A Night In The Life Of A Dadager

It's a little before 8am PST as I start to write this blog post.  I'm writing it for two reasons:

1.  It's a good example of what actors go through getting ready for auditions.

2.  I'm trying to stay awake!

Zach was working on his homework yesterday when we received an audition notice for today.  The audition is at 4:20pm in Studio City.  I love this because it's after he gets out of school and the audition site is (maybe) 3  miles from our place.

We checked out the casting info and determined his look for the audition.  I decided to take care of the audition clothes laundry after I returned from Monrovia with Dana.  Monrovia is in the San Gabriel Valley.  The headquarters of Trader Joe's is located  in the town and it's also the home of Green Dot and Original Tommy's.

We got home around 8pm and discovered two additional events for today.  Each event requires a different look and feel.  Zach had to stop working on homework in order to get everything together for today.  The rundown for today includes:

11am-Noon
English test at school

Noon-2pm
Nap!

2pm
Wake up and get ready for the first audition.  The first audition is for a "true crime" TV show so we had to study the details of the case last night.  The audition will be an "interrogation improv" where the "police" (casting director) will grill Zach about his part in the crime.

The character is a older/rough teen so we need his clothes and hairstyle to reflect that look.

4:20pm
First audition in Studio City.

4:30pm (I hope!)
Change clothes from the first audition so he can get the look ready for the second audition.  He needs to look young for the next audition so it's time for brighter colors and a different hairstyle.  (Yes, I've reached the point in my life where I'm able to change hairstyles for a teen actor.)

I hope to hit the road by 4:40pm because we're going from Studio City to Santa Monica on the 405 in rush hour traffic.  This will not be a fun drive.

5:40pm
The second audition of the day.  The Artist needs to have a monologue prepared for this audition so we spent a good 45-minutes reviewing possible choices last night.

6pm (I hope!)
Leave Santa Monica (still in the heart of rush hour) to head back to the Valley.  I don't care what time of day you're driving through Santa Monica.  There is no easy way to get out of the city and back to the 405 or the 10.  I'm adding in an additional 30-minutes of travel time devoted to just trying to get out of Santa Monica.

He'll have to change clothes again before his final stop of the day.

7:30pm
Meeting with a casting director.  Zach received an email yesterday asking him to stop by and meet with a casting director.  This person casts Nick/Disney type shows so Zach will need to dress (and fix his hair) in the style of the teen actors you see on the various Nick Teen and Disney XD shows.

We started preparing the looks and scenes around 8pm last night.  Zach started his homework again around 11pm and finished at 1am.  Dana had a 7:30am meeting this morning so she had to go to bed.  I spent the night doing laundry, making copies of scenes, mixing and matching clothes, preparing headshots and resumes, doing more research for his crime audition and returning emails from casting directors.

I'm about to wake Zach up so we can go to school for his test.  After that, a power nap and time to be AN ACTOR!

Zach's IMDb. The more you click, the better his ranking!

Even I Get Nervous When This Happens...

The Artist has kept himself busy with a variety of projects including an ongoing paying gig, a one-off job and a big audition.

***The ongoing gig has been happening for the last 3 months.  Every Monday night I take super closeup photos of Zach's face.  I get shots of his face straight on, his cheeks, his nose and his profile and email them to the ad agency for XOut (from the makers of Proactiv).  Zach also sends a video each week sharing a story about how XOut has helped him in the past week.  The tales have ranged from no acne at auditions to old friends visiting town and commenting on his clear skin to more confidence on stage at his weekly improv show.

He gets paid a monthly fee to use and endorse the product.  Easy money for a teen actor!

***The one off job was a commercial for a music app.  We made our way to Culver City at 8am on a Sunday morning (one of the few times I don't mind being on the 405).  The shoot took place at a middle school and the "holding room" for the parents was in a science classroom.  Since Zach only goes to school two days a week (and only an hour each day) it's been a couple of years since I've been in a "real school".  The parents had to sit at the student desks.  I have to say I felt bad for the students having to spend all day sitting at a uncomfortable desk. 

My favorite part of the classroom?  These words of teacher wisdom.

***The big audition was for a part on a new Nickelodeon show.  Zach isn't rattled by these types of auditions so I make sure to be nervous for both of us. 

We prepared for the audition by running the lines together (The Artist, Dana and Dadager).  We also discussed the character and came up with a game plan for the look of the character.  Once the wardrobe was ready and the lines were memorized, Zach did a private session with one of his acting coaches to get some last minute pointers for the audition.

The audition was at Paramount Studios.  Zach entered through the main gate the last time he was on the lot.  This time the audition room was near a side entrance at the studio.  The first thing you see when you enter through the side door is this sign:

Paramount Studios is the home to these shows.

We made our way through the lot looking for the audition room.  Just in case we forgot the room number we could us this ticket as a reminder:

And now you have the Wi-Fi password for Paramount Studios...

His audition seemed to go well.  You never know how long it will take producers to make a decision to bring you in for a call back.  A Day?  A Week?  Three Months?  The Project Is Cancelled And No One Bothered To Tell You?

***With all of these acting and commercial projects going on, how does a teen actor relax?  

By trying to outrun zombies...

And

Performing improv at Second City Hollywood.

As always, if you could click on Zach's IMDb link we (Zach, Dana and the Dadager) would appreciate it!

Zach Louis' Super Awesome IMDb Page







A Typical Week In The Life Of The Artist

Zach has made a good amount of friends since moving to Los Angeles.  The teen patrol are a combination of teen actors, improv performers, kids he has worked with and random friends made at red carpet events and workshops.

Like any group of friends, they like to hang out at every available moment.  I feel bad for Zach (sometimes) because he often has to skip hanging with his buddies.  

Why?

Here is the rundown of this week in the life of The Artist:

Monday - Homework, Homework, Homework from 8:30am-5pm (with a "get outside for a few minutes and get some air" break built into the day).  After homework, he has an acting class from 6pm-10pm.

Tuesday - Homework in the morning and then a 2-hour math class from 1pm-3pm.  After math class it's time for more homework before a casting director workshop that starts at 8pm.  (The workshop is by my favorite record store so win-win for me)

Wednesday - Homework in the morning and then a 2-hour math class from 1pm-3pm.  The math class is followed by an evening at the House of Blues watching a friend take the stage.

Thursday - (You guessed it!) Homework in the morning and then one hour of school from 11am-Noon.  Once school is over, he can finally relax for a bit before going to another acting class in Beverly Hills from 6:30pm-9:30pm.  His evening in Beverly Hills is also known as "watch people point and stare at my redneck pickup cruising the streets of Beverly Hills".

Friday - Sleep in (!) and then spend the day doing a bit of homework before hanging with his improv crew at karaoke.

Saturday - A workshop (maybe) and improv (definitely) will fill his day.

Sunday - Homework in the AM and Fright Fest in the afternoon.

All of the above means a lot of Dadager Driving Time!

And then it starts all over again on Monday...

He might be a teen but the kid is keeping the hours of a FT worker.  The above list doesn't even include the gigs he books or his commercial endorsement for X-Out acne medicine.

All of his hard work is paying off as his IMDb credits continue to grow.  If you have a moment, click the link below and see what the kid has accomplished (and help his site ranking at the same time).

Zach Louis' Super Awesome IMDb Page