Life in Los Angeles

So, I have DEFINITELY been slacking on the ol' blogg-arooksy duties for sure!! Accept my apology as I vow to never allow such a gap of time between posts again!!

So, since my last update in March many many things have happened. The most important of those things being my trip back to Nebraska to make the official move TO L.A.!!! That's right, Charli and I are officially California residents!! We signed the Census, registered the vehicles, and even have our Cali I.D.s!! It's funny to look at my NE i.d. next to my CA i.d.. One I'm not smiling and pale, the other I'm boasting an ear to ear smile and tan. I'll let you do the necessary algorithm to find out which is which. :)

Charli and I found an amazing apartment complex in Carson, CA. It is like living in a resort, seriously. We have lush park-like courtyards between all of our buildings. These courtyards are hosts to stainless steel grills that are connected to underground natural gas lines. (no charge to us and they never run out!) There are fountains all across the park which create a romantic ambiance, which is accentuated by the overall quiet atmosphere of the community. We have a nice pool and hot-tub that are both kept along with the rest of the property by our full-time maintenance crew. Most everybody we've met so far are friendly neighbors and we get along pretty well. It's taken a few people quite some time to get used to Bella because she's so big, and some people are still a bit timid around her. I just reply: "She's a sweetheart, you can google 'Friendliest Dog' and find that labs come in 2nd behind Goldens."

Charli found a job that's just up the street so that she doesn't even have to get on the freeway. That's a huge bonus for the both of us because it gives us more hang-out time!! Hang out time here in Cali is even more important than in NE because we don't have the support group that we had back home. For me I could be in Bangladesh and not really be effected as I haven't been near home since I was 17, but Charli has a great relationship with her parents and has seen them at least weekly her entire life. They have been awesome to us and it was sad to say goodbye when we took them to the airport after they helped us move out here. Charli is a very strong and independent woman, and she loves it out here, but of course she understandably needs more hubby time when she's away from the NE fam.

School Updates:

I passed Basic and was recommended to take Basic II, my instructor was Lisa Schurga. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLdty-z5mI
I was as excited as a Lakers fan on game-day when I found out that she would be my instructor for Basic II as Charli and I had seen her perform multiple times at the Groundlings and she is one of our Favorite performers!! She turned out to be awesome and the class was so much fun!! She had a teaching style that was very personal and honest. She said that I made a huge improvement from the beginning of class to the end. (those kind of comments always make you wonder: "Did I start out good and finish amazing, or start out horrible and finish okay?" Hmm...)

Best part about that, is that I PASSED!! Yup on to intermediate for me!! Woo-hoo!!! When I got to Intermediate I was having fun right away!! We focused on characters Characters CHARACTERS!! It's tougher than it sounds to come up with some good characters, which may seem unbelievable to some of you that ROB would have ANY problems coming up with characters. We were told to pick people that we know and use them to base the characters off of. After talking to a buddy that was having a hard time as well, we both decided that it was because we were "Imitating" these people, and not using them as only a base and creating a new character from there.

Needless to say I didn't move on from intermediate, but not because I didn't pass. It was because I booked my FIRST paid "acting" gig!! Yup it's official folks, you can call me a Paid Actor!! Hehe. I showed up to a fitting on a Thursday night for Transformers 3!!! It was just to be a background actor (Extra) but it's friggin' Transformers!!! :D  I ended up getting cast for a "Physical Training Soldier" and showed up to set and hopped in a sexy all black uniform with a tight black tee on. There were about 15 of us and we were doing push-ups and what not to pump up our bods for the big screen. However, there ended up being no need for those characters so they sent us back to wardrobe to change into regular military uniforms. I ended up showing up the next day in my own uniform, so if we get to see me walking across the screen in the back...maybe we can sneak a peek at my name just above my pocket!!

I was able to meet most of the cast and they were all very nice. We worked our tails off and I won't get into any more details as we signed confidentiality agreements concerning the film. I don't believe that anything that I said above was in breach of that, beings that our lil parts got cut anywho.  I worked there for about 10 days from 6a-9p which made for a decent paycheck at the end. However, as I mentioned above I missed out on finishing my Intermediate class. I've registered for the next one that starts in August, so wish me luck that I'll do well in that one!! Also, I met a few good people who may become good friends on set of T3 and one of them is helping me to get into a few more improv classes that are outside of the Groundlings. I'll keep you updated on any happenings with that.

Oh P.S. I also got to sneak another lil extra role on Rizolli and Isles, a new show starring Angie Harmon and Loraine Bracco. I was just a runner in the crowd of a marathon scene, but twice I was placed right NEXT to Angie....keep an eye out peeps!! :D

Good Chattin' at ya,

-Rob

What classes am I taking, you ask? (post from March that never got finished)

So I've been thinking...."Goodness I must not have explained the classes that I'm taking to very many people." There have been many questions as to what exactly it is that I am doing in California. Well, it's pretty complicated really, yet shouldn't take long to explain. I'm basically filling a void that has been vastly distracting me for years. I truly don't know where the paths may take me, and I will be okay if they don't take me very far. The true destination of a path never stepped on will never be known.

I am taking Improvisation classes at the Groundlings Theatre and School. The Groundlings have a Core Curriculum that is very competitive and requires students to be 110% 100% of the time. Take a look at this link and you can see detailed info.  Go on the left hand side and click on Groundlings School.

http://www.groundlings.com/start.htm

I'm taking Basic right now which is the first of the Core Curriculum. I started with Intro to Improv workshop A and after that I opted to skip Workshop B and move on to Basic. To enroll in Basic required a live group audition that was thankfully low-pressure. It was set up like a small class with the Instructor giving us a few quick lessons and then turning us loose to perform a two person scene. We're given this: "Okay class, let's give them a relationship."  Class: "Brothers" Instructor: "Okay, you're brothers, go."  From there you're expected to produce an entertaining scene that follows a few basic rules. I passed the audition and went right on to Basic my instructor is Jordan Black.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0085359/

He was style is a bit "cut-throat" with no time for mistakes and definitely no excuses. At first it was intimidating, but I'm thinking that it will only be a strengthening process.

Okay, for those friends and family that have been asking when I will be performing:

Again, it's complicated, but again it shouldn't take long.

A person must Pass Basic, Basic II (if instructed) Intermediate, Writing Lab, finally Advanced.

But to ELABORATE on that: Many people take Intermediate more than once. Once they pass intermediate, writing lab is next. There is a YEAR (give or take) wait list for Writing Lab. If you fail writing lab...there is no retaking it, you are dismissed from the program. If you pass Writing Lab, then you are placed on another YEAR (give or take) wait list or Advanced. If you pass Advanced, then you have to be INVITED to join the Sunday Company. If you perform well in the Sunday company you have up to around a year (not quite sure on this one) to perform with them and possibly be invited to the Main Company. Also to note, there are so many people that are trying to go through this program that the passing students seem to be needles in a haystack. So, a simple "Performance" at the Groundlings is NO "Simple" task. We can only hope that someday I could make it that far, but simple math shows us that it would take years to get that far. If I make it to the wait-list, I'll fill my time with taking other classes, such as Voice Over and Acting. Gotta make sure that I'm well rounded, no? :D

Wish me luck!!