Agents love this!  They love to call you at those times where you think they’re calling about a job.

They don’t want you to get to excited, but they just got a call from the producer and they said they’ve narrowed the massive nationwide search down to you and 5 other guys.  So stay by your phone, cause the call could come at any moment and when they make up their mind they’ll want to record right away!

My advice…Do not stay by your phone!  Do not call your family to tell them “the good news!”!  Do not start thinking about how much money is coming your way!  And do not start spending any of that money!

Do whatever you can to put it in perspective.  Yes, it is an accomplishment.  Yes, you have a much better chance then you did when it was down to you and 1252 auditions via VoiceBank. Yes, you need to be able to record if they do go with you.  And, Yes it could change your life.

Just remember, chances are what they are and the “House always wins in the long run”, and it’s not down between you and another guy, cause they just went with Matt Damon, who’s schedule just cleared up, and who they wanted all along.

One more thing, try to stay positive.

]]> http://www.daleinghram.com/blog/2010/04/its-down-to-you-and-another-guy/feed/ 0 http://www.daleinghram.com/blog/2010/03/sometimes-they-come-back/ http://www.daleinghram.com/blog/2010/03/sometimes-they-come-back/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:05:35 +0000 Dale http://www.daleinghram.com/blog/?p=183 It’s been my experience that when a big account goes, it goes.  You’re the voice, then you’re not, and that’s that.

After all why would they bring back someone they got rid of.  That would be like bringing  back the first Darren Stevens from Bewitched.

The other part of winning a big account is losing a big account.  It is inevitable, at some point, the ride will end, the bars will lift off and some kid with bad acne and no motivation will ask you to exit while someone else takes your seat.

“Easy Come, Easy Go.”

is easy to say when it’s coming.  Try it when it’s going.  That’s the hard part.

I was talking with another Voice Over talent today about “the going” part.  He said that he wished every voice over could get a big account and then lose it.  It provides a perspective that you just don’t get when it’s coming.

The tendency of big accounts is lazy and entitlement.

The hard work somehow doesn’t seem as important and you begin to feel like you deserve the checks.

When that goes, if you’re not in the right place mentally, it can lead into a major downward spiral.  Then you get desperate, and that’s the kiss of death for a read and a career.

I personally have had the big accounts and lost them, and have wrestled with every emotion that comes with that.

Luckily, I’ve now had the experience of having one of those big accounts come back, and having lost with the ability to say “Easy Come Easy Go”, while it was going, I can now fully enjoy the coming (back), with an appreciation and understanding that only comes from losing.

I was searching for some sort of shaolin monk to teach me “The Path”, but when I found out how much Monk’s were charging these days, I settled on an acting class on Pico Blvd.

The questions are:  Why? Why Know? Why an Acting class?

The answer:  Cause it was time.

I just knew it was time to get back out there, and you know what, I have no purpose other then that.  I have little idea where this is going to lead me and even less expectation.

All I know is I needed artistic stimulation with a little direction thrown in.  You know something to add a little flavor to the soup.

I think that at some point every artist needs some type of class, seminar, or workshop to reawaken vision, or on a less esoteric note, get some blood pumping into stagnant muscles.

Only thing is, that you have to be ready to except it’s consequences.

Side effects can include: Hard Work, Artistic Rebirth, Telepathy Powers, Success.

Hoping for two new pilots I just  did to get picked up.  Mall Cops “Mall of America”  a show that picks up where Paul Blart left off, but with less Blart and more officer.  The Pilot aired Thursday October 15th.  The other, as of now has no air date.  It’s called “Conveyor Belt of Love” and is just what it’s name says.  5 Women watch 30 Men come by on a conveyor belt and decide if they’re interested.  I want the show to get picked up simply for the opportunity to get a t-shirt.  Who wouldn’t want a “Conveyor Belt of Love” T-shirt?  Well, maybe my parents.

Just like On Camera actors VO actors have to sweat the networks suits deciding, in their infinite wisdom, whether a show is a GO.  Cool thing about VO actors is they can have multiple shows at the same time.

But just like On Camera actors,  just because you did a show that got picked up or renewed doesn’t mean you can’t be killed off.

Now maybe your character won’t die a tragic death in a freak Tea picking expedition on the tundra in Tibet, but there might be a producer who thinks they can do your job better, and it’s the same end result.

So keep your fingers crossed, have your family and friends praying, knock on wood, send bribes, or carve a tiki.

What ever you do realize it all turns to dust, the flowers die, and shows all get canceled.  

And yes The Simpsons, One day, will get canceled.

Normally a mess up doing Voice Over, is just that, but on occasion it becomes a monster threatening to send you to the Looney Bin.

Your Brain starts to sweat about not getting it right and you cascade into a down word spiral of self doubt and loathing.  You start to think about how dumb you are for not being able to say a stupid word or phrase that a 3 year old could.  in my cause “Toyota”

You start to wonder how stupid everyone listening  thinks you are.  About how stupid you’ll look when your ineptitude makes it onto some famous reel of stupid people.  If fact somehow you’re entire life becomes stupid in the wake of your complete failure to say one stupid, dumb, stupid word.

The question is not so much how you got here, but how you get out.

My advice: Do whatever you can!

Namely remember the song from Sesame Street.  “Oops I made a mistake that’s all.”

It’s life, it happens, and the only real way you’ll leave a lasting “BAD” impression is to panic and start acting like a weirdo.  Make fun of it.  Get goofy.  Breathe.  Think of playing baseball with Kangaroos.  Anything to take your mind off of your Brain Sweats.

Oh, and you probably will find that you actually will begin to sweat for real!

I finally did say Toyota right.  My secret?  I took my  Left Shoe off and waved it in the air while I read the copy.

Seriously !

Whatever it takes.

I love working in Voice Over and that is why I do it.

Unfortunately  why most people get into it is for the lifestyle and/or the money.

Silly, Silly, People.

"I'm just in it for the Money!"

Though they both may be great products of a successful VO career, they don’t provide the drive for attaining a successful career.

The Hope must be fueled by the right desire.  In my opinion, that desire is the WORK itself.

Money and Lifestyle make for false hope’s that are much easier to disappoint.

For the most part what I learned became part of my collective unconscious, however one piece of advise from some “How to Act” book from some unremembered partially famous actor, has continued to periodically surface in a check reminder.

No matter how good of friends you become with your agent, there will probably be a time when, for business reasons, you’ll have to leave for another agent.

It is a harsh reality that I never thought would apply to me, as my agent at the time was 150 years old, smelled of cigarettes smoked during prohibition, and could never remember who I was.  

Only you will know when it’s time to leave and hopefully after much thought and sought advice.  As a cartoon on the wall of a casting director reads:

Changing Agents is like changing chairs on the Titanic.

Rash and quick changing of agents in an effort to find the always elusive “Greener Grass.“, will more often then not make you wish you could Wonder Twins Power into the shape of a boomerang and find your way back to your old agent.  You can imagine that Humble Pie is a big ole’ slice of bitter.

When it’s the right time and the right reasons, changing agents, no matter how good of friends you’ve become, can be one of the most useful tools you have to further your career.  

Just remember

Be Good

Don’t burn a bridge if you don’t have to.  Your Old Agent may be your next best New Agent!