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Audition
I've been doing some short films recently to spruce up the old acting resume as well as practice not breaking
anything on a set. A USC grad by the name of Andy Gose was doing a short called American Coffee. It
was a simple story about a woman and her best friend, who's held by a coffee shop franchise run by the devil. Like I
said, simple. At the audition I read for the devil (naturally) and then did some improv. Andy specifically asked me to
pretend that someone was a bum and asked me to approach him as if I was recruiting him for a cult. He said pretend I was
recruiting for Scientology. (More Truthful Information here). So I came up to
the person and told him he was in his predicament because of his reactive mind and asked him if he wanted to
take a personality test. Andy loved it. I didn't get the part of the devil (bummer) but I did get the part of the
recruiter. Stephen Triplett, the guy that they did get to play the devil, was about a foot taller than me, so I understand.
First Reading
Before we started filming though, we had to have some rehearsals. The two meetings we had to run lines were at
Andy's apartment, over in Pasadena. What Andy did not tell me is that he and his cute girlfriend Jennifer Lo, who
was also the associate producer, had a couple of CATS in their apartment. Now usually I can handle cats for a short time. But
the first meeting, I was nursing a bad cold and was coughing a lot. My part in the script does not come until midway through the
script, so for an hour I am sitting there with my lungs slowly clotting, coughing every 30 seconds or so from the cold. By the
time I had to speak my lines I could barely read the script from the tears in my eyes, and I could only hack out only five
words at a time from the lack of lung space. This was followed by a horrendous cough, made worse because of asphyxiation. Once
we finished the first reading, Andy wanted to read it again.
Second Reading
I was over my cold by the second rehearsal, but by then I had another problem. The night of the second rehearsal it was
raining cats and dogs. I happen to own two cars, but my mom has one and the ex has the other, so I drove over to Pasadena
in the rain. By the time I got there I was soaked through. Andy and Jennifer were amazed, and put a towel down on the carpet so
I could sit there. Of course, by the time we got to my lines I couldn't breathe again, so I was wet and wheezing.
First Day Filming
My call time the first day was 9am. They were going to film a scene outside a television studio (actually part of the Lucas Bldg on the USC campus)
then do a scene with me in the park. (Left and Right Pics)So I waited.
And waited. About 11 the producer tells me that the only have another site until sundown and so they're going to go there first and then do our scene.
She asked me to come back at 3pm. Okay. So
what to do? Fortunately the USC campus is close to Exposition Park, and the Science Center is there. My girlfriend and I (yes, I took a date to the shoot.
She loved it) drove over there and watched
an IMAX movie. (Me in my double-breasted suit) then came back.
We got back early and hung around for a little while in the screening room.
Finally it was time for me to do my scene. But first they had to shoot some background footage of an ice cream man. The cart was basically a prop,
but that didn't prevent kids from coming up and ordering ice cream while they were filming. With only a few minutes left of good sunlight, I got to do my scene around five
in the afternoon. It was the last shot of the day, one I waited eight hours to shoot. It was done in fifteen minutes. SHeeesshh.
Second Day Filming
The next day of filming was done in the student commons dining area at USC. It was raining when I woke up, so I had to rent a car to get there.
Jennifer, the associate producer, was blown away that I would do that for a film. When I got there I was given a huge black hood and cape for
this initiation scene we were going to film. I loved it. I walked around the USC cafeteria where we were filming and did my best Darth Vader
impression. (It sucked of course). Then Jennifer came over and took away my kewl outfit and gave me a black sheet to use instead. They didn't
have enough kewl costumes and since I wasn't the main person in the scene I would have to give my costume to the other guy. Major bummer.
Additional Filming
Andy's Coffee Shop
We did some addtional filming, called pickups, at a real life coffee shop over in Pasadena. Ironically, It was called Andy's Coffee Shop (Andy Gose was the director). It was
raining and I wasn't able to rent a car again, so the producer drove over to my place, picked me up, drove me to Pasadena, and we filmed our pickups. I was there about 30 minutes.
I managed to get a ride home from one of the other actors, but man, what an effort for such a tiny bit of film.
CBS
On a bright Saturday morning, I walked over to the CBS Radford Studio and onto one of the backlot streets. Andy was
shooting the final scene of his little movie on the studio lot. It was fun. I wore my tacky Hawaiian shirt and munched on donuts. I brought my girlfriend along (different one) and she
really enjoyed herself waiting for me to finish. (Can't you tell?)
Hotel
We only spent about three hours at CBS and then had to pack up and move to a different site, a hotel over on Highland in Hollywood. I walked back to my apartment, and my
girlfriend decided to stay there. She didn't want to sit around doing nothing. Guess she'll never become an actor. I drove down there in my double-breasted suit again, found
the hotel meeting room where they were setting up, cuddled up on the floor and fell asleep. :).
Update
American Coffee premiered at the Norris Theatre at USC on May 19, 2001. I'll put more info up here as I hear.
Filmography links courtesy of IMDb.
Questions? Comments? Email Me!.
My call time the first day was 9am. They were going to film a scene outside a television studio (actually part of the Lucas Bldg on the USC campus)
then do a scene with me in the park. (Left and Right Pics)So I waited.
And waited. About 11 the producer tells me that the only have another site until sundown and so they're going to go there first and then do our scene.
She asked me to come back at 3pm. Okay. So
what to do? Fortunately the USC campus is close to Exposition Park, and the Science Center is there. My girlfriend and I (yes, I took a date to the shoot.
She loved it) drove over there and watched
an IMAX movie. (Me in my double-breasted suit) then came back.
We got back early and hung around for a little while in the screening room.
Finally it was time for me to do my scene. But first they had to shoot some background footage of an ice cream man. The cart was basically a prop,
but that didn't prevent kids from coming up and ordering ice cream while they were filming. With only a few minutes left of good sunlight, I got to do my scene around five
in the afternoon. It was the last shot of the day, one I waited eight hours to shoot. It was done in fifteen minutes. SHeeesshh.
On a bright Saturday morning, I walked over to the CBS Radford Studio and onto one of the backlot streets. Andy was
shooting the final scene of his little movie on the studio lot. It was fun. I wore my tacky Hawaiian shirt and munched on donuts. I brought my girlfriend along (different one) and she
really enjoyed herself waiting for me to finish. (Can't you tell?)