Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 28 of 90)

I submitted myself for 12 jobs via aa,lac, and cl. We'll see if anything happens. I went with my friend Dane to my friend Derek's gym. He teaches a boxing workout class there. I thought i was in shape until i went there. I felt like a weakling. It was cool to see the camaraderie everyone that worked there had. Derek taught two classes there. I thought it was cool because...it was productive. It seems like he's being productive. I cant wait until classes and workshops start up again so i can become involved in something productive on a regular basis. I started watching the top 100 film noir movies of all time. I saw Sunset Blvd. It was a good movie. Plus it was cool to see Hollywood in the old days. A lot of it still looks the same.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 22 of 90)

I filmed another video for my youtube page today. It was another in the DH Audition Archives series. I met up with an actor named Jamal McCray. He was a nice guy. I was surprised because as i was filming him do his lines he said he was really nervous. I told him there's no reason to be. Nervous? With me? Jive turkey please. lol.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 21 of 90)

Good grief has it been 21 days already?! Time flies. Well i always heard that it gets slow around the holidays but by the looks of the job posts on aa,cl,and lac, it IS slow. It is actually slow. I guess everyone is getting ready for this week of holiday jive turkey-ism. Fair enough. Well, i'll still be productive today. I made my to-do list and i'm crossing each thing off as i go(number two was to do my blog entry for today). There's no classes right now so i'm going to practice rehearsing scenes to my mirror. That's going to look interesting. lol. I have a cd/booklet that i bought from Samuel French bookstore. It is called, "Accents for Black Actors." It covers Nigerian, Jamaican. Even street slang. Perhaps I'll work on getting a Jamaican accent. I'm always afraid that if i talk in an accent for too long, my brain will forget how to talk the way i normally do, and i'll merge into this strange mixed Jamaican Nigerian English accent. That would sound funny. lol

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 17 of 90)

Remember the audition i had where i was supposed to play a soldier that just witnessed his fellow comrades being abducted by aliens. Well the name of that feature is called The Grays. So i was at work yesterday(i work at a video store), and we have a table of new books for sale. I'm straightening the table and on there is a paperback book with an alien on the front of it. And the title of the book is called, "The Greys." So i look at it and at the bottom it says, "Soon to be a major motion picture." And i thought, "Good doggit! I should have rehearsed harder for it." I would have done a better job. Which is what i was supposed to do in the first place. Treat every job like it was a BIG acting job. Well, lesson learned. I also learned not to rule out lacasting because that's the site i got the audition from.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 16 of 90)

My audition for that indie film went pretty terrible. The part i was auditioning for was a soldier that just witnessed an alien abduction of his fellow comrades. Then after his friends were brought back to earth, they turned on each other and brutally murdered each other. In the scene i was reading, i yell for some women to let me in their house, and then i re-live what i witnessed. The audition was at an old theater. I went on the stage in front of about 10 people there. They told me what was going on with the character and had me slate. I proceeded to then do what i would describe as "die a slow death" on the stage as i recited my under-rehearsed lines. I was acting up a storm. I could feel it was going terrible. I finished and they said, "Thank you. That was very good." Then i left. I'm going to get into a better acting school. This isn't working.

On a funnier note, i was on the bus. It was packed. I'm standing there watching the houses fly by fast through the window and from behind me i hear a guy say very loudly in this cheesy radio voice, "Did you just touch my butt? Because its okay if you did!" I turn around and he's smiling at this woman sitting behind me. This huge cheesy grin smile. She looked at him like he was crazy. I tried not to laugh but i couldnt help it. She and her friend started laughing too. I felt sorry for the guy but i couldnt stop laughing. Poor guy.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 15 of 90)

I have an audition tomorrow. Its for an independent feature film i submitted myself for through lacasting. I still havent figured out how to get the sides for it. I don't think the sides are on the site for the role. It lists other roles for the project but not the role that i'm auditioning for. I'll just get there early and get the sides i guess. At work today(i work at a video store) a writer in his 40s came in the store. In LA?! A writer?! Go figure. Anyway he came in bragging about how the last time he came he was here with Robert Downey Jr. He said, "Yeah Robert was waiting in the car and i was buying a bunch of movies and the other guy that worked here was giving me discounts on everything and Robert called me from the car and told me to hurry up." Then he pulled out his iphone and showed me a picture of him and the Mr Downey together as proof that he knows the guy. Then he showed me some other pictures of Robert DJ that looked like movie stills and paparazzi shots. There was another customer in the store and he yelled over to him, "You there! I'll make you a deal! I will pay for your rentals if they sell one of my movies in this store." So he looked at me and asked me if we had the movie Walk in the Clouds. And i looked it up and we had two copies for sale for $7.99. So he paid for the guys movie rentals. He was very nice. i dont want you to think that he was a cocky prick or anything. He was a very energetic and nice guy and he bought around 50 dollars worth of merchandise. After he left i looked on the back of the remaining copy of Walk in the Clouds that he didnt buy and sure enough under "screenplay by" it said Mark Miller. But when i got home i looked up Walk in the CLouds on imdb and looked up Mark Miller. It said Mark Miller was born in 1925. And the last project he worked on was in the 80s. That lying mickey fickey that was in the store was nowhere near 84 years old! All the botox and face lifts in the world couldnt make him look that young. What a fraud.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 14 of 90)

I'm doing a hand double job tomorrow. Its for the show "CSI New York." My face is not on camera and i have no lines so it doesnt count as me booking a job. But it does pay really well so i'm doing it. Its funny because the guys at work refer to it as me doing my "hand job." I met up with my friend Derek this afternoon after i went to the gym to get some grub on. We ate at Quiznos on Lankershim and Magnolia. Whenever someone asks me what i'm up to in my life or whats going on, i feel like there's nothing going on. I always say, "Well, not much really. Just working...and class." I need to do something adventurous. Maybe i could buy one of those books that lists a bunch of things to do. No auditions yet. I have been submitting myself though. I'm shooting another audition video on Wednesday. I'm going to try to shoot them all week. At least its doing SOMETHING. I'm going to have to come up with a way to film myself acting too without looking cheesy.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 11 of 90)

No more auditions yet. I was supposed to shoot another youtube auditioning video today. The actor flaked on me though. I've had actors flake on me before so i wasn't THAT mad. But i did feel slightly put off because i had to walk to the library, wait 30 minutes, and then walk back in home in the rain.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 10 of 90)

I have a Sony Cybershot digital camera so i came up with an idea awhile ago of filming videos and posting them on my youtube page(i know. a very original idea. lol). Oh my url is www.youtube.com/desmonheck by the way if you want to check it out. But i decided to start filming a bunch of actors all auditioning for the same part. My goal is to get over a thousand actors on there. So i post the ad on craigslist regularly and then set up meetings. So i filmed one yesterday. The actor's name is Rhoda Pell. I waited outside the front of the North Hollywood Library to meet up with her. Its funny because the thing i learned about most actors out here is that they stick out in one way or another. There's something about a lot of them that makes you notice them in a crowd. And sure enough i knew it was her the second i saw her. She was a very nice looking lady with her gray hair rolled up into a bun. She was wearing a black outfit that made her look very gothic; like a good witch from Hogwarts or something. It was a long black dress with some sort of black leather bustier on the top and a black sash around her neck. I walked up to her and introduced myself. She said she was looking for a guy with a video camera but she wasnt sure if it was me since she didnt see one. I embarrassingly pulled my digital camera out of my pocket. She said that today was her birthday and her children were taking her out to dinner and something else good was happening to her which i forgot. Then she said that she also wanted to get put on film somehow for her birthday, so i fulfilled that part of her birthday for her. That made me feel good.
Besides that there's not really that much going on. I went to my friend Dane's place and hung out with him and his gf. Matt's gf is in town from Texas so she's staying at our place. Hmmmm.....i guess thats it. No more auditions yet. I'm going to keep submitting.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 9 of 90)

I submitted myself for around 15 jobs today online. Haven't heard anything yet. My friend Matt was on an episode of "I Didn't Know i Was Pregnant." It a re-enactment show about....you guessed it. Girls that didnt know they were pregnant. Haha. It was cool watching him on the tube. He was excited because it was his first TV job with lines. Pretty cool stuff. Its been almost a year since my last TV job where i had lines. Not good.

Desmon

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 8 of 90)

Bad news for my friend Matt. He said while he was in the office, along with a bunch of other young hopefuls auditioning for the same part, he overheard that they gave the part to an actor named Angus Jones. He is apparently the kid on the show 2 1/2 Men. But they still read everyone for the audition. That kind of blows. I felt sorry for him because he had worked so hard on the part. I guess it goes with the territory. What really stinks is when you book a job, do the job, tell all your friends to watch you, only to find out while you're watching that your scene was cut out of the show. Good doggit! lol. So i have an audition on Thursday morning in Van Nuys for another project i submitted myself on. I'm thinking i got this one off of lacasting. I'm going to prepare for it hard tomorrow and i'll let you know how it went. Okay its late so i'm going to sleep.

goodnight,
Desmon

p.s. I saw the movie Brothers today. It was really good and Natalie Portman is the sexiest girl in the world.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 7 of 90)

No auditions today. I did submit myself for a lot of work though. My friend Matt got an audition for the Hannah Montana show tomorrow. I helped him go over his sides since there's no class today.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 6 of 90)

So i'll tell you about my audition today. I don't have a car so i had to take the bus from North Hollywood to Santa Monica. There is never a dull moment when you take the Los Angeles Metro to your final destination. The highlight was when i was sitting on the bus and a homeless person got on and sat down. The stench was so bad that people started gagging. It usually doesn't phase me but even i was completely distracted from my reading because of it. Haha. After two hours i made it but i was about 30 minutes early. I was walking to the audition location and it was a residential area so i figured i'd kill time. If it was an office building then i'd go right in because i could walk in. But i didnt want to go early to the persons house because what if they were in the shower or something. So i walked a few blocks to the main street to see if i could find a place to eat. Did you know they have drive through Starbucks now? Crazy huh? I didn't find a fast food place so i walked back to the house where the audition was at. I knocked on the door and a young attractive lady with blonde hair opened the door and said hi. She said that i was five minutes early and the person inside now was 10 minutes late and wanted to know if i could wait on the porch outside. She gave me sides and i sat down and went over them. I had prepared the part of the waiter but she wanted me to read the part of another character as well. I sat there and went over the lines, trying to sit up straight because i have a slouching problem. I overheard the director going over the scene with whatever actor was in there and i noticed that the actor didn't sound very trained. So i felt a little more relaxed, although i know i have messed up more than a few times during an audition so.... Anyway, the door opened and the actor left and it was my turn. I got up and smiled as she greeted me again and went inside. There were two guys in the living room area. I was taken aback by how young there both were. The director, a young guy who looked like an episode of Gossip Girl,was pleasantly warm and friendly. The other guy, looked just like my friend Shawn Southern, who was Loudmouth Tool on the first season of the VH1 show Tool Academy, except he was not as tall as Shawn. He didnt seem as happy to meet me. I shook both of their hands and looked them directly in the eye as i said hi(i'm working on having better eye contact with people). The director asked me which part i wanted to read first. I told him the waiter since i prepared that one. So he turned the video camera on and had me slate and start. Tool Academy and the pretty blonde were the readers. I did the scene and when i finished he seemed impressed. He asked me to try it a different way and i did. I noticed that he never stopped recording in between the reading so i started to feel self conscious but i forced myself to get over it. The second scene i was supposed to be reading it to Tool Academy. In the scene i am surprised to see him and i'm impressed by a miracle he performed awhile ago. The guy reminded me so much of my friend Shawn who i look up to so i figured i'd use that and just talk to him as though i look up to him specifically....the reader that is. I hope that makes sense. I started and was so focused on him that he was even impressed by the time the read was over. I noticed that i was so focused he had a hard time looking me in the eye. It went really well. The director liked what i was doing. He had me try it a couple different ways to see if i could take the direction. It seemed to go very good. It felt good to be there. The three of them were so friendly and cool. It was a breath of fresh air. The last audition i went on.....it was for.....well i dont want to burn anyone.....it was for a major hit TV show. The casting director didn't even look at me the whole time i read. He had his eyes buried in something...didnt look at me once. I wanted to throw my shoe at his face. These guys were SOOOOOOO cool. Even if i dont book the job, the experience alone made the whole 5 hours of bus time worth it. Plus it feels good reading and auditioning for low budget films. I feel like i'm back in the grind. Well i've typed enough for one day. Good night all.

Desmon

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 5 of 90)

Well i'm ready for my audition tomorrow. It's in Santa Monica. Its times like these that i wish for a car. It takes two hours on the bus. It should be fun though. I will let you know how the whole thing goes.

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 4 of 90)

Guess who has an audition on Sundayyyyy?! That's righhhht. And which website do i credit this audition to? Drum roll please?.......And the winner issssss....craigslist! Yep! Yep! I've always heard that most of the ads on craigslist are shady, but there are those diamonds in the rough. For example, the female that played the lead in the movie Paranormal Activity was cast off of an ad she replied to on craigslist. Now of course the movie is not going to win any oscars, but it did make over 70 million dollars and only cost $200,000 to make. That's a lot of money. So i decided to treat each audition as if it was for the lead in a Quentin Tarantino movie. So tomorrow i will study and prepare my lines like there's no tomorrow. Well, i'm going to sleep. Until tomorrow you jive turkeys, stay cool like Paula Abdul.

Desmon

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 3 of 90)

No auditions today. I submitted myself for around 13 jobs today. There was nothing on lacasting, but the were two things on actorsaccess, and the rest were on craigslist. I'm going to buy backstage west tomorrow and see if there's anything on there. I was in class yesterday and i was definitely rusty. Next week is the last week of classes before the break so that will leave me with 3 weeks of no class. I'll have to practice scenes with my roomate or something. I can't start the year rusty like i am right now. Its late. I'm about to watch Lost on DVD and then go to sleep. Goodnight everyone.

Desmon

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 2 of 90)

Hello everyone there in computer land. Well lets see how my first day went. I submitted myself for........11 acting jobs that fit my type. I used the following websites: actorsaccess, lacasting, and craigslist. I got an audition from one of the jobs posted on actorsaccess. It's for a Coors Light commercial but in the email they sent me they specified that it is a non-union job and not to audition if i am union. I happen to be SAG. Hmmm...as far as today goes, i submitted myself for 12 jobs today. I was in my acting class and one of my teachers was saying that all the 6 jobs he booked in the past year(his name is Bob Gebert) he got simply through doing casting director workshops. So i will add those to the mix. I have to wait until January because thats when they start back up again. So i guess i'm off to a shakey start. We'll see how this unfolds.

Desmon

Desmon Heck Tries to Book a Job (Day 1 of 90)

Hey what's up. Thank you for reading my blog. My name is Desmon Heck. I am another starving actor in the city of Los Angeles. I recently have been inspired to start my own blog as i prepare my quest to book an acting job in 90 days. I have been in LA for....well....quite some time. Like many actors residing in this historic city, i feel as though i haven't been reaching or even attempting to reach my true potential. There is a very famous quote that goes like this: "You get out what you put in." Another famous quote i've heard is, "You can pray to God to get you to the shore, but you better start paddling." Which simply means that if i want to be successful then i'm going to have to work hard at it. I know that truly successful people are very busy people. But enough of me talking my head off...well...typing my head off. lol. I sat down and made a daily to-do list of things that i can do to help me get acting jobs. And i have given myself 90 days. I will stick to the to-do list for 90 days and keep track of my results. So keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.

Desmon