But no use in dwelling on the past. I'm here and now and excited to update you all on where my life is right now.
First off, my new roommates. They are named Jared and Kyle and are both recent Biola grads (my other roommate is named Brian and is also a Biola alum in case you didn't remember/know). Jared shares a room with me and Kyle splits with Brian. Moving them both in was a lot of work. Lots of cleaning, lots of moving furniture around and just lots of change in general. We're settled in now, more or less, and things have been pretty smooth. Jared and Kyle are both younger and so that's a little bit of an adventure for me and Brian who are a bit more established. They're both looking for work so they mostly are going through what my first two months here were like.
Oh, except they both have connections with Biola friends still in La Mirada, so they are down their quite a bit still. Letting go of college is never easy.
Now for the real newsy type news. I'll start from the beginning. You may recall several posts ago (it should be just a bit down the page if you forgot) that I detailed that I had gotten a job as a regular extra on a new ABC Family show called "Huge". I suggested that I could be getting 2-5 days a week on the show, but I never really followed up with it.
Well, let's just say 2-5 was a bit of wishful thinking. It turned out to be more like 1-2. To further complicate things for me, "Huge" is an AFTRA show, (for those that don't know, AFTRA is one of two major unions for actors) which means they only pay AFTRA contracts. In order to receive these AFTRA contracts, I had to either join AFTRA or register as AFTRA willing, which meant that I could work AFTRA contracts for 30 days. However, after 30 days, my status would switch over to "must join" and I would not be able to work any AFTRA contracts for any shows.For anyone that had trouble following that last part, this is where it gets simple. My 30 days were up and I had to make a choice. Join AFTRA and keep working on "Huge" or don't join and be unemployed for the month of June and watch my money disappear from under me throughout the month (May and June are known as "Hiatus" where there are virtually no movies and only a handful of scripted shows filming, in short the industry shuts down and work is impossible to find). Sounds like an easy choice...until I mention that joining AFTRA costs $1,663. For those counting at home, that's nearly 4 months of rent for me. Yea. There is a payment plan option, but it was not much better in my mind (half up front and the rest split up over the next three months).
After agonizing over the decision for several days, I decided to pass. The finances were just too unstable. I hadn't been getting booked much during the first 2 months of filming and I would need to cover my expenses, plus an extra $280 a month for the next three months as well.
I spent the next week watching the entirety of the new "Dr. Who" reboot series (about 60 episodes). Turns out it is a really amazing show and, while I can't in good conscience recommend that method of watching to anyone, I enjoyed myself. Or something. I kind of lost myself in that week, as anyone that has ever attempted anything like it can attest. By the time I was done, it was a couple days before I could think my own thoughts again. That said, I highly recommend the show if anyone is looking for something to Netflix.
But I digress. After that marathon viewing period, and a couple days of recovery, I got to where the rubber hit the road. As a "writer" trying to make it in Hollywood, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some writing done with nothing else to do. The problem was, I don't write well when I'm stressed out. And I get stressed out when I am not working and slowly draining the few remaining dollars from my account. Then I would get stressed out that I wasn't writing when I thought I should be. Which would make me depressed that I couldn't write and...you kind of start to see the spiral forming here. This was two days. I was so stressed out and depressed during this time that I actually lost my appetite (which was good because oddly enough there was nothing that caused more anxiety than spending money on food).
In short, it was no way to live. I was wallowing in despair after just a few days of this. The thought of 2-4 more weeks of it was overwhelming.
So it was decided. After discussing it at length with numerous people, I saw there was only one option. If I was going to go down as an extra, I would go down swinging. I joined AFTRA. I immediately felt peace from the decision, which helped convince me it was the right one. But the right choice doesn't necessarily mean that I come out of it standing on two feet, so I was understandably scared.
Then I got booked. Then I got booked again. And again. And again. First week back (last week), I had worked four days and gotten paid for five (it's complicated). And then again. Three more days this week. In these two weeks, I have worked more than I did the entire rest of the series combined. I have made about $1,000. And I'm working again on Monday.
The show has lots of "regulars" but only about 10-15 that are called almost every day. With 14 days of shooting left (about the next three weeks), I seem to have cemented myself as one of the chosen ones. Somehow, joining AFTRA catapulted me into that group (over several people that had already joined AFTRA before me). Whatever the reason, I am grateful for every day I get booked and don't take a single one for granted. I know it could all disappear in an instant.
And this is the beginning of the interactive part of the blog. You can actually help me pay my bills in a way that doesn't involve you sending me checks (though I wouldn't be opposed to the idea). "Huge" premiers this Monday at 9/8c on ABC Family. It is just a 10 episode run, with the remaining episodes in the season scheduled to be shot in November. But if the show does well enough in the ratings, the show will rush back into production in August. I would prefer the latter. While work is supposed to be picking up over the next month as movies enter production and fall TV shows start back up, the security in "Huge" is much higher than anything else I am likely to find. So watch it! It will be on Hulu for those that don't have cable TV (and yes, they look at those numbers too).
And who knows, you might actually like it. The show was created by Winnie Holzman, who also created the Emmy nominated "My So-Called Life" and was nominated for a Tony for her role in the creation of the Broadway hit "Wicked" (as well as being a staff writer on about half a dozen television shows). It stars Nikki Blonsky (from "Hairspray") and Gina Torres (who played Zoe on the ill-fated/brilliant Joss Whedon series "Firefly" and it's accompanying movie "Serenity). And if it doesn't grab you right away, give it some time. It takes until about the 3rd or 4th episode to find it's stride.
Here's a few reviews for anyone looking to learn more:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943051.html?categoryId=32&ref=verttv&cs=1
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/24/huge-difference/
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