For most of the last few weeks, I've had nothing groundbreaking to write about. I rushed through most of my blogs anticipating this leading moment. This leading week. When it's all said and done, Week 423 may be the most or one of the most significant weeks of my odyssey. Three things took place this week that could represent a turning point.
The most significant of the three began two years ago. I booked a big role in a film entitled Snake Outta Compton. Booking the role means nothing. Completing the shoot also meant nothing. There's always a chance the film will never get seen. Two years later it got picked up by Lionsgate for nationwide distribution. It's been out in the UK since summer and that still means nothing. Moving forward to Sunday, October 21, Snake Outta Compton had a sold-out premiere at The Downtown Independent. Now, this film is starting to have meaning. This premiere was a first-time experience for me. My name is second in the credits and all I had to do was show up, pose for photos and chit-chat. Doing such a simple task is not in my genetic makeup, especially when I can do more. During the event, someone on the Snake team complimented for handling the media but that wasn't my intentions. I think since the organizers of the event didn't make much media plans, I took on the appearance of handling it. I simply had the vision to expand the social exposure of Snake Outta Compton with some pre and post interviews. I assigned my friend Kevin of Kevin Boot Photography to take photos and I also had an assignment for his video equipment. With my direction, I had a cameraman (Jeff Meacham) and an interviewer (Nicole Rose Julian) conduct interviews with guest, cast, and crew. For various reasons, I'm not sure if I will do this again moving forward but I'm glad I did it for my first premiere.
Overall the event was great. There was one hiccup with someone on my media team yelling at a person but it was quickly rectified with an apology. Most of the people I invited showed up and they were all sincerely happy for me. It was a good moment to shine and that's what you're supposed to do at a premiere. It's equivalent of a wedding day for the actor. It's a rare moment some actors work extremely hard for and some will never enjoy this type of experience. I played the part...somewhat. I did what I was supposed to do for the moment but left foot was already 10 steps into the future. Two days after the premiere (Tuesday, October, 21) Snake Outta Compton was available nationwide. Anyone can now purchase the DVD on at Wal-Mart, Target and Best. You can also order it Amazon or stream it on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Video, Xbox Video, Redbox Digital, and several more outlets.
Some people received their ordered DVD's early and started posting photos of it on Facebook. Others went to the store and took pictures of the DVD on the shelves among other popular movies. I haven't had a chance to see it in the store yet but I look forward to seeing it for myself. So that does this all mean? I'd say I'm in an incredible space right now. I started producing and selling DVD's since college and my distribution strategy was based on or far I was willing to drive. Years later, I booked a prominent role in a silly movie and it's now available nationwide. Again, what does this all mean? It still means nothing. Ideally, it would be great to get exposure from the film leading to more bookings. The best case scenario is Snake Outta Compton becomes mega successful and a sequel is made. Perhaps it could lead to a trilogy. Why not six films? If they can make six Sharknado's why not make seven Snake Outta Compton's.
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| Snake Outta Compton, starring Motown Maurice and Ricky Flowers Jr. It this the new Shaknado series? |
I'm honestly a bit empty right now. I'm mostly empty from all the editing after the premiere. Editing those interviews was a bit intensive. I thought was in the best interest of the film to get the videos out during the opening weekend. Watching people steal videos/photos for its source also isn't very encouraging. Isn't social media designed for sharing? Nonetheless, I went from living in the movement in a great space into empty place. What's next? That just means my spirits are a little low but that's nothing new.
The very next day after the premiere, I was scheduled to do background work. After a long wonderful night from being one of the main attractions, I had to wake up the next morning to do background work. The transition is kind of deflating but oh well. Thankfully, I don't have bighead syndrome. I humbly showed up for background work at Paramount Studios. It's for a new show called Family Reunion that's going to eventually launch on Netflix. Last week, I responded to Central Casting for a featured Role named Marty. I didn't hear back about the featured role. I later got an inquiry about playing a student on the same show. That essentially means I'll be walking in the background. I arrived on set and in a short period of time, they put us to work. They had positioned by the lockers within a good view of the cameras. I was content about my position early on. After my first scene was completed, I made my way back to the holding area. I wondered a little and before I could grab a seat, they grabbed me for the next scene. They switched out the preselected Marty feature role and replaced him with me. To my understanding, I was told the director wanted a "Black" Marty. I jumped right into the role. Things were moving really fast. While still in the rehearsal stages, I got pulled out of the scene. I thought they were going to replace me with someone else. They actually needed to change my pants into shorts. I will more than likely be very visible in the entire episode. With long pants and short pants.
Another cool thing about the shoot was the company I was in. This show Family Reunion is starring Mark Curry, Loretta Devine, and Tia Mowry. Plus, they were all very pleasant. Each of them interacted with me a refreshing kind of way. Whether it was Tia greeting me when crossing paths or it might have been Loretta making jokes about what I was wearing. I had to wear a dress during the last scene of the day but it's not as bad as it sounds. I wasn't the only guy wearing a dress. Don't judge. You'll understand when you watch the episode. I hope you'll understand. Moreover, they all gave off positive energy. That's the kind of energy that I appreciate on a film set. I even got eye contact and a subtle greeting from Mark Curry on the second day. He gave me a lot of eye contact during the dress scene. The reason why any of this is news is that some actors won't even acknowledge the existence of background actors. I won't say any names but a lot of the leads on the show Grown-ish are notorious of that. I asked around and I'm not the only background actor that experienced this with the Grown-ish cast. Sure, the Grown-ish cast is a lot younger but that's still no excuse. Aside from the comparisons, I would consider my two days doing background work on Family Reunion as magical. It was the first time I had my role bumped up and I would love to believe it's a sign.
During the summer, I declared this period as my background farewell tour. That's the title of one of my blog posts. With Snake Outta Compton was on the horizon, I anticipated the birth of a turning point soon afterward. I'm still not against background work and there's probably a lot more lined up in my future. Without or without the foreseeable future of background work, the thought of my feature bump being some type of sign was welcoming. It was also nice to get compliments from someone seeing me in action for the first time. The first person I noticed when I arrived was a lady named Susan. She's friends with my landlady and it took her a moment to recognize me. It took me half a moment but it's understandable. It was the first time was saw each other outside of my home environment. We spoke a few times throughout the day and she had a lot of great things to say about my performance.
The third item of significance is a SAG Toyota commercial audition I had on Friday. The notice came to me at a surprise on Thursday. I've been in this business for over eight years and I've never ever booked a SAG commercial audition. Not once, not even as background. I generally don't even write about commercials in detail but how serendipitous it would be to book my first SAG commercial audition during Week 423. That would truly represent a turning point in my quest, ushering in the breakthrough I've been longing for. I left the room with a positive outlook on my performance but of course, that doesn't mean anything. I left the audition room confident hundreds of times before and it always resulted in not booking the gig. Yet, hope is still alive and well. Upon writing this I don't know what's going to happen. I didn't hear anything during the weekend but I'm assuming they'll make contact with actors on Monday of Week 424. Only time will tell. If I get it I'll be totally wowed. If not, oh well. That's the business as usual.
As significant as I desire Week 423 to be, I still have to wait a while to see if it will add up to any real significance. The truth is, I won't realize the impact of Week 423 anytime soon...The business of entertainment is to hurry up and wait. That's probably the only part of the business I believe I've perfected.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
* Lake McArthur Pack
* Snake Outta Compton premiere. See photos HERE
* Edit (11-26-18), I forgot to write about one disappointing flaw during the premiere. I had a dang blemish on my forehead. Pimples on my forehead before something important never fails. Over a month later I'm still trying to get rid of the blemish.
Monday, October 22, 2018
* Guest departure
* Background work on a new Netflix show Family Reunion day 1. I got a feature bump.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
* Snake Outta Compton nationwide release
* Background work on a new Netflix show Family Reunion day 2.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
* Basketball...
* Editing and uploading Snake Outta Compton photos at Kevin's. Rode my bike there and back.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
* Basketball...
* Intense video getting for the Snake Outta Compton interivews
* Audition notice
Friday, October 26, 2018
* Toyota Rav 4 audition
* Trip to the library/Posting videos
* Emails sent out...
Saturday, October 27, 2018
* Tagging Snake premiere interviews
* SAG Film Society screening of GreenBook accompanied by my housemate Joyce.
* Prayer Potluck and photos shoot at Kevin's
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
