It's Friday

Interesting dialogue audish today. I was a teen daughter with my dad. The guy who was reading the dad was actually the writer. He gave me some direction when we did the read through. Then we went into the booth and my agent gave me a different direction. We did a second take and somehow I managed to make both of them happy, so maybe he'll put in a good word for me with the creative team. :)

Double Duty

This Audisher was on double duty yesterday.

First up, a sketch show that required prepared songs. Plural- as in an uptempo and a ballad. When I got the email last week, I contacted my former teacher at Old Town. She fit me in for a private lesson which was super sassy and productive.

And finally yesterday arrived- the first time I had to sing a prepared song for an audish. I was looking forward to singing in my cab on the way there, because I have secret fantasies of being a Broadway musical star and this was as close as I will probably get to that.

I knew this was a sassy cab when I saw bright red seats. And I did have an awesome cab driver who didn't mind my practice singing, and in fact was very encouraging and claimed to enjoy my songs. He actually had some great advice when I told him I was audishing- "try hard and keep persisting" - a man after my own optimism.

Second up, a vo audish. For the role of an 'ethnically non-descript' friend who was 'nice, upbeat, funny, natural.'

Fun lunch time, but I seriously spent $20 on cabs. Yikes!

Postage Is On Sale

Postage is going up May 12, which is a great deadline to set for doing another round of mailings to agents. I'm sending one out today. I haven't done a mailing in about a year, so it's a bit overdue, but now I can include my AFTRA status and recent bookings. From what I hear, the timeline is one or two times a year, and in between you can send postcards with your career updates (classes, shows, bookings).

So what exactly is a mailing to agents? You only need 2 things:

1. A cover letter (I am looking for representation, this is my background, here are my shows)
2. Headshot w/resume trimmed to 8x10 and stapled to the back. Or your demo if it is a VO mailing.

Who do you send it to?

1. Agents- build a list from the list of franchised agents on AFTRA & SAG's websites. Non union agents can be found in the Chicago Creative Directory
2. Casting- be sure your letter to casting directors says you are submitting for their files, not looking for representation. Also find these in the Chi Creative Directory.

How do you make cute mailing labels? Use those admin day jobs skills and get this info into an excel sheet. Search 'mail merge' on word help. You can create a letter and then mail merge the greeting, and you can mail merge to get address labels. Avery 5160 are my fav labels.

Then wait for the calls to roll in. And while you ware waiting, think of something you can do that you can announce on a postcard. Fun!

AFTRA

It's official! When I joined I got a super cute t-shirt, and they actually had a size small. On the back it says "AFTRA/SAG Chicago Believe It!" I love that slogan, because you really do need a positive, proactive attitude to propel yourself in the crazy world of entertainment. It reminded me of this guy who was in my VO class at the audition studio way back in Nov of '06, who constantly offered his opinion about how it was impossible to get work or do anything. I really don't know why he took the class, maybe he needed an audience for his negative vibes. It was infuriating to me and the teacher (I think) because every time the teach said something like, "this is how to do a mailing, this is what your cover letter should say, this is who to send it to," the guy would speak up. He would say things like, "Yea, sure, but that's not going to work, no one reads those. Who's going to actually get work?" I'm not sure why he was so bitter, maybe he had put himself out there a little bit and been rejected. It's hard, but you have to keep trying. I made a demo, I mailed it, I waited. Finally got a call from an agent. It then took 7 months for me to book my first job, but I kept auditioning and checking in with them. Now I have done four jobs in 2008 and hopefully people around town are getting to know my voice. Believe you can do it and so will others.

In any case, it was cheaper than the XL shirt I got from the SC Conservatory ;)

Believe it!

It's Radio Spot Time

So much fun would be the wrong way to describe my vo gig today, because it would be longer than my script. Yes, that's right, my Texas radio debut is two words. And they didn't have an actual script. But I'm not complaining, because cheese is cheddar, you know? And this gouda comes from a very popular brewing company.

I have discovered one of my favorite things in the world is being offered water at recording studios: "room temp or cold?" I was like, you know what, sometimes I do want room temp!

It took twenty minutes and I got a milkshake at McDonald's for the walk back to my day job.

Too much fun!

Sally Field

Oh my, I just found out that my previous work makes me a must join for AFTRA. As in, I must join before my next job...tomorrow morning. I was a little worried after talking to my agent, but when I called the union office they said it's OK for me to go in on Thursday.

And just when I was thinking about using some of my savings for lasik. In terms of how much I put into my demo/career vs how much paid work I have done, this is a big fat red waterfall. But I am excited to take this professional step. There are many benefits from the union and from others given as a courtesy to card holders, included cheaper classes at a local dance studio that I love. And who doesn't love Sally Field??

Booked!

Great news: I will be making my radio debut. I just got booked for a beer radio spot- I have one line and it will air in Texas only. We record tommorow and I will try to post an update late in the day.

Fun!!

Dance Team

I am going to link back to myself for today's audish. Last night we went to the Bull's game and I was reminded of how fun it was to audish for the Cleveland Cavs Dancers.



I wish there was a dance team for upper twenty-year-olds who used to be on a dance team 5 years ago but don't want to wear tube tops.



Oh wait, there is, it's called the Chicago Sashay Company....

Audish of the Day

Agency Open Call:

From the News section:
Open Casting Call - April 19th, 2008, adults 2-4 pm.

I went to this last year, it is right in Oprah's neighborhood. Last year they had us cold read some commercials, and there were lots of interesting people there audishing.

AuDish of the Day

Cool Improv Audish:

What?• The Museum of Science and Industry is looking for improvisers to perform in its new exhibit – The Smart Home: Green and Wired – a modular house (no, NOT like in a trailer park) loaded with cutting edge technology (an exercise bike that can power up your beer fridge) and the latest trends in green living and sustainable design (a bathroom sink made from recycled toilets).
• We’ll provide you with content and some character suggestions to build from; you’ll utilize your skills and talents to create a fun, engaging and interactive experience.
Who?• Improvisers looking to gain experience interacting with a wide variety of audiences while honing their character skills and getting PAID to have fun!

More details on CIN

Chicago Sympony

I recently did a google search to find out if other people were blogging about audishes in Chicago. This great blog that focuses on classical music had just posted a story about audishing for the Chicago Sympony. With permission, here is part of the story:

While interesting characters come out of the woodwork for any unscreened audition, percussion auditions at the Chicago Symphony often seem to draw a lot of, well, rock drummers who think that it would be 'cool' to audition for the Chicago Symphony. While many of these people are undoubtedly also excellent classical percussionists, if you hand the typical rock drummer the Gershwin Porgy & Bess xylophone excerpt (or other such classical warhorse) you're likely to get.... interesting results.
I recall hearing about one particular percussion candidate who, coming out onstage for his audition (behind a screen, with the audition proctor next to him to answer any questions), stared in puzzlement at the cymbal part for the Symphony No. 4 by Tchaikovsky.
He looked at the cymbal part.
He looked at the proctor.
He looked at the part again.
He looked back at the proctor.
He asked:
"Hey man.... how does this tune go?"

Read the rest here.

New Products

Sometimes when you get copy for a new product, you have to ask how to pronounce the name. Ever since I started pursuing voiceover, I have paid more attention to the 'sound' of radio and tv spots. A tv spot just caught my attention.

It was for a new acid reflex control drug.

I didn't catch the spelling, but it sounded alot like "ass effects."

AuDish of the Day

Wow. Someone please audish for this and let me know how it goes:

Open Auditions

Open auditions for The World of Faeries Festival will be held at Sheil Park - 3505 N. Southport Ave, Chicago on April 12 from 1-4. Prepare a one minute monologue. For more info email ...

From the Chicago Reader

Fumbled

On the audish menu today: a spot for a cable company. Now this really required some acting skills as our cable sucks, but the character descripsh was right up my alley:

Early 20s, youthful quality, able to make lots of info sound casual and friendly

But I feel a little weird about this one. The copy was a little clunky and I stumbled over some words so we had to do retakes. There was a frog in my throat and I was thirsty. Ugg.

Oh well, at least I got to say one of my favorite phrases- you know it's "I'm always on the go!"

Guest Blog: Thirsty

Courtesy of the hilarious Robert Buscemi who blogs at http://littlefishpants.blogspot.com/ :

"So I was venturing a toe back into the waters of theater, trying desperately to get back in after having unwisely strayed from the stage to go into grad school in English Lit, after having two fantastic experiences in plays senior year in undergrad.

I hated grad school and had no business there, and secretly lusted to go back into theater. The problem is I hadn't been in a play in about three years, and I'd never memorized or performed an audition monologue before, ever. The two plays I'd gotten into in undergrad had just entailed script-readings, if I recall correctly.

I was so nervous to audition that I signed up on the sheet late at night after everyone had left the building. I was that nervous and awed still by theater in general. I remember it was dark outside and I memorized a monologue for the audition from "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" after seeing the movie with Tim Roth and Gary Oldman.

The monologue is this riddling tongue-twister thing about being buried alive in a box. Very funny and playful and dark, like the play. Though I later read that it's a completely over-done monologue. But that afternoon I forced a friend to listen to me do it over and over, and by the end I had it down pretty well.

The entire monologue fled me almost immediately in the audition, and I just rambled and panicked. I got SUPER nervous and MASSIVELY flustered, so much so that
I ...
I ...
I ... grabbed one of the two auditioner's cans of soda off their table to take a swig to wet my mouth and try again.

Do you follow that? It wasn't my soda, and I didn't know them. It was just totally impulsive and unconscious. One of them said "Whoa!" or something. I just blathered out some apology and got the hell out of there.

I think I got some weird, perverse, masochistic thrill out of it though, as I often do from botched theater experiences.

That's my story."

For the writers out there

http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/
Is a challenge to write 100 pages in the month of April. Let me know if you sign up & we can be buddies. :)