I was 20 minutes late when I arrived at the theatre. It was a small joint carved out of an old retail space and the metal door squeaked loudly as I pulled it open. Inside, seven latecomers and an usher turned and stared disapprovingly. About twenty feet in front of...

The first time I ever appeared on stage was in a high school play. I was at the time, a nerdy, nervous 15 year-old with bad skin who had only auditioned because of a terrible crush I had on a fellow cast member. As our opening night performance neared its...

About a year ago, I came out of "theatrical" retirement to act in a play here in Los Angeles. During the run I was interviewed by a local arts reporter who asked which medium I like better, theatre or TV and why. It was an easy question to answer "Theatre,"...

Once when I was a young actor in New York, a casting director recommended me to an agent. I was very excited. The agent was well established and had a nice office. I felt sure that if I could convince her to represent me, I'd be well on my way...

I was very new to Southern California in 1993. In fact, I wasn't even sure what I was doing here. In theory I'd come here to work as a writer, but so far nothing much had happened on that front. Just as I was about to give up hope, a...

Every once in a while, people in my business need a little pep talk. Over the past few years, I've given a fair amount of them via a mentoring program that I helped found a few years ago. Every few months, I seem to find myself seated across from some...

A couple of days ago, a friend sent me a link to a piece published on Newsweek.com that really pissed me off. Written by an openly gay entertainment writer, it basically claimed that casting openly gay actors in heterosexual roles simply never works.

As a gay guy trying to make...

After several anxious months, the Hollywood community breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when it was announced that the land above the world-famous "Hollywood" sign had been saved from the clutches of developers who had planned to construct a series of luxury homes along the sight.

When the...

There have been a lot of news stories lately about celebrities showing up to raise awareness and funds for some of the areas of the world that have been ravaged by natural disasters. Most major diseases and political causes can usually count on a celebrity or two to fill the...

When I was a young actor I was pretty damned determined to "make it." To me this meant I had no choice but to nag the hell out of any and all potential employers. Every time I booked a job, I made sure every living person in show business knew...

Last July, I was in the gym, huffing and puffing away on the treadmill, when a stand-up comic named Roy Cruz (a guy I barely knew) approached me and asked if I would be interested in appearing in show he wanted to produce at one of the local comedy theatres....

I'm usually upstairs in my office when the postal carrier arrives, but the second I hear the creak and clank of the mail slot opening, I bound down the stairs like an Olympic sprinter to see if maybe, possibly today's mail has brought me that which every entertainment professional hopes...

I've never been a particularly patient person. I came from a family of slow-moving people who seemed to think that life was something that just unfolded on its own terms and our job was merely to roll with the punches. Even as a kid, I hated that philosophy and became...

Recently, I was reading in one of the entertainment rags that in 2009, Steven Spielberg was paid $50 million dollars by Universal for theme-park royalties based on his movies. It made me wonder if Steve (as I like to call him) might be interested in designing a ride based on...

A few weeks ago, the Oscar nominations came out and I was shocked to see that my name was not among the nominees. I suppose there's some logic to this, given that I haven't really worked in over a year, but still. Sadly, awards season is usually a little rugged...

Last night, I sat and watched the students in my acting class do some very good work. I've been blessed with a very gifted and unique group this time out and for me, there's no more pleasant way to spend an evening than working with talented artists. As I walked...

I recently discovered that a short movie I wrote and directed a few years ago had actually been viewed by over 100,000 people on YouTube. This sort of floored me, mostly because it the odds against that little movie even being made were enormous.

Our story begins in the summer...

I recently posted a question on my Facebook page asking my creative friends if they were making any New Year's resolutions for 2010. I was a little surprised when the majority of them said no and pointedly added that in their opinion, resolutions were just a recipe for disappointment. As...

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from one of the junior agents at my acting agency who informed me that the agent who had originally invited me into the agency had left. However, a terrific "new guy" had been brought in to head the legit department and...

When I first started writing I rarely had any sort of game plan and usually only worked when I felt inspired to do so. If, as I was typing away, I became aware of some flaw or otherwise gnarly problem in my story, I would usually flee the scene; telling...