April 9, 2003
Well, April is turning out to be a busy month.
April 5th I started work on a Boston University film called
"Real Estate." It is the first student film I have had the opportunity to work on since joining Screen Actors Guild. It was written and is being directed by Ali Comperchio and produced by Laura Shwed. The production company is One Cow Productions. Along with able actress Sharon Speer as my wife, we are looking at a one bedroom apartment. In reality my screen wife has her sights set on a two bedroom unit as we have an eighteen month child who has been interfering with our marital bliss. SAG actress Iliana Wrinkle, transplanted to Boston from Texas three years ago, plays the real estate agent/apartment owner that would like to sell her unit so that she can move in with her boyfriend (or will she?). My part should wrap on Saturday April 11.
And from there I will attend the
On-Camera Audition Workshop for Television and Film Workshop with Bob Krakower on both Saturday April 11 and Sunday April 12 from 2 pm to 5 pm. Bob has been hire as an acting coach by Paramount for the "House of Sand and Fog" with Academy Award winners Ben Kinsley and Jennifer Connelly, 20th Century Fox, NBC, and the WB series "Birds of Prey." He has done casting for WB’s "Smallville" series, the film "Hardball" with Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane, as Manager of Primetime Casting for ABC East Coast, and Head of Development for MTV Films. Bob has also run the acting programs at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, ACT in San Francisco, and at the Denver Conservatory. He is the former head of the Atlantic Theatre Company acting program in New York City.
When I leave Bob Krakower’s class on Saturday, I will head over to Winthrop to rehearse for the independent short film
"Baby’s Breath," written, produced, and directed by Rose Corbin Cummings. Rose has written a piece about a very topical issue, postpartum blues. I will play the semi-understanding husband opposite SAG actress Stacey Nardizzi, recently arrived in Boston from San Francisco, as the despondent wife. We are going to shoot this film over the Patriots Day weekend, Friday April 18 to Monday April 21.
Prior to that I will be working in the Disney film
"Providence" shooting between April 12 through 16. I went for a costume fitting today, April 9, to get dressed in 1980’s attire. I may be cast as a FBI agent.
Thursday April 17 I plan to attend an AFTRA/SAG meeting of the first Actors Business Builder’s Group between 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM. The meeting is about improving our interview skills, relationships with casting agents, and auditions. It will also cover contracts and growing our business.
This concept of this meeting meshes well with the committee Fran Richmond and I are planning to convene with the assistance of local SAG President Roy Sousa. We will be looking for ways to make it simpler for independent and student film makers to work with SAG actors on a deferred compensation basis. It is our belief there are many SAG actors out there willing to hone there skills in low budget indy and student films whether there is immediate monetary compensation or not. Details will be posted as things develop.
That’s it for April, so far.