Its time for a Max Update - Two Unemployed Actors - Episode 105

TWO UNEMPLOYED ACTORS – EPISODE 105

MAX

Welcome back to two unemployed actors. I'm Max, and it's time for an update on what's been happening.

It's been a while since the last episode, so I feel like I owe you an explanation as to what's been going on, what the priorities are, what I've changed for this year as an actor and producer, and what to look forward to on the podcast this year.

It has been a while between podcasts. Look, it was a busy year last year on many fronts, and there were competing priorities. As any emerging artist knows, you've got to be a slashie. You have to be across everything. So presenting to camera work for corporates was something that really took off. Voice overs were steady, lots of repeat clients, and the ability to make some money while sitting at your desk at home is always a good thing.

00:00:55:07 - 00:01:18:02

The scripts aren't always that exciting. As an actor, making corporate speak sound relaxed and relatable is kind of a a skill of mine, having 20 years of corporate under my belt. So I guess I'm a corporate translator. Anyway, sometimes it takes a lot of effort to make that so scripts, you know, the written by committee ones sound really interesting, but that pays well.

00:01:18:04 - 00:01:44:14

And, and, look, you know, you're always learning something, and it's great to get on set presenting to camera in front of lots of TV production companies, some of whom have asked me back lots to repeat business last year, which is always good, keeps the bills paid, but also still nurturing my three television shows that I'm looking at producing went to screen forever last year, planning on hitting back again this year and I can't wait.

00:01:44:16 - 00:02:10:21

I think I'll be changing tact a little bit with the most commercial of the three projects in the comedy. It's the broadest and I received a lot of constructive feedback from different production companies that are well established and also commissioners, both networks and across the streamers. So I feel like I'm fishing in the right pond. I've just got to look at the difficult environment.

00:02:10:21 - 00:02:29:18

Those that listened to the last episode, I appreciate that. Talking to Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Dana on the lay of the land at the moment, and the fact that there is still outstanding legislation from the Australian government on what the minimum quotas should be for Australian content, for the streamers that are at the moment on regulated.

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So a lot of them have pulled back on their commissioning waiting for that.

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And even the most experienced production companies can sort of feel that,

but shows are still getting made, things are still getting commissioned. There's still hope out there. I've just got to make it as easy as possible for someone who can see the potential in the comedy to want to make it, and if that means partnering with an established production company to minimize risks, so be it.

00:02:56:24 - 00:03:24:18

But another way is to make a short film version, and that's where I'm at. We'll have some existing IP then, and a great proof of concept, but also a standalone short film that can be my first, you know, producing credit. So it ticks all the right boxes. The challenge for me at the moment, writing the script, I actually found writing the pilot script easier than writing a script for the short film.

00:03:24:20 - 00:03:50:17

In the process of writing the pilot script, I had butcher's papers across the wall filled with post-it notes representing character ideas, story ideas, ideas for a funny scene, stuff from real life, stuff that I've made up from getting these characters in my head for so long and then working out how I could introduce these characters into this world.

In the pilot episode, it started to shape itself. And so by the time I actually sat down to write.

I was sort of had it really settled in my mind as to what it would look like, which made the process so much easier. And then going and getting a script producer attached and spending a day, with declining Melbourne on pulling it apart and putting it back together again and really polishing it to with an inch of its life, and I think you can spend forever writing like I could still be doing version number a million on that script, but it's as good as it is at the moment.

00:04:20:23 - 00:04:41:09

It's had great feedback in the industry. When I do get asked for more materials from commissioners, it's great to have that send away because I can produce anything. So I need to show that I can write, that it can work. And that's why I not just had a pitch document, but a pilot script polished with an inch of its life.

00:04:41:09 - 00:05:05:22

So that process happened. And now I'm sitting here going, how do I make a seven minute short film? There's so much fun stuff I want to throw in there, but I risk having a whole lot of disjointed story moments and characters being introduced the wrong time, and just throwing all my toys in at the same time to say, look at this and and just not being able to tell a coherent story.

00:05:05:24 - 00:05:37:24

So. So that's where I'm at at the moment, really working on what that short film could look like, focusing you, you know, stepping back and focusing on what is the story, how do I want to introduce the world to this world, and what characters could I introduce that I've already written that could help move that story forward? Without these physical comedy moments and other comedy moments being funny in their own right, but distracting from the telling of the story.

00:05:37:24 - 00:06:17:07

So I've got lots of good stuff. It's finding the right stuff to include, and it's saying no to certain things, to certain ideas that really work really well, and a great. But it's like, you can't you can't squeeze, you know, 12 episodes into a seven minute short film, obviously. So I'm kind of the funnel at the moment, reducing the ideas that don't work or that aren't, you know, good enough to to make it because it's really this is the last moment of me spending my own money on development.

00:06:17:09 - 00:06:44:03

Sometimes I recognize that I might have to spend a little bit more to be able to make up for the fact that I don't have that experience. So I really want to have a polished short film that I can leverage to tell the story and introduce people to this world and create some existing IP and make it easier for people to understand what it is I'm trying to sell and the pitch document and the pilot script, and then I can put it to bed and say, this is the best I've got.

00:06:44:05 - 00:07:02:08

It's either going to sink or swim at that because I'm not going to spend money making a pilot. I mean, could you imagine I actually had a producer tell me, I don't know whether I spoke about this on the podcast before, so here we go. I actually had a producer say, you should make the pilot. You going to make the pilot?

I mean, could you imagine? I could easily spend 250,000 AUD to make, you know, like a 25 minute pilot.

And because I haven't produced television before, because I. I'm not partnering with an established production company, I'm going to make all the mistakes you make. I'm going to, you know, it's going to basically, in a nutshell, it's going to look like I spent 50 grand on screen, you know, spending $200,000 with training wheels on. It's going to look like 50 grand on the screen.

And then what do you do when you when you're selling it? And the buyer, the commissioner says, you know, great. Love it. But I wish you had come to me earlier because I would have wanted this person for this role. Or maybe we could have had this type of storyline introduced. You know, that's a shame. Pass. Like, oh, you got to shoot it all over again, or there's a gap between when it's made and when it's commissioned.

00:08:03:03 - 00:08:05:13

Right. It could go through the development process still

and say it does get greenlit. Well, I'll probably have to reshoot it anyway because certain actors may not be available who were in the the pilot that was shot. Whatever. Anyway, there's just so much risk with that. I'm not prepared to take that risk. I'd rather spend a micro budget on a short film that exists, that can be entered into festivals, that can help my producing career as much as my acting career.

And you know, make the best of in seven minutes rather than badly make 25 minutes, add a lot more cost and, give it the best opportunity for success, whether I screen forever the conference in Australia that is that that that brings producers, whether they are established production companies all the way through to emerging producers like me in the same room as the commissioners, those buying content.

00:09:00:22 - 00:09:31:12

it's in May and I don't know if I'll have everything ready in terms of the Paradise Palms comedy short film for then, but I'm definitely going. I'm definitely, going to as many meetings as I can organize, saying hello to those that tolerated my meetings over the last couple of years, letting production companies, producers, commissioners know that I'm still here, still selling content, still creating stuff, still creating original ideas.

00:09:31:14 - 00:09:53:00

I think it would be a disservice not to. All it takes is one person saying yes, so might as well. It allows you to learn from all these panels and workshops and whatever, but also actually have real meetings with, the real decision makers and network. So like, why wouldn't I? This is the world I want to play in.

This is the cost for me to do it. I just don't want to be the guy who turns up every year trying to sell the same three projects. I feel like I've taken them around the block a bit. It's time to sort of create some new interest around them, and it just makes sense to choose the most commercial, the most, broadest.

00:10:14:16 - 00:10:25:05

Oh my god, my English today, you know, to to really, sell 100% out of so that's what's been happening.

I've got to remember that the reason I'm doing all of this is to get on set as an actor, to get on stage. Acting is the passion. The fact that I enjoy the business behind that is the producing is just a bonus. Just helps facilitate more opportunities to be acting on set. So I think it's it was easy for me to get lost in all of that last year.

And if I'm honest with myself, I got pulled in a lot of different directions and that's okay. But sometimes you can be so busy being busy you forget what you're actually being busy for. So I'd encourage all of you, no matter where you are in the creative process, in front of the camera, behind the camera, thinking about coming into acting.

00:11:13:18 - 00:11:23:07

Whatever it is, evaluate regularly. What are you doing? Is it working? What are you enjoying? What aren't you enjoying? Change things up. Don't be afraid.

00:11:23:07 - 00:11:37:12

last year I had a moment where I was really busy doing lots of stuff and I just wasn't acting enough. And that's what I'm doing. This all for. That made a few difficult decisions that weren't difficult, really.

I mean, they sort of decided themselves, if you like. It wasn't really a decision. I changed agents, I did take a risk moving to an agency. Someone I knew who had been in industry for a little bit, hadn't run an agency before, was also looking to produce some new work, and had a business partner I'd never heard of who?

00:12:01:15 - 00:12:37:11

Let's just say had different limited experience and was perhaps better at selling the ideas of what he wanted to do than actually doing them. And that's a fair assessment and a solid distraction for the two people who were actually pushing the agency and doing the day to day. So with all that going on, I'll be honest, that was submitted to some great projects, both in the room auditions, you know, self types across television, commercials, television shows and everything in between.

You know, and got a bit of work, but I think.

I went to Melbourne to talk to them about moving away, and it became a really sort of organic conversation because they were looking at moving away themselves into producing more. That was the aspect I enjoyed more, moving away from the business partner. That proved to be more of a distraction than a value add.

00:13:02:07 - 00:13:14:15

So we parted ways and there I was, a free agent again. It's been a while. Sorry. Within a couple of weeks, I'd organized a new agent, now signed with agency 888.

They have a lot of people on my books, and that was that made me a bit nervous, but they'd been in the business for quite some time.

Head office in Queensland, different state to where I'm at for those not in Australia and I really interviewed them as much as they interviewed me and I was, I was really impressed with the person who was their representation in New South Wales, and her experience and her hunger to get actors work. And that reassured me that I'd be making the right decision because.

You don't want someone who's just got a whole lot of people on their books, and they're submitting the same people for the same roles all the time, and maybe no one's ever there were people who were not aren't getting the time of day. you know, I think he'd be too busy, you know?

And I think it's great to have a portfolio of talent across all the ages and looks, etc., and levels of experience. There are those that need the hand held a bit more, that are looking at needing a bit more development, whether they're in just coming back to the career, starting a career in acting,

or at the stage where they need a bit more experience in certain areas and you've got the the opportunity to do that because you've got the experienced professionals on your books as well, who, you know, you can just send to an audition and know that it'll be the best it can be.

00:14:35:09 - 00:14:56:08

And I kind of think that that's the part I've fallen into. I had new headshots thanks to Sally flake. Oh my God, I love these headshots. She's just amazing and really couldn't be happier. Just Google Sally flake, take a look at a perfect portfolio online and the top talent she takes photos of and the top of photos she gets.

00:14:56:08 - 00:15:16:14

It's just it's amazing. And so that that was awesome. So I've got new photos in my toolkit that hadn't seen the light of day yet. So I was sort of having a selection as I submitted to potential agents. Here's a selection of fresh headshots. And he's my showreel that's been updated. And here's my presenting to Camera Showreel. he's, you know, all of the tools in the toolkit all shot up and ready to go.

And out of that conversation, updated the website, updated on my online profiles, with the new headshots, showreel, etc.

I'm confident that helped to know when to to give my new agent confidence in pushing me out in the world.

I mean, within 14 days I had four auditions. Come on. Two in the room auditions and two self types.

I'm like, yeah, okay. I'm confident I've made the right decision. But anyone who's acting in Australia knows there isn't enough work. So you've got to make sure that you're doing what you can, whether it's voice overs, whether it's writing, whether it's theater work, presenting to camera, whatever it is that's paying the bills because and and keeping your work fit so that when the opportunities come along, you're ready to rock and roll.

00:16:10:04 - 00:16:34:00

So for emerging actors in Australia, that's kind of the story, right? I don't think I'm telling you anything new there. That's certainly been my experience. So that worked out really well. I feel like I've got this renewed energy to do what it is I'm doing. All this other stuff for acting, and I took that another step. I auditioned for a few student films, those that have been following my journey on this podcast.

No, I'm not afraid to get out there and, audition for leads in student films.

I've probably had over 20 now over the last few years scattered throughout that period, and I now know which schools to avoid and which ones to say yes to immediately. And in a nutshell, this particular project was a graduate project with afters and one of the premier film schools in Australia, Australian Film, Television, Radio School.

I personally have done have completed a few courses with them, the most recent with Screen Producers Australia course Co with afters. To

help on navigating the producing landscape as a producer. And a couple of intense an intensive course actually across two days on producing everything from what the spreadsheet sort of looked like all the way through to where to start.

I think that would be my third student film with afters. And some of you'd ask why. I mean, you don't get paid, right? But as an actor, you really get to take these opportunities, take these chances that you wouldn't normally get in a 50 worker or a guest in the industry. And I relish that. Plus, it keeps you so work fit.

Yeah, sure. Networking, having a great time. But you're also keeping work fit, sharpening your skills, and getting to do things that you haven't done before. Hopefully there were a few firsts in this. It was a horror film. More suspense than, you know, blood thrown at the screen. But it was really interesting. Under ten minutes, a graduate production.

00:18:17:21 - 00:18:39:00

And basically, I think from memory, they get graded on two projects. They have to work across two projects for their graduate pieces and in different roles on those projects. It was a co direction which made me a bit nervous, but the guys were it was like talking to left brain, right brain with the two directors. It was fascinating and we're talking like a crew of like 20 or 30 depending on the day.

A lot of footage to get shot in six days, especially the first couple of days shooting on a location with limited time and a whole lot of footage to get. I was a bit nervous for them, so that was great. Special effects makeup, light stunt work, you know, running, folding, jumping, all that sort of stuff.

But, like, I just I really enjoyed it. Great story helps. So that was great. Yeah. So rehearsals went really well. I was just so excited. The shoot went perfectly. The edit looks fantastic. It's embargoed. I can't show you all, but I've got. I'm going to have snippets in my showreel, which is on my website, and that'll be updated this week, hopefully by the time you're listening to this.

But, definitely by the end of the week. And, I flicked it to the agent and said, look at this. You know, this is what I've been busy doing, by the way, I lead in an office production after graduate production and really proud of it. So I made sure I swung the pendulum back to focus on Max, the actor, and really proud of how I achieved that.

00:19:48:07 - 00:20:11:13

In a year where it could have gone sideways, I could have been so busy doing all this other stuff that I would have just forgotten about why I'm doing it for and end up with bad agent, no agent, no on set, or limited on set experience aside for like presenting to camera work. So yeah, I'm really happy with how it turned out, so learn from that.

You know, no matter where you are in the industry, with your experience, no matter what your creative role, stop and have a look at where you're at and where you want to be, what you're really enjoying, what you're not enjoying. Is there a short course? Is there something else that can help re-energise you and help you refocus while adding value to your CV and or rest of it, making you more employable?

Yeah. It's just a great way to come into this year. Re-energised. Everything sorted from headshots, showreel, agent perspective. And it's about getting out there and networking and, you know, doing what I love. So I'm probably going to be looking for more opportunities to get on set in student films this year, maybe like 2 or 3, you know, nothing huge because I'm, you know, there is other stuff I'm doing that makes me money that I can't ignore.

Voiceovers is ticking along. Which is which is a pretty cool thing to say, considering I don't have an agent. You know, my work is corporate work, so, I'm kind of happy with that.

And presenting to cameras going, going really well.

I think the last percentage camera job I did was a production company I'd worked with before.

Ask me back, and yeah, it's everything from there was the last one was demonstrating how an EV car is rechargeable and how that works through, a service station or gas station, depending where you're on the world, for the website so that, you know, nice little informational. And before that was two days of shooting around, a premium car brand that they were going to cut into a 30 minute video to help educate their salespeople around the country on how to sell,

how to sell that product, that car, which is really interesting because their experience was, listen, we could send them 100 pages of here's what to focus on, here's how to sell

it, here's the features and benefits. But really it's not going to land for though even those few that actually read the whole hundred pages, you know. But if they got to sit there and watch a 30 minute video that it was easy for them to retain, all the writings. So that's great. For like and it's such a interesting world, whether it's, talking to camera with an audio cue on H.R. policies for a security company as their onboarding, as part of their onboarding experience for new recruits through to, presenting with a lot of energy on something I know nothing about.

Again, another project for a trade show, you know, video. So like, it's. Yeah, another one for a company's conference. Like, it's so varied. It's just great that there are all these opportunities out there beyond the usual, I want to be an actor, get me onto television or film or, you know, it's it's really great way to sharpen your skills.

And I'd certainly leverage the 20 years of corporate I had. I might as well get something else out of putting up with all those idiots in corporate land. So that's my story. That's why I've been busy this year. The podcast is going to be a push. I'm looking at getting a whole lot of different guests. Again, if you look at the 104 episodes we've had to date, there are other actors at various levels of experience.

They're, industry professionals, whether they're writers, Hollywood directors, producers, agents, it's just a mix because I'm coming to them genuine, credible questions as I learn and navigate my way through the industry, why not tap into industry experts and learn from them? So we'll look forward to more of that this year

in a more consistent form, which is my way of forcing myself to make sure I have more podcast episodes.

So look forward to that this year.

But yeah, there's a nice library now. I have over 100 episodes to navigate your way through. Have a look on the website into whatever keywords you're you're interested in at the moment, and find an episode for you. It's great. Use it as a resource and look forward to more of it.

So make sure you you follow and subscribe. Follow us on social media.

We'll let you know when the next episodes dropping and what it's going to be all about.

Thanks for sticking with me. For those of you who reached out over the last few months saying, when's the next episode? Maxie, what's going on?

so make sure you follow because I'm looking forward to bringing you more interesting content in 2025. I'm Max Belmonte and this is two unemployed actors. The podcast.