What's up
I have joined up with a new manager at Aegis Talent.
Aside from having an amazing person in my corner, their company’s name implies that I will be heading into battle with either a ‘shield of Jupiter’ or ‘mantle of Zeus’. It’s a breastplate or shield of majesty, possibly made of goatskin or covered by it. Adorning myself with a kingly god’s boon can likely only be a good thing.
This was made by AI, and I’m wondering what this great role is that AI thinks I’m bound to play. Looks pretty rad.
The aforementioned work life balance is a relatively new concept, previously known as life. I’m a fan of the simpler term, but want to acknowledge how one can prepare you for the other.
With my wife out of town for work, I’ve been in charge of the mornings/nights of both children, which has been an adjustment. To all the caregivers who do this always, I am impressed/humbled. It’s a multi-tasker’s dream, and minimalist’s nightmare. Here’s a small stream of consciousness of me in the midst of it at before dinnertime - is she on the couch? no, playing with that - good, maybe a minute then, careful cut carrots not fingers, did he say dad? oh he found it, zucchini? no, still more carrots - is she on the couch? put her in here? no still playing with that, nuggets 20 seconds maybe 25 will he eat some? no, no letters left - what else? has he pooped? when? fiber - apples first so cinnamon doesn’t scatter - does she have fruit left? etc.
It’s a flow, I’m a shark, always moving from one microtask to the next, a flurry of meal prep for three different ages.
When an action comedy project comes through the pipeline, the clearly written character and action gives me a direct path through an enjoyable experience. There are quick transitions that require focus, but none of them feel very challenging given the number of transitions my life requires, and the focus is a delightful break from the frenetic pace of whack-a-mole that happens when two children need different things at the same time.
Fashion cycles around and around. It’s funny to see kids wearing what people wore in high school. The clothes are getting bigger, the hair floppier, and the pants baggier.
I’m on board with baggier pants, as long as it trends 20s 30s 40s and not 90s. The rest of it I’ll leave at Hot Topic. Skinny pants don’t fit these legs that have to hold up my big ol butt and body. Baggier pants make me feel Swooshy ™. Some kinda karate master, or painter, or jazz dancer - something masterful that requires movement.
Got a big opening night coming up to celebrate my wife’s hard work. Sister in law’s a stylist. Sent along this reference point based on my ideas. We’ll see how close I come to this lewk. This guy is an ambassador from some land of mastery. If I get halfway there I’ll feel great.
Point is - ask your people for help. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be having as much fun with this mission.
Now that the strike is over, work flow can return to normal.
Here is a normal workflow - calm calm calm calm, swell - 5 PROJECTS AT ONCE - GO!
The calm will return, but I’m looking forward to getting ‘the best barrels ever…get pulled in and spit right out…and just drop the lip and smack in WHABAP, drop down - SWABAA, and after that just drop in, just ride the barrel, and get pitted, so pitted’. Look up funny surfer interview for this reference and an internet legend.
Actually, here you go anyway.
Merry Chrimbus - HERE HE IS
There’s a strike happening. It’s up and down, talks and then no talks.
Still there are some projects out there, if you look for them. Get back training weekly, get your chops back together, and put some tapes down on the ones that come your way.
One of them catches. It’s the type of role you’ve wanted to do for awhile. It doesn’t rely on your height. It doesn’t rely on your mean mug. It relies on an experience you have every day to your children. It feels like your life, but in a slightly different universe.
Additionally, it’s a film. You can take space to let more of your life in. Unlike TV, there’s not a clock ticking in the back of everyone’s head. It’s all a huge relief. You are grateful.
But then you realize you have to work out the schedule of your real children and this parallel family. Fortunately you have a real wife, unlike the absent one in the story. Again you are grateful.
This is just here to say that I’m very proud of my wife and the whole creative team behind The Notebook The Musical. My wife wrote the book, and I was just there for support. I’m on Team Jock Strap. Or Team Bra. Or Team Back Brace.
It’s been illuminating to see the degree of talent and work that goes into something like this. I was privileged enough to see the show in Chicago a few times, and it does what only live theatre can do - send you and everyone in the room on a beautiful transcendent journey that momentarily takes you out of time and into the heart of humanity.
So far it’s been a 6 year process, which apparently is short for musicals. I am beyond impressed, and can’t wait to celebrate in the city that never sleeps. Seriously, NYC, why do your trash tracks clang around at 2 am? People are trying to sleep. I love you but you’re loud.
I’m sure you’ve heard. The SAG-AFTRA guild of TV/film actors, including myself, are going on strike.
I’m proud of my guild for not settling. I’ve long taken issue with streaming residuals, their obfuscation of numbers, and plenty of the other issues on the table.
This has happened before - a new technology has arisen that restructures an industry, and for a time those who control the technology realize they can take advantage of this new structure, until the workers realize they must stand together and demand their fair share according to their contribution. The controllers of the technology are only special in that they got there first and were willing to assert their avarice.
The WGA is on strike, which means the auditions for film and television have dried up.
So, I pivot to another arena of my life. Family, friends, housework, writing my own projects, etc. Our 4 month old baby takes up quite a wonderful part of my day.
Got a moment to catch up with my Texan friend Blake Boyd, a talented, humble, and very productive fellow actor. He gave me some pointers on riding, we talked about scenes we were gonna film, we had lunch, and were serenaded in Spanish by fellow diners.
My horse for the day, Blue, was a big dude like myself, so I was grateful that he could bear my weight. Some places don’t accommodate for big ol butts.
Here’s some shots of us riding around.
You’re on paternal leave and auditions start coming down the line. Some start shooting after or almost after your leave is done (which, by the way, as an artist is arbitrary but completely necessary to allow time to adjust to life with a new baby).
Do you…?
A. Turn down the auditions that aren’t worth it.
B. Do the auditions that are worth it.
C. Do auditions while sleep deprived.
D. Book a substantial role on a network TV show.
E. All of the above.
The answer is E. And to sum up all of these series so far - being busy with life is a great reason to do an audition, not the other way around. I’m beginning to think that a little bit of chaos helps with focus.
My life has been thrown into the wonderful chaos of caring for a newborn while also raising for a toddler.
The noise level of these combined events is sometimes counterproductive to focus, especially on creative work.
This ear protection, made to endure the sound of grinding steel, gunshots, and other cacophonies, has stepped up to save the day.
When I have a spare moment here or there, and when my wonderful wife is caring for the joyous noisemakers, these have allowed me the quietude needed to get some small amount of work completed.
The Rule of Booking Pt. III - it’s not hard to book, and it never was. It’s fun.
You cannot game the rules of booking. You can’t pretend it’s not hard if it is.
But if there’s any pattern it’s this - you’re busy working on so many different things (creative work included), which creates a state of mind that’s too busy to obsess over your work. You have just enough time to do the work necessary, so you do it, and then share it.
It’s a small relief that it doesn’t need to be hard. But still - you work hard so that it’s not hard. Many of life’s truths are a paradox.
Here are some of my favorite things that I watched this past year:
The Rehearsal - it’s absurd where it went and ended up but I love that they basically gave this man the money to take his artistic whims wherever he wanted.
1883 - Oh, you want more story than dialogue? Everything that could happen to you when playing the Oregon Trail, happens here through brilliantly written and performed and shot scenes. Every aspect is fantastic. Also a textbook way to use voiceover like it is here - to frame this violent world through the hopeful eyes of a young woman exploring it. Usually voiceover seems like a lazy way to lay out story. Not here. Taylor Sheriden is one of the best storytellers in the game right now.
Top Gun : Maverick - Just peak action. HRRRGN, HRRRGN, percussively breathe through the sharp turns of this aerial extravaganza.
Reacher - Likely never loved a character more than Reacher, and I think this hunky dude nailed his perspective. Lotta big guy being hungry humor I can relate to, lot of uncomplicated fun of a classic action thriller.
Severance - a slow burn that pays off hugely…you’ll be glad you watched a few too many ‘walking down a labyrinthine hallway’ scenes in the end.
Adam McKay - nearly any of what he touches is thoroughly excellent.
And here are some slight criticisms of entertainment these days:
I can now tell when a show is ‘doing a thing’. Like there were a lot of talks in pre-production about tone, and style, and there are wigs, and there’s some cool color correction, and it just takes me out of it really quickly. Basically valuing style over content. Have a good story first, then have it live in another world. With so many in the TV and film production game, it’s likely just a product of statistics. But it makes me change the channel really fast. And I lament the sunk cost of just creating a mood. Actors fall into the same trap of doing what they think it feels like or looks like instead of telling an authentic truth about themselves. I’ve done it.
I hope we are over saturated with charismatic con men and women. I know people are stupid and believe what they want to believe, and that there will be people who abuse this. I just find it incredibly boring. Yes, people will lie to get what they want. Lotta great performances are highlighting the morally bankrupt. Is that really what you want to do with your life?
Not everything needs to have musical numbers. I think executives really overshot trying to ride the trend here. Sometimes your leads can’t sing that well. It’s not pleasant listening to people who aren’t good singers. Leave it out and let the story do its thing.
I’m very much against throwing violence against children into a show. Likely because I’m a father now. It seems like a cheap attention grab to crudely engineer stakes. Very sensitive to how violence is used so cheaply to garner our sympathy and hatred of the characters.
Hey, but what do I know? I’m just a guy who’s trying to navigate this deluge of content and spot the trends that aren’t bearing any more fruit.
The Rule of Booking Pt. II - when you leave town for an extended period of time, you will book a Network TV job in another town for an extended period of time.
You cannot game the Rule of Booking Pt. II. The logistics must be so complex to pull this feat off in a short amount of planning time that your brain will be too fried to be excited about the job. It must cost you and your family a small amount of sanity at least. You will have time later to be grateful.
The Rule of Booking - when you make plans to leave town you will be offered a job to stay.
You cannot game the Rule of Booking. It has to be a legitimate travel plan, and it has to cost you dearly to choose one or the other. You can either see your close family that you haven’t seen in a year, or go take part in telling someone else’s story.
My other other job is developing projects with my wife for money and friends for free.
My official title is President of Development of Taco Night Productions, which is to say I’m the only person in development at this production company.
We just got a movie rewrite job, and I want to celebrate that for her and me. It was another one which I helped completely retool. It’s a movie based on a book.
Many of the projects that have been picked up have been after I’ve helped tweak, refine, and streamline the story through the lens of what’s believable (actor brain), what’s compelling (story structure), what’s funny (sketch/comedy brain) and troubleshooting (using what’s there and enhancing it while addressing the problems stated by producers).
Of the projects on which I’ve contributed, 4/5 have been bought/hired to do the work.
I’ll take that batting average any day, and if anything it tells me I should try to widen the scope of projects I’m involved with.
Here’s what I can offer as far as where the industry is at - existing IP, existing IP, existing IP.
Most production companies are buying and making stories about things that either are already written (proof of concept), or actually happened and are crazy compelling true stories. These true stories are especially attractive if they’re about somebody being a scam artist.
This trend is so thorough that it makes me bemoan that we are giving these vile people any more resources (attention), and makes me wonder if there isn’t some glorification of chicanery. I think what we pay attention to is important.
I think, like all trends, it’ll subside, and soon the pendulum will swing to new ideas some day. But they have to be better than the real ones.
Another compelling thing - 90% of all information has been made in the past 2 years*. That makes me really interested in very specific historical pieces that are relevant now. Like when all the workers (plebes) in Rome went on strike and sat on the hillside until the upper class (optimates) realized that they couldn’t run the city without them. Reminds me of the Great Resignation happening now.
Hit me up if you have a project you got notes on from any network executives, or just want fresh eyes on a piece. I’ll give you specific notes along with my reasoning for those.
*https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522085217.htm
May I present - the work cycle (for an actor, and I imagine many creatives/freelancers):
This work is amazing.
No, actually I’m bad at it. This is terrible.
I better work really hard at it or else I’m doomed to never work again.
Actually, I’m pretty happy with it after working on it. Out it goes into the world.
Now what? Life is meaningless. When do I get to work again?
Well, now that I think about it, I like my life without so much work.
Yea no, my life is great.
What’s this? More work? The moment I accepted my life is great as is? Cool.
No really, cool. I love working.
(Repeat forever)
Actors are constantly coming to terms with what type of person they can portray.
When your full self is the product, a little thought about this might be a good idea.
There is an exercise you can do to help understand how others perceive you - ask them! I’m prepping for an updated shoot, and stumbled across an old version of this. I’m struck by how accurate these still are.
Person 1 : Masculine, motivated, approachable, rugged, witty
Person 2: Powerful, inviting, strong, family-oriented, fun, blue-collar, rough, caring, warrior, team-player
Person 3: Imposing, educated, rugged, kind, official, geeky, gentle
Person 4: Intense, intellectual, upper crust, brooding, weird
Person 5: Big, smart, creative, nice, intense, productive
Person 6: Intense, serious, unpredictable, pensive, productive
Person 7: Calm, ambitious, direct, competent, gentle, smart, introverted, polite
Person 8: Fluid, direct, undercover, hidden, strong, instructor, adaptable
These people were all being very kind and using mostly positive adjectives. For that I’m appreciative, so maybe next time I’ll ask people that I know don’t like me. Would be equally as useful. Feel free to send me a message if you don’t like me telling me some adjectives that fuel your disdain. Might be cathartic for you.
Also, I recently came across some old notes I’d written as a kid.
Behold, proof of my brooding/pensive/weird self:
Last year, my agent asked me if I was ‘ripped’. I had to admit that, ‘no, that probably wouldn’t be what I’d call myself, I’m more athletic’. On the above order of magnitude chart that would likely be 49.
The goal this year is possibly to get myself to Ripped, which is 56.
But also I have my own problems with this chart. It spends way too much space on the out of shape range. More than half. Maybe this is more a reflection on the author’s own negative perception of being overweight, maybe not.
Currently, after considerable effort, I’m proud to say that I’m probably somewhere between 50 and 51.
I’d like to eventually get to a category not really listed here, which I’ve always liked, which is ‘rocked’, or ‘jacked’. That’s somewhere beyond ripped maybe, who knows. We’ll see what my body can tolerate.
Also, who says ‘yolked’? I know ‘yoked’ like you’re oxen-esque, but maybe I’ve been hearing this wrong. I don’t know how egg yolks accurately describe an appearance. Diet yes, appearance, no. Plenty wrong with this chart, basically.
Pretty much what it looked like (in my head).
I had felt my knees get steadily weaker over the years, and I had barely pulled off a dunk many years ago. After it I thought, “Well I better stop now, so I can say the last time I checked I can dunk.”
A friend, who is over 6 feet tall like me and was an ultra marathon runner, suggested I check out an Instagram fitness dude - @kneesovertoesguy - to rehabilitate what was becoming a tricky knee.
He provides lengthening workouts to strengthen the joints, and offers insights that have recently been ignored by a lot of weight trainers. After some research, I decided to give a few of his workouts a try. I very soon realized my joints felt more stable.
Cut to a now, a month and a half later, me shooting around at the park. Layups feeling alright, getting some air to slap the backboard easily. No pain in the knees. I’m like, ‘maybe I can do this’.
I get up there, one hand with the ball, but lose the ball with my hand. Still, I take note of how high I am up, and it’s substantial altitude. As high as I ever remember. Okay, now with two hands I launch, and throw it down easily, efficiently, with no pain. (Two hands is harder than one hand for me usually)
I am just one of a chorus of people who are singing this guy’s praises. What he’s proposing isn’t entirely new. Many athletes and trainers have implemented these workouts. He does innovate a lot of new stretches and gradations so that you can ease your way into having bulletproof joints.
Mine are by no means bulletproof. But I’ll take this latest flight test as positive encouragement.
And, if you ever need a mid-life white dude to dunk in your project, bring me in. I’ve got at least one or two takes in me. By the time you read this, probably more.
So much of an actor’s work is transitory, and I celebrate that. I love that. We work, share that work, and then it exists only in memory or on screen. You can’t hold it. You can only experience it.
Many other jobs end in a finished product - something that you can see and touch and use. I’ve done some of those said jobs and there’s a satisfaction to being able to hold your work.
For those whose work is creating an experience, it may feel like your work dissolves into thin air. So it can be useful to remind yourself of the work you have done, if only to say hey, I actually did do something with my time.
Here’s my work station with a folder of scripts from auditions, classwork, and jobs that I’ve kept from this year so far.
I’m grateful for the work entrusted to me by my amazing teacher Amy Lyndon, my new team at UGA and AMG, and for future work that comes my way.
If only to fill up this cardboard box, move my eye line markers around, and keep fresh the muscle that expands my understanding of the human condition. Especially if that human condition includes a drawing of superman that looks like he’s smuggling something massive in his underpants.