Police Officer, "oui;" Sheriff, "non"

Okay, time to get caught up with what's happened during the past few days.

On April 13th I auditioned for the role of a retired sheriff in the student film, "Ringworm," a farce/parody/hybrid of "The Ring" and "Tremors." I didn't get the role, but I was notified in a very nice way:

"Thank you so much for coming to our audition yesterday, it was a real pleasure to meet you! Although you did an outstanding job and gave an amazing performance my partner and I have decided to go in a different direction for this particular project. Please do not let this dissuade you from auditioning for us in the future and we wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors."

I think that is boilerplate text that all student directors are required to use when notifying actors they did not get the role. "Sob, sob, boo hoo."

The other role that I auditioned for I did get. It was in a student film called "Delusions." I played a cop with probably 5 to 10 seconds of screen time. Just long enough to rush and disarm the kidnapper. In order to be more involved in the production I volunteered to take production stills during breaks in the filming. I also got to be the boom operator (I was disappointed to learn that it didn't involve creating loud noises.)

I had an audition on Thursday, April 25 for the role of Officer Dan. Yep, another Officer of the Law. This is a paid role for a feature film, "Killer School Girls from Outer Space." Sounds highbrow, doesn't it? It's going to be a cheesy, 1950s-style SciFi flick. A decision on the audition will not be made for 3 weeks. Stay tuned.

A Favorite Quote

"Be excellent to each other." ~ Bill and Ted from 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'

Here are some stills from "Delusions."

Photo 1: A break during the filming of the kidnapping sequence. Photo 2: The Director of Photography and the film's Director consider the upcoming scene.

Doctor, Producer, DA, Psycho, Psychiatrist, etc.

One completed; six to be decided.

Monday night, 3/30. I received four emails over a period of several hours from the casting director of "Conflict of Interest" and each one had a different call time for the day's shoot in Kyle except the last one said that now they weren't going to use extras. On the plus side that enabled me to audition for "Sleep Therapy." I don't think I was "over-the-top" enough for the role of an intimidating psychiatrist.

Tuesday afternoon, 3/31. I got an email saying the shoot for "Sublime Intervention" was set for Saturday, April 4 from 11 am to 5 pm, then Tuesday night a got an email saying that the postponed shoot of "It's Complicated" has been rescheduled for the same day from 9 am to 5 pm.

Saturday, 4/4. The shoot for "Sublime Intervention" went smoothly -- thanks, John -- and I'm posting a couple of photos below. Now I can say, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (okay, so it's not TV; it's a short film -- big deal!). Regardless, it's tough when you have to tell a couple their baby just kicked the bucket. I tried to be diplomatic, but there's just no good way to do it.

Still haven't heard back from the director of "It's Complicated" after leaving him a message saying that I couldn't make the re-scheduled date for the shoot. It's too bad, because I was getting into the role of Ron, the producer of the TV show. I had my lines down pat, but the director of this film kept rolling the dice with my schedule and on the fourth try he coincided with "Sublime."

Sunday. Sent emails out requesting auditions for three different short films: "East of the Highway," as an ignorant, racist DA (going against type here, I think); "Silence of the Lambs," as Hannibal Lecter (how's that for biting off more than I can chew); and "Crazy Restaurant," as one of the crazies (okay, this one is a perfect fit).

The audition for "Silence" was just after 4 pm this afternoon and I got an 8-page script just before noon. Yeah, that's a lot of time to learn anything. I read the script twice then went online and found a clip of the scene from the movie and watched it twice, then went and tried to act like Anthony Hopkins in his Academy Award performance. Talk about acting like an actor. Whew!

A Favorite Quote

"The trouble with real life is that there's no danger music." ~ unknown

Top photo: Ray Perez as Clark, me as the Doctor, Allison Wood as the wife of Clark.
Bottom photo: Most of the crew including me, and John (far right) after wrapping for the day.