finances

Got a call last week from an actual employment agency. A sign that the economy is improving...?

Was given a whole rundown on the job and what they were looking for, and my resume pretty much covers what they are looking for experience wise and attitude wise.

I gave my availability for this week to interview. So we'll see what happens.

The voiceover job never answered my initial response and question on pay rate. So I wrote again late last night to follow-up as the supposed time the job was to take place has since come and gone. I would say I'm disappointed, but money is something that needs to be discussed. It's an uncomfortable topic for some, but I'd already done some freebie work for them prior, and was not about to do it again without some form of compensation in return, it's only fair.

Money's tighter than ever.

What is that, I hear my inner voice say? Life is not fair. Oh well.

As Scarlett O'Hara would say, "I'll think about it tomorrow."

Several months ago, a discussion came up about how one could be misled or feel taken advantage of regarding pay rates for a background gig.

One of the actors who were made aware of this situation posted the rant of one of the BG'ers anonymously on their blog. I noted no one ever responded. Over time, this blog had gotten some notoriety as the blogger stated to several people that they had actually gotten contacted by the casting agencies involved with the particular gig/situation for other postings the blogger had done and had been told to revise what they wrote. When this blogger asked for advice on what to do on the revising issue (something about the freedom of speech thing) one of the pieces of advice given was that the blogger could write whatever they wanted, as long as it was true and they had the proof to back it up.

The blogger advised they had decided it wasn't worth the drama and said they had gone back and did the revise. Yet I didn't see much of a difference in the posts. One was particularly inflammatory to one person, and that post was taken down in its entirety. Other than that, there was very little tweaking of this blogger's observations if at all.

So back to this anonymous poster that the blogger put on their site. Turns out that several months later it makes an appearance, word for word, on a well known acting site. The person who wrote the rant was listed anonymously, but the reply from the contributing writer to the acting site really lit into this person, in essence saying their reasoning was skewered and at one point, an insult to the ones who came before us on what real employment bias is.

Suffice it to say, I immediately reached out to the blogger who had posted this rant letter months ago to find out what they thought. They were remiss in an actual opinion, only acknowledging that the letter was indeed from their source.

Then I noted it had been discussed at some length by the contributing writer with several others online before their response to the rant letter went to print. I'm sure the blogger is impressed. In one way it's exciting that this blogger is getting on the radar and has had casting agencies as well as major publications take notice of what they write. There is power in writing. In another way, it may paint them and the anonymous letter writer in a hole as far as future acting work.

Which leads me to the piece of advice I plan to stick to so I don't end up in a sticky situation. Be professional and nice to everyone because you never know who knows who.

So it will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

not too boring so far

The past two days found me working on set in Brighton Beach filming for a series called "Bored To Death", starring Jason Schwartzman (Darjeeling Express). He was amicable, and made small talk with the background actors and even asked our names, which was nice. We needed a way to pass the time. He talked up the pretty thin blond next to him, who had some interesting views about her fear of aging and that she was concerned she was not as thin as she could be. This was a very pretty and thin woman, who was concerned about her looks, and Jason was as gentlemanly as can be. I always wonder what these women see when they look in the mirror. Sometimes I wonder if they are just trying to get someone to say "oh that's so not true, you are gorgeous, you are doing great!" or if they truly don't see how pretty they are. Either way, it's a crime and a shame. I didn't say much but simply observed and kept my comments to myself. I tend to get into trouble when I don't.

Ironically, I couldn't help but notice all the tall pretty thin women that were on set, and here I am with my curvy self, that two of them could easily stand side by side to fill one of me. A lot of the men were paying attention to them and eyeing them. If one of the thin women seemed confused or stuck, it took seconds for one of the men if not a few to come to their rescue.

So I watched Jason as he talked up the blond at the table he was at, and thought, here's a guy who is average looking, reminds me a bit of Dustin Hoffman, who I think he admires anyway. Probably smart, seems engaging. And he's not looking at the 'average' girl but this beautiful thin tall blond who is preoccupied with, let's face it, shallow issues.

We want what we can't have. Or we let ourselves get lost in what we think we can acquire when we know what the price is going to be. Would Jason be able to talk to this girl, or better yet, would this girl give him the time of day if Jason wasn't in a starring role?

And I fold my napkin onto my lap and allow myself to observe, relax, and talk to fellow BG actors, some I've worked with before, and catch up with them, cracking jokes and listening to everyone's stories.

One BG actor did spiral out of control at one point when we were in holding because she was not getting the attention of this male BG actor who was sitting and talking to another. She got more aggressive towards him, first by interrupting his conversation and then by physically moving closer to him and in his face to get him to interact with her and he was not amused and kept on his conversation. She lost it by stating that everyone was jealous of her, no one cared about her, and she was "used to that". When another BG came over to have a seat, she tried to engage that person by stating along the lines that everyone at that table was against her, and nudged her chin towards the direction of the male actor. The male actor made a crack, "No wonder you never got any waivers," and she got up in a huff and left to complain to another passing BG actor. Nobody knew her, not even the one she tried to start an argument with, not the other passing BG actor she tried to get involved, or the one who sat at the table at the tail end of her dramatic speech before going off in a huff.

On a positive note -- my computer drive replacement came in, it's installed, and I'm up and running! YAYYY!!!