Happy Autumnal Equinox! We're all in school-year mode, ready to embrace new things and consume pumpkin-flavored everything. Hey, since the weather's starting to cool a bit, why don't you kick back with your warm pumpkin cider and settle in for this monthly e-journey, and when we reach the e-conclusion, oh yes, there will be the usual 2 (by which I mean four) items of interest for FODs! By the way, for you newsletter skimmers, please make sure to check the end of the coaching section to see my video on BroadwayBlogspot.com!
Rockstar Doug
No, no. I'm not growing long blonde hair and wailing high notes as I scamper about in yellow lycra pants. Keep those saucy fantasies to yourself. I voiced a character for an upcoming video game for Rockstar Games! I signed a confidentiality agreement about the content, but I can tell you that these are the people that created the very successful GRAND THEFT AUTO series.
How did I get this gig? LinkedIn, people! LinkedIn isn't just Facebook for business types, it can help you get jobs.
I entered "Rockstar Games" in the search engine, found a former employee who is connected to one of my contacts, and ended up having an excellent networking meeting with a new friend. The new friend offered me another contact which led to a booking!
In the recording session, I dashed off an hour's worth of work in a half hour because of the excellent advice I had received during the networking meeting. LinkedIn WORKS people! And know that if you need to connect to one of my contacts on LinkedIn, I will try to do the same for you.
Cycling Doug
Our short film THE CYCLE, in which I played a diplomacy-challenged police officer last fall, is really taking on the film festival circuit! We were awarded Best Narrative Short at the Roxbury International Film Festival, Best Short Film at the Central Florida Film Festival, Best Drama in the Indie Producer Short Film Contest, Screenplay Award at the Colorado Film Festival and there's more coming. Check the Mundo Loco Films website for upcoming screenings! Based on actual events, THE CYCLE takes place in the modern-day Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, and brings the fallout from an ongoing gentrification process to life through the stealing of a little girl's bicycle. The movie is written and directed by Roy Clovis, produced by Mundo Loco Films and cast by Liz Ortiz-Mackes of Casting Solutions. The cast includes Randy Baisden, Dracyn Blount, Corinne Bobb-Semple, Tanesha Gary, Lynda Gravatt, James Holloway, Sharon Hope, Dennis Johnson, Phyllis Johnson, Royce Johnson, Justin Jones, Jaymes Jorsling, Leopold Lowe, Christine Renee Miller, Tomike Ogugua, Surfin Percy, Sheila Tapia, Benja K. Thomas, and me (as Officer DiLuca).
Wolfish Doug
I'm making my debut with The Public Theatre in Maine, someplace I've wanted to work for ages. I'll be playing a singing, dancing, character chameleon of a wolf in Kathleen Ferman and Ellen Mandel's version of THREE LITTLE PIGS. My lovely pigs will be Laura Darrell, Alexandra Frankovich, and Ellen Lindsay.
WHEN: Sunday, November 14, 2010
1:00 PM and 3:00 PM (Public Performances)
WHERE: The Public Theatre
31 Maple Street, Lewiston, ME
Here's the Google Map
TICKETS: Call the Box office at (207) 782-3200
Cavorting with Composers and Whisking about with Wordsmiths...
My FOD Composers and Wordsmiths continue to bring amazing things into the world and I get to be their vehicle! Here's the latest:
Gowanus Doug
Blue Room Arts Collective (with FOD Josh Cohen as Managing Director) is having their official debut with BROOKLYN'S GOT CHARACTER(S), an evening of original theatre songs that bring the real-life "characters" of Brooklyn to life. With songs by over 20 of New York's hottest emerging theatre songwriters, and based on the lives, stories, and personalities of actual residents from all over the borough, this concert will highlight what makes Brooklyn such a diverse, unique, and wonderful place to live: its people.
Rachel Peters is an astonishing composer with whom I worked in New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio earlier this year and I'll be in her 10-minute piece I Live Here. It uses Michael J. Shay's lyric Gowanus Canal in Song, that was published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1898, and also weaves in some excellent audio interview clips. The singers in this piece are Karis Danish, Eleanor Taylor, Karla Faggard, DeOnzell Green, Doug Brandt, Jonathan Raviv, Anthony Gomez, and myself. See you there!
WHEN: Monday, September 27, 2010
8:00 PM
WHERE: Galapagos Art Space, in the Loft upstairs
16 Main Street, (DUMBO) Brooklyn, NY
Here's the Google Map
TICKETS: Are a mere $15 dollars and can be purchased through Smarttix by clicking this link.
Coach Doug...
Lots of amazing things are happening with The Savvy Actor. Such clients I've got! In my side career as a career consultant with The Savvy Actor, founded by two fabulous actor/business mavens Jodie Bentley and Kevin Urban, I have been helping my Savvy clients set up systems for themselves to treat their acting craft as a business through classes, coaching and seminars. (Yes, we coach by phone, too.) Recently, my clients have been booking national tours, indie films, commercials, and getting things DONE. Interested in doing this work for yourself? Click this link to set up a free half-hour intro session with me. I also recommend our amazing book The Savvy Actor Career Manual. Let's get your career going too!
And speaking of getting your career going, my next webinar: Mailings - Faster, Smarter, Cheaper! is coming up on Sunday, October 10 at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time and you can be there from your own computer. It's on 10/10/10--what could be more fun than that? Click this link to register for this webinar!
But wait--there's more! We have crash course MBA weekends coming up in Los Angeles and NYC! Learn how to put your Branding, Marketing and Strategy into action (I'll be speaking on how to enrich your support system on the second day of the NYC weekend). After you've experienced this amazing weekend, you'll become a Savvy Insider, with a firm foundation in our business systems for artists and with a bevy of discounts on coachings (including group coachings). Sign up for the Crash Course MBA weekends in NYC or Los Angeles by clicking this link!
Do not step away from this electronic device--there's STILL more! The beautiful and talented actors Kimberly Faye Greenberg and Brian Childers created the website BroadwayBlogspot.com, chocked full of information and interviews on the New York City Theatre Scene. I was interviewed as both a career coach and an actor--the career coach section just went live! Watch me give career advice on a jungle gym by clicking this link!
Dougbytes
***Another of my films Zenith the Film, will be premiering at IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue in NYC) on October 1, 2010.
***The Savvy Actor team and I participated for the second time in the Komen Race for the Cure. Deepest thanks to all of you who have helped me raise $1,280 as of this mailing and the Savvy Team raise $5,231! Donations can still be made through my fundraising site or through my Facebook page through October 31, 2010.
***Should you find yourself near the Kentucky/Ohio border in Late October, head to Randall K. Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky on October 21, 22, and 23 at 7:30 pm. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders, under the capable direction of FOD Karen Wiebe, will be presenting Law & Order: Fairy Tale Division with my voice as the intense voice over at the beginning.
***I'm studying voice again with the amazing Jeff Halpern. In my past few readings and recordings, I've been singing F's above Middle C! This is a huge deal for me. Oh, Jeff is just great. And do you know who studies with Jeff too? Alexandra de Suze! (Surely you've heard of Alexandra de Suze!)
***Every other Monday at 9:00 p.m. I have a mastermind phone gathering with fellow voice actors Brett Barry, Cristina Doikos, Tercio Bretas, Marc Garber, Maggie Phillips, and Jamie Hurley. We have our own demo CD! Let us know if you would like one for your casting needs.
***I'm singing Sunday mornings at The Madison Avenue Baptist Church with choir director Paul Stephan, singers Helen Lyons, Karen Rich, Christopher Preston Thompson, Brian Long, and Alexandra de Suze! (Surely you've heard of Alexandra de Suze!) The congregation is led by the fabulous Reverend Susan Sparks. The sermons are now podcast! (The choir is not.) Click on the link to check out Susan's exciting new book!
***I sang again this year with the Park Avenue Synagogue for the High Holy Days. We were led by the glorious cantorial team of Nancy Abramson, Azi Schwartz, and Elana Cohen. The choir included Raphael Biran, Yiselle Blum, Charlie Carrow, Ena Freeman, David Gordon, Samantha Grenell-Zaidman, Beverley Hill, Phillip Kaplan, Shaina Millman, Toby Newman, Jeremy Rothschild, Michael Sarnoff-Wood, Gavriel Savit, Evgenia Silberberg, and me. Special thanks to Mary Feinsinger for yet again helping me get the new stuff on tape. [PLUG: Mary is also a dynamite composer and voice teacher. You can contact her at bitterpearl@nyc.rr.com.]
***Animator extraordinaire Ken Truhan has completed the animated storyboard and continues to create the animation for the second installation of DougToons! Give him time, this one takes a bit longer and there are a lot of characters. In this episode, the character Doug is sent on an audition by his agent, only to find out that he is applying to be a henchman to the evil Mr. Mayhem! If you have yet to see the work of animator Ken Truhan, writer Crystal Skillman, producer/engineer Brett Barry and voice actor me, the first installment of DougToons is also on YouTube. Please log on to the YouTube site, give it a rating, and share with your friends!
Please Don't Panic! I'm busier than Lindsey Lohan's lawyers-- but for you, I'll find the time. Should you need me to speak the spot, give face time for the photo, or sing the song, let's create something great together. (Thanks to FOD Jonathan Raviv for the Lohan suggestion.)
And now the monthly Two (by which I mean Four) Items of Interest for FODs...
You deserve a little Lovin' from me to you...
Anyone in the job search and low on funds? No? Okay, I'll try another country.
But seriously, folks, I wrote an article for the last Savvy Actor newsletter entitled 10 Free Things to Get Your Career Back on Track. It's geared towards actors, (and I gave you a taste of some of these ideas in the January e-newsletter) but I've been receiving some wonderful feedback on it from people in other industries. Take a gander!
There. Thou has been coached.
Others deserve a little Lovin' from you to them...
I have been actively using Send Out Cards for almost two years now. It is an amazing system in which you can create your own custom postcards and greeting cards (with your own photos) online and then they will print, stuff, stamp and send them for you. No more buying expensive cards at the drug store. No more missing a special occasion because you never got to the post office. It is not only a convenient resource for anyone who sends cards and gifts, but vital to anyone in a service-based industry. At The Savvy Actor, we have even found a way to use this system to allow actors to create Faster, Smarter and Cheaper mailings for artists. Send Out Cards can also provide an excellent source of income and this week, I achieved the level of Manager. (You may begin kvelling now.) You want you should try this for yourself? I invite you to go to my Send Out Cards site, watch the video, and send two free cards on me!
You deserve to sound glorious...
I just finished working with the incredibly talented M.P. Kuo on a brush-up recording for a character in DougToons II. M.P. specializes in different styles of music production and recording. She adheres to a high quality standard of recording, editing, mixing and producing and also does live recording, transferring, and media duplication. She even has a portable setup that she can bring to wherever you are (provided you're reasonably near New York City). Contact her at mpkuo206@yahoo.com. M.P. also recorded me as the intense fairy tale voiceover for Law & Order: Fairytale Division.
You deserve financial guidance...
Of course I must brag on my husband. After eighteen years as an actuary, Shawn brought his industry savvy to the people side of the business five years ago to be a financial advisor. His business has grown wonderfully and he is helping a lot of people save money and protect their loved ones. Have you been reading the news lately? Perhaps it's time to talk with him. He knows his stuff, will not try to sell you something you don't need, and is quite easy on the eyes. Send him an e-mail at scowls@mac.com to start the conversation.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Shawn will be a panelist this coming Tuesday evening, September 28, for the seminar Preserving Your Business - Legal, Tax and Financial Planning Considerations. If you are interested in this discussion on the issues affecting business owners as they plan for their future, click here to find out more!
Life is good here. Shawn and I found ourselves in Cherry Grove, coinciding with the Miss Fire Island Pageant...which also coincided with September 11th. So, we've got drag artists a go-go running about, pleasantly inebriated visitors from across the bay, and a mini-batallion of hired security guards making sure nothing is getting out of hand. Then we hear bagpipes over the loudspeaker and all the mayhem releases itself to silence. Four uniformed (and I'm assuming Lesbian and Gay) officers carried the American flag across the runway that spanned over the swimming pool and all of our hands were over our hearts. FOD Brandon Cutrell sang The National Anthem beautifully, and as I looked over the bejewelled and well-painted faces of these contestants I had a huge mental shift. I always respected the art of drag artists, but on that day I experienced them as patriotic Americans showing deference to a national tragedy while giving honor to our country. Puts things in perspective.
Shawn and I will also be heading to Washington, DC for Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 2010. Jon Stewart plans to provide signs that read, "I may disagree with you, but that doesn't mean you're Hitler." This event will also coincide with Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive. Come on. You have to meet us there.
Take some breathing time for yourself, tell me your birthday, and thanks for being in my life. Please let me know what's going on in yours!
Enjoy Yourself!
Doug Shapiro
Fearless Mensch
(917) 929-0998
www.dougshapiro.com
doug@dougshapiro.com
A Career Coach with The Savvy Actor!
The Savvy Actor Career Manual
The Most Comprehensive Actor's Business Guide Ever.
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and, oy vey, I'm also on the Borg Collective, otherwise known as Facebook
Doug's song stylings on BroadwayDemo.com
Doug's Send Out Cards page
