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| Well that didn't last long. |
Guess what time of year it [almost]
is?! If you said Pilot Season, you’re
right! If you said Christmas,
you’re…also right. But not as much. Gather around, kids. Uncle Alex has some important career lessons,
life advice and some good, old-fashioned know-how to share!
Pilot Season is that special time
of year when all your favorite television networks start assembling their Fall
and Spring slates. This is when series
regular casting for hit shows like Breaking
Bad, Modern Family and Made in Jersey (wait…) happen, and it’s
important to be totally on top of your game. Stars are born in the span of what seems like
minutes—land a lead role on the next hit show and your acting career is set for
life. Unless you’re Jason Alexander, but
he’s cashing a $58,000 check for Seinfeld
royalties right now, so it’s debatable how much he cares.
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| Remember these? |
The first step towards getting
ready for pilot season is STOP READING THIS AND START WORKING. That career of yours won’t move itself, so
wipe the potato chip crumbs off your stomach, put some pants on and go make
some phone calls. You know all those
“industry contacts” you’re always boasting about? Time to put your money where their mouth
is. The entertainment industry is built
around the idea of favors, and, if you’re committed to getting the opportunity
to audition for a “hit show of tomorrow,” you better be ready to get on your metaphorical
knees and beg. And if you aren’t
fortunate to have a Rolodex of contacts, well, go read our previous AGENCY TIPS
articles for everything you can do to make yourself more commercially
attractive. We offer some really great
tips for what you can do to prepare yourself properly for this season.
It’s important to remember, of
course, that an audition guarantees absolutely nothing (unless you’re one of
the Mara kids, apparently). For example,
one of our well-connected clients without a credit to her name was called in
for six – count ‘em, six – series
regular auditions last season. She read
for the lead female role in the new CBS show Elementary (which is actually pretty good). She didn’t get it, but guess who did? Lucy “Charlie’s
Badass Angel” Liu. A no name versus
a star…how cool is that? It’s no shock
why our girl didn’t get the role, but still—she went out there, worked her
contacts, and got a foot in the door.
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| Sorry ladies...he's a stalker. |
You’ve got your contact list ready—step
one, check. Emails are drafted, fruit
baskets have been sent and you’re memorizing contacts schedules to
“conveniently” bump into them at the local Coffee Bean (stalker). Now it’s time to get an education. Read the trades, both online and in print, to
see what the networks are moving forward with (check out Hollywood Reporty, Variety and Deadline).
What show seems like it was molded to house your creative energy? Are you a little more country or rock ‘n’
roll?
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| He's got his eye on you. |
Let’s take a look at a couple of
new shows that are already casting, S.H.I.E.L.D.
and Bates Motel. S.H.I.E.L.D.
(or the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division for
my fellow geeks out there) is, for the three of you who didn’t see The Avengers, the global peacekeeping
spy/army force that occupies the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the movies (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, etc.) S.H.I.E.L.D. has
been portrayed as a super Big Brother type of organization led by the
mysterious badass mofo Nick Fury (white in the comics, black and Samuel L.
Jackson in the movies). They have their
hands in every little pocket of everybody’s dirty business…and they’re coming
to a television screen near you! Make no
mistake: this is THE show to get in on, especially after The Avengers became the third highest grossing film of all
time. Plus the film’s /director
and TV alum Joss Whedon is acting as showrunner, which essentially prevents S.H.I.E.L.D. from being terrible. Think of this show as the television
equivalent of a “too big to fail” bank.
Disney has so much riding on the product they won’t allow it to be cancelled. This
is one horse I’m betting on, and so should you.
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| Hey, is that from Psycho or the Universal Backlot Tour? |
Now Bates Motel, premiering on A&E, is a whole ‘nother ball game. “Hmm, Bates Motel…that sounds so
familiar. I wonder why?” Probably because it’s the name of the motel
from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho,
arguably one of the most famous, untouchable films ever made (see: Gus Van
Sant’s 1998 remake). Bates Motel is the prequel, starring
Freddie Highmore in the Norman Bates role previously made immortal by Anthony
Perkins.
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| Ferris Bueller: this happened (with Jennifer Aniston!). |
I don’t want to knock Bates Motel – it has a really
interesting cast of talented actors (Nestor Carbonell, Mike Vogel, Vera
Varmiga) – but come on. A Psycho
prequel? Where were the screaming masses
demanding that one? Television history
is very clear on what succeeds and what doesn’t. The recent Charlie’s Angels, Blade: The
Series and, yes, even a Ferris
Bueller series all came and went. Original
programming always trumps remakes, reboots and prequels (remember, we’re only
talking about TV here—these rules don’t apply to the movies). Bates
Motel may very well end up the being an incredibly innovative, unique spin
on a timeless classic, but the odds of it finding an audience are not heavily
in its favor.
The funky thing about pilots – and
the entire television business – is that nothing is set in stone. Being cast does not always equate success, no
matter the size of the role. The
recently canned pilot Mockingbird Lane,
the remake of the classic 1950s series The
Munsters (hey look, another remake!) is a great example. The show was stacked: Eddie Izzard, Portia de
Rossi and Jerry O’Connell led the cast with Bryan Singer set as the
director. Everything was in this show’s
favor, but for whatever reason it didn’t quite work. Success in the entertainment industry is
built on intangible variables, making hits nearly impossible to predict.
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| Ain't he just dreamy? |
Another important factor to
consider in terms of casting is that television shows evolve. They’re not movies with a set amount of
screen time. Shows live, breath and
change, and often times the producers will find the urge to bring in new and
important characters. One of my personal
favorite shows, Dexter, is the prime
example of this, as new series regular characters are constantly being
introduced. Some characters last a
season or two before being killed in an (usually) emasculating sort of way, but
other grow and thrive in the show’s universe.
The single most important piece of
advice I can impart on you is this: never give up. Yes, they’ve already cast Sherlock and Watson
in Elementary, but last I checked
Sherlock’s brother Mycroft was noticeably absent. That could be you, if you’re willing to work
for it. After all, this is your career
on the line. What are you prepared to
do?
Lights, camera, action.
Got something to say about this? Have any questions? Comment below!
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| Yeah, it's not as good as BBC's Sherlock, but I like it. |
By Alex Tafet
