Tips For The Working Actor.....

Today I did another free acting workshop for new/upcoming actors. All I can say is Wow! It's nice speaking to a full house! Definitely over 30 people and the workshop place (Actorsite) provided free pizza. Nice. In addition, they opened it to current members as well as non-members (with hopes that maybe they'll become new members). Smart on their part if you ask me.

I had fun sharing everything that I've learned in the short time that I've been here and what has been working for me. I feel good about giving back and helping others. Especially when I've seen sooo many scams and money making schemes that try to take advantage of our dreams and passion for this business. Although I'm sometimes tempted to start doing these on a regular basis around LA and around the country for that matter. Who has time for that? With drop-offs, classes, workshops, auditions, bookings, etc. There's no way I could fully commit to something like that. Maybe one day I'll finish this book and I'll reach more actors that way..that would be nice. (Anyone take dictation out there?! I mean, really, who has the time?)

I'm of the mind, that if you spread yourself too thin on too many tasks...you'll never do anything right. There's something to be said for having ONE sole purpose. ONE focus that you can concentrate all your positive energy towards. With God's Blessing, right now my career has one focus and one focus only. Acting. Booking gigs, getting seen, establishing relationships, etc. Maybe one day I'll be able to venture into a travelling workshop, classes, career mentoring, etc. Right now, Daddy just needs to book a gig!! Smile.

Thanks again to all those who were in attendance!

One word..........BOOKED!!!

My agent called me up to say that I booked that supporting role on the Independent Feature Film "Darkness Visible" I auditioned for a few weeks ago. Yay! It's stars Sean Young, M. Emmet Walsh, Barbara Bain and Juliet Landau. I'm excited to be a part of it! I'm playing a male nurse and shoot sometime in June. I'll keep you posted.

Guess who's back?!

TV Audition: "The Bill Engvall Show” (Pilot) @ Stiner/Block Casting
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Well Daddy's back in town! Miss me? Thank you God for getting me back safely. I had a wonderful trip! Had some business to take care of with a government agency I used to work with. Can't discuss any of it...it's good stuff though....suffice to say,
the meeting went very well. Don't plan on making any career moves again, but you always have to keep those doors open right? It also happend to be on my brithday...so I was very fortunate to spend time with some family.

So did I miss any auditions? C'mon now?! What did I tell you on the previous post? Is the Pope, Catholic? I missed 2 auditions (1 theatrical, 1 commercial) AND a voice-over booking! Yep, missed a straight booking....gotta love it! But it's cool. It's nice to be wanted. Smile.

Having said all that, there's nothing nicer than getting off the plane and heading to an audition. Yeah. Okay, well maybe getting a booking like I did before.....but just work with me will ya?! I'm excited about heading to this one. This office booked me in my first LA gig just over a year ago! I'm glad that I'm still on their radar. Please keep me in your prayers.

That's it for now. I'll catch up on some other things later - Have a meeting on Friday (hmmmm...smile) and I'm teaching another "Tips For The Working Actor" workshop on Sunday. Gotta run!

Bad News.....Good News.....

TV Audition: "Up All Night” (Pilot) @ Greenstein/Daniel Casting
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Feature Film Audition: "Quebec” @ Wendy O'Brien Casting
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Bad News was that I received a call from my manager saying that the first audition for "Up All Night" was cancelled. The part had been written out. Oh well, I'm very happy that that office called me in. This is like the third time! Getting repeat business is ALWAYS good. Means that they like my work.

Truth is, had I booked this...it would have conflicted with an upcoming trip I have scheduled.....yes boys and girls, I'll be out
of town for just under a week. I'll miss you too! And we all know what this trip means right?! It means that I'll be getting some auditions that of course I'll have to miss out on. Let's try to guess how many this time. I'm guessing four! Smile.

Good News was that I received a call from my agent saying I had a last minute audition for "Quebec". Yay! I had just dropped off there the other day. I felt really good about the audition. We'll see.

In the meantime, please keep me in your prayers.

VT

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the students and faculty killed in the Virginia Tech tragedy yesterday.

To the victims, the family members, their community and to the rest of us watching in shock, may God continue to watch over all of us.

This one's a BIG one....and a secret. Shhhh.

Feature Film Audition: "Untitled Steven Spielberg Film"
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I was debating whether or not I should post this one....but hey, why not?! I've pretty much shared every other wonderful opportunity I've been Blessed with...why not this one.

Yes, you read it correctly. I had an audition for one of the biggest directors in Hollywood! I was put on tape and it was to be forwarded to Mr. Steven Spielberg himself! Wow! Obviously, this was one of the biggest auditions I've ever had in my entire life.

Unfortunately, I can't say ANYTHING about the project: my role, who the CD was, etc. Sorry. It is a very hush, hush thing. I didn't even get to see the real script/sides for my audition at all. My audition consisted of a character and a script from an entirely different film that had nothing to do with Mr. Spielberg. I'm serious.

Still, this audition was a dream come true. I had a couple of days to work on the sides (the fake ones, that is), I made strong choices and I felt great about my audition. I was very conifident and the casting director (who was awesome by the way) was very impressed. Not to mention...I was the only person at the audition and I felt like a celebrity. Wow.

Who knows what happens next...it's in God's hands now. All I can say is Mr. Spielberg, at some point, has watched or will be watching your's truly auditioning for him on video. Wow!

That's wild isn't it?! Hopefully, there'll come a point in my career when this won't be such a big surprise. Aww, hell...who am I kidding...auditioning for Steven Spielberg is always going to be a big deal for me. Smile.

That's it for now. Hey, you never know right?! Thank you God for this opportunity...whether I get it or not. I will never forget this one. Exciting isn't it?! Hope you're still enjoying this ride with me. Please keep me in your prayers.

We're experiencing technical difficulties...please stand by.

Laptop appears to be down for the count. Yeah...I'm a bit bummed out about that....but hey, at least it lasted me this long..right?! So I'm totally greatfull about that.

In the meantime, I'm working off of my pda (that's what I'm typing this from) until I get a new one.

*Hint: anyone with a hook-up or an extra laptop...hit me up. (Hey....it's not impossible) When I make some decent money from one of these projects...I'll totally get a nice, top of the line joint since this is my business. But for right now, Daddy's on a serious budget and I'll have to "Make it do, What it do..Baby!" I'll let you know when I get a new one. Everything happens for a reason. I wonder what this lesson is?

It's all good. I can't complain....it could always be worse, right?!

Too bad....I have a great story to share with you! Guess it'll have to wait. Hahahahaha! (Mad Scientist laugh) This is officially called a Teaser! Smile.

Feature Film Audition: "Fast Glass" @ Lisa Hamil Casting
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Feature Film Audition: "Darkness Visible”
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CALLBACK AUDITION!!!: "Subway” @ Kathy Knowles Casting
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He Shoots.....He Scores!

Killing time in my trailer waiting to shoot my scenes

Today I shot my scenes for the Feature Film "1408". I played a NYC Cab Driver and my scenes were with the female lead Mary McCormack. Needless to say, I had a GREAT time shooting. Mary and I really hit it off and it was wonderful working with her. We joked around with each other quite a bit and it felt as if I was working with an old friend. I would make a smart comments about her being pregnant, she would tell the make-up artist

they needed to do more work on me, etc. We had fun!

The director Mikael Håfström was awesome to work with. He knew exactly what he wanted in every scene and was very complimentary to both Mary and I. Having said that, the scenes were pretty short and we were pretty much on point so things went pretty quick. I hope to be able to work again with both Mikael and Mary someday in the future. Now it's time to work
on the next one. Thanks for all the prayers everyone! I really appreciate it.

Mikael Håfström, Mary McCormack and Angel Oquendo on set

Excuse me, can I get a key to room "1408" - BOOKED!!!

I booked the supporting role for the feature film "1408" starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson that I went in for last week.
I shoot tomorrow! ! I'm playing a NYC Cab Driver. Boogie Down Bronx Represent Baby!!! Yeah!!!!

Funny thing about this one is that the film is pretty much already completed. Trailers, release date, etc. GOTTA LOVE THEM RE-SHOOTS!! That's cool....I'll take them as God sends them to me.

Needless to say, my new agent and I are both very excited and happy about this. For the first time in my life I'm batting 1000!! One audtion...one booking! Doesn't get much better than that. I know that won't be the case in the future...but I'll take a moment to soak this one up a bit.

Did I mention this is my FIRST theatrical booking for 2007?! Yes, it's true. I've done a couple of voice-over gigs and had a great time working the directors of those films (Want to see which ones? You're going to have to visit my profile on IMDb...since I don't list them on my resume). But Daddy finally gets to work in front of the camera. Yay! I'm also proud to say that I NEVER lost faith - I knew it was coming. Those of you that read my blog regularly know the deal. And guess what? I know that God has many more in store for me. (If that's His Will of course.) Isn't having a strong faith a beautiful thing?! Okay....here I am preaching. Now I know it's time to wrap this one up! Smile.

That's it for now. Thanks again to you; my family, friends and supporters. I truly appreciate all the positive vibes, prayers and support that I get from all of you. To all my fellow passionate artists (whether we're working as little or as much as we want) - keep up the good fight. It's inspiring! Remember, these are the days we'll reflect on and smile about when we all make it big! Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

ps. Looks like this summer is going to be a bit busy:
O13 - Opens June 8th!
KoC - Date isn't out yet, but will be either late June or July!
1408 - Opens July 13th!

Audition: "Subway” @ Kathy Knowles Casting
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Feature Film Audition: "1408” @ Karen Meisels Casting
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Wow! All I can say is wow! I haven't been with my new theatrical agent for even a week and I'm already going out. Now THAT's what I'm talking about! Never been to this office before either. The scene was pretty short and the CD said she really liked my work on it. We'll see!