2008 -- A Year in Review

Well well well...well well well well. Well.

So that was 2008, huh? Okay. That's cool.

I feel impelled to recap this last year's events, because that's what people typically do when a new year starts. Because, to me, nothing says "fresh start" like the beginning of an arbitrary man-made set-period of time known as a "year."

Anyway, on with the show.

Well...what a year, huh? For the longest time, the idea of Los Angeles always seemed like a strange little concept. If I hadn't married the woman I married, I'm sure it would have remained an abstract idea, and I would have hunkered down in the safe confines of the Pacific Northwest ad infinatum. If you couldn't already tell, I was "receptive" to the idea of moving to Los Angeles, but I wasn't necessarily "gung-ho" about the idea. To me, it was another in a long line of life options where I shrugged and said, "Meh...what the hell...why not?"

So we found a place -- a lovely apartment in a lovely part of town -- and moved. We didn't really have a set plan, goals, or deadline for things that had to be accomplished. This is an adventure, dammit...and nothing kills that sense of adventure more than "knowing what you're getting yourself in to."

But we had the basics taken care of -- food, shelter, clothing, money. From there it was simply a matter of making more of that elusive "money" stuff, before all of our stored-up money went away. And finding a way to keep busy.

Enter "extra work." Or as the entitled like to call it: "background artistry." Yep, when I think of my professional life as an actor, I think of mostly background work. I spent 62 days working as a background actor on 45 different shows and movies in 2008.

All told, I made $5,000 working as a "background" actor, and $3,050 working as an "actor" actor. As you can see (and for all the IRS agents monitoring this blog) I made about $8,050 (after taxes) in salary last year. That's down about 80% from what I was making a scant 2 years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, if you think that actors are at all over-paid, I will direct your attention to this last paragraph.

This brings me to my next point. I'm poor as hell. It took me 2 months now to make what I used to in one paycheck. But I'm very proud to say that I've survived...and I continue to survive. This is a big deal for me. I came to Los Angeles with less than $10,000 in savings...and I was convinced that I would need to get a "real job" in three months -- four if I was miserly -- five if I robbed a couple of banks to make ends meet.

But I got all the way from January to December without getting a real job. I survived a Writer's Strike, a threatened Actor's Strike, and several weeks-long vacations away from Los Angeles. The business of "Tyler Rhoades - Actor" did not go bankrupt like my former employer did last year (R.I.P. Washington Mutual). I got through on guile, perseverance, and some well-timed generosity from my wife, my family, and my wife's family (who are really "my family" now, but I thought I'd make the distinction).

That's been my proudest accomplishment of this last year. I survived. I made money working in the business -- in my chosen profession -- and it was enough to sustain me for an entire year. Honestly, to me, that's very cool.

Now on to specifics -- my individual achievements are fairly humble at this point. Here's the part where, if you're ever asked the question "What's Tyler Up To Now?" you should pay attention...because these are the braggable things. And so you know; extra work is not braggable. A trained monkey can do extra work. In fact...a trained monkey makes better money than a human extra...by a quite a bit. My appearing in the background of a bunch of television programs is worth mentioning, but it's not something that would -- or should -- impress anyone.

Having said that, the big one for me was my international "Sprite Commercial." That was an audition that my agent got me, and that I booked. On my own. I wasn't "in the right place at the right time," I didn't "get lucky." I came in, gave a great audition, and booked the gig. Of course, this happened way back in the beginning of April, and I've had few auditions since I booked that one...but for me, it's good to know that I did book one project through the quality of my audition, not based on my appearance in a photograph, or through some fluke "right-time-right-place" happening. I'm quite proud of that.

A second accomplishment -- the establishment of a base for conducting the business of "acting." I know it's not a cut-and-dry as the commercial, but it's very important. I have an agent, who believes in my talent (even when I don't, from time-to-time). I've educated myself on the business. I have smart, funny, talented friends who are passionate about acting and film making. I've got up-to-date headshots. I'm registered with all of the necessary websites. I even created my own dinky little website. I've attended a couple dozen auditions. I've taken several months of acting classes, and a couple casting workshops. And I've filmed several little projects (Gorilla, Cougar, Death Match, Y Tu Nana, Party Pooper). All of this is stuff that I can build on...and any one of them might be the thing that propels me to the next level. I'm not looking for the lucky home run, I just want to put my nasty little finger in a bunch of different pies...and maybe one of these times it'll come out with a plum attached...to the tune of a couple thousand dollars. But until that time, I'll continue to build my base...

Finally, as my last accomplishment, I traveled a hell of a lot last year -- I certainly logged more miles driving than I think I have in any previous year (back and forth to Seattle three times, not to mention side trips to Idaho from Seattle, and Las Vegas from LA). And, of course, there was that whole "21-blog-post-long" honeymoon to Europe that was -- in spite of what you might have read -- one of the greatest experiences of my life. And let's not forget about a month in Bellingham, where my wife and I helped put up three shows (in 5 days) which were, by all accounts, quite successful.

Now for the hardships. For me, things went pretty well wrong shortly after (and during) Las Vegas. My hefty tax refund, and the paycheck from my Sprite commercial evaporated in a puff of tainted transmission fluid. Now I'm puttering around Los Angeles in a car with a rebuilt transmission, a dying alternator, an exhaust leak, tabs that expired in August of 2008, and a driver who is too poor to fix those problems.

On top of that, I'm fairly stagnated professionally. I haven't had an audition since September. I'm still on the outside looking in with SAG (currently possessing 0 of the 3 required vouchers to join SAG so far). My lack of funds has prevented me from getting more reprints of my headshots, a refill of my contact lenses, or another round of acting classes. I've slipped a little further into credit card debt hell (though not nearly as far as I have been historically). And my hairline continues its steady, inevitable retreat up my forehead.

Hmm...maybe I should have started with the good stuff. Now I'm all bummed out. Anyway, all-in-all, thing went pretty well. Better than I expected. Even when I back-load all of the crappy stuff, it still looks pretty decent from where I'm sitting. I don't know.

If I happen to fail miserably, and my aspirations are crushed, and I leave the acting profession bitter and resentful...I'll still have to be proud that, dammit, I gave it a shot. I'm here. I'm trying. I won't have to spend a lifetime thinking "what if...?" I know what if, now. If it works out; awesome. If not; I did the best I could with my extremely limited talent, looks, and brainpower. And hey, that's all I can do, I suppose...