Grindings #012: Poorly Run Auditions
Sorry for the lack of ‘Grindings’ lately … When doing them I came to the realization that I am in fact no good at writing about myself. That said, due to popular demand, I am going to try to resurrect my weekly musings about life in Hollywood as an aspiring actor.
This past week I had an audition and it was completely disorganized. This isn’t the first time I have had a casting session / director that had no idea what they were doing. Super frustrating. As actors, we head to auditions prepared to be judged by appearance, and other things we can’t control in a completely contrived and awkward environment. So we would hope that when we arrive, that process runs as smoothly as it could. Not the case, it often doesn’t. Really, it is just another reason I am shocked so many folks subject themselves to this mess.
In this instance, it was a national / union commercial and my call time was 9:50a. I arrive at 9:30a and head to the room where I am directed by the board up front to find a number of people waiting outside the room. There is no sign-in list and no organization or awareness of what was going on, other than my fellow actors all agreeing the folks hadn’t shown up yet. Cut to 10a when an actor randomly noticed the sign-in list was down the hall at another room. The casting director never determined the huge group of actors – and the lack of actors auditioning in front of her – was the same set of folks. When we all finally made the realization, it became a “I was here first!” mentality and made the process even more frustrating.
And sadly there is nothing I can do about that. No recourse, no action I can take; I can’t complain to my agent, I can’t complain to the casting company. I literally just have to bite my tongue and keep grinding. Typical.
Also though, in happy-go-lucky news. I got to hang in the Jimmy Kimmel Live green room – sippin’ free cans of Red Stripe – and gleefully waiting for guest and hero of mine Tim Allen to arrive. Cool experience, and howed I land this you ask? A friend of friend, per the usual in Hollywood. It’s all about who you know … I should probably go out and meet some casting directors.
Mike ‘Box’ Elder is an aspiring actor and comedian. He loves to share the many joys of LA with friends. Follow him on Twitter @mikeboxelder.
