On Taking Direction: Tip #14

If you are an actor on an audition for an off-Broadway play with a lot of buzz, and your award-winning director asks you to perform a scene standing on one leg, chances are if you really want the gig you might ask which leg he would prefer you to stand on. Or imagine you are a young writer who has just been contacted  by the producers of America’s favorite sit-com to write a sample episode on spec so that you could be evaluated for their writing staff, I seriously doubt you would decide to deliver a spec script for “CSI: Miami.”

 

So why, young bizzlers, when Janey and the crew invites you to “tell us your story” in the intimate, confessional, and humorous /ironic style of our show…so that we can evaluate your performance and consider paying you $$ to be featured on our Digital Showcase, why would upload a video of you riding skateboards?  or singing in a talent show? or posting a trailer for a web-series you performed in two year ago?

 

Not to quibble or complain — we love that you have creative aspirations and really appreciate those of you who have taken the plunge by posting links to your past efforts — but for us to evaluate your work we need you to live in the present tense, not the past .

 

This doesn’t mean that we didn’t dig the smart, hipster poetry from Caroline, or the funny comedy reels from Julia that were featured on EOnline, but we are still hoping that the style of our main show would inspire you to use our format for self-expression to create some original videos for showbizzle — not for us to own, btw; our tos makes it very clear that you own whatever you submit  to our Community Channel — but to give us a better sense of your range and sensibilities as we look for the next round of actor/writers trying to jumpstart their careers…

 

So… channel your inner improv actor by grabbing a face cam, creating an original character/persona that may or may not be like you, and then share that story/performance with Janey and the rest of TeamBizzle…

 

…nothing might ever come out it, but hopefully you’ll have some fun challenging yourself to come up with something original — and when all is said and done,  it will confirm that you have that one crucial personality trait which all actors need to have if they are going to survive in this town and this business — which is the ability to take direction.