This is a difficult question to answer. Most artists dread the question.
Do I respond by revealing my creative pursuits? “I’m an Actor!!!”
OR do I respond by revealing my ACTUAL work? You know, the stuff I do that actually pays me.
I struggled with this question when I first stopped practicing law and embarked on my creative endeavors. I’d ask myself, “how can I say I’m an actor when I haven’t been in anything??”
If I told people I was an Actor, they’d surely respond, “No way! So cool! Have I seen you in anything?” After which I’d clear my throat, laugh, and respond, “doubt it.” Then proceed to change the subject with a classic, “how about all those scooters downtown, crazy right?” Not the most invigorating conversation, I know.
But over the past six months I’ve come to a few realizations…
THE FIRST – never let other people’s opinions affect your decision making. This comes straight from Gary Vaynerchuck, the legend himself. Don’t say or not say something because you’re worried about what that person will think of you. Behaving that way is just silly. What other people think of you is none of your damn business. You do you.
THE SECOND – you don’t have to be profiting off your art in order to identify as an artist. For most artists, money isn’t the primary motive. And if it is, I doubt they’ll last long. Most artists are pursuing their art because they love it. And shouldn’t people identify with what they love? That’s rhetorical – of course they should.
THE THIRD – the more people who know what you do, the better off you’ll be. This is an old networking trick. Connections are EVERYTHING in this business. I truly believe that. So why would you ever not tell somebody you’re an actor, or a writer, or an artist? You have no idea what connections that person has. They may refer you to a filmmaker who is need of an actor for an upcoming short film. Or they may have a friend who is in need of an additional writer for a sketch comedy group. You never know what could happen.
You are doing yourself a disservice if you withhold information about your creative pursuits when you meet new contacts. Tell the world what you do. Don’t be timid. The more who know – the BETTER!
To sum all of the above up, it doesn’t fucking matter what people think. JUST BE HONEST!! Tell the truth.
If you’re still sitting there thinking, “can I really call myself an actor if I don’t actually make a living acting?” Slap yourself. Good. Then slap yourself again. OF COURSE, YOU CAN. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? Speak that shit into existence.
I currently make my living as a tour guide and retail sales associate but here’s how I respond to the infamous question, “So what do you do.”
“I’m an Actor and Writer pursing the dream here in Nashville, TN.”
I recently finished directing my first Short Film! Thank you, thank you (pause for applause).
Instead of adding “Film Director” to my Instagram bio, I decided to draft up this article and highlight some of the most important lessons I learned during this experience.
Also, let’s not kid ourselves, I’m DEFINITELY going to add “Film Director” to my IG bio. Maybe I already have?? I guess you’ll just have to look me up @BrendanBald and give me a follow to find out for yourself 😉.
Before I dive into the meat and potatoes of this post, let me tell y’all a tiny bit about this project so that you have some context. This will be short (kinda), I promise.
The film I directed was a part of the 2019 4thWall Acting Studio Film Challenge. I know what you’re thinking, “is that like Sundance or something?” The answer is YES EXACTLY – well sort of. For the past year I’ve been studying at an acting studio in Nashville called the 4thWall Acting Studio. Every summer, this studio puts on a film challenge solely for the members of the studio.
It began with screenplay submissions. All studio members had the opportunity to submit a screenplay for consideration. A neutral third party then selected the 10 best screenplays. I submitted two screenplays – neither got selected (sheds single tear).
Next was director submissions. All studio members interested in directing a film were required to submit a rather intensive application. The studio then picked 10 directors and matched them up with one of the 10 chosen scripts. I was lucky enough to have been selected to direct one of ten films in the Challenge.
One additional note worth mentioning is that casting for each film was done within the studio – meaning only studio members could audition for parts. Also, in order to avoid bias, the Studio arranged for a third-party casting agency to cast each film.
Once each role was cast, it was then up to the director to bring the film to life. The Challenge allowed each film about 6 weeks for pre-production, production, and post-production. We literally had to make a movie in 6 weeks. It was a serious time crunch. We also had a maximum budget of $500. Now I don’t know if any of you have ever made a film before but $500 is NOTHING when it comes to making a movie. I sure had my work cut out for me. Have I mentioned that I’d never done this before??
Anyways, the road to premiere night was bumpy but I learned SO MUCH along the way.
Here are 6 things I learned directing my first short film!
1. Forming a Production Team is Vital!
Have you ever heard the saying “it takes a village?” Nowhere is that phrase more applicable than in filmmaking. Filmmaking cannot be done alone. YOU NEED A TEAM.
As soon as I was selected to direct, I began recruiting producers. I was SO lucky to find two extremely talented and creative individuals within my class that were willing to help me. These two individuals were INSTRUMENTAL in bringing this film to life.
Not only did my production team help with logistics (scouting locations, makeup, hair, wardrobe, props, shooting dates, etc…) but they were also an amazing source for ideas and creative feedback. I had done a tremendous amount of research and preparation for directing this project, but I was still a novice filmmaker. I relied heavily on my producers in pre-production and the film wouldn’t have been NEARLY as good without them.
If you have an ego, you better check it at the door before directing a film. If you don’t, you’ll almost certainly FAIL. On top of failing, everyone will probably hate you too – just sayin.
2. Trust Your Team!
This point ties into the first. As a director of a small project, you are essentially the manager of the film. I am by no means an amazing manager. But what I do know about managing is that nobody, and I repeat, NOBODY likes to be micro-managed. It’s always been my understanding that members of a team perform better when they know that their managers have complete faith in them. I attempted to implement this approach when I took on this project but feel as if I could have done a better job.
I prefer having control. That’s just my personality. The old saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself” is ever present in my mind and I’ve been working on shaking it over the past couple years. So, when I first started the project, my first inclination was to do everything by myself. But, once I started digging into the logistics behind the film, I quickly realized that doing it all by myself was IMPOSSIBLE.
Luckily, I brought on two producers who were more than capable of not only getting shit done, but getting shit done RIGHT. They each took complete ownership over numerous tasks during pre-production and production. This helped tremendously and freed up my mind to think creatively.
In hindsight, I definitely could have done a better job communicating my needs and delegating tasks to my team. If you’re able to delegate essential pre-production tasks to your producers, you will make your life A LOT easier – trust me.
3. Thoroughly Scout All Locations!
As they say in the real estate world, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!!
It’s imperative to thoroughly scout every single filming location. I learned this the hard way.
We filmed at six locations over the course of two days. The majority of the filming took place at one location. Thankfully I was wise enough to thoroughly scout this location with one of my producers. We were able to talk through lighting, camera set up, and blocking for each scene. This saved SO MUCH time on set. However, for a couple of locations, I relied on pictures and decided to “wing it” on the day of shooting – bad move. Here’s an example…
One of our scenes took place in a hotel room. It was my plan to rent a room at an old motel, not tell them we are filming, sneak in our actors and gear, get the footage, and sneak out.
Guess what? It didn’t work.
I showed up to the motel for the first time on the day of shooting. My team rolled into the EMPTY parking lot with eight cars. I got out of my car and strolled into the lobby like a tired traveler seeking some shut eye. I was suave enough to get checked in without a hiccup. My confidence must have been a little too high because once I received my key, I gave my team the thumbs up to start heading into the room.
The move from our cars to the motel room was literally the most un-stealthy move of all time. We had a guy with a sound pack and giant boom mic walking across the parking lot. A guy with two huge camera cases following behind. I’m strolling behind him with a clipboard and a light stand. Both my producers and our lead actress are behind me. Another PA with a few bags is behind them. Literally the most obvious scheme of all time. I am cracking up just writing this 😂.
Anyways, as soon as we got into the room the phone rings. It’s the front desk. They saw our equipment, knew we were filming, and proceeded to kick us out of the hotel!! I tried to get all lawyerly with them to try and salvage the location but FAILED miserably. Really putting that law degree to work 🤷🏻♂️.
Thank goodness our lead actress was able to call in a bunch of favors and get us access to a different hotel last minute. It just goes to show that “winging it” is usually not the best option!! Except it kinda worked out for us in this example. Hmm I might have to rethink this point. I’ll get back to you!
4. Lock Down Equipment Logistics ASAP!
When you’re working with a tight budget, equipment logistics can be a headache. I knew this going in and tried to lock down all of our equipment ASAP. Locating video equipment and lights weren’t a problem for us. Our Director of Photography had his own camera equipment and we all owned plenty of lights.
Finding a good sound mixer was difficult. I posted the gig on several different forums and received numerous hits. I then spent hours interviewing sound mixers and vetting their equipment and experience. I ultimately locked down a talented young mixer who agreed to work at a reasonable price. I’m so glad I locked our sound mixer down early in pre-production because procrastinating on this would have caused everyone a ton of stress.
5. Ball Out on Food!
Food is SOOOOOOOO important on set. If your cast and crew aren’t fed, they aren’t happy. If they aren’t happy, they aren’t working hard. If they aren’t working hard, your film’s gonna suck. It’s science.
A significant part of our budget went to feeding the cast and crew. We made sure that our crafty table was full of tasty snacks and delicious beverages during our shoots.
The importance of food is especially true if your team is working for free. Which, in our case, they were.
No actor ever gave an amazing performance hungry. Well – except maybe Tom Hanks in Cast Away. The guy must have been STARVING when he was skinny in all of those island scenes. Sheesh – the things we do for ART!
Anyways, food is a major KEY – along with water. Hydrate to dominate!!
6. Draft a Detailed Shot List!
Last but not least is the mighty shot list!
Having a detailed shot list for every scene is critical to time efficiency on set. I made it a priority to draft a detailed shot list and send it out to my team well before our shoot dates. This saved us countless hours on set. I was able to work smoothly with our DP and transition between setups in a timely manner.
We primarily stuck to our shot list for the majority of our scenes and only came off it for a few creative shots. BUT we wouldn’t have had the time to explore those creative shots had we not efficiently captured the shots we needed first.
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Sorry guys, just had to say it 😁.
That’s All Folks!
Filmmaking is no easy task!
But don’t let the hard work scare you away. Directing this film was an absolute BLAST. I cannot wait to work on my next project.
I cannot thank the 4thWall Acting Studio enough for giving me this opportunity. It truly lit a creative spark in my soul and for that I will always be thankful.
If you’re interested in viewing the film, I’ll go ahead and post it below. Thanks!
Okay, here’s my new thing. In an attempt to write more consistently, I’m giving myself 30 minutes per day to write a blog post – content, proofreading, literally everything in 30 minutes flat. It’s basically like a bowflex workout.
I wanna chat about content.
I fully believe that social media is an invaluable tool for people trying to build their personal brands. Y’all know that. I think I basically say it in every post. Oops.
Anyways, if I’m being completely honest with you all, I struggle with social media content.
There are several things I want to accomplish with my social media pages. The first is that I want to support my acting goals. The second is I want to have fun and extrovert my talents online. Those two things have often clashed in my mind. Here’s what I mean – I want my social feeds to express an aura of professionalism and seriousness about the acting/entertainment business. BUT at the same time, I’m such a goofball and love posting little skit comedy videos and light hearted content.
It’s been difficult to bridge the gap. I’m starting to think the ultimate answer is to simply post whatever the hell I want. If I’m feeling goofy, I’ll post a funny video. If I’m feeling professional, I’ll post a more professional photo with a truly thoughtful caption. I don’t think there is a science to this. Did I just answer my own question?? CLASSIC ME.
I also REALLY try not to cater my content towards likes and comments. My goal is not to get as many likes and followers as possible. The goal is to extrovert my talents and interests’ long term with the hopes that it will benefit me down the road.
Producing content is also just fun for me. Making videos, taking pictures, and writing articles are creative endeavors that I thoroughly enjoy. So that’s another reason why I do it.
This all goes back to one main point that my brother and I ALWAYS emphasis…
MAKE ROUGH DRAFT MOVES!
My ultimate goal at this point in my life is to act professionally. AKA make a living as an actor. The one thing that SUCKS about an acting career is that you have no control whatsoever. You can take a million acting classes, get a million headshots, and work on a million projects for free but whether or not you garner success is out of your hands – for the most part that is. It’s one of those careers where anything can happen at any second. It could happen a year from now or twenty years from now, no one knows.
The good thing about social media is that it gives people who have no control over their careers, complete control over their brands. You can really become your own PR agent on social.
Anyways, I just wanted to open up a bit and talk about the struggles I have with social media. The key, I think, is to not overthink. Any action is better than inaction. DAMN! I absolutely love that line. I’m gonna say it again for the people in the back. ANY ACTION IS BETTER THAN INACTION!!!
Make rough draft moves people!! Cheers to making a whole bunch of random content and having a blast doing it!!
I didn’t always hate camping. But one summer changed everything…
Way back in the day when I was just a young and innocent little child, my parents sent me and my brother to an outdoor “adventure” camp. It was called Camp Friendship. This was our first overnight summer camp away from our parents. We were excited for sure but also nervous at the same time.
The traumatizing events that occurred at Camp Friendship permanently cemented my hatred of camping and also my fear of bugs.
I remember the events of my first 24 hours at Camp Friendship vividly. I remember being dropped off by my parents and receiving a brief tour by one of the counselors. I remember getting so excited after seeing the huge pool, jet skis, and archery station (I was randomly super into archery). But the minute I moved my luggage into my “cabin,” everything changed.
Not but 2 minutes after meeting my cabin counselor, he told me about the black widow spiders within the cabin. Now I don’t know if y’all know about black widow spiders. But they are Satan’s spawn. They are what nightmares are made of. If you don’t know – google it.
At the time, all I knew about black widow spiders was that they were huge and deadly. So yeah – I was terrified. Anyways, our counselor had found a family of Black Widow Spiders inside of our cabin the day before and instead of moving the kids out of the cabin, he simply told us to be on the “look out” for them. Apparently, black widows were prevalent in the area.
If you don’t think this start to camp was horrifying enough, don’t worry because things escalated quickly. In the middle of my cabin counselor’s forewarning about the poisonous spiders living amongst us, a freakin RAT ran over the tops of my feet. I about near had a heart attack. I was also wearing flip flops. I felt that piece of shit run right over the tops of my bare-naked feet. I was so terrified at the time that I couldn’t even articulate words to say. I just kind of stood there frozen – like a deer in headlights. I then remember my cabin counselor responding all calmly “oh yeah, sometimes rats get in here as well.” ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? He then proceeded to hand me my agenda and took off.
At this point, I wanted to go home ASAP. I had had enough of this shit. And I was in no mood to do a bunch of dumb ass camp games at the Camp Friendship orientation. So you know what I did? I skipped it. I threw my agenda away and decided to do my own thing. I put on my bathing suit and went out to find the pool. I was going to try and salvage some fun out of this trip before calling mommy and daddy to pick me up.
The only problem was that I had absolutely no effing idea where anything was. I’ve always been a little geographically challenged – still am today. But I had no idea where the pool was. So I just started to wander. I eventually ended up at a shooting range in the middle of the woods. It was a bunch of older kids firing rifles at targets. When the counselor saw me, he asked where I was supposed to be. I lied. I told him I was supposed to be at the range. This dude had to have known I was lying because the kids in this group were like 7 years older than me. But the counselor didn’t care. He gave me a gun and let me shoot. I felt like such a badass. This is the ONLY dope thing that happened on this trip.
Anyways, after the shooting range I followed the guys back to the cafeteria. There I found my brother and my assigned counselor. I got in a little trouble for skipping but got away with it because I told them I was lost. I then proceeded to tell him that I wanted to go home ASAP. I was crying my eyes out. I was NOT a tough ass kid. I was terrified and missed my parents. I REALLY wanted to go home. But the counselor wasn’t having it. He told me he’d call my parents in the morning and that a lot of kids want to go home at first but end up having the time of their lives. Yada yada yada – it sounded like bullshit to me and I was so pissed. After dinner it was time for showers. This is where shit gets REAL.
The showers and bathrooms were in a separate building probably 100 yards from our cabin. I remember thinking that maybe a hot shower would make me feel better. Boy was I wrong.
The showers were set up like a locker room. Just a bunch of small shower stalls with curtains. It was a little late so not many people were in there. I picked a stall, opened the curtain, and walked inside. I then reached back to close the curtain but felt something crawling on my hand. I quickly turned around and saw that the back of my shower curtain was crawling with hundreds of cockroaches. I am not exaggerating. There were hundreds of cockroaches crawling up and down this fuckin curtain. Some hanging and others falling to the ground near my feet. I can see this image clear as day as I type this.
After seeing the cockroaches, I freaked the hell out. I was literally trapped. No way I was going to use my hand to open this cockroach invested curtain. So I came up with this brilliant plan to use my flip flop to pull the curtain back. It worked (thank god) and I sprinted out of their faster than Usain Bolt in the 2012 Olympics.
I ran to the head counselors cabin, knocked on his door, and begged him to take me home. Tears were FLOWING. At this point he finally called my parents but wouldn’t let me talk to them. After his phone call he told me that my parents would come visit the next day. He then proceeded to let me use the counselor’s bathroom to shower.
The next day my parents didn’t visit but they did send me and my brother a giant care package full of every candy and snack imaginable. This definitely softened the blow.
The rest of my experience at Camp Friendship wasn’t nearly as bad as the first 24 hours. The counselors let me use their bathroom the rest of the week. So lucky for me, I didn’t have to come across anymore cockroaches. I also never saw a black widow. And no more rats ran over my feet. Any fun I ended up having has since been blocked out of my memory due to my horrific first 24 hours.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate camping. Don’t try and convince otherwise because you will fail.
This is my first blog post in freakin FOREVER. I’m talkin months – like many many months. Not sure why exactly I stopped in the first place. Probably a time thing if I’m being honest. That’s such a lame excuse though. Whatever I’m making it anyways.
I really want to start blogging more and I have a free half hour so here we go…
I’ll start with a brief little update about what my life has been like the past five or six months. Here’s a tidy list that you can feel free to skip past if you want – I won’t be offended…
Acted in two short films and one commercial.
Recorded several new podcast episodes for The Millennial Lawyer podcast.
Was on a dating show which I lost (sheds tear)
Discovered that I live down the street from the best taco stands in Nash, and have been taking full advantage.
Directed a short film.
Started giving ghost tours in downtown Nash.
Still working at the lemon
Went on a two-month hiatus from Planet Fitness (SMH).
Am now back on my Planet Fitness game (#HealthIsWealth).
Went to Destin, FL for literally 24 hours (it was well worth it)
Yup – that about sums it up.
Anyways, I recently went on an Amazon Prime book buying binge and started reading all about writing screenplays. I’ve written a few short screenplays in the past but if I’m being honest, they all kinda sucked. I’d give them a solid C+ and that’s being generous. I originally wanted to write a short screenplay that I could produce myself and act in so that I could add the footage to my acting reel. But once I realized that my stories were lacking, the lawyer in me went into research mode and I started combing the web for information.
Don’t worry – this won’t be a long boring post about how to write a good screenplay. I wouldn’t even know how to do that. I’m only two books into the ten I purchased from Amazon. So yeah basically an expert.
This post, on the other hand, is mainly about PREMISE – and how having a solid one is critical to writing a good story.
After reading The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, I realized how important it is that every story have a solid premise. None of my screenplays had a good premise. Are you surprised? I already told you they were pretty JV squad. They had cool stories and characters and scenes but no concrete premise.
The premise of a screenplay is essentially the central idea or theme of the story. AKA what is the point?? Some examples given by Egri are..
Foolish generosity leads to false gaiety
Ill-temper leads to isolation
Dishonesty leads to exposure
Egotism leads to loss of friends
After reading Egri’s book and fully understanding the importance of starting with a premise, I started writing with purpose and towards a goal. I basically just automatically became the next Aaron Sorkin. Just kidding. Sorkin is a legend – mad respect. Plus, I’ve still got eight books to read. I’ll probably post additional writing epiphanies as I learn more about the craft so be forewarned.
To sum up this post, I found the brief but important nugget about premise extremely helpful. It was on my mind this morning so I thought I’d share my thoughts. Cheers to my next screenplay being better than my last! Well – hopefully.
Brendan Bald 