William Mapother

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Elder Abuse Awareness – Links

Posted on: December 14th, 2013 by wmapother 1 Comment

Sadly, it’s not a subject that gets much media attention this time of year, but no one should allow elder abuse to drop off their radar during the Holidays.  In fact, in some areas the abuse even increases during the Holiday season.  So please keep an eye out for any signs of elder abuse in any form: physical, financial, emotional or sexual.  If you have reason to believe that abuse has or will occur, please contact law enforcement.

The NY Times had an article last week by Patrick Egan, whose elderly father was the victim of theft at his assisted care living facility.

Here are some helpful links regarding the elderly:

Guide to Senior Living: State-by-State Options

Prevent Medicare Fraud: How To Avoid Abuse and Medical Billing Fraud

Hopeline: Donate Used Cellphones to Benefit Domestic Violence Orgs

AARP Health Resource Library

Senior Care Resource Guide

Senior Health Info Page

Search for Physicians

Posted in Elder & Seniors

Techies

Posted on: November 20th, 2013 by wmapother 2 Comments

TechWeek, a digiterati conference held in several large (so far) U.S. cities, has named me to their first LA TechWeek100.  TechWeek100Per their site, “The Techweek100 identifies Los Angeles area leaders who have a significant impact on business and technology.”  I’ve been named both for being a co-founder of the film finance marketplace Slated, and also as an investor in various tech startups.  The list is humbling; I’m in very good company.

More from their site: “The Techweek100 includes managers of fast-growing technology companies, prominent investors, key enablers of the digital ecosystem, creators of new technologies, and other innovators that make important contributions to their field. The Techweek100 is not a ranking but rather a list of 100 technology leaders and organizations chosen by the Techweek community, Techweek Advisory Boards, and Team Techweek.”

The LA conference runs Nov. 21-22 and features a number of fascinating topics and speakers I’m looking forward to hearing.

Posted in Film, In Person (or, like, Live), Los Angeles, News & Events, Press, Slated, Tech

Castled

Posted on: November 15th, 2013 by wmapother 1 Comment

This Monday night on ABC at 10/9C, I’m on the TV show “Castle”.  Castle logoBoth Nathan Fillion, who plays Castle, and I have each been told we look somewhat alike.

On Monday, however, I think you’ll be able to tell us apart…

Posted in Acting Projects, News & Events, TV

Record-Keeping for Actors

Posted on: November 9th, 2013 by wmapother No Comments

I’m a longtime advocate of keeping a spreadsheet of all sorts of things re. my acting:  auditions, lessons learned, valuable contacts made, thoughts re. various scenes in a project, etc.  backstage logo

Casting director Marci Liroff recently wrote a piece for Backstage and asked me about my record-keeping.  Her piece is below, or you can check it out on the Backstage site.  Get thee to Excel (or to Google Drive, which offers spreadsheets for free..)

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Remember when you were a kid and you kept a diary next to your bed and wrote down everything you did and thought about that day? Those childhood habits were actually great training for what you should be doing as an actor. Tracking every meeting and audition is a good habit to get into.

I’ve been preaching this to my classes and my coaching clients for years now. They always come back to thank me and point out that this one thing has changed their perspectives on their careers. Sometimes what you do as an actor—the prep, the auditions, the sheer tenacity you apply to your career to get an acting job—can be an intangible thing when you don’t actually get the job and effectively have nothing to show. But, like I always say, “This is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.” So much effort goes into getting the job that keeping a diary or a journal of all your auditions will help you see your progress in black and white.

I suggest you keep a notebook and write down every meeting and audition you have. List the people you’ve met and their positions, the project, the role, what you wore, and what choices you made for your audition. Take short notes on what you discussed if you got into a chat with the director. When it starts getting busy during pilot season and you’re going on several auditions each week (and hopefully getting callbacks), it’ll be great to know exactly what you did on each audition that got you back in the room a second time.

You’re going to have a long and busy career, and you will probably have a few different people represent you along the way. When you start a new relationship with an agent or manager, wouldn’t it be great if you could give him or her some actual tools to help you? You can sit down in your initial meeting and give a list of people who are your fans, casting directors who consistently bring you back, and those to whom you need an introduction. This way you can plan a strategy for which rooms you need to get into.

Actor friend William Mapother goes a step further, using an Excel spreadsheet. “I keep an auditions spreadsheet in Excel. It has six columns: CD, Date, Project, Role (character name), Type (feature, pilot, recurring, guest), and Studio/Co./Network,” he says. “I use Excel because it allows me to easily sort the data to see how many times I’ve seen a CD or to see how many appointments I’ve had over any period of time.”

Here’s the part I love: “When I book a job I change the font in that row to red. Also, once I book via a CD, I make that CD’s name red throughout the document.”

Continuing, Mapother says, “I also keep another Excel spreadsheet in which I note lessons I’ve learned in various areas and make notes to avoid recommitting horrendous blunders. I’ve noted when circumstances before an audition have helped or hurt me—being hungry, working out, interacting with other actors who are waiting. The purpose is to experiment and identify what helps me. Another lesson came not from my experiences but from reading. One of Pixar’s rules: Errors are inevitable, so make them ASAP. Experiment early. I noted this in my lessons as ‘Be wrong as quickly as you can.’ ”

Posted in Acting Tips & Info, Press, Tech

The Mentalist, redux

Posted on: October 17th, 2013 by wmapother 2 Comments

This Sunday I return to The Mentalist as Richard Haibach in the ep “Red Listed.”  Richard mentalist screen shotwas introduced a couple seasons ago, and he’s still up to some questionable activities.  I can’t say any more or I’ll be hung by my thumbs..

As before, I had a great time on the show.  I’ve Simon Baker for too long to remember, and he’s just as light and friendly in person as his character on the show.  The set has a good vibe.  They’re on a hit show, what’s not to vibe good about, right?

Posted in Acting Projects, News & Events, Other Photos, TV