tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11645472.post-1129698819894206272005-10-18T21:37:00.000-07:002005-10-18T22:13:39.906-07:00Surprised to find it's been close to three weeks since my last post. I have to say it's been extremely slow. Auditioned for a couple of plays — I sucked at one, thought I had a decent shot at the other, but in the end didn't get either. Had a voiceover job on Monday for a packaged food, but that's been about it as far as jobs go.<br /><br />I can't help remembering the argument that was raised during the Commercial Strike of 2000 to the effect that actors are overpaid. I can honestly say that I would have to quit commercial gigs entirely if I made any less than I do now. Sure, getting $200 for recording in a booth for an hour probably sounds excessive to some, but if folks are going to go by "hours worked" they should also include the 30+ auditions it took to land that gig, each of which costs me at least 2-1/2 hours of time (travel, waiting, recording, etc.)<br /><br />And while I know some of the advertising suits don't think the time invested on auditions counts, the fact is that it's a prerequisite to having a viable talent pool to draw on. They <span style="font-weight: bold;">want</span> us to be investing all that time, whether they know it or not. I mean, if the only actors they could cast in their commercials were those that happened to be available for their audition because they had nothing better to do — those who, for instance, weren't taking off time from their temp job (and losing that income in the process) — their commercials would all suck. So fair's fair: if you want professional actors, don't dismiss the rather extreme amounts of uncompensated time they invest pursuing professional work.<br /><br />Anyway, this just crosses my mind more at times like these, when it seems I'm auditioning endlessly with few rewards...Evannoreply@blogger.com