at Hermosa Beach last year. Kristen and I started taking and dancing (could have been more like swaying and stumbling). She convinced me to take my shirt off. The bouncer came over and told me to put it back on. Eventually we decided to break away from the dance floor for a while. We found a table outside on the deck sat down and talked. As soon as I sat down and looked into her eyes.... I was DONE.
Aside from the fact that she was this tall beautiful girl with big, brilliant brown eyes.... she was just so sweet... and modest... and funny.
I just knew... right then and there that she was THE ONE.
Now don't get me wrong.... I wasnt so mystified that I became NAIVE... I, like most people, carry my fair share of cynicism and skepticism... Ive got baggage like everybody else....
As the days and weeks went by and we went on dates, talked on the phone, sent each other text messages... I was definitely fighting off negative thoughts... fears, doubts... the urge to sabotage....
But as the days and weeks went by... the more we got to know each other... the more time spent together... the more I started to believe. Time after time, things would come up that I would see as compelling evidence that this relationship was special.
No red flags... ever... I have never seen any reason to NOT marry this girl. There has NEVER been a moment where I thought this might not work. I fell in love with her a little bit more every day.
So there we were... in Chicago.
I had this vision of proposing on the 4th of July, underneath the fireworks, laying on a blanket with an assortment of fine foods and wine.
The city of Chicago didnt quite offer me that opportunity.
I mean, seriously, what was I thinking? Did I really believe that we would just skip and stroll down to the waterfront and have the entire place to oursleves? maybe we would just share the windy city skyline with a handful of other canoodling couples...
No... Chicago is a big city.... with MILLIONS of hot sweaty people all marching down to Navy Pier...or Millenium park... on July 4th to see them some fireworks.... DON'T KNOWBODY down there care about some goofy white boy giving that pretty girl a ring.
I started to realize that we would be sharing the 4th of July fireworks with the sweaty masses.... we , of course, would be sweaty too... and even if I was able to pull of a proposal in public... on the pier... we would still be stuck trudging back to the hotel amidst a sea of celebrators.
So... Plan B.... which wuuuuzzzzzzz...... ?????
I knew I would find the right moment... but I was getting impatient. I had been carrying around that ring for 2 days.... wrapped up in a paper towel... all bunched up in my pocket. I didnt want to leave it in the hotel... and I couldnt keep the ring in its box and carry THAT around in my pocket.... so by July 5th I was GOOD and ready to get rid of that thing... plus I was so nervous that I was going to accidentally yank it out of my pocket and drop it on the street or under a bar somewhere.... UGH... that would have been TRAGIC...
So on July 5th... I had decided that I was going to make it happen.
We headed down to the south loop to have brunch at a place called The Bongo Room, whihc came highly recommended by friends as well as Yelp. We got down there and the damn place was CLOSED... off to a great start . We stumbled upon a place called the ELEVEN CITY DINER... which was on the next corner... and this place was PACKED...but good... we had bloody Mary's and Mimosa's... and I had a hearty breakfast... thought about proposing there.... with a stomach full of sausage and pancakes... I must have have been feeling some sort of food euphoria... glad I had enogh sense to resist and hold out... plus we were sitting at the counter... didnt even have our own booth or table...
The plan for the trest of the day... a little shopping... walk around downtown chicago... and head out to Lincoln Park for some legendary deep dish pizza.
We chose a place called BACINO'S, based on another recommendation from a friend. So I mapped out our trip and saw that there is a park right near the restaurant called OZ PARK. I was like... "That's it. That's the spot." I was putting it ALL on OZ Park.
We got on the GREEN line.... headed out to the ARMITAGE stop in Lincoln park. Aaand... A few stops after getting on the green line.... I looked around an noticed that the neighborhoods were getting worse with every stop... then I realized that we were SUPPOSED to be on the BROWN line to Armitage... Green line dont GO to Lincoln Park. We got off... crossed over and waited on a very sketchy subway stop for the green to take us back DOWNTOWN... where we STARTED... so we could catch the Brown line... and GET TO GODDAMN OZ PARK SO I CAN PROPOSE TO MY FRIGGIN GIRLFRIEND ALREADY!!!! CHRIST!!!
We finally reached the Armitage stop and the sun was setting. I still had to get to this park to even SEE if it was suitable before I propose... and I DAMN sure didnt want to do this in the dark...at some sketchy park. So we kicked it in gear and started speed walking through Lincoln Park.... passing cute little cafe's and shops... passing nice restaurants and bars.
I hear a voice: "UM...HELLO?"
I stopped and looked back at Kristen, who was about 10 feet behind me.
"It would be nice if we could walk together."
I took a breath... gathered my thoughts and slowed it all down. We walked together through Lincoln Park. The sun was setting, but iot was actually really nice out. We turned left on to North Halsted and started walking North, passing more cute cafe's, bars, restaurants and shops.... no need to rush... we had plenty of time.
"OH my God, look at those shoes. Can we go in here for a minute?"
Suddenly side tracked...and we are shopping for shoes... sun is still setting.... Diamond ring pulsating in my pocket... waiting patiently... tapping my right foot feverishly.
I'm muttering "Please dont try anything on. Please don't try anything on." "Done? okay great. I'm starving lets go."
We start up again with the stroll. We take a right onto W Dickens and find the southwest corner of OZ PARK.... and its beautiful.
OZ PARK is spread out and very green... with lots of trees.... people jogging.... dogs playing.
So now it's game on. I had to persuade her to walk through the park without suspicion... find a nice secluded spot... and unveil the magic... that is still carefully wrapped in a wadded up papertowel in my pocket. I took her hand and we strolled through OZ park. My head was on a swivel as I was trying to scope out place for landing.
And there it was....
EMERALD CITY GARDEN... a small secluded section of the park, filled with flowers and... stuff.... a couple of benches.... and a bunny.
"Hey, lets go overe here and check out this garden." I say.
"oh...okay." she says
"It's really nice in here. Hey let's go sit on that bench over there." I say
"uh...sure" she says.
We sat down on the bench and it was beautiful, the breeze was blowing, dusk was in its prime and flowers and bushes blocked the outside world and created the perfect intimate setting.
I told her that I loved her. I told her that I've loved her since day one and that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. I started to tear up.
"wait... oh my God... are you doing what I think you're doing?"
I looked into her eyes with a knowing stare.... and I whipped out that ratty papertowel and raised it up like it was a crown for my queen. I unfdolded it... and unfolded it... pulled away a few frayed pices of napkin.... and lint.... unfolded it some more... and was finally able to dig that ring out there. I took her hand and got down on my knee...
"Will you marry me?"
She wrapped her arms around my head and kneck and squeezed as hard as she could... syaing Yes, Yes, yes over and over and over.
And then I started to get a little light headded. She was really squeezing me hard.
"Does anybody else know about this?"
"I spoke to your Dad and your Mom.... so they know..."
Then she REALLY started squeezing.
"This was all supposed to happen yesterday so I'm sure they are wondering what's going on. My family knows... they were all texting me yesterday asking for updates."
"I can't believe this is happening. Oh My God."
She was struggling to catch her breath and to keep her make up in tact. We wer still planning on going to eat. I was emotional... and HUNGRY.
We sat there and hugged and cried and enjoyed the moment... the breeze... the beautiful park.... it all turned out perfectly. A little bunny kept running in and out of the bushes.
It was magical.... if I dont say so myself.
"is the ring supposed to go on this hand?" She asked.
I looked down and realized that I had slipped the ring onto her RIGHT hand... not the left... I guess I was nervous and got confused between HER left.... and MY left.
"Oh crap...sorry."
We quickly slipped the ring off of one hand and onto the other.
"There.... now it's official."
We finally got to Bacinos... ate some deep dish, drank some beers... we walked back through the park after dinner. I changed my status on Facebook... it was all very romantic.
There you have it... I'm engaged....
And I can't tell you how excited I am to call her my wife.... to be her husband.... and to spend the rest of my life making her smile.
It's Thursday July 1st and after 4 days of "Pack, Lift, Climb Stairs, Repeat,"...
I'm all moved out.. all moved in... and ready as hell to hit Chicago for the first time EVER and eat and drink myself to death....
My place on Hoover street was my first official residence in Los Angeles. I lived there for almost 3 years. I moved to LA in September of 07 and signed a lease at that place in OCTOBER of 07....
Now I live in a treehouse.
Not really... but it kind of feels like a treehouse. It's a house resting up on a ridge in the hills of Silver Lake. There are a bunch of houses up there... all tucked away or nestled in... some big... some small... all interesting in their own quirky way... and all connected by a big steep staircase... the house I just moved into is about 300 feet up that staircase... and that staircase is the one and only way to get to the house.... no driveway... no shortcut... one long steep staircase....
so that's what Ive been doing for the past 5 days... My GF and I have been packing tons of crap up in boxes (when I say crap I say that lovingly), carrying those boxes... OF CRAP... as well as my furniture and God knows what else (its all kind of a blur at this point) to the van..... driving 5 minutes down the road and carrying all that CRAP up 300 feet to my new abode.... pack, lift, climb repeat...
I am friggin exhausted.
On top of all the moving... I've been working of course... I've had my daily responsibilities as an IZZE TASTE AGENT to manage... and I am in thye middle of shooting another video project... I got my crew together and shot at a studio in Burbank all day on Saturday....
Then my girlfriend and I climbed stairs carrying armfuls of crap all day Sunday.
That being said... we're done.... the move is complete... I closed the book on my previous place and spent the night in the treehouse for the first time last night.... I was so banged up and weary that I woke up in the middle of the night and had NO IDEA where I was...
Here's the thing... the house is gorgeous.... it has an upper patio and a lower patio... and the view from both is amazing....
Here is another thing... there are FIVE other people living in this house.... so we just packed up tons of crap and climbed hundreds of stairs to join the local artists commune up in the hills...
Its kind of a long story and I dont really have the time right now to accentuate the random and coincidental glory of it all.... but the HOUSE used to be inhabited by a few friends of mine... they epic parties... and it was all good. Then another buddy ended up BUYING that house... but he... and his wife... will not be ready top move in until JANUARY... so he allowed a few of the previous tenants to stay there for a few more months... and offered the opportunity to live in one of the home's huge bedrooms...to me and my GF. We took him up on his offer... which is...of course... temporary.... and now we will be staying in this beautiful hillside home with an amazing view, tons of space and a handful of really cool house mates... for about 6 months.
I will be hiring movers come January.
So that's it for now...
BRING ON CHICAGO... I'll be hanging in home run territory at Wrigley on Saturday, drinking beers at Taste of Chicago 24/7...going to see some cool live performances by bands like THE HEAVY and ROBERT RANDOLPH & The Family band... and I'll be watching fireworks, celebarting independence day and my ONE YEAR anniversary with Kristen... my very SPECIAL LADY FREIND (inside joke) from a cozy little blanket somewhere in Grant Park.
Happy July 1st....Happy July 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th.... and so on....
Happy new chapter in my life.... and here's to new and exciting chapters for everyone..... this round is on me...
"Hosted by Jim Huffman, another Indie City screening party >> "To all Indie City Entertainment cast and crew, past, present and future, please join me on the roof-deck at the Formosa Cafe on Friday, June 25th, for drinks, dancing and deviant behavior. Aside from just shooting the shit and screening a series of hilarious blooper reels, I want to honor and thank everyone who has contributed to the many endeavors of indie city entertainment, as well as toast to future success on behalf of us all."
It all goes down THIS Friday June 25th and I wanted to make sure you ALL get a personal invite... right here... right now.
And I wanted to clarify, I'm not just hanging out at the bar, throwing back shots and hoping people will swing by and buy me a drink...
I'm THROWING a party... for all Friends, Foe's, Pimps and Ho's... All I ask is that you blow your nose and wear some clean cothes.
The party is also for the cast and crew of the past few projects I've produced... just so you know.
I'm bringing AV equipment... CRAZY HIGH TECH gadgets.... and I'm gonna be screening a couple of blooper reels... as well as a SNEAK PREVIEW of an upcoming episode from CATCH: The web series.
And BY ALL MEANS come out and participate in my VIDEO GUEST BOOK experiment!!
If you are unfamiliar >>>
7156 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
(323) 850-9050
Parking is available next door in the Target/Best Buy parking structure.
I'm back... so sorry... Ive been neglecting my duties as a responsible blogger. My posts here have been few and far between... and it's likely that some of my recent blog posts could be considered... dull? uneventful?
Good news is I've been busy... bad news is...
No bad news to report at this time.
I'm moving in 2 weeks... LESS than 2 weeks. I'm bringing stuff over to my new place (a temporary move. buying myself more time to look and find something closer to ideal), in little bursts and spurts, aiming to be finished and completely moved OUT by July 1st.
Then my "special lady friend" and I fly to Chicago for a couple of days.
Inside of all this, I'm shooting another project. The Family Law Project is the 3rd in a series of educational/industrial video projects that I'm producing for an established publishing company. We were scheduled to shoot Day One last Saturday, June 19th, but I made a "close-to-last-minute" decision to postpone and reschedule the shoot.
The first sign of trouble was the difficulty I was having getting in touch with our location contact. I was starting to get an anxious feeling based on our lack of.... or extreme delays in communication.
Secondly, a few of my actors were simply not ready. Now, I'm not necessarily blaming or laying FULL blame with them with the actors. A portion of the lack of preparedness is my own fault. The thing is... the dialogue in each of these scenes is lengthy and technical... very challenging when it comes to memorizing lines. So its crucial for each actor to have adequate TIME with the script... and SPEND adequate time on the lines in the days and weeks leading up to the shoot.
One actress wrote me an email 3 days before the shoot and asked when she would be receiving her script. I just about SH%T my panst when I read that email. I had sent out scripts to everyone WEEKS ago... and she never got it... somehow she slipped through thye cracks. I finally got her script to her on THURSDAY... we were shooting SATURDAY... and she had a TON of dialogue to study... NO way she was going to be ready.
A second actor...one of the primary attorneys... just hadnt spent enough time... HE, in fact, DID have his script for weeks. He was one of the first actoirs I cast and I made SURE that he had all his scenes and plenty if time too work on them. I spoke to him on Thursday and I could hear in his voice that he wasnt ready. He openly admitted that he had been busy working on other projects and hadnt talen much time with the Family Law material. Again... NO way he would be ready by Saturday.
Finally, some bad news from my location guy came through. There would be some construction going on in the building that weekend... so... NO... there is no way we could shoot there if we would be competing with the sounds of hammers, drills and God-knows-what-else.
So that was it... strike three... although I was calling the game at strike ONE....
Thursday night I called everyone to deliver the news and the next morning busted out a quick email to the cast and crew>>>>
Hi everyone-
Just confirming what I spoke to most of you about yesterday. We WILL be rescheduling the Saturday, June 19th FAMILY LAW shoot. That shoot will now take place on Saturday JULY 10th.
The Family Law shoot for Saturday, June 26th will still take place at a location in Burbank. I will reach out to Barbara, Louise, Wayne, Sherry and members of the crew with a call sheet next week. Be prepared for a 9AM start.
For those who are NOT available on JULY 10th, my apologies, but I WILL have to re-cast your role. I promise to find a place for you in one of my upcoming projects. I will be working on these for the next 10-12 months.
One last thing... PLEASE take advantage of this reschedule and spend some extra time working on your scenes. A few of you have a LOT of dialogue to memorize and it's VERY important that you come to set prepared.
OK... feel free to email me with questions.... and I will see some of you next Saturday and the rest of you on July 10th.
So... Day One of the Family Law shoot is postponed.... Rescheduled to Saturday July 10th. Day TWO is still set for Saturday June 26th. We adjust. We adapt. It's nothing new. Day ONE becomes Day TWO...
Sitting at one of my favorite coffee shops in Hollywood, Solar De Cahuenga, taking a couple of meetings in an attempt to wrap up casting on the Family Law Project. I just met with one actor who is now offically slated to play the role of Client John Powers. The John Powers scene revolves around a custody dispute between Mr Powers and his estranged wife.
Kramer VS Kramer it aint, but I'm excited about this legal video project because it focuses on FAMILY LAW, so the material is much more poignant and... human. So much more so than REAL ESTATE law...or TORT LAW...
Its alot more fun to play around with a scene about ADOPTION or DOMESTIC ABUSE than it is to try and spice up some dialogue dealing with RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS and ADVERSE POSSESSION.
Meeting with one more actor here in a few minutes and if all goes well...I should be finished. This last role I need to fill is basically a college athlete who got a girl pregnant and his father has arranged a sit down with an old pal who is an Attorney.... and... action!
Heading over to AMEOBA MUSIC tonight to see a free in-store performance by one of my recently favorited bands DELTA SPIRIT.
They go on at 7PM in Hollywood. I've never tried to see an in-store show at Ameoba... but I know they have shows there all the time....I have no idea what to expect.
DELTA SPIRIT will be celebrating the release of their 2nd album HISTORY FROM BELOW... whihc officially drops TOMORROW June 8th on Rounder Records.
“… rough barroom pop is its own creature, with jangly pianos, rattling drums, and scruffy acoustic guitars making a thrilling ruckus.” – Spin
They are also performing live at the El Rey Theater on Wilshire on July 23rd.
THE EL REY THEATER
5515 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036-3801
Speaking on BANDS.... and SHOWS... at cool VENUES....
U2 just threw a BIG ASS wrench into my vacation plans for July 4th weekend.
I my previous blog post, I wrote about my vacation plans... about going to Chicago with Kristen.. celebrating our ONE YEAR anniversary.... seeingChi-town for the first time... doing fireworks windy city style... pub crawlin... eatin drinkin... getin sloppy... all that makes for a fun romp and stomp around town... and U2 was headlining our awesome weekend with a HUGE performance at Soldier Field as part of their North American tour.
We bought the tickets to the show... then we reserved the hotel... then we got the plane tickets.... and subsequently received the BAD NEWS...
My dear friend (ex GF) Renee shared a special little nugget of heresay with me on facebook in response to my blog post.....
Is U2 still playing in Chicago? I heard they canceled a bunch of shows since Bono had to have emergency back surgery.
I about SHIT MA PAINTS when AH SAW THAT SHEEIT... looked up the U2 website immediately.... DAD GUMMIT...
HOLY CRAP Renee... you SUCK... you bearer of BAD NEWS.... oh... im just kidding... but you are RIGHT! U2 in Chicago is CANCELED>>> "Speaking at the LMU University Hospital in Munich, Paul McGuinness has confirmed the postponement of 16 shows on the U2360° Tour from Salt Lake City on June 3rd, through to New Jersey's Meadowlands Stadium on July 19th. Tour Promoters Live Nation are now rescheduling those dates."
Sorry, but better to know now, than to find out when you show up at Soldier Field!
All is not lost... we are still going to have an amazing time in Chicago... is just not going to finish with a big blowout show at Soldier Field.
Maybe it's not a WRENCH they threw... just a wicked curve ball.
Thats right....we are going to see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field.
And I guess we will be going BACK to Chicago in 2011 to see U2 to celebrate our TWO year anniversary.
My Dad's birthday. he turns 70 today so it's kind of a big one for him.
Nobody likes to grow old, but he, much like myself...or vice versa... is fighting it every step of the way... kicking and screaming.
My Father lives in a house with 10 other rehabilitating war veterans. Its bascially a halfway house funded by veterans afffairs. Post traumatic stress disorder is common thread through the home, as well as various levels of drug and alcohol dependence. Makes me sad to think that he will probably spend the rest of his life within the system, but at this point... its all he's got. That home and thosse men are the only things that are able to keep his life together. One way to look at it is that he will spend the rest of his days with his "men." It was his time at war, fighting for his country, that experience played a major part in putting him where he is today. It's sad... proud... sort of poetic.
If i could buy a big house, I would move him out here and have him grow old on a California beach... and of course see to it he got all the necessary care... make sure he was always comfortable and happy.... if I could buy a big house.
On a lighter note, he is driving down to Fairfax, VA to spend the weekend with my brother and his family, which includes a trio of super energetic kids, probably a little too much energy for my Dad, but I know he loves those kids and I'm sure he deeply appreciates being with family. My Brother and his wife Holly are always really good to him when he goes down to visit. I wish I could be there.
To commemorate the big Seven OH.... My Brother and I decided to get him a refurbished laptop for his birthday.... Dave got it done... found it on Craigslist.... something like an IBM Thinkpad...for roughly $100.
Now he can start sending and receiving emails... lsitening to music... maybe watching DVD's... plenty of internet porn (kidding...well... i wish I ws kidding). I tried once before to get him up to speed on technology but it didnt quite turn out the way I had hoped.... I bought him a shnazzy SPRINT phone for Christmas... with all the bells and whistles, GPS, internet, TV!!! I made sure he got unlimited text messaging so we could text each other and stay connected... but of course, he doesnt quite get how to use any of it... even though Ive offered dozens of tutorials... We do actually text each other from time to time....
Here is an example of one of our text conversations....
"DAD.... hows it going?"
"Good DAD"
Then he will call.... but I'll be working or in the middle of something and unable to talk... So I will text him back.
"Hey, I'm working right now... can't really talk. Can I call you later?
"OK DAD"
It's kind of funny. He thinks he has to SIGN every text message....
Anyway, he hasnt quite figured out how to utilize web browisng and email on his phone... so we got him a laptop so he can stay connected with everyone.... look at pictures of his grandchildren... etc. AND I got him a USB mobile broadband card ... so he can get online anywhere and everywhere....
Now I just hope my brother can teach him how to avoid viruses, spam and other knucklehead pitfalls that most people over the age of 50 seem to run into.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I love you. I miss you. I hope you have a great weekend and ejnoy your new toy.
SO... While I'm typing this.... I'm been watching the REMAINDER of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring Nicolas Cage...
Wow... not sure what to say... My girlfriend and I started it the other night and turned it off because it was so bad. I decided to put it back in and finish ... just to see the film in its entirety... how do I describe it... HAMMY? CANNY? GOOFY?
This movie got an 87 on Rotten Tomatoes??? It also got fairly good numbers on Metacritic.com!!
What the EFF?
The only thing I can figure is that... Reviewers have been sympathetic because this movie was shot in New Orleans... which is definitely an admirable move on the part of the producers to find a solid script and shoot a project in a city that so desperately needs a boost... so everyone involved should get a pat on the back for that...
But this movie is kind of sucky... even actors who normally DELIVER seemed stiff and corny...
I mean... Cage has some interesting moments... some of that is GOOD interesting... much of it is BAD interesting...
Many of them applauding Director Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage for being "Daring" and "eccentric," and I GUESS i can see that... here and there.... the daring and eccentric aspects of the film are not consistent enough for me to qualify this as a GOOD movie.
This film... and the character Nicholas Cage is playing is bsed on the dark gritty nasty oozey character fisrt played by Harvey Keitel in the original BAD LIEUTENANT... came out in... 96 I believe.
If you watch the first Bad Lieutenant... Harvey Keitel is AWESOME.... his performance is so incredibly SEEDY... and TORTURED.. he just OOZES with the essence of this bad, bad guy... this dirty cop... he is SO convincing that not only can you NOT look away... you want to take a shower... or better yet... get hosed down in a holding cell.
Nicolas Cage just doesnt pull that off.... his performance feels more like someone who is TRYING to do what Keitel did... he didnt seem as grounded and as ORGANIC as Keitel in this role....
OY... glad its over... returning immediately to Netflix... what to rent next.... hmmmmm....
On a personal note... Kristen and I...as you may or may NOT already know...are moving in together... She has been living here at my current place for a few weeks now... but we've been looking around for a new apartment... and not really finding what we wanted...
We are headed to Chicago on July 2nd... in a little less than a month... we will spend the holiday there and we will be going to see U2 at SOLDIER FIELD... whihc will be a lot of fun.
So we've got a lot going on in the next few weeks... perparing for my trip. I'm shooting another video project the last trwo weeks of June.... and we are trying to find a new place... sign a lease...and be moved in by July FIRST.... YOWSA!!!
Then my buddy JJ goes and buys a gorgeous house in Silver Lake... He had been shopping and negotiating and deelaing with brokers and loan officers for MONTHS now.... and it all finally went through a couple of weeks ago.... the thing is... he and his wife cant move in until January... maybe later than that.... so Kristen and I are going to rent one of the huge rooms in the house... along with a few other mutual friends...
So yeah... we will kicking it commune style in a gorgeous hillside home form July to about January... of course we might move out erlier depending on what we come across as we continiye our own search.
I figure taking JJ up on his offer to rent a room there will buy us some time to look around for something we really like... and we can help him out by becoming temporary tenants... he can rest easy with the fact that he is renting his place to people he knows and trusts.
Ok... I gotta go.... driving out to Venice Beach to do some guerrilla marketing activities for IZZE.
Ok... so I havent had time to whip up a special edition video blog about my casting process... sorry
i've got a lot going on right now.
I held auditions yesterday. I think they went pretty well. I say that because I feel like I found at least 5 or 6 good actors to fill a few roles. I'm not finished, but I'm happy that yesterday wasnt a complete waste of time.
Everey time I run one of these casting sessions, I try to come up with ways to keep things simple and effective. I really do ejoy meeting actors and working with them... but this casting process can become very tiresome... so anything I can do from the initial phase of persuing headhsots and resumes, to contacting actors and inviting them to audition, to coordinating time slots to confiming, senidng sides out... and so on and so on... anything I can do to make the whole process easier... I'm willing to try...
so here is how it went down....
Email # 1>>>
Hi-
James Huffman here... producer of the Family Law project to which you submitted on Nowcasting. I think you would be a great fit for either CLIENT Marcia, CLIENT Susan or ATTORNEY Laura Nichols. Would you be available to come in and read on Monday? I will meeting with people for auditions at The Complex in Hollywood from 11A-3P.
Let me know....
After receiving initial responses... I followed that up with a more detailed message.
Email # 2 >>>
That's great... OK... I will be auditioning people on Monday from 11A-3P at The Complex on Santa Monica in Hollywood:
The Complex, 6472 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90038
You walk UP the stairs, take a right... and I will be in the room at the very end of the hall. I believe the name of the studio I have reserved is called the WEST studio... but I will post signs on the front door so everyone can find me. If you get lost or cant find the room. Don't call me. I'd love to chat, but I wont be able to answer (Because I'm holding auditions, obviously). Text me or just figure it out. I will see when I see you.
To keep things simple... I am going to have everyone read from the same sides. Nothing TOO difficult. It will be a monologue... roughly 5-6 lines. I will ask that everyone come in "hands-free," meaning NO script. I don't expect anyone to have the lines memorized. It's okay to stray. Just come prepared.... show me that you have a thorough understanding of the piece, you've taken the time to make a choice or two... and you can breathe some life into the material. I want to see how natural and believable you can be.
If you can handle that and you can make it Monday at 12:15PM, I will pencil you in and send you the text later this evening. Look forward to meeting you...
The 6 line monologue idea for everyone was inspired by the Exer Actor class that I used to take back in New York when I was studying with Susan Batson and company at Black Nexxus. I've always said that I feel like I developed and learned more as an actor while studying and Black Nexxus than anyplace else... and I took a LOTY of classes and workshops... all over New York.
I find it fascinating to observe the variety of choices actors bring in to the room. Also... when you ask an actor to come in and audition without a script... how that person responds tells you a lot about that actor. Does the actor memorize the text? Can the actor incorporate some subtle improv? Does the actor actually honor my request and come into the room without a script? How does the actor take notes? How malleable can he or she be? Can the actor shed whatever they had planned or rehearsed and perform the piece in an entirely new way?
It's just 6 lines... but the way that actor handles the entire situation tells me SO much.
Email # 3 >>>
Ok... I've got you down for (blah blah whatever time) PM on Monday.
Here is the text...
Well, in the state of California, if he violates the protective order he’s committed a felony and he will go to jail. Most people don’t want to spend much time in jail, and he’s already spent one night there. Plus, the judge will explain to him in no uncertain terms what will happen if he violates the order.
I’m also going to give you a list of resources here in town. This brochure has information about shelters, hotline numbers, and support groups. Also, you and the kids qualify for emergency food stamps because you are a victim of domestic violence. Look it over and feel free to call me with any questions or concerns. We will do everything we can to help you through this.
Asking everyone to come in with the same prepared text also saved me so much time. I didnt have to bring copies and figyre out WHO was reading from what sides every time.. I just opened the door, invited the next actor in... and we went to work. The day was done before I even knew what hit me. Seriously... we were flying...
So I figured I would share my intial notes... I wont diclose names... and I'm not going to trash anyone... on the whole... everybody was good... but I'm figuring my nktes can serve as a helpful guide to anyone who auditions... or maybe even serve as constructive criticism...
And this is the way it went down....
ACTOR 1: Good look, BIG character, General, marines, Captain America, please be a good actor, Decent job with text, Dick Tracy-ish. Turn the entire cast into comic book? hmmmm.
ACTOR 2: Pretty, taller than I expected, friend of a friend, maybe paralegal, needs to relax her delivery, trying a little too hard
ACTOR 3: Comfortable, confident enough to close window, compassionate, good with text, a little stiff, but ok with notes.
ACTOR 4: GOOD, very believable, very natural and nice. Good grasp of text.
ACTOR 5: Good, natural, quirky guy, relaxed, not great with notes, but useable.
ACTOR 6: Believable, good work, took notes but went way too far, good emotional element, but uneccesary, might be good as client.
ACTOR 7: Student maybe? Not great performance but essence of immaturity, might work as student.
ACTOR 8: Attorney, maybe client, solid actress, but nothing stands out.
ACTOR 9: Good work, good look, but she is still kind of missing the piece, taking notes but not quite using them the way I had hoped.
ACTOR 10: Good work, natural, den mother, not great for Attorney, but YES for lead paralgeal
ACTOR 11: Very corporate, looks just like headshot, sharp professional, a coldness good for attorney, a little TOO rehearsed, trying to work with notes, kind of rigid, again, could be perfect for attorney.
ACTOR 12: GREAT, attorney or paralegal, best all day. HIt the text right on, took notes really well.
ACTOR 13: Good work, a little stiff... tripping up a little, stays in character, client maybe?
ACTOR 14: interesting look, eyes are all over the place, needs to work on being more natural, believable.
ACTOR 15: Good work, Natural, takes notes really well. Not wearing any socks. Too edgy for paralegal, maybe client? athlete or husband.
ACTOR 16: Not bad, needs to be more natural and grounded, takes notes too far, kind of all over the place. might be right for client.
ACTOR 17: Good for paralegal or client, well spoken, good job with text, her nervous hand sydrome is a little distracting.
And that was it... I still have a few roles that remain unchallenged... but I'm almost there.
I kind of backed off the video blogging project because I felt like I was doing it without proper direction. I wasn't sure what I really wanted to say. I have alot to say... I just can't stand there in front of a camera and babble and blather on and on to the break of dawn....
Needlesss to say I took a break... put the FAMOUS ORIGINAL SMIJALICIOUS VIDEO BLOG project on Hiatus...
Yet here I am... embarking on my next video project. In case yuou were unaware, I am in the middle of en extended project that involves producing a series of videos for a textbook publishing company. Things are going well... consistently improving... and the work keeps comig it at a steady pace...
One of the things I have to do is manage the casting process. As a producer at this level... I have to handle almost ALL of the pre-production duties... and that includes CASTING...
I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with casting. I love working with actors, being an actor myself. I love watching good actors audition.
What I HATE is dealing with all the awkward, odd and eccentric elemnts that come with running a casting session. TWO out of TEN actors are normal, well balanced, grounded individuals... the rest are just a big pain in the ass to deal with.
Some of it comes down to a simple LACK of experience... which is totally forgiveable...
But much of it comes from people being either certifiably insane, rude or clueless... or all of the above.
But I cant cover this topic and do it any justice without verbalizing it....
I feel the need to rant, to rave, to offer contsructive criticism... and to cuss a little bit....
A few pics from my recent shoot with photographer Jazz Beitler....
The idea was to get a handful of shots that I can use for my website... all my social networking sites... and to hopefully sit still long enough to get one that I can use for a bonafied HEAD SHOT.
I think I got everything I needed.
Of course I'm all excited about sharing the silly ones...
“LOST LIVE: The Final Celebration” will feature appearances by “Lost” cast members — including Nestor Carbonell, Michael Emerson and Jorge Garcia — and be performed by Oscar winning composer Michael Giacchino, who will conduct a live orchestral performance featuring the iconic music of “Lost” at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 13, to celebrate the upcoming series finale. In addition, a special preview of the penultimate episode will be screened immediately after the concert.
I will be there as a representative for IZZE Sparkling Fruit Juice. IZZE is donating product to the event and I will be the on site contact for the brand... just to make sure everything goes well and we are represented properly. I don't want to have to kick Hurley's ass for stealing cases of sparkling clementine.
This is the email I receiived from my conatct at the PR firm handling the event...
Aloha Sponsors,
The ABC-TV LOST party May 13, 2010 at UCLA Royce Hall will have 600 total guests.
The VIP Lost Lounge will host 100 VIP guests.
Schedule:
6:30 pm Step & Repeat
7:30-9:30 pm LOST finale sneak-peak Screening with symphony orchestra
9:30-1:00/1:30 am VIP Party
Please deliver products to UCLA Royce Hall from 10 am-4 pm on May 13th. I'll send you the exact address. Let me know if you have a problem, and we can make other arrangements for drop off.
I've requested a hardbound LOST Collectors edition book for each Sponsor + 2 LOST programs. The Sponsors page that I sent you is included in each.
Let me know if you need a ticket for the event. I've requested 2 tickets for all in-kind sponsors, I'll let you know soon if this is possible. This is a closed party so tickets are extremely limited. My top priority at the LOST event is making our Sponsors happy. You will have exclusivity and lots of Post-Event press. I will have a photographer assigned to me to make sure that each of you gets the pictures you need at the Step and Repeat. If there is a particular LOST Cast member who you would like for me to try to get your product in their hands, and get their photo at the Step and Repeat please let me know.
I will do my best to accommodate you.
There are 10 LOST Cast members attending the party. Think about providing some product for them for the 10 Deluxe VIP Gift Bags for Cast members. You are welcome to discreetly attach a business card to the product(s). There are 90 other VIP Gift Bags for the VIP Lounge guests, if you'd like to participate. Celebrities, cast members and ABC/Disney executives will be in this hot Lounge!
Please let me know if you have any special requests.
The first SHIELD IT ALL infomercial is finally finished and ready for release. I say FIRST because I hope they will hire hire me to write and produce a few more. I guess that will all depend on how many HITS this video gets... and more impritantly... those HITS have to translate into SALES. If a MILLION gazillion people from all over the world see this amazing infomercial and NOT ONE of them buys the product... well... that's kind of the whole point....
Anyway, check it out... let me know what you think.... feedback is always welcome.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.... Did I just see on ESPN that Former New York Giant great LAWRENCE TAYLOR was arrested in RAMAPO, NJ on RAPE CHARGES???
CUH MON Lawrence!! get it together man. You were doing so well. In his defense... charges have yet to be filed.
Moving on...
I went over to Dillons Irish Pub in Hollywood to watch the Mayweather/Mosley fight on Saturday night. So did roughly FOUR HUNDRED of my closest friends... and THEIR 2nd cousin. Thats right... every single douche within a 50 mile radius (including myself) poured into Dillons on Saturday night... along with his 2nd cousin. This place was PACKED.
I was pulling for Mosley and I truly believed he could pull it off. In the first two rounds, Mosley looked great. He was aggressive and effective. He was BRINGIN IT. Sugar Shane landed a few great shots and I saw somehting in Mayweather's face that I had never seen before.... concern.
But that was it. Mosley popped Mayweather a few times... and after round 2.... Mosley clocked out.
What the EFF?? What the hell happened? YO Sugar? Where did you go?
Mosley looked tired. He brought the fight to Pretty Boy Floyd and I think he got over-excited.... maybe he wasnt in shape... although I find that hard to believe... I thnk Mosley surprised himself and fought better than expected... then he got winded...and he got scared...scared he would get SO tired that he would get his butt whupped... and knocked out.... Mosley got SO scared that he withdrew... and never looked back.... he was done by the time the 3rd round came around.
I FOUND... and subsequently LOST... a LOT of respect for Sugar Shane Mosley on Saturday night. You had him Shane.
Speaking of Boxing... "The Sweet Science"... a sport I have been deeply in love my whole life...
"Sometimes I'm a dreadful, disgusting human being," he told Michael Kay of the YES Network during the interview, which will air as a segment of "CenterStage" later this month. "I have a lot of pain and I don't know how to let it go."
"Sometimes I'm filthy. I'm wretched," he said. "And sometimes I'm not so bad. Mike Tyson ain't nothing special. Just another human being, trying to get along."
"Mark down the date -- May 26 -- and keep the appointment, because as always, Tyson is must-see TV. Fighting or talking, he is about as compelling an athlete as this country has even known."
I've seen every single Tyson fight. Ive rented MIKE TYSONS GREATEST HITS 1 & 2, numerous times. I've watched a gazillion interviews. I saw TYSON, the documentary at the Arclight... and still... this looks like this could be good:
Two other "TV NOTES" before I hop in the shower and try to get my butt out the door ON TIME today...
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS starts its FOURTH season on FRIDAY NIGHT, of course. FNL is one of my favorite shows and every season I'm disappointed in the how much credit this show is DENIED. Then I wonder if more people would watch and appreciate this superbly acted piece of touching television (i tear up at almost every episode), if it were to air on a TUESDAY night... or a THURSDAY night... and then I'm realize that the show is called FRIDAY Night Lights... crap... thats unfortunate... this show and its amazing cast may never earn the respect they deserve... because they are eternally STUCK on their own 20 yard line.
What are you gonna do? I love em anyway.
AAAND... is ANYONE out there watching BREAKING BAD???
HOLY smokes... is this season AWESOME or what??
BREAKING BAD is dark... thats for sure... even as the story takes place under the blazing sun... in the desert.... its DARK.... and its F%&&king FANTASTIC. Seriously, you gotta watch this show.
Ok, I gotta go.
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT...
BETTY WHITE is hosting Saturday Night LIve this weekend.... THAT should be good.
I tried the KFC DOUBLE DOWN the other day. Not bad... fistful of chicken... little bacon and cheese in the middle... good for the Protein seeker... no bun... no carbs... I liked it... but if you are the type of person who expects to to feel FULL after your lunch excursions... the KFC double down will disappoint. If you are okay with whoofin down two big chunks of chicken... countin your calories and carbs and whatever you are keeping track of... and feeling FULL is not your utmost priority at meals... you might the Double Down a productive choice... its kind of pricey though... 5.99... you can go to almost any supermarket in town and buy ONE WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN for roughly the same price... tear it apart with your hands and eat the whole thing in the parking lot...
Thats what I do anyway.
"You want to see something great? Go to Youtube and type in CREED... SHREDS... 3. Do it and you will THANK ME later." -Fred Durst
A buddy of mine turned me onto SHREDS yesterday. We watched a handful of hilarious videos on Youtube. I enjoyed them so much that I wrote a quick little article about SHREDS on my OTHER blog... the one where I dump little independent entertainment nuggets on a monthly or bi-monthly basis... its bi-monthly not by choice... but by availability... I'm f%$$kin busy people!!!
I'm STILL working on this DAMN Shield- it- All infomercial... I KNOW...its taking forever... we should have finished this weeks ago and had it posted and circulating out there in the world of viral video viscosity...
(I have NO IDEA what viscosity even MEANS... but I LOVE illiteration)
Anyway... I was going back and forth so much with notes to and from editor... to and from the client... to the editor... and back... that I think we all just got lost in the muck, got stuck and turned up shit out of luck... what the fuck?
So I had to pull it from one editor and give it another and let him take a crack it.
I'm mean I'm editor one was sick of getting notes... and I think his work was starting to demonstrate exactly that... plus I just didn't feel like editor one was “getting it” they way I had hoped.... so anyway I pulled E1 off on the project... dumped all the footage onto one of my hard drives and brought it to E2. I'd like to see if adding a fresh perspective might help me get what I need from this cluster-fuck of a viral vehicular volumizer.
(LOVE IT!!!)
My brother gave himself some MUCH NEEDED R&R and went down to JAZZFEST in New Orleans last weekend.
The last I heard from him... he was gearing up to leave town... as he posted on Facebook:
Heading to Jazzfest tomorrow morning. Shuttle ride to airport at 4:30 AM. So, I just got the last few decent hours of sleep I'll have until probably Tuesday. Not sure this Olde Man can hang like this anymore.
He sent me a text while he was at Houston International... and that was it... all communication with my brother was officially deferred.
Monday.... Tuesday.... HELLO??
Wednesday morning.... still hadn't heard from him....
So I finally sent him a text message:
You gonna SHARE some of that good Jazz Fest stuff or what?
Sorry I haven't shared any details. Sort of got thrown back in the fire when I returned. And, still a bit exhausted. Jazzfest was great...New Orleans is great...it's all about having a good time down there...the entire city exists simply to celebrate. Period. It's like Vegas except Vegas exists solely to suck money out of you..in New Orleans it's a bit more pure if you will...Black Crowes were great. ..My Morning Jacket was great. The Meters...and on and on
Dumpstaphunk was awesome: http://www.myspace.com/dumpstaphunk ...lots of authentic NOLA funk going on there. WE saw them late night Friday. So many local musicians coming out of the woodwork all over the place.
Of course, I apparently missed the highlight of the weekend on sunday night because I went home at 2:30 right before these guys went on because I had to catch a flight at 7. have you heard of Global Noize? The other guys couldn't stop raving about them:
We had this off the radar guy who was giving us valet service all over town. Whenever he picked us up, his van was stacked with beer and fried chicken. A nice touch. There was a pool in the hotel with water polo nets that made for some fun late night adventures when we stumbled home. Being the only guy with kids, I couldn't quite hang with these guys non-stop, but I did what I could.
ATTA boy... THAT'S what I like to hear!!
(I need to find ME a van stacked with chicken and beer!!!)
I have an IZZE event today at Loyoal Marymount University...
IZZE fans and LMU students can come sample their favorite IZZE flavors. I will be taking part in their 2nd annual Health Expo. IZZE freaks and geeks (I mean that in the nicest way possible) can also come play PLINKO... and I'm gonna run a little hustle I will call "Tweet for treats!!"
Thats right! I was inspired by a conest on Twitter a few weeks ago offering free COACHELLA tickets to the person who can write the best ten word poem about the Coachella Music festival. So today, IZZE LA is at Loyola Marymount University giving away cool prizes. Tweet a 10 word poem about your favorite IZZE flavor to play and win....
Exciting stuff I know...
Okay... on a more serious and somber note....
RIP Guru. Old school rapper Guru of Gang Starr died today of complications from his battle with cancer. He was 42. I use to dig on Guru and Gang Starr back in the early hip hop days.... MANIFEST is one of my favorites... warning... what we gonna do right here is go BACK...
Had a great time on Saturday. Went to see the Smashing Pumpkins play at Space 15 Twenty at 4PM. Special live show put together by Amoeba Music and Urban Outfitters. There are few people in the world who rock harder than Billy Corgan. The show was f%&&ing awesome.... and my favortire part was when Billy Corgan broke out a ukelele and played a little tune he recently wrote called BABY....
AND... I bought a cool shirt AND a killer ADIDAS sweatshirt at URBAN OUTFITTERS afterward... my buddy who hooked me up with passes too the show works for Urban Outfitters corporate in Philadelphia so I figured the least I could do was to buy some gear....
So there I am shopping.... and OH LOOK.... Miley Cyrus was there.... She strolled after the show, but I'm sure she came in to see if she could steal some of Billy's buzz...
maybe not.. could be a coincidence.... what the hell do I know...
Gearing up for another Legal Video project... this next script focuses on FAMILY LAW... and it looks like there are more scripts coming.... which is AWESOME!!! I am so lucky and so grateful to have these opportunities.
I DEFINITELY need to find ways to make these produce these projects FASTER and more EFFICIENTLY... especially if the workload is going to increase. While working on this last project (The REAL PROPERTY PROJECT) one thing that was apparent for sure is that I need to come up with new ways to improve the process and finish faster...
Much of the delay comes is post when we are editing... but its also has a lot to do with hiring people for way under the market rate because they do this sort of thing on the side... which means they have full time jobs and their availability is limited (ie. we have to spread the shoot out over a few weeks to accommodate schedules)
Regardless... I can and will find a way to do it faster...
Still tinkering with the informercial... thats right.... still collecting feedback from the client and sending out notes... ...
The spot needs to be chopped from 5:00 to roughly 3:00
LESS of the spokesperson... more of the office guy... use more spokesman dialogue in the form of VO...
music needs to change to something more "HALLOWEEN-ish" (i can browse and send you something if you need me to.
quotes at the top should blend with shots of the man at the desk not answering his phone...
and change the quotes... like the idea of making this more of an outright spoof of a horror movie or horror movie trailer... with scary music morphing into more positive music so at the very end we have something sounding very triumphant.
We dont want to see the table with the stripe... we do want to see the spokesperson holding up the product and the graphics with the logo...
Lose the Good News Bad News graphic...
again... this thing should sound and feel like a real horror movie trailer... or a trailer for that Dustin Hoffman movie about the virus... BREAKOUT?
and last but not least....
another song I discovered last night that I'm totallly diggin and I'd like to dedicate to my girlfriend...
The IZZE season is in full swing. So I'm hustling all over Southern California representing this fine sparkling fruit juice.... taking a sip or two for myself here and there.... it's very tasty and refreshing.
TAXES.... hoooray.... boooooo..... the tax deadline is a couple days away.... and I'm currently TWO GRAND in the hole... but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve to try and bring that number down.
I'm still knee deep in post production on the REAL PROPERTY project and the SHIELD IT ALL infomercial. Post production makes me kind of crazy. I tend to feel like the process is moving way too slow and that tends to STRESS ME the F%#$$K out.
But we are getting there....
My rommmate is moving out. He and I have lived together in this place on Hoover street... just south of Normal.... for two and half years. But thats all coming to en end. He moves out to Venice at the end of the month. He has always wanted to live on the beach.... and I feel like living in Venice or Santa Monica would take me out of the mix and jack up the traffic factor in the life of a producer, writer actor... so no thanks. I hate to say this... but once he packs up and migrates out west... I probably wont ever see him again. Thats just the way this town is set up. I have a handful of people I know that live in Santa Monica, Venice and Brentwood... people I would normally hang out with all the time... and I NEVER see any of them... nobody wants to travel to the other side of town... that's LA for ya.
I'm having a good buddy of mine move in to his room for a few months.... He is coming out to LA and needs a place to rest his head while he gets settled and looks for an aparrtment.... a job... etc etc.... but thats not it....
AND.... more importantly.... drum roll please....
My girlfriend is moving in. We are going to spend 2-3 months living here on Hoover Street while WE look for a place together somewhere in the Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Hollywood area.... yep... its true.... you heard it here first... We are taking a few big new steps in our relationship... and I'm totally stoked.... I mean it... I'm really looking forward to this.... I can never et enough of her..... we've been together for nine months now and I still feel like I fall in love with her a little bit more each day.
ALRIGHT.... oogey moogey alert.... reigning it in....
Coachellla is this weekend. I went to Coachella last year. It's a three day event. They only sell three day passes for something like.... $275. But last year i went with a couple of friends after we found someone selling their Sunday tickets.... its a really cool event... great bands... its clean... well organized... I really enjoyed it. So now I'm scouring Craigslist to see if I can score some one day tickets. I would prefer to go Saturday... but Sunday is a more common day for people to drop out and go home... and subsequently try to sell off their ticket.
Oh well... if I miss it... their is always BURNING MAN...
then again.... maybe not.
AH YES... Burning Man.... not sure how i feel about that one... if you would have asked me 10 years ago... I would be all over it.....
My days of raving and rocking it out on recreational supplements are pretty much done... aside from maybe some super special occasion... it just takes me SO long to recover from an outing like that.
I also got kind of turned off to Burning Man because there was this annoying jerky, smelly guy that I was working with alot when I first moved here... he had all sorts of audio and video equipment he was letting me borrow for a while... but he was super creepy .... and he was always talking about getting a group together and going to Burning Man... so now I always associate Burning Man with that guy...
He is the same guy that tricked me into recording voiceover's for Mexican Porn... seriously.... but thats another story.
There is mexican porn out there somewhere with my voice dubbed in.... ridiculous.
Anyway... Burning Man happens is August.... everyone goes out with motor homes and Rv's and camps in the desert, parties and listens to DJ sets and drum circles while they burn this giant wooded "man."
From what I hear... you have to have a nice set up to enjoy it... like an RV... otherwise you are camping in the blazing hot desert... its AUGUST!!
Listen to me... I sound like an old negative NINNY.... I'm sure I could have fun if I went.... but 3 days in the desert I'm not chomping at the bit to go do that...
Okay.... I'm late.... doing a double shot IZZE demo at Long Beach Community College today... then having dinner with my sweet, smart, sexy girlfriend in Marina Del Ray.
Kristen's boss is in Hawaii and he asked her to look after his dog while he and his family are away. So we are both staying at his sweeeet ass house in palos verdes for the week.
its been fun...
I got a weird rash from the hot tub though.... that kind of sucked....
Busy, crazy busy. Have my hands full with IZZE. Had a session last night with Director Wes and Editor Chris. We looked at rough cuts of all scenes from the Real Property Project, a version of the Shield It All infomercial and an 18 minute blooper reel. Most of the Real property scenes are 90% there. They just need a teak here and there. A few of the scenes need a little more than a tweak. The footage all looks great, It really does. The infomercial (part 1) is going to be good too. The highlight of tyhe session was watching the blooper reel for the infomercial. THAT being said. I came up with the idea, last night as I was driving home from Thousand Oaks, to throw another party. I havent thrown a screening/networking parking in a while. What I want to do is host a little get together... not at home... but at some cool venue... a cool venue that will allow me to screen a few clips. I will invite all the cast and crew from the Real Property Project and it will be a way to bring everyone togthere and say "Thank you" for doing a great job. Since we shot this project over the course of 4 weeks, much of the cast had limited interaction with the other actors. So I want to bring everyone together, have a drink, watch the bloopers.... have a few laughs with some of my favorite co-conspirators.
Plus I will invite everyone else I know who is either an actor, a producer, a director or some sort of new media minion... it can become a networking opportunity... should anybody choose to exercise that option.
Ok... I've got to make this short. I have to go up to Pasadena to work a demo for IZZE at the Whole Foods Market on Arroyo Parkway.
March madness morning page makes my mundane meandering morph into meshugennah. I have swelling in my knee. Arginine in my tea. There are a dozen places that I'd rather be. LIke snowboarding!! OH man I had fun snowboarding this weekend in Big Bear. It was beautiful out there. Sunny and clear. There were a couple of douch-bags skiing in Under-Armour tank tops. Both dressed almost identically. Like they thought they were secret agents on skis. Men in Black or somehting like that. They could have topped off the outift with a blue tooth. Anway, a fantastic day for snowboarding in March. th month of March signifies the start of a new season of marketing work for IZZE sparkiling fruit juice... it means St Patricks Day and a perfect excuse to go out and get drunk in the middle of the week. In the middle of the DAY in the middle of the week. March means it's the eight month mark with super sexy, sassy, sweet and significant girlfriend... awww... she is so damn cute.... and it means lots of college basketball... but I'm not even really following the NCAA action this year. Carolina has had a shitty season so far and that's my team. Since they dont have much going on. I dont have much interest. I do truly believe that the FINAL FOUR is consistently one of the most exciting events in sports. Every year it's fun to watch. Always a nail biter. The National Championship is also always worth the watch, regardless of what teams are competing. So I will surely make time to catch THAT game. Maybe I'll pull for Villanova. Hey, baseball season is right around the corner and I'm expecting too see the Yankees go to the world series again. and I'm going ot be spending a lot of time and money watching games at THE HAPPY ENDING in Hollywood.... great ribs.... LUCKY ribs... really good fish tacos too.. awesome food altogether. Ok now I'm hungry. Crap I dont have anything here for breakfast. I may juts have to mix some coconut water with some protein powder. Nah, I'm gonna stop somewhere and get something on my way out to Azusa University. I have to go there today to do a demo for IZZE in their PAWS N GO cafe. Here is a question... and I'm going to get a little political before I go. Health Care? I'm no expert. I'm not well versed on all the facts in the pro and con categories... but then again... if you think ANY of those idiots out there protesting know all the fact... ican tell you this.... think again... most of those folks are totally misguided and misinformed. Anyway... why can't the world of health insurance just go totally private enterprise? This is America right? Why can't health insurance just chug right along in the true sense of capitalism? Lets say I'm going to open my own business. I'm going to go into the business of Health insurance... and the way I"M going to offer insurance is based on "Grades" and achievment... kind of the way high school students get scholarships and get accepted to colleges and universities... right? The student who puts the time and energy in to getting good grades in High school... who does some extra currucular activities... works enough... and CARES enough to be proactive ... that studennt gets accepted to good schools... and maybe gets a scholarship or two... that student DESERVES to be rewarded with an opportuntiy to receive a quality education... and to get that education at a discount. not that the kids who half ass it throuygh high school dont deserve an education too... ya know? maybe some kid squeezes by... gets mediocre grades... doesnt do much as far as extra curricular... doesn't seem to care as much...or maybe just not as driven... thats okay... that kid deserves the chance to go to college... if he or she wants to... they just wont have the same opportunities and perks as the kid who works his butt off... see where I'm going? Back to Health inurance... If you are a NON SMOKER, NON DRINKER, you maintain a certain BODY WEIGHT, BODY FAT index, control your cholesterol levels... pass a series of fitness and wellness tests.... ALL THAT... well then YOU get an amazing deal on health insurance... if you smoke, drink, dont exercise, eat garbage... feed your kids garbage... they you are gonna pay a premium.... NOT that you dont DESERVE health insurance.... but if you want to exercise your right to smoke drink and eat large clumps of shit on a reguilar basis... you are gonna have to pay for that... thats how things would go at MY health insurance office.... thats how I would run my business... and thats how I would compete with the other companies... by taking an innovative approach... and my approach would force the other companies to compete... and compettion in the marketplace creates more balance.... thats how I see it. Now I'm running late. Gotta go.
My latest video blog offers pretty much nothing... except a story about a little rubber Sumo Man and my plans for the weekend. I DID get a little tricky with this one... I worked out my rudimentary video editing skills... tried to keep things interesting.
BAWK BA-BAWK BAWK BAWWWWK... BA-BA-BA-BA BAWWWWK!!! You know what that is don't you? Come on? Guess. Hey, What the hell is MOCHI ice cream anyway?? MORNING ppppage!!! I'm up. I'm at it again. I'm writng. I'm trying to get myself back to writing more creative stuff. Creative stuff OH-OH creative stuff. I just can't get enough OH I just can't get enough. Depeche Mode blech. Let me make this perfectly clear. Morning pages are for PRIVATE use only. So please, stop right there. FREEZE. Please leave this page immediately. This exercise contains personal and private musings and is not for public consumption. So what? You're just going to keep reading? Oh thats nice. Seriously? Fine. Enter at your own risk. But no judgements. This is supposed to be a free flowing stream of consciousness exploration of the deepest darkest depths of my artistic soul. Wanna hear a good fart joke? I'm KING of the fart jokes. I am. Ask my girlfriend! I do fart jokes all the time and she LOVES it. She thinks everything I do is hilarious. She advised me not to do too many fart jokes in my video blog because I may over do it and then it will become less fun for her. Those fart jokes are very important to us as a couple. I should just save all that fart humor for a more intimate setting. It strengthens out bond. Helps us grow. You know what they say about fart jokes and relationships dont you? I will tell you... nothing. No one says anything about fart jokes and relationships.... maybe they should. so now you know... I'm just kidding... because my girlfriend does NOT enjoy fart jokes. I mean she will laugh at the occasional hearty belch... but fart jokes are going just a little too far. Now you SEE?? if this were a TRUE morning page I wouldn't feel the need to justify my comments or explain what I'm talking about. Because the MORNING PAGE is for ME!! You know what I AM going to work into my video blog?? The OPERA CHICKEN. I may change the name but I have this bit I do... in private... about a chicken who sings opera. It's totally retarded. But I think its funny. It brings a a lot of joy and happiness into my life. There are two ways I could go about this. I'm could either... put myself in front of the camera... and do the opera chicken myself... I guess I would just look like a strange guy singing opera as if he were a chicken... could be funny... maybe I could even WEAR something "chickeny"... some sort of CHICKEN GEAR on my head... you know? Dress it up a bit. OR... the other option is to plop a puppet... or a rubber chicken.. somehting like that... and do the chicken opera OFF camera... like a voice over. That might save me the embarrassment of being seen singing "O Patria Mia" in Chicken. I dont know... its a fine line... a fine line. I have a couple of other characters I want to introduce into my video blog repertoire. I have a country music wannabe...I put on my cowboy hat and strum the guitar and make up stupid songs.... and a freestyle rapper from the old school... I put on my KANGOL and bust out some Funky Fresh lyrics... Just playing around. See how that works. Now I just have to find time to do all this.
This is really Good sh%t... grossly overlooked and underestimated... Nneka is a Nigerian-German hip hop/soul singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Warri, in the Delta region of Nigeria and then relocated to Hamburg, Germany at the age of 18.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH is off of her first US album release "CONCRETE JUNGLE."
So my web series, CATCH, did NOT receive a certified nomination for a STREAMY award. I made an official submission for CATCH as BEST NEW SERIES. I sat and watched the official announcements in the form of a live feed on the streamy's website on Monday morning. I figured that CATCH receiving an official nomination would be a long shot, and I was REALLY feeling the odds of that long shot as the announcers started reading off nominees like Zach Galifianakis, Robert Englund, Justine Bateman, Lisa Kudrow... I was like... geeezus... look at what I'm up against... I thought the world of the web series was supposed to a place for the little guy... a niche for the no name... I shouldn't be surprised. DR HORRIBLE's SING ALONG BLOG took home a truckload of Streamy Awards last year. That web series not only features well known major network sit com actor in the form of Neil Patrick Harris. In all honesty, DR HORRIBLE's SING ALONG BLOG is great... it's well done, well written.... and it's F%#%ing hilarious... its also SO UN-FAIR. Sorry, I dont mean to sound cynical or bitter... but CUH-MON.... the story behind DR HORRIBLE is that these guys, in the midst of the Writers strike 2 years ago, decided to find a way to keep working and created this fun web series... must be NICE when you've got a crew of professional writers and DP's and AD's and grips and gaffers... oh...and by the way... why dont you go and shoot your little web series on the Paramount lot... might as well...nobody else is using it... right? Some struggle! Not really the Cinderella story that one would want to associate with the world of web entertainment. I shot all my episode with NOTHING. NO budget... just a bunch of scratching and clawing and begging and shmoozing to get it all done...
F%#K YOU Dr Horrible!!
Okay... sorry... I'm getting a little worked up.... breeeeeethhhe.
THE GUILD is another web series that has gathered up a handful of awards and nominations and thumbs up and fist bumps. The GUILD is also very good. I feel like THE GUILD is the closest thing out there to the real deal as far as a rags to riches, cinderella web series ... and Felicia Day gave a great acceptance speech at last years awards. She thanked everyone in the business who ever rejected her and forced her to pick up pen and start creating her own work. So I have to give her some credit. That's the kind of shit I like to hear.
And if you havent seen AUTO-TUNE THE NEWS... it's a must see... the whole AUTO-TUNE thing has reached a point of being overdone and annoying.... still... this series really innovative and also F%#king hilarious.
At least now I know what I'm up against. Now I know that I have to raise the bar... or I guess I shoud say that the bar has been raised... and I have no choice but to RESPOND. CATCH will get bigger and better, I promise you that.
Th Nominees for best new web series this year were not very impressive... and I'm really curious as to HOW a couple of those projects could have been nominated... not only over MY web series... but over a handful of projects in the mix, namely 2 series created by friends of mine: DOWNSIZED, written and produced by Daryn Strauss and Leyna Weber's ROAD TO THE ALTAR. Instead a goofy series called ODD JOBS gets a nomination. What's worse is that damn ODD JOBS features a real punk of an actor that I worked with in a show in New York a few years back. I watched the complete THREE episode season... THREE episodes? Really?? I saw that little prick and wanted to puke. I so want to slap that kid.... I...am not.... bitter.... I'm just on a TEAR... I'm in a BITCH-ASS bad mood and I'm looking to hand out a BEAT down.
One thing about the nominations that caught my eye.... the "Best Experimental Web Series" category. Hmmmm.... yes. I have a concept that i have been cultivating for about a year now that would fit rather nicely in that category. BIG Wheels are starting ... to turn AS... we.... speak... or AS... I write and SIP... my... TEA...
Stay tuned for that little magic bag of brilliance.... its gonna be a good one.
One thing I forgot to mention is the AUDIENCE CHOICE award ... I tried to recuit as many people as I could to get them to submit a public submission, thereby nominating CATCH for wild card Streamy award. Those nominations have not been announced. So I guess i STILL have a chance... but I'm not holding my breath.
Ok... I 'm out of here...
I will take this opportunity to shamlessly plug my own progress. it IZZZ MY blog by the way (F&%K U DR HORRIBLE).... My fantastic cast and crew are shooting the final scenes of the REAL PROPERY project (a 50 page corporate video for a legal publishing firm) this weekend. I am also shooting an infomercial for a new cleaning product this weekend. I am writing, producing and performing in a 4 minute infomercial for a NEW client. I'm hoping this little venture can lead to more work from this particular client as well as an abundance of clients in the days to come...
Stay tuned (or stay AUTO-TUNED).
Ok... gotta go to work... I got bills to pay people!!!
LITTLE SUNRISE from the Album INTO THE WIND by Bei Bei & Shawn Lee is a sweet little suckatash of song by Gu Zheng performer Bei Bei and Ubiquity producer Shawn Lee. It's a beautiful blend of Contemporary funk and traditional Eastern music, showcasing Bei Bei's mastery of the GU ZHENG, an acient Chinese instrument, a plucked half-tube zither with movable bridges and 21 strings.
The Official Famous Original Smijalicious Video blog # 108: Topic of the day: the trials and tribulations of my latest corporate video project. I recorded like... 10 test runs before I just gave up and posted this version. One video blog was too long (12 minutes I think), one version showcased my inability to pronounciate (how the HELL do you spell pronnunciate?). Another version was just plain stupid... then again... aren't they all? Want to hear another fart joke?
Always subject to change, here is the latest official statement from THE STREAMY AWARDS:
"We know you’ve been waiting to see the list of Official 2010 Streamy Award Nominees ever since submissions opened in December. Rest assured, on Monday, March 1 the wait will finally be over. The International Academy of Web Television will announce the Official Streamy Awards nominees across all Streamy Awards categories (except Audience Choice finalists – we’ll be doing that mid-March) at this very location.
So, make sure to check out Streamys.org on March 1 for the official announcement, and don’t forget to mark your calendars for April 11. Good luck!"
As writer... producer and creator of CATCH: the web series... I submitted a definitive and certified entry for my series. I also canvassed and recruited as many grassroots votes as I could in the hopes of getting a Public nomination for the Audience Choice Award...
Episode 8: Jerry has another date; The Detectives discuss lunch; Squib brings Edbo up to speed on the legend of Mike Fisk. "Giant Ra-ats??" CATCH was written and produced by James Huffman Written, directed by Jai Walia (Courtesey of Gr8 Dane Films), and features Trevor Jones, Tricia Pierce, James Huffman, Brian Wilson, JJ Huckin, Milo Eriksen, Bill Oberst Jr. and Rahul Nath.
Here is the offcial music video for Kill Kill Kill. The Video was Directed by Sunshine Montiague edited by Scott Cronan and features actress Dawn Anderson. Boy/Girl is a sleazy art rock duo from NYC and LA.... playing a city near you... always....
When it rains it pours.... "Work begets work".... Never fails... always happens. "I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." (words from Thomas Jefferson). It's all true. And every time I'm amazed by the consistency of tsuch a phrase. I've had a fairly slow Januray and February, the one thing I've had on my calendar for sure is the start date for another six month contract with IZZE as a field representative... or TASTE agent... as they like to call it. That offcial start date is March 1st... and as I get closer to that date... things are starting heat up... its crazy how that works. Januray and February? Like I said... things have been pretty quiet. I mean, yes, I have 2 projects that I'm in the middle of producing, but the deadlines on those projects are soft. With 2 weeks to fo before I'm locked up on a quasi full time basis in the beverage business, I've started shooting the REAL PROPERTY project... which is a 50 page, 13 scene corporate video featuring a series of attorney/client scenarios with a focus on Real Estate Law. I'm writing and producing and likely to be performing in an infomercial for a new cleaning product... and potentially a new recurring client. Suddenly i have "clients." Anyway, as March 1st creeps up on me, I'm all of the sudden getting calls for various types of freelance work... field marketing here... background work there... and then HERE COME THE AGENTS. One agency I have been working with since 2008 recently cleaned house and RE-staffed. I wasnt very happy with the previous staff. I never felt like they sent me out as much as I would have liked (the eternal complaint of any actor). I didnt feel like they really KNEW me... and THAT had a lot to do with the fact that they never actually MET me... always a point of contention. So when the NEW staff called me... I expressed my dissatisfaction with the old gaurd and they assured me that we would have a sit down... a face-to-face... so we vcould all meet and they could figure out how to better SERVE me and my CAREER. I felt pretty good after that conversation. That converstaion happened in DECEMBER. We still havent had that sit down. So earlier this week, I got an email from this agency asking for an mp3 for a voiceover casting. The role was WAY off base for me.... red flag... someone is not very organized... someone has come through on their promise... SOMEONE obviously doesnt KNOW me... or else they wouldnt have asked me to audition for something for which I am so competeley WRONG. so I replied with tyhe question: "When are we goig to have that face-to-face meeting we spoke about a few months ago?" The response was " we sent out an email that requested all of our actors to call in to schedule a meetings." I wrote back "HA!! Really? I don't know how I missed that. The last time you and I spoke. You told me that your assistant would call me by the end of the week to set somehting up. No worries. I will give her a buzz" She wrote back "My apologies. somebody from my office will call you today." Lo and behold they did... and we set up a meeting for March 3rd. THEN, of course.. minutes after setting up that meeting... I get a call from my former agent in New York. HE apparently wants to start tapping the LA market and wants to know if I'm available and interesting in working with him. Sheesh... all of this coming in at the same time... and of course... once I get this agent situation worked out... I'm going to be so busy with IZZE and with producing... and servicing my CLIENTS..... finding the time and availability to get to auditions is going to be a big challenge...
Hey... I'll take it....I'm happy as hell to have it... ya know... I'm grateful and it's good to be busy... "Life is a progress, and not a station." (Ralph Waldo Emerson) "The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it." (Marcus Aurelius) "mo money mo problems" (P Diddy Combs... with a little help from Notorious B.I.G.)
Got up early this morning, got down on the floor and started doing an ab workout. A "first-thing-in-the-morning-ab-workout" is sort of a belated New Years resolution. Spending 20 minutes in the morning doing some crunches, leg lifts and holding a 60 second plank for 3 or 4 rounds helps me wake up, kick starts my metabolism, keeps my midsection in shape and gives me somehting to do while I wait for my coffee or tea to brew. While I was crunching and planking, I was also watching and/or listening to TIGER WOODS little "coming-out" press conference... I know...that makes it sounds like he just announced that he's GAY... he is not gay... or maybe he is...shit what the hell do I know? I don't know Tiger Woods.
So... OK... the Tiger Woods press conference... Now, I fully support redemption, for anyone, but THAT was a little weird. Most of the analysts are praising him... and I guess this press conference is a start.... but it was still strange.
Seemed very canned, stiff... rehearsed... speechy, preachy... weird.... camera malfunctioned (how often does THAT happen), so we saw the end of the speech from profile... with his Mom and some of his friends in frame.... wierd.
I'll say this.... he owes his wife and family an apology.... actually a lot MORE than an apology.... and I hope he is able to get it together and move on.... but I still say he should just tell everyone else to FUCK OFF and go play golf....
Tiger.... buddy.... take,care of your family...take care of your wife... and play golf... do what you do bro.... and Everything else will fall into place....
(Ha ha ha... see? I said that like we are buddies... I called Tiger Woods "BRO." That's called COMEDY. Because I dont EVER say "Bro.")
I'm still playing around with this video blog thing... had another conversation with my roommate about the last few attempts... he told me he really enjoyed the one I did a few days ago with the story from acting class... keeping it real and intimate seems to work... I've tried to do it a few more times from the kitchen... but the urge to put on a show is really... REALLY hard to resist...
Case in point.... a couple of dress rehearsals....
Sitting here watching the first episode..."PILOT" episode of HBO's HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA. I like the premise... not sure how I feel about it so far... but I'm willing to give it a chance... anything for anything thats shot in NY...
Bryan Greenberg is pretty good... not loving the other actors... well OK.. Luis Guzman is good... Luis Guzman is always good... Kid CUDI? I don't know about THAT... I mean... I love PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS and all but... appearing in an HBO series? Where did THAT come from
ANYWAY..... I dropped ANOTHER video blog....
Yesssss I did....
The latest installment of my unauthorized official famous original smijalicious video blog includes a guest appearance by Sammy the Sumo, some sexy stirring of brown rice and a sincere apology.... its still a work in progress people.... give me some slack!
Yeah, It's a holiday, but I'm up. Sipping on my green tea, black tea, chai tea concoction. I've got work to do so I don't really have room for more rest and relaxation. Plus my girlfriend doesn't have the day off, so she was up nice and early and whisked herself away to the ole workplace.
I put my poor girlfriend to work this weekend. We started shooting the REAL PROPERTY project, so on Saturday morning, in an effort to keep my crew and costs at a minimum, I recruited her to be my sound technician.... which basically means... and please pardon the sexual innuendo... I asked her to hold my boom pole.
We were up at 6AM... on set at 8:30.... and we shot for 5 hours in the direct sun... got a nice little sunburn on my face and neck.... then we got murdered by traffic on the way back... seriously... I dont know what was going on around here on Saturday... but traffic was f%#&^ing awful. We had dinner later that night at Palm Thai on Hollywood Blvd in Thai-Town and then we went to THE VISTA to see THE WOLFMAN... which... was also f%#&^ing awful.
We had a nice V-day together yesterday. Early Sunday I posted my plans on Twitter: "Taking my girl for a Valentine's Day hike in Topanga Canyon. a Little brie and chablis on a cliff by the sea." None of which actually happened. I mean we DID go to Topanga Canyon State Park for a hike, but the trails at Topanga Canyon don't really overlook the sea. The trails there wind down into a canyon and lead you along a creek up to a waterfall. So we never found that cliff by the sea. But we did climb a bunch of rocks to sit near the water fall and had a little picnic that included some pita chips, hummus and an avacado al fresco sandwich.... no brie... or chablis... on a cliff... by the sea... more like... a sandwich... sans the pickle on a rock... right next to a trickle. The walk BACK from the waterfall actuallly turned out to be quite a workout. I had feeling we would be straining on the return, because we were walking DOWN hill almost the entire way to the waterfall... which can only mean one thing... an uphill trek back... a winding rocky steady 2.8 mile uphill climb. My legs and my lungs were definitelly burning by the time we got back to the main are of the park, our starting point. I would say that Topanga Canyon gets maybe ...3 out of 5 stars. It was a good workout... more than a good workout... which is great.... and it was more than just a walk in the park. The terrain around the waterfall was challenging... which was good... but almost too tricky to be enjoyable.. The view was not ideal. I mean if you prefer your hikes to be lush like a nature walk through the forest.. you might consider Topanga Canyon... but I actually prefer the my hikes to be more like a mountain climb... with great panoramic views... so I still say Sandstone Peak.... the trail we hit in Malibu a couple of weeks ago...to be the best hiking I've seen in southern California.... so far. The Mishe Mokwa trail in the Santa Monica Mountains is a great medium to challenging terrain, six mile hike that leadas to inspiration point and sandstone peak... two of the highest points of the Santa Monica Mountains. The views are fantastic... and its no where NEAR as crowded as some of the other state parks and trails in the area. Sandstone Peak is my current favorite for sure.
One last note... I finally ended up pulling the video blog that I posted last week. The OFFICIAL UNAUTHORIZED FAMOUS ORIGINAL SMIJALICIOUS VIDEO BLOGS # 102, 103 and 104 have been officlally and famously REMOVED by the user.
I swear... that video blog caused me more GRIEF last week .... sheesh!
For starters... everyone HATED it...
Every single person in my little "circle of trust" felt pretty much the same way... not funny... not ME... and WHATS up with the fart joke?
Ok...OK... i hear ya... I get ya... and I dont know... the fart joke was kind of IN THE MOMENT... so I just went with it... I'm not really a FART JOKE kind of guy.... but it happened.... and apparently it came off as phoney and contrived... which in of itself is kind of funny... because it was NOT contrived... I farted... I reacted.... and the people have spoken...
Even my GIRLFRIEND... who thinks almost everything I do is HILARIOUS... was like "Ummm... i don't know... you're just... BETTER than that."
So just when I think I'm ready to MOVE ON... I get all this BACKLASH about some of the comments I made in the SAME damn video blog!!! Forget the fart joke and the accents and the general goofiness that was a complete FAILURE... I said a bunch of stuff pertaining to a certain publicity campaign involving a ceratin MOUTHWASH and a certain CELEBRITY that apparently upset some people that are very very dear to me....
UGH!!!
So I pulled it... fuggetaboutit!!!
I mean SERIOUSLY... that damn video blog has been the BANE of my existence for the week.
A little dance ... a little damage control.... and Ok...NOW... I'm ready to move on...
Maybe I will just keep it simple and make my video blog a cooking show....
A Video response to MYSELF... actually my most recent video blog. I posted a vlog 2 days ago and it was apparently less than impressive. So, for my critics, my friends and myself, I thought I would get back to basics and share my epiphany.
Here are two comments about my last post, left for me by good friends whose opinions I hold in high regard...
Was good, but I'd plan ahead and even time it. Also stage the background into something deliberate. It doesn't have to be empty, but it should add to the show, not subtract. And don't be afraid to be smart. Definitely don't make fart jokes 10 seconds in. You'll lose your audience over 15 yrs old. I consider a "character", even if it's essentially you, but it might help give parameters. You're a brilliant story-teller, so keep with that. Exposure on the camera was great. I have other ideas too. Nice work tho.
first off, the fart thing was not really that funny at all. kind of started off on the wrong foot. i think it is not funny because it doesn't appear to be real. it is obvious that you just said that and it came across as kind of fake. if you really farted and were kind of grossed out and laughed or whatever, it would have been funnier. i guess that is kind of the bottom line for the whole thing. it came across as "acting" and the appeal of those video blogs many times is that they are the opposite of that. not always, but generally speaking, being real but still ramped up is ok. but it just seemed that indeed you were trying to be something vs just being yourself which is much much funnier. if you were creating a character, then i can see what you were doing. but if you were jim and doing a video blog and putting your own take on the day and that is really you, then you don't seem like someone who is funny in real life. the problem is that you really are. so my final thought would be more jim...less video blog guy. but do whatever bro. just a thoght.
This is my first video blog ever....and its absolutely brilliant... we... no... not really.... it's a little on the long side and kind of boring.... I cook, clean, tell a story, drink beer and I disclose some confidential celebrity publicity information that pertains to TODAY, February 10, 2010 . So... at the very least... Get the SCOOP on the POOP from the THE OFFICIAL UNAUTHORIZED FAMOUS ORIGINAL SMIJALICIOUS VIDEO BLOG.
And hey... any feedback is great... I'm open to suggestions... as long as they are GOOD suggestions :))
Yes, its another morning page. Try to get myself going. Get the juices flowin. Don't make me explain what a morning page is again. Google it and you will find a few links that will explain exactly what a MORNING PAGE is, where the word comes from, why people engage in the practice of the mornig page, and you might even find a few examples of morning pages on other peoples websites. Googling is great, you can find answers to questions immediately, about anything, anywhere, anytime. You will be the life of the party when you whip out your smartphone and come up with answer to "What was the name of that actor in that really bad movie?" Or "Who sang that song about Fish Heads back in the eighties?" Trust me. Its a win win. You know what else you should Google? FLASH MOB! You know why? Because I'm doing one. I am going to my second rehearsal today for a Flash Mob publicity stunt that is going to go down in Santa Monica tomorrow. I was hired (along with hundreds of others), by a marketing company that I used to work for when I lived in New York. The first time I worked for these guys, they hired me to play the role of a southern evangelistic preacher. I wore a brown suit, with a black bow tie, and I carred a big sign that read FUSE IS THE ANSWER. It was a street marketing publicity stunt for FUSE TV. I spent 3 days walking around Manhattan in character with my big sign, in my suit, preaching to people on the street about this amazing new music video channel that was going to change their lives forever. The funny thing about that gig was that the first day, it was TERRIBLY windy in the city, and that wind was blowing my sign all over the place. The sign was about eight feet tall. A big piece of thick poster board attached to a long wooden stake. So the sign sort of acted like a SAIL. I spent the whole day struggling to keep the sign upright... and spitting out my talking points... their were quite a few times where I was chasing my sign down the street... yelling my talking points along the way. fun times. Man, I wish I was in New orleans right now. I've actually never BEEN to New Orleans. but right NOW. Now is the time to GO!!! OH MY GOD. So wait, do you think Peyton Manning might have thrown that game. I mean SOMEWHERE in the back of his mind he had to realize that in the big picture, the Saints needed to be Super Bowl champions. I mean, they guy GREW UP in New Orleans! Did he want to be the guy that robbed a hurting, desperate city of some much needed pride and celebration? Not to take anything away from the SAINTS. They played great. They have been one of the best teams in the league all season. but it seems like Peyton didnt really do what we all know he can do. I'm happy for the SAINTS. I wanted them to win all along. I'm just saying. nevermind. Anway, back to what I was saying about the Flash Mob. We are all rehearsing in North Hollywood today and then we go out to Santa Monica and rock the Flash Mob tomorrow. It's basically a big publicity stunt for SCOPE and I'm sure they will whip up a video of the whole thing and shmear it all over Youtube. The viral video aspect of such a stunt is kind of the point. So we are all paied up with a partner and we are rehearsing a choreographed dance routine. At some point tomorrow we will all converge into some specific location and bust out one gigantic synchronised dance. Seriously, Google flash Mob and look at some video, you will see what I'm talking about. Most Flash Mobs involve people doing a big dance where everyone moves together but as individuals. I dont know if Ive ever scene one with peple dancing together in pairs. Well, it should be fun. My job with Izze starts up again in a few weeks. Starting March 1st I will be back in the business of promotiing IZZE, the worlds finest sparkiling fruit juice. Man, this morning page exercise kind of sucks! I know, I'm not supposed to judge my own work, and I'm REALLY not supposed to judge my morning page material... thats also kind of the point.. the again... I'm not supposed to post my morning pages online for everyone to see... its supposed too be a private practice... but this thing turned out to be another Jim Huffman update. I would rather get crazy and write about Dancing Prarie Dogs or a dream I had last night about a tea party with Orson Wells and his great great grandson... Beanie. Ok, Ok... I gotta go wake up, get my make up, my hair and get some Fred Astaire in my underwear.
By the way, have no fear ... the next episode of CATCH is here >>
OK... so... the Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced today by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Anne Hathaway...
BEST PICTURE?? Wow, that's a tough one. 10 nominees? Well.... I I PRAY I'm wrong.. and It pains me to face it... but I don't think any of the other nominees are strong enough to take it. AVATAR will probably win. But I think it should be either HURT LOCKER or PRECIOUS. That's probably because I am always pulling for the underdog (GO SAINTS). I have to be honest here... I haven't even seen PRECIOUS, but I love the story behind the film and the fact that the lead character is played by a no name newcomer (I mean that in the kindest way possible). So NO, I havent seen PRECIOUS.... but I'd be willing to put MONEY on Mo’Nique to get Best Supporting Actress.
And NOT to be too cynical.... because CONAN O'BRIEN told me NOT to be cynical... and I sometimes find myself leaning on the cynical side... but the OSCARS... in my opinion... are awarded based on FIFTY percent quality of work slash outstanding achievement.... and FIFTY percent politics slash marketing....
which is why I believe that AVATAR will win for Best Picture....
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
A STUNNING spectacle... no doubt... more like a cool ride at a theme park than an award winning film.... AMAZING to look at... but without the visual effects... without the 3D... its not THAT great of a film... and handful of TWO dimensional characters and a few DIALED in performances... hardly worthy.
“The Blind Side” (Sanda Bullock's film)
Haven't seen it. Not a big fan of Sandra Bullock movies... always so MTV-ish. I'm sure its probably a decent film... its a movie about FOOTBALL...and I love football... but whatever... doesnt mattter.... NOT GONNA WIN... surprised its even nominated.
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
D9 was cool... but during the first 45 minutes of the film I had NO idea what the hell was happening... I couldn't figure out WHO the story was about... many elements of the first act either didn't make any sense or just weren't believable.... these guys are aksing ALIENS to sign a piece of paper on a clipboard.... WHY would these big ugly Aliens...who eat CAT FOOD...and could rip a human apart and kick them a hundred yards away with no problem be willing to SIGN some document that is basically an EVICTION notice? why I should care? I remember saying to myself "So far, this movie kind of sucks." Once the story got going... I really liked it... but .... no... not worthy of BEST PICTURE
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
Haven't seen it. Almost went this past weekend with my girlfrfiend, but we saw Crazy heart instead. I will probably go check it out in the next couple of weeks... it may be good... but it's TOO indie... playing in Art House theaters.... will NEVER win for BEST PICTURE.
“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
Saw it... I really really liked it.... but AGAIN... it's TOO indie... NO big names at all.... played the Art House joints.... I don't think HURT LOCKER can pull it off.
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
Quentin Tarantino gets an OSCAR?? That would be AWESOME. Mind you... he DID win one already. He won Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction. But I'm always pulling for Quentin Tarantino. I liked INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS because it totally surprised me. It was SO different... and so much better than I expected it to be. You wanna win an OSCAR? Make a movie about "Killin Nazi's."
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
Like I said.... havent seen it.... but I'm pulling for the underdog. PRECIOUS won't win Best Picture but it will definitely round up an award or two.
"A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
I SAW this movie. I was CONFUSED. It was.... gooood (??)... I would give it an "interesting." Maybe if I was Jewish I would have more of an appreciation for the parody.
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
PIXAR... cartoons.... I'm sure it's delightful.... not my thing.... every few years a new animated film comes out and someone says "EVEN THOUGH it's an animated movie... THIS one is really good." So I go see it and I'm bored... I don't like cartoon movies... I'm always disappointed.... I've never seen an animtaed film that I liked..... WAIT.... Except for ONE....
SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER and UNCUT.... that was F%#*%$ing BRILLIANT.
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
BEST PICTURE? Not in my opinion... but it COULD win.... I actually posted a few commenst about this movie in a recent blog entry....
(January 28th) I'm not going to say it wasn't good. It WAS good. It was your standard, solid major studio production, with a decent story and strong acting.... it WAS a good movie.... a good, predictable, bland movie. If you like really EASY, George Clooney movies.... go for it... you'll enjoy it. It WAS a little depressing at the end... so it WASN'T all warm and Fuzzy.... but It WAS what I thought it was going to be....
So that's where stand on the whole BEST PICTURE conversation.... WHY do we have TEN nominee's this year?
“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said AMPAS president Sid Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same—one Best Picture winner—but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.” In the ’30s and ’40s the Academy recognized between 8 and 12 Best Picture nominees each year.
Several groups, like the Broadcast Film Critics Association, National Board of Review, and the American Film Institute, have already been listing 10 best films of the year instead of five. And with the Oscars now doing the same, I’d say this could really help the chances of some more commercially popular films, which are often edged out of the running by typical “Academy films” like The Reader or Frost/Nixon. Certainly The Dark Knight and WALL•E would have made a top 10 Academy list this year—will we now see Up and Star Trek on the Oscar ballot?
The supersizing of the best-picture category was suggested during a postmortem with Bill Condon and Laurence Mark, producers of this year's ceremony, which boosted viewership from the previous year by 13%.
Still, considering the 2008 edition – when No Country for Old Men claimed the best-picture trophy – was the least-watched show ever, the increase was only a mild improvement. Which is why, to continue to draw more eyes, the academy would like Oscar to find room for more popcorn-type films in its diet.
"All the critics' 10-best lists have 10 films," Sherak says, explaining the logic behind the move for the March 7 ceremony. "And there have been 10 nominees in the past. Maybe it would create more interest and allow us to have more fun. Maybe a comedy or a blockbuster would be nominated. The board felt it was an idea that should be tried."
Don't limit yourself to one particular aim or ambition this year. Set yourself targets that are general in nature and wait to see which way fate wants you to go. There is a rhythm to your life which, if followed, will always point you in the direction of happiness.
This is my horsocope for today. I read it in the New York Post and I felt compelled to share it... if not with anyone else then with MYSELF... because I was really struck by how accurately this depicts me..... my process...
There is undoubtedly a rhythm... an unseen, unheard energy.... its always been there... and I can't say I've always been willing or wise enough to follow it ...
But I CAN say that I when I DO... I undoubtedly find happiness.
Ok, what is it? Wednesday? Where am I? What's goin on? I'm changing gears on this next corporate video project. I initiated the casting process this week and let me tell you somehting... I used to wonder why Casting Directors always seemed to have a certain disdain for actors. When I was back in New York, and I was auditioning 6-10 times a week, I would quite often take offense to the "rolling your eyes," "talk to me like I just pooped in my pants" attitude that one would get upon enyering a busy casting office for an audition. Now that I'm producing more often than I'm auditioning... I'm starting to see what drives that dynamic. The majority of actors you have to deal with when you are in the middle fo the casting process... are F%$#&^ retarded.... and I'm SORRY if using the term RETARDED offends anyone who actually is RETARDED.... How about I use the term... SPECIAL NEEDS? Ok? Alright so I have such a rant building up that I think I'm going to record a video blog later today so I can cover everything... but for now, maybe just a preview. Seriously... how many SPECIAL NEEDS actors does one have to deal with before one finds someone that you would actually CONSIDER casting and working with on a project? HOLY CRAP... from the beginning to end, which starts at the submission process, going through hundreds of emails, browsing pictures and resumes to determine who should even be invited to audition.... to the coordination and scheduling process... to the day of the audition... HELLO??? AAAAAGGGHHH.... does my car have an "I BRAKE FOR SPECIAL NEEDS" bumper sticker on it?? NO! Am I in customer service? Available 24/7 to take SPECIAL NEEDS calls on the SPECIAL NEEDS hotline and answer SPECIAL NEEDS questions and concerns? Do I CARE if you are SUCH a busy ARTIST and you submit for so many projects that you cant remember who I am, or what project I'm casting? Or what roles are available? NO!!! SPECIAL F%$#&^&^ NEEEEEDS!!!
Anyway, I've been bouncing the idea around of starting a video blog... and I think this might be the day. I promise I wont be TOO negative... I do have some contsructive criticism... some advice and helpful tips... but some of those tips are going to come in the form of a RANT... because for the past 48 hours... Ive been dealing with my fair share of SPECIAL NEEDS.
Also... I saw UP IN THE AIR this weekend. BEFORE going to see it, My girlfriend and I both pretty much felt the same way... from the commercials, UP IN THE AIR looks like a very Vanilla, predictable Romantic George Clooney Comedy. But then friends of ours started telling us how good it was... it was "better than expected," "dark and different," "surprisingly good!"
Really? Could it be? I feel like I could guess the whole story from beginning too middle to end based on the trailer... but UP IN THE AIR is getting great reviews... Metacafe gave it an 84.... and thats prettty good... I was definitely curious.
So the day came to go see UP IN THE AIR. We put on some pants, brushed out teeth, tied our shoes.... drove over to The Arclight in Hollywood..... and decided to see CRAZY HEART instead... Jeff Bridges is supposed to be PHENOMENAL.
So WAIT... hold on....
We walked up to the box office a little on the late side and the Arclight didnt have two seats together. So our Plan B landed us at the next showing of UP IN THE AIR, starring George Clooney.... hooray.
So how was it?
I'm not going to say it wasn't good. It WAS good. It was your standard, solid major studio production, with a decent story and strong acting.... it WAS a good movie.... a good, predictable, bland movie. If you like really EASY, George Clooney movies.... go for it... you'll enjoy it. It WAS a little depressing at the end... so it WASN'T all warm and Fuzzy.... but It WAS what I thought it was going to be....
A good friend of mine told me that UP IN THE AIR was "dark." Now, I like "DARK." So I was really hoping that this film could at least fill that expectation. At first, I really thought it would.
There is a scene in the beginning, a series of shots and explanations that set up the premise, where Clooney's character explains what he does for a living (He acts as a corporate Grim Reaper and terminates employess on-site) and tells us that "People do F^%$cked up sh%t when they get fired." To demonstrate we see a disgruntled employee, played by Zach Galifianakis (from THE HANGOVER) doing "F$#ckd up Sh%t after getting fired. The closing image to this opening scene shows that character on the roof of an office building holding a big riflke and assuming a snipers position.
So the WHOLE time I'm watching this movie.. I'm thinking "OHHHH snap.... Zach Galifianakis is going to shoot George Clooney! This is going to be AWESOME. Andrew said this movie was dark, but this is even better than dark!"
Well... Zach Galifianakis never shot George Clooney.... I was very disappointed.
I'm an aspiring actress looking for some focus and direction as I pursue my journey in the biz here in NYC. I just came across your inspiring interview, The Big Break, written by Margo Curry...
Are you still running the Audition Experience? The phone number was invalid and I can't find any info on it. Just curious. I know many folks go to one-on-one and actor's connection seminars and classes to meet agents and casting directors. I've started to do this. But you're approach was so fresh and interactive. I can tell you're passionate about helping others and creating a forum for questions and the exchange of information and experiences among actors. I would really like to join the Audition Experience, if the program is still in place.
Are you still in touch with Ginger Dicce? Funny how you describe her, because that alone makes me want to meet her and see if I'm truly 'qualified' to be in this business. I really respect the old-school way of thinking. Guess it works - did you shave for that next audition! But she got you a commercial! Very cool! I'm signing up to meet her next week 1/26 at Actor's Connection. Also thinking of taking a class with Sande Shurin.
You've done tons of soap work! I would like to work on the soaps - it's definitely one of my types. Which soap classes benefitted you the most?
Thanks so much!
Great Web Site!
Chessie Gumar
Hi Chessie-
Thanks for the email... and no... The Audition Experience is no longer in business... Actors Connection is probably your best bet... those workshop places all offer pretty much the same thing... BREAKTHROUGH, ONE ON ONE, ACTORS ALLIANCE, THE ACTORS MARKET... I've been to all of them...
I'm in Los Angeles now... I've been here since Sept of 2007....
If you meet with Ginger Dicce...tell her James Huffman says HI... she is a hoot... and a tough cookie....
And if you take a soap class... make sure its with a real Soap CD... I would start with Bob lambert... if he is still doing workshops... He is great... and if you meet Bob... YOu can tell him I said HELLO as well.
I took workshops with CD's from all the NY shows.... hoping to make the most of the opportunity to meet the casting people from each show face to face....
Good luck... and all I can say is perform, perform, perform... do as much as you can as often as you can.... have fun.... good things will come your way....
Happy MLK day! God Bless Martin Luther King JR. and all the great things his name has come to represent.....
"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Coincidentally... I watched... or RE Watched... a documentary last night called STREET FIGHT ... not really in OBSERVANCE of MLK, but the film is failry apropriate I think. "Street Fight" is a documentary by filmmaker Marshall Curry, chronicling Cory Booker's 2002 campaign against Sharpe James for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Street Fight originally screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, whihc is where I first saw it. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
It's a great story about street level politics... and all that's good, bad and ugly... in the black community.... I highly recommend it.
It's also MONDAY.... so Happy Monday. Or Happy DAY OFF for most people. Its raining in Los Angeles, which is rare, and its supposed to rain all week... which is also rare. Although I will say that my first Januray in Southern California... back in 2008.... ALL the way BACK in 2008... was filled with cold weather and lots of thunderstorms... I was like "HEY, how come nobody ever told me about the CRAPPY January out in Sunny California?"
I'm still trying to get myself back in to the swing of things. I got back from my East Coast Tour on Januray 8th... so I sort of missed out on that quiet week after the New Year ... which for me suaully serves as a a time to rest, re group, make resolutions and just get ready to rumble....
My week after the New Year was spent trudging around in the SNOW and sub zero East Coast Cold... DAMN was it cold....
That's Kristen and I braving the elements to visit the Washington Monument on January 7th. It was SO cold!!!!
My East Coast tour this year was about three weeks long and covered Six states... some states I hit twice... and I covered multiple locations in New York and New Jersey. We had a lot of fun.... my girlfriend flew into JFK halfway through the trip to spend New years with me in NYC... We had a lot of fun... and we had a lot of SNOW...
On Dec 21st... I landed in Greensboro, NC and hopped in a van with my Brother Dave, Papa Jerry (My Dad) and my two nephews Keller and Casey. We traveled from Greensboro to Hickory to see as much of the Huffman Family as we could. We visited my Grandmother at The Lutheran Home. She was pretty much out of it on the first day but when we went back the second day she recognized us, held our hands (she actually grabbed on to my finger and held it tight for a good long while, forcing me to pry myself from her grip as we were leaving), and told us she loved us... whihc was nice... and a little sad.
We left Hickory on the 23rd and headed up to Fairfax, VA to spend Christmas at my Brother's and I got to finally meet my new NIECE, Marley. Dave and Holly adopted a little girl from China and traveled oversea's to fetch her last January... so this was my first chance to meet her. She is really really cute... and MAN...can that little girl EAT!!!
Seriously... Keller and Casey demostrate your usual finicky 5 and 7 year olds eating habits. They dont like much...so they end up eating a lot of pancakes and chicken fingers... but MARLEY?? Marley eats EVERYTHING!! Seriously unstoppable... she will take the food right out your hand if you're not careful. Its really funny.... for now.... hopefully that healthy appetite doesn't translate into a future appearance on THE BIGGEST LOSER.
After a few days in Fairfax and plenty of foolin around with the kids, I hitched a ride with my Dad and had him drop me off in Ocean Grove, NJ, whihc is right next to Asbury Park. My dear friend Jen hosted a little get together at her house in Ocean Grove.....focusing on the New York Giants game against the Carolina Panthers. The FOOD and the COMPANY were fantastic... the game absolutely SUCKED... I don't even want to talk about it.
That night I hitched a ride with my buddy AL, his wife Philene and his two little girls Olivia and Avery, to his beautiful new house in Suffern , NY. Al and I grew up together in Ridgewood, NJ and he erecntly bought this house in Suffern, which is actually a part of NY State but borders Northern NJ. I spent a couple days with Al's family, watching Football on TV and watching DEER roam around in his back yard.
Scheduling and coordinating a trip like this always presents a few challenges, and one of those challenges was trying to find time to see my Mother. She was doing her own holiday dance and was bounding up and down the East Coast as well. Fortunately we were both hanging around the North Jersey area at the same time, so we were able to get together. We had a nice lunch. I got the mussels at PASTAFINOS in Allendale, NJ. While I would have LOVED to go... I just didnt have time to drop in at the AB & G... Allendale Bar & Grill.
Ok... NEXT... I headed into Williamsburg, Brooklyn to hang out with my buddy Andrew. We went out to a bar called THE ABBEY in Williamsburg... drank beer and played BUCK HUNTER. Then we somehow ended up at a place called BEMBE on 6th street in Williamsburg... it was CRAZY packed in there... so we didnt stay long... and that was pretty much it.
Next Day I loaded in at my friend Jenny's place in Park Slope. Jenny was nice enough to let me sublet her place for New years Eve and Day. I wanted to have convenient and comfortable spot for my girlfriend and I spend New Years in New York. While I had been fkying solo for ten days and sleep9ng wherever... couch crashing just wasnt going to cut it. So, Kristen flew into JFK on Wednesday December 30th... no delays... no drama... thank GOD....
We spent the next three days bouncing around Manhattan and Brooklyn, we had a great New Years Eve at a party with friends in Hell's Kitchen (after MUCH deliberation and coordination with ideas and plans that came and went). This was Kristen's second time in New York City so we did a lot of sight seeing....
At this point I am running out of time and enthusiasm for details.... so i am going to defer to TWITTER to tell the tale of my trip.... I managed to send updates to TWITTER and FACEBOOK during my travels... because of course the WORLD wants to know what I'm doing at every moment....
Thank you for submitting your web series for consideration in the 2010 Streamy Awards. We've received your submission and, once we receive confirmation from PayPal, the International Academy of Web Television will begin reviewing your submission.
We'll be in touch if we have any questions once we process your information. Official Nominees will be announced in February 2010.
di Gabriele Niola - Una girandola di collaboratori per un poliziesco che scava nelle paure delle persone. Sullo sfondo, gli appuntamenti mediati dalla Rete
Roma - Alle volte la scarsità di opportunità lavorative canoniche unita alle possibilità di nuovi mezzi è l'origine delle idee. È il caso di James Huffman, attore americano residente a Los Angeles (come chiunque voglia fare questo lavoro ad alti livelli), impegnato in serie televisive indipendenti e progetti non particolarmente importanti, che ha deciso di affiancare a questa carriera anche dei progetti online ma non nella consueta veste di autore/produttore/attore/regista, come spesso accade per le webserie, quanto in quella di produttore e occasionalmente autore, come accade nelle serie per la televisione moderne. Il risultato di questo tipo di impegno e soprattutto delle scelte che Huffman (e gli altri) hanno preso riguardo la troupe è Catch, una serie davvero interessante che fa ruotare registi e sceneggiatori di episodio in episodio traendo il massimo vantaggio dall'eterogeneità.....
I recently noticed a spike in traffic directed to my website and traced it back to this article about my web series, posted on an Italian online magazine called PuntoInformatico.... I don't read or speak Italian so i used Google Translate to read it.... the translation isnt perfect... but the feedback is undeniably positive...
THANK YOU Gabriele Niola!!!
WebTheatre / lured by dating sites
Gabriele Niola - A swirl of collaborators for a detective who digs in the fears of people. In the background, the events mediated by the Network
Rome - Sometimes the lack of job opportunities combined with the canonical possibilities of new media is the origin of ideas. This is the case of James Huffman, American actor living in Los Angeles (as anyone who wants to do this work at high levels), engaged in TV shows and independent projects is not particularly important, who has decided to assist in this career but also of online projects in the usual capacity as writer / producer / actor / director, as often happens with webserie than in the work of producer and occasional author, as happens in modern series for television. The result of this kind of commitment and above all of the choices Huffman (and others) have taken on the cast is Catch, a series that spins really interesting directors and screenwriters of episodes in episode taking maximum advantage of heterogeneity.
The basic idea of all may remember American Psycho (psychopaths that attract the opposite sex with appointments and then kill them in a brutal), but any criticism of hedonism has dried or 80s subtext of the concept of double, and contaminated with the social anxieties of our years.
Catch (episode came in seventh on nine under for the first season episodes and equipped with the usual "extra") proceeds with a wire but without a plot that unfolds in a linear episode episode. What happens from time to time are events in the real world among people conosciutesi online dating site on the imaginary Catch.com. In any event we understand a bit 'more about what triggers the violence and what are the factors involved, the mystery of the plot is clearly a central element, but each episode is filmed and written well enough to not focus exclusively on it. Catch it avoids the typical lack of production for the network and instead of focusing on what may be his strong point opts for a fascinating and interesting writing of individual scenes, with ability to manage different plots simultaneously. Excellent example of this is the sixth episode, which is introduced the figure of the detective (played by James Huffman) into the background (the story is that just the frame) the solicitation of another serial killer next door.
Updating the stereotype of the serial killer without too much fantasy, but with taste and knowledge of the mechanisms and the psychology of the average users of dating sites, Catch can do what every story should do: enact their audiences along with its uncertainties, or In this case, fear.
The discourse on the fringes of the series it stirs the cauldron of fear of eternal and inherent sense of guilt related to sexual attraction yield, mediated by the fragility of their relationships acquired in the network who try to become real. Without wishing to indictments against the Internet (not a thing to webserie!), Catch introduces a creeping banality of discourse that avoids the risks of networked communication to center the way in which phobias atavistic perpetuation translates into the language of the Internet .
Leaving a series between Gore and the police populated by many characters will die (aptly users hooked by the dating site) who show through their oddities fragility of love and a thirst not quenched, which are often the that humanity hidden figure that emerges strongly through the mediation of the anonymous network.
Sorry to see that a product so interesting, well done and exciting (it's still a crime) is not distributed in a prudent but simply thrown on YouTube.
Please enjoy the latest and greatest installment of the CATCH web series saga... episode 7.....
Written and produced by James Huffman; Directed, shot and edited by Shirley Petchprapa.
Featuring Anne Judson Yager, Trevor Jones, JJ Huckin, Milo Erikson, James Huffman, Bill Oberst JR, Brian Wilson, Stephen Schaffold, Lisa Strauss, Stephanie Lavon, Megan Forrest, Bobby Raywatie
Aaah yes, its that wonderful time of the year, its STREAMY NOMINATION TIME!!!!
SHOULD you be so inclined, You can cast a quick and easy public vote for CATCH that would count as a nomination for "Best New Web Series" of 2009 and make my work eligible for a Streamy Award....
Its very easy to cast a public vote. You dont have to register or submit an email address. All you do is choose a category from the drop down menu (Best new web series), add the name of the web series, and copy and paste the following URL....
" Because, let's face it, television is SO last century"
As the first and most prestigious awards devoted to honoring excellence in web television, the Streamy Awards identify and celebrate the pioneers laying the groundwork for a new and dynamic entertainment medium. The Streamy Awards ceremony brings together the top talent, decision-makers and influencers shaping online entertainment, and awards are presented for the past years’ best achievements in 35 categories spanning multiple disciplines.
Currently in its second year, the Streamy Awards began as a grass-roots effort piloted by the leading minds in online entertainment and continues to share the spirt of rugged independence that drives creative expression online. The show is co-hosted by Tubefilter and NewTeeVee.
Reflecting the inherent openness of entertainment online, the Streamy Awards submissions process is free and and open to the public. Winners are selected by the International Academy of Web Television, an independent, member run not-for-profit organization representing a wide cross-section of online entertainment including actors, agents, composers, content developers, directors, journalists, producers, technology innovators and writers.
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City of Angers, a "Noir" style film, in which I play Detective Nick Sterling, has been selected to be shown at the Idyllwild Film Festival in Idyllwild, CA, January 11-16. The website for the festival is Idyllwildinternationalfestivalofcinema.com. Times are apparently subject to change, but right now they have City of Angers showing Wed, Jan 13th at 11am, and Friday the 15th, at 10am, both at the Caine Center.
I'm not quite sure if I'm going to attend. I will just be getting back from a 2 week trip up and down the east coast. I don't where Idyllwild, CA is... but from what I'm hearing... members of the cast and cre are talking about sharing a CABIN??? for the Festival??
TEXT: Hi James....It's April... from City of Angers - how are you? Are you going to the Idyllwild Film Festival by any chance for the screening? you ARE the lead:)
ME: When is it again? I don't think I'm in town... and I have no idea where Idyllwild is.
TEXT: I believe it starts the week of the 11th....thinking of going from Thursday through Saturday:) Just checking so maybe we can all share a cabin or something.
ME: sharing a CABIN?? what the hell? I don't know. Not sure if I'm feelin it.
TEXT: Michael Madsen will be there. He has two films being screened on Thursday-he knows my cousin and appeared in my good friend's film "Strength And Honour"...Mark Mahon.
ME: Let me mull it over.
TEXT: It COULD be a good time even if I don't like my part...thank God it's not a lead lead!
ME: Riiiight... well...like I said... let me think about it... I mean hey... ya never know... if MICHAEL MADSEN is going to be there!!!
TEXT: YES!!!! I am thinking photos with Michael for sure... right?!! it's all about being seen.... right?
ME: Riiiiight.... I will let you know... have a great holiday.
Good Times in Idyllwild!!!
ALSO....
I released the latest episode of CATCH on a handful of sites yesterday. I'm really happy with the way this episode turned out. I think it looks amazing... and I owe a big thanks to Shirley Petchprapa, her superstar directing and her shnazzy little set of lenses. I also love the way the music filled out the film. While I used to royalty free tracks from Kevin MacLeod and incompetech.com, I also was fortunate enough to get permission to use a couple of great songs from a few friends who also happen to be in a band. I owe a big thanks to the members of BOY/GIRL and KXLL KXLL KXLL. Most people who have seen it agree that it's the best one yet....
Get up stand up, go head and strike the band up. I'm up I'm up. Trying to spread wings and fly friendly skies within a morning page exercise. Speaking of skies, the weather is crazy. The Weather Forecast is CRAZY. There is a giant ICEBERG headed for AUSTRALIA!!! I'm guessing they should evacuate Australia? Its an ICEBERG!! won't it just roll up on shore and just melt? I'm sure somebody will try and bottle that shit and sell it as pure imported Australian Iceberg water. Meanwhile, in LA It was raining alll day Monday. High winds blew through Los Angeles and suddenly I was forced to put some pants on. The Weather Forecast calls for PANTS. I had gotten used to going bottomless. Speaking of bottomless, what the hell is going on with Tiger Woods? I don't get it. None of this makes any sense to me. Ok, yeah, the guy is a mega millionaire and a global celebrity and some weird shit went down at his house... but that incident has turned into a freakin CIRCUS. What am I missing? The guy drives his car into a tree and then issues an unnecessary, poorly worded press release citing TRANSGRESSIONS (what the hell does that even mean?) and that prompts dozens of women to come out and claim to be his action on the back nine? I mean, I get it... if the guy is out cheating on his wife and putting his enture family in jeapordy, then as a public figure, he deserves all this grief. Then again, ANY man who runs around on his wife and puts his family in jeapordy deserves that much grief... and MORE. But the PRESS release? Why did he do that? Why did such a private person write such a stupid statement? Instead of owning up and dealing with private issues privately... he made it worse... in fact it seems to me that he ignited the entire incident... agggravted the circumstances... whatever. AND WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT HAVE TO DO WITH GATORADE? I like Gatorade. ALLEGED INDISCRETIONS? ALLEGED INDISCRETIONS?? There is a WHOLE lotta hoopla poppin off based on Alleged Indiscretions. Oh BROTHER... the whole endorsement dropping parade... the TABLOIDS... the JUDGEMENT... its ridiculous. Tiger and his wife.. whats her name? Dutch model or something like that? Sorry, "I don't speak freaky-deaky DUTCH!" Tiger Woods and his freaky-deaky Dutch model wife... those two should go on NBC's THE BIGGEST LOSER. From what OI can tell its morphing into a blend of FAT CAMP and THE BACHELOR. THE BIGGEST LOSER.... MUST-SEE TV... Its a magical show where FAT people get whipped into shape... and apparently during the season final... Antoine & Alexandra, after losing like TWO THOUSAND lbs between them, got engaged. Let me interrupt myself right here by saying I DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW... its boring... and it's reality TV and I absolutely CANNOT STAND Reality TV... but I DO see the benefit... to THE BIGGEST LOSER.... FAT, SLOPPY and IGNORANT people across America can see that its possible to put down the double cheeseburgers, pass on the cheesey fries, drink a few glasses of water instead of a giant COKE that you REFILL a dozen times a day, get off your ASS for 20 minutes a day...and you MIGHT... you just MIGHT... feel a little better.... and maybe not look so disgusting all the time. Anyway ... ANTOINE got down on one knee and proposed to Alexandria and they celebrated by stuffing their faces with ice cream cake. Wash it down with some pure Australian Iceberg water... I hear its packed with antioxidants.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all my Sagittarian friends
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRLFRIENDS LITTLE SISTER, COLLEEN!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BUDDY DEREK PEITH... goof friend and annoying Cowboys fan... I left him a note this morning on his Facebook page....
"HEY... Happy EARLY Birthday buddy... even though you didnt BOTHER to send ME a birthday message SIX DAYS ago... its okay... I'm over it... THE COWBOYS ARE GAY!!! TONY ROMO is GAY... COLT McCOY is GAY... DALLAS is DONE... dead in the water.... happy holidays!!!"
I'm just a JERK. Hooray for me.
and HAPPY UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS TO DEBRA ANN HAJEK, CATE BEEHAN and HEIDI FIELEK....
Morning page morning page. Happy Birthday! dont ask my age. I'm kickin it crusty in a rusty cage. makin more money than minimum wage. I'm up. I'm down. When my birthday's in town. Try to clown around and disguise my frown. Its back and forth, gaining girth, my date of birth dont determine my worth. ok, ok, I'll stop the rhymin, thats just the way I ease into a good morning page exercise, a little freehand freestyle stream of consciousness stretch, a skuttle butt sketch. throw the ball to myself so i can turn around and fetch. I have NOTHING going on today. Not working. Slept in. Taking phone calls filled with well wishes from old and new friends. Enjoying all the emails and Facebbok messages from people I took eighth grade science class with. I have a lot to be grateful for on my birthday. I know I know, Thanksgiving was LAST week but I can dish up some REFRIED gratitude on my birthday. Can't have TOO much gratitude. Keeps me humble. Keeps my attitude in check. and you can ask my Mother... my attitude has a tendency to drift. I know I'm pushing it when my Mom has to try write me an email or call me and tell me to make some adjutsments to my perspective. Thats when I KNOW I need to reign it in. Speaking of Thanksgiving. Last week was awesome. My girlfriend, the sweetest, sexiest, smartest girl in the Universe, and that covers any planet anywhere, and i went up to San Francisco to spend the holiday weekend with her family. Her Aunt and Uncle live in Berkeley. We went up and stayed at the Hotel Durant. There were quite a few folks actuallly staying AT her Aunts place, her Mom, Dad, Sister, cousin, cousins kids, I think there might have been a second or third cousin hanging around the house, three dogs, a chocolate labe, an all black retriever style mutt and an old crotchety bull dog named Millhaus. Thanksgiving was great. The food was great. Everyone was very friendly and hospitable. IN FACT, her UNCLE went out and purchased an HD flatscreen and DIRECT TV so we could all watch football all weekend. Thats was really cool. The thing was, as Kristen explained it to me. Her Aunt and Uncle were not big TV WATCHERS, they HAD a TV, but it was a small one that was basically kept in the corner of the room. So of course, I was like, DAMN.... I envisioned a few us huddling around a little black & white tv set, fiddling around with the antenna trying to get at least ONE channel to come in... maybe, If we were lucky we get to watch the COWBOYS/RAIDERS.... hooray... and then when I realize that the GIANTS/BRONCOS game was airing on the NFL NETWORK... fuhgeddaboutit... there's no way... I might as well kiss goodbye any chance of seeing that one. So anyway, I adjusted my attitude, and went up there totally prepared to not watch ANY football on Thanksgiving. I was going to be a pleasant and gracious guest. Then when we got there... LO AND BEHOLD... a big BEAUTIFUL HD FLATSCREEN... and wait... whats that? Whats that you say? We have DIRECT TV?? well...you know what THAT means... DIRECT TV carries the NFL NETWORK... and the NFL NETWORK will be showing the GIANTS game... OH MY GOODNESS... HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY... I am GRATEFUL... I AM SO VERY GRATEFUL... then of course the Giants got their asses kicked by the Broncos and I wished I never even turned the game ON in then first place... DAMN YOU HD FLATSCREEN... DAMN YOU DIRECT TV... DAMN YOU ELI MANNING... would you please pass the gravy?? and I'll have another stiff drinks... the one with the gin? and the maraschino cherry? What's called? An AVIATION? Yes...pour TWO OR THREE more of those... Milhaus and I are going to drown our sorrows. Bleeeeccccchhhhhhhhh snifff sniff snifff snifff burrrrpppppttthhhh blecccchhhhh sllluuurrrrp burrrrrrppppttthhh growwwwllllll (thats Milhaus) blecccchhhh inhale.... exhale.... re join the festivities.... We were up there all weekend so we had time to go into San Francisco and check things out. I had never been to SF... so it was especially cool for me to get out and bounce around. Drove over to Sausalito, walked around at FISHERMAN'S WARF (a lot like South Street Seaport), Kristen and I got shnazzed up at night and went out for a few cocktails at the REDWOOD ROOM..which is inside the CLIFT (?) Hotel... had a few dirty martinis and then we wandered over to some CLUB... we didnt really know the lay of the land that well... so we stopped in at the nearest place that had any kind of buzz around it... whihc was this cheezy club... cant remember the name... paid 20 bucks each to get in...and BOOOM-CH BOOM-CH BOOM-CH BOOM-CH BOOM-CH BOOM-CH... it was ok... we gotta drink... maybe two... cant remember... found a smaller side rooom in the club... went in there, had a seat and people-watched for a while... which is always fun at a cheezy club. We took the scenic drive back from SF... so we drove down the coast for a few hours and took in the sites... stopped at Monterey for lunch... which was awful... we ate at some shitty pub called SLY McFLy? or some shit like that... the food sucked... beyond words... every have fried strips of RUBBER? that was our lunch in Monterey. We left SF around 10 or 11... got back to LA around 8. It was really a great weekend... Kristen and I get along so well and travel so well together that we seem to be able to make the most out of every trip.
So now Im back... and its my birthday... dont ask me how old I am cuz I will SLAP you across the mouth....
and now for a few Sagittarian horoscopes and IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY TYPE OF SHIT....
Check it out...
ASTROLOGY REPORT FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES>>
Today's birthday (Dec. 3): Your positive and conscientious approach to life will be celebrated. You'll be promoted to a leadership role. The next three months feature a quest. Your interests lead you to places you've never been. You'll fall in love in January -- or more deeply in love than you already are. Push yourself to personal victory in May. Your lucky numbers are: 34, 15, 49, 22 and 17.
NYDAILYNEWS.COM>>
Happy birthday, Sagittarius! You are a successful networker, which puts you in front of interesting and influential people. You're socially adept and that skill will be put to good use. This year is a powerful time, when your lifestyle can move up a notch.
NYPOST.COM>>>
BIRTHDAY THURSDAY: If you feel that your life has become a bit too predictable, a bit too humdrum, now is the time to do something about it. Ask yourself what it is you would choose to be doing if there were no restrictions. Then do it. You'll find a way if your desire is strong.
CAFE ASTROLOGY.COM>>>
IF YOU WERE BORN TODAY: You are a fervent, loyal, and spirited person who is true to yourself whatever the cost! You hold strong beliefs yet you are tolerant of others, even if you do enjoy a good debate and trying to "win" others to your perspective. While at times you can be restless due to an inquisitive and interested nature, you are also capable of great loyalty and dependability, valuing stability and permanency. You are generally good with money and not big on gambling it away foolishly. You are truly unique and not afraid to be yourself. Famous people born today: Daryl Hannah, Ozzy Osbourne, Julianne Moore, Anna Freud, Brendan Fraser, Katerina Witt.
GIORGIA NICOLS SAYS>>>
Actor Brendan Fraser (1968) shares your birthday today. You're creative, and are often passionately absorbed with whatever you are creating. You're extremely private, and can become obsessed about your work. You believe you should explore your ideas and use your gifted talents, often to the exclusion of other things. In the next year you will wrap up or finish something you've been involved with for the last nine years.
Ever heard of Cosmo Jarvis? Kid's awesome. Next big thing. Singer, Songwriter, Filmmaker, Rock N Rolla. Check him out. For real. And I'll say I told ya so.
Two weeks ago I picked up a magazine called MOJO, which is some sort of UK based music magazine....
Funny thing about MOJO... some people have it...some people DON'T... YOU know what I'm talking about... yeah you do.
Anyway, MOJO magazine has a section called FILTER ALBUMS, which rates and reviews roughly 70-75 albums. ONE of those albums is a 2 CD debut by a New Jersey born, Devon raised artist who goes by the name of Cosmo Jarvis.
"Jarvis is 19, but penned some of his 2 CD debut's 18 songs aged 17. Inarguably gifted, he makes films as well as writing, playing and brilliantly engineering his wildly inventive music. Disc 1, subtitled Humasyouhitch, corrals lighter Cosmo tunes that mostly concern growing pains and unattainable girls (Mel's song: Jessica Alba's Number). Scatalogical, if entertaining, couplets arre the only marker of our host's juvenesence. Maxine, for example, melds deft baroque pop flourishes and fine BLUR-like hooks. Things get much darker on disc 2, Sonafabitch. He Only Goes Out On Tuesdays, all foreboding strings strings and bleak Eminem style reportage, concerns child abuse, while parental divorce song song Problems has a grungy, wonderfully miffed sounding chorus. Cosmo's switches between the grim and the ribald might sound problematic, but his debut is careful to isolate these qualities on separate discs. A fab new talent with imagination overload." (Mojo Music Magazine, Dec 2009)
So the fact that this kid is New Jersey born is what caught my eye, the review piqued my interest, and everything I found on his website kind of blew me away, just the fact that this kid is 19 years old and he has a body of work (Some of it created when he was 13-15 years old!!!), that some artists would spend a lifetime constructing. I love that he is writing and directing short films, which are alll fairly decent, as well as writing and performing music... and I have to say... his music is kind of awesome... He has a ton of tracks on his website for anyone to listen to...and already Ive found a dozen or so that I really like... songs that I found myself sitting there and bobbing my head to.
And I'm just talking about the stuff he's got on his website... I havaent even heard the stuff that's coming out on the double album. Cosmo's 2 CD debut is not yet available in the US... but dropped a few weeks ago in the UK... I did catch the video he has for the song PROBLEMS on Youtube... and I like it... I like it alot.
So I'm gonna say it ... I'm gonna call it... right here, right now.... Cosmo Jarvis is gonna be big.... the kid is for real... mark my words... and check out his stuff...
INT. DINER. DAY.
An attractive young woman enters the diner and saunters past the two detectives, sitting down at a nearby table.
Detective James
Wow.... someone outta buy that girl a DRINK.
Detective Jones
It's NINE in the morning!
Detective James
Exactly
CATCH 6: Written and Produced by James Huffman; Directed by Wes Greeson; Features Bill Oberst JR, James Huffman, Brian Wilson, Amy Snively, Trevor Jones, Zack Sonnenberg and Anne Judson Yager...
My Girlfriend and I went to the Lakers game on Sunday night and were pleasantly surprised by a series of celebrity cameos. We were watching the Jumbo tron do its usual "Most annoying fan of the game," and "lets try and get two total strangers to kiss" business... and the all of the sudden ... a mini concert broke out... I guess the American Music Awards had been going on across the street at the Nokia Theatre and since The Lakers were well ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder... and its is Hollywood... might as well make the most of it... all of the sudden there is Fergie and Will.i.am ... on the Jumbo Tron... you could actually see them down there courtside.... and they started doing a little karaoke thing ... Will.i.am stood with a microphone at his seat and began to sing, "I Gotta Feeling," which has been something of a standard on the Lakers' sound track this season... The place went F$#%ing NUTS... then he introduced B-REAL from Cypress Hill... and then ...wait a minute.... is that A-ROD??? Yea! Thats A-Rod... what the??? Oh man... he is already going way too Hollywood for me... I was really starting to like you A-Rod... I hope this Hollywood thing doesnt get out of control.... Keep it real my man... just play ball... whatdya say? Anyway... of couse I was happy to see him... GO YANKEES!!! But that wasnt it.... about a half hour later... the song EMPIRE STATE OF MIND starts booming and LO and BEHOLD... Jay-Z WAS IN THE HOUSE. Again... the crowd erupted... and once the dust setlled... Jay Z and his entourage bounced... LA is the land of the after party, people... they got places to be...people to see....
Dont even get me started on the public transportation fiasco that ensued after the game...
For a team that didnt play a minute on Sunday, the New York Giants had a great week this week (The Eagles and the Cowboys BOTH lost).
Did the Patriots REALLY just BLOW a 17 point lead and lose to the COLTS? Did I REALLY just watch that?
Did the BRONCOS really just get rolled by the REDSKINS? UGH... the HORROR.
But THANK YOU Brandon Marshall for having an amazing Fantasy day and helping me and my girlfriend edge out a win this week... we NEEDE that (YES, we share a fantasy team. It's her team... I'm a silent partner).
AND did STANFORD?? STANFORD??? Did they really just TERRORIZE the TROJANS on Saturday? Holy crap! I LOVE THAT!
SATURDAY!!! Ask me what I did Saturday....
(What did you do Saturday?)
Me? Oh... I WORKED on Saturday.. I picked up a one-day job as a Brand Ambassador for T-Mobile, working at an event in ONTARIO. yes, Ontario is about an HOUR east of LA... but whatever... the pay was pretty good and these convention hall gigs are usually pretty easy... the only information I received prior to the event was that this would be pretty easy stuff... one person would be taking pics of consumers posing w/ these Honda motocross bikes and the other person would help with printing them out or dealing with consumers.
What I discovered once I arrived... is that i was working at the MATA EXPO
Yes... the MATA expo... is basically an expo for deaf people....
"MATA EXPO is more than just a trade show. It is an opportunity for companies, organizations, and individuals with talents to show off their sign language arts / deaf-hard of hearing products to thousands of people at once and make announcements about new products and services.
A Japanese word 'MATA' means 'See you later or again'. MATA is a symbolic word "visual concept + small world" in the Deaf-related community."
Would have been nice to know that in advance... although it wouldnt have made any difference.. but i guess it would have been nice to be prepared... I mean... I cant sign to save my LIFE... so I was really kind of useless.
There were thousands of people, milling about, hands and fingers flying in all directions... and the TAIKO... Oh my GOD... the Taiko... Japanese drumming... really really LOUD Japanese drumming... that was the musical entertainment for the day... I'm sure you can probably guess that the vibrations from the drum corp resonates through the room as a form of ambiance.
Now, I'm a big fan of any type of drumming... I love drum circles... DRUM LINE is a favorite movie of mine... but this TAIKO was LOUD... and I seriously thought I was going to lose my MIND.... and it was only 10AM!!
This event closed at 7PM.
I shuffled over to my event co -worker ... the only non-deaf person within a 20 mile radius...
"I seriously think I'm going to go insane."
"This is definitely different"
"Uh... yeah"
"It's not THAT bad"
"No... not THAT bad... NINE more hours"
"DON'T start doing that... please"
"EIGHT hours, FIFTY-nine minutes...and thirty seconds"
"Seriously, that's gonna make ME crazyz."
"EIGHT hours, FIFTY-"
"STOP!!"
"How the HELL am I gonna do this? How? This is so annoying. I dont know how to SIGN. I cannot bellieve i'm gonna have to F%$#@ do this BULLSH&T...all Mother F$#@ing DAY. F%$#k a Duck with a %$#@*&&%$**&%$. You gotta be f%$# kidding me."
"Okay... can you please stop murmuring? It's not really that bad."
"F$#@king Bullsh&% deaf expo... this is a F%$#& nightmare"
"Can I tell you something?
"Please"
"MOST of these people... can read your lips"
"OH shhhh$#%t"
AND... she walked away... leaving me to stand there and look like a complete asshole.
The day actually turned out to be NOT-SO-BAD after all. I adjusted my attitude and tried to make the best of it... which lightened the load, of course... and I'm sure a good dose of energy drink and another hour to shake off my hangover helped take the edge off as well....
Then T-MOBILE'S main attraction for the day arrived, Ashley Fiolek. Ashley is a 19 year old women's motocross champion... who also happens to be deaf. Pretty amazing I have to say, she changes gears by feeling the engine vibrations. She is also getting her fair share of buzz... She was the the featured guest on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly on November 5th.
Anyway, she spent the day at the T-Mobile booth signing autographs and posing for pictures. She was actually very sweet, gracious and kind... she spent the whole day smiling for picture after picture after picture and you could really tell... for many of the people who stopped by to visit... that she was an inspiration.
So I basically just focused on doing whatever I could to help her and help facilitate the autograph signing and the picture taking. She did most of the signing... which took me off the hook for the most part.
It was still a LONG F%$#ing day... I was exhausted by the time I got home.
Saturday night I stay in and watched a DVD with my girlfriend. We watched THE CLASS... French Film... got good reviews when it was making the art house circuit a few months ago...
"In an inventive adaptation of his novel about his experiences working in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Paris, François Bégaudeau stars as a replica of himself -- a passionate French teacher who presides over a classroom of diverse young minds. Not your standard drama or documentary but something in between, this Oscar-nominated film used three cameras during a largely improvisational shoot and features real students rather than actors."
Eh... it was so-so at best... extremely chatty... and subtle.... but not really in a good way.... i found it kind of boring and uneventful... think DANGEROUS MINDS only less dramatic... as in barely dramatic.... and FRENCH... so-so I say... je m'appele fromage....
So a couple of days ago I posted the latest episode of CATCH to a handful of video hosting sites... YOUTUBE, of course, BLIPTV, VIMEO, MYSPACE (just in case ANYONE is still out there cruising Myspace), VEOH, DAILYMOTION.... um... VIDDLER... uh... I'm sure there might be a few others... I'm just drawing a blank right now...
and BREAK.COM... and I have to ask... is EVERYONE on Break.com just completely twisted and retarded?
I posted CATCH 6 on Break and soon after I had a handful of comments posted on my profile...
break.com/_Soloist666_ : i find your work interesting
have you ever thought about filming something that invloves farm animals and women that are really desparate for money?
break.com/LeMoron : Sir
i'd lik to discuss a movie project basid on my avatar.thank yuo.(i allreaedy have a scritp)
break.com/0hLawdy : I like films with hairy
middle eastern women and mules
break.com/MuscleHic : Fvck is
this low budget garb? Unsub from me you 30yo pukes. Get a job and pay taxes
HUH?? What the hell is all that?
So I asked one of these guys why everyone on BREAK was retarded.... his response...
break.com/MuscleHic :In response to your question
Yea man its a circus and a very negative oriented site thus the appeal. Nice pseudonym "Huffman" lol you and Mario Lopez should do a fisting vid you Abercrombie clone
Apparently so... if you taken a look at Break.com... its like every 12 year old boy's wet dream... I'm sure any kid between the ages of 10 and 19 who has access to the internet is familiar with Break.com... you can see lots of boobs... lots of butts... drunk people doing stupid stuff... bar fights... stupid pet tricks... and more boobs...
This video pretty much sums up BREAK.com's purpose on this planet....
So I guess that's it... Now we know.... and I have to say... I find this gentleman's response to my question well crafted with a touch of demented twisted brilliance... seriously.
Morning page, morning page, I dont believe in burning Sage, I miss those days of plays on stage, I got Johnny Cash in a Rusty Cage, Its a welcome whisper crytsal clear, the starting pistol only I can hear, stay true to those things I hold dear, in the valley of the darkness, I shall fear, but fear is that which fuels my game, My fear that the song will remain the same, My fear I was conquered before I came, My fear that no one remembers my name. Get up stand up, build your brand up, if you gotta question then throw your damn hand up, do what you do with a handful of answers, cuz every new year they commandeer some new cancers. Its all up to you, you dont have to buy it, but try somehting new, wont kill you to try it, do what you do, and once its all through, read the review, you can always deny it, if the public is feelin you keepin it real then, do what you do to source and supply it. I got the Jim the Jam, the Sham the Wow, I Clown around town with a frown of a Brown Cow. I'm not too proud, to place a wish on a cloud, YO!! TURN THAT SHIT DOWN... Muthafucka its DAMN LOUD. Listen here, fear is only here so you can fear it, Dont touch the mic baby, Dont come near it, Dont stop the rock, Stop blocking the cock, You rub your feet across the rug, You be getting a shock, OW! Damn! They gonna call it the Jim Jam, The Fab Five Fergie, Or the Flippity Flim Flam, BAYAM! Thats exactly who I am, I'm in a BOAT with a GOAT, Eatin green eggs and ham, Ma'am? May I please take your coat? I got just what you need so read the rhymes that I wrote.
I've been challenged to a sketch it out FIGHT-DOWN. My 6 year old nephew Keller drew a little picture of King Kong vs. Godzilla and he sent word that he would like to challenge his Uncle Jim to a little “draw-down,” a show-down... or, a “fight-down” as my other nephew Casey sometimes says.
This is the second challenge from Keller. He drew a series on monsters a few months ago and challenged me to return fire with a few monsters of my own...
Which I lOVED doing... whipping up a few good MONSTERS? Hell yeah.... drawing, for me, is SO incredibly soothing and cathartic... any excuse to put everything aside and just start drawing crazy stuff with a few magic markers... I'm all over it...
So Keller sent me a dramatic sketch that embodied the raw emotion and primala brutality of this classic confrontation...
I retruned the favor with a couple of quick magic marker mash ups of my own....
Now I will go ahead and send over the originals so those kids can mark em up... make adjustments... put their stamp on them...make them more "Kid-approved"
BAYAM!! Yankees win Yankees win THATS RIGHT... the BIGGEST BADDEST MUTHA F%$@-IN BESTEST team in the history of SPORTS THE NEW YORK Yankees win... wow... that was a mouthfull... I tell you what... Its a great day to be a Yankees fan.. and all you NON fans, haters, heathans...and most people in New England...EVERYBODY in Boston... can SUCK IT. The New York Yankees won their TWENTY SEVENTH World Series title last night and its feels F$#$@ING GOOD. ...It's all about chemistry... that's it... thats what did it... I mean it doesnt hurt to have one of the most talented and expensive rosters in MLB... but even with that... you have NOTHING without chemistry... Texiera fit right in... so did CC... no bumps...no adjustment issues... Phil Hughes and Joba embraced their roles in middle relief... Mariano showed up as Mariano... but BETTER (i have a feeling we may have seen his last amazing moment on the mound last night), and A-Rod loosened up and allowed himself to have some fun... that was the difference this year... a cooler, more relaxed atmosphere... pies in the face, dancing in the dugout... NONE of that shit was going on in 08... wasnt happening in 07..or 06... or OH FIVE... BAYAM! hear what I'm saying?
BAYAM! I watched almost every playoff game from the ALDS to Game 6 at THE HAPPY ENDING BAR in Hollywood. I discovered HAPPY ENDING a few months ago when I took my girlfriend out... on one of our earliest dates... to watch a Yankees Red Sox game... yes, thats right... BAYAM! I'm super smooth... anyway... I discovered that HAPPY ENDING was a NEW YORK friendly sports bar... undeniably... and to top it off.. they actually have really good food (for a Sports bar)... thats where Kristen and I watched the Yankees BEAT the Red Sox.. it was only a mid season game... but I THINK it was the first time this season that Yankees were able to pull off a victory against those bastards.... the Yankees had been swept... TWICE... in previous meetings... Who would have thought that after losing EIGHT STRAIGHT... going 0-8 against Boston to start off the year that the Yanks would take it all in the end? So yeah, we watched that game and BAYAM! I fell in love with this bar.... it was during that game that we created the "Lucky Slouch." Every time i would slouch way down in my seat... the Yankees would do something good... I slouched deeper and deeper as the game went on... The Yankees won and BAYAM! the SLOUCH was born.... Of course I developed the superstition that we MUST watch every important Yankees game... TOGETHER...at Happy Endings to do our part in helping the Yankees win... then later I added the superstition that I had to order the delicious Happy Ending ribs so as to inspire the Yankee hitters to start hitting. They have really good ribs there...rrreeeaallly good ribs... the fish tacos are also awesome... oh and the buttermilk fried chicken skewers... reallllyyy goood... they come with this Rosemary syrup... holy crap its delicious... BAYAM!!
ALRIGHT... all that being said, I think I need to take a break from Happy Endings for a while... maybe a little break from massive amounts of beer and celebratory shots of Patron... and while the food is extremeley tasty... NOT so healthy... my digestive system has got its work cut out... I should be able move most of my inventory just in time for Thanksgiving...
THANKSGIVING??? Holy crap... in THREE weeks its going to be THANKSGIVING...
OK... Tuesday morning. I'm firing away on my laptop, drinking my tea, mobilizing plans to mobilize. Looking for freelance work, browsing breakdowns and mapping out the next few months. My contract with IZZE came to a close on Friday. And while I welcome the change and a much needed break from the day to day duties as a full-time beverage marketing rep, I will miss that steady pay check. The good thing is I have 2 more industrial video projects to produce... and there is the possibility of doing more.
Last week I finally finished shooting legal video project #2, which was not short on challenges. Project # 1 was a 15 page script and it was a walk in the park compared to the 40 page, 15 actor, big nasty barn dance that was... "legal video project # 2."
Now, dont get me wrong, I am not complaining at all... I love doing this stuff... but this shit aint easy... casting, locations, equipment, scheduling, coordinating and "wrangling" a roster of actors and their "quirky" habits, hard drives and fire wire cables, something I forgot that I desperatley need, something i brought plenty of that I dont need at all.... there is a precarious situation at every turn... and I forget to eat... forget to drink enough water... so I end up feeling like shit when its all done
I still love it.... and of course I find a way to cast myself so I can do a little acting... I do that for fun but I also end up saving myself a little money....
I'm fully aware that every project I will ever work on will offer its own special blend of challenges.... thats part of the fun... I learn from mistakes and lucky breaks... and I take the entire experience with me to the next one.
Project # 2 definitely forced me to work for it and earn my money... But now I have a long list of notes... the do's and dont's that will enable me to be a better, faster and more effective producer...
I could share a lot of the stories of horror and heroism from this last shoot, but I dont want to throw anyone under the bus... and one thing i know for sure is that when you blog... people read it... and if you lack sensitivity... air out peoples flaws and fuck-ups... people get upset... I'm not doing this to get people upset...
I will say this... every thing that went wrong on this shoot was laced with my own mistakes... I have no problem accepting responsibility....
Ok... that being said.... We got it... we shot it... we finished strong... moving on....
My work as a producer is actually moving in a good direction. I have a few other projects in my back pocket that I will be looking to get started in the next month or two. One concept is based in the world of branding and viral marketing... an idea that I've been bouncing around for a year now... and I'm fairly confident that this one will work... be successful.... I think it would be an effective tool for a brand... I just need to find a company or brand who sees the value in using viral videos as part of their marketing game. The other project I'm looking to kick start is based in basic online entertainment... its another idea that I've been playing with for a while... and I actually have a bunch of footage shot with this project in mind... but I need a LOT more to make this one go... doesnt help that one of my hard drives is flatlined right now. I had a 500GB Lacie hard drive that was holding about 2 years worth of work and one day it decided not to power up. At this point, I dont know if all hope is lost on it... it didnt CRASH necessarily... but its definitely playing dead. I havent had the time to explore my options, but I think I'm about to get moving on that....
Ok... this blog post has taken me HOURS to complete... if you figure in that I took a break to have breakfast (just some protein powder mixed with coconut water), watch Sportscenter six times, email my girlfriend, FACEBOOK my girlfriend... then I was forced to get on the phone with Verzion because they turned my phone off... and that was because I was like... 300 minutes over my monthly limit... NOT because I failed to pay the bill... I knew that's what you were thinking.... and I have to say... real quick before I sgn off here... that Verizon was very nice to me today... they told me that I would owe them 168 bucks in overage charges unless I switched my plan to include more minutes... whihc would cost an extra 20 bucks with the option to go back to my prigonal plan next month.... AND they reminded me to add up to 5 "friends & family" numbers... from ANY network.... that I could call anytime and not use up my monthly minutes... DUH!!! That is somehting I should have done a long time ago... but I guess I overlooked that option... so they really hooked me up... instead of just ramming me with the high hard one... like the good ole days.... so thank you Verizon Wireless... that was super cool of you...
Morning page again, back at it, trying to find a groove and start blogging on a better basis. scolded by my bestest, oldest, boldest buddy Al. "I feel i dont KNOW you anymore." LIfe is about to shift for me, again. My contract with IZZE sparkling fruit juice is coming to a close, so my daily full time duties of executing events at local grocery stores, fast food chains and corporate cafeterias will be reduced to an occasional support gig in the case of overflow or something big and special that requires my assistance. Thatr basically means that I am staying on the payroll in the off season. I just wont be working for them full time. They have already disucussed the option of returning for the next season in 2010, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in February. In the meantime I will get back to the freelance hustle that I know so well. I actually have a couple more legal industriual videos to produce, so thats good, I'm getting paid to produce. I'm cha-chinging that cheddar like charlie chaplin... yeah thats right... I said it... CHEDDAR! CHARLIE CHAPLIN CHEDDAR...Mutha F%$#@!!! And with these little producing gigs i get top spread the love around. I am able to hire people and throw them some paying work, especially the loyal and reliable friends that have donated so much of their time and energy to other projects of mine where they got nothing more than a couple granola bars and some shitty pizza (All pizza in California is shitty... sorry). So I'm happy with the fact that I can give back a little...you know... what comes around goes around... it helps me prove that I'm not totally full of shit. So producing these video projects will keep me busy, give me some street cred and put a little money in the bank... and MAYBE.... just MAYBE... I can get my acting game popppin again. I've been on a pretty significant acting hiatus since I started this IZZE job. My life has been so busy with a full time job, a few of these video projects, FOOTBALL season, YANKEE baseball... and a totally freakin awesome new girlfriend. So my acting career had to take a back seat.... but I'm makin a COMEBACK people. I feel like this year we may see the first proper PILOT season in quite a while. It seems like the past few years, each pilot season has been tainted by strikes and a piss poor economy. So MAYBE... just maybe... this year will be different.... Now I just need a new agent. GET TO IT... GET UP... GO DO IT... YEAH!! Nice slogan eh? I think it s hould go on a t-shirt. I said that to my girlfriend the other morning while trying to motivate her, and myself, to get out of bed... I accidentally rhymed... its kind of my trademark... and I thought that my newfound favorite phrase would do well on a t- shirt. I don't know why, but I want to start keeping a list of phrases that should go on t-shirts. I'm actually suggesting phrases should go on a t shirt quite often. THATS kind of my trademark. That and coming up with ridiculous names for a band... like I say something or hear some funny phrase and I say "HEY, that would be a good name for a band." Then everyone kind of shrugs and no one really says anything, maybe I get a half smile or somebody says "Yeah, thats funny...anyway..." and they continue the conversation that I interrupted with my trademark tomfoolery. My girlfriend likes my tomfoolery. She thinks I'm hilarious and makes me feel like I'm the funniest person on the planet. She is somehting else. I could listen to her laugh all day and never get sick of it. She has a trademark too. Her trademark is passing out in the car on the way home from the bar. doh, NO...he..didnt... sorry baby doll... love you. Good times with the GF. It gets better every day. I think we are going to spend New years together in New York. Then I want to take her up to Boston and we will probably zip down to DC and Fairfax, VA to see more friends, family and significant sights. I sent out an email last night to see if I could score a place to stay in Manhattan on New Years eve... long shot I know... a hotel room is not really an option becayuse they are, of course, expensive as hell on New Years eve. So I just threw this email out there to see if I got lucky...
"My girlfriend and I will be back in New York for New Years and I'm asking around to see if anyone would be willing to sublet their place for a couple of days... like 2... 3days tops... Ideally I'm looking for a place to stay on any or all of the following dates... Wed Dec 30, Thursday Dec 31st and Friday Jan 1st... We will be out and headed up to Boston on the 2nd and bouncing around from there...totally willing to pay for the sublet... If you or someone you know is planning on being out of town that weekend and might be interested in making a little cash on a weekend sublet... please let me know.... THX!!!"
Score! I had a handful of offers from a few good friends... thank you thank you thank you... but a good buddy from college took the prize by offering his place on 76th street for free since he will be out of town... and he is just a great guy who is always makes sure you have a beer (or two) in your hand... which is great... ok sometimes thats NOT so great... but whatever.... a friend is a friend...and beer is beer... and besides... this guy is forever grateful to me for writing a rap for him in college that he STILL uses to this day when he's in a pinch... When he is in doubt, he remembers that rhyme and breaks it out. He says he gets all kinds of street , office and dive bar cred with that line... he drops it with the doorman at the hottest club... and he is suddenly being escorted to the VIP room... and whispers it to the host at New Yorks fanciest five star restauarant and he has the best table in the house ... When he gets pulled over at a DUI checkpoint and the officer asks him if why he is wearing a plastic batting helmet with two beers and straws attached... he never fails to get a pass... just by uttering these words... in fact, I believe he met his past THREE girlfriends using this legendary phrase, authored by yours truly, way back in the early NINETIES....
"Can you CHUCK CHUCK CHUCK IT? Mutha Mutha F%#K IT! When I blow chunks, I blow chunks in a bucket!!"
No shit... true story.... unfortunately I think its also how he ended all three of those relationships....
CATCH 5: The Texafornian, written & produced by James Huffman Features Bill Oberst Jr., Trevor Jones, Caitlin Moreland and Megan Forrest Directed by Jai Walia; First AD Eric Jones; DP Richard Samuels; Sound Engineer: Eric I Bucklin; PA Brad Holtzman
This play list was created for a recent weekend getaway. Driving around Wine Country, Santa Barbara County... with my super sweet girlfriend riding shotgun...
Morning page again, Ok, I'm up. I'm here. Groggy but clear. Taking a sip of whatever's near. Ready to race, taking a taste. Jumping and Krumping with gumption and grace. Still on some sort of decline from a "REFINE my big behind" weekend. Touring WINE country in the big orange IZZE van, cranking my Klassical Konundrum playlist! Laying low with the Lompocodiles, conquering SOLVANG. Diggin that Dutch disco doo doo... Doing what they do in Santa Babara county, wine tasting, never done that before. Went up to Santa Babara for work on Saturday, worked an event at a Gelsons Supemarket for a few hours, took my girl with me, then we stayed up there and scooted around town for the rest of the day, scooted the entire region for the weekend, lunch on the beach, ate some really nice sized oysters... they refused to serve me any club crackers, tried a Hawaiin beer that I really liked, PRIMO? bounced around on Santa Barara's State street, Headed north up to Lompoc, CA, stopped by THE SHAMROCK in LOMPOC, local dive bar, caught an interestingly bizarre performance by a band called Le Petite Protest, laid to rest at the Holiday Inn Express, where the hallways smelled like Grandpa dropped a duece and let the Lysol loose. Wineries and Vineyards, tasting rooms, I love the way the wine descriptions are written, the flavors and suggestions, the character traits that give each glass a hint of mythology. Honeysuckle, Gunpowder, Sweet barbeque, savory, sinister, sweet and petite. imagine a blend, say, cabernet, beaudacious in lace, then of course, there was my favorite, gumption and grace. Melville, Lincourt, Beckman and back, made dinner and home, trout filet, with a little lump crab stack, and a super sexy salad. Sexy salad just wasnt quite enough. Tasty indeed, but I was too worn out for a weekend recap. Plans to reschedule...
CATCH 3 (Sugar Free) should be called CATCH REDUX. It's a revised edition of the original CATCH episode 1, and now features original music by Jamie Coon ("Crazy") and by Kxll Kxll Kxll ("Damaged").
KILL KILL KILL... or KXLL KXLL KXLL... of K1LL K1LL K1LL>>>
Morning page, Oh morning page, shall I burn some sage, record my rage? I've pulled the drapes. I'm eating grapes, green grapes, the cripsiest grapes Ive ever eaten in my entire life, these grapes are SO crispy that the first one I put in my mouth I had to spit out, i panicked. I thought somehting was terribly wrong. "A green grape cant be THIS firm! THIS crisp! Is this a ceramic grape? Am I eating glass? Wait....wait... i s this bad? is this bad?" I'm all better now and I'm REALLY digging the crispy grapes... firm, cruncy...delicious. Water for tea is over there boiling. I know., I'm not really supposed to multi-taks during morning pages, but as you know, I'm one to bend and break rules, thats juts what I do, and I'm not supposed to be sharing my mrojning pages swith people across the world, nor am I supposed to eat freakishly firm GRAPES while I write my morning pages either, so I'm gonna go over to the stove, take the boiling water off, and pour it into a big 20 ounce mug for my morning tea, one black one green, one chai... and I'm gonna do that now, and you, my brother, my Mom, my 4th grade teacher and anybody else, aint gonna have nothing to say about it, you hear? I've got everything under control... I do... so lets just relax.. and go with it...
Aaaaah, okay, tea is steeping, tea is good, tea keeps me from sleeping, tea gives me wood. whatever, never mind. okay so the heat has broken and I'm SO freakin happy about that. Summer here goes from like July to October... last year it went til November, and its all fine and fun in July, but once football season starts and everyone is pretty much OVER Summer, those 5 days stretches of 90 plus get really annoying. look at that I got up to pour water for tea and I totally lost my train of thought, so what I have to do in that situation is keep trucking along, anything, everything. Dont stop, dont think, write write write write, ooze ON wit ya bad self. Its Panda day for me. I hat Panda day. Panda day SUCKS. Panda day means I have to work TWO IZZE events where I set up a big tent and a table in a Panda Express parking liot somewhere and pur little samplkes for people, but there are never any people. I end up giving samples to like, 3 people when I'm there, and I have to set up the stupid 10x10 tent by myslef, which is doable, buts its realy awkward and difficult with one person. So I'm out in te parking lot, wrestling with this big tent frame and awning, trying to assemble the damn thing by myself, everyone is sitting in the restaurant, watching me, and I look like a doofus, like I dont know what I'm doing, dancing around this big, ungly, lanky metal frame that looks like some big alien spider. I used to have to do the same thing when I worked at 93Q Country in Houston, except I had to set up a big, 15 ft inflatable cow that was wearing a 93Q t-shirt and a cowboy hat. I would be out there in the 100 degree Houston heat dry humping this half inflated cow, trying to get the thing to stand all the way up and stand up straight....boy, THAT was fun.
UGH, strugglin, the jugglin, So I'm sittin here UGGLE-in, I'm at Solar de Cahuenga, had a meeting with Kingsley to discuss an upcoming project and that was fine, productive, now i'm trying to work on this CATCH script that Ive been struggling with for weeks now, Solar is cool, but its not the best spot for writing i have to say, very ditsracting, lots of pretty people sliding through, pimps, hustlers, actresses, Ryan Gosling comes here a lot, i've also see Steve Perry, and that chick that played JUNO, Ellen Paige? there is an old guy sitting on the couch to my left talking to this hot young asian girl. He is trying to teach her the ups and downs of the Film and TV industry. I'm sure he will try to convince her that he would give his best presentation with her IN HIS LAP, in the privacy of his two bedroom apartment, the one that he shares with his army buddy, as in WW II veteran. Still trying to get focused and write, struggling, i just went to break.com and watched a video of some unruly Detroit Lions fan get thrown out of the stadium for getting into it with some other people in the stands. the unruly fan was a CHICK, and they eventuallly had to retsrain her and drag her out in handcuffs, once they subdued her, the entire section was cheering. Ok, back to my writing. im writing here...again...like i did this morning becaue it seemed to help and i'm trying to kickstart my ass, i was going to write "kickstart my heart," but censored myself because I thought that sounded gay, not gay as in GAY, but gay as in corney. I refuse to straight up QUOTE MOTLEY CRUE. I think I AM making some progress though. I am sorting out my thoughts. I sort of know where I'm going, what I'm doing. I have a 2 page scene that I wrote a few months ago that would fit perfectly into what I'm trying to accomplish right now, but that laptop died, and all my data, scripts, music and porn, is all trapped inside the lifeless corpse that was... my first laptop... too much porn will do that to a perfectly good laptop, not that my laptop was perfectly good, it was big bulky, badass, like a big mobile military phone from the Korean War. So that wonderful scene I wrote that would really help get this ball rolling, kick this bus into drive, is pretty much of NO use to me at this point and time. Ok, I'm going to take another crack at this, step back and attack this, give birth in the blackness, imperfect with practice....
Get up, roll out of bed, WRITE, bang, do it, don't think, just start writing, morning pages, let it fly, no judgement, no performnace, whatever is there, whatever comes, dont stop, dont stop, stay in it, scratch your head, scratch your butt, drink your juice, drinking juice, not really juice, coconut water, love coconut water, this one has tangerine in it, its not bad, but i love coconut water by itself so i'm not one of those people that has to mask or fix the taste with some other juice, plain old, natural coconut water is just fine with me, they use it for plasma, its so clean and pure that it can be used for a plasma transfusion, lets hope I never need a plasma transfusion, but of I did, and they had to use coconut water, i would be okay with that, although i would probably request that use not use the tangerine flavor, the fan in the room keep the air moving, keeps me cool, its HOT as hell, but the sound is soothing, especially in my room, when I'm sleeping, it muffles the annoying noises that come from the neighborhood, dogs, car alarms, people digging through the trash and collecting bottles at 5 in the morning, this is like a morning pages exercise, it helps, it works, i should do tis more often, only, you are supposed to write morning pages in complete privacy and never let anyone read them, so you can allow yourself to write uninhibited, so you can allow yourself to express whatever you want, or whatever is inside and needs to come out, you have to allow yourself to write anything and everything, without a second thought, without self-judgment, without the fear of what others may think, and without the notion that you have to please or provide for ayone else. Just write, do it, let it fly, nobody will ever read it, so reach for the sky, or maybe let it drain, let it ooze, let it seep, get down in there, excavate, dig deep, its all about you, and no one else, this is your moment, your time, it helps, it really does, unleash your creativity, that creativity comes from getting out of your own way, be who you are, say what you feel, keep it real, now keep in mind that i'm doing this on my blog so of course anybody and EVERYBODY can see what i'm writing, so this is isnt the most raw exploration of this exercise, but whatever, i havent had as much time to post stuff on my blog, so i figure if im gonna write i might as well write it here, i dont care, i can share, if I start jotting down some crazy sick, dark stuff, i can always retract and not include that in my post, so, yeah, event cancelled today, so yay, free day, not really free, i have tons to do, but i have writing to do most importantly, and this is why i am doing this. I have to have a new draft of CATCH by tomorrow, i've had all week to work on it, but, Ive had a rough week, and besides, i work better with a really tight deadline, a 2 minute offense, like Eli, Go Giants. Eli reminds me of my brother, younger brother, little brother, partly because Eli is a little brother himself. what am I gonna eat for breakfast. I dont really have anything. I have some protein powder, and some coconut water, i even have the natural kind. looks like I will have a tasty down home plasma transfusion for breakfast.... YUM.
In observance of Music Monday, the way they dress to kill in Twitter Ville... please enjoy POP DIGGITY DAMN, numero dos from my POP DIGGITY slam. The stuff I'm bobbing my head to... right now... Yes I am...
Went to see BRONSON at the Silent Theater in West Hollywood on Friday night. It was AWESOME.
Seriously, go see it...
"In 1974, a hot-headed 19 year old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so, with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to 7 years in jail, Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. During that time, Michael Petersen, the boy, faded away and 'Charles Bronson,' his superstar alter ego, took center stage. Inside the mind of Bronson - a scathing indictment of celebrity culture."
Brutal, Beautiful, Edgy and Cool. Tarantino VS Kubrick. Refereed by Guy Ritchie. Coming to an artsy fartsy theater near you.
Please enjoy the latest installment of CATCH, the web series....
"The day you get married is the day DARKNESS falls."
CATCH 2 starring Anne Judson Yager, featuring Cate Beehan and Jodina Scazzola, written and produced by James Huffman, Directed by Shirley Petchprapa, Edited by Casey Christopher.
In observance of Music Monday, the way they git it down in Twitter Town... please enjoy POP DIGGITY DOG, from my POP DIGGITY series, which represents my current top 10 tracks... the stuff I'm bobbing my head to... right now.. at this very moment... now if you'll excuse me... back to the music...
Monday morning... returned to Los Angeles from New York last night. The final verdict>> this past weekend... was awesome. Between showing my girlfriend around New York City for the first time, a fun night of slamming beers downtown with old friends, sight seeing in the rain, the Yankee game, Watching Derek Jeter becoming the all-time Yankee hit leader and the coolest New York City wedding you'd ever want to see... there was never a dull moment... I think I will need at least 2 weeks to recover... and my girl can't wait to get back and do it again...
I've got pictures... I will post on my SCRAPBOOK page later (Already posted on Facebook).
More later...
Monday morning also means much catching up to do...
I'm sitting here in my apartment, waiting for my episode of SURVIVING DISASTER to air on SPIKETV.
Yes, I die on TV tonight. I will watch myself yell and scream and get shanked by a terrorist on the premiere of SURVIVING DISASTER. Tonight at 10PM on SPIKETV.
I shot this scene in JANUARY at a special Hangar in Burbank. It was a lot of fun to shoot... and what I remember specifically about that day is how good all the background players were. Everyone who was playing a passenger was SO committed and SO vested in the circumstances that when I was stabbed and thrown to the ground, I could hear everyone whimpering and crying...and it felt SO real... it felt so real that I got goosebumps listening to everyone play the fear.. the terror... it was a really cool moment.
Moving backwards, I spent the past hour watching the rough cut of CATCH 2... over and over and over... writing notes as i go... this is the 2nd rough cut... I did this the other night.... watched the FIRST rough cut and spent an hour writing notes... I sent those notes back to the editor...and now we've got rough cut number TWO... which is better... but it stills needs some work...
I got my car back today... I brought it to the shop on Sunday night because I needed to replace my engine mounts... YES... Ive been driving around for months with an engine on shaky mounts... I'm sure that thing has been BARELY hangin on... not good... but what am I gonna do? I have been unable to pay for the repair...til now... So, I figured while they are fixing my engine mounts...they might as well look into fixing my air conditioning... right?
YES... for the past 2 years, I have been driving around LA with no AC... but seriously, its hasnt been so bad... I mean its California... so most of the time... its very comfortable... with a few hot spells...and then...yes...hot spells kind of suck when you have no AC... but... you know... I've been like ... a lone wolf... mr single guy... who cares? right?
Til now... see.. NOW... I have a girlfriend... so I'm driving my baby around LA in sweltering heat... in a car with NO AC... and that just aint right... right? what kind if boyfriend am I? So I had them take a look at my AC and see what they can do.
And I gotta tell ya... my AC? KICKS ASS now... not only is my engine screwed in nice and tight... but my car is like a rolling meat locker... a walk-in cooler... a desolate county in an arctic region... I told my girl that if she is gonna roll with me... she better bring a sweater!
GOOD boyfriend... GOOOOD boyfriend.
Gotta go... but I'll be back... I'm going to VEGAS this weekend... and New York the weekend after that... I still have to to tell you about the Billy Corgan show I saw this past Saturday night at PAPPY & HARRIETS in Pioneertown.
It was awesome... but I'm gonna have to get into it later....
CATCH, the web series, has officially embarked on its Re-Launch adventure with the release of CATCH 1 today. CATCH 1 was wiritten and produced by James Huffman, Directed by KIngsley Opara and features Paul Duraso, Stephen Schaffold, Ashley Cozine and Bruce Klefstad as Clyde McGillicuttie. This episode also features the music of the hard rockin, mysterious and multi-colored east coast band FOGLIZARD....
CATCH is available to viewers on Youtube, Metacafe, Break, Revver and MySpace, with more distribution deals pending...
Saturday morning.... I just slept for a solid ten hours... after spending the past couple of days fighting off some sort of immune system collapse... Whenever I get sick...or start to get sick...I start analyzing myself, tracing my path in an attempt to figure out what caused the collapse...
Its usually a combination of stress, lack of sleep and pushing myself too hard at the gym.... I run myself into the ground... my body gets really sore from a couple killer workouts... and then I start feeling feversih, light-headed and sometimes the sniffles...which pretty much describes me to a T over the past few days...
The X factor, in this mix, is the fact that I joined a new gym. I have been working out at CRUNCH up on Sunset and Crescent Heights for a year and a half. CRUNCH is a decent gym, but it's not really that close to me. I live in Silver Lake, CRUNCH is in West Hollywood. When I joined, I was working for HINT WATER and I was always in that area for work, visiting accounts and what not. So I could drop in for a workout midday.. or at any other time of the day actually...
ANYWAY... I joined 24 HOUR FITNESS..over in the same plaza as the arclight... it's no way NEAR as nice as CRUNCH.... but its a lot closer...a LOT cheaper.. and I can work out with one of my buddies over there... whihc kind of explains the killer workouts... a little competition can raise the bar a little bit....
So i think a result of being in a new workout facility...and being exposed to a whole new world of GERMS... contributed to me getting sick...
Well thats a fun and interesting littel piece of writing there... "how and why I caught a cold this week"
Gripping drama...
But wait... it gets better.... I fought back... I made a stand.... as soon as I started feeling down i started my SEND-ME-BACK-TO-HEALTH regimen...
Whenever I feel run down or start feeling sick-ish... I drink TONS of water... I guzzle down a liter every other hour. In the morning I add a couple of echinacea tea bags to my usual double bag green tea concoction. I pop three or four 500mg tablets of Ester C 4 or 5 times over the course of the day... that usually adds up to about 8000-10000 mgs of vitamin C in a day. I ony take that much vitamin C when i'm getting sick or feeling run down... I dont think its a good idea to take more than 500mgs a day on a regular basis...
THEN, comes my super healthy power sandwich...
For dinner... or for lunch... or BOTH.... My super healthy power sandwhich invloves my special tuna salad mix, which includes one can of tuna, one chopped up clove of fresh garlic, a half cup of chopped up broccoli slaw, a little bit of mayo, a little bit of olive oil, and spinkle in some black pepper and some CAYENNE pepper.... its gotta be spicy folks...trust me.... put that super special tuna salad mix on some good quality multi grain bread... top it off with some fresh spinach or some red leaf lettuce... and EAT that SUMOFABITCH....
Very important.... I wash it all down with a low sodium V8.
That sandwich will scare the bejeesus out of the common cold... or ANY formidable disease for that mattter... it also works wonders on creditors and annoying neighbors...
Ok... enough.... I'm healed... I'm cured.... I feel great.
Back to business....
I did have an editing session yesterday with Casey. We worked on a little gag reel using the footage from a legal industrial I shot a few months ago... AND... we worked on dropping in the sound design for the NEW CATCH episode one... I'm PUMPED.... STOKED... I'm F%$#@ LOVING it.... really makes the episode snap....crackle.....pop... Eric Bucklin did a fantastic job with sound design...
what all that means is CATCH is pretty much ready for re launch... I plan on releasing this episode in the next few days.. and then I will releasing a new episode every two weeks.... of course I'm already thinking that the follow up to this NEW episode one needs something ... a better follow up... and I'm starting to think I should shoot somehting new... of ocurse if I do that... it will be WEEKS before I am able to release Episode 2... which would essentially be this imaginary episode that I have neither written or even conceived....
So I will probably just drop episode 2 in a timely manner... and hopefully a new redux version of CATCH 3....
I am DAMN ready to get on with this...
CATCH IS COMIN!!!
Gotta go.... one more session todaay with Casey... then I'm going over to check out the Sunset Junction Street Fair slash Muisc Fest today...
Tuesday morning.... hazy... its been hazy every morning in Los Angeles for the past few weeks. The haze manages to burn away every day by noon... and there is no shortage of hot Summer simmering... but right out of the gate... its grey.
Watching Sportscenter, drinking my morning blend of green tea and black tea... and I'm shaking my head at Brett Favre. I love the guy. He represents all thats good with the game of Football... but he is kind of getting on my nerves. When he retired from the Packers... I got tired of hearing about him... I just wanted to move on... I wanted everyone to move on... I wanted Aaron Rogers to get his chance to be the man and lead his team... but Brett Favre just wouldnt go away... well... thats the way I feel now... I'm not pulling for him anymore... I'm tired of hearing about it.
I'm still working hard on better managing my time and my projects... I know... you've heard it before. I havent been able to blog nearly as much as I used to and when I do... I seem to be in the stame state as I was before... well... I havent quite found a happy balance yet. There are many days where I feel like my IZZE job has taken over and that leaves me a little frustrated. So its all a still a work-in-progress. I'm getting shit done.. definitely... but .I still have so much work to do to get this first season of CATCH (the web series) finished and I'm feeling anxious about it all because all that "progress" is really really slow.
Don't get me wrong... lack of happy balance does not mean lack of happy in general... I DO have to say... all that being said... that I am happy as SHIT right now. I may be moaning a little bit about getting my endeavors in order.... but LIFE IS GOOD.... I'm making steady money. I'm making my own schedule... I'm driving around town in a BIG ORANGE TRUCK!!! I have a new girlfriend that I'm crazy about. I'm going to Vegas in a few weeks to party it up with some of my coolest and closest friends. We have a free place to stay and a 9 person boat at our disposal. That's gonna be awesome!! Then the NEXT weekend I'm going back to New York for my best buddies weddding.... and I WILL be taking my girl with me... she has never seen New York... I just got Yankee tickets, so I'm gonna see a game at the NEW Yankee Stadium while I'm there.... and THATS gonna be awesome.... because the Yankees are awesome...
Seriously... I am LOVIN the way the Yankees are playing right now. I have my lucky Yankee hat perched up on a directors chair in my living room, with a little American Flag poking out from the same spot. I put the hat and the flag there on July 4th...when I GOT the flag... and please note... The Yankees are 23-6 since the All Star break....since I carefully placed my lucky hat and lucky little American flag in my lucky spot. Yeah, I'm crazy superstitious when it comes to that stuff.... can't help it... and I was pretty much walking around town with a gigantic four day BONER last weekend when the Yankees were sweeping the Red Sox.... couldn't help it...
Some FINE ass Mutha F%$#@ Baseball that was....
Ok... I'm gonna run...
I have to work a demo this afternoon at the Whole Foods Market in El Segundo... and I SWEAR...TO...GOD... I am going to get some writing done today... and that writing has to happen .... NOW...
Ok so I just finished watching the latest episodes of TRUE BLOOD and ENTOURAGE on HBO... and I have a few things to say...
TRUE BLOOD... I like it... How can you not enjoy some good sexy vampire action in the deep south...like deep deep Louisiana south... its hot... sexy, sweaty hot... I'm diggin it... but you guys at HBO are F%$#ING IT...UP... and I'm scared its gonna be JOHN FROM CINCINNATI all over again.... PLEASE don't let that happen... what do ya say? Can we reign it in a little bit? Narrow down the focus to the Vampires, The Humans..and the religious Zealots.. that threesome is strong, clear and effective... lots of good drama... and everybody likes a good threesome.
The rest of that stuff ... I'm like...HUH? Everybody is on acid and F%#$ING on the woods... some lady puts on a steer head and chases after a dude who usually turns himself into a dog...but this time...into an OWL...and flies away... WHAT??
Oh yes...thanks for including that scene on the dock with all the exposition... I appreciate the attempt to clarify... I do... But at this point... it's too late...I'm OVER it.... I just don't care anymore... CUH-mon, if you feel like you're havin to write in a ten minute scene to explain what HELL is going on with all that crazy stuff... don't you think you might have dug yourself into a hole? Seriously... I sat through like..ten torturous minutes of exposition... bored to DEATH..while the OTHER shape-shifter... the chick... backstabbing BITCH ... who turns into a FAWN in her spare time... stood on the dock in the middle of the night and tried to explain to dog-boy, what the hell was going on with all that bull-headed-acid-trippin-everybody-get-naked-in-the-woods-and-sodomize-a-pine-tree stuff... WHAT...EVER...
Don't even bother explaining... its really unnecessary... I'm so un-interested in that story line...just get rid of it...all of it... please... lets stick to the vampires... and Sookie... I like Sookie.
Ok ... ENTOURAGE...
OY...
Almost everybody SUCKS... I KNOW... I'm SORRY...I'm SORRY... Sorry Vince...sorry E...sorry Turtle... Drama... but its just not your year... It's not.... was it EVER Turtles year? WILL it ever be... no...probably not...but forget about that for a sec...
NOW... Jeremy Piven... Jeremy Piven is ROCKIN it... this IZZ HIZZ year.. He has always been the best thing about ENTOURAGE... but this season, the writers (and jeremy Piven) are really doing some great stuff with Ari Gold....I cant say enough about it... the Ari Gold stuff is great... Even down to every little wink and grimace... the non verbal stuff is genius...
And I'm sure that a lot of my appreciation for whats going on with Ari Gold is based on how he plays against the other characters and scenarios... which is true... of course... I can admit that...but....
Everything VINCE is phony filler bullshit... ugh... terrible... and all that sit com overacting that the rest of the cast is dumping on us (The audience) is just...bad...I'm sorry....
To be fair... the E storyline isn't SO terrible... and Kevin Connolly isn't doing such a bad job... but its still pretty damn boring... just to be fair...
I just watched the Charity Golf tournament episode... the one with Mark Wahlberg and Tom Brady... actually a pretty good episode...
I know right! After I just ripped the show and how SUCKY everybody is... .
To give Turtle some props, I love the part where Tom Brady shows up to meet the guys and Turtle won't shake his hand. When E asks him what that was all about, Turtle tells him he doesn't sleep with the enemy... and he points out that all his golf club covers are donning the logo of the NY GIANTS... How can you not love that?
In the wee hours of the morning, some Magic at Yankee Stadium...
I was home...keeping tabs on last nights game on my laptop... and I found myself glued to that laptop as the innings, minutes and update-refresh's crawled along.
I guess I could have gone to a sports bar to watch, but I was working and the game was in the 6th inning as I was wrapping up...
By The way, I was working at a gifting suite for the TEEN CHOICE awards. The event was held at The Magic Castle in Hollywood. A gifitng suite is where a handful of high-brow vendors...and a few not-so-high-brow... set up a table and offer their goods and services to celebs. They have gifting suites set up around the Emmy's, the Grammy's, any awards show or event that attracts a large number of high-profile personalities. The Personalities come through and check out all the goodies, and the vendors give it all up in the hopes that at least one celebrity will LOVE their product SO much that he/she will embrace the brand and spread that influence to millions of consumers... that dream usually translates to a snapshot of Bobb'e J. Thompson (The funny little kid from ROLE MODELS. He was there...with his Mom), wearing your t-shirt...or taking a sip of your amazing beverage... whatever... its all very desperate and anti-climatic...
Anyway, enough of that, I wrapped it up and loaded out at 6PM, checking the game on my cool orange phone... zero-zero in the sixth inning. Didnt make sense to fight rush hour traffic to get into a sports bar and watch 2 innings of shut out baseball, so I went home, made myself some dinner, and stared at my laptop...beer in hand... for like two and half hours...
HELL of a pitchers duel....
13th inning? seriously? damn....
15th inning? Tell me we are not going to to 16...
Bottom of the 15th... I'm tired, you're tired, you know A-Rod is tired. Something has got to give here. How much longer can this game possibly go?
THEN... my monitor shuttered and flickered, the frame refreshed, and the score of ZERO-ZERO made a sudden adjustment and the New York ZERO...quietly became a TWO.....
YEEEESSSSS!!!!!
Homerless in SEVENTY TWO At-Bats NO LONGER!
YES!!! A-ROD A-ROD A-ROD. I paraded around my apartment for a good... 3 minutes... pumping my fists...doing my best Joba Chamberlain... wishing I was there.
YES!!! Yankees WIN. The Yankees WIN. THAAAAAAA Yankees WIIIIN.
The Three BEST ways to piss of a Red Sox fan.... One: Beat Beckett; Two: A walk-off Home Run; Three: A walk-off Home Run by A-ROD ...
YES!! I celebrated by taking a haul off my digger and watching SUPERBAD...
"Well, Jules, the funny thing about my BACK is... it's located on my cock."
I went to screening earlier this evening at the LA ITV Fest. Its actually the 4th ANNUAL Independent Television Festival, which is a festival for independently produced, original and innovative television pilots and web series. The ITV Fest is held at the Laemmle Sunset 5, which just so happens to be located in the same plaza as Crunch gym...which is where I work out...
So as i was saying... I dropped in a screening tonight to see the lovely Nicole Feenstra in LOVE YOU TO DEATH.. at the Laemmle Sunset 5...right next to the gym.
LOVE YOU TO DEATH was a chapter in the DARK ROOM THEATER series which was presented as a pilot at the festival.
Nicole was really good. I haven't seen much of her work and I was impressed... BUT... the pilot lost my interest about halfway through... felt like it was an hour long piece that should have been a half hour... all in all it was good... fun... just started to drag after while....
Now I'm home...kind of out of it... I'm still trying to recover from a five day typhoon that just rolled through town here in Southern Cal. A typhoon that included a busy IZZE itinerary, a 2 day...or should I say... 2 night... CATCH shoot...on site... two late nights. That shoot pretty much whupped my butt... and got me anything BUT good and ready for a 2 day visit from Mom & Bob... who just happened to be driving cross country from North Carolina to San Fran to compete in the national finals of a seniors tennis tournament....
My Mother...God bless her... she plays tennis like there is no tomorrow. I guess when your 70 years old... that saying will resonate a little more than when your... say... 28-34... or 32-38... 30- 40...
Aside from Graceland, the Grand Canyon, and Vegas, Mom & Bob decided to hit Hollywood.
Mom received this note on her Facebook page>>
“Where are you staying in the LA area, I hope not LA.”
I responded>>
“Of course LA. We are kickin it Silver Lake style. Bob just bought a pair of skinny jeans and some purple chucks. Mom just got got a new tattoo. Now we're headed to Roscoe's for chicken and waffles.”
(Mom just got a NEW tattoo...as if she had one already, hehe)
Of course I figured while Moms in town she might as well meet my new girlfriend... so we did that whole thing... We drove out to the beach and had dinner at Malibu Seafood... then saw them off Sunday morning... then I spent some good quality time with my girl...went to brunch... went to see “500 Days of Summer" at the Arclight... which was excellent... and then she left for a week long VK in Mexico Monday morning... I think I miss her a lil bit... I gotta be honest I'm bitten and smitten with this one.... seriously... she is just about the sweetest, prettiest thing on the planet... anyway... I wont see her again til this weekend... I probably wouldn't have seen her til this weekend regardless... with or withOUT Mexico... but when your tellin a story... a little dramatic flare never hurt nobody ....
A renaissance talent agent, played by Me, James Huffman, has a quick strategy session with his biggest client, William Shakespeare. This clip is from the independent sit com pilot THE AFTER-LYFES>>
CO: Here is some exciting news. The web series we've all been waiting for is set to make its official comeback in a couple of weeks. There has been a media frenzy over this dark comedy and quite frankly... I can't believe its almost here. The RE-launch... RE birth... the RETURN of CATCH the web series is looming... and I'm considerably stoked. You must be excited?
JH: THANKS Conan. Yes I'm excited!
CO: And you brought a clip?
JH: Yes Conan. thanks for bringing that up. I brought a clip. This is a scene between DETECTIVE JAMES, played by me, and Mike Fisk, played by the amazingly talented Bill Oberst Jr.
CO: can you give us a little back story or should we just dive right right in?
JH: No, I can give you a little bit. The series itself centers around Maggie, who is this sweet, girl next door type, played by the super awesome and beautiful Anne Judson Yager. Maggie just wants to find her true love, settle down and live happily ever after. The only problem is, she is a serial killer, and she is having a hard time finding that special someone. MIKE FISK, is her father, more like her estranged farther because he has been in prison for 25 years. He is actually a notorious sociopath who was a contract killer for the mob back in the day. DETECTIVE JAMES knows Mike Fisk personally because HIS father and Mike Fisk were childhood friends, they grew up together. Detective James father became a highly decorated detective and Mike Fisk sort of went to the dark side, murdering and dismembering people for a living. So in THIS scene, its basically MIKE FISK'S first day on the outside, and Detective James and his partner, Detective JONES, pay him a visit.
CO: Alright, well lets take a look... a clip from CATCH, the web series....
JH: yeah, its been a lot of work, but a lot of fun. And the music is great. I managed to enlist the help of a few really cool bands that contributed some kick ass stuff to this project... so when you see it... pay attention to the soundtrack...cuz its awesome...
CO: Will do. JAMES HUFFMAN, writer and producer of CATCH, the web series, everybody. Good luck, really.
JH: Thanks.
CO: We will be right back with SETH ROGAN.... dont go away.
Indie City Entertainment put together a short instuctional video that focuses on the recent banana peeling controversy. This version has been submitted to HOWCAST.COM as part of the Emerging Filmmakers How-To Video Challenge:Filmmakers, web video artists, and DIY experts, show us your coolest, baddest, flat-out flyest how-to video in 3 minutes or less!
The video is titled HOW TO PEEL BANANAS LIKE A PRIMATE, and it features myself and Ashley Cozine as my lovely assistant.
What would you say if I told you that I had information to share with you that would change the way you peel a banana? What if I told you that I have an ancient secret that dates back to the days of the homo erectus? Would that get you excited?
Friday morning... I'm home getting ready to go out and do another IZZE demo...
I have to say, I'm going through some wicked withdrawls from working this job. I think because I have been freelancing and operating with such flexibility over the past few years that I'm not used to this kind of accountability.
I mean this job is pretty flexible, all things considered, but if I were to get a call today for an audition tomorrow... its likley I would have to turn it down unless they could give me a late afternoon time slot... which is always possible... but most of the time, when they call you with an audition time... you dont hagggle...you just take it and be grateful.
Anyway, I am still trying to get a better handle on the best time management, prioritizing strategy for myself.... and I'm trying to ignore the spiritual pains of working a full time job.
Basically it comes down to this... I dont like work.
In my ideal life I would write, and paint, and put on plays and make movies all day then go drinking and dancing all night... is that too much to ask?
In 2004, Vanity Fair published an article titled BEFORE THEY WERE KINGS. It was a 6 page piece about Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall, chronicling their careers from infancy to ultimate Hollywood success.
I've been transferring bits and pieces of the article to this site so other people, Hollywood enthusiasts, Hoffman, Hackman and Duvall fans, and aspiring actors, especially aspiring actors, would have the opportunity to read it, learn it and take away a little something for the road...
Summing it up, Hoffman says "If we had been at a party with a bunch of unemployed actors and somebody had said, 'See those three? They're going to be Hollywood stars,' the whole place would have erupted, and we would have been part of the laughter. Those years were all during the Beat Generation. Our affectation was anti-establishment. 'Making it," meant staying pure, not selling out. 'Making it,' meant doing the work. We're not different today. If something happened and it was over and suddenly we had to work in a community theater, we're there. And I'm telling you, we would love every minute of it." Robert Duvall has his own wistful coda: "It was a supportive kind of thing then, you know, sharing idealism. What could be. And once they were successful, you never saw anybody. It's very strange that way. Very strange." But fate may again step in. Universal Pictures is developing a script to star all three of these old friends in the near future.
END
(Seeing that this article was published in 2004, has such a film ever come to fruition?)
YO... sorry, I haven't had much time to write. I feel like my life has encountered so many changes in the past few weeks and I'm still trying to get my bearings... dare I say....
I still need to finish that 4th of July story... but like I said...I've been crazy busy.
I started my new job with IZZE a few weeks ago, and while it's been great.. its also been kind of struggle as far as time management. While I'm hustling around town for IZZE, setting appointments and doing demos in corporate cafetrias and stores like Whole Foods and Gelsons, I'm also creating and sending reprts, participating in conference calls and sometimes delivering cases of product for fundraisers and fashion shows.
Meanwhile, I'm STILL trying to get my CATCH web series re-launch off the ground, finish writng a few more episodes to get my first full season completely WRITTEN, and produce a handful of upcoming shoots.
Lets not forget that I'm STILL an actor.... helllo?
Now that I have a steady paycheck I want to get back into class, start training again... maybe a scene study or something... and I want to get back to the casting director workshops.... gotta make time for that too. My representation situation is in shambles right now, so my goal over the next few months is to improve that aspect of my life... new agent? new manager? I plan to have that handled by October...
Social life? I think I'm doing okay. I've got a good group of friends that I have a lot of fun with, so there is never a shortage of good old fashioned trouble to get into...
And then there is the girl....
Yeah... The Universe is funny I gotta tell you. I met someone in Hermosa...4th of July... met her out dancing ... this girl is really cool...tall...and gorgeous... and since I met her... the women in my life have been bouncing off the walls... ex's...friends...lingering potentials... all of them callling, emailing and texting... Ive been hit on or winked at all over the place (GUYS and girls...weird)... The Gym, the store, etc... and Ive received 3 emails since last then that involve an introduction to a friends single friend... its amazing...its cracking me up!
So this girl and I went out last weekend... and that went well. I plan on seeing her again Saturday night... so who knows...see where this goes?
So with all that on my plate, my blogging has been on the suffering side... I will stabilize eventually and be able to better prioritize and super size my time... thats funny...a few months again I was PRAYING that I could stabilize financially...now I'm trying to stabilize time-wise...
Oh ... one last thing... my buddies and I are throwing a party on Sunday, July 26th. It will be an 80's dancing get together. Me and my crew have been hitting this place called BANG on Hollywood Blvd over the past few months...we alwasy have a good time over there, so we decided to open up the invite and get a bigger group together. I created an event on Facebook.. and it went a little something like THIS>>>
We've done it before and we are doing it again! Bring your SIXTEEN CANDLES, bring yourself and bring a friend. We are rollin EIGHTIES style at BANG on July 26th. I still say, to this day, that final fight in KARATE KID was fixed. Hey, this FOOTLOOSE FLASHDANCE-off is not for the subtle or soft. We gonna get together and party like it's FERRIS BUELLERS DAY OFF. So that's it, that's your invitation, you can click again and READ IT, compose your best 80's clothes, put all that shit on and just BEAT IT... beat it... BEAT IT... beat it... get THE BREAKFAST CLUB and eat it...oooh!
Saturday morning. I've had a really busy week trying to get acclimated to a new schedule and new responsibilities. My new job with IZZE is picking up, I'm working on awiritng and producing a few more CATCH episodes, as well as orchestrating the CATCH re-launch....almost there...almost there...
I thinki I'm still trying to recover from last weekend. July 4th weekend... wow... I had a lot of fun during the first 4 days of July.
Me and my crew, JJ, Colin, Marcus and my roommate Eric were determined to have some good July 4th fun. We BEGAN with a plan, a BIG plan, a Larger Than Life Adventure, that fizzled before it ever got started. We made revisions, we made adjustments. We drank while we thank.. for a couple days actually ... We lost Marcus... We found Marcus... and ended up down in Hermosa Beach. Partying in Hermosa Beach for the 4th of July was crazy fun. We ate a lot, drank a lot, danced a lot. I ran into an ex-girlfriend (weird), Hadn't seen or spoken to her in TEN YEARS. She was wearing an Uncle Sam hat and a Red White and Blue Wig. I was wearing Party Pants. The Party Pants received mixed reviews. I met a gorgeous woman, She invited me to a n after party in PV.... so I WENT to an after party in PV (Palos Verdes), AMAZING view of the moon over the ocean in the wee hours of the morning.... and we lost Marcus... AGAIN...
If there was any theme to the weekend, it was 50 WAYS TO LOSE MOTHER F%$#@ ING MARCUS.
Here's how it all played out>>>>
Saturday, June 20th, 3PM: JJ calls me and asks me if I want to go to Vegas for July 4th weekend. He has a friend who lives there, and she and her husband will be out of town, offered up their place for us to stay. I say “Hell yeah!”
Sunday June 21st, 12PM: JJ calls me and asks me if I want to rent a boat in Vegas. If we get enough people to go, we all chip in, it wont cost that much, we'd be chillin on a boat on Lake Mead in VEGAS. I say “'Hell Yeah!!”
3PM: JJ calls me and tells me that there are now at least 10 people confirmed to go with us to Vegas and party on the boat. The cast of characters include Cate, Jeannette, Marcus, Mitchell, Wendy Two-Time, Lyndsey and one of Cate's friends, who lives in Vegas, and happens to be a stripper. I say “HELL YEAH!!!”
Monday, June 22nd, 5:02PM: The boat has been reserved. I'm stoked. We are gonna be partying like Gangsta's in Vegas...P DIDDY style. I find myself singing Andy Samberg's song “I'M ON A BOAT!” inssesantly.
Thursday, June 25th, 11:32PM: Still chanting “I'M ON A BOAT!”
Friday, June 26th, 1:16PM: JJ calls me and tells me he had a big fight with Cate on the phone last night. I'm thinking “No big deal, those two are good friends, they will surely sort out their differences before we all go to Vegas.”
Saturday, June 27th, 4:32PM: Vegas trip is canceled.
Saturday, June 27th, 5:02PM: Broken-hearted... I weep.
Sunday, June 28th: Day of Mourning.
Monday, June 29th: Back to the drawing board, brainstorming, nothing else seems as fun as being on a boat in Vegas. The Team has been downsized to JJ, Colin, Marcus and Me. Yes, thats right, we managed to wipe out our entire force of females in one fell swoop. We decide to roll with whatever comes our way and play it by ear.
Thursday, July 2nd: Marcus arrives. He is in the Navy and will be going out to sea for 6 months next week, so he really wants to hit it hard. We make plans to go out in Venice. We meet up with some people at THE OTHER ROOM, then migrate over to THE TOWNHOUSE, where the DJ kicks my ass with an awesome mash up mix. I danced SO much that my shirt was completely soaked. I was in no shape for an after-party. I needed a shower! That was fun.
Friday, July 3rdt 12PM: Hungover from last night. Still no solid plan for the 4th. There is a lot of talk about going down to Hermosa Beach. With a solid line-up of bars (The Strand), it's supposed to be a huge party on ANY holiday. The debate becomes:” what time do we go?” “Spend the day in LA and go Hermosa at night?” “Spend the entire day AND night down there and just grunge it out?”
3:30PM: I make a quick stop at ATMOSPHERE in LOS FELIZ and buy Party Pants. These pants are totally NOT my thing, slim fit, plaid pants. They were on sale and they fit pretty good. Impulse purchase.
3:45PM: I text JJ: “I just bought a pair of SLIMFIT PARTY PANTS!” he texts back: “NICE!!!!”
8:00PM: I decide to lay low and go see a movie. I'm thinking I'll save my energy for the 4th. JJ, Marcus and Colin are looking to keep the party going.
9:30PM: I meet some friends to go see DRAG ME TO HELL. One friend says to me “What are you wearing?” I say “My new PARTY PANTS! I just got em. It's my first time wearing them.” “It should also be your LAST,” He says. My other friend chimes in “I kind of like em.” I'm not feeling super confident about my pants.
11:59PM: After seeing DRAG ME TO HELL, I text JJ on my way home just to see whats up. I write” Wht up? You guys out?” He writes “Yeah, at Echoplex. Me Marcus, Colin, Wendy 2X and her friend. Good time. Come by” I debate, “I DO have my party pants on” Is that a GOOD thing, or a BAD thing? I wonder. I wonder. I pass. Forget it. I live close to The Echoplex. But I'm staying committed to my “Laying-Low” theme. I text JJ back “I'm gonna chill. Call you in the AM. get the plan together.” I go home, watch a little TV.
Saturday, July 1st 6AM: I get a text from JJ... “Late night, After Party. Lost Marcus, Call you when I wake up.”
6:15AM” I read the text... “6AM? Lost Marcus?” What the hell does that mean?" Am I happy or sad that I didnt meet them out last night? I go back to sleep... kinda happy.
10:15AM: I wake up. Didn't sleep so great, but whatever. I'm curious to find out what happened last night.
12:30PM: I've had my tea, eaten breakfast and taken a shower. I'm ready to put on my party pants and go have some fun. I text JJ: “WAKE UP, where's Marcus.” He texts back :”I'm up. No Marcus.” WHAT??
1:30PM: JJ calls and tells me that He, Marcus and Colin went with Wendy Two-Time to an house party after the ECHOPLEX. The party was crazy. Some lesbian went off on Colin, called him a douche bag, several times.... and Marcus ended up following some gay dude home in hopes of hooking up with the gay dudes pretty roommate. That was last anyone had heard from Marcus. Marcus did send a text to JJ at 9AM that read: 'Yes. Monkey.” Nobody can figure out what that means. So what do we do now, sit around and wait for Marcus to apppear? That could take alll day!
Happy Birthday America! For your July 4th listening pleasure, a special list of songs brought together to celebrate the coolest Nation on the planet....
Web Series Magazine Dot Com is a blog on Blogspot. Founded by RICH MBARIKET in May 2009, Web Series Magazine provides up-to-date content on Web entertainment. Web Series Magazine's contributing writers are Victoria Drake, Eitan Wynalda and Sam Grover.
The latest post on the site is a Q&APeter Hyoguchi, Founder of Strike.TV. Peter briefly discusses his background and the origins and future of Strike.TV...
"We would like to be the biggest purveyor of Hollywood content on every device available, every telephone, all over the Internet, on TV and in theaters. Pretty much everywhere. This is the renaissance of cinema and I think this art form is legitimate."
YES... the debate over the future of web entertainment presses on....
The world of web entertainment is the new frontier... it's fertile ground, but nobody seems to know how to capitalize on their crop. When I talk about writing and producing for the web, I always tell people that it's the like "The Wild West out there." That's what makes it exciting.
Every SHMO has a shot.... and that's AWESOME! Every writer, director, producer and actor across the globe has an equal opportunity to find an audience.. a GLOBAL audience... it doesn't matter of you've got thousands (or God forbid MILLIONS... for a web series? c'mon...really?) of dollars, if you build it... they will come. Bring your project to life, post it on the internet and you are making your work instantly available for the world to see... and Harvey Weinstein aint got nuthin on YOU!
Mind you, it's not easy, it takes a lot work to attract a formidable audience. Put aside all the "brilliance" that goes into a script, casting, principal photgraphy, sound design, blah blah blah. Of course you've got a great product... actually.... let's refer to it as a "work-of-art." Masterpiece aside, one has to consider all the elements that would make a Network pilot or an independent film successful and apply those traditional principles to a viral venue. You have to become as internet saavy as you are artistic.
Some of the best and brightest in the business have taken a crack at web entertainment... but even the most beaudacious budget can be a bust... there are no guarantees in any medium... but especially the web world... that gigantic global audience is as fickle and fleeting as it is gluttonous and gregarious...
So basicallly everybody is swinging in the dark. Nobody "Truly" knows what the hell is happening... where it's going... or what it all means.
Stuff will get figured out...theories will be composed... maybe even some money will be made... and then the internet... the humongous THIRTY BILLION HEADED MONSTER that it is... will turn those theories upside down... and we will be back to where we started...
I could go on and on... but I have yet to eat breakfast and I'm starving.... so let me just wrap this up by saying, if you are an independent writer, producer, director or actor... like myself... write it, shoot it, post it, share it... and then do it all over again... focus on the art form... make it about the work... not about the money.... forget about monetizing... capitalizing on your product... making a buck on the internet.... for now... make movies... write new stories... try new things... and forgive me for saying this...but THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX...
I think every acting teacher/coach I've ever worked with has shared this piece of advice with me.... and I think it is egaully applicable here... If you stay true to your vision, trust your instincts and bring your message, your art, your heart, to the world... the money will follow.
"Big shots are nothing more than little shots who kept shooting." I don't know who said that specifically, but I really like that quote. Do with it what you will.
This is my first attempt at posting a playlist that was created on lala.com. The following playlist... titled "Bring Baby Bro to the Know," was designed to help me share cool music with my brother, who is many miles away and way too busy to help himself to the heat. I tried to compose a list of songs that i think he'll like, as well as push the envelope, in regards to my impression of his style and taste... push it just a bit... and see what sticks>>>>
I will always remember Michael Jackson as the galactically gifted, sensational super-star, who sacrificed his entire life to entertain ALL OF US.
He had a million dollar smile and million dollar moves. He forewent a proper childhood..and a proper adolesence... because he busy wow-ing, winning over and warming the hearts of America.
And went he got old enough to REALLY get down...to REALLY get funky.. He did not disappoint.
I will never forget that night back in 1983 when he performed on the television special MOTOWN 25: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. He shook up the world that night. He broke out that moonwalk and made history. My jaw dropped. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. You could seriously hear gasps from every house in the neighborhood.... and I sat there with wide eyes and mouth opened for at least ten minutes before I could even muster a comment. It was like watching the first landing on the moon.... no pun intended... okay pun intended...
Watch this clip... and check out the vibe in the audience... even from an old video like this... the energy just JUMPS out at you... it is absolutely AMAZING... LEGENDARY... and it was Michael Jackson's FINEST MOMENT...
I was blown away... I spent weeks and months practicing those moves... all I wanted to do with my life was have a gang fight in a warehouse, wear a bright red leather jacket, and convince all the gang-bangers and rough-necks to break out into a really cool dance-off... and then run off into the night screaming and yelling... Actually...I think that may still be my only true aspiration... You know what? I think I'm going to do my own little Micheal Jackson dance-off...out in the streets...tonight at midnight... just to honor him... ... and all the magic he left behind.
I start a new job today... Last week I was hired for a full-time, 4-month gig representing a popular a sparkling soda in the LA market. The contract runs June 24th to Oct 31st. and its pretty good money... THANK GOD... so I should be able to stabilize financially, pay back friends, catch up on bills and what not... at least until Oct 31...
More significantly, now I can get back to focusing on my writing, producing and my acting career... since I wont have to spend ALL my time searching and submitting for work... which as many of you know...is a full-time job unto itself... in fact it's MORE than a fiull-time job... especiallly when you are picking up 1-3 day freelance gigs.. you have to be constantly scrolling through postings (Craigslist, Yahoo jobs, etc), you have to be able to jump on those listings a soon as possible in order too be considered...since there are thousands of people trying to get the same job.. if a new posting ops up at 10PM... you better jump on it... then, when you get hired... you have to WORK those gigs... so you work a few long days... and spend your free time searching and planning for the next one... and cross your fingers that you wont have to wait for 90 days to get paid... cuz then you have to spend time harrassing your employer for your check....and thats no fun at all.
All that BS takes up pretty much 100% your time and focus.. and that has been my life for the past 6 months. ... so this job comes as a big relief.
The legal video project is off to a good start. I produced a 5 minute industrial for one a legal publishing firm. The client seesm happy with the final cut and I'll be shipping out my first professionally produced DVD today. There is definitely the possibility of future work doing more of the same. Keepin my fingers crossed
Now that I'm going to have my hands full for the next few months (with the beverage gig AND hopefully a bunch of wiritng/producing and acting gigs), my travel plans have changed a bit. I was initially planning on spending a few weeks on the east coast in September... but now, since I'm working til Oct 31, I will still go to my friends wedding in NYC in September, but I think I'll put together a through east coast tour for December... spend the whole month bouncing around NYC, to Boston, to Fairfax, to NC and wherever else... it will be a lot of moving around... but I really want to visit everyone.... plus LA is DEAD in December anyway...so I doubt I'll be missing much.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to Jerry D Huffman, my Dad, proud Veteran, proud Father, my Hero. For all you've given, to your family, you're friends and your country. I love you Dad.
For all the hard times, there are moments and memories that shine twice as bright....
What the hell is the deal with HOTMAIL? If you have a Hotmail account... get rid of it...
I've received an OBSCENE amount of HACKED OUT spam from almost EVERYONE I know that has a Hotmail account...
PLUS... when you tell people you have a hotmail account... Your not exactly impressing anybody...
Its like saying saying hey.. I'm a huge MEN AT WORK fan .. I have their new album on CASSETTE TAPE!! Listen to it on my super sool DUAL CASSETTE BOOM BOX...
I'm in the sharing mood. So I thought I would post a couple list of awesome music that Ive rockin out to over the past few weeks...
I'm a HUGE hip hop fan. I've been diggin on dope beats and ryhmes since way back in the day.. and when I say way back in the day... i'm talking about playing RUN DMC's first album on casette tape til you couldnt play no more.... Sucker MC's... JAM MASTER JAY... It's Like That... and memorizing every word to LL COOL J's "Rock the Bells." And I'n not talking the version that was released on his first album (I Can't Live Without My Radio...which was awesome), I'm talking about the ORIGINAL version.... the raw LL version that NYC hip stations like WBLS and 98.7 KISS were pounding and pounding for MONTHS before that album came out... if you've never heard it...find it...get it... its a solid old school drum beat with a funky cow bell ... kickin it LIVE...as we used to say... the lyrics in that song were the stuff of legend...and when you heard it... you just KNEW... this guy... was more fly...than anybody else who ever try...
ANYWAY... trying not to get carried away...
My HIP HOP PLAYLIST for 2009 (so far)
(and not all of these songs were released in 2009..some are older... but I personally just discovered them recently)
1>> ROLL UP by Slow Suicide Stimulus
2>> QUIET DOG by Mos Def
3>> THE ONLY WAY by Johnson & Johnson
4>> COME & GOES by Sweatshop Union
5>> THE GUNSHOT by Nicolay & Kay
6>> ONE TWO by The Cool Kids
7>> CAPPUCCINO by The Knux
8>> BARE EDITION by Mathpanda
9>> WHEN I SEE YOU by Prodigy (Mobb Deep)
10>> MS. HILL by Talib Kweli
Get yerself a taste....its good shit...
Then.... "Hot" list... more along the lines of rock, pop and all things NON Hip Hop...
(Excluding "Country")
1>> SURVIVING by Powderfinger
2>> PERCUSSION GUN by White Rabbits
3>> WannaBe in L.A. by Eagles of Death Metal
4>> EARTHQUAKE HEART by The Dirtbombs
5>> STEP UP by Awesome Color
6>> SHIVAS R&R DUB by Arling & Cameron
7>> HEY SNOW WHITE by The New Pornographers
8>> THE HOWLING by THE PHANTOM BAND
9>> ROOIBOS - PALM WINE DRINKARD by The Stills
10> I SHOULD BE BORN by Jets Overhead
11> MOOGJUUS by The Bobby Hughes Combination
12> ALYO by the Hypnotic Brass Band
13> SUNLIGHT by Harlem Shakes
14> THE BALLAD OF JOHN HENRY by Joe Bonamassa
15> MOUNTAIN TIME by Joe Bonamassa
16> A NEW SKY by The Presets
17> LIFE'S A BEACH (Todd Terje Beach House Mix) by Studio
18> CISCO by Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
19> BUS STOP NO. 5 by The New Mastersounds
20> THE HANDBRAKE (Enest St. Laurent Remix) by Bent
Please enjoy a synopsis of my week. Brought to you in spurts and squirts, skips and skirts, tweeters and twerps, jabbers and jerks, sips and slurps, parties and perks, whining and wincing and WHATEVER WORKS! >>>>
Day 3 of an awesome weekend. Trying to get my wits about me for Bleacher Beach at Dodger Stadium.
Monday OFF. Trying to blog about my weekend... which at this point is as exhausting as the real thing.
jencrews@slimjimhuffman I can imagine but you continually surprise. Looking forward to getting the low-down.
@jencrews OH... Jen... you don't know the half of it...
NaeinVTIcon_lock@slimjimhuffman last time I checked, weekends only have 2 days.
slimjimhuffman@NaeinVT this particular weekend kind of looked sort of like an eight headed monster
NaeinVTIcon_lock@slimjimhuffman your life kind of exhausts me.
Going to work on new sit com called PLAYERS tomorrow. Shooting in Santa Clarita.
Tuesday morning on set. in holding. sharing horror stories and Christian Bale rant impersonations. Gooood for YOUUU!!!
The lady in crafty HATES me!
What the hell? Is it Wednesday? What time is it? Playing a "gym-goer" on ENTOURAGE today. I'd rather go back to bed.
on the set for ENTOURAGE. shooting at EQUINOX in west hollywood. Pretending to enjoy a muffin. I'm an excellent actor.
WOW... just wrapped on ENTOURAGE. officially a two hour day. wait... it's crazy early. What the hell do I do with myself?
@Nick Welch Livin the dream!!!
@slimjimhuffman @KenNewman How do I know Nick Welch?
@Ken Newman Canoe Trip I guess. You may have met him on other occasions, but I can't think of any.
@slimjimhuffman @KenNewman Ok... yeah... canoe trip... he was kickin rhymes by the riverside, right before my liver died, then a spotlight shined, He tried to hide, But his hyde was fried, Alibi denied, wave say bye misguided guy
KenNewman@slimjimhuffman NICE!!!
Ive been to work, the gym, AND the grocery store, all before noon. now 'Im off to do laundry before the Yankees/Red Sox MUSTKILLTHE RED SOX
OK, here we go. Digging in to do spiritual battle with the Gods of Baseball. GO YANKEES!!!!
NICE CATCH!!! Nick Swisher was DETERMINED to make good on that botched bouncing double. Consider it forgiven Nick! #Yankees
(Fucking Yankees)
Thursday OFF... and just had to go BACK to the courthouse to pay a TEN DOLLAR fine cuz i left court too early last time.
@jamiefishback @slimjimhuffman haha, seriously?! wow, they'll get you any way they can
@slimjimhuffman @jamiefishback Seriously, 10BUCKS! The judge said charge was dismissed. I walked the F%$# out. Nobody told me I had to do anything else.
@jamiefishback@slimjimhuffman so why the 10$, any actual reason why?
@slimjimhuffman @jamiefishback They sent me a letter:"You appeared in Division 63 on 5-26-09, BUT YOU DID NOT WAIT FOR YOUR PAPERWORK = $10
There is stuff I should do, and stuff I should not, let me say right now, I'm not feeling so hot.
Feel better today. Ready to play. Echinacea spray just made me turn gay. Gay as in HAPPY, not sucking %$#@. Rest was the cure and it sure did the trick.
Headed back out to Santa Clarita to work day 2 on PLAYERS, AFTRA pilot for SPIKE TV.
@jencrews@slimjimhuffman Is it legal to follow yourself?
@slimjimhuffman @jencrews I was following someone who was following someone who was following themselves, so I followed the follow
Back on the set of PLAYERS. Some old friends. Some new faces. The lady in crafty LOVES me!! (no she doesn't)
MOTHER HEN... just struck AGAIN!!!
just got home after 12 hours on set. Shooting my banana project in Studio City tomorrow
BANANA SHOOT TODAY: Hey... i realize this is totally last minute, but I am looking for an attractive woman to be in my banana infomercial. It's sort of a gag... a SLAP/CHOP sort of parody... I need a "Vanna White" to stand by my side and be my assistant in the video. We are shooting today(6/13) in Studio City from roughly 12-4. This is a viral thing...so its no budget and we cant offer any type of pay... but it will be fun. CALL ME
Banana movie worked well today. Just tried out TERRITORY BBQ, new joint in the hood, pretty damn good, pretty damn good.
Watching the fight on HBO. Clottey 85, Cotto 85 at the start of round 10, forget the cut, forget the knee, clean slate... LETS GIT IT ON!!! (cuz I'm gettin bored)
CLOTTEY is such a FAKER
just watched CHOP SHOP on DVD.
marco_cali@slimjimhuffman Was it good?
@marco_cali I liked it, CHOP SHOP is this subtle film about kids living in IRON TRIANGLE in NYC, commentary has great insight on filmmaking.
marco_cali@slimjimhuffman Sounds like it's worth watching. By the way, did you get a part as an extra on Entourage? That show is BIG in Australia.
@marco_cali Yeah, I've worked on the show a few times. Not my favorite show to work on, but it's still cool.
Sunday morning, headed down to Anaheim to work for the Angels.
working at Angels game. watchin the Yankees on my phone. WOW... 15-0?
Home, watching Lakers/Magic, 7 YR OLD GINA MARIE INCANDELLA IS AWESOME... go get em lil girl!
What's up with Magic Johnson and the Technicolor coat? Gold Jacket...WOW!!
I actually saw Magic Johnson at a performance of TOP DOG/UNDER DOG on Broadway a few years ago, and he was wearing a BRIGHT YELLOW SUIT... like WOW!!!
@ChrisKnowsBest is now following you on TWITTER!
@ChrisKnowsBest 2 Damen stehen vor meinem Parkplatz.Da ich parken will, hupe ich.Die Damen zeigen mir einen Vogel und gehen.Also nächstes Mal einfach fahren
slimjimhuffman@ChrisKnowsBest I have NO IDEA what you're saying, but I DIG IT man...I dig it ("yeah, you dig it the most" - Pulp Fiction)
Driving back out to Santa Clarita tomorrow to work on the set of PLAYERS. PLAYERS is a sit com pilot for SPIKE TV.
Spike TV just gave the go to a new 30-minute comedy called "Players", created by Matt Walsh who is one of the founders of the improv group Upright Citizens Brigrade. (www.coffeerooms.com)
I worked on PLAYERS earlier this week, Tuesday I believe... in usual fashion I came home with few good anecdotes...
I got yelled at... TWICE... by the nice old Craft services lady.
I got to set. I checked in and asked someone where the food was. That's usually my first task when I get to any set... figure out where Crafty's at. I set my sights...and swoop in to snag whatever's good.... or whatever I can get my hands on.. Then suddenly... SCREEEECH... this sweet old lady with a southern accent put her hand up in my face and proceeded to make it very clear that SHE was Mother Hen...and THIS is her coop.
"Good mornin young man. Is this your first time here?"
"Oh...uh...yes."
"Well then let me give you the tour so you know where everything is and how everything works."
(I'm thinking "Lady? A TOUR? It's Crafty. I think I can figure it out. What are you gonna do? Show me how to use the toaster?")
"Yes Ma'am."
"Okay, We've got hot breakfast over here... sausage and scrambled eggs... that's coffee right next to it... regular and decaf..."
That's sweet, but I know what COFFEE looks like
"...and over here, you've got your bagels, smoked salmon, and a few other things to go with that...
A handful of other actors come strolling into the coop.
"Oh...HELLO there... good morning! Is this your first time here? Better let me give you the tour...
This is my chance to escape. A few more enter the space.
"Okay everybody, I'm just gonna say this once, okay, so try to pay attention... Hot breakfast over here... scrambled eggs and sausage... Oh hey, good morning sweety... I remember you from yesterday... you just go ahead and help yourself... you know where evrything is... OK...coffee is heeere... and..."
At this point I've slipped away from the group and started toastingmyself a bagel. If Mother Hen did anything she got me all hot for the bagels and lox. I quietly composed my breakfast... speading cream cheese, pulling a few strips of salmon and a couple pieces of tomato and onion. I was in the zone...coasting to the finish line... going seemingly unnoticed.
There is a steady flow of people entering the space and I swear... she addressed every single person that came through... and if I remember correctly... made sure they ALL got "The Tour."
I was ready to make my exit.. but just before I slipped out.... the "premium tea" section caught my eye. I thought it would be nice to have a cup of high quality green tea. With one hand occupied by a full plate of bagels, lox and veggies, I used to my right hand to grab a paper cup, open a tea bag...and I even squeezed some honey into a cup. I was quite impressed by pwn dexterity. At that point all I needed was some hot water.
Hmmm... hot water....hot water... over by the coffee? No...coffee maker doesnt have a special spout for hot water... uh... hot water... crap...where the hell is the hot water? I noticed a very pretty girl perusing the breakfast options.
Thats usually my SECOND task when I get to set.... scope out the chicks...
"Hey... hi... how are you? You don't by any chance know where the hot water is, do you? Like...for tea?"
She looked at me with a slight smile...and before she could enlighten me... her eyes widened and she looked off into the background... freezing up.. saying nothing...
"What's wrong? Do I have food in my teeth?
She shook her head "No."
"Then what is the probl-"
"WHAT... can I do for you sweety?"
I was intercepted by none other than Mother Hen.
"Uuuh... hot water... for tea?"
"Now if you had PAID ATTENTION to my TOUR, you might KNOW where the hot water is."
"That's probably true."
"Ye-es"
"So... can you tell me where it is."
"It is right behind you in that silver little pot. Y'all please try to pay attention when I explain where everything is...okay? I really don't enjoy spending my day telling y'all where everything is over and over again."
"Oh...I see it thanks."
I looked towards the pretty girl.
"I saw that... I just didnt realize it was for hot water."
Mother Hen struck again.
"I had explained that to everyone else. I guess you couldn't be bothered."
"Sorry, I was busy over there toasting my bagel."
"mm-HM... anything else I can do for you?"
"No.. I think I'm good... thanks."
I went back to the holding area and sat down to eat... re-joining a few of my fellow actors.
"I have a feeling the crafty lady doesn't like me very much."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she just kind of yelled at me."
A voice from behind chimed in
"YEAH she did."
I turned around and it was the pretty girl.
"You better let her do her thing. She is just not havin it."
"Yeah, well now I know."
"Hows your tea?"
"It's very nice, thank you."
"My boyfriend drinks tea all the time. I don't like it. I need my coffee."
"Really? hm."
I gave her a semi-smile and a look like something suddenly smelled really bad and I turned around to eat my breakfast and drink my hard-earned tea... and look around for another belle of the background.
I sat, I scoped, I sipped, I quipped... we did all did what we do best as bakcground players... we waited... and waited...
There was something I couldn't get out of my head...
"My boyfriend drinks tea all the time. I don't like it. I need my coffee. "My boyfriend drinks tea all the time. I don't like it. I need my coffee. My boyfriend drinks tea all the time. I don't like it. I need my coffee. I need my coffee. I need my coffee - "
I popped up "You know what? I want some coffee!"
So I got up and hopskotched over to craft services. I was gonna have me some coffee. This was in no way an attempt to woo the woman with the tea-drinking boyfriend. I had a craving... and hell... the coffee is easy...and its FREE.
I entered the coop and gave Mother Hen a bratty sort of a smile and a shrug...as if to say...
"Hello there friend, Ms. Mother Hen, I'm back to crap on your lawn again!"
She did NOT appreciate my entrance. Nevertheless, she managed to purse her lips, cross her legs and go back to reading her magazine. I stopped, sized up my surroundings.. noticed another very attractive woman pouring herself a piping hot cup of coffee and I made my move. I sauntered over to stand next to her and give her the ole "up-and-down," which I disguised as an observation of her coffee process.
"Hows the coffee?" I asked
"I don't know. I haven't tasted it yet"
"I already had some tea, but now I gotta try the coffee."
I turned my chin to Mother Hen, got her attention and shot the following statement off in her direction...
"It better be good."
I turned back to take my turn at pouring a cup of coffee, in the back of my mind, I was aware that the lovely young lady had said somehting while I was attempting to antagonize the crafty lady, but I missed it... no big deal....
SO... the coffee... YUM. I don't even really LIKE coffee, but here I am, pouring myself some anyway. I reach over for the pot that rests in it's usual spot, but suddenly my hands felt wet...OUCH...suddenly my hands felt HOT.
OH NO, I had pulled out the coffee pot that was sitting in the middle of the brewing process. OH NO...coffee was pouring out, but there was nothing there to catch it!
"Put it back, just put it back." The pretty girl pleaded. Her face terror stricken.
"Ow, ow, ow, hot, hot, hot...OH YEAH" was my response
I pushed the coffee pot back into its proper place and the brewing process continued. A steady stream of piping hot coffee regained its composure and continued filling the half empty pot.
"It's all good. It's all good." I said
But it was definitely NOT "all good." Mother Hen jumped to her feet, moved to where she could see what was happening. Once she realized that i was...indeed.. crapping on her lawn... she let out a HOWL of epic proportions and followed that up with some of the most God-awful sounds I've ever heard... a bone chilling assortment of grunts and hisses... that made me feel like Frodo in the depths of MORDOR. She grabbed a handful of papertowels, pushed me aside and attacked my mess.
The crisis was contained within seconds... but this was FAR from over. Engulfed in a cloud of smoke and molten ash, bearing fangs, poised to slash and gash, I gasped. She spoke as she grasped...
"HERE..take this...FAST...and THROW IT...in the trash."
I said nothing. I took the handful of coffee soaked paper towels from here. I looked around... unfortunately I had trouble locating the garbage... I stepped this way... stopped and stepped that way-
"OVER THERE!!!!!!"
Wow, she was getting scary. Ok, so I threw the papertowels away. At this point I was out of the coop. All I had to do was turn to my left and could make a run for it... but...
I usually have a little milk with my coffee.
"Um, sorry... do you by any chance have any milk?"
She just stood there, GLARING at me, her terrorizing eyes bearing a demonic red glow. It was at this moment that I realized that Mother Hen and I would never be friends. Our relationship had suffered irreparable damage. I also noticed that I was standing with my back pressed against a large silver refrigerator. I spun around, opened the door and found myself face to face with a hafl gallon of whole milk...
I usually drink SKIM... but I didn't see any skim. I peeked from behind the big fridge door and she was still there... fuming.. and sort of "growling" under her breath... like some ornery old grizzly... so I went ahead and poured a little whole milk into my coffee, shut the door, looked back once just to make sure she wasn't following me with a butcher knife or anything... and I hustled out of there.
I caught up with the young lady who had witnessed the entire event.. She was walking slow so as not to spill her coffee. I was sloshing all over the place... no concern for spillage...
"Wow," I said "That was fun... ouch ouch... hot"
"Ha...yeah."
"I think she likes me."
"You're a train wreck"
(Train wreck? She just called me a train wreck! She totally digs me! Maybe we'll take lunch break together... exchange numbers... go on a date)
"I know. I know. Hey, I saw the coffee pot. I wanted some coffee. How was I supposed to know it was still brewing?"
"I told you."
"You told me what?"
"I said use the one on the top."
"You said what? What ONE on the top?"
"The FULL Coffee pot sitting on top?"
"Oh... is THAT what you said to me? Oh my GOD... I heard you say something... but I was talking to the lady... wasn't really paying attention."
"Just like my BOYFRIEND... he never listens to anything... enjoy your coffee"
She walked away and sat somewhere on the other side of the room.
HOLD up, WAIT a minute, when ya git behind, put yerself back IN IT....
Okay, I'm falling a little behind on my reporting and my sharing. So mind you, I STILL have to drop the details..or at least a synopsis of my weekend, as well as a few fun little anecdotes from my day on the set of PLAYERS, a SPIKE TV sit com pilot that will probably be airing sometime in 2024... kidding.
But I'm gonna have to hold off on that for right now....
First, I want to mention a mix, a master blastin bag of tricks, Take the Rock out the box, put on your feet and call em KICKS...
Ok, so LAST WEEK, when I was working the E3 Expo... and this is the LAST time I'm going to mention the E3 Expo... I had the priviledge of meeting and listening to the sick sounds of DJ MEDI4. The Alienware booth featured non stop mixing and DJ Medi4 was the dude who was bringing it... and IT...WAS...BROUGHT-EN.
I told him I was diggin his stuff and he told me I could download some of his mixes on Rapidshare or MegaUpload...or via his website... so I didn't waste any time...
This is one of Dj Medi4's sets from Bonnaroo 2007 and I'm gonna be rocking this all over town in my car for a good long while....
DJ Medi4 - Bonnaroo 2007 Volume 1 (Early Set) Tracklisting
1. Rare Earth - Celebrate 1971 (maybe my favorite opening tune)
2. Led Zeppelin & Black Sabbath - Whole Lotta Jigglin'/Sabbath 2007
3. Wolfmother - Love Train 2006 (really funky and dirty)
4. Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls (Z-Trip remix) 2007
5. DJ Zebra - National Bridge (Radiohead vs Fergie) 2006
6. CHAOS - Crazy Adidas (Run DMC vs Buckcherry) 2006
7. Arty Fufkin - Been Caught Stealing Your Rump 2005
8. DJ Moule - Crosstown Underground 2006
9. Free - All Right Now (re-edit) 1970
10. B-Boy Breaks
11. James Brown vs Beck & Peter Gabriel - Godfather of Soulhammer 2007
12. Paul Simon - Late In The Evening Remix 2005
13. The Turtles - Happy Together (re-edit) 1967
14. Missy Elliot - We Run This (X-Press 2 Remix) 2006
15. I:Cube featuring The RZA - Can You Deal With That? 2007
16. Khia - My Neck, My White Horse remix (DIRTY! NOT SAFE FOR WORK) 2006
17. MIA - Bucky Done Gun (instrumental & vocal) 2005
Here's a Megaupload download link. If you're not a "premium member" you'll have to wait 45 seconds to get the DL to start, but what's 45 seconds? If for some reason the link expires, someone please email me at info@djmedi4.com, and I'll re-up. Fiddling with the FTP server today, and should have it available to listen to from here shortly.
Now that E3 is over and my assignment as an Alienware Special Agent has concluded, I'm home resting bones. The Expo was actually a lot of fun. I saw some pretty amazing shit as far as gaming, graphics and animation goes.
Playing a Special Agent was pretty cool. We definitely got our fair share of buzz and attention doing our single file parades through the South and West Hall.
And a guy can't go wrong in a black suit and aviators.
One thing that was particularly cool, was the fact that we had these silver brief cases that contained "transmittors" that would send out jpegs and text messages to any mobile device using blue tooth or wi-fi within 75 ft of the briefcase. The message was designed to create more ALIENWARE awareness by inviting people to come by the booth in the South Hall and check out the new M17x , the "Most-Powerful 17" Laptop in Universe.
So I would cruise specific section of the expo, find a good spot and the stop, but the briefcase down and stand at attention. Not only was it fun to see people's reactions to my presence. I mean, I'm just standing there in my black suit, aviators and ear-piece, staring straight ahead, next to a silver biref case... so I was definitely attracting attention. But then people would start to receive the message on their phones... that was great... I could see guys reaching into their pockets...taking a look at their mobile devices...and looking at each other...looking around trying to figure out what's going on... then... theere would be someone who would put twow and two together and point at me and say "It's from HIM."
That's when I mobilize. I pick up the briefcase and disappear into the crowd.
Good times, met some good people...
Special Agent T7: Hard to match his intensity. T7 was quickly promoted to squad leader. With a thorough and genuine military background, he really got into is role... and he REALLY calls himself T7.
Special Agent Ouch: Sexy, smooth, swift and severe. One of our female operatives, she was the beauty AND the brains of the bunch.. To me, she emodied the essence of an Asian Halle Berry. T7 called her "Tsunami." When T7 gets jacked up and starts bouncing off the walls, Ouch reigns him in with a raised eyebrow, a stern look and a "re-LAX."
Special Agent Kirkwood: T7 named him "Ace." He reminded me more of FRED FENSTER, Benicio Del Toro's character in The Usual Suspects.... only add a hard core Boston accent. An interesting tidbit about Kirkwood is that he just finished writing a book titled "How to Think Like a Woman and Love Like a Man." You would have to meet him to understand how truly funny that can be.
Feedback and buzz from this week at the E3 Expo on LA:
Ok, so the party's over.... NOW what the hell do I do?
(Actually, I'm gonna be crazy busy this weekend, my college buddy Tony from Boston, actually I think he lives at The Vineyard, is in town for the weekend, so we arre going to do our fair share of partying. And then SUNDAY, I'm going to be at Dodgers Stadium in the Bleacher Beach section. Last week I worked a promo for The Dodgers and this week the Sales/marketing coordinator for The Dodgers asked me to basically "paper" the house and get 20-25 attractive guys and girls to fill BLEACHER BEACH on Sunday for the 5 o clock game. Everyone on my list gets to attend for free... as long as they're hot. Bleacher Beach is basically a beach party that goes on in Left field. A bunch of my friends are comped ... in the blink of an eye, I go from Alienware Special Agent to pimpin out the hotties. So I'm looking down the barrel of pretty wild weekend)
This week I will be appearing at the E3 convention as an Alienware Special Agent. The E3 Expo is the world's premiere trade show for computer and video games and related products. The show is owned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies, publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. About 6,000 attendees are expected this year. The E3 Expo targets gamers, technology enthusiasts, bloggers, top press, analysts, game creators, software partners, film/television studios, computer manufacturers, etc. This is an industry only show, so all attendees must be from a company representing these industries.
The activation of the Special Agent task force will support the worldwide launch the new Alienware M17x laptop, a gaming notebook that is super fast, very powerful, and highly anticipated by the enthusiast community
I will be decked out in a black suit, white dress shirt, black tie, black shoes, Aviator sunglasses, a silver briefcase, ear piece and radio. At first, my assignment will be to enter several Convention Center "adjacent" hotel lobbies, assess the situation and then mumur talking points into my radio... index finger to the earpiece is optional...
Nine agents will visit hotel lobbies and coffee shops within a 2 mile radius of the LACC to ignite awareness of Alienware’s unveiling stunt.
Later I will be engaging in an operation called "Special Agent Intercept." Two agents will personally escort targeted bloggers, analysts, press to the Alienware booth for their scheduled meetings with Alienware PR
Should be a fun event.
I was at the South Hall today for a few hours of de-briefing and from the looks of it... this convention is going to be pretty wild... and when I say wild...i mean the kind of wild that will causing gamers and technology enthusiasts heads to explode.
Alienware Special Agents will be on-site to clean up the mess.
The South of Normal Podcast will experience a rebirth today. My roommate and I have decided to come together, once again, to collaborate and produce a podcast project that we started about a year ago, but abandoned... for various reasons.
The podcast will serve as a daily/weekly account of our experiences as we strive to make our marks in the entertainment biz. We initially embarked on this little experiment because not only did we want to offer an oral history of our journey, but we wanted to share information and insight. Living in Los Angeles, we both of bring a "being-there" element to the table that many aspiring actors, filmmakers and writers all over the country might find useful. I like the idea of sharing my trials and tribulations with all those who are also struggling to find a voice.
So, what we are aiming to do is bring a little more organization and consistency as well as a more relaxed presentation...have more fun with it... thats what its all about.
You see, it's that dynamic that separates my roommate and I. He likes to take a very detail oriented, organized... well-though out approach to everything he does... which can sometimes translate into SO much deliberation....that nothing ever happens... while I'm more of a "jump-right-in," shoot first ask questions later kind of guy. I rely heavily on my instincts and find myself IMPROV-ing my way through many of my plans and projects... learning as I go.. isnt LIFE just one big IMPROV? Anyway, MY approach can sometimes lead to a finished product (or UN-finished product) that falls short... doesn't live up to the hype.
"BIG SHOTS are nothing more than LITTLE SHOTS who kept shooting."
Not sure where that quote came from but I love it.
Anyway, You can see how we may have come to a few forks in the road, become frustrated and thrown our hands up, but Eric and I have agreed to find a common ground and try to make this podcast work. A little more pre-production, a little more consistency... and I think a less rigid presentation... and we'll see if we can breath some life back into this BIOTCH.
I think we are actually going to go see TERMINATOR: SALVATION this afternoon so we can share or thoughts on the film. Since movies and TV are such a big part of our lives.. and a big part of what drives this town... we will likely be commenting on the new film releases as well as the state of our favorite TV shows.
Maybe I should share my thoughts on IRREVERSIBLE, which I Netflixed and watched earlier this week. This is a film that has be recommended to me time and time agin over the past couple of years. What I've been told is that it is a great movie, but it's really dark, really violent and its contains a rape scene that is NOT for the faint of heart.. supposedly one of the most brutal scenes EVER in modern cinema...
So after much deliberation and stalling...finding other fims to rent and watch. I forced myself to sit down the other night and give it a go.
As the film started I popped off a couple Facebook "status updates," and found some support from an old friend....
James: about to watch IRREVERSIBLE on DVD. I wonder if I'm ready. It's supposed to be great... and brutal... brutal but great...
Ellen: There's some pretty violent stuff, but it's an amazing film. I'm a huge fan of Vincent Cassel, both he and Monica Bellucci are great in this.
James: Ok, So far its like the French MEMENTO...on really bad acid.
(2 hours later)
James: I feel physically SICK after watching that film. As an artistic endeavor, I applaud the effort... its heavy, heavy stuff... gripping, moving... a really progressive piece of film-making... but as far as entertainment value... FUCK THAT... thanks but no thanks... that movie makes me want to go sit in the garage with the engine running... I feel the need to take a shower! ugh...
Ellen: It is a pretty horrific story, and there's a lot of awful things that happen (hello, fire extinguisher...) but unlike films that use gore/violence for the sake of using them, it's germane to the plot. It's certainly not the "feel good film of the year" for sure, but it is a phenomenal piece of work. I still remember reading Roger Ebert's review after the showing of it at Cannes and thinking "No matter how hard it is to watch, I have to see this movie."
Yeah... I'm still trying to remove that scene from memory.
I have officially seen IRREVERSIBLE...and the experience is just that....
Injured in a car accident at the age of 2, Ali Stroker grew up in a wheel chair. Earlier this month, she graduated from the Musical Theatre Conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. The summer before her senior year, she made the cut for an overseas summer theater program in Amsterdam, led by Tisch instructors. She has played Sister Aloysius in a European production of "Doubt." She is an actress, singer, writer and dancer... that's right... dancer.
Ali is the daughter of Jim Stroker, one of my high school football coaches. Mr Stroker was one of those guys that I looked up to as a kid. He was a coach and PE teacher at my Junior High. He would open the weight room every morning at 5AM so we could get in there and workout before school. He was also that guy who taught sex education to 13 year olds with a snarl and a DIRTY HARRY sensibility. We used to do impressions of Mr Stroker's health class lectures. Every kid had his own version, but it always involved squinting the eyes, gritting the teeth, clenching the fists and saying the word "MASSS-ter-BATION!"
Oh man... those were the days...
Anyway, enough about that... This is about Ali and her accomplishments. I don't know Ali, but, like I said, her father played an important role in my life as a teenager. I'm hugely impressed... by her, by the entire Stroker family... and I wish them all the best....
ACTRESS IS WHEELCHAIR-UNBOUND:
Ali Stroker found her gift at a young age and never let go. She fell in love with performing at 6, starring as Annie in a backyard musical with the neighborhood kids. They wore costumes, built a set, and her dad, Jim Stroker, played Miss Hannigan. Her mom, Jody Schleicher, will always remember that summer. "It just made her come out of her shell," Schleicher said....
... In her final months at school, Ali signed with a talent agent and has since filmed a commercial for MasterCard. Disney casting has an eye on her, according to her agent, Jed Abrahams of New York City's The Talent House.
Abrahams remembers that the first time he met with her, she dropped her pen. He recalled feeling uncomfortable, not sure whether he should help her. But she quickly spun around and picked up the pen. "She's totally comfortable in her own skin, that's something non-disabled people should aspire to," he said.
Am I slowly becoming a calloused and self serving producer type? I hope not. Every once in a while I catch myself saying or doing things that seem... very... "LA." and I dont mean the carefree California thing... I mean the cut throat "Ari Gold" thing.
I always used to say that about people who moved to New York and lived in the city for a while... that no matter where you are from... no matter what you are like... if you spend enough time in New York City... you start to wear it... you absorb certain elements.. and you become a "New Yorker," the good with the bad... you find yourself cursing out some sweet old lady (under your breath of course, but just as bad), for walking slow in front of you and keeping you from hopping the next express train... stuff like that.
Same thing in Los Angeles, there are certain elements that you will absorb if you spend enough time here... the "flakiness" for example... hard to believe but even the most reliable people I know come to LA and within weeks they've adopted this approach that being on time or even SHOWING UP for an appointment or verbally committed engagement is optional... really really optional.
Granted... if that verbally committed engagement revolves around money or some sort of career boosting opportunity... you can be damn sure that person will show.
This is definitely a competitive town... and time is money....
So I got this email from a girl I know, who is an actress and has been trying to dabble in the world of producing, she means well, but she has come to me several times asking me to meet with friends of hers who want to produce some short film or web series or whatever... asking me to basically donate the names and contact info of all the Directors, Cinematographers, sound people, etc etc for these projects... contacts and relationships that I've spent a lot of time and effort to cultivate and maintain.
I've had several other folks come to me with the same type of request and what they dont seem to understand is that I can't just give out all my contacts for the entire world of guerrilla filmmakers to rape and pillage... I just refuse to do that...
ANYWAY... this friend of mine emailed me a similar request and I shot back a direct and honest response...
And my response, while it IS totally honest... makes me wonder....
Ok... so I'm going to throw this out there... since you've come to me a couple times with similar requests/suggestions...
I'm not interested in sharing my resources or my advice with anyone... especially someone I don't know... unless it benefits me directly and immediately...
I love that you're meeting people and discussing projects... and I totally appreciate the fact that your are meaning well and thinking of me for stuff.... but this guys short film is of no interest to me... unless he has got a role specifically for me... and its a role that I really LIKE... OR... his script could be adapted to either CATCH... or ASPIRING LINE...
Does that make sense?
That being said... if you have friends... or know anyone...or come across anyone... that has a script that could be adapted to ASPIRING LINE... I'm interested... definitely...part for me or not... I want to start shooting more stuff for that series... and Im actually about to post a request for short scripts for that project... so ask around...
and then there is CATCH... if someone wants to write a 4-5 page script for CATCH... something of a horror/thriller/suspense/dark comedy sort of thing... I'm also interested... i will be actively seeking scripts with different "date and kill" scenarios for both Maggie and for Jerry...
For those two projects... I'd be willing to talk to people... meet up...and devote my "producing" time and energies towards...
or.. again... a cool acting role...
but I'm not gonna share my hard earned resources with just anybody ... its got to be worth it....
So I don't know... I wrote her back and asker her not to be offended or take that it a negative way.... and she was okay with it. If I'm going to gain any ground in this business, I have to put my own product, my own BRAND first... that doesnt mean I'm morphing into some EVIL ENTITY...
In 1955, the playwright Horton Foote happened to see Duvall play a weepy drunk in a Neighborhood Playhouse production. A few years later he saw him again on a TV show, playing a man falsely accused of child molestation. Impressed by the two performannces, Foote suggested him for the fear-inspiring but gentle Boo Radley in the 1962 film TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, for which he wrote the screenplay. That breakthrough was cemented in 1965 by an Obie for the second portrayal of Eddie Carbone in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.
For years, Hoffman scraped along, teaching acting, working as a stage manager and an assistant director. He got a first break in the 1964 season at the tiny repertory Theater Company of Boston, where he succeeded in getting Duvall cast with him in WAITING FOR GODOT, which went to New York for one night and was seen by Ulu Grosbard. Hoffman's next break was in Morrison's 1965 HARRY, NOON AND NIGHT, which led that year to Grosbard's THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES when the original Broadway cast went on tour. After the first rehearsal, Hoffman spilled burning oil on his arm, and the wound became infected. He almost died. But that accident kicked off his future stardom. It meant he was available in 1966 to play a 40-year-old Russina clerk Off Broadway in THE JOURNEY OF THE FIFTH HORSE, which won him an Obie for Best Actor. It also brought him to the attention of the producer Theodore Mann, who cast him as a Cockney factory worker in the farce EH? The performance led to his being called the next year to Los Angeles to screen-test for Benjamin Braddock in THE GRADUATE. To do it, he turned down an audition for the film THE PRODUCERS. Mel Brooks called him and said "You'll be back." Hoffman arrived at the screen test sleepless and paranoid. He mangled Mike Nichols directions and enraged Katherine Ross in a love scene by grabbing her buttocks and yanking her close. As he was leaving, he apologized to her and Nichols. A New York subway token fell out of his coat, and one of the crew handed it to him, saying "Here kid, you're gonna need this." But Hoffman's confused panic was exactly what Nichols wanted.
I'm shooting a legal industrial video next Sunday, May 31st and I have to re cast the role of "The Client," wondering if you could refer anybody and/or pass the word along. "The Client" is a woman, any ethnicity, appearing to be in her mid 40's. I need an actress who can handle the material as this character gets very emotional during the scene.
Please be advised this is a non union, paying gig.
If you know of anyone who fits and is available and interested can you please have them contact me via email. Have them send pics/resumes to:
slimjimhuffman@gmail.com.
I'd LOVE to be able to do this without coordinating an official casting session... i know it's a long shot, but I thought I would reach out to friends and followers first... oh... and the sooner the better.
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
JAMES
Here is a snippet of the script to give you some idea of the scenario...
Jordan: so I guess we can get right down to it. You got fired, right?
Chris: Well, not really fired. It’s not like I did anything wrong. My job got eliminated because when the company got bought out, because they already had enough account executives.
Jordan: You do realize this is an employment at will state?
Chris: What?
Jordan: They can fire you without a good reason.
Chris: That may be true, but when I got my promotion they made me sign a contract. The contract said that if they let me go without good cause, I would get a big severance package. Now they are saying I can’t have the money because I was complaining about the new rules with some co-workers. That can’t be good cause. Don’t we have free speech in this country?
Jordan: Constitutional law doesn’t apply to this.
Chris: What about contract law? When I got that promotion, I thought I was safe and I bought a house. Now I am losing everything.
Jordan: Can I see the contract?
Chris should be visibly upset.
Chris: I don’t know where it is. I had to move. It got packed. LOOK. YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!
With only the help of such mentors as George Morrison and Ulu Grosbard at first, they subsisted on television work, Off Broadway roles, movie bit parts. Then flukes of fate brought breakthroughs. Auditioning for Morrison's ANY WEDNESDAY in 1962, Hackman was the only candidate who made everybody laugh. He was cast opposite the late Sandy Dennis, but she refused to do the play with him. She had just broken up with a man she had been living with, and he looked like Hackman. Just before the opening, the actor who had been cast, withdrew. When Sandy Dennis was told that Hackman would do the part after all, she wept, saying "I can't do it. I can't do it." She was cajoled to go ahead, and the play was a hit. The next year, Hackman had a small role in the movie LILITH, with Warren Beatty. Then Mike Nichols cast him as Mr's Robinson husband in THE GRADUATE, but fired him after a few days of rehearsals. Thus he was free when Beatty wanted him as BUCK BARROW in BONNIE AND CLYDE, a role that won him an Academy Award nomination.
In 1955, the playwright Horton Foote happened to see Duvall play a weepy drunk in a Neighborhood Playhouse production....
The Hollywood homeless are a scary bunch. Not only are they F%#@ ing crazy, but they are, for the most part, bold, brazen, beligerent. I worked a street promotion this weekend that required a lot of interaction with with the masses of people walking up and down Hollywood Blvd.... and anyone who knows Hollywood Blvd knows that interacting with people on the street... especially THAT street... means interacting with 2 types of folks and two types only... tourists and crazy f%#@ing homeless people.
At one point during the shift I turned to the little Latin girl I was working with and said: "You know what? I'm from New York. I've been around plenty of homeless people. I have to say, the homeless people around here scare the shit out of me." She looked a little shocked.. said nothing. She might I have been thinkng that I'm a big p%ssy... but whatever man... the street people in LA are NUTS... and most of them are seriously pissed off.
I was born in North Carolina, but I grew up in New Jersey, right outside of New York City. While my hometown is a cute little suburban municipality ("Village" actually), my life experience has never seen a shortage of urban plight. Poverty, crime, drug abuse, mental illness... its every where you turn. No matter where you live.
When I lived in the city, I spent a few years in the East Village, a few more years in Hell's Kitchen and I closed out my term up in Washington Heights (Back in the 80's referred to as the murder capital of NY). One of the things I love so much about New York is the variety of people you encounter on any given day. Where else in the world can you come across people representing dozens of different nations, persuasions and religions? The city is in a constant state of movement, it's fast, its furious, its global and it's glorious... its New York City... greatest city in the world... and the people rule the streets... and that's just what I'm getting at... There is this... primal, communal system of checks and balances... there is the concept of accountability... there is a code.
A few weeks ago I was in the car, sitting at a red light at Cahuenga and Hollywood. I noticed man moving within the crosswalk with a very exaggerated and erratic rhythm. He was sort of stomping.. flailing his elbows around. At first it seemed like he was just a harmless nut job, weaving in and out of the clusters of tourists, until he decided to gear up, rear back and lower his shoulder "NFL Linebacker" style into a teenage girl. She never saw what hit her.
He leveled that girl. He bounced off of the impact and resumed his march. He went after another one once he got to the curb. A few of the teenage girls friends and family turned to notice that she had fallen behind... and quickly became aware that she was on the ground. A few kind passersby stopped and helped her up. I dont think anybody knew what happened,,, except for me and probably the four or five other drivers and passengers sitting at the red light...waiting to go.
My heart started to pound. I was white knuckling the steering wheel. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and my eyes teared up a little. I wanted to get out. I wanted to put my car in "park" and chase that freak down, level him and bash his face into the sidewalk... maybe if I was lucky a bus would puling out and at just the right moment I could thrown him under it. Then I would get back in my car... the light would turn green... I would drive away... go home.... make dinner... watch TV.
I could still see him, that nasty, sick F$#@ of a mangy homeless guy. He was moving fast and taking the occasional step to lunch at another unsuspecting tourist. I could see that girl was now crying and her family was looking around, shrugging their shoulders and trying to console her. Any cops around? No.
I put the car in park. I took a deep breath. I wondered if I took an extra second to get the baseball bat out of the trunk, would I lose sight of the guy. Now the adrenaline was surging and my hands were shaking.
The light turned red. What happens when the light turns red and nobody moves? Drivers honk... like there's no tomorrow. Well THAT'S no different than New York. The sounding alarm of twenty or so horns made me jump. I fumbled to put the car in drive and I slowly rolled through the intersection. I lost site of the attacker. I drove home... made dinner... watched TV....
and thought about that moment for the next few days.
If that had happened in New York... that guy would have received a swift and immediate sentence. Within seconds, somebody would have reached out and taken a shot at him... a bike messenger, with a big fat chain.. a clan of street kids... a tranny hooker... they would have given him the beat down of his life... and everyone else would have joined in.. because there is a CODE.
SO... I'm working this street promotion this weekend... for HGTV.. and what we're doing is we are approaching families and/or potential fans of HGTV... we run up to the family...with balloons and noisemakers... and we give them a giant check to hold... ask them a few questions about HGTV and what shows they enjoy... and then I hand them an envelope with $25 cash. We also videotape the entire incident. HGTV hired a videographer to shoot the interactions... they also asked that same videographer to manage the team and the promotion... which was a mistake... this guy had literally NO experience managing anything. He was concerned with getting enough footage... getting the right footage... putting the ideal people on camera... thats all he really cared about.
He asked me to hold the cash... about 20 envelopes containing 25 bucks.
He asked one of the other girls working with us to talk to people on the street and find candidates. She would ask a group of friends or a family a few qualifying questions and then prepare them to be next. Then we run up on them with out roving HGTV parade.
It only took a couple of rounds for the curious homeless folks to see what was going on. Now, of course, this girl, who was basically given the job duties of a "Television field producer," was competent enough to know that we can't put some raggety-ass, burlap sack wearing "Fisher-King" type on camera... the videographer wanted FAMILIES and presentable people with a normal american dialect.... Not a group of Chinese business men... not a handful of Australian rugby players... and NOT homeless people...
The SHOW we were promoting centers around a competition betyween neighboring families who are all trying to win $250,000 to put torwads their MORTGAGE... see? No homeless people... because they want you to own a HOME.
She was doing okay, at first... BUT... she slipped... and she let one guy pass through the initial screening phase... he wasnt raggety... he looked sort of normal... but he did have a big backpack... and as it turns out... he wasnt "CRAZY," but he was.. a "traveling-type," kind of a "ticking-time-bomb?"
So there we are, handing out envelopes of cash to this person and that person... smiles...fun.... a mini-personal parade.. and this guy is waiting his turn... cuz he was TOLD he was next. Once the videographer got a look at him, he was like "no way. not puttin that guy on camera."
For the next hour, this guy stomped and stared, shouted, pouted, ranted and raved... he recited his entire military achievment...where he served... how many he's killed... oh yeah... it was gettin pretty tense. It got so bad that he was determined to make it impossible for us to do what we needed to do.
It actually came to a point where the videographer handed his camera to one of the promo girls as if to say to the heckler "Let's GO." The heckler of course, was so jacked up by the point that he tore his big backpack off and was immediately posed for combat. I think that scared the videographer. He rounded everyone and asked us all to head back towards the van.
The heckler put his back pack on... took a look at me and walked over in my direction. After all... I was holding the money...
"Look dude... dont start shit with me, please."
"I was TOLD that y'all was gonna DO ME NEXT!!"
"I know but she made a mistake."
"That big FAT ASSHOLE is a DOUCHE!"
"I know"
"He TOLD me you was gonna DO ME!!"
I'm trying to ignore how funny that sounds.
"It's not my call."
"Well, why dont you make it right and keep your promise?"
"Man, look, I dont work for HGTV. I'm just a guy they hired for the day. I don't make any decisions."
"You're holding the money dude!!"
"Thats just what they asked me to do."
At this point, the whole crew had moved away and it was just me and this irate crazy dude... a couple hundred yards behind.
"This is BULLLSHIT man. They TOLD me you was gonna DO ME?"
(Please.. please stop saying that... so loudly)
"Where are you from man?
"Huh?"
"Where are you from? I hear your accent."
"North Carolina"
"Really? Where?"
"I'm from Boone."
"No shit? I know Boone. Ever heard of Hickory?"
"Yeah, I know Hickory."
"My whole family is from Hickory. I was born in North Carolina, man."
"Really?"
"Hell yeah. I can hear that Carolina accent a mile away."
The videographer then decides he is gonna yell at me and tell me to come on... to get over to the van.
"THAT fat ASSHOLE is a DOUCHE!!"
"I know. I know. Don't worry about it."
"He TOLD ME you was gonna-"
"I KNOW. I KNOW! Please stop sayin that man."
"No WAY man, that shit ain't FAIR!"
"HEY... look. If I give you some cash will you let it go?"
I reach into my wallet and I've got a twenty and a five...
(great... could really use a couple singles)
"Here, I'll give you five bucks. Will you just take that and lets leav it alone?"
He takes the money, doesnt say anything, looks past me at the big fat asshole.
"Hey, whats your name?"
"Michael."
"Michael...from Boone...cool ...I'm James"
We shake hands. He wont look me in the eye. He is intensley fixated on the videographer (BFA). He turns and walks away. I go back down the street and meet up with my group... the BFA cuts me off:
"What the hell man? We're leaving."
"Leaving? I just took care of the guy. We're cool."
"Yeah right."
"I did. I gave him five bucks."
"What? You shouldnt have done that. Let's go."
And that was it. I finished the shift without incident. Went home... made dinner... watched TV
I'm auditioning today for an ANIMAL PLANET episodic. I originally thought this was a web series, but it seems I was wrong... fine with me...
I'm told there are no sides, but to come 15-20 minutes early to look over whatever character breakdowns they have and get a basic grasp on what they'll be asking me to do in the audition. Michael Donovan, the casting director, told me to plan on being there for about an hour, as they will be mixing and matching actors up based on look and chemistry and what not...
I submitted myself for this project on ACTORS ACCESS back in April (3 weeks ago)...
The Breakdown:
LOST TAPES, EPISODE #18
Continuing Series for Animal Planet (formerly called "Creature")
LOGLINE: A family renovating their new house discovers they are not alone. Initially, they attribute the creepy noises and midnight scampering to raccoons. But what they discover instead is a secret room in the house, a hidden lair inhabited by nocturnal beasts that feed on the blood of the living and have now been disturbed by their hosts!
DENNIS REDDING: Male, mid to late 30s, all ethnicities. (Eddie's Dad, and Sarah's husband.) Dennis graduated from a top liberal arts college, went to law school, and landed in the corporate sales world - which earned him a comfortable living but left him relocating more often than he'd like. Then the economy took a dive, his company downsized and he lost his job. Now, he and his family find themselves downsizing, and having to move into a modest "fixer-upper" that should have been their "movin on up" to the big leagues.
It's nice to get a call for an audition based on any Actors Access or LA Casting submission. I swear, as an actor, and every daily grind actor wiull attest, it feels like I'm relentlessly dropping pennies in a fountain every day as I submit...and submit....and submit... to breakdowns through those services... sometimes I wonder if there is really is anyone on the other end.
Granted, there are probably thousands upon thousands of actors who submit for common roles on AA and LAC and I'm sure 2/3 of all thos submission never get seen. There are days upon days where I feel like nobody is listening.
So it's great to get a response. It validates my efforts and sends me back to the fountain with two pockets full of pennies.
KEN: Yeah, I read that. Well, most of it. I like Bill Simmons, but he can be a little long-winded. Funny, I don't feel bad about it even a little. I was ecstatic when I heard about Manny. I was literally high-fiving people. I tolerated him on the Sox, but I never really liked him. I kinda wish the Yankees got him in the off season. Roid speculation, who knows? Was Manny doing it in 2004? Was Ortiz? How about Sheffield, Giambi, Clemens, Petite and Arod? Maybe, maybe not? Nothing would really shock me at this point. I'll take the 2 WS wins though. And... I'll point out that the Yankees haven't done much since the testing began. As I recall, they didn't even make the playoffs last year. ;-)
I'm just enjoying being a sports fan in Boston right now. Last night the Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox all won. I'm pretty sure we are the only city with three teams still playing. BTW, what the hell is going on with Toronto? How do they keep winning?
JIM: Toronto is last years Tampa Bay... Over the past 5 or so years... while evryone has been talking about the Yankees and Red Sox... Toronto (and TB) have been quietly building quality teams with fresh talent... I wish the Yankees would do that... COULD do that... just accept the fact that we would have 2-4 mediocre seasons... but fill the roster with young hungry players and develop them... in real time... in the Big leagues... we would be back to a 1996 caliber team with bigger faster and younger versions of Bernie, Jeter, Mariano and Pettite...
KEN: You think New York will in the hunt in September?
JIM: I think they will... once they get a groove going... have a few 6 or 7 game winning streaks... but in the end your gonna have FOUR HOT teams up there in the form of Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay.. I'm skeptical that NY can prevail against all that talent... and not particularly Boston... cuz they are getting old too... late season they might just suffer the same fate... but TB and Toronto... watch out for those guys in September.
KEN: It will probably come down to injuries. That's good though. Should be a good season. I can't wait for A-Rod's first AB in Boson. There are so many good potential chants. Do you plan on going to the new Yankee Stadium this year? I'd definitely like to check it out. Hey, I just noticed all your urls at the bottom of the page. Man, you have one hell of a web presence!
JIM: I may or may not get a chance to see the new stadium this season. I'm back in New York for a wedding in September. I might try to see if I can score some tickets and squeeze it in. URL's... oh yeah... I know, I feel like I may be over-doing it with links in my email signature. I put a lot of stock in web presence... It takes a lot of work and that's just the tip of it... I'm a BIG believer in the revolution. I definitely think of myself as part of a new generation of independent artists figthing to stake a claim.... firing cannons for my own piece of land... its like the Wild West out there... there GOLD in them there Hills... I can smell it.
Ship's condition - heading back on impulse power only. Main engines burned out....
YES, I went to see Star Trek at the Arclight in Hollywood yesterday.. the 2:30 show on Sunday afternoon. It was awesome in so many ways. They did a great job casting CHRIS PINE as Jim Kirk... great job casting all around actually... Eric bana was a great villian as Romulan enemy NERO... Whats his name from HEROES rocked the SPOCK...in fact great perfomancs from everyone.... but Chris Pine really nailed his character... brought a young Captain Kirk to life without pushing or doing impressions. I was impresed by his performance. Aside from the casting, the action was gripping and exhilarating. The plot was solid and there were plenty of funny one liners to enjoy. The only thing I DIDNT like was the whole Leonard Nimoy thing... sorry... I'm sure that was a big deal for rabid Star Trek fans (there was one sitting right behind me who giggled and whooped and chirped her way through the entire movie.... and I'm talking like she was doing that in places that did not merit any type of giggling, whooping or chirping... come to think of it...she might have been semi-retarded... well... I guess thats being redundant, insn't it? or is that an oxy-moron...ooops... again.....being redundant). Anyway, the Nimoy stuff... I didnt like it. I thought the movie got kind of campy upon his arrival. Aside from that it was fantastic.
(back to reality)
I posted a few new links in the GOOD STUFF section of my website this morning:
Independent and fledgling filmmakers.... Your savior is here in the form of a hairless vegan, offering music tracks to be used for free in non-commercial film and video>>>
Artist/musician/celebrity tea brewer Moby writes "hi, i'll keep this brief: this portion of moby.com, 'film music', is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short.... the music is free as long as it's being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short. if you want to use it in a commercial film or short then you can apply for an easy license, with any money that's generated being given to the humane society. i hope that you find what you're looking for."
AND... A new blog by one of my dearest and closest friends slash top 5 favorite person of all time>>>
Operation Peace and Serenity: One woman's search for balance in a chaotic world.
The Hall of Fame baseball career of Manny Ramirez is being flushed down the toilet AS WE SPEAK.
So is that of Alex Rodriguez... but that is yesterday's news.
I worked two days on ENTOURAGE this week playing a driving instructor. We shot at the Auto Club Speedway out in Fontana, CA. Vince apparently takes Turtle and the gang out for racing lessons with brand new Ferrari's. I didnt get to drive the Ferrari, unfortunately.
My appearance on BONES is scheduled to air tonight. I wont be watching it. I'll be out celebrating a buddies birthday. I will catch it later on DVR.
My appearance on CSI: NY aired last night. I discovered this as I was channel surfing and I recognized the episode by some of the other scenes. I totally missed myself.
I auditioned yesterday for a video game motion capture and voice over project at Hydrogen-Whiskey Studios in Santa Monica. I sucked ass.
I watched THE STRANGERS on cable the other night... scared the shit out of me.
I still think the SWINE FLU is a scam. That pig smells fishy.
I'm writing my CATCH web series into a movie. I'm still going to shoot web series episodes... but they will be more committed to the fun and easy nature of popular web videos... the movie will be bigger, deeper... darker.
I learned the right way to eat a banana this week. Apparently humans are the only species to peel a banana from "what we know" to be the top. All other species... that happen to eat bananas... whihc I guess means monkeys... peel the banana from the bottom... and you know what... it is easier to peel... plus you end up with a little...banana handle on the bottom... its not a huge difference... but its definitely an upgrade to the banana peeling process as we know it...
I'm watching the Directors commentary on I'M NOT THERE... and I'm feeling right now that ... unless you are an AVID Dylan fan... and I'm talking a fan to the point of HISTORIAN... that watching this film a second time with the directors commentary is an essential part of the experience...
I'm gonna say mandatory.
I mean the movie is cool... interesting... at face value.
if I were going to sum this film up in one word so that any simpleton could quickly and clearly grasp its essence... I would say "Trippy."
Now...if you go back and watch the directors commentary, you get all kinds of insight and explanations... and you begin to understand that the entire film is structured around this abstract interpretation of Bob Dylan's life and his career... so you have.. at any given moment... a variety of jumps, cuts, flashbacks and flash-forwards, dream sequences and inside jokes... all based on interviews, eyewitness accounts, previously produced documentaries and good old Rock & Roll lore...
If you are familair with every account, every side to every story ever told about Bob Dylan... then you and this dvd will have a dance off with your pants off... knock yourself out.
Unfortunately for me... I'm not so "up to speed" on Bob Dylan...
The Directors commentary is great though..... to be honest... I actually found it really informative... shed light on a lot of stuff that left me scratching my head....
I would say check it out... see the film.... see I'M NOT THERE.
I wouldnt go so far as to say "just skip the first run-through and go straight to the commentary..."
In the underground thespian system, artistically based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated dramatics who dare to commit these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as ASPIRING ACTORS. These are their stories...
ASPIRING LINE: EPISODE 5 features DEREK PEITH, TARA YANOVIAK and ASHLEY WREN COLLINS. Written and produced by James Huffman. Directed by Meg Scibona. Edited by Casey Chistopher. Brought to you by INDIE CITY ENTERTAINMENT.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” -Calvin Coolidge
My ex-girlfriend, Jessica, gave me that quote in a card on the eve of our final break-up. We were saying a tearful good-bye on a busy West Village street corner. I was leaving of Los Angeles the next day.
This quote has since become a great motivator for me. Today I'm inspired to share it again....
I don't know why.... Maybe its a because life has been so challenging lately. Maybe I'm closing in on my two year mark in LA... I love LA but my heart hurts for NY...
Mostly because re-visiting this moment actually makes me feel better...
Here it is as it was posted on this site 2 years ago...
SAYING GOODBYE
Last night was a rough one...
After Charlottes reading (She held an informal reading of her new screenplay...to hear it out loud and for feedback), I walked Jessica over to the 9th street PATH train and to say one final goodbye. Until that moment, I done a pretty good job of compartmentalizing....keeping my mind from wrapping itself around the gravity of the situation.....that I was leaving New York City....that we were truly saying goodbye .
This was it. We had lived together for months in a civil, mature manner as a "Now Defunct" couple operating with an "Exit Stategy." Some people didnt get it. Some people didnt buy it. We made it work. We managed and we did a pretty damn good job of maintaining a harmonious environment. We had become buddies.
Suddenly even that was ending...
We stood on 9th street and Sixth Avenue and cried and hugged and cried some more. Niether one of us wanted to be the one to walk away. Sound...Traffic...cars and people whizzed...beyond our ears....as we held each other, embracing our five years, wiping tears... promising great things ahead and acknowledging fears...
(I was really hoping this would be easier)
She stepped away and went down the stairs to the train. I stood there in that spot, unable to move, looking at the wall...looking at the sky...trying to get myself together before I had to walk away...because THAT would be the hardest thing to do...
I opened up a card that Jess gave me earlier. Inside was a personal note (Which will remain personal) and a quote from Calvin Coolidge:
“Press On: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "
As if I were at an open door of an aircraft at 13,000 feet, I took two steps backward...one deep breath...
I'm watching I'M NOT THERE on DVD right now... while I'm writing this...
It's a pretty cool movie... very surreal and abstract.... but I'm having trouble following... there's a lot going on there....
I'm gonna have to watch it again... give it my undivided attention...
I'm just doing a little Wednesday morning multi-tasking...
blast a blog post
Peanut butter toast
self submit for some
web series host
I have a print casting to go to today over on Sunset and Gower.... first time I've heard from my commercial agent in MONTHS.
My IMDB credit for my role on BONES went through....it's official.... hooray
Thank you Amanda Chism.
The episode "The Critic in the Cabernet," is scheduled to air on FOX on May 7th.
I'm "The Critic" in the cabernet.
I posted a new worksheet on the wall of my apartment so I could organize all my story lines and plot points for CATCH, my web series...
I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head for this series that I was in desperate need of devising a more specific game plan for the project.
I threw a giant piece of paper up on the wall and created 15 categories that constitute the fundamental beats to a proper screenplay.
I am using one my favorite little books "SAVE THE CAT: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need," by Blake Snyder.
I'm also using the "Blake Snyder Beat Sheet," as a reference, which is where I came up with the 15 categories... those are the 15 beats that Snyder lists as the essential structure for any good screenplay.
So I started doodling all my ideas up on the wall... fitting story lines and moments into beats...
and BAM!!
I've got a feature film...
Appraoching this web series from this perspective changes a few fundamental principals of the project.... but I've got something good here...
I'm excited.
Now I have a lot of issue to face, questions to ask...and decisions to make regarding CATCH...
But this is EXACTLY what I needed...
I guess I can mull things over while I'm wearing my hair net and rubber gloves at Costco today... handing out samples of TASTY BITE Indian Food...
UGH.... Yes... That's what I'll be doing for the next two weeks.
It's a job... I'm not thrilled about it... but times are tough and I desperately need the money.
I've been seeking and submitting like crazy. A sampling gig at Costco is the only thing on the table right now...
So I'm gonna make the best of it.
Come on through and visit y'all!
I'll be kicking it with the curry at the Costco in Los Feliz today, tomorrow and Friday from 3P-9P.
Truth was their grail. As Duvall puts it, “To live truthfully in an imaginary set of circumstances, that’s what it’s all about. And do that, you now, in a somewhat effortless way.” Hackman learned to do it under George Morrison, still active today as president of the New Actors Workshop. At that time he headed the Premise, an improve troupe that performed in a tiny theater on Bleecker Street. The shy and introverted Hackman did comedy improvisations there. Morrison says, “He fell out of his shell, and learned to be funny, learned timing, delivery, voice.” Hackman says, “When I’m working on a character, I never get to the point where I don’t believe it’s still me. I think there’s everything in me. I think it’s possible that I could be anybody. When you think that way, all things are possible for you.” The disappointments, the rejections, the mental jobs, says Hackman, “create a resolve in you that no matter what kind of part you’re given, you can do anything. Give me the challenge. I can do it. The scarier the better.”
Ever since those beginning years, the three have always been risk takers in their choices of roles and characterizations. Hoffman’s first wife, now Anne Byrne Kronenfeld, is today a talent manager and believes that they “are among the last of a generation. You don’t see actors today go to the edge of a cliff and say ‘OK, I’m going to jump, and maybe I’ll fly and maybe I won’t.’ They’ve done that.” Hoffman describes the experience of flying: “If I tried to define what it means to be most alive, it’s when that cloud of mortality disappears. It’s when you’re in a place of timelessness. You’re free, really free. When that happens in life, there’s not a moment when you’re not completely in the moment. There’s nothing else we want, is there? Our work gives us a chance to have that.”
They are all able to project two opposing feelings simultaneously. One is vulnerability. Duvall and Hackman can draw on their shy kindness. Hoffman, believes Anne Byrne Kronenfeld, “touches the audience with his ability to find the appealing contradictions, even the humor, in the most unsavory characters. That reaches out to the audience.” Sometimes the class clown in him resurfaces. Performing with Ula Grosbard’s wife, Rose Gregorio, who played a whore with a blond wig covering her dark hair, Hoffman suddenly snatched the wig off. She remembers, “We broke up onstage, and the audience just went bananas. We made it part of the scene.”
The second undercurrent in the trio is a simmering, suppressed anger; an unpredictability. Duvall, the specialist in macho men sensitive at the center, explains “You should find some aspect of vulnerability in yourself. And the anger sits there. A sense of danger. What’s next?” Sometimes it is an explosion of rage. In 1965, Duvall again played Eddie Carbone in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, this time at the Sheridan Square Playhouse, a 199-seat, three-quarter-round theater with tables, close to, and level with the stage. One night Duvall noticed a man asleep several tables away during a scene that required him to threaten Jon Voight with a wine bottle. Duvall smashed the bottle on the nearest table, splattering glass, and woke the man up. Sometimes Duvall would simply spot somebody he thought didn’t like him and use the anger to feed his acting. According to Hoffman, even after Duvall’s curtain calls, as he walked offstage, he would lean over to the person and yell, “Fuck You!”
Hackman confesses that he could have modified some of his mean-guy roles, but “what interests me is to get that edge, get to that anger… A good thing about acting is that you’re allowed to be who you are. It’s OK if you’ve got some aspects of you that are dangerous.” After a movie or a dinner with Hoffman, Hackman would sometimes stand on a street corner and say, “I gotta go.” Hoffman explains what that meant: “He had to get in a fight. He’d go to some bar.” Hackman adds, “There’s a kind of catharsis about it. I don’t want to get hit, but I don’t like to take any shit.”
In Hoffman the rage is more hidden, but it can erupt if he feels that his fiercely held acting processes and judgments are being violated, especially by directors who seem to now nothing about acting. They are the ones who grow impatient if the actors gradually explore their characters, who want to impose their own ideas, who do not want to join the actors in jumping off that precipice – “What? Your wife just died and you want to start laughing?” The anger, Hoffman explains, “comes from your toes. It’s a wonderful feeling.” He adds, “Hackman doesn’t talk. He just picks the person up and throws them out the window.” Duvall says, “It’s hard to be diplomatic when you’re using yourself, your own temperament, to give what the character calls for.” When one film director told him to pause and smile, Duvall walked off the set.
Have you ever seen so many Offensive Lineman go in the FIRST round? # 2, 6, 8, 21, 23, 28...
I think that's because of the Giants. The New York Giants had such a solid 2008 season and the Offensive Line got all kinds of buzz as the G-man marched towards the playoffs. I think the skill, the drive and the chemistry that the Giants O-Line possessed and demonstrated last season left a definite and thorough impression on the draft this year.
Sanchez is gonna be huge... let alone the fact that he is playing in New York...for the Jets... Mark Sanchez is going to the first big time NFL QB who is Latino... There is going to be a gigantic turnout of support... not just in New York....but on a national level... possibly a global level.... think about all the little Latino kids who are going to look up to Mark Sanchez.... and on his end... he has a mighty big torch to bear... and I mean that in a good way.... representing his community is going to add a whole nother layer of purpose to his game...to his career... to his legend.
I really HOPE that the addition of Matthew Stafford is going to make a difference to the Detroit Lions. Unfortunately, I dont believe ANY player is going to make a difference in Detreoit until they clean house... and I'm talking management... not personnell.
And MY BOYS... My GEE MEN... The NEW YORK... FOOTBALL...GIANTS... they got Hakeem Nicks... ok... great..whatever...how nice.... How can anyone honestly consider Hakem Nicks an adequate replacemnet for Plaxico Burress... He's no Plaxico... Hakeem Nicks is a good receiver... and a Carolina boy...so I got love for that... but he's only 6 ft tall... and what Eli Manning really needs is that 6 ft 5 inch I-will-catch-anything-you-put -in-the-air, receiver... a true... blue blooded... Plaxican... I was getting concerned until the 3rd round rolled around... and lo and behold they took RAMSES BARDEN... 6 foot 6 inch... 229 lb wide receiver from Cal Poly... Now THAT dude is a true Plaxican... he is SO Plaxican that they patted him down before they let him enter the facilities...
One last comment on the draft...
My buddy JJ is a big Broncos fan. For weeks I've been trying to console him as his team let one of the leagues most talented quaterbacks (Jay Cutler) slip away... and that comes after a horrid season... mishap after mishap... I said "JJ... Denver is going ot draft a quaterback, dude, Don't you get it? This new head coach wants to draft his own little baby... his own little hand picked project. "But they got Kyle Orton and Chris Simms!!??" "Seriously?" I said, "They are going to pick up Josh Freeman, or Nate Davis... or maybe even RHETT BOMAR.."
You remember Rhett Bomar... don't you?
I beleiev in Rhett Bomar. I think he might just be one of the best picks in the draft. It's a sleeper pick for sure... but whoever gets him could very well have a "time bomb tickin it time bomb tickin tickin."
Don't remember Rhett Bomar?
He was the hot to trot QB who played at Oklahoma 4 years ago and was supposed to be the next big thing. He was all set to play along side Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings? Superstar?) and the two of them were destined to lead the Sooners to a National Title. But Rhett Bomar got busted... busted for some sort of eligibility infraction... he had a part time job where he clocked in and was paid for hours that he apparently didnt work... total bullshit... I mean c'mon... we've all done that... especially in college... but Bomar was playing QB at a high profile school... national exposure... full scholarship, I'm sure... and he got CAUGHT.... so he got kicked off the team... transferred to Sam Houston State (Yay... my ex-girlfriend went there), never to be heard from again...
Anyway, I was following the draft this weekend... and I kept assuring JJ... Denver is gonna get that quarterback... watch... Ok...maybe its not Josh Freeman... Tampa Bay snagged him... ixsnay on Nate Davis... he went to San Francisco.... and then it was like Defensive Lineman after Defensive Lineman... Denver just wasn't grabbing a quaterback... what the eff McDaniels?
And then it happened... with the ONE HUNDRED and SEVENTY FOURTH PICK OF THE 2009 NFL DRAFT... THE DENVER BRONCOS PICK....
Thats RIGHT... I said it.... I called it... The Denver Broncos drafted 6 foot 5 inch 220 pound TOM... Brand...stater...
Tom Brandstater, the Phenom from Fresno State... and the FUTURE of the Denver Broncos... told ya.
Wait... whatever happended to poor old Rhett Bomar?
He was drafted in the fifth round by the NEW YORK...FOOTBALL.... GIANTS.
I'm working at Angels Stadium as part of the Angels Family Sunday Staff. They have a little mini festival at the stadium every other Sunday and they hire a bunch of people to supervise games that kids can play before and during the game...
I'm hoping I get to staff the WII station. I did that for a few hours last time and it was fun. They have the wii baseball set up. I pitched to the kids, who all waited in line to step and have an at-bat or two... I found that kids have an easier time hitting a slow hanging curve ball than any other pitch... you gotta keep things moving... ya know... Or if the kid is too good... either he/she has got the game at home or the kid is older and a little more skilled with the Wii.... throw em some heat... a nice 90 mph... quick flick of the wrist straight ahead... that will sit em down fast... NEXT...
It's saturday afternoon... I'm following the NFL draft, the Yankees/Red Sox game (On FOX TV here on the West Coast thankyouverymuch) simultaneously, and writing CATCH plot points up on the wall in my apartment....
I decided to create a CATCH web series work sheet after spending some time brainstorming this morning with my roommate and we both agreed that I had a ton of good story ideas to develop...but the series PLAN...as a whole...needs to be better organized... if I were to get a call from some network or some production company tomorrow...and they were interested in my series in ANY capacity... they would ask me what the plan is...or what that complete story line is... or to see the full script... and I would have a bunch of ideas...with no detailed game plan to show them...
Hence the worksheet paper tacked up to the wall...
Derek Jeter's birthday is on June 26. Regarding Derek Jeter turning 35: "NO team has won a World Series with a shortstop 35 years or older since 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers" says announcer Tim Carver. I say its about time the Yankees shook that stat up a little bit.
Aaron Curry just went #4 overall to SEATTLE. Aaron Curry is awesome. My Mom went to Wake Forest. I'm sure she is STOKED!!
This is kind of scary. Mexico City is basically in the process of shutting down.
If I was in New York, I would think to myself, “I feel pretty far removed from all that mess. They will surely get a handle on that ole “Swine Flu” before it spreads this way. I LAUGH at you…swine flu”
WHO (World health Organization) declares the deadly swine flu outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern."
BUT… I’m in LA. I’m on the WEST Coast. I’m pretty damn close to Mexico City. That’s not good. Better go buy some hand sanitizer and a truck load of Vitamin C.
HOME RUN!! Robbie CANO cold killin you bro!
Holy Sh&t... the Jets just took Sanchez...interesting.
I started watching SHOOT EM UP, with Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti, which I actually went to see in the theater (believe it or not) and I noticed that the soundtrack was different. They replaced a lot of the original score used in the theatrical version with a bunch of popular (or not so popular) songs… The HBO ON DEMAND version …which might be the DVD version.... who knows… now uses songs by WOLFMOTHER and… MOTORHEAD… as part of the soundtrack…. I’m confused… the movie is okay… but as one critic said… it does seem more like an exercise in excessive violence… don’t get me wrong… I like action and violence in a flick as much as the next guy… but you often feel like they are pushing the envelope just because they can… Paul Giamatti’s character feeling up the exposed breast of a dead pregnant woman… is a little much.
I’m LOVING this Yankees/Red Sox game this afternoon BTW… AJ Burnett is on fire and Robbie Cano is ROCKIN IT… 6-0 Yanks in the bottom of the 4th . OF COURSE AS I WRITE THAT BURNETT WALKS JD DREW TO LOAD THE BASES WITH ONE OUT… JASON BAY IS NOW AT BAT….
One of my favorite movies is CITY OF GOD. I recently read about a spin off TV series that was created based on the film. So I ordered it through Netflix and started watching CITY OF MEN on DVD….
It is often cited as a 'spin-off' of the film; City of Men is a less violent and more light-hearted affair with dramedy elements (the film adaptation is darker, sharing its roots of City of God). However, the two do share some common aspects: the directors, some of the actors, and the setting of the Brazilian favela with its background of gangsters and poverty.
The first DVD contained seven episodes and generally, I enjoyed it. I love the tone and the flavor of the series. It’s Brazil, so obviously it’s a world apart from anything we are used to on American TV, which is why I like it. You get to run with the kids in the ghetto… or The Favela. It’s a fascinating slice of life experience. So different from anything you know. I love the way the show takes you through every nook and cranny –
Yes…. I know, I just used a phrase coined by the English Muffin people to explain a Brazilian TV show about the favela…doesn’t quite match…
Varitek just hit a F%#@@*&% grand slam... you gotta be F%$@&* kidding me. HELLO??? Yankee Bullpen please??? can somebody stop the bleeding for %$#@& sakes.
HOME RUN JOHNNY DAMON. Thank you Johnny Damon. sheesh!
Spoke with Shirley earlier today... we talked about getting a LIP DUB project together…. I’m kind of obsessed but I think it would be a fun thing to shoot...
This is just a preliminary suggestion... and there are obviously millions of good song choices.... but I was thinking of getting people together for this song ...
With a Little Help From My Friends by Easy Star All Stars
since its a remake of a famous song... everyone knows it... plus the theme of the song is fitting... but best of all there are tons of backup "yeahs" and "Oh-Oh's" which would allow more people to participate and could create more action in the background... and this song has a strong ending... I don't know if we'd want to go acapella like some of the other Lip Dubs do... but the song ends nicely…
I’m working on cast and locations….
There is WAY too much going on over here right now... I'm gonna hve to shut this blog post down and focus....
I was over at my friend Josh’s place last night. We were working on CATCH episode 4… which needed a few quick touch ups. He showed me this viral video on Youtube because he wanted to show me this girl that he thought was exactly his ‘type.”
"Take a look at the girl in this video. This is like, my ideal girl. I wanna marry this chick."
So I’m watching this video, the girl is cute, definitely, but I was like:
“What IS THIS VIDEO? It’s AWESOME.”
“It’s just some lip synch thing. A bunch of people got together and taped themselves lip synching a song.”
“I’m LOVIN this. It looks like so much fun.”
“Yeah, it actually started this whole internet craze and then people all over did the same thing… lip synched a song and put it on Youtube. It’s now officially called LIP DUB.”
“Yo, I wanna do a lip dub. Look at that! That’s awesome.”
I went home and researched LIP DUB. I ended up watching like 200 LIP DUB videos. Now I’m obsessed. I’m a little miffed that this has been going on for like two years and I was completely clueless.
From Wikipedia…
A lip dub is a type of video that combines lip synching and audio dubbing to make a music video. It is made by filming individuals or a group of people lip synching while listening to a song or any recorded audio then dubbing over it in post editing with the original audio of the song. Often, they look like simple music videos, although many involve a lot of preparation and are well produced. The most popular lip dubs are done in a single unedited shot that often travels through different rooms and situations in, say, an office building. Tom Johnson, a technical writer who blogs about Web 2.0's effect on communication, describes a good lip dub as having the characteristics, or at least the appearance of:
spontaneity: "It appears as if someone thought up the idea on the spot, pulled out their personal video camera, and said hey everyone, let’s all lip sync this song."
authenticity: The people, production and situation appear real.
participation: "The video doesn’t consist of one person’s spectacular lip sync, but that of a group, all participating together in this one spontaneous effort, which seems to communicate the attitude and mood of the song."
fun: the people in the video are having a lot of fun.
Wikipedia lists a handful of the current cream of the crop as far as lip dubs go….
Hoffman liked to provoke. He made a behavioral laboratory out of his job in Macy’s toy department, where Hackman would sometimes visit. Hoffman remembers, “We had a thing where we would outdare each other to see who was going to be more outlandish.” One day Hackman brought in his 18-month-old son, Christopher, and the two friends decided to test the Christmas crowd shopping in a glazed-eyed trance. Hackman put Christopher on the counter, and Hackman hawked him as a walking, talking doll, with real hair, $16.95. A woman said, “I’ll take it,” then touched real flesh and shrieked.
Hoffman, demonstrating hockey games, has his eye on Elaine, a sexy salesgirl selling tape recorders. He hatched a plan to impress her. While customers watched in shock, a badly dressed Hackman came on to her as a brain-damaged creep. The pint-sized Hoffman interceded, pushing Hackman out of the way and hustling Elaine down the escalator. Wearing a dopey grin, elbowing through the Christmas crowds like a big bear, Hackman followed them into the cafeteria, grunting, “UH, UH, UH.” Everyone stopped eating and watched as Hoffman shoved Hackman and yelled, “get your ass outta here big fella, and stop bothering this girl.” Saying, “Ok, Ok, take it easy,” and followed by Hoffman, Hackman backed into the men’s room, where they pounded on the walls and yelled and splashed water on themselves, then emerged disheveled, with Hackman holding his eye and Hoffman shouting, “Now just get out of here.” Next, says Hoffman, “Gene did the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen.” Groaning, he staggered up the down escalator, getting nowhere. Elaine began to cry, screaming at Hoffman, “How could you do that? That man is sick!” Taking pity, Hackman came back and tried to explain, but Elaine ran off sobbing. Hoffman says, “You have to understand we were frustrated actors out of work, and there we had an audience. This was a solid one-acter. It held.”
Stocking their hoard of behaviors was one thing, but the chance to use them on stage was quite another. “No one starts at the top in the theater, and the bottom is a very ugly place,” says Hackman. Describing the ritual of auditioning for roles, he says, “You’d be on a bare stage reading with the stage manager, and there’d be two or three fuckers sitting in the 15th row of a dark theater, and you couldn’t see them. And then there would be this voice – ‘thank you very much’ – and you’d just leave. Or they’d say, ‘Uh, could you read the part of Jim in the third act,’ and I’d say, ‘OK,’ and you’d have to cold read for them. Or they’d say, ‘Uh, could you hang out for half an hour. We’d like to put you with someone else.’ And you’d go through this process – and already you’re thinking, since they didn’t send me away right off, maybe, just maybe… And in the end they would say, ‘Uh, very nice, really very nice… well…um… we’ll let you know.’ And you’d never here anything.”
Sometimes there were open calls, where no appointment was needed and hopefuls showed up by the hundreds. “It was madness, says Hackman. “A cattle call, they called it. A lot of people would get physical about where they were in line, and who had to go to work, so let me in front of you so I can get the hell out.” Gene Kelly once held an open call for a musical he directed. After Hackman stood in line and sang for a part, Kelly came to the edge of the stage and told him, “Nice try. Musicals are hard.”
Hoffman says, “The actor who go the part was always a piece of shit.” Those were the ones who immediately gave a full-out performance, which never became deeper and richer. Duvall called them salesmen. “The producers and directors,” says Hoffman, “are scared, see?” They want to see what you’re going to be opening night.” In radical contrast, the trio’s acting philosophy dictated giving very little at first – suppressing the acting of the character, waiting for the portrayal to arrive internally, instinctively. In addition, their lack of leading man looks made them hard to categorize. “I was trouble,” says Hoffman. His size and physiognomy made him seem un-castable. Duvall once called him Barbara Streisand in drag. Friends from that era, meeting the movie-star Hoffman, have said, “You were the last one I expected to make it.”
The three reacted differently to rejections. For Hackman “it was more psychological warfare, because I wasn’t going to let those fuckers get me down. I insisted with myself that I would continue to do whatever it took to get a job. It was like me against them, and in some way, unfortunately, I still feel that way. But I think that if you’re really interested in acting there is a part of you that relishes the struggle. It’s a narcotic in the way that you are trained to do this work and nobody will let you do it, so you’re a little bit nuts. You lie to people, you cheat, you do whatever it takes to get an audition, get a job.” He and Duvall occasionally made rounds together, and when agents refused to see them they slipped their photographs and meager resumes under the office doors. “We both knew we would never get a job,” says Hackman. “I gave a casting person a resume that was bullshit. I had no resume. He looked at it and said, ‘I see you played in such and such two years ago. That’s interesting. I was in that play and I don’t remember you.’”
To Hoffman, rejections meant that he had no talent. When he was told “You’re not right for the part,” he would sometimes yell, “You’re right!” and flee. When a mumbling stage manager was flat in his line readings, Hoffman was known to fling the script pages into the air and walk out. What particularly enraged him were casting directors who chose to read the lines looking down at the script instead of watching him. When Hoffman returned home after two, three, four failed auditions, he sometimes stalked around the apartment chanting, “I’m a great fucking actor. I’m a great fucking actor and nobody knows it!”
Despite the praise he received from teachers and the status he held in his circle, Duvall suffered from self doubts. After one of his first off-off Broadway performances, in George Bernard Shaw’s MRS WARRENS PROFESSION, he received a lethal review in the NEW YORK POST. The paper reported that the revolting romantic lead was “made even less palatable by Robert Duvall, whose spine tends toward a figure S, whose diction is flannel coated, and whose simpering expressions are moronic.” Reading it on a bus, he felt so sick that he had to get off. Duvall fled home to his parents in Virginia for three months, returning to the wars only because Ulu Grosbard kept reassuring him. Duvall says, “Thank goodness I had a good friend like Ulu, who still had, you know, faith, in what maybe I could do.”
Looking back, Duvall can say, “Each day is different. There’s a general frustration, but you’ve got to weather that and go on. You gather with guys like Dusty. We used to go to Cromwell’s drugstore on Rockefeller Plaza, make lots of jokes – gets you through the day. Downey’s steak house at night. That fills the day with a certain camaraderie, which is good.” One night Hoffman told Duvall, “We’ve got to talk about something besides women and acting.”
Television roles were rarely discussed. Tennessee Williams and Chekhov and Ibsen were infinitesimally dissected. Brando stories were swapped. Those sidewalk colloquies among the three sometimes devolved into battles over whose acting teacher and technique was right. The trio hewed to different versions of Stanislavski’s holy writ, which required reliving emotions and re-experiencing the five senses onstage. Hoffman describes Duvall exploding, “Bullshit! What do you man, you sit there for an hour trying to feel hot or feel cold!” Hoffman explains, “We were almost like religious fanatics. Our craft was the most important part of us.”
CATCH Episode 3 (on Youtube) has been attracting an unusually high amount of hits/views over the past few days. I can't quite figure out why. CATCH 3 was viewed 75 times on Friday, April 17 and 300 + times yesterday, Saturday, April 18th.
300+ views is a huge spike compared to the 10 or so daily average to this point. 300+ views that came on a SATURDAY no less... hits are usually less frequent on the weekend.
Youtube's traffic reports leave much to be desired... but I WAS able to determine that about 85% of the hits were coming from an external link. I traced that external link back to a message board site caled Runboard.com.
Thats about as far as I got. I havent been able to locate the specific post or link... but I'd love to know where all the traffic is coming from.
Nobody is rating the episode or leaving comments, and the spike in views isnt translating into more trafiic to any of my other sites... still... 300+ on a Saturday... interesting....
Going to Coachella today with a couple of my new bestest buddies out here in LA. Its gonna be a scorcher. It's been really comfortable in LA for the past few weeks... few months actually.... but today and for the next couple of days, Its sunny, clear and in the high 80's, whihc means its gonna be HOT in the desert...
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley. The event features many genres of music as well as large sculptural art. The event has several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously.
The line up for today is The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K’naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.... Not necessarily in that order...
MY itinerary for today will include PUBLIC ENEMY...or course... Lupe Fiasco, The Kills, Clipse, K'naan, Gaslight Anthem, Mexican Institute of Sound and Friendly Fires...
I was looking for some suggestions on how to handle my upcoming BONES credit and how it appears on or should appear on IMDB, so I posted my inquiry on Hollywood Happy Hour, an entertainment industry Yahoo group and online support group with over a thousand members...
News, Schmooze, Reviews, and Interviews in Hollywood!
I am in need of some good advice, direction, suggestions... It basically has to do with managing an imdb credit. I booked a small role on BONES... really small... i would say it lies somewhere in the "Featured extra" category. I was sent to the lot by Central and I was told that I would be "interviewing" for a role... with the option to work that day should I be cast. Central gave me the role breakdown and that breakdown included a character name... "HOLT."
I went down to the lot...8AM call… and they picked me out of like 6 or 7 guys... I was cast as HOLT... I was asked to stay...the other guys went home. I basically spent the morning posing for a bunch of stills for the episode... I would be appearing in different places throughout the episode in the form of these stills (a few faux magazine covers, ID badge, etc). I got your standard pay 130/8. I don't really care so much about the pay...
But what I WANT to do is see if there is a way to squeeze an imdb credit out of the deal. My character has a name... and the episode is titled "The Critic in the Cabernet." I play the critic... the critic is HOLT. Anyone have any suggestions?
Hi James - I understand wanting to be able to put a credit for Bones on your imdb page, and I suspect that since the character had a name, there might be a way to do it. I'm sorry I don't know what that is. But, extra work is extra work is extra work, and it does not belong on imdb even if there is a name attached. Most cds can tell when someone is inflating their resume, and they don't view it favorably. If they're trying to decide whether or not to call in you or someone else why would you want to give them a reason to call that other person?
That's exactly right. Here's something interesting, the studios don't even look at imdb :O. They have their own way of checking on any major roles that you do. All that aside, you definitely don't want to get called out on inflating your resume or worse going in to see a CD and finding out that it was the one who cast the show. I know that people do this all the time, and like I said, I suspect there's a way, and that someone will let you know what it is; but from everything I've heard from cds, I'd suggest you just let it fall where it really belongs, which is extra work. My two cents, fwiw.
Hey James - I would totally add it if I were you...actually would you like me to try to add for you? There are a couple James Huffman's on IMDb; which one is you?
Where I totally disagree with the people who responded is you're not lying. You're not putting "co-star" or "guest star" on your resume. Hell, I'd put it on my resume as "featured" and explain if anyone asks. You're telling the truth. Why not be proud of it?
THANK YOU! My sentiments exactly... those people are BUZZKILLS... and I AM telling the truth... why not list the credit... right? There is a character name and the character is referred to in the title of the episode... plus I feel like anything on your resume that might provide a reason to have a conversation or open a dialogue when your in the room is a good thing... that's one of the motives behind the "Special Skills" section... I believe... Anyway, YES... if you would be willing to add it for me I would greatly appreciate it...
My episode appearance on BONES, Season 4, episode 25, “The Critic in the Cabernet,” is scheduled to run on Thursday, May 7th. I play the role of “Holt,” the critic in the cabernet. Thank you so much for reaching out....
WED, APRIL 15>>>
BRETT: I’m going to this event tomorrow night. I’m going to support Koren, do you want to come?
ME: Possibly, I hurt my neck yesterday, so I’m in a lot pain. Check with me tomorrow and I’ll let you know…
BRETT: What did you do? Can I help?
ME: Oh... I'm an idiot... i pulled a muscle/pinched a nerve at the gym... i had been there for like 10 min...and i felt something tweak.. I should have quit...called it a day... but was like... "whatever, i've only been here for ten minutes. gotta finish my workout… RAR." So I trudged through it and came home... a couple hours later I was dying... I'm brilliant like that... Wanna give me like a 3hour massage?
Less of Raves
More of Rants
This time I rise
Apologize in advance
For flipping birds
And using words
That dance.. and dance
And dance sans romance
I will make no such excuse
For my stance
Earlier this week... a anonymous MR XXX left me a nugget in my website Guestbook….
“Regarding Mandy.com Job Posting for unpaid Editor: Work for free? Great industry contact? No budget? Yea right!! Don't be sooooo cheep. So do you work for free James?”
First of all... before I state my well thought out response.... Hey… Mr XXX…. F%$# YOU…. f%$# asshole
I'm drawing up images of delivering a ruthless and violent death to “Mr. XXX.” I could go on and on about this subject… but, I’ll keep it short.. THIS F%$@& BULLS$%T pisses me off… this is a sore subject for me because jerk-offs like Mr. XXX peruse postings on Craigslist and Mandy and wherever else and they sabotage postings they don’t like….
Terrorists… essentially. They see a posting and they don’t like the rate of pay… so instead of choosing to move on and look for offers that they would find more attractive (If you don’t like what you see, CHANGE THE DAMN CHANNEL), they CHOOSE to act like an insurgents and FLAG the posting… if the posting receives more than one flag, it gets shut down… then NOBODY can read the post… and I guess that’s what the terrorists want… to shut you down … well good for you Craigslist terrorists… well done douchebags…
Ok so listen, I get it. You place a high price on your talent and services… good for you. You get your panties all up in a wad when you see someone looking to hire a person for little or no money in return. You decide to take matters into your own hands and you become a vigilante for Craigslist justice and you fire away.
Well that’s great, because now not only have you disabled that persons effort to find help for their project, but you nipped a perfectly good opportunity in the bud. It might not be an adequate opportunity for YOU… the big f%##@ douche bag… but it just might be a GREAT opportunity for someone else. You must be so proud.
I see it all the time on Craigslist. It happens ALL THE TIME. Not only do countless ads for PA’s, editors, DP’s, sound mixers and all other sorts get SHUT DOWN, but ads looking for promo people, caterers and bartenders also get ambushed.
Let me say right now, there are scammers out there for sure... we all now that... and I appluad those that are proactive in exposing craigslist hustlers and predators... but this isn't about those people. If you cant tell the difference between a scam and a genuine request for goods and services... If you are not "Pretty damn sure" then maybe you should just stay out of it.
Let’s say you are throwing a little party. You want it to be nice. Maybe you are throwing a 50th anniversary gathering for your grandparents… aw…that’s so sweet. Now you don’t have a lot of money to spend, so you are doing what you can to put this party together on a shoestring budget. You spend some money on decorations, clean the house. You buy some great food, maybe you appoint yourself the chef. You even go out and buy a nice assortment of beverages. Grandpa likes a good scotch. So after all that, you’ve got 50 bucks leftover. Wow, wouldn’t it be great if you could get someone to serve drinks at your party, find someone to step in as a casual bartender to really add a nice touch to this event?
You know it’s not a lot of money. You are perfectly aware that a good bartender is used to earning 100- 200 bucks a night. But MAYBE, there is someone out there that would be willing to bartend at your party. Maybe… that’s what’s great about Craiglist. You can post your offer and there is a good chance that what you are offering is something that SOMEBODY…SOMEWHERE could benefit from … so you go ahead and post your ad.
But wait…what’s this? Your ad gets flagged…and then it’s REMOVED. Why? Maybe it’s some quirky error. So you post again. Thirty minutes later… your ad is flagged and removed.
You know why that keeps happening? Because of the jerk-offs who browse Craigslist and think that your offer, your little twenty word posting represents some horrible injustice to bartenders everywhere, and they are NOT gonna let you get away with it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, there is a guy who sits home alone, depressed, maybe he just got laid off, maybe his girlfriend dumped him, maybe he just moved to LA and doesn’t know anyone and he just WISHES he had something to do on Saturday night. Maybe he is a bartender. Maybe he dabbled in college. Maybe he worked at some of the trendiest night spots in New York. Maybe he is broke and he could really use the fifty bucks. Hard times all around, right? Shit, he might be so lonely and so bored that he would do it for FREE… just so he could spend the evening at a party… serving cocktails to a nice group of people.
But he is never going to get that fifty bucks, because he will never see your ad. He will be denied the opportunity to decide for himself if working at your party is worth it. WHY? Because of douche bags that flag ads on Craigslist.
Don’t you get it? By flagging ads you are undermining the very principles that make Craigslist so great. Your selfish actions are messing with other people’s progress.
I’m a filmmaker…. And I’m as broke as the next guy.. I'm a struggling artist scratching and clawing to find my way, make my mark...be heard... and pimpin aint easy baby...that's for sure.... but I still believe that I can endure these hard times and continue to produce fun projects. I also believe that there are people out there that see things the same way. There are Directors and DP’s and Sound people that just want to work on something… and understand that working for free … for the time being…is okay… it kind of comes with the territory.
If you don’t believe in working for free… then just PASS. A non-paying gig is not for you? That’s cool… nobody will ever have an issue with that. But don’t flag my stuff and make things difficult for me… you don’t even KNOW me… Run along... do your thing… I wish you the best… but stay out of my G%$#@ Damn business.
So… that being said… I left my own little nugget for my nugget brained little rodent note-leaver….
Hi Mr XXX... so...you're THAT guy? Hey, if you want to have a conversation about my ad... feel free to email me... Id be happy to chat... swap stories... share some insight... maybe YOU could teach ME a thing or two... but whining anonymously on my website...that's just chicken shit, man.
The fifth installment of the Vanity Fair 2004 article that highlights the early days in the careers of Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and "Bobby" Duvall>>>>
New York in the late 1950’s and 1960’s was a simpler, cheaper world. Hoffman’s share of the apartment he lived in was $10 a month. Hackman paid $22 a month for his East 20’s cold water flat. Nevertheless, he says, “in those days it was a question of which of us was most broke right then, and the other two would help him out.” The three supported themselves with survival-level jobs. Hoffman was a typist for the Yellow Pages, along with some 80 girls. He strung Hawaiian leis, checked coats at the Longacre Theater, helped move the Time Inc morgue to the company’s new building. “I’d do any job anywhere,” he says. “I had no shame.” Hackman, who was a relief man at Whelan Drugstores, says the customers “treated you like crapola.” Once, while he was employed as a doorman at a building in Times Square, on of his former Marine officers walked by and muttered “Hackman, you’re a sorry son of a bitch.” He sold women’s shoes at Saks 34th Street to annoyingly fussy women, but, he says “I managed to steal enough so I could retire from that.” For a few dollars, he would slip shoes to actress friends. Earning a princely $10 an hour, Hackman moved furniture for the Padded Wagon in Greenwich Village, hauling refrigerators into walk-up apartments, and he has no memory of being tired. He included Hoffman on one job and handed him a carton of books to carry up six floors. “I lasted about an hour,” says Hoffman. Once, Hackman and another actor were moving a valuable art collection, including a Picasso lithograph. The other actor went up to check the apartment and returned with a broom, which he tossed into the truck. “It went right through the Picasso,” says Hackman, “Like a spear. The owner was standing there, and he just about shit his pants.”
Duvall, who occasionally went job-hunting with Hackman, moved boxes at the Gertz department store and delivered messages for a dollar an hour. He pushed clothing racks in the garment district for a day and never went back. After three days he quit washing dishes at the Mary Elizabeth restaurant and, embarrassed, sent Hackman to pick up his paycheck. He got a night job at the post office in the Broadway district and quit after six months. He says he decided, I don’t want to be here 20 years from now. Returning from the post office early one morning, Duvall woke up Hoffman, who relates the scene: “‘Dustbone,’ he says, ‘you’re gonna here this. AGES OF MAN. I saw John Geilgud. He was drunk. They were dragging him out of the theater. I swear to God. It was freezing. The steam coming out of the manholes. Nobody on the street. He must have been in there all night, and they’re hailing a cab. Fuckin Geilgud! Just before he gets in, he puts his arms out to the empty street and he yells out, “Does anyone want to fuck an actress?”’ Duvall was like he had witnessed the Second Coming.”
The trio relished regaling one another with what they had seen and heard, sometimes by accident, on the street. They would demonstrate the walks they had witnessed that day. Duvall reported hearing a woman passerby say, “No Harry, it’s not the egg foo young; it’s the whole last six months.” Hoffman assembled an entire cast of characters from his job as an attendant at the New York Psychiatric Institute. Duvall would say, “Do the cop, Dustbone,” referring to a violent ex-cop who had had a frontal lobotomy and would stand with his legs apart, “Hey, Mr. Hoffman, my wife is coming today. She’s a real Dutch cleanser.” Hackman would spend parts of days alone on seedy, anything may happen 42nd Street, going to the cheap movie theaters that doubled as flophouses. He came away with oral dramas he had heard in the darkness, such as the man who yelled in a heavy New York accent, “You’re SORRY! You piss all over my wife and you say you’re SORRY?”
Unlike Hoffman, who could be serious and moody, then extroverted and explosively funny, Hackman and Duvall harbored an interior privacy. Something of a loner, Hackman would go for weeks without seeing his friends. Describing himself, Duvall says, “I liked meeting people, but you always had your own visions of the future, so you cut yourself off from being wholeheartedly social.”
All three young men were hyper perceptive and compulsively preoccupied with studying human activity. “As an actor,” says Hackman, “you become so alive in terms of being aware of other people and their behavior. In the early days it became – what’s the French word?- a RAISON D’ETRE. I’d get up in the morning, wanting to go, you know, out in the streets and just watch. It’s obsessive. That’s why actors are nuts. They’re different because their interests are different.” Duvall says, “You just see the way a guy walks; you’re looking for it, but you’re not looking for it. Something will grab you.” Hoffman adds, “Someday… if it’s in a community theater in Oshkosh and I’m 50 fucking years old, I will use it there.
Mitigating boredom, they turned their subsistence jobs into seminars on humanity. Working as a counterman at Howard Johnson’s, Hackman wondered, “What kind of improvisation could I do with this person?” He says “There was always somebody who was a pain in the ass. There was a crippled guy who cam in every day, and it was interesting because he knew he was difficult and he enjoyed being difficult. He’d leave a quarter or 15 cents tip and always say, ‘Gene, to the bank. To the BANK!’” Hoffman used a waiter job in a French restaurant to practice his French accent. If somebody spoke French to him, he would say that he needed to practice his English. During a newspaper strike, dressed as Paul Revere and wearing a sandwich board advertising the retail store Modell’s, he shouted out the news in Times Square. “That was acting!” he says.
The New York Yankees open at the NEW Yankee Stadium tomorrow against Baltimore. That makes my heart hurt a little bit… in a good way. I can’t wait to go see the new stadium.
The North Carolina Tarheels are HOT. They play Michigan State in the National Championship on Monday night and they just look unstoppable. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen a Carolina team play this well.
When people ask me why I’m a Carolina fan, I say “I was BORN in North Carolina. Almost everyone is my entire FAMILY went to Carolina… except for me… er… and my Mom… she went to Wake Forest… and… ok my cousin went to Western Carolina… you know what I just like the Tarheels ok.”
I watched Jamie Kennedy’s documentary HECKLER yesterday. WOW… what an experience. It affected me for sure. It’s funny, honest… sometimes shocking. In all honesty, I, myself have posted writings on this site that were critical of another artists work. I’ve been rather harsh fro time to time. Granted, I’m always willing and more inclined to write positive stuff about films or TV shows or music that I really LIKE… but I have taken the time to sit here and trash a couple of stage productions as well as a film or two… and I don’t; think I will ever do that again. In fact, I wrote a scathing review of Clint Eastwood’s GRAN TORINO a couple of months ago and have since removed it.
I’m an artist… not a critic. I know how much of yourself you give to offer up a project to the Gods. I know how painful it is to hear or read ANY type of criticism… after you’ve slaved and sacrificed to help make a project come to fruition. And what exactly am I contributing by unleashing my critique? What possible positive effect would my negative opinion have…on anyone?
From now I will praise work that I find exciting… share my thoughts with those I care about…. and that’s it… because harsh criticism does nothing more than hurt… and that’s not why I do this.
I’ve been reverting to this LIST style of blogging lately... and I kind of feel like it’s a cop-out. It doesn’t seem like TRUE writing…. it’s easier… I’ll say that… it allows me to share a series of experiences, thoughts and opinions without spending too much time on structure… If I find structure…great… if I don’t…whatever…it’s just a “list.”
The LIST format comes from that damn Facebook “25 things about me” thing that was bouncing around for a while. I enjoyed writing that… and I got great feedback… I thought to myself “I should do this more often… and hey….MOBY does it.”
.... Hoffman was joining a world of actors starting out, steeled against rejection, energized by hope and freedom. Hackman says, “There was a kind of feeling of Jack Kerouac at that time – ON THE ROAD – kids just wanted to have a good time and kind of experience things. It didn’t have anything to do with being successful – just wanting to try this thing and see if it worked.” Duvall remembers parties at Hackman’s apartment, with Faye, who was Italian, cooking pots of spaghetti for crowds of actors. One night after dinner, they all lay down on the floor, went to sleep, and woke up for dessert. “Yeah,” says Duvall, “those were good years, not knowing what the future was about. All these friends. Very important. Dreaming. That was fun.”
Duvall’s apartment was, to a degree, a youth hostel for a flow of actors and opera singers who stay a few nights or weeks, sleeping on the sofas. The rooms teemed with music – young singers, records of Broadway musicals such as WEST SIDE STORIES, and Hoffman, playing the piano. Duvall, a fine country-and-western singer, impersonated Hank Williams. At parties with candles in Chianti bottles and pizza, actors entertained with skits. Hoffman and Duvall improvised a routine called “Roger’s Rangers: The Toughest Unit in All the Services.” Duvall was the commander, Hoffman played the three rangers who at 70 degrees below zero have just run 10 miles on the ice, barefoot, with no clothes on, and now stand naked at attention after cold water has been poured over them. The commander walks down the line of soldiers and hits one across the jaw. Hoffman recalls, “Bobby would say ‘Did you feel that, soldier?’ I’d say ‘No Sir.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘Because I’m a member of Roger’s Rangers, sir.’ ‘Very good.’ The commander moves down the line, boom in the belly, boom on the jaw. Same routine. The third ranger is standing at attention with a huge erection. The commander pulls out his sword and, boom, cuts off his penis. Bobby says, ‘Did you feel that, soldier?’ I say, ‘No sir.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘Because it belongs to the man in back of me, sir’ Bobby loved that stuff.”
Hoffman, Hackman, and Duvall have always been propelled by an uninhibited willingness to dare. An actor in their circle, Elliot Gould, considered Duvall “very tough, very independent, great integrity,” and vividly remembers their first meeting. Hoffman brought Duvall around to Gould’s apartment and rang the buzzer. Peering out the peephole, Gould remembers, “I saw what looked like the back end of two very bald horses with out tails. They were the butts of Dustin and Duvall. I thought, OK, that’s fine. They’re saying hello, in their way. Interesting. I’m sure we all look fundamentally the same from that angle. They were both a coupe of ASSHOLES.” Years later, on the set of THE GODFATHER, Duvall, off-camera, mooned Brando during a take. “Hey,” says Duvall, remembering the incident, “You have fun. It’s harmless.”
“Bobby maybe was the most outrageous, uncensored,” says Hoffman. “Do anything on impulse.” Once, as they ate together in a diner, Duvall spotted two Puerto Rican girls walking by. Dragging Hoffman with him, he caught up to them. “Hey, talk English. My name is Bobby Duvall; here’s my friend Dusty Hoffman. We’re actors.” They ignored him. Desperate, he came out with a unique pickup line:” We live right around the corner. You want to come up to our apartment? We have new linoleum in the kitchen.”
For the unmarried Duvall and Hoffman, girls were central to their free-rein theater world. Hoffman admits, “We were obsessed with sex.” Duvall concurs: “It was like what a friend from England said about being an actor- ‘Bob, it’s the greatest leg opener in the world, isn’t it?” Acting classes were a gold mine. “There were always a few models,” says Hoffman. “One comes up to you and says ‘Hi,’ like you’ve never looked at her, while for six months, you’ve been imagining her in bed with you. And she says, ‘I’d like to do a scene with you,’ and WHOA, she picks a love scene, and you’re rehearsing and it’s ‘YES!’ That happened to me and to Bobby. Much as were adherents to our craft, we looked for classes with women.
In the early 60’s, after Hoffman had lived with a succession of girls and friends – even slept in a dance studio where he taught acting – he and Duvall shared an apartment on West 22nd Street. “I’d get lucky,” and have a girl sleep over, and we’d be in the shower the next morning, and Bobby’d take his clothes off and just jump in the fucking shower – ‘Hey, I’m Bobby Duvall. I’m his roommate. I’m an actor. What do YOU do?” Duvall counters: “Let me tell you what went on before. I came down and he had the girl up on the table, standing there naked, and he’s standing there like he’s a painter.” (Duvall measures in the air with an imaginary pencil.)
In 1963, Hoffman was rooming with an opera tenor named Maurice Stern, who had discovered a Laundromat where beautiful ballerinas worked. Any girl who would load his laundry, and touch his dirty underwear, he figured, liked him. If after a week he had not scored, he would move on to the next candidate. Stern particularly liked Anne Byrne, a 19 year old dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet Company who was studying in New York at the Ballet Theater. Stern wanted Hoffman to check her out. “Now, don’t do that sensitive shit,” he warned him. “You know what I’m talking about – you play that one song you’ve ever written and you get that Jimmy Dean look.” Stern took Byrne to a club called The Improvisation, where Hoffman played the piano for fun. “My heart pounded,” says Hoffman. “She was my fantasy girl. The unattainable.” His date, Phyllis, went to the bathroom, and Stern went to make a phone call. After a long pause, Hoffman said, “So, you’re a dancer,” She nodded and said “So you’re an actor.” No other words were spoken, but soon, he did do Jimmy Dean. Stern finished out the prescribed week without success, and Hoffman took over. On his motorcycle, they went to the beach and to art museums, and they read poetry together (Hoffman once organized a Sunday-evening poetry group).
When Anne Byrne returned to Philadelphia, he told Duvall, “I will marry her,” and the two men bet $100. After she returned from Philadelphia in 1969, he did. Hoffman adds, “Bobby’s never paid me.”
Hey.... Please take a look at my short film submission for the AMCTV contest...and don't forget to vote... comments are also most welcome... THANK YOU.
AMC’s BREAKING BAD video contest kept me up and buzzing til late last night… or EARLY this morning… JJ and I had about a 10 hour editing session til about 2:30AM. We were working on cutting together a couple of entries….
TEN HOURS! To cut two separate ONE-MINUTE videos.
Just for fun, shits, giggles… whatever…. Just to shoot something for the sake of shooting something…. last weekend, I rounded up a small crew and a few actors and we gave the whole BREAKING BAD thing a go.
THE CONTEST>>>
AMCtv.com (prod.) is seeking submissions for its You Could Be On Breaking Bad contest. Entrants submit a short audition video using one of three Breaking Bad monologues provided on the contest website. AMCtv.com members will vote for and comment on their favorite entries to determine the 20 finalists and 10 first prize winners; one winner receives the opportunity for a walk-on role in a Season 3 Breaking Bad episode on AMC. Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad creator-exec. prod. Finalists will be announced May 4; winners will be announced on or before June 1.
Visit http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad-contest. Submission deadline is May 1. No fees or purchases required. Possible pay provided; Grand Prize includes $1,000 cash prize and the chance for a walk-on role in a Season 3 episode of Breaking Bad.
Seems simple enough… right? So after shooting til the wee hours of the morning last week, and editing til the wee hours of the morning THIS week…. We completed two entries… cutting footage together…then viciously chopping it all down to fit the time requirements. JJ and I had our 1 minute, 75 MB submissions ready to go… and they look almost identical… not only is the look and feel similar (we used the same lighting scheme.), but the approach to the material is the same… I think we both tried WAY too hard to deliver a poignant and moving performance… of you look at some of the other contest entries… many of the entries are just bobbing heads…somebody starting into their web cam…reciting…or trying to act…. you can see that there are a handful of clips that get creative with the assignment… and thus are enjoyable to watch… I might be getting too critical of myself… which I usually am…. but I feel like we took ourselves too seriously… I mean they look cool… dark, edgy…kind of film noir-ish…. But we also had to cut a few lines from the monologues to keep the clip under a minute….. You’ll see… whenever they get posted… we submitted last night at like 3AM.
What’s funny is that there will be two practically identical videos… one featuring actor JJ HUCKIN…and one featuring actor JAMES HUFFMAN…
That’s going to be confusing…. Not to mention we sort of look alike… two white dudes with short brown choppy hair… the only difference is that JJ is 6 ft 6… I’m only 6 ft 1… but you can’t really tell that from the video.
We probably should have thought about that when we were shooting, but we just didn’t have the time and a big enough crew to whip up a totally different scheme for each actor.
The one thing we noticed after we submitted our videos was that you can only get official votes from people who are REGISTERED with AMCTV.COM… so if I’m going to hit up all my friends and ask everyone to vote for me in this contest… they will all be required to sign up with AMCTV.COM… and most people I now will be like “F%$@ that.”
Original article published in VANITY FAIR, March 2004>>>>>
BEFORE THEY WERE KINGS
(Part 3 of .. God knows HOW MANY??)
Robert Duvall was the lead in that “A View from the Bridge, playing, at 26, Eddie Carbone, a sullen Sicilian longshoreman in his 40’s from Red Hook, Brooklyn, with accent to match. “In the first rehearsal,” says Hackman, “Bobby already had this kind of physical thing that he was doing – like an animal – kind of glided across the stage. I was really impressed.” Grosbard still recalls in wonder, “You see a transformation happen that you can’t put your finger on, except it’s unmistakable. What does he draw on to do that?”
Duvall was born in San Diego in 1931. His father, Howard, a naval officer who rose to rear admiral, resettled his family in a series of cities and ended up in Annapolis, Maryland. Adjusting to numerous schools, Robert, though smallish, found status as an athlete. In his loving, committed Christian Science family, everybody was a singer or performer. Howard, whom Robert sometimes referred to as the admiral, ran a tight ship. Discipline was “a good whack” and a “go to your room” says Robert’s brother, William. But because of Howard’s long absences on duty, their East Texas mother – extroverted, musical, a former drama major – was in charge. William Duvall describes Bobby as “a problem child in some areas; he didn’t always conform to the usual mother-father rules of the house. He had the rebel in him.”
Duvall was fundamentally at loose ends until, like his friend Dustin, he recognized his talent, probably inherited from his mother. A Duvall-family legend has four year old Bobby convulsing a table of cowboys at his uncles Idaho ranch by imitating and old sheepherder wolfing down his meal. Later, in front of a mirror, Robert would comb his hair like Lawrence Olivier and “do my own corny version of his Hamlet. I remember that. Yeah.” A conventional career was utterly alien. Remembering his days at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, Duval says “You don’t know where to go, what’s gonna happen. You feel lost. It was like, ‘What’s next? In my life? The next day?’”
Like Hoffman, he kept from flunking by becoming a drama major. Playing an adult in Arthur Miller’s ALL MY SONS, he spoke the final, emotional speech – “They were ALL my sons” – and felt spontaneous tears wetting his cheeks. He remembers, “I was like totally at peace. And I thought, Oh, wow, maybe I have something here.” His extremely critical acting coach assured him, “You can’t do much more with acting than that.” In 1955, after two years in the army, he moved to New York and was accepted at the Neighborhood Playhouse, presided over by the fearsome acting teacher Sanford Meisner.
The trio was completed in 1958, when Hoffman arrived in New York with $50 in his pocket and an invitation to sleep on the Hackman’s kitchen floor for a few days. To Hoffman, the city loomed cold and lonely and terrifying – “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.” He clung to the two room apartment for three weeks, until Gene and Faye, with no privacy, had had enough. Finally Hackman placed Hoffman with Bobby Duvall in a sixth floor, three bedroom walk up apartment at 109th street and Broadway. Hoffman says “The feeling was that Bobby was the new Brando. I felt he was the one, and probably I wasn’t. In a sense I was their little brother – you know, ‘My friend Dustbone, he’s very talented.’ Gene was older and married, so I was the tagalong.”
I’m going to try and NOT drive my car today. Do my part for the environment.
There should be a national “No Drive” day. Everyone leaves the car at home for the day. Of course there would be a few exceptions, but everyone else commits to not driving for a day. Transit authorities could use this opportunity to promote their services. Maybe they could create a festival atmosphere on trains and busses. Companies could promote their products and give away free samples. Free food and drink at the stations and depots. Private transportation companies could join in the fun and offer shuttle services. Set up bike rentals stands, Rent out scooters, mopeds, skateboards and rollerblades…. Juts for one day…can you imagine?
EARTH HOUR is coming up… its not exactly a “NO-DRIVE” day… but it’s a pretty amazing event… a valiant effort.
“Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden GateBridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Coliseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness. In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights…”
EARTH HOUR starts at 8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009… do it.
I’m in the process of developing a new web series.
It’s going to be something different than your average web series… sort of a New Media melting pot, part variety show, part music video, with elements of video art, news, social commentary, sketches, Shakespeare and some semblance of sanity…or better yet… insanity.
I’m having trouble naming this project. I’ve been calling it my digital variety show, which is boring, hard to get anybody excited about the project without a cool or catchy name.
I have a big piece of project paper stretched across the wall in my apartment. I keep writing possible names…
Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, in 1930. His puritanical father worked on newspaper presses and restlessly moved the family to four states before settling in the backwater, corn belt town of Danville, Illinois. Gene dreaded hearing his mother say “Wait til Dad gets home.” He explains, “He always went too far. Laid it on pretty heavy.” Like Hoffman, Hackman went to a series of schools, but unlike his friend, he turned inward. In high school he never dated or went to a dance. At home in the basement, next to the coal bin, he built a cardboard house – “a place to hide. My own spot.”
His other sanctuary was the movie theater, where Jimmy Cagney, Errol Flynn, and Edward G Robinson were his favorites. Hackman says, “I loved the idea that somebody could convince me that they were a sea captain without being phony. I’d grown up shy – not unusual for actors. They want to show they’re more than that – people of import, substance. I think because I was shy I felt insecure, and acting seemed like a way of maybe getting around that. Getting to be somebody.” When Gene was 13, his father abandoned the family for years with just a wave of the hand to his son playing in the street. “It was a real adios,” says Hackman. “It was so precise. Maybe that’s why I became an actor. I doubt I would have become so sensitive to human behavior if that hadn’t happened to me as a child – if I hadn’t realized how much one small gesture can mean.”
His Mother moved in with his grandmother, who considered him a weak character. At 16, he served a night in jail for stealing candy and soda, and, on an impulse permanently escaped his life. He lied about his age and enlisted in the Marines, serving four and a half years in China, Japan and Hawaii. He rose to corporal but was busted for fighting. He also got a taste of show business as an announcer on Armed Forces Radio. After a serious motorcycle accident he was mustered out, and in 1951 he settled in New York, living at the YMCA and hoping to become an actor. In order t receive about $150 a month from the G.I. Bill as a wounded veteran; he had to go to school. The G.I. Bill refused to pay for acting classes; regulation required schooling that would lead to a job. However, the bill qualified “painter” as a profession and paid Hackman’s tuition at the Art Student’s league – drawing had always been a hobby – and then at the nearby school of radio technique.
In 1953, still afraid to commit totally to acting, Hackman tried television production, in Florida, and then back to Danville. He returned to New York in 1955. The next year he married his girlfriend, a bank secretary named Faye Maltese, and together they headed for California and the Pasadena Playhouse.
His quick dismissal from the playhouse only served to galvanize his determination. Thinking, I’ll show them, he boarded a bus with Faye back to New York. He managed to get an unpaid internship in summer stock at a theater in Bellport, Long Island, building sets, scavenging for props, setting up lights. In a two-week production of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge,” there happened to be one uncast role, Marco, a strong, silent Italian workman. The director, Ulu Grosbard, from the Yale School of Drama, filled it with Hackman, whom he came to know as “A complex guy; Very intelligent; a generosity of spirit; socially charming; a lot going on in him; a certain sense of being tormented with past ghosts and things. That’s part of what he brings to his work.” Grosbard was the first theater person to encourage Hackman. Backstage after one performance he told him, “Gene, you have got to keep at it.” Hackman, his voice trailing off in recollected awe, exclaims, “He actually said that, and, God it was just like…”
Robert Duvall was the lead in that “A View from the Bridge, playing, at 26, Eddie Carbone, a sullen Sicilian longshoreman in his 40’s from Red Hook, Brooklyn, with accent to match….
In 2004, Vanity Fair published an article titled BEFORE THEY WERE KINGS. It was a 6 page piece about Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall, chronicling their careers from infancy to ultimate Hollywood success.
It’s a fantastic read…. Filled with stories about studying in New York City in the 60’s… about little breaks… big breaks… setbacks and survival… with plenty of anecdotes about chasing girls. I keep that article nearby, always, because it’s entertaining, it’s uplifting and it’s inspiring… and it never gets old.
I would recommend it to anyone and everyone…especially actors… the only problem is…its not available anywhere online. I’m sure you could go to a library and dig it up… but c’mon…who does that anymore?
So I thought I would do my part and try to archive the article… type it out here on my site… little by little… until I’ve created a document that showcases the entire story… I’ll do that because I believe that it’s time well spent… and I think other people out there will really enjoy it… and I hope that maybe another actor… aspiring, armchair or whatever…might also find some inspiration here…
Here goes>>>>>
BEFORE THEY WERE KINGS
Living on talent and odd jobs in 60s New York, Gene Hackman. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall knew what mattered: getting the break (and the girls). The stars talk to Richard Meryman about the friendship that kept them going.
The story begins in 1957 at The Pasadena Playhouse, in California. Gene Hackman – 27 years old, a married, ex-marine from Danville Illinois, rough hewn, six feet two inches tall, a self described :big lummox kind of person” – found himself surrounded by tanned, young “walking surf-boards.” He immediately latched on to a fellow misfit, 19 year old, five foot six inch Dustin Hoffman, who was burdened with a huge nose and a bad complexion and wore tattered Levi’s and a sheepskin vest over bare skin. Hackman recalls, “There was something about him that – like he had a secret. You knew he was going to do something.” An inspirational instructor, Barney Brown, sensed the same karma. He assured Dustin, “You are going to wind up being a theater person the rest of your life,” and persuaded him to go to New York against the wishes of his parents. “When Barney died,” says Hoffman, “I felt my ideal father had died.”
All three grew up in peripatetic families where fathers and discipline loomed large. Hoffman’s stickler Russian Jewish father, Harry lifted himself through sheer hard work ditch digger to Columbia Pictures prop man to set designer to founder of the Harry Hoffman furniture company, which went broke. His uneven fortunes moved the family into six Los Angeles neighborhoods, and Dustin had to find his place in six new schools. Short and acne riddled, he was mocked as “Dustbin.” “I felt ugly,” he says. “I was all nose.” He tried never to walk away from a girl in profile. When at last a pretty girl did pay a little attention to him, a boy stole up behind him and jerked down his pants, taunting, “Hit me, little Dusty.”
But his innate acting gifts saved him – sort of. He became the class clown and discovered the rush delivered by a laughing audience – though, he says “people used to say, OH, he’s a real comedian, which was like saying ‘He’s a loser.’” At home, says Hoffman “sometimes the house was as thick with tension as any house could be.” At dinners, for several days following a family fight, his father, mother, grandmother and handsome high-achieving brother would sit absolutely silent. Suddenly, eight year old Dustin would repeat the dialogue of the fight, taking all the parts. The family would look up, begin to laugh, and the tension erased. Hoffman muses, “I had never thought about acting. It was a great feeling to break the collective anger in the room. I mattered. I had an identity in the house.”
At Santa Monica City College, Hoffman studied medicine and music. To avoid flunking out, he took an acting course for a sure three credits and found that acting was “the first subject I ever felt I could concentrate on.” After a brief period at the Los Angeles Academy of Music, he enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, where he and his friend Gene Hackman, agreed that they detested everyone else. Gene resisted the teachers approach to acting, and at the end of the first semester he received a grade of 1.4 – the lowest grade ever given up to that point had been 3.0 – and was dismissed.
This story appeared in the New York Times today… I love this stuff…. One of those great everyday New York City stories… and this guy is an actor… how about THAT?
Subway heroes, as they are inevitably tagged even before the grease from the tracks is rubbed off, come along every now and then — indeed, as the story of Chad Lindsey suggests, perhaps more often than we know.
Minutes after rescuing a man who had fallen onto the subway tracks at the Penn Station stop on Monday, Mr. Lindsey managed to melt back into the anonymity of the city, escaping the notice of the police, paramedics and subway workers.
“I’m of many minds of being in the spotlight,” he said after a call from this reporter, whose short account of the accident on The New York Times’s City Room blog on Monday prompted one of Mr. Lindsey’s friends to disclose his identity on Tuesday. “But what the hey,” he said…
Leap to Track. RescueMan. Clamber Up. Catch a Train.
I’ve officially gone 9 days without meat. I guess I’ve fallen into a little dietary adventure.
My week as a vegetarian started off by accident, really... or maybe not by accident but a result of my circumstances.
I worked the Natural Foods Expo last weekend and at the start of the weekend I was digging up dimes and nickels to buy enough gas just to GET to work. So naturally I was scavenging the show every day for free samples and anything else I could take home. I ended up with 10 boxes of DORSET ORGANIC CEREALS, 4 bags of POPCORN, INDIANA popcorn, 4 half gallons of ZEN/SOY Soymilk, 12 one-liter bottles of BALANCE WATER, handfuls of GOOD EARTH tea bags…. and a TON… an undisclosed amount… of Korean Ginseng tea.
Working this job at the trade show turned out to be a blessing in the fact that not only did I desperately need the money, but I desperately needed the FOOD.
So I’ve been eating cereal and popcorn, and drinking lots of tea for the past week.
I went to a comedy show last night with a friend and as soon as she hopped into my car, she looked at me and said….
“You look great. What have you been doing?”
“I don’t know…. Looking for work?”
“No, your skin looks great! You look really healthy.”
I thought about it for a second.
“Well, you know what? I haven’t had any meat for a week.”
She lit up.
“THAT’S IT! You haven’t had meat for a week? Really? Your skin totally shows it… wow.”
She is NOT a vegetarian, by the way.
So at this point I’ve gone 9 days without any meat. I think I’m going to keep the streak alive… see what happens… see how I feel.
Don’t get me wrong… if I start craving some meat I’ll be first in line for a nice big cheeseburger.
PS>>>> And I have received a couple of checks that I had been waiting on. So I'm not as broke as I was ten days ago. I figured I'd throw that in there so my Mother won't worry.
I was up at 5AM this morning. I worked on CSI this morning, playing the role of a Clark’s County prison guard. My call time was 7AM. We were done at noon… which is pretty awesome.
The episode features Henry Thomas… like… “the kid from ET” Henry Thomas.
I’m home right now doing more wheelin and dealin…job searching… submitting for acting work… emailing back and forth with a director….. two editors…and a sound designer.. My Dad called to say hi… he’s concerned about me and my financial situation… I just text’d a friend of mine to see if she wants to go do a few rounds at Runyon…
She just hit me back… I’m gonna meet her over there at 5
And… wow… my friends Kerry just sent me this fantastic email. Kerry is a good friend from New York. She used to work for me when I was a Team Manager for Red Bull. She lives in San Diego now, but we’ve always managed to stay in touch. She is a very cool chick.
Anyway… I love this:
I just finished reading Ellen Burstyn's auto-biography titled "Lessons In Becoming Myself" that Angelica was kind enough to lend me. It was almost 500 pages long and I couldn't put it down. I laughed out loud, I cried, I was inspired. But mostly ... when I did finish it and closed it: I felt proud to be an actress. Even as I type this all out, I'm getting choked up. There were certain pages I dog earred b.c. of the following passages. I wanted to share them with you ... my "actor friends" b.c. I think you'll love them too!!!!
The 1st part is about what she experienced after filming The Last Picture Show
"I thought I would be friends with these people for the rest of my life. And we are friends whenever we see each other. We are in each other's hearts in a way that is special to these circumstances of coming together, having an intense, creative, intimate relationship, and then saying good-bye. Over the years I've gotten used to the idea that this incredible intensity was temporary. That we would fall in love with each other and then it would be over. We return to our lives, but we do take a vital memory with us. I can't see Cloris or Jeff or Cybill in a film or at an opening, or even by chance in a restuarant, without feeling I'm seeing someone who was once very important to me, and that I remember so fondly."
"By then I'd answered my own question of why, as Kazan said, 'talent, like beauty, fades.' It came to me in a quote from Ouspensky: "Art is the search for beauty, as religion is the search for truth." The operative word here is search. It is not the finding; it is the search. That's why, after an artist has won awards and received the world's acclaim, she can make the mistake of believing she "knows". It is in the "not knowing" that the search occurs."
Her friend and fellow actress, Vivian Nathan, suffered from Alzheimer's. She went to visit her and told her about an experience she had on stage during a recent preformance. Her friend said this: "Sometimes you are onstage and something happens. It's like you are no longer acting. The play just comes through you and you just get out of the way and let it come. When that happens, it's like a door opens to another dimension ... Once the actor experiences that, he's never the same. It's what keeps us going."
"Again, that lesson: we can't always choose our circumstances, but we can choose our response to them."
<---- She was actually talking about LIFE here but acting is life, isn't it? I read that sentence over and over thinking how true that is whenever we pick up a new script, a new play ... The character's circumstances are already there for us, in black and white. It's just another way of saying we have to make choices but I fell in love with it.
One of my favorite parts/passages in the whole book is just one line: "To be an artist is both a gift and a responsibility."
I hope this finds you well and loving this beautiful life we live. oxoxo Kerry Lynne
I’m getting ready to go work my second day at the Natural Product Expo in Anaheim. The days are long at trade shows like this… and I’m on my feet all day. But I’m grateful for the work…and I’m grateful that client, who is there working the booth with us…is a laid back, fun guy from Australia.
The product is BALANCE WATER… which we call a WELNESS BEVERAGE because each of the four variations (As opposed to “flavors”) contains a certain assortment of flower essences, all grown and hand picked in Australia. Those essences, while tasteless and virtually undetectable, offer a certain level of functionality, acting a homeopathic remedy or supplement. The “Traveling” version…for example… is designed to help overcome jet lag and motion sickness and other conditions associated with travel.
Nice packaging, interesting product…relatively new concept to the mainstream beverage market.
Earlier this week I received an offer letter to play a role in an upcoming stage production….well…. forget that….
IXSNAY on the Ziegfeld project.
I suffered a blow to the ego last night when the producers of “ZIEGFELD'S FOLLY: My Rise to the Middle," sent me an email RECINDING the offer to play on their “Hunky Guys,” in a two-performance run in LA in April.
So yeah… I guess I’m not doing the show.
It’s fine… I’ll live. I’ll also lose five pounds, get in even better shape and SHOW those M&%$@ F%CKERS.
Last night I saw this posting on Craigslist….
How much do you hate the Boston Red Sox, Celtics, or Patriots?
Southern California Media Production company who is producing a documentary about hard core sports fans is looking for people with big mouths, tons of opinions, and mutual hatred towards any sport team located near Boston.
If interested in participating in this documentary, please send us an email with your contact information, any website info, and brief explanation of your hatred towards any or all of the beloved Boston sports franchises.
Thanks.
All I have to say is…
HELL YEAH… I want to be in your movie!!!
So I whipped up a little note….
Hi-
James Huffman here... I'm an actor, writer, filmmkaer, currently based in Los Angeles...and I HATE Boston teams....hate em.
First of all... I grew up in NJ, just outside of the Big Apple. I love New York City with all my heart. When I graduated college I moved into Manhattan and spent the next 15 years walking the walk in the greatest city in the world.
When it comes to the greatest BASEBALL team in the world... I remember the exact moment I became a Yankee fan. It was October 14, 1976, during the ninth inning of Game Five of the ALCS against the Royals at Yankee Stadium, Chris Chambliss crushed a first-pitch, walk-off home run that sent the Yankees to their first World Series since 1964. I was 8 years old and I was hooked. Of course the following season was the season of 77.. and as lifelong sports fan, that season left a life long imprint on my soul.
To answer your question... I F%$#@*&& HATE The Red Sox... I also hate the Patriots and The Celtics... but that hatred stems from my desire to inflict and pain and sorrow on Red Sox fans world wide. The day The New York Giants upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl was probably one of the happiest days of my life. While I'm embarrassed to admit it, I had to be separated the following day as I almost came to blows with a girl (Who is a friend of a friend) who is a former Patriots cheerleader.... I was boasting about the victory and she accused me of being a fair weather fan.... that I just jumped on the bandwagon... I seriously would have choked her out.... ok I'm kidding.... no I'm not.... probably would have just shoved her to the ground...
There is so much more....
Like the time I stood on my roof in Hell's Kitchen and spilled beer on the heads of celebrating Red Sox fans as they danced on the sidewalk (in NEW YORK), celebrating the 2004 World series victory.... Not in MY Neighborhood folks... not in my neighborhood.
So yeah…seems like a fun, socially relevant project… I hope they call me.
After a chilly, rainy... and BUSY Wednesday, a sunny clear and cool Thursday is a welcome change. I’ll tell you what, the LAST thing you want to deal with in LA is a rain on a busy day. Even a slight MIST will virtually DOUBLE the amount of time it takes you to get anywhere… and that was me yesterday.
I’m shooting a few pick-ups for CATCH 11 today. I have yet to even start PRE production on CATCH 9 & 10… but by golly… today…I will wrap shooting on CATCH 11. CATCH11 was SUPPOSED to be CATCH 9… but then I ran into a few snags in the form of unreasonable, difficult and just plain crazy … actor scenarios (tantrums).
I love my actors. I love all actors. I AM an actor… and believe me…I love myself… but when I stand on the writer/producer side… I see why people can develop such a DISDAIN or actors. After dealing with two separate situations, I was forced to fire one actor and make some MAJOR story line adjustments to compensate for all the drama. That’s why I have to turn CATCH 9 into CATCH 11, writing and producing a NEW CATCH 9 & 10 to set it all up… balance everything out…
(Pimpin ain’t easy.)
Yesterday I booked an acting gig myself for a show that’s coming to LA in April.
I seek, I submit and I secure… the obscure…and it all happens… time and time again… on CRAIGSLIST.
I’m basically playing a “Hunky” guy in a supporting cast of “Hunky” guys in a show called “ZIEGFELD'S FOLLY: My Rise to the Middle," which feature actor/comedian Michael Ziegfeld.
ZIEGFELD'S FOLLY will be at the ACME COMEDY THEATER in LA April 15th & 16th.
A buddy of mine called me this morning with a funny story...
"So I bought iLife for my new Mac and I ws opening up everything and upload the software when I see this picture there. I look closer and I'm like HOLY SHIT... that's James Huffman. It was YOU man, posing with all these little kids in a classroom. Me and my roommate laughed for like an hour."
So there is it... once again... photos from that little DigitalVision stock shoot from FOUR YEARS ago has resurfaced. So far those photos have appeared in a poster in the Hallways at UCLA, on several onine banner ads, in the NEW YORK TIMES... in an article about NYC teachers who leave the profession after 2 years... there's more I just cant remember.
But if you buy iLife... take a good look.. I'm in there somewhere.
Too bad I dont get paid for all those appearances. I made about $500 on the shoot.
I'm up early... I have a pretty busy amd long day ahead of me...
TO DO LIST:
Laundry (Only time to do it before Monday)
Pick up Anne's Baking Pan from shoot location
Buy Cinder Block
Intrerview with the guys from Bliss Tea
Get to the Gym
Session with Kingsley (final editing on CATCH 5, record ADR with Dennis for CATCH 8)
Coffee shop, writing, browse breakdowns and job listings, submit
Drive out to Thous Oaks to get mics from Wes
Swing by JJ's to scout his roof for a shoot
Get home, have dinner
Call in next weeks avails for background work with Network Casting
Return emails, writing, browse breakdowns and job listings, submit, submit, submit
All they talk about is RECESSION… how BAD everything is… in fact TODAY…they started to throw the D-Word around… DEPRESSION… a DEPRESSION economy?
Great.
What a way to start the day…
No more news for me… thanks but no thanks. I know what’s going on out there… I don’t want to be told over and over again how BAD things are…how CONCERNED… SCARED we all are…or should all be… I got that message months ago. I could do without the doom-saying affirmations… focus on something more positive…
Truth is….energy is different this week… a lot different.
I’m working a 3 hour promotion today for a Restaurant Downtown. It only pays $50…but hey… 50 bucks is like 30% of my total net worth right now…so I will take it.
I started writing again. I found a groove last night and ran with it. I’ve been so mentally and emotionally consumed with survival, jobs and paying bills that I have been unable to write anything.
I got some good work done last night.
Yesterday I auditioned for a web series project. This particular web series is written and produced by a good friend of mine from New York. Fortunately for me, reconnecting with friends from New York has become a nice little supporting theme over the past week.
This particular friend of mine has been in Los Angeles for roughly the same amount of time as me. She has also been writing and producing web stuff, very much like myself. So when I saw her name in the breakdowns as a writer/producer of a financially backed web series, I shot her an email, congratulations, and asked her if I could audition for a role in her project. Fortunately for me, there is a role in the breakdown that works for me, so she set me up.
I got to the audition and the hallway was jammed with people waiting to get in the room…. Didn’t expect that…. But everyone wants to work on a web series these days…. Big names, small names ,no names…they make for potentially great exposure… add the fact that this project is a paying gig… that’s going to attract a lot of actors… a LOT of actors..
It was great when at one point, my friend came out to check the list and bring the next actor in, and she saw my name on the list and said...
“Oh great James Huffman is here. Where are you? Oh HEY James!”
She waived and went back inside. Leaving the flooded hallway of actors to stare me down, size me up and wonder…
“Who the heck is THAT guy?”
I love that feeling...
The audition went fine. I felt pretty good about it. Because this project has a bona fide production company behind it, they have to put everyone on tape and take the entire casting process to the next round. So, I’m not really expecting any favors. It was nice enough for her to invite me to audition.
After the audition, I went and registered with this service for background work... I’m not thrilled by the idea of spending hours and hours on a set somewhere as a background actor. But times are tough right now and I don’t have much room to be picky. I have tried to sign up with a couple other services in town, but it just hasn’t worked out. There are a few well-known background services in town and they have more than enough people on their roster. I found NETWORK CASTING a few days ago and made an appointment. They are a smaller biz... relatively new.... The people I spoke to on the phone seemed really nice… the good thing about these guys is they guarantee at least 3 days of work a month (to cover the $60 monthly fee)... they will get you 3 days of work for free before they ask you to pay their monthly fee... and they are currently looking for new people...
Watching Talk Soup… Talk Soup is funny… old reliable… if you need a good laugh… Talk Soup is always there.
Rough week… I have to say… rough in the fact that it was SO…slow…
I’m spending alot of time these days combing Craigslist, Actors Access, LA Casting, Monster Jobs, Hot Jobs, CareerBuilders. I’m pounding out headshots, resumes… more resumes… cover letters and resumes… brief bio’s that explain why I’m the best person for the job… and resumes…. All day long…
And with that kind of aerial assault comes a certain amount of return on your investment… at least SOME sort of return… but this past week… the week that WAS (Thank God)… There was NO return…
I felt like I was living in a Black Hole…. The energy and momentum of the Universe, The World, The Neighborhood… seemed stagnant… non-existent… and in times like these… when everyone I know is struggling… everyone I know is looking for a job, or feeling the pinch of a job that cuts available shifts to work IN HALF… a time when LA is literally LITTERED with “FOR RENT” signs… Throw in an atmospheric FLAT LINE… and MAN… there is no way around it… You are FEELI N the weight… and it’s HEAVY.
Then Friday comes along…
BAP… WOW… THWACK…. KA-POW
Suddenly, I’m slammed. Weeks worth of blasting the masses with my credentials gathered and grew, building enormous strength and power along the way until finally… This dark and deliberate cloud in the sky opens up and unleashes an unrelenting category 5 of response and reply.
Its started with a Craigslist posting….
2 promotional models needed for trade show next week
opening for a promotional job
trade show at the Convention center
Friday: March 6th 10am to 6pm
Saturday: March 7th 10am to 6pm
Sunday: March 8th 10am to 4pm
Location:
Anaheim Convention Center
800 W. Katella Ave
Anaheim, CA 92802 USA
My client is an all natural water company. Knowledge of yoga, holisitic, natural foods, etc is helpful.
You must be comfortable informing people at the trade show about the product.
I need 2 brand ambassadors (guy or girl)
You need to be outgoing and talkative.
You will be working directly with my client so I need people who can leave a good impression.
So I whipped up a quick cover letter and a resume and submitted. Within 15 minutes my phone rang. Lo and behold, this particular gig was being handled by an old friend of mine back in New York. Apparently she recently started her own promotions company and this is one of her first clients. So when she saw my picture and resume, she called me right away and booked me right away. She was so happy to hire someone she knows and trusts for one of her first out-of-town jobs.
I don’t know who was more grateful or relieved…. Me or her.
After that, the phone just kept ringing. I took part in 2 different preliminary phone interviews, set up several in-person interviews for next week, booked a job for Tuesday, took an audition for Monday, set an appointment with a manager, I was setting audition times for my own casting that I’m holding Sunday, I scheduled sessions with 2 editors, exchanged notes with my sound designer, exchanged notes with one of my directors… all while maintaining my feverish pace of seek and submit. I eventually pulled myself away to get out of the apartment…get some fresh air…. go to the gym… ended up taking another quick phone interview on my blue-tooth as I was driving over…
Quietly making note of several new FOR RENT signs along the way.
Nate Robinson is ON FIRE since he won the NBA Slam Dunk contest. He is putting up an average of like 26 pts per game since the All Star break.
Is this really happening? Are the NEW YORK KNICKS coming to a boil?
I really hope so.
I went to see GRAN TORINO last night. WHY? I’m not really sure. It didn’t receive any Oscar nominations….and one would think that I would make the effort to see any of the films that were invited to the Big Dance that I have yet to see…. But no… The day after the Oscars ceremony I went to see GRAN TORINO. Maybe it’s because I was made so curious by the contrasting recommendations of my friends.
When GRAN TORINO came out, I saw the trailer on TV and really had little interest. One good friend went to see it and he said it wasn’t anything special…and if my gut feeling didn’t indicate any outstanding desire to see the movie…then my instincts were probably right…
But then other friends starting talking about how good it was….
“If you love Eastwood, you will love this movie.”
“Best film, I’ve seen all year”
Metacritic.com gave it a 72 (based on reviews Nationwide)
(Benjamin Button got a 70; Doubt a 68)
Rottentomatoes.com gave GRAN TORINO a 79%
(Benjamin Button got a 74%; Slumdog a 94%)
I’m a Clint Eastwood fan as much as the next guy. I’ve enjoyed his work as an actor since I was a kid. Now I am even more enamorate of his work as a director. He has taken his years of knowledge and experience in front of the camera and used it to his become a masterful director.
But GRAN TORINO…was
SCREEEECH>>>>
I chose to erase my blog post at this point... I went on a tirade... my original commentary was a ridiculous rant...expressing my dissatisfaction with the a handful of elements of the film...
Thursday… Thursday? No…. Friday… those Monday holidays always mess me up.
Nothing amazing to share today…
The process is still a process. The journey is still is a journey.
I’m still looking for work. Still auditioning and hoping to book something… wanting to book everything.
Late last week I was wrapped up in a few first and second interviews for “day-jobs,” “survival-jobs,” non-acting gigs…. None of them panned out…. Frustrating.
Keep looking…keep trying…
Tuesday I interviewed with a company called POLITE IN PUBLIC….
Polite in Public is an innovative new company that is redefining event photography and helping brands connect with people. Polite in Public uses the most advanced digital photography systems on the planet! Just seconds after your picture is taken it is magically transformed into the punchy fun images you see on this site!
Polite in Public had a photo booth set up at Paris Hiltons party a few weeks ago. I posed for a few photos with a few friends… it was fun. So I knew what was up.
I interviewed with them on Tuesday. Tomorrow (Saturday) I’m doing a little ride-a-long, training shift with them at some event in Hollywood.
This job would probably serve me as a side gig. It doesn’t pay a lot, but it’s mostly night work. It’s easy work and I would spending time at different events around town… seems to me it will be worth the time and effort.
Yesterday I auditioned at CBS Radford for a new LIFETIME Network pilot. ALLIGATOR POINT is a sit com pilot starring Cybil Shepherd.
They are looking for Small town… Southern, specifically… military types for the show….
It was cool little field trip… I met the shows producers. And I got to walk around the CBS lot. It was my first time walking through the Radford lot… Radford meaning its one of several CBS lots… this one on Radford street…off of Ventura in StudioCity.
Ok, I have to run. I’m driving out to Van Nuys to meet up with one of my editors. He has one of my hard drives and he’s been cutting together a couple new episodes for ASPIRING LINE…. my OTHER web series.
Then I’m taking my hard drive over to another editor’s house to transfer some CATCH footage. Then I have to take THAT footage over to ZOE, the DP, on Sunday… because ZOE has made it very clear that she wants to color correct the final cut of any episode that she worked on.
Usually, the editor does the color correcting… but since Zoe has been pretty adamant about doing it herself. I suppose I will oblige. What can it hurt? I mean, it’s inconvenient, I’ll say that… because I have to shuttle hard drives around… costing me time, money and gas…. but I will give it a shot… see what happens. I have no idea what she plans to do or what kind of magical result she expects to have on the final cut….
I just realized my last post was exactly one week ago today and my first line read:
“It’s a rainy Monday morning in sunny California.”
I had a pretty busy week, last week… mostly good. I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and write.
MONDAY….
I had an audition at CAZT for a commercial. The casting director was Danny Roth. I knew Danny back in New York when he was running The Casting House downtown. It was good to see him. We had a good chat before I auditioned. He has apparently been in LA for a few years now. He was casting for two different projects. He had me read for one. Then he realize that I was better suited for the other project, so he handed me some sides and asked me to go out into the waiting room, read over the new sides and come back in a few minutes.
CAZT is a studio that holds 5 or 6 casting rooms. So there are usually a few other projects being cast at he same time. While I was waiting, a casting director stepped out of the room next door and called out for the next actor. Strangely, I recognized the voice. I looked over there and lo and behold….
ULYSSES from T&T CASTING!!!
Holy crap! I know Ulysses from New York. He used to run his business in the same building on 26th street as Creative Acting Company (Where I used to study), and where I used to run my seminar business. He is a great guy. I walked over, gave him a hug, said hello. He kind of looked at me like he had seen a ghost, but he warmed up eventually. He told me he has been here in LA since July. He asked me if I brought my lady out here with me (meaning Jessica). I told him that Jess and I are friends and she is back in NY….
“Oh shit… well…you know…these things happen.”
“Yeah, it’s all good. We talk all the time.”
“Tell her I said Hi. I dragged my girl out here. She didn’t have much of a choice.”
I laughed…out loud. Everyone in the room looked at me like “Who is this guy that’s buddies with TWO of the casting directors in this place?”
I think its CRAZY that TWO casting directors that I know from New York were holding auditions in the same office, on the same day, in rooms right next to each other… and they neither of them knew the other. I left there with this strange sense of serendipity.
TEUSDAY…
I shot a print ad for MILLER HIGH LIFE in the backyard of a house in Studio City. The basic premise was that I was a guy barbequing in the backyard, feeling good, flipping burgers and brats, sipping on a Miller High Life, and wearing my favorite Miller High Life apron. The ad is designed for a nationwide in-store promotion for Miller High Life branded gear. Unfortunately for me, you probably won’t see my face. If you happen to be in a grocery store or a liquor store in the next few months and see a poster with a guy barbequing in the backyard, feeling good, flipping burgers and brats, sipping on a Miller High Life, and wearing my favorite Miller High Life apron… well that’s ME… pleased to meet ya.
WEDNESDAY…
WE got a break from the bad weather of late and staged a shoot for CATCH, my little-web-series-that-could. Aside from a few late actors, everything was looking good. I felt like I had a solid script. I had scene that involved two of my best actors…and Shirley was directing. Shirley’s footage always looks great.
Then Mike Fisk showed up. Or, the actor who plays Mike Fisk… and granted, I hadn’t seen him in months… but he looked like he just stepped out of a MAKE OVER show.
I cast this guy because not only is he a really good actor, but he has a unique and incredibly interesting look He was able to carry the hardened, edgy look of a sociopath after 25 years of incarceration, while at the same time, possess a certain likeability, a softness that would enable the audience to buy the fact he is a father who wants to do right by his long lost daughter.
The actor I cast showed up. Mike Fisk, unfortunately…did not.
I asked the actor if he could fix his now ultra mod hairstyle and make it look a little more simple… slick it back maybe? He said NO…because he had an audition later.
The hair on my neck was standing up.
So we moved ahead with the shoot. We did manage to get some nice performances out of all the actors… but I was just INCREDIBLY unsatisfied with the way Mike Fisk looked… not to mention pissed the F%#@ off that he just decided to show up with his own agenda…and basically refuse to alter his hairstyle. No heads up…no prior discussion… just SURPRISE… “I look like one of the JONAS BROTHERS!”
Without getting into a long explanation and documenting the conversations that went on between this actor and I about his desire to play “kinder…gentler” roles…as well as his refusal to go back and re shoot a TWO PAGE scene with a slicked back or combed over hair style… as if it would cripple his CAREER….
I’ll just say that I am in the middle of weighing my options, considering new story lines and wanting to pull MY hair… completely the F%$@ out.
That’s just my week up to Wednesday….and I have to get going….
I have an audition today over CAZT... for something... office guy... the breakdown listed DANNY ROTH as the casting director. I used to audution for Danny in New York. He also used to come in and be a guest speaker from time to time for my actor seminars.
(I used to own and operate a seminar program called THE AUDITION EXPERIENCE. Think LEARNING ANNEX meets INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO)
We were SUPPOSED to shoot CATCH: EPISODE 8 today, but its a no go. I had to push it to Wednesday. Now I'm hoping that its not raining on Wednesday... forecast says 50/50.
I'm still knee deep in post-production dealing with my CATCH series AND my ASPIRING LINE series. I've been bouncing all over town meeting with editors and a sound designer, preparing for a RE-LAUNCH of CATCH... the entire series, with new cuts of exisiting episodes (shorter, quicker, new music), and BRAND NEW episodes... all in the oven...almost ready.
ASPIRING LINE is chock full of footage. I should be able to release 2 new episodes by next week.... I'm hoping.
I shoot for MILLER HIGH LIFE tomorrow in Toluca Lake. Thats the print job I booked last week...random booking... Craigslist....open call.
Normally, I wouldnt be interested in a membership (with monthly dues) based theater company, but take into consideration my new 2009 mantra "Audition for Everything," and add that fact that this company is not only nearby, but they offer casting director workshops and a handful of alluring opportunites as part of the membership. Sounded good enough to me. I took the appointment and showed up prepared.
The audition was quick and easy. I performed a monologue from LOBBY HERO by Kenneth Lonergan, revisiting the role of Officer Bill.... a role I played and LOVED to play during a run of LOBBY HERO at Manhattan Theater Source in 2006.
What impressed me most was the space. The Underground Theater Company occupies a really nice looking theater space on Wilton and Fountain... such a relief. I can't tell you how many times I have walked in to a theater audition and thought to myself "I really dont want to have to come to this place and perform for the next 6 weeks. I really dont want to come to this place AT ALL. I dont want to invite my friends and family to this place either."
This was totally different. I looked around and saw a lot of potential... nice space... they have a cozy little lobby and an anex that has another smaller, workshop space. I performed my monologue, chatted with a few folks and I bounced.
I was off to attend the first official Indie City Entertainment meet-up of 2009. That's a whole other story, but we had a great meeting... 13 people showed up... more than I expected. We had an assortment of snacks and we actually had quite a productive little party. I think as a collective we all walked away with a renewed, re-energized feeling. We have plans to start working on some really cool projects.
I spent the remainder of my day/evening listening to and organizing royalty free music for CATCH episodes... senidng a sound designer and a couple of editors a butt load of emails..... and I watched HELLBOY II on DVD... which was.... eh... visually interesting...lots of cool reatures and effects... but I could take it or leave it.
Last but not least.... Sonyia Joiner, the Underground Theater Company director, sent me an email last night inviting me to join the company....
Thank you for auditioning at The Underground Theater for membership in our resident theater company. On behalf of the theater, I wish to invite you to join our company.
It's been raining for the past day and a half here in LA..... non -stop.... Downpours. Aside from getting drenched on my way to and from the car... it's actually kind of nice. I slept soundly last night with the window open... listening to the steady rain fall.
I had a job interview this morning with a Wine & Spirits company. I showed up, dresssed to kill, suit and tie...soaking wet. Yeah... I dont have an umbrella.
After the interview I got a call from a casting office...
They wanted to put me on hold for a Miller High Life print job. Which was GREAT...but it's SO random. I read their posting on CRAIGSLIST of all places....
THURSDAY, FEB 5th ONLY!!
Casting Caucasian and Hispanic males 25 - 35 years in age. MUST HAVE A FIT / TRIM BUILD for national Print ad for Miller Beer. Open casting casting tomorrow only between 10am - 4pm. Please DO NOT attend casting if you are under 25 years of age. We are only casting FIT / TRIM caucasian and hispanic males. DO NOT ATTEND if you are otherwise.
Casting Location:
Out of Frame Studio (behind Calumet)
1126 N. Citrus Ave
Hollywood CA 90038
Thank you.
An OPEN CALL...on CRAIGSLIST... is not exactly something I'm chomping at the bit to attend... in fact... a year ago I would have scoffed, rolled my eyes, turned my nose up, slapped my knee, thrown a shoe, shaken a stick and danced an Irish jig... just to make it perfectly clear I was NOT INTERESTED.
But my attitude as changed. When I first moved to LA, I felt like I had paid enough dues to be more selective as far as what I would audition for. I figured if I came to LA to be on Prime Time, I'm not going to waste my energy on chasing my tail around town for nickel and dime projects. I had essentially become the character I always feared... the one we all mocked... ineffective, hallucinatory, delirious, wasting away... Hoping my agent was out there leading some sort of charge in my honor..... while MY AGENT OF GREATNESS lead colossal armies to victories on the battlefields of the Balkans, waving my flag... chanting my name.... I hung back..... waiting for the phone to ring... hooray for me.
As a result, my auditions in 2008 were few and far between. Rolling up on 2009, I knew I needed to make some adjustments. The ADJUSTMENT...was simple....
Audition for EVERYTHING!!!!
(That line is meant to be read like Gary Oldman's dirty psycho detective in THE PROFESSIONAL)
(One of my favorite movies)
Everything... seriously. For years in New York, that was my strategy. I scoured postings anywhere and everywhere... and I auditioned for anything that came up... scoffing at nothing. So right here, right now, as a realtive newcomer to Los Angeles, its time to bring it all back, go retro, kick it old school....
Because its all about momentum. It's about energy... activity... action. I found that the more I submitted, the more I auditioned. The more I auditioned, the more I worked. The more I worked, the more contacts I made. YES...I worked on a lot of crappy projects...but for every 10 crappy jobs...there were 2 good jobs.
To quote Thomas Jefferson....
(I love this quote)
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
And in my case, that's absolutely true. So here I am, scouring and scavaging websites 2-3 times a day... banging and blasting out pics/resumes like there 's no tomorrow.... LA CASTING, ACTORS ACCESS, NOW CASTING... RED TUBE... whoa... not Red Tube... nevermind....
OK... back to Craigslist. STILL not the best place to find legitimate breakdowns or auditons... but if you sift through all the junk, you come across a good one every once in a while.... like anything on Craigslist...LOTS of junk...an occasional gem.
So I set out on Thursday with every intention to go to that casting. It almost didn't happen. My first attempt proved futile because I just couldnt find the damn place. I was getting frustrated, driving around adjacent blocks for an hour. That particular page in my key map is ripped out and long gone due to overuse. So I was swinging a bat in the dark. I gave up to go have coffee with Shirley and talk about our shoot on Monday. After the meeting, and a few moments of lazy, self-sabotaging contemplation... I decided to go back and give it one more try...
And now I'm booked to shoot a National print ad for Miller on Tuesday the Tenth.
Hey. How are you?? I have been having a little bit of trouble over here which is why no word since the Giants debacle…but I think I am getting the hang of it. For me, the sleep deprivation is killer – I need 8 hours and I am lucky if I get 1.5 straight! Do you believe that f-ing game? We still need to discuss, because it actually felt like Eli didn’t want to play out the season anymore. So I am watching Gossip Girl between nursing sessions and I just saw Kathiy– she played a realtor on Gossip Girl! How are you doing?
Hi Jen-
Well I'm sorry you've been having trouble... hang in there... it will get better. My Brother and Holly had a helluva time with Keller... neither of them slept much...and Keller was insanely loud and cranky for a while... they had grandparents coming in and helping out just to alleviate some of the pressure.... of course Casey was an angel... I was aways feel like a baby can sense the anxiety and will respond accordingly... By the time Casey came around, Dave and Holly were cool cats about the whole raising baby thing... so Casey had no reason to act up... thats my theory anway...
Yeah... that Giants game sucked... just like old times heh? I'll hand it to The Eagles... they were HOT (SO happy they didn't go all the way). I was nervous to play them .... The Giants play calling was questionable too... phasing out Amani Toomer? Brandon Jacobs UNDER used...AGAIN.... but hey... Carolina and Tennessee both got jacked as well... so i guess it was just one of those seasons.... The Giants will be back.... don't you worry.
Thats great you saw Kathy on GOSSIP GIRL. She is all over the place. She was on Gossip Girl last night. She appeared on LIPSTICK JUNGLE a few months ago.... Then there is her Verizon commercial. She is the hardest working actress I know... she deserves it... she had that appearance posted on her facebook page... I didnt get a chance to see it though...
I shot a scene for a new show on SPIKE TV yesterday. It's a new show that will start running in July. The working title is SURVIVING DISASTER. The basic premise is theyrecreate disasters and crisis situations and instruct viewers on how to respond and behave in those sitautions... how to survive those situations. They put the host of the segment, some sort of expert, right in the middle of the scene and he jumps between talking directly to the camera, offering up information and insight, and interacting with the people in the scene. The scene we shot yesterday was a "UNITED 93"- esque scenario where a group of terrorists take over a commercial airplane, forcing the passengers to come up with a way to thwart the effort and take the plane back. It was SO much fun.
I was cast as the arrogant guy who tries to be a hero and ends up getting himself killed.
We started at 7:30AM and we shot at a studio in Pacoima called AIR HOLLYWOOD....
Air Hollywoodis a los angeles based aviation-themed film production studio specializing in airplane mockups....
I went in there all excited to get to work. The director was this really cool, laid back British guy named Mark. He pulled all the principal actors on to the plane and talked us through the day, first as a group, then individually, character by character. Then they got everyone dressed and seated everyone on the plane. I was in the last seat, in the last row.... and I sat....and sat...and sat... ugh... I did nothing for almost 7 hours... I was bored out of my mind. They were up front shooting the first class passengers and the then blocking and shooting the takeover of the cockpit... basically working their way towards the back.
The only benefit to sitting all the way in the back on the plane was that I was able to slip out the back exit at lunchtime and hit the buffett before the rest of the cast could squeeze themselves through the front exit.... suckers.
So FINALLY, around 5PM...they started getting to the good stuff. It started getting crazy. The director had the terrorists chasing the passengers to the back of the plane. Everyone was screaming and crying. I have to say, I was really impressed by the committment of many of the extra's. They were so into it. They were really believable as panic stricken and terrified passengers. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck.... seriously.
And so it is written...
One of the terrorists grabs a girl from the aisle and holds a plastic knife to her throat for everyone to see. Then the terrorist, in a demostration of ultimate evil, cuts the girls throat and kills her. The entire plane erupts in horrified screams and whimpers. One man, seated WAY in the back... One man...bored silly for seven hours... One man, dressed in khaki pants, a tan shirt, a brownish tie and a brown sweater vest (to compete the ensemble) stands up... and decides to take action. As the passengers around him huddle together. He pushes his way through the terrified group and works his way toward the killer. A few passengers notice what he is doing and they urge him to stop... to no avail.
As our on site expert, narrator and former navy SEAL, speaks to the camera and explains to the viewing audience that its best to stay calm in this type of situation, assess the situation and not jump to some knee-jerk reaction, our hero viliantly passes through the frame in the background.
The Man in the brown sweater vest charges the muderous villian. As he barrles down the isle, lusting for vengeance, screaming for justice, a sleeper terrorist jumps from his own seat, brandishes his own sharp, plastic weapon and tackles The Man, stabbing him several times in the back. He tosses the lifeless body of our arrogant hero aside and joins the party at the front of the plane.
It was awesome. I was on set for 13 hours but I was totally pumped when we wrapped, so it took me a good long while to fall asleep...
So that's the run down of my shoot yesterday. I can't tell you what happens next. You are going to have to watch the show.
Anyway, hang in there Jen... catch up on your sleep when you can... and take your vitamins. I will talk to you soon.
I like The Cardinals. How can you not? Cinderella story...total underdogs... and I'm talking ten year underdogs...twenty year underdogs... The Arizona Cardinals have been the WORST team in the NFL more times than I can care to count... but they are at the big dance today... and I'm pulling for em.
Big difference from last year…. Last year I was he wrapped up in some sort of “out of body” experience... possessed by some divine vision of victory for the New York Giants. That was me… the crazy man walking around LA talking shmack to anyone who would listen. I KNEW, without a doubt that the Giants were going to upset The Patriots and I was out to warn everyone that The G-men would shock the world… and of course… they did.
My plan for today is to swing by the gym and work out for an hour or so, then head over to my buddy JJ’s place to watch the game. He is not having any type of party. It will just be two or three dudes watching a football game. I amaze myself with the act that I’m determined to go to the gym today. I’ve been somewhat of a workout fiend lately. I don’t what it is… I guess my recent obsession has been fueled by my New Year’s resolution to shed enough body fat to expose a six pack…. mix that with the desire to shake up my workout regimen and incorporate some new activities... I’ve been feeling a little burnt out from hitting the weights all the time… so now I’m doing a lot of boxing training (jumping rope, heavy bag}, and I’m going to Runyon Canyon a couple times a week.
Friday, I had a job interview at 10AM. Then I went to the gym. I jumped rope for twenty minutes, fumbled around (miserably) with the speed bag for 20 minutes, and then pounded the heavy bag with furious intensity for 4 three-minute rounds.
After that, I went over to Runyon Canyon and met up with Cate for a double lap. One short lap and one lap up the longer, higher and much more difficult trail equal about 4 miles. At the top of lap 2, I felt like lungs were going to explode.
Once all that was done, I ran a few errands, came home and collapsed…potentially done for the next few days.
Then I get a call from JJ around 9PM. He is going ROLLERSKATING with a group of friends and wants to know I want to go. I’m thinking “Damn, I’m tired. I don’t want to move off this couch… but roller skating sounds fun.” I used to roller skate when I was a kid, but it’s been a LONG time since I had skates on my feet…. So I went.
And it was. It was a lot of fun. Some friends of friends of friends rented out the entire rink and held a private birthday party from 10:30P to 2A… so the rink was not crowded at all. I got on the rink…fell a few times… found my groove…. and I was off to the races. I was flying…doing the crossover around the turns… accelerating full force on the straight-a-aways… it was just me and the rink… I probably looked a little silly. I wasn’t really socializing, just skating loops around everyone... obsessed again.
When it was all over, I rolled back to return my skated and collapsed. I was SO tired. I got home at 3:30AM….spent most of my Saturday tending to my wounds and trying to recuperate.
I did spend some time on Saturday getting caught up on a few of my TV shows. One show specifically was FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS… and guess what y’all…
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is BACK!!
You gotta see this show… it is SO well done and SO under-appreciated.
Season one was great. Season TWO was a huge let down... I must admit…. And I had all but forgotten that Season three was looming… in fact I MISSED the first two episodes…. but I came across that Metacritic.com review and they had given FNL Season THREE a score of 84, which is pretty damn good.
So I watched the first two episodes…and it was just like old times. The story lines are solid, believable and poignant. The acting is fantastic…and the TRUE test… I couldn’t get through an episode without tearing up… I don’t what it is, but this show really gets to me. I used to get choked up all the time during Season One. Here I am again… sitting in on Season Three… wiping tears on my shirt sleeve.
I gotta get out of here… the gym is calling my name.
On January 13th, I auditioned for a role on an upcoming SPIKE TV show called SURVIVING DISASTER...
NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Spike TV has given the green light to two of its most ambitious new projects for series and has renewed its successful original series, "DEA," all slated to premiere in 2009. Production on the new distinctive original series "Surviving Disaster" (working title) and "Deadliest Warrior," and season two of "DEA" will begin
this fall, it was announced today by Sharon Levy, senior vice president of original series for Spike TV.
"Spike TV is taking action-packed programming to an entirely new level," says Levy. "We're thrilled to be in business with some of the most talented and successful producers in the industry and bring this programming to viewers."
In "Surviving Disaster," Spike TV presents a series, unlike any other on television, that may actually save a life. What's the best way to survive an earthquake, shark attack, plane crash, bioterrorism, hostage crisis or deadly tsunami? For the sake of viewers and their families, it's imperative to know how to survive disaster, both natural and man-made, and former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley (Mark Burnett's "Combat Missions") is just the guy to lead viewers to safety in this elaborate step-by-step weekly series. With some of the most elaborate disaster simulations ever created for television, "Surviving Disaster" is a look at how people can arm themselves with knowledge that could save their lives in the event of disaster.
I was called back and put on tape later that week and booked this past Monday, the 26th. My scene will be set up much like the legendary UNITED 93 scenario that took place on 9/11. A group of passengers stage an attempt to overtake hijackers on a commercial airline.... and guess what happens...
Well, I can't tell you that... you're going to have to watch.
I've actually been fairly busy with auditions over the past few weeks. I auditioned for a production of THE SHAPE OF THINGS yesterday in North Hollywood. It's a three performance showcase type of thing that goes up in early April, which, under West Coast (Hollywood) conditions, is ideal. This was obviously a non-paying project, but THE SHAPE OF THINGS is a great play and I'm at the point now where I would love to be working on anything... just to be active.... happy to have the opportunity to act...happy to have the opportunty to audition. Anyway, I read for the role of PHILLIP. The director asked me to come back a few hours later for a call back. I returned for the callback, read again...director gave me some notes... I read again.. and I was done.
Today I'm headed over to Santa Monica for a casting at Sessions West Studios. It's for a San Diego Tourism Board commercial. The Role: Dad at the Beach - male, 30s. Attractive, fit, outgoing and aspirational yet real.
One of the reasons I'm auditioning more than usual is because I've been relentlessly submitting myself... all day...all night... Since I'm not working a lot right now... I have time to keep a steady eye on Actors Access, LA casting, NOW casting and craigslist. I'm blasting out submissions with reckless abandon... honestly... it;s so competitive out here.... if you want the audition...you have to be obsessively agressive...
I'm looking forward to getting the west coast collective meetings back up and running. We have a tentative date schedule for our first meeting of 2009... Sunday, February 8th. Last week, I sent an email out to every past, present and potential Collective member I could think of:
Hi-
So as we are all trying to get our bearings, set out goals, lay the groundwork for a productive year...and ride out Mercury's retrograde...
I'm putting together a plan for the reintroduction slash reinvention of the ICE collective meeting...
First off... I'm looking at putting together ONE "official" meeting per month... likely to be on a Saturday or Sunday.. and this meeting will most definitely incorporate some sort of food/meal/brunch scenario... Locations will vary.
The purpose of these meetings will be to regroup and socialize, of course, but we will also be setting some very specific goals for the following month. If we take the approach of say... a theater company.. our objective being to create quality work, to stay busy...and simply to engage in the art and craft of acting (and in this case film making), we will close every meeting with a final decision and a definite plan to shoot one or two projects and put the proper plan and people... in motion...
I will be reaching out to people on a consistent basis to bring fresh faces, talent and perspectives to the group and I'm hoping to cultivate thorough and beneficial industry relationships by doing so... for everyone involved...
I'm hoping we can set up a system where each meeting is managed/coordinated by a different person... once a month... one or two different people can decide WHERE we have the meeting, WHAT that meeting is going to entail... and make it happen.
Pitching in for a rented space is an option. We can always meet at the Colfax Soul Shack. Hortense House? We could meet over coffee at Solar de Cahuenga. Brunch at HOME? Bowling? A picnic at Griffith park? Karaoke? a screening? A big group movie date? Hiking at Runyon? Riding the Metro? Playing in traffic on Ventura Blvd? Petting zoo?
Whatever... as long as we have an opportunity to brainstorm and address current issues.
So I need to hear from you. I want feedback, availability, a general idea of who is interested and who is not....
I think its time to come together... to build our existing base of brilliance and bring more cool, driven, talented people together.... Lets be proactive. Lets' push the envelope...and really explore what we can accomplish....
So next Sunday we get back to it. I already have a good list of potential projects and concepts to discuss and possibly... hopefully.... start working on.
Posted by Extra TV Staff on January 25, 2009 10:43 AM:
Actors and actresses of the guild will be honoring their peers with the SAG Awards tonight -- and the winners tonight could predict who will win Oscars in February! The films up for Best Picture at the SAG Awards include four of the flicks nominated for Academy awards -- "Milk," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Slumdog Millionaire," and "Frost/Nixon." The final nominee is "Doubt," which didn't receive an Oscar nod.
I have not seen FROST NIXON or MILK. All I’ve seen from MILK is a short clip on INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO during JOSH BROLIN’S appearance. Based on what I saw, I was really impressed by Brolin’s work. I need to see that movie…
What I HAVE seen at this point is THE WRESTLER, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD and BENJI BUTTONS.
THE WRESTLER… touching… edgy, gritty, and dirty. Mickey Rourke was great. Marisa Tomei was great. Marisa Tomei was hot. But what really stood out for me is the way I FELT this movie. Darren Aronofsky did an amazing job of creating this dark, sleazy world. I FELT every ache and pain. I felt the grit… I felt the dirt… the despair…the desperation. Mickey Rourke won a Golden Globe for best actor for this performance I applaud his journey. He did a phenomenal job in this role. One little side note o this film… I studied/trained for a while back in New York at Black Nexxus with WASS STEVENS. He played one of the promoters in the film. He also has a SPRINT commercial running right now... a bunch of teachers using two way radios to track down a missing student and send him right to detention.... seen it?
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON… big movie… big actors… impressive make-up and definitely a curiously strong story… but I wasn’t really BLOWN AWAY. I couldn’t help but feel like I had been there before. I thought it was cool to see how they told this story. I thought it was cool how they aged and DE-aged Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett… but I couldn’t get past the idea that I was watching a literal hybrid of FORREST GUMP and BIG FISH… which made a for less engaging experience for me. And to tell you the truth, I HATED the ending. That stupid whiney daughter just walks off? Ah forget it… I won’t give anything away…
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD… hmmm… I could write and write…talk and talk about this one. First of all…it seemed to me that this film was written as a play. The magic was all in the dialogue… and there was LOTS of dialogue. One of the great things about really good theater is it makes you think… a well written play leaves you with so many thoughts… sometimes unanswered questions… then you go with your friends or your date and you sit at a coffee shop or a bar and talk about it…discuss… sometimes for hours. What you saw, how you felt… why you felt that way…what this meant to you versus what it may have meant to someone else…
This is the way I felt after REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, which is a good thing for sure. In fact, I feel like I need to see it AGAIN just to try and make sense of it all. Because, like I said, the magic is all in the dialogue…offered up like a puzzle.
The problem I have with the film is more of a personal thing, I think. From the moment this movie starts, these two characters, this couple, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Winslett start fighting…and it just…never…STOPS. It made me feel anxious and irritable. There were moments where I said to myself “I don’t know if I can’t take much more of this.” It was a personal reaction that has a lot to do with the fact that I grew up with what felt like an incessant flow of fighting and arguing between my parents. They separated when I was 12 years old. While I love and admire both my parents, I swore to myself that I would never ever live like that… and that probably has a lot to do with the fact I haven’t married yet.
(That’s not blame Mom... just a little honest introspection xo)
OK… so…
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE… I said it before and I will say it again… WOW… really well done… moving… excellent acting… visually engaging… different and new…
Ok, you know what… this blog post has turned into an hour long writing exercise…. I’m hungry, so I’ll say one last thing….
I went to see SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE last night and all I have to say is....
WOW
Ok..maybe i can say a little more than that....
The cinematography was amazing. Slumdog was directed by Danny Boyle. Danny Boyle directed 28 DAYS LATER. I love 28 DAYS LATER for its incrdedibly inventive and intriguing visuals... all shot on video and na very low budget. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE embodied that same visual essence, only with it was more poignant and colorful...
(made with more money)
The acting was fantastic. I was particularly impressed by the 2 little boys who started out the story. These kids are like 10 years old..at the MOST... and their performances were so rich...entertaining...moving...
I was totally lost in this story... which for me is the sign of a great movie... my immediate world was totally suspended for 2 hours and I was completely captivated.
I was walking on air for the rest of the evening, until I went to bed.. with a smile on my face.
Then I woke up this morning.... and I was BACK TO THE FUNK.
So what the hell is going on? Everyone I talk to is in SOME kind of funk.... myself included. No matter where they are (Socially, emotionally, financiall) or what they are doing, there is one thing that seems to be constant ... THE FUNK. People respond to an overall funk differently... some better than others... its challenging regardless...
I'm choosing to attribute THE FUNK to the current state of MERCURY RETROGRADE. If you follow Astrolgy, its a window of NON-opportunity that usually last about two weeks and pops up 3-4 times a year.
Many of my " friends-in-the-funk" were unaware of the existence and effects of the retrograde, but found great comfort in the fact that its supposedly OVER on Feb 1st. Everyone seesm to be more comfortable managing the melancholy or the mayhem if they have a specific out date.
So whether you believe in that stuff or not... if you are feelin THE FUNK... hang in there... it's all gonna turn over.
In fact, I think instead of having just a simple Super Bowl party...chips, salsa, pizza and beer.... we should all have a Super Bowl celebration slash Mercury Retrograde closing ceremony....
From www.astrologyweekly.com>>>
Here we go again... Mercury goes retrograde once again. It happens 3 times a year and it lasts for about 3 weeks. This time is from January 11, 2009 to February 1, 2009.
This is an important period, and we should be aware of the effects associated with this astrological influence. Since it is so often, we must learn what it means and how to take advantage of it.
From www.astrologyzone.com>>>
Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect. Mercury forces us to slow down and fix what's broken, and in so doing, rethink things. It also gives us time to get to projects we have put on the back-burner.
Some activities are lucky or actually improve when Mercury retrogrades. You are likely to bump into old friends that you haven't seen in years. Adopted children tend to find their birth parents during Mercury retrograde periods, or people locate their long lost siblings. Prosecutors often find clues to crimes that had previously remained unsolved for years. (Although sometimes the reverse is true--there is a greater danger, or example, that police can bungle evidence during a Mercury retrograde period, for clear thinking doesn't come easy for any of us then.) Mail that went astray weeks or even years ago shows up during Mercury retrograde. Some things that were lost reappear.
From Interesting Thing of the Dayhttp://itotd.com : "A virtual museum of interesting things">>>
So is there anything real to Mercury retrograde? Certainly the astronomical phenomenon as such is not in dispute. Every planet spends some time in a retrograde state relative to Earth during the year, and this is nothing more than a quirk of geometry. But what about the supposed manifestations in daily life? Well, astrologers eagerly point to major world events that occurred during Mercury retrograde periods and purportedly show the hallmarks of its influence. Notably, the 2000 U.S. presidential election—which was without a doubt a profoundly weird case of confusion, delay, and difficulty in making decisions—occurred during Mercury retrograde. There are hundreds of other examples, but it’s difficult to evaluate them without carefully comparing them to events that occurred when Mercury was not retrograde. By its very nature, the effect is so subjective that it would be impossible to pin down definitively.
Even astrologers allow that Mercury retrograde—or any astrological configuration, for that matter—doesn’t cause anything as such; it’s rather an indication, a sign, a symbol. The positive spin is that because communication difficulties tend to occur during these times, it’s a good opportunity to meditate, to reexamine priorities and projects, to give special consideration to your interactions with others. Nothing that happens is truly the fault of Mercury retrograde; instead, it’s an indicator of where your awareness and attention should be.
There you have it.... take it for what it is... I gotta go..... burn some jasmine or something
Big day tomorrow... Inauguration Day... All the pageantry and optimism is really nice. I dont care who you support...who you voted for... or how you feel about the economy, the war, education or the bailout... you HAVE to be able to appreciate all the positive energy floating around out there...
And if you cant see past your disdain for certain political elements to enjoy such a brilliant display of unity... you should pick up a book and revisit what it means to be an American...
We are all in this together... words to live by
I have a conference call today. I signed on with a new beverage and we have a 2-3 hour web conference training session today. Yes, I know its technically a holiday, but I'm not doing anything special today...there's no football on ... so... I've got a conference call.
This is an interesting job opportunity and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a new beverage...another start up...but they are BRAND spanking new... you cant buy it anywhere yet... very much unproven...shit I havent even TASTED the stuff yet... and the pay structure is 80% commission based... and that, my friends is LESS than ideal... working on commission sucks.... unless of course you are selling high end products and rakin in the bucks... at $2 a case... I'm not gonna be raking in anything... but hey... I'm happy to have the opportunity...I'll give it a go and see what happens.
I wrote two more episodes for CATCH yesterday. I'm in the process of reworking all the existing footage.. and getting things in better order to build a better story... I'm getting the series ready for a submission to StrikeTV, which (SHOULD it be accepted) will be great exposure for everyone involved. So I'm rounding up all the proper contracts and paperwork...releases and such... and I'm getting all the muisc cleared... replacing what needs to be replaced.... I'm really looking to incorporate independent music all of types for every new episode.... but thats a lot of work.... again... I'll give it a go... see what happens...
I'm on my way to an audition (First audition of 2009), so I'll be brief...
HUGE congrats to Mickey Rourke for winning a Golden Globe. I saw THE WRESTLER back in New York over the holidays and I thought it was F%$@@# great.... dark, depressing, moving... fantastic.
YES, I did go to Paris Hiltons house on Saturday night. I was out with a frew friends, bouncing around in Hollywood and one of the girls in the group got a call from Sean Stewart, Rod Stewarts son (booty call). He invited her up to the party...and she, appropriately, arrived with 5 friends. 3 of whom were DUDES. I'm sure he was stoked.
The party was fun. There were cupcakes, little pizza's, pannini's and LOTS of mac and cheese. She has her own little disco in her house, complete with a stripper pole, that everyone and their MOTHER felt the need to take a crack at.... pun intended...not intended...ok INTENDED. She has a dog slash doll house in the back that houses 5 or 6 little chihuaha varieties. The house is an exact replica of the mansion in it's shadow, complete with a balcony and winding staircase. I spent quite a bit of time petting the dogs. They were DYING for attention and freaking out for anyone to reach over the fence anbd pet them.
We left the party at 4AM and ran into Jesse Metcalf outside, asking people if he could catch a ride down the hill. Aparently the people he came with left him behind. So we squeezed unto JJ's Lexus amd gave Jesse Metcalf a ride home from Paris Hiltons house.... f%$@@ surreal.
Ok...I gotta roll...
In response to my own blog post last week... the one about how my mood and motivation was , for the most part, meager and morose... I leave you (Or leave myself) a horoscope that I found in todays DAILY NEWS:
FROM THE NY DAILY NEWS (Jan 13, 2008):
Nobody knows more than you, Sag, that a positive attitude can actually change your life. But even an optimistic archer can fall prey to a despondent moment now and again. Shake off feelings of uncertainty about life and get on with creating and following your master plan. Remember, life is for living!
I hit Runyon Canyon today.... it was gorgeous as always. Ashley and I meet up to discuss future plans for The Collective and instead of meeting for coffee (Thats SO 2008), we decided to walk and talk...HIKE and talk... burn and sweat...and talk.
I think we had a pretty productive meeting... we also both slid and fell...thats some treacherous terrain up there.
I just finished watching the final 3 episodes of DAMAGES: Season One on DVD. DAMAGES is awesome... my latest TV obsession... and I was kind of in a rush to get caught up on the show. Season Two started on January 7th.
I highly recommend it... stellar performances by everyone involved... YES including Ted Danson.
(It airs on F/X)
Speaking of damages... there was an earthquake last night... a 4.5... I felt the hell out of that thing.... Around 8PM I was sitting in my apartment watching the game and the whole room started shaking... not enough to do any real damage... and not even enough to knock anything over... but it was still pretty freaky... and over in about 5 seconds....
Ok, anyway
Ladies and Gentlemen... my Ipod top 50 for 2008...
(I always feel compelled to share what music I'm listening too... for a handful of reasons...and for the simple fact that I just like to share... it's a list of 50 songs that have been there for me, throughout the year, 50 songs that gave me inspiration, 50 songs that, for one reason or another, I've held dear)
So, that being said... my top 50 songs for 2008 are...
(I kind of feel like Casey Kasem right now)
Drum roll please!
1) Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
2) Go Left - ED, Gift of Gab and Lateef
3) Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
4) Ain't No Grave - Crooked Still
5) Sick Thing to Do (James Bem's A&G mix) - Bitcrushers
6) A New Sky - The Presets
7) Ms. Hill - Talib Kweli
8) Lookin at your Face - Nino Moschella
9) Oh Sister - Andrew Bird
10) Pussyfootin' - The Bamboos
11) The Future Calls The Dawn - Felix Da Houscat
12) Energy - Apples in Stereo
13) Delta Dawn - Skeewiff
14) Chateau Strut - Doyle Bramhall
15) Being Here - The Stills
16) The Last Trumpet - Lyrics Born
17) Up From The Hill - Chris Knight
18) Where I Belong - Honey Root
19) All The Stars - Nomo
20) I Want You Back (Z-trip remix) - Jackson 5
21) Malemolencia - CeU
22) Stiff Jazz - dZihan and Kamien
23) WannaBe in L.A. - Eagles of Death Metal
24) Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti and Spearhead
25) Right as Rain - Adele
26) When I See You - Prodigy (Mobb Deep)
27) One Two - Cool Kids
28) The Gunshot - Nicolay & Kay
29) Everybody Clap - The Strange Fruit Project
30) O Shot - The Gay Blades
31) El Dorado - Animate Objects
32) Harder Than You Think - Public Enemy
33) Om:The Meaning of Life - The Village Green
34) Growin in it - Diplomats of Solid Sound
35) Come On - The Panderers
36) Chicken Payback - A Band of Bees
37) I'm Glad You're Mine - Darius Rucker
38) Lone Pilgrim - Crooked Still
39) Right Back Where We Started From - Army Navy
40) We Do We Go - Nomo
41) Rooibos - The Stills
42) I'm Amazed - My Morning Jacket
43) The Camel - Fat Freddy's Drop
44) All Night - Damian Marley
45) Hip Hop is Dead - Nas
46) Shake It Off - Lyrics Born
47) Move Shake Drop Remix - DJ Laz
48) Fee Da Da Dee - The Guggenheim Grotto
49) Bring It On - Lenny Kravitz
50) Be Your Own - One Self
Its Thusday afternoon... and its an absolutely amazing day in LA. It's a sunny seventy degrees... super nice. I'm at Solar De Cahuenga in Hollywood trying to get some writing done...trying to motivate, find some inspiration... CREATE some inspiration.... do SOMETHING to get out of this RUT. I think I'm about to formally conclude that I am unable to perform effectively (ie. get anything accomplished) at Solar de Cahuenga. There are way too may distractions here... too many gorgeous women... too many celebrity drop ins... i cant focus... I do mmuch better at Silver Lake Coffee Co... the vibe is a lot more chill... its a great place to hunker down with a cup of tea and let the imagination fly... plus they have better parking.
All is not lost on Solar de Cahuenga. For one, like I said before, there are pretty people of all shapes, sizes and colors drifting through here all day long... if you like people -watching... this is a great spot.... but this place is actually ideal for having a casual meeting...mainly because its in Hollywood... centrally located and easy to reach for most people.... so its always a fair request to ask someone to meet here. Silver Lake Coffee co is over near me..which is farther east...and unless I'm meeting with someone who is farther east... Solar is the better choice.
Anyway, here I am.... supposedly reworking a few CATCH scripts... but I'm feeling stuck... so here I am, pecking away at my laptop for your consideration....
You know what? I think I'm going to pack it up... go to the gym...work off my angst... and get home in time to watch the Florida/Oklahoma game... I'm feelin Florida.
I will get back to my scripts... I will get back on the bus.... Right now I'm just trying to get it together... see clearly.... find my way....
It's late... I'm about to go to bed but I wanted to jot down a few thoughts first.
It's a new day, it's a new dawn...
And I feel like I'm working extra hard to stay positive. Ever since I got back from New York... ever since the year turned... I havent felt that same optimistic drive that I usually feel as we embark on a new year... things are tough right now... Everywhere I look, the news is bad... there's this gloomy presence that I just can't shake....and its not just me... every time I turn around I having the same conversation... seems like everyone I know is hurting financially... and looking for work.... Everyone is anxious...uneasy.
The Economy is in the crapper, unemployment rates keep going up, there is still an actors stike looming...a strike that's been looming for months... and the simple threat of another strike has basically resulted in a defacto strike... a brown out of sorts.
So I'm doing what I can... trying to keep it all in perspective... but it really feels like a struggle right now.
I don't have any nice arc to this story. I'm not gonna drop some clever anecdote, quote or rhyme to wrap it up. I'm writing this more for myself than anything else. I'm stressed out.
OK... so it's Friday, January 2nd... that weird day after New Years Day... it's cloudy... quiet...
Regardless, Happy New Year!
I'm sitting here watching THE SUGAR BOWL, and I'll tell ya... UTAH is up 14-0 and they look good... fast...really fast...they came to PLAY today. Alabama looks confused... they cant keep up.
Anyway... so I had an interesting New Years Eve. Instead of going out and spending a lot of time in an overcrowded hot spot and a lot money on drinks, I jumped on the opportunity to work security at a big party in the Hollywood Hills. I was planning on laying low, watching some football, and possibly even sleeping right through it all. I just got back from a 2 week east coast holiday tour where I got pummeled by a snowstorm, traveled from Manhattan to Hoboken to Asbury Park to Hoboken to Farfax, VA to Manhattan to Ridgewood to Brooklyn to Northport to Manhattan to JFK. I saw plenty of friends, spent Christmas with Mom and Bob, my Brother, his wife and my two nephews. I saw my Father in Long Island. I had more than my share of drinks and debauchery.
THATS the kind of hangover I was coming back to Los Angeles with... so I was FINE with napping away the New Year. Then I got a call from my buddy Paul... not Small Paul... Big Paul. (Sorry, thats an INDIE CITY insider reference)
So Big Paul calls me and asks if I can work with him at a party on New Years Eve... doing security. I've never really done security before... but hey...I'm game...and they are paying cash.... and I... love...cash.
The party was held at the top of Laurel Canyon in the "castle-like" home of Gary Morgan. Gary Morgan is a long time Hollywood stuntman, stunt coordinator and the inventor of the BIG JOHN toilet seat....
This is not a joke folks... every bathroom in the house was equipped with a bonafide double wide...
The house was amazing, perched at the top of the canyon, unobstructed, with a stunning view of the city below. The view was particularly cool on New Years Eve because of an erie cloud cover that saturated the city with dense fog. Since this house was so high up on the hill, we were above the fog and Los Angeles looked like it literally had a blanket laying across with various assortments of lights beaming through.... very "Dark Night."
Paul and I arrived early enough to take a quick tour and meet everyone... cousins, uncles, in-laws....a super nice family... great group of people.. and NOT an obese bunch either... as you might guess... being the royal family of toilet seats for fat folks... they were a pretty healthy looking crew.
My job for the night was to handle the guest list. As people approached the top of the driveway... technically the BOTTOM of the driveway.. I would locate their name on the list and pass them on through. Gary told me early on that I didnt have to be TOO strict. As long as people knew anyone in the family, knew enough to drop the right name, if they were in costume, or if they were pretty...and not obnoxious, i could send them up.
It was a fairly casual outing. I don't have any good gossip for you. I didnt turn anyone away. I didnt throw anyone out. For the most part everyone was cool. I was entertained by frequent visits from Skippy of FAMILY TIES (he lives next door) and Mark Wahlberg... not THAT Mark Wahlberg, the other Mark Wahlberg. I walked up to the party at 11:45 and had a good stiff drink and watched the big private ball drop. They had their own own huge New Years ball installed and they, of course, lowered it at the stroke of midnight, with a vast, glittered and glowing view of LA in the background.
I have to admit it was pretty f%$@ing cool.
So after ringing in the New Year, after managing the hordes of people trying to leave the party and get on the shuttle van...and after single handedly changing some lady's flat tire...
(One of Gary's guests had a flat as she was trying to pull out, so I offered to help her put the spare on. I was down and dirty changin that damn thing...in my suit and tie... filthy....but I got it done. The lady offered me some cash but I didnt take it. I told her to have a good New Year)
After helping more people catch the shuttle; after apprehending a guy who backed in to Paul's parked car while Paul was at the bottom of the hill; After telling the final stragglers that the shuttle service was now CLOSED; after getting PAID; after thanking Gary and his family and after a delicious piece of cheesecake.... it was time to go home....
It was 5AM.
Slept til one o clock New Years Day... watched USC/PENN STATE... I was pulling for Penn State... then I managed to get myself off the couch, out of the house..and I went to see BENJAMIN BUTTON... all by myself... which was great... start the new year off with a nice little "Artist's date."
Its New Years Eve 2008.... I got back to Los Angeles yesterday. I was exhausted. Two weeks of bouncing around the East Coast, 4 days of bouncing around with my nephews and 1 all-nighter in New York City that landed me right back at JFK at 5AM had most certainly taken its toll.
I came home yesterday and slept for 13 hours.
What am I doing for New Years Eve?
No plans... I figured I would probably sleep til Saturday. So when my buddy Paul called and asked me to work security with him at a big party in The Hills... I said hell yeah.... easy money.
So thats my New Years Eve... greeting party goers ... assuring safety... securing the perimeter... and stealing an occasional cocktail along the way.... burp.
Looks like another long lost project of mine has surfaced.
"332221222" is a short film I did a few years ago for NYU student filmmaker Rob Lockhart. My character is appropriately named "The Villian." An interesting factoid about this projecft is that the title is based on the name of a song by Don Ellis and the film goes as far as the music will take you. (PS: there are a few bad words)
You can click on the link below and view it directly on Blip.tv
My best to you and yours
May you find more open doors
May you settle all your scores
Get lean and eat S'mores
Ok... NOW...
Once again BACK is the incredible.....
Introducing a new trailer for CATCH, the web series that tells the story of MAGGIE and JERRY, two star-crossed serial killers searching for true love. CATCH is written and produced by James Huffman and features Anne Judson Yager, Trevor Jones, Bill Oberst JR, Amy Snively, James Huffman, Brian Wilson, JJ Huckin and Milo Erikson.
Its a cold (West Coast cold), rainy day in LA. The city has shut down for the most part. This is my second December in LA LA Land and it seems to me that there is a unified drop in action, energy and efficiency that renders the city pretty much useless until we kick back up the SECOND week of January.
I fly back to New York tonight. I'm catching an overnight flight out of LAX, which lands me at JFK around 7AM. So I will dragging around Manhattan tomorrow morning looking for something to do.
I'm pumped to go home. I totally psyched to be back in New York, to see a handful of my finest friends, and I'm seriosuly stoked to spend some quality time with my 2 nephews, my brother and his wife. They are in the middle of a significant amount of drama, they are putting the two family dogs to rest due to an overwhelming amount of medical issues, and finally, after years of planning and waiting, they are adopting and bringing their adorable little girl home from China. They leave for China on the 27th. So they've got a lot going on. Hopefully some god old fashioned Huffman Family Holiday fanfare can alleviate some of the pressure.
While I'm looking forward to getting back to my loved ones and my beloved Big Apple, I'm feeling considerably deflated. Aside from general social concerns and the obvious challenges that result from a crappy economy and ANOTHER looming actors strike, my ego is bruised from getting my butt handed to me this past weekend.
I spend the past few weeks working up a nice 22 page script for my web series CATCH. This script had become a writing challenge that I was really proud of. It's 22 pages that would be broken into 4 short episodes. I had a lot of fun writing it...and the crew I was putting together was equally excited to bring this material to life.
So I was feeling ambitious and I was thinking I could get a cast and crew together and knock out this great series of epsiodes in the dawn of December. The town itself going dark, some people are still around. Seems like a perfect opportunity to rally troops and shoot hoops...know what I'm saying?
And it was coming together beautifully. I worked out a deal on an office location in Marina Del Ray. Shirley, one of my favorite directors, was set to direct. Zoe, my favorite cinematographer, was signed on...even though its not her ideal scenario. What I mean by that is, Shirley likes to direct AND shoot. She wants to operate camera when she directs. ZOE, as a DP, or cinematographer, prefers to bring her own mini-crew...including her side kick Yvonne, who always camera ops. Since Shilrey is operating camera...is creates a "crossing the line" scenario that theoretically demotes ZOE to gaffer.
I realy like Zoe's work, so I went back a few times to reuqest her presence, I prsented it to her in a variety of ways, just short of begging. I asked if she would consider working on this project in a capacity that would serve Shirley AND Zoe. At first she was like "No Thanks," but right before I was about to start placing ads on Mandy and Craigslist, ZOE agreed to join the team... awesome.
I got Dj Eric to be my sound man...love Eric... he loves CATCH... warm fuzzies all around.
I EVEN managed to find my Spanish speaking cleaning ladies. Whihc was kind of an unusual request... and a tall order... pun intended. THIS is what I was looking for:
Fabiola and Felicia - Possible Recurring / FEMALES / 30 TO 60 / Hispanic, Latin; Seeking two women, ideally identical twins, but could be sisters of the same height, or two women who strongly resemble each other. Must speak Spanish. These two women will play cleaning ladies who work the night shift in a corporate office and stand by while their evil boss, working late, is brutally murdered.
I had friends calling me and emailing, rolling there eyes. "Good luck with that" they said.
I even put an ad on Craigslist...and people on CRAIGSLIST wewre leaving me notes, scoffing at my request. Man, I tell ya...some people are such HATERS...NAYSAYERS... why be so negative? What good does that do? It's really sad how many people are out there...ACTIVELY combing thru ads on Craigslist...and taking the time to write me messages telling me how I will fail... that I CANT do this...or CANT do that...
Well guess what... and this is exactly what I love about Craigslist:
Dear James, you have lucked out!! I am a former professional housekeeper who is now an actress...I also speak Spanish AND not only that but my daughter is also available-we look very much alike and everone thinks we're sisters. She is also latin...We would love to help you out tomorrow. I can email you photo and resume if you like. My daughter also has acting experience.
Take THAT.. naysayers
So there I am... getting it all together... through the power of positive thinking, professionalsim and pure perseverance, I've got myself a shoot.
After dealing with a few last minute scheduling challenges, I managed to get the cast and crew into Marina Del Ray and onto the site, into the office space...EARLY, I might add. My location contact was supposed to meet us to let us in for load in and set up at Noon, but LUCKILY, we were there early and came across an opportuntiy to get into the space BEFORE noon...and before my contact had arrived. So I jumped at the chance to get a jump on setting up.... and THATS where my luck ran out.
First off, apparently one of the crew guys deciuded to prop open the front door to make loading in a little easier. He forgot to ever close that door. That door eventually set off an alarm that set off a chain of events that set of the inevitable IMPLOSION of my shoot.
The alarm alerted the the owners of the building, who alerted the office manager, who came over to the office location...on her day off... to find a film crew setting up lights and camera in her space... you can imagine her concern when, after asking one of the crew members what was going on, she was told "We are shooting a student film!" Ooops.
One thing led to another...and within the hour, we were wrapping it up, packing it up and going over to the local bar to drink away the pain.
I accept total responsibility. I was wrong to invade the space without our location contact. If I had waited for him. he would have been able to tell us about the alarm, and he could have diffused the situation with the building manager... by simply being there and knowing what to say. But he wasnt there... he was 30 minutes away.
I knew I was trying to cut corners...and I knew that I was taking a chance. I believed...like I always do... that could pull it off. What I should have done... I should have passed along the sensitivity of the situation to my crew. I should have had a thorough meeting with everyone before we got in there so we all knew what to say and how to say it. What can I say? I took a gamble..and it blew up in my face.
I mean, gambling, taking risks and operating with an essence of espionage is how I've been able to pull off every shoot up to this point. I guess this was bound to happen at some point. What did I learn? Where do I need to make adjustments? Well, I will always gamble... taking risks... being bold ... its what I know... it's the only way I can make all this shit happen without dropping 25 grand. So what do I do? How to I make sure this doenst happen again. The answer? Espionage... dont laugh... I'm totally f%$#@ serious....Its either that or try to come up with 25 grand... and right now..thats just not an option.... so espionage it is... true guerrilla filmmaking with a dash of 007....better and more thorough pre production... we have to operate like a stealth unit of CIA operatives... like Navy Seals.... Jason Bourne... like Oceans Eleven... one good conversation with everyone in the crew could have prepared us all for any potential snags or curve balls...and we would have been golden.
Honestly though, this hurts. Four days later I'm still smarting. This is definitely gonna leave a mark on my reputation as a producer. I am really fortunate to have such an understanding cast and crew and core group of friends... otherwise this would be a lot more damaging.
So... it is what it is... The Universe has spoken...NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!
We plan to regroup and make another run in January or February.
I've been crazy busy... I had a brutal week last week...really early days... planning for a big shoot this past weekend... that fell apart (details to come later)... and I was sick all week... trying to manage a cold ...and couldn't get any sleep to recover properly.... PLUS I had a dozen friends throwing christmas and bday parties that I had to drop in on...long week... I was all over the place...
still trying to recover
I DID get 2 new Myspace pages posted this week>>>>
I should have a new trailer for CATCH ready by the end of the week...and quite possibly a new ASPIRING LINE episode...I will fill you in later on the gory details of the fiasco formerly known as the CATCH 8nine10 shoot.
I am supposed to be at the Ford Models Christmas party tonight...but I started feeling sick this morning and chose to cancel. I have an early early day tomorrow and I'm shooting CATCH 8, 9, 10 and 11 this weekend... I cant afford to fall too far under. I can't afford to fall under at all. So to all you gorgeous Ford Models... all you freakishly tall, hot sexy Ford Models enjoying your annual Christmas party AT THIS VERY MOMENT:
Happy Holidays! I miss you and love you all. Warm, Snug hugs... kisses...more kisses..and the occasioanl dry hump. Feliz Navidad.
A few years ago, I played a samll role in an independent horror film titled DEAD SERIOUS. I played the role of Major Landis, a preppy, foul mouthed militia member with a hankering for hunks of gay vampires (don't ask).
Now, I was under the impression that this film was all but extinct... But wouldnt you know, DEAD SERIOUS is back. I received the following email from Moodude Films producer Michael Hein:
Dear Dead Serious Cast & Crew,
Well, it's been a long time coming, but Dead Serious will have its national television premiere on MTV's Logo network this coming Thursday night at midnight.
The film will have network dates all though 2009, but as of today what we know for certain is December 11th at midnight through 2 AM December 12th.
Joe and I would like to thank everyone involved with Dead Serious. Making this film has truly been a labor of love and we are very proud of the film we all made together.
Cast:
Becky- Katie Apicella
Mario- Mario Giacalone
Stephen- Josh Conkel
Billy Poppins - Peter Bush
The Assistant - Daryn Strauss
Also featuring - Ashley Wren Collins, Ken Simon, Tara Yanoviak, Mike Shimkin, David Aurthur Bachrach,
Edited by Josh Spiegel
Music composed and performed by Lorne Norton III
Saturday morning... chillin .... drinking my usual morning green tea, two organic green tea bags with two organic Ginger tea bags... tasty...and it wakes me right up...
Friday, late afternoon, I had finally recovered from my birthday celebration, which was loads of fun... Wednesday night's festivities entailed margaritas and Mexican Food at BARRAGAN'S, losing my bankcard at BARRAGANS....then partying with friends at THE SHORT STOP in Echo Park......lots of shots.... tequila mostly....dancing... bacon wrapped hot dogs...and the attack of the 50ft Woman (Highlight of my night)
Thursday morning was all about the headache and the cold sweats... a couple close calls but I managed to retain possession of all my cookies.
So Friday, late afternoon, I had finally recovered from all the fun on Wednesday night. I decided to celebrate my recovery by going out. I went to HUSH LOUNGE in Hollywood last night... I was Krumping and doing the Robot til closing time... AAH... youth
So today, I'm gearing up to put in a solid days work in Anaheim at THE JINGLE BALL. I will working the event in a big Blackberry Storm costume. Yep, you read that right... I'm getting paid like $50 an hour to walk around the event dressed up like the new Blackberry. There will be a paid escort (Not THAT kind of escort...I wish), to walk me around. So I'm assuming I wont be able to see very well. The escort will likely be there to make sure I dont trip, or walk into people...or get assaulted...
I kid you not. People respond to costume characters in a variety of ways. I will let you know how it goes.
Yes...thats right... today, December 3rd... is my birthday.
I have to say I'm a bigger fan of Facebook today than I was yesterday due to the fact that I had so many Facebook birthday messages. I was seriously rendered speechless for like... three long seconds.
I am planning on having dinner with a lady friend this evening and then heading over to The Short Stop in Echo Park. I posted in invitation to join me for birthday drinks earlier this week and it went a little somehting like this:
The Huffman Holiday Ho Down comes to Town
This Wednesday night at The Short Stop
Echo Park, 1455 W Sunset Blvd
Ok, so lets just say... It's a Holiday party that falls on my birthday. I'll spare you the sermon but it's "Determine My Worth" day. "Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and BOOZER!"
Just COME to my party... or I'll feel like a LOSER.
IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY....
(According to the experts)
Your ability to get along with all kinds of people will open many new doors for you over the coming 12 months. Remember, you don't have to be good at just one big thing, you can be good at a wide range of smaller things. It all adds up to success.
- NYPOST
Happy birthday, Sagittarius! Ambitious and optimistic, you continue to smile even when your hope is fading. You're a generous and sincere person with a happy-go-lucky side, and you try to do everything in a spirit of joy. If last year presented more questions than answers, then the coming year will be a time to get to the bottom of things. Try seeking some solo time; get away from the world and its distractions, and practice reflection to gain inner wisdom.
- NYDAILYNEWS
It's your year to get more love flowing through your life as you let go of the past and mentally create your bright future. Your projects expand and your talents sharpen through the next seven weeks. There is a substantial advance in your love life in January. You're promoted in April. In June, travel delights. Taurus and Aquarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are 5, 26, 44, 20 and 17.
- LATIMES
Happy Birthday: Your ability to detach yourself from the past and the negative will be your best asset for getting ahead this year. There are gains to be made and, although some of them may be at the expense of others, it's time to make that decision. Quit waffling about what you should or shouldn't do. Your numbers are 4, 13, 24, 27, 31, 33, 45.
- THEBERGENRECORD (NJ)
Here is episode one of my new web series ASPIRING LINE. This is a sit com based on an acting school in New York where I spent many hours, days, years of my life. That acting school has since dissolved. This series is about more than just a fledgling acting school...its about more than questionable theater and humiliating auditions... It is about the millions of performers who will pour their heart and soul into the craft, every day, and never make it...it's designed to give a voice to every actor out there who may never find one...I hope you enjoy it.
(And by all means...PLEASE...Vote, Rate Comment, Share... it makes all the difference in the world. Thanks)
It's Tuesday...before Thanksgiving... so its pretty much a dead week...more so for some than others. I just went from a two week roller coaster ride to a flatline... which is nice...dont get me wrong... I desperately needed the downtime...it just sort of a shock to the system.
I'm going to be meeting with three different editors this week... today, tonight and tomorrow... trying to make use of the downtime and move forward on a few CATCH episodes and that gosh darn acting school sitcom project I've been draggin my feet on since August of TWO THOUSAND SEVEN!
I think I will have... and I stress the word THINK... I think I will have a new episode of CATCH... which is more like a trailer... but it should be ready to go by December 1st... I guess we'll see...I'm taking a look at a rough cut tonight... I will be taking a look at a rough cut of CATCH 3.5 sometime today as well... We shot CATCH 3.5 last week and I'm hustling to get that one out before I drop CATCH 4, 5 & 6 because I wanted to more throughly introduce some of these characters... The guy who is editing CATCH 3.5 is this cool, older English gentlemen. He has worked on some big projects. He edits feature films and stuff like that, but I met with him and he is interested in my series and willing to help out on an episode or two as long as it doesnt interfere with his paying work. He is a super nice guy and cant wait to see what he does with the footage.
And then there is the acting school sit com series... formerly known as AND...SCENE. I never really liked that title because I never felt like it rolled of the tongue very well... on the title page of the script it's called BAD APPLE STUDIOS... but I didnt like that one either...doesnt quite express the essence of the story...
So here it is...the title I'm going with... this project shall hereby be named and referred to from this day forward as...
ASPIRING LINE
When I asked around for title suggestions and feedback on a lists of titles, very few people placed any money on ASPIRING LINE... but the audience award winners were just never that good...in my opinion... and my gut kept telling me to go with this one... so I have to honor my instincts and use the title I feel good about...and while I appreciate everybody's feedback on the subject... sometimes a mass of feedback can interfere with the vision... that holds true for any sort of creative endeavor... feedback from friends, family and followers is great... but you have to allow your instincts to run the table.
So... ASPIRING LINE... I like it , for one, because it refers to the sensitive nature of debate on the concept of an "Aspiring Actor." In New York, the general consensus in the community of artists is that you are not required to call yourself "Aspiring." If you are studying...if you are appearing in a play...even if its a 30 seat shit box on the Lower east Side... if you are doing it...then you are doing it... You are an actor... and you have every right to call yourself that. In Hollywood...the opinions vary, but one things is for sure....in relation to THE BIZ...you are simply "aspiring" until you dont have to tell ANYONE you are an actor...because they already know.
I also like the title because of the way it plays on the phrase "Firing Line." I think any actor can relate to that concept as it applies to the life of an artist. Every day you dump your heart and soul on to the pavement for the sake of an audience... much of the time to face disappointment. We step up to that line, time and time again, to be fired upon... and then we get up, brush ourselves off...and do it all over again.
It's hard. It;s humbling. Some never get back up... but it's the ones that do that have the best chance of making it...
So thats it...thats where I'm at on ASPIRING LINE...
Enjoying a little downtime ater an extremely grueling week... a week that isn't quite over.
At this point I'm about 1 week and a half behind on a good night's sleep. I have been working a Blue Shield promotion for the past 4 weeks (4 more weeks to go). This promotion entails waking up at 5AM, hitting the town in a big branded van with a female co-pilot (the ONLY perk on this gig) and stalking old people in parking lots and senior centers, offering free bottles of water and SUGGESTING they consider signing up with Blue Shield without actually SAYING such a thing.... because THAT would be illegal. Instead we throw a bunch of them in the back of the van and drive around the block a few times playting recorded music with subliminal messages. Take it from me, it is the HIGHLIGHT of their day.
When I'm not kidnapping and torturing golden girls and silver sneakers... spreading joy and good will in the community, I'm running around town picking up CATCH footage, tapes and hard drives from one group of editors and shuttling it over to a different editor here and another editor there... meetings at coffee shops, fixing up final drafts and forwarding forwards...
AND THEN there's CITY OF ANGERS... More early call times and long days to add to my early call times and long days...
The only reason I have any downtime tonight is because the shoot today for CITY OF ANGERS was in such disarray when I got on set that they shut it all down... to reconvene tomorrow.
I rolled up to the location and there were actors pacing around on the front lawn, doors being slammed, guys in the crew walking around shaking their heads... the lead actress walked right past me, got in her car, burned serious angry ingenou rubber and sped away. I found the director out back by the pool. He looked happy to see me...and sad to send me home. Nonetheless.... Here I am...home.
CITY OF ANGERS is an independent.... extreeemely independent... FEATURE length project, written as a true "film noir," in which I am playing the LEAD character of Detective Nick Sterling. CITY OF ANGERS is writer/director Ken Wilson's first project...EVER.
Yes, it's true... no experience, no prior record of short film projects or music videos... never worked on a legit set as a PA or 5th AD... none of that.... he's just a regular guy... a regular guy who works at the post office...who loves his wife and his adorable little five year old daughter... He's a guy who wants to make movies. He wrote himself a script. he got himself a camera, a shotgun mic and boompole, a set of lights... he's doing it.
And I want him to succeed.....
If for no other reason than the fact that he has the courage to get out there and make it happen.
It's true, he has no idea what he's doing. He has read a few books. He has asked a few questions. He watches the audio commentaries on every DVD he rents. And still, he fumbles along. But it doesnt matter...
He has had mulitple actors drop out...some have walked off his set in the middle of the day. I think almost every character he has cast has been re cast at some point due to some actor bailing on him. Shit... I was like his THIRD choice for the lead role. He called me and offered me the role only after the first and second choices dropped out or suddenly became unavailable.
But it doesn't matter....
And I will be honest... I am WAY over qualified for this film. My training and experience far exceed that of my cast mates. I have worked on bigger and better productions. I am further along and way beyond (dare I say "above"). When one of the actors showed up this week... hung around set for a few hours..and suddenly declared...in front of everybody...that he "Just can't do this," I completely understood.
But it doesn't matter. Because Ken Wilson, first time writer/director, is braving the elements. He is doing it and he is learning as he goes.
And I LOVE that shit!
I'm in dude...and I'm giving you all I've got because I believe in what you're doing...
The fires are apparently pretty bad out here... I'm surrounded by smoke... fortunately my neighborhood is not prone to wild fires... but there is a lot of smoke...
I drove down to Long Beach yesterday to start shooting a few scenes for a new short film I'm working on and there were ashes falling from the sky down there.
(I'm okay Mom)
Sunday night... 10PM ....I am just now sitting down to watch the Giants play the Ravens...
I shot a new episode of CATCH today... the working title has been CATCH 3.5 for a few weeks now... but it may just become CATCH 4. Once I get the trailer ready that I've been working...which will basically be episode 4... I will be working to get the footage we shot today whipped into episode 5... or 4 if you count the proper Ep 4 as a promo and not an episode... I'm getting confused...
Too tired for all that... regardless...we got some really nice footage today... I'm stoked (thats California for "happy")
In fact I'm too tired for all this... I feel like I'm sleep-blogging...
One parting gift for all my loyal readers...
My new SONG OF THE WEEK:
Om: The Meaning of Life by The Village Green>>>
This is good, solid, rock song, not too hard, not too soft... catchy and melodic...but breaks somethin off before you can get too comfortable....what I really like about it is that it is broken into 3 acts... Very much an old school effort....like something Led Zeppelin, or Queen would do... takes you on a little trip.
Check it out... I'm diggin it...that's all I know.
Got a small crew together yesterday for a shoot in the desert... Palmdale to be exact.. It was F%$# cool man. The desert can be striking... meaning absolutely beautiful.... we got some great footage. Shirley Petchprapa was the director. I am HUGE fan of Shirley's.... great to work with...very talented... you guys havent seen her work yet...but she directed (AND DP'd) CATCH 6...which is coming soon...and it looks awesome.
More news about CATCH.... I have been hustling aorund town all week collecting footage from all the directors who have worked on the CATCH series in the past few months. One of my editors and I will be puting together a hybrid episode 4 slash series trailer using footage from CATCH 4 and clips from 4 or 5 of the upcoming episodes. The reeason I'm doing that...well...there are TWO reasons....
ONE... most of the feedback I've received on CATCH 3 is based on the upcoming stoyr lines... everybodys' like "Ok, Maggie dates a guy. She kills a guy. We get it. Does anything else happen in this series?"
The answer to that question is YES... and it kind of sucks that, at this moment, with all the great work we've done with this series over the past few months... we have nothing to show for it... so I'm putting a bunch of that work out there... even if the episodes arenmt ready to roll... I want people to see all the good stuff coming down the pipe.
ALSO... second reason.... there is a bunch of episode 4 footage that I'm not super psyched about... much of it didnt turn out the way I wanted... so I'm tyring to make revsions.. doing some re writes to justify good takes VS bad takes... and that will leave me with HALF an episode.... so I'm getting creative.... and that creative venture will become CATCH 4.
With all that re-working and re-writing...I was feeling a liitle down about the series... feeling like I was swimming uphill...and I got completely RE-inspired yesterday when I received an email on the Indie City Entertainment Youtube page from former Lonelygirl15 writer Mary Feuer. She became an Indie City Youtube video subscriber and left a message behind saying "Good Work."
In case you were unaware...a little background on Lonelygirl15...
(From Wikipedia) lonelygirl15 was an interactive web-based video series which began in June 2006, and ended on August 1, 2008. The show focuses on the life of a fictional teenage girl named Bree, whose YouTube username is the eponymous "lonelygirl15", but the show does not reveal its fictional nature to its audience.
Lonelygirl15 is one of the pioneers of the web series world. I've been keeping an eye on the trials and tribulations of that series for a while and it has definitely shaped my own efforts.
Mary is working on a new series called WITH THE ANGELS....
...the fish-out-of-water story of Taffy Simpson, a small-town Arkansas girl swimming in the freak-infested waters of Venice, California. WITH THE ANGELS is available on Youtube....
And on WWW.STRIKE.TV , the tagline being "Hollywood unplugged." here is an excerpt from the ABOUT section of the Strike.tv website....
STRIKE.TV was born out of the writers strike. In December 2007, we challenged the members of the Writers Guild - create original programs for the Internet and we will provide you with a website and ad revenue. The ad revenue profits will go to the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, now since absorbed by the Actors Fund's Entertainment Assistance Program. The EAP has been offering financial relief and other services to entertainment industry professionals negatively impacted by the strike.
Anyway... all that being said... it was great to receive a little recognition...however small and insignificant it may seem... it meant a lot to me.
I cant' really say anything that hasnt been said... I'm amazed...I'm thrilled...I'm excited...
I'm sure.
Barack Obama is our President Elect... and it's right...it's true...and it's good.
I was so impressed last night ...by everything. The national turnout of voters was historic. The fact that we as a country elected a young bi-racial charismatic senator named BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA is almost beyond belief. It's amazing... it's magical. Obama's speech was perfect... grounded and inspring....
And the people of this country were DANCING IN THE STREETS!!
A drum circle on a Brooklyn street corner... A honking, flashing, screaming at the top of your lungs traffic jam at Hollywood and Vine...
WHEN was the last time you saw that? When was the last time you FELT that?
This is RIGHT. This is TRUE...and this is GOOD.
I was equally impresssed by John McCain's speech. He was gracious and proud. He spoke about unity. He spoke about the sublime signifigance of this moment in history. He handled the hecklers BOOING in his audience like a pro.... he said great things in the face of defeat.... so much so...that it didnt really seem like a defeat... which is why it was so brilliant.
Because last night there was no defeat.
We are moving into an new and exciting era as a nation... regardless of who you support...regardless of how you voted.
Sitting here enjoying the thorough whuppin the Giants are handing to the Cowboys.
Also sitting here nursing a hangover. I went to a Halloween party last night in Sherman Oaks...had a great time. This particular party was held at an apartment complex. Three neighbors decorated their places and held a multi-room, multi-themed Halloween Ho-down... no pun intended...or...pun-intended. Regardless...my head hurts.
This was a costume party, and my original plan was to go as a hybrid version of "Lil Jon" and Gary Oldman's character, Drexl, from TRUE ROMANCE. I bought a dirty blondish colored dread lock wig, a couple pieces of gawdy gold jewelry...and I got a SWEET set of grills... or GRILLZ.... gold teeth with little embedded rhinestones.
I thought I was all set to go, but I couldnt get the Grills to set right in my mouth and the whole thing just wasnt working. The costume didnt work without the grillz...and I could get the grilllz goin.
So I set out Saturday to go with my plan B... I'd dress up as a Cowboy or Bullrider... mainly because I had a couple authentic western shorts and some nice tight boot cut western style jeans. What I needed was a hat.
So I went on Yelp.com and searched for a good nearby Country & Western store...came up with this....
Its a Country & Western shop up in Eagle Rock. Eagle Rock is an area nestled in between Glendale and Pasadena. I'm much happier to take a quick trip up to Eagle Rock than to try and hit any stores in Hollywood or West Hollywood...especially on a saturday afternoon.
I find the place...its like a 15 minute drive from here... walk in...and its half empty.... NOT half full if thats what you're thinkin... this guy is going out of business...or "taking a break. waitin out the bad economy" as the man behind the counter explained.
The good side of this is that he is selling everything for more than half off. I found exactly what I was looking for... a genuine high quality western straw... I had my hat.
I was all set to grab that hat and go... but i stopped for a moment, took in my surroundings, took a look at this nice guy who was on hard times....closing down his business... still super eager to help me pick out the right hat... and I said:
"So how much are these boots?"
I could't help it. I let him sell me a really good pair of ropers for 85 bucks.
Again.... he gave me a solid pitch and presentation... and sold me some really nice boots...for more than half off... and I can wear these boots... not just as a costume piece... but for ... i dont know... I'm just gonna wear the damn boots... they're good boots.
And I went to the party last night as Jimbeaux Huffmanlama, bullrider from Alabama.
Had a damn good time.... I even broke out The Robot.... and a little Michael Jackson...
and I have a definite thing for Strawberry Shortcake.
Maggie and Mickey went on a date; Maggie is desperately seeking a mate; Maggie and Mickey were having some fun; Then Maggie decided he wasn't "The One."
CATCH: Episode Three
Written and directed by James Huffman.
Starring Anne Judson Yager and Chris Tessitore
Director of Photography: James Huffman
1st AD: Eric Jones
Editor: Paul Kim
Sound Design: Eric Bucklin
SOUNDTRACK:
Eighteen Wheels Burning
From the album: "tweak'd out, strung up, and redlined" courtesy of MeteorCity Records
I just finished my early early morning promo gig shift... started at 6A...finished at 1P...now I'm over at Solar de Cahuenga... a cool little Hollywood coffe shop on Franklin. I figured I would try and sit myself down with a big iced coffee and try to get some writing done before I crash and burn.
They have a chicken omelette here that is really tasty...so I got that...doused it with hot sauce...and I'm off to the races.
I'm sitting here proud as a pig in my big bright New York Giants shirt. There is a dude over there in a Steelers hat that keeps giving me the evil eye. The Giants pulled out a win yesterday over the Steelers... deal with it buddy....I was nervous for a while watching that game...The Giants were shaky at best for three quarters...but then suddenly, in the fourth, they started playing and looking like the team that finished the season last year... all over Big Ben... shaking him up... taking him down left and right.... Amani Toomer making an awesome diving catch... and it was all over for the tin men.
DALLAS! Dallas is next week.... ooooh I cant wait.
(I F%$#@ hate the Cowboys)
So CATCH 3 finally dropped this weekend. I have it postd on Myspace and Bliptv... but not on Youtube just yet. I wanted to wait a couple of days before I hit Youtube and post it here on the blog. My next blog post will probably be CATCH 3.
The response has been okay so far. There are a few techincal issues I'm not thrilled with...but I think Anne's performance is this one is fantastic... and this episode is the first episode where I enlisted the help of a sound designer AND devoted the entire soundtrack to one band. All the music in episode 3 is from EIGHTEEN WHEELS BURNING off their new album "tweak'd out, strung up, and redlined" (MeteorCity Records).
I may try and do that with as many episodes as I can... I would love to have a different band score or donate music to the project. We'll see what happens.
Hey, if you like hip hop, you definitely have to check out COMMON MARKET. Ever heard of COMMON MARKET? They are a Seattle based, off the radar, hip hop band who just came out with a new album... its awesome....on my hot list right now>>>>
And I get nothing for writing that. Sharing the goods and spreading the wealth brings me joy....
The band is COMMON MARKET. The new album is TOBACCO ROAD.
From the desk of Indie City beat reporter Pinky Powell....
Indie City Entertainment producers James Huffman and Eric Jones were out scouting bands Tuesday night (Oct 22nd) and ended up at Hollywoods legendary Viper Room on Sunset Blvd.
"We were in the area trying to catch a performance at THE ROXY by THE KIN." explained Eric Jones,
"But I had the wrong information and we missed the entire set. I received an email from these guys saying they went on at 10:30P, but when we got there, we learned that THE KIN had already come and gone, the set started at 8:30P."
THE KINis a pair of eclectic, harmonizing brothers, Thorry and Isaac Koren, originally from Australia, whom Jones had connected with back in New York. Jones and producing partner, James Huffman, have been considering THE KINS music for several upcoming projects.
Jones wasn't ready to give up. "We missed out on the set, but we had already paid for damn parking, so we decided to walk down to The Viper Room and see what was going on there."
The two Indie City patriots arrived at The Viper Room just in time to catch the opening number of BOOMKAT, Taryn Mannings pop-rock-hip-hop-chop-shop-evenin-slop musical endeavor. Taryn Manning is best known for her role as Terrence Howard's right hand hooker in HUSTLE & FLOW.
The name Terrence Howard, by the way, has been buzzing lately as he addressed publicly last week's news that Don Cheadle will be replacing him as Jim Rhodes in Iron Man 2. He called it "the surprise of a lifetime."
"We walked into the The Viper Room as the band was introduced, and we both looked at each other and said 'is that the chick from Hustle & Flow?"
"(At the Boomkat show) Terrence Howard wasn't bouncin in the front row or anything, but DJ Qualls definitely was," Huffman added, "at that point we were like 'yeah, thats the chick from Hustle & Flow."
Huffman, apparently a huge hip hop fan, to the point of being slightly snobby, didnt hold back in his review. "The Hustle & Flow chick has a got a great voice for a front man...front woman...front chick... I enjoyed her singing...she was rockin it... but when she was rapping I wanted to kill myself...or throw garbage."
We wrapped shooting for THE AFTER-LYFES yesterday. It's all done...in the can. It was a lot of fun to shoot. I mean how could it not be? Tallk about being in my element. I was playing the lead character in a sit com pilot.... I was able to show up to set and just be a goof ball... it just doesnt get any better than that.
After-Lyfe's producer/writer Shawn Crane sent me a nice note late yesterday:
James - Just a quick shout-out to say how much I enjoyed working with you and seeing you bring Adam to life… EXACTLY the way I wrote him. It took me a while to cultivate Adam, but only four days for you to bring him to fruition, so thank you for that… you’re a talented actor to say the least.
So sad its over....or...is it just beginning?
Now I need to do a postcard and head shot mailing. I want to send a note to all the LA casting directors in town whom I've met so far and say HI... let them know I was particularly fantastic this weekend ... and its also time to do another formal mailing as I continue my search for an agent...
THATS RIGHT .. I am in the market for a new agent. I am looking for a new commercial agent (I have been working with one commercial guy for a year now, BUT he is just not that effective), and I am looking for a theatrical agent.... so I can start getting in the room on network and cable episodic as well as feature film castings.
Tonight is workshop # 2 in a 3 week workshop I'm taking at ACT NOW in Sherman Oaks with the lovely Erica Silverman.
And....CATCH 3...is ....almost....ready....
I made a few last minute changes to the sound track and sound design this week.... and Paul, the editor has been slammed at his day job... so...what are you gonna do... I'm hoping to drop that mamma jamma by Friday...
The soundtrack to the episode has been provided by a really cool, hard rockin band called EIGHTEEN WHEELS BURNIN... from their new album: "tweak'd out, strung up, and redlined," courtesy of MeteorCity Records.
Along with a really talented new sound designer, Eric Bucklin, EWB makes this episode sound pretty effin awesome.
On SUNDAY, I'm meeting with a different editor who has been working on the CATCH 4 footage... no idea what to expect... what I DO expect is to have that episode ready for release on November 7th...
NOVEMBER 7th? Holy cow... the fall always just FLIES by...
OY! I've got a birthday coming up... December 3rd.... My orignbal plan was to just ignore it.... but I think I want to go to Vegas.... seriously... maybe that first weekend in December? Gather a bunch of friends and enjoy a few days of debauchery and dysfunctional behavior.
Actually no partying for me... I shot all day for THE AFTER-LYFES. I had a 730 AM call in Malibu...and since I live near downtown... I was up at 5:30A so I could get clear, get my gear and my rear together and get out the door by 6:30A... and I have an 8AM call time in Marina Del Ray tomorrow.
But now I'm home..watching the ALCS... cheering for Tampa Bay... only because I LOVE to watch Boston lose.
Day one on set with The After-Lyfes was a lot of fun. I have been doing so much writing and producing I had almost forgotten what it feels like to be on set solely as an actor. It's SO nice to have a team of people working all day to secure and maintain an environment condusive to fun, freedom and a good, old fashioned homestyle performance.
I'd say things went pretty well. Without giving away too much, my wardrobe today consisted of a business suit, a confederate soliders uniform, the gown of a Roman emperor and the garb of a court jester. The court jester outfit was my favorite. I had a little scene with William Shakespeare.
And check this out, remember the other day when I found myself in a situation where I was forced to choose between earning some much needed extra cash and accomodating the producers of the After-Lyfes to the fullest extent (consequences be damned; caution to the wind; yadda yadda).
What do you think I did?
CUH-MON...you know me better than that! I called out for that day of work and I freed up my schedule. I'm totally available to shoot any day all day between Saturday and Tuesday. I made the choice.
And here's the best part of the story....guess what was waiting for me when I got home today. I had an unexpected check in the mail. QUITE a nice surprise. I cant exactly say from who, or for how much. Lets just say The Universe approves of my choices.
So to The Universe, my family, my friends and all you David Archuleta fans.... I extend my sincerest gratitude.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Now, I'm gonna watch the rest of the game and drink a few beers.... The Universe bought me a six pack.
Its Friday... when you're as busy as I am....Friday means nothing...
I'm not working today, so I'm spending the day working with my script for the pilot I'm shooting this weekend. I made the decision to forfeit the extra income on Monday (Thank you Jeff Williams) and make it clear to the producers of The After-Lyfes that I was undeniably free, available and committed... I also made sure they knew I was kissing cash goodbye... for them... Oh the sacrifice!
I'm also trying to finish writing CATCH 8 and 9... I have two excellent directors waiting to receive updated drafts from me... the sooner I can get those scripts ready...the sooner we can get the shoot together... the closer we are to finishing season one... whihc will eventually be available on DVD.... how do you like that?
ALSO... came up with a really cool concept for CATCH season TWO yesterday. I was driving along...cuz that's what you do in LA....had a few thoughts pop into my head...those thoughts morphed into another series of thoughts...and then I started getting excited...so I called my roommate and bounced it off him... I can usually tell if an idea is worth persuing based on the immeidate reaction of a few of my closest confidants...
I got what I was looking for....and now its ON..... just you wait.
By the way CATCH 3 is in the hand of a sound designer... should be ready by Monday...
Fingers and toes....
Fingers and toes...
(I am now singing "Fingers and Toes" to the tune of the old Christmas time song "Silver and Gold")
Fingers and Toes...
Fingers and Toes..
(All day...I'll be singing that all day...no one to blame but myself)
When I blogged the other night about David Archuleta's performance during Game One of the ALCS... "I'm not a fan of American Idol... hate the show...but I really enjoyed this kids version of GOD BLESS AMERICA... blah blah blah..."
I had no idea I would incite such a response...
I DID enjoy his performance...seriously... I don't think I will be going out and buying his album...but his God Bless America was definitely impressive.
So aside from the numerous comments that have been left behind by David Archuleta fans (See the comments section of the previous post), my site traffic numbers have been INSANE.
To all you David Archuleta fans of the world..... Thanks for stopping by...
This is no joke... these people take their David Archuleta very seriously. Over the past 48 hours I've had hundreds of visitors from:
Hey, since you're in the neighborhyood....be sure to check out my new webs series CATCH...
CATCH is a dark comedy, written and produced by James Huffman, that features Anne Judson Yager (BRING IT ON AGAIN, MINORITY REPORT) and Trevor Jones (NOTHING YOU'VE SEEN) as MAGGIE and JERRY, two star-crossed serial killers looking for love in all the wrong places.
That damn heat finally broke... a nice healthy cool front blew in last night...and it was downright windy and COLD... Resulting in a beautiful. sunny and seasonably cool morning here in Los Angeles... I'm having a Chai latte... and I dont drink chai latte under the blazing sun I tell ya that...
We shoot CATCH 7 tomorrow ...with some covereage and an extra scene scheduled for Monday... it all came together over the past few days... I lost a sound guy, I found a sound guy... I've got lights Sunday, but not for Monday, then I get some lights for both days...
Its an interesting ride each time.... I'm just STOKED that I get it done each time.
Tonight I'm driving out to Thoussand Oaks to borrow a boom mic/boom pole for Monday...while I'm out there I will meet up with Wes (Director of CATCH 5), and take a look at a rough cut of 5.
Its crazy... CATCH 5 & 6 are almost finished and ready for general consumption... but its 3 & 4 that are giving me FITS. I'm seriously wanting to pull my hair out over these two episodes... and obviously..I cant show anyone 5 or 6 until I get 3 & 4 done... AY DIOS MIOS
My plan right now is to complete a 12 episode first season by the end of the year and take a break... spend a few months promoting the hell out of the series...and hopefully... tie in some sort of revenue...
I'm also planning to start shooting series # 2 (The Nobodies) in the beginning of 2009.
Yeah... I've got a lot going on.... I wonder if its too much.
So I was watching Game One of the ALCS last night and out comes David Archuleta from American Idol to sing GOD BLESS AMERICA. I CANT STAND American Idol... I am opposed to that stupid show on so many levels... YES, I know its like the highest rated show on TV...but that makes its all the more disturbing.... ANYWAY... David Archuleta steps up to sing...and I'm cursing under my breath... mumbling, grumbling... I'm so disappointed in TBS for allowing such a tacky desecration of such legendary event....
But David Archuleta did a damn good job...I have to say... he honored the song... and found a way to make it his.... to add some color and variation without pushing too hard (and F%$#@ ing it up) His voice was relaxed and confident. When it was all over, I was nodding my head...I think I even had some goosebumps....
DODGERS vs PHILLIES tonight... Game one of the NLCS.... GO DODGERS.
I've been keeping busy this week taking meetings....
My roommate and I are meeting with someone today who is interested in co-producing our upcoming MONTHLY FILM PROJECT... we are still trying to lay out the logistics of the event itself, let alone the first shoot. We recognize the need for a team of producers..and what we are looking for...is someone with the right experience and attitude... who would be interested in producing in exchange for an opportunity to direct one of the monthly films... Thir girl we are having lunch with today seems to be in alignment.
I've been meeting with more editors. I met with someone who I might co-produce with... another guy who is an editor...but actually turned out to be Director/DP/editor whatever it takes....and this guy actually owns a camera and some other basic gear... He's the best kind of person to meet... a triple threat...quadruple threat... whatever....thats what we (meaning Indie City) need, talented, driven, smart people that can do more than just one thing.... and are eager to work on fun projects....so yeah, that was a good meeting... that guy, in particular, may end up directing an upcoming episode of CATCH....
Speaking of CATCH... I'm on the hustle again this week, trying to put a shoot together this weekend for CATCH 7... and CATCH 3 1/2... I'm in the process of co-writing an insert episode that I will be trying to squeeze in the weekend as well... its a very ARTSY episode... I'm co-writing it with a guy who writes poetry... so it should end up having a very "Shakespearian" feel... it should be very cool....I'm actually really excited to try and pull it off...
We've got our first shoot date scheduled for THE AFTER-LYFES. We will be shooting all day in a conference room somewhere in The Howard Hughs Center on Oct 21st. I'm sure I will getting together will my cast mates between now and then to play around and run lines.
I'm so sick of the Red Sox... I am officially a temporary Los Angeles Dodgers fan... went down to City Hall yesterday and got my permit... For the next few weeks...I'm all about Dodger Blue...except on Sundays...then I'm all about BIG BLUE.... the GEEE MEN...
But as far as baseball is concerned... Go Dodgers...Go Joe Torre...and I never thought I'd EVER say this:
Go MANNY BEING MANNY!!
I've been rehearsing with some of the cast and the producers of THE AFTER-LYFES. We are gearing up to shoot the weekend of the 18-19. They actually asked me to keep my schedule loose for that Thursday thru Tuesday...
No problem. This character is pretty similar to myself...not a stretch by any means...which is why I feel pretty well connected .
I'm back to trying to get CATCH 7 shot this weekend. I went out yesterday looking for a restaurant/diner location for a scene I wrote that involves the characters EDBO and SQUIB. EDBO and SQUIB are two crime family henchmen...or lackeys...who are trailing one of the main characters... at this point just to keep an eye on him.
I went in to Roccos Pizza on Vermont. Its a little, New York style pizzeria...not far from my house. I've noticed that thus place is totally empty on Sundays...probably bescause its across the street from LA CITY COLLEGE... aint no college kids around to eat pizza on a Sunday... aint no college kids anywhere near that campus on a Sunday. Anway, the guy at the counter gave me an email address and sent them an email:
My name is James Huffman. I'm producing a new web series titled CATCH.
I stopped in at the Vermont location this morning and I asked them if they ever allowed student or no budget filmmakers to shoot there...he said you "might" be open to discussing it...and gave me your email.
I am looking for very casual diner/restaurant to shoot a 2 page scene this coming Sunday, October 12th and the Roccos on Vermont would be ideal. I can arrange my shooting schedule so that we would be in the restaurant for no more than 3 hours and we could get it all done during your slowest hours, so as not to interfere with business.
I could also buy lunch for the crew before or after we shoot. It would be a small crew, 2 actors and maybe 4-5 crew members. AND...if it helps...we could use an establishing shot of Roccos to help promote the restaurant and we could include links or positive write ups in all our blogs.
So...yeah... I'm hoping we could work something out.
ROCCO repsonded later that evening.... "NO DICE VANILLA ICE"
Thank you for your interest, unfortunately right now we can not accomodate filming in any of our locations.
Oh well... I still have a few location in mind...I will hit them up today.
I went over to meet with Paul, our Indie City chief editor, and looked at a rough cut of CATCH 3. I loved 75% of it...hated 25% of it... its a long story...but the all the original footage we shot for this episode looks great...all the inserts or "pick-up" footage we got later...looks like shit... so its going to be a challenge...but I asked Paul to get creative... do what he can to disguise the bad footage.... I guess we'll see...should have a another cut ready by the start of next week...then I will have a sound design guy work on it... then HOPEFULLY... CATCH 3 will ready for release Oct 17-ish.
OK... so I was doing some Googling today...looking up old friends on facebook...reminiscing of fun times past...what not...
I say to myself "I wonder what ever happened to my old friend DUSTY McGEE?'
When I lived in Hoiuston, I worked for 93 Q Country for 5 years. When I was there, I buddied around with a guy named Craig, officially known as DUSTY McGEE, the maverick radio DJ occupying the 7-11 shift.
Dusty McGee was on fire back then... I'm talking late 90's. As an on-air personality for a top, major market radio station, he was livin the life of a local celebrity. He was young, good looking guy with a sharp wit and more charm than he could handle. He and I used to run around together, hitting the clubs, chasing women and sharing a general taste for trouble...
I guess his appetite got the better of him....
I came across this article today:
Former DJ Accused in Robbery Convicted of Crime 3 Times Before
The man now dubbed by officials as "the Preppy Bandit" made a name for himself years ago. Harris County Sheriff’s Office detectives gave him his latest nickname because of the stylish dress they say he's sported in several hold-ups he's accused of pulling in the past few weeks.
But before that, Caudill was known as "Dusty McGee," a country-western disc jockey at 93Q, until 10 years ago, when he and his radio partner got arrested for cocaine possession, while doing a "live" broadcast from a South Houston nightclub. Caudill got deferred adjudication probation on that charge.
Thats a damn shame... but if you read the article... you'll see how many times he managed to catch a break... early release, "deferred ajudication probation"
I tell ya...that's a testament right there as to how M&%$* F%$cking charming this guy was ...
FINALLY...that LA heat broke... I've been getting my ASS kicked all week by this late September brutality... just relentless...and no evening cool-off...all week its been mid 90's during the day...mid 90's all night long... I 'm serious!!
I'd love to go out and celebrate the first cold front of the year...but I'm friggin exhausted... hustlin around in that heat all week has taken its toll... plus I've been runnin and gunnin all week trying to put another CATCH shoot together...
CATCH 7...I was all primed and ready to go... as of last night.... this is where I was at>>>>
estimated start time 9A at The Designated Patio location at the corner of Blah Blah and Blah Blah Blah in Gobbledy Gook.
(Names changed to protect the innocent)
We will be shooting all of Jerry's exteriors and the Jerry/Alicia scene.
(Jai, Zoe and I met this morning and did a quick walk-through at this location. I took a couple of pics. I will send them to you tonight. Also, lets talk tomorrow to cover all the details for Saturday)
PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT be there Saturday morning. I have a rehearsal in Marina Del Ray. My roommate, Eric, will be the first AD and he will have keys to location B, so he will be responsible for letting everyone in to the apartment.
We already know that the sound guy is out at 3
Trevor suddenly has an specific out time. he asked if he could be out by 1...I told him we could aim for 1:30... but no promises. If you guys can get to Location B by 110-1130... its possible. This is why I'm giving the keys to Eric so you guys can move right over to Location B.
Ok so...
When we are done with the exteriors we will head over to the 2nd location... which is less than a mile south of location A...this is where we will get the CO/POV shots of Jerry completing the kill.
PS: I will have a Plan B in place if we run into issues at The Designated Patio location
And THAT was just the plan for SATURDAY... I had a separate but equal list of hazards to wrestle with on Sunday.
This morning I decided to call the whole thing off.... POSTPONE, I should say.
Yeah...it really sucks...but I was swinging at so many curve balls that I started thinking I should step out of the box for a second... This shoot was getting more and more difficult.... and I wondered if I was pushing too hard. I am all about driving forward...finding a way to make it work... but sometimes you feel like the Universe is sending you a message...and this time I just felt like I was being told to back off.... so I backed off.
I had scheduling challenges. I lost my location on Sunday and had Friday afternoon to find a new one. I found myself with a cash flow problem that left with me no funds for craft services (drinks, snacks, lunch), AND...the forecast is calling for RAIN on Saturday. It RARELY..almost never... rains in LA...but on the one day of the year its going to rain...I'm planning on shooting a series of exteriors...guerrilla style...
I just uploaded a trailer and the first two episodes of CATCH to Bliptv. Could you be so kind as to go check it out, rate it, or leave a comment, maybe even pass it on to your friends and family? Thank you for your support. I need all the help I can get.
Monday morning... back at it... another busy week ahead...
I was up late last night writing CATCH 7. I worked on CATCH 8 on Friday night and came up with a really cool episode... I think... but I can't take all the credit... I have been correspnding with a writer in Colorado, who used to live in LA, who is a fan of CATCH and asked if he could submit some of his writing for future episodes... and CATCH 8 is BASED on his draft. I really liked some of the ideas in his script...but he wasnt quite connected with the charcters like I am...of course... so I basically re wrote that episode with his concept in mind... and I think it turned out good... and of course we will share a writing credit on that one.
Anyway, that was Friday... LAST night I was plugging away at CATCH 7...which I am planning on shooting this coming weekend. I was stressed out because as of 8PM last night...I really didnt have much of an episode...a couple of ideas...some handwritten notes... but no semblence of a script...
Then I came up with something, started writing and I was off to the races... finsihing up around 2AM...what a relief because I had the director, the DP, NEXT WEEK'S director (I hope) and the actors all waiting for the script.
CATCH 7 will present a new challenge as far as shooting and for sound...but I know we can handle it and it will be really cool when its all said and done.
CATCH THREE....by the way...is A:LMOST there... ay yay yay... I am going over to the editors place on Thurdsy to look at a rough cut... if that rough cut is in good shape... I should be able to release CATCH 3 by Monday... fingers crossed...
CATCH FOUR... initially the director was going to edit a cut...and I thought we were groovin on that one...but it turns out that he was unable to work on it due to some sort of glitch in his software... so I have to get all that footage back from him...and get a new editor to start working on it.
Its funny...because CATCH 5 and CATCH 6 are practically finished!!! unfortunately... You won't see them for at least six weeks while I get 3 and 4 ready for the world.
First official table read of THE AFTER-LYFES is this coming Sunday in Malibu. The After-Lyfes is the independent sit com pilot I booked a few weeks ago. I play Adam Lyfe, who is one of the lead characters...if not the only lead... The writer explained to me that when he wrote this part, he imagined him as a little bit of J.D. from Scrubs, combined with a little more of Michael from Arrested Development. I think thats pretty much me in a nutshell. I tell you what...I'm looking forward to finally get moving on this project... meet the other actors, etc. The script/concept is a distinct mix of SCRUBS and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT with a time/dimension travel thing going on... did I mention the table reading is in MALIBU? I think that's pretty cool.
Ever heard of THE STILLS?
I came across an advance release of their new album OCEANS WILL RISE on Emusic a couple of weeks ago and I find myself listening to the whole album again and again...it definitely has a pop-friendly 80's rock feel to it...the album has some really great songs... I would say its kind of Coldplay-ish... but Canadian.... Montreal... very enjoyable... my favorites are BEING HERE, I'M WITH YOU and ROOIBOS PALM WINE DRINKARD
Also...the new song by MICHAEL FRANTI and SPEARHEAD? SAY HEY I LOVE YOU?
Its F%$# great... just a happy happy feel good song for all the party people ... this one I listen to at least 5 times in a row before I can move on... seriously.... puts a smile on the face every time...
We knocked out another one this weekend... CATCH 5 is IN...THE...CAN.
We shot CATCH 6 last weekend...shot a little out of sequence for various reasons...
So now I have episodes 4, 5 & 6 wrapped and ready for post. In fact, Shirley, the director for CATCH 6, apparently has a rough cut ready to look at...which is fantasttic... but we are struggling a little bit to get episodes 3 and 4 up to speed... so CATCH 6 is at least a month away from being premiered.
(We actually have a couple inserts to shoot for episode 5)
This past weekend was another smooth and solid performance by everyone involved. I have been so lucky and I am so grateful for how smooth everything has gone on shooting days. Granted, I've been a crazy man in overdrive all week long getting everything together, but once we get started on the shoot day... its been awesome.
Here is the call sheet I posted for cast and crew saturday afternoon which maps out the CATCH 5 shoot on Sunday....
Hey guys...
Here we go again! Everything has been going so well the past few weeks and everyone has been doing fantastic work... I am extremely grateful and again, looking forward to getting to it tomorrow and creating a F%$#@* awesome episode FIVE...
I've attached the script in case you need it.
We are planning on shooting the entire episode on Sunday... minus the yoga class....Here is the way its all going to play out.
Sunday:
Location A: West side of Echo Park Lake, Glendale Blvd at Santa Ynez Street 90026
Crew call 7:00AM
Actor call 7:30AM: Mike Fisk exteriors (tai chi, wandering, etc)
Cast... Mike Fisk: Bill Oberst Jr.
CATCH 5 CREW...
Director:Wes Greeson
AD: Jennifer Patterson
DP: Zoe Van Brunt
Camera Op: Yvonne Chu
Gaffer: Stephen Schaffold
Sound Engineer: Jim dineen
PA: Jennifer Patterson/Stephen Schaffold/James Huffman
Writer/Producer/PA..whatever: James Huffman
Location B: Jeannette's kitchen, 4310 1/2 Willowbrook Ave. 90029
Scene: Jerry and Jeannette breakfast/Anne kills Nerd Guy
Crew call 9:00AM
Actor call: Trevor/Amy 9:30AM (OUT BY 12:15P), Anne 11:30A
Cast... Jerry: Trevor Jones; Jeannette: Amy Snively; Maggie: Anne Judson Yager; Mr Louisville Slugger: As himself
* Location B is in a duplex on Willowbrook- back house; Silverlake between Hoover and Virgil-- one block south of Santa Monica. Look for 4308 Willowbrook.. 4310 is tucked away in the alleyway.)
** Amy Snively, playing Jeannette, will be making breakfast for the scene and she is going to go ahead and make enough for all of us to eat... so the finest Kosher breakfast will be available at location 2...I'll get some coffee as well)
Location C: Caffe Cine Citta, 3031 S Figueroa 90007 (near USC)
(110 to Adams, go left at light, right on Figueroa, diner is about a mile down on the right)
Scene: Detectives Jones and James; Maggie meets Nerd guy
LUNCH break at 2PM
Crew/actor call 3PM - 6PM
Cast... Detective Jones: Brian Wilson; Detective James: James Huffman; Maggie: Anne ; Nerd Guy: Zack Sonnenberg
*** We have this space from 3P-6P so please be on time. I plan on buying lunch for everyone at the diner to make sure we have everyone on set before 3.
I just saw that new MASTERCARD commercial..with the little kid doing The Robot..."We Want the Funk" playing in the background.... his buddies join in... love that ad.
Had a crappy crappy audition yesterday.. meaning I sucked.... I got this email on Tuesday night:
James
what is your availability tomorrow? I know it is very short notice, but we are looking for our "Ryan" and want to shoot within the next two weeks. let me know.
thanks
I told her I could be there, just tell me when and where. She wrote me back and gave me the address and the time of the casting, 12-5. She said she would Fwd my info to the casting director.
When I got there, I was handed the sides, a 3 page scene, paired up with 2 actors who had been there reading with several other guys, and rushed into the room after reading through the scene for roughly 45 seconds. Needless to say, I was lost. My scene partners were off-book...they were either prepped in advance (sides made available), or they had been reading with so many other prospects that they just knew the scene. Regardless, I was awful, couldnt find cues, couldnt find lines...ridiculous....
But what's the lesson here? If you are an actor you've been told this before. Take charge of your audition. If I wasnt ready, I should have spoken up and said, "I'm not ready," "I need a few more minutes." Thats a totally reasonable and acceptable request. Its just hard in an audition scenario to have the presence of mind to say that. I find myself in such an "eager to please," "eager to be easy, agrreable and likeable" mode that I will go along with whatever the casting director says.
So...there you have it...lesson learned...maybe...if not learned... then acknowledged... with the hope that next time I can put that theory into practice.
Looks like MISS "Concerned Oberserver" took a few moments out of her busy day to write me another love letter.
A few weeks ago, I expressed my distaste for many of the policies and actions of the Screen Actors Guild as well as my concern over the impending strike. While I do understand the importance of SAG and I hold all that has been established and accomplished by The Guild in the highest regard, I still believe that change is in order.
Change is good.
Well, apparently some people, Miss Conerned Obsrever especially, don't like it when someone speaks out against The Guild. So she responded to my original post, but instead of establishing a productive dialogue, she told me to stop complaining and accused me of having no idea of how the business works. In fact, her opening line was "That's the kind of talk that will make your career extinct."
I replied to her comments by pointing out that in her efforts to lash out and attack me for speaking out, she kind of missed the point. I also wished her good luck in removing that giant stick in her ass.
Mind you, I have no idea who this person is, I didnt know until this morning whether I was dealing with a man or a woman. "Concerned Observer" has the audacity to come to my site, with my name, face and philosophies exposed, and leave anonymous notes...
Like this one...left for me this morning:
It's true, you do have a right to express your opinion, just as I have a right to express mine. If you can't handle that, you should remove the comments portion from your blog.
UM... I would say I'm handling it just fine. You come to my site and leave comments. I have every opporuntiy to delete it, at my leisure, but I dont. I even showcase your comments by posting them in their own dedicated blog post. I love the fact that you are expressing your opinion. You can talk yourself into a hole every day of the week as far as I'm concrened.
Simple and narrow-minded? I should say not. If anyone in this strained dialogue is narrow-minded, it is the person who hans't yet managed to get his SAG card after 'paying his dues' and 'playing by the rules'... how old are you anyway, 40? I guarantee if you had your card, you wouldn't be moaning. Besides, you came here from New York...practically anyone I know with any kind of resume has gotten their card from one of the seven Law and Orders out there. I suppose that's the fault of the establishment too?
You know what? You're just stupid. What makes you think I don't have my SAG card? Look at my resume. Look at the top of the page here. Seven Law & Orders? You are swinging at nuthin.... and by the way, I'm 77 years old...suck on that, sister.
And I did read your post again...what makes you think I am a SIR? Another place where you are incorrect.
Oooh, good one.
Again, this whole conversation started with me making comments about the politics of The Screen Actors Guild, and by merely SUGGESTING that a change is in order, I'm fielding moronic comments by an anonymous zealout whose most effective response is to attack me and my career.
Good luck with that lady.
And I'd like to leave you, one last time, with my closing sentiments from our first debate...
"So, that being said, I wish you the best..."Concerned Observer." Because, when it comes down to it, we are all in this together. I also wish you a little bit of enlightenment...some personal power....and maybe some assistance with pulling that big giant stick out of your ass."
And for the sake of togetherness, good karma, positive positivity and all that fine fuzzy stuff... feel free to disregard the "Giant Stick" part of that sentence... I dont really mean it...its just there for dramatic effect.
YES... by Dirty Sexy Money story... I worked on the show last week....not much of a story... Dirty Sexy Money was a bust... I was cast on site as a NY art critic...they spotted me and instantlly recognized brilliant potential... a certain intangible je ne se quois that made me stand out....they pulled me from the line, prepped me and pushed me out to the huddle with all the promise of an NFL rookie... I was wardrobe'd, makeup'd... stood in with the stand in... got lit... and enjoyed a few easy rehearsals with the.. absolutely beautiful... Zoe McLellan
And then after the first take for tape... it was all over....they bumped me... i was "Too Good-looking" to be an art critic...and I was (probably) too tall for the camera to get the right angle over my shoulder...so they grabbed some old man in the background and put him in there... to be honest the old guy looked a lot more like an art critic than I did... I'll give him that.
DIRTY SEXY DEAD MAN WALKING... I nodded to ZOE, my "future wife of the moment," she said "Goodbye," ever so softly and sympathetic, and I stepped away. Dejected, heart broken, embarrassed (I say this in jest, for the most part, but I was YANKED from my throne in front of the entire cast: principal AND background), I found a quiet place on set to curl up and hide. My only choice was to take the recently vacated spot on the couch... where the old man was sitting before he devastated my career. I sat on the swanky furniture piece next to his former date, the lovely old woman he left behind. I went from trendy uppity NY art critic at the hottest gallery in New York...to the lame dude on the couch with his 80 year old girlfriend.
I decided to make the best of things. I used the circumstances to create a new character.... and hey...at least I wasnt on my feet all night. I was fortunate enough to be able to lounge out and relax. I basically just sat on the couch and played the angry, bitter drunk at the gallery opening.... snarling at passers by.... good stuff.
Saturday morning, pounding away on my laptop, shooting CATCH 6 tomorrow and Monday. Monday I'm an actor in this thing, finally, I'm actually introducing my self as the new character DETECTIVE JAMES, sort of an extension or a reincarnation of Detective Clifton James from THE PLAYING FIELD, my little 48 hr film project. So I'm barreling down here. I'm finishing up all my line producing duties, I got all my actors in order, 2 great sound guys, an AD to replace my roommate (he had to leave town due to a family emergency); I got the DP from last week to bring in his lighting kit and play the role of Camera assistant/gaffer, I'm grateful he was willing to accept that role. I secured all my locations earlier this week with a fiunal thumbs up from the owner of a great little cafe late in the day yesterday.
Yesterday was a crazy bouncing, balancing act between HINT, a commercial audition in West Los Angeles and a ton of line producing... followed by a last minute HINT delivery to the Whole Foods in THOUSAND OAKS...thats really really far ...then....in an attempt to avaoid rush hour traffic on the 101 west of the 405...which looked absolutely terrifying as I passed it headec out to Thousand Oaks, I scooted up the 23 to the 118...hoping to hop on the 170 on the north side of it all and just free fall back down into Hollywood... well...guess what was going on up on the 118 yesterday in the Simi Valley? Yep, you guessed it...a commuter train derailed...yeah...wreckage....carnage....national news... 6 choppers in the air...and LOTS of bumper to bumber...going nowhere traffic.
Ugh.
I did make it home...eventually... with enough time to change my clothes, brush my teeth, pound a Red Bull and head out again. I was injvited to a dinner party in West Hollywood. A friend of mine from HIGH SCHOOL lives here in LA and she and I hang out from time to time...so she invited to me to a dinner party she was throwing.
Amazingly, I made it...a liitle late... but I made it.
(And I havent even MENTIONED my fun litte experience on the set of DIRTY SEXY MONEY on Thursday. I will post that later)
Slept in a bit this morning (badly needed).
And here I am.... pounding away on my laptop.
I did take a minute to inhale...or exhale..I can't remember...and came across this invitation to join the HOLLYWOOD WEB TELEVISION Meetup group. They have a networing event coming up on September 24th. It looks cool... I definitely dig the concept...right up my alley... so I RSVP'd.....
The Hollywood Web Television Meetup: "Taste the Future, it's Delicious"
We are trying to pull together all of LA's rich, diverse web production talent for the purpose of sharing resources, finding opportunities for collaboration and working together to help all the talented content creators out there thrive in this emerging market.
New speakers announced: Kim Evey: Producer of the web phenom "The Guild" (http://www.watchthegu...) and run away hit "Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show" (http://www.gorgeousti...) and Greg Benson from Mediocre Films (www.mediocrefilms.com): Edgy, decidedly un-PC comedy shorts & series that combine great laughs with high production values. As of Sept. 2008, Mediocre Films is the #27 All-Time Most Subscribed channel at YouTube. We will also be joined by Lydia Antonini, Director of Digital Development at Warner Brothers. Please register today and come join our thriving community of online content creators!
Ok...one more thing before I bounce....
I was interviewed at a coffee shop the last time I was in New York. You can fnd it here:
My official "2nd Unit" call time for DIRTY SEXY MONEY tomorrow is 2:30PM. Which means I will have plenty of time to fulfill my HINT duties, go rock that audition, and get to the set with time to spare.
(I am humbled and truly grateful)
And....I'm about 75% ready for the CATCH 6 shoot this weekend...
2 sound guys locked in; 5 actors locked in (need 4 more confirmations); 3 locations locked;
Need a DP/gaffer; a First AD; and 2 PA's
Hopefully I can get that tomorrow or Friday.
Last week I didnt get it all locked til saturday morning.
It's Wednesday, September 10th, 2008, and my second year in Los Angeles is officially underway. September 8th was actually my official landing anniversary.
It all feels pretty good as I sit here reviewing the year, acknowleging accomplishments, giving thanks for my good fortune and all the good people in my life...pondering my existence...
And this is just Year One... I'm not supposd to be completely acclimated, settled and comfortable utnil Year Two.... thats what I'm told...I dont know quite that means or what that feels like...but the people I talk to all seem to agree on it...many even say that they themselves didnt know what people were talking about until THEY hit their two-year....then they knew exactly what people were talkin about.
We'll see.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks agon, I booked the lead role in an independent pilot for a 30 minute sit-com called THE AFTER-LYFES. We are scheduled to shoot in Mid-October. Yesterday I received an email from the producers with the latest draft of the script....
James:
Title: The After-Lyfes Genre: Original 30-minute situation comedy Logline: A seemingly typical, albeit slightly socially impaired family, that is set apart by their continual sense of déjà vu…déjà vu that happens to be factual. Pitch: Arrested Development meets Scrubs
I’ve attached the script, so please begin to dissect it and give me your thoughts regarding Adam. Note that when I wrote his part, I imagined him as a little bit of J.D. from Scrubs, combined with a little more of Michael from Arrested Development.
I'm totally pumped for this. First of all, I feel really good about the character and the concept. I think I've been well cast if I dont say so myself. The fact that the producers are open to my feedback on the writing and the charaacter is a huge plus as well... so I'm really feeling it... its going to be a good experience...
Last night, I put together another Indie City meeting. Last night's meeting, however, was a little different. We have been fielding short script submissions for our projected 2009 monthly film project (Much like the Proactiveactor NYC project of 2005), and I decided to send out a posting for actors to come in and help us bring some of these scripts to life. As a result, we had a solid turnout for the meeting/reading last night, with a handsful of fresh faces, who all actually did a great job reading. I also recorded most of the meeting and will post those recordings in the form of a 4 part podcast.
That should be up in a couple of days. This whole podcast thing has been a work in progress. I have ONE official podcast posted on the I.C.E. site, but my roommate and I have recorded 5 or 6 of them. The problem is that, since I've been learning the recording software, equipment and the wqorld of podcasting as I go, I've screwed up a few times and many of those podcasts had to be trashed. I'm getting the hang of it though. I will let you know nwhen the next podcast episodes are ready and available. You might find it interesting. You also might find it incredibly boring.
Ok, so tomorrow...I have somewhat of a dilemma...
I am booked to do more background work...I THINK its DESPERATE HOUSWIVES....but when I called to confirm my availability, they said it was for DIRTY SEXY MONEY. Whatever it is, I blocked out the day and made myself available. Now, at this point, I dont have any information. I dont know what my call time will be. It could be 9AM. It could be noon.
What I also have for tomorrow, is an audition. The audition is for a film called THE PETERSON PROJECT. The breakdown was posted in Backstage a couple of days ago....
Fresh Planet, Inc. is casting Peterson Project, a crime thriller feature. Cambria Hankin, casting dir. Shoot starts Sept. 27.
Seeking—Male #1: early-late 30s, light/dark brown hair preferred, intense eyes, very complicated but can come off as a very loving father figure to young boys, uses this to his advantage to lure his victims, need to be able to portray evil yet innocence, challenging solid lead role, strong film, TV, and stage actor, actors "dream role"; Male #2: 18 to mid-20s, can be a slight character type or off/edgy, bit of a rebel type, timid but then is lured into the web of deceit and destruction, great part for edgy young actors who love doing indie films, strong resume required, LEAD. Note: Both roles are Caucasian.
I thought this looked like an interesting project. It's a paying project. So I sent them my stuff....
Dear James-
You have been requested to come and audition for the role of Bob in "The Peterson Project."
Sides are on Showfax.com under "Peterson Project" or Lisa Pantone/Cambria Hankin. You do not need to know the callback sides, just the Bob/Kyle sides. Please be off book as much as possible.
Please email back to confirm.
Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 1:15pm
So here is my dilemma... it's highly unlikely that my call time tomorrow for background work will turn out to accomodate this audition time. So what do I do if I have to choose one or the other?
Background work: guaranteed days pay; meet new people; lots of food; working on set of a network program. If I cancel, I could hurt my chances of getting work of this nature in the future. By the way, I could really use the extra money. I've said before, I'm not a fan of doing background, but right now, it fulfills a few short term needs.
Audition: Its an audition, for a lead role; it's not background. I could forfeit the days pay doing background.... I could go and book the role, work on the project and be walking the red carpet this time next year. I could also go and not book it. The casting, the project, the producers could be a total joke. I could end the day with a big ole goose egg.
I should post an oficial poll here and see what the public thinks....
Oh well...I gotta go.....
hey, you never know, maybe my call time for tomorrow will come up and allow me to get to the audition AND get to set on time...WIN WIN?
I'm friggin tired man. We shot CATCH 4 yesterday. It was longt day but I have to see I think we got it. I think it went well.
Last week I was all over the place trying secure the locations, secure a good crew. I really wanted to upgrade on the quality for this shot and get a good DP and a good sound guy to come in and help out. It all came together last minute, but it came together....
As we were scheduled to shoot Sunday monring, I was able to send the following email out Saturday afternoon:
Hey guys...
Looking forward to working with all of you tomorrow and creating a kick ass episode 4...
I've attached the script in case you need it.
The Plan is for the crew to meet at 8A at Kenneth Hahn Park, 4100 S la Cienega 90056 (About 10 min south of I-10). I think t costs $4 to enter...per car... I will reimburse if that's the case. First scene will be at the pond, which will be about 1/4 mile inside on your right.
Actors call is at 9A.
Crew:
Director: Jai Walia
AD: Eric Jones
DP: Richard Samuels
Sound Engineer: Eric I Bucklin
PA: Brad Holtzman
Writer/Producer...PA..whatever: James Huffman
Cast:
Jerry: Trevor Jones
Samantha: Caitlin Moreland
We have access to location 2 (2140 W. 139th Street, Gardena, CA 90249), from 4P-8P. Mostly interior (Mike/Sophie scene) with one or two quick exterior shots (prison yard)
Cast:
Mike Fisk: Bill Oberst Jr
Sophie: Megan Forrest
ALSO... as far as food... I was planing on getting your standard assortment of bagels in the morning and pizza for lunch. If anyone cannot eat pizza and/or bagels and has suggestions as to what I can pick up as an alternative, let me know... I will try my best to accomodate.
Feel free to call me or email with questions
Now....we had a bumpy start due to the fact that we got kicked out of our first location. The security people at Kenneth Hahn park spotted us setting up and were all over us within minutes. Fortunately we had a plan B and we all scurried over to Brace Canyon Park in Burbank and managed to shoot everything we needed, undisturbed...with time to spare...
2nd location was smooth sailing...the only challenge we had was the fact that around 7PM we started losing daylight faster than we could get our final exterior shots....still...we managed...
Jai did a great job directing. The crew was great. The actors all did a fantastic job...
I AM sitting here...in my lucky chair...wearing my lucky shirt... and my lucky underwear (havent washed them since the Super Bowl) ... drinking my lucky beer (Negro Modelo)...and watching the NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS.... THE GEEEE MEN... BIG BLUE.. THE SUPER SPOILERS... what else what else... OH... uh...SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS???
And DAMN...they look GOOD...offensively and defensively.
well...except for that... Amani Toomer is not paying attention...
and....Ok...yeah THAT TOO....ugh...
I can't believe its Football season already.
I cant believe I'm looking at my ONE YEAR anniversary of moving to Los Angeles. I flew from New York to LAX on Setpember 8th, 2007.
Its crazy man.
Word on the street is that it usually takes two years to truly acclimate and get your groove on in this town...so for my halfway point... I'm feeling pretty good.
Never mind the fact that the girl I was seeing dumped me last night. THAT didnt feel very good.... but... it is what it is... not much I can really say.
Going to see a friends play for opening night tonight at a theater in Dowtown LA. There will abe a handful of good friends there so it should be fun.
Ok...halftime is upon us... I gotta go...I'm shooting out emails and postings in my search for a sound person and DP for this weekend... We are shooting CATCH 4 this weekend...
Many things still up in the air.... so I'm on the hustle...
I've held one casting session already for this role. That happened a couple of months ago. I have yet to find the right actress...so I'm still looking....but I need to cast the role fast, because we are shooting CATCH 4 next weekend.
I got a call from the producers of THE AFTER-LYFES a couple of days ago while I was in New York. Looks like we will be shooting two weekends in mid to late October. I'm looking forward to that. It will be nice to focus solely on acting...creating and developing a character...just being allowed to play....have fun.... I could use some good old fashioned fun.
Seems I got someone a little upset by comments i made in a blog posting a couple of days ago about the pending SAG strike...
This is what I said:
Now that there is another strike pending... who knows how that will effect the results of my mailing... I dont want to get in to a rant about a looming strike. ... but word on the street...word on the STREET.... is that many aspects of production(s) are being halted due to the fact that there MIGHT be a strike....ugh...sick of that shit. Do you guys realize...sorry...I know I said i wouldnt do this.... Do you SAG jerk offs realize? That one day... ONE day ..we will be watching a director..an actor...best actor...best supporting...maybe best score...best screenplay....we will WITNESS....a beatuful...compelling film...receive an ACADEMY AWARD... and that piece of work will be entirely unrelated to ANY union... you unions will strike your way right out of the food chain, man... and WE...will keep pushing forward...WE.... will rise above.... we will adapt, survive, strive... .and succeed. Go ahead...hold out...strike... and face extinction.... get SMART... SAG...or get squished.
As a result of these comments...I received the following response yesterday:
That's the kind of talk that will only make your career extinct. It's almost as if you have no concept of how this business works. There's no way we will see an Academy Award like that, because without SAG the Academy Awards would not exist. Maybe if you wanted to start your own non-union awards show you could see results like that. Unions provide guaranteed wages and residuals, good working conditions, health insurance, pension, things that non-union productions don't have. Get smart, kid, and stop complaining. - A Concerned Observer
So... Mr...or Mrs "Concerned Observer," I should just sit down and shut up? "Thats the kind of talk that will make my career extinct?" Interesting, and typical. Is that some sort of intimidation tactic? First of all, you are not the first SAG zealot to write me and attack me...in fact whenever I get an angry response from one of you guys it's always the same...simple and narrow-minded. Second of all...you didn't really READ what I wrote...did you? you just got so offended that I expressed my frustration with the administration...that I challenged the status quo......that you lashed out and attacked me... you threaten my prosperity...tell me I should "stop complaining." I pay my dues. I play by the rules, and I have every right to be dissastified. In case you were unaware, I also have the right to express my opinion.... on my own blog and anywhere else (You have a problem with that maybe you should seek residency in CHINA). THIRD of all.... never say never pal. This business is changing, whether you like it or not.... and its just that kind of thinking, that kind of stuffy, stodgy resistance that fuels the fires of revolution.
Now if you are offended because I use the term "SAG jerk-offs"...well, I'll give you that...I apologize... (Sticks and stones...get over it, kid).
Now, may I suggest that you go back and actually READ what I wrote... I seek change SIR...I'm not satisfied with the way things are.... so I will NOT stop complaining....the current state of affairs is just not good enough... its OLD...its TIRED.... it's weak...and you know it... which is why you feel the need to write me and attack my statement without even acknowledging my point or my persepective.
So, that being said, I wish you the best..."Concerned Observer." Because, when it comes down to it, we are all in this together. I also wish you a little bit of enlightenment...some personal power....and maybe some assistance with pulling that big giant stick out of your ass.
I'm sitting here at JENKINSONS in Point Pleasant, NJ... drinking a few beers and typing away on my laptop... I'm supposed to be on vaction...and for the most part i am...but I havd to sit down here and shoot out a few emails to the cast and crew of CATCH 4...which we are planning on shooting Sept 6 and 7.... so obviously there is a bit of pre production to handle...especially since I have yet to cast the role of SOPHIE...this is the basic breakdown:
Seeking SOPHIE: African American or Hispanic woman, 40-50. Sophie is a prison guard who has one scene with Mike Fisk as he prepares to leave the prison grounds forever. There is a chance this character will return due to the slight hint of a possible romantic connection.
SOPHIE is a badass...but she has a passionate nurturing side...she has known MIKE FISK...Maggie's father...for 25 years...and now he's walking out those doors into the cold cruel world....
So yeah... i need to cast SOPHIE...and cast her soon....
AND.... i gotta go.... headed back to the beach house to meet up with some friends for a little Jersey shore dinner....
(back in LA next Saturday)
Oh...one last message from my 3 year old nephew Casey... he would like to say something to everyone.... to my vast and massive global audience... gather round people...listen up...Casey's got something to say.....drum roll please... the cool, calm and collected cat... the kid we call call Casey says:
State Hospital escapee James Huffman was captured last night after an emergency room doctor at Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi recognized him as a patient who was admitted early yesterday.
He is under police guard at the hospital with a broken right wrist and broken right leg, police said.
Huffman, 38, arrived at Pali Momi by ambulance at 5:30 a.m. yesterday. Huffman told the doctor he jumped from an overpass on the H-3 Freeway. The doctor called police after seeing Huffman's picture on a 10 p.m. television news report.
Huffman escaped through a window at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe sometime after 8 p.m. Wednesday by breaking the window lock. He had previously escaped on April 5 and was recaptured the following day. Huffman was committed to the hospital Dec. 18 last year when a state judge determined that he was mentally unfit to stand trial for a January 2000 robbery.
Huffman has previous convictions on the mainland for violent offenses.
(This story was actually posted June 15, 2001)
(I came across it as I was Googling myself)
(Don't laugh. I Google myself once...sometimes twice a day...its perfectly normal)
Its CRAZY!! It's dark man... thats for sure....but I love the way its shot. I mean aside from all the extreme shaky sequences... I love the way things get framed as if they are being taped by some scared shitless dude holding on to a handy cam.. Its really really cool. Its really the way I like to shoot. I love finding really obscure ways to frame the shot and tell the story. So I was diggin the camera work in Cloverfield.
(Anybody else notice "Jackie Jr" from SOPRANO'S playing a policeman amidst the panic in the first half of the movie? "If ya naught injured, keep mooovin.")
I had read all the negative buzz related to the shaky cam and how people were getting nautious at the theater... and its possible that happned....if you watch it at home you wont get the effect to that extreme.
Decent story... love that the cast is all unknowns... and really edgy cinematography.....I would say Cloverfield is a good movie.
So...last night... I did background on DESPERATE HOUSWIVES... it ws actually fun. I lucked out because I was "picture picked" to be at the table with some of the principal's...so I was right there in the middle of the action... and will be right there in the scene whenever the episode airs...
(Sorry Mom...I have no idea when that will be)
What I DO know, is that I'm at a banquet, sitting at a table with the red head...Marcia Ross...and one of the younger characters... um...dudes name is.... hmmm... nice guy... totally col with chilling out and chatting up the background actors.... what the hell is his name? Oh... Charlie Babcock... thats it... and Felicity Huffman... yes...same last name...NO...no realtion...and NO..didnt ever get the chance to make some clever joke to Felicty... nor did I plan to... anway...Felicity's character approaches the table I'm sitting at and she's wasted... kind of funny.
I'll tell you somehting else... Felicity Huffman spent her entire lunch hanging out in the background holding area chatting... privately...with some friend of hers who seemed to either work for the show or he was doing background...maybe a dayplayer... who knows...
(Yeah...not the best gossip in the world...but its all I got.)
So now I'm watching Cloverfield again with the Director's Commentary running... its good stuff...very very informative.... I've said it before...I will say it again... every actor...and every filmmaker should watch and/or listen to the directors commentary on EVERY movie they see...some are better than others...some DVD's dont even offer it...but ...even if you've seen the movie in the theater...get the dvd and check out the commentary... there is SO much good information to soak up... be a sponge people...be...a sponge.
OK...so there's more...
I booked something...I had an audition on Monday...and I stone cold booked it.
I booked the lead role in an indepedent 30 minute pilot. I will be playing the role of Adam. Again, thats about all I can tell ya. I think it's going to be pretty cool though. The story kind of reads like a cross between ELI STONE and QUANTUM LEAP. We will be shooting late September, early October.... I'm told.
And thats it for now... still holding down the beverage job...looking around for a decent alternative... i'm putting together a mailing to find a good theatrical agent that is going out in small increments... now that there is another SAG strike pending...
(DONT DO IT SAG... DONT strike...seriously...your just gonna piss everyone off... especially me. Its a lose lose dude...LOSE LOSE.)
Now that there is another strike pending... who knows how that will effect the results of my mailing... I dont want to get in to a rant about a looming strike. ... but word on the street...word on thye STREET..is that many aspects of production(s) are being halted due to the fact that there MIGHT be a strike....ugh...sick of that shit.
Do you guys realize...sorry...I know I said i wouldnt do this.... Do you SAG jerk offs realize? That one day... ONE day ..we will watching a director..an actor...best actor...best supporting...maybe best score...best screenplay....we will WITNESS....a beatuful...compelling film...receive an ACADEMY AWARD... and that piece of work will be entirely unrelated to ANY union... you unions will strike your way right out of the food chain, man... and WE...will keep pushing forward...WE.... will rise above.... we will adapt, survive, strive... .and succeed.
Go ahead...hold out...strike... and face extinction.... get SMART... SAG...or get squished.
(GOOD NIGHT)
"Technology of the future may sexually harass you if it doesn't kill you first. Written & Produced by Tim Keefe Directed by Ross Gabriel Sebek Starring: Andrew Heikkila as the Watercooler Ariana Citriani as Vicky James Huffman as Sam Peter D. Michael as Merv Michael Magor as Ray Camera Lance Kaplan 1st AD Mackenzie Smith Makeup Rose Lopez Sound Aaron Botwick Michael Magor Editor Charles K. Staples Soundtrack Producer Ben Holst."
The Olympics are kind of pissing me off this year. Well...not the "Olympic" but the way the American media is trying to ruin the Olympics. It just seems like the American tabloid culture is trying to turn The Olympics...a treasured global event...into a circus... not a circus...more like a freak show.... some kind of Travelin Carny and Old Crow Medicine Show.
"Michael Phelps eats 100,000 calories a day. He's got to be cheating somehow"
"Those Chinese gymnasts are 9 years old... and they have WMD's "
"The Basketball teams from Spain should be punished for ridiculing Asian people..they are probably harboring terrorists"
Give it a rest people... just let them play. Can we just enjoy the games for the games and not make a mockery of the whole thing?
Anyway...
It's my Brothers Birthday today:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BROTHER!!!!
Hope its a great one.
Finally...a trailer for the comedy series "AND...scene."
(Still somewhat undecided on the title)
This series is about more than just a fledgling acting school...its about more than questionable theater and humiliating auditions... It is about the millions of performers who pour their heart and soul into the craft ...it's designed to give a voice to every actor out there who may never find one...
(Thank you thank you thank you to everyone that made this possible)
Produced by myself and Susannah Kennedy, this trailer features The directorial talents of Meg Scibona and Jim Spring, along with hilarious performances by Josh Conkel, Katie Apicella, Leslie Miller, Sharon Bushman, Derek Peith, David Arthur Bachrach, Don Puglisi, James Huffman, Thomas Vilorio and more.
Ok, that being said...and with much more to come, I hope you enjoy it...
Picking up new headshot prints today. I'm planning a new mailing to see if I can find myself some fresh representation. After posting a ton of new pics and hitting up people for opinions, I picked one and had 50 printed up. It's the same pic I have posted right now on my Facebook page. I'll save all the character shots for email submissions and use more of a traditional shot for mailings and hard copy use.
Got a call from Central Casting on Friday. Looks like I'll be doing a day of background on "Desperate Houswives" next week.
I also met with more directors on Friday. The idea is to open up the collaborative process and get fresh talent to direct upcoming episodes of CATCH. I'll keep wiritng and producing...but I think letting different directors make their personal mark on the project will help create buzz for the series... also, since I'm going to be appearing in upcoming episodes...I'd like to be able to focus on my character and not be distracted by whats going on on set. All this collabortion means that I will have to start churning out epsiodes... so I need to start writng...
also entertaining the idea of enlisting more writers to work on the series....see how that goes... should be an interesting cooperative experiment..
SO...after a small screening last night.... I'm getting ready to post 3 new projects on youtube and the Indie City website...
I'll be posting the latest episode of CATCH. Episode 2... "The Playing Field," Indie City's 48 HRFP film (chosen as one of the best of LA 2008)... and a 3 minute trailer for the comedy series that I started shooting last Summer in New York. The same comedy series that I've been asking around to try and come up with a good name. After sending and receiving a bunch of text messages and emails, throwing around potential titles... I narrowed it down to two names: "And ...Scene" and "Breaking Legs."
"And...Scene" was sort of a temporary working title I was using last year...one of 2 or 3 working titles actually.... I was calling the project a few different names...depending on who I was talking to. "And...Scene" is cute...doesn't quite roll off the tongue... I'm just not in love with name.
"Breaking Legs" I really like. I think it's great for a title...but its actually being used... "Breaking Legs" is the title of a very popular Mafia-based showbiz comedy that ran here in NYC for a long time and is now played in every summer playhouse in America.
The other day I was googling "Breaking Legs" to see what I came up with and I came across this youtube clip titled, of course, "Breaking Legs." And guess what this lovely little film clip featured... a montage of footage of people actually breaking legs... disgusting.... I couldnt look away....it was awful...real clips of people in different sports...like a professional wrestler jumping down on his opponent from the ropes and wheh he lands, his legs snaps and basically just dangles from his body...NASTY....anyway.
Up late last night...sitting with two different editors at two different locations working on 3 different projects...all of which are being screened on Sunday...
Late last night I was going through hours of footage that was shot last Summer for a sit com pilot that I co wrote, co-produced...
Man, I havent laughed that hard in a while...there is a lot of funny funny stuff there... I cant wait to start churning it out.
The initial plan was to create a 30 minute sit com pilot...write a few more episodes...and pitch that bitch... anywhere and everywhere.
Well...one year later...after a move to the West Coast and plenty of acclimation time...I'm still sitting on all this great footage... so for the time being...I'm going to be whipping together a few short episodes for the internet while I start writing more material for the series...
Anyway...a trailer for that project will be screened on Sunday as well and will likely be posted on Youtube and the Indie City website on Monday.
This particular project has to receive an official name. I have played around with a few working titles...but nothing has quite had the pleasure of sticking.... It was "Just Point Me" for a while...which is a shortened version of "Just Point me in the Right Direction." JPMITRD is the name of the short play, written by Marcus Jones, that inspired the series concept. I was calling it "Bad Apple Studios" for a while. "Bad Apple Studios" is the ficticious name of fledgling New York City acting school that serves as the setting (and a character) for the series.
But still havent quite found the right one.
So today, just on a whim, I decided to send a text message to some of my more creative friends...asking for some help on the matter. I popped out a text to about 20 people, figuring I'd get maybe 5 responses. 2 minutes later I was getting slammed...
Trying to field text messages and respond to a barrage of incoming contributions while driving is no easy task. But I managed.
This is what my afternoon looked like:
JIM: need your help...and one or two word title to a short film or series about an acting schol filled with hapless actors doing questionable to terrible theater.
Brandon: hey bro! long time no talk. try BAGHEAD.
Chuck: BAD COMPANY
JIM: not bad mr peck not bad
JIM: Whats up Brandon! How goes? When u coming out to LA?
Chuck: I'll think on it a bit more, beer would help.
JIM: Thats even better! BEER WOULD HELP!
Charlotte: Scool of Ack-ting and Trauma
JIM: Thats not one OR two words!
Charlotte: Ugh...lemme think some more...
Brandon: Entertaining the idea.
Therese: Duh...CREATIVE ACTING.
JIM: Too cose to home...not catchy enough. How are you by the way?
Charlotte: ACKTING School
JIM: Nah
Charlotte: DRAMARAMA DEPARTMENT.
JIM: I like DRAMARAMA.
Therese: Tired of working for a living. How are u?
JIM: Story of my life. I'm fine. Hustlin ass out here.
Charlotte: DRAMARAMATRAUMA.
JIM: You just gonna keep adding words on the end? DRAMARAMATRAUMA YO MAMMA!
Stephen R: TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE...or maybe SMALL ACTORS.
JIM: Clever...but too long...SMALL ACTORS is kind of mean.
Stephen: Story of my life.
Charlotte: OBAMA.
JIM: okay...this is getting silly.
Therese: how about SOUND & FURY.
JIM: Nice! I like that one.
Trevor: THE BOARDS.
MIKE B: INTENTION or THE MAGIC "IF"
Simona: AND...SCENE! I like how every bad actor lest people know their scene is over.
JIM: Yeah...I had that one on my list for a while...sounds too much like a board game.
Trevor: BETRAYING PORTRAYING
Andrew: READING LINES
Charlotte: OBAMA's DRAMARAMA TRAUMA MAMA
JIM: Go away.
Andrew: DOING MACBETH
Trevor: PRETENDERS
Ben: ALTERNATIVE ACTING SCHOOL: Jump on the short bus to success.
JIM: Can you come up with something a little longer?
Ben: That was the title and the tag line.
JIM: Cool...thx
Shimmy: HAM SANDWICH, 3-ACT DRAAAMA, GIVE EM THE HOOK.
JIM: Nice, nice, nice.
Seth: PRETENDER POINT.
JIM: Hm? Starring Katie Holmes? Shot in Wilmington, NC and airing on the WB?
Start of a a new week.... as is every Monday...but this week is different... I made the decision last week to shake things up...make some major changes in my situation here in LA. I mean...I'm coming up on a my one year mark since I landed here on the West Coast...and while I've made progress...accomplished a few things.... I think its time to make some adjustments.
The day job is a big one...funny...that old term "Day Job." That;s an anitquated phrase...nowadays, artists and performers work in so many different environments and fields that DAY JOB hardly applies to anything... it bascially refers at any job that is not artist related...
Anyway.... my job as a beverage sale rep here in Soutern California has been good to me. I have enjoyed many months of solid, full time work... freedom and flexibility... that being said... I have two major issues that are causing me to consider a move...
Number one...I'm not meeting any new people when I work...I'm basically a lone wolf out there...driving from store to store..all over LA...all day long...I'm by myself...sure I meet store owners and managers... but thats not really doing much for me socially or professionally.... so while I love the freedom of not having to report to an office or ocation every morning...I would also love to have a group of people that I work with that can potentially become friends on some level...maybe those co workes can help me build my network of contacts on a professional level as well...
Ok...so number 2... I'm in my car...all the time...not just getting to and from work...my work keeps me on the road constantly...all day.... which is not great for the environment...not great financially...and not great mentally and emotionally... everyone is in there car in Los Angeles...but I'm using my car more than the average person... I'd love to find a way to cut that down.
Ok..so that being said... Friday night I started searching Craiglist and reaching out to marekting companies to test the waters...see if there is any work out there as a market manager or brand ambassador...I'm also going to Central Casting tomorrow to register for background work...not crazy about doing background...but it could be a temorary solution. I could meet new people and I would be on set for the day...not driving around in my car.
Now...the only draw back to all this...is having the flexibility to audition...which I DO have right now in my current job... the problem is.... Right now, I'm not auditioning all that much... which is another thing I need to adjust... I'm working on that as well... trying to find fresh representation....with my new headshots I've got a mailing planned...I'm still taking the casting director workshops...blah blah blah
So if I can give my audition frequency a boost...that could trump everything else and I'll just suck it up and stay right where I am.
What does one do when they experience their first earthquake? Have a drink...do a shot? Go to church...pray?
I was actually in the car when it all went down. I was stopped at a red light and I suddenly felt the car start to sway. It reminded me of when I was a limo driver back in Houston and folks would raise the partition and get freaky in the back of the cab. I looked around for a moment, wondering if what I felt was really "What I felt," and I didnt really notice anything unusual. The light turned green. I rolled on through. I stopped at the next light about half a mile down the road and it was all over. It wasn't until someone came on the radio and started commenting about the earthquake that I realized that I waas really feeling an earthquake.... cool.
I hope that will always be the extent of my exposure to earthquakes.
On my way out the door here in a few minutes to perform my daily duties as a SoCal HINT sales rep. I have accounts to visit over in Venice, Santa Monica and Brentwood.
When I get home tonight I have reports to finish...especially my mileage report for the month of July. I get remibursed, like, .46 cents a mile...which is a federally mandated number... and what sucks is that .46 cents a mile does not reflect the huge increase in gas prices over the past two years... so that little mileage reimbursement plan isnt exactly fair anymore.
I also have to send follow up emails to all the directors I met the other day. I posted something on Mandy.com explaining that I was looking for directors to collaborate with on my internet series CATCH. So I set up interviews and met with about 10 different people on Monday evening. Everyone was great. An interview is just an interview though. It will be interesting to see who rises above and turns out to be a solid, productive collaborator.
The idea is that I introduce a few different directors and allow them to work their magic on a few different episodes of the series. That way I can focus on writing, producing and actually acting in a few of the epsiodes. I can also increase the exposure and keep the material fresh...for the audience AND myself.... so I'm really looking forward to this little experiment.
I spent a lot of time this past weekend on the new Indie City website. I had initially started building a website through Yahoo small business services...but didnt get very far...simply because the Yahoo service doesnt offer that much...and I'm not really familiar with how to create a site using the Yahoo tools.... but I DO know how to work with Bandzoogle (Thats the service that powers THIS site). So I spent a few weeks building a new Indie City Entertainment site using bandzoogle and unveiled it this weekend.
The site unveiling was uneventful. I havent sent out a blast to the masses yet...I guess because I feel like it still needs a few finishing touches... but please...by all means...check it out... i think it fairly represents the collective and gives the viewer a better idea iof what we are all about...where we've been....where we are going:
I'm starting to plan the next Indie City screening party.
I just got permission to use a cool new song for the next CATCH episode.
The Yankees have won 5 straight.
I'm in a good mood....
So the next Indie City Entertainment party is going to happen the first week of August...lilkely to be Thursday August 7th. We have had the first few I.C.E. parties at THE BRIDGE in Universal City...but the party promoter there has not returned my calls...and I think she is upset with me because she was expecting us to have a party there on the first Thursday in JULY... I made the decision to NOT have a party in early July...due to the holiday... and neglected to give her a heads up.... so she got a little pissy with me...
If she wont work with me on the next party...I will find another place to hold the event... simple as that... keep moving forward... forward...forward...
I'm obsessed with moving forward.
I'm expecting to have a few good things to show at the next event. First off...the LONG awaited follow up to CATCH: Episode One... appropriately titled CATCH: Episode Two. Ideally, I would love to be able to release a new episod every month...but when you are actiung as a producer working on favors and good will (And NOT cold hard cash), timetables and deadlines are sort of hard to mandate, implement or expedite...LIFE has a tendency to get in the way... so here we are...TWO months after the release of Episode One...
I'm also planning on screening a trailer and Episode One of the "yet to be titled" sit com series that I produced and shot last Summer in New York. The series was co written by myself and Marcus Jones...a playwrite I worked with last year. The series is about a screw ball acting school and al the funny things that go on inside...and OUTSIDE...The Actors Studio....
(Hey, maybe there's the name)
On top of all that...We will be showing THE PLAYING FIELD, which is our submission to the 2008 Los Angeles 48 Hr Film Project... a film that was surprisingly chosen as a finalist.... one of the "Best of LA 2008."
Now I just have to find a suitable venue... I'll let you know.
(I'm drinking some really good Shiraz right now. Just thought I'd share)
So the good news of the day is that I received the following email from a rep for a band calledTHE GAY BLADES :
Sorry I've been so MIA. Just got back home yesterday morning from a pretty grueling tour. Feel free to use the track "O Shot". Please just include artist information once its done and a promise that if you make it big time, you can purchase the usage at a fair price.
The Gay Blades
"O Shot"
Ghosts, 2008
4Never Records/Triple Crown Records
Check it out...the song and the band was referred to me by a friend and I one I heard it I instantly recognized it is being perfect for the closing of the next CATCH episode... I might even try and stretch the favor and use it for a couple more... sort of as a temporary theme song... its perfect...it really is...and its a kick ass song either way
(Thank you Thank you Thank you)
Did I mention the Yanks have won FIVE straight... good stuff man... I'm gonna try and catch a game at the stadium when I'm back in New York the last week of August... a few days at the Jersey Shore with my brother, his wife and my little Tasmanian nephews...a few days in New York...one last night at the legendary...soon to be torn down... Yankee stadium....and all is right with the world.
Speaking of my Tasmanian nephews... I got a letter in the mail two days ago from my brother and he had folded up a few of Keller's drawings and shipped them out to Califonia for me too loo over...the note attached said... I'm reading from it right now...
Keller wanted to share some of his Monsters. he is hoping you can draw some in return and send them back. Are you KIDDING ME? HELL YEAH!!
I was walking in the door as I red the note...I literally dropped everything I was holding and immediately pulled out my sketch pad and magic markers. I don't think I even ate dinner. There was nothing in the world that I would rather have been doing than drawing pictures of Monsters for that kid. It was amazingly theraputic. I mean...happy to do it for Keller...even happier to do it for ME...I loved the idea of seeing his sketches...and love the idea of sending some my own sketches back... But he has no idea how badly I needed that.
I mean he's only like...FIVE.
(I probably over did it. I send him so pretty elaborate MuthaF%$#@ monsters)
What was once a healthy dose of my photo shoot from two weeks ago will now become a daily dollop of dorkiness, dashing and damn foolery...
If I post a page full of photos it slows down the script..or the feed ...or whatever you might call it... it just takes twenty minutes for the blog to finish loading... so.... scratch the collage... I will just share a couple photos every day...for ETERNITY!
(Photos courtesy of the lovely Tiffany Kyees)
Exhibit A: The "Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids" look.
Exhibit B: The "I think I just broke the copier" or "I just pulled the fire alarm" look.
Productive day yesterday...yes...I spent my Saturday (And saturday night) working on a variety of things.... I spent a few hours working on the new Indie City website... I worked on re writing the sit com script from last Summer... I went through three CD's of new photos (I had another shoot for headshots this week)... I uploaded a handful of the new shots to sendoutcards.com for my next round of postcards.... did a litle pre-production for our NOBODIES shoot...that I HOPE is going to finally get underway this Wednesday....and I managed to get myself to the gym.
So a couple of days ago I had a second headshot shoot with Tiffany Kyees. Tiffany is the headshot photographer that I worked with a coupe of months ago when I organized a full day of shooting between her and several Indie City Members. I went back to her because for one.. she's cool. She did a great job.... and she's inexpensive...or should I say..."Reasonably priced.... still...I didnt quite get what I needed first time around... plus I got my haircut and I wanted to have my shots reflect the short clean cut look I'm sporting as opposed to the laid back, shag, dude-hair style I was rockin before.
Anyway...aside from all that....what I really needed was a series of character shots... I know, I know...people back in New York cringe at the thought... for years we made fun of people who had photos done in different costumes...a doctor shot, a business man shot...and detective shot...a mob guy shot... HA HA HA.... dorks....in New York you have TWO shots...a commercial and a legit...smiling and serious...
Then I come ut to LA and I see that everyone has 5-10 separate headshots...one for each type of role you would potentially be called in to read for. My agent asks me of if I have any other pictures I can send over...he asking me for different looks...like in scrubs...in a suit and tie...a lab coat... I like "uh...no." I have two perfectly good headhsots...commercial and legit... and I've worked very very hard to find the perfect outfit, hair style and expression for those TWO all encompassing, versatile masterpieces I call my HEADSHOTS. My agent explains that the actors he has that get all the auditions are the ones that have a roster of looks...a PORTFOLIO of looks, costumes and characters. I'm told if I want to audition as much as these guys do...I will go out and get some new photos done with characters in mind.
"F%$@&&^ that, man...I ain't doin it...no way" I would say to myself. I New York we laugh at your silly PORTFOLIO.
As I start asking around I start to realize the gravity of the situation. Every New York actor I spoke to who had beeen out here for more than a year said the same thing:
"Oh yeah, when I first got out here, I was like NO WAY....no F%$@#E$ way. I'm not doing that. It took me a YEAR to finally come to terms with the necessity of it."
So there you have it. I had that conversation about 5 or 6 times before I was even willing to acknowledge the necessity.
It reallyt comes down to competition. The competition out here is absolutely fierce. There a lot of good actors...here are a lot of actors PERIOD...there are a lot of good lookinmg peope who are not terrific actors but are castable... so to stay compettive...you have to make it easy for a casting director to see you i the role...boittom line...how do you make ti easy for them? If you want to audition for GREYS ANATOMY or for SCRUBS.... have a photo ready with you in your scrubs...ready to go...ready to work... like they could click and drag you from your photo right to set... BANG...youre woring on Greys Anatomy.
Take a look at this guy... a link to his IMDB page was sent to me to use as a reference... apparently he gets called in ALL the time...for EVERYTHING....
So I shot four different looks... scrubs were NOT part of the mix... the photographer charges by "The Look" so I could only afford to do 4 looks. I went with "The young dad/young teacher," "The office guy," "The blue collar/borderline red neck guy," and "The CSI/Special agent/detective guy."
I have the CD's but I dont have web ready files available yet so I can;t share these pics just yet...but I will say I pretty happy with the outcome...plus..it was a lot more fun to shoot. The difference being...and when I talk about a difference I mean the difference bteween shooting for characters and shooting the NY way...aiming for a commecial and legit shot... the difference is that the pressure is off to capture that PERFECT expression and look for your TWO headshots... I find myself trying SO hard to create a soft, approachable, likeable persona that I just cant relax...and then most of the photos come out looking like shit...I'm trying too hard...
As I was shooting for characters, i suddenly realized how much fun it was to take pictures...or to be photographed. The pressure was off to get the ULTIMATE look that covers casting possibility and I allowed myself to cut loose...make goofy expressions (My specialty...ask my Mother) and become the character for the sake of getting a fun shot....felt so much better.
So I will post a few of those shots at some point this week. Lets hope I can become one of those guys that gets called in all time.... better yet...lets hope I become one ofthose guys that BOOKS all the time.
I sent her a birthday card through SENDOUTCARDS.COM... which is a new service I just signed up for. I had been gearing up to start sending out postcards to LA casting directors on a regular basis...but I hadn't been over to Reproductions to print up 50-100 postcards... hadn't set asid time to sit down and write out dozens of "Thank Yous" or two dozen 'Hey, I'm still in the game YO's." In fact I had already taken 3 or 4 workshops with primetime casting directors and had YET to even send out a "Thank you/Nice to meet you" card. Then I met this nice young lady name Danielle at one of the Indie City screenings and she explained to me that she works for a company that provids a postcarding service that I might find useful.
It's called sendoutcards.com and it's wesbite that allows me to log on (After officially registering and paying a one time users fee), browse through dozens of greeting card and postcard styles, helps me design my card and enables me to address the card, affix postage and expedite the transaction via the US Postal Service. It's fantastic, the entire process is handled right there on the site. I can upload a photo...ANY photo...create the postcard... and send it right out. Prior to sendoutcards.com...I would have to GO to a reproductions lab...pay for a 100 or so QUALITY postcard prints...wait for the lab to complete the order... then take my prints home...sit down and start writing out my little NOTES... address each card...get stamps....and PHYSCALLY mail the damn things.... with sendoutcards.com what used to take AT LEAST a week...can now take an hour...
This is totally sounding like some INFOMERCIAL...my I'm actually offering a genuine testimonial.... I can seriously send out postcards with a different photo each time...I can send out thank you cards...invitations to Indie City screenings...and a BIRTHDAY CARD TO MY MOM....
(Don't you just love how I bring it all back...full circle... like a good solid HAROLD)
(Thats IMPROV talk. Only a trained improvisor would know what the hell a HAROLD is)
Ok....
Oooops... big font....sorry about that...
So..whats going on my life? Hmmm. I have to say I was feeling really homesick for about a week leading up to and including July 4th. I don't know, I mean any holiday makes me wish I was back in New York with all my peoples.... baseball season make sme kind of homesick too... I don't get to watch Yankee games here anytime I want... and the fact that the All Star game is happening this year at Yankee Stadium kind of makes my heart drop a little too.
I'm not like DEPRESSED or anything...I just miss you guys back there and it kind of punches me in the stomach from time to time.
I also feel like lately EVERYTHING has been extra challenging. My job with HINT, my finances, the projects I have in post, the projects I have in PRE-production... my writing, my acting, my GALL BLADDER... it all feels lately like a challenge...one big hurdle after another...
Like I've got some Mercury in retrograde disorder or something... It will pass...I'm sure.
So I'm still trudging along...still pushing..... always.
And hey...the Yankees just won three in a row...thats a step in the right direction...RIGHT?
It was a F%#$$#@ difficult three games...but they won...so there.
Okay....I gotta go... I'm in the middle of checking out music from independent bands that I can get the rights to for the CATCH series...for THE NOBODIES and for our podcast.... I'm telling ya...I am DAMN busy...I'm not messing around here...
Ok... yesterday I got caught up in this mass email/accidental reply all/high drama fiasco... it was so damn funny that I have to share...
here is the way it went down>>>
Tuesday 2:16PM: I get the following email from Seth, i see its a FWD with some sort of political relevance..I also see that its been cc'd to a MASSIVE amount of email addresses (I'm slightly salivating):
I have signed the "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less." petition on AmericanSolutions.com because to lower gasoline prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we need real solutions to our energy challenges. I hope you will sign the petition as well. Please sign the petition today at: www.americansolutions.com
Tuesday 2:18PM: I get the same email…again… from Seth.
Tuesday 2:19PM: I get the email for a third time.
Tuesday 3:22PM: A response to Seth’s email from someone named Jessica:
seth I hate to tell you this but this is the most retarded email you have ever sent me. Drilling and paying less for gasoline isnt the right solution and untill americans get their heads out of their asses and realize that we need to use a renewable resource it will NEVER get better...I dont understand people that think that it should be cheeper...I think it should be more expensive and we are lucky that we have it so cheep now....there is a limited supply in the world and we are consuming it all just to waste.
Tuesday 3:24PM: I know who Seth is, but I don’t know who this girl is, maybe an old friend of Seth’s? I do see that her rebuttle has been sent to everyone on Seth’s MASSIVE cc list. I continue reading:
You get this kind of response because you sent it as a forward. I hate stupid forwards. the end.
Tuesday 3:25PM: Ok so maybe they’re not “good” friends. But again, I agree. I hate forwards too. The End. Oh wait…Not the End? I read on:
Sorry about Lauren...I felt it coming....I know you to well I guess. And yeah...take what you are feeling and multiply it by oh lets say 1000 and you might feel some of the pain that I went through when it was us.
Tuesday 3:26PM: Um….okay this is getting awkward…keep reading:
Not to make you feel bad but yeah...we had a lot more history and a lot more ups and downs with each other so it stunk more. The mean part of me is glad that it happened to you but the friend part is sorry that you are hurting.
Tuesday 3:27PM: Wow… she hit REPLY ALL… This message went out to at least 500 email addresses....this is great stuff.
So I am sorry...it will get better...just next time you see yourself doing this to someone else...think twice and be tactful because you know how it feels.
take care. Jessica
Tuesday 3:35PM: A REPLY ALL from someone named Jonah:
way to "reply all" ya retard.
Tuesday 3:51PM: A REPLY ALL from someone named Gladys:
I AGREE!
Tuesday 3:59PM:And yet ANOTHER “Reply all” from a nice girl named Maura:
I do not know any of you – but I just had to say- WE ALL MAKE mistakes – no one is perfect – I am sure you feel horrible that you sent this out to everyone….
Jonah- give the girl a break – c'mon- you never did a stupid thing? Life is hard enough without bringing other people down – why would you purposely do that? That is not a reply all mistake – that is intentional …..i kind of have to wonder what is worse
Tuesday 4:11PM: a “Reply All” from Lisette:
Lisette here,
I'm protecting myself from receiving junk mail.
Please click the link below to complete the verification process.
You have to do this only once.
Tuesday 4:20PM: I cannot resist… I mean, I gotta get a piece if the action, right?
Hi... I don't know any of you...but this is SO much fun
"CATCH is a dark comedy, written and directed by James Huffman that features Anne Judson Yager (BRING IT ON AGAIN, MINORITY REPORT) and Trevor Jones (NOTHING YOU'VE SEEN) as MAGGIE and JERRY, two star-crossed serial killers looking for love and checking out the online dating scene. Are they destined to find each other?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKaEPd-l2_M
Tuesday 4:35PM: a “Reply All” from someone named Wade:
Today I received this email from the 48HR Film Project people... Indie City Entertainment and "The Playing Field" made it as one of the best films of 2008!!!
"The Playing Field" was written by me, James Huffman, directed by Eric Jones and Edited by Paul Kim. It stars James Huffman as "Detective Clifton James," Anne Judson Yager as "Rhonda Donnellson," Chris Tessitore and Heidi Fielek as "The Players."
Read below>>>>>
Hello 48HFP Los Angeles Filmmakers--
The judges have made their decisions. Here is the lineup for the 48
Hour Film Project "Best of Los Angeles 2008"
To find out who the award winners are, plan on attending the:
"Best of Los Angeles 48HFP"
Screening and Awards Ceremony
Wednesday, July 2 8:00 p.m.
Fairfax Theatre
7907 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Here are the Best Films of Los Angeles 2008:
"2042" by Digital Technique
"Barefoot" by Last Minute Productions
"Brutal" by Lasrever
"Dr Ronald Donellson's Fit-Its & Fabulous Remedies" by The Jobless
Talents
"Life After" by Cultural Detritus
"Mashin' Impossible" by Apples & Oranges
"Moment of Silence" by Par-t-com Productions
"Recipe for Danger" by You'll Eat It and LIke It
"Stuck" by Jeffrogee
"The 4th" by Barstow Productions
"The Memo" by JAZ Pics "The Playing Field" by Indie City Entertainment "Three Potatoes & A Spud" by Miscellaneous Entertainment
"Y Tu Nana Tambien" by Daywalkers
TICKET SALES
Tickets may be purchased at the Fairfax Theatre Box Office
Forward this email to your team members so that they can come out and
see this year's "Best of Los Angeles" 48HFP. Plus, don't forget to
invite your family, colleagues and friends to attend the screening!
We'll be gathering after the screening at:
Swingers
8020 Beverly Blvd
See you on Wednesday.
Peter Fox
Los Angeles Producer
48 Hour Film Project
pfox@igc.org
323 244-0291
http://www.48hourfilm.com/la
I've been kicking my self in the ass for not pushing harder to get acting career rolling...I've been so busy working on the writing/producing/directing that I've kind of been neglecting my actor self...
anyway... I'm seriously so friggin mad right now that I lost an entire blog post...
on that note....I'm gonna go...
here are the top 8 songs on my ipod hot list:
Pussyfootin by THE BAMBOOS
MS HILL by Talib Kewli
The Bomb by BITTER:SWEET
ENERGY by Apples in Stereo
The Last Trumpet by LYRICS BORN
SALUTE YOUR SOLUTION by The Raconteurs
The Camel by FAT FREDDYS DROP
A NEW SKY by The Presets
The HEAT in Southern California has subsided.... thoroughly enjoying the cool down...
Really busy...as usual...juggling all my day-job-premium-essence-water-duties with my actors activities and my writer/producer/director activities with trying to maintain some sort of personal social life... hmmmm...yes....social life.... almost forgot.
Monday we start shooting scenes for THE NOBODIES...the next internet series created by myself and produced with the help of Indie City Entertainment...
I've been jotting down ideas and writing rough drafts for a few months now and we are finally ready to start rockin and rollin... I'm actually really looking forward to this one...we have SO much material to work with...and its a comedy... so its going to be a lot of fun to create.
Ok... thats all I've got for now... I need to chill out...wind down...relax...watch somehting funny on TV...and.... go to sleep..... back at it tomorrow....
WATER COOLER OF THE FUTURE is a short film I worked on last Summer in NY, right before I came out to LA. Created by TIM KEEFE. I got an email from him today....
Dear cast, crew, friends, and family:
The website hosting "Water Cooler of the Future" is now accessible. I would like to sincerely thank you all for your hard work, encouragement, support, and superb ability. I am very pleased with the result of our endeavor.
Its about 11Am on Monday morning just South of Normal in Los Angeles, California. I am tired, sore and cranky... but I feel good.
Indie City Entertainment tackled the Los Angeles 48 Hour Film Project this weekend and I would have to say... hmmm... what would I HAVE to say...
We finished? We submitted a complete short film with a beginning, middle and an end. We made it to the drop off point with our finished product and handed it in with minutes to spare. So, provided all of our paperwork is in order, we are officially enetered as a competitor.
The screenings for GROUP B (Thats our group; part of groups A-F; 80 teams participating) will be held on Wednesday, June 18 and Thursday, June 19 at the:
Fairfax Cinemas
7907 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA. 90048
Group B Wednesday, June 18 8:00 pm:
4 Doors from a Strip Club Joseph Tran
Balls Out Pen15 Albert Aguilera
Black Lightning Spence Fuller
Cine Alma Pictures John Gonzales
Indie City Entertainment James Huffman
Life On Its Side Productions Susan Lee
Magic Lantern Trevor English
New Spirit Cinema Paul Ratner
Purple Potatoes Svetlana Dekic
Roach Coach Rogelio Velazquez
The Sleezy Threezy Eric Larkin
You'll Eat It and Like It Anne Edkins
LASREVER Peter M Smith
Friday night, the 48HRFP kick-off meeting was held at the Lounge at The Landmark Theater in West Los Angeles, 10850 West Pico at Westwood Blvd. Each time was aksed to attend with no more than 3 representatives, so I asked my roommate Eric to go over there with me. We sat around for about 30-45 minutes and eventually they called my name and I went up to thye front of the room and pulled my team's "genre," our "Character" our 'Prop" and "Line of Dialogue." Basically the way it works is every team randomly pulls a "genre" and that sets tone, or theme for each teams film. Every "genre" is fairly represented by at least one team in each of the 6 groups. Then every team in every group gets the same character, prop and line of dialogue to incorporate. Once they announce the common 3 ingredients, all the teams stampede out of there and run off to write their story and start shooting.
The 2008 Los Angeles 48 Hr Film Project official list of ingredients:
Character: Ronald or Rhonda Donellson, game host
Prop: 3 or more potatos
Line of dialogue: "Leave it to me, I'm a professional."
Indie City's official genre: Detective/Cop
And we were off. We went back to our apartment on Hoover street and met up with the rest of the team. We didnt have everyone over, just 8 of us. We bounced around ideas until about 11PM. At 11, I kicked everyone out and started writing...and writing....and writing... I finished a first draft... a working draft at 3:30AM.
I wrote a story about a private detective/former police officer who finds himself in the middle of a foot chase and a rendevous with a woman in a red dress. A flashback takes us to the detective's home office/garage two days earlier. Our protagonist is sitting in the dark, contemplating retirement (Which is code for suicide). Rhonda Donnelson, a femme fatale equipped with a desperate dilemma, a red dress, a great pair of legs, enters, thwarts the detectives effort to "cancel his membership," and the story taks off from there.
Once the script was finished, I went to sleep. At 7AM I was up and at it. Eric and I made a few casting decisions...
James Huffman (ME) to play Detective Clifton James
Anne Judson Yager to play Rhonda Donnelson (Game host)
Heidi Fielek and Chris Tessitore to play a team of assassins
Ashley Cozine to play Cliftons ex-girlfriend
Any other supporting roles would have to be developed and cast on the fly....
and, again, we were off.
We met up with the team in Burbank, had a brief pre-production meeting, and headed over to our first location to shoot all the chase scenes.
That's why I'm so sore today. I got to set, dressed in a suit and tie, and started running aorund like crazy in these chase scenes...with shoes NOT designed for running and without doing any sort of warm ups.... stupid.
We shot all day...finally wrapped at midnight. Went back to Burbank to shoot one last scene early SUNDAY morning, and spent the rest of the day at our editors apartment whipping it all together.
I made it out to The Landmark and turned in our film with minutes to spare. Forget the fact that my CAR broke down on the freeway earleier that day on the way to the editors place from our last location. I was forced to deal with calling a two truck and finding a mechanic to take the car and agree to pay the tow and work on the car. Not to mention we all were in post production HELL, operating on minimal sleep. Not to mention I had to borrow a car to get over to the drop off point and I got LOST trying to find I-10 from the editors apartment on the way.
But we got it done....and I'm tired, sore and cranky.
PLAYING THE FIELD
written by James Huffman
Concept contributors: Ben Stevens , James Huffman, Eric Jones, Ashley Cozine, Chris Tessitore, Anne Judson Yager, Heidi Fielek, Tom Funk.
Directed by Eric Jones
Starring James Huffman
with
Anne Judson Yager
Heidi Fielek
Chris Tessitore
Ashley Cozine
Editing by Paul Kim
Production Staff: Heather McGonigal, Heather McHugh, Stephen Schaffold, Tom Funk, Ben Stevens, Paul Duraso
Because of time contraints and lack of sleep, the film we ended up submitting is not, by any means, perfect ,and there are certainly technical glitches that were overlooked in the last 2 hours of post production. So we will probably try and polish up the film before we post our work for everyone else in the world to see... but we do plan on making the project available on Youtube and Myspace or wherever else.
Apparently people were experiencing difficulty viewing the first episode of Catch on Myspace...
Episode One is now on Youtube:
"CATCH is a dark comedy, written and directed by James Huffman, that features Anne Judson Yager (BRING IT ON AGAIN, MINORITY REPORT) and Trevor Jones (NOTHING YOU'VE SEEN) as MAGGIE and JERRY, two star-crossed serial killers looking for love in all the wrong places. Are they destined to find each other? And will that magical moment be Serendipitous? Or more like Alien VS Predator 3?"
CATCH is a new internet series, written, produced and directed by me.
It features Anne Judson Yager and Trevor Jones as Maggie and Jerry, two star-crossed serial killers seeking a soul mate in the City of Angels.
"Can you find Prince Charming using online dating?"
CATCH is dark. CATCH is funny. CATCH is a cross between DEXTER...and SERENDIPITY.
I had an official world premiere screening party at The Bridge last Thursday night and I have to say it went pretty well. Because of The NBA playoff game...which included The Lakers.. I was forced to push my premiere back until AFTER the game, whihc turned out to be a blessing in disguise becasue when I finally got the greenlight to screen my stuff, there was still a large group of people in the bar hanging around after the game... and it was that group of people that offered up a fantastic real time reaction to my work.
I have to say that when the basic concept of CATCH was born, it was that very moment that I envisioned; A genuine, gutteral audience reaction that is swift and precise, quick and loud. It was that very moment that motivated me to keep pushing...to write...re-write...cast produce and direct and promote... in fact..I had put so much work and so much time into getting this little series rolling that I had almost forgotten where and why this whole idea started... until I heard that crowd explode... seriously...it was like a mini explosion... totally caught me off-guard... but when it happened it was a HUGE satisfying rush.
I received flowers from Anne, the lead actress playing Maggie, a hundred handshakes, compliments up the Wazoo and a tongue in my ear from what I think was an extremely intoxicated new fan.
I cant wait for you to see more...
ENJOY>>>>>
(PS: comments posted on MySpace or Facebook would be much appreciated)
To all Filmaka members who submitted to the FX comedy competition, THANK YOU very much. We received over four hundred submissions, most all of high quality. We had more laughs than we knew what to do with. After the long and difficult process of selecting the finalists from these exceptional films, we and FX Network settled on a dozen finalists to work with. They are:
Adam & Eva by Yvonne DeLaRosa
The Escort by Alex Jorgensen & Mat Barbeau
Flicks With Dicks by Quad Deuce Productions
Frame Wranglers by Chris Kas
The Gospel Ruth by Nora Gruber
Happy Endings by David Green, DJ Lubel & Jake Avnet
Kick Your Ass by Anshul Joshi
Losers by Bill Caco
Missionary Positions by Eric Bergemann
On The Boulevard by Robert Ellsworth & Christina Cannarella
Pig Pen Productions by Niall Madden
Swinging With The Finkels by Jonathan Newman
CONGRATULATIONS to all our finalists and we are excited to be taking the next steps with you!
To those of you who did not make it to the final round, this is not the end of your opportunity. We are already looking at other outlets for your work, including other contests and distribution deals. We may be contacting some of you about creating web series for us here at Filmaka, or about other exciting opportunities. Filmaka is an ongoing project to turn your passions into professions. Thank you all for the time and energy that went into creating your remarkable work.
We plan on ANNOUNCING THE FX WINNER ON JUNE 16th, and we will be posting all the finalist videos then.
Keep checking Filmaka.com for the many exciting new contests we will be launching this year.
My dearest friend Jen called me today...she is finally back from a nice long honeymoon in Italy... and she came back pregnant...
WHOA!!!!
What?
Hold up...
Yep...she got knocked up (HER words, not mine)...
She also called to ask me to give her some new music. She has apparently been listening to the same songs I put on her ipod like two years ago...
So...for you Jen... here is a carefully chosen list of songs that I've been diggin on for the last few months... I know you will dig as well:
JENS NEWLY KNOCKED UP, HIP HOPPED AND ROCKED UP...PLAYLIST
Shake It Off (Bad Dreams Part 2) by Lyrics Born
The Last Trumpet by Lyrics Born
Bluebird by One Self
Be Your Own (radio edit) by One Self
When I See You by Prodigy (Mobb Deep)
Harder than you think by Public Enemy
Ms Hill by Talib Kweli
Lady Don't Tek No by Latryx
Do it Now by Mos Def
Ghetto Rock by Mos Def
Push by Pharoahe Monk
Good Clothes by Little Brother
Run The Numbers by El-P
Move Shake Drop Remix by DJ Laz
Fever (Dirty Version) By Rhymefest
Give it what you can by The Meters
El Dorado by Animate Objects
14th St Break by The Beastie Boys
Berlin by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry
Awe by Citizen Cope
Chateau Strut by Doyle Bramhall
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Incredible Bongo Band
Bring it On by Lenny Kravitz
Pussy Footin by The Bamboos
Got to Rock - DJ Vadim featuring Zion
Let it Go - The Village Green
Suntoucher by Groove Armada
Magnolia Soul by Ozomatli
BlackForest by Radio Citizen
We Do We Go by Nomo
And here is your Calm Cool Collection:
Deceptively Yours - DJ Strobe Seedy Motel Sunset Remix by The Peter Malick Group
Butta Fly Love by Martin Luther
All My Days - Alexi Murdoch
Where I belong (Single Edit) - Honey Root
Facing East by Thievery Corporation
Morning Song by Zero 7
In the City by Boca 45 Feat. McKay
malemolência by CéU
Soixante Trois by Tinariwen
Have Hope by Jennifer Kreisberg
The Place to Be by Zeb
Bluey by Fat Freddy's Drop
I just got home from workshop one (of three) at Act Now (In Sherman Oaks) with Casting Director Peter Pappas (Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory).
It was fun... I was feeling prety good going in because I was still riding high from my performance last night at The Sherry Theater in North Hollywood...
"Whats that?" You say "You performed at The Sherry last night?" You ask "I didn't know you had a performance last night." You grumble and wine
Neither did I.
I performed last night in a 24 hour play festival hosted by The Sherry Theater (11052 Magnolia Blvd). I received a text message saturday afternoon asking if I was available or interested in helping out a friend (of a friend of a friend of someone I don't even know) in a 24 hour play festival Sunday night (That would be tomorrow). I wrote back and said I would do it.
"Shit, I aint got nuthin goin on tomorrow night" I thought "I'll do it" I shouted out loud (Thrusting my fist to the sky)
Once I had committed, I was instantly refreshed. I was excited. I have been jonesing for some stage time for a few months now and BANG! The Univerese drops a little nugget right in my lap; A decent sized, challenging, low maintenance, light committment, tasty morsel.
AND it was actually my FIRST offical West Coast stage performance....
I met with the playwright/director and the rest of the cast (Her boyfriend and another gal pal of hers) around 2P on Sunday. We shook hands, sized each other up and did a quick read through.... and guess what... the play was actually pretty damn good. Not only was it a solid piece of writing...it had substance, literary relevance and it honored classic material. It was funny with just enough room for a warm fuzzy feeling here and there.
The play, called "Love Bandits," (Bandits was the festival theme that each playwright was required to work with) was about Romeo and Juliet (Yes..THAT Romeo and Juliet), but in this contemporay adaptation...which is more like an afterword or an addendum...we discover that Romeo and uliet actually FAKED their death, made a clean getaway and started a new life together...in hiding...
Unable to take on real jobs so as to protect their anonymity, the star crossed lovers turn to hustling, stealng and everything else to survive and put food on the table. As you can guess, this is a lifestyle that gets old qucikly. Romeo and Juliet struggle with their siutation, with their choices and with each other.
It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And an evening at the theatre might not end with a big "Why?"
Anyway, tech was at 5, dress rehearsal at 7, house opened at 8:45. We did pretty good if I dont say so myself. We damn sure had the best written piece of the evening.
And I was SO...SO happy to be up there on stage... felt great... it was really somehting I needed...
So A big warm "Thank you" to Nicole (Writer/Director), Kristin (My friend who hit me with the text) and The Universe... I'm truly grateful.
So this week...
Big party on Thursday...CATCH One is making its World Pemiere... I'm really excited... and a little nervous....
A little update on the party (I had to post the following message on the Evite and Facebook):
Hey... just wanted to give everyone a heads up... in honor of Game one of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics, which starts at 6PM on Thursday, we will screen Episode One of CATCH immediately following the game, my guess is around 9-9:30. which will be followed shortly thereafter by a screening of Ashley Cozine's short film TRUST ISSUES. I will, of course, be there watching the game prior to the official Indie City start, which, I guess, is now 8PM.
I went to Vegas on Friday and I cant seem to right myself... I'm all disoriented.... Vegas is crazy... but I loved it... it was great.... I drank ALOT...and won a little money...I managed to keep the same amount of cash in my pocket all weekend... spend a little... lose a little...win a little...spend some more...lose some more...win it back... then on Sunday, after I checked out of the hotel... checkout was 11A...my flight didnt leave til 4:30P...I sat downstairs in the sports booking area to watch the Yankees game...while I was there... I managed to pick up $250 on an exacta box...
I also made friends with a couple of local guys who enjoyed calling me "Pimp," all afternoon... these same guys.... who seemed to fit the description of "Pimp" a lot better than me... decided to pick a fight with a group of college guys from Georgia...wasnt much of a fight though...actually my Pimp pals pretty much scared the shit out the 8 college boys and ran them off... I wasnt sure if I was supposed to hop in if a melee went down...Like "I got your back Pimp! I gotcha back Playa!" Or if I should roll my tired, dehydrated self and my carry-on luggage away from all the action and stay cleart... I did neither...I just sat there...basically right in the center of the altercation...hoping it would all blow over and I wouldnt have to get up and move.... I was comfy...and really hungover... after the college boys fled ... my Pimp friends calmed down and went back to cracking jokes with me...They thought it was hilarious that I didnt budge with all this static blowing up all around me....like I was THAT cool.... these guys loved me....calling me dude...calling me Jack...calling me Pimp...
And would you LOOK at the TIME... I've got to go to the airport... nice to meet you fellas.... good luck with everything...all your Pimping
So I'm back... back with a new Vegas Pimp approach to pushing my product....
Last night I went to the 3rd and final session of the Todd Sherry workshop I've been taking at ACT NOW for the past few weeks. We worked on Guest Star roles this time. I wasnt very pleased with my work. I was given a scene from MEN IN TREES and I was paired up with a really cute Asian girl...she was pretty hot...what can I say? Now, granted, we didnt get much time to prepare...we did what we could with the time we had...and in an actual casting session...the actor would never be paired up with another actor for a scene...the actor always reads with the official "reader." Regardless, I was really hoping to make a better impression with the material than I did. I could be mis-representing what really happened... it's possible...I dont know... I wasnt TERRIBLE... I just didnt NAIL it...
Todd Sherry is the 3rd casting director I've met so far in a workshop setting, so I'm at the point where I have to start sending out postcards every 6 weeks or so to remind them that I'm still out here... chomping at the bit...
I start a new workshop this coming Monday...with who I cannot say...I forget...I'd have to go look it up...and I dont feel like doing that right now... its another 3 weeker with a pretty reputable casting office here in LA....thats all you need to know...
I had a short meeting yesterday the guy who is editing CATCH: EPISODE ONE. He put together a rough cut. We discussed what works and what doesnt. He actually came up with some really cool stuff, but the basics of the episode...the main scene... The lighting...some of the acting...I'm not every happy with it... without getting into too much detail, the on set collaboration between myself (Director) and the DP didnt produce the ideal shots... I wasnt quite getting what I wanted...but we were running out of time at the loaction...so I had to compromise.... and I end up with footage that I'm not crazy about....I'm hoping we can fix it.... but there will definitely be parts of the episode that I'm going to be presenting in protest.... protesting who? What? I guess myself... lesson learned....
Indie City Entertainment is an organization that serves the professional and artistic needs of a wide variety of industry players. We are the NEW West Coast Collective, a coalition of creative cats, currently congregating in California.
So I'm setting up another Indie City sing-along... a melting pot of monthly meeting, marketing maneuver, mosh pit, mix-tape and magic show...
Seriously...its sort of a cross between BARBERSHOP, BEERFEST, BEVERLY HILLBILLIES and BAADASSSSS!
And if THAT'S not enough for ya.... get this...
This event will also serve as the official screening party for the WORLD premiere of episode one of CATCH, the highly awaited internet series created by myself, James Huffman and Indie City Entertainment.
CATCH features Anne Judson Yager as "Maggie" and Trevor Jones as "Jerry," two
star-crossed serial killers looking for love in all the wrong places.
This our second in a series of monthly mixers. Aside from showing off our work, we will be mixing it up with like-minded, hard-working, creative individuals and catching up with those we consider cool.
Please join us as we celebrate an abundance of positive energy...
(We love you...and we don't go around saying that to just anyone)
Its so hot that yesterday I discovered that if you leave a bottle of wine sitting on the front seat of a hot car... windows cracked of course...that bottle will slowly open itself...pop it sown cork...seriously...and dribble the contents of the bottle...in this case a very nice cabernet...all over the interior of the car...
I walked up to my car and I swear I thought someone had broken in. It looked like someone got into my car, opened a bottle of wine and chugged half of it. I investigated furthere and found that no such intrusion had occurred... thankfully.... my nice bottle of cab just got hot and blew up....
Took a really good workshop at ACT NOW on Tuesday night. It was a workshop with Todd Sherry, who is a casting associate for the show "Chuck." He is also a current working actor...
I've taken many a workshop on my path to greatness and I have to say this one...which is a 3-weeker...so this past Tuesday night was part one of three... was one of the best I've taken...
Todd not only had a lot of great insight as to how to make a great impression when you are auditioning...but the format of the evening was set up to provide a very interesting and informative.
He started out with a basic introduction that took on the appearance of a Todd Sherry stand up routine. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, he was funny. He told some great stories about actors who had wonderfully and naturally won over producers during casting sessions as well actors who found numerous ways to work themselves OUT of a role... even after they had been cast and shot an episode. He even shared a few of his own personal blunders.
After that he broke us all up into 5 or 6 groups for a mini callback. He assigned and handed out sides to everyone actor and had each actor enter the room and audition for the part. Aside from the group up to bat, everyone sat in and observed each audition. Thats the part that I found so valuable. I love watching actors bring something different to the role, or to to the text. It's fun and you can really learn a lot from that type of experience.
Anway, it was good...looking forward to the next two...
Sunday night... evening....dusk.... its like 7:30...
We are closing in on the deadline for the F/X online pilot competition. I decided to work with the editor on getting together a 1-3 minute version of ARMGUARD for the race. I spent the afternoon polishing up a 2 page pitch, with general notes on the concept, themes and character breakdowns. By midnight tonight, we have to submit the two page presentation with the 1-3 minute pilot episode....
YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR A TV COMEDY...
WE HAVE A TV NETWORK...
FX Network (Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck,The Shield) is looking for their next hit comedy and you have the opportunity to create it for them. Make a 3 minute comedy film think a mini-pilot that is a sample of the show you would like to make. It should introduce the premise and the main characters.Along with that, you need to upload a 1-2 page brief which outlines the plot of future episodes, the main characters, and the themes....
From the competition submissions, ten semi-finalists will revise their shorts based on notes from FX and receive $1,000. The Network expects noticeable differences in response to their notes, so shoot in a manner which will allow flexibility....
After the shorts are revised, one winner will be chosen to receive a budget of up to $40,000 to create a 15- to 20-minute presentation. FX will then decide, based on that presentation, if they want to produce a full-length pilot and possibly order the series for production. If they do, FX will, subject to good faith negotiation, enter into an agreement with the Competition Winner with respect to production services for the series.
So ARMGUARD it is....
ARMGUARD is a project that has been sort of hanging around for a couple of months...lacking any clear direction. We shot episode one a couple of months ago and we've just now started editing.
I started writing and ARMGUARD because while we...the group...Indie City Entertainment...were tossing around ideas for things to shoot...projects to develop...one of the girls in the group found us a location to shoot in for free. The location was a real-life small security company in Glendale where the girl who hooked us up actually used to work. She went to her former boss and asked if we could use the office after hours to shoot. The nice man said yes, which was great, but what was even better was that when I went over to check out the spot, I immediately feel in love with the whole building, let alone the office.
It's this really basic 5 story...i think 5 story... lets just call it a 4-6 story building that stands alone...it doesn't look OLD...but it looks dated...like a pair old bell bottoms.... really ugly wood panels line the walls in every hallway... and the office itself is just two rooms.... a desk in each room...computer monitors on top... a fax machine over here, a raggety plant over there...on the wall is a series of certficates, a calendar, an American flag and a snapshot of the boss with Arnold Shwarzenegger.
What really got me excited was the stuff in the closet. This office...being a fully operational nickle and dime security company, had a whole closet full of security uniforms. I was so thrilled by the fact that we not only had open access to this office... at no cost... we had a built in wardrobe department.... I immediatley went home and wrote the whole "WE'VE GOT WARDROBE!" bit. Itr was only a one page bit...but it definitely got me going.
So we got a cast and crew together and a few weeks later we shot a six page episode. SINCE then... I got so busy writing, producing, directing and building some buzz for my CATCH series that ARMGUARD kind of got put on the back burner.
So THIS...is a test... I did get some great feedback on the little one- minute ARMGUARD trailer that we posted... we also screened the trailer at the party on May 1st....and now we've got this FX competition... We will see what kind of impression ARMGUARD can make in the contest.... but I'm starting to think it might be time to kick this donkey in the ass....
I posted the new CATCH trailer last night on MyspaceTV... great response so far... 224 views and 5 comments...
This trailer was created primarily for the industry mixer/screening party we had we had last week. Its much longer than the usual trailer because I wanted to give all the actors involved a little something to look at... somehting to cheer about...even the cool graphics in the beginning... was Paul Kim, a great editor, flexing his creative muscles for the crowd... check it out:
CATCH features Anne Judson Yager as "Maggie" and Trevor Jones as "Jerry," two star-crossed serial killers looking for love in all the wrong places.
What will it take to satisfy their quest for true love. How far will they go to find it? Are they destined to find each other? And will that magical moment be Serendipitous? Or more like Alien VS Predator 3? By the way…what are they doing with all the bodies?
Stay Tuned....
CATCH features Bruce Klefstad as Clyde McGillicuttie, Stephen Schaffold, Heidi Fielek, Kristin Downey, Akume, Caitlin Moreland, Paul Duraso, Chris Tessitore, Lisa Strauss, Ashley Cozine and Hudson Oliveira...
Some of the feedback...
Just watched the new trailer, and I think it's AWESOME! Great work! Loved the Catch.com founder. He was perfect.
wow congrats it looks really good, I like the Black and white choice
too...
Dude, it's really good. Seriously. Great job.
Makes me curious- Looks good- Shot great- Good luck...
Bruce Klefstad (aka Clyde McGillicuttie) sent me an email tonight:
I have sent the link for CATCH to all my friends and acting buddies. They all love it and think you guys did a bang up job. My daughter (SAG actor) sent it out to her list also, and got some great responses, also. Your series should do well.
The premiere of episode one is schedule for Thursday June 5th at the next ICE screening party at The Bridge in Universal City. Ep 1 will be posted on Myspace the following day...
watching the directors commentary for MICHAEL CLAYTON... its good...I'd actually give it a thumbs up... informative...good mix of technical movie making (and screenwriting) insight and observations/notes on each actors process....
Had an audition yesterday... my ONE audition for May... kidding...I hope TO GOD I have more auditions in May....it was for a board game called PARTINI... I think its a drinking game... they had four of us hanging out, palying the game and having fun with each other...it was at a "3 of Us" style casting office at 1020 North Sycamore Avenue....
The Indie City party at The Bridge Thursday night went great...great for a first event...not perfect...
The turnout was solid... I had about 40 RSVP's on the Evite...with the notion of about 15-20 more who had expressed interest but either didnt ever receive the Evite...or never bothered to RSVP...
My guess is that we had around 30 people there specifically for Indie City...probably around 20 or so attending as regular patrons of The Bridge...and by 10PM...We had roughly another 30 who were there for the TAKTILE CD listening party... an event that was sheduled to go down right after ours.
So it was a good start... we had a few technical difficulties getting the DVD to play ....so after I hushed the room...and made an announcement..and an introduction....there was dead air....dead, dead air.......a large group standing there, waiting to see the new CATCH trailer...and it took ten minutes to get the DVD to play correctly...with sound... ugh
The guy behind the bar finally got it figured out.... and we moved on from there... but for me...it was a REALLY tense ten minutes.
Like I said...it was good for our first event... I am planning on having another one June 5th... the first Thursday in June. I should be able to screen Episode one of CATCH... maybe even episode two... and episode one of Armguard...
It's HOT here in Los Angeles... the weather here is supposed to stay steady at 70-75 all the time... its hot and heavy 90 plus today..as it was yesterday...
Don't have AC here in the apartment...so it gets a little stuffy when its really hot out...not unbearable..like those heatwave days in New York...but not ideal west coast conditions.
(warning: segue approaching)
As I sit here typing I've got the DVD of the movie HEAT, with Deniro and Pacino, playing in front of me, its sort of playing in the background, but its placement, is in front of me. I'm actually listening to it because I've got Michael Mann's audio commentary rolling.
I've been going back to alot of movies I've seen before to watch them again with the audio commentary rolling. As a writer/director/actor there is SO much great information in those speacial feature commentaries. It usually includes personal notes, observations and experiences of the writers, directors and actors...and they all comment on each others work. It is an incredibly valuable resource. You would have to be a fool to pass all that up. Some commentaries ae better than others, of course but any and every rising writer/director/actor should check out the special features of every DVD they can get there hands on and listen to the audio commentaries.... trust me.
Earlier this week I listened to Quenten Tarantino's commentary as a writer on TRUE ROMANCE, which was great. he talked about TRUE ROMANCE as his first real screenplay, how much of it was autobiographical, the struggles he went through to get the film made AND how he was in the middle of directing PULP FICTION when TRUE ROMANCE made its premiere, so he went to the premiere with the cast of PULP FICTION...really cool shit.
I've been busy working all weekend. Not for HINT, but I've been doing a lot of prep for Indie City's first party....sort of a mixer slash screening party. I've posted stuff on Facebook, Myspace and created an Evite. Here is the party info that I've been building and pumping out all week:
Please join us next Thursday, May 1st, 8PM
@ The BRIDGE
3256 Cahuenga Blvd
Universal City, CA
"Artist and Industry": Brought to you by CO2 EVENTS
Featuring INDIE CITY ENTERTAINMENT:
Indie City Entertainment is an organization that serves the professional and artistic needs of a wide variety of industry players. We are the NEW West Coast Collective, a coalition of creative cats, congregating in California.
This our first in a series of monthly mixers. We will be screening trailers of current projects; Mixing it up with like-minded, hard-working, creative individuals and catching up with those we consider cool.
DIRECTIONS
From the Valley: Where Ventura blvd. turns into Cahuenga blvd West. just West of Barham blvd. in the Starbucks lot. No sign; center door red lights.
From Hollywood: Highland ave North to Cahuenga blvd W cross Barham turn into Starbucks shopping center on right. No sign; Center door red lights.
I've been working with a couple of editors to get material ready to show. I should have two good trailers for my CATCH series and one trailer for the ARMGUARD series. One other thing about the ARMGUARD series, the initial plan was to show a little one minte trailer of one episode that we shot two months ago. I've been so busy with the CATCH series and a handful of other things that I never got around to writing episode two of ARMGUARD. So I'm watching the rough cut of the trauler and I have no idea what is to come of this project. At the same time, I receive from an email that is promoting another one of these "Create a 3-minute pilot" for FX....
FX Network (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck, The Shield) is looking for their next hit comedy and YOU have the opportunity to create it for them!
Make a 3 minute comedy film – think a mini-pilot – that is a sample of the show you would like to make. It should introduce the premise and the main characters. Along with that, you need to upload a 1-2 page brief which outlines the plot of future episodes, the main characters, and the themes.
So, the editor did such a good job with the one minute trailer that I talked to him about this little compettion and he agreed to whip up a 3-minute piece to submit. The deadline is Thursday, May 1st. I just need to put together the 1-2 page brief...and like I said...I haven't been doing a loit of writing for this... but I should be able to knock something out by Thursday.
I've seen a few of these online "mini-pilot" competitions come and go...and I'm a little skeptical. I just feel like if you've got a really great idea for a show, or a solid concept...and I've got a handful of them...you could do a lot more with it... you could do yourself a lot nmore justice...by nurturing your product and seeking out a better scenario for your ideas or your plan than handing it over to an online competition... I could be way off...I could be wrong...and it could be a great opportuntiy for independent producers to showcase their work... but I'm not sure I trust the process.... and I do have a firm belief in the value of my ideas.... I've got some solid, marketable, money making shit I'm sittin on...
ARMGUARD, however, I'm not in love with... I just happen to have enough footage available to create a 3-minute pilot. I just happen to have an editor working on it right now. So what the hell, I'll submit it..and we will see what happens.
Hey James. Me again - the "aspiring actress." Just wondering, how do you stay confident despite people occasionally not liking your work or style, or just basically making you feel like you're not any good? I worry that my lack of self confidence will hinder me as I try to get work when I'm older. I haven't got much acting experience as yet but I feel so unconfident about my ability and it's even worse when people make it clear that they doubt me. You know what I mean?
Hey ... you know it sounds like you are in a place where you are still learning...not that we ALL arent in a perpetual state of learning... but if you "haven't got much acting experience," like you say, you should focus right now on developing your craft. Work on anything and everything. Get involved with as many projects as you can. Take an improv class or join a long form improv group. Learning the art of long form improv did WONDERS for me. Long form improv can make you fearless!! Get on stage, in a class or in an actual production. Big or small, get as much stage time as you can. I know that every time I've been in a stage production... regardless of whether the play was good, bad or forgettable... good director, bad director... good cast mates, bad, or just plain forgettable... the one thing I always took away from the experience was more stage time...and more stage time gave me more confidence...and it sounds to me like confidence is what you seek.
And I agree...confidence is what you need... so go get it...the more you do...the bigger and better you will feel about your work...and you will come to understand... to quote the wise and great Dr Suess:
"Those who mind, don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind."
I had an awesome weekend... Busy...but awesome...Another top 5 California-moment-to-date:
I was working an event for HINT down in San Clemente, which is a little surf town just south of Laguna. HINT donated two pallets of product to a party hel by the Kelly Slater Foundation, so we went down to set it all up, ice it all down, and make sure everything was pretty and proper. Then we hung out out the rest of the day and mingled. Here is a little press release detailing the event:
Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder performed a special 90-minute show in front of an exclusive group of celebrities, pro surfers and members of the surf industry Saturday at a Kelly Slater Foundation benefit in San Clemente.
A crowd of 700 gathered at a private home near the former Western White House as World-famous surfer Kelly Slater hosted the fundraiser in San Clemente to raise money for Surfrider’s Save Trestles campaign and MiOcean, among other charities. Slater was M.C. of the show that also featured a guest appearance by Ben Harper and rare musical appearance by Slater himself.
Actor/director Sean Penn and actresses Cameron Diaz and Laura Dern, and University of Hawaii quaterback and 2007 Heisman Trophy candidate Colt Brennan were in attendance. World tour star Taylor Knox, former WCT surfers Pat O’Connell, Peter Townend and Lisa Anderson, and recent XXL award winners Mike Parsons and Greg Long were also among the attendees. Teenage surfing phenom Courtney Conlogue helped serve up Nalu’s Island Grill.
Before the auction, Robert Shriver, brother-in-law to Gov. Schwarzenegger who was recently fired from the State Park and Recreation Commission along with Clint Eastwood for opposing the governor on the toll road issue, kept the audience thinking about the cause.
“We all thought ‘you must be kidding’” Shriver said of first hearing of the toll road plan. “They’re not kidding. This fight is not over.”
Vedder seized the evening to make political points and joke.
“Half the songs I ever wrote were written in the ocean, so this is my way to give back half the publishing,” he quiped. Later, after knocking off a edgy cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” which he called an “activist song” he shouted “Take your (expletive) road and put it somewhere else!”
Noting the attendance of friend and fellow surfer Penn, for whom Vedder contributed songs to the film “Into the Wild,” he said “Sean was looking for a way to donate, so he’s set up a booth and for $500 he’ll punch you in the face,” Vedder joked. “Then he’ll sign the wound in neosporin.”
Wednesday..... Got my taxes done last night... YAY!
Good for me, right? Whatever...
Hey... IRS....GO F%$#& yerself!!!!
Got it all done just in the nick of time... I'll tell you that. I submitted at 10PM on April 15th....
Why not? The early bird gets what? a kick in the ass?
Headed out to work early this morning and took care of a handful of HINT errands... then hustled my butt back home to catch the YANKEES....playing the %$$%% RED SOX.... on ESPN2...
I dont get many regular season Yankee games on TV out West so when ESPN throws me a bone... I'm gonna pounce on it, clamp down with all my might, get my slobber all over it and shake it around like a rag doll... toss it up in there air and pounce again...roll over on my back...shake it some more...slobber some more...I think you get the point...
(BOBBY ABREU and AROD hit back to back home runs in the FIRST!!!)
I just got off the phone with the event planner for The Bridge, which is a new lounge in Studio City as well as the venue for Indie City's first party on May 1st. The conversation went well. I think its going to turn out to be a good match...a good fit for both sides. The Bridge is relatively new and they want to explore a few new ways to get exposure and bring people in. Indie City Entertainment is relatively new and we want to explore new ways to get exposure and bring people in. Whats great is that the people at The Bridge, based on our concept and feedback, are designing an artist-oriented theme for Thursday nights. So the night we have our event, there will be a few other "featured" artists and all the pertinent players and hustlers. Should turn out to be cool little party... Just what I was hoping for...
(NY 3 BOS 2... Big Papi can't hit... Big Papi's lost his Mojo)
(I hate Manny)
(I actually love Manny. He's a f%$# great hitter...he's cool...unshakeable... and he KILLS the ball....I totally respect the guy... I respect his skills...I FEAR his skills...and I respect his public personality... he plays HIS game)
(AND he just got called out on strikes! A-HA...F%$$# You Manny...sit down ya big baby)
Ok...back to blogging...
So Monday night.... we shot more footage for CATCH episode 1... WHICH...I believe...I hope... could possiblel be finished and available to make its PREMIERE at the party on May 1st... we'll see.... I'll do what I can to make that happen...I still have a few inserts to shoot to finally wrap on the RE-SHOOT of episode one...
Let me tell you something about RE-SHOOTING episode one...
First of all... I decided to re shoot episode one for a handful of reasons. The MAIN reason was that I had access to an HD camera. I shot episode THREE in HD. So I figured I should go back and try and produce every episode in HD. It will take a little work, but I think its totally worth it. ALSO... when I first released the teaser... I noticed that there were a few points in the text.... in the monologue that should have been more clearly represented in the episode itself... I ALSO...I ALSO... I ALSO...
(NICE CATCH MATSUI!!!)
Also...I came up with an idea that would be great for episode one and a great opener for the entire series. Then, with all that going on, the person who was in the process of editing the ORIGINAL episode one footage was lagging... that person had other priorities...The thrill was gone...and the job just wasnt getting done.... so BANG... arm twisted... We reshoot..
(Dang it... The Sox tied the game... 3-3..bottom of the 4th)
We got MOST of what we needed...mission 90% accomplished...but afterwards, my roommate and I sat here, exhausted... and we both agreed that the day felt a lot like work...it wasnt very fun... it's supposed to be fun...it usually IS fun. We were both really tired and really cranky... Re-shoots kind of suck... HD or no HD..
The following evening, Monday evening, we were scheduled to get everyone together to shoot footage for this new idea I came up with....the intro thing...
(BASE HIT!! MATSUI in to score. GIAMBI to 3rd, and MOELLER takes a double and an RBI. Yanks lead 4-3. Wait a minute, who is MOELLER?)
We were tired, a little frustrated and the collective energy was low, but we trudged along. We got set up...
(JETER is up with the bases loaded....two outs)
Once we started shooting, everything came together. All the actors did a great job with the material I gave them. We caught some really nice, natural moments on camera...and it was FUN. We all spent the evening cracking up and doing whatever we could to not burst out in laughter during a take.
(BASE HIT DEREK JETER! BASE HIT DEREK JETER. DEREK JETER strikes again)
So the shoot Monday was packed with redemption. What was really great about the shoot...and accidentally brilliant...if I do say so myself.. was the fact that this new idea I came up with incorporates multiple actors... so I was able to get almost every Indie City actor involved in the project in one fell swoop.. which is fantastic... I didnt even don on me until the shoot was over how great it will be to have EVERYONE... almost everyone... appearing in the first episode... CATCH can now become a stronger representation of the group and what we are all about...plus....
(CRAP...the Red Sox have loaded the bases with NOBODY out)
Plus... now that everyone is involved...everyone has a renewed enthusiasm... a re-energized attitude towards the group...towards this project and hopefully all those that will follow....
(DAMMIT... Boston just knocked in two runners... NY 7 BOS 6... 5th inning)
So where o where has James the Actor gone...where o where can he be?
I received this blog comment the other day:
Hey James, just wanted to say I've been reading your blog and really enjoy it. I'm an aspiring actress myself and it's very inspiring Keep up the good work and keep writing!
I get blog comments like that from time time and I think thats really cool. THANK YOU....I love hearing from people who read my blog. It reminds me how important it is to be there for other artists. It reminds me that we are all in this together.
It also reminds about the sleeping giant that is my acting career.
(Robbie Cano rips it into right field. POSADA scores. This game is tied at nine in the bottom of the fifth)
When I moved to Los Angeles, I was very aware of all those that struggled before me... All those that are struggling right now. So many of my peers had sound advice from all sounds and perspectives. "Be patient." "It takes two years to feel like your acclimated." "Stay focused." "Get a 310." "Don't get an 818." "Don't tell people you're an actor."
Wait.... what? DONT tell people I'm an actor? Seriously?
Yes...seriously...trust me... you gotta hold that card.
So moving to LA meant I was basically starting over. I think about how my life as an actor looked and felt when I was trying to find my way in NYand it helps me get a handle on progress. I had few connections. I had no network and my resume was barren. In NY, It took 5 years for me to wrap my head around who was who, where to go, what to say, how to play. I found my groove, found my way, found gigs that pay, learned how to play.
I'll do the same damn thing out here in LA....
(Look at that... AROD doubles, JORGE doubles, Yankees lead the Red Sox 13-9 in the bottom of the eighth)
(HOLY cow GIAMBI drops a base hit into shallow left. He gets a double. It's 15-9)
(I've been blogging officially for 4 hours now) What I'm saying here is that I'm not gonna sit around and wait for someone to give me PERMISSION to have a voice...be heard. All this writing, producing and directing is my way of staying active, my way of being PROACTIVE. It MAY even fortify my purpose. I will pray. I will work. I will fight. I will write. I will do whatever it takes....while I keep, create and relentlessly knock at that gate... while I shout and pound with my fist until those who happen to be the keepers of the gate are moved from their sullen, somber state, from all that is on their own plate, from their hate....maybe not HATE...but distaste.... from their distaste to admiration...
Man... I'm tired... fried...totally fried... but good fried... like fried in a nice organic safflower oil...
yeah... I'm up at 3:30 AM...its Tuesday morning... 6:30AM for all my NYC peeps....
Its 3:30 AM pacific time and I'm watching HD files bounce from one hard drive to another... passing through one unsupecting laptop...well...thats not true...I reckon that laptop suspects sumthin...
I've got to make the transfer before I go to bed... because my roommate takes his laptop with in the morning (I have to use HIS because its a MAC and both hard drives are formatted as such)
So I'm sitting here staring at my hard drive which is hooked up to my roommates laptop, which is hooked up to another hard drive. That hard drive is a little HD drive that connects to an HD video camera... the HD camera that I used yesterday and today to shoot more CATCH footage...NEW footage for epsiode one and re-shoots for episode one...
One way or another... episode one is coming down the mountain... like a fat nasty avalanche.
Aaah Wednesday.... back in LA after spending the weekend in New York for Jen's wedding. Jen is one of my dearest friends and a top five favorite person in the world. FYI...this was her SECOND wedding. Husband number one turned out to be a "recreational" user with a habit that was bigger than anyone realized and woudn't go away. Anway, Jennifer and Matt got married in Asbury Park and had the reception at the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church in Asbury Park. They held the reception at The Berkeley Hotel in Asbury Park... great to see everyone...
Meeting with a potential new manager tomorrow. He represents one of the girls involved with the Indie City collective. I'm hoping things go well so we can work something out and get some good things accomplished. From speaking to him on the phone, he seems like a good guy.
Shooting more CATCH footage this weekend. The release of Episode 1 has been delayed...mostly because I'm not happy with the results of the original first episode...not happy with a handful of things...so after a few weeks of fretting...stressing...analyzing...and pondering... I'm getting everyone together for a re-shoot... I want Episode 1 to look awesome... Epiosde 2 and 3 are great...I want 1 to be great as well... so here we go... back to square one... its actually a re-visit... not a step backwards.
We have a few more interesteing things brewing as a result of people floating in and out of the collective:
>>I'm helping one of the members write a treatment for a ten episode internet series for a group that is ready to finance a quality project.
>>Small Paul's roommate has a short film that he is trying to produce and he dropped in on a meeting this week to have his script read and to discuss his plans and ask for our assistance.
>>Indie City Entertainment has set a date for our first in a series of monthly networking parties. This MONUMENTAL event will be held on Thursday, May 1st, at a lounge in Studio City called The Bridge.... i think thats the new name...formerly The Casting Office... which is how most currently remember it....at 3256 Cahuenga Boulevard W...
From EATER LA:
CAHUENGA PASS: There was much to-do when the divey Casting Office shuttered last summer, and we now have the goods on its replacement: "A new NY themed tequila bar called The Bridge (with no sign out in front, just two red lights over the door) just opened at 3256 Cahuenga Blvd." We can't find a phone number to confirm, but a Starbucks employee (yes, the Starbucks is open) said there is an unnamed bar in the same complex. Good enough for us. [EaterWire Inbox]
I'm having my first rassle with West Coast pollens...and I'm getting a whuppin.
I used to have allergies really bad when I lived in Houston... Spring and Fall would just kick my ass all over town...
Then I moved back to New York and the allergies were dormant for the most part.
And now I'm sneezing 8 times in a row and scratching a vicious itch in the back of throat with the back of my tongue... fun stuff.
I brought my trusty cast and crew together yesterday to shoot Episode 3 of CATCH.
CATCH 1 is almost ready. Leetal should be putting the finishing touches on it this week. I'm hoping to have it posted on Youtube by the end of the week...
(I hope)
CATCH 2 is in the books and in the hands of another editor. Small Paul is the guy who workd on the legal spec and did a fantastic job. I cant wait to see what he does with CATCH 2.
(We call him Small Paul because we have two Paul's in the collective...Big Paul and Small Paul)
CATCH 3 was shot yesterday... on a new camera...HD...
We started at a little park nestled in a quiet neighborhood in the Burbank Hills
Brace Canyon Park, 2901 Haven Way, Burbank, CA 91504
I went out saturday afternoon to do some last minute location scouting. Brace Canyon Park is actually just up the hill from our second location, which is the apartment we use for MAGGIE'S apartment.... It was the LAST park I scouted and it was EXACTLY what I wanted, exactly how I envisioned the set to look. So I was happy. The only challenge was that it rained overnight so the entire park was soaking wet. Fortunatly we were able to work around it and deal with it.
Brace Canyon Park, I believe, is responsible for my allergy attack...but I'll be ok.
Anyway we've got some really great footage yesterday... I worked with a new DP...he did a great job....nice easy-going personality...brought to us by Trevor Jones, who happens to be playing the role of JERRY.....and BTW...great performances all around... Trevor was great... Caitlin Moreland played the role of Samantha...Jerry's unlucky picnic date... Caitlin was really really good at taking direction and making nice subtle adjustments according to my notes. She definitely exceeded my expectations.....and Anne was once again fantastic playing the sweet and vicious, merry and murderous MAGGIE.
Episode 3 should be a good one...
Small Paul is going to edit CATCH 3 as well.
This morning I sent over a sketch of my ideal timeline as far as releasing all the CATCH episodes:
Hi Paul-
As far as timelines... here is what would be ideal for me
(This should give you plenty of time. Very little pressure)
4/04: Catch Ep 1..which is in the hands of Leetal...should be ready for release this week...i'm hoping... Friday I'm thinking
Monday, 4/14: Then...we give that episode a week 's run and have you drop a new 1:00 trailer on their ass...
Monday, 4/21: Then..a week after that...Ep 2 is posted...
Monday, 4/28: week after that...maybe another trailer (If we have material for it)...
Monday, 5/08: and a week after that come Ep 3
Hows that sound?
Sounds good to me.
ANd tonight....another Indie City meeting ...
Sup Y'all....
A Big Hearty thank you to everyone involved in the CATCH 3 shoot yesterday... great group...great work...Thank you so so much
resending this email as a reminder>>>>>
To all Creative Cats of the Collective Collaboration Nation:
Tonight we meet in North Hollywood ....
We have a few new scripts to read...and LOTS of strategizing to do
Monday March 31st
7PM
10757 Hortense Street, North Hollywood 91602
It's been SUCH a weird week. The week after easter Sunday usually is. Actually the week after any holiday is almost always a little bit off...slow... out of whack...
I didnt travel over Easter weekend, so I was ready to rock come Monday morning, but the collective conscience ...the common energy surrounding me was not in alignment with my intensity.... which most directly meant that I couldnt get anyone to return my calls and emails...
So I was forced to focus my energies on more invidual aendeavors and activities... basically I got a lot of writing done. I re-wrote a large portion of CATCH: Episode 3... which we are planning on shooting this weekend (You can see why I'm on edge about people returning calls and emails). I wrote another short spec script based on a viral video concept...a concept that I believe will turn into a decent money-making venture. And I also re-worked the oiutline for the entire CATCH series as it stands right now as well an outline for another series I trying to get off the ground currently titled THE NOBODIES.
So... I THINK i should be able to get the Episode 3 shoot underway on Sunday. I've got everyone and everything in place, including a new camera... I managed to secure an HD camera this weekend, which is an upgrade from what we've been shooting on... the only thing I'm missing is a DP...or a camera operator...which is kind of important... but I'm not worried about it... I'll find someone.
Last night I worked an event for HINT. Hint co-sponsored a movie premiere at the Egyptian Theater on Las Palmas Ave and Hollywood Blvd. The movie is called "Chasing Baja," a documentary on the Baja 1000 desert race. We had a sampling booth in the lobby for the pre/post premier festivities. We also rolled out “hintTV”, our first foray into hint branded content.
We received a "pre-game" celebrity list, which is a list of all the celebs scheduled to attend....
Pink- Recording Artist; Eva La Rue- CSI:Miami; Parnelli Jones- Indy 500 Winner, Baja 1000 Winner; Dylan Bruno- Numb3rs; Bart Johnson- High School Musical; John Schneider- Actor; Ray Everham- NASCAR Team Owner; Leyla Milani- Deal Or No Deal; Adrianne Curry- My Fair Brady; Johnny Campbell- Has Won The Most Consecutive Baja 1000s; Adrienne Janic- Overhaulin’; Erin Crocker- Professional Race Car Driver; Kevin Covias- American Idol; Maria Conchita Alonso- Actress; Mia St. John- Professional Boxer; Paige Hemmis- Extreme Home Makeover; Sunkrish Bala- Notes From The Underbelly
I may or may not have met a few of these folks... hard to say... I saw familiar faces...shook hands with people on the fly... passed out a ew bottles of HINT...shook a few more hands....
The one person I DID meet, who I recognized, who also happens to NOT be on the pre-game list:
That would be "Wolf" from American Gladiator. Dude's kind of hard to miss.
I'm gonna make myself some eggs and sausage for breakfast.... I will revisit this post shortly thereafter....
Wow... okay so I never got back to this post yesterday (Its now Monday morning, March 24th).
On Saturday, I had an 11AM workshop at a place called ACTNOW. It was workshop number two in series of three workshops with a casting associate from Rick Milliken Casting. Their most notable casting credit is for the FOX show BONES.
We are basically doing cold paired scenes, getting notes from the guest and running the scene a second time with notes. It's a nice relaxed atmosphere and Christine, the casting associate, is really nice, very personable and approachable.
Right after the workshop I got a call from my agent. He had an audition for me later that same day. Its kind of unusual to get a call from your agent on a Saturday. It's also unusual to get an audition for a commercial on Saturday, but hey, I'm in town, not doing much of anything else...let's have it.
The audition was for a Mexican Avacado commercial. I thought it went well.
It was gorgeous out here in LA yesterday for Easter Sunday. My original plan was to be a good boy, stay in Saturday night, lay low, the get up early and meet up with my friend Heather and go to a nice 9AM service over in Santa Monica, then brunch somewhere...
Unfortunately I couldnt keep myself out of trouble on Saturday night. I went over to the rooftop bar at The Formosa Cafe for a few drinks with my buddy Trevor and a few friends of his.
And when I walked up to the roof deck, there just happened to be an Absolut Vodka promotion going on up there..and that promotion just happened to be run by a girl from Indie City... Helps to have friends in high places...or have friends with free drink tickets...
So next thing you know I'm enjoying all kinds of Absolute premiums and party fun....
And posed for the following picture...
Point of the story is... I couldnt get my ass out bed Sunday morning and go to church.
I was, however, somewhat productive on Easter Sunday...
I started setting up the Indie City Entertainment website:
The site is in its early stages so there is not much to see. I'm working on it. I did feel it was important to secure the domain name so when someone googles Indie City Entertainment, they can find somehting...anything...
Last night I had a session with the editor for CATCH: EPISODE 1 and believe it or not, I think we are almost there. I think we are going to be able to pull together a nice looking premiere episode. It was really getting frustrating for a while, Leetal put together a rough cut. I wasn't happy with it. I sent her a list of notes. She got a little insulted. I asked if we could work on it together. She made some time for me and grumbled a little bit. I called it a collaborative effort. She called it a "Supervised Session." THEN we got together and started going over the footage. After hours of moving stuff around, trying different takes and angles... We accidentally came across somehting that ended up saving the crucial scene. So I left Leetals place last night feeling relieved and optimistic.
It's a bright and shiny Monday morning. No Indie City meetng tonight. Ther are a hadnful of group members still ut of town. I'm coordinating another shoot for this coming Sunday. I'm trying to get CATCH: EPISODE 3 on the books. If I book that avacado commercial then I may very wel be in Mexico for a day or two this week. I'm also going to waiting to hear this week if I can get the greenlight on the Legal Spec project.
Sorry for the confusion... I posted the spec a few days ago and then made a few necessary touch-ups... and now it's been RE-released....
The latest from Indie City Entertainment, this is a pilot or a spec video created for a top legal education publishing firm. Produced and directed by James Huffman; 2nd Team Director: Eric Jones; Director of Photography: Leetal Platt; Editor and graphics: Paul Kim; Featuring Anne Judson Yager, Stephen Schaffold, Bruce Klefstad and little Trevor Strem.
The trailer for my new internet series "CATCH" is now available on Youtube...
"CATCH" is a new short internet series... a dark comedy
Written, produced and directed by ME, James Huffman
Starring the brilliant and beautiful Anne Judson Yager as MAGGIE
Trevor Jones as JERRY
Also featuring Stephen Schaffold, Chris Tessitore and Ashley Cozine
First AD: Eric Jones
Director of Photography: Leetal Platt
Editor: Leetal Platt
Sound Technician: Paul Duraso
Production Assistant: Paul Kim
On Saturday I successfully directed Episode TWO of my short series "Catch," which I also wrote. Sunday night we worked on, finished up, Episode one of ARMGUARD, my short sit com series. I played the role of Billy Booty. I'm also the writer/producer on that one, Eric Jones, my roommate, was the Director.
TODAY, we are shooting a vignette that will be submitted as a spec to the legal textbook company I have been negotiating with. If all goes well, I'll will be producing a series of legal videos, whihc could turn out to be a nice gig and a solid boost to my Producer/Director resume.
All that being said... I am so friggin busy I can barley see straight...I'm not complaining...no way... its great... I just have a lot on my plate.... I'm stuffing my face..
The my week will end with me working THURS - SUN at a Natural Food Expo in Anaheim for HINT, and taking two Casting Director workshops, one Thursday night and one Saturday aftrenoon...
Gotta get my actor butt back in the game...
Speaking of my Actor butt...
New pics...I shot with photographer Tiffany Kyees last week.... I needed photos that were in alignment with the Hollywood standard and I think I got em...check it out:
Its Friday night... I'm so tired. This week has been really busy. We shoot Episode Two of CATCH tomorrow... so forget being tired...I'm pushing on...
Here is a letter I just sent over to my DP:
Hey-
(This email is for Leetal...but I'm CC'ing the relevant players so everyone's up to speed)
Here is run down of tomorrow and a few notes:
9A at Silver Lake Coffee Co, 2388 Glendale Blvd 90039; Friendly chat between Maggie and Lisa
12P at my place on Hoover , shooting Jerry's pre-date prep and lip synch
** I'll get some food and we can have lunch at my place
4:30P at Hortense House, shooting Maggie and Mickey exterior
8P at Stephen Schaffolds apt, Jerry and Michelle scene, exterior
I'll have Small Paul on set tomorrow...so if you want or need a break... we can have him DP here and there...its up to you...you just let me know... I want to keep everybody fresh...I know its a long day...
I've also asked Small Paul to edit this episode... I don't want to overload you with stuff to work on....plus I'd like to give him a chance to show us what he can do.
The scene at the coffee shop is going to be minimalist...guerrilla style... we dont have open permission to shoot there...so we will be practically sitting at the table with the characters... a very Paul Greengrass feel to it... to the coffee shop owners or managers it will appear as if we are just a few folks having some coffee and playing around with a video camera. Don't worry...if we get bounced...I have a plan B. But we should be fine.
ALSO...Each scene is going to open with a particular establishing shot...which will then dolly in to meet the characters at the top of the scene.. but we can talk about that in the AM.
I got back to the West Coast on Sunday but I've been slammed since I hit the ground.
But hold on...lets go back...
New York kicked my ass. I was determined to see as many friends as I could in the 7 days I was there. I trudged through flurries and sleet and blistering sub zero winds to go bar-hopping in the East Village. I drank dirty Grey Goose martini on the rocks after dirty Grey Goose martini on the rocks. I hung out at LIT on 2nd Avenue til 4AM...LIT is another one of these grungy, edgy East Village bars that allows pretty much anything and everything... and it was all going on.... believe me... it was fun...except for the music...the music they play downstairs at LIT is AWFUL. Granted, the hip thing in many clubs and lou nges is 80's music, both authentic and replicated...which is fine... but even for 80's music...the shit they were playing at LIT was horrible...
The DJ hit a low point in the evening and played some annoying, pseudo-catchy, electro pop track (That I've never heard before) that kept singing "Ice Cream Ice Cream Ice Cream" over and over again... I looked across the dance floor and saw my buddy Andrew dancing in such a way that could only be described as some sort of Bob Fosse inspired homage to THE WIGGLES.
I immediately rushed over to him and forced him to stop:
"DUDE...STOP ...RIGHT NOW...what the hell are you doing man? SERIOUSLY, You look like a SOCCER MOM."
So we all got out of there before we lost anymore dignity...and yet strangely enough...We ended up right back at the same spot the next night... I'm not realy sure how that happened..or why...but it did.
ANYWAY, Sunday morning rolls around and I'm due back at JFK by 10AM at the LATEST... I leave Williamsburg around 8:30.... and I dont get my ass to the terminal til 10:20...my flight departs at 11:05!!!!
ITS TOO LATE TO CHECK MY LUGGAGE. I CANT GET A LATER FLIGHT. I'M REEEEEEALLY HUNGOVER. MY ONLY OPTION IS TO DITCH MY LUGGAGE AND FLY WITH WHATEVER I CAN CARRY ON. WHAT DO I DO? WHICH WAY DO I GO? I THINK I MAY THROW UP A LITTLE BIT. SOMEBODY HELP ME...PLEASE!!!
The nice woman at the check-in counter walks to a back room, pulls out a small rolling suitcase...about 1/3 the size of the one that is sitting next me, holding all my clothes, my shoes, and my hard drive with 30 hrs of sit com footage on it. She tells me I can trade my big suitcase for her small suitcase, which I would then be able to either carry on or gate check. She suggests that I try and squeeze as much of my stuff into the tiny piece of luggage...and basically forfeit whatever doesnt get packed...
Its 10:30...my flight leaves at 11:05...and I still have to get through security... so like a wild dog at a land fill..I rip open my suitcase...right there in front of everyone waiting to check in, and I start pulling items and either shoving them into the new luggage and bidding a tearful goodbye. Shoes, socks, t-shirts.... I'm digging...tossing...folding...squeezing... then I stop...wipe the sweat from my brow...dry heave a little bit... look up at the 50 or so people on line all staring at me...give a cordial half-smile...and resume....
I didnt do so bad...I only had to leave behind a pair of shoes, a few t-shirts, two long sleeve thermals...and my PRACTICALLY NEW super spacious CLAIBORNE rolling suitcase.... UGH!
I Rush over to the security check point and....
"WHAT???"
"You want me to unpack? Do I have what? YES...its my hard drive...okay, I'll open up my luggage...You have NO IDEA what I just went through to pack this thing. Huh? Yes, I have a few bottles of lotions and gels and stuff in my shaving kit....can't take it on the plane? Okay fine, throwing it in the trash. THIS? Oh its my lap top..okay I'll take it out... my shoes...oh yeah... sorry...taking off shoes."
It's 10:45AM....flight departs at 11:05AM ...tic... toc...tic...toc....dry...heave....dry....heave.
I've got 7 or 8 trays laid out at the checkpoint... one with my laptop...one with my hard drive... another with hair product and organic lotions and deoderants....a shoe over here...a shoe over there...
"My WALLET! Where is my WALLET? Oh...its in my back pocket. shew."
A tap on my shoulder...
"Excuse me is that yours?"
"what? YES...thank you"
Lovely... a few pairs of my underwear have landed on the floor about ten feet away. My good samaritan didnt actually pick them up for me, she just pointed them out...I wouldnt picking up some stange man's underwear off the floor at the airport either.
tic...toc...tic...toc....dry...heave...dry...heave... shove two pairs of underwear in my jacket pocket.
SUCCESS!! I've been given the green light at the checkpoint and given permission to RE-PACK the big mess I've created in the process of OBTAINING my precious green light.
tic...toc....tic...toc...
Now I'm barreling down the corridor like a big runaway snowball rolling towards the gate. I've got about 7 minutes to catch that damn flight. My new luggage doesnt really roll that well...so it keeps tipping when I pick up more speed than it can handle...I stop.. reset...resume..and roll....stop...reset...resume...and roll.
tic...toc...tic...toc...
I come flying around the corner and the lady at the gate recognizes my panicked expression...
"You trying to get on the 11:05?"
"YE.....YE..... YESSSSS."
"Okay, cuh-MOn sweetie you're almost there. I'll get the door."
"TH....THA.... THHHHH.... thank you."
Forget the dry heaves....I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.
But I made it... believe it or not....I F%$#@** made it. I sit in my seat at 11:03AM. We leave the gate at 11:06AM.
As we taxi, I look out the window and catch a quick glimpse of a baggage handler on the ground below. Something there looks oddly familiar so I lean in and press my face to the window to ge a better look.
(This didnt go over so well considering I was in an AISLE seat)
And there he was... this baggage handler is staning there sizing up a really sweet PRACTICALLY NEW super spacious CLAIBORNE rolling suitcase. He's shaking it, lifting it, inspecting every inch. He's cradling it like a newborn. He closes his eyes and presses his lips to the durable exterior.
"Did he just wipe a tear?"
He looks up catches me peering out the window. He gives me a big smile, a thumbs up and mouths the words "THANK....YOU." He holds up the suitcase and moves it back and forth as if the suitcase is doing a little jig for my benefit. The handler joins in on the jig and suddenly I'm watching the two of them engaged in a joyous waltz down the runway. They disappear together in a warm fuzzy fog of happiness.
Its F%$#&&* FREEZING in New York City.... Bone chilling....amazing how thin your blood gets after 6 months in California....
I'm in New York...sitting in my hotel room... The Comfort Inn in Maspeth Queens... the elegant, luxurious Comfort Inn in sexy sunny Maspeth Queens...with a breathtaking view of MT ZION Cemetary...
Oh no... I'm totally serious... I'm in a hotel room that overlooks one of the largest..and scariest cemetaries the greater New York area has to offer...
Manhattan skyline in the background...dead folks down in front...
Finally picked up my hard drive yesterday. The hard drive with all of my sit com pilot footage from this past Summer. I took the G rain out to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn and met up with the guy who was initially slated to edit the project. He managed to upload all my footage before he got booked up working on a feature film.
I'll take it back to LA and sit down with an editor and see if we can start squeezing out short episodes for Youtube...and then I'll start writing for it again... see what kind of life I can breathe into it...
I'm meeting with Susannah tomorrow... my co-producder on the sit com project... What I want to discuss with her is how we can continue our relationship on a bi-coastal level.... how can we work together...build strength and momentum...develop great projects...utilizing our simultaneous access to LA and NYC...
I don't really have anything specific in mind...but I think we can hammer somehting out...a few ideas anyway...
Gotta run...
(Oh wait...)
I'm throwing my little Jim Huffman ho down this Friday night at Bleecker Bar, 56 Bleecker St...near Lafayette....7:30 ish... Come one Come all....Hopefully I will see you then...
(I just learned that they might cancel Friday Night Lights)
Please don't cancel my favorite show. I LOVE Friday Night Lights and it would be a travesty to pull it. The acting is wonderful, simple and sweet. The musical score is moving. The characters are so genuine and honest. Friday Night Lights is about so much more than football. Yes, I'm a huge football fan and I talk about football aot and I make tons or references, parallels and analogies, but what I love about this show is so far above and beyond the basic premise... beyond the game of football
GRANTED...Season 2 has not been as strong as Season 1... but now that the strike is over...FNL has the opportuntiy to regroup and orchestrate a winning drive.
(Ok ...fine...that was a little cheezy)
Yes, its true... NBC's Friday Night Lights is looking at the chopping block...
DON'T DO IT!!!!
(AP) - With the writers strike over, a number of shows are in limbo as network executives plot their new schedules. Most notably, the fate of "Friday Night Lights" hangs in the balance.... The hourlong drama, based on the 1990 book by H.G. Bissinger, focuses on a high school football team in Dillon, Texas. It's a deftly written (and elegantly scored) series about a small town in which football is both a blessing and a curse.....For its first season, the Writers Guild Awards nominated it for best drama series. A critic for The New York Times has gushed: "I love `Friday Night Lights."'
"Friday Night Lights takes place in fictional Dillon, Texas and tells stories of family, friendship, love, loss, success, failure, self-discovery and religion that seem nothing like fiction. Some shows attempt to be about too much, and the characters and storylines suffer as a result. Friday Night Lights, on the contrary, introduces you to the characters and lets you see the daily interaction, the simple conversations, family dinners and football games so that you truly feel as though you are following the lives of real people. They seem human. As every episode draws to a close, you wonder how each character will spend the next week and what life will bring them next."savefridaynightlights.tv
Definitely NOT a typical week in "Sunny" California. It's been cloudy and cool all week.
So we got it done. I would call Sunday's shoot a success. We started rolling camera around 11A and wrapped at 5:30... I have to say..the whole thing went ALOT better than I had anticipated.. Everyone there to volunteer their time to be a rew member was awesome. My roommate really surprised me. I asked him to be my A.D. and he was such a key player...instrumental in the success of the day that I'm going to make sure he's there for me for all of my upcoming shoots. Granted, he was late getting to set, and he totally forgot to bring his girlfriends small TV that we were going to use as a monitor on set...but once he got there and got settled...he was great...
So we've got Episode One of CATCH. In hindsight.. there were a few things that we should have shot as coverage that we missed... but all in all...we've got what we need... we got the first one done and we can only get stronger as we move forward.
This shoot was a real boost for group morale as well. I brought this group together back in November...and we've done alot of talking...alot of planning and discussing...but talk only gets you so far. I think everyone was ready for some action. Or maybe just ready to see if I could make things happen...walk the walk. We needed this shoot to fortify our confidence. Especially after our botched shoot a couple of weeks ago.
So you should be able to see a teaser for CATCH online in the next week or so. I'm not sure if I'm going to post Episode one right away, or wait til we have 2 or 3 episodes ready for viewing, have a screening party...and THEN post them online for the rest of the world... thats the way I'm leaning anyway.
Episode Two is scheduled for shooting on March 8th.
Next week...I'm in New York. HINT is sending me back to New York to spend the week helping out with a new distributor launch. While I'm there, I'll be able to see all my friends, My Dad, and I'll be able to pick up my hard drive from tne editor was started working on my sit com project back in September.
He basically uploaded all of the footage we shot this Summer onto a hard drive that I purchased on Amazon and shipped to him in Brooklyn. Now I'll take it back to LA with me, sit down with an editor out here, take a look at all the footage...and start whipping up some episodes...
So... soon... in the next couple of months... you will hopefully be able to see a new sit com series resulting from all the work we did this Summer... I will keep you posted.
So what about James Huffman the ACTOR? He's still here...still hanging around... ready to be called upon at a moments notice.
Not without my fair share of challenges. Here's a little story of frustrating dumb luck:
I had been referred to a manager here in LA by a good friend of mine who used to be in LA, then she booked a contract role on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and moved back to New York. This Manager, who she met while she was out here in LA, was a key player in that success. So based on her suggestion, I sent the Manager my headshot and resume. My friend called ahead and let him know I would be making contact...and after a few weeks...possible even a month ...the Manager tried to reach out to me... the problem was... I had changed my number... YES... I changed my number last week and finally disconnected my 917...went 310...and the NEXT DAY I get an email from my friend back in New York saying that her Manager tried to call me and my number was disconnected....ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! She gave me his number and suggested I call him... I did...now I'm waiting for him to get back to me... fun.
I signed up to take a few of these three-week workshops with casting directors in mid-March at a place called ACT NOW. At least that way, Manager or not, theatrical agent or not, I can spend some face to face time with people that can call me in for Prime Time TV. I'm looking forward to that. I'm ready to be seen. I'm ready to start auditioning. I'm DEFINITELY ready to book.
No partying for me... I'm home working on story boards for tomorrow. We are all set to shoot Episode One of my latest creation "CATCH." CATCH is a short episodic that follows the lives of two metropolitan singles, MAGGIE and JERRY, who are desperately seeking their soul mates. Maggie and Jerry dont know each other...yet... but these two hopeless romantics actually have a few things in common, they are both exploring the online dating scene, and they are both serial killers.
It's a dark comedy... my tagline:
"CATCH does for online dating what JAWS did for a day at the beach" Indie City Entertainment
I'm in of those states right now where I lie in bed at night and stare at the cieling.... really hard to fall asleep.... I've been writing alot.....I have characters and concepts..scenes and scenarios bouncing around in my head....
I've been hustling around, working my bev job, visiting accounts, making deliveries, spending a couple of hours at a coffee shop (With free wi-fi) to write, getting to the gym (pulling a muscle in my side), running meetings with the new collective...INDIE CITY ENTERTAINMENT, location scouting, pre-production for my shoot(s)... and trying to get to sleep....
I dropped out of that play I was working on so I could be availabe to work a beverage convention in Vegas the last week of February. Then I get a call from my boss telling me that they need me to go to New York Feb 25-29 because we just signed on with Big Geyser, new distributor and they want me to be there for the big kick-off and do some "Ride-withs."
"Wait..isnt the Vegas trip Feb 26?"
"Yeah, youre not going to Vegas."
"Are you serious? C'mon man."
"Sorry, you gotta go to New York."
FINE... I dont get to go to Vegas. I think it SUCKS, but whatever, I'll get over it. And HEY..I'll take a trip to New York...see all my peoples...hugs and kisses for everyone....
But please...please...please dont make me work with those monkeys at Big Geyser.... UGH... I had to do that when I worked with ZICO and I HATED it... its like some cruel joke... %$$@**&&*&&
(I think I just puked a little bit)
Again...whatever...I'll get over it... It would AWESOME to go to Vegas and work the convention...but it will be great to see everyone in New York.... I can also personally pick up my hard drive with all the sit com footage from this Summer and take it back to LA with me...so I can finally move that project on to the next stage...
Ok, lets change gears, change direction a little bit here...
This Sunday I've got everything lined up to direct my first episode of CATCH, a short episodic that I wrote with the intention of posting it online. I held a casting last month...cast all the leading roles... revised the scripts a few times...held a rehearsal last Sunday...and now we are about ready to shoot EP 1...
This past Monday night we had a few new faces at the Indie City Meeting. One of the new faces was guy who seemed to a perfect fit for us. My roommate worked with him on a film project last week and extended an invitation to attend a pow wow. He's an actor who has started writing and producing his own material. He commented on how impressed he was with the energy of our group. He offered a few suggestions as far as future projects and we read one of is short scripts.
So TODAY, as I'm sitting at the Silver Lake Coffee Co working on one of my CATCH episodes, I receive an email from this guy:
Hey-something huge just came up-call me when u have a chance.
Ok...i have no idea what that could possibly mean and how or why that would affect me, but I give him a call. He explains to me that he has just established a relationship with a production company and they are looking for content. He asks me about this CATCH series I've been writing and would I be interested in letting him read it and possibly produce it through this production company.
So....I don't know. I just met this guy. Do I want to just hand over my scripts, my concept and my control? I mean I'm set to start shooting in 4 days... BUT... an upgrade in production quality would be nice...
This was my reply:
Hey Jonathan-
So the attached script is Episode one (Out of five finished) of CATCH... formerly CATCH.COM
The lead roles have been cast and we are planning on shooting Episode One this weekend. I would be willing to postpone the shoot if I thought I could get a better quality production team working on it.
Read it over and lets talk about it.
So at this point I'm thinking... I, the writer, could hand off the script and let these guys produce... and I play the male lead... so I relieve myself of all producing duties and get back to why I started all this shit in the first place... to act....
(get back....get back....get back to where you once belonged)
PLUS...that way I'm also still actively connected to the project...as opposed to some writer who just signs away his work...
SPEAKING of acting...
(kind of sort of a segue there)
Strike is ending...everybody in town is rolling up their sleeves and getting ready for some kind of anticipated feeding/casting frenzy... and I'm as ready as anybody else to get myself a piece of the action...
I'm meeting with a few workshop studios this week to get started in some casting director workshops...hoping to get my ass in front of some people who can get me in front of more people who can hire me for Prime Time.
The timing is Ripe
Best believe the Hype
Big big stuff comin
Flyin down the pipe...
Its Thursday, February 7th...and I'm STILL walking around screaming about the NY GIANTS.
I watched Eli go on Letterman last night. Dave was giddy. He obviously got a huge rise out of that game. He couldnt praise Eli enough...it was great.
I went to the gym last night for some boxing training...and I pulled a muscle...its friggin killin me. I was poppin the hand pads pretty well. The tariner told me I was pulling my punches (Not throwing a full punch). He was telling me that my punches had too muvh tightness, not enough pop. Some he backed up a little and made me launch jabs and right crosses using my full reach. It was working great. My punches were snapping and popping, floating like a butterfly, stiingin like a bee...
Then he changed up the sequence and told me to start working uppercuts and after three or four combinations....RIP... a muscle below my rib cage, somewhere between my oblique and my lower lat started KILLING me. It felt like someone stabbed me. I just dropped my arms (If I was in a real fight I would have gotten knocked on my ass), hunched over and with a grimace waved the trainer off.
So today I've been trying to work with an ICY HOT patch on my sore spot, but I'm in a considerable amount of pain.
The trainer suggested I rest it and start taking yoga to keep all my muscles stretched properly. He's probably right.
Had an interesting run in this week...actually TWO interesting run-ins..
I went to a birthday party at THE EDISON downtown a few days ago. The party was for the relatively new-ish girlfriend of my relatively new-ish best buddy Trevor Jones.
The Edison is a very cool, world class lounge that retains architecturaland mechanical artifacts; an homage to its history as the first private power plant in Downtown LA.
So it's Trevor's Girlfriend's twenty-first birthday (Thats right) and we are there to toast and do birthday shots.... which is what you do at anyones twenty-first birthday.... its been a while but I Do vaguely remember what people do when they turn twenty one.
When the evening kicked off, the guest of honor's Parents were there. Her father was actually a Hollywood journeyman and acting teacher. He has a very distinct look that has booked him countless roles as Native American or Mexican characters.
Anyway that was all find and good...nice little party...YAY, you're twenty one... more Yager...tell me all you've seen in Hollywood...blah blah blah....has nothing to do really with my interesting run-in.
I went up to the bar to get latest drink of choice, a Grey Goose martini...on the rocks...dirty... I don't know why but I've been craving those sukcers for a new weeks now... not the best craving to have...especially since a Grey Goose martini is a pricey martini... Ok..so
The BARTENDER... I order my drink...and we both do a double take and say "I know you!" at the exact same time. It took me a few minutes, but I eventually placed her back at good ole Creative Acting Company.
When went back for my FOURTH Grey Goose martini (I'm just kidding MOM, don't freak out), we established our own six degrees of separation...said hi...how have you been...and she got swallowed up by the insane demands of a thirsty crowd.
So YESTERDAY...as I'm sitting at Silver Lake Coffee Co, working on one of my scripts, and guess who walks in... Diahnna...Bartenderl from The Edison.
We chat for a few minutes..
"Okay, thats twice in one week. Too weird. I'm giving you my number."
"I know. Thats so funny. Do you live in this area?"
"I live in Echo Park."
"Really, I'm close to Sunset Junction, just south of Normal, actually."
"That's funny."
"Yeah"
"Hm"
"Funny"
"Yeah"
"Anywayz."
"Shmur (Duh)"
"Well, I have a meeting at Warner Brothers in an hour and we are going to do some prep. I've been writing and producing material for the internet"
"Really? Me too! I'd love to hear more about what your working on."
"Well then we definitely need to get together."
"Absolutely"
"Here's my card. Thats my cell. Check out our site. You can see some of our stuff"
"I will. Good luck with your meeting."
"Bye."
VERY interesting...much of what you'll find on this site is very much in alignment with what we at Indie City Entertainment are playing around with.
It's popping up all over the place...there is a lot of activity...a lot of energy bouncing around in the internet webisode (I hate that word), interent entertainment arena....
Oh MAN... I would give anything to be in New York today for the parade...
UGH... looking at all those photos of fans in the streets of New York makes me so happy...so sad...my chest feels heavy and it actually brings me to tears... I wish, wish, wish I was there.
This season... this journey... this AMAZING victory feels MONUMENTAL...its hard to explain... its become so many things for me personally... I'm a little surprised at how emotionally connected...how deeply affected I am by the whole experience...
The game of football in general means so much to me because some of my most valued life lessons and experiences occurred when I was playing High School football at Ridgewood High in Ridgewood, NJ.
But as a spectator, as a devoted fan, I watch those games every Sunday and it lights a fire inside...it inspires me, it gives me hope, gives me strength and makes me want to throw up, pull my hair out, collapse and writhe on the floor...and get back up and do it all over again.
Its LIFE, unfolding in front of you, that which is good, that which is bad, that which is impossible, that which is magnificent....one step forward, two steps back, then, by some stroke of magic, maybe the hand of God, you’re 10 steps ahead and your doing things that you always knew you could....don't think...just do it. This is what you've always wanted.
This season started 0-2 and I was packing up my stuff back in New York. As the Giants set out on a long treacherous road trip, I set out to move my life to Los Angeles. I said goodbye to those who I held closest and with a heavy heart, I went out looking for road wins.
And I was doing it... making friends, finding work, finding a car, getting an apartment. I was putting points on the board. Nothing spectacular, but fundamentally sound....I was playing my game, a conservative one, an effective one... Road wins.
The Giants racked up a string of wins and I did a double take... "Wait a minute...they're doing pretty well." Suddenly they were 6-2.
Then it got rocky. And I have to say I was one of many calling for changes...drastic changes...I was frustrated...I was pissed. I had seen Eli Manning play with flashes of brilliance. "Where did it go? Why can’t he play like I know he can play 100% of the time?” Why can’t he be more like Peyton?" I thought that maybe he wasn’t going to live up the expectations. This might be it for OLE ELI. Maybe the Giants should think about drafting a new QB...and get a new head coach....and trade for this guy...get rid of that guy...do SOMETHING.... I was frustrated. I was angry. My faith was tied up in knots...
And so was my life...I was in financial trouble...I had run out savings... I DID land a job...just in the nick of time...but I was struggling week to week...waiting for paychecks to come so I could cover a bill that was overdue... Of course the WGA strike was another considerable blow to deal with. I was homesick...I was here on the West Coast while my family and friends got together for the holidays. I sat here in my apartment alone on Christmas morning. I really missed my family and friends at Christmas, far more than I was willing to admit.
The last game of the season...the Giants play the Patriots. I'm thinking if the Giants can beat the Patriots to end the regular season...it will make it all worthwhile...all the frustration, all the screaming and swearing at the TV... just to give New England a good game and break the perfect run... just for shits and giggles..
So close....SO close.... it almost happened. The Giants lost by three points to a team that had become the Iron Mike Tyson of the NFL. The Patriots had practically annihilated every team they faced. The Giants, in spite of a loss that was tough to swallow, and receiving harsh criticsim for playing full speed with every starter in a game considered by many to be meaningless, found something out there…
And whatever it was that they felt…I could see... I saw a transformation. I saw Eli Manning grow up that day. It reminded me of that scene from FORREST GUMP when Forrest tries to run away from those mean kids with his clunky leg braces and Jenny screams “Run Forest Run,” his braces collapse and he gallops out to pasture. Eli Manning was finally ready. For God’s sake I saw Eli Manning RUN the ball. I saw Strahan commanding the field. I saw Plaxico’s brashness undeniably justified.... I saw the birth...or maybe the re-birth of the NEW, New York Giants. My New York Giants
It was after that game that I knew...without question... that the Giants and the Patriots would meet again in the Super Bowl.
I knew it. I believed it...with every ounce of my being. There was no doubt in my mind.
That belief translated into my own personal transformation. Suddenly I’m a rejuvenated version of my previous self. I’m inspired. I’m walking tall. I’m thinking big, and I’m oozing gratitude. Thank you thank you thank you…for the good the bad the happy the sad, the wrong the right, the day the night, the fight in the dog and the dog in the fight.
Week after week, the Giants answered their critics. Week after week they did what every announcer, analyst and average Joe said they could not, would not.
Again, this was more to me than just televised sports….this was Life…every day…all around me.
MY LIFE: Laying itself out, getting hands on the ball…and keeping the toes in bounds.
MY LIFE: ducking from the grasp, stepping away from the chaos and heaving my heart and soul to the heavens.
MY LIFE: Reaching to the sky with every last inch, closing my eyes and holding on, for dear life, to whatever I just came down with.
Thank you Eli Manning. Thank you Michael Strahan. Thank you Plaxico, Brandon, Amani, Osi, Justin, Ahmad, Tyree. Thank you Tom Coughlin. Thank you New York City.
This has been an experience I will honor and cherish…an experience I will carry into battle for eternity.
I TOLD you... I KNEW they could do it. I've been saying it for weeks. I was siting at a bar last week asking te bartender if she thought they would have a big crowd for The Super Bowl. I explaind to her that I was a HUGE GIants fan and I wasnt sure if I could handle watching the game at a bar. Then some jackass next to me leaned in...all smug and overconfident...
"You know the Patriots are gonna win, right?"
"Really? Why dont you give me your cell phone number so I can call you when the Giants whup your ass."
He paused...taken aback by the crazed and serious look on my face...
"Good luck man"
I said nothing....just stared im down. He slid a few feet down the bar and finished his drink.
Our first shoot as Indie City Entertainment didnt happen last night. I hustled my ass of all week to work on the script, get all the actors and the crew lined up. We were scheduled to start load-in and rehearsals at 6P, followed by the arrival of the DP/Director and one late actor arival (Of course). It all played out beautifully and at 7:30PM, when the DP arrived, we were pretty much ready to go....and that's as far as we got...
Leetal (DP/Director) had technical difficulties with the camera that ended up disabling the entire shoot. So I basically had to call it off and send everybody home.
Of course we walked across the street and had a drink...toasting to a successful "DRY RUN."
Yeah, I'm disappointed.... Disappointed that we didnt get anything done last night, but I can't be mad at anyone. Shit like that happens... if I look at with the idea that "Everything happens for a reason," I feel a little better. It would be worse if I were PAYING for use of the location and crew and I had just flushed a few thpusand dollars down the toilet. If anything it gives me time to work on the script. We have rescheduled that shoot for Sunday Feb 10th.
It's all part of the process...can't let it slow you down.
I found myself in another disappointing situation this week. I had to drop out of the play I have been rehearsing for over the past month... I'm bunched up with conflict.
I've never ever bailed on a prodcution before and i've ALWAYS placed my work as an actor before anything. I've never allowed a day job to interfere.
That all changed yesterday.
I received an email that I would be required to work a convention for HINT at the end of February in Las Vegas (Wow, VEGAS? Cool. I've never been to Vegas. Can you believe that?). I can't get out of this one. I'v already weasled out of a couple of out of town assignments, so it was impressed upon me by my employers that my attendance at this show was mandatory. Since I was completely aware that I was overdue for working a show for HINT, I immediately said yes (No problem). Then I looked through my calendar and realized that "5 Chairs" has performances that run right through that same weekend (CRAP).
I value my opportunties to perform and be a part of a stage production more than anything...far more than opportunities to be a player in the beverage industry, but i cannot afford to lose my job. So I have to do somehting that makes my stomach turn... I have to drop out of the play.
I feel terrible about it. They have a month to find someone else and get that person up to speed.
(Ugh)
So I've got some blues this morning...
Maybe a Big Blue Super Bowl victory will raise my spirits.
(I think it will)
Speaking of blues... a little musical mention..
Doyle Bramhall's album IS IT NEWS received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Blues Album"
And its pretty damn good... nominations like "Best Contemporary Blues Album" don't get a lot of attention and many times go unnoticed, but if you like Blues....this is good shit.
Another productive meeting last night... checked out a potential shooting location and that little visit saw the birth of a new short sit com...
Its a small security company with an office in Glendale...old school wood panels that line the walls in the entire BUILDING....let alone this one office space... and the whole bulding is empty after six...
So a new concept has been born... We'll be shooting SOMETHING in the space on Friday.
(Gotta start writing)
I could also use this location for some of the vignettes I hope to be producing as part of this legal industrial video project I'm cultivating.
In fact...pertaining to that project...
I am actually meeting with a friend/co-producer to discuss some budget stuff tonight...we are meeting for a drink at Ye Rustic Inn on Hillhurst...
(Gotta get moving on that.)
and OH YEAH...
iiiiiit's SUPER BOWL week!!!
I don't think I've ever been this pumped for a Super Bowl game. The question is...where do I watch it? Haven't decided yet... I've watched the past four games at home...free to scream, cheer, fall down and get back up again... and it's worked so far...I don't know how I feel about breaking the streak...or sharing my bizarre game time behaviors with others...
There are a few people in my collective who are having a party in Burbank...but I dont know if I can subject THEM to my antics... but it IS the Super Bowl... I should try and go to a party.
"They don't tell you about the three weeks in January that SUCK ASS"
It's been raining for like two weeks straight here in Los Angeles. Poor Jessica came out to visit and saw about two minutes of sunshine over the course of four days.
I'm pretty busy this morning so I can't get into too much detail right now...but Jessica and I attended Benny Medina's birthday party on Friday night at his home in the hills and it was CRAZY...SURREAL... and a lot of fun.
We danced, we drank and we celebrated alongside Paris, Mariah, Macy, Cuba, Dylan, Rebecca, Kevin, Jermaine and John...just to name a few....
I have to say that THAT party was the highlight of my Hollywood experience to date... it was seriously like some bizarre dream.
I've got a busy HINT day ahead, an audtion at 11:30, rehearsal for my play at 5 and an Indie City meeting at 7... so I gotta GO...
Things are starting to heat up... I'm telling ya...
TONIGHT...I just finished cleaning the entire apartment... and I'm talking I scrubbed the damn bathroom from top to bottom... I sorted and organized all my junk, my unfolded clothes and unmentionables... I did laundry...had to wash towels and sheets... and I put up a new mirror and some Van Gogh prints in my room....
It was all overdue,...this place was gettin a little funky... but I also had to tidy up for my weekend guest, the lovely Jessica Stone. (Mind you I still don't have any bedroom furniture and all of my clothes are folded in semi-neat piles in the corner...but...nevermind all that). She is flying in to LA tomorrow and we've got all kinds of stuff going on... busy busy busy
Tomorrow night we are going to see BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB at THE KEY CLUB. Which I'm psyched about. I got the tickets from someone off of Craiglist (You KNOW how I love Craigslist), after missing out on the flash that was the web only ticket sale for the one night only show on the Sunset Strip.
BRMC has been a recent favorite of mine as far as bands go. They rock.
Friday night we've got a fancy shmancy black tie event to go to with some hoyty toyty hollywood hit men (and women)... it will be a nice elbow rubbing op.
I'll take her back out to the airport early Sunday morning, and then its off to the races again for me. I have to interview a handful of candidates for crew positions within the new collective...mostly editors who responded to an ad I posted on Craigslist (You KNOW I love Craigslist). After the interviews, I have a rehearsal... whew...I'm staring to get dizzy just thinking about it...
I'm in rehearsals for "5 Chairs," which will open late February at The Attic Theatre and Film Center5429 W. Washington Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90016
After reading through the script a few times I saw an opportunity to improve on some of the material by doing some minor rewrites. Fortunately, the playwright was not offended by my offer. She actually liked my revisions and now she's going to give me a minor writing credit.
(yay me)
One of my characters, Matt, a former High School football phenom, has a monologue in the play where he describes his journey from High School All-American to starting in his first game at Alabama to the injury that ended his lifelong dream. I basically reworked the piece so it sounded more like a guy obesessed with football talking about football. The playwright admitted that she wasnt very well versed on the subject and welcomed a man's...or should I say a FAN'S touch.
As the "5 Chairs" process picks up steam, so does the momentum of Indie City Entertainment. I'm doing a lot of planning and brainstorming to get cast and crews lined up and prepped for a series of skecthes that we are going to shoot and post one YouTube as well as for Episode One of my internet series CATCH (Which is still offically a working title, formerly Catch.com).
On top of all that, I'm trying to get a crew together to shoot a couple of specs for this industrial project that was proposed to me last week by a long time friend. It's paying work and there's a truckload of it... so it is definitely in my best interest to produce a good couple of specs for him and make him look good on his end.
If it works out, I can drop the beverage activities and focus on artistic endeavors...namely writing, producing and acting... and a little oragamy here and there...
and on top of all THAT...
THE NEW YORK GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE SHOW!!
No one thought they could do it...Everybody wrote them off...all the sports analysts are flabbergasted...its F%$@& AWESOME!
(And they can win it all...they can beat the Patriots...I'm telling ya)
(If you don't recognize the quote, it's actually referring to the 1951 New York baseball Giants and "The shot heard round the World")
Nevermind...
How proud am I? Elli Manning andTHE NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE SHOW
How exhausted am I? That fourth quarter alone sliced 6 years off my life. What a friggin rollercoaster man.... Giants intercept Farve, fumble the ball on the run back...Green Bay recovers....Bradshaw breaks one wide open on a draw and finds daylight... I'm leaping up on the furniture screaming my head off...
So The Giants are going to the Super Bowl...and I tell you what... They can beat the Patriots... mark my words.
What a way to end my week...
Also just finished watching THE WIRE... looks like another great season lies ahead...unfortunately...its the FINAL season..
You know what I just heard about the THE WIRE? The opening theme song? Its called "Down in the Hole," and every season they use a new version of the song performed by a different artist....I was totally clueless... thats a really cool idea though... I can't believe I never realized it was the same song....
Season 1: Blind Boys of Alabama
Season 2: Tom Waits
Season 3: Neville Brothers
Season 4: DoMaJe
Season 5: Steve Earle
Pretty cool, huh?
So the comedy of errors continues on my sit com pilot that I've been TRYING to produce since Summer of 07. After months of post-production activities marred by misfire, mix ups and miscommunication, I was finally able to make an arrangement with the guy who was originally on board as the editor. The deal was that I would purchase and ship a hard drive over to his place in Brooklyn and he would upload all the footage of mine...hours and hours of footage that he had already spent a good amount of time digitizing...on to this hard drive...then ship it back to me...
Or better yet..since Jess is flying ot here in a few days, maybe he could meet up with her, hand over the hard drive...and she brings it with her...save me some money and time...
I JUST want to get all of the dailies in my possession. I want to get this damn project moving again...and I cant do that unitl I have the footage... so i can SEE how it all LOOKS (Thats right, I have yet to see ONE SECOND of tape... I've been in LA)
I go to AMAZON...purchase the drive....arrange to ship the drive to this guy...and it runs me about $125...I even paid extra for two day shipping..
I get an email late Friday telling me that the hard drive has arrived...and then a phone call early Saturday morning informing me that I BOUGHT THE WRONG KIND OF HARD DRIVE!!!!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHRRRGGGG%$$%#!!
Are you kidding me? There is an entire series here of unfortunate incidents that have taken place over the past four months...missed emails...emails wth no attachments...missed calls....no returned phone calls....I left you a message...you never got my message... two of the tapes can't digitize...its crazy...
So NOW...I have to get this guy to re-pack the hard drive and drop it off at a post office...then I have to buy ANOTHER hard drive...wait for him to upload...and for him to ship it out to me.....
The whole thing is beyond laughable at this point...
But hey, I'll keep pushing...press on...never give up... whatever it takes to get it right...get it done...
Heavy heavy fog this morning. I roll out of bed and I can see out across Los Feliz and Hollywood...barely...usually I can see Griffith Park from my bedroom window. I can see the HOLLYWOOD sign. This morning I see murky white mist. I see a thick patch of fog that looks like its just hanging out on the back porch of one of those hpuses in the Hollywood Hills...like a guest that crashed on the couch because he couldnt drive home last night...and now he's hanging around waiting for pancakes.... go home foggy...party's over...
The Sun will show up later...represent...burn it all away. But for now.... The Fog is makin himself at home.
I roll out and on to the floor, next to the bed. man, my lower back is stiff...makes me feel like I'm 75. I assume the position. That would be the "Child Pose." I sit in the Child Pose for a good five minutes. It really helsp me get started in the morning. After a few more stretches I hit the notepad. Call it Morning pages. Call it my gratitude book. I start writing anything. Whatever is going through my mind when I wake up, I scribble down in a notebook. Lately, I've been practicing expressing gratitude. I list all the things in my life that I am deeply grateful for. I may go off on a tangent about something. It is always an exercise in freehand stream of consciousness...so I may start writing about how sleepy I am, or how my back is stiff...because I worked ten hours at the Fancy Food Show at the Sand Diego convention center yesterday... ten hours on my feet,...one hour breaking down and packing up...and what FELT like ten hours drivng back to LA from SD....how about how FOGGY it is outside...eventually I direct my thoughts back to gratitude.... good for the soul...
(Thank you Jess)
I've been writing lately about how grateful I WOULD be if I could spend my time working on my artistic endeavors instead of hocking bottles of water all week long. I am truly grateful for a flexible, fair and full-time job as a Southern California beverage sales rep, but I'd rather be snowboarding (If you know what I mean).
(maybe you don't ...know what I mean... sort of an inside joke... the used Mitsubishi Diamante I bought back in September came with a license plate cover that reads "I'd rather be snowboarding." Free of charge. My friend Heather loves to point it out everytime she sees my car)
I stumble out to the kitchen and my roommate says "Good MORNING sir!" OY... good morning dude... I kind of want to throw my banana peel at you...but good morning....grrrrr....I know he means well...and there are worse things a person could say to another person first thing in the morning...but its the same phrase...verbatim...word for word..exactly the same thing...every day...day after day...week after week...morning after morning.... "Good morning sir" "Good morning sir" "Good morning sir"
Say "Hi." Say "What up fool." Say NOTHING. Let me walk around for a few minutes before we have to start speaking at all....variety is the spice of life...switch it up...for the love of...God, Christ, watermelon, whatever...stir the pot...shake it up a little bit...please!
I pause...gratitude gratitude gratitude...positive positive positive...happy happy happy.
I steep some tea...got some good organic green tea/black tea/CHAI tea blend that I'm really enjoying... highly recommend it.
I Sit down, turn my laptop on and I send out an email to members of Indie City:
Hello maniacle matriarchs of new millenium miracles-
Some of my NYC peeps reached out to me after receiving news about the Big Bang birth of Indie City Entertainment. So I've put us on the list to participate in the following project. Lets be sure to discuss Monday night.
Tag, You're It! The Exquisite Corpse Film Experiment A South By Southwest Film/Interactive panel & Film project
Tag, You're It! is a filmmaking experiment that explores creative collaboration. Tag, You Are It! is a project that explores how the exquisite corpse experiment could be applied to film making. In 2008 a group of film makers will come together to create an exquisite corpse film, collaboratively creating a feature film. Each team will create a 4-5 minute segment on film or video. When they are finished they will pass the last minute of their film to the next team....
We have quite a few things to discuss at our next meeting. One of them is the casting session we held this past monday. I've written five episodes of a internet serial currently titled CATCH (Formerly CATCH.COM). We are planning on shooting Episode One in mid February. I held a casting session to see who would be best suited to play the two lead roles: Maggie and Jerry.
The casting session was alot of fun and a fantastic case study. I had a basic idea of who would be right for the role but after seeing all the auditioners (Not many 5 girls, 3 guys), I was forced to sort through all the impressions...pre and post ...and figure who would help deliver the best possible rendition of my writing. I must say I was thoroughly impressed with some...and equally disappointed with others.
Because we are a constructive and supportive collective, I'm hoping we can air out everything that went down this past Monday. I would love to offer up as much direct and honest commentary as I can. I think that the actors involved can really benefit from some good old fashioned feedback. I will run the idea by them first...just to make sure they are comfortable with it....I would be....I'm always game for some good contsructive feedback...but that's me...you never know...some peope just DO NOT want to be on the hot seat.
Combing through more emails, I found this one:
Hi James,
I sincerely thank you for the great audition, but I am sorry to say you didn't get cast, this time. It just came down to a lot of factors, and it was a very tough choice. I promise to keep your picture/info/video as primary cast interest for my next film, planned for late summer.
Thanks again!
Jeff
Fair enough....I read for an independent film project a few weeks ago....
After a few more hours sorting through emails and tending to various duties HINT related, INDIE CITY related and JESSICA related, I got a phone call from DAVE...high school buddy...long time dear friend.... and former neighbor (Back in Ridgewood his family lived in the apartment upstairs from mine). We talked NFL...playoffs...NY Giants (He doesn't think they can take Green Bay. I assured him they most certainly CAN take Green Bay), and then we talked business. He has a proposition for me that could prove to be lucrative. Like LEAVE my day job lucrative. How about THAT?
I won't get into details until it really starts to materialize, but it smells good... really good...
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson now. Eli Manning and the New York Giants knocked him and the Dallas Cowboys into the offseason Sunday.
Having to wait out long, slow drives by Dallas, Manning made his few chances count, throwing two touchdown passes to Amani Toomer and getting a 1-yard touchdown run from Brandon Jacobs for a 21-17 victory that put New York into the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2000 season.
Say Good night Tony, T.O., Tank, Terry, Jerry, Julius.... Jessica (Simpson).
Friday night...12:38 AM here.... THREE THURTY EIGHT AM back east...
I should start calling people back in New York....just to say hi....ya think?
I went to class tonight...back to the good ole ex-er actor class at Black Nexxus...
Ross the Intern is the modern day Larry Bud Melvin...
The New York Giants are going to STOMP the Cowboys on Sunday...
Funny story...
I had a meeting on Thursday with my HINT boss Peter and the new sale manager. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss stratgey for 2008 and so I could meet Ben, the new sales manager...basically my new "boss." At some point during the meeting, Peter says to me....
"I'm going to need you down in San Diego Monday morning at 9:30AM. You'll work the day with us at the Fancy Food Show and the nwe have a mixer that I need you to attend-"
WHOA...suddenly I'm thinking to myself "I can't be in San Diego Monday night! I have a collective meeting. I am holding a casting for this mini-series I've been writing over the past two months. I've been doing all sorts of planning and coordinating for this meeting. I can't...and i WON'T cancel slash postpone slash reschedule...no F%$#@ way. And SECONDLY...how about a little heads up? You're just gonna mention in passing that I'm supposed to be spending two days in San Diego? What do you think I'm just sitting around every night waiting for you to give me something to DO?
(It would actually be fun. I'd love to hang in SD for a night or two, BUT, this time around, Indie City trumps HINT)
"Um...yeah...Peter...I have something going on Monday that I can't reschedule. I'm sorry. I had no idea you were expecting me to work the Show."
Silence...a blank stare...from both of them.
"I didn't talk to you about the Fancy Food Show?"
"No, this is the first I've heard of it."
Pause
"What do you have another gig? Whats the deal?"
"I'm sorry. I just have an appointment that I can't change."
Pause. A glance of disappointment.
"Okay, why don't you come down SUNDAY morning and work the show with us from 10-5, head back Monday."
"Oh my God.... you're killing me....murmur...Giants game...murmur murmur...playing the cowboys....murmur playoffs."
"Whats that?"
"Sunday is the Giants game! It's the playoffs.... they play the COWBOYS!"
"Seriously?"
"Well...yeah"
Pause...a standoff.
(I'll quit...I swear to God..right here...right now)
"Ok, come down TUESDAY and work the show. Then help us break down."
"DONE. I'm there. Thank you.... you are the man...give me a pound."
Pause. Two adult white men give each other a pound.
Wednesday Night...aint a DAMN thing on TV... I'm actually watching the Richard Donner Cut of SUPERMAN II... so far I can barely tell the difference... Apparently, As much as half of the film contains never-before seen material...
Of course it s been a long long time since I've seen this movie... I tell you what..I'll never get tired of hearing that theme song...its awesome.
When I was a kid, my little brother and I would go fishing on Lake Hickory with my Grandfather and I used to sit on the chair at the front of the boat while we skimmed across the lake at top speed. I would reach my arms out and pretend I was Superman. It actually felt like I was really flying. If I looked outward, all I could see below me was the still water passing below, as if there was nothing holding me up but superpowers. Then I would hum the theme song, and since the wind was breaking against my face, I would hum to the point of screaming and no one could hear me... except myself...
Of course my Grandfather and my Brother could SEE me sitting up there at the front of the boat with my arms stretched out and probably thought I was a goofball...but that's okay.
So Monday night the west coast collective reconvened, regrouped, refreshed at Hortense House in North Hollywood. It was another good meeting. We had, I think, our highest attendance, with 17 people sitting in and particpating. The big news of the night was that we FINALLY agreed on a name:
INDIE CITY ENTERTAINENT
After a few weeks of brainstorming, collaboration and deliveration, my roommate and I whittled it down to TWO finalists: Indie City and Flixsmith.
Of course, ONE name was created by me and one was created by him. We tried to decide just between the two of us, but he was in favor of using the name he created (I think he partly wanted to be rewarded for taking the lead and coordinating the name search).... and as I phrased it (As we stood there in a stand-off):
"I like both names, but if both names had fallen off the side of the boat, and I could only save one...I would let your name drown."
So we agreed to take the two finalists to the group and go for one last vote.
I went to see THERE WILL BE BLOOD the other day at THE ARCLIGHT on Sunset....
I actually rode my bike over there.... 3.5 miles.... I took Fountain all the way over from my neighborhood...its a pretty quiet side street that runs parallel to Sunset...Sunset is a little too busy and too crazy for me to be biking through town....way too many cars coming in and out of parking lots...Fountain actually runs all the way through Hollywood and West Hollywood...
I'm doing my best to find ways to get around without using the car...WAY too many cars on the road in Los Angeles.
Anyway... THERE WILL BE BLOOD...F%$#&& brilliant... Daneil Day Lewis... genius... BEST ACTOR...no question... I can't say that BLOOD will get best picture... it's POSSIBLE...its a great film...but NO COUNTRY is going to give it a run for its money... ATONEMENT? Forget it... don't waste your time.. INTO THE WILD? It's good...but not THAT good... Hal Holbrook for best supporting....thats my vote...
But Day Lewis? I swear its some of the best acting I've ever seen... I was blown away....
I lost my job again....exact same shit that happened to me last January. I've been working my ass off for a start up company...a new beverage thats trying to take off....and they just ran out of money...."Sorry, you're doing a great job, but we cant afford to keep you. If we get more investors involved, we'll have more money to work with and we can put you back to work, but right now, we've got nothing." CRAP!!!!!!
I feel like I'm in a rebuilding phase right now. ..working on becoming a better actor...I'm writing, painting, rehearsing, working on my voice. I'm reading books hoping to develop my perspective, further develop as an artist. .I just sometimes need to step away from all that mess...just have fun with what I'm doing....do for the sake of doing....feel like a kid again....enjoy being creative....for myself.....my peace of mind.
FEBRUARY 2007:
Went to see a great show last night at BB KINGS in Times Square. It's been a few years since I've seen a COWBOY MOUTH concert, but it REALLY hit the spot last night. It was just what I needed. The venue was small enough that I could get right up to the stage and take it all in....and roomy enough so I could jump around, go crazy and dance my ass off!
Holy crap it's FRIDAY already. This week went by FAST. Well, I've got some good news. My beverage sales job has been saved. The two guys who founded the company managed to squeeze another large sum of money from another investor, which has enabled them to PAY me for services rendered and RE-hire me...indefinitely.
I am going to declare myself Financial-Core, which basically means I would be considered a dues-paying non-member, eligible to worth both union AND non-union jobs...the drawback is that I forgo my right to vote within the union...which ...at this point is just FINE with me.
Two weeks ago I had a really good read on a script....a comedy... about three actors and a director in the early stages of rehearsals....The reading went over so well that the playwright, Marcus Jones, contacted me and asked me if I was available to play the role on early March for an evening of performances, sponsored by the RCL workshop, which may end up moving on to the SAM FRENCH ONE ACT FESTIVAL in June.... The OTHER short play I've committed to is called OBLIVIOUS and its written and will be directed by Dennis Hurley. This play wont go up until April, which is perfect. We will be performing as part of an evening of short plays at The Manhattan Repertory Theater, which is on West 42nd St and 8th Avenue.
It's 5AM....WHY am I up? I was lucky enough to book a little promo gig for Nivea today...We'll be outside handing out Nivea samples and a rose to women passing by for Valentine's day... Have you looked outside? Its freezing and we got like 4 inches of snow overnight...I'm going to be outside....handing out free stuff... It's 5AM...what the hell am I doing?
My Mother wrote me yesterday and told me that I needed an attitude adjustment. She's right. I have been doing a lot of bitching and moaning and complaining lately. I've been oozing negativity. I'm going to put a stop to that right...NOW. (Thanks Mom...I love you)
MARCH 2007:
I can't believe I'm going to be in Los Angeles tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to some nice sunny California weather and a little escape. As luck would have it, I have a few auditions come up that were all scheduled for the week that I'm away. That seems to happen any time you leave town. I'm just gonna let it go. It wasn't meant to be.
HEY DUDES!!!!! Greetings from Sunny California! Monday we met up with our friend Heather, who lives in West Hollywood. We had lunch at a cafe called URTH'S CAFE, sat a few tables away from TRICKY... yesterday.... back to West Hollywood and had dinner at JONES CAFE, met up with a few more New York actor friends who live out West now, and ate the most Amazing Apple Pie I think I've EVER tasted.... Ok, I'm on vacation....must get away from this computer....
Well GUESS WHAT....Jet Blue canceled ALL flights to New York yesterday due to the storm and the earliest flight we could get on is Tuesday!!!! HOLY SMOKES....STUCK IN LOS ANGELES....well....I guess if there is any place I'd rather be than snowy slushy New York right now it's sunny California...
So I'm back...back in New York and I think I'm about 85% committed to making the move out to the West Coast in September. You just cant help but be charmed by the weather and the landscape...picked many brains out there...asked many questions...entertained many a debate...and all the scouting and investigating points to one conclusion... do not be afraid to fail....the only failure would be to shy away from the journey...the failure would be to let the fears and doubts hold me back....see what i'm gettin at? I'm all about LA now....I can SEE it...I can FEEL it.....
APRIL 2007:
I have the week off because I quit....YES...thats right....I was quite my other job...the kids beverage I was repping that hasn't paid me since March 1st.....they owe me a BUTTLOAD of money.
I've been working as a team leader, or Market manager for Tartan Week 2007, which is basically a two week event in New York City designed to promote tourism in Scotland. I'm directing and supervising a street team , dressed in kilts, passing out booklets in different areas around Manhattan. Exciting stuff.....I've been up super early and haven't a day off since I got back from LA. The program ends on Friday and the I have the week off until I start another campaign for NBC and THE TODAY SHOW.
Got a call from Bobby Lambert yesterday. He booked me for small role as a limo driver on ABC's All My Children. I shoot next Tuesday.
Happy Easter!! Big night tonight! Season premieres of THE SOPRANO'S and ENTOURAGE on HBO. I'm psyched. Its the final season for Tony Soprano....cant wait to see its going to turn out.... Yankee's are losing 6-3 to the Orioles in the 7th inning at Yankee Stadium. Is that SNOW i see coming down out there on the field? Yep....some good ole easter Sunday flurries...
I have a 2:30PM call time today at ALL MY CHILDREN....today I play a limo driver...My ONE line is "Your car is ready sir." So I've been practicing all morning...in the mirror...during breakfast...in the shower.. Your CAAAAAR is ready sir... YOUR car is ready....sir. YER CAR'Z RIDDY SUR (Sounds like Forrest Gump)
Your car is READ-Y...Really really ready....like rickey-rickey rackey-rackey ready sir...hollah!
So Wednesday morning I had a plan. I had a strategy. I was scheduled to work on this mock protest from 7AM to 1PM. I also had two auditions during the same time block. So what do I do? The plan was to slip away from the protest... suddenly...I start feeling really ill. I start to feel dizzy...and naseous....worse by the minute...I'm trying to keep it together...trying to snap out of it...but nothing is working.... I managed to get in there and read my copy with some level of conviction. I sort of hoped that my condition would contribute to a memorable performance...
You are never going to believe this. After all that drama I went through last week to get through that PLANTERS audition...getting stuck at the mock protest...falling ill...getting a call from my manager cursing me out for not appearing at my appointment time...and finally getting over to the casting office, sick as all get out...looking like some freebase junky whose been snorting ritalin and drinking Old Grandad for breakfast...and then spending the next three days in bed with a nasty stomach virus....WELL...I got a CALLBACK for my dazzling performance
I worked a promotion late last night... Two hours of work....hundred fifty bucks...thing is I had to dress up as this evil and ominous "Lord of the Rings" character...roaming around Herald Square in a torn and tattered hooded gown...and a plastic sword.
MAY 2007
Last minute booking on Friday....Late Thursday I got the call....I was on an 8AM bus Friday morning....I booked a print job that shot down in Atlantic City....The shoot was easy enough...Me and two other models at BALLY'S in the spa....by the poolside....in the hot tub....getting a fancy shmancy shave in the salon....I think its all for in-house literature...or some type of newsletter...I'd be very surprised if ANYONE i know ever see's it...decent money for a day of lounging at the spa in a robe and flip-flops.
That Wildfire in Los Angeles is CRAZY. You see THAT? The sky behind the Griffith Park Observatory? SCARY...orange and black....freaky....Like Satan himself standing on the ridge...dancing in the hills....Mick Jagger-style.
I had a call back for CREST SPINBRUSH this morning. The first audition happened last week and I walked out feeling prettty good. Most of the time I hold the belief walking out of an audition convinced that you "nailed it" is the kiss of death. Nevertheless, after my fisrt CREST audition...I really felt like I nailed it.
Forget the fact that I never got the call about my CREST SPINBRUSH commercial. That I'm FIGHTING for a positive perspective....struggling with disappointment and doubt. Forget the fact that I DID book another Under-five on AS THE WORLD TURNS. A bittersweet booking, I shoot ATWT on the same day that they are scheduled to shoot that damned CREST spot. Never mind all that. Never mind the Greys Anatomy season finale. Never mind the Yankees lost AGAIN and are now 9 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the Al East... Never mind all that.... The CAT fell out the WINDOW...fell two stories...broke his leg.
JUNE 2007
Saturday, June 9th, the 2007 Sam French Off Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival at the American Theater for Actors, 314 West 54th Street, 2nd Floor. JUST POINT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: Written by Marcus Jones. Directed by Alexis Hadsall, Featuring James Huffman, Susannah Kennedy, Patrick Wickham and Eva Nicole
Up at 6AM, I left my apartment around 7:45 to make it down to the Hotel New Yorker on 34th Street by 8:30. I was scheduled to appear in the character of a "Pulp Era" private detective (ala Sam Spade) in the annual Book Expo America tradeshow at the Javitz Center.
I WAS up at 4AM this morning...and I DID slip in to a wetsuit and hang around midtown with a big red surfbaord...with about 20 other guys in wetsuits...doing a promotion for JOHN FROM CINCINNATI...which premieres this coming Sunday on at 10PM HBO
Thursday night...the final performance of LEE/GENDARY took place at the Samuel Beckett Theater on West 42nd Street. We had a sold out house (Unfortunately many people were turned away at the door). The audience was awesome. They were warm, appreciative, receptive and very vocal. The show ended with partial standing ovation and a double bow. We had a few drinks afterwards at a bar on Ninth Avenue with our adoring fans. Seriously, peopled loved the show and many of them followed us to the bar and asked us questions about the show.
"My first piece of advice to someone who is serious about being a professional television or film actor is this: Move to Los Angeles. Moving to Los Angeles can be difficult, but it is the only city that doesn't put a ceiling on where you can go with your career. New York is the place to go if you want to do theater, but if you want to be in film and television, move to L.A." Jenna Fischer
JULY 2007
Happy FIFTH of JULY everybody!!!! I am in Fairfax right now taking a severe beating at the hands of my nephews Keller and little Casey. Spending a few days with the little ones help me keep in touch with my own inner child....not that I am anything BUT a walking adult 10 year old...hanging with two Tasmanian devils reminds me how far I've drifted (Get back to where you once belonged). I've been in Hickory NC over the past few days as well and I'll be back in NYC tomorrow. AND THEN....In less than two months I embark on an adventure that will inevitibly become the ride of my life....
Also....speaking of making an impression. I got a call on Friday from another agent I freelance with explaining that SOMEONE I auditioned for a few months ago called him and wanted to check my availability in August for a new project. So, having NO idea who was booking me or for WHAT...I was put on hold for the first week of August.
I had an interesting week. I had a few good auditions. I got fired from the Amstel Light gig. I had dinner at Smith and Wolenksy's...at the same exact time there was a massive expolosion on Lexington Avenue. I worked a Harry Potter promotion and passed out worthless crap amongst the absolute insanity at "Harry Potter Place" in SOHO.I did more planning and coordinating for two projects: My move to Los Angeles and my sit com project.
My girlfriend, Jessica, and I are not going together. Jess and I have decided to part ways...a difficult but very mutual decision....we still live here at this apartment...and we are just sort of hanging out...making the best of things...It is awkward at times...but most of the time its like we are roommates...friends....its sort of like we are graduating...we've been dating for four years and now...at the end of August...we will go down separate roads...Iwe are both surprised by the maturity of the situation...Its also heartbreaking and hard to look away from the sadness... I probably wont realize how much I miss her until I'm really away...when I really do miss her. Then it's going hit me like freight rain.
AUGUST 2007
Aaaaah ....is it delivery? No.... it's DiGirono's Pizza... Had a lot of fun on set yesterday shooting a commercial for DiGiorno's Pizza. Its actually a FOOD NETWORK promo for DiGiorno's Pizza.
Audition Friday for SAMSUNG....going in for the role of an Offensive Coordinator. I'm gonna book that damn spot...dammit. Shooting a scene for a sit com short on Sunday....funny little scene...looking Forward to that. Playing producer on Friday and holding auditions for my own sit com pilot project. I think I'm determined to drive myself completely insane before I leave for Los Angeles...in LESS THAN 30 DAYS!!!
Had a callback for a CDPHP commercial. I have no idea what that expect that it seems to be some sort of health insurance. This is the audition from last week where I played a young Dad coaching a little league game.
I was placed on hold for a GMC/ESPN/MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL commercial. The shoot was set to take place tonight and since I havent heard from anyone confirming time, location and wardrobe....I think I may have been passed....I guess I didnt make the cut...
So...believe it or not...aside from preparing for a cross country road trip/move my entire LIFE to the West Coast and tying up loose ends on a personal level...I'm co-writing and producing 5 episodes of a sit com pilot....I'm freaking INSANE. Lo and behold...its all happening...I've got episodes in rough draft form...ALMOST ready for shooting (Which begins next week by the way), I've got 4 directors on board, all busy putting their teams together...I've got TWO locations secured....and I was lucky enough to get access to these locations...free of charge....thank you God, The Universe, Buddah, Allah, The Pope, Bugs Bunny, The Dalai Lama, Joe Torre , The New York Yankees, Mom, Dad, Rhonda Byrne and Anthony Robbins.
HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE at 302 Broome Street in Chinatown.... my going away party did some poppin and lockin after one too many Red Stripes....Sunday morning I laid down to sleep at about 3AM...again...and at 7AM..again...I was up and getting ready to go shoot our last day of shooting at Theater for the New City. We got all of our scheduled shots done and in a timely manner. We wrapped shooting for a handful of actors and closed up shop in the East Village. Then I dragged my limp, lifeless body all the way back uptown and crashed on the couch in a semi-vegetated state.
SEPTEMBER 2007
Wednesday morning...September 5th.... Hard to believe I'll be in Los Angeles by the end of the week. I fly out REALLY early Saturday morning.
So...I THOUGHT i was all set up with a place to crash in LA when arrive on Saturday....apparently not so much.. My friend Bobby called me today to inform that her "boyfriend" has decided that its is unsuitable for me to crash at her place and that i needed to make other arrangements... Yes...a fine time to address such an issue...THREE days before I land at LAX...I didn't even know she HAD a boyfriend....
We stood on 9th street and Sixth Avenue and cried and hugged and cried some more. Neither one of us wanted to be the one to walk away. Sound...Traffic...cars and people whizzed...beyond our ears....as we held each other, embracing our five years, wiping tears... promising great things ahead and acknowledging fears (I was really hoping this would be easier).
She stepped away and went down the stairs to the train. I stood there in that spot, unable to move, looking at the wall...looking at the sky...trying to get myself together before I had to walk away...because THAT would be the hardest thing to do...
So I made it....I'm here in Sunny California....Saturday afternoon/evening I took all my stuff to my temporary residence here in Burbank and chilled out for the evening. There are 4 or 5 people staying here temporarily during any given week, with 2 or 3 permanent residents. I havent quite figured out WHo exactly is really living here and who is just crashing for a while. So it's a decent...tolerable situation...a little awkward since I don't really know anybody... and I'm sleeping on an aero-bed in the middle of the living room...
1) Without God - The Word
2) Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch
3) A Day at the Races - Jurrasic 5
4) Los Angeles - Ill Lit
5) Mama's Room - Under the Influence of Giants
6) Berlin - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
7) Cobrastyle - Teddy Bears
8) Can't Ride Like Me- Papoose
9) Throw it on me - Timbaland
10) Better People - Xavier Rudd
11) I'm Gettin Ready - Patty Griffin
12) Jesus Walks - Kanye West
13) Level - The Racontuers
14) So This is Love - Van Halen
14) Shuffle Your Feet - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
15) Lady Don't Tek No - Latryx
16) Sea to Sea - Matisyahu
17) Rehab - Amy Winehouse
18) Awe - Citizen Cope
19) Bloodhounds on My Trail - The Black Angels
20) Run The Numbers - El-P
21) Home - Marc Broussard
22) Icky Thump - The White Stripes
23) Gravity - John Mayer
24) Peter Piper - Run DMC
25) Mr Me Too - Clipse
26) Free Stress Test - Professor Murder
27) Spiral Staircase - Kings of Leon
28) I'll Fly Away - The Word
29) Workin Day and Night - Michael Jackson
30) Future Sound - Jurassic 5
31) Crazy Bitch - Buckcherry
32) Idlewilde Blue - Outkast
33) Liberation Front - Thievery Corporation
34) Let's Kill Ourselves - The Pony's
35) Give it what you can - The Meters
36) The W.A.N.D. - The Flaming Lips
37) T.B. Sheets - Van Morrison
38) Que Pasa feat. Deuce Eclipse - J Boogie's Dubtronic Science
39) Mean Streets - Van Halen
40) Can You Rock it like This - Run DMC
41) Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
42) 320 - Project Jenny, Project Jan
43) Public Enemy #1 - Public Enemy
44) Zombie - Fela Kuti
45) Love and Peace or Else - U2
46) Deep South - Layo & Bushwacka
47) Get Buck in here - DJ Felli Fel
48) Don't Sweat the technique - Eric B & rakim
49) Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
50) September / The Joker - Fatboy Slim & Wind & Fire Earth
It's Saturday...December...whatever...end of December...New Years Eve is Monday night. I have made any solid plans yet. I usually enjoy my New Years Eve activities most when I don't plan to far ahead. I wait til the last minute and then hop on the best possible, best available scenario... sounds like the story of my life.
Things hjave been really slow...really quiet here in LA for the past week or so... I get the feeling that a LOT of people leave town for the holidays... You can still fnd traffic out here...if you look hard enough...its out there...even when nobodies in town.
I spent a lot time writing over the past week. I've been working on a short web series that I want to produce through my new actors collective...which has yet to find a name (More on that later)
As far as my writing goes, I am MUCH more productive when I go sit down with my lap top at a coffee shop. So I've hit the Silver Lake Coffee Co quite a bit lately and I've managed to knock out two more episodes. Now I've got five. Five shorts that are ready to shoot. I'll put a casting session together for the project in early to mid January with plans to shoot Episode one in February.
I sent the following email out to the group a few days ago:
Hello good people of the Kick Ass Collective Continuim....soon to be named something else
I want to hold a casting for our upcoming internet/film festival mini series, catch.com (which is a working title...for now) at our group meeting on Monday January 14th. We will still have our Jan 7th meeting...but I figured we could use that time to regroup, review and refresh..
As you know...there are two lead characters, Maggie and Jerry and a handful of supporting roles (several "dates" and Detective Jones). I want to give everyone the opportunity to read for every role..lead and supporting...but more immediately...I want to make a casting decision on Maggie and Jerry for the first episode, which we are planning on shooting in February.
I want to have one casting and one callback... and I will have some specific requests of those who will be auditioning.
So please let me know if you would like to read for either role and I will send you sides and more details about the project.
I have a few favorites for the character of Maggie...but its really going to come down what each actress can do with the character...what she can do with my writing...and how well she can handle a baseball bat.
(I can't really expalin...that would be a spoiler)
Casting for the character of JERRY could go in any direction. I was initially writing that role for myself...but if I find that someone else might suit the project a little better... I have no problem going in that direction. I'll have to see how the casting goes.
Now...the NAME of this little collective we'v e put together is gong to be decided on Jan 7th...for once and for all. We've tried on several occasions to decide on something in a group setting....we brainstormed...we even had a vote...and I had to override the final vote because the naems we came up with were just to mundane...to average...boring... I think at this point most of the people in the group are just waiting for me to decide on a name and move on.
So right now, with the help of my rommmate, we have three giant strips of paper taped up on the walls here in the apartment, with potential names scratched all over the place.
He thinks that out name should clearly indicate what we do. His contributions are names like "Vidmakers," "Unbound Force" and "FlixSmith."
I am leaning toward something a little more abstract, with an emphasis on the name being catchy and fun to say... maybe some type of alliteration... the meaning is applied through success..
I've been coming up with names like "Now Hounds," "The New Crew Collective," "GameChange," "Shiftchange," "Buttermilk" and "Brick Through."
We'll narrow it down to ten names, check those names for availability, ask for another group vote and make a final decision...once and for all.
The end of December also means that I'm going to have to find a new gym. I've been doing the Golds Gym hustle here in LA for the past four months and my travel pass expires 12/31.
So after doing a lot of research on the best gyms in the area I came across the foloowing post from a disgruntled gym-goer on YELP.com:
The most MADENNING gym in Southern California....this place is a snobs dream come true....What I'm saying is that this is the WORST city in the history of the world to put a gym that supposedly caters to all types, because there is only one type of person at this gym: The Hollywood Entertainment crowd. From Sun-up to Sun-down, models, actors, agents and anyone else with plastic surgery and some botox, come here to see and be seen under the guise of "working out"....
Crunch is for the elite, the elite are not always friendly to people who are not elite. this means if you want people to smile at you and treat you kindly but you aren't a model, then go to 24 Hour Fitness or anywhere else. If you have loads of money, a decent reputation in Hollywood so that people whisper about you as you pass by, or are the fresh new face on that stupid soap opera or are f*ckable enough to be passed around by the Hollywood power players, this is your new office, your new home, the very place you live for. Welcome home star...
It would be a really good gym if it weren't so EXPENSIVE, EXCLUSIVE and populated by it's current clientelle.
I read through the whole review...read it again...just to make sure I got it right and thought to myself:
THANK YOU Mr. John H. Yelper, for your honest and direct assessment. Your detailed account of the current state of affairs at CRUNCH FITNESS has been very helpful. The only thing I have to say in response is this...
DAMN...I'm gotta be working out at CRUNCH. I'm going over there RIGHT NOW. That is EXACTLY where I need to be. Thank you again John H Yelper.
Sincerely,
James Clifton Huffman
Fresh new face
Future Hollywood power player
Merry Christmas everyone... I hope you all have a fantastic holiday...whether it be traveling or just chillin out at home...
It's 70 degrees and sunny here for my first California Christmas. I am so grateful for all my good fortune this year...and I'm a little sad that I'm not with my family and loved ones for Christmas.
Its nice to have al this quality downtime...have the apartment to myself...have plenty of time to chill...ride my bike around the neighborhood...get some writing done...watch a bunch of movies..
(This weekend I've seen BLACK BOOK, SICKO, SUPERBAD, NIGHT WATCH, THE UNTOUCHABLES...and I went to see I AM LEGEND...with plans for even MORE tomorrow)
But it still kind of sucks to be away from everyone on Christmas.
Here is my little Holiday set up...
I'll get up and open my presents on Christmas morning...then I'll probably have a protein shake for breakfast... I guess if there is one upside to being here on Christmas is that I'm not eating all that holiday food.... Then I will go for a bike ride... which is more of an ass-kicking leg workout in these hills than a nice leisurely roll... then maybe watch another movie.... or go to see the new Daniel Day Lewis film THERE WILL BE BLOOD... looks awesome... Daniel Day Lewis is always awesome.
Oh wait... I forgot to mention...
NEXT week...I will be going onto a local CBS news show...Palm Springs, I believe...and I'll be doing a live segment about "Healthy Holiday Beverages." I'm stepping in on behalf of HINT and I'll basically be playing the role of a "Healthy Holiday Beverage" expert.
Its on at like 6:30AM this coming Thursday or Friday... so I dont think that many people will see it...but I will do my best to tape the segment...hopefuly I can post it on this site.
The sun is back after a few days of clouds and rain here in LA.
I drove over to The Radisson Hotel in Culver City Wednesday night in a torrential downpour for an audition. I was a little unsure about what I was getting into because this particular audition was based on a self submission through....well...I'm emabarrasssed to say it....a posting on Craigslist.
Repsonding to casting notices on Craigslist is not a common practice of mine, but I happened to come across a posting a few weks ago that claimed to be casting for an indie horror/comedy that would be shooting in China.
China? I've never been to China....So I said "What the Hell," and I sent them my info.
A few days later I got a response and an invitation to come read for one of the lead roles, which brought me to Wednesday night... in the pouring rain.
I ended up reading a few scenes with a man named Henry. He explained that he was building a filnm production studio/media complex in China and he would be producing films there for American audiences, using American actors and American sets.
He enjoyed my read...and I have to say...the script was good...what I read of it...i thought it was funny...a dark comedy of sorts... we talked for a few minutes about my career and my life...he explained that if they dont call me back for this project I should expect a call for future projects...
And that was it...I walked back out into the pouring rain, got in my car...and suffered through more LA nightime torrential downpour traffic on I-10...stopped at my 7-11 on Virgil and Santa Monica...picked up a box of Taquitos...went home and watched SUPERBAD....
It seems so quiet ... Holidays are coming up...I'm here in LA...my family and friends...my dearest...are elsewhere... I'm not sure how that will affect me come Christmas... I do have other friends in the same boat... so we will all get together and hang out...dinner...movie...lots of drinks...run through the empty Hollywood streets....
But I'm sure I will still feel a touch of sadness on Christmas morning...
I sent a message out to the Collective this morning..
By the way...we are still working on a name... we came down to a vote on a final four a few weeks ago...then deceided all the names were boring...
I'm hoping by the next meeting...Januray 7th, we will have a good name to agree on and move forward with...under....AS!
Hello good friends of the Collaborative Collective Nameless Shameless Coup...
YES, I write and talk about football alot... I love football...
Bears Vs Vikings...
Adrian Peterson... Vikings rookie running back... potential superstar...potential legend....runs like no other... I knew he was gonna be a star player back when he was a freshman for Oklahoma... gotta stay healthy... gives and takes alot of punishment...I'm nervous for him... you know who he reminds me of?
Bo Jackson.
Not in running style...but in his physical presence on the field...Bo Jackson was AWESOME...power...speed...."Bo knows THIS, Bo knows THAT." A force to be reckoned with, Bo Jackson was destined to break every rushing record know to man... Even in the PRO'S, he was a man among boys....then he got hurt...had to have hip replacement surgery...and his career was over... barely gotten started.
So...yeah, it's Monday, December 17, eight days away from Christmas. I'll be spending the Christmas holiday out here in LA...my first California Christmas.... should be interesting.
I had a pretty busy week last week...
Most of my business had to do wth HINT. I was working alot...driving alot...visiting accounts...Coffee shops, gourmet deli's, grocery stores....boring day job bullsh&%
(I am SO grateful for my boring day job bullsh&%)
Wednesday night I went to a friend's holiday party at Nics Martini Bar in Beverly Hills. The girl who threw the party is a friend I know from New York. It had been about six years since I had seen her. We've been trying to connect for coffee over the past three months to no avail, so I figured going to her holiday party would be the best way to see her and say hi.
The party was fun. There were a few people at NIC'S that I knew from a WAMU promotion I worked a few weeks ago. They were doing a (very low key) promotion for PLYMOUTH GIN. Lucky me, I got them to give me free drinks. I was forced to become a Gin & Tonic fan for the evening, which I'm prefectly willing to do under the right circumstances.
When I saw my friend I almost didnt recognize her, she really looked like she had been living in Los Angeles. She is a stylist now with lots of fancy shmancy friends, a few pseudo celebritities and a couple-a-common-folk.
At one point during the evening< i guess I was in the right place at the right time and I was invited to go into the cold vodka room. A very flamboyant "Tour guide" slash host fitted me with a fur pimp coat and matching hat (You have to wear one because the vodka room is actually a big refrigerator stocked with the worlds finest vodkas), and I hung out on there for a while...good times....I felt like Flava Flav.
Thursday night I laid low... I watched RESCUE DAWN with my roommate and his girlfriend...
RESCUE DAWN was wierd...I couldnt quite grasp what was happening. I mean, yeah...in a basic "I Love- Seth-Green-movies" sort of way... I get it...its about some POWS who eventually escape...
But ...i dont know.. on the other hand...I didnt get it... it was a very strange portrayal of eccentric characters...a strange portrayal of a prison camp in viet nam... I like Christian Bale's work..and I like Steve Zahn...but...I would have to say thumbs down on RESCUE DAWN.
FRIDAY...TGIF...
I had an audition Friday afternoon...YAY.
And this one was actually an audition that didnt involve GOLF. I didnt have to swing a club, or pretend to be a golf pro (In a room filled wth real Golf pro's).
I had three lines of text to work with...which is a first for me in Los Angeles...
And I SCREWED IT UP.
You would think I would go in totally prepared. You would THINK I would have my three lines memorized with a plethora of choices at my disposal...an ARSENAL of choices...
Nope... I took it for granted and thought I could read it a few times and have no problem. I had a problem. The last line gave me FITS. I just couldnt spit it out the way it was written. It was sort of a tongue twister, but still....
Some people really hate insurance. We want to change that. With a 24 hours claims line and a money-back claims guarantee, we’re changing home and auto insurance.
I botched it and botched it and botched it again. I was kicking ass on the first line...smooth with the second...and bumbling idiot closing it out...its was the "24 hour claims line and the money back claims guarantee" that kept tripping me up.
The casting director was cool. He said If I get called back I would have to get that line down. He assured me that I did a good job. He was probably just being nice.
(BE PREPARED.... jackass)
Friday night I tagged along with my buddy Dan to the Chateau Marmont holiday party. Dan is a bellman at the hotel and every year they throw a grand holiday party for the staff.
Open bar...free food...really really goooood food...I got to meet a bunch of the guys that Dan works with, which was cool because they all had crazy Chateau Marmont stories...many of them involve well known celebs and most of them are so outrageous they are hard to believe... but they are great for parties.
Saturday I had to work. I had to do an in-store demo for HINT at the WILD OATS on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. It wasnt exactly what I would prefer to be doing with my Saturday, but it was ok.
Sunday was low-key... went for a bike ride in the Silver Lake Hills... which totally kicked my ass. Then I watched the NY Giants suck eggs against the Redskins.
And that brings me to this very moment...
The Bears are beating the Vikings 6-3 in the 2nd Quarter. Adrian Peterson is a having a so-so day so far....and I'm hungry.
TWO auditions tomorrow...two different film projects... both appointments were acquired through self submission (Backstage, I believe).
I went over to Santa Monica this morning for work. As a HINT representative, I had to stop in to the WILD OATS market on Montana and pay a visit to the store manager.
While I was walking in, I noticed a woman entering the store in front of me. She was carrying her little boy... 2,3, 4 years old...
The woman was Carrie- Anne Moss... the hot chick from THE MATRIX...
I think she was in MEMENTO...as well as a bunch of other stuff.
Anyway, as far as a basic celebrity sighting...that was it... But it vwasn't the celebrity sighting that struck me.
As I was leaving, I walked down the sidewalk to my car. Instead of parking in the designated WILD OATS parking lot, I decided to park on the adjacent side street.
Just as I got to the point on the sidewalk where the parking lot ended, I looked over and noticed a man standing behind a mini van. At first it seemed as if he was putting something in or taking something out of the trunk of his vehicle.
Wheh I looked closer, I saw that he was really just sort of hanging out there, looking tpowards the entrance to the market. Then I noticed what he had in his hand...a big, huge telephoto lens and camera.
THIS DUDE WAS A LURKING PAPARAZZI!
He was literally tucked away in the corner of this parking lot behind a mini van.
At first I found it curious that he was there for Carrie-Anne Moss. She is not really the type. She's not someone you see a lot of Paparazzi pictures of floating around...and she hasnt really been that active lately...career-wise...
I guess you do see these speads in those stupid magazines that show a collage of celebs on their downtime...pushing strollers, grocery shopping, eating a burrito..
Then I wondered if the guy was there specifically for Carrie...or does he just camp out at the WILD OATS every Monday morning hoping to get a few shots of SOMEBODY famous? Anybody.
I don't know...it gave me a wierd feeling...kind of like the first time you see your cute little house cat come home with a mangled dead mouse in his mouth.
Sunday morning... forced to watch the Cowboys Lions game because the Giants are not on TV here in LA this morning...
Anyway....
So I booked my first West Coast theaterical gig a few weeks ago. I will be performing with an ensemble cast in the stage production of 5 CHAIRS.
I don't know much about what I'm working on...I have yet to read a script. During the audition process I performed a monologue and read sides from "When Harry Met Sally" and "Do The Right Thing." I read the role of SAL...
Don't laugh...
My basic understanding of it is that 5 CHAIRS will be a monologue driven piece, incorporating multiple characters, I may be playing a few different characters myself...
So that's it...thats all I know. All I can really do is cross my fingers and hope that this will turn out to be a positive experience and a worthwhile project... I'm sure it will. It will be whatever I make of it.
Yesterday I received a pre-production email regarding our reherasal schedule and the announcement of our venue:
Hello Everyone,
We hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!
We have spoken to many of you in the cast and crew and due to scheduling with the strike and workloads we are going to begin everything in January. So below is the new schedule.
5 Chairs January Schedule January 8th - Read Through 7pm (actors do not need to have their parts memorize yet) January 10th - Production Meeting 7pm Starting the 15th Every Tuesday and Thursday Rehearsal at 7:00pm - 9:30pm
*In February the rehearsals will be 3 days a week til production week which will be Feb. 25.
Location: The Attic, 5429 W Washington Bl, Los Angeles
Again congrats to our actors! Over 75 people auditioned and you all impressed us the most. Please give me a call next week to discuss your assigned characters. Thank you and we look forward to working with you in the new year!!
Cheers,
Rebecca, Aja & Scott
As far as our theater goes....I dont know much about THE ATTIC. I will ask around and see what I can dig up. This is what I found just searching around on the internet:
Tomorrow night we have our FOURTH official collective meeting. We've been really fortunate to have a free space available to us. We've been meeting in the rec room at one of our members apartment complex in North Hollywood.
So tomorrow night, we should finally agree on an official name for our group. We tried to vote last week, but the overall consensus was that we didnt have a name on the block that really excited anybody, so we brainstaormed some more and then put the vote off for another week. Everyone is supposed to put in their vote (First, second and third choice) by tonight (Sunday) at midnight.
These are the choices:
Pacific Coast Collective Pacific Artists Collective West Coast Artist Collective United Pacific Artists Spectrum Artists Group Active Artist Alliance Power Player Productions The Brilliant Resilient The Greatness Group The Trees Knees The Avenging Artists Northbound Productions Northbound Collective Northbound Lane Productions Tortured Soul Productions The Tide Group The Tide Collective
If anyone out there wants to put their two cents in...please..by all means...
I went to see NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN today at The Vista Theater in Los Feliz. Its a really cool theater...and its very close to my place...I can actually walk there...seriously...walking distance....
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was pretty damn good...I must say... its also pretty damn dark.. Its one of those movies that stays with you long after you leave it... not in a warm fuzzy way...more like a pensive disturbed way...
Woody Harrelson has a small role...like many of the supporting actors in this film...but he does a great job...Josh Brolin is great...Tommy Lee Jones is great...and this Psycopthic Killer...Javier Bardem...he plays the ultra-brutal killer Anton Chirgurh....really really well done... an awesome villian...MORE than a villian...THE ULTIMATE villian.
I'll tell you something else... this is the kind of movie that will polarize an audience...
You see...there are two kinds of movie goers out there...I will refrain from offering my definition of the two sides... figure it out fcor yourself...but those two sides see movies in an entirely different light...and when you open discussions about NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN you can really see who lands on what side...
Go see it...and tell me what you thought...let me know what struck you...how it made you feel...
Aside from being my birthday, Monday Night was our THIRD official collective meeting...and it went well.... we had about 15 people show up...among other things we tried to vote on a name...so we could move forward with plans to develop a website, Myspace page...really get to work on some brand awareness...
Nothing yet...a few solid leads...but nothing really exciting... we've got about 48 more hours before we count votes...and cut off any more last minute entries.
We actually got to do some acting work at this meeting. We just did a basic round-robin-cold-read-auditionscenario type-of-exercise...and we had one person from the group play the role of Director and give notes and/or adjustments...
We meet again next Monday.
In light of this whole writers strike...we have to do SOMETHING to keep sharp...to stay focused...The strike....ugh...the strike the strike strike....
NEW YORK (Reuters) - CBS Corp Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said on Tuesday he was not sure there would be a quick resolution to the screenwriters strike against Hollywood studios because the two sides remain "far apart."
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The TV industry braced Tuesday for what could become a long strike by writers, even as both sides returned to the bargaining table.
ACTRESSARCHIVES.COM - The writers strike has definitely done more harm than good for television over the past month, but that's not to say it hasn't done anything good. For one, the refusal of Hollywood's union scribes to put pen to pad has brought with it an opportunity for non-union writers...And now it seems the strike will be responsible for spicing up basic cable with a few shows previously available only on premium channels.
CBS is taking the reigns in this unprecedented move to maintain viewers during a time when new material is scarce. The network will be moving a couple shows from its Showtime cable unit to its basic CBS channel.
"Dexter is probably the first one to go on... with some edits," CBS Corp. president and CEO Les Moonves said to investors on Tuesday. "It fits with our crime shows."
Ok...I support the WGA. I hope they get this whole thing resolved soon...cuz I'm starting to ITCH, man...I came out here to knock a hole in the Universe...to pitch my tent... make my dent...to shed the Clark Kent and upgrade my rent...represent...Get Rich or Die Tryin like my man Fitty Cent.
Ok enough of that....
In the meantime...I'm practicing patience... I'm bery fortunate to have a full time non-industry day job to keep me going....I guess the lack of action gives me the chance to fortify my place with my day job...so when things start up again...I'll be better equipped to multi-task...
I think the Universe is looking out for me. Different people...with various LA experience have said to me on numerous occasions...be patient.... I dont much of a choice now do I?
TODAY IN SPORTS:
I am really worked up over all these Johan Santana trade talks...
ESPN.COM - The Twins may have reached the point where they have the best offers they are going to get from the Yankees and Red Sox for pitcher Johan Santana.
With the Yankees' offer now upgraded to include top young pitcher Phil Hughes, the Twins spoke again with the Red Sox late Saturday afternoon, sources say, and Boston generated a few new ideas for its proposed offer.
MLB.COM - The Twins certainly have received offers for Santana, but it's apparent that none have satisfied the team's wishes just yet. The Yankees included Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and another prospect in their offer. In Boston's case, the Red Sox have put forth two packages -- one headlined by pitcher Jon Lester and another featuring outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.
DONT DO IT... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...DONT DO IT.... If Those Steinbrenner boys get rid fo Phil Hughes AND Melky...I will bo SO F$%#@ pissed....
ITS A MISTAKE...KEEP HUGHES and MELKY...KEEP THE ROOKIES...DONT SELL OFF OUR FUTURE!!!!
Today's birthday (Dec. 3): Your wishes for others, which have been so generous and complete, are what will happen in your own life this year. The fruition of projects, the kinship of like thinkers and long-overdue financial remuneration are all features you'll enjoy. Invest in your education in June. There's a new living arrangement in November. Scorpio and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 35, 1, 7 and 3.
NY DAILY NEWS:
If it's your birthday
Happy birthday, Sagittarius! Being a sensual creature, you're most happy when in love. Anyone on the receiving end of your amorous advances will remember the encounter for a long time to come! In the year ahead, you'll be in your element; it is one in which spirituality and sentimentality will align. Open yourself to loving and being loved, concentrate on solidifying your close personal relationships and nurture the heart.
AND MY FAVORITE BIRTHDAY HOROSCOPE....
From the NEW YORK POST:
December 3, 2007 -- You will be a bit of a celebrity this year. All eyes will be on you. What have you done to deserve your superstar status? Who knows, but you must play up to it, even if you are the kind of Sagittarius who values their privacy. Next year you can go back to being anonymous - if that's what you want.
So Monday (Tomorrow) is my birthday and after our 3rd official collective meeting wraps up in North Hollywood, we will be walking over to a place called MATCH, 4657 Lankershim Blvd to celebrate not only the fact that I'm turning SEVENTY FOUR (can you believe it?)...but to toast the current and future success of our newly created creative team.
Green Bay is playing the Cowboys right now on the NFL Network...so NOBODY is watching it...we are all forced to check the internet or Sportscenter for updates... The NFL Network can bite me.. One of the best match ups of the year...and its basically blacked out...for me anyway..
Awesome game so far...I HATE the Cowboys...I would LOVE to see Green Bay win this one... and Brett favre is HURT...he's not even leading this amaizing second half comeback that is going on...its Aaron Rogers game... he's running the show out there...good stuff...wish I could watch it.
(Hold please...must check for updates)
Still 24-27 Dallas..and the Cowboys just punted away....
So Monday we havd our second official artists collective meeting and again...it was great...we've got a good solid group of eager and enthusiastic people...I have a really good feeling about what we are going to accomplish...
Here are the notes from the meeting...as compiled by Stephen Schaffold:
(Normally we wont be...or I...won't be..posting the notes from our meetings...but Stephen's synopis is pretty safe)
(We will have a new volunteer each week take notes and send out a synopis to all the members present and non)
Hello everyone,
Here are the notes from Tuesday's meeting. I look forward to seeing all of your bright shining faces
next Monday! Have a great week/weekend!
Best,
Stephen
NOTES
First of all, a HUGE thank you to Kristin for hosting the meeting at her apartment building. Before everyone arrived, she cleared off the tables, cleaned the bathrooms, lit candles, and basically provided a great atmosphere for all of us to work in. So thank you Kristin!!!
Also, we welcomed three new artists to the group- Paul Duraso, Trevor Jones, and Heidi Fielek.
We began with 'going around the circle,' which, by the end of the night, we concluded needs to be cut down in time drastically in order to perserve time. We were thinking maybe five minutes tops for each person.
James began the circle by opening up discussion on his new demo reel that he emailed out to the group eariler in the week (well, MOST of them anyway :p). The main discussion point centered on using numerous short clips from different scenes vs. using fewer, longer scenes. The general consensus was that a demo reel must entertain, not bore, and having two or three drawn out scenes on your reel may not have the attention capturing quality that so many casting directors and directors are looking for and subsequently may cause them to lose interest. Of course, all of this information is subjective. As James said, "a demo reel is like a headshot." You get one person telling you this is what they want, and another person telling you something completely different. In the end, it comes down to what you believe markets your individuality the best.
Ashley broached the topic of an opening montage vs. no opening montage on the reels. She believes that it is important to get right to the acting work, and opened up discussion on whether or not chosing to open with dancing was the best choice for James. Leetal commented that if you do in fact use a montage, make it no longer than 10 seconds. Ashley encouraged all members to email her their demo reels or websites, as she is working on a project called "Envy" which has many available roles. Email her at Blahblahblahyadayadayada.com. Ashley commented that 'Every actor who wants to act should have an opportunity to act in this group.'
I opened up discussion on the possibility of bringing in casting directors for cold read workshops. We talked about cold reading workshops, such as Casting Networks, where they charge $30 or so for actors to come in and read for them (apparently you want to stay away from a company called Act Now). We entertained the idea that if we each pitch in around the same amount of money, we could hire a casting director to come in and work with our group. James has had experience coordinating these type of events back in New York. Lisa is part of an improv group called The Berubians which allows her access to theatre space in which we could hold such an event, or any other events for that matter, such as a 10 Min. Play Festival, which is something the group was encouraged to think about. The Berubians, FYI, are a no dues theatre group. Lisa performs there on Monday nights.
Eric informed us that he is working as a Coordinator on the tv show 'Reality Revealed.' He also came in with an opening for a PA job which he kindly offered to the group. This is a great example of the
possibilities that this group holds for us.
After a heartfelt reunion between Trevor and Leetal (they both worked on a project together in New York), Trevor announced to us that he will be producing two upcoming shows, one for Fox Sports and another for a European TV sports station. Not bad! He also brought up the necessity of organizing and maintaining a sort of structure and ground rules for the group, in which we should have a mission statement, state the objectives of the meetings, etc. Questions that were broached that fall along these lines are: How many members should we let in? Should we meet on Mondays or Tuesdays, or a combination of both in order to try and adhere to the needs of all group members? Should we work on multiple projects at the same time? Should we have individual as well as group goals, and how should we go about meeting those goals?
Paul is a member of the Acme Comedy Theatre. He performs there on Thursday nights at 8:30. They are located at 135 N. La Brea. You can visit there website at acmecomedy.com. He opened up a discussion about weight after he told us a story about how an agent told him to lose weight and then come back and see them. We concluded that the agent probably wasn't that interested anyway if he brought that up. We also concluded that it all depends on how you want to market yourself and what kind of roles you want to play when it comes to deciding whether or not to lose weight, or gain weight for that matter. Eric told us a story of an actor (the name is skipping my mind) who was told the same thing, took it to heart, and whose career flourished thereafter. So, once again, it is all subjective.
Leetal is looking for talented bands for a music video shoot, to be directed by her. If anyone knows of any bands who would like to put together a video (and who has some of the finances in order to make this happen), please let her know. Paul mentioned that he plays guitar, and it was either Heidi or Kristin who said they can belt a tune. Maybe it's both!
Lisa just finished reading a book called 'A Star Is Found' about two of LA's top casting directors, Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins, sharing their stories of the casting process. Inspired by the book, she decided to email them, despite a posting that specifically said NOT to. Well guess what---she got a response!
This is a perfect example of how breaking the rules can sometimes work to your advantage. I believe it was Audrey Hepburn who said 'If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun!' In her email, Lisa asked what the best way to get noticed by a casting director is. Their response? 'Do lots of theatre!'
Heidi is an actress as well as a voice over artist. She has an absolutely beautiful, resonant voice, so if anyone you know is looking for a V.O. artist, Heidi is the one to call! We found out that Heidi was in a snow tubing accident this past week. Let's all hope that she heals for her new show, 'Paging Dr. Chutzpah,' which opens on Dec. 14th at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Burbank! Visit sidewalkstudiotheatre.com for details!
And now, to the naming of the group. Voting will take place next week. The following are the choices that we have come up with:
1. West Coast Collective
2. Pacific Players Productions (or, replace the
'Players' with another word, as we decided that we
don't want to make the group sound like we are limited
to just actors. 'Pacific Coast Collective' and
'Pacific Circle Productions' were broached.)
3. Action LA
4. Group Think
5. Collaborative Arts West, or, Collaborative Arts
Productions, or, Collaborative Arts Collective
If you have any other suggestions, please bring them next week for the official voting. Some points to keep in mind when choosing- we want to keep the name of the group universal to all aspects of the industry, not just acting. We also want a name that can be used to signify multiple things, ie, a production company, a casting director workshop, a theatre group, etc.
Finally, we finished off the night with a reading of Jame's latest creation, 'Catch.com,' an internet
series comprised of multiple 3 min. shorts chronicling the diabolical acts of a girl and guy who seduce their dates and then brutally murder them. Good stuff!
We all agreed that this would be a great first project, and James is going to write one or two more for next week. Everyone is still encouraged to bring in their own work as well, as the consensus seemed to be that we will work on multiple projects.
Alright fellow artists, that is all for this week. Let me just recap real quick the main points to remember for next week:
1. Bring in possible names for the group, as we will be voting
2. Think about rules and a general mission statement for the group.
3. Bring in any original work.
4. Remember, next week, the circle portion of the group will be reduced in time in order to allow more
time to take care of business.
5. Our next meeting is Monday, Dec. 3rd, 7 PM at The same location.
And now, a notable quote by the one James Huffman to end on:
'We're a million sperm trying to get into one egg!'
Take care all!
Oh and By the way...the Packers just LOST to the Cowboys... 37-27
I bought myself a bike yesterday... FIFTY BUCKS off of Craigs List...and it's a RAD bike...practically new:
Took it out for a ride around the neighborhood tonight... In that dark...at rush hour....cause I figured that would be the best time to take my new bike out for a spin...
And I tell ya...these hills are killer... seriously...Silver lake has hills that are nothing to sneeze at.
I only lasted 30 mintes...IF that...
I swear I dont EVER get that winded when I'm DRIVING in those hills...whatever man.
Regardless...That was one of my goals once I got to LA was to get a bitchin bicycle....I held out for the right opportunity and BAM...a sweet maroon and silver mountain bike...FIFTY BUCKS... I LOVE CraigsList.... I swear, most of the results in my LIFE since I've moved to California has been a result of Craigs List...
You know what I was doing before I took my bike out on the town?
I was smashing golf balls at the Majestic Golf driving range on Melrose and Vermont...a few blocks from my place.
I got a call today for ANOTHER golf audition! CUH-mon man!!! I went through this same shit a few weeks ago. They are not looking for actors...they are looking for Golf Pro's...
So my agent tells me that the audition is actually at a golf course...and they want me to BRING MY OWN driver....seriously? seriously? They are going to hold auditions at a real golf course and they expect me to bring my own driver?
So I walk on over to my friendly neighborhood driving range...THE MAJESTIC...I get two buckets... 140 balls....they actually dont use buckets eher...its al automated...so each time I hit a ball...a machine reloads and the next ball rises up and places itself...pretty cool.
I hacked at 140 balls...I shanked...I pulled...I sliced...I even air-balled about twenty of em...
Once I was done I realized... I SUCK AT GOLF...and I have blisters.
And I'm NOT going to that audition tomorrow...its a waste of time....seriously...F%$# THAT.
I've been getting some interesting feedback on my actors reel... I will post a few of them sometime this week.
Meeting TWO of the new West Coast Collective happens tomorrow night. We will be meeting on North Hollywood. I have a few short scripts to read through and we have a bunch of stuff to talk about...as well as a cold reading exercise to play with...
I'm sitting here watching a two week old episode of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS...still my favorite show... NOT because its all about football...I've said it before...I'll say it again....great characters....great performances... really well done...
DOH.... Sarasin (Dillon Panthers QB) just planted one on the live-in nurse who is taking care of his grandmother...the sexy....Latina live-in nurse who is taking care of his grandmother... every high school kids dream...
(LOVE this show)
Now I'm watching the HEROES episode from last week... my second favorite....
I've got a ton of recorded TV to catch up on...
I'm finally back in LA after a week on the east coast.... feels good to be back... it felt GREAT to be in New York...GREAT to see all my East Coast dearest...my family ands friends...
October and November are the best months to be in New York City in my opinion..
I'll tell you what...I had a great time...but MAN... I was ALL OVER the place... CRAZY busy for a holiday...
Friday 11/16
9:00AM: I leave my apt on Hoover Street and hit a handful of accounts for HINT. The plan is to head out ot the airport after putting in a half day.
12:00PM: On my way to LAX i receive a message from ORBITZ informing me of a flight delay. Well thats great to know...but I'm still going to the airport. If I wait and go later, I'll hit more traffic.
1:00PM: I'm checked in. My flight isnt scheduled to leave until 5:15P
6:30PM: My flight finally departs.
Saturday 11/17
2:30AM: I land at Newark... The PLAN is to meet up with Jess and I will stay with her in Hoboken for the night so we can watch the Ohio State/Michigan game at noon the next day. Sounds easy enough...right?
2:45AM: Upon arrival, I have a message from Jess telling me she seems to have locked herself out of the apartment. So basically...at 3AM neither of us having any place to stay.
4:00AM After renting a car from Budget, we get a hotel room at the Holiday Inn in Secaucus and plan to get up bright and early to drive down to Asbury Park and pick up a spare key.
8:30AM: We check out and hit the road...headed for Asbury Park. Jesse's good friend Patti, who also owns the apt she's been staying at, agrees to meet us at a rest stop off the Garden Sate Parkway. Patti is staying in Asbury park with her boyfriend for a few days. Are we having fun yet?
10:00AM I mistakenly take the Asbury Park exit instead of exiting at the rest stop.
10:30AM After somehting like a TEN MILE re-direct, we find the GSP again. We have no idea now if the rest stop is North of us...or South of us.
11:30AM: After a few more re-directs, u-turns and encounters with brain dead toll both collectors, we reach Patti, get the key and head back to Hoboken...to watch the Ohio State/Michigan game.
1:00PM: We arrive back in Hoboken. Jess gets out and goes upstairs while I look for a place to park.
2:00PM: I realize the rule in Hoboken is: "If you don't LIVE in Hoboken, don't come to Hoboken." The entire city if governed by resident permit parking. Violaters are BOOTED and TOWED.
2:15PM: I find a two hour meter and decide to take my chances...as if my LUCK hasnt been BAD enough today.
3:30PM: Ohio State defeats Michigan 14-3. Big win...boring game.
8:00PM I arrive at Al's in Ridgewood and spend the night there.
Sunday 11/18
9:00AM: Have frittatta's with Al, Philene and their two little girls
1:00PM: Watch the Giants game.
6:00PM: Jess and I meet up with Andrew Walker and his grilfriend...Jessica, on the Lower East Side.
Monday 11/19
12:00PM: Arrive at Penn Station to meet my Father for lunch.
1:30PM: Determine my Father is a no-show.
2:00PM: Grab lunch...alone...pissed at my Dad.
3:30PM: Meet up with Daryl at East 44th street. he showed me the reel he's been working on for me.
4:00PM: Get a call from my Dad. He claims he waited for me at Satrbucks. I claim I looked for him at Starbucks. We determine we must have been at different Starbucks. He forgot his cellphone, so we couldnt get a hold of each other. We are both very frustrated by the mishap. Nobody's fault...really...could have been avoided if he had his cell on him....oh well.
4:30PM: Meet up with Andrew Walker at Heartland Brewery in Union Square for a beer or two before he has a shoot. While waiting I send a text message to Bill Putney to say Happy Thxgiving. He tells me he is picking up his 1 yr old at day care in Union Square.
4:32PM: I txt "I'm in Union Square."
4:33PM: He txts "Where?"
4:34PM: I txt "Heartland Brewery!"
4:45PM: Andrew shows up orders a beer.
5:00PM: BILL shows up...with little Trey...orders a beer.
5:05PM: Little Trey begs Bill for a sip of beer. He cant talk so he points at the mug and shapes his mouth as if he's sucking on his bottle.
5:06PM: Bill thinks better of giving his baby some beer.
5:10PM: Little Trey gets thrown out for unruly behavior after being refused service.
8:30PM: Arrive back in Ridgewood. Spend the rest of the evening at Paul and Stacey's...longtime friends...they live on the same block as Al.
9:00PM: Paul and Stacey have three kids...ALL of whom refuse to go to bed.
9:30PM: The two boys have gone to bed...the littlest one...Paisley...there years old...is putting up one hell of a fight...she wants to hang witn Uncle Jim.
10:00PM: Paisley comes back down. Stacey wrestles her back upstairs. Paisley screams in an absolute tantrum. Uncle Jim sips uncomfortably on his beer.
10:30PM: The kids are all finally asleep.
11:00PM: Exhausted by the whole ordeal, Uncle Jim says goodbye...back to Al's...bedtime...no tantrums.
Tuesday 11/20 10:00AM: Hit the road for Fairfax, Virginia to spend a few days with My brothers family...Dave, Holly, Keller, Casey... dogs Wilson and Layla.
2:30PM: Make kick ass time to Fairfax.
2:35PM: Keller and Casey run out to give their Uncle Jim a big hug.
2:45PM: Play Spiderman "Operation" with Keller.
3:00PM: Backyard shenanagins with my nephews.
Wednesday 11/21
7:45AM: 5 year old Keller creeps into my room and attempts to wake me up....standing on the bed and bouncing up and down.
8:15AM: After a hard fought battle of wills and wits, I succumb to Keller's relentless tactics...I sit up and get out of bed.
10:00AM: Daddy and Momy go for a run. Uncle Jim is appointed temporary babysitter.
10:05AM: The parents leave. The kids go crazy.
10:15AM: Uncle Jim pops in Shrek the Third, which has a hypnotizing effect on the children.
10:30AM: Rendered powerless, the boys are entranced by Shrek. Uncle Jim takes advantage of the moment and takes a shower.
12:00PM: Lunch and backyard shennanagins with the boys.
8:00PM: Grandma Nancy and Big Ole Bob arrive. The kids get jacked up for a while...but make it to bed in a timely manner.
Thursday 11/22
7:45AM: Another rowdy wake up song and dance with Keller...along with a cameo by 2 1/2 year old Casey.
10:00AM: Turkey goes in the oven.
11:00AM: Lunch and backyard shennanagins with the boys.
3:00PM: Guests arrive for wine, cheese and Football.
4:00PM: Thanksgiving dinner is served.
4:45PM: I'm seriously concerned that my stomach might burst. Could i possibly eat SO much that I could cuase myself some sort of internal injury?
5:00PM: Injury SMINJURY! I top it all off with some Pumpkin Cheesecake and brandy whipped cream.
7:00PM: I look at flight itinerary for the nest day and discover that my return flight DOES NOT DEPART from Newark! I depart from LGA!!!! You know what THAT means? I have to drive to Newark to return the damn rental car...and THEN, find my way over to Lagaurdia in time to catch a 1:15P flight....ugh.
9:00PM: I call my Dad and tell him I have a great idea...one more chance for he and I to spend some time together before I go back to Los Angeles.
10:30PM: I go to bed....still very very full.
Friday 11/23
3:30AM: Cell phone alarm goes off.
4:00AM: After a quick coffee...I'm off to the races.
6:00AM: I'm on cruise control at like...EIGHTY mph.... I'm also pinching my leg as hard as I can to stay awake....rolling the windows down...singing at the top of my lungs
7:45AM: I arrive at Newark Airport to return my rental car... I made some KICK ASS time... UNDER FOUR HOURS from Fairfax to Newark....amazing considering I was alseep most of the way.
7:55AM: Meet up wth my Dad...He's waiting for me at the Budget car return lot. Sigh of relief...He actually made it this time...thank God.
9:00AM: Dad and I stop for breakfast at MacDonalds. I dont usually eat MacDonalds...buts its all we can find out near LGA.... I shovel down TWO sausage McMuffins.... gross.
11:00AM: I'm checked in and ready to bounce back to the West Coast.
7:15PM: Pacific Coast Time...I'm back...my car has been waiting for me in Lot B...its very dirty...I'm very tired.
8:15PM: Home sweet home. Still hard to believe that I say Home sweet Home in Los Angeles, California.
Meeting number ONE of the new "West Coast Offense" Actor/Writer/Director/Butcher/Baker/Candlestick maker collective took place last night at The Farmers Market inside The Grove on Fairfax last night and it was a fantastic inaugural session.
First off...attendance FAR exceeded my expectations...my Burbank peeps represented (3 NYU Actors, one NYU filmmaker), My roommate was there (Self-made filmmaker), a few new contacts through friends of friends, some people I worked with recently, Heather Mac G, an original Proactive NY member...like a REAL OG...she was there before I was there.... a friend of hers...and...I thinks ..thats it... I think we had 13? 14?
And MOREwill be coming... There's a handful of folks who couldnt make it but WILL be coming to future gatherings...
We talked about creating our own work...creating our own buzz...we tallked about what its like to make the "New York actor in LA adjustment."
We talked about aot of good constructive, productive things and I'm telling you right now...
We're off to the races.
The next meeting is on the 27th. A few people in the group say that the condo complexes they live in have rec rooms that are available for use by reservation...so we may be able to secure some good, private, FREE rehearsal space for our meetings.
TODAY, as a representative of HINT Premium Essence Water, I handed out free bottled of cold HINT to folks in the picket line at Universal Studios.
This is going to sound like I'm some naive Los Angeles newbie, but I had an extremely surreal afternoon. I really felt like I was having some bizarre dream.
As I pulled up near the hundreds of people standing out on the sidewalks outside of Universal, I noticed someone in the middle of the road. There was a guy sort of "hanging out" in the empty turn lane right in themiddel of Lankershim Avenue and Main. When I pulled closer, I realized that was Jay Leno, right there...sitting on his motorcycle, cheering on and supporting all the strikers.
I dragged a few coolers full of ice cold HINT over to the picket line and I was immediately swarmed by thirsty strikers. I handed a bottle to Seth Green. Then I handed one to Andy Richter. Doogie Howser said "No thanks," but then he changed is mind and said "You know what, I WILL take one of those."
Cars would drive by and honk, the crowd would go wild and appreciatively scream in repsonse.
Matthew Perry walked through the crowd and took a bottle....the Rasberry Lime flavor, I believe. He stopped and did a few interviews and was suddenly surrounded by photographers. He grabbed a picket sign and posed for a dozen photos.
I also recognized an actress from a McDonalds commercial that ran about a year ago. In the spot, she was trying to explain to a friend how relationships are like a MacDonalds McGriddle breakfast sandwich. I've also seen her in a few other spots.
She was wearing a baseball hat real LOW on her face like she's some big celeb that needs to move about on the "Down Low."
The HAT she was wearing was a Boston Red Sox hat...so I hate her stupid guts now. She didn't get a cold bottle of HINT Premium Essence Water...
My honest and personal opinion of a play I went to see last week seems to have upset someone. I received the following blog response today:
I was just on-line checking for reviews for GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE as I saw it this past Friday and enjoyed it immensely and was curious if it was getting the kudos it deserves. I don't know about directing, or acting...I only know my wife found the listing in LAWEEKLY and wanted to go. We both had a great time, and gave the director the praise she deserved afterward (at THE WOODS - which is a great place). The writing was really good, and the cast was nothing short of great. I felt compelled to write this as I was dragged to see the play and afterward was sincerely glad I'd gone - reading your misplaced anger toward the production and it's director caught me off guard. I haven't looked at the rest of your site, but I'm willing to guess you're an yet another angry actor fresh to LA and ready to throw stones at anyone who doesn't see you as the next Pacino, or DeNiro or whomever it is you're trying to emulate. Before you go to another movie, or another play, before you throw another stone...take a look at yourself and reconsider what you're doing in your brittle house of glass. Because if your acting is as intuitive as your reviewing skills, friend...you're screwed.
Wow...now tell me again...WHO is it that has misplaced anger?
I promise you sir...Mr...Regular...Joe... I will not go to another movie or play until I take a look at myself and reconsider what I'm doing in my brittle house of glass....or at least to figure out if my belt matches my shoes.
My laptop is all messed up... everytime I start it up...it goes to a blue screen and says it has to stop to avoid damage. It tells me that I may have hardware or software that is causing it to stop and restart...but I can't figure out how to fix it. I was able to get in and remove a few new programs...but it didnt help. I'm not a tech guy...I dont know what the hell I'm doing...and I dont have all day to tinker with it...
I have to sign in on to the guest user account...which doesnt shut down at all and allows me to do basic stuff....but I'm going to need to sign on using my own account eventually and fix it...dammit...
Anyone out there have any suggestions?
I started my new job with HINT this week. I spent two days visiting accounts like Gourmet markets and Whole Foods locations in Glendale and Pasadena.
They opened a new Whole Foods in Pasadena and I had to go check out HINT's placement on the shelves. It was supposedly the biggest and best Whole Foods in the WORLD. It was big..definitely an impressive store...but not quite as impressive as the one on Houston and Bowery in New York. THAT Whole Foods location is like the DISNEYWORLD of all supermarkets. Seriously, Its a grocery store theme park...
"it's a small world aaaaaafter all"
"it's a small world aaaaaafter all"
Did I mention that I saw INTO THE WILD last week?
One thing I didnt mention was that there were some outstanding performances. Personally, I love when a film offers terrific performances from NON celebrity actors and this is one of them. There is only one celeb in the film, Vince Vaughn, and that happens to be the worst part of the film. Its not because Vince Vaughn is bad. he does a good job, but he's distracting. I was completely engrossed in the story. I was suspended in the magic of this film...until Vince Vaughn showed up...then I dropped out. Vince Vaughn can't help but become a caricature of himself. I love him in WEDDING CRASHERS, OLD SCHOOL...all those films...but I think he
takes away from the efforts of a subtle and understated cast...
HAL HOLBROOK...the old man who befriends Christropher toward the latter half of the movie...Awesome...the performance of his life...best work I ever seen from him.
Catherine Keener and her partner...the hippie guy (Sorry, cant find his name) were excellent too.
Ok...I'm done talking about INTO THE WILD...I just had to re-visit the subject and make those comments.
Now that I'm settled...working....and the WHOLE town is dark due to the strike....Its time to get a good Proactive community going out in LA. So I sent out the follwing email to all my West Coast contacts this week:
hey... I wanted to extend an invitation...
I'm am going to be RE-creating a new actor/writer/director/butcher/baker/candlestick maker collective/collaborative here in Los Angeles, much like the ProActiveNY group that I was involved in in New York over the past five years....
In 2005 we produced 10 short films over the course of the year as a result of our carefully planned monthly short film project. We then held our own short film festival in Feb 2006 that attracted a dozen industry players, a beer sponsor and a viewing audience of about 300 (All stuffed in to a medium sized sports bar).
So I want to establish the same of type of activity, see what kind of momentum we can build, in the essence of mastering your own destiny, creating your own work, driving your own bus....
THAT being said....
We are going to move forward and get our first "West Coast Offense" actor/writer/filmmaker collective meeting underway on Monday night.
This will be a very informal "orientation" meeting with introductions, some preliminary planning goal setting.
The meeting is going to take place in the "Community Room" area in the Farmers Market section at The Grove. I will be there at 6:30P. The meeting will officially start at 7P and run until 9P. It's okay if you are running late (As a few of you have indicated), just come on upstairs and join us.
Call me on my cell if you can't find us:
A few topics we will discuss:
The format of the meetings
Future meeting time and location options
Group Resources
Future projects
Inviting writers, table readings at meetings
acting work/exercises during meetings
Naming the group (Back East, we were ProActive NY..."The Professional Actors Collective of NY." I'd like to create a new name for the West Coast chapter)
Enter the Grove on Fairfax. The entrance to the Farmers Market is across from The Coffee Bean and the stairs to the meeting area are right inside that entrance. You might want to buy a coffee or a bottle of water somewhere and get your parking ticket validated.
Ok...I look forward to seeing you there. I look forward to doing great things with this group.
See you Monday!
I've got my first full week of work for HINT coming up..The first collective meeting Monday night... hopefully of a few auditions along the way...I'm back in New York (and Fairfax, VA) for the Thanksgiving holiday...
I've been hired by HINT. HINT is a "pure healthy water, lightly infused with all natural flavors - a refreshing alternative to sodas, juice and other 'water beverages.'" I will be representing HINT in the greater Los Angeles area as sale rep.
I start tomorrow.
Hey, I went to see INTO THE WILD this weekend and it was OUTSTANDING. It was a wonderful mix of EASY RIDER, GRIZZLY MAN and any Jack Kerouac novel....beautifully shot.... The film was a great experience.
I started watching DEXTER on Showtime again and its actually gotten better. I liked it when it first came out, but then I cancelled my Showtime service. They were charging me al la carte and I decided to just pay for HBO.
Out here...I have to say...Time warner Cable SUCKS... you would think that its a national compnay and the quality of service would be the same...but no...very different...the DVR boxes are different (and UNRELIABLE), the on screen graphics are different...navigating through channel selections and On Demand selections is totaly different and here in LA...its BAD...really BAD... Time Warner Cable just sucks out here....bottom line...
ANYWAY...my HBO here in LA...which i get through Time Warner...which SUCKS...is al messed up...sometimes it works..sometimes it doesnt... so I've started watching Showtime...and I've caught a bunch of the latest DEXTER episodes and its a really good show...I have to say.... actually WEEDS, CALIFORNICATION and DEXTER is a pretty good lineup...I would highly recommend it.
Speaking of shows...I've been driving past all the WGA picket lines this week. The Paramount lot on Melrose is very close to where I live. I hope this thing ends soon...and I believe that it will. I'm in full support of the writers, of course, but MAN, they are creating some serious traffic problems. Rubbernecking!! On MELROSE!! Its annoying enough when everyone has to slow down and gawk at a fender bender on the freeway...but drivers are just plain grinding to a halt to look at the people on the picket line!
This aint no drive thru safari ride, people!!! DO NOT SLOW DOWN to STARE at the picket line. No baboons or giraffes here....LET'S GO!
OY...
So.....I went over to the Black Nexxus Studios yesterday to take an audition workshop. I went over there with a tragic need...a burning desire....an inner conflict , that had been weighing on me since last week....I went there seeking redemption.
LAST Tuesday I took the Black Nexxus audition workshop for the first time. I had taken every other class that Black Nexxus has to offer...In New York and Los Angeles...and this would complete the cycle. When I got there I met a handful of the other actors who were taking the class that day. I should say actresses since I was the only guy there. I struck up a conversation with a few of the ladies. I mean, c'mon, I'm the only guy in the room, it's my duty to me courteous and cordial. I gathered from a few of them that they were very new to this. Some had been acting for a few weeks, some a few months, but none of them had anywhere NEAR the experience that I had...and I ate that up... my ego inflated a little bit...I have to admit.
(Jackass)
The one thing these girls had on me was that they had all been taking this class for several weeks.
The class is set up like this:
Receive your sides/script when you arrive.
Read it over and jot down first impressions; First things that come to mind as your reading the scene.
We sit down as a group and discuss the notes we took.
Discuss how to use our notes to apply the practices of Black Nexxus (Make strong choices, personalize, etc)
We all leave the room and come back, one at a time, as if this were a real audition and read the scene, on camera.
One everyone has auditioned, we all come back to the room, watch the tape and discuss.
I was having trouble applying some of the Black Nexxus principles to the scene. I was having trouble personalizing the circumstances. I was trying too had. I was over-thinking, over-analyzing. Combine those difficulties with the fact that I was suffering from ego inflation in a roomful of inexperienced LA actresses and I was doomed.
When we all sat down to watch the tapes at the end, we got to my performance and I was absolutely horrible. I could barely watch it. I was seriously the worst one in the room...no exaggeration. When the teacher paused the tape and asked the room for comments... dead air...you could hear a pin drop. No one knew what to say.
I turned around and caught the eye of one of the girls i had been talking to earlier, an actress who had been "doing this" for like TWO months, and she gave me this sad pouty look as if to say:
"It's ok, you'll get better. Keep practicing."
The room was spinning. I could hear my heart thumping as if it were lodged up between my ears. I felt a cold sweat slowly ooze from my clammy skin.
I left the studio that need with such doubt, such disappointment...and then I spent the next six days re-living that experience...over and over and over...
Until I got my ass back in there yesterday. I went in there with an actors FURY. I was hell bent on redemption...if for nothing else than for myself...and maybe a little bit for the ladies.
I was focused yet relaxed. I was disciplined and flexible. I connected. I personalized. I applied the principles and practices and then I threw it all out....so I could let my instincts drive for a while.
And I was whole again. I felt strong. I felt clear. The teacher made comments on how my performance in this class was a world away from the crap I delivered the week before.
I turned around to catch a little satisfaction from the choir...
And there wasn't ONE familiar face....not one girl there from last week.
Probably for the best...I turned around to gloat...and gloating is what killed me in the first place.
Saturday morning...the sky is clear today after a few days of fog and clouds...
Its been a quiet week.
This WGA strike has sort of stifled the business out here. Nobody's really sure whats going to happen, how long the strike might last and how severe it will to be.
The strike shouldn't have an effect on any commercial projects...and considering its time for Holiday Season spots to start shooting...there SHOULD be some solid commercial auditions popping up....and I'm hoping to get a piece of the action.
The strike is REALLY going to hit shows like LETTERMAN and LENO. Without writers, those shows are basically useless, impotent.
Hopefully they'll get it all worked out sooner than later.
Back to more important issues... like my pilot...
So the word in New York is that my sitcom pilot is finally making some progress. All the tape issues have been corrected and the editor is putting together a rough cut.
I received a few emails from friends regarding a MYSPACE pilot competition, the MYSPACE STORYTELLER CHALLENGE:
Many of them suggested that I submit material from my project for the contest. I'm looking into. My pilot could win. I definitely believe that. It would be great exposure. I could really use that money...and I could REALLY use that development deal. My concern is what might be in the fine print. If I submit....what happens to the rights to my little project? My baby. If I advance to the final round and don't win..or I dont receive a deal based on my work...can I still move forward with plans for my pilot? Can I still approach other networks?
(Currently reading the fine print)
I'm still waiting on a few job developments. Day job developments...not acting job...unfortunately. I'm actually waiting on a call today from the founder of a new beverage line. Its basically a second interview. I'm hoping to be able to sign on with these guys in the next few days and start working.
I had two potential offers out there...looming all week. I actually started the week with three potential offers. ....All beverage marketing/sales related. One offer was was basically put on hold indefinitely after we spoke on Monday. I was told by my contact there that they had to put a hold on hiring to get al their distributorship in line...could be a few weeks...could be a few months...but I was "still a leading candidate."
Another compnay was ready to hire me right there at the first meeting. Of course that didnt really sit well with me. It seemed too easy. The money was great, but something just didnt feel quite right.
Beverage number three was still out there...and by Friday I was wondering if I was come up with ANYTHING. Was I going to end the week with a big goose egg?
I did get a call from my initial conact....basically prepping me for a call this weekend from the big guy. I feeling good about this one. I want it. I need it.
I'll let you know how that goes...
Last night I had my first Los Angeles theater-going experience. My roommate and I went over to THE NEXT STAGE THEATER on LaBrea and Sunset to see the lovely Heather McGonigal (good friend of mine) in THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE written by Paul Tarantino:
Sorry...I had to say it...it was a rough experience.
Heather was good. She played the role of prostitute with the disposition of a playful little girl. I enjoyed her work....but thats where my enjoyments ends.
The directing....OH...my...god....the directing.... was not so good...not good at all...and putting it that way is being kind.
I realize how difficult it is to put a project like this together. The cast and crew had limited access to the space. They were unable to have a dress or tech rehearsal in the space the night before. Performances only run on Friday nights in November. I know how difficult it is to deliver quality work under those conditions.... AND...this was a first time director...so I can't be too harsh...
But the bottom line is...the play was hurt tremendously by the direction...There were a few shining moments for a few of the actors...and the audience was a generous one.....There were laughs in appropriate places...but I watched as people approached the director after the show and told her how great everything was...and I coudn't help but wonder if anyone was going to be honest with her? Will she ever have access to the feedback that will enable her to grow and improve as a director?
Who knows...I hope so.
Waht I like about the loaction of this theater is that it is in the same strip center mall thing a ma jigger as a newly renovated bar called THE WOODS.
We hung out there after the show for a while. I was there last weekend and I like it. Good crowd I'll go back again for sure.
So... Are you still a big A-Rod fan? Apparently he's not a big NY fan. Couldn't even wait until the end of the world series to bail. Didn't even CONSIDER a potential 30 million a year deal from the Yanks. Still think it's outrageous for him to end up in a Red Sox uniform? I think that's what he's hoping for, if the deal isn't already in place. I only hope we don't get him. He is a flesh eating virus. I honestly think he'll never get a ring and he'll bring down any team he's on. His track record is pretty solid in that regard. The only thing that could spoil another great season and WS win for the Sox is to find out we sign A-Rod. I'm pretty sure 90% of Sox fans would agree.
You should be glad he's gone. Of course, everything else looks pretty bleak for you guys. The Steinbrenner monster has grown two more heads. No one really seems to be in charge. Torre and Mattingly are gone, You'll end up losing or overpaying for the remaining old-timers. Rivera, Posada, and Pettite are probably gone. Hell, Yankee Stadium won't even be there after next season. The whole thing seems to be falling apart.
On the other hand, Here's what we've been doing up here in Boston since the last time the Yankees won the world series. 3 Superbowls and 2 World Series.... So far.
Hope all the non-sports related things are going well!
F%$^&&#**&( YOU...You F%%%$#@*&& SMUG Red Sox C*&%^^ Sucker..
F%$^^# A-ROD...F%$&& The Steinbrenners...
The YANKEES will rule again....and you KNOW it....Bring on JOBA!!!!
Oh...and BTW....F%$^^& YOU and the hundreds of inbred...brain dead southies who vandalized and shit in their own city to "celebrate" a world series victory...wheres the class in that? dumbasses need to learn how to act like fans of world champions... you can take the fans out of the pisspot....
ok...that being said... kiss the family for me...all my love
(I started writing last night and began with "Monday night." Then I bailed because I was tired)
Tuedsay morning... I'm finally seeing morning sunshine. It has been exteremely overcast and hazy over the past week or so...I'm sure its due to all the fires.
I have to go back a few days to give a good thorough weekend update....
Friday
I did my New Black Suit victory dance all the way over to the Renaissance Hotel for work. This one day event is the whole reason I had to go buy a black suit in the first place.
It was called the SUNSET STRIP BLOCK PARTY and the entire event was created/sponsored by SANDISK:
SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the leader in flash memory, today announced the availability of its 8GB1 microSDHC™ and M2 flash memory cards to retail outlets worldwide.....
In celebration of the launch, SanDisk has teamed up with festival and event producers Guerilla Union (Rock the Bells, Paid Dues) for the “Sunset Strip Block Party,” an unprecedented event incorporating exclusive headline performances from world-famous artists on the world famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, Calif.
I was hired, along about twenty others to basically chaperone an assigned group of international members of the press. I stayed with my group throughout the night to answer questions about the memory card (EXCITING stuff), or the phone, the event....or WHERE I GOT MY SWEET BLACK SUIT!!!
I answered that question alot.
I have to say...I was really happy to be working this gig. By the time we all arrived at THE VIPER ROOM around 6P, I had already ranked this event as one of the top five best gigs I've EVER worked.
I was hanging out with tons of cool people...stealing tasty hos deurves from the trays of beautiful waitresses...at the legendary VIPER ROOM...a place I had never been...I had a VIP pass hanging from my neck...and I was wearing a sharp black suit...
This was a sweet gig.... and the ranking rose to the top THREE best ever when we guided everyone up the street to THE KEY CLUB for the LINKIN PARK performance.
I'm not a HUGE fan of LINKIN PARK...they're all right... they have four or five sings that sound exactly the same and at one point during the show, i was completely unaware that they had made the transition from song to song...I thought they had just gone through one long twenty minute song....seriously all sounds the same..
Regardless...I was getting paid...very nicely...to hang out and enjoy LINKIN PARK live.
So...long story short...I did miss the performance by COMMON....but I finsihed up the night taking in a DJ set back at The Viper Room by an up and coming artist named Z-TRIP.
While this event was still hovering in the top two to three best work experiences of all time....the event manager called us back to the lot behind the Viper Room and thanked us all for a great job....it was 2AM and we were all basically exhausted....but it was a nice thing to say...THEN she said that she would be cutting out checks...RIGHT THERE...and after that we could go home...
The SUNSET STRIP BLOCK PARTY had just become my number one bestest gig of ALL TIME...
I somehow found the energy do my revised Black Suit victory dance all the way back to the Renaissance.
Saturday
Saturday night I went to my first "Party in the Hills."
A friend of mine is friends with Tomiko Fraser, who is...for lack of a better word...a supermodel... she is the first African American woman to sign on as the face of Maybelline...
So it was her house...her party....wasnt any kind of crazy bash...no young girls puking...just a nice laid back...good peoples party...beautiful house....food... drink...TABOO....good time...
Finsihed up the evening with a late cocktail at a bar called THE WOODS....then made it home safe and sound.
so now its back to work...progress... another day...another week...another step in the right direction...
Three potential job offers in the air this week...I should have at least one of them nailed down by Friday...
Doing what I can to keep the auditions rolling in...
Working with my NY peeps to get the sitcom pilot finished...still writing and re-writing epsiodes...
Making preliminary plans to get a West Coast version of an actors/writers/filmmakers/butchers/bakers/candlestickmakers collective thing going...in the spirit of ProActive NY.... we'll see how that goes...
I have an appointment at 12:45 in Van Nuys... and my buddy Dennis is flying in from NYC for a NIP/TUCK callback...so he and I will probably grab lunch...
The F%$&*^% Red Sox swept the World Series last night ...BAH HUMBUG.
(I hate the Red Sox...have to admit.. they are pretty damn good....$%#@&&*)
A-Rod is leaving the Yankees...whatever...probably for the best...certainly couldnt win in the post season WITH A-Rod....
I had a very interesting weekend...much to share...but short on time...
I'll be back tonight.... bust out a blog fa all y'all
I was hired to work an event tomorrow, Friday from 1P to 1A. The event is for Scandisk and I'm basically representing Scandisk and Nokia and acting as a brand ambassador and host to a group of international guests, mebers of the press. They will have me plying the role of chaperone, basically..and where Scandisk comes in is in the fact that each guest will be given a brand new NOKIA phone...to keep...and the phone will come with a fully loaded 8G memory card (made by Scandisk). The memory card will be loaded with music and games and videos provided by the various sponsors repsonsible for making this event possible. I'm there to answer any questions about the phone and memory card and show these people how to use it.
All that being said...the job pays REALLY well...seems pretty easy...and I'll be rubbing elbows with celebs at some of the cities hottest venues...
One requirement is that the Brand Ambassadors have to wear black suits, white shirt and a red tie...
So I had one of those things....a white shirt.
I left the training meeting yesterday feeling a little nauseous because I was trying to figure out how I was going to come up with a black suit that would FIT and NOT cost me $300...
and THATS where OUT OF THE CLOSET comes in. OOTC is a local popular thrift store that donates much of its proceeds to AIDS related charities. That explains why the entire store is staffed by the GLBT crowd... The T in that acronym is for TRANNY and I stress the T...T is for Tranny.... T is for TODAY... T is for TONS of TRANNIES...TODAY... working at OOTC.
Very nice...very helpful....trannies in retail..
Ok...THAT being said...
After shopping around at several Goodwill stores and a ew Ross (Dress for Less) locations...I got to OOTC and within 5 minutes...I found a sharp looking solid black blazer...I put it on...and this thing fit me PERFECTLY...like it was MADE for me...like it was MINE..and I donated it to OOTC yesterday..and then returned today to buy it back...THATS how wel tis jacket fit...
Price: $15
Fantastic..I'm loving it...but I need some pants to go with this awesome jacket....wait a minute...I think I see some pants...black pants...and oddly enough...they look like they MATCH this AWESOME jacket! I try them on...in a dressing "area" that hardly qualifies as a dressing "area.
And guess what.... A PERFECT FIT!! I can't believe my luck.
Price: $10
Did I just buy a black suit for $25?
Did I just solve my dilemma in this store in under ten minutes?
Did I just change in a dressing area with HALF a curtain where every single patron and staff member could see me strip down?
Did my tranny retail saleperson just wink at me?
It's all good....I got a sharp new suit for $25.
I'm gonna wear it every day....I mean it ...and when someone stops and looks at me and says:
Its all over the news...all day...all night...and righfully so...those fires are huge...all over the place...and spreading...
Its strange because where I am there are NO fires...there isnt even any wind. The news has been reporting for days that the fires ae spreading due to 100mph winds.
100mph winds over in Malibu...NOTHING in Silver Lake.
I was over in Canyon Country last week. I wrote about my crazy ascent up the side of a mountain to get to an audition. I was right there...days before the entire area went up in flames.
On Sunday, I left my apartment to head out to a birthday party and I could see the smoke rising from the canyons over the horizon... saturating the sunset.
I was headed in that direction actually for the birthday party. The party was for Heidi, the girl who hired me a few weeks ago for the WAMU job. It took place at a sports bar called THE PARLOR on Wilshire in Santa Monica.
Today I received a photo from the party. I think this is technically the FIRST west coast photo of the new James Huffman and some his new California friends...
(Thats me WAY in the back)
And now back to raging wildfires...
One of the girls in the photo...blonde hair...pink shirt...worked a promotion on Sunday very close to where some of these fires had started...check out how surreal this shot is...
Funny, I dont see ANYONE out shopping for PUMPKINS!!! maybe because their HOMES are on fire!
That CRAZY WICKED SKY is the result of nearby blazes...
Another beautiful day here in sunny Los Angeles... I feel like I'm always prefacing my posts with that phrase...because it ALWAYS a beautiful day here in Los Angeles...
This week... a few auditions...nothing incredibly exciting...but every little bit counts... I had a few interviews for non acting work...a couple of good prospects...hopefully they feel they same about me....
I feel like I had a pretty good interview. If there is one thing that I can do well is interview for a job. A job interview usually, for me, becomes an acting exercise, a loosely scripted scene where I slip into a character and dazzle my audience (The interviewer...and sometimes an innocent bystander in a hotel lounge...where many of these interviews take place).
With all my experience with real audition scenarios...interviewing for a job is childs play.
I'll find out this week the results of my interviews...
I did a little neighborhood pub crawl with my roommate on Friday night. he just bookd some production work on VH1's reality show WHITE RAPPER 2...
stupid show...reality crap...
This show is beyond bogus and not that interesting to begin with. I'm not sure what's worse about this show? Listening to these kids spewing out liberal amounts of the f-word or the fact that these kids aren't great rappers to begin with. What the hell were the producers smoking when they thought of this I don't know but I do know that you have to have a natural talent to rhyme or you won't survive in this business. All of the little boys that MC Strech have on this show are just plain arrogant. When M.C. Strech has to pick someone to get that money I hope that he picks the right person. I just hope to hell that it's not Sullee. USER COMMENT from IMDB.COM
But its work...I think like 6 weeks of work...which in his (And indirectly MY) realm of existence..is HUGE...
We started at YE RUSTIC INNon Hillhurst in nearby Los Feliz. Which was great. I had been there once before on a previous trip to LA. Its a cool dive bar atmosphere with waitresses that carry their share of tattoos and piercings.
Next stop was the LITTLE TEMPLE LOUNGE... on Santa Monica and literally RIGHT around the corner from the apartment. Little Temple was ok... more of a place to go dance with a group of friends...not the best place for two guys to sit and have a beer....and they charged a $5 cover...I woud probably go back.... just not with my roommate...
This is my fourth visit to this place... I like it...its the perfect local spot...good scene..cool people...but not too cool...and the guys at the door are cool as well. And since I had enjoyed my previous visits to the 4100, I had to introduce my rommmate.
And that was it for Friday nights pub crawl....
last night I was at a friend of a friends birthday party at an apartment downtown...nothing crazy...met a few good people....some former New Yorkers... free food....free drinks.....cake....thats about it.
I have ANOTHER birthday party to go to tonight. This is a party for the girl that hired me a few weeks ago for the WAMU promotion I was working. I'm doing my best to get out there and meet as many people as possible.
Right now I'm just chilling out watching the Giants play the 49ers...go Giants
And on that note....check out how cute and hysterical my little nephew is (He turned 5 this week):
That kid cracks me up... if this photo isnt blackmail material when he turns 18... I dont know what is...
You should have seen the place where I went to audition yesterday... in Malibu... drove up the PCH to a street called Las Flores Canyon Road... then I embarked on THREE MILES of winding twisting canyon road... upward...round and round...
I'm wondering if this is a mistake. I'm wondering if there could POSSIBLY even be some sort of casting going on WAY up there at the top of this MOUNTAIN?
Wait...is this a porn shoot? I was told that this was going to be a print casting...but it seems like the perfect location for one of those pornstar camps...like the house in Boogie Nights....
I was SO high up that my ears were popping....i was outwardly laughing to myself as I turned ANOTHER hairpin corner that overlooked a steep steep drop to a rocky canyon below...
(WHERE the HELL am I going?)
I was so high up that I drove past some sort of municipal station with a HELICOPTER parked there on the heli-pad...and I FINALLY found the next street I was supposed to turn on.... Rampla Pacifico... another quick turn... and I'm finally there.... Lightroom Studio , 23400 Moon Shadows Drive , Malibu , 90265
Not a porn house unfortunately...just a regular print casting that happens to be happening way up a crazy beautiful, steep and rocky winding canyon road...
I walk in...they take a few photos...and I'm done...
The drive down was a little more treacherous... i think its the first time ive ever mad MYSELF car sick ....WHILE driving.
Stopped at a little burger shack at the bottom of the hill in Malibu...Malibu Burgers and Fries...and had probably the best burger I've had since I've been in California...
(Out of 3 billion kinds of burgers offered by 1 billion burger joints in the Los Angeles area)
I got the California Burger...of course..which was TWO 14 lb patties...overlapping on a french roll..with bacon, avacodo, onions, tomato and mayo...it was HUGE..and delicious...and cheap...right there by the beach in Malibu.... I had a fantastic lunch yesterday...
Afterwards I had ONE more audition to go to...over on Cole ...Cole seems to be a very active place for castings...its the third time I've been on that one block for an audition...right there at Cole and Santa Monica..
As I'm filling out my size card...I hear a voice from behind me...
"jiiiiIIIIIM?"
I turned around and its Henree...a girl I know fro New York. She used to take my workshops all the time at CAC. I didnt know she had moved to LA.
"HOLY crap! hey, how are you?"
"I'm good! How long have you been in LA?"
"a little more than a month"
"Oh my God...I cant believe I just ran into you."
"How long have YOU been here?"
"Two years."
"Wow..I had no idea you were even out here. Thats crazy."
We went on for a few minutes...just catching up... comparing stories...struggles, neighborhoods, cars, agents...
It's always great to see a familiar face.
Doing alot of work from home today...I'm going to do a little mailing...send my stuff to a few casting directrors, theaterical agenst and maybe some managers...
browse through online postings... all that..
And tonight I'll hopefully watch CLEVELAND sink the Red Sox and send them home for the winter. Manny being Manny may have ignited a fire in Cleveland that will not weaken.
I'm sitting here watching LIFE AFTER FILM SCHOOL, which is a half-hour program that airs on the FOX MOVIE CHANNEL. It's basically an interview show that pits three recent film school graduates against industry players and it has the feel of an "informational" interview for this panel of young, eager, recent graduates looking to embark on a career.
For me, considering I will be out trying to pitch my sit com pilot in a few months....provided its is ready and presentable in a few months... this show is rich in information that pertains to me...
On the subject of my pilot....ugh....
Since we wrapped shooting in Auguts and especially since I left New York...the project is going slow... I'm a little on edge about the whole thing... I knew that me leaving New York and moving to LA could potentially leave the entire project very vulnerable...and it seems that the whole things is dragging right now.... We've had problems with a few of the tapes...mainly the stuff with ME on it... and my CO-producer assures me she is ON IT... but I'm REALLY not happy with our progress.....
sorry I'm venting a little here..
APPARENTLY...we are moving fwd and things are getting handled...but if I was there I would have had all these issues handled weeks ago and we'd have a rough cut by now....grrrrrrrrrr
I'm trying to be patient...and keep a cool head... I dont like how much momentum we've lost since I left.
Momentum HERE on the other hand is picking up....
I have an audition today, as well as a job interview... something that would perfectly fit my needs.
Tomorrow I have TWO print castings to go to and then I'm going to a going away party for my friend Phoebe. Phoebe used to be a casting assoc at CBS in New York. Then she moved out to LA and worked in casting around town for a while until her husband recently accepted a job in Portland...so now they are having a going away party... I havent had a chance to meet up with her since I got to town...so the least I can do is go to her going away party...
I've been wearing all black for the past two days. I'm in mourning.
Oh...the Yankees....the yankees, the yankees, the yankees...
Oh Joe....Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe Joe-Joe-Joe-Joe-Joe
The humanity of it all...
I've had my promo work over the past few days to help take my mind off it. I've also been watching all the new network shows and all the season premieres... I got cable and DVR just in time to record what I want to see...
I've seen the first three episodes of HEROES...awesome
I caught the season two premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS...excellent...again...and guess what folks... they made me tear up...I swear I can't get through one episode without getting choked up.
Even though I'm a little behind...I'm gonna watch and/or record tonight's episodes of BIONIC WOMAN, LIFE, PUSHING DAISYS and DIRTY, SEXY MONEY.
My promotions project ends tomorrow so I'll reach out to my commercial agent and see if I can get get the ball RE-rolling with him and start going on auditions again...
(I should have never booked myself out...every one I've been working with said the same thing...bad move...dont EVER book yourself out...make your auditions your priority...ALWAYS. Point taken)
I'm doing some ore print work on Monday for a photographer in the area who wants to update his portfolio and shoot some new stuff for his website.
You know what....It's been a while since I posted any of the music I'm listening to or any of my playlists on the site...but I did create a new playlist on my ipod recently that I titled:
SILVER LAKE SUCKA-TASH
Better People - XAVIER RUDD from the album White Moth Easy going simple, feel-good song...feels sort of like Jack Johnson.
Livin at Night (Jimpster Remix) - CHUCK LOVE from the album reMixed4 mm-CH mm-CH mm-CH mm-CH... house music all night long. This is just a catchy club track. I like is cuz it's the "Jimpster" remix.
Timebomb - BECK Infectious....super doooper catchy and fun. Beck manages to stay in the game by either staying ahead of the curve or givin the people exactly what they want...all while keeping it real.
Lady Don't Tek No - LATRYX from the album Solesides Greatest Bumps I first heard this track in the background while watching ENTOURAGE...not in my own perosnla background...it was IN the show. You can go to the HBO/Entourage website and get the names of songs that they play during any given episode. I've never heard of LATRYX before...but this sing rips off...directly...the beat and bass line from an old Grand Master Flash track....lucky for LATRYX they make DAMN good use of it.
The W.A.N.D. - THE FLAMING LIPS I heard this really cool sounding riff on a Dell Computer or an Intel Centrino (Can't remember which) commercial. I googled around...and found the song.
Icky Thump - THE WHITE STRIPES from the album Icky Thump My favorite White Stripes song of ALL time. They have really outdone themseves here. This song is a scathing, pounding rock n roll orchestration. This song ROCKS...hard...really hard....and throws political punches to boot.
Slow Blues - VAST AIRE, TIMBO KING, PRODIGAL SUN and BYATA Solid underground hip hop (You've never heard of any of these M&*% F^%&CKERS...have you?) with a kick ass beat and blues guitar sample running through it (You will).
Let's Kill Ourselves - THE PONEYS I downloded this song from EMUSIC two montns ago. Its a good song for a workout or just going out and kickin some ass...and guess what...they played it during the season two premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.... during three-a-days.
300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues- THE WHITE STRIPES from the album Icky Thump Doesnt have quite the same mind blowing effect as ICKY THUMP...but it still rocks...in a milder, bluesey, build em up then blast em out of the water kind of way.
Awe - CITIZEN COPE from the album Every Waking Moment Another song I heard on ENTOURAGE. I was surprised to find this was by Citizen Cope. I am a fan of the band, but since this track is an instrumental, I had no idea. Nice work guys... it's rich and funky.
Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (Upso Mix) - ERIC B & RAKIM from the album Gold
Some of the baddest hip hoppers here ever was....NEW YORK'S OWN....If you don't know...now ya know.
Doh...that reminds me of THE YANKEES
Ok...one more things about the Yankees....
One of the first things I did when I got out here is I started looking for "New York friendly" bars to watch the Yankees finish out the regular season and storm the playoff picture. I came across an email group through MEETUP.COM that was dedicated to LA area Yankee fans.
While I never actually got around to "Meeting up" with any of the group members...it was comforting to know they were there.
and while I mourned another unsuccessful run at the pennant...we all mourned....
Guys,
It is with a heavy heart that I'm writing to you today. With half a bottle of vodka in me and a TV remote in pieces on my floor, my home jersey and Yankee cap both turned inside out, I watched Posada's last swing and tasted that sick feeling that marks the beginning of grief.
We are all grieving.
We all know the free agents, we all know there will be shake-ups. Tomorrow the Yankees will resemble the Yankees we have known this century, but there will undoubtedly be some big changes. After losing the ALDS 3 years in a row, a new page must be turned.
Thank you all for your support and for your spirit. It was a long and painful season, and no matter what anyone in management says or does, the Yankees made a run since the All-Star break that will go down in history as one of the most astounding accomplishments in recent memory.
It just wasn't our year.
But we are the New York Yankees, a team with a history that far exceeds the radar blip of one crummy post-season. You will mourn, as I do, but remember to hold your heads high in the end. Because you are part of legend, you are part of legacy. To be a Yankee fan is to know the highest heights of baseball triumphs, and that is a true joy that no one can ever take from you. Never give up, and never stop believing.
I will be disbanding this group soon, sending it into torpor until April 2008, when we begin the season that will bring a World Series Championship home to Yankee Stadium for its final year. I enjoyed meeting all of you and if anyone wants to get a hold of me in the off season, you can always find me downtown. Holler...
Go in peace, you mighty Yankee Fans of Los Angeles. Tomorrow is another day.
It's a picture from a stock photography shoot last year... those stock photos could pop up anywhere...there was a photo from the same shoot that appeared last year on a poster in the hallway at UCLA where my friend Charlotte is in the graduate writing program...she called me and said that there was a picture of a tecaher on the wall at school that looks JUST LIKE ME....
The Yankees are ROCKIN IT right now....btw
I've been screaming at shouting all afternoon watching this game..... scaring the neighbors I'm sure.
The game is tied One One.... bottom of the tenth....Mariano is pitching...throwing heat....he seems to be the only one in the place that can get past the DISGUSTING bugs that are flying around everyone....nasty nasty nasty...
Seriously Cleveland...whats up with the gnats? flying ants...whatever....this is supposed to be a professional baseball stadium....who does that? Who has millions of gnats assaulting the players?
Ay yay yay...this game is killing me...I have the day off but I hustled out this morning to run some errands so I could get home and spend the afternoon watching the game...
STRIKE 3!!!
OH NO...the ball got away....throw him out throw him out...
AAAAAAAArrrrgh.... safe at first? COME ON!
Wednesday we got cable and internet here at the apartment....just south of Normal. So I'm sitting here in the comfort of my own home....on my second hand leather couch...watching the playoffs on my second hand 27 in TV...in my second hand boxer-briefs...
(You can get ANYTHING on Craigslist)
Spent all week driving for a promotional gig.... since I took the job I booked myself out with my commercial agent....but I think that might have been a mistake....
Clevelend has moved that damn baserunner to third.... this is a One to One game people...bottom of the tenth!
A mistake because then my agent doesnt submit me....so I'm missing out on auditions...
Forget that man...I can't afford to miss out on auditions...next time I wont book myself out with anyone...I'll take the work if it comes....if an audtion comes up...I'll find a way to get there.....thats the way I always did it in New York... I guess I was just being a little timid.... screw that...
UGH....bases loaded....bottom of the tenth....2 outs...
I'm back blogging at the Silver Lake Coffee Company...
Saturday night went out bar hopping with Trevor...a Cabadian New York actor buddy...we stopped in at EL TORO CANTINA to see Alex, a New York buddy of mine who bartends there on Thurs and Saturday nights... hit him up for a few free beers and cuaght up on some college football...then went upstairs to BUSBY'S...based on the following recommendation from Alex:
"You should check out BUSBY'S upstairs...bu be prepared..its crazy up there....like hot young girls puking crazy"
How could I resist after an intro like that?
BUSBY'S was lame....like some Uber- club in Times Square...amateurs...
and NOT ONE hot girl puking... a few stumblers and a spilled drink here and there...but thats about it...
So we headed back over to my hood and checked out the 4100 BAR...which was pretty damn cool...especialy since it is right up the street from me....likely to become my steady ..
4100 BAR is just a nice mid sized dimly lit lounge with lots of cool looking people lurking about... I like it.... I'll defiinitely be spending some time there.
Sunday took another workshop at ONE ON ONE PRODUCTIONS....and then attended a training meeting for a WAMU promo gig that I'll be working over the next two weeks...
There were a bunch of people there that I worked with back in New York...so the training meeting sort of became a little NYC/LA reunion party...
Great to see familiar faces...we'll all be working together for the next two weeks...
Cable gets installed Wednesday...along with internet...just in time for the playoffs...although I will do my damnedest to go see the games with a roomful of shouting New Yorkers...
I took the Friday night Exer-Actor class at Black Nexxus last night....great class... I really enjoy it...everytime
Today I went back over the hill to North Hollywood to take an industry workshop at One On One Productions...the West Coast version of what they have in New York....
Today's guest was Casting Director Jami Rudofsky from JAM Casting...we chatted...
"So... 917? New York?"
"yep"
"How long have been in LA?"
"About three weeks"
(A look of surprise)
"Wow, THREE weeks? And you're already in here?"
"Sure"
"Well you're just gettin right to it, aren't you?"
"I didn't come all the way out here to mess around"
"I guess not"
A few more minutes of chat....then she assigned scenes and partners...everyone performed with the full group present...my particular scene was from a show...a pilot called Man vs Woman...I believe what she said was that this is another British show that (ala THE OFFICE) ...is being pitched for American television....
It was a fun scene... seemed to go okay....got laughs....
Right now I'm at another Silver Lake coffee shop.... SILVER LAKE COFFEE CO.... typing away on my laptop....
We are scheduled to get cable and internet in the apartment on Wednesday...until then...I'll be cruising the coffee shops...
I might continue to frequent places like these...especially this one...Silver Lake Coffee Co is actually quite cool...
Friday....its actually overcast here in sunny Silver Lake California...
I'm sitting here at the Casbah Cafe on West Sunset...having a bagel,,,a toasted bagel...with some cream cheese....salmon...a few slices of tomato....i know it seems very New York....but last night I had dinner at El Pollo LOCO on Sunset...and yesterday for lunch I had a bacon avocado cheeseburger at ASTRO BURGER on Santa Monica....not IN Santa Monica....ON Santa Monica....
Anyway the CASBAH CAFE is this little coffee/tea/sandwich/cutsie place on Sunset near my new BANGIN apartment... which is on Hoover Street....just south of Normal...seriously...the name of the cross street is NORMAL...
Eric and I have already agreed that when we write a screenplay about our first year in Los Angeles we'll call it "JUST SOUTH OF NORMAL."
I spent yesterday helping Eric move from his temporary place in Woodland Hills....WAY out there on the 101....WEST of the 405.....
(Thats LA talk)
So we started loading his truck at 9AM....finished at around 1:30....we got to the new place on Hoover around 2 and we busted ass unloading and getting everything inside...we were hustling because I had made arrangements to take the truck over to this chicks place in West Hollywood and take some of her furniture off her hands. I found her on Craigslist the day before and she told me we could take a lot of her stuff for cheap...if not free...if we could come by and pick it up.
I bought her Sealy queen size bed...which is in great condition...with box spring, frame and a comforter (Kind of girlie looking but better than nothing for now) for $100..
We took an IKEA lime green end table and small three drawer dresser for ten bucks....and she threw in a funky looking chair, that doesnt match anything, for free.
In the midst of all this moving, wheeling and dealing I was browsing Craigslist in transit...looking for pieces of furniture that people wre trying to get rid of.... I was browsing Craigslist on a pocket PC...a VX6600...that I bought from some guy on Craigslist for $150...I bought the pocket PC...which is a great phone/palmpilot/PC.... sells for $400 new...and took it over to the Verizon store and connected by New York 917 line to it...
I have to say though...I'm a little overwhelmed with all the features...and sometimes its slow to navigate because you have to whip out your stylus and click your way through stuff.... so...there is a chance that I might RE-Craigslist it and sell it off...
I'm seriously walking around right now with 3 phones in my pockets or on my belt.
I went and bought a little LG cell phone that has email access and can turn sideways like a SideKick for text messaging...I used that phone to open up a 323 line through Verizon...I havent really offered that number up to many people because I'm only trying it out...I am probably going to return it before my 30 day trial expires....especially since the plans for Verizon are far more expensive and frugal than any other carrier...
So I've got that phone....I've got this Pocket PC attached to my belt...
(GEEK)
And I still have my old Razor...which has a few numbers and text messages in it that I need....the razors days are numbered of course..
(Ok...enough of that cell phone mumbo jumbo)
So after I pick up the bed and assorted pices in West Hollywood I find a guy selling three leather couch pieces...a big couch, a love seat, and a single with an ottoman...for $400....Eric and I talk it over and agree that if we split it...$200 each...its not a bad deal....three comfy, sitting aparatuses...in our apartment...by th end of the day....we've got the truck...we might as well use it...
At that point we were so freaking exhausted that we entertaining the thought of dicthing the idea of moving anymore furniture.
We stopped at ASTRO BURGER and had some lunch....a four o clock lunch...but lunch nonetheless...
While we're eating and discussing the leather couches, I get a call for an audtion that's ending at SIX......in NOHO...
(Thats LA talk: North Hollywood)
So we woof down our Astro Burgers....I power down my line up of cell phones... and haul ass out of there to get back to Hoover Street so I can change clothes and get to this audition...
We leave the new bed and assorted pices in the truck....for now...
Mind you...I'm fried....so tired...sweaty....every muscle is aching.....but I press on... through LA rush hour...and I make it to the Avery Schreiber Theater on Magnolia in NOHO at 5:45....JUST in time....couldnt tell you how it went... its all a blur.
Back at the apartment...I throw on my dirty sweaty clothes and unload the truck. We drag that mattress, the box spring, the frame and the assorted pieces up to our BANGIN crib...
Even though I'm tired...and I mean I'm definitely feeling it....I'm no where NEAR done...I moved in and out of a FIFTH FLOOR walk-up in HELL'S KITCHEN people....Jess and I moved for 22 hours straight to get of our stuff out of that tree house....this first and second floor b&*%sh%t is for kids...I could do this all day.
8PM rolls around...and guess what....I'll be damned if we're not going to get them leather couches.
We sling our nads over our shoulders and roll over to Griffith Park Blvd to check em out. It turns out the biggest piece of the set is in bad shape...plus we just dont have the space in our BANGING CRIB for all three...so I offer the guy 250 for the love seat and the one-seater with the ottoman...the deal is done...we haul it away and take it home...
I sit in that leather chair...turn on the 27 inch SONY TV that I bought the day before from some girl on Craiglist for $45...throw in my $9 BORAT DVD...
(NO...not from Craigslist...."previously viewed" from Blockbuster)
I found a place to live this weekend....thats the BIG one....
Eric and I decided to spend Saturday persuing a few more neighborhoods looking for a cool pad. We went to a couple open houses...but while those places were nice...the neighborhoods were either inconvenient or just not that desireable. We drove over to the Silver Lake area and looked for a place that we had on our list as an available vacancy. While we were cruising some of the streets in the Silver Lake area....I spotted this:
I told Eric to pull over. I got out and snooped around the building...it seemed nice...the front yard was nicely done with two tropical looking trees and the front of the building was protected from the street by a large fence of vines or shrubbery or whatever. So I called the number on the sign and the guy who answered told me that the available apartment was upstairs...the door was open and he suggested I go up...take a look and call him back if I like it....
So I walked up, went in, walked around the place...it was great....more "cute" than "great" I suppose....it had a fridge, a dishwasher and a stove....the kitchen was open and connected with the living room....so if I were cooking or making a meal...I could watch Tv or interact with whoever is sitting in the living area...
I came downstaiirs...told Eric to go up and check it out (He was hanging by the car because He was in a NO PARKING zone)...when he came down he said he liked it too....so I called the guy and told him I liked it...
"How many people will be living in the apartment?"
"Just two."
"Do you have any evictions?"
"No evictions"
"When do you want to move in?"
"Move IN? Oh....um....I can move in anytime"
"Ok...I'm going to send someone down there to meet you"
"Ok"
So a guy comes down and gives us the official tour. We get two parking spots in the back...not COVERED...but two spots for sure....theres no laundry facility on the premises...so we would have to take our shit to the LaundrOmat...not my favorite thing to do...but its okay...
So the guys tells us the deposit is $500 and if we write him the check he'll give us the keys...my instincts are all lit up at this point...my gut is saying THIS IS THE PLACE...this is EXACTLY what you've been looking for....you ASKED the Universe for an easy move in...well HERE YOU GO...
Eric wasnt as enthusiastic...he was unsettled ...felt like everything was moving to fast....he wanted to ask more questions....he kept asking me if I had more questions...
"Dude....I don't have any more questions."
"I feel like we are over looking something"
"I think you are trying to find ways NOT to like this place and you arent finding anything."
"This is just happening really fast"
"Just surrender to it man"
"You don't have any other questions?"
"No man...I like this place. Write the check"
We have already lost an AWESOME apartment in an AWESOME loaction because we HEMMED and HAWED and this place was just what we've been looking for and it basically dropped right out the sky and into our laps. I took it as a sign. We were two blocks away from Sunset Junction...which is an area in the Silver lake section of Sunset Blvd that has a strip of cool coffee shops, bars and restaurants....its like the WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN of Los Angeles, California.
So we wrote the check...and Tony gave us the keys....he told us we could move in anytime and just start paying the rent at the start of October.
DONE DEAL...and I'm STOKED.
As we were getting into the car...I asked Eric...
"Are we good? How do you feel?"
Before he could answer we heard an unusual faint noise from one of the properties nearby...
"Cock-a-doodle-dooooo"
Okay so someone in the neighborhood has a rooster...it wasn't THAT loud....it's not like the rooster was next door...the cock-a-doodle-doo wasnt any louder than the sound of cars passing by. Eric didn't looked too pleased.
We decided to grab a bite at EAT WELL over on Sunset....I sat with a big smile on my face....I LOVE when shit happens like that....the Universe provides...makes it SO easy...and you just know...dont have to think too hard or too long....recognize the opportunity and jump on it...EVERYTHING in life should be that easy..
Eric looked a litle green.... He wasnt as psyched as I was...he was worried...
"That's just NOT me, man. That happened WAY too fast."
"It's okay man. We did the right thing."
"That was SO not me. I don't do things that way."
"Yeah...but that DEFINITELY was ME. that had ME written all over it."
"I dont even know what street we live on. WHERE is this place? Where are we?"
"It's on HOOVER street. Two blocks south of SUNSET. Just take a breath...digest what just happened...and feel good about it man...we found a cool place...we are officially in business."
"I know man....but all I can ear right now is that ROOSTER":
Still...his shade of green had turned to a slighlty better shade of grey.
Role: New Dad – caucasian male, late 20s to early 30s. He is a new dad celebrating “baby’s first Christmas” with his wife and new baby. Must be great at improv comedy and subtle facial expressions.
Everything went great. I had to wait about 30 minutes for a baby to come in tand interact with before the actual audition got underway...it was a little tricky dealing with a baby who wasn't at all happy to be separated from Momma...but I did what I had to do...I slipped the kid a little thimble of rum...its all good...
Sitting here at the ING Cafe on the corner of Santa Monica and the 405. They hav a little cafe with a bank of desktop computers with internet access that are free to use... free
Hiiiiiiiiiiiii..... YA!!
I finally feel better....energy is back....headache is gone....I'm still sleeping on an air mattress next to the big screen TV in the living room of a townhouse in Burbank with a rotating staff of roommates and cats....
but MAN...
I feel good...
I bought a car yesterday...I had a few hours before my $30,000 Chrysler was due back at ALAMO....and I used that time to pick myself some smooth California wheels of my own. I found it on Craigslist:
1994 Mitsubishi Diamante ES. Luxury sedan. 4dr, auto, cold a/c, full pwr, tilt, crue, CD, hi gloss white/camel leather, factory ally wheels. Drives like a dream. Smogged. Detailed. 136,000 miles, clean/current CA title.
I had sort of imagined that I would be dealing with a nice old guy who was just trying to get one car out of the way so he could buy his wife a new car or something....but that wasnt EXACTLY the case. He was definitely a nice old guy. I got a good vibe from from while speaking to him over the phone...but the nice old guy runs a business that has a contract with the LAPD. He provides used cars for undercover operations. Then once those cars have been out there for too long...or maybe the cover been compromised....he takes the cars back and sells them....to guys like me....
So, I guess I not gonna have any luck buying hookers and crack in my new car....oh well...can't have EVERYTHING....
So I'm driving all over LA in my new Pearl White Mitsubishi. It's awesome. It DOES feel like a bit of a downgrade after driving that Chrysler all week....but this baby is ALL mine.
Now that I have the car situation taken care of....I can spend more time on finding my own place. Eric Jones and I going to be cruising neighborhoods again tonight looking for "Rent" signs.
I had my first TWO West Coast auditions today. They were appointments resulting from submissions I did myself through Actors Access and LA Casting. One was for a non-broadcast hosting-type piece...and the other was for a new video game.
The first one was at a place called COLE STUDIOS, which happened to be in the same building, with an entrance right next to the GOLDS GYM entrance on Cole, near Santa Monica. When I finished there, I realized that the newly renovated apartment in the grungy neighborhood was two blocks away.
I called Eric and said that I was changing my apartment preference and putting the Eleanor Street joint at number one...
Los Feliz is a fun little neighborhood, but if I lived in the nicer place on Eleanor, with central AC and two covered parking spaces...I would be within walking or biking distance of GOLD'S GYM, COLE STUDIOS...and BLACK NEXXUS...as a few extra blocks from some other cool areas....
The girl I auditioned with told me that she auditions at COLE STUDIOS alot....it had the look and feel of LIZ LEWIS CASTING in New York...
I'm thinking I really COULD minimize my driving and do my part for the betterment of the environment....
While the use of these computers at the ING Cafe are free...there IS a one hour limit and my time seems to be up....
Saturday night....no big parties and sipping martinis with my celebrity friends....I'm STILL feeling a little funky...seriously...I'm still fighting off this wierd run down thing...
I WAS feeling better...since the last time I bitched and moaned about not feeling well...I went to watch the Yankees/Red Sox game yesterday at a place called Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica....I looked online for a good place in Los Angeles to watch Yankees games and Barney's Beanery got the nod...
Anyway...while they did get their asses kicked at Fenway today....They ROCKED that s#@$t yesterday....they came back from a 7-2 score in the 8th inning to take the lead 8-7 and win game one.
When I got home last night...I started feeling like crap again...
TODAY...Eric Jones and I cruised around Los Feliz and Hollywood...combing through neighborhoods looking for places to live....and I think we may have found something...we've come up with 2 viable options...both with their own strong set of Pro's and Cons...
We found one really nice place in Hollywood...on Eleanore Street...which is one block south of Santa Monica and Vine...it's a two bedroom...newly renovated...dishwasher...stove...no fridge...CENTRAL AC...a really nice looking place with two reserved parking spots...rent is $1600...the PROBLEM is...the neighborhood sucks...all the other houses and apartments on the block are grungy...the good thing about the location is that its two or three blocks from Black Nexxus and a few more blocks away from Gold's Gym...so I could easily get a bicycle and ride to class and/or to the gym...and its relatively close to all sorts of cool stuff in Hollywood and West Hollywood...you can't really walk to any of those cool places...but it's a quick drive to many happenin intersections...
The other place we found is in Los Feliz...its a 2 Bedroom 1 bath right around the corner from THE DRESDEN on Vermont Avenue...
So the APARTMENT in Los Feliz is not quite as NICE as the place in Hollywood. The owner is still renovating (Supposed to finished next week), but it definitly has its own charm...Its got a great front room that overlooks the street...Lots of windows... and nice big tree that stands over the complex...sort of looks like a duplex...The bathroom strangely has TWO showers in it....there's a stove...no fridge...and NO AC...and only ONE parking spot per apartment....BUT...the rent is $1500...and the neighborhood is AWESOME....If we lived there we'd be within walking distance of The Dresden and a ton of other cool bars, coffee shops, clothing and grocery stores...
I could go either way...both places have their ups and downs...but I REALLY want to move in to this place in Los Feliz....its pretty much exactly how I envsioned my first year in LA.
Thursday night....its 10:30P here in Burbank....so its ONE THIRTY AM back there on the East Coast...I don't know if I'll every get used to that...
I've spent ALOT of time over the poast few days on the computer... Searching postings for places to live, cars, acting work, non-acting work (Although I don't really WANT that)...and trying to figure out where to watch the Yankees KILL the Red Sox this weekend. I registered with La Castings.com...registered with One on One Productions. I had a screening audition at One on One Productions yesterday so I can start taking their industry workshops. They had me do a cold paired scene with this chick who was very pretty...and really really bad.
I got a call from a commercial agent this week as well. I met with the folks from this particular agency in New York a few months ago, so I decided to drop the LA office an email. The next day the dude gave me a call and said he wants to work with me commercially....
Hi James,
It was nice to speak with you today. Hopefully we will book lots of commercials together. Please email me your resume and photos. I will contact Actors Access and add you to our database. You should email LA Casting and ask them to assign us as your commercial agent.
I was feeling pretty good about that. Now I'm hoping this guy is for real and he can get me in on some good stuff.
One LA commercial agent down....One LA "Theatrical" agent to go...
(They call them "Theatrical" agents out here instead of "Legit")
Not feeling so hot tonight....feeling a little run down...so I'm pounding the vitamins and any other supplements I can get my hands on. I think I pushed myself too hard over the past few days.
My Gold's Gym membership in New York is valid until the ned of the month and they gave me an out-of-town pass to use out here. So I've hit three different Gold's Gyms in the past few days and each time I worked out like life depended on it. I don't know what got into me. I was trying to show off.
So after three days of high intensity weight training...I had worked myself into a semi-severe case of soreness. Then I got up this morning and went over to Blacck Nexxus in Hollywood and took an ex-er actor class.
I used to take classes at Black Nexxus in New York...years ago...and I knew that one my teachers was now in LA running the West Coast branch of Susan Batson's school. So I popped in to see ole Gregg and take a workshop.
let me tell you something. The ex-er actor class at Black Nexxus...whether it's in New York or LA...is a fantastic class....my favorite workshop....
Ex-er actor is an exercise class for actors. It is held daily and is open to all actors at all levels. Tension is said to be a killer for actors. Ex-er actor is a great class to help diffuse the tension you may be feeling. With music playing in the background, the actors start forming a circle. The instructor will ask for one student at a time to step into the center of the circle. This is the actor's moment to express what he or she is feeling emotionally, vocally and physically. This helps the actor release what tension they are holding on to. The actors in the outer circle will attempt to bond with the energy of the person in the center. After each actor has gone the instructor will ask the actors for awareness. The instructor will then give the class three preparation (layering) exercises. Actor will be given a monologue to perform in an audition setting.
That's just a brief description...but I'm TELLING you....this class rocks. I can't recommend it enough. When I describe it and/or recommend it to other actors I can tell right away how adventurous that person is an artist. Sometimes a person will light up and look really excited about it...but MOSTof the time the person looks horrified...and its VERY hard to get someone to give it a try once they've heard how the class goes.
I can't imagine a person can truly believe that they can be a player...swim with the sharks...work with the best actors in the world...if they fold under the pressure of a freaking workshop...seriously...
ANYWAY....this class is very very physically demanding to start and after working out like a mad man for three days straight....the ex-er actor workshop just pushed my immune system to the edge...after the class I went to get some lunch and suddenly found myself feeling reeeeelly run down.
But I couldnt go home yet because I'm looking for an apartment and a car and I had to cruise a few neighborhoods and check things out. I also had two cars that I wanted to look at and possibly test-drive (psated on Craigs List), but by the time I got out of class (Around 2P) the cars had been sold...I'm going to have to move quicker on the car next time.
I drove around in Silver Lake and Beachwood Canyon and suddenly found myself trying to get back to Burbank at rush hour.
I survived...I made it home....home? I made it back here...to my aero bed, psycho cats and rotating roommates.
FIRST THINGS FIRST... My DIGIORNO'S commercial starts airing today on cable. The ad will run on THE FOOD NETWORK and few of its sister channels. In fact, I JUST saw one of the spots (The one that I'm NOT in, but shot the same day) on THE COMEDY CHANNEL. So be looking out for me and my pizza party friends.
So I made it....I'm here in Sunny California.
Saturday afternoon/evening I took all my stuff to my temporary residence here in Burbank and chilled out for the evening. This place is a townhome/condo deal that operates sort of like a hostel. There are 4 or 5 people staying here temporarily during any given week, with 2 or 3 permanent residents. I havent quite figured out WHo exactly is really living here and who is just crashing for a while. The OWNER of the place is NOT here...but he left the place furnished...which means there is a nice big HD TV with cable...as well as a wireless network...Everybody just seems to come and go...do their own thing.
So it's a decent...tolerable situation...a little awkward since I don't really know anybody... and I'm sleeping on an aero-bed in the middle of the living room...
There are three cats here. Not sure who owns which one...but from what I've gathered, one of the cats owners is away for a few months...so one of these cats is ownerless...
As I laid down on my semi-comfortable aero-bed to sleep off my day of traveling, the damn cats decided perform their own rendition of FIGHT CLUB...I mean these critters were wailing, screaming and hissing like the world was coming to an end...every once in a while one of them would leap from an adajacent piece of furniture right on to me and/or my sleeping apparatus.
So i joined in the fun and started throwing things at the cats...I would toss a pillow at one of them when things got really heated and then lay back down to try and sleep....a ew minutes later sit up and chuck another pillow and tell them to shut up....I even tried hissing at them as well....that actually worked for a while...until they figured out that i was de-clawed.
I finally got some sleep.
I went out Sunday. My friend Eric swung by and picked me up...took me to a bar here in Burbank where he had plans to hang out with a producer friend of his. Turns out it was a CHICAGO BEARS bar...so everyone there was deecked out in Bears gear and they were all screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs as they wached the Bears/Chargers game.
He located his friends, introduced me to everyone...and I decided to get up to the bar and order my first drink as a Californian:
Can I get a Sierra Nevada? What? A Sierra? It's all out.
I looked over at the other beers on tap and saw Bud Light and Coors Light....gross.
Oh...what do you have in bottles?
She points up at a row of beer botles on the top shelf behind the bar. Every single bottle was turned away so you couldnt see the label.
Uh...I can't really see what's there?
Her eyes sort of roll a little bit and she looks at me like I'm totally wasting her time.
Do you have Red Stripe? Yes. I'll take a Red Stripe. Oh...no..we don't...that was the other bar I worked at.
I took a look at her for a moment and something didnt seem quite right.
Hold on a minute
Standing behind me, my buddy Eric taps me on the shoulder.
Hey man...is that bartender flirting with you? Uh....NO...that bartender is wasted.
She walks down to the end of the bar near the kitchen. She comes back with an extra large bottle in her hand.
How about a FLAT TIRE? Great. I'll take it. Six dollars please.
I hand her a twenty. She digs in her pocket for change and hands me three bucks.
I ran out of cash. I owe you ten dollars. Ok...
She walks down to the other end of the bar. A group of guys were getting ready to do a round of shots...and they had one with her name written all over it...whatever her name was...
I'm just sitting there at the bar...waiting for my ten dollars...watching the bartender do shots.
You need anything?
Oh...thank God...there is someone behind the bar that isn't WASTED.
Yeah...I need ten dollars. The other bartender told me she was short on cash and couldn't give me change.
This new bartender's eyes sort of roll a little bit and she looks at me like I'm totally wasting her time.
Ok...you know what...can you tell her to order me a Philly Cheese Steak and we'll call it even?
Bartender # 2 walks over to Bartender # 1 and speaks into her ear. Bartender # 1 looks over at me, gives another slight eye roll and walks back over to me.
You want a Philly Cheese? Yes please. Sure sweetie.
By the way...I HATE when people call me "sweetie" ...that condescending tone....grrrrrr.
Anyway, she walks down to other end of the bar near the kitchen. She yells something into the kitchen. The kitchen yells something back. She turns and, once again, heads in my direction. Suddenlly she is stopped by that damn group of guys. Another group shot ensues. She throws it back, wipes her chin, looks over at me and continues her journey to my end of the bar. Finally she arrives...
How about a Shhheeseburber?
(Pause) Fine.
Wiv evvrrythin on it?
Yeah.
Shhhrr sweetie....
I have to say....it was a pretty good Shheeeseburber.
After Charlottes reading (She held an informal reading of her new screenplay...to hear it out loud and for feedback), I walked Jessica over to the 9th street PATH train and to say one final goodbye. Until that moment, I done a pretty good job of compartmentalizing....keeping my mind from wrapping itself around the gravity of the situation.....that I was leaving New York City....that we were truly saying goodbye .
This was it. We had lived together for months in a civil, mature manner as a "Now Defunct" couple operating with an "Exit Stategy." Some people didnt get it. Some people didnt buy it. We made it work. We managed and we did a pretty damn good job of maintaining a harmonious environment. We had become buddies.
Suddenly even that was ending...
We stood on 9th street and Sixth Avenue and cried and hugged and cried some more. Niether one of us wanted to be the one to walk away. Sound...Traffic...cars and people whizzed...beyond our ears....as we held each other, embracing our five years, wiping tears... promising great things ahead and acknowledging fears...
(I was really hoping this would be easier)
She stepped away and went down the stairs to the train. I stood there in that spot, unable to move, looking at the wall...looking at the sky...trying to get myself together before I had to walk away...because THAT would be the hardest thing to do...
I opened up a card that Jess gave me earlier. Inside was a personal note (Which will remain personal) and a quote from Calvin Coolidge:
“Press On: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "
As if I were at an open door of an aircraft at 13,000 feet, I took two steps backward...one deep breath...
WOW...my winged migration to Los Angeles is already off to an interesting and dramatic start...
So...I THOUGHT i was all set up with a place to crash in LA when arrive on Saturday....apparently not so much..
My friend Bobby called me today to inform that her "boyfriend" has decided that its is unsuitable for me to crash at her place and that i needed to make other arrangements...
Yes...a fine time to address such an issue...THREE days before I land at LAX...
Wait a minute....BOYFRIEND?? I didn't even know she HAD a boyfriend....
(oy)
For TWO months she has been assuring me that I was MORE than welcome..."No problem"...it was "All Good."
Lose the boyfriend is what I say...unfortunately...not my call..
Bobby did, however, find me an alternate place to crash...a friend of hers..
Fine...I'll take it...I dont really have a choice at this point, do I?
So I will be staying with a few people at their place in who-knows-where California...and thats okay...I can handle that...I dont know these people ...But I can cross my fingers and hope it works out...
I would still LOVE to devise another back up plan...a Plan B to my newly assigned Plan B...
ANY suggestions as to where I might be able to stay for a few weeks in LA? Just as a backup?
Hard to believe I'll be in Los Angeles by the end of the week. I fly out REALLY early Saturday morning.
THis past Friday I was busy packing up a few final boxes...cleaning and sweeping my empty apartment and saying goodbye to Jessica as she filled her car up with stuff and headed out to Ohio for a short visit (She's moving to the East Village)..
Once I turned in my keys to the Super, I stood there out front for a moment and realized...I had NO keys at all. I had not one single key in my possession....No home... No car...no nothing....
It was exhilirating....and a little scary at the same time.
I spent the holiday weekend with my Father and my Brothers little family in Fairfax, VA. It's always fun to spend a few days there with my four year old and two year old nephews. Its also pretty exhausting....those kids are relentless.
So now I'm back in New York...well...I'm in Ridgewood, NJ....the town I grew up in...staying with Al....he and I grew up together out here....
I'll be tying up loose ends...working on some things regarding the Sit Com Pilot I'm producing....running errands...grabbing a drink or two here and there with people I'd like to see before I go. Thursday night I'm actually taking part in a staged reading of a screenplay written by Charlotte Winters. I met Charlotte through the ProActive NY group I've been involved with over the ast few years. She now lives in LA while she's in school at UCLA.
She has a feature length screenplay and she asked me to read the male lead. So we'll all get together Thursday night and perform an informal reading of the script. It will also give me the chance to see some more good friends before I go.
I'm sitting in the middle of an empty room...on the edge of a coffee table that will end up in the trash....typing on my laptop which, for now, has no resting place... Slowly but surely all my stuff is getting into boxes or being taken away by friends and strangers...little pieces of my self...
I leave in a week....out of my place in Washington Heights tomorrow....
Ooooh...The commercial I'm watching right is hardcore....UGH...have you seen those new Anti-smoking ads? GROSS...the surgeon yanks a big yellow piece of nasty out of that artery in the ladies neck? You know what? Smoking is nasty. It's disgusting. Its harmful and you know what else...it's weak and pathetic. Seriously...if you smoke...listen up...you are a pathetic junky....you are weak....and you will never find true happiness until you quit that NASTY sh%&t....and because you are unhappy...you emit that unhappiness and it affects everything and everyone around you. You carry around bad energy. You waste your money. You waste your time...and you F%&$*ING smell disgusting. Don't even think that you are pulling that off. You're not. You smell like some rotting, ashy carcass....a true JOY to be around. Do you really think that you can be at peace with yourself and be truly content when you are sucking on smoke and ammonia every day...when you do something to yourself every day that will not only inevitably KILL you...it will lead you to a SLOW...MISERABLE demise....your death will not be quick and painless...you are currently signed up for years and years maybe even decades...of pain and misery....good choice! Way to go!
My Father smokes...some of my good friends smoke...some of my favorite people on the planet....and if you read what I just wrote...IT CONCERNS YOU.... just stop...just F%$&ing do it.
Ok...I'll move on....
I fly out of New York on September 8th. Of course I got a call yesterday to put me on hold for a SLOMIN SHIELD commercial I auditioned for last week. I had to decline obviously...kind of sucks...I could use the money.
We finally wrapped on shooting for my sit com pilot last night. We got one last scene on the books and now it's on to POST production. So far this has been an amazing experience and this project has been charmed from the start. The game is FAR from over on this one and really excited to see what happens next...
....of course "What Happens Next" is all up to me.
I just slept for TWELVE HOURS....wow that felt good...
I went to bed last night at 9:30PM and just woke up about a half hour ago...
I had a busy weekend...two days of shooting for my sit com pilot and two going away parties...so I was pretty whupped by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around.
Friday night my dearest and closest friends threw a little surprise party for me over in Jersey City. We ate, drank and told James Huffman stories....then it took TWO HOURS to get home to Washington Heights from Jersey City...
So I laid down at 3:15AM. I got up at 7:15AM. I took a shower. I ate some breakfast. I went down to Theater For the New City in the East Village to shoot our "Boot Camp" segment, which I was directing.
Shooting and directing the Boot Camp segment turned out to be a lot of fun. It also turned out to be a lot of work. All in all we got some great footage.
I dragged myself home and sat on the couch in an attempt to get a little rest before the OFFICIAL James Huffman going away party.
Later that evening the party began down at the HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE at 302 Broome Street in Chinatown. I had a great time down there having drinks with friends who showed up to say good bye, good luck , show support... and watch me do some Poppin and Lockin after one too many Red Stripes.
Sunday morning I laid down to sleep at about 3AM...again...and at 7AM..again...I was up and getting ready to go shoot our last day at Theater for the New City.
I made it, we got all of our scheduled shots done and in a timely manner. We wrapped shooting for a handful of actors and closed up shop in the East Village.
Then I dragged my limp, lifeless body all the way back uptown and crashed on the couch in a semi-vegetated state.
And NOW...I have five days to pack and clean this apartment....
Cuz right now...as I sit here...this place does NOT look like an apartment that is going to be empty at the end of the week.
Combining pleasure and business over the weekend can bring powerful results. Invite to a social event a key player in the advancement of your career, and it will establish deeper bonds. However, keep in mind that solo time is also needed to gain clarity and to keep a balance of mind, body and soul.
Shooting two more days of sit com footage...tonight is my going away party at the Happy Ending Lounge down on the LES...
I sent an invite to JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Spike Lee and M. Night Shalamalaman...
At some level, Sag, you thrive on chaos. It's nice to relax and feel harmonious with people and the world at large, but that doesn't always provide the excitement and exhilaration you need. Don't be afraid to shake things up and disturb your comfort zone. It may be just what you need to feel rejuvenated.
Andy Pettite is pitching an AWESOME game right now....does my heart good...
I'm going to catch a few more Yankees-Red Sox games as a New Yorkere before I move to LA...and then I'll have to enjoy the Yankees POSTSEASON from afar..
Thats right you Red Sox nation clowns.....YANKEES POSTSEASON
HOME RUN BOBBY ABREU...ATTA BOY BOB-EEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yankees go up 4-1 in the top of the Eighth....and The Angels go to their bullpen.
Ok...so...
We shot more footage tonight for one of our series teasers....and we got some really funny stuff on tape. We doing all we could to keep from laughing out loud while we shot handfuls of different actors reading commercial copy for a mock casting session...
Still a lot to shoot before we are even close to being done....
I'm still having trouble sleeping. I have all this producer/writer/actor stuff going through my head, which is also knotted up in my noggin with my moving plans...moving out/moving in moving up....and affairs of the heart...my precious Jessica and our last days together...
She's been my loyal and constant companion...my best friend for the past five years...and in less than two weeks...we say goodbye...taking separate roads off into the sunset...
HIP HIP JORGE!!! Yanks go up 6-1 on a Jorge Posada double (he's 3 for 3 tonight)
NY DAILY NEWS.COM Your Daily Horoscope - August 21
Don't even think about resting on your laurels, Sag. Though life is looking brighter than ever, in many ways the hard work has just begun. Life is gathering momentum, and now is not the time to sit back and enjoy the rewards. Of course, you need rest to restore your energy levels, but there is still so much to achieve. Be disciplined about your daily plan of action.
Right on the money baby...I tell you what...Producing is HARD...
And rest on my LAURELS? Who am I kidding? What laurels?
We shot day 3 of my sit com pilot last night at Center Stage NY on West 21st....giot into the space around 9...started rehearsing and fisrt shot was around 10.
This weks work is particularly tricky because while I am producing this entire project, while I am a co-writer...a co-writer who wrote 3/4 of the script....I am also playing the role of BRYAN in the scenes we ae shooting.
So while I am trying to stay grounded run lines and talk actor talk with my cast mates...I am also hearing my director and my DP discuss lighting and sound issues, shot selection and priority. While I am digging in to the material and finding my groove as a performer..I am constantly picking up snippets of conversation from the guys behind the camera...especially as they start to get into it about opposing approaches and differing opinions....hard to be in the moment of the scene when the DP and Director, both good friends of mine...who have never worked together...or even met before this moment..are locking horns.
Thus...the life of a producer is friggin hard man....
This morning I went to Herman & Lipson Casting for a PAPA JOHNS call back. Jessica also had a call back. Its a pretty simple concept...just a "Bite and smile." Jess got a call around 4PM booking her for the job. I....didnt get a call....
Then I found myself scrambling to rearrange everybody's schedule because one of the actors in the scene we are shooting has decided to be difficult and doesnt want to shoot late at night anymore...and since THAT particular actor is responsible for hooking me up with free access to our location...I'm sort of at his mercy on the matter...
So I hustled and bustled and rescheduled my Director, my DP, my actors, my crew and MYSELF to shoot Later in the week...from 10AM to 4PM.....UGH....I'm lucky I was able to make the adjustment....lets just hope we can shoot what we need in that small time frame....did I say UGH yet?
Tomorrow we start shooting...I finally wrapped up a cohesive version of a rough draft of a script for Episode one. I started off with roughj drafts for FOUR epsiodes...then after dozens of meetings and phone calls and a gzillions emails with notes, thoughts and suggestions...I chiseled the whole thing down to one solid Episode...and we start shootinmg tomorrow...
This has been an interesting experience...an intense experience...fun...and rewarding...its not over by any means...so I'll save the thank you speeches for when we have nice finished product...or when I'm signing a big fat development deal..
As an actor, writer and producer....then again...I could do without producing...its a HELL of a lot of work...
I feel like a head football coach...you have to be on top of EVERYTHING...collaboration or not...first time in MY LIFE I've ever had trouble sleeping....so many things running through my mind...and its almost impossible to clear it all when the lights go out.
So tomorrow we start...scheduled to wrap August 26th...and the race is on...this battle has only just begun...
I tell you what...its a good concept...with a lot of support....I havent heard a negative word yet regarding the concept of this show...we've got good talent ligned up... this project is gonna make a dent....you watch.
In Life, people tend to wait for things to come to them. And by waiting, they miss out. Usually, what you wish for doesn't fall in your lap; It falls somewhere nearby, and you have to recognize it, stand up, and put in the time and work it takes to get it. This isn't because the Universe is cruel. It's because the Universe is smart. It has it's own cat-string theory and knows we don't appreciate things that fall in our lap.
At this point I can barely get to sleep at night. I'm laying there in bed, tossing and turning as a million thoughts are tossing and turning in my head...I'm going to drive myself absolutely NUTS.
Produce a sit com?
Move to LA?
What the hell am I thinking?
Well....crazy or not...I'm doing it....its hapening...its real....
so sleep or no sleep...I'm pushing forward...and its feels F%$^&* AWESOME!
I havent mentioned much about my sit come project...I've been a little protective...I have also been really busy....My brother sent me an email saying:
"Sit com project?"
My reply:
yep...I had a bit of an epiphany...a surge of inspiration....a handful of ideas I had been playing with over the past few years all came together in a BLAZE of glory....the form of this sit com...so now I'm running around like a headless horseman trying to get all this crap done before I leave...
So...believe it or not...aside from preparing for a cross country road trip/move my entire LIFE to the West Coast and tying up loose ends on a personal level...I'm co-writing and producing 5 episodes of a sit com pilot....I'm freaking INSANE.
Lo and behold...its all happening...I've got episodes in rough draft form...ALMOST ready for shooting (Which begins next week by the way), I've got 4 directors on board, all busy putting their teams together...I've got TWO locations secured....and I was lucky enough to get access to these locations...free of charge....thank you God, The Universe, Buddah, Allah, The Pope, Bugs Bunny, The Dalai Lama, Joe Torre , The New York Yankees, Mom, Dad, Rhonda Byrne and Anthony Robbins.
I'm holding a casting session today AND I will probably have to run another one on Tuesday.
Oh and did I mention that I'm still AUDITIONING??
Hell yeah...I've got an ACTING career to tend to people....I gotta make some more money...
I'm auditioning today for a SAMSUNG commercial.
I'm scheduled to shoot a scene for SOMEONE ELSE'S sitcom on Sunday morning....this guy is developing a series of short webisodes for online film festivals...that sort of thing. Its a funny story about a guy who has a wierd love/hate relatiosnhip with the water cooler at work...the water cooler talk to him...its kind of a troublemaker
I booked a stock photography print gig that shoots Sunday afternoon in LIC.
Crazy....CRAZY I TELL YOU!!!
Tonight I'm going to have to drink myself to sleep....
WOW....it is a steamy sticky Wednesday morning....
Storms came through last night and messed up all the trains....
Barry Bonds broke the Home Run record last night....congratulations.
If he's guilty of using steroids, action should be taken, but at this point, he hasnt been found guilty of any wrongdoing. He hasnt even been CHARGED with anything....so I think people need to give him a break. I'm the first one to agree that someone who uses steroids is a dirty cheater and should be stripped of such an accolade, but Barry Bonds, at this point, is innocent... until he is proven guilty.
Same with Michael Vick...if he is found guilty he should go to prison...I love animals...especially dogs...I think dog fighting and creating a harmful environment for dogs is despicable.....but right now...Michael Vick is set to stand trial....he should get his chance...and be found guilty or innocent....things are not looking GOOD for Michael Vick....but....at this point....he is innocent until proven guilty... I'm not going to condemn the man until I can be sure...and I'm just part of public opinion...and like the rest of the voices that make up public opinion...I know very little....I know the hype...I know the buzz...but the buzz can be misleading.
Ok...all this humidity is making feel the need to express my thoughts on current affairs...
Get our soldiers OUT OF IRAQ!!!!
Ok I'm done...
Monday morning, I was placed on hold for a GMC/ESPN/MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL commercial. The shoot was set to take place tonight and since I havent heard from anyone confirming time, location and wardrobe....I think I may have been passed....I guess I didnt make the cut...
I've been on hold for a few projects in the past month that I didnt actually book....man that is frustrating.
Monday afternoon I had a callback for a CDPHP commercial. I have no idea what that expect that it seems to be some sort of health insurance. This is the audition from last week where I played a young Dad coaching a little league game. The callback was Monday, and I havent heard from them either, so its likely I didnt book. It's my own fault. I screwed up the call back pretty good.
For some reason I wasnt focused. I couldnt relax. I actually got flustered at one pint and did something I have NEVER done. I got tripped up and stopped and then I asked if I could start over. AAAAGH!!! NEVER done that before. I CRINGE when i see actors do that. When I stopped and asked to start over the director, part of the clients "Team," said to me:
"It's okay just relax."
AAAAAAAAAAGH!!!
You did NOT just say that to me!! Don't tell me to relax. Don't POINT OUT that I'm struggling. I KNOW that I'm struggling dude. If Roger Clemens was pitching and getting rattled a little bit would you say "It's okay just relax?"
It's okay....it happens...I'm over it....as long as I dont talk about it...I'm fine....lets not talk about it.
Audition this morning for an HBO spot...with Jessica....we were called in as a couple.
Audition Friday for SAMSUNG....going in for the role of an Offensive Coordinator. I'm gonna book that damn spot...dammit.
Shooting a scene for a sit com short on Sunday....funny little scene...looking Forward to that.
Playing producer on Friday and holding auditions for my own sit com pilot project.
I think I'm determined to drive myself completely insane before I leave for Los Angeles...in LESS THAN 30 DAYS!!!
Aaaaah ....is it delivery? No.... it's DiGirono's Pizza...
Had a lot of fun on set yesterday shooting a commercial for DiGiorno's Pizza. Its actually a FOOD NETWORK promo for DiGiorno's Pizza, so it wl run only on the FN and maybe some it's sister channels. The shoot took all day. The crew was nice, the other actors were great to work with. We spent much pf the day cracking ourselves up while we pretended to be two couples at a cute little dinner party. I sort of got the short end of the stick though because the camera was at my back for most of the day. You can catch my profile here and there as I shove pieces of DiGiorno's pizza into my mouth.
Because we were asked to take bites of pizza over and over again, the crew gave us each a "Spit cup" to keep nearby on set. At first I didnt have any problem just eating the pizza, it was fresh and it tasted fine. After a while it didnt taste so good and the race was on to see who could go the longest without using the spit cup. Lynn was the first to cross the line. We were all in total hysterics. Imagine all of us nicely dressed actors, sitting at our cute little dinner party set, make up and hair all perfectly done, and we are taking bites of pizza and then spitting it up into a cup....of course we are also laughing uncontrollably while doing it whihc made for a less than perfect deposit.....good times.....good times
Oh...I forgot to mention that myself and Bob, the other actor in the spot, were both pulled from the close up hand shots because our thumbs were both so ghastly...they had to put a stand in for both uf us.....aaaah...good times....good times
here are a few photos from the shoot...
Brilliant Actors with Bad Thumbs...coming to a theater near you....
Wed morning....hot and humid already....niiiiiice....
Yankess STOMPED last night....it was a bloodbath....F%$&*ING great. Everybody but A-Rod...poor guy cant concentrate with all this hoopla going on around him. Every single Yankee homered last night except for him I think....A-Rod went 0-5....it's okay he'll breakthrough it.
We coming after ya Red Sox....when we catch ya you'll be DEAD sox.
Auditioned for a Cablevision spot yesterday...a strange experience because the casting director was taking three of us in the room at a time and giving each guy a crash course in audition technique. I was doing my best to be attentive and respectful, but that shit is really way out of line. I mean, I can sort of get where she is coming from. She has been probably been having trouble getting the actors to deliver the text the way she wants it. Maybe she's had clients complain about what she sends over on tape. So she figures she'll give as many mini-coaching sessons as she can.
The guy before me...she's all up in his face...expalning to him that he needs to be less of a salesman, less of an actor and be a real, approachable guy-next-door. She's making him read the text to her while she's standing up there about two inches away from him. Then the guy reads on camera, he sucks, and when he leaves, she turns to the rest of us and says "He didnt get it. That's NOT the way I want you to do it."
I'm standing there covering my face with the script so as not to show my distaste for her behavior. Making neagitive comments about an actors performance...TO OTHER ACTORS.. after that actor has left the room is tacky and unprofessional to say the least.
So, its my turn...she gives me my little life lession and I get to it.... wanting to just get it over with and get out of there.
Now, I'm willing to tolerate an over eager casting director, as long as it doenst take all day to get in there and audition, and I can appreciate her effort in trying to help each actor have the best audition possible....but what I REALLY don't like is having three of four other auditioners in the room while I read.
She wanted each actor to see what was happening up on the block so we would know what to do or what not to do.....
No thank you.
It's a competition thing. I'm not there for anyone's benefit but my own. I want to book the spot.. I don't give a F%&# about those guys. Number one, I dont want to see what the guy before me is doing. It messes with my focus, my concentration and it has an effect on my choices. Number two, I dont want the guys up next to see what I AM DOING. Those guys can wtach my work when its on TV!
By the way, after my read, she turned to the three other guys and said:
While I am not in the habit of posting anything that smells like marketing...that is....the marketing of anything other than James Clifton Huffman himself....I feel like this is an important issue ...a goal that is within our reach...and can potentially change...and quite possibly SAVE...the world
We have the best opportunity we've ever had to get this country off of polluting energy like oil and coal and onto real clean alternatives. This will not only help curb the climate crisis, but save consumers money and create new jobs. Seems like a slam dunk, right?
But some in Congress are still willing to do the bidding of the oil and coal industry and vote down bills that would undercut their stranglehold on our economy. We need to tell Congress now to do what's right for the American people, not continue business-as-usual.
I signed a petition urging Congress to vote for to give solar and wind the support they need to assure a clean energy future. Can you join me at the link below?
I watched Mel Gibson's APOCOLYPTO last night. I actually really liked it. I had been told it was one big chase through the jungle, but that wasnt actualy true. The movie was brutally violent and was exteremly gory at times, but what really struck me was the amazing creation...or re-creation of this magnificent world...the Mayan civilization before the Spanish arrived and conquered the land.
The first part of the movie is a bit tough to sit through becaue it is so vioelnt but once you get through it, the story really takes off and I really enjoyed it...."I am Jaguar paw and this is my forest!"
I had a handful of good auditions this week, I signed in and then crossed my name off the sign in sheet at one, had a few interviews for freelance promotional work, I had a fitting for my FOOD NETWORK/DIAGIOS comercial, shooting next week...they had try on a tgousand different pant shirt combinations until they got what they wanted. Jess and I took advantage of restaurant week...again....had dinner at LURE FISH BAR in SOHO...which was excellent...and I had a production meeting Wed night for my new pilot project.
I audtioned for a few Health Care commercials this week...all which I was too young for. Seems that since I was put on hold for that PREFERRED HEALTH CARE spot two weeks ago, now my agent thinks I'm destined for greatness in the world of health care commercials...I went to one...and although I felt I was on the young side of the curve...I had a good read...I was a young dad coacing a little league baseball game...I mean me looking like I have a ten year old son is possible...but pushing it...unless they really want to make a statement with the young dad "look, " I'd be surprised if I get a callback.
The one after that on the same day at the same studio was for a student loan company. Going in I'm thinking i'll be reading for the part of a young guy who is maybe 5-8 years out of college, paying off his student loans...maybe even someone who is 3 or four years out of grad school...but when I read the sides and the character breakdown, I see that the role calls for a "sincere, believeable man who has been through the experience of putting his kids through college." "Putting my kids through COLLEGE?" I went over and crossed my name off the list and bounced....it's one thing to go ahead and ead...give it a shot..."Ya never know." With this one...I knew. Thats just plain wasting my time.
Ok...I'gotta go....meeting with a director/producer at noon who wants to cast me in a pilot internet series...then I hit the gym...then I have a meeting with my DP at 3...for my own "mini-series" project and then a writers meeting at 4 for the same project....
"Like most of the actors we spoke with, I always found Los Angeles to be a temptation. If you find that you continually ruminate about the possibilities on the West Coast, give it a try. "It's just a matter of deciding to make that change; anything else is an excuse," Rodriguez says. "I believe that you can make your acting career work for you wherever you are, as long as you are willing to put your acting career first. Wherever you decide your juices flow best is probably what's best for you." Now you just have to see what kind of juice you've got: apple or orange."
(JUST so you know...I just spent half an hour ...maybe longer....writing for this blog post. I talked about my shoot today and my philosophies on headshots. I tied that into the book I've been reading lately, GUT FEELINGS, and I incorporated a kick-ass analogy using the Corner Bistro and New York City's best hamburgers...and then I accidentally hit the reload button at the top of the page and I erased the whole damn thing. I'm a Friggin D&%$#CHE Bag)
So today I had a photo shoot with the AMAZING....the MAGINFICENT...the Talented MR ANDREW WALKER..
I picked up a new book the other day that I'm really digging so far:
GUT FEELINGS: The Intelligence of the Unconscious by Gerd Gigerenzer
From page 4:
With this book, I invite you on a journey into a largely unknown land of rationality, populated by people just like us, who are partially ignorant, whose time is limited and whose future is uncertain. This land is not one many scholars write about. They prefer to describe a land where the sun of enlightenment shines down in beams of logic and probability, whereas the land we are visiting is shrouded in a mist of dim uncertainty. In my story, what seem to be "Limitations" of the mind can actually be it's strengths. How the mind adapts and economizes by relying on the unconscious, on rules of thumb, and on evolved capacities is what GUT FEELINGS is about. The laws in the real world are puzzingly different than those in the logical, idealized world. More information, even more thinking, is not always better, and less can be more. Ready for a glimpse?
I've read BLINK and THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell and much of what is presented in those two books is based on research conducted by Gerd Gigerenzer.
I've always been a believer in trusting your instincts. My instincts have saved my ASS many many times. Also, in my life, during moments of doubt and fear, I've ingnored my gut feelings and made what I thought were carefully constructed decisions. In hindsight...I was always unhappy with the outcome...."Should have gone with my gut."
As an actor...as an artist...embracing...trusting your instincts is essential.
This book touches on the many facets of the unconscious...the subconscious....informed decisions vs hunches...shit like that.
So...the MOVE is set to begin on Sept 1st...maybe a day or two earlier but my lease ends at the end of August so the plan is to load up and hit the road on or before the end of the month..
Looking at about a two week road trip...planning on getting to LA by Sept 15th...that will give me two weeks on friends couches to find a place to live starting Oct 1st...
No work set up yet...I just need to get there... get acclimated and start networking...find an agent, find acting work on my own....find survival work as well....get a car..all that stuff
I've got quite a few West Coast contacts...many New York friends already out there...and plenty of leads to work on.
My girlfriend, Jessica, and I are not going together. Jess and I have decided to part ways...a difficult but very mutual decision....we still live here at this apartment...and we are just sort of hanging out...making the best of things...It is awkward at times...but most of the time its like we are roommates...friends....its sort of like we are graduating...we've been dating for four years and now...at the end of August...we will go down separate roads...It's going surprisingly well..we are both surprised by the maturity of the situation...Its all also heartbreaking and hard to look away from the sadness... I probably wont realize how much I miss her until I'm really away...when I really do miss her. Then it's going hit me like freight rain.
Anyway, I'm busy right now trying to get all my shit together for this move...I feel like I have so much to do but I don't know where to start...hard to be too excited or too nervous because I'm trying to plan...I also have my life here...trying to make as much money as I can to put into savings...still auditioning here...I'm shooting a FOOD NETWORK spot next week...nothing groundbreaking but hey, it's money.
I will be making this trip with my buddy Don, a long time actor friend of mine. So I wont have to do it alone. He and I seem to be running parallel paths right now and when we discovered that we both had plans to hit Hollywood, it just made sense to combine our efforts. We'll be going to Detroit, his hometown, on the first leg of the trip.
So it looks like I will be rolling through Houston around Sept 4th or 5th. It would be great to see you. I have plans to stay with some other friends in the area. If you have a friend that can put us up for a night in Scottsdale that would be fantastic.
Ok...I've got to go. Hows that for a nice long response?
WOW is it beautiful outside in New York City. It was fantastic yesterday. It is fantastic today. Its supposed to be fantastic tomorrow.
I had an interesting week. I had a few good auditions. I got fired from the Amstel Light gig. I had dinner at Smith and Wolenksy's...at the same exact time there was a massive expolosion on Lexington Avenue. I worked a Harry Potter promotion and passed out worthless crap amongst the absolute insanity at "Harry Potter Place" in SOHO.I did more planning and coordinating for two projects: My move to Los Angeles and my sit com project.
I felt really good about my audition for BEN-GAY. They were looking for a Ryam Seacrest type to do a sort of "E News" piece about one of BG's new products. I went out and bought myself a trendy blazer, wore it with a cool t-shirt underneath, spiked my hair up, and I absolutely OWNED that que-card. Sometimes it can be difficult to pull lines from the que card in the room and still look like you know what your doing. During this particular reading, the lines were easy to get a grasp on and I was able to engage the camera. The girl I was reading with was good. She was the right height for me and we had a good rapport. The casting director even commented on how well we worked together and that we set the bar very high for the remaining auditioners.
Wait...now that I think about....this is terrible! These are all symptoms of certain defeat. The kiss of death!!! Aaaaaargh!
I havent heard from the brass at Ben-Gay yet...
Immediately following that particular audition, I sat down at Starbucks with Jennifer so we could talk about my termination as a freelance event manager representing AMSTEL LIGHT.
She said she wanted to "do this" in person. She felt like that was the right thing to do. C'mon...I am a freelance employee...I've worked a million promotions for a million different companies.....an email or a phone call would have been fine....I'd rather have that than waste 30 minutes of my day to have a "SIT-DOWN"...
That being said, I'm not really sure why I was dropped from the program. She cited that she was concerned with my "lateness," which doesnt make any sense because I was on time for every event last weekend. I worked closely with the people from Heineken and they were happy with my work. My staff was happy. So I don't know what the problem is...or was. Oh, well, no sense in dwelling on it. It was kind of a pain-in-the-ass promotion anyway
THAT same day, later that evening....wow...I had a pretty eventful Wednesday...
Jess and I made plans to take advantage of Restaurant Week in NYC and decided to have dinner at SMITH & WOLLENSKY'S over on 3rd Avenue at...I think....49th Street?
I met her at her office on Broadway at 26th Street. We hopped on the 6 train and traveled uptown. We got off at the 5st street stop on....Fifty first street....just in time to witness a tower of black smoke rising from the street, filling the entire area with panic.
I was right there for the whole steam explosion incident on Lexington Avenue. In fact I was on the train the trollied right under that exact spot.... probably a minute or two before it happened.
It was crazy over there. Nobody could tell what was going on. The smoke cloud was getting bigger and bigger as people stood and watched, took photos with their cell phones and tried to make calls. Jessica started to get upset. The whole experience felt eerily familiar.
We did manage to shake it off, get to the restaurant and shovel down some really good red meat. I give SMITH & WOLLENSKY and thumbs up on the filet mignon....thumbs down on the salad.
OK...so...to close out my exciting week I worked a HARRY POTTER promotion last night. In case you were unaware, the new Harry Potter book ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last in the seven-book series by J.K. Rowling) went on sale at midnight last night and I was hired to pass out stacks and stacks of worthless crap to unsuspecting enthusiasts at the big HARRY POTTER shin dig downtown....
Scholastic transformed the city block in front of their flagship Soho store into Harry Potter Place. The publisher featured attractions from the books, such as the Knight Bus and Whomping Willow, along with face painting, jugglers and stilt-walkers. Inside the store, children participated in wand making, while company executives who helped with the book's publishing and others attended a party in the VIP section on the second floor.
Author Salmon Rushdie arrived at the Scholastic Store in the early evening with his 10-year-old son Milan in anticipation of the final book.
What I didnt realize when they hired me was that they wanted to dress me up LIKE Harry Potter......yay.....(?)
So...here I am...walking around SOHO...and later...Times Square....dressed like Harry Potter....man, was I getting some looks. People didnt know what to make of me. If I was busy passing out high-quality Harry Potter bookmarks...then it made sense...here is a guy who has obviously been hired by some marketing company to hand out worthless crap.
But...If I ran out of "Premiums" suddenly I was a grown man in a Harry Potter outfit participating in the festivities. I got looks from people on the street that seemed to say...
"Hey, whats the deal with the guy in the school boy clothes?"
or
"Oh what a shame, how does such a nice looking man become a complete nerd."
or
"Maybe someone should call the police? Or call "To Catch a Predator?"
or
"How nice...you're never too old...or too cool to love Harry Potter. What a breath of fresh air that young gentleman is."
I have an audition today for BEN-GAY. They are looking for a Ryan Seacrest type....they want me to wear a blazer...look hip....
It's too damn HOT to be walking around in a blazer....oh well...I guess I can suffer through it.
I'm watching The TODAY SHOW as they broacast the EMMY nominations out in LA...
The Sopranos only got nominated for honorary reasons...
Heroes is a good show. I like Heroes
Friday Night Lights gets NO nominations?
Marika Hargitay should get best actress
Man...they are going way too fast to comment....can't keep up.
Reality competition program? PLEEEEZ....dont even give that garbage the time...what a waste of space. Thats like saying "nominated for most addictive and debilitating narcotic.....CRACK COCAINE.....a tenth straight nomination!!! Bravo.....Bravo.....Bravo"
They DID NOT nominate Friday Night Lights....I'm disappointed. FNL is SUCH a good show. Listen to me.... it's so much more than a show about a football team. There are no big stars on this show, which is actually refreshing. It's filled with great characters. The acting is excellent. The writing is great. The overall experience is wonderful....I tell ya...I tear up almost every episode.....BUT... they are not getting the ratings they need, which is surprising....
So now there are rumors of bringing in ROSIE O'DONNELL in....to play some new girls soccer coach....
PLEEEEZ....NO.
I love Rosie...I am actually a fan. I dont always agree with what she says or does...but I support her on principle. I think we need people like Rosie on TV to keep the balance....The LAST thing we need is for TV land to be filled with sticks in the mud like Elizabeth Hasslebeck.....freakin Stepford wives......zzzz....zzzz...zzzzz.
Anway, that being said....Rosie? Please dont ruin my favorite show.
"So, that's what I wish for all of you: the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over." -Conan O'Brien
Hola muchachas y muchachos
Besa me los huevos
Sientate conmigo
Sientate con los perros
Cara Culo
Cara Culo
Pinche huevos
Bajate a los chescos
That was just a nice little Spanish poem/greeting from me to you
(I have no idea what I just said)
Hey, I'm gonna be in Los Angeles in two months... I've got brush up on my Spanish...
So remember last week when I mentioned that audition I went where they had me miming a swiming lesson and then looking into the camera and saying "SWIMMING LESSONS." The audition where I felt like I was on Romper Room? My agent called me today and put me on hold for job the last week of July. I must have made SOME kind of impression....cracks me up.
Also....speaking of making an impression. I got a call on Friday from another agent I freelance with explaining that SOMEONE I auditioned for a few months ago called him and wanted to check my availability in August for a new project. So, having NO idea who was booking me or for WHAT...I was put on hold for the first week of August.
After thumbing through my calendar, I figured out that the auditioned in question was either for The FOOD NETWORK or for the OXYGEN NETWORK....and then....sure enough.....today I was put on hold by the Food Network for August 2nd.
I still have NO idea what this little project involves....lets just hope it deosn't require me playing the role of Sammy the Sausage on some show called "Grillin and Chillin."
For the past few months I've been kicking around a few ideas for a short film series slash wesbisode slash "Channel 102" pilot project...but I just couldnt get my thoughts together on the whole thing so I never really had a solid plan. Fortunately, I recently had an epiphany and a few of the idea I had been kicking around in my head all came to me in a dream ...and they were all connected....I actually fund away to tie all these little ideas together into a coherent story.
Its a great project because it is vignette based...so I can utilize svereal different writers, svereal different directors...and there will be roles for many different actors...so... "All my rowdy friends are coming over tonight!"
I am meeting with a writer tomorrow to discuss the script...then I am going to round up the ProActive gang for a production meeting and see what we can get done.
Ideally, I would LOVE to shoot this thing in early August and have a finished project before I leave for the West Coast.
AAAAH....The air coming in through the window here feels so good this morning....
Finally a break in the heat and humidity that started out the week. New York City Summer weather seems to revolve around heat waves, so even when it gets miserably hot here, you know it will back off in a few days...a week at the most. When I lived in Houston, it would be hot and humid like that ALL Summer long....in fact...one Summer when I was down there the city set a record with something like 60 days straight of 95 PLUS degree temperatures.... I remember feeling like that blistering heat would NEVER end... its just TOO damn hot down there....great weather in February though.
Ok enough about the weather...
So I have another appearance on ALL MY CHILDREN coming up. On June 20th I shot a segment on the show playing the role of.....drum roll please......
THE MAN
Actually what my character should be called is THE HAND...cuz thats all of me you'll see.
THE HAND enters a scene at the hospital pediatric ICU and sneaks up on the NEW Greenlee, played by actress Sabine Singh, who is secretly listening in on a discussion between DR KELLY, KENDALL, RYAN, ANNIE and JOE, over a baby who has been injured in a terrible car accident. THE HAND reaches in, grabs Greenlee, covering her mouth, and abducts the unsuspecting eavesdropper.
If THIS performance doesnt land me a role on LOST I dont what will.
The episode will air on ABC Monday August 6th.
PS: The following is a personal note to my cousin Kim, who I recently had the pleasure of spening some time with during my visit to the homeland...Hickory, NC. She was dissatisfied with my coverage of that particular leg of the trip...
Hi Kim....I'm sorry...I didn't mean to leave out the absolute BEST part of my trip. Here is a revision:
As soon as we arrived in Hickory, North Carolina, we went straight to FIREBONZ for BBQ....not just any BBQ, but authentic NC BBQ, whihc is based on pulled or chopped pork and is traditonally mixed with a vinegar based sauce and ALWAYS comes with North carolina Cole Slaw. MOST folks put the cole slaw on top of the sandwich itself...damn good stuff. We had BBQ for lunch at Firebonz and BBQ for dinner at The Hickory Smokehouse...never can have TOO much BBQ.
The following day we took a tour of BEAUTIFUL downtown Hickory...had lunch with my cousin Kim at The Hickory Tap room. Cousin Kim, known to the world as Kim Whitley, happens to be a fantastic actress who dazzles local theatergoers year round. Lunch was nice, but nearly as the dinner we had that evening at CAPTAIN GALLEY'S FISH CAMP. We sat and had hush puppy after hush puppy with Aunt Peggy, Uncle Horace, Aunt Linda and Uncle Danny (Kim's parents)...Kim showed up after her she had her nails done...everyone gets their nails done before they go to the fish camp.
I dont know when I'll get to Hickory next. Moving to Hollywood will certainly make that more of a challenge, but I have a lot of history there and my family in Hickory means the world to me. So Hickory certainly has not seen the last of me.
HOLD up...wait a minute
Its my BUS, so jump on in it
Breakin, shakin
Breakfast makin
Texas toast
With eggs and bacon
We dont stop if we see cheese
Beats so phat we slappin knees
Pass the pepper if you please
Take that back
It make me sneeze
Sneeze sneeze
Sniffle sniffle
Squeeze that Charmin Mr Whipple
OK OK...STOP...
I was getting carried away there with my little rhymin ramble...or Rhyme N Ramble...
I'm crazy tired today...It hot as hell outside...I was up at 5AM for another BRAVO promotion....then I had this stupid audition for some insurance company....They had a list of words on cue cards and I had to sort of act out the phrase and then say the phrase into he camera...talk about feeling like a JACKASS.....
There would be a phrase like "Swimming Lesson," and I would have to basically MIME the act of a swimming lesson and then say "SWIMMING LESSON" in to the camera. I felt like I was on ROMPER ROOM....
Whatever....
So I went out to Montauk on Saturday to help out with an Amstel Light promotion. I will be working for Amstel Light as a Field Manager every Saturday through July and August down at the Jersey Shore. I went out to Montauk to help out...to observe...get a little training for my own upcoming events.
This particular promotion consists of setting up what is called the Amstel Light Cabana Lounge. We have a staff of Brand Ambassadors walk through the crowd and offer patrons a free Amstel and we also set up a little photo booth where people can have their picture taken with a branded backdrop....like this:
Thats the Long Island field manager, Kelly, and myself, testing out the set and the equipment.
Getting out to Montauk is a nightmare. If you take a train, its THREE hours from Penn Station, with one transfer at Jamaica Station or Babylon. If you drive, its about a three hour drive and that does not include the probability of traffic....TWO lane highway traffic that usually turns the drive into a FOUR hour trip. Its crazy man, you could get to BOSTON in four hours.
Anyway, there were two events going on, one from 4-6 at NICK'S on S.Emerson and the other from 7-9....at some other beachfront bar. Since I was only really required to attend the early event, I decided to pass on staying with the promo team for the second shift and drive back with them at 9-9:30. Instead I caught a 7:30 train at the Montauk station. I figured I would get back to the city around 10:30 and have time to get a drink or just go home and chill, smoke a little green, watch a movie or something. At around 8:30, the train pulled into one of those BUM F%&$CK stations out there and sat for about twenty minutes. Then the conductor made an announcement that the train was having engine trouble and a mechanic had been dispatched.
(What? Engine trouble? You've got to be joking. Where the hell am I? Dammit, I should have stayed with the team)
An HOUR later, still sitting at the same BUM F%$&#%#@CK station, they announced that they would be sending a "Rescue" train to pick us up at take us the rest of the way. THAT train didnt show up until ELEVEN PM!!!!!!!!
You wanna know what time I got back to Penn Station?
TWO in the friggin morning!!!
UGH...I was fuming...I was exhausted and fuming at the same time. The F%$&*^%ING train BROKE DOWN?? Are you kidding me?
I tell you what...I'm never going out to Montauk...or The Hamptons.... or Long Island...or riding the LIRR ever again. What the hell do I need to go out there for? Those damn beaches aren't THAT nice. The Hamptons dont have anything the Jersey Shore doesn't have....except for F%$^#*&ING trains that break down in the middle of NOWHERE.
OK...It's done...it IS what it IS....I'm over it...I just had to get that off my chest....
Hey...here is little inside scoop....ABC-TV gossip....from the front lines....my buddy JORGE works at the ABC office in Manhattan:
far be it from me to spread rumors but there is one bouncing around here that the REAL reason Dan Patrick has left ESPN is because he's the new host of The Price is Right. Sheesh.
I am in Fairfax right now taking a severe beating at the hands of my 4 year old nephew Keller and his 2 year old little brother Casey. Spending a few days with the little ones help me keep in touch with my own inner child....not that I am anything BUT a walking adult 10 year old...hanging with two tasmanian devils reminds me how far I've drifted...
(Get back to where you once belonged)
I've been in Hickory NC over the past few days as well and I'll be back in NYC tomorrow.
AND THEN....
In less than two months I embark on an adventure that will inevitibly become the ride of my life.
ALWAYS THINK POSITIVE
You cannot always control your circumstances.
But, you can control your own thoughts.
There is nothing either good or bad,
only your thinking makes it so.
Things turn out best for those people
who can make the best out of the way things turn out.
It's not the situation, it's your reaction to the situation.
The reality in your life may result from many outside factors,
none of which you can control.
Your attitude, however,
reflects the ways in which you deal with what is happening to you.
Life at any time can become difficult.
Life at any time can become easy.
It all depends upon how you adjust yourself to life.
What you see in your mind is what you'll get out of life.
The air is still. Things are quiet. Not much happening in the days leading up to the Fourth of July holiday. Not much happening for about a week after. Now that Lee/gendary has wrapped, and the dust has cleared for a few days, I'm left to ponder my fate. Is Lee/gendary my final stage performance in New York City? If it is, and I think that wil be the case, I'm glad to have been able to do it at The Beckett Theater. It's a fantastic stage.
I've got about two months before I embark on my journey to the West Coast. I have days where I'm totally jacked, thrilled as hell to just jump in to something new, exciting and unknown. I also have days that find me scared as hell. What am I doing? I'm leaving New York, the east coast and all my dearest friends to live in a place that they call "LA LA Land." Am I too old to do this? Is it too late for me? What does LA have in store for me? Can I survive? Can I sustain?
I have thought through this move for years now. I have picked the barin of just about every person that had even a smidgeon of opinion on the subject. I've talked to acting coaches, casting directors, actors who are there, actors who are here, actors who WENT there and came back....
"Let the WORK take you out there."
"LA is very spread out. There is no COMMUNITY like there is in New York."
"It's So different out there Man."
"The weather is F%$#ing Awesome. If you fall in love with the weather, you'll fall in love with LA."
Bottom line...I can always find reasons to go...or NOT to go and...while all the advice and the feedback I've accumulated over the past few years has come from trusted and valued sources...from people I respect and admire....those people arent me. I refuse to take action based on the paths of others.
All those who have gone before me....are not me.
This is MY life...my road...my journey....my bus... and I'm driving.
"My first piece of advice to someone who is serious about being a professional television or film actor is this: Move to Los Angeles. Moving to Los Angeles can be difficult, but it is the only city that doesn't put a ceiling on where you can go with your career. New York is the place to go if you want to do theater, but if you want to be in film and television, move to L.A." (Full article by by Jenna Fischer)
(WARNING: Since the reviewer failed to mention my brilliance in his evaluation, I made two minor adjustments to the following posting)
nytheatre.com review
Michael Criscuolo · June 19, 2007
Yin and Yang battle it out for control of martial arts legend Bruce Lee's soul in Soomi Kim and Derek Nguyen's excellent new play, Lee/gendary. Set inside the action movie superstar's mind, Lee/gendary takes the audience on a hallucinatory trek through its namesake's short but fast life as he tries to find a harmonious balance between fame and enlightenment (i.e., Yin and Yang). It's a fascinating journey that is punctuated in director Suzi Takahashi's production by a dynamic performance by Kim as Bruce Lee.
Wait a minute: a woman plays Bruce Lee? Oh, you betcha. And, let me tell you: she kicks ass (if you'll pardon my French).
Lee/gendary traces Lee's beginnings as a proverbial 98-pound weakling all the way through to his international stardom, with all the requisite trials and tribulations along the way. Partially raised by his parents as a girl—he was given a girl's name at birth (Sai Fung, which means "small phoenix"), and had a pierced ear in his youth—Lee overcame peer pressure and school bullies by learning martial arts and becoming a skilled combatant. He then embarked on an iconic crossover acting career that encompassed American television (The Green Hornet) and global film stardom (Enter the Dragon). He also became a poster child for ideal physical fitness, invented his own martial arts system, and trained high profile celebrities like Steve McQueen and James Coburn (Played here by the versatile James Huffman) .
But, Lee had his share of troubles. Even though he was a dedicated family man, there were rumors of a longtime extra-marital affair with Taiwanese actress Betty Ting Pei as well as drug abuse. Lee/gendary addresses it all with style and panache.
Kim and Nguyen piece the show together through a tapestry of dance, movement, found and scripted text, and combat. There's a canny reenactment of Lee's television interview with Canadian broadcaster Pierre Berton (Also played by James Huffman) in which the star smoothly expresses his desire to have it all. Later in the play, Lee surprisingly tells the audience that he will always stay by his wife's side, but that Betty Ting Pei "will always be the one who makes me feel like a man." The creators also make Lee's Yin and Yang characters in the play who vie for the protagonist's attention throughout. Lee/gendary culminates in a spectacular fight scene in which Lee must battle one of them—and, in essence, himself—quite literally to the death.
The fights themselves are quite impressive, as the company has reconstructed them straight from Lee's movies. Takahashi adds a splendid humorous element by making the cast lip-synch to the dialogue and music soundtrack from the films themselves. Highlights include Lee's single-handed thrashing of a group of thugs from The Chinese Connection, and his infamous battle royale with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar from Game of Death.
Then, there is Kim, who is outstanding as Lee. Hers is a convincing performance of rigorous physicality and impressive commitment. She scores big points in the case for non-traditional gender casting by showing that the key to such successes lies in having the right attitude. Oh boy, does she have the attitude! As Lee himself says early in the play, "Champions are made from something inside them." Kim's performance proves that.
I am like.... totally fried dude...but in a good way.
I am sitting here on my couch after working a promotion for The Bravo Network that required me to be in midtown at 6:30AM...
Which I performed flawlessly....and impressively...considering I returned late last night (After a NINE hour, MULTI-phased commute back to New York) from a weekend of camping and canoeing up in Maine.
But wait wait wait...lets go back...
Thursday night...the final performance of LEE/GENDARY takes place at the Samuel Beckett Theater on West 42nd Street. We open to a sold out house (Unfortunately many people were turned away at the door). The audience is awesome. They are warm, appreciative , receptive and very vocal.
The show goes very well and we end with partial standing ovation and a double bow. We have a few drinks afterwards at a bar on Ninth Avenue with our adoring fans. I get home and in bed around 2AM.
I get UP at around 5AM. I finish packing and take a quick shower. My buddy Ken has been putting this camping slash canoeing trip together for years now. It usually involves a group of very cool guys, most of whom I went to college with. Ken has always extended me an invitation, but I've always been busy with something. So, since this year the trip seemed to be happening right after my show closed, I figure it would be the perfect time to get my ass up there see what all the fuss is about. My buddy Chuck (Another college friend) agrees and tells me he's coming too.
Ok...so its 5:30AM. I pick up my cell phone and give my buddy CHUCK, a call. You see CHUCK is planning on going, but CHUCK is kind of flaky..."VERY unreliable," as Ken puts it...."A KNUCKLEHEAD!" As Chuck puts it. I leave a message for Chuck telling him that I'm headed downtown and that I will be calling him when I get to Columbus Circle. So I start calling him at 6AM and his phone just rings and rings. I keep calling him over and over again. If he deosnt answer by 6:30, I'm moving on without him. All I can hear inside my head is Ken saying:
"Stay on him. You know Chuck...he is very unreliable....unreliable....unreliable.....CHUCK...IS...VE-RY....UN....RELI-ABLLLLLLLE...."
Wait....wait, wait, wait...
Chuck is calling.
"Hello"
"Jimmy!"
"Why can't you just answer the F%&# phone?"
"What time does the bus leave?"
"Seven AM."
"What time's the next one?"
They have busses running every hour Chuck."
"Well, You're a big boy Jimmy, why don't you go on ahead and meet those guys in Boston. I'll catch a bus later, rent a car and and catch up with you."
"Thats what I'm doing....but I think you should come with me. This way we can hitch a ride with someone and you wont have to rent a car."
"Dude, its my vacation and I dont want to rush."
"Ok, I'm just trying to help man. You have a pretty terrible track record as far as getting up there."
"I know"
You see, legend has it...that CHUCK...years ago...made plans to join the crew for the weekend...he drove all the way up to Maine...and got lost....he drove ALL the way up to F&*%$ Maine...from NEW YORK...couldnt find the campsite....so HE TURNED AROUND and went back to New York...
"Chuck, why don't you just get your shit together and get on the 7AM bus?"
"Cuz I'm a Knucklehead Jimbo, you know that."
"You got THAT right. See you later Chuck. Call me or text me when you get on a bus."
"Ok, Bye-Bye."
"Later (C%ck s#cker)"
So...I hop on the 7AM Fung Wah...the first Fung Wah of the day...Sleep my ASS off most of the way...not the greatest sleep in the world...propped up crooked in a partially reclined bucket with my face pressed against the window...but I take what I can get.
I get into Boston around 11AM...I tell you...these Fung Wah folks can run a ROUTE man. No Joke. New York to Boston in FOUR HOURS...every time....like clockwork. I get a text from CHUCK around Noon, saying that he is on a bus, headed up to Boston.
Anyway, I meet up with the group...we head up to Maine and we are setting up camp by 4PM. After a few drinks, after a ew hours of setting up and settling in. Chuck send me his final text of the weekend:
Don't give me shit. I am not coming up. I am going to stay in Boston and go to my friends post-fathers day party. Don't give me shit.
Whatever...enough of that....the weekend was fantastic. We had great weather. We ate racks of ribs and pizzas cooked on the grill. We drank beer, wine, sangria and many other unidentifiable concoctions. Saturday morning, we were driven 10 miles up the river, where we dropped our canoes in the water and began our descent. We drifted down the river all day, drinking, smoking, eating food off the grill. One guy actually caught a 5 lb small mouth bass, cleaned it , threw the filets on the grill and we ate it right then and there...thats the freshest fish I ever had....damn good too. Ken and Les tipped their boat and the grill was lost forever. We got back to camp. We drank more, ate more and just had an all around excellent time.
Really nice to get away fro a weekend. Really nice to get out of New York. The only drawback was that I had to spend the weekend with a mob of Boston Red Sox die-hards. But I'll have you know. I wore my Yankee hat ALL WEEKEND. One must represent.
Hey, Great trip everyone. As usual the weatherman got it totally wrong.
I think the highlights have to include grilled pizzas as well as ripping the still-beating heart out of a live fish, as well as Mike's heroic efforts to save Les's and my life and all our equipment from the river capsize tragedy.
Hope you had fun at the post-father's day party Chuck. Nice work -KEN
Hey Guys! Fantfabulous Time! I told Ken on the Ride back that i think that was one of my most relaxed and favorite canoe trips that I have ever been on, LOVED IT!!!. Missed Dave of course, but great time, great food and even greater friends. Thanks to all. Les
Where to begin?
Awesome weather. Very few bugs. Incredible wildlife. Only had to set up / break down once. Got to sleep 'til 9:00. Charcoal grilled pizza. Bass fillets cooked on the grill while it's heart was still beating.
The list could go on, but those are the highlights for me.
I will gladly accept the BONEHEAD award - I don't know why I couldn't keep track of my stuff, but it all worked out - apparently I left my gear at the airport in Hyannis, so I was able to pick it up last night... My cooler stayed in Les's pipckup, so no harm there. Huge props to Mike for making the upstream ride with me, it turned out to be like a Wild Kingdom episode - very cool - I wouldn't change it if I could...
Anyway, I apologize for any inconvenience I caused, and I promise to have my head screwed on more firmly next year. All in all - one of the best trips ever!!!
Cheers!!!
--Tony
With the weatherman in Neverland
I joined the band on better sand
Cracked jokes and laughed, got half a tan
Stand and deliver on the river, man!
THANKS GUYS!!! This weekend was AWESOME!! So glad I came up. Maybe next year when I'm taking a break from my highly successful sit com, I'll fly in from LA and we can do it all over again (Ken now has an obligation to perform the first annual TIP & BOB...or TIP & TUMBLE....or SINK THE SAUSAGE....or....something like that).
So...we opened....decent sized house....great house for a 9:30PM Tuesday night show...
The feedback was great! The audience really enjoyed the show. I think we did pretty well for opening night.
The show is great. With all the martial arts, music, video, reenactments of scenes from THE BIG BOSS, CHINESE CONNECTION and ENTER THE DRAGON, and some really solid performances, the show keps the audience engaged for the entire 60 minutes...and when I say 60 minutes, I am being generous...this show FLIES!
I had a funny conversation with a woman who approached me after the show. She was a bubbly, extremely enthusiastic Asian woman...
"Oh, oh....hello? hello.....I really enjoy you acting!" "Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that." "I say to myself 'Who is dis guy? Who is dis guy?'" "Oh really. funny" "YES...for me? All white men look de same. Dey look de same. I tink dey all very handsome! You know?" "Oh....ok" "YES...and everytime you come on stage, I say to myself 'Who is dis guy? Who is dis guy?' You look so different EVERY time." "Cool...thank you." "That say GOOD for you. SO different EVERY time. I say to myself 'Who is dis guy? Who is dis guy?'"
We talked about past projects, training, acting in New York, etc.. Some of it I could understand, some of it I couldn't. She was funny...so happy
Ok....now....to be critical of the performance from our side....I feel like we are still a little too mechanical. There is SO much blocking and choreography. There are SO many transitions and set changes that we are still spending time on stage "thinking" about where we step next, or which chair we move to which corner of the stage. If we had a nice full three or four week run, with a nice full four weeks to rehearse and prepare, we could really have all the physical memorization in place and then be able to focus on being in the moment and allow these characters to BREATHE.
But thats just me....my opinion...I am SUPER critical of my own work anyway....the show is a lot of fun.
We had a photographer at our dress rehearsal yesterday. You can click on the lick here to view dozens of pics:
I'm watching a piece in ESPN that is making me tear up as I'm writing. Its about an old photo of a man in a baseball uniform that was uncovered with a little note on the back:
You were never to tired to play catch. On your days off you help build the Little League field. You always came to watch me play. You were a Hall of Fame Dad. I wish I could share this moment with you. Your son, Pat.
You can read more about it at The Evening Tribune:
I'm just sitting here tearing up watching this story and thinking about all the days that my Dad rushed to get home from his busy job, ran down to the field and helped coach my little league team in the same clothes he wore to work. He actually took a foul tip to the head once while he was playing catcher. He was crouched behind the batter, with no catching equipment or helmet on of course, and the kid in the batter's box took a sharp swing and got just enough of a piece of the ball that it shot back and bounced off my Dad's noggin. He fell to the ground and sat there for a moment with his hands covering his face. While everyone sort of stood around, not knowing what to do or say, I ran in as fast as I could, all the way from centerfield (Yes, my own father was playing me out in centerfield, which, in little league, is like prison time in Mongolia). When I got to him, he just said "I'm okay son, I shouldn't be playing back here without a helmet. Put the gear on, you're playing catcher today"
To an American Veteran Soldier, and American Veteran father and former little league coach....
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD.
Speaking of tearing up...
I caught a few video clips on YouTube from BRITAINS GOT TALENT...and...I mean....what an EXPERIENCE!
I watched the first appearance of opera singer Paul Potts and it took all my strength not to break down and WEEP....WEEP I TELL YOU!!
Between the drama and the fantastic production quality of the show, if you dont get choked up or at least get goosebumps while watching these segments you need to really sit down look into where the hell your heart has gone...
Also worth noting are the appearances by 6 year old Connie (another blindsiding performance), Craig, the closeted brilliant baton twirler, and "Specialty Act" Damon Scott and his monkey puppet.
You want a warm fuzzy feeling for the next few days? Watch these clips.
So....today at 5PM, we have our first "preview performance" of LEE/GENDARY at the Queens Theater in the Park
We officially open on Tuesday at the Beckett on 42nd street, but this will be a nice opportunity to run a full dress rehearsal with an audience....outside....in the 90 degree heat....wow, this is sounding better every second...
Working on this show has been an interesting experience, Its an ensemble piece with a LOT of blocking and choreography, I play several different characters, I get to apply my comedic skills as well dig in to my dramatic side, but what I've appreciated most is what I've learned about Bruce Lee himself, his life, his death, his struggles as an artist and his philosophies on expression, art and existence.
I've always been somewhat aware of the legend of Bruce Lee, but I never really knew about his philosophies and his teachings. His belief that "the best technique is no technique," is exactly the way I feel about acting. I was floored when I first hear him say that in an interview and I was shocked that I, myself, had come this far without ever coming across his perspective and his teachings.
I am now an official Bruce Lee fan.
"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."
"The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique; my movement is a result of your movement."
The following reminder was written and distributed by Derek Nguyen, prodcuer and co-writer of LEE/GENDARY:
Now that the Sopranos is over and the summer blockbusters are a bust, come see something that will really entertain you!
It's a night of kick-ass martial arts, introspective drama, campy comedy and live music. It's called Lee/gendary...
And I have had the honor of being a part of this great experience. For those of you who have seen other incarnations of it, we've completely reinvented it (like Madonna) and made it even better (unlike Madonna). With Bruce Lee, Soomi Kim, Suzi Takahashi and a fabulous cast, we will keep you more amused than any Paris Hilton jail cell confessional.
I know, I know, it's at 9:30PM on a school night. But it's a swift one hour long so you will get out before the crowd at Wicked. And you can get adequately liquored and fed before the show without having to rush to catch a curtain. And most importantly, you'll feel young again for staying out at all hours of the night.
So, you are humbly and cordially invited to see the show. And we thank you for the support. Because we are being reviewed and some key producers are attending, warm audiences would be greatly appreciated.
I hope to see you there!
Smooch!
xoxoxox
derek
---------------
Derek Nguyen
The First National Asian American Theater Festival presents:
LEE/GENDARY
Created and performed by Soomi Kim
Co-conceived and written by Derek Nguyen
Directed by Suzi Takahashi
Music composed and performed by Jen Shyu
Cast: James Huffman, Shing Ka, Victoria Linchon, Ariel Shepley, Pai Wang and drummer Dan Weiss.
Set in the inner landscape of Bruce Lee’s mind the moment before he died in 1973, Lee/gendary is a theatrical deconstruction of an icon; a spiritual and psychological examination of Lee’s life from birth to death. This comic and provocative gender-bending theatre performance fluidly integrates text, live original music, video and an explosive hybrid of martial arts and dance.
The Samuel Beckett Theatre
Theatre Row Complex
410 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Ave.)
New York, NY 10036
Dates: Tuesday-Thursday, June 19-21, 2007
Curtain: 9:30 PM
Running Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Tickets: $18
Additional performance on June 17, 2007 at Queens Theatre in the Park.
I didnt really have plans to sit here and break down my own personal reaction to the Sopranos series finale...but over the past few days I have come to the following conclusion...
There ae two types of people out there...those who liked it ...or maybe APPRECIATED it is a better word...and those who HATED it (And feel like a re-shoot is in order)...
Please note that NO person I've spoken to or corresponded with actually LOVED the finale....maybe someone out there...somewhere loved it...I havent seen or heard of such a being..
The people with the most disdain for the final episode seem to be upset by the abrupt ending, or by the boring simplicity of the final scene...
"So Tony's having dinner with his family...everybody is back to normal....yipee...thats so boring"
"I just expected more. I thought my cable went out."
"Ok....Meadow sucks at parallel parking...I get it...I get it...wait....THATS IT???"
Some people LOVED the DEPTH of the scene...SOME people actually paid attention to the details of this brilliant exit strategy....and SOME people just arent happy if these darn shows on the tv are too deep...
"We want to be bashed over the head with information that is simple and easy to spell....we are not so good at spelling."
Go back...watch the episode again...and be aware of the fact that there is a lot of shit going on in that episode. There is SO much motre to that final scene than just Tony eating onion rings. David Chase is that kind of writer....the show has ALWAYS been like that....what did you expect?
Show a little DEPTH as a viewer...as a Sopranos aficianado and/or fan...as a PERSON...and see what lies beneath the surface.
More rehearsals this week for LEE/GENDARY...we open next week but we have a "preview" performnace at the Queens Theater in the Park this coming Sunday at 5PM.
Not many auditions going on right now...which is probably for the best since most of my rehearsals are happening in the afternoon....if I had a ton of auditions to get to I would be a mess trying to juggle it all...
Sunday....hanging out...or hangin IN...waching the Yankees and nursing a little hangover...I've got a few hours to chill before I go down to rehearsal for LEE/GENDARY at Chelsea Piers...
So we performed JPITRD in front of a full house last night at ATA on West 54th Street. We spent all of our rehearsal time in tiny studios, so it felt strange to be up there on a big stage in a 99 seat theater...definitely had to make some vocal adjustments....the size of the space along with the fact that the AC was running and making a loud humming noise directly BEHIND us created quite an acoustics challenge.
We did well. It wasn't our BEST run, the pace wasnt where we needed to be at the start and Yours Truly totally dropped a line and forced us to jump a small chunk of text, but the audience was great and there was lots of laughing. The play is a comedy so the laughing is actually a good thing.
I have yet to receive word on whether we have been asked to compete in the finals. The judges pick one show from each time slot and that show will come back next week to perform again.
Tomorrow I am shooting a scene in a film. I dont know that much about what I'm getting into except that this past Friday, before rehearsal for JPITRD, a girl approached me in the lobby and asked me if I was an actor. I said yes. We had a brief conversation about her upcoming film project. She told me she was shooting on Monday in Red Hook and she asked if I might be interested in playing a role. I said yes and she put me through a quick impromptu audition...right there on the spot. She gave some direction, talked me through what she was looking for, gave me some notes and then offered me the part. Funny how that happens sometimes. Serendipitous?
Like I said, I have no idea what I'm getting into, but I happen to be completely free on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes....
So...I'm in a show that is ONE NIGHT ONLY for the Samuel French Festival and I am hoping everyone can come and be supportive of me and my castmates and clap and cheer us on so that the judges see how BRILLIANT we are! :)
Here's the info below...
JUST POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Written by Marcus Jones
Directed by Alexis M. Hadsall
Cast: Eva Nicole, James Huffman, Susannah Kennedy & Patrick Michael Wickham*
Where: American Theatre For Actors at the Chernuchin Theatre
314 West 54th Street (between 8th and 9th); 2nd floor
THIS Saturday, June 9th, 2007
8:49pm (odd time I know)
Tickets: $18
* Appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity Association
This show is about a new director having his first rehearsal with his high maintenance actors in L.A. It makes fun of everyone; directors, actors, writers...it's hilarious!!! You will really have fun with this...especially if you're involved in theatre.
Your ticket ($18) buys you the full evening of shows, but if you want to see just mine -- arrive at least 45 minutes in advance to the showtime listed -- as you know, live theatre is never and exact science. We are in the 8pm Series so...you can get there at 8pm and watch all the shows in that section OR just come to see mine.
FYI: Box office opens 1/2 hour before the start of the evening, doors open for audiences to enter and exit between each 1-act.
OUR running time is about 25 minutes so by 9:30pm we all will be celebrating with a well earned beverage of choice at a bar nearby. Probably a place called Lizard Lounge, it is on West 54th as well, but one block East of where we are...between Broadway and 8th. The downstairs area is a great place to congregate and drink and socialize. Meet the cast, director, and author there after the show!
Did I really put on a wetsuit and walk around Manhattan with a big red surfboard?
Is this a dream? A hallucination?
(I NEVER should have eaten those shrooms back in college)
Nope...I WAS up at 4AM this morning...and I DID slip in to a wetsuit and hang around midtown with a big red surfbaord...with about 20 other guys in wetsuits...doing a promotion for JOHN FROM CINCINNATI...which premieres this coming Sunday on at 10PM HBO...after THE SOPRANOS FINAL finale....SO sad....these last few episodes are KICKING ASS though....
So yeah....from 6AM til about 2PM....just walking around Manhattan...in a wetsuit...flipflops...and a surf board that says "WATCH JOHN FROM CINCINNATI ON HBO....blah blah blah...and so on and so on"
(God help me)
("Before they were stars")
Got to rehearsal ONE...for Lee/gendary at 3PM...worked on the Pierre Berton/Bruce Lee interview scene...
Had the opportunity to come home and chill for a second...and now I'm about to bounce and go to rehearsal number TWO...for JPITRD....down on 36th Street...
It will be a struggle to muster up the energy for a couple of good run throughs tonight....but I'll manage.
Its a rainy Monday morning.....kind of tough to get going...
I was down in Ocean Grove, NJ yesterday, trying to enjoy a day out of the city...a day at the Jersey shore....I picked the wrong day for it because it was rainy and cold...still nice to get away for a bit....
SATURDAY was insane....
Up at 6AM, I left my apartment around 7:45 to make it down to the Hotel New Yorker on 34th Street by 8:30. I was scheduled to appear in the character of a "Pulp Era" private detective (ala Sam Spade) in the annual Book Expo America tradeshow at the Javitz Center. As I walk up to the A train stop on 181, I realize that ALL trains in my neighborhood are shut down...in fact there were ribbins of yellow tape cloisng off every entrance to keep anyone and everyone OUT.
I had to hop on a bus and get down to the stop at 168 to catch the A train there, WHICH....by the way...was running local. Off to a GREAT start.
I made good time to 34th Street. Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crimes booked a room at the New Yorker so the cast could get ready before we went over to the Javitz. Luckily, I arrived at the hotel while one of the girls was still getting her make-up done....so I wasnt really late after all. Whew!
I worked the event from 10AM to 2PM. We had a lot of fun playing these vintage characters. The Hard Case fans loved us.
Finished up there around 2PM, changed clothes, took all the make-up off at the hotel...then I was off to make an audition on 115th street for this years Fringe Festival.
I'm on another mission this year to be in The Fringe. I did it last year playing VAN COOPER in LIGHT & LOVE by S.P. Riordan, but I'm thinking it would be nice to do it one more time before I head out to Los Angeles.
The trains in Manhattan were FUBAR all weekend and I somehow overlooked the fact that I was on the wrong train on the way uptown. I got off at 116th alright, but I was about a half-mile east of where i needed to be.
So i trekked through Harlem....crazy white man walking VERY fast...cut through Morningside Park...up many many stairs....through the Columbia campus...and into Schapiro Hall on 115th and Broadway...sweating my ass off at 4:15PM. My appointment was time was 3:30. Took a few minutes to get my shit together, looked over the sides, read for the director and I was out of there at ten past 5. I was supposed to be at rehearsal for JPITRD at 5.
I managed to get down to Theater Row Studios by 5:30 and we got right to it. At this point I was sweaty and cranky. Although I came pretty close a few times, I was able to get through the rehearsal without snapping at anybody.
I bounced at 7P exactly and walked over to Port Authority where i got on a bus to Asbury Park. The driver dropped me off on Cookman Avenue. I walked down the street and met my friends as they were having dinner at Isabella's. After a big glass of wine and a few deep breaths, my day finally came to a close....okay after a few glasses of wine.
Had a very low key Memorial Day weekend....lunch with friends....Saturday night grabbed a bite with Jess at Jerry's in SOHO. Then we went over to The Angelika to see PAPRIKA...the newest coolest Japanese Anime feature...
It definitely was cool....very trippy....remember the movie DREAMSCAPE? With Dennis Quaid? and the Lizard man?
Paprika is kind of like that...only animated....and maybe not quite as dark .
Bunker yanked off his splint on Sunday....that was exciting....had to take his dumb ass down the emergency vet hospital.
Hung out at the Meadow at Central Park for a few hours yesterday....then came home....watched PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS...whihc I thought was pretty good....contrary to what I'd heard...
Then I had rehearsal for JPITRD from 8-10 at Shetler Studios.
The week after a holiday weekend is always such a sleepy week....but I will have my hands full with rehearsals. We have our first read through today as the cast of LEE/GENDARY gets together down at Theater for the New City in the East Village.
I've been watching film clips of James Coburn...studying his mannerism and speech patterns. I tried to find some video of Pierre Berton (I'm playing him as well), but all I could find on YouTube was an appearance of his on some comedy show...a spoof instructional video on how to roll a joint....funny.
Ok....I'm going to try and get rolling here (HA....no pun intended).
Wednesday morning....I finally have a second to sit and write a little bit...I've been busy....
As you know I was tending to Bunker, the cat, this weekend because he fell out the window last week, dropped two stories to the alley behind the building and he broke his right front leg. No crazy parties for me this weekend. I was too busy trying to squirt liquid antibiotics into the mouth of a very stubborn, very feisty little cat. Broken leg or no broken leg, he had plenty of fight left to challenge the administration.
So I invited my Dad out and he came over and spent the weekend watching me wrestle with the cat. He needed to get away from his living situation for awhile. I cooked a few good meals and we watched the Yankees and Mets duke it out...oh yeah, we also watched Jermaine Taylor and Cory Spinks duke it out on HBO.
Monday I worked a promotion for the MSG NETWORK from 12-4. We were stationed down in the financial district passing out free pretzels and bottles of water to promote the new MSG original documentary "Spring of 94."
After that I hit the gym and then ran over to our first rehearsal for JPITRD (Just Point in the Right Direction by Marcus Jones)
wait....I have to step away for a few....I'll finish this in a bit...
Ok, I'm back...
On Saturday, June 9th, I will be performing in the 2007 Sam French Off Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival at the American Theater for Actors, 314 West 54th Street, 2nd Floor.
JUST POINT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Written by Marcus Jones
Directed by Alexis Hadsall
Featuring James Huffman, Susannah Kennedy, Patrick Wickham and Eva Nicole
This is the second run for JPITRD, a short play that was conceived during a series of RCL Writers Worksops this past winter and was brought to life in a February showcase designed specifically to present new works cultivated at RCL. Now, JPITRD is competing in the Sam French Festival. We will go up at 8PM on June 9th and if we are chosen to advance, we will go up again the following Sunday.
The following Sunday is going to be tricky should we make it to "the Finals" because I have just been cast in another project that will be presenting a preview at an outdoor theater in Queens that same day.
I will be playing the role of JAMES COBURN, along with a few other supporting roles in LEE/GENDARY by Soomi Kim. Here's the deal:
Dates: June 19, 20, 21 at 9:30 Venue: Theatre Row, The Beckett Theatre
There will be a special presentation of this show on Sunday, June 17, 5:00 at Queens Theatre in the Park
When Bruce Lee was born, his mother gave him a girl’s name to disguise him from evil spirits. When actor/performing artist Soomi Kim learned this surprising fact, she felt destined to create a theatre performance inhabiting the incomparable martial arts superstar.
Set in the inner landscape of Bruce Lee’s mind the moment he died in 1973, Lee/gendary is a theatrical deconstruction of an icon; a spiritual and psychological examination of Lee’s life from birth to death. This unique gender-bending theatre performance fluidly integrates text, live original music, video and an explosive hybrid of martial arts and dance.
In Lee/gendary, Lee’s fights were many; from the racism he struggled against in Hollywood to the disapproval from the Chinese community for teaching westerners the sacred art of Kung Fu. But this Asian American film star’s worse enemy was in actuality, himself. Lee/gendary depicts a Bruce Lee that has never been seen before: a man forced to confront his own contradictions, failures and fears.
Lee/gendary’s efforts are the result of a dedicated collaboration with Kim. This group of talented artists includes: Derek Nguyen (playwright, NYFA recipient, author of full length play Monster, produced by East West Players), Suzi Takahashi (director, artistic director of performance group, Ex.p Girl) and Jen Shyu (composer, instrumentalist and vocalist with Steve Coleman’s The Five Elements).
SO...I am going to be NICE and BUSY for the next month. I'm excited about doing LEE/GENDARY. First of all, it will be an interesting challenge as an actor, to play James Coburn AND a Hollywood movie director and interviewer PIERRE BERTON. Secondly, The North Asian American Theater Festival is taking place at THE BECKETT, which is a great theater space on Theater Row...on 42nd Street. It's an offical Off Broadway venue....and thats cool. It will look great on my resume too.
We begin rehearsals next week.
OKAY, so TUESDAY...yesterday...I boogied down to Beth Melsky Casting for an OXYGEN NETWORK audition. I had to play a state trooper who uses his radar gun to clock a speeding car and the car is going SO fast that his clothes fall off....which means....YES...I had to audition in my underwear. Thats TWICE in two weeks I've had to strip down for an audition. Good thing I've been trimming down and getting ripped....not totally there but I'm making progress.
After my audition I hustled over the the CIRCLE Q train and headed out to AS THE WORLD TURNS. I shot my under-five as THE PHOTOGRAPHER yesterday:
"So Who is your date Katie?"
Ka-click Ka-click Ka-click (Camera sounds)
(Then later on in the scene)
"Can I get Katie over here with Brad?"
Ka-click Ka-click Ka-click
(Gripping drama)
OK MOM...PAY ATTENTION....THE AIR DATE FOR MY GROUNDBREAKING PERFORMANCE ON CBS IS......(Drum roll please):
FRIDAY, JUNE 29th on C....B....ESSSSSSSSSSSSSS....ESSSSS...ESSSS
(The crowd goes wild)
I screwed up the last time and anounced that my "groundbreaking performance" as "The Limo Driver" on ALL MY CHILDREN was going to air on May 9th, when it actually aired May 3rd. I'm not sure how I got that wrong since the actual SCRIPT said May 3rd...too many dates and times running around in my head. Needless to say my Mother was not pleased with the error (Sorry).
WOW...okay..I think I'm done....So much to share...so much to say...I have one auditon as a METROSEXUAL today....yay
OH...and by the way....METROSEXUAL does NOT mean gay....MMMKay?
No partying for me....I'm looking after the cat. He's still a doped out...sleepin alot...but I guess thats good right?
My Dad is coming in to the city tomorrow to spend Saturday and Sunday here. I've mentioned this before, but my Father has been in a Veterans Affairs program for about 7 years now. He lives in a halfway house in Long Island with about 12-15 war veterans who are recovering addicts and alcoholics....including him. He is a Vietnam veteran...a captain in the army...he is also bi-polar...diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder....dependent on alcohol and drugs....and one of the most charming M*&$ F%&$ you could ever meet.....you can imagine how dangerous THAT combination can be.
So Jessica is out of town for the weekend and I thought he could use a break from the house. He 'll come up here to WA-HI (washington Heights) and we'll hang out...watch the Yankees...I'll cook him something good...maybe some catfish.
Dad definitely needs some R&R.
Last night I had a very empowering moment. I received this email:
Hi James,
I don't know if you remember me... You auditioned for RITE OF RETURN a while ago...I thought you were really great but ended up casting someone who was from Israel in the part. I never got around to emailing you and telling you how talented I think you are - so sorry - but I've always had you in the back of my mind.
So... I'm involved in this wacky project. It's part of the first Asian American Theater Festival so there will be some media interest.
The play is called LEE/GENDARY and it's a gender bending Bruce Lee play, with a Korean-American (female) gymnast and martial artist playing the part of Bruce Lee. I'm playing the B-actress who gave Lee the headache pill that killed him. But I'm emailing you because Soomi asked if I knew of anyone who might be right to play an ensemble role, one of the parts being James Coburn. I thought of you right away and just spent the better part of half an hour digging out your resume. I really dug how you switched during that callback from Leon to David and one of the things Soomi said was that the actor would need to switch between a "heavy" (the James Coburn part) and a satiric role. Besides, you even sort of look like Coburn! And you probably will get to learn some cool martial arts moves (the role requires good movement).
I LOVE when that shit happens. I auditioned for this girl YEARS ago...and you know what....I remember this one. I felt like I had a pretty good first run....I felt like I had pretty good handle on the call back as well....but I didnt get the role...and never heard from the producer or the director. As usual...I was able to let it go and move on...but it goes to show you ...book the gig or not....your efforts don't go to waste....treat every audition like IT IS THE ONE... and that impression...that passion...that determination...that investment....will live on...whether you are aware if it or not...and EVENTUALLY...it will pay you a visit.
Forget the fact that I never got the call about my CREST SPINBRUSH commercial. That I'm FIGHTING for a positive perspective....struggling with disappointment and doubt. Forget the fact that I DID book another Under-five on AS THE WORLD TURNS. A bittersweet booking, I shoot ATWT on the same day that they are scheduled to shoot that damned CREST spot. Never mind all that. Never mind the Greys Anatomy season finale. Never mind the Yankees lost AGAIN and are now 9 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the Al East...
Never mind all that.
The CAT fell out the WINDOW...fell two stories...broke his leg.
I'm totally serious...
We've had these two little side windows in the den slash living room that Bunker just loves to sit in and poke his head out and watch the pigeons below as they hang out on a wire that reaches from one building to another. Sometimes he leans out farther than others. Sometimes he sits and makes funny noises at the birds. The birds always seem unfazed by the taunts, threats and simple attempts to communicate.
Jess and I have lived here in this apartment for almost a year and Bunker has never led us to believe that he would jump. We were a little nervous about him hanging out in the window at first, but he consistently assured us that he had no intention of attempting flight, no plans to pounce the pigeons and while he would spend hours fantasizing about what he could do to those birds, he was fully aware of the danger and he was fine with keeping those thoughts in his fantasy file.
I was home for most of the morning, working on a few things, returning a bunch of phone calls, writing out postcards, stuff like that. Around 11A, Bunker walks in, comes over to me and rubs up against my leg. He jumps up on the couch to get some love and after a few seconds of detached rubbing, I send him along....
A few seconds later and I hear a strange sound. It was sort of like a ripping sound...as if someone had taken a piece of paper and quickly torn it in half. I look up and say out loud "What the hell was that?" I immediately stare down that window. Time is frozen and I can feel my heart beating...up my spine...into the base of my skull and flowing through my cheeks and face. The window looks like it just GAPING. Its definitely far more open than it usually is....and I don't know where Bunker is.
I stand up...and call for the cat.
"Bunker? Where are ya buddy? Hey Bunker? Bunker. Come here Bub. Pssst psst pssst psst. Bun-ker Bun ker-Bunker-Bunker-Bunker......BUNKER!"
I pause. Listen. I can only hear my own POUNDING pulse.
"Shit."
I quickly move over to that window and as i approach there is one bird sitting out there on the line. He is still....stoic... staring right at me....I stare back....just ME and THE BIRD...staring....in a stare-down. I'm like:
"Well hello little bird. How are you today? Lovely weather we are having don't you think?
The bird is like:
"Um....yeah....the Cat? He fell out the window."
The window is narrow. It's barely wide enough for me to poke out and see down below. I tried but I couldnt really fit. I looked back at the bird. He is still looking at me like:
"What part of 'The cat fell out the window' do you NOT understand?"
Then I heard him. Bunker was down there all right and he was letting all the back alley occupants know it.
"Ho-LEE SHIT!!!!"
I thrown on my flip flops and bust out into the hallway. Run down the stairs. Run a few circles in the lobby trying to figure how to get to the back alley. Find the door to the alley way. I practically thrown myself down a flight old rusty stairs and sudenly I'm in the back alley behind the building. I spot the Super standing out there looking around the corner. I run over to him:
"HEY, my cat just fell out the window!"
He nodded, shook his head....mumbled something in Spanish:
"Cara culo pinche gato besa me los huevos muchacho."
"Uh....I don't know what that means...HOLY CRAP there's Bunker!"
My poor "gato" was huddled up in the corner.....I'm starting to lose it.
"He did it! He fell out of the F%$&*ING window. I can't F%^$&ING believe this!!! HOW did you fall out? Why NOW? Why TODAY? WHY GOD WHY??? AAAARRRGGHHHH OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!
Bunker was very calm actually...all things considered....little man was probably in shock. I brought him upstairs. I laid him down and while he limped around...against my contrary suggestion....I called Jessica:
"Hi. Don't get upset. I THINK he's okay, but Bunker fell out the window."
Don't get upset? Who am I kidding? I don't have to tell you how the rest of that phone call went.
So I picked him up and walked him over to the vet. He wrassled me a little bit but I managed to hold on for a few blocks...walk him over there and get him checked in.
They tell us he's a lucky cat. He did break his arm....one bone....no internal damage....no spine damage....Many cats that fall out of windows (Happens in NYC alot apparently) will end up with a "split palate" because even if the cat lands on his feet, the face usually hits the ground too. Bunkers palate was in tact. That kind of gave me the heeby jeebies...just thinking about "Splitting " your palate.
Bunker was sent home with a big splint covering about 80% of his front right leg/arm/paw and headful of kick ass pharmaceuticals. I think he'll be fine. He's going to wear the splint for about 8 weeks and we'll keep our fingers crossed that the leg heals properly everything can go back to normal. 8 weeks is a long time.
So its late..I'm exhausted but I can't really sleep....sort of a traumatic day....Bunker falls out the window....the GREYS ANATOMY finale....STILL no word from the folks at CREST....I guess I'm going to have to concede...and THAT sucks.
Jess is going to Ohio for the weekend...so I'm going look after the cat....give him fresh food and water...plenty of TLC...keep him away from the window...
Teach him how to abuse his meds...that sort of thing....
I had a call back for CREST SPINBRUSH this morning. The first audition happened last week and I walked out feeling prettty good. Most of the time I hold the belief walking out of an audition convinced that you "nailed it" is the kiss of death. Nevertheless, after my fisrt CREST audition...I really felt like I nailed it. I just...."Got it." Thats usually what happens when I book something. The energy, or the concept behind the poject wraps itself around me and I just GET IT.
So I got a call back. I was told to be at Endeavor Studios at 10:40AM. I was right on time, of course. They started bringing people in at 11AM (They told all of us they would FINISHED by 11AM). They were mixing and matching different girls with different guys to see who looked good together. The jist of the commercial is this: the girl is talking about how long you would have to brush with a regular toothbrush to clean your teeth as effectively as you do using a Crest Spinbrush. The guy decides to take her up pn that challenge and starts brushing as thoroughly as possible. She continues to read off stats that suggest that its nearly impossible to brush as well with a regular toothbrush, which motivates the guy to brush faster and faster. Refusing to lose, the guys brushing resembles a runaway train and he eventually gives in to exhaustion. She then tells him that he's about halfway there.
Once in the room, the director commented to me that what she liked about my first audition was that I had an arc, that I started out very confident and progressively lost the cocky attitude. She appreciated the fact that I "got it."
So I feel like I had a good call back as well. But they didnt have me read with anyone else....and I'm not sure what to think about that. They told us that they were going to send each of us through a few tmes to read with different partners...and they DID send a few people though more than once....but the casting director was told to release a group of us. It COULD be that they were so sure that they are going to cast, that they didnt want to waste my time by asking me to wait around and read with a bunch of jayvees. OR, It could have been that they didnt need all of us to stay...especially since they were running behind schedule....It could be many things...
But I'm TELLING you....I BOOKED THAT SPOT .
I know it....I can feel it....
After the CREST thing I hauled ass up to SPIKE TV for another audition....some sort of FATHERS DAY promo (And I aint got no kids)...and then I hustled over to Don Case Casting for a SAVAN COPIERS spot. For that one I had to yank my "wrinkle-free" button down and my shnazzy tie from by ultra cool, camouflage messenger bag, and quickly transform into a mild mannered business man/office guy who is just THRILLED with the color quality of the new SAVAN COPIER. He is just SO pleased ...He LOVES his job..happy happy joy joy.
After THAT...I walked over to CESD on Park Ave South and dropped off a headshot for possible representation. I read on NYCastings.com that they were accepting drop-offs for new faces...
"Wait til they get a load of me." Jack Nicholson as THE JOKER
Browsing my calender earlier this week, I saw that on Thursday, my day was wide open. A day off? maybe I'll go to the park, soak up some sun. maybe I'll go catch a movie...pop over to the Guggenheim...
Late Wednesday I had picked up one audition appointment...
By the time I left my apartment yesterday morning, I had FOUR appointments. Three of which came early Thursday morning.
Big cup of green tea, a good breakfast...and I got a good jump out of the gate....
I stormed Don Case Casting with the most amazing, heart-warming rendition of a young father playing board games with his family. Then I polished up my presentation and portrayed an upscale sales person for COACH. I gave them the perfect combination of sales saavy and flair...not too feminine....not too fatale. I shook off the whole "High-end retail" bit and became JAMES KING, PORN STAR for a short mockumentary piece being produced by THE ONION....and YES, I auditoned in my underware. Nothing like standing there in front of the camera, doing a little improv....with no clothes on....
Made a quick stop at Reproductions to place a re-order for more headshots and postcards. Returned two phone calls regarding NON acting work....always looking for surival jobs...short term...long term...whatever fits.
Got myself up to West 57th for a print go-see in that new futuristic funky high rise at 57th and 8th Ave. I swear I felt lke I was in the Death Star.
Mission accomplished...some day off huh?
Got home, made some Turkey patties and asparagus for dinner...watched THE OFFICE and GREYS ANATOMY...a little bit of that David Spade show on COMEDY CENTRAL....
That Wildfire in Los Angeles is CRAZY. You see THAT? The sky behind the Griffith Park Observatory? SCARY...orange and black....freaky....Like Satan himself standing on the ridge...dancing in the hills....Mick Jagger-style.
Seriously though, I have been boycotting the 11 o clock news lately. I mean, I'm tryin to go to bed ...I need to lay me down with some nice, peaceful, happy thoughts. I dont want to know who got stabbed outside the White Castle in Flatbush. If I have to watch that video of that 100 year old lady getting punched in the face by some crack head ONE MORE TIME...I'm gonna go pick me off some crack heads...just to balance shit out.
Sorry...getting a little worked up. I'll catch the news thats important in the morning. I'll read the paper...I just cant go to bed with all those violent and sad thoughts dancing around in my head....cant do it....NOT GONNA DO IT. Give me Sportscenter. Give me reruns of FRIENDS. Give me Monkeys on the Discoverey Channel. I'm happy going to sleep with Monkeys.
Last minute booking on Friday....Late Thursday I got the call....I was on an 8AM bus Friday morning....I booked a print job that shot down in Atlantic City....The shoot was easy enough...Me and two other models at BALLY'S in the spa....by the poolside....in the hot tub....getting a fancy shmancy shave in the salon....I think its all for in-house literature...or some type of newsletter...I'd be very surprised if ANYONE i know ever see's it...decent money for a day of lounging at the spa in a robe and flip-flops.
Then i just sort of dropped off the radar for a couple of days...I needed to get away.
Tonight I'm taking a workshop at Breakthrough Studios. I'll be working on a scene from Law & Order:SVU with a Casting Associate from the show. One of the things on my "MUST DO BEFORE I LEAVE NY" list is to book a role on Law & Order. One way to achieve that is to take a workshop with someone in casting and make an impression....follow up...get an audition...NAIL the audition....book the job....go on to become a hugely successful, highly respected, rich, famous, film and television star.
Just watched STRANGER THAN FICTION and I really really liked it. It was far better than expected. Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhall were excellent. Will's performance was simple, subtle.... very understated compared to what we usually get from him and it worked beautifully. I've never really been a big Maggie Gyllenhall fan and I must say that I am now. She did a really nice job in this film and I guess it just kind of caught me off guard. I highly recommend this movie. The story is profound and moving. All the acting is a pleasure to watch. Get it. Got it. Good.
Getting out of here early tomorrow and marching my Non-Equity ass down to Theater Row Studios to see if I can sign in to audition for a new play opening this Fall in New York. Ethan Hawke will be directing. Doing a play in New York this fall will put a crimp in my plans to be in Los Angeles in September....but working with Ethan Hawke is worth postpoing that road trip.
‘THINGS WE WANT’
The New Group is casting Things We Want by Jonathan Marc Sherman. Dark comedy about three brothers coping with the difficult legacy left to them by their deceased parents. Ethan Hawke, dir. Rehearsals begin Sept. 17; preview Oct. 15; closes (tentatively) Dec. 8.
Seeking—Charlie: mid-20s, culinary school dropout, heartbroken and naturally given to co-dependency, well-meaning and sweet, but easily discouraged, a sad romantic; Sty: late 20s, slacker ladies’ man and complete lush, careless and reckless, but witty and self-aware, well-defended with humor and alcohol, yet plenty going for him, with a concern for his brothers which comes out when and if he’s sober; Teddy: cast, performers will be considered as possible replacements, early 30s, the eldest, plays the father, but bossy and self-deluded, a go-getter and enthusiast with an addictive personality, whether it be for self-help or alcohol; Stella: early to mid-20s, former piano prodigy who no longer plays due to injury and despair, also a recovering alcoholic, open and interested, jumps into relationships, with a serious inclination toward sick puppies (literally and metaphorically).
Equity principal auditions will be held May 2, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. & 2:30-6 p.m. at Theatre Row Studios, 411 W. 41st St., NYC. Prepare a brief, contemporary monologue (comic or dramatic). Bring pix & résumés, stapled together. $441 min./wk. (subject to change). Equity ANTC Category 6 Contract.
So I'll get down there at 9AM...maybe 10AM...they officially start at 10A and I have to check in with the monitor to see if they will actually be willing to see my Non-Equity ass....or "Future members" as they call it.
If they say "yes," then I get to sign in on the "Future Members" sheet and I'll get an audition time...likely to be later in the day. I'll run off and prepare...come back for my slot and razzle dazzle...
If they say "No, we are NOT seeing Future Members today," I will just grin and bear it...hold my head up and walk the hell out there.
I've got two print castings to go to after that. Seems like I'm going on alot of print castings lately
UGH...Yankees, Yankees, Yankees....SEVEN straight!! I think I'm going to be SICK!!
I was AT the game last night. Let me just say, first of all, that I'm so happy that the weather cleared up and I was able to use those tickest. I bought them via EBAY, got a pair for my dearest friends Al and Philene, and the thunderstorms dissipated JUST in time for a great night for baseball....so I thought.
We got seats in the bleachers...and I know..I get it...with bleacher seats comes an understanding that you are sitting out there with alot of riff-raff...and I was even enjoying the taunting and shouting the New York fans were unloading on any Boston fan that dared to walk through with their Red Sox gear...but then things just got out of hand.
We had two couples...thats right...COUPLES...two rows behind us that decided to take the taunting beyoned thestandard chants of "Red Sox suck," or "Manny Sucks," or my favorite "ASS-hole, ASS-hole, ASS-hole." these people singled out this one guy who was there with his girlfriend (Boston hat on) and went ON and ON and ON with this poor kid. They were calling his girlfriend a C%$^NT, a SL*&T, they were saying any and every nasty thing they could think of....and I'm telling you...they were saying some really rude, really bad stuff....and yes...there were plenty of kids in the stands. They were relentless. They were F%$&*ING retarded because most of what they said was neither clever or even remotely funny. These people...these low low, no class, no brains losers, went at it for at least 4 innings and basically ruined the game for everyone sitting around me, Yankees fans and Red Sox fans alike. Finally, at one point, the "Leader" of the group, he sort of looked like the love child of Conan Obriens mother and the Toxic Avenger, stood up to shout a few more nonsensical slurs and he ended up elbowing his girlfriend in the nose. Talk about poetic justice...F%&%$ retard...his date starts yelling at him and she's got a pretty gruesome bloody nose, she stroms away, swearing at him, and he takes her hat and tooses it into the crowd behind him.... throwing his hands up in the air..and the FINALLY...an cop walks uo says "Hey, You're out of here!" Dozens of people in the stands, myself included, stood up and cheered as the biggest asshole Ive seen in a long long time was yanked out of the stadium and disappeared into the night.
I was one tiny victory that didnt quite ease the sting of another Yankee loss to the Red Sox, a Mariano Rivera meltdown, and a SEVENTH straight loss in April....UGH!!
Ok...gotta go...
Last day of the TODAY SHOW promo. We are setting up down at SOUTH STREET SEAPORT from 12-6 and thats the end of the trwo week program. I'm OFF next week...looking forward to that...
A little poem I just wrote...no reason...just did it:
I was born in Carolina. Carolina in my mind. Raised in Ridgewood. Ridgewood Pride. With my heart as my guide, many places I reside, eyes open wide for the ride, I have tried and tried and tried to find, grind and re-design my stride. A man finally learns, through trials and returns, scratches and burns, That the good stuff is inside.
Good news...I booked a little print job that shoots on Thursday. Its just a four hour time commitment. Pay is decent. I'll take it and run with it. Thank you Thank you Thank you.
I'm home right now, falling in and out of sleep on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon...I should be outside running around....rolling in the grass and mud...but I am WIPED OUT...
I worked a promotion late last night...
Two hours of work....hundred fifty bucks...thing is I had to dress up as this evil and ominous "Lord of the Rings" character...roaming around Herald Square in a torn and tattered hooded gown...and a plastic sword.
The GAME STOP on Broadway at 33rd Street was opening at midnight to release the new game The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. This particular location had attracted quite a notable waiting line of eager (nerd alert) gamers (geeks), who couldnt wait to get their hands on the latest beast (Loooooozzzz-er). A group of us, roughly ten evil "Grim Reaper" dudes, were there to add to the ambiance (please....pathetic).
I'm totally kidding. I think you guys are great (And its totally ok to be 30 and still living with your Mom.).
It was a quick one-fifty...no sweat...but what made the night more memorable...and also TOTALLY sucked...is that someone smashed the window to the van we were working from and stole a bunch of stuff left behind by a few of the actors...including one dudes GUITAR!! Poor guy...artist....musician...out there to trying to earn some extra cash....AS IF it isnt a struggle to maintain your dignity while your wearing sonme stupid Halloween costume in April...out on the street...you get ROBBED and lose what is likely your most significant and most valuable possession. That F%$%&$ING BLOWS MAN!
I looked up to the sky and thanked God that I felt the need to leave my bag and my valuables at my apartment.
Left the scene, got home and went to bed around 1A....woke up to the alarm which was set for 3:30A ...jumped in the shower...headed down to Rockefeller Plaza to get this NBC TODAY SHOW promotion up and running at 5A....
Let me tell you man... I was out and about this morning while the drunks and the junkies and the just plane crazies were all trying to find their way home....sort of a surreal feeling...
I don't know if you saw THE TODAY SHOW this morning but they did do a short piece that focused on the mobile studio I've been working from for the past two weeks. I did NOT, however, appear on camera...just as well.
THE TODAY SHOW also dedicated a good FIFTEEN minutes to that STUPID story about a guy who posted a video on You Tube asking people to call him. ....on the phone.....thats it....he diplayed his phone number....and said "Call me." Apparently he's received over 100,000 phone calls....from all over the world....APPARENTLY this is worthy of our time and attention......Apparently this is NEWS!!
Tomorrow they will interview a man who posted a video on You Tube people all over the planet to send him a bag of POO. Apparently this ambitious young man as accumulated two whole acres worth of POO from around the globe...
Now THAT is worthy of our time and attention (thank you very much)
So pissed about that Yankee-Red Sox game last night....tough loss man...Yankees had it all wrapped up....and then it fell apart....ugh. I'm going to try and get tix for next Fridays home game....I havent been to Yankee Stadium in a few years.
Took Jess to see Patty Griffin at The Beacon Theater on Thursday night. Patty Griffin was fantastic! She is such a phenomenal artist, musician, vocalist, songwriter....way under the radar....totally underappreciated and underrated....which is great for her true fans right now...I got great seats off of Ebay for less than 50 bucks a ticket....it was really a steal....I love Ebay.
I have to work today. I'm managing a local mobile tour for NBC's THE TODAY SHOW. We show up at different locations throughout the city in a mobile studio/box truck thing that has two video "Kiosks" inside. Then we invite people to come in and record a 60 second video of themselves explaining why they deserve to win a free vacation. The whole campaign is designed to support the "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" segment coming up on the show. We are at Union Square today and we'll actually be AT The Today Show next week, which means I have to be there on the site at 5AM each day for three days straight....ugh...I'm going to TIRED. I can't say as to wheher I will actually be SEEN on the Today show next week or not. We WILL be there as part of the show...but I dont know if the Today Show crew will be referring to us live...thye may just give a quick mention....or they may come over and chat with us....no matter what happens....its going be really really EARLY.
One OBLIVIOUS performance out of the way. One more to do tonight. Thats really all I have to say about that.
I usually get up and start writing in one my notepads first thing in the morning, but I think today I'll jot my first thoughts of the day right here, I also need to check on the status of my Federal tax return e-file thigamajiggy...
Ooops....its was REJECTED....hold please...I've got to figure this out and re-send...
AND YES...I PREFER TO FILE LAST MINUTE....literally
OK done...not too big of a mistake, should only cost me two to three years in general pop (Thats prison talk).
I watched LADY IN THE WATER last night I have to tell ya...
I really liked it. I did. I read all these bad reviews when it came out and I wondered how another M. Night Shyamalan film ws falling short of expectations AGAIN....landing somehwre beneath a bar set so high by THE SIXTH SENSE.
LADY IN THE WATER didnt fall short for me. I think that because SIXTH SENSE was a story so cleverly delivered, but most of all, had an ending...a closer that perfectly capped a brilliant film...people expect to be amazed by an ending of the same magnitude. But what gets overlooked...what people take for granted is the storytelling...the amazing journey that M. Night Shyamalan always takes you on, and whether or not you feel like his "twist" was as exceptional and ground-breaking as "I see dead people," you can't deny that you were completely immersed in the characters and the dramatic arc. Just enjoy the rise man....whoa...I meant o write "enjoy the RIDE, man" but keep that....enjoy the them both.
A few months ago I was given an assignment in Terry Schreibers scene study class to work on one of the pivotal scenes from Eugene O'Neill's A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN. I had just come a few weeks of working on the role of PALE in BURN THIS, which was a role I really connected to and had a lot of fun with. So I was feeling pretty good about my work...
Then this new role of James Tyrone Jr. came into my life and the challenges of the character and the text and even the playwright leaned on me. This was no easy task. The more I read MISBEGOTTEN and the more I worked on this character, the murkier the waters.
I was working on this scene...or struggling through the whole process while the Broadway production of the same piece was in preparation and little bits of buzz were "reaching my desk," so to speak.
Working on just this one 10 page scene from MISBEGOTTEN has been giving me fits. I've been intrigued by the possiblity of seeing Kevin Spacey tackle this role that was giving me such a run....as well as the portrayal of JOSIE, who is equally murky and alluring. This scene, this entire play, this entire body of work, is nothing to be taken lightly. It's also, I'm sure, incredibly rewarding if you can conquer. The again, the direct essence of achievement for an artist, especially for an actor, doesnt necessarily leave you with the warm fuzzies. A nice , smiley rewarding feeling is not what you get wearing the skins of the characters of Eugene O'Neill and conquering the role of James Tyrone almost sounds like an oxymoron to me.
Kevin Spacey has loads of talent and catlike charisma; I just wish he knew what to do with them. In A Moon for the Misbegotten, he plays James Tyrone Jr., the character Eugene O’Neill based on his own hard-drinking brother.
Jamie’s an actor—by his own description, a “goddamn ham”—which Spacey seems to take as an invitation to embroider all over the role. No haunted husk of a man here: This Jamie is a skittish vaudevillian. Sometimes Spacey takes a line fast, running all the words together: “ThanksJosieyou’re beautifulIloveyou,” he blurts to Josie Hogan, the strapping farmer’s daughter whom he visits one night, thinking she might redeem his sodden sinner’s heart. Sometimes he screams or shouts. But what do any of the histrionics tell us about James Tyrone? That he’s excitable? And what does it have to do with O’Neill’s great theme of redemption through suffering and love?
Subtler, more settled, and more in tune with the quiet longing in this play, Eve Best makes a fine New York debut as Josie. No matter how emphatically she clomps around the stage, or how dirty her toes might get (O’Neill called for the action to take place on a farm in Connecticut, but the slanting shanty on the barren stage of the Brooks Atkinson looks more like Sam Shepard country), this delicate actress isn’t the hulking woman O’Neill envisioned. Yet somehow the gap between how Best looks and how she belittles herself makes Josie’s disgrace and self-doubt all the more touching.
O’Neill being O’Neill, the play gives us Jamie and Josie plowing the same furrow over and over: They drink and argue, then drink and argue, but their love never seems real. Thanks to Colm Meaney, the bond between Josie and her father grows poignant, but there’s something wrong with a revival that can’t do the same for the central almost-lovers. Of course, how could it? Onstage, Spacey doesn’t connect with anybody; he seems too busy enjoying his Spaceyness. It’s the riddle of his talent. He’s skilled enough to play the great roles, but if he can’t subsume himself into them more smoothly than this, it’s going to be bad news for everyone.
Just got back from dress rehearsal at the Manhattan Rep Theater. Not sure if we are ready for our two performances this weekend, but come Friday night, we are going on, ready or not...I'm sure we'll come out ok. The space is tiny tiny tiny. It's probably the smallest theater I've ever performed in. There's enough room to seat somebody's MOM and maybe the Board Op.
How about another SOLID episode from THE SOPRANOS? Definitely off to a good start. I LOVED the scene at the restaurant where Silvio is at dinner with Gerry Torciano when a shooter working for Doc Santoro walks up and BLASTS Gerry. It was a like a good old fashioned gangland killing. The way time was suspended and Sil was sprayed in slow-motion with a fine mist of blood was awesome. I had no idea what was going on for second there. I loved it. We need more of that type of stuff to really make this final ride a memorable one.
ALSO...BIG BIG UPPS to one of my favorite acting teachers, Seth Barrish of THE BARROW GROUP!!! In last night's episode, Johnny Sack, accompanied by Federal Marshals, gets the prognosis from the oncology specialist he's been flown in to see: It's stage 4 lung cancer. "And there's no Stage 5," notes Johnny. Rosen gives him 3 months. Seth Barrish played "Rosen." So subtle. So smooth.
Not only a great actor but a fantastic teacher.... If you ever have the opportunity I HIGHLY recommend taking, at least, his 8 week intensive. He has a unique way of offering a multitude of perspectives on scene work and performance pitfalls that complement any method...any previous training. IN FACT, it wasnt until I started studying with Seth that I started to see a dramatic increase in the amount of call backs I was getting.
WAIT A MINUTE....this just in....Ladies and gentlemen...I HAVE A CALL BACK!!
You are never going to believe this. After all that drama I went through last week to get through that PLANTERS audition...getting stuck at the mock protest...falling ill...getting a call from my manager cursing me out for not appearing at my appointment time...and finally getting over to the casting office, sick as all get out...looking like some freebase junky whose been snorting ritalin and drinking Old Grandad for breakfast...and then spending the next three days in bed with a nasty stomach virus....WELL...I got a CALLBACK for my dazzling performance as a freebase junky , snorting ritalin, drinking Old Grandad for breakfast...and calling his wife to see if its okay if he invites his golf buddies over for dinner...
I have no memory of what actually happened in that room last week...but somehow...someway...I made a good impression.....and now...somehow, someway....I've got to figure out how to DO IT AGAIN....an interesting challenge....
Call back is Wednesday.
(Of course I'm working a promotion on Wednesday so I've got to figure out how to "Slip" away, get to my audition and return without anyone noticing)
Aaaaah...Sunday night...just finished a nice dinner...That I prepared...A big fat turkey patty (Ground turkey, shredded mozzarella, diced fresh garlic, tiny bit of diced jalapenos, cumin, cayenne pepper and olive oil).....turkey burger without the bun (I dont do buns anymore) smothered in Peach mango salsa with a side of sauteed Kale (sauteed with a clove of fresh, chopped garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar and sliced almonds)... DAMN I'm a good cook...you should try this Turkey patty..I'm tellin ya...usually I add chopped spinach to the patty...but I left that out tonight...
The sauteed kale was so-so...tasted fine...but Kale is a tough green...literally...it doesnt soften as much as spinach does when you cook it....but it's VERY good for you...I think its worth it....some may disagree....including my girlfriend.
So now I'm sitting here waiting for THE SOPRANO'S to start...so happy its back....and so sad that its ending...but even the best shows of all time (I consider this one of them) have to end.
What a great hour-and-a-half of TV...THE SOPRANO'S from 9 to 10 and then ENTOURAGE from 10-10:30....Taping it just isnt the same...I know one thing....I'll find a way to be home on Sunday night for the next six weeks...or ...however long this last leg lasts.
Big week ahead...I'm starting this NBC TODAY SHOW promotion...whihc will keepo me hustlin for the next two weeks....
TOMORROW? Tomorrow I have an audition...and I'm telling you right now I'm going to book it. Its a national network spot for SUBARU. I got a fresh new haircut...pickled up some new hair products...some new skin care products....some new pants....JUST for this commercial. I WANT it....I'm gonna get it....simple as that..
I'm going to keep typing until the SOPRANO'S starts...
This week I finally have those two performances of OBLIVIOUS by Dennis Hurley going up at Manhattan Rep on 42nd Street and 8th Ave...
Ok...show is starting....must say goodbye....Tony gets PISSED when I dont pay attention!
I've been sick sick sick for the past few days....F%&$#NG miserable....
I shot my U/5 on ALL MY CHILDREN Tuesday. I should say Tuesday night because my call-time was 2:30 for wardrobe, and once I got fitted and dressed in my black suit, black tie, dorky looking limo driver hat...I sat...for hours...I tried to be social in the lounge with a handful of dudes they had called in to play background in the "Confusion Bar," but I could only stand about 10 minutes in there. These guys were nice enough but if you've ever sat in a room with ten ultra-good looking guys with the cranial capacity of an Australopithecus Africanus, all fervently presenting their unique take on the Anna Nicole Smith circus (yes, I have the priviledge of forever associating these fellows with moment I heard that DNA results determined Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole's baby), you would understand why sitting alone in my dressing room with a few newspapers from weeks past and an Esquire Magazine from October was far better option.
Wow, that was a long winded sentiment...appropriate I suppose considering I had hours and hours of time on Tuesday night...I ended up reaching the set at about 8:30PM and shot my one little scene at 8:45PM and I was done...we were ALL done (My scene was the last of the day) at 9:00PM.
One thing to make note of.... my limo driver character enters the scene to inform RYAN LAVERY and his date/fiancee thyat their car was ready (Oh yeah..I drilled that line for hours before I got to set).... The actor who plays Ryan Lavery, CAMERON MATHISON, was very cool to me. You would think after a long day of shooting, especially n the LAST scene of a long day, he would be a bit grouchy, but nope...he actually took a moment to introduce himself to me, ask me my name and make me feel right at home. I give Cameron Mathison a gold star for the day for being cordial to his limo driver (And acknowledging a fellow actor as a peer).
You can catch all the excitement on Thursday, May 3rd on ABC (All My Children, episode # 9609)
The next morning I came down with some weird bug. I was up at the crack of dawn to work a promotional gig where a group of actors, myself included, were hired to stage a mock protest at a "Search Engine" convention. I was fine at the start, but slowly took a nose-dive and eventually felt like I was wasted...nauseous, dizzy...my whole body started to ache. I fought through the next two hours, trying to display some kind of effort.
Wait...more drama ensues...
But I have to go outside and move the car...Alternate side is back in effect today after being suspended for a week due to the Passover and Easter holidays...I'll go move it and continue my story...
Ok...I'm back..
So Wednesday morning I had a plan. I had a strategy. I was scheduled to work on this mock protest from 7AM to 1PM. I also had two auditions during the same time block. So what do I do? The plan was to slip away from the protest...sneak away from the group...unnoticed...maybe go to the bathroom and take another exit...I'm working with a large group...so me disappearing for a couple of hours is not going to attract a lot of attention.
Once I make my break...I'll zip over to my two auditions...dazzle them...and slip back into the group at the protest before its all over.
Well...I ran into a few snags...first...we had some police intervention with this stupid mock protest, so the leader of the group made some last minute changes in the game plan...unfortunately for me, those changes made it very dificult for me to slip away. I still had hope thoigh, because it did look like, due to the police intervention, that the protest would be ending early and we'd all be done earlier....so okay...Plan B...I'll hang in there with the group...give them all I've got...in the hope that we'l finish ealier than planned and I can get to my auditions.
The only problem with Plan B was that I would be arriving late to my auditions. Arriving late at an audition is not very professional and definitely frowned upon by everybody involved...BUT...it happens all the time...especially at commercial castings...it usually goes unnoticed. A casting usually runs all day...appointments are given out to establish some sort of order...but if you show up an hour after your appointment...they let you sign in and most of the time the casting directror is so busy that they are totally unaware of the fact that you were late...you just dont go walking in ANNOUNCING that your late...
Now, there a few casting offices in the city that you just don't pull that crap with. If you have an appointment at Beth Melsky Casting or at Liz Lewis Casting...you'd better show up on time...because they will call your agent or manager and ask why the HELL you are not there. Then your agent or manager calls you and ask you why the HELL you are not at your audition...and you end up looking like a jack-ass.
So I've decided to stay on-site for this promotion. I'm going to wait it out and zip over to my auditions after...and suddenly...I start feeling really ill. I start to feel dizzy...and naseous....worse by the minute...I'm trying to keep it together...trying to snap out of it...but nothing is working...I am falling apart...
At this point, I'm not even THINKING about those auditions. Al I can think about is how to get through the next five minutes without HURLING...or passing out...If I can sneak away ...I will...and I'll just go home and go to bed...
Then my phone rings....and guess what...its my manager wanting to know wher I am because the casting people called and ratted me out...they called to say I was not there for my 10:30AM appointment.
"WHAT" I'm thinking.."Who the hell is making phone calls at 11AM to track down actors missing appointments?" "It's not Beth Melsky. Its not Liz Lewis. Man, this whole scheme is just NOT working out for me."
So I PROMISE my manager that will get over there ASAP. Now, I've got to fight through this woozy, naseous feeling...hang in there to the end of the promotion (Which looks like it will end very soon), and THEN get my shit together for this audition. That second audition is totally out of the picture.
The promotion ends and I grab my jacket and bag from the van and haul ass out of there...without saying goodbye to anybody...and jump on a subway...headed over to Acting Management at 247 West 38th Street. I walk in...I must have looked like I was drunk...I swear I was sick-as-a-dog at this point. I singed in...sat and read through my sides...then I happened to hear the casting assistant...the girl signing people in and taking polaroids...calling other agents and reading off to them the names of their actors who had yet to apear for their appointments....good to know I wasn't the only one...she DID mention on the phone that they were running the casting until 4PM...briefly I thought to myself "You people are running til 4PM?!! Are you KIDDING me? All the greif you've caused me and you're running til FOUR?"
But you know what...I get it...most of my frustration was due to the way I was feeling. The right thing to do is to be at your audition on time...and NOW I know to add Paladino Casting to the list of casting directors who will CALL YOUR ASS OUT...THROW YOU UNDER THE BUS.... if you dont show for your appointment time
I managed to get in there and read my copy with some level of conviction. I sort of hoped that my condition would contribute to a memorable performance...trying to USE my present state to my advantage. It's all a blur to me now.
Jury is still out on that one...I'm not holding my breath...
So, Its Friday now...I'm still trying to shake this bug...I'm much better now thank you...strength is not at 100%...but I'll lay low this weekdn and rest up...BUSY week next week...no time for nauseau...
Life is good. Life is easy Life is good. Life is easy Life is good. Life is easy
I have a 2:30PM call time today at ALL MY CHILDREN....today I play a limo driver...My ONE line is "Your car is ready sir."
So I've been practicing all morning...in the mirror...during breakfast...in the shower..
Your CAAAAAR is ready sir...
YOUR car is ready....sir.
YER CAR'Z RIDDY SUR (Sounds like Forrest Gump)
Your car is READ-Y...Really really ready....like rickey-rickey rackey-rackey ready sir...hollah!
Just read the damn line. Maybe I'll take a beat and look into the camera and wink to all my fans after a say my line.
Your car is ready sir (Limo driver looks to camera and gives a big wink and a smile, the exits)
Yesterday was crazy print casting day. I had one casting a noon for JEEP at 88 Lexington. Then I got a call for a last minute appointment for some catalogue casting at 127 West 26th. The line was about 100 deep and I waited on line for an hour. It worked out ok because I had time between the JEEP casting and my other scheduled appointment et at 2:30. So after the wait, after sitting in the room with 100 other annoyed and impatient actor/models, I posed..did my little catalogue casting catwalk and busted out to get to my 2:30 ...right on time I might add. It was some little commercial for MARVYNS WINDOWS(??) at 109 West 29th Street. After THAT I headed downtown for a staff meeting. I am doing a mock protest on Wed for a marketing company. They held a training meeting at their offices at 116 West Houston yesterday at 4P.
Now that I've cut free from the Wadda Juice travesty. I'm in full hustle mode. I've got to land some work for May. I have a few interviews this week for freelance gigs as well as a few for permanent jobs.
What I WANT is to book a nice phat national commercial that will bring me enough money to get through the year. That would certainly take the edge off.
I also want to book a LAW & ORDER before I go out to LA. I've got about 4 months to book that gig. Thats right...sounds scary...but my plan is to be leaving New York at the end of August....
Big night tonight! Season premieres of THE SOPRANO'S and ENTOURAGE on HBO. I'm psyched. Its the final season for Tony Soprano....cant wait to see its going to turn out....
Yankee's are losing 6-3 to the Orioles in the 7th inning at Yankee Stadium. Is that SNOW i see coming down out there on the field? Yep....some good ole easter Sunday flurries...
I woke up this morning to a beautiful clear blue sky and brilliant sunshine. Easter Sunday always seems to deliver a sweet dose of bright sunshine. Now it might be cold and windy out there, but that Sun definitely found a way to make an appearance.
Jess and I went to church this morning. We went down to Hell's Kitchen to attend the easter Sunday service at St. Clements Episcopal Church on West 46th Street between 9th & 10th Avenue. We went to St. Clements last year. We used to live on 9th Ave betwen 45th & 46th so the church was right around the corner. Last year at this time Jess and I were actually in the middle of our "break-up. " We were not officially together, but we still LIVED together...we shared the same apartment...too attached, too stubborn to let go...or to walk away....so there we were...and we went to church on easter Sunday together...What can I say? We still loved each other....still LOVE each other...present tense...
The service St. Clement's attracts a very unusual array of characters. People are invited to brng their pets, so there are a few dogs sitiing around...a bark here and there...I recognize a few folks from the local neighborhood homeless squad...or maybe not homeless but street people for sure...
You can tell that St Clement's draws a variation of faiths...or Christian dialects I should say. Episcopalian seems to be as close to the Catholic church as you can get with actually being considered Catholic. I, for one, grew up attending a Presbyterian Church, but I have no problem doing the Episcopal thing...I could go to any church, temple, synagogue or whatever and find a way to connect to my own spirtuality...that is actually an important element of my personal faith.
Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, Biology, Scientology...whatever you want to call it....however you want to spell it...they all serve the same purpose...they all are right....built from legends of fact and fiction...all rich with history and tradition...the human condition.....
St. Clements is the church that blessed my dog Kane a couple of years ago. Kane was having a rough couple of days with achy joints and incontinence. He I are were taking a walk and we noticed one of the priests standing out n front of the churhc across the street. Kane suddenly had an urge to cross the street and approach the woman in her gold and white gown. It ws unusual for Kane to suddenly cross the street like that...especially in the middle of the block, but when he decided he wanted to do something. He was going to do it.
So we got over there (No cars coming at the moment Thank God), and found out that the priest wasblessing animals. She asked me if I wanted to have my dog blessed. I told her that apparently HE did. He sat for her. She placed her hand on top of his and said a few things. She stroked her hand slowly down his back as he experessed a big happy doggy smile..up at her and then to me....And that was it....he was blessed. She gave me a little piece of paper that made it official...in case I would ever have to offer proof of incident. Kane passed less than a year after that. God rest his soul.
So I guess I have a special place in my heart for St. Clement's on 46th Street.
Thursday morning...Aaah...I got to sleep late ....I don't have to start work today until 11:30....feels good...I really needed that.
Got a call from Bobby Lambert yesterday. He booked me for small role as a limo driver on ABC's All My Children. It's always great to hear from Bob. For one, because it means working on the show, usually. But it's also just good to hear from him. He is, hands down, the nicest and most genuine casting person in the city of New York. I shoot next Tuesday.
I watched Friday Night Lights last night. Next week is the season finale. Man, I gotta tell ya, that show just knocks me over every time I watch it. That show is, hands down, the best show on TV right now. Its got the best acting by far. I cry every episode. It really just kicks my butt every time. I love it.
This is totally not "Acting-related," but I must comment. There's a lot of buzz out there about the pet food scare and I think people are starting to look into a variety of alternatives as far as what to feed their pets. I started feeding my German Shepherd homemade food about 5 or 6 years ago. I started doing some research because, first of all, Kane had developed a BAD case of gas, and second of all, he had a sensitive stomach all his life and I was determined to find a diet for him that would put him at ease. Kane responded brilliantly to meals of sweet potatoes ands chicken, peas, carrots and ground turkey. I would add a powdered supplement made by Nupro or a raw diet powder by....um...can't remember the name, but I bought it at a little pet store on 20th street off of Broadway.
Anyway, aside from a periodic lapse, his gas pretty much went away. He simply became a happier healthier animal.
The more research I did, the more I found out how poorly many of the pet foods on the market are made. I wouldn't DARE buy food from a grocery store (Unless Whole Foods, they carry Wellness and Newmans Organic, which are good brands), and I really never found a brand at Pet Smart of PetCo that met my, or my dogs, standards. I could never really figure out why those chains didn't carry the brands that I felt were tops in the market. But hey, whatever, that was their problem.
Oh, one other food that worked really well for Kane was the Canned and dry food made by Merrick. They have a canned food called Wing-A-Ling that contains two or three soft, steamed whole chicken wings, so Kane could get all the nutrients in the bones. He LOVED the Wing-A-Ling. Merricks food was made of all natural, human-grade ingredients.
Anyway, if you got a good scare from all this crazy tainted pet food buzz going on, then take my advice and do some research and spend the extra money, time and effort to feed your pet some good, premium quality food...and make sure you understand what premium, good quality food is.
Think about the origins of dog food. When did we start making processed dry and canned food for pets? Who makes it? WHERE do they make it? WHAT THE HELL IS REALLY IN IT? My grandpa used to take a plate of leftovers outside to his dog every evening after dinner. That dog was as healthy and happy as any dog I've ever seen. What does that tell you?
OK, enough about dog food...
Two more days of Tartan Week left and I'm finished with the gig...next week I have off for the most part, aside from my day on All My Children...then I start this job for NBC and The Today Show...
Happy Passover, Happy Easter... Shalom and Feliz Easter Bunny.....
Whats going on....whats happening....I don't know...I went and saw "300" on Sunday. I watched "Hollywoodland" on DVD this past weekend as well. Adrien Brody was great....always is. The Yankee's won opening day 9-5. Ohio State LOST the national title game....in Men's basketball....like they LOST the FOOTBALL title game in January....BOTH losses at the hands of the Florida Gators. Jessie ain't too happy bout THAT.
Something in the air....Something "Slumber-like." The energy across the city feels a bit slow....a bit light....Passover starts this week....Friday is Good Friday....Sunday is Easter....usually goes in that order...Alternate Side parking is suspended every day, I think, until next Tuesday...so that ALL spiritual perspectives can represent and see street sweeping SHUT DOWN...in their honor...
All that accounts for a relatively quiet week...business wise.....so not many auditions happening....I'm not taking many phone calls.....creates a nice, relaxing vibe....if you are willing...
Nice day today, started out quite chilly...then the sun prevailed and were treated to a nice spring afternoon....word IS... tomorrow's going to be another chilly one...and the day after....and the day after...
I'm reading THE SECRET....for the second time in the past few weeks. It makes me feel rejuvenated, inspired....I'm all FIRED up...word IS....THE SECRET was started as a film...the film first...then the books and CD's...then Oprah....OH lord...look out for Oprah....womans a freight train...
Still in rehearsals for OBLIVIOUS...Dennis Hurley's short play....wait...OH MY GOD...We go up with that in two weeks....we'd better get our shit together...
Whew...all THAT being said....I'm friggin exhausted today....
I've been working as a team leader, or Market manager for Tartan Week 2007, which is basically a two week event in New York City designed to promote tourism in Scotland.
I'm directing and supervising a street team , dressed in kilts, passing out booklets in different areas around Manhattan. Exciting stuff.....I've been up super early and haven't a day off since I got back from LA. The program ends on Friday and the I have the week off until I start another campaign for NBC and THE TODAY SHOW.
I have the week off because I quit....YES...thats right....I was quite my other job...the kids beverage I was repping that hasn't paid me since March 1st.....they owe me a BUTTLOAD of money.
I was trying to be cool. I was trying to be patient and understanding. I was going out and working for them...for free basically...visiting accounts...business a usual...I figured I had to be cool and hang in there so I wouldn't have any problems getting my money once "The New Investors" provided the necessary capital. But last Friday, they called a meeting in Westport and initially made it sound like we were all finally getting paid...like THAT was the purpose of the meeting....and that we would "Re-group" and set plans to "Move forward." Then I got wind of the fact that we were NOT getting paid. So I called my boss and asked him "Are we getting paid at this meeting today?" he said, "Let me look into it and I'll call you back." When he called me back the answer was "No...but....money is coming in early next week and it should be Wednesday at the latest." They've been telling me that since March 1st and at that moment I had just had enough. So I said" Well, listen, I'm not going to come out to Westport, Connecticut for a meeting unless you guys can pay me. Its been thirty days without a paycheck and I've been a really good sport about all this. So he says 'Ok, well...then why don't you submit your final report and we'll just call it a day. In essence, I was terminated based on my refusal to attend the meeting, which was a called to get all the sales people out there to "Check bottles," meaning we'd all be sitting in the warehouse for hours inspecting cases of juice.
Forget that shit. I'll get my money in due time. I know that, but whats better, my life is free of all that negativity and manipulation....moving on my friends....moving on...
HOLY Crap I'm tired...more coffee, more coffee, more coffee...and tea.
I've been hauling my ass all over the place this week....playing double agent....sometimes TRIPLE agent.....cell phone glued to my ear all day....fast walkin...fast talkin....duck in to the gym for an hour...then a rehearsal here....Actor/writer/filmmaker meeting there...then I get home and bury my face in my laptop to do more work ....jobs are pouring in right now...its Spring, which is also Street Marketing season, so I've got companies calling to hire me to manage their campaigns...which is great...I want the work...I want the money...and I'm grateful for the opportunities....it just all requires a lot of hustle on my part...
Dropped off a package of headshots today at the office of a new manager I'm going to be working with. I'm excited about that too. I met him a few months ago...sent a few follow-up and update postcards...and earlier this week he sent me an email requesting headshots with his contact info on the resume for film and television submissions....Here We Go.
So right now I'm sittiing at the TASTI-D-LITE on 7th Avenue and 24th Street checking my email and busting out a brief blog before I go meet Dennis and Christel for rehearsal at Chelsea Studios....whew I'm FLYIN MAN...
Early promo work tomorrow and then I have to be in Westport, CT for a meeting to collect money from an employer that has been DICKIN me around for the enitre month of March....no rest in sight...at least not for a few days....I'll find some quiet time at some point...
Just picked a new Market Manager gig that starts soon after this current one ends....and I'm interviewing next week for one that would fall in right behind that one....
OK Universe...lets start mixing in some big money auditions and stir me up a nice fat acting break...
Sunday night....watching KILL BILL 1 & 2 with my lady....something LIGHT ya know...to take my mind off the UNC loss today....
This morning I had a call back for DON JUAN IN CHICAGO, which is being produced by the Clockwork Theater Company....
A few weeks ago, I self-submitted to the following Backstage posting:
The Clockwork Theatre is casting Don Juan in Chicago, a comedy by David Ives. Owen M. Smith, dir. Rehearsals begin April 17; runs March 24-June 10 in the Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row on 42nd Street.
Seeking—Don Juan de Tenorio: 25-35, intelligent, handsome, leading man type with impeccable comic timing. After making a deal with the devil, Don Juan becomes immortal in exchange for wooing and sleeping with a different woman every night; Dona Elvira: 25-35, fiery, intelligent, beautiful woman, the first to sleep with Don Juan, pines for his love and goes to great lengths to pursue him; Sandy: 35-45, slightly older than Don, brash, comic type but has a softer side as well, wooed into a one-night stand with Don Juan, is seething after a recent falling out with her boyfriend; Mike: 20-25, bright, upstanding young man who looks to Don for guidance in his love life, Zoey’s boyfriend; Zoey: 20-25 young woman, quirky and energetic, honest, Mike’s girlfriend, who also seeks romantic advice from Don Juan.
Open call auditions for non-Equity performers will be held March 21&22 (sign-in begins at 6 p.m.) at Theatre Row Studios. Studio Entrance is located on 41st St. (btwn. 9th & Dyer aves.). Prepare a one to two-minute contemporary comedic monologue. Actors of all types are encouraged to attend. Some pay.
So I MISSED the first night of the open call due to being stuck on the West Coast. BUT.... Wednesday night, I'm back in town, trying to get my groove back...I have a rehearsal from 4P-
