Focus: Commercial

After some introspection and much needed peer counseling, it has come to my attention that I am such a frazzled maniac because I don't have a short term focus or any short term goals. I am all over the frickin' place! This leaves me feeling overwhelmed, lost, unproductive and generally depressed.

So, here it is. My short term focus is dedicated to getting commercial work. For the next 2-3ish months all my energy, classes, and meetings will be dedicated to exploration within the commercial field. Why commercial? Apparently it's easier to get a commercial agent than a legit one, it's decent money and exposure, and my improv and comedy training are assets to this side of the biz.

Let me start off by saying, other than accidentally watching commercials when I forget to fast-forward the DVR, I know nothing about commercial acting. Some actor friends of mine advised me: everything is happy in commercial copy, there are no conflicts, and there's no time for character. Okie dokie!

So, to start things off, I went to a One on One session with David Elliott of Buchwald. I went in, read my commercial copy, and acted perky. He was very nice and made the room super comfortable but he caught me off guard when he straight up asked me how old I was. I've been taught that we actors are supposed to dodge this question like woah! Instead you're supposed to give the age range that you could realistically portray. I don't really give a shit, so I told him and god bless his heart. He said, "That's a good age. You're not too old and you're not dumb anymore!" WORD. I left the room feeling really good but I think he's the kind of guy who makes everybody feel really good so we'll just see if the damn phone rings.

I also met Stacye Mayer of Paradigm at the Network. At the Network, Mayer addressed the whole group for a Q & A and she gave some guidance. Basically she says that commercial peeps are looking for personality. They don't expect big bold characters or for you to try too hard to sell a product, they just want to see you. This I'm a-ok with! Mayer also stressed how arbitrary commercial casting can be, "If you look like the casting agent's fiancée you'll get cast, if you look like their ex you won't." Nice. She also stressed that improv and sketch comedy training are very important (score!). My private session with her was pleasant as well, she gave me some adjustments to the copy, let me do it again, and told me to follow up with her when I have another improv show. Time to sit and wait. Oh yeah, Jeff Mitchell, Mayer likes postcards! Ass.

So far I haven't crashed and burned in front of anyone but beyond that I have no idea how I did. Maybe it will just be dumb luck. I've booked 2 more private sessions that are coming up. Hopefully I'll learn from doing, and keep doing until someone takes this bait.