Author: Jennifer Ewing

“Too much drama. Not enough acting.” In acting conservatory, my mentor would frequently say this about the daily goings-on of the students. We all know the entertainment industry has a reputation of being awash with dramatic tension off screen: So and so is sleeping with that guy and/or girl, these people broke up, those ladies hate each other, that guy is competing with this other guy. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Civilians love their rag-cover stories every now and again. Some might say it’s harmless garbage, but for us, the actual members of the entertainment community, it can be absolute hell getting…

The other day I was sharing a meal with a friend of mine, and we were discussing having friends in successful places. I think most of us have been there; having either long-time friends who have recently ascended the ladder of success, or establishing new contacts who are already quite high on the proverbial pecking order. I also think most of us have heard the adage about our biz, “It’s all about who you know.” In that, I feel there’s an expectation that to succeed, one must use who one knows. Which is fine, I suppose. It’s the game we…

Ah, the Quick and Dirty. Combine 10 days of 9-hour rehearsals, 3 days of Tech/Dress, 1 Preview and Bob’s your uncle! You are ready to open! Fifteen performances later, that equals exactly 30 days to put up and perform a fully-realized professional stage production. Phew! That was my February. I learned an enormous amount about stamina, productivity and preparation. I’d like to share a few of those lessons with you, dear readers! 1. Eat Right and Sleep Well! Pretty obvious, I know. It’s always worth repeating though! You must have the proper fuel for your body and mind and mood. …

Happy New Year It’s that time again…resolutions. Love them or hate them, they are upon us. Have you picked any yet? Normally I mull over a couple resolutions for my career and a few others for myself personally. I can’t say honestly that many have been seen through, albeit they each get attempted at one point in the course of the new year. Inevitably however, I end up dissatisfied with my progress and my resolutions tend to stay the same for a few years in a row…Not good. This year, it’s going to change. Here’s how and why: When I…

Unless you are one of those magic few, we all have dry spells now and again in our careers. There are the essential things to do when this happens: – Keep auditioning – Take classes to stay sharp – Keep your chin up And then there are the OTHER essentials. Here are six activities I feel are vital to staying sane and making the most of that time: Read a book! I have already written about the importance of reading for an actor, but I’m not talking about reading scripts for monologue material. Read something for you. When I am…

The third weekend of September marked the 14th Annual Port Townsend Film Festival – A Film Lover’s Block Party! I have previously participated in this festival as attendee, filmmaker, volunteer, and this year an amalgamation of all three. Here are a few select gems (of which there were MANY, but alas there is a word limit for this post…) from my time at the festival which I wanted to share with you, dear readers. Filmmakers and film lovers, please do check out PTFF on Facebook and their website! First up… Tiny Miny Magic A love story gone postal. When Sam…

Plans. I like them. I tend to write about them. A good plan is clear, efficient, accomplishable. It requires thought, design, a grasp of the grand scheme and an eye for the details. Execute your plan well and you will have what you need. Plans have been the way of life for me for quite some time. You’ll rarely find me without a list of some kind, almost always laid out in my handy-dandy planner. In the last three weeks though, something had been different. My plans felt…disjointed. Meager. Belabored. Dry. Looking at a list on paper wasn’t filling me…

I had a bad two weeks. Stress, illness, minor surgery, hormones, bee stings, bug bites, you name it. The fact that I have been auditioning my hiney off since February – with no bookings to show for it – got me very, very down. There were floods of tears for a solid three or four days in a row. It was bad. I’m still exhausted. I can’t say that I have regained my usual go-get-‘em-ms-positive-attitude spark entirely, but you know what? That’s just where I am right now. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head about…

There are the practicalities: reevaluate your budget when you can’t look forward to that inflow of cash; be sure to send that thank-you-for-considering-me-email if the casting director/stage manager was kind enough to contact you to inform you they won’t be hiring you; prep for the next audition, etc. I have something important and practical I ALWAYS do when I don’t get the job: I figure out how I am going to use that time, that time not spent rehearsing, learning lines, performing. Not getting the work sucks, but it isn’t the end of the world and there are plenty of…

When I was starting out as an actor, I understood it was a common practice for actors to lie when asked by directors or casting directors about their skill-set. Dance the rumba? You bet! Snow shoe? Since I was five! Ice skate? Just call me Apollo Ono! All to get the part. Forget if that actor took debate not dance and grew up in southern Arizona, no one wants to be looked over for the job. No one wants to be found lacking. A teacher in college told us to always say yes, if “they” ask. Lie your face off…

I asked my actor friend the other day in the car, “What should I write about this week for Ms. In The Biz?” He responded, “How to not get bitter.” We laughed darkly. There are multitudes of things to be bitter about in this industry, and multitudes of ways to be bitter about them. And if I tried to write about ALL of it, I’d be here for months. But I have an audition tomorrow morning, so here’s a little about Rejection. It’s like, numero uno on the Bitter List for lots of actors. But it doesn’t have to be.…

A thing I will never comprehend is the actor–and there are lots of them out there–who doesn’t read. Truly, it boggles my mind. It’s not that I dislike anyone that doesn’t like to read, I’m not passing judgement here. Several of my actor friends don’t read. But I feel it’s akin to a sculptor who won’t wield any clay. Or a swimmer who doesn’t get in the water. It doesn’t make sense to me. Language, story, character is, well, what we DO. And it all comes from the text. While I feel it’s elemental to our craft, it’s also a…

Not getting paid sucks. I’ll be honest. I like to make money and I like to make money acting. But paid work is sparse. I have grand designs of becoming an Equity and SAG-AFTRA performer and working as a successful Professional for…ever. But everyone has to start somewhere. I’ve worked a lot of years for pay and a lot of years for free. If you’re like me, you might have had these conversations with yourself: A Professional gets paid. I want to be a Professional. So I should only do work which pays. Right? Right. But what about being a…

Today I want to tell you a story. I was going to write about something entirely different, but when this happened the other day I knew I needed to write it down. I met a gentleman on the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, who, as it turned out, has done a lot of theatre with Bainbridge Performing Arts, where I am currently working. Well, we were swapping stories, getting to know each other. Shows, auditions, quick change shenanigans – you know, talking shop. He shared his experience of auditioning for Peter Pan with his daughter. As I understood it,…