The best things in life are free... have you heard that? NOTHING IS FREE. And certainly not the best things in life. ENERGY IS REQUIRED BY ALL PROCESSES.
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You see, on stage (or on set) the actor has nowhere to hide. He steps onto that battlefield and wages war on behalf of his character’s objectives and there are only two possible outcomes: win or lose, … the job, his lover, the inheritance, or his life. There are no ‘I’ll start tomorrow,’ ‘I can always get this another time, or from somewhere else,’ ‘I guess I don’t really need this that badly,’…
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There's no plan. No structure, save that of an acting process I've learned at Esper Studio in New York. But that's OK because process creates structure, not the other way around. I don't have an extensive acting resume. I've spent much of my post-Esper time writing screenplays, directing a short, and teaching/coaching actors. All I know is that 'I'VE JUST CAST MYSELF IN THE ROLE OF... (wait for it Austin Powers) MYSELF!
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Our differing beliefs about heaven, or hell, or the afterlife may well turn out to be irrelevant. But the ephemeral concrete of our lives is built on moments. And each moment is the result of the sum of all actions and experiences which existed before it. That sum is our life.
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Two days ago I returned from a wonderful vacation/work trip to Italy. Since I've been getting up at 5am, still feeling it's 11am, I started to mentally list my touristique accomplishments (use of French ending is deliberate... but not actually correct). My wonderful friends Roger Mazzeo and Federico Badiali catered to my every request to stay off the beaten-to-death path, while still exposing me to exciting experiences. And they did that with the style of a seven-star... Galleria!
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I was lucky enough to work with a wonderful director, Missy Hernandez, and a talented actress, Angela Washell, on a directing 'exercise' for Missy's Columbia University Film MFA. Missy's mission was to take a pre-written scene and materialize it in a cozy NYC apartment, with a DSLR and minimum crew. The thing that struck me as interesting is that this was an 'exercise,' but we were all doing the same work we'd be doing on any film set. So what differentiates a filmmaking 'exercise' from actual filmmaking? In my opinion, nothing.
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