A few years ago, I directed a web series that got a little bit of heat with an amazing sizzle reel. We got a producer attached, and the sizzle reel found its way to Kevin Reilly, and he said, “This made me laugh out loud, and very few things make me laugh out loud.” I thought it was only going to be a matter of time before I was the Executive Producer on the hit new show on FOX. I started shopping for a new car and planning to move to a bigger apartment… The next week, a VP at Fox called to tell us that he didn’t think the lead actors “looked like TV stars.”
Last year, I assisted a casting director who told me that she’d take me with her on her next show – a big budget action movie that was shooting in Louisiana and Hawai’i. I started shopping for sunscreen and planning to sub-let my shitty apartment… The show came. The casting director went. I stayed.
Last year, smoking a cigarette with the APOC, she told me, “The POC and I really like you. We’re trying to build, like, a production team that stays together from show to show. We think you could definitely become Secretary on the next one.” I started shopping for a new car and planning to move to a bigger apartment… She got a job as an assistant to a writer/actor. So much for that “production team” idea.
It’s easy to become bitter about all this – to feel like I’ve been dicked around. But in reality, that’s the way it goes. I don’t blame Kevin Reilly for getting one of his minions to pass on us. They were right. I don’t blame the casting director for not taking me with her. She asked, and the show said, “No.” And I don’t blame the APOC for taking a better gig. I would’ve done the same thing. It’s Hollywood.
Instead, I’ll vent my frustrations on my blog and try to keep my eyes on the prize… a new car and a bigger apartment.
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Could be worse. You could have a monthly car payment, a high apartment rent, an unemployment check that covers neither, and not a single job interview in over a year. Oh wait, that’s me.