It seem like I turned around and the month is gone. There was all this cool stuff I was gonna do! Didn't the Joker say something about people who try making plans?
Anyway...
January has been about getting Unreachable Eden ready for next week (!), networking, job hunting, and of course, auditioning.
I have been commuting from the Shore (yes, that one; thanks to Monstrously Trite Viewings) to New York City. The goals as of now have been to live in New York City by the end of the year, develop a steady stream of creative activity in my daily living, and push myself to be in position to sign with an agent and/or manager.
The immediate concern turned to income, with housing a very near second. If this sounds familiar, I was in the exact same place last spring and remember all too freshly how vastly unprepared I was for the labored carnage that is our economy. Acting is a business as much as an artistic endeavor. Consider it more like running a theater company: you're the self appointed artistic and managing director. One gives you vision, the other, the provisions. The challenge is to never compromise one for the other. Both are necessary for creative survival.
The hope has been for actor employment, but I learned from last time, that the only ideal job is the one you can get. I opened my search more widely, but this time, only New York would do. I'm teaching myself wines in response to restaurant hirings. It's been really fun actually.
The added bonus of The Hunt is the presence of this freakishly useful smart phone, with which I type to you now. The laptop has been down all month due to a faulty charger (soon to change), which has made communication itself a radical transition.
The Third War of Unemployment has officially ended as of last week. The result is a new job and I'm very close to having a place near the city. So much money and time soon to return!
Acting itself has gone well. Unreachable Eden runs on schedule. Can't tell you how happy I am to be an actor amongst actors again. Again, the show starts next week. I have to relearn how to post links through here, but we've had press releases published throughout the New York websphere. I also got a featured on Monmouth County Arts Council twitter site. These folks are directly responsible for a lot of the creative scholastic and theater fundraising back where I grew up. Much thanks to them! Rehearsals are very different from the touring work I've done. We only go for 4-6 hours (sometimes less) at a clip. And we'll have had this entire month to put the whole thing together (for those wondering, that's quite a luxury!).
As for networking, there are companies you can pay a nominal fee to meet agents and managers. For the unfamiliar, these are what the business calls Sellers. They are the sales force partner that fights for you out there, grabbing the attention of casting directors and producers-otherwise know as the Buyers.
Now to be clear, since 'getting an agent' becomes a bit of an obsession among performers, now is the right time for me, as I've already got training and professional experience working my chops on the past three tours. I'm even garnering regional theater interest now. The response at auditions has been incredibly positive. Although the most surprising discovery so far has been how many of these talent-pros think I'm a camera friendly guy.
Hey: acting is acting, to me!
-Ben
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