My coffee date ran late today. Damn it. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time. And I think we really hit it off. (Score!) But, now I’m frantically googling how long it’s going to take me to get across town in order to get to my dinner date on time. OK, If I change clothes in my car and avoid the freeways, I shouldn’t be more than 10 min late. That’s acceptable, right? I wonder what the parking is like… Crap. I had better send SMBeachBum42 a message and let him know that I’m running late. I’ll look…
Author: Alex Santori
Alex Santori
Alex Santori grew up in the mid-west as the youngest child in a wonderful family. She now lives in Los Angeles working part time as an actress, singer, writer, and blogger. She also works full time as a spy in the International Secret Service. Tell no one.
Dear Reader: I have a challenge for you. One that doesn’t involve ice water (… although that sounds pretty freakin’ good right about now). No, I am challenging you because I think that you are smart enough, capable enough, and because I know that you come to sites like this one to become a more well-rounded artist and human being. (I am giving you A LOT of credit here. Cuz, you’re that great.) You see, dear reader, I just started working on my first narrative short film. And I’m finding the whole process to be super challenging and surprisingly rewarding.…
To my lovelies in the entertainment industry; I know I don’t have to tell you this but, my child, you have chosen a difficult path. And at times it can seem like a big scary world out there, filled with backstabbers, naysayers, and emotional vampires. But never fear booboo, I bear good news! While we can’t change others and how they behave, we can certainly make things a bit easier on ourselves. But, HOW?? Well, I’ll tell you. (Don’t interrupt… It’s impolite) Do just like those wily Care Bears do when confronted by that dastardly Professor Coldheart and his minions; Band together and create a force…
So. Many. Cat. Videos. God bless the Internet. It’s such a time-suck of amazingness. But, as much time as we waste hooked up to the grid (like, for instance, searching YouTube for cat videos that I can link to in an article…), we can still harness this evil temptress of mind numbing distraction and make her work for us. If you have a specific routine and intent every day as you click that pretty little browser button, you can accomplish a lot for yourself and your career before eventually finding your way to this… or this (giggle). So, here is…
The recent earthquakes got me thinking a lot about being prepared. And my squirrel brain quickly made the leap to how I could apply that to my daily “actor life”. So, my thoughts of what I would do if zombies took over southern California, eventually turned into this article for you. Here is my list of things that you, as a performer, should have in your car/truck/stalker van at all times. Extra Headshots/Resumes/Reels Dude, seriously, this just happened to me today. I got to my audition and I was re-reading the breakdown and all that jazz (as I always do…
Tis the season!! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! Taxes! No? … Not feeling the warm fuzzies of tax season? No kidding. Doing taxes (especially as an entertainer) can really suck some big ol’ nuggets. However! Just because you’re you, I’m going to try and help ya out. I’ll spell out the artists deductions nice and easy so you can go about getting back as much as possible from that dirty lil’ Uncle Sam. And hopefully with out being dry and boring. You say that already got your taxes taken care of for this season? ::cough:: overachiever ::cough:: Well, wipe the brown schmutz off…
I’m sure that at one point or another, you’ve heard this phrase uttered by someone you know: “I have a rule that I never date actors.” Hell, even I’ve said that before, and with only a modicum of intentional irony. But, I’m a raging hypocrite. So, who’s surprised? And it’s true, the videos and articles can be funny, witty, or maybe even worthy of adorning your facebook wall. (“O.M.G.! This is toats hilar! And soooo true! LOL!”) But, really, underneath all of these jokes, we are not only devaluing our profession but, more importantly, ourselves. And, as my Mom would…
Hello Darling. How are you? Still working off a bit of that Holiday fuzz? Trying to get back in the swing of things? Yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, enough of that. Question; have you ever had one of those moments where you want to throw your hands up in the air and say “fuck it” then run away, far, far away from LA? .. No? Just me? Ok, fine. I guess that I’m writing this article for myself then. In all seriousness (or as serious as I am capable of being), pursuing an entertainment career outside of Los…
So, I had a friend (one of those overachieving, hardworking types… gross) ask me if I could write this months ‘In No Particular Order’ article on “time management”. After I got done wiping away the tears of laughter from the thought that I have ANY sort of authority to speak on this subject; I said “Okey Dokey”. Because, A: it’s hard to say ‘No’ to a pretty face… B: The very fact that I suck at managing time is exactly why I should be writing about it. (Case in point: I’m turning in this article 2 days past my actual…
Merry “Agent Drop Season” everybody! Also, Happy “slow time of the year” to you. Oh, and Feliz “What-the-shit-am-I-doing-with-my-life?-I-could-have-picked-a-normal-career-path-and-consequently-would-now-be-a-much-happier-and-more-successful-person” navidad! I have a feeling that quite a few of you might be nodding in agreement to one or more of those sentiments above. (And to those of you who think I’m just a weirdo… go away. We can’t be friends anymore.) First and foremost; you are not alone! In fact, a few of us “Ms. In the Biz-ers” were virtually chatting about this the other day. Lots of us face these moments and it seemed to strike a big enough chord…
Oh! Hello there, I didn’t see you come in. I was just getting ready for an audition. What’s that? …Well, thank you! I am, in fact, feeling relatively calm and collected. … Of course! I’m more than happy to give you a few basic tips and tricks for dealing with pre-audition/interview jitters. Snuggle up, make some hot cocoa, and read on my friend… 1. Know the material. Here’s the obvious one. We all know that notification time can vary wildly. You have anywhere from one weeks notice, to just 30 minutes to get your butt to the audition. You literally…
Can you feel that? That soft, autumn rustling in the air? That there, my friends, are the winds of change a blowin’. And we’ve all learned that change can be a good thing. So, that’s what we are doing here. (And by “here”, I mean my column.) Unless of course you are new to this site and ALL of this is new to you. In that case, I bid you a warm welcome. ::hug:: Today is the beginning of my new series that I’m calling… That much I’m sure you’ve already gleaned from the title. (…might have ruined the surprise…
Aaaand we’re back. It’s time to come full circle with this hodgepodge of “Alex Ramblings”. You’ve listened to me talk about my food allergen experiments, the purging of things, and distancing of personal relationships. (Thanks for hanging in there) Now I’m going to actually relate all of this to the thing that we all care about: The Industry. As you can see, I’ve made an attempt to be organized with this one, so it’s separated into three categories. …Bullet points make me seem much more professional, don’t you think? If it’s not working for you, dump it Stop making excuses…
I feel like starting this post today by saying; you’re pretty amazing. No Seriously. Don’t you dare deny it, because that’s almost the same thing as calling me a liar. And that’s just plain rude. Plus, I don’t waste my time talking to people that I don’t like. And well – ::blush:: – I kinda like you. Now that the giggle glitter hug party is taken care of… where were we? Ah yes, the condensing and purging of erroneous, ineffectual, and occasionally harmful things. (Yeesh. That sounds dramatic.) If you have no idea what I’m rambling on about, refer back…