Are You Prepared For Pilot Season?

Are you ready for pilot season?

Even if you think you're ready for pilot season, and answered "yes" to the above question, here is a checklist of the items to take care of before pilot season begins.

• Don't Be Unprepared - Know your lines and be off book as quickly as possible. Being able to perform your lines without having to constantly look at the script allows you to connect with the casting director or your scene partner, Would you rather showcase your acting ability or your skills at reading off the printed page?
• Stop Worrying - Worrying too much about booking a role during pilot season can put too much pressure on you and have a negative impact on your performance. It is an important time of the year in the acting world but not important enough to psych yourself out and ruin your chances during an audition. Relax and be yourself so the casting director is able to get a natural performance out of you.
• Have Your "Essentials" In Place - The competition during pilot season is fierce so you need to have some essential items in place before you get to Los Angeles, Even if you already live here, it's still important to have your "acting essentials" in place. These essential items include:

1. A place to live - Rent prices greatly increase during pilot season because so many people are looking for housing. Landlords know they can charge the higher rates because of the number of people in town for 4-5 months. Don't think you'll get to Hollywood and be able to easily find an affordable place to live. Have your housing set-up in advance of your arrival.
2. Money - Los Angeles is not a cheap city and it is expensive to live here for months on end as well as on a daily basis. Make sure you have some savings set aside just in case.
3. Agent and/or Manager - There are hundreds of actors submitted for parts in TV shows. If you don't have an agent or a manager, it will be tough to get your headshot or demo reel to the right people in the casting department. I'm not saying it can't be done but it will be harder for you to make it in the door to read for a role. If you do have an agent and/or a manager, stop in and see them because you want to be top of mind when they are submitting talent to casting directors,
4. Headshots - Please have headshots that match your current look. Don't be "that person" who is at least 10 years older than their last set of headshots.
5. Online Presence - I'm not simply talking about social media even though that is important, I'm talking about ways to showcase yourself and your acting abilities online. Is your current acting reel on the Internet? Is your IMDb page updated? Do you have your own website with clips, credits and a bio telling people more about you? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, what are you waiting for???

• Acting Lessons - Regular classes with an acting coach will keep your skills in good shape. Even if you don't want to take a regular acting class, be prepared to do private coaching sessions before a big audition.
• Have Reliable Transportation - Make sure your vehicle is in good shape because you'll be spending a lot of time on the 405, 101. 134, etc. Be sure and leave a set of audition clothes and extra headshots and resumes in your car. It's always best to have an emergency supply on hand in case you don't have time to run home before a last minute audition.

The start of pilot season is just around the corner. I hope your acting wishes all come true and, even if you don't land your dream role, you have a good time chasing your dream of being a working actor. 

This actor is hoping to have a busy and successful pilot season.

Math Is Easy...Getting To Class Is Hard

Zach had an audition recently that, in theory, was at a great time, The audition was scheduled for noon at a casting studio in Los Angeles. It was the perfect time in-between two college classes. Plus, they had an open audition window until 2:30pm so Zach didn't have to be there right at noon. One class ended at 12:10pm and the other class started at 1:40pm

Like I said, this was a good audition time in theory. It still worried me a little bit because the distance between the two locations was 12 miles. He would also have to take care of all these steps in that 90-minute window:

• Walk to the parking lot nowhere near his class after the first class ended
• Drive to the audition
• Find a parking space in an area where there is only street parking 
• Do the audition
• Drive back to college
• Find another parking space nowhere near his class
• Walk to class from the distant parking lot
• Be in the classroom at 1:40pm

The 8 steps listed above offered way too many chances for something to go wrong. The three of us discussed a plan of action and decided the best solution was me driving him to the audition. He would drive himself to school that morning and I would pick him up at 12:10pm and start the race to the audition.

I left for Glendale around 11:30am to give myself plenty of time in traffic. I arrived at 11:50am and proceeded to completely fail at getting him some lunch. The first fast food place I drove to was out of business and the second place had a line all the way out to the street. I pulled into a gas station and got him a bag of potato chips and a drink so he would have some sort of snack on the way. (Dad of the Year material)

I knew exactly where the casting office was located but wasn't sure about the best way to get there from Glendale. I don't know where Google Maps thinks I am in America but it informed me that we would arrive at our destination in 13 hours. I didn't have time to determine the problem so I decided to get the Waze app. My phone then let me know that service was not available at that moment. I finally pulled out my old school Garmin GPS and entered the address. It gave me one route that seemed way too complicated so I restarted my phone and was able to get service as well as Waze.

We headed off down the 2 to Glendale Blvd and then Waze helped us beat traffic with a scenic tour of some neighborhoods, a dog park, skateboarders, a photo shoot, a guy dressed as Ben Franklin and what I can only assume was a demonstration on how to cook meth in public. We eventually hit the 101 to Santa Monica Blvd to our destination. We arrived at 12:40pm which gave us plenty of time for the audition and the drive back to school.

I sat outside and did some work on my computer while waiting on him. The minutes were ticking by as actors that arrived after us entered and left the building before Zach came back outside. Was he having a great audition or were the casting people having him read the lines over and over again until they were happy with it?

While he did end up having a good audition, it took so long because the camera broke and the casting folks had to find a new one before they could record his audition. Our time that we had to spare on the drive back to Glendale had vanished. We were now going to arrive 15 minutes late to class. We jumped into the truck and made our way past Hollywood Blvd, the Ford Theatre and Forest Lawn Cemetery (final resting place of Bette Davis, John Wooden, Morey Amsterdam, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Walker and many others). I quickly switched lanes way too many times in a vehicle that size in Los Angeles traffic, honked at cars and generally drove like an idiot but I made it to the 134 and the last leg of the trip to school. 

We arrived at the college at 1:38pm. I pulled up to the drop-off lane and kicked Zach out of the truck. The class started at 1:40pm and he made it only a few minutes late instead of the 15 predicted by Waze. I can't say I'm proud of my behavior behind the wheel that day but nobody got hurt and I beat the clock to get him there on time.

While I certainly hope he gets the part thanks to his acting ability, there should be extra credit with the casting director for our successful trip to and from the audition!

We're waiting to hear about the audition and his math test results as well.

How Do Actors Get Around Los Angeles Without A Car?

Now that you've moved to Los Angeles for pilot season, it's time to make your way around town. Learning the ins and outs of the 405, the 101 and the 5 as well as when to take surface streets to avoid traffic jams is essential to saving time going to auditions. But what if you come to town without a car? How is an actor supposed to get around town???

One of the major factors that determines how easily you can get around town without a car is where you live. For example, Santa Monica has the Big Blue Bus that can get you from Santa Monica to as far as Beverly Hills or as close as Venice. Public transportation (or what counts for public transportation in LA) is the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority or Metro. On the plus side, Metro can get you somewhere for a couple of bucks. However, the stations are scattered and, at best, are few and far between. Planning trips around town is not very practical if you don't live near a Metro stop. Having said all of that, living near a station means you can take advantage of the trains that run about every 10 minutes or so during the day and around 20-25 minutes at night. Metro also has bus service if you'd rather not take a train.

How about riding a bike? It's great exercise and there are plenty of bike lanes in Los Angeles as many people choose to bike instead of drive. The danger of riding a bike is being the super sweaty actor at an audition.

As with any major city, there is Uber and Lyft to get you around town. There are definite advantages to these car ride services as they save you the hassle of finding a parking space and are available 24-hours a day on demand. The downside is the rides are automatically charged to your credit card. Regular customers need to encourage their friends to use the services so they can get free rides. Otherwise, the charges to your credit card can become a large amount before you realize how much money you've spent on rides.

Like many actors in Los Angeles, you will more than likely have a regular job to help pay the bills. Although it can't be done with all jobs, living close to where you work is a goal for many in Los Angeles. Being able to walk or ride a bike to work is a big help in your life without a car.

If you do need a car in a tight spot or just to run some errands outside of your neighborhood, there is a car-share service called Zipcar that allows you to pay an hourly rate to use their vehicles. From auditions to job interviews to needing a vehicle to carry groceries home, Zipcar is a good alternative when a car is the only option for you.

You can always take a cab and spend way too much money if you enjoy that kind of thing. Cabs are easy to come by downtown and in many tourist spots around the area. Good luck finding one in the middle of the day in the Valley.

Finally, make friends with people who don't mind taking you places as long as you help out with gas money.

It's not impossible to exist in Los Angeles without a car during pilot season (and beyond). It is nicer to have your own transportation so you can drive to an audition at your pace. Plus, everybody in Los Angeles should have to experience going to the California DMV at least once in their life.

I can't believe this actor is old enough to have his own vehicle.