Pilots and Photos

Well, it looks rather certain that I did not land the Nissan spot. Too bad. Today I had a callback for a sitcom pilot. It went well. They said the decisions will be made on Friday.

My acting website now displays some of my new photos if you are interested. Check out www.joeboyd.net.

Callbacks.

I'm all better. I was hurting for 48 hours...mainly just a fever. Then I woke up yesterday and felt fine. The body is strange like that I guess. Lets talk about the "callback" for a second, shall we? Before moving here I had auditioned in LA for about ten projects. I had three callbacks (second auditions) and booked once out of ten. Since moving here I have had thirty-five auditions and booked three smaller projects but no callbacks! (The projects that I booked didn't have callbacks.) So...yesterday was my first real callback since moving here. It was for a national Honda commercial. (The nation is Canada, but what are you gonna do?) It's a very clever and funny spot. Callbacks are at once exhilirating (you realize that someone actually liked something about you) and incredibly frustrating (you show up to find twenty other guys who look exactly like you that they also liked.) It feels like you have almost booked it, until you get to the audition then it feels like even more of a longshot than the first time.

I was talking to a guy waiting with me yesterday. He was saying that his wife always ask how his auditions go and he says "fine." "She hasn't quite got the grasp of the whole lottery system of commercial auditions," he said. When he said that it hit me. At this level...the callback for a major commercial...it's all about the client liking somebody's ear lobe or eye color or smirk more than the next guy. Somehow that relaxed me. So I went in and pretty much nailed it. Five times. They kept saying, "That was really great, just try this...", etc. I left knowing that in that moment I had completely delivered exactly what they wanted. I could just tell. Now I just have to wait this weekend to see if they liked one of the other guy's eye lashes or bone structure more than mine. Cause the other reality is, at this level, most everybody nails it all the time.

Sick.

I have gotten sick somehow. I was in bed for almost 24 hours with a fever and some stomach issues. I have to work tomorrow on a web-based teacher training video. So not getting well is not really an option. I'm also supposed to try to squeeze in an audition during my lunch break tomorrow as well. Should be an exciting day. Here's to hoping I don't blow chunks on the set.

Show me depressed..."Oh, I'm good at that one!"

It seemed rather vain to keep putting pictures of myself on my blog, but then I thought: What's more vain than having a blog in the first place? Since this journal is about my life and this week of my life has largely been about my new headshots, I figure I'll show off a few of my favorites. This one will be sent in for the CSI-ish shows. It reminds me of the guy on HOUSE for some reason. My agent hates my hair in this picture, but I'm going to keep it anyway. There is a lot of Joe in this picture. If that makes sense.

And...I booked again! (yea!), but it's still rather low pay (boo!). $100/day plus meals and gas money. I'd take that everyday if I could get it I guess. It shoots one or two days next week. I play a second grade teacher for a company that makes instuctional videos for the LA school district. I'll be working with little kids for the first time. We'll see how that goes.

I'm a little discouraged with no callbacks from the last few big SAG commercial auditions. I really thought that I nailed the DELL spot. They still may call, but at three days out, probably not. We are still doing well here and haven't gone seven days without a Las Vegas visitor, thanks to a surprise visit from Doug last night.

New Headshots!!

I just returned from a four hour photo shoot! I have over 400 pictures to go through now to choose 6 to post on the casting websites and 2 or 3 to mass reproduce for paper submissions. I couldn't be more pleased with my photographer (Dan Chapman, if you are looking...) or my proofs. My agent saw them and said, "We have a lot of work to do...these are all great."

I'm so glad that my first Hollywood headshots were actually the fourth time that I have had them taken. I finally know the different types and characters that I can play, and more importantly, the types that I get called into auditions for.

Tonight I have to trim them down to 50 so that my agents can make the final decisions. (My agents used to be managers, which bleeds through. I really like it that way. Everytime I see them they pretty much tell me what to do. (ie: get a haircut, don't wear that shirt in public, don't lose any more weight, etc.) In a business where nobody generally gives a crap about anyone else, its nice to know they care, even if it's mainly about the 10% they get from me. Advocates and blunt suggestions are harder to come by then you might think.

4 Auditions, 3 Shirts

I had a good audition for a Dell spot yesterday. It was the best I've felt in a long time afterward. We''ll see. Tomorrow I have three auditions: one for the LA school district, one for Diet Pepsi, and another for Pioneer. Tuesday I go to get my new headshots. I'm excited about having them taken so that I can have more options when submitting to people. Hopefully they will help me get more theatrical (film and TV) auditions. I have some new snappy shirts to wear. I guess if nothing else I get 3 snappy shirts out of the deal. One can never have too many snappy shirts.

Back To One!

The first time I was on a movie set they kept saying that and I had no idea what they wanted me to do...(see title). It means go back where you started and do the scene again. So...

Back to work! I had a rehearsal today for the comedic short that I will be shooting tomorrow and Saturday. It's funny...not very high brow, but funny. (There are more than a few farts throughout.) I have 7:00 am calls the next two days, so it will be early to bed, early to rise. Well, early to rise anyway.

Of course, I got called in for a great audition tomorrow which I can't do because of the shoot. It's a Volvo commercial that shoots for 7 days in Hawaii at 500 per day plus travel, food, 4 star hotel, etc. My agent is trying to get me an audition at the callbacks Monday, but I haven't read for this casting director yet, so that may not happen.

We signed up Aidan for pre-school today. Three days per week for the mornings. I think he will really like it. He always likes being in classes when we go to different churches. Eli finally said that he is excited about first grade. (He's not as big a fan of the classroom setting.) I hope he likes it.

I had to take the Keirsey temperament analysis for the first time ever. I came out an "INTP". It said I should consider being a mathematician or a linguist...the only two subjects in high school that I hated and didn't get A's in. But, also on the list were actor, writer and fine artist. The very first position on the "least common career choices" was "leader of religious organization." Hmmm....

It also said that other people with my personality were Plato, Einstein, Sartre, Descartes, Jung, and Tiger Woods. Which only proves if I was smarter or able to play g0lf I might have amounted to something by now. (I'm pretty sure that was a debasing self-destructive comment common to us INTP's...) It's really cool to say, "I don't believe in personality tests," so I'll say it now. I don't believe in personality tests. Too bad there's something to them.

I found at essay online about INTP's. We are less than 1% of humanity...so that explains a lot. Also, it says that many INTP's become artistic photographers. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about that. I've always suspected that I can see beauty...I just can't create it with paint or pencil. I'm mainly intimidated by the actual equipment, cameras, etc. It's time to move past that. I'm going to start becoming a photographer now. Read the essay here if you want.

Cuts, Bruises and Multiple Piercings

We took a few hits this weekend. Nothing major really, but lets just say we have been using our new health insurance. Eli cut his foot on a rock at the beach a few days ago. He's been to the doctor twice and they assure us that it's not a very deep cut, but he has it bandaged and hasn't been able to walk for three days. He's been crawling and hopping around the house.

Aidan followed suit by falling off the chair at the dinner table and injuring his finger. We don't think it's broken but it is very swollen and he reinjures it every few hours. I spoke at six church services this weekend and my throat is angry with me. I'm a little out of practice with the whole multiple church service thing...it can be more physically taxing than most people realize. Somehow Debbie has remained healthy, which is good since she is the bread winner now and all.

A few interesting things from tinseltown: 1. I booked another short film that shoots this weekend. It's very funny, in a potty-humor/SNL sort of way. I play the lead. It will be good to get in front of the camera again. 2. I have an appointment next week for new headshots with a fancy Hollywood photographer. My sessions in Las Vegas lasted about 20 minutes, this one will be 3 hours. I don't love photo sessions, but its part of it and I finally have a grasp on the sort of pictures that I need to get auditions I want. 3. I met a few interesting people at church with Hollywood connections. They are very excited about trying to help me, which is unexpected and exciting.

And oh yeah, Dennis Rodman was at church this Sunday and heard me speak, though I had no idea he was there and didn't see him myself. So...that's something I guess. A friend of mine went up to him and welcomed him, but she called him "Rodney." He didn't correct her.

I could have walked faster

I spent most of today on the 405. To be more exact, I spent over two hours on a ten mile stretch of the 405 between Santa Monica Boulavard and LAX. Friday afternoon traffic is the worst. I had planned on taking the 5 home, but the radio said to avoid it. It wasn't really as frustrating as you might think. I think I'm still just happy to be here. I didn't even plan on going into LA today but my agent had me drop off my headshots at a few places, one of which was CBS Studio City. The sumbission was for some comedy sketches on the Late Late Show. I normally watch Conan, so I had better catch an episode in case they call me in.

I taught on Jacob tonight at Lifelines. He was a real piece of work if you think about it. I told the story, but I still can't get my hands around God's capacity to bless such a selfish, manipulative jerk. That may be the point, maybe I'm that big of a jerk and God blesses me anyway. Who knows?

It has been a very Vegas weekend here. I saw Sean O'hair and Dale Neven in Hollywood yesterday, then Tim Dunfield and Gene-o were playing at a coffee shop last night in Fullerton. Sabrina spending the weekend here too. It's nice to be with family.

We haven't gone more than seven days without seeing someone from home. It looks like that may continue for a while...I like it that way.

Midweek Update

My ever practical friend Doug Parks came to town two nights ago and planted many seeds of doubt regarding my plan to buy the Prius. Allen's comments made me a little suspicious as well. I think we will be looking for something cheaper that gets good gas mileage.

No auditions this week so far, but I have two tomorrow. Debbie has been working more and more with the catering company, which she seems to really enjoy. It's a little strange for both of us to be working...a little odd that we now have three part-time jobs between us, but overall things are good.

I'm teaching again at the main church services this weekend for The Crossing here in Costa Mesa. That means I have the Friday teaching, two on Saturday and three on Sunday. I can see a Sunday nap in my future. I'll link the weekend message to my blog next week for those of you interested.

Booked.

My auditions thus far have, by and large, fallen into one of two categories: 1.) An interesting part that pays next to nothing or 2.) An uninteresting or embarrassing role that pays a ridiculous amount of money. I got an offer today. It's a leading role in a short film. It shoots for two days in Bakersfield next month. They're going to put me up in a hotel and pay me "a few bucks." But hey, it's a job.

Maybe I could land that nice Easter Bunny role to pay the bills...

Prius probability: 90%.

Auditioning at 18 mpg

Well, so far so good with the new agent. Two days and two auditions: a Nissan commercial and a video game commercial in which I would play the Easter Bunny. Ain't show biz grand? I think that I'm up to twelve auditions now in the last two weeks, and only one actual offer...which I turned down because it would shoot during the only time that I cannot work because of my teaching commitment. It would have been fun, but it didn't pay much. I'm learning that I tend to provoke a bigger than normal response when I audition, but that doesn't really mean anything. Most people get a "thank you" and that's it. I often get things like, "we'll probably call you back" and "the best yet" and "try to keep next Friday open." So I leave feeling confident and still never hear from them. I'd rather be obviously dismissed than so heartlessly toyed with...though I have booked a few times when I was sure that I had a terrible audition. You really can never tell at all what will happen.

They say you do 50 auditions in LA before booking...and I guess I have technically booked once here, for the American Idol spot. I have to admit, it's still a blast just auditioning. I'm living someone else's life.

I put 1,000 miles on the van last week. At this rate I will spend $4,000 this year on gas just from auditions. So...we may be trading the family van in on a hybrid Toyota Prius. If we do, that will make us a little more hip and green and eco-lefty. The kids might have to grow dreadlocks or something. I sat in one at the dealership and it feels like you are driving something from the Jetsons. You push a button to start it. I'll keep you posted.

A Fair Day

We just returned from the Orange County Fair which is taking place about two miles from our house. A new friend of Debbie's gave us free tickets and a free parking pass, which was very nice. It wasn't too dissimilar from the Ohio State Fair, which I went to every summer in Columbus growing up. I was a little surprised by that: lots of livestock and corn dogs and annoying hecklers trying to get you to pay three dollars to throw a dart at a balloon. The rides were very expensive, so we only did a few. I have never bought a photo after a ride, but for some reason I wanted this one. Eli and I did the log ride while Aidan and mommy rode the huge farris wheel.

This is my first weekday without an audition for eight days. None scheduled tomorrow either. Though I do have one for Thursday. It's strange that after a great week you can easily get discourged on the first slow day. I did sign with a new agency yesterday. (Stage 9 Talent) Telling my old agent was MUCH more difficult than I expected. She seemed hurt and angry. It sucked, but I'm pretty sure it was the right way to go. Only time will tell...

Double Agents?

I am the rare exception who actually enjoys the "struggling" part of being an actor. It's really three jobs. The first is marketing/sales. Basically, creating a brand. My brand is me. It's fun to have something to sell to the world. It's weird that its me...but at least I know me and don't have to learn all about SUV's or insurance or whatever else I could be selling. The second part of acting is research and networking. As a fairly nerdy guy, I can get into research. Always looking for the next project, the next person to partner with, etc. I spend hours each day looking for something or someone to help me out. The third part is the most fun: acting. It's the easy part in many ways...the reward of the other two.

Having said all of that, it looks like I may be about to do one of the parts of the business that I don't like. I have a second interview with a new agent tomorrow and I'm leaning towards signing with her. This would mean dropping my other agent, whom I like very much on a personal level. Everyone knows that it gets done this way. If I continue to work I will have to do this a few more times. But it sucks. I'm dreading the phone call.

I just need to make sure that I don't watch Jerry McGuire tonight and I'll be fine.

Mr. Mom

Debbie started her part-time job tonight at a catering company. I've been watching the boys and cleaning the house and whatnot. It looks like she will be working a lot on the weekends, but not much during the week, which will work out great for our schedule. It's been a long time since she has been in the work force, and never as a server. I hope that she enjoys it at some level. I think she will.

I taught on Abraham tonight at church. To me, his story is all about taking risks when God asks us to and then not trying to work out the circumstances apart from him after we take the risk. It's a good story to think about after a major life change.

Living the Impossible

Every few days I am reminded of something that happened to me four years ago. I was up late one night by myself watching TV. Things were difficult at that time-a lot of depression and emptiness and whatnot. Some channel was airing a two hour documentary on the making of one episode of Saturday Night Live. It followed the writers and cast and Lorne as they made the episode from nothing. Watching that show ushered me into one of the worst depressive moments of my life. I kept realizing, with every passing commercial break, how desperately I wanted to be a part of something like that. I had secretly dreamed of being an actor since I was a kid but had always pushed it away as "shallow" or "childish."

That night I added another word: impossible. I was simply too old at 28, too established, too submerged into my career, too "needed" by other people to chase a selfish immature dream. And I went to bed that night full of regret and grief. I think sometime after that I confessed to Debbie that I would like to take improv classes sometime as a hobby. I said this but I knew I would never take the time to do it. But the next Christmas she surprised me with the classes from The Second City. Then things started to change.

Today I was walking from an audition at the LA film school on Sunset to another audition on Hollywood Blvd. (For a guest star role in Barbershop, a sitcom on Showtime.) As I turned the corner onto Hollywood a fire engine with sirens blaring nearly knocked me over. I walked for a while and then looked down to notice the stars on the sidewalk. My right foot was on "Mr. Rogers." Then it hit me. I'm living a life that I thought was impossible four years ago. That's a remarkable place to be.

So here is my official pass to get onto the Disney/ABC studio lot tonight for my audition. The security guard told me that my meeting was in building 21 and gave me directions. Building 21, as it turns out, contains the offices for the shows LOST and ALIAS. I have to say it felt nice to audition there, considering some of the odd and creepy places where I have auditioned before. I knew that the audition was for a non-union short film that pays virtually nothing, so I was confused to say the least.

My reading went very well. They had me read five times, which is always a good sign. They asked me to hold a day next week for the shoot which, again, is a good sign. I found out later that they were writers for LOST, looking to make a film for a festival. Needless to say, I was impressed but tried really hard to not be. "I like that show," is all I said which is completely true even though I've only seen one episode. (I've been waiting to watch them in order on DVD.)

I spent the next fifteen minutes wandering around the studios since I had my official pass. I saw the cast scripts for the next Alias episode and Jennifer Garner's box of fan mail. I left feeling like I could work some place like that someday...and still knowing it may never come to that. Either way, it has been a fun story to be telling with my life.

More auditions tomorrow, Thursday and next week already confirmed. And in related good news: Debbie landed a part time job working with a catering company. Looks like she can help put food on the table while I drive all over LA to get jobs paying minimum wage. She will generally work weekend nights and the pay is great. I've never had a sugar momma before...she seems genuinely excited about it, which makes me very happy.

Tomorrow we will take our first family trip to the local IHOP, which was a regular Boyd tradition in Las Vegas. I will have scrambled eggs, extra crispy bacon and tomato slices because I am on day four of the South Beach Diet Phase One...what I wouldn't do right now for a bagel or a strawberry...

I'm spending more on gas than coffee!

Auditions are generally hard to get, so I should be happy that I have another tomorrow and another on Thursday...both in Burbank. But, one thing I didn't really think about was the cost of gas. Every trip into Hollywood costs $10-20 just in gas. This means that the more days I work (without booking) the more it actually costs. On the other hand, I should focus on the fact that I will have had six auditions in my first week of submitting. That's pretty good. On the other hand, most of these auditions pay very little...always two sides.

Tomorrow I audition for a short film: low pay and all that, but it will be my first audition at Disney Studios. I'm not sure how this film is connected to Disney, but it will be fun to go there. I was given instructions as to what to say to the guard and all that. Kind of fun.

I should also say that I'm enjoying my other job of teaching as well. It has been very nice to get to study, prepare and, most of all, speak again. I feel somewhat mature and "seasoned" as a storyteller now. There is a greater ease and mirth and confidence. It has been nice to see it reborn.

OC: Overly Costly?

Tonight after dinner we drove down to Balboa Pier. It's still very strange to live so close to the beach. As you can see I picked up a very groovy vintage sportcoat from a thrift store next to an audition yesterday.

The reality of living in the one of the most expensive counties in America is starting to hit us pretty hard. We are weighing the options as to a third means of income. Debbie's considering a part-time job and I would love to find another job flexible enough to allow for auditions. It really seems as though God has had his hand in this journey...so I'm hoping he's got our back on the whole money thing. Neither of us have ever desired to be rich...but we don't seem to mind being middle class so much if you know what I mean.

I have a callback for a Nissan commercial tomorrow...I think. They usually call and let you know, though sometimes they just tell you at the audition. In this particular case, the casting director simply said, "Callbacks will be Monday between two and three." I assume he wouldn't have told me if I wasn't called back, so I'm going to show up and hopefully it won't be too awkward if he says, "Why are you here?"

Fun with Fotos

So. It's a new blog and a new day. I'm actually going to try to post photos as we go along. So here is the view from our kitchen out the back patio of our apartment. We have the same amount of space here as we did in our last house, but the entire family agrees that it feels bigger here. It is laid out perfectly for us. We have passed on a dining room table and eat some our meals outside and some around a small table in the kitchen. You can see some of the aforementioned Ikea furniture in this picture as well.