Week 396: Almost a Great Story and Summer Leverage

Weekly Written Review 

Almost! I almost made a great story this week. A series of things happened. Let's start with my audition for a co-starring role on NBC's Marlon. My agent got me the audition and I submitted the tape on Sunday. It's also my first TV SAG gig since I joined the union...I think it is. I was really confident about it. My friend LuLu helped me with the read I thought it would be my first co-starring role in the bucket. After a day or two, my white flag rose up. Oh well, let's just keep it moving, right! On Tuesday, I went down to Central Casting to update my account to union status. I signed up with Central Casting in December for the hell of it. They finally booked me for my first background gig last week. Upon that booking, I was like, "oh, this really works." I got paid on the non-union scale last week. I wanted to make sure if they booked me again it would be at a higher rate. What sucks about Central Casting is that you have to go into their office to update everything. There's no way to do it over the phone or online. So I went to Central on Tuesday to update my account and to my surprise, they contacted me the very next day for work. Two days of work on the show Marlon. Yup, the same show episode I auditioned for. 

Working background on the same show and episode I originally auditioned for a co-starring role was somewhat humbling. I got a first-hand view of the actor that took my role, lol. After thoroughly analyzing his performance, I get it. I probably made too many funny faces in my audition video. Even if I gave a perfect audition I probably wouldn't have got it. The choose a skinny light-skinned young man. Marlon was able to play off of his complexion and lanky body for jokes. I spoke to the kid that got the part and he told me it was his very first booking. I'm happy for him. That role was for him and he played the part. It certainly would have been nice to book my first co-starring role but there's a chance I might be seen just as much as him from my background work. I worked that camera. I'm certainly all up in that episode. I got some great looks and I'm sure lots of people will recognize me in the episode. Look out for me on Marlon season 2 episode 8. 

Mid-point through the first day of the Marlon shoot I get an audition notice. Oh boy! It was in the morning and I had to be back at Marlon in the morning. I knew I had to take the risk. This was an amazing story in the making. By the end of the Marlon shoot day 1, I told the 1st AD that I had a personal matter in the morning and I was going to be running late. He was cool about it. On Friday morning I got up early hoping to audition early and get out. That wasn't the case. My audition for a recurring role was at CBS Radford. My audition time was at 11:15. I got there around 9am and just waited. My Marlon call time was 9:30am. It was supposed to be at 8:30 but they pushed it an hour later. It helped but not enough. Central Casting called me at 9:30am. I told them I was running late and that I told the 1st AD what's up the morning before. As I waited for the audition to start I worked on my lines. I was called in first around 11am and the casting director said I was cute. That's a great start. She highlighted a few things on my resume and the energy in the room was positive. I started the scene and she stopped me early on. I immediately knew I blow it at that moment. As usual, I was making unreal choices or too big choices for my character. I messed up the second time and asked to start over. I barely made it through the last read and I was glad it was over. I got out of there and called a LYFT. I got the NBC Univeral around 11:30am. Someone escorted me to the 1st AD and he gave me an I'm disappointed in your face. I had to remind him of our conversation yesterday morning. It took him a second to remember and it was all good from that point. They were working on a scene that I probably wouldn't have been in first place. Then I got great placement for the remaining of the shoot.

The best part about this experience is that I get paid for the full day with no deductions. That's awesome. What sucks is that I blow the audition. What a story this would've been if I booked the audition after going through all that. Everything was in my favor. The 1st AD was on my side and I even had one of my background members that I just met updating me about the shoot through Instagram while waiting for my audition. Yet, there's no great story to share. Nonetheless, I really believe I got some good looks in the episode which airs this summer. That's more leverage for the Summer of Motown.


Sunday, April 15, 2018

* Hanging with LuLu...Pizza Hut

* Audition video sent for Marlon


Monday, April 16, 2018

* Music video audition

* No tennis today...it was way too windy outside

* Blogging...


Tuesday, April 17, 2018

* Central Casting update

* Basketball...evening...

* Signed up for Best Buy's Gamers club


Wednesday, April 18, 2018

* I randomly volunteered for a so-called TV pilot. Everyone was getting paid except for the background actors. It was my random decision of the week. I left early because it simply wasn't fun. I don't like how they treated the background actors. Part of me wishes I never bothered with it and played basketball. It was an unchallenging day.

* I didn't book the co-starring role for Marlon but Central Casting requested me to work background for the next two days. That was kind of random and cool.


Thursday, April 19, 2018

* Marlon shoot day 1


Friday, April 20, 2018

* CBS audition

* Marlon shoot day 2


Saturday, April 21, 2018

* Basketball...

* Playing Just Dance with LuLu. Yup, I bought it this week. Wow, I own Just Dance.


As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 395: It's a New Era

Weekly Written Review 

I haven't booked a lot/big with my agent but I've been blessed. I'm blessed because I never had to work hard searching for one. I got my first agent upon arriving in LA September of 2010 and I was with them up until Thursday. Yup, that relationship has finally ended. 7 and 1/2 years. I basically found them while in Florida on Craigslist. It was a good ride. I got a lot of good auditions. No serious bookings but I'm thankful for the ones I got. The past two or more years things got really slow with them. I still didn't join the pursuit to find a new agent. Then came June of last year. An agent reached out to me. That totally hit me off guard. My first agent allowed them to represent me theatrically. I immediately started booking small gigs with them. All this time I was unsigned with them and the official signing came on Thursday. I believe it was time. My first agent(s) were great as individuals but the enthusiasm left a while ago. At least when it comes to me. Now I have a new agent, plus I'm a union actor. It's a new era. So let's see what the new era has to offer.


Sunday, April 8, 2018

* Music video day 3 - Tiana - Just My Type


Monday, April 9, 2018

* Tennis

* Audition - Insurence company photo shoot

* Email from director Joe about my screenplay. He wants to read it. Whoop Whoop.


Tuesday, April 10, 2018

* My mom received a package from me today. I sent her large packs of toilet paper and paper towel.

* Mango pick up

* Screenplay rereading/rewriting

* April Blair Pilot Background work - first Central Casting booking. Of course, this gig had a lot of downtime so I got a bright idea. I downloaded my screenplay from a sent file on my phone and started reading and taking new idea notes Now that's how you make use of your downtime.


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

* Tennis...2 Whoppers

* Screenplay rereading/rewriting


Thursday, April 12, 2018

* Meeting with Twilight. I'm officially signed

* Screenplay rereading/rewriting


Friday, April 13, 2018

* Basketball

* Screenplay rereading/rewriting


Saturday, April 14, 2018

* Screenplay rereading/rewriting - COMPLETED

* Tennis...bad day for tennis. My neck was stiff.


As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 394: Still Utilizing All Options

Weekly Written Review 

I thought about submitting a video to Shark Tank in the past but no action was taken. I was recently notified by a Facebook group that Shark Tank is now accepting actors. It's a link from Craigslist so the ad is a bit suspect. I didn't want to do it but I came up with a grand idea for a pitch video, so I did it. It focused on my screenplay as the hook. As great as the video is, no one has seen it yet. I know this because the video still indicates no views. The video is great. If someone sees it, it will get their attention. I'm confident about it but will anyone ever see it? That's the challenge at hand. You live and you try. I'm still trying to break down the barrier so I still have to utilize all the options presented to me. Even the ones I don't want to try. Oh well...


Sunday, April 1, 2018

* Writing scripts for Aaron's House and Shark Tank

* Video shooting/editing for Aaron's and Shark Tank


Monday, April 2, 2018

* Tennis

* Videos completed and submitted

* Shark Tank video

* Aaron's House Stuff


Tuesday, April 3, 2018

* Lyft car accident

* Basketball


Wednesday, April 4, 2018

* Snake commentary

* TV series pitch deck sent Allen

* Blogging...

* Smart & Final pickups...washing clothes


Thursday, April 5, 2018

* Basketball


Friday, April 6, 2018

* Audition...Palms Casino

* Haircut...??


Saturday, April 7, 2018

* Music video day 1 (14 hours) Tiana - Just My Type


As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 393: Music Video Love is Real

Weekly Written Review 

This week was pretty incredible. Early in the week, I got a call about an upcoming music video shoot. Most of the time music videos confirm with an email or text but they kind of interviewed me over the phone. They asked for my age (cough cough) and they asked what type of music I like. I said, D'Angelo, Neo Soul, Prince, Michael, Bob Marley... and I even told them I started liking ACDC recently. Two days later they called back to confirm that I'm still available for the shoot on Thursday. Thursday came and we all met up in a Church's parking lot in Sherman Oaks. When I told them my name, they asked for my ID. I think that reminded him to check everyone elses ID. They eventually locked up our phones in a pouch. They kind telling us the shoot is for a new band. That's all we knew. That and they certainly didn't want any phones/cameras at the shoot. Finally a huge fancy black stretch party bus came and up picked us up. Then we were escorted to a house. We had to present tickets that they gave us to enter. The director introduced himself and told us the band is on the way and they want to capture behind scene footage of us partying. There was mad pizza, drinks and chips. Plus there was a DJ and the music was banging. When the camera was rolling I was certainly forming the fool. Hours passed and we repeated a lot of the same stuff until we finally got word the band arrived. We heard a familiar tune and the curtains dropped. To our grand surprise it was Maroon 5 with Adam Levine standing dead center. The performed Moves Jagger Twice and disappeared. Basically, it was birthday surprise for a teenage girl by her mom. The girl also had no idea this was going down. It was fun. I pushed my way in front of the stage singing a long with the girls like I really knew the words to the song. I knew the chorus but most of the song was me just moving my lips. They interviewed a few people afterward and they noticed me watching. The camera man said, "We got a lot of good looks from this guy, we got to some comment from him." I said a few things and I think they liked it. I wasn't happy with myself because I stumbled on couple words during the interview.

After the shoot I finally got my phone back with indication of an audition the next day. The best thing about that is that is was from the people who cast me for a music video a week or two before. Friday came, I auditioned and it went well. The shoot is the next day (Saturday) and they're suppose to inform me later that Friday if I got it or not. Mid-day I cancelled it out of my mind but around 7pm they texted me and said they would be making a decision within the next hour. The next hour came and the message started off with unfortunately...but they did want to book me for a two day music video the following week. I thought that was just as good or even better. So Saturday morning came. I was fighting with myself mentally on whether or not I wanted to play basketball in the morning. Still in bed, I got a phone call around 8:40am. It was the people from the audition yesterday. The same people that went with someone else for their shoot. They asked if I was still available for the shoot. I said, I can be." They told me they'll confirm in the next 30mins. In about 20mins I got confirmation. Thankfully the shoot was downtown which is close to me. After getting the first phone call I got there within an hour and the rest is history. Apparently, two people dropped out in the last min. In all the 45 music video bookings I've had in my career I believe is the first time a music video led to something bigger. What a blessing! The music video love is abundant.


Sunday, March 25, 2018

* Bazzi music video shoot


Monday, March 26, 2018

* Picking up food...Smart & Final...

* Recycling...

* Tennis...


Tuesday, March 27, 2018

* Series writing...pitch deck...


Wednesday, March 28, 2018

* Completed my TV Series pitch deck

* Tennis


Thursday, March 29, 2018

* Basketball

* Music video shoot which happen to be a surprise Maroon 5 birthday surprise


Friday, March 30, 2018

* Audition for Betboro commercial

* Trader Joe's

* Monopoly for Switch purchase from Best Buy. It was on sale. Don't judge me :-)


Saturday, March 31, 2018

* Betboro Shoot


As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice