... And Sometimes It Pours (Part 2)!!!

Giggity Giggity Giggity²

Well, it's been a VERY interesting past couple days.

Sunday I got an email from my agent with a casting notice for a new Ron Tonkin commercial. The spot was set to shoot on Wednesday the 12th; no lines, pretty straightforward... they were looking for guys with big noses, which I certainly qualify for.

So, Monday I headed to Lana Veenker Casting for the audition. I had an hour or so before my audition time, so I went to one of my favorite internet cafe's - The Dragonfly Coffee House - pulled out my laptop, and checked my email. There was a message waiting from Stewart Boyles, a producer I'd done some short films with earlier this year. Stewart works at OPB, and he needed someone to do a voiceover job for a new educational series OPB is producing. The hitch was I had to get back to him that day. Luckily, I had Stewart's cell phone number programmed into my Treo (one of the best investments I ever made - a phone book with over 1000 numbers in it can come in very handy!) so I gave him a ring and told him I was up for the gig. Moments like this make me VERY glad I check my email multiple times a day.

Once I had details worked out with Stewart, I went to Lana's for the Tonkin audition. When I filled out my casting sheet before going in, though, I saw that the shoot date was listed as Thursday the 13th. I had a Murder Mystery show for Wild Bills scheduled that day, so I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get cast - a conflict in the middle of the shoot day would definitely lower my standing against the competition. I felt like the audition went really well, but I pretty much wrote off the possibility of booking the job.

That evening I was at rehearsal for another Wild Bills show (this one is on Friday) when my cell phone rang. It was Trish, telling me that Lori Lewis at Lana Veenker's had called to ask if there was any way I could clear my schedule on Thursday - it seemed that the producer and director really liked me for the Tonkin spot, and there was a good chance I'd be cast if I could make myself available.

It was pretty tough for me to bring the situation up with Emily, the director of the Wild Bills show. I'd committed to this show a month ago, and it was a daytime show, which meant that a lot of the other Wild Bills actors might not be available. She totally understood, however, and pulled out her cast list to see if we could find someone to fill in for me. I left a message for another actor and headed home, filling Lori in from the car.

The next morning I still hadn't heard from Brian Young, the actor I'd called to ask if he could substitute for me. I gave him another call and got him in person this time; apparently he hadn't gotten my message the previous night. He told me he should be able to fill in, and would let me know at around 4 when the boss at his day-job returned to the office.

I was checking my voicemail and email constantly during breaks in my voiceover session. The session itself went pretty well, but the text was hard to wrap my mouth around; the series OPB is developing, called "Across the Sciences," is focused on physics. I had to use some very cumbersome scientific language (you try saying "explain the inelestic collision") and make it sound friendly and not "stilted." After a couple of hours in the booth Stewart seemed pretty happy with what we'd put on tape, though.

My voice may not make the final series; they're using Tuesday's session as a guide in the post-production process, to give them something to edit around. If they like what I did I may be brought back to re-record the final series... or they may get someone with a different voice (It's OPB, after all... they know a couple of people who use microphones for a living).

I called Brian back around 4:15, and he let me know that he could, indeed, fill in for me on Thursday. I called Lori right afterward, and she told me I was booked. We shoot Thursday morning at 8 am.

So... that's what's been going on for the past couple of days. It's a crazy, crazy life I lead...