Archive for the ‘acting & career’ Category

I’ve got this love/hate situation going with the two jobs in my life: Volunteering and Acting.  They sorta counter-balance each other and fill up different parts of me. I got into acting by accident, and forced into volunteering — but I can’t seem to give either of them up.

What I LOVE about VOLUNTEERING IN THE ER

• The Rush
• Helping Patients in need
• Working with dedicated Staff
• Making patients LAUGH
• Feeling Appreciated
• Giving Back
• Hanging-out with my Hot Doc
• Witnessing miracles
• Halloween in the ER
• Being called an “Angel”
• Finding the funny in the ER

What I HATE about VOLUNTEERING IN THE ER

• Blood
• Vomit
• Stinky Smells
• Bad News
• Crabby Staff
• Seeing Pain
• Screams
• Death
• Pelvic exams
• Demanding Family Members

What I LOVE about ACTING

• Working with talented Directors
• Working with talented Actors
• The Rush
• Being in the zone
• Getting Laughs
• Supportive Casting Directors
• Call-backs
• Nailing it
• Red Carpets
• Being Recognized
• Fans

What I HATE about ACTING

• Rejection
• Insecurity
• Feeling nervous
• No Call-back
• Distracted Casting Directors
• Not being Recognized
• Depending on it
• Being Typecast

Fun movies are back! Really fun! Movies that make you grin for 2 hours… make you wanna text your friends…make you excited to spread the word on social media.

For a while it seemed like movies were getting darker and more depressing — with overly-flawed characters fucking up, and endings leaving you wondering whaaaaa?

But now that the world is getting darker, films are lightening up and providing a much-needed escape from News that just gets more bizarre with every alert.

Meant to post about these two fab films right after seeing them opening weekend, but got busy-busy and kept putting it off.  Still they stayed with me.  So, here goes…

My two favorite films of 2017 so far are —

BABY DRIVER  –

Edgar Wright’s passion project is totally in sync… the story, the music, the choreography, the cast to die for (Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx.) BABY DRIVER’S got everything going for it from A to Z: Action, Bank robberies, Car chases, Danger, Electricity… you get the picture . For me to love-love-love a movie, it’s gotta have Romance, and it’s gotta have Heart. BABY DRIVER has both! Plus it has chills and thrills!  I can’t say enough good things about this summer surprise. It’s a little bit unexplainable —you’ve gotta experience it yourself.

THE BIG SICK —

Speaking of ROMANCE, this is the awkwardest, charming-est, funniest true-life-love story of Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani’s and writer Emily V Gordon’s up-and-down, culturally doomed, physically challenged love-connection. Hilariously written by the couple and produced by Judd Apatow, THE BIG SICK is fresh, funny and frustrating. By the end you’ll feel like Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano are your own family members you’ll want to hug one moment, murder the next.

BABY DRIVER and THE BIG SICK are the kind of films I’d love to audition for, be cast in, see again for the first time… you get the picture… sigh…

I love living in L.A. I love seeing Independent Films on opening weekend with Q&As by Directors or Writers or Actors. These usually happen at The Landmark, Arclight or Sundance Cinemas on Sunset. And they’re easy to get into if you buy your tickets online in advance.

Just saw two good films, DEAN and BAND AID, each with Q&A’s led by a lead Actor who’s also the Director and the Writer of his/her film.

Demetri Martin (DEAN) and Zoe Lister-Jones (BAND AID) are the Triple Threats possessing talent that crosses over into just about everywhere. These Hollywood Hybrids have stick-to-itiveness, charisma and the courage to turn their dreams into financed films, Festival Darlings and films that open with Q&As in major cities.

Like me and most Actors (except for maybe Actors like Jennifer Lawrence and Dwayne Johnson) Martin and Lister-Jones became frustrated with a system in which Actors are at the mercy of someone else’s vision and conflicting priorities. Unlike me, they’ve got the balls to go all the way.

Demetri Martin is the heart and soul of DEAN

Martin is more than a Triple Threat, he’s a Quadruple! Yes, besides being the Director, Writer + Talent, he’s also the Illustrator of charming sketches that share the screen with live action and offer insight into the mind and mood of the main character, “Dean.” Martin’s very personal film is about loss, love and coming-of-age. He’s surrounded himself with a talented cast, including Gillian Jacobs, Reid Scott, Kevin Klein and Mary Steenburgen and has allowed them the freedom to do what they do best. The film’s got cool music and cool images. Martin tells his heartfelt story in a very funny and relatable way.

Speaking of relatable, that’s how I’d describe Demetri Martin. He’s hilarious, but never in that typically Stand-up Comic “ON” sorta way. His talent and humor sneak up on you. I loved hearing his stories about his trip to the East Coast to pitch Kevin Kline and how that meal changed everything — or how Martin struggled to stay in character on set when the next day’s location had just fallen through completely.

Zoe Lister-Jones’s BAND AID is about love, pain and rock ‘n roll therapy

BAND AID’S premise spoke to me immediately when I saw the trailer: “Young Couple (Zoe Lister-Jones and fabulous Adam Pally from The Mindy Project) starts a band and turn raw-and-real fights into songs to save a marriage.”

Lister-Jones is the Director, Writer, Female Lead and the actual, songwriter,  so she too is a Quadruple Threat. Kudos to Lister-Jones for hiring an all-female crew and for surrounding herself with smart Actors who are known for comedy, but can expose dramatic truths. Lister-Jones is one of the best parts of LIFE IN PIECES, but you can really see her incredible range and willingness to show vulnerability in BAND AID. Adam Pally’s really impressive in the way he does double-duty with his voice saying one thing, while delivering an even more powerful message with his eyes — particularly in the last Act. Read the rest of this entry »

… when the contract EXPIRES!

Will Writers Strike?

I hope they won’t. Not after the long-term effects of the last strike. But I totally get why the WGA must fight for important deal points, just as SAG/AFTRA does to protect Actors. As the industry shifts from lengthy network series to condensed shows on premium channels (like HBO, Showtime) and streaming services (like Netflix, Hulu) traditional season orders get replaced with smaller episodes.  An insanely competitive field gets even more insane as the rules and opportunities change. Pay cuts result. Health plans become unhealthy (aka nearly bankrupt.) Writers and their families get SCARED.

Fears Rise from PRIMETIME TO DAYTIME

They’re down to the wire. It’s hard to know which way things’ll go. The effect of any strike always casts a wide net: Producers, Directors, Actors and everyone on set from the DP to the grip loses work. Everyone who supplies that set loses business.  Opportunities shrink. Bank accounts dwindle. Still bills must be paid. Businesses must go on.

As an Actor I hope-hope-hope there won’t be a work shutdown, along with its inevitable domino effect. The last time there was a writer’s strike, reality shows started multiplying obnoxiously. The work that was around wasn’t polished and it showed. Even with the best of intentions, side-effects of a strike can be painful to many. Read the rest of this entry »

but, Jon — that was then, what about now?

I don’t even recognize myself. My brain has been invaded by CNN and I’m feeling a little insane. Gotta get out of L.A. and away from the NEWS. It’s on in the background at all times — day and night. It’s like I live at an old person’s place! But it’s my place. OMG!

The news is EVERYWHERE —

It’s on at the hospital… and it’s on at my dentist’s office… and where I take my care to be serviced… and in my car.  Oh. Okay, yeah, I can’t help myself. I feel like I’ll miss something — like the world coming to an end or the impeachment announcement. I really do need to experience the impeachment announcement IRT.  And I’m not the only one I know who’s suddenly obsessed with politics. EVERYONE I know is obsessed. OBSESSED! When it’s between Scandal and a real-life scandal, we now watch Rachel Maddow. It’s riveting TV. RI.VET.ING.

CDs can’t read your mind, or can they?

Meanwhile back to my So-Called Life —

I’ve been going through the motions with auditions where they’re uninterested in me and I’m uninterested in them. With Casting Directors you can easily tell. It’s all in their body language.  Like it’s probably in mine. I know, I know. But…  I’d be psyched for challenging projects…exciting projects… projects that would make me feel proud to be an Actor. But those are few and far between. At least for me… these days.

Nothing WOWs me lately. Dr. Crush called me twice and texted me three times last week, and I didn’t feel nervous at all. No butterflies. I feel like I’m living in a fog… Read the rest of this entry »

An alarming article, “Actors: ‘It’s So Easy to Exploit Them’ in the April 8^th Hollywood Reporter sheds light on a disturbing and accepted new practice in our morally ambiguous industry. Actors are now paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of auditioning in front of casting directors — aka “taking workshops” — with ‘students’ “landing jobs everywhere from ABC to Hulu.”

According to the HR,

“More than two dozen companies offer more than 450 sessions of these “workshops” in a month’s span during pilot season – that many in the industry presume the practice is entirely aboveboard.”

Is The Casting System Ethically Sinking ?!

It’s not above board. In California exchanging money for the prospect of employment is I L L E G A L !

The Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act outlaws workshops and casting directors from charging or attempting to charge an artist for an audition or employment opportunity.

Why is Everyone Looking The Other Way?

Why isn’t anything being done? Why are SAG-AFTRA and the Casting Society of America powerless? Why are cost-conscious networks and studios cutting their casting allowances and allowing this illegal practice to flourish? Read the rest of this entry »

Sunny sunflowers remind me of my mom

The middle of the night is an excellent time to stress about things like: “Will I ever book a great gig again?” or “Am I destined to remain an Uber driver for the remainder of my life?”  Tuesday night provides me with a double whammy worry as I notice an odd looking bump on my neck. My insomniatic issues are compounded as I google “red bumps on necks” and can’t decide if I have a bacterial or fungal infection, skin cancer, or if I’ve just been bitten by a Zika-carrying-mosquito.

Volunteering in the ER —

Hours later during my early morning ER shift, I happen to catch the eye of Dr. A on a never-ending call with a former ER patient stressing about a medication she’s been taking.  He tries and tries to reassure her in the nicest and most calming way, not getting anywhere till — Read the rest of this entry »