Weekly Written Review
On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 (Week 395), I booked my first background gig with Central Casting. The name of the show is The April Blair Pilot. I'm 99% confident a code name for The CW show, All American. This week on Thursday, December 20, 2018 I booked Background work for All American. It was a long 12 hour day. It will be a nice check enriched with overtime. It wasn't a horrible experience but I was ready to go towards the end of the night. Endlessly walking back and forth is back is bad for the creative part of your brain. I did manage to position myself in a scene where I might be seen dancing during the house party but aside from that it wasn't fun. I didn't have any meaningful conversations because most of the people where bland. Before the end of the night, I decided to end my background farewell tour. I announced my tour during the summer (Week 403) and its time to end it. It was a great run. My 2018 would've been miserable without all my background work but all good and cool things must come to an end. I'm strictly assigning myself for the foreground in 2019.
I'm completely done with television background work. With that being said, I'm leaving the door open for commercial background work. That type of work pays nice and occasionally I'll consider featured work. I've been blessed with all kinds of favor avoiding conflict between background work and auditions this year and in the past but it's not worth taking the risk in 2019. I'm a leading man which means I have to make leading man decisions.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
* Helping Susan move stuff...
* I dropped an important hard drive today. It was a scary moment but thank God it wasn't on when it fell and it's still working.
* Tennis...
* Ordered some cool stuff through a friend on Amazon Prime and it came in today. I got a portable charger for my Switch.
Monday, December 17, 2018
* Family Reunion background work 6:30am to 6:30pm
* After background work, I went home relaxed for a moment and left for Downtown LA to reshoot scenes from the prom date video last week (9pm - 12:15pm). It was a long day.
* Audition notice...
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
* Morning audition assisted by my housemate Joyce
* On the way to background work, I noticed a very intriguing email from ISA. It's time.
* Finishline background work (2pm to 12am)
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
* Finishline background work. (6pm to 1am-ish)
Thursday, December 20, 2018
* After working with a very specific actor on the Finishline shoot the past two days, I woke up this morning with a brilliant casting idea for my screenplay.
* Pop up audition at 12:30pm. I thought I did great. I made my co-actors laugh out loud and I was fully in my element. There's a good chance for a callback which will provide some conflict while in Florida but I'll deal with it if or when that hurdle comes around.
* All American background work 2pm-2am. I declared today my last day of background work. My last day of television background work at least. I'm more open towards commercial background work moving forward.
Friday, December 21, 2018
* Errands...Walgreens, Dollar Store...
* Basketball...
* SAG AFTRA Film Society Screening of Ralph Breaks the Internet accompanied by Mari
Saturday, December 22, 2018
* Recycling...
* SAG AFTRA Film Society Screening of Mary Poppins accompanied by Angel
* Haitian Cali holiday party. It was a long journey to Torrance but I finally got there. A train, 3 buses a Lyft. Thank God I got a ride home.
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
After much success and disappointment from hosting live talk shows in his hometown Tampa, FL, this seeker relocated to Los Angeles, CA on September 19, 2010 to begin an epic journey that does not consist of a plan B. Virtually unknown in the entertainment industry, this brave man is in pursuit of one goal & purpose; to become a nationally syndicated late night talk show host. This is the quest of Motown Maurice. Remember his name, for he is The Future of Late Night Television.
Friday, December 28, 2018
Week 430: Double Dipped Blessing
Weekly Written Review
I'm about two weeks removed from this week, I'm on Christmas break and I've been dealing with family stuff. As a result, my thoughts might be a little jaded but I'll more or less still hit all the points.
I don't think I've ever been so busy around this time of year before. I worked four different gigs this week and I had a two day basketball winning streak. On Tuesday, my team won seven straight games and in four of those games, I hit the winning shot. On Thursday my team won another 4 or 5 straight games. My biggest highlight of the week came from a gig I booked from a referral. I met my referral two years ago, I haven't seen them since and they reached out to me for a great role in a web video. That same day, I was booked for a scene on the Netflix show Dear White People and magically I got out in time. At first, it wasn't looking good but I found out the web shoot with Dhar Mann was actually behind schedule. They were reevaluating the outline of the script. They suggested through text to come later but I got wrapped from Dear White People and I arrived at the original call-time. Wednesday was a super full day but it worked out perfectly. That's what you call a double dipped blessing.
On Saturday, I booked some background work for a feature film and reconnected with a young lady who now provides professional script consultant services. We chatted briefly about my screenplay and she asked me an interesting question. She asked what's my films audience and answering that question out loud was empowering. Little did I know, the very next week spawned a series of screenplay related developments. This may be a sign. A sign to...
I also got excited about a blemish that I've been working on removing from my forehead since October. I thought it was almost gone. It's better but it's still going to take a while before I'm completely blemished free.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
* Helping Susan at her house
* Tennis...
Monday, December 10, 2018
* This morning I was woken up by multiple phone calls, text messages, and Facebook messages. Turns out it was a guy I met two years ago at a shoot. His name is Virgil and he was reaching out about an acting opportunity. A couple hours later I was on a Skype interviewing and I sealed the deal.
* EBT phone interview. Their yearly reevaluation conversation.
* Laundry day...
* Food pickup. Trader Joe's Numero Uno.
* Blogging...
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
* Basketball...4 game winners and 7 straight team wins.
* Passed up background work today. Glad I did.
* Haircut
* Interview application...??? I wrote this down in my notes but I'm not sure why.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
* Dear White People background work, I was kind of featured. Let's see if I make the cut.
* Prom Date video shoot with Dhar Mann's crew
Thursday, December 13, 2018
* Basketball...5 straight wins and a terrible final game/loss. I don't know why my team agreed to play again and no one wanted to play any defense. Tired is not an excuse. Don't play if you're too tired.
* Found out my EBT got lowered. I'm just blessed to know I still have some.
Friday, December 14, 2018
* Cat food run
* Purchased a TV for my father online...
* 6pm Grown-ish background work
Saturday, December 15, 2018
* Background work on LA Rush and an interesting conversation about my screenplay...
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
I'm about two weeks removed from this week, I'm on Christmas break and I've been dealing with family stuff. As a result, my thoughts might be a little jaded but I'll more or less still hit all the points.
I don't think I've ever been so busy around this time of year before. I worked four different gigs this week and I had a two day basketball winning streak. On Tuesday, my team won seven straight games and in four of those games, I hit the winning shot. On Thursday my team won another 4 or 5 straight games. My biggest highlight of the week came from a gig I booked from a referral. I met my referral two years ago, I haven't seen them since and they reached out to me for a great role in a web video. That same day, I was booked for a scene on the Netflix show Dear White People and magically I got out in time. At first, it wasn't looking good but I found out the web shoot with Dhar Mann was actually behind schedule. They were reevaluating the outline of the script. They suggested through text to come later but I got wrapped from Dear White People and I arrived at the original call-time. Wednesday was a super full day but it worked out perfectly. That's what you call a double dipped blessing.
On Saturday, I booked some background work for a feature film and reconnected with a young lady who now provides professional script consultant services. We chatted briefly about my screenplay and she asked me an interesting question. She asked what's my films audience and answering that question out loud was empowering. Little did I know, the very next week spawned a series of screenplay related developments. This may be a sign. A sign to...
I also got excited about a blemish that I've been working on removing from my forehead since October. I thought it was almost gone. It's better but it's still going to take a while before I'm completely blemished free.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
* Helping Susan at her house
* Tennis...
Monday, December 10, 2018
* This morning I was woken up by multiple phone calls, text messages, and Facebook messages. Turns out it was a guy I met two years ago at a shoot. His name is Virgil and he was reaching out about an acting opportunity. A couple hours later I was on a Skype interviewing and I sealed the deal.
* EBT phone interview. Their yearly reevaluation conversation.
* Laundry day...
* Blogging...
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
* Basketball...4 game winners and 7 straight team wins.
* Passed up background work today. Glad I did.
* Haircut
* Interview application...??? I wrote this down in my notes but I'm not sure why.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
* Dear White People background work, I was kind of featured. Let's see if I make the cut.
* Prom Date video shoot with Dhar Mann's crew
Thursday, December 13, 2018
* Basketball...5 straight wins and a terrible final game/loss. I don't know why my team agreed to play again and no one wanted to play any defense. Tired is not an excuse. Don't play if you're too tired.
* Found out my EBT got lowered. I'm just blessed to know I still have some.
Friday, December 14, 2018
* Cat food run
* Purchased a TV for my father online...
* 6pm Grown-ish background work
Saturday, December 15, 2018
* Background work on LA Rush and an interesting conversation about my screenplay...
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
Monday, December 10, 2018
Week 429: I've got Joy
Weekly Written Review
The end of the year is to suppose to slow down and ease up. That's not what's happening in my schedule. My schedule is loaded with gems. I'm now realizing how to properly access preparation wealth during November and December for new year. As side from that, my favorite moment for this week came from my housemate. I made a Judgement last Saturday (Week 428) to go another direction with a reader set to help me with my audition video. That left me scuffling to find another reader. I texted about 3 people. One person agreed but I realized she was too far out and I didn't want to inconvenience her. In the midst trying to find someone, I got a text from my housemate who I've known and lived among since around 2013. She texted me informing me about some bananas available in the house and a computer question. Then it dawned on me, to ask her to be my reader. We live in the same spot and we have a great rapport. I asked and she said she would be honored. She was sincerely excited to be invited to the creative process. I'm sure it crossed my mind before to ask her but my I was in the don't want to bother people state. I'm out of that mental state and now Joyce is added to the team. I got me a strong team of 4 to 5 readers on-call available to assist my journey. I'm ready, let's go!
Sunday, December 2, 2018
* Audition video sent. I used my housemate Joyce
* Panda Express pick up for my reader
Monday, December 3, 2018
* Grown-ish Background work
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
* Change Your Career in a Day (SAG Aftra Workshop)
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
* Commerical Acting in LA: A Session Director's Guide with Shaan Sharma
* Spiderman - Into the Spidervise screening
Thursday, December 6, 2018
* I was booked for background work for Euphoria. It was causing a serious conflict with my Fox audition. Thankfully the rain screwed up their schedule. They asked me to come in early and I told them the rain is causing me to arrive late. I was able to use the rain as an excuse to get out.
* Fox audition for Happy Accident
Friday, December 7, 2018
* Post Office/Bank
* Super Smash Bros Ultimate pick up
* Developing Your Type and Creating Your Niche (SAG Aftra Workshop)
* Tennis...
Saturday, December 8, 2018
* Basketball...3 straight wins.
* Kandace birthday get together
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
The end of the year is to suppose to slow down and ease up. That's not what's happening in my schedule. My schedule is loaded with gems. I'm now realizing how to properly access preparation wealth during November and December for new year. As side from that, my favorite moment for this week came from my housemate. I made a Judgement last Saturday (Week 428) to go another direction with a reader set to help me with my audition video. That left me scuffling to find another reader. I texted about 3 people. One person agreed but I realized she was too far out and I didn't want to inconvenience her. In the midst trying to find someone, I got a text from my housemate who I've known and lived among since around 2013. She texted me informing me about some bananas available in the house and a computer question. Then it dawned on me, to ask her to be my reader. We live in the same spot and we have a great rapport. I asked and she said she would be honored. She was sincerely excited to be invited to the creative process. I'm sure it crossed my mind before to ask her but my I was in the don't want to bother people state. I'm out of that mental state and now Joyce is added to the team. I got me a strong team of 4 to 5 readers on-call available to assist my journey. I'm ready, let's go!
Sunday, December 2, 2018
* Audition video sent. I used my housemate Joyce
* Panda Express pick up for my reader
Monday, December 3, 2018
* Grown-ish Background work
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
* Change Your Career in a Day (SAG Aftra Workshop)
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
* Commerical Acting in LA: A Session Director's Guide with Shaan Sharma
* Spiderman - Into the Spidervise screening
Thursday, December 6, 2018
* I was booked for background work for Euphoria. It was causing a serious conflict with my Fox audition. Thankfully the rain screwed up their schedule. They asked me to come in early and I told them the rain is causing me to arrive late. I was able to use the rain as an excuse to get out.
* Fox audition for Happy Accident
Friday, December 7, 2018
* Post Office/Bank
* Super Smash Bros Ultimate pick up
* Developing Your Type and Creating Your Niche (SAG Aftra Workshop)
* Tennis...
Saturday, December 8, 2018
* Basketball...3 straight wins.
* Kandace birthday get together
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
Week 428: Ta Hell With Luck, Give Me Skill
Weekly Written Review
I'm probably a hypocrite for saying this but I'm actually really excited for my upcoming auditions. The reason for that is because it's all starting to make sense. It's as if something suddenly just clicked. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not fond of the audition process and it needs to be revolutionized but something recently clicked. It's as if a light switch got turned on and I'm no longer in darkness. I had an NCAA audition on Tuesday and I didn't give my best performance. There were some cool moments but something was missing. I didn't beat myself up about it, instead, I allowed myself to realize what I'm doing wrong. For starts, I'm not warming up. I'm just showing up to the audition cold. There was no script, so I just showed up with ideas in my head. I've been doing that for years and it's the wrong way to approach an audition. My lungs need vocal exercise.
In sports and music, the artist has warm-up exercises, stretches and loosens up before their performance. This type of approach has been absent from my process simply because I don't have a proper system in place. Realizing this became another turning point in my quest. In all my 8 plus years of auditioning, I've never really had a strong system in place to prep. I might have tried a few things here and there, but I never had a concrete system. An audition is like applying for a job. Most jobs provide an application for you to fill out. There's no application in the acting world, as a result, we got to create our own application. Well, there's no better time than now to create one. Hours after my audition on Tuesday, I planted my butt on the computer and began creating unique audition prep sheets. My sheets include a couple of songs that are known for hyping me up. There's nothing like that good old fashion Soul Food. Sweet Sweet Fantasy Baby. I also started typing out the notes from the brilliant SAG workshops I've been attending. I even dug up old notes I've saved from previous workshops and added them to my sheets. Those notes are over 5 years old and they all make much more sense now.
The interesting thing about walking into the light is the mental flash I've been getting. All week long my mind would randomly flash recounts of my past auditions that missed out on. It's easy to call these moments as errors or mistakes but let's just say I'm a lot wiser now. With this epiphany of wisdom, I've never been more excited for my next audition. One step at a time I'm breaking the Hollywood code and I'm gaining the skills I need to advance my quest to the next level.
Pre-See The Light Motown, I would blog and rant about my disgust for the audition process. Then I would summon the need to be lucky to succeed. I'm not going to deny luck it if wants to contribute but meanwhile, I'm acquiring skills. I finally figured out how to systematically develop a specialized format unique to me, that will lead to big bookings. In the past, I also ranted about breaking through the industry as a stereotyped horror comedy B-list actor. As fun as becoming a success B-list may be, my newly widened eyes are currently on the prize. I'm a leading man with A-list possibilities.
All I have to do now is prove it. In due time my friends, in due time. For now, I'll leave you with a quote that Joseph Pearlman stated in his acting class I audited, "It's hard before it gets so easy."
Sunday, November 25, 2018
* Background work: On My Block. It was a surprisingly short day. 8:00am to 12:30pm. That's super short compared to the first time I worked this show. I'm glad I accepted it.
* Blogging...
* Catching up on How To Get Away with Murder
Monday, November 26, 2018
* Background work: On My Block. I was one out of the only 3 students chosen for this scene. Cool!
* Picking the top photos from my recent photo shoot
* Late night audition notice
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
* NCAA Basketball audition
* Audition prep sheet creation
* Blogging
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
* Improv for the Actor and Stand Up Comedy (SAG-AFTRA workshop) 1pm - 3:30pm
* The art of Specificity: How to Make Your Audition Standout (SAG-AFTRA workshop) 6pm -8pm
Thursday, November 29, 2018
* Basketball...
* Joseph's Master Class Audit (7pm-10:30pm)
* It's raining...
Friday, November 30, 2018
* Games Girls Play interview. We played basketball to appear on the pilot episode. I never heard back from them.
* Audition notice
Saturday, December 1, 2018
* Basketball/YMCA with She
* Just Dance workout session for my guest
* Was supposed to do an audition video today but due to a late information reveal I decided to do it tomorrow with another reader.
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
I'm probably a hypocrite for saying this but I'm actually really excited for my upcoming auditions. The reason for that is because it's all starting to make sense. It's as if something suddenly just clicked. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not fond of the audition process and it needs to be revolutionized but something recently clicked. It's as if a light switch got turned on and I'm no longer in darkness. I had an NCAA audition on Tuesday and I didn't give my best performance. There were some cool moments but something was missing. I didn't beat myself up about it, instead, I allowed myself to realize what I'm doing wrong. For starts, I'm not warming up. I'm just showing up to the audition cold. There was no script, so I just showed up with ideas in my head. I've been doing that for years and it's the wrong way to approach an audition. My lungs need vocal exercise.
In sports and music, the artist has warm-up exercises, stretches and loosens up before their performance. This type of approach has been absent from my process simply because I don't have a proper system in place. Realizing this became another turning point in my quest. In all my 8 plus years of auditioning, I've never really had a strong system in place to prep. I might have tried a few things here and there, but I never had a concrete system. An audition is like applying for a job. Most jobs provide an application for you to fill out. There's no application in the acting world, as a result, we got to create our own application. Well, there's no better time than now to create one. Hours after my audition on Tuesday, I planted my butt on the computer and began creating unique audition prep sheets. My sheets include a couple of songs that are known for hyping me up. There's nothing like that good old fashion Soul Food. Sweet Sweet Fantasy Baby. I also started typing out the notes from the brilliant SAG workshops I've been attending. I even dug up old notes I've saved from previous workshops and added them to my sheets. Those notes are over 5 years old and they all make much more sense now.
The interesting thing about walking into the light is the mental flash I've been getting. All week long my mind would randomly flash recounts of my past auditions that missed out on. It's easy to call these moments as errors or mistakes but let's just say I'm a lot wiser now. With this epiphany of wisdom, I've never been more excited for my next audition. One step at a time I'm breaking the Hollywood code and I'm gaining the skills I need to advance my quest to the next level.
Pre-See The Light Motown, I would blog and rant about my disgust for the audition process. Then I would summon the need to be lucky to succeed. I'm not going to deny luck it if wants to contribute but meanwhile, I'm acquiring skills. I finally figured out how to systematically develop a specialized format unique to me, that will lead to big bookings. In the past, I also ranted about breaking through the industry as a stereotyped horror comedy B-list actor. As fun as becoming a success B-list may be, my newly widened eyes are currently on the prize. I'm a leading man with A-list possibilities.
All I have to do now is prove it. In due time my friends, in due time. For now, I'll leave you with a quote that Joseph Pearlman stated in his acting class I audited, "It's hard before it gets so easy."
Sunday, November 25, 2018
* Background work: On My Block. It was a surprisingly short day. 8:00am to 12:30pm. That's super short compared to the first time I worked this show. I'm glad I accepted it.
* Blogging...
* Catching up on How To Get Away with Murder
Monday, November 26, 2018
* Background work: On My Block. I was one out of the only 3 students chosen for this scene. Cool!
* Picking the top photos from my recent photo shoot
* Late night audition notice
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
* NCAA Basketball audition
* Audition prep sheet creation
* Blogging
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
* Improv for the Actor and Stand Up Comedy (SAG-AFTRA workshop) 1pm - 3:30pm
* The art of Specificity: How to Make Your Audition Standout (SAG-AFTRA workshop) 6pm -8pm
Thursday, November 29, 2018
* Basketball...
* Joseph's Master Class Audit (7pm-10:30pm)
* It's raining...
Friday, November 30, 2018
* Games Girls Play interview. We played basketball to appear on the pilot episode. I never heard back from them.
* Audition notice
Saturday, December 1, 2018
* Basketball/YMCA with She
* Just Dance workout session for my guest
* Was supposed to do an audition video today but due to a late information reveal I decided to do it tomorrow with another reader.
As the quest continues...
The future of Late Night
Motown Maurice
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)