Notes on Rejection

Yesterday while checking my email I got yet another rejection letter from yet another festival. Although my film Black Irish has had some very exciting successes, it doesn't make the Rejections easier to deal with. It got me thinking about what it all means, about ways in which to deal with the constant rejection we all face in this business, and deal with it well. I find that every time I get a rejection notice from a festival, or don't book an acting job I thought for sure I would book, I reflect on what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, where I can improve and my basic overall place in this business. And although that is a very normal reaction, it can easily turn into self pity and wound licking.
I'm beginning to believe that rejection is the natural way to cut the fat out of any business. There are a lot of people in this town that are trying to claw their way to the top. And maybe 70% turn their tails and get "real" jobs at the first sign of rejection. It sucks to say, but there are quite a few people who get off the bus thinking their the next "Tom Cruise" without having the foggiest idea of how much time, effort, work, blood and sweat go into making your way as an artist of any kind. Each rejection should be a call to action, a time for self reflection and the hardening of your will to get where you're going.
Remember something: If you get what you want easily, you won't cherish it because it'll mean nothing.
I leave you with a few inspirational quotes:

"There's nothing like a rejection to make you do an inventory of yourself"
                                                                               -James Lee Burke
"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always get where I'm going."
                                                                                -James Dean
"Some actors couldn't figure out how to deal with the constant rejection. They couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel."
                                                                                 -Harrison Ford

Black Irish has it's World Premier

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I've posted. When I began this little journey into blogdom I promised myself I'd post once a week. Well, I'm back and I've made the same resolution. I will not allow myself to treat this blog like I do the gym: a good idea in theory but one I rarely practice. A lot has happened since last we spoke! Most notably my film Black Irish will have it's world premier at the Bend Film Festival in Bend Oregon. It's very exciting and has been a long time coming. A lot of very talented people worked very hard on this film especially our amazing director Anika Poitier who shot the entire film while pregnant. Five long hot days last summer in Warehouses and Studios. I can't imagine what she went through, and now finally we get to show it to a public audience. I am very proud of this film which I wrote and star in. Anika won the Adrenne Shelley Filmmaking Grant for her work on this film and we hope it has a good run on the festival circuit. Not sure exactly what dates we'll be showing, But I will keep you posted.

Love. A short film.

One of the best things about this new blog is that I get to shamelessly promote my talented friends. Check out this amazing short film by Will Carsola and my good friend Dave Stewart. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to work with these two.

Black Irish

Im feeling pressure to write a bunch of blog posts to get my massive amount of readers up to speed with what's going on lately. A couple of years ago I decided to start writing short films. This was in direct response to being frustrated at 1) The lack of Theatrical auditions I was getting and 2) The quality of the one's I did get. Since then I have written two short films both of which have been produced. The first "Yard Sale" was made on a shoestring budget and was the result of a lot of favors. It went on to a bunch of festivals and we got a great response, and although it didn't win anything we got to travel around the country meet cool people, drink good cocktails and support our film.
Im proud to announce that the second "Black Irish" is finally complete. This one we got to do through the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Woman and the budget was considerably larger. We are now out to a bunch of festivals and we are really crossing our fingers that we'll get in. We have had a premier at the Director's Guild of America where our talented Director Anika Poitier won the Adrienne Shelley Foundation Filmmaking Grant!

Cast and Crew Supporting Black Irish at the DGA Screening 4/8/2012



It's so great that we as artists can be more in control of our careers. I was largely stagnant at the beginning of 2010, and taking the initiative to create work I really believe in and am passionate about really paid off. Since the first script I have been directly involved in three different films and each one just gets better. Next stop: A Feature!

What Samuel Beckett and UCB have in common

UCB Theatre. Franklin Blvd. Hollywood, CA.

Went to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater last night to take in Harold Night. Improv is something that I have recently gotten involved with to supplement my acting training. I started a week ago and really can't believe that I haven't gotten involved sooner. I have seriously never had as much fun as in this class and it is a great way to really get out of your comfort zone, take a big swing and see what happens. I see a lot of actors out there really playing it safe when making choices during a performance, and although it's really the only way to safeguard not completely falling flat on your face, it also makes for pretty one dimensional acting. The best acting is born from a lot of failure, not something society has prepared us to deal with gracefully. We all laud success and only success, tending to ignore the massive amount of failure which goes into it. You MUST fail before you can ever succeed, and if you fail big, you could succeed big. A very wise playwright once wrote: "Risk, Fail. Risk Again." How true those words are.