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Erasure's new song "I Could Fall In Love With You" and their adorable video. Fun, romantic and a tad silly -- just exactly how love is.
August 26, 2007 in Music | Permalink | Comments (1)
Finally, a semi-lazy Sunday... or as lazy as a Sunday gets for me. With our final convention appearance at Gen Con for Fellowship of the Dice now behind us, Tom and I can now relax some. Overall, Gen Con was quite a nice experience, though it didn't start out that way. Due to some complete disorganization on their part, Gen Con didn't have us listed in their program. At all. Let me paint the picture thusly: Tom and I didn't have any sleep the night before because we had to run around late Tuesday night replacing a bunch of equipment for our booth because a certain delivery company misplaced our case of booth equipment. The case, I might add, is 77 pounds and 3 1/2 feet tall, and Certain Delivery Company lost it... for 6 weeks. They found it and said they could deliver it to us... after the convention had already started. So, we had absolutely no choice but to replace our printer, monitor, and other sundries that night. And then, we were up at 2:30am to be picked up at 3:30am to go to LAX to fly out to Indianapolis. So, you can imagine after dealing with all of this, the last thing I'd want to see is us completely not in the program. Since Tom had been dealing with Certain Delivery Company (and all the other BS surrounding the convention), I said I'd take care of this and went off. After a half hour of asking around, I finally found the coordinator who was in charge of the film contest.
Usually when I talk to someone, especially in a customer service capacity, I think very carefully of what I'm going to say beforehand to make sure I come across as pretty even-handed and professional as possible. This time around? Not so much. I opened my mouth and let him have it. For about a full 5 minutes. As this was in one of main corridors of the convention center, people stopped and watched me tear this guy a new one. Technically, I never yelled at him, but I did raise my voice. I told him that in all of the conventions we'd been to (8), being in the program was the main push of people knowing about screenings of our film, and it's people seeing the film that sells the film the most. I railed at him about how they have no excuse for being this disorganized, and their lack of organization is unconscionable, considering the size of their organization. Knowing that I was completely in the right, he didn't fight me on anything. Apparently what happened was that they didn't have the Film Contest organized until that evening , which missed the deadline for printing of the official Gen Con Program. Did they tell us this beforehand? No, 'course not. I then asked for his supervisor, 'cause at this point, I wanted some of our hard-earned money back. His supervisor showed up, and I tore into him as well. The Supervisor apologized profusely, saying he had no idea this was happening, and then found ways to make it up for us. Instead of just the three screenings for the contest, they gave us two additional screenings in larger venues, allowed us to put flyers in a variety of locations (the convention center has very draconian rules about where to put flyers -- one of the many annoying BS regulations we've encountered during our convention tour), and they made up signs advertising our screenings all around the convention center. I then strode back to our booth and recounted to Tom what happened.
Tom: Wow. Okay.
Me: Yeah. I went all Executive Producer on them.
From that point forward, I'd garnered a bit of a reputation amongst the Gen Con staff. When our first screening was starting late due to one of the other films running longer than advertised, another coordinator came up to me and apologized obsequiously for the mishap, and assuring me that Fellowship would run without interruption, etc.
The Gen Con experience, from then on, was a good one. We had some great screenings -- some scarcely populated, some nicely populated. After the final screening, I actually had a couple people ask me for my autograph right then and there. We sold more DVDs of the film there than at other conventions. We had people stop by our booth to tell us how much they liked the film. We got to go hang out with Vito and Ryan as they were play testing their game. Although Indianapolis was pretty humid, it was still nice to walk around a city I'd never been in before. Oh, and the Film Contest has a nice ending: we won Best Professional Film. It's now the "award-winning" Fellowship of the Dice.
Our next step is to get more distribution on the film. We're working on that. Check back for more details. We have seen a spike of sales at Amazon and bn.com for the film, so that's good. Tonight, we are screening scenes of the movie for the improv show Dungeon Master, and it looks like I'll be improvising with them as well. Should be fun. But the rest of the day today? Resting, Netflix, chilling.
August 26, 2007 in Fellowship of the Dice, General Gab | Permalink | Comments (3)
Tomorrow before dawn, Tom and I are off to GenCon Indy in our final promotion stop for Fellowship of the Dice. Expect a long blog entry from me about the clusterfuck nature of getting things together for our last gaming convention, all due to companies we use that don't seem to know what the hell they're doing. If I can, I'll post from Indianapolis.
And now a story to make you smile: Fox's Right-Wing Answer To The Daily Show Fails. Are we surprised? No. Are we still happy? Oh yes.
August 14, 2007 in Fellowship of the Dice, Politicking | Permalink | Comments (1)
Witness Gov. Bill Richardson, who used to the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and negotiated with Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, stumble when Melissa Etheridge asks him a question at the LOGO Presidential Forum. It's really pretty sad.
August 09, 2007 in Politicking | Permalink | Comments (0)
That TV show I booked a bit ago? Well, the episode is airing on Sunday at 8pm EST/PST. The show is Side Order of Life on Lifetime. I play a contestant in a definition bee - it's like a spelling bee but instead of spelling a word, you have have give its definition. I have one line -- it's a punchline for a joke, which is great. The downside of that is if the producers decided to nix the joke for time, my line's gone. So, go ahead and tune in, but if I'm not there, you'll know why. Cross your fingers, y'all.
August 09, 2007 in All About Jon, Television | Permalink | Comments (1)
In my mind, Aliens is the best action movie ever made. Period. No other action film that I've seen has had a better grasp of character, story construction, propulsive editing, or just kick ass fun as this one. Ripley is just simply a fantastic character. She's smart but humble, attractive but approachable, honorable but not perfect. Ripley is a little rough around the edges -- she can be short with people, flippant -- but she acts out of what she feels is right. At no point in the film do we not completely sympathize with Ripley or not see her point of view. As the audience, we are right there with her. This serves as a testament not only to the ultra-tight screenplay and James Cameron's direction, but ultimately to Sigourney Weaver's amazing performance. With all of her Yale training, Weaver fills every moment as Ripley. You can tell what she's thinking from one moment to the next, and that gives the movie its real thrust. You are there with Ripley until the end.
In addition to how awesome Sigourney Weaver is, the acting in the movie is just great. From Paul Reiser's weaselly Burke to Carrie Henn's pensive Newt and Bill Paxton's apoplectic Hudson, all the performances in the movie are pitch-perfect. And so many quotable lines! "Somebody wake up Hicks." "Oh, game over, man!" "You can just bill me." "Did IQ's plummet while I was away?" And, of course..."Get away from her, you bitch!"
Tom and I watched this with Mitch over at Ken's & Susan's place Sunday night, so while it wasn't at my home, it was indeed at someone else's home. So, this qualifies I think as part of the At Home Film Festival. I've seen Aliens at least 15 times, and there are portions that still scare, portions that still thrill me, and overall, it rocks my world.
August 09, 2007 in At Home Film Festival | Permalink | Comments (0)
Good news, y'all. I start a new day job on Monday for Established Adorable Basic Cable Documentary Show. It's in Hollywood, so it's a HELL of a lot closer than my last gig on Goofy Basic Cable Documentary show. I'm back up to Assistant Story Editor, which is great. And also I don't have log footage. AT ALL. I haven't had that luxury since my Bachelor days in 2004. Yikes. The hours should hopefully be pretty reasonable [knocking wood]. Another plus is that I'm going to be working on the show until at least mid-November, so that's fantastic. The pay isn't great, but the length of the gig definitely helps. That and the fact that the women I interviewed with seemed pretty cool. We'll see.
My current music obsession is Mark Ronson, a British producer whose influences include hip-hop and 60's R&B and pop. So, imagine a lot of thick beats with horn sections, echo-y audio tracks and poppy hooks. He has a new album out called Version, which is all covers of British pop & rock done in his signature style. He has a variety of artists do the singing as he does the producing, much like a Quincy Jones album. As a huge fan of the Smiths, I was very tickled when he saw that he did a cover of "Stop Me If You Think If You've Heard This One Before." The video is quite fun, and matches the song very well. Couple multiple viewing of that with another track -- Lily Allen's cover of the Kaiser Chief's Oh My God -- you can now see why I keep hearing trombones constantly lately.
That and the fact that I got a new job.
August 04, 2007 in General Gab, Hollyweird, Music | Permalink | Comments (2)
I've been quite fortunate this week -- so far, I've had 3 auditions and 2 callbacks. And 2 auditions and a callback last week. Pretty cool, huh? I don't think I'll have any more this week (though, it's only Thursday, so you never know), and odds are against me from booking the projects I've read for. Why? 'Cause when it comes to landing acting jobs, the odds are always against you. Combine that with the high I've had at the beginning of the week, I'm a bit of a downswing right now. But don't worry -- I'll be back to normal perky Jon by tomorrow, no problem.
One thing I've been meaning to blog about for a while now is actor etiquette, especially in the waiting rooms at auditions, and my recent spate of auditions have inspired me to go into detail. It's not rocket science, people, it's basic common sense. And by my experiences as of late, it seems that a lot of actors seem to lacking this crucial quality. Let me break it down thusly.
It's An Audition, Not Social Time. A lot of actors seem to think that an audition is freaking social hour. It's not; it's a job interview. Sure, it's a job interview where you have to cry on cue or make a joke or try to shill some orange juice, but that's what it is. So, out in the waiting room, surrounded by a bunch of other actors who also want the same I do, I don't make a point of talking to people. If someone strikes up a conversation with me, I'll be polite. If I do indeed know someone there, I'll make a bit of small talk but that's about it.
At every audition, there's a sign-in sheet. You write your name, union ID number, role you're reading for, time in, time out, etc. Casting directors will usually go by the order people signed in. Sometimes, they'll go by your appointment time. At every audition I go to, I gauge the order the casting director is seeing people, and I'll adjust accordingly. I memorize the name of the two people who are being seen before me. When the first of those two are called in, I use the remaining time to go over the scene, get mentally prepared for scene, gather my stuff, etc. And when I'm doing that stuff? I really don't want to talk to anyone, 'cause it'll throw me off. I didn't drive across town and spend 10 minutes hunting up a parking space to get into passive-aggressive pissing matches with other neurotics sitting in a waiting room. I'm there to get work. Period. So, let me do my thing and I'll let you do yours.
Bring A Book, iPod, Something. For Pete's Sake. I've been at auditions where I've been in and out in 5 minutes and others where I've been there for over an an hour. To help kill the time (or potential time), I'll go over the scene (or sides, in industry speak), and then I'll read. I usually have a book in my messenger bag specifically for this reason. Again, I'm not there to socialize, so reading is fine with me. Or doing Sudoku. One of the callbacks I was at this week was at a commercial casting office just off of Hollywood Boulevard, in the basement of a building built in the 30's. A very cramped basement. There were 3 other spots that were being cast at the same time, and there were easily 75 people crammed into this itty bitty space. I signed in and waited. And waited. And waited. They were running way far behind -- I was there for an hour and a half. I had misplaced by book, but fortunately I had some Sudoku puzzles to work on. Obviously, no one wants to be sitting around for that long just waiting, so in order to occupy my time, I need to be doing something. I'd look around the crowded waiting room, gazing of the sea of annoyed faces of the other actors waiting, most of which with nothing to occupy their time. Which leads me to my next point...
Be Polite To People And Cognizant of Your Surroundings, Jackass. Here are some numbers for you. The average amount of people submitted for a role in a commercial in Los Angeles? 2000. The average amount of people brought in per role for the initial audition for a commercial in Los Angeles? 250. The average number of people brought in per role for the callback for a commercial in Los Angeles? About 20. Think that over a second. The fact that someone actually makes the cut from the submission to the audition is pretty astounding, and then getting a callback on top of that means you're doing something right. So, with the odds stacked against you like that, you'd think that all actors would be pretty appreciative of having the good fortune of going on auditions like that. Well, some are and some just aren't.
As I was waiting the 90 minutes in the Hollywood area basement for the aforementioned callback, I can't tell you how many people just did not have their shit stuff together. Like I said, there were 4 different spots that were casting at the same time. This is typical. In most commercial casting offices around town, several casting directors will use the same office with one main waiting room. They will then have numbered studios located around the waiting room where the different spots are casting. (A lot of film & TV casting offices have a similar set up, especially on studio lots, like Sony, for instance.) In all of them, they all have a big sign indicating which spot is auditioning where. (Studio 1: Buick, Studio 2: McDonald's, Studio 3: Summer's Eve, etc.) I can't begin to tell you how often I'll see some aimless douche or dim-bulb starlet will wander into the waiting room and just sign at whatever is closest, not paying attention to where they are supposed to be. And quite often, I'll hear an actor say they weren't sure which role they're supposed to read for or even which spot they are up for. For TV roles, I always make sure to try to watch at least a bit of every TV show on the air to cover my bases... and at least get an idea of the tone of the show and who the main characters are. It can get pretty embarrassing when you read for a role for a TV show and mispronounce the main character's name 'cause you've never seen it. If you had a job interview for IBM, you wouldn't ask "So.. you guys make computers?"
Stationed at each one of these studios is a casting assistant who's there to prep the actors and makes sure they go in a certain order, etc. The bulk of them are actors themselves, which means they are as broke and neurotic as the rest of us. So, guess what? BE NICE TO THEM. Oy. These are the people who work for the casting director, so acting like an a-hole to them does you no favors. At the aforementioned 90 minute wait callback, I sat around politely, doing my Sudoku, keeping quiet. When the overworked casting assistant needed to tell us anything, I paid attention. When I had to go feed my meter, I politely told her. The rest of the guys around me? They started complaining and whining and rolling their eyes. Surprisingly, the bulk of them didn't bring anything to read or listen to as they waited. So of course, all they could focus on was on how long it was taking. Sure, I wasn't happy with it either, but I'd rather be there waiting to go into an audition than not. And also, I'm not going to air how unhappy I am in front of the casting assistant. I mean, please. Actors are a dime-a-dozen in this town, so coming across as an ungrateful whiny shitheel because some people who may potentially pay you some potentially big money are taking a while makes you even more replaceable in people's minds. And on a side note, I love acting and I love what I do, so why would I want to listen to someone bitch and moan about this job when the huge bulk of an actor's life is going on auditions? UGH.
Now, obviously, a lot of actors are not like this. Not most of them, but a lot of them are polite, courteous, and professional. My other callback this week was full of very nice, warm, business-like thespians who were very respectful and mellow. But it always amazes me that people can be just so goddamn stupid sometimes.
August 02, 2007 in Hollyweird | Permalink | Comments (2)
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