CHARISSA J. ADAMS

Sometimes(Always) Things Change

I had a potentially exciting experience this last week which I was so excited to share and barely managed to keep under wraps. Last week I was asked to interview with a director to be a “featured extra” on a pilot. (“featured extra” means you don’t have any lines, but you may have a close up on camera for a few seconds. “pilot” is the first episode of a TV series.) On Friday, I went in to interview with the director of the pilot on the Disney lot (pretty exciting!). An hour later, I got the call that I had booked the job!!! Sweet! I later found out that my picture had been selected from a bunch of headshots at a background casting agency. Pretty cool! The most exciting part of this was that the “featured extra” role that I booked, had a name. On my own, I was able to read the script and my mind went wild with the possibilities of this gig turning into an actual role if the pilot were picked up and went to network television. (The chances of all that happening are so infinitesimally small… yet a girl can dream, right!?) I got to base-camp, got my wardrobe, went to hair and make-up; things were great! Then I get an email asking if I can switch my availability to a different day(It was going to rain in LA so they have to change the shooting schedule). The problem is that I had just booked my first commercial gig that was shooting the day they wanted me to be the “featured extra.” (The commercial paid more and I didn’t want to jeopardize my relationship with my agent so I didn’t want to change it.) Crap! Next thing I know, they are looking for someone to replace me. So instead of getting two days of shooting, a possible close-up and a character name, I ended up walking back and forth in the background. *Wah-wha*
*On the bright side, I got to stay a little longer after a lot of the extras were released and I had the chance to watch the monitors from behind the director and observe the process. Maybe the director will remember me. Maybe not. It was still a cool experience.

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A couple of years ago I auditioned for this movie that filmed just outside Seattle with some recognizable actors in it. I was called the night before the shoot to come in and deliver one line. At the time, it was a pretty big deal because it was the first thing I booked through my agent and it paid more than I’d ever made in one day before! (Actually, it would still be a pretty big deal!) I scrambled to get work covered and said “Yes!” to the job. At base-camp I got my own little sliver of a trailer, was treated to wardrobe and make-up and whisked away to set. When I arrived with a group of extras for my scene we were all directed to spread out, which put me at the end of the line, furthest away from the camera. I doubt the camera caught my one line and when I saw the movie you could barely make me out in the background. Fortunately, I still got paid for that one line, but that goes to show you… you never know how things will change on set.

*In the end I was kind of glad my face didn’t make an appearance in that movie. Sometimes these changes work out for the best.

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A few weeks after arriving in LA last November, I booked a non-union commercial for Oil of Olay that was supposed to air in Thailand. I was playing a college student in a French class. I got an email the day before the shoot saying it would be postponed a week. Then a week later I got another email saying the shoot had been cancelled until further notice, because the client was “going in a different direction.” About a month after that I saw the identical audition notice (for students in a French class for Oil of Olay) up on the casting site. I resubmitted saying, “Hey! Remember me? Great to see you are doing this casting again.” No response. I have no idea what happened with that one.

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If you are an actor reading this, I’m sure you have many stories of when you thought one thing would happen but then everything changed; your scene was cut in the final edit, the film didn’t get enough money to finish post-production, you booked the pilot but then the producers didn’t like you and replaced you with someone else for the series. If you are not an actor reading this, hopefully you get an inside look into the volatile nature of this business. (You might also see why it’s tricky sharing exciting news. We, actors, aren’t sure if that great news won’t be so great after all.) Things change ALL THE TIME. Mostly it isn’t fair and sometimes it really sucks. Then again, sometimes things change for the best-est and then it’s AMAZING!!! This is the crazy world we embrace!

Vulnerable?

So this great opportunity just recently came up to audition for this new reality TV show called The Reel Deal. It will be filming its first season this summer… and I’m kinda excited about it! It will be the first Reality TV show for ACTORS, DIRECTORS, WRITERS, and COMPOSERS who will be mentored by CELEBRITIES… to make a movie in a week!!! Pretty exciting.

The first part of the audition process is to make a 90 second personality video. I heard a producer say that everyone in the spot light should choose to be vulnerable about something. If you aren’t, the public will find something and make you vulnerable about it. The biggest thing is finding something with which people can connect. With that it mind, I chose to be vulnerable (on the scale of completely surface(1) to guts on the floor(10) I was a 5 or 6?)… pretty vulnerable. Once I posted it and entered it into the registration process(no going back now), I almost immediately regretted it and started doubting myself. I was especially disappointed when I remembered that there was more that I wanted to do with the video that I just couldn’t accomplish after hours of thought and taping. I remembered other takes where I liked how I said things better than the one now on the internet for the world to see. I watched other audition videos and was jealous over their interests, hobbies, props and editing skills. Basically, I just beat myself up over all of it… for a couple of hours.

BUT then I stopped myself. Why? Because I can see what happened. I opened up. I didn’t talk about how my favorite color is orange (sometimes) and I can weld and have lived in Prague and Madrid. I talked about how I almost quit my dream. That is scary to admit to celebrities and casting directors and producers(whom you want to impress). That is a different, kinda gutsy(or stupid!) thing to do. Now I can see that. I can name it. Truth is, I have had a few pretty vulnerable moments on this blog. If anyone cares to read them, they are here for the world to see. I am proud of those moments because those were the moments when people connected with what I was saying and said, “Me too!” What I want to say with my audition video is that I am the type of person that will go there with you … and come out the other side with renewed purpose! My hope is that people will connect with my video. If not, it was a personal exercise in putting it out there and releasing control. Thing is, that’s what we do as actors. We put ourselves out there and become vulnerable to people’s opinions and judgement. But we also become vulnerable so that people can connect with our character or story. That’s why I chose to say what I said, not just to entertain but to relate and to inspire. THAT is what I am all about!

So, here we go. This is a window into my story. Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thQlObY6dmY

Admin Group

Recently, I was sitting around with my roommates talking about keeping our to-do-lists(something we all love to do) and realized the one thing that was missing in getting all these things done was having accountability. Of course, we were pretty good about doing at least half of the things on the list, but sometimes we avoided certain difficult tasks and kept putting them off, or we had trouble with some and needed help breaking through the barriers to our productivity.
Partially inspired by Bonnie Gillespie‘s article about Masterminding(which is definitely worth checking out!), we decided to create this group to help each other accomplish these things. Starting a month ago, five of us have been meeting once a week for about two hours to admin our way into this acting business and I have to say it has been very beneficial. (It so happens that all of us are actors, but I think this kind of group could be helpful with a variety of occupations and interests.)

What we do in our meeting:

Share what we accomplished last week.
Share what we will* accomplish this week. (Using the word “will” is important in stating our commitment to the task and not just “try.”)
Share what we are thankful for.

How it helps:

Deadlines– I am less likely to put something off if I know I have to answer to someone for it.
Brainstorming– Sometimes a few of us have had a mental block about something we are trying to accomplish. Often we have been able to brainstorm around the problem and help each other break through.
Encouragement– Even in the first month of the group, some of us have experience extreme frustration with where we are at. Having people who understand and can speak into that place is invaluable.
Celebration– We also have had some great successes! Some of those were as simple as sending a postcard. Others are as big as booking a job. We are here to celebrate with each other in the small and big accomplishments. Today, just one month after starting, we had LOTS to celebrate!

I am so thankful for my admin group. I can wholeheartedly say that my productivity and hopeful spirit has thrived in the last month. I highly recommend it!

Becoming a Producer!

A couple weeks ago I became a producer! Ha. I can hardly believe it. As you may have read in one of my previous posts I determined to make 2014 the year of making art with friends. Starting in December I began organizing a movie making weekend with my friends for January 25th. My initial idea was to format it like the 48 Hour Film Project in which I had just participated in November. We ended up settling on a 24 hour film-making process. We were not participating in a larger competition; the goal was simply to make a movie with my friends. So I gathered a small group of people from the people I know in LA, assigned roles, scheduled our 24 hours, outlined our parameters, and waited for the magic to happen.

Normally, I would be the one vying for the on-camera time, but this time I wanted to see what things were like from the other side. Secretly, I also knew myself and that, having organized this event, I would be too concerned with how the whole event was going, to be able to focus on acting. So, producer I became!

I listened to my instincts about who would work best in which role and how the team would function together.

I can’t even begin to explain how rewarding it was to watch these people do what they do best together and create something pretty-darn-good, out of nothing.

Maybe this was a one-time thing (although I doubt it). Maybe I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Whatever happens, I am so glad I branched out and discovered a skill I didn’t know I had.

Now we are in the middle of post-production. This is sometimes the less exciting part I am finding, but I can see the end goal and I’m determined to get us there. What is the end goal you ask? We are submitting it to festivals! Last year I wouldn’t have seen this coming. But I am so glad I tried something new. Yay for making art with friends!

Now you may call me Charissa J Adams: Actor/Producer! (I like the sound of that.)

How about you? Is there something you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t tried yet? Branch out! You never know what might happen!

How can I help you?

Recently, I took a commercial acting class with Bill Coelius, who has done over 40 national commercials and several cos-star roles on major series. (I highly recommend him as a teacher, by the way!) His life philosophy is lived out in asking the question(out-loud or silently), “How can I help you?” He uses this attitude of service in everything, especially acting.

How much would that change how we live if we could put that into practice?

For one thing, I believe it would change how we approach auditions. Instead of being focused on myself, how well or horribly I am performing, or how much I think I need this job; I can place my attention on the other people in the room. I’m less self-conscious and stressed; it makes me a better listener, scene partner, and actor. As I’ve put this into practice, it has lessened the pressure I put on myself. I am there to help the casting directors make their decision. If I happen to be the solution to their problem, then great! If not, then I know I helped them (and possibly the other actors) along the way. Either way, it’s a win!

Outside of our auditions, I have experienced how this philosophy improves many artistic relationships. Helping each other out builds trust and loyalty. Theatre and film are both highly collaborative arts. Where would we be without the people who helped us along the way? The more we can practice giving, the more we will connect with people and find the relationships which keep on giving. That sounds corny, but I think it’s true. I think of the places where I’ve given a little extra, volunteered when I didn’t “have to,” and been generous with my time; usually something good comes out of it.

Take this philosophy to all your personal relationships and you could have a revolution on your hands!

Of course there is a disclaimer here: There is a difference between service and servitude. We have to be able to recognize when our service is being abused. When that happens, walk away.

So, here we go. How can I help you? How can we help each other?

Shakespeare in a Year: The Beginning

This last year I was inspired to create my own content. Many ideas have sparked, developed, come, gone, and some lay in hibernation. That is a part of the creative process, isn’t it? Run with your ideas until you can’t run anymore. Something like that.
Anyway, over the Summer I had this idea to read all of Shakespeare’s (known) plays and make one or many performance piece(s) out of it. As a lover of Shakespeare, since before I can remember, I consider it a great tragedy that I have never read ALL of his plays. So, I have a copy of Shakespeare’s Complete Works and, starting with (what we think) was his first play, I am reading through it from beginning to end. I realize that is quite an undertaking. I usually don’t like to announce such projects before they are completed, because I’m afraid I won’t finish and then I will have let myself and everyone else down. But, in this case, I have gotten far enough that I have created and partially executed a plan and now I can’t wait to share this journey with you…. wherever it leads!

The Goal

1. Read all of Shakespeare’s Works.

2. Create and perform a piece(s) from all of Shakespeare’s Works.

The Plan
Starting on Monday, I start a new play reading one act a day so that by Friday I have finished it(Shakespeare’s plays have 5 acts). It is manageable, a small commitment per day, and in no time I feel accomplished! It also makes me happy to daily do this thing that is just for me. I’m not doing it because I have to, like so many other things that fill our lives; I’m doing it because I love to. (This plan fluctuates in practice, but so far I’ve been able to complete at least one play per week.)
The Progress
If you look at the list of plays in the order we think they were written, you can see that Shakespeare started with a bunch of histories. If you’ve ever frequented a Shakespeare theatre or watched any movies made of his plays, you’ll notice that the histories (especially these first three), are the least often produced. There’s good reason for that. At this point I have read King Henry VI: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, King Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus. What a way to start?!?
The Observations
One of the things that I love about this plan is that as I’m reading, I am able to map Shakespeare’s progress and maturity in his writing. I am no scholar, and I know many reading this probably far outshine me in the research department, but there are a few things I’ve noticed.

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King Henry VI
In the King Henry VI saga, Shakespeare mainly seems to be repeating history, as best he can from his sources. Of course it isn’t completely historically accurate, but Shakespeare didn’t do much to write an interesting story. There are so many characters, sub-plots, and (unimportant)tangents, that, without an extensive knowledge of the history, it is sometimes very confusing. There are a few monologues that stand out to me, but for the most part the story and characters are fairly one-dimensional: good vs. evil; England vs. France; weak vs. strong. (P.S. Joan of Arc and Queen Margaret are probably my favorite parts of this trilogy.)
These plays were not for me. But at least now I can say I read them!
My Modern Comparison: A History Channel Three Part Documentary.

Richard III
For the first time, it seems like Shakespeare figured out having a central character works really well! Following one main story line makes a better story. Wow! Good job, Shakespeare. On the very first page, Richard tells the audience that he will do everything he can to become king and that is the story we watch unfold. The only mystery of the play is how he will do it. It follows a good, traditional structure of: beginning, middle, end; but as far as characters go, Richard is pretty one-dimensional: just plain evil. There is one monologue in the fifth act, just after the spirits of all the people he has killed haunt him in his sleep, where he wakes up and has a sort of “come to Jesus” moment, only to realize it is too late and he will reap what he as sowed. Yes, you will, Richard. The End.
I can appreciate Shakespeare’s shift in story-telling style, but Richard III seems to lack some of the multi-dimensional aspects of his later works.
My Modern Comparison: House of Cards (only House of Cards is more interesting, in my opinion).

The Comedy of Errors
Mistaken identity times two! Shakespeare copied a lot of the plot from a Roman comedy by Plautus, called Menechmi–The Menechmus Twins. Essentially, “I gave you the money two minutes ago.” “No you didn’t. I’ve never seen you before in my life.” And, “Oh, husband, I’m so angry with you.” “Who’s this woman who thinks I’m her husband?” Hilarious! *sigh*
Also, rhyme. Rhyme. And more Rhyme. That is another thing I noticed. This play seems a lot more rhyme-y than his other comedies with which I am more familiar. “Trying out the rhyme, William? Great.” He uses it (a lot!) and perhaps figures out how to use it with purpose and specificity in his later plays.
As for story-telling, the first scene starts out with Aegeon explaining to the Duke of Ephesus how he lost his wife, other twin son, and his other twin servant a long time ago and begs to be allowed to search for them now. It is a LONG winded story of exposition. It seems that later on Willy figured out how to show the exposition rather than just tell it (i.e. Twelfth Night).
I can be entertained by this play (and I have), but it isn’t one that I want to return to again and again.
My Modern Comparison: The Three Stooges. (Maybe that’s not quite accurate, but the idea is lowest physical comedy.)

Titus Andronicus
Blood. Blood. And more Blood. I have read Titus before, performed Lavinia for auditions, and last year saw an all female production of it which was excellent. It is still bloody and brutal. It is another revenge story. Since writing Richard III, I feel like Shakespeare develops his characters a little more in this one. There is still a clear distinction between the good and evil sides, but I see a little more character and story arc.
I appreciate the story and loved the production I saw, but this is not a story on which I’d like to dwell or tell over and over again. Perhaps, once in my life.
My Modern Comparison: Hannibal

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The journey continues. Next time I will be writing about The Taming of The Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love’s Labors Lost and more. At least those are on a slightly lighter note. Again, I don’t claim to have any training in literature analysis, I’m just sharing my opinion and observations. I’m excited about what I’ve learned so far and can’t wait to see where this project leads.

My biggest take away: Shakespeare wasn’t the best writer when he started off. That is comforting to me. The point is that he wrote, wrote, and wrote some more, which led to some of the greatest works of literature and performance in known history. Let us learn from his example and keep working, writing, creating, doing, so that we continue to grow, change, and improve.

Making It Happen!

Looking back over this year, it has been quite a roller coaster.

Personally, it has been one of the hardest years in a lot of ways. Almost a year ago exactly, my husband and I made the decision for me to come down to LA and give my acting career here a try. I quite my job of two and a half years on December 31, 2012 and haven’t had a steady income since. January 30, 2013, we moved out of our apartment in Seattle and have lived with parents and various roommates for the past 11 months. We’ve spent over four months apart from each other and have struggled with how to make this long-distance, dual-city thing work. Many answers to the questions of our future are still unknown.

Professionally speaking, I didn’t book any major commercials, feature films or any roles on television; I didn’t get cast at any of my goal theatres; many goals are still waiting to be accomplished.

A year ago I had no idea what would come of 2013, but I did make a promise to myself that I would act with courage. Even without reaching any of those major bench marks, I have to say that acting with courage is one thing I DID accomplish this year.

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My reflections today have less to do with what goals I achieved and more to do with how I’ve grown. The way I listed the sequence of events above and talked about my lack of accomplishments probably sounds like I feel like a failure. On the contrary, I’m oddly okay with what this year has been. There have been some incredible moments and all the change and uncertainty has brought about an unexpected peace about who, and where, I am at this point in my life. By swapping environments and shaking things up a bit, I’ve been able to see the constants, all the factors that remain the same. Perceptions have been dispelled. Desires heightened. Methods refined. Goals clarified. It isn’t exactly the scientific method, but I’m starting to see the evidence that points to the truth.

What is the truth? When it comes to my career, the truth is that I will always be acting and making art. And to do that, I’ve learned that, no matter what…

I’VE GOT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!

By that I don’t mean strong-arm something or believe a lie. What I mean is that if it isn’t happening, don’t wait around… make it happen. Duh! I think until this year I believed the only thing I could to as an actor to get work was to audition. WRONG. There is so much more.

Just look at the projects I DID do this year: one play, a play festival, and four short films. Two out of five I auditioned for(cold-turkey); two I had to go out of my way to get connected or make happen, and two were because people I already knew asked me to do it.

33.3% from auditions

33.3% from my own initiative

33.3% from knowing someone

Although those percentages will fluctuate, the ratio is pretty telling. We have to get out there, get to know people, and make things happen.

Over the years I’ve had ideas for projects, but executing them hasn’t always been a priority. Now I’m seeing where I thought auditioning(and marketing) was the focus, that’s only part of the picture. In the last few months I’ve taken some significant steps in executing a plan for my own projects and you know what? I’M LOVING IT! Of course it comes with it’s own set of challenges, but not only is it exciting to see these ideas take shape, it takes some of the pressure off of auditioning. I don’t HAVE to book something when I have other creative things going on. It is so rewarding to take the initiative, start building a team of people with whom I love to work, and make some art. It’s the best!

Just take a hint from these 8 Actresses Who Wrote Complex, Female Roles For Themselves. They are my heroes. Their stories are so inspiring. Wherever I am, whatever this new year brings, I know I will be going out there and making things happen!

What about you? Want to join me!?!

Inspiring Moments

This weekend, I was gifted with the pleasure of attending a screening of “Saving Mr. Banks” on the Walt Disney Studios lot with a Q&A session with Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Bradley Whitford and Jason Schwartzman. ….. Incredible!

The Movie:
How was the movie? I loved it! Maybe I’m biased because of the circumstances in which I saw it for the first time, BUT…. I think it is a beautiful film. I laughed. I cried. And so did the whole audience. I won’t spoil it for you. Just go see it!

The Q&A Session:
After the movie was over, these five actors filed out, greeted by a standing ovation, to sit in front of us for a little Q&A. To me, one of the incredible powers of film is that it creates this intimate relationship with the people on screen. I expected to be awestruck, being in the presence(3rd row) of these celebrities. Instead, when the actors sat down in front of us, I felt like I was finally having a personal chat with my old friends. They were so candid, friendly, and humble. Here are a few moments I will cherish:

Tom Hanks performed a 2 minute monologue, reenacting the phone call he got asking him to play Walt Disney (complete with “on hold” music).
Colin Farrell joked about playing a drunk for the first time… on screen.
Jason Schartzman gushed over what it was like to work with Richard Sherman learning to play the music for the film and then turning around and playing him.
Emma Thompson shared how John Lee Hancock crafted this film to portray the truth that, good or bad, we carry our childhood with us.
Tom Hanks praised John Lee Hancock for knowing precisely what the film needed, like each fold in a piece of origami.
Bradley Whitford remembered the feeling everyone had working with John Lee Hancock, thinking: “I can’t wait to see what you make of this!” and simultaneously, “You better not F— this up!”
Jason Schartzman giddily revealed that he was able to see “Saving Mr. Banks” for the first time in the studio where the music for “Mary Poppins” was recorded.
Colin Farrell brought it back to the basics: as actors we use every ounce of empathy we have to live truthfully as another human being.
Emma Thompson’s greatest challenge playing this role? The perm!
All the actors simultaneously breaking out into, “Let’s go fly a kite!”

What an incredible experience to watch a movie about storytelling, in a theater filled with storytellers, on the studio lot where the story was told, and meet the storytellers of that movie afterwards!!! …… (Speechless)

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At a crucial moment in the movie, Walt Disney looks earnestly into P.L. Travers eyes, and says, “George Banks will be redeemed. George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”

The reason we read books, go to movies, watch TV, talk with friends, is to engage in stories, however different or similar to our own, hoping to find something truthful in those reflections. This is why storytelling is powerful. This is why I keep creating, acting, and storytelling. This is why I studied theatre. This is why I see plays. This is why I moved to Hollywood. What a powerful reminder: This is why I keep going!

I don’t know about you, but these inspiring moments don’t happen all that often. Maybe it isn’t that they don’t happen, but that sometimes I have to look harder to find them. Often I get bogged down in the days when nothing exciting is going on. We usually don’t advertise those days, do we? But on those days, I want to remember these moments that lift my spirits and make the impossible possible. When I stop to think… I’ve had more of those moments than I realize.

What are your inspiring moments? Remember them. Keep them close.

5 Factors of Fringe

I started reflecting on my experience doing independent/fringe (in this case-read unpaid) projects, specifically Julius Caesar. Often these types of projects can be absolute disasters, but Julius Caesar was not. This was an ensemble experience for the history books(my history book, anyway)! I am generally wary of fringe theatre. I have all but stopped auditioning for unpaid shows. It takes a play that I love or a company I know to get me to take a chance. For this one I did it because it is Shakespeare. I only took the role, because of the 5 minute interaction I had with the director in the audition room. I had this feeling that she really knew what she was doing and that I would be safe in her hands.
Still, even if the director gives off a good vibe, you never know if they’ll show their crazy later on. You also have no idea who else will be cast and how they will approach the process. There are so many variables, so many things that can go wrong, that those of us who have seen them go wrong many times, stop taking the risk.
But Julius Caesar was different. Not perfect, but one of those experiences that reminds me of the incredible potential of ensemble creations.

Julius Caesar with Handwritten Productions

The following factors are what I think made it great!

1. Commitment
It is special when there is an agreement among individuals to meet and create something which would otherwise be impossible. This especially astounds me when it is a group of strangers and no one is getting paid.
2. Talent
Perhaps this goes without saying. In addition to the traditional meaning of the word talent, I would add a curiosity and eagerness to explore. Talent without curiosity is dead. Curiosity without talent is lost.
3. Vision
I have been in plays with committed and talented actors, but without the light to guide them, confusion and/or chaos ensues. With vision, I count organization, clarity of thought as well as artistically mapping the course of the project.
4. Respect
Without respect, there is revolt. (Respect of time, of personal cost, of talent and individual contribution.) As mildly mannered as I am, I have revolted a couple times when I did not feel respected in a cast. Money or not, without respect it is easy to lose the passion with which you started. Without the passion, you can easily lose the drive and then the commitment follows quickly after.
5. Decisiveness
It’s all great having a bunch of wonderful ideas, but if you can’t ever settle on which one to use, the vision is diluted and the process and product suffer.

When all of these factors are at play, I believe beautiful art can be made.

Since writing this bog about Julius Caesar I also participated in the 8 Hour SIFF Film Challenge and the 48 Hour Film Project and I would say that the same rules apply. What about you? Would you add anything? Take anything away? What have been your experiences?

The 48 Hour Film Project

This last weekend I did my second 48 Hour Film Project and, again, I had a blast!

This time it was Horror themed, one of the first 48 hfp of that kind. At 7pm last Friday, the team leaders gathered to get their designated genre(Gothic/Vampire), character (Dr. Lyle Pentegrass), prop(a pineapple), and line of dialogue(“That’s it! I’m going back to school.”). The writers wrote into the wee hours of the morning. I joined the team at 4:30am on Saturday to drive to our set location in Yelm, WA. The team assembled at 7am to start filming. We filmed until midnight. At that point I went home. The crew filmed a couple more shots and the editing continued through Sunday until our film, “Empty,” was turned in, 48 hours after the whole process began. Tuesday night, all of us gathered at SIFF Cinema Uptown to watch what we had created. Of course, the quality ranged from “Huh?” to “Wow!” But whatever our reactions, we all had to admire that these films were made at all, and more so, in 48 hours. What a thing to celebrate!!!

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A friend of mine, outside of the industry, recently asked me how he could get started making films. My answer? The 48 Hour Film Project. Not only is it one of the best ways to get started doing film, it is one of the best ways to keep practicing.

As I told you in one of my first blogs, The 48 Hour Film Project was my first exposure to acting on camera. It was one of the most exciting and incredible experiences I’ve ever had…. and I learned so much as an actor! As a film maker, I think the experience would be even more valuable. There are a few advantages The 48 Hour Film Project has over starting out on your own.

Time Limits: Everything must happen within 48 hours, from the first word that is typed to the last moment of rendering. This means you can’t labor over your decisions, just do it until you get it done!
Content Parameters: If you struggle narrowing down your ideas, the 48 hfp is great because it gives you limitations. Every team pulls a genre out of a hat (different for each teach) and a character, prop, and line of dialogue are each drawn randomly to be used by every team.
Accountability: I don’t know about you, but knowing that someone is waiting for me to finish something, sure makes me work faster and harder.
Reward: Your movie is shown on the big screen! How cool is that!? And… you have the chance to win awards, like Best Film, Best Acting, Audience Choice… etc. Pretty cool!

All THAT and it might be your first time making a movie. Whether or not your film wins any awards, I bet you will be glad that you did it! So, if you’re wondering how or where to get started, look it up. Chances are there one near year. Go for it! Make a movie!