My First TV Commercial Audition

The first commercial audition I had in NYC was for the Milk Board. I didn't have an audition time or an agent. What I did have was a boyfriend who had an audition time and an agent. I tagged along with him to the advertising agency where the auditions were being held, and he encouraged me to sign in using his agent's name. When they called my name from the sign-in sheet, I gave Ricci a knowing glance and followed the casting assistant into the room to audition. I was so excited! It was fun & went really well.

A few days later, the casting office tracked me down to give me a callback time and date. I had signed in using Ricci's commercial agent, the J. Michael Bloom Agency. So they found my contact info through Ricci, and since I had a callback, I had a new agent!

The day of the callback came & it was raining. Pouring down rain. Hard, pounding, relentless rain. That wasn't so bad, but there was a transit strike in New York City which made it extremely difficult to get around. I couldn't get a taxi, and the subway and buses weren't working. So I walked, in the rain. A very long way. Yelling up at the sky to where I thought God might be listening, "Why are you doing this to me?" And by the time I got there, I was soaking wet and not very happy. Commercials are all about happy people with genuine smiles.

Needless to say, I didn't book this one, but it got me on my way. J. Michael Bloom was my commercial agent for as long as I lived in NYC, which was about 13 years (1978-1991), and we did well together! Lynne Cohen and her brother David Cohen represented me & let me tell you, those were the days. In the 80's the advertising world was booming and I was doing as many as 13 national commercials in a year. I was in my 20's. What an amazing time in my life! Living in a studio apartment in New York City working as an actress. What could be better!?!

That was only the beginning.

Seeking SAG Leadership

It's a shame what is happening to the Screen Actors Guild.  There's a division within the union that is robbing it of a strong united presence & ultimately, power.  Membership First vs. Unite For Strength.  Strike vs. No strike.  There's another division between SAG and AFTRA which has to be dealt with, but let's focus on SAG right now.  When SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Negotiating Head Doug Allen were ousted, the new negotiating team appointed by SAG board members sat down with AMPTP, quickly declined their final contract offer and walked away from the negotiating table.  

SAG is a union in limbo, without solid footing.  They haven't asked for a membership vote authorizing a strike because they know, more than likely, they won't get it considering the current economy. And the truth is, there are way too many people in the world hurting right now and they don't need some coddled actors whining about money and threatening further decline of our economy with a strike.  Are our SAG leaders thinking about anyone other than themselves?  Do they even consider the small business owners who would be deeply affected by a strike and who don't even have anything to do with the industry? 

Why do we continue to elect actors who have no business background to head our union? Where is our sense of integrity, our wisdom, our good business sense?  Where is our sense of gratitude, our love for what we do, our willingness to work together?  Gone in a world of greed, and that world is collapsing all around us.