The Vs. Studio Blog

To hell with that.

Choose yourself.

Dear Passion Project,

I was just wondering if you’d…uh…maybe, like…uh…be my Valentine?

I know you prolly have a lot of people interested in you. But uh…I promise, if you’ll be mine, I’ll be yours.

I will be true to you.

I will give you all my attention, time and energy.

I will leave no stone unturned.

I will be super enthusiastic! I’ll tell everyone I know that they gotta come see us.

I will make sure that everyone involved–actors, cast, designers, crew, and especially the audience– will have a blast.

I will give you my whole heart and soul.

Will you be mine?…

Some acting advice from the great Quentin Tarantino…

INT.  MEN'S ROOM - L.A. TRAIN STATION - NIGHT

       Freddy and Holdaway at one of their many rendezvous.
       Holdaway wears an extra large Lakers sweatshirt.  Freddy
       sits on one of the sinks, wearing his high school jacket,
       looking at pieces of paper stapled together.

                              FREDDY
                 What's this?

                              HOLDAWAY
                 It's a scene.  Memorize it.

                              FREDDY
                 What?

                              HOLDAWAY
                 A undercover cop has got to be
                 Marlon Brando.  To do this job you
                 got to be a great actor.  You got
                 to be naturalistic.  You got to be
                 naturalistic as hell.  If you
                 ain't a great actor you're a bad
                 actor, and bad acting is bull shit
                 in this job.

                              FREDDY
                         (referring to the
                          papers)
                 But what is this?

                              HOLDAWAY
                 It's a amusing anecdote about a
                 drug deal.

                              FREDDY
                 What?

                              HOLDAWAY
                 Something funny that happened to
                 you while you were doing a job.

                              FREDDY
                 I gotta memorize all this shit?

                              HOLDAWAY
                 It's like a joke.  You remember
                 what's important, and the rest you
                 make your own.  The only way to
                 make it your own is to keep sayin
                 it, and sayin it, and sayin it,
                 and sayin it, and sayin it.

                              FREDDY
                 I can do that.

                              HOLDAWAY
                 The things you gotta remember are
                 the details.  It's the details
                 that sell your story.  Now this
                 story takes place in this men's
                 room.  So you gotta know the
                 details about this men's room.
                 You gotta know they got a blower
                 instead of a towel to dry your
                 hands.  You gotta know the stalls
                 ain't got no doors.  You gotta
                 know whether they got liquid or
                 powdered soap, whether they got
                 hot water or not, 'cause if you do
                 your job when you tell your story,
                 everybody should believe it.  And
                 if you tell your story to somebody
                 who's actually taken a piss in
                 this men's room, and you get one
                 detail they remember right,
                 they'll swear by you.

Here’s the scene from RESERVOIR DOGS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P-f-nzOTV4

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Bruce Lee

One play. One project. One focus.

All in.

You do that, and look out. You’re deadly. Lethal.

When I sit in the audience, I fear you.

You got my heart in your hands.

I never even had a chance.

“You keep going until you get it right, then you keep going until you can’t get it wrong.” -Monica Aldama

If you haven’t heard of Monica Aldama, be sure to check out the terrific Netflix doc, Cheer.

Monica heads Navarro College’s competitive cheer squad. She is fierce and her desire for excellence burns bright. She’s largely responsible for transforming a small, unknown, Texas junior college into a perennial champion. A true underdog story.

Her quote reinforces why we rehearse a play. Often for a long period of time.

Yes, it might sound great at the first table read. Everyone feels confident and amazing! Often you’ll hear, “we could put this up right now.”

And that might be true.

But can you be amazing on opening night with the pressure of all your friends, loved ones, respected colleagues and critics in the house?

Can you be amazing in Week 3 of the run when the house is half full and you didn’t get a good night sleep the night before?

Can you be amazing when your emotional reservoir runs dry? When adrenaline is nowhere to be found? When you’re just not “feelin’ it”?

Can you be amazing when someone drops a line or another “happy accident” happens on stage?

Can you be amazing when the audience is checked out?

Yes, you can.

Because you rehearsed. Because you worked your butt off. Because you kept going until you couldn’t get it wrong.

I recently had the following exchange with a writer friend of mine.

Writer: “I could never do what you do. I could never act. Definitely not on stage.”

Me: “Why not? I actually think you’d make a pretty good actor.”

Writer: “Nah. The whole time I’d be out there on stage, I’d be thinking how awful I was. This voice would be like, ‘You suck. That’s stupid. What are you even doing?’…It’d be paralyzing.”

Me: “Right. I understand.”

And I do. Understand.

Because that voice never goes away. It’s omnipresent and can be oppressive if not held in check. It’s what Michael Singer termed “the annoying roommate who won’t ever shut up” in his brilliant book, The Untethered Soul.

Maybe the reason to act then, to get up on stage, is all in the attempt. The attempt to be fully present. The attempt to be so committed to the story, your character, the given circumstances, and most importantly, what you desperately need and want from the other person, that for those two hours…

…you don’t hear the voice at all.

Just received a notification that I’ve written 25 blog posts so far.

On your artistic journey, it’s important to take time out to celebrate the small accomplishments. The little wins. The milestones. Keep yourself fresh and rejuvenated.

Thank you everyone for reading, for subscribing, for caring. I’ve loved doing the blog and will continue to pour my heart into it.

See you at 50.

Maybe the best reason to manifest a piece of art is because the thought of NOT doing it is agonizing.  Soul crushing.  It eats away at you.  Constantly.  

No matter how hard you try, you just can’t shake it.  You feel like you can’t go on without making it happen.

Ever felt that way?

Kinda like falling in…

Two questions every artist should know the answers to. Few do. Because it takes work, often deep internal work coupled with external action to get answers.

What do I have a burning desire to say?

Why, right now, do I have to say it?

If you don’t know, keep asking. Keep the doing to work to find out.

Once you do get the answers—and you will, it just may take a while—you have power. The power of choice. The power of focus. The power of expression.

V = VISION. Have a big vision for the art you want to manifest. Something that fires you up as well as the people you enlist and enroll on your journey.

C = COMMUNICATION. Communicate that big vision early and often.

E = EXECUTION. Execute this vision. Produce with excellence. For yourself, your fellow artists and the audience you seek to serve.

Leaders need at least one of these qualities.

Good leaders have two.

The best leaders have all three.

Be the best. V.C.E.