6 posts tagged “the boss”
So I've mentioned that I'm looking into leaving my current job at The Agency, and moving on to the greener pastures of camera operating.
Not the camera operating you'd see on set with the fancy schmancy cameras, but rather just a digital dealio up on sticks (tripod), hooked up to a whole bunch of computers and equipment, sitting in a small room and watching actors audition.
Yep, would be running camera for OTHER actors' auditions.
This has more upsides than you might think. I'm already kind of enjoying watching things from the other side of the camera, especially because I'd be working only in commercials. And since the idea of most commercials is to be funny...well...lets just say my face hurts at the end of the day from laughing so much, and I can think of worse ways to spend my time.
The issue is how to bring it up with The Boss. I just learned from MiddleDesk that Boss has been pretty ill recently. He got ridiculously sick over Christmas vacation, and apparently still hasn't left him alone. Whatever it is, its effecting his blood sugar levels and his vision. Never good. So, there's that.
I've had a lot of short calls on set this week, so I've been able to get a decent amount of training in camera operating in. But all told, I really should just do it for another full week at the least. What I have to be concerned about is training a new girl at The Agency (and I say 'girl" because believe me, The Boss ain't lettin more testosterone into that office for any extended period of time). Training takes a LONG time, and I'm not sure who, at this point, can handle it. It's bad timing because of The Boss's illness, but MiddleDesk and I can train someone just fine as long as it happens quickly.
I'm thinking my best course of action is to email The Boss about it perhaps next week (my last week of shooting the current project that I'm on). So perhaps that way, we can set up someone to come in the following week when I'm back in the office. Up til now, neither he nor MiddleDesk know that I'm planning on leaving. But I'm really ready to. I feel good about the decision, which is always a bonus :)
So for now...am just in holding.
After this weekend of snowboarding up on the mountain, I came back happily exhausted and proud of my battle scars. In this case, a big ol' bruise on my left knee and slight ice burn on my chin from a particularly painful face plant. The face, thankfully, isn't that bad. The bruise could pose a problem if The Boss wants us to accompany any clients to Oscar events this week because none of my Oscar-escorting outfits hit below the knee. Ah well, cross the bridge when it comes up and smacks me in the face.
Note to self: Do not talk to boy you are trying to be impressive and flirty with on the phone when you're in the grocery store. Not only will half your brain be missing because you're trying to remember everything you came to the store for and therefore unable to present your most intelligent side to the boy, but it's gotta be obnoxious for everyone in the store to listen in on just one side of the now-pathetic attempt to be flirtatious conversation. Plus, you get home and realize you completely forgot to get the toothpaste.
Listening to: Metallica - Hero of the Day
First off, Happy MLK Day!
Not working at The Agency today, although we are still officially open. The Boss emailed the schedule out for the coming week, and there was a curious anomaly: SideDesk wasn't anywhere to be found. Assuming perhaps that she had a trip out of town I had forgotten about, I didn't think too much of it til I got messaged by MiddleDesk today:
I'm wondering how this is going to affect my trip to New Orleans later in February, and the fact that now I can't take MiddleDesk snowboarding for the Snow Day planned for this Friday. I'm glad that SideDesk can get benefits like health and dental insurance from her place of business, and now officially confirm that not all Agencies use Post-it's to keep track of their clients' auditions.
Listening to: Kevin Devine - Longer Than I'm Out Here
Well, things at The Agency have just started to speed back up. Not quite so much with film or TV, naturally (despite Actorsite's emailed mission statement this morning that "Films and TV Movies are CASTING like CRAZY"....um, really? what breakdowns are YOU reading?), but commercials have been damn busy. Despite that, I haven't had My First Audition of 2008 yet. Naturally I'm hoping it's because the gods know to turn that into My First Booking of 2008, and they want just the right job.
Sidedesk and Middledesk are back in town and in theory, we'll all be back to work this week. I'm still trying to convince The Boss that moving to a system more technologically current than sticking Post-it's to a wall is a better way to keep track of all our clients' auditions. Just a thought.
The Boss, however, being the typical control freak that he is, balks at anything that isn't his idea. This is a typical exchange, that occurred yesterday ( FYI, a "hard copy" is what we refer to when a project comes out that wants actual headshots delivered to them as a submission instead of the far easier electronic submission. So we group together our clients' headshots in an envelope which is usually picked up twice a day by a messenger service to bring to the various casting offices around LA).
I was washing out the remains of my homemade fruit smoothie from my thermos at the office sink when The Boss walked up. "MAW, those hard copy packages were never picked up yesterday because we canceled the messenger service for two weeks," he said, standing at the entrance of the kitchenette.
"Two weeks?" I replied, glancing up at him in surprise. "I only told them to cancel it for the week of Christmas."
"Well, they obviously thought it carried over into this week, didn't they," he said. "Get some stamps on them and bring them to the post office."
"Ok," I replied, rinsing out the thermos and putting it upside-down on the paper towel next to the sink to dry. I glanced at my watch which read 2:34pm. "The mail hasn't come yet today, do you want to leave them outside to go out with the rest of the ----"
"No, I want them going out now. The mail doesn't come until 3 or 4 and I want these out."
"Ok," I said, walking over to the door where the hard copies had been left since yesterday. I duly stamped them, grabbed the rest of the outgoing mail (may as well take care of it all at once), and walked back to The Boss's office to let him know I was leaving.
"I'm heading out to drop these off, see ya in a bit," I said, waving and walking back towards the front lobby. His voice called me back.
"Just go to the post office on Fairfax."
"Oh, there's one there? I was going to the ---"
"No, go to the one on Fairfax," he said, gesturing with his pen. "It's on the east side of the street, go up the alleyway, park in the lot behind the post office."
"Sure," I replied, walking out the door.
"Just go--" I sighed inaudibly and walked backwards into his office. "--up the street, make a right, it's right next to the Subway."
"Ok," I walked towards the lobby again.
"I think ---" I walked back into his office. "--there's a travel agency right next to it also."
"Ok."
"Just go to that one. It's only after 5pm that we need to go to the other one. This one is fine."
"Ok."
"You won't need to stand in line, those stamps should be fine. You should just be able to drop it off."
"Ok."
This happens a lot. The usual modus operandi with him is either to order you to do something and then give you FAR too much detail in exactly how to do it, or to order you to do something and leave you with no earthly idea how to accomplish it.
Is this normal?
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Still haven't heard a definitive answer about The Pilot I shot way back in November. Last I heard the response was extremely favorable, but that we wouldn't know anything until February. Again, I'll be wicked excited if it gets picked up, despite my still (albeit slight) feelings of trepidation that it is a reality show of sorts. My passion is *acting*, is getting to be *someone else* for the day, not worrying about how I'm going to look as my li'l ol' self on the small screen.
Still. TV Show. Me. Not complaining. Promise!
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In other not-me-related news, SAG has deemed that No Actors Will Appear At The Golden Globes. Hoo boy.
This is after the declarations that, in addition, no film clips are being allowed to be shown and no monologues/presentations are allowed to be written.
So....what, exactly is going to happen to the awards show? The networks already said The Show Must Go On, but that was before SAG threw this whammy on them. Enjoy losing more money over this strike, bitches! Because I know I'm enjoying apologizing to my landlord that rent is going to be late. Again.
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Despite the doomsday predictions that California was going to be hit by non stop rains, flooding and the utter chaos that follows such an event, there hasn't been too much actual water falling from the sky. Currently? Cloudy. I'm merely perturbed that it doesn't seem to be cold enough to be converting this lovely precipitation into snow in the mountains. Planning on going snowboarding on Tuesday, regardless. If I'm going to have a boss-mandated day off, I'm going to enjoy it, goddammit.
Audition - T-Mobile @ David Kang Casting
This was one of the few times where working at my own agency has gotten me into a kind of ethical dilemma.
When the last-minute breakdown ("Submit ASAP! Going straight to callbacks TONIGHT!") came out, I didn't really forsee this problem coming. Despite this being a non union job and SAG's threat of roasting your chestnuts over an open fire should you even LOOK at a non union job sideways, it paid well enough that I submitted myself as well as our usual slew of non-union actors.
When the audition notification came back for another of the girls I submitted instead of me, I felt a tiny tiny twinge of disappointment, but it was gone before I could blink as I forwarded the info onto her and called her to let her know of the last minute appointment.
When she told me she couldn't go because she had taken a last minute trip to Washington to be with her father for his first prostrate cancer treatment, I expressed sympathy for his plight and admonishment for not telling us to book her out while my mind went to calling the casting director to cancel the girl and suggest a possible replacement.
When the casting director said to "just pick someone", which I've never, EVER heard a casting director tell me to do before, I finally paused.
I ascertained that there were no requirements or restrictions (did they need brunettes like the girl? Did they need short people like the girl?...No, no and please just send us someone with good comic timing), and then hung up the phone.
Ok. So, in theory, I needed to send another girl. Despite what they had said, I did want to send someone physically similar to the girl, which, despite the height difference, left it down to myself and one other girl out of the 8 or so submitted. I couldn't bring myself to just choose me over her and to just go.
I talked it over briefly with Sidedesk. She agreed we should consult The Boss, as, really, this was again a slight case of covering your ass, and I wasn't really going to take offense if he determined for some reason that the other girl would be a better replacement than myself.
In this business, you don't take things personally. Ever. Or you'll drive yourself completely mad.
In any case, he did agree I should go to the audition, I went and read with the cutest volleyball player from UCLA.
I'm glad I went to the audition, but again I'm grateful for working at The Agency. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been submitted let alone allowed to go to the audition. Most likely.
On the other hand, I think I should see opportunities like this as the other side of the coin for putting up with the INSANENESS of The Boss. None of the other clients do, so I suppose this could be considered another job perk? Ah well. We'll see if I book it, I can feel all happy then.
The Cast List
Hey guys.
Since I use ridiculous nicknames for everyone (I tried using fake real names a la Barmaid Blog but...well, it's not hard to see she's far more talented than I at deception. And I mean that as a compliment!), here's kind of a run down of the peeps referenced in my silly exploits.
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Angel -- Rescued my broke ass out in Pasadena when my bank wasn't allowing me access to my funds, but my car's gas tank wasn't going to allow me to get home that night. Never went much farther than hanging out a few times, although his cabin out in the woods of Alta Dena was perfect for spooky Halloween movie watching. He has since moved down to San Diego and as I recently found out he has a girlfriend on the east coast named Bree, I don't expect to see too much more of him.
The Boss -- Also my manager and agent, he's the main boss man at The Agency. Both completely selfless at times and completely selfish at others, his word is Law no matter what the circumstances. You can imagine how well that goes down with me at times, but solidarity amongst the employees and clients help. On the other hand, that attitude is extremely useful in an agenting capacity, and when he's using it to dot the i's and cross the t's in my television contracts, I'm not going to complain.
The Ex-Roommate -- A fabulously cool girl who I never saw for the first 5 months that I lived in the apartment for because she was constantly at her boyfriend's place, where she has since moved into. She currently works at a thankless job at a film school and hates everything about Hollywood that there is to hate.
Camera Op - Another client of The Agency, we became friends when he came around looking for help for an audition the next day. Very intelligent, a little verbose and a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Camera Op currently lives with his on-again, off-again girlfriend of five years, whom he's already described as knowing "she's not the one." I'm sure that will end well. Surely.
Gillespie - The best friend of Playboy, who is physically far more my type; tall, dark hair, scruffy. Funny as hell and apparently a good dancer (this has yet to be proven), his deal is made far more complicated by the fact that he just broke up with his girlfriend of four years, including having to move out of their place together. All of these things combined make for us getting together a Very Bad Idea, which has appeal in itself. Because I am emotionally 12. Still, I'm doing my best to think of him as an affectionate older brother. Who I make jokes with concerning lingerie. We've hooked up once and have continued to flirt, but it's still a work in progress.
Hot Neighbor -- The hot neighbor of Playboy's who he'd been trying to nail for ages, and finally did. From what I gather, he's not as enthused about her any longer (ah, men), but the fact that he lied to me about her a few times caused not a few feelings of annoyance on my part. I've never actually met the girl.
Irish - Met him the same night I met Roosevelt. I had actually spent most of the night talking to Irish and kept in touch via email (he lives down in the OC). I've since had dinner with him on my way down to San Diego and he's come up here specifically to have dinner with me. He's a bit older but I'm genuinely interested in what he has to say during a conversation, and that is more rare for me than is probably healthy.
Mars - Met this boy at Les Deux one night when I was begged to come to another boy's birthday party. Keep in mind, I loathe Les Deux. In any case, he is so named because I knew him from his work on the lovely series Veronica Mars (let's say this, if you're a huge fan of the show, you'd know who he was, but he wasn't one of the series regulars). A perfectly nice boy, although a bit sophomoric at times. Been an actor for most of his life and doesn't do much else besides that and writing. Must be nice.
Middledesk -- Co-worker at The Agency who sits at, DING!, the Middle Desk in the office. Practically brand new to LA, she moved here from Missouri and started working at The Agency three days later. An aspiring actress (eventually), she's not always the quickest of girls but in general, very sweet. There was the same incident with the IM that involved Sidedesk that had our relationship cold for a while, but I'd like to think we've moved past it. Likes scrapbooking, baby kittens and rainbows.
Playboy -- An actual client of The Agency, his nickname is literally meant to mean 'Boy who is in Plays". However, since I have referenced him around The Agency, I needed something that was going to be a bit misleading yet still be easy for me to use. A bit older than me and a fellow Scorpio, Playboy's and my relationship is primarily platonic as we don't quite have the chemistry thing down pat. Perhaps it's the fact that he's only about an inch taller than me, who knows. As of late, Playboy has been getting on my nerves by not being completely honest about a girl he slept with, Hot Neighbor, although since we have always maintained we have an open relationship, it's primarily the dishonesty I'm concerned about rather than him actually seeing someone else. Our relationship is further complicated by my being attracted to his best friend (See Gillespie).
Prettyboy -- I always run into this boy when I'm out clubbing. He's tall, ridiculously good looking, and French. 'Nuff said.
Tall Matt - As the name suggests. Tall cutie who I actually knew back in my high school days, although we weren't friends. Met up with him at a commercial audition back in 2007, and we've kept in basic contact ever since. Lately it's progressed to actual dating, but right now I don't see this becoming a lasting relationship. How do you say that, though? Until such a time comes, he's still in my life.
Trouble Boy -- The ridiculous hot guy who was my boss up at Bear Mountain for a time. Was enamored until I A. discovered his bald spot, and B. he kicked me out of an employee BBQ for not working there anymore. As this season starts up again I'm sure I'll run into him, but I'm fairly certain my starry eyed feelings will be at a low minimum now.
