debor009

Our local actors group had an online discussion recently of ways to gather your clips together for your demo reel, a topic I’ve touched on before and worth repeating as young filmmakers especially frequently seem to have something “better to do” than get clips out to their cast. If the film or TV project you appeared in is somewhere online, there are online services that can get the clip for you. Actors have used ripit.me or clipgrab.org, which has a program for both Mac and Windows. Expect to pay a small fee however. If the project is posted to YouTube, you can easily download the whole thing to your desktop by simply replacing the “www.” in the url with “ss” (without the dot). This will redirect you to Savefrom.net, where you can click on "download video in browser" (look on the lower right third of the screen) and select the video quality you prefer. Done in less than a minute and free. If the film/TV project itself isn’t posted to YouTube, see if you can at least find the...

An actor friend sent me an interview clip of comedienne Phyllis Diller recently where she mentions Claude Bristol's 1948 book The Magic of Believing . Miller said the book had completely changed her life by giving a suburban housewife and mother of five the courage and determination to try stand-up comedy, which is no easy road for anyone. Here is an audio synopsis of the book from YouTube. It's a little "woo-woo" perhaps, like books on Nostrodamus, but I also found it interesting. I grew up hearing my father talk about the "power of positive thinking" and it also reminds me that those who succeed in this business aren't necessarily the ones who are most talented but those with the most desire. As author/screenwriter William Goldman put it, you have to want success more than anything in the world. Here Bristol seems to be saying that wanting something, and having the confidence and unshakable belief that you will get it, makes it happen. Call it God, c...

One of the things I’ve been bumping up against in the past year, with great frustration, is being called to audition for a role that seems the polar opposite of the roles I’m usually cast to play (i.e. senator, judge, executive, strong women). Blue-haired granny is the one I see most frequently – small, plump, caring, no strong identity, sometimes comical. It's like when you get older you become a ghost; just the faintest impression of a person. The only apparent fit for these roles is the age range. I’m not plump. I don’t have gray hair. I'm 5 ft. 8 inches tall. Nothing in my posted head shots or reels gives me any clue as to what the casting director might have been thinking of in asking me to audition. Blue-haired Granny? Nah. I’ve discussed this with actor friends and the responses have ranged from the limited vision of American film and TV (if you’re a certain age, you’re a blue-haired granny) to the possibility that I’m “above market” in the southeast, where many of these...

I love watching old movies and television shows and every now and then I see an actor or actress that is such a standout I wonder what other roles they did and where their career went. Actress Darlene Parks This happened last night as I was watching a two-part episode of the old Barney Miller series titled "Wojo's Girl," with Darlene Parks in the title role. Parks was a willowy blonde who was pretty bordering on gorgeous. She had great comic timing (you can see a touch of Judy Holliday ) and her chemistry with Max Gail (who is still acting at 74) was perfect. (Watch her face in Part 2 when Gail asks her why she "started hooking.") Most important, she had a face that had that special something that makes a star; she was not interchangeable, she was memorable. But Darlene Parks, after this wonderful episode, had just one more role, and then she disappeared. What happened? Did she die tragically? Did she get discouraged and quit? Did she change her name and cont...

Packing and preparing to change residences. Much to do. Will resurface in a couple of weeks when I can finally take a deep breath and focus on auditions again.

Taking a quick break from doing my taxes (ugh) to give a hearty thumbs up to Ceyda Torun's charming and heartwarming documentary Kedi , which is now making the rounds of art house theaters nationwide. For centuries Istanbul has harbored thousands of street cats. They are fed and cared for by the people of the city - and look remarkably healthy! - and yet they belong to no one. The film profiles the cats of Istanbul and the people whose lives are touched and sometimes changed by them. It is a magical film. Well worth seeing. You can read a review here and an article on how the film was made here . Really, I loved it. Go see this film!

I’ve been off the grid for the past couple of months trying to figure out how to move to Los Angeles in 2018 without breaking the bank. For two years my husband and I have been making periodic trips out to LA to check out neighborhoods, apartments, acting classes, travel distances to the studios, and the feasibility of getting to auditions by driving the grid and staying off the freeways. (As Bette Davis famously said, “Take Fountain.”) We really thought we could make it work, but the more research we did the less it seemed feasible. Paramount Pictures where Gloria Swanson makes her entrance in Sunset Boulevard . Single actors may join forces with a roommate or two and romanticize the Bohemian life, but husbands frown on additional bodies in the home and I’ve reached a point in life where dirt and junkies are just…well…dirt and junkies. Last August we flew out to LA to check out apartments in a few neighborhoods we’d identified as pleasant, reasonably safe, and within easy commute to t...