Back in January, after a frustrating run of Avails* to no avail, I gave myself an absolutely ridiculous goal. I even told my agent, whether he remembers it or not. "I want to book 5 commercials before my birthday." When I told him that was April 23, he kind of laughed it off, as he should have. Never booked more than 3 in a year before, and five in a year would be a very, very good year for just about anyone.
So how did I spend my birthday?
Shooting my fifth commercial of 2008.
I love this game!
(* = Avail is an industry term, referring to the production checking on the actor's availability. The production will put their top choices "on avail" so that at least one of them may experience the ol' "Haha! PSYYYYCH! You lose, jackass," moment later on. See also: "released")
24 April 2008
08 April 2008
Black Saturday
Well, if you watched the Final Four, you know that my VW commercial with Bobby Knight debuted. Without me. Thanks, Coach.
If we did 25 takes, 23 of them were the far superior version with me. But Coach Knight just HAD to improv. Geez, Bob, you're not gonna see me marching out onto a court or into the ESPN studio and doing YOUR job. Taking ten, fifteen grand outta your pocket?
Well, these things happen all the time. I was actually prepared for this possibility, and had already accepted that I would walk off that set with not a single souvenir, not a photo and certainly not a finished commercial. Good thing I found a book for him to sign, otherwise it may have all been a figment of my imagination. Truth is, I would never have been cut out if Bob wasn't any good at what he was doing. The ad's final product was the last take of the day, and he gave himself only one chance to get it right. Never has watching a scene be completely nailed been so heartbreaking.
What I WASN'T prepared for was that Kansas-UNC game, and the Heels saving their worst basketball of the season for the Final Four.
Bob, I do appreciate your analysis on the ESPN, it's nice to be brought more in depth than the other talking heads can do. It's also great to see your reactions (mirroring mine) when Dick Vitale goes off screaming out empty platitudes and retarded acronyms in place of actual game analysis. Please Bob, smack him around for me, will ya? You owe me one.
But hands off my residuals, dang it! I gotta rebudget...
If we did 25 takes, 23 of them were the far superior version with me. But Coach Knight just HAD to improv. Geez, Bob, you're not gonna see me marching out onto a court or into the ESPN studio and doing YOUR job. Taking ten, fifteen grand outta your pocket?
Well, these things happen all the time. I was actually prepared for this possibility, and had already accepted that I would walk off that set with not a single souvenir, not a photo and certainly not a finished commercial. Good thing I found a book for him to sign, otherwise it may have all been a figment of my imagination. Truth is, I would never have been cut out if Bob wasn't any good at what he was doing. The ad's final product was the last take of the day, and he gave himself only one chance to get it right. Never has watching a scene be completely nailed been so heartbreaking.
What I WASN'T prepared for was that Kansas-UNC game, and the Heels saving their worst basketball of the season for the Final Four.
Bob, I do appreciate your analysis on the ESPN, it's nice to be brought more in depth than the other talking heads can do. It's also great to see your reactions (mirroring mine) when Dick Vitale goes off screaming out empty platitudes and retarded acronyms in place of actual game analysis. Please Bob, smack him around for me, will ya? You owe me one.
But hands off my residuals, dang it! I gotta rebudget...
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