The First Slump

Hey-ho.

If acting comes in cycles of sprees and slumps, we're at the bottom of the first.

Not that this really acting, we're still in the background stage, so we're talking about the minors...if we want to stick with the baseball analogy.

Last time I worked was Friday. Nothing since then.

I did have a pretty good time at a little (delightfully inexpensive) seminar that gave me a boost. It was an industry primer for auditions. The guy running the thing is in the business of teaching new folks how to land the "Under 5 line" roles that most background don't have the wherewithal to do and most SAG actors are either past or can't do...just like the background.
You see, SAG's got 120,000 for a membership, and maybe 4000 of them work on a regular basis. Plenty of folks get their eligibility by luck or persistence as an extra. Then, once these folks are in the Union, nothing happens 'cause they don't know what to do next.

So I didn't work, but I developed a little strategy.

I didn't realize that agencies take non-union talent with no film credits. I also didn't realize what Taft-Hartley status was. Taft-Hartley status applies when you're not in the Union, you go to a Union audition, and they want you, they need you, they can't live without you. At that point, they take you and you're in, supposedly on their dime. Schwanky.

So I audition for Union stuff, and submit to agents, and I can keep working on that.

Just the slumpy issue to deal with. And the agent that needs to sign me. And the rent, and the bills.

This is the part where I ploof my hair with an upward aimed huff.

It's funny how simple it all seems when I go and boil it down for the reading.

It's not funny or simple when I'm passing every day minute by minute and wishing I could just skip to the end and see how it all turns out.

One side bonus to the day: I found the Studio City location of Samuel French. For those of you not familiar with theatre, Samuel French takes care of distribution and royalty supervision for basically every single playscript in circulation. They have an online bookstore...but to walk into a little 1500 square foot place and see it loaded from floor to ceiling with scripts and craft books, the likes of which you'd never imagine at your lowly neighborhood Barnes & Noble...that's priceless.

Loving this town. Hating the suspense.