Hitting the Pavement

January 29, 2008 by dennisbaker 

Life is busy! I was the city three days last week for drop offs, design interviews, auditions, and classes. I have been doing some “strategic” drop offs to casting directors. What is great about New York is I can walk/take the subway and do three or four drop offs in an hour, which would have taken two hours or more in LA. I also had a three hour callback for Romeo & Juliet at the Pax Amicus Castle Theater. It was intense, but fun. The most difficult thing was that it was my first audition. They called me into a callback straight from my headshot, which was nice, but I did feel like the underdog. They went into rehearsal today, and I did not get the call. It was good to work on the skills I am learning from John Basil at the American Globe Conservatory. John is one of the best teachers I have had in a long time and would highly recommend him.

On the web design front I had an interview with fusionlab. I felt the interview went well and the job is a perfect fit for me. Hopefully I will hear from them soon. I have also been interning over at Slideluck Potshow, helping them as they are doing a major update to their website. Things are even getting busier so stay tuned…

Filed under: Acting, New York, Shakespeare, Web Design
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I’m back!

January 19, 2008 by dennisbaker 

I have been not in the mindset of blogging of late. Some things in life took a turn and caused me to doubt many things about career choices, life choices, etc. The short of it was that I was dismissed from the MFA acting program at Rutgers. The details are too l long to go into here. If anyone is applying to the program, and comes across this blog, I am willing to give you the details if you email me.

I am back in the professional world and trying to get my barrings. On the day job end I have been applying for entry level web design positions in the city while taking online classes to boost my skills. I have had a couple of interviews and sign up with a couple of creative temp agencies, so hopefully something will stick soon.

As for acting, I am starting to learn NYC and the players there. It is slow going, and there are times I wish I was back in LA where I knew the industry better. I am doing a lot of research, reading blogs from NY actors, sign up with the SAG Foundation for free casting workshops, and submitting for auditions. I recently submitted headshots to all the background casting agents in the city. If I can get three days of extra work then I can join Actor’s Equity, which is key for New York. Most of the theater here is equity where that was not always the case in LA. Three days might not seem like that much, but with the writer’s strike going on, film/tv work is slow to none.

Lastly, I am currently taking a three week Shakespeare Intensive with Jon Basil at the American Globe Theater. I am auditioning for USD, Cal State Fullerton, and the Academy for Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theater in DC. The class is great and something I recommend if you are looking.

Filed under: Acting, Rutgers, Shakespeare
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