September 2nd was my 16th anniversary of moving to Los Angeles. I had thought about what, if anything, to say about that. Last year, I had too many other things going on to acknowledge it in any kind of way. Then a “Memory” popped up on Facebook from 2011 regarding a movie review I’d written, and that was a big turning point for me as well, so I'll talk a bit about both at the same time.
I was in high school when I actually made the firm decision that I was going to pursue acting as a career. It was one of the only environments I'd ever felt really comfortable and accepted. Once I got to college, I majored in Advertising to learn more about the business side of entertainment, since entertainment is largely all advertising based. TV shows exist to show you commercials (though now subscription services have disrupted that to a degree, while YouTube is just straight-up dropping ads in the middle of someone's sentence on a highly-watched video now without regard for interrupting the actual content.) Shows and movies advertise products by how their characters use them, etc. It was a useful tool to learn how to market things effectively, because acting is all about effectively marketing yourself as far as the business side of it. A business-side I do think a lot of people unfortunately neglect.
There were a lot of odd jobs upon my LA arrival, with me working overnight shifts so I could audition, do plays, rehearse and shoot projects during the day. I got a feature film made that way, which also taught me a lot about what to do and what not to do moving forward. I barely slept for about six years.
In 2009, I walked out on a really toxic environment from a promotions company I'd done live presentations for. In looking for other work to pay rent between acting gigs, I started freelance writing articles for maybe $15-$20 each. Wasn't much, but it was something and I was able to support myself for a bit by doing a lot of them in bulk while still auditioning and doing other projects. In 2011, I submitted a movie review that I'd written for the film "Warrior" to Sherdog, one of the largest mixed-martial-arts websites in existence. They were holding a contest for best review, and I'd already written one since a friend had taken me to an advance screening and had asked me to write my thoughts on it. I asked them if I could submit a review I'd already written for this other purpose, and Sherdog gave me the green light and said to submit it to them.
The review won, and I got a bunch of DVDs, a t-shirt, poster, book etc. It felt really good, and made me think that I might be actually able to use my writing for better income opportunities than $15 articles. That was a major turning point, and I ended up really pursuing it instead of just getting by with it. I ended up under contract for About.com for three years, which was then owned by the New York Times but I don’t believe they still are, wrote a bunch of comedy articles for Cracked.com under a couple different pseudonyms and got paid by several different indie producers to write treatments and/or scripts for stories they wanted to develop.
Acting work also picked up, and on my sixteenth anniversary (plus a few days) of living here, I can honestly say I've been able to make my living through writing gigs and acting/entertainment gigs since probably early 2010 when I was hustling the low-paying articles, but really since 2011 when I started to actually believe in my writing as a legitimate revenue source that was worth something. There's definitely been lean times in there, but that "Warrior" review is what started that process. It's not on Sherdog anymore, but I'll link to the original blog I posted it on for anyone curious. As of Year 16, I've written and produced my own feature film, multiple shorts and skits as well as appeared in really cool shows like “Casual” and ones with a lot of history like “The Young and the Restless.” I have the most supportive group of people around me that I think I've ever had (minus those that are no longer with us), and we're going into production on a web series that'll be the most ambitious thing we've tackled yet. I'm excited about it, and about what's to come. As a kid, I liked the stage since I didn't have to worry about what to say to people, since it was all written for me. I didn't have to worry about my own safety, because there are bright lights on me and a crowd of people watching. What would be some people's greatest fear or place of insecurity was a safe haven for me, so I embraced it.
Now it's not about feeling safe. It's about taking risks. Telling stories we want to tell, and doing so with the best people that I know. Continuing to embrace the grind of auditions and self-marketing and the 405 freeway, but also pursuing our own passion projects where we don't have to wait for someone else to say Yes or give us permission. This "Warrior" review ended up being a turning point for me that I never would have guessed would alter the course of my life. I've always said to never get into this business for affirmation, but that little bit of affirmation at that time that I was actually good at what I do meant the world to me.
Sixteen years and counting. The best is truly yet to come. And "Warrior" was a kick-ass movie.
Original review here. (I’m better with comma usage nowadays…)