auditions, unions, and making the best of it

today i had my first audition for a paying job in almost 2 months... this town is killing me. i love Saint Louis, but its terribly limited for an actor i’ve learned. there’s no Goodman Theater here, there’s no established production economy here, and as technology developed over the last 20 years, it became completely possible for local companies to produce ads in other cities and have them back here within days.

and for this, the community has suffered. people who want to act and be professional can’t make it here - the effort required doesn’t have the possible local reward. and with this leaves an opening for anyone willing to show up and get the job and take less pay.

and i’m SAG; and i completely support performance unions. but in this case, the unions are wrong. and why? the unions allow producers to hire whoever they want for principal roles, bring them in from wherever, and then (except for cities like NY or LA) they can hire whoever they want for background, stand-in, extra, and cameo roles. the reason being that there isn’t the pool of talent to choose from in the union because the general pool of actors is so small.

however, the rules that the union places on me are GLOBAL. i’m not allowed to take any of these jobs if they are non-union, even if they pay better than union wages. now really, how much sense does that make?

i went SAG because i plan to leave STL to chase bigger and better productions and getting my SAG card in other cities will prove to be a challenge. but in reality, if you’re an actor in St. Louis - who’s planning on staying here, get the card, pay your dues - and go Fi-Core. Until the unions want to put the time and effort into the whole country, its really the only option.

after the audition i went on with my plan to do things that i don’t normally do. and for today, i went to Ted Drewes for some tasty Frozen Custard... mmm... I got myself a mocha something and my dad a small vanilla, it rocked. every town has its unique places to eat that everyone needs to try, and this is on the tops for the STL.