But unless your career is already past the early stages or your name is DuPont, ultimately you'll need a full-time job. Don't get one you hate - that's a morale killer. And don't take a job that has you in and out of town or demands a lot of overtime. If there's no time for your career, why are you in Hollywood?
Give your agent your work number and never pass up an audition because you're needed at the word processor. It won't compute and your relationship will crash.
But don't tell any other industry person you do anything but act full time. We once heard a casting director say actors with regular jobs "aren't professional." May all the elastic in his underwear crumble at the Oscars. Most actors work from time to time, and this attitude reveals a terrible (but unfortunately not uncommon) case of the smugs.
FOOD
Eating out is an expensive little pastime, so get a place with a kitchen pronto. When grocery shopping, think big - large often equals cheaper.
Distances make it hard for actors to hang out New York-style, but there are spots such as Duke's Coffee Shop on Sunset Boulevard, Dupar's coffee shop and Jerry's Deli (a touch of Manhattan) near CBS Studio Center, Lucy's Cafe El Adobe near Paramount, and most other restaurants near the major studios. Pricier places include Spago's in West Hollywood and 72 Market Street in Venice. Drop by and you'll get an earful of shop talk.
FURNITURE/FURNISHINGS
A newspaper called The Recycler is available at most newsstands and contains ads for just about anything people want to sell or swap. You can get some great buys - especially if you can dicker. Same with garage sales and swap meets. Be ready to pay cash.
Adray's, Fedco, The Home Club, Circuit City, and Federated are just a few of the stores that offer name-brand merchandise at low prices.
CLOTHING
Want to dress from head to foot without paying an arm or a leg? Discount clothing stores abound, especially in downtown L.A.'s garment district in the neighborhood of Los Angeles and Ninth Streets.
Others, called "re-sale stores," sell lightly-used clothes, often with designer labels. To actors, one of the most interesting in this category has got to be The Re-Take Room in Studio City. (Don't confuse this with the bar of the same name in Woodland Hills.) This little store sells wardrobes from movie and television shows - some of them incredible bargains and has everyone wondering how you, Paul Oldfellow, can afford to dress like Paul Newman.
ESTABLISHING CREDIT
Whether or not you brought plastic with you, establish credit within the city.
Go to a bank and open a savings account. Let's say you put in $1,000. Then go to the loan officer and tell him you want to make a $1,000 loan, using your savings account as collateral. (You're guaranteeing the loan will be paid back, because if you default, the bank simply grabs the money in your savings account.)
Then, pay it off in about a year. It won't give you the credit rating of a Rockefeller, but it'll help.
INFO LINE
This free service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and gives information or referrals for housing, community services, emergency food, and medical treatment, just about you name it. There are nine toll-free numbers in L.A. county.
SIZING UP THE SITUATION
With an apartment, job, and telephone, welcome to L.A.! Now it's time to get that lay of the land, at a leisurely, get-yourself-together pace. Say, three months. You'll know when to get moving; you'll get itchy.
Some places to size up:
- The unions: That is, SAG, AFTRA, Equity. Check out their bulletin boards. You'll find all sorts of interesting information, from photographers advertising rates to apartments for sublet, cars for sale, announcements of free seminar or two.
- Samuel French's Theatre & Film Bookshops and Larry Edmunds Bookshops: Plays, books and other items on acting and film will beg, "Take me home!" And you will. For scripts, posters, collectables, visit Movie World and The Collector's Bookstore, among others.
- The American Film Institute: It's there for the advancement and preservation of motion pictures in general, and for training filmmakers in particular. It's also the home of the SAG Conservatory Program, which we'll talk about later. The Institute has its own library, with fascinating books and film scripts. Don't be surprised to see actors working for auditions for a student film. Goes on all the time. More on this later, too.
- Those live TV shows: Excellent research for an actor. Call the stations and find out how you can get tickets to what's currently in production. When observing, avoid watching the TV sets around you. Watch the actors and what they are doing live.
- USC, UCLA: USC's film school is terrific, though the neighborhood isn't. UCLA is a beautiful, sprawling campus adjoining an area called Westwood Village - probably the only true walking area in L.A. The "Village" is relatively safe, clean, with one of the largest collection of first-run movie theatres in town. But the faint of heart should avoid the area on weekends. That's when the dreaded California Teeny-Bopper comes out in force.
- The studios: Pass by all the major studio lots (see Map). You'll be auditioning at these places and it'll help you to know where they are. Without a pass, you won't be allowed onto the grounds (unless you've got the chutzpah to take a manila envelope with you, wave knowingly at the guard, and hope he thinks you're delivering something. Less daring individuals can take a studio tour). If you do get on, don't burst into anyone's office hoping to get discovered. These are busy people - with long memories.
- Theatres, plays: See play after play. If you're worried about cost, find out when previews are held; they're usually cheaper. Go to enough theatres, see enough plays, read enough reviews and you'll know here you'd eventually like to strut the boards.
- Acting classes: No, don't take a class yet - but look around. And, of course, attend all the freebie seminars you can.
- The trades: We'll go into these in more detail later, but take a gander at The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Variety, and Drama-Logue. They're available at most newsstands and by subscription.
- Get to know the city: Get out and around; learn major streets and subdivisions. Try shortcuts. Now's the time to head for Burbank and wind up in Oxnard, not when you're on your way to an audition. Mix. Mingle. Network. Set a schedule. Sitting home doing nothing is the actor's greatest trap; don't fall into it. You're in an exciting city. Add to the excitement.
