Mr. Taft, Mr. Hartley, meet Mr. Fisher

So I have my first union gig tomorrow. Obviously a bit later in the year than I had hoped, but I'm not complaining. I didn't even audition for this one; I had sent out a ton of postcards to various ad agency folks, and one of them emailed me, asking who my agent was. Six days later, I'm on board for a commercial (a radio spot for a large hardware store chain in California).

So, this means I'm Taft-Hartleyed into AFTRA. What that means is that I'm eligible to join the union, but I'm not going to yet. In the next thirty days, I can do union, non-union, whatever work I can get. After those thirty days, I can still work non-union, but then I'm considered a "must-join." That means that if I get another AFTRA gig, I have to pay the initiation fee before I get the gig. Which means that a large portion of what I get from this gig goes straight to savings, pending the next AFTRA gig.

But yeah, I'm on my way.

On the air

So anyway, I won't make as big a deal with the next commercial I get (probably), but I really like the fact that I did this commercial for Tommy Nevin's. I could hardly have asked for a better product to schill, and I could hardly have asked for a better commercial (seriously, this one is arguably the best, if goofiest, local commercial I've seen).

It's running in Evanston and the Chicago North area on these Comcastcable networks: USA, MTV, TBS, MTV, FX, CMDY, and ESPN. It will air during some of these programs: Law & Order, South Park, SportsCenter, JAG and CSI. You can also watch the spot on Letter Blue's website. Just go to http://letterblue.com and hit the Commercial Reel link. The Nevin's spot is the first one on there. That's actually how I saw it; I live in burbland, so I'm not able to see it on the air.

So yay!

Gig #1: The Larch

OK, an explanation about the title: my gig actually had nothing to do with trees; it's a Monty Python reference. But, I did have a gig.

It was a local commercial for Tommy Nevin's Pub in Evanston, and it didn't pay very well, but it was a gig, and the gig was good. I got to play, and have fun with my voice, and just be an actor. I felt alive, defined. Acting is where I shine; it is my craft, above and beyond any other creative outlet. I have a few other creative outlets, but acting is where I work best, and this was what made it so fulfilling.

Again, it's small. I won't be able to support myself on it for any length of time, and it doesn't accomplish any of my goals, but it's a great beginning.

"Do not despise the day of small beginnings." -- Zechariah 4:10

Auditioning

I just finished my first audition in my "home studio." It's somewhat limited, but between the equipment Heidi already had, and her skill in figuring out what exactly else we need, we now have a limited home studio. Since my current job isn't flexible enough for me to duck out and audition in the traditional sense, and I'm sending my voice around, I'm able to do my auditions via email. Here's the thing, though. I did a good job with it, I think, but not a great job. I really need to regularly doing my vocal warmups, and that's where our schedule is kind of a challenge. We both are somewhat in-demand at this stage in our lives, and having an evening to ourselves is a bit of a luxury. Evening is pretty much my one available time to do my warmups, and frankly, I'd prefer to spend time with my wife when I'm home.

I know, I know, sucks to be me in a very microscopic way, but life hasn't really slowed down much from when we were planning our wedding. Now, between our various auditions and our general lack of social downtime, we're pretty much as busy as most of our wedding-planning time was (not so much the couple weeks leading up to the wedding, but most of the rest). Meh, I'll cope with it.

Agented

I now have my first agent, interested in representing me for voiceover. The biggest in the city, Stewart Talent, didn't want me (meh), but Lori Lins agency in Milwaukee did. The one in Milwaukee is supposedly really good in terms of caring for their people, but we'll see just how everything comes together. It is kind of interesting that they both got back to me on the same day, though. The best thing I can do for myself now is to promote myself to casting directors, but that costs a lot of time and money I don't have. Meh, we'll figure it all out when I get back from Italy.

johnwillettfisher.com

Heidi just recently finished my voiceover website, and Sound Advice is hosting it for the next nearly-a-year. It's really professionally done, and I quite dig it. It's also a step in the right direction for me to promote myself. 'Course, I need to be able to pay for my own promotion, but again, it's a step in the right direction. Go, listen to my dulcet tones. I, if I do say so myself, rock.

An Actor I Dig (#2 in an Ongoing Series)

Peter Cullen is a man I don't think I've ever seen, but I've heard frequently. He has a powerful voice that is deep and rich and fatherly, and has been wasted on Eeyore in the New Winnie the Pooh cartoon series. He's made himself a good living with his voice for decades, but I, and pretty much any guy in his mid-late twenties to their early thirties (OK, I'm in my mid thirties, but I'm a geek), will remember him as one person and one person only: Optimus Prime. The subtle tones with which he portrays emotional depth (OK, he's doing cartoons, but still, just listen to him), are an inspiration. I want to sit at the feet of Optimus Prime and listen to how he does it.

Incidentally, finding an announcement for this on rottentomatoes was what started this whole search off.

And So I Hmmm.....

I just got an email noting open auditions for Lifeline Theatre in a few weeks. Part of me perked up a bit, but I had so much hesitation that I had to stop and think... was it the finances? The fact that my headshots have me with a beard still? Then I figured it out: I'm not an actor right now. I'm a fiancee, I'm a computer geek, and I want to be an actor, but I'm not one right now. I'm not in a position to be able to really do anything with my abilities, due to finances and future commitments, and also, my soon-to-be home will be too damn far away to come into the city for rehearsals all the time. I think working in voiceover will make things easier, but frankly, I don't know when that's going to be happening, and the last thing I want is for my marriage to start out with me being stressed about how I'm going to accomplish X, Y, and Z.

This is an odd time for me right now, I guess. Finances are extremely tight, not because they're actually tight, but because of planned expenses. In fact things are so tight that, without some miracle, I won't be able to afford duplication of my voiceover demo until October or so. Yet I'm doing just fine right now. Last week, my home computer crashed on me in a massive way (this post, and my work, is being done currently on Heidi's laptop, and work is shipping me another system), so my hobbies have changed drastically almost overnight; I still have the Xbox, but I'm not really a "gamer" all that much anymore (a label by which I've identified myself for the bulk of my life). Since finances are as tight as they are, we have to be very careful about the movies we see, right during the summer blockbuster season, and me with a film degree. I'm excited to be marrying Heidi, but we're three months away. To top it off, I'm very pleased with the place I'm moving into, but it's way the heck out in the burbs, and I've really considered myself a city person for the bulk of my life.

So effectively what it boils down to is that I'm in a holding pattern for the next few months, and I'm having to redefine myself. I guess this is a good thing for someone who is on the verge of stepping into the shoes of a married man, especially after being effectively perpetually single. But I'd prefer to learn my lessons quickly, and move forward in a significant way, y'know?

Sound Advice

I think I've found me a good thing. When I originally looked through PerformInk for ads for voice coaching, I came across three options. The "big, monstro structured class" option, the "just do the damn demo" option, and the "individual coaching and do the demo when you're ready" option. After discussing this with Heidi, we decided on option number three: a place called Sound Advice. What I found there was something more than I had bargained for. They do voice coaching and demo, but they also are somewhat of a one-stop shop for marketing strategies and limited career management for the burgeoning voice-over artist, which is freakin' exactly what I need. It makes this much less of a crapshoot than acting generally is. I'm also feeling very good right now, because I just had my first workshop with other actors last night, some of which are working actors. It's good to hear Heidi tell me how great my voice is, as she knows sound. It's good to hear Kate (the owner) tell me how good my voice is, as she knows the industry. But these are people that have vested interests in me, being, respectively, someone who will eventually have to live with me for her whole life, and someone who's assessment will yield a sizeable chunk of money. When people who have no vested interest in me whatsoever tell me that I'm really good, or I can tell that I'm better than some of the working male talent in the room, this is a good thing. I don't want to compete with anybody, but it's good to know, so that I can get a running start.

A New Hope

I just had my orientation at Sound Advice. Wow. I had no idea how much I didn't know, or just how far I had to move. Well, it's good stuff. One of my strengths is my flexibility, and I can adapt to doing what I've always wanted to do, but I have a lot of work ahead of me. Fortunately, they have a good track record, and work with their clients to empower them to do the work necessary to get their careers going. It'll be a lot of work, no question about that, but it'll be a lot of work that I think I can do quite well, and with a lot more passion than what I'm currently doing. Whew. Scary, but cool.

Vocal Support

So my first V.O. coaching session is on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it. Not as excited as I hoped I'd be, but I'm looking forward to it. But here's the thing. I'm not used to having a lot of emotional/moral support when it comes to my various creative endeavors. My family is not particularly creative, and I've heard implied and actually stated variations on me wasting my time/dreaming/being a failure whenever I attempted anything creative. When I was out in LA, in between freelance jobs, my mom actually told me straight out, "I think you've failed," in a rather twisted attempt to get me back under her thumb.

However, I've kept the voiceover transition quiet to most of my biological family (my sister knows, but she's also the most supportive person in my original family). However, Heidi has been a Godsend in this. She's not just supportive, but actually encouraging. I think a big part of it is that we both tried and failed in a large creative attempt (she with her band, and me with my production company), and have recovered from that, and have both learned that dreaming creatively and big isn't so painful anymore. But we have also learned caution and learned that we need to not dream in such a way that we deny reality. This is part of what makes this gig so great. I can realistically establish voice work, while continuing to work 40 hours a week on this "day" job, and be quite content doing both. And, with Heidi behind me all the way, if I get discouraged from one or the other, she'll be there to give me a swift kick when I need it.

The Onion may help my V.O. career

Last night at Kafein I was reading this article to Heidi in a breathless announcer voice with a hint of an English accent, because that's how I thought it was written. It sounded really good. She thought I should use that for my Voice Over demo tape, and it was just one of those things that make you go hmm. It'll take a bit of editing, but that could be a great prepared monologue for comedy auditions in general. This was a good shot in the arm. Forget the Cisco classes, I need to get the voice coaching up and running. I need to get a voice-over demo going, so I can get some work that does more for me than pay a decent wage and get moving on with my life.

So thanks again, Heidi, and thanks for the first time, Onion. You are inspirations.

An actor I dig

I just finished the last episode of Firefly (and I highly recommend it to freakin' anyone) last night, in anticipation of the movie. I think it's a good thing I saw it now as opposed to earlier, because I have less time to wait for the movie to come out, and it'll still be fresh in my mind when I see the movie. In any case, I've come to really dig one of the lead characters in it: Wash. Not so much the character (although the character is brilliantly written and played), but the actor who plays him, Alan Tudyk. For reference, he also played Steve the Pirate in the movie Dodgeball, and did a few voices in Ice Age. From interviews and his own acting, he seems like he'd be a great guy to act with. What's really cool, though, is his current work. He's just filled in for Hank Azaria in Spamalot, which is f'n genius. Don't get me wrong, Hank Azaria has some monstrously huge shoes to fill for that show, but I think if anyone could do it, Alan Tudyk has the right attitude, voice, and skill to do so.