New Experience: Casting Call in Richmond, VA

My first experiences in acting were acting out stories from my own imagination when I was a child. I played out each different role, bringing to life all the characters running around in my head. I was in drama club in high school and I took theater classes in college. That was basically the acting experience I had. I've flirted with the idea of taking acting classes and my close friend and associate Joy Cheriel Brown is always encouraging me to go to classes with her.

Joy is a screenwriter and aspiring actress. She's attended acting classes in DC and New York. She's basically the entire reason I ended up going to the open casting call in Richmond. She's attended open casting calls before. House of Cards has casting calls in the DC area a lot and she attended one last year.

She forward me the email regarding the casting call and I was hesitant because I wasn't sure I wanted to sit through the drive to Richmond. Of course now I'm happy I did because it was a really awesome experience.

After travelling through ridiculous amounts of rain we make it to Richmond around noon. The line winded through a few city blocks. Joy told me this was a big deal and now I saw she wasn't kidding.

This was an open call for a film entitled "Loving" scheduled to start filming in Virginia later this year. They were looking for extras of all ages, races, body types, etc. The process was that we stood in line and the closer we got to the front they would pull you aside for a possible speaking role in the film. I'm glad that Joy and I were together because it made standing in line for 2 hours bearable. We did meet a few cool people while we waited. There were a few people from Pennsylvania and I met some students from the theater department at Virginia Commonwealth University.

We made it to the portion of the line where they were pulling people aside to read sides for possible speaking roles. They chose the woman in front of me and then to my surprise they looked at me and said "Are you an actress?" I answered no. "Do you want to be an actress?" I exclaimed, Yes! I was given sides and waited in another line that led inside to the wonderfully air conditioned audition room. They took my photo. I performed the sides, took a little direction, and performed them again and that was it. After all of the waiting it all went by fairly quickly in the end.

Before heading back on the road we stopped at the closest food place to where we parked. We decided to eat there and it was a good decision. There weren't any seats left so we ended up sharing a table with a stranger. Well, "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." We met Jamaal who had also been attending the audition. He recently had a speaking role in House of Cards and another gig in a PBS series. It just so happened that the couple sitting next to us worked in film in North Carolina before moving to Virginia. We all had a great time chatting and getting to know one another.

This Richmond trip was a refreshing change to my Saturday routine. Even if Joy and I aren't called to work on this film, it was a great experience. I might take Joy up on her next offer to attend an acting class.

The Process: Prewriting

I'm not a huge fan of prewriting but I've learned over the years how much it can truly help you flush out the world you are trying to create. It helps create people instead of characters and the world becomes more genuine. My prewriting process includes character analysis and outlining.

Character analysis allows me to get know each character, main and supporting. The characters are created in great detail, down to who their favorite teachers were in school. The writer's blog, Writers Write, has a good character profile you can find here: How to Create a Character Profile.

Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger is good book about character development.

Outlining is next. I use the outline as my road map. It's not set in stone but it keeps me focused while writing the script. I use Marilyn Horowitz's Four Magic Questions to figure out the character's goals/dreams and how they are achieved or how the character will react if they fail.

I have started the outline for a script I feel could be my magnum opus. I'm excited about finally getting this written and look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

Today is my last day at my full time job as a videographer, editor, and literally everything else at a small production studio. I was there for 3 years and I learned the most in the last 6 months. It was hard, nerve wrecking, and painful but now I choose to look at it as my "career adolescence". These pains were growing pains and now I know how to do things I wouldn't have otherwise reached out to learn myself.

I'm leaving this job with no current full time job prospects in the near future. I'm not certain about how this will work out but I'm eager to have more free time to work on my screenwriting and work as a freelance videographer and editor. I'm actually looking forward to this time to perhaps find myself and release all of the stories I have onto paper.

I'll end this post with one of my favorite quotes:

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
Henry David Thoreau

You Write So Beautifully...