cover lettuce

I'll be out of town Friday through Monday in Los Angeles. Maybe I will find an extras audition to go to out there. It's going to be hard, but I will do my best to find an actor to interview for more stories.

In the meantime, think about this: cover letters. With so many people asking for audition requests by email and sending out mailings, your cover letter is totes important. We're essentially applying for a job. In a similar sense, your cover letter is a chance to highlight relevant experience, recent projects/bookings, and education. Set yourself apart and include a short note in addition to "I would like to request an audish, my rezy & h/s are attached."

Make them throw viruses to the wind and open your attachments!

AuDish of the Day

From http://www.chicagoplays.com/industry/auditions.aspx

Another Chicago Theater Company
The Last Play Standing

Date: Auditions Saturday April 5 from Noon to 4PM, with callbacks Sunday April 6

Time: By appointment

Audition Location: Sheil Park 3505 N. Southport Ave.

Type / Restrictions: ACT Company seeks all ages and types for their Staged Reading Competition Series: The Last Play Standing.

Time Commitment:Performances Fridays and Saturdays April 18- May 3.

Material to Prepare: Headshot/resume, cold reading, familiarity with Shurtleff Guideposts a plus.

Contact Info: Contact Courtney Melzer to schedule an audition
Reply to Email: anotherchicago@gmail.com
Audition Posted On: 3/25/2008

Monday Report

Awesome view from this west/rivernorthish building. Monday tally for 5 hours of recording narration:

• two bottles of water
• one cup of tea
• one can of pop
  

Monologue Class Roundup

I just did a search for a monologue class and this is what I found:

Act One
$20, 3 hours, March 30.

Victory Gardens Theater:
$225, 4 weeks, starts Monday, April 7.

Audition Studio
$375, 8 weeks, starts April 28 (during the day).

Might end up at Victory Gardens or doing a private sesh at the Audition Studio/Act One.

Anyone ever take these classes? Leave a comment :)

Giggin' It, Just a Little Bit

Today I had the voiceover job for a virtual trade show and boy is my jaw tired. (Is this thing on? Ahem.) It was a fun but long two and a half hours. I got to the office and realized that it was not a regular recording set up, it was actually the same large green screen room where the audition was held. And it was just a table top mic plugged into a computer. And they were training new people on how to record. For the first half hour I waited while they figured out some recording issues, and then we started. Because the mic would have buzzing and other random noises we had to do many retakes. At this point I have practically memorized everything you need to know about exhibiting online. We only got through two of the scripts so I am going back on Monday to do the last and longest script. I feel like I am a model talking about how posing is actually a lot of work.

Another Milestone: I will pay off my demo with this gig!!

ShowBiz!

I got a call last night that the viral video shoot is cancelled by the client pending further research- tres hollywood. The good news that now I can go to a brunch with one of my improv teams- tres chicago.

Exciting times

Great news- I have two bookings to announce and I will report on them this weekend.

You may remember this post about the day I had a triple ausdishle. I got an email about a month later saying I would be added to their talent bank. And I got another email yesterday saying they had a client who wanted to use me. It is narration/hosting for a flash program and I'll be recording on Friday.

And I did get cast in the viral video- looks like bum bruises can be good luck. It films on Sunday.

The other reason I am excited about all of this is that it gives me something new to report while doing an agency and casting director mailing. One of the workshops I took mentioned that the best thing you can do is have 'news' in your mailing. News can be bookings or classes, anything that shows you're working and/or working on your craft. When was the last time you did a mailing? My last headshot mailing was about a year ago, I did a voiceover demo mailing in December. It's time for another round. Let's get it going this spring.

PerformInk Audish Story

The current edition of PerformInk has a cover story about audishing in Chicago and contains interviews with several different casting people. Check it out!

viral videos give me bruises

Saturday I had an audish for a "viral video" that I found through craigslist. Anyone who checks the ads on craiglist regularly will attest to the fact that it can be great and it can be creepy. I decided this one was on the good side after I googled all the names and found previous work they had done. Sometimes google-stalking is a safety measure. :) They emailed me the sides and it was an airport set in the 40s. I got there and it turns out that is not what the ad would be, it is just for the audish. I read twice and that was it. Until I was out their door and walking down the stairs, where I promptly lost my footing and bumped down the steps. Let's just say it's a good thing I don't go on modeling audishes for bikinis.

Fry-Day

I had a two audishes today and it's clear that the world is ready to crawl out from under winter and go out for fun sandwiches and coffee.

First- McFancyPantsCoffee: a fun spot that reflected my daily life. Spot: girl finds missing sock and uses the accomplishment as a reason to get a fun latte. Audisher: girl does anything and uses the accomplishment as a reason to get dessert.

Second- A local sub chain purporting to be owned by your second tier relatives featured a 'ditsy, Goldie Hawn' voice. A trendsetter being interviewed about the latest in food... and toasters that run on ethanol.

legally cool

I had an audish this week for a beer company.
When we slated- name, role- we were also required to state that we were leagally over 25. A little unusual but I guess it means they are trying to be responsible advertisers...even if they are enforcing the 'annoying girfriend' myth with this standard girlie line: "How could anything be more important than shopping?"