Learn why I will be on TV this summer as the guy not annoying the crew!

Like much of the country, Los Angeles has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

I should say most of the city has come to a halt. The casting notices that still arrive in my email are almost always for Scientology projects. While I like making extra money, I'm not that desperate to make extra money.

Before production on TV shows closed down for the foreseeable future, I did some background work on one of the ABC Summer Fun and Games shows. Background work on a TV show is an easy way to make extra money for a few hours of work. I signed a mountain of paperwork that forbids me from telling you the show I worked on but I can tell you that it will be hard to miss me when you are watching the show.

While killing time between shots, I rediscovered just how desperate some people are to be on camera. There were maybe 200 extras that night and the producers placed everyone in certain positions on the set. The only direction we were given was to act excited each time the contestants were playing the game.

If you were not sufficiently excited, AKA you more concerned about looking good on TV, the producers would shuffle you out of the main shot and into the back of the audience.

When the first contestant was on camera, I was placed right by the stage and did my best to be excited without being over the top. Once the shot was over, all but one person around me was moved to a different spot and a new group of extras entered the shot.

I was there for 5 hours and I was never moved out of the shot. I met a lot of different people because they kept rotating extras near me trying to make sure they found excited people to root for the contestants.

I'm not saying I'm the greatest extra in the world. I am saying I know how to pay attention, follow directions and not be annoying to the crew. Here are just a few of the people I met that night that did not make it into the main shot:

• The truck driver that was a combination actor/Johnny Cash fan that insisted on singing "Ring of Fire" for the crowd/political expert
• The woman that had been there before and "knew how it worked" and was instantly moved out of the main shot
• The comedian that saw the crowd as a chance to "workshop some new material"
• The guy that complained about how long it took him to drive to set (as if everyone else did not have a long drive)
• The two "directors" in the crowd that questioned every camera angle that night

I realize I was one of the few extras on set that night without a big dream of being an actor. My dream that night involved calculating my hourly pay as filming continued throughout the evening.  It always amazes me how some people with show business dreams in their head don't have the ability to read the room and tell when they have crossed the line between being entertaining and turning the crew against them by trying too hard to impress them with their "wit and charm".

I did get thanked at the end of the night by a few members of the crew for being easy to work with and "rolling with whatever we asked you to do".

I also received a few direct messages from the casting director of the show the day after the taping. They asked me if I would like to work again and to just let them know what times worked for me out of the list they sent me.

I would have been happy to work again but production was stopped for the safety of everyone involved.

What is the moral of this story?

It doesn't help you to act like a star if you don't know how to act like a star that is also not overbearing or obnoxious.  Act like a professional and not like a person waiting to be discovered that night.

You will lose your screen time to the one person on set that doesn't care about his amount of camera time at all.

Here is one of my favorite on camera talents.

Here is my other favorite on camera talent.

VITs For Your Next Audition

With pilot season gearing up, and auditions becoming more frequent, it is more important than ever to have a good audition. A good audition experience is more than simply knowing your lines (although that is an important part of the experience). Here are 5 VITs (Very Important Tips) to help you have an ideal audition each time you enter the room.

1. Know your lines – You will be sent lines for your character when you get your audition time. Unless the audition is completely improv, there is no reason not to know your lines. Even if the audition is for a voice-over gig, you should still know your lines in order to sound natural and not like you are reading right off the page.
2.  Don’t try and fake it if you don't know your lines – Casting directors would rather watch you read off the page instead of watch you stumble your way through an audition. It’s better to be honest and admit you don't know all of your lines. Would you rather the casting director remember your honesty or remember you as the person who butchered the part?  
3. Always have a resume and headshot – Just because you got an audition doesn’t mean the casting director knows who you are when you walk in the room. Always bring your resume and headshot (complete with your contact info) to an audition. If you want to be remembered, be sure and have your materials ready to hand over when you enter the audition room.
4. Make a good first impression – Some actors take the baggage of their day into the room with them. Always be on your best behavior and act like you are having the best day ever. You might not get the part but the casting director could keep you in mind for another role in the future. Being professional at all times means a good chance of paying off with a future booking. 
5. Remember what you wore to the audition – If you’re lucky enough to get a callback, wear the same outfit you wore to the first audition. As great as you were as an actor, there is also a good chance that the casting director liked your look. Wear the same clothes again to reinforce the idea of you playing the part in the mind of the person making the casting decisions.

Be sure and put these tips to good use this pilot season. It never hurts to have some tips and tricks up your sleeve to stand out from the rest of the audition crowd. If you get the attention of the casting director in a positive way, your chances of landing a callback and booking the part are better than the others reading for the role. I hope these VITs make you a VIP during your next audition!

This actor has a voice-over audition today.

Three Tips For Actors Starting Their Hollywood Journey

The act of moving to Los Angeles to chase your dreams is just the first step in the process of being a professional actor in Hollywood. There are dozens of tips and tricks to make your life easier but here are three important lessons every actor should know as they begin their career:

1. You will feel alone - Child actors and teen actors always have a support system in place because they have some form of their family with them in Los Angeles since they are underage. However, it seems that the majority of actors who move here in their 20's or older are almost always alone when they arrive in town. It takes a lot of inner strength to pack up and leave your family and friends behind and move to a place where there are thousands of other people also trying to make it in the same field. This business is not for those who can't take rejection easily. It takes hard work as well as an almost ridiculous amount of belief in your acting ability to survive. Be patient and give yourself time to get settled and, before you know it, you will discover where you belong in the acting community.
2. The people you think are "your enemies" are not against you - It might appear that some casting directors and producers never seem to like your work during an audition. You need to remember that they choose the actors they call in for auditions. Your agent or manager might submit you but the casting directors and producers pick the people they want to see during the audition process. They must like something about your acting style if you keep getting asked to audition for parts in front of them. Don't enter the room with a "me against them" attitude. Enter the room knowing that you are there for a reason. They keep calling you back so they must see something in you. Know that you've already won part of the battle because you were selected to audition over hundreds of other actors submitted for the part. They are not your enemy. They want to give you a job but they just haven't found the right part for you (yet).
3. You need to be more than a good actor - One of the unspoken factors that goes into landing a part is who you are as a person. There are hundreds of actors who would love to book the part. However, they might be missing the one quality that sometimes makes a difference in who books the job. Being a good person is just as important as being a good actor. The amount of time actors spend each day on the set can be anywhere from 8 to 12 to 16 hours. That is a lot of time spent with the same people 5 or 6 days a week for months at a time. The odds are that you are not a big enough name in the acting world to get away with being a jerk to everyone on the set. Being a pain. as well as having the reputation of being a pain, is one of the easiest ways to not get a part. I am convinced that Zach's acting skills got him the recurring role on "Bella and the Bulldogs". I'm also convinced that being professional as an extra in many episodes also got him the part. He was never late, worked hard, took direction and was kind and respectful to the entire cast and crew, Zach had earned the trust of the cast and crew. His reputation of being a professional who was also easy to work with served him well during his audition for the part of "Quiet Chris".

Don't be discouraged and don't give up easily. Whenever you are feeling down, just remember you are not the only person in this town feeling the same way. If you approach your acting career with the knowledge that your big break will not happen overnight, you will be prepared to face the challenges coming your way in Hollywood.

This actor is in it for the long haul.

Should You Make Acting Your Career?

I know a lot of actors and they are never on the same page in their careers. While one or two of them might be doing well and booking jobs consistently, there are other actors who haven't landed an audition, much less booked a job, in quite some time.

There is plenty of self-doubt and hard times in the acting world. With all of the competition for parts in Hollywood, sometimes you have to ask yourself one question:

Should I choose acting as my career path?

The simple answer to this question is "No".

In general, only a small portion of actors earn enough money as actors to make a living. This does not mean they are household names or big stars loved by the public. It just means they are earning enough money to make acting their main job.

The not so simple answer to the question is..."Yes. You should make acting your career choice if you can't imagine doing anything else with your life." 

A career as an actor is never going to be an easy journey. The amount of competition is extremely high and you will need to perform at your highest level at all times to have a chance to succeed. Can you handle that kind of pressure or are you better off choosing a more traditional career path?

Acting is a career that needs to be worked on each day. You don't necessarily need to act on a daily basis. You do need to check casting sites, submit yourself for parts, attend workshops and acting classes, network with other actors and try and create your own projects. Acting is a skill that needs to be practiced and performed on a regular basis. I try and update my blog on a weekly basis. I don't always succeed but the desire is always there. Even when I post an update, my brain is already thinking about the topic of my next post. I write on a daily basis and my work ranges from medical articles to job search tips to cooking with seasonings to creating compelling social media updates for businesses. If I go a day or two without writing, it takes me a little while to get back in the groove. Acting is the same way so you have to decide if your career path involves exercising your acting muscles on a daily basis.

Finally, you have to decide how far you want to take acting as a career. Some people are happy being known as one of the best actors in their hometown. Their place of residence might consist of 1000 people or 100,000 people. If that is the place where you want to try and build an acting career, it will be harder because there are not as many opportunities on a daily basis to book work. If you really want to maximize your potential as a working actor, you need to move to Los Angeles or New York. Even cities like Chicago and New Orleans that host movie and television productions on a regular basis only have so much available work to offer an actor. You have to decide if making the move, and leaving behind your family and friends, is a good career choice for you in the long run.

The decision about making acting your career choice is completely up to you. There are many people that give advice and offer encouraging words. When it comes to answering the question about choosing acting as your career path, you are the only person that can provide the final answer.

This teenager decided he wanted to be an actor at an early age.

7 Tips Every Actor Needs To Know About Being A Professional

I often discuss specific topics surrounding the world of acting such as auditions, agents and acting classes. While these are important topics, there are still many parts of the business of acting that are important for anyone interested in making acting their career. In no particular order, here are a few tips that can help you on a daily basis:

• Don't Be Late - While this might seem like obvious advice, many people don't take it to heart. There are thousands of actors in Hollywood trying to book jobs and be successful in this field. Even though traffic is horrible here, there is no reason not to plan ahead so you will be on time for a job or an audition. In fact, it's always better to be early than simply be on time.
• Learn Your Lines - Once again, this is amazingly obvious advice but it's not always followed by actors. Unless the job you booked specifically calls for improv, learn the lines that are sent to you. You need to know the lines by heart before you can begin to dive into the emotional aspects of the role. Also, don't attempt to make the lines "better" by tossing in your ideas and improv. Unless you want to insult the producers and writers of the project, don't simply change the lines to "fit your character" since you didn't create the character!
• The Business Isn't Fair - Most people know this fact but a few cling to the belief that they've done nothing wrong when they don't book a job. Also, you might book a role and then your part is cut for time. Your dream project might lose its financing. Don't dwell on why something didn't go your way with your acting career. Holding in the negative feelings and energy will only hold you back.
• Make A Choice - Will you conduct your career being prepared and ready to put in the work? Would you rather fly by the seat of your pants and hope that a big break lands in your lap? How you navigate your career is up to you but be prepared for the good and bad results of your approach.
• Don't Be Your Worst Enemy - When it comes to actors, they are their own worst enemy. From being unprepared for an audition to not rehearsing for a booked job to not arriving on time, you can do more damage to your credibility in the industry than anybody writing a review of your work.
• Get It Right The First Time At An Audition - You are not entering an audition to be coached by the casting directors. You are there to blow them away the first time. They might ask for different line readings because the production is not absolutely sure what they are looking for when it comes to character motivation. Be flexible and give other line readings if requested by them. When it comes to first impressions with your initial reading, be prepared to blow them away! 
• Don't Make Excuses - The production that hired you for a job doesn't care that traffic was bad this morning. The casting director at an audition doesn't want to hear how your power went out and you couldn't download the audition sides. Your agent doesn't care why you didn't show up for an audition they submitted you for that happened three hours ago. Acting is a business and these excuses don't matter because there is always an actor more than willing to take your audition slot or work the job you were late arriving to on the day of your shoot.

Acting is fun. Acting is an art form. Acting is also a business with many rules and expectations that should be obvious to all actors. Keep the above tips in mind as you navigate the world of Hollywood and you'll be viewed as a professional ready to get the job done at all times.

This teen actor has been taught to always be professional when working or auditioning.