Latest / The Demia Avery Show / 500+ Acting Bookings! Dave Pileggi Reveals What Actors Need to Know | The Industry

Transcript

500+ Acting Bookings! Dave Pileggi Reveals What Actors Need to Know | The Industry · The Demia Avery Show

• 0:00
  If you got a dream, come closer. [music]
• 0:04
  If you want to shine, come over. We
• 0:07
  breaking all the rules tonight.
• 0:11
  Yeah, we stepping [music]
• 0:12
  in the spotlight is the industry.
• 0:16
  Where [music]
• 0:17
  everybody trying to be
• 0:21
  [music] nice.
• 0:25
  living.
• 0:27
  [music]
• 0:31
  >> Hello. Hello everyone. This is Deia
• 0:33
  Avery with the Deia Avery Show, the
• 0:35
  industry. And let me ask you guys a
• 0:37
  question. What does it take to book over
• 0:40
  500 jobs in the industry and still have
• 0:43
  something left to teach the rest of us?
• 0:45
  Well, my guest today has done a little
• 0:47
  bit of everything. You've seen him in
• 0:50
  Dopessick, The Resident, High Town,
• 0:53
  Tyler Paris Sisters, The Vampire
• 0:55
  Diaries, and films like One Night in
• 0:57
  Miami, and Anchor Man 2. But he's not
• 1:00
  just working in front of the camera.
• 1:02
  He's also helping other actors figure
• 1:04
  out how to work smarter, book more, and
• 1:07
  survive this crazy business that we call
• 1:10
  entertainment. He's an actor, director,
• 1:12
  comedian, motivational speaker, and the
• 1:14
  founder of Climbing the Call Sheet.
• 1:17
  Please welcome Dave Pledgy. Welcome.
• 1:20
  >> What's up, everybody? Hello. Hello.
• 1:23
  >> Oh, I just I was just telling him off
• 1:25
  the air. I feel like I've known him
• 1:26
  forever. But I don't know if we ever
• 1:29
  actually talked. Have we?
• 1:31
  >> No, it's been by proxy through Jera back
• 1:34
  and forth. [laughter]
• 1:37
  >> I love it. I love it. So, we're just
• 1:39
  going to go ahead and get started. So,
• 1:41
  Dave, I know you were a college athlete.
• 1:44
  you're a boxer before getting into
• 1:46
  acting and apparently in 2008 there was
• 1:50
  a house crashing episode that pushed you
• 1:53
  in a direction. So now most people don't
• 1:55
  uh respond to financial crisis becoming
• 1:57
  an actor but how did that whole
• 2:00
  transition
• 2:02
  how did that whole transition happen for
• 2:04
  you?
• 2:05
  >> Yeah, it was such such a weird dynamic
• 2:08
  because we uh my wife was working for a
• 2:10
  really high-end boutique. I was working
• 2:12
  for like advertising consulting firm.
• 2:14
  Market crashes, both of those things
• 2:16
  shut down.
• 2:17
  >> So, we're in this space of praying
• 2:20
  going, what do we do?
• 2:22
  >> Right. Right.
• 2:23
  >> And it was one of those weird things
• 2:25
  where you kind of just have all of these
• 2:27
  thoughts run through your head like,
• 2:28
  okay, do I start my own thing? Do I just
• 2:31
  resume the heck out of every day, eight
• 2:33
  hours hitting the pavement doing my
• 2:35
  thing?
• 2:36
  >> Yeah. But it was interesting because we
• 2:38
  had this thought like, "Okay, so now
• 2:40
  we're broke working for other people for
• 2:42
  decades.
• 2:44
  What if we both follow the dream we've
• 2:46
  had since we were little to entertain
• 2:48
  and see what happens?" Like, what the
• 2:50
  heck do we even do?
• 2:51
  >> Yeah.
• 2:52
  >> And so my wife being the analytical,
• 2:56
  brilliant researcher that she is, goes
• 2:58
  ahead and jumps in and starts
• 3:00
  researching acting studios in Atlanta.
• 3:02
  Right.
• 3:02
  >> Okay.
• 3:02
  >> So we find an acting studio downtown.
• 3:05
  She finds an improv troop is having
• 3:07
  auditions. Uh I go down and audition and
• 3:10
  I make the troop. Um a little while
• 3:13
  later took improv classes there because
• 3:15
  they make you kind of take classes
• 3:16
  before you're on stage.
• 3:18
  >> And then after a while
• 3:21
  um there was an opportunity where he
• 3:23
  director came to me. He's like your main
• 3:24
  stage on Friday, biggest show of the
• 3:26
  month. Like let's go.
• 3:28
  >> Wow.
• 3:28
  >> And so I get in there now. Meanwhile,
• 3:31
  I'm searching jobs, working for my
• 3:34
  cousin, working for other people, doing
• 3:37
  the hustle, make money thing, right?
• 3:39
  >> Yeah.
• 3:40
  >> So, then, um, I do this improv show, and
• 3:44
  it's one of those improv shows very
• 3:46
  honestly, uh, Pack House, Standing Room
• 3:49
  Only. It's one of those knockdown,
• 3:51
  dragout, bring the house down funny
• 3:54
  shows, right? Like the whole improv
• 3:56
  troop, every single person was just
• 3:58
  killing it, right? So, at the end of the
• 4:01
  show, I have a couple agents come up to
• 4:03
  me and say, "We'd love to talk to you on
• 4:04
  Monday. Uh, you were referred to us by
• 4:06
  this other member of your troop who we
• 4:09
  trust. Uh, we'd love to talk to you
• 4:11
  Monday."
• 4:12
  >> Okay.
• 4:12
  >> Um, I'm like, "Yes, absolutely." So,
• 4:14
  they give me their card and then um
• 4:16
  right after that, the thing that really
• 4:18
  changed me on the inside more than
• 4:21
  anything else after that first very
• 4:22
  first show
• 4:24
  >> was this family walked up to me. Um it
• 4:26
  was a really tall older burly jump
• 4:30
  lumberjack looking guy. Okay.
• 4:32
  >> With his three adult daughters around
• 4:34
  him. Okay. So they're all like clenched
• 4:36
  arms walking towards me. They're all
• 4:38
  crying and I'm like uh this is my first
• 4:42
  show. Is this normal? Like I know we're
• 4:45
  supposed to shake hands and kiss babies
• 4:47
  and hug necks and all that.
• 4:48
  >> Security.
• 4:49
  >> Security. Somebody help a brother. Like
• 4:51
  what's happening? So they kind of
• 4:54
  awkwardly walk me over to the corner
• 4:56
  away from everyone else. And I'm
• 4:58
  literally like, "What is going on?"
• 5:00
  >> Yeah.
• 5:02
  >> And this older gentleman, big old long
• 5:04
  beard, says, "Um, my daughters bought us
• 5:07
  tickets to the show last week, but I
• 5:09
  refused to come out of my house and
• 5:11
  come."
• 5:11
  >> Okay.
• 5:12
  >> They tricked me this week to come. And
• 5:14
  the reason I didn't want to come is that
• 5:16
  um the human being responsible for every
• 5:19
  ounce of my laughter, my wife,
• 5:21
  >> passed away six months ago. And I vowed
• 5:23
  that I will not laugh again until I see
• 5:25
  her again.
• 5:27
  >> And my daughters have been pushing me to
• 5:29
  come and live. And I I refused.
• 5:32
  >> Well, they tricked me coming here.
• 5:35
  >> And I walked into this place angry,
• 5:37
  frustrated, bitter, with my arms folded,
• 5:40
  knowing beyond the shadow of any doubt
• 5:41
  I'm not laughing. And the very first
• 5:44
  scene, you came jumping out of this side
• 5:47
  angled room window, bouncing onto the
• 5:51
  floor, doing this thing. I couldn't help
• 5:53
  but laugh. And it came out of me so loud
• 5:57
  that something in me broke.
• 5:59
  >> And he goes just like this, he leans in
• 6:01
  and points his finger in my face and
• 6:02
  says, "Don't you ever stop doing what
• 6:04
  you're doing right now."
• 6:07
  >> And I start crying now. I'm like, "Is
• 6:09
  this normal? [laughter]
• 6:13
  We're all crying. What is happening?
• 6:15
  >> Right.
• 6:16
  >> But hugged him, hugged his daughters.
• 6:18
  His daughters started talking about kind
• 6:19
  of the dark place he was in. And now he
• 6:21
  looks like their old dad again.
• 6:24
  >> And that really rocked me. It really
• 6:25
  kind of brought me to a place to go, all
• 6:27
  right. So, I known my whole life I
• 6:31
  wanted to do this.
• 6:32
  >> Yeah.
• 6:32
  >> I didn't know how I didn't know how it
• 6:34
  would function. I really didn't didn't
• 6:36
  have a a a pulse on how to get it done.
• 6:39
  Mhm.
• 6:40
  >> But now I kind of see the impact that it
• 6:42
  can make in changing someone's life. So
• 6:45
  I'm all in.
• 6:47
  >> Yeah. Wow.
• 6:49
  >> You know, coming from a business
• 6:51
  consulting background, I went ahead and
• 6:52
  hit my knees in prayer and was like,
• 6:54
  "All right, we need a business plan. We
• 6:55
  need a marketing plan. We need to
• 6:57
  strategically see how to lay this thing
• 6:59
  out. I got to start studying how to even
• 7:01
  build this, right? And what the heck to
• 7:03
  even do,
• 7:04
  >> right? Right. Uh, so that following
• 7:06
  Monday, I went and met with those
• 7:07
  agents, go down there and uh I'm like,
• 7:11
  "Yeah, sure. Whatever this means,
• 7:12
  great." Because I, again, I don't know
• 7:14
  anything about the entertainment
• 7:15
  industry at all.
• 7:17
  >> Right.
• 7:18
  >> She goes, "Oh, by the way, there's a
• 7:19
  little improv audition right down the
• 7:21
  street at a casting place if you want to
• 7:22
  go down there and just do they'll
• 7:24
  probably give you some improv. You're an
• 7:25
  improv guy, so it'll be easy. No lines."
• 7:27
  I'm like, "Yeah, I'll do it."
• 7:29
  >> Right. So I go down and to Stillwell
• 7:32
  when they were on
• 7:32
  >> Pedmont
• 7:34
  >> and um it was just like okay pretend
• 7:36
  you're building a treehouse. Like it was
• 7:38
  something so dumb, right? I'm just like
• 7:40
  okay, right? Like just so dumb.
• 7:43
  [laughter]
• 7:43
  >> So I find out like a couple days later
• 7:46
  they call me and they're like, "Oh my
• 7:47
  gosh, how exciting. You booked it." I
• 7:49
  was like, "Great. I don't even know what
• 7:51
  that means, but fantastic." And then
• 7:53
  they go, "And guess what?" I was like,
• 7:55
  "What?" They go, "You may not know what
• 7:58
  this means, but this is fantastically
• 7:59
  amazing. This is a SAG national
• 8:01
  commercial."
• 8:02
  >> Wow.
• 8:04
  >> By the end of the year,
• 8:06
  >> Wow.
• 8:06
  >> It paid me almost exactly what I was
• 8:09
  making in the other job that tanked.
• 8:12
  >> So, you were like, "Okay, I'm I'm in.
• 8:14
  I'm all in." [laughter]
• 8:15
  >> It was like It was almost like God was
• 8:17
  up there laughing going
• 8:19
  right [laughter]
• 8:20
  a little bit of I got you. Right. I was
• 8:23
  like, "Now you're just showing off. I
• 8:25
  get it." [laughter] All right.
• 8:28
  >> And then ever since then, it's been
• 8:30
  business plan, marketing plan,
• 8:32
  strategically laying out. And obviously,
• 8:34
  I made a bunch of mistakes along the
• 8:36
  way, but but it's that learning where
• 8:38
  where I know, okay, I'm called to this
• 8:40
  to make an impact behind the camera and
• 8:43
  in front of the camera. Yeah,
• 8:44
  >> we wrote a mission statement so that we
• 8:47
  were always on point, making an impact
• 8:49
  in everything that we did and then
• 8:51
  strategically just growing the career as
• 8:53
  much as humanly possible on all aspects
• 8:55
  of it.
• 8:56
  >> Yeah.
• 8:56
  >> And here we are almost 20 years later.
• 8:59
  [laughter]
• 8:59
  >> Wow. Well, but you know what? Okay. So,
• 9:02
  it's like we said, you you've had over
• 9:05
  500 jobs 20 years later and I think I
• 9:08
  know the answer this to this because you
• 9:11
  kind of touched on it. So looking back,
• 9:14
  what would you uh what have you
• 9:16
  consistently done right that you think
• 9:20
  other actors might be overlooking?
• 9:24
  >> Great question. And this is going to be
• 9:26
  a little weird and our your listeners
• 9:28
  are probably going to be like, "Oh, come
• 9:30
  on." Right? But I'm being very
• 9:32
  transparently honest. Uh-huh.
• 9:34
  >> On my spreadsheet of bookings, I have a
• 9:38
  a little check mark box where it's it's
• 9:41
  a multiple box where I book with this
• 9:43
  particular client more than once, more
• 9:45
  than a oneoff.
• 9:47
  >> Okay.
• 9:48
  >> Well, the secret sauce truly is that I
• 9:54
  after every booking,
• 9:56
  >> I send thank you cards to every single
• 9:57
  person on set.
• 10:00
  uh every producer, every dire the
• 10:02
  director, the writer, if it's a
• 10:04
  commercial, ad agency, uh ad agency
• 10:07
  team, um individual names, everybody on
• 10:10
  the call sheet, the DP, um any
• 10:14
  department heads, I can get their
• 10:15
  information.
• 10:17
  They all get a handwritten thank you.
• 10:19
  >> Awesome. Awesome.
• 10:20
  >> And the decision makers, here's a little
• 10:22
  super secret sauce. Now we diving into
• 10:24
  the legit. So people going to steal this
• 10:26
  and BE LIKE, I FOUND IT.
• 10:28
  >> I KNOW. NOW, EVERY EVERY AGENT in the
• 10:30
  world and and and casting director and
• 10:32
  everything going to start receiving
• 10:34
  muffins, receiving candy.
• 10:37
  >> Yeah.
• 10:38
  >> But here's here's the secret super
• 10:40
  secret sauce though on everything that I
• 10:42
  send. And I literally just sent one to a
• 10:44
  thing I booked in Utah.
• 10:45
  >> Okay.
• 10:46
  >> Where I set it on on the you know, you
• 10:48
  open the thank you card and then you got
• 10:50
  a handwritten thank you so much. Great
• 10:51
  time on set. I appreciate you. Then on
• 10:54
  this side, I give them an idea of how
• 10:57
  the character that we just shot could
• 10:59
  shoot multiple things.
• 11:01
  >> Ah,
• 11:03
  okay. That's a gift though, Dave. Not
• 11:04
  everybody can do that because if I wrote
• 11:06
  something down, they would be like, I
• 11:07
  don't know. I'm I'm sure they don't want
• 11:10
  to do what I write down.
• 11:12
  >> And I love Right. Right. Right. Some
• 11:14
  people So, you got to be really careful
• 11:16
  about that.
• 11:17
  >> [laughter]
• 11:18
  >> Um but but mine is like I always start
• 11:20
  it off with and so I say thank you so
• 11:23
  much sign it and then I say and I'm
• 11:25
  inspired
• 11:27
  and then I say what about this idea for
• 11:29
  later and then I just I I have an idea
• 11:32
  of oh you know what we could do with
• 11:34
  this what if this dude in this
• 11:35
  commercial
• 11:37
  >> would do XYZ ABC
• 11:41
  in future
• 11:43
  longrunning commercials or in industrial
• 11:45
  Yeah. where I say, "Yo, industrial HR
• 11:48
  writer, ad agency person, whoever you
• 11:50
  are. Thank you so much. Great time on
• 11:52
  set. What if this dude then goes through
• 11:54
  this, this, this, and this." So, we have
• 11:57
  a series so your people can follow this
• 11:59
  character through.
• 12:01
  >> I've got over 170 multiple clients.
• 12:05
  >> Yeah.
• 12:05
  >> Who who now 100% transparency, not all
• 12:09
  of them booked recurring because of my
• 12:12
  note,
• 12:12
  >> right?
• 12:13
  But some of them legit were like, "Holy
• 12:16
  smokes, the ad agency asked us what we
• 12:17
  want to do next. We had no idea. We get
• 12:19
  your thank you card." And we immediately
• 12:20
  pitched them and they're all in.
• 12:22
  >> That's amazing.
• 12:24
  >> So, if I have a business plan to know
• 12:28
  this is the revenue line I need
• 12:31
  >> and this is the level every year that I
• 12:33
  have to be at for the, you know, baby
• 12:35
  needs diapers, right? Kind of thing.
• 12:37
  [laughter]
• 12:39
  If that's what I have to do, then I've
• 12:41
  got to think strategically as a
• 12:43
  businessman. How can I so so this client
• 12:46
  has already paid me, so they already are
• 12:48
  in love with me,
• 12:49
  >> right?
• 12:50
  >> How can I extend that love relationship
• 12:53
  so that they now will book me more since
• 12:55
  they already know that I can crush
• 12:57
  whatever they bring me in for. Right.
• 12:59
  >> Right.
• 13:00
  >> Um and so that's been a massive massive
• 13:04
  help. Um, and then the other thing I do
• 13:08
  consistently is I I very honestly and
• 13:10
  truly I I I
• 13:13
  always go back to my improv coach to
• 13:15
  coach me on freedom in auditions.
• 13:18
  >> Okay?
• 13:18
  >> I'll send him sides and be like
• 13:21
  technique-wise, I got it. I've got my
• 13:23
  moment before, my moment after, all the
• 13:24
  blah blah blah things.
• 13:27
  >> The flow of this feels like I should do
• 13:29
  this and this. Mhm.
• 13:31
  >> What else do you see living the life of
• 13:33
  this person that would just be flowing
• 13:36
  out of them?
• 13:37
  >> Right.
• 13:37
  >> And he'll give me little bullet points.
• 13:38
  He's like, "Well, if if I'm living this
• 13:41
  guy, then it would be." And I'm like,
• 13:43
  "Oh, that's so good."
• 13:46
  >> Yeah.
• 13:46
  >> And I make sure that I'm living the life
• 13:48
  in a way that is free. I really focus on
• 13:52
  that freedom in the audition. If I feel
• 13:54
  honed in, locked in, I know I'm not
• 13:57
  living the life of this human being.
• 13:58
  >> Right. Right. It's actor Dave trying to
• 14:00
  look like a certain way
• 14:03
  >> that every time I've ever done an
• 14:04
  audition
• 14:05
  >> like that.
• 14:06
  >> Yeah.
• 14:06
  >> I don't it. And it hurts. Like I
• 14:08
  watch it back and I'm like,
• 14:11
  >> you know.
• 14:12
  >> Wow. Wow. Okay. So, let me ask you this.
• 14:15
  You got you have so many nuggets. I
• 14:17
  could just h just take them all out.
• 14:19
  Okay. So, some actors believe that, you
• 14:22
  know, once they get an agent, the work
• 14:24
  will start rolling in. But as you know,
• 14:29
  that's not [laughter] always the case.
• 14:32
  So, what should actors be doing to
• 14:34
  create their own opportunities instead
• 14:36
  of waiting for their agents or managers
• 14:39
  to make something happen?
• 14:41
  >> Great question. So, when I I still do
• 14:43
  today, almost 20 years later, what I did
• 14:46
  back in the day when I first started
• 14:48
  based on what my very first agent told
• 14:49
  me.
• 14:51
  >> And here's what she said. Because after
• 14:52
  I booked that first commercial, she's
• 14:54
  like, "Okay, you might have something,
• 14:55
  but here's what you got to do.
• 14:57
  Everyone wants to book film and
• 14:59
  television. Everybody wants to book big
• 15:00
  sag commercials. Everybody wants to
• 15:02
  build, you know, book consistent
• 15:03
  corporaty whatevers,
• 15:05
  >> right?
• 15:06
  >> You have to prove to them
• 15:09
  that you can do what you're asking them
• 15:12
  to pay you to do.
• 15:15
  >> Yeah. So, in order to do that,
• 15:18
  >> you've got to be able to to go look what
• 15:20
  else I've done to prove that I can do
• 15:22
  your thing. So, she said, "You need to
• 15:24
  look on every Facebook group that
• 15:26
  exists, every website that exists, and
• 15:28
  you got to book as many indie things as
• 15:30
  you possibly humanly can."
• 15:31
  >> Wow.
• 15:32
  >> And she said, "Some of them are going to
• 15:33
  be a nightmare, and you will literally
• 15:35
  pray no one ever sees them."
• 15:38
  [laughter]
• 15:40
  >> Pulling up now pulling up stuff. Yep.
• 15:43
  >> I wouldn't do that. [laughter]
• 15:46
  Those are some wounds in the heart right
• 15:48
  there that that you wish
• 15:49
  >> like, "Okay, Dave, we have one right
• 15:51
  here." No,
• 15:51
  >> you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Wish I
• 15:53
  [laughter] would have had some better
• 15:54
  discernment on that one. Right.
• 15:59
  >> But then you're going to have some where
• 16:01
  you're going to go,
• 16:03
  that was fantastic.
• 16:04
  >> Yeah.
• 16:05
  >> Right. The director's vision, the way
• 16:07
  that it was written was so good. It was
• 16:09
  a short film that they entered into some
• 16:11
  festivals. might have done okay, but the
• 16:14
  footage that I got showed them I can be
• 16:16
  a cop at any level.
• 16:17
  >> Yeah.
• 16:18
  >> Right.
• 16:18
  >> Yeah.
• 16:19
  >> And then so boom, got that IMDb credit
• 16:22
  for a short film. Uh, grab the footage,
• 16:25
  Actors Access, IMDb, right? Put it on
• 16:27
  all the things. And then the next one,
• 16:29
  Dr. Roll for a little short film of a
• 16:31
  thing, right? The next one, an Italian
• 16:34
  assassin, right? Like whatever it
• 16:35
  [laughter] is, right? And then and then
• 16:38
  you just build and build and build and
• 16:40
  build. And the interesting thing is that
• 16:42
  I found is the longer someone's in it,
• 16:46
  >> usually the less they're willing to do
• 16:49
  that because they feel a feeling of
• 16:50
  entitlement.
• 16:52
  >> That they Well, I've been in this game
• 16:54
  20 years. I ain't going to do a freaking
• 16:55
  indie,
• 16:56
  >> right?
• 16:57
  >> When's the last thing you booked? The
• 17:00
  industry's changed. No, I didn't ask
• 17:01
  that. When's the last thing you booked?
• 17:04
  >> Well, you know, there's some exter, you
• 17:06
  know, circumstance. I didn't ask that.
• 17:08
  When is the last thing you book? 2024.
• 17:12
  Okay. You better go do an interview.
• 17:13
  >> You better go do something.
• 17:14
  >> You better [laughter] do something.
• 17:16
  >> Right.
• 17:17
  >> Yeah.
• 17:17
  >> Because your agents are hustling 24
• 17:20
  hours a day, seven days a week. They
• 17:22
  only sleep with one eye open and the
• 17:24
  other eye is on a laptop clicking away
• 17:26
  and spinning still.
• 17:27
  >> So, they're working their tail off.
• 17:29
  Yeah.
• 17:30
  >> You also have to work your tail off. I
• 17:33
  always tell actors,
• 17:35
  I can't even believe the partnership
• 17:37
  agreement we have with agents. It's
• 17:38
  mind-blowing to me.
• 17:39
  >> Yeah.
• 17:40
  >> Can you imagine someone coming to you
• 17:41
  and pitching you a business idea where
• 17:43
  where they go, hey, listen, here's the
• 17:45
  business idea. Let's be partners. I'm
• 17:48
  going to do 90% of the work, but but I'm
• 17:52
  only going to get 10%.
• 17:55
  >> Yeah,
• 17:56
  >> I'd sign that all day long. Of course,
• 18:00
  [laughter]
• 18:00
  >> but I personally
• 18:02
  >> that up. Yeah.
• 18:02
  >> I personally wouldn't be on the flip
• 18:04
  side of that. I'd be like, "YOU CRAZY.
• 18:05
  OUT YOUR MIND. YOU WANT ME TO DO 90% OF
• 18:07
  THE WORK AND ONLY GET 10? ARE YOU OUT OF
• 18:09
  YOUR MIND?" [laughter]
• 18:11
  >> That is our deal with agents. They are
• 18:14
  constantly working and they don't get
• 18:16
  paid unless we do. Right.
• 18:18
  >> Yeah.
• 18:19
  >> So, that's a massive thing. And not only
• 18:23
  the IMDb credit and footage, not only
• 18:25
  that, that's a surface level. Yeah.
• 18:28
  >> thing I always tell actors, you have to
• 18:31
  remember that your root system is what
• 18:34
  grows your fruit system.
• 18:37
  >> I love that. I love that.
• 18:38
  >> If you are not on set, you get rusty.
• 18:43
  >> You all of the sudden after two years
• 18:45
  want to go pop into a Marvel set with
• 18:47
  five pages of dialogue and think you
• 18:49
  going crush town. Mhm.
• 18:51
  >> You haven't been on set and experienced
• 18:53
  the nerves, the weird, the awkward, the
• 18:56
  trying to remember your lines while some
• 18:57
  lady's got her his her hand down your
• 18:59
  pants to pull your underwear out because
• 19:01
  it's looking weird in the fold of your
• 19:03
  jeans, right? Like it's [laughter] just
• 19:05
  a work.
• 19:06
  But if you consistently do those short
• 19:09
  films and most some of them are just
• 19:12
  chaos,
• 19:13
  >> right? So you [laughter] you get in that
• 19:15
  indie film game and now you go to a real
• 19:18
  set and you're like this ain't nothing
• 19:19
  compared to that last nightmare sport
• 19:21
  [laughter] I was on. Right.
• 19:23
  >> Yeah. I love that. I love that. Now okay
• 19:26
  so you've written,
• 19:28
  >> produced, directed projects. What's in
• 19:32
  your opinion something actors do on set
• 19:34
  that they think makes a director love
• 19:36
  them but actually makes the director's
• 19:38
  job harder?
• 19:40
  >> Oh, what a great question. I'm so glad
• 19:42
  you asked. actors, please listen.
• 19:44
  [laughter]
• 19:48
  >> Um, the biggest thing for me
• 19:53
  is to not
• 19:56
  understand the human.
• 19:59
  >> Okay,
• 20:00
  >> that's the biggest thing. I produce
• 20:01
  corporate, commercial, pilots, TV, film
• 20:05
  now. Um, and even in in auditions, you
• 20:09
  can tell they don't understand.
• 20:11
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 20:12
  >> When they're on set and you got an
• 20:14
  entire and I ask people too, I'll ask
• 20:17
  basic questions of the human. Right.
• 20:20
  >> So, we just shot a pilot recently and I
• 20:22
  asked a couple of the actors privately
• 20:24
  and I asked five total actors that were
• 20:27
  in this particular scene and only two of
• 20:28
  them had an answer for me. And here's
• 20:30
  something that I asked. Hey, um, what's
• 20:33
  your character's favorite breakfast
• 20:35
  food?
• 20:37
  Three of them looked at me like, what?
• 20:40
  I was like, "Where were they born?"
• 20:43
  >> Um, uh, hold on. I don't have my
• 20:46
  character breakdown. Um, hold on. Let me
• 20:47
  get my phone. Um, okay. What are their
• 20:50
  parents' names?
• 20:52
  >> What do you feel in this particular
• 20:54
  scene is the flow of of the arc of their
• 20:56
  story? Where are they going? Where have
• 20:58
  they been? Where are you just coming
• 21:00
  from in the moment before? After this
• 21:01
  scene, where are you going? Right.
• 21:03
  >> Oh. Oh. Um, let me let me let me look at
• 21:05
  the script real quick. I'm not asking
• 21:07
  that.
• 21:08
  >> Right. Two actors were like, "Oh, that's
• 21:10
  easy." One one of them was just like
• 21:12
  cinnamon apple oatmeal, right? Without
• 21:15
  >> withoutation,
• 21:18
  right?
• 21:18
  >> Didn't even think. I was like, "Yes,
• 21:20
  sir." [laughter] And he goes, "But not
• 21:23
  with milk. My parents were too poor. I
• 21:25
  only did it with water."
• 21:26
  >> Oh my god.
• 21:26
  >> And I was like, "What detail?"
• 21:29
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 21:30
  >> And you know, I learned that not out of
• 21:32
  my own kind of thing. Um, I had watched
• 21:35
  an interview with Robin Williams where
• 21:38
  they had asked him, you know, you go
• 21:40
  from a stand-up comedy guy to an
• 21:42
  Oscar-winning, unbelievable, deep, I
• 21:46
  mean, next level depth character actor.
• 21:49
  How do you do it? And he said, "Every
• 21:51
  one of them is a human, and I build them
• 21:54
  out in my imagination."
• 21:56
  >> Okay.
• 21:57
  >> Until I believe they're a human, and I
• 21:59
  don't stop until I believe it.
• 22:01
  >> Oh, wow. When he said that, I was like,
• 22:04
  "Whoa,
• 22:04
  >> that's like mind-blowing there." Yeah.
• 22:06
  >> Whoa. So, for every audition, and I tell
• 22:10
  people this now, I know that there's
• 22:11
  this uh thing that goes around where
• 22:14
  some people are like, "You're a co-star
• 22:15
  with two lines. Just say it and get
• 22:17
  out." Right?
• 22:19
  >> That's one angle. Sure.
• 22:21
  >> Right.
• 22:22
  But can you understand that if you feel
• 22:25
  called to this industry and this goes
• 22:27
  back to the roots, your root system will
• 22:30
  produce your fruit system. So if I
• 22:33
  believe I'm called to make a massive
• 22:35
  impact in this industry, then I've got
• 22:37
  to be preparing for my series regular
• 22:39
  for my co-lead big supporting role in
• 22:41
  film, I got to be prepping for that. So
• 22:43
  if I prep that, practice that with every
• 22:46
  co-star role. Now I'm at another level
• 22:49
  when that when those bigger
• 22:51
  opportunities come.
• 22:53
  >> And if you understand how to build out
• 22:55
  that full human being and know their
• 22:57
  life, now it doesn't matter what comes.
• 23:00
  You're fleshing this human out, making
• 23:02
  them a full fully you, fully
• 23:05
  combination, right, of you and this
• 23:06
  character being able to tell any aspect
• 23:09
  of any story.
• 23:11
  >> And my improv coach said something so
• 23:13
  profound to me early early on. Mhm.
• 23:16
  >> He said, "If you get stumped
• 23:20
  >> in any scene, it's because you're faking
• 23:24
  that person, not living like that
• 23:26
  person."
• 23:27
  >> Oh, good. Wow.
• 23:29
  >> He said, "Let's say you, Dave Pelgi, are
• 23:31
  at a store and all of the sudden you you
• 23:34
  expected the lady to just beep all your
• 23:36
  stuff and cash you out and then you're
• 23:38
  out of the store." But she beeps a
• 23:40
  couple things and then looks at you and
• 23:41
  goes, "What kind of idiot buys great
• 23:44
  begg?
• 23:47
  >> What would Dave Pelgi do?"
• 23:48
  >> Right?
• 23:49
  >> If that's not in the script and you're
• 23:52
  on set in a scene, what would the
• 23:55
  character do? Right? You would just flow
• 23:57
  out of who you are in a response to
• 23:59
  that. Right?
• 24:00
  >> Many actors lock up and get uh oh
• 24:02
  >> because it's them and they're like
• 24:04
  that's not in the [laughter] script.
• 24:05
  What do I what do I say?
• 24:07
  >> Right? So if you know the human being,
• 24:10
  if you make the character a human, it
• 24:12
  doesn't matter what happens, you just
• 24:14
  flow because you everything you say and
• 24:17
  do is right.
• 24:18
  >> Wow. Do you ever find yourself
• 24:21
  bec I'm just going from what you're
• 24:23
  you're saying now and you fully immerse
• 24:25
  yourself in that character. Do you ever
• 24:27
  find yourself not able to get out of
• 24:30
  that character? because I've heard
• 24:32
  actors do that that they get so far into
• 24:34
  it so that it takes a while for them to
• 24:37
  come out of it.
• 24:38
  >> Great question. So, when I was on
• 24:40
  Powers, I had a five episode arc and it
• 24:42
  was a medical technician who tortured
• 24:46
  superheroes
• 24:47
  >> so that the pain would teach them to not
• 24:50
  use their powers. Okay.
• 24:51
  >> Okay.
• 24:52
  >> So, I was a month of shooting um in this
• 24:57
  guy. Crazy. A little bit off, right? a
• 25:00
  little bit fearful but a little bit got
• 25:02
  to use that fear to get flex my power
• 25:04
  >> right
• 25:05
  >> and I talked to a psychologist friend of
• 25:07
  mine and also my older sister is a
• 25:08
  shrink too so that's definite benefit
• 25:10
  there too I talked to both of them
• 25:12
  >> and both of them said of something very
• 25:14
  very very interesting they said a lot of
• 25:17
  people don't believe this because their
• 25:18
  emotions take over but thoughts bring
• 25:22
  emotions that bring words and actions
• 25:26
  >> so any thought that brings you into an
• 25:28
  emotion and into words and actions. You
• 25:31
  can reverse engineer that to go back to
• 25:34
  your words and actions and back to your
• 25:36
  thoughts, out of your emotions. So, you
• 25:38
  can go into an emotion and and actions
• 25:41
  of a character and back right back out
• 25:44
  with full precision and pull full
• 25:46
  authority and power. Not that you're
• 25:49
  getting lost in the human because
• 25:51
  there's always a part of you that's in
• 25:53
  it, right? M
• 25:54
  >> and I think that um a huge thing that uh
• 25:57
  you know in improv one of the things
• 25:59
  they teach you is spin the dial. If the
• 26:01
  crowd in an improv show yells out you're
• 26:04
  a Russian spy then you have to within
• 26:07
  five seconds become a Russian spy. Yeah.
• 26:10
  >> Then you're going to spin the dial of
• 26:12
  Dave Pelgi to get as close to a spy how
• 26:14
  I would act as a spy while fully
• 26:17
  functioning in the life of this spy.
• 26:19
  Right.
• 26:19
  >> Right.
• 26:20
  >> So this character work is exactly the
• 26:22
  same. So in that powers world I imagine
• 26:26
  that I had a whole back history a whole
• 26:28
  different I always do at least four
• 26:30
  points of history um so that I have like
• 26:34
  when he was a kid when he was in middle
• 26:36
  school when he was a teenager and when
• 26:37
  he was a young adult or or at some point
• 26:40
  right before the scene that I'm in
• 26:42
  >> how he became this person right so that
• 26:46
  I know okay if I'm a kid if I'm a
• 26:48
  Russian spy for example and I grew up in
• 26:50
  New Jersey but then I was stolen from my
• 26:52
  parents and flown to Russia and then
• 26:54
  trained to be a spy and then flown back
• 26:56
  here to the States to in infiltrate
• 26:58
  America, right? I'll make all of those
• 27:00
  things so that I have a platform in my
• 27:03
  imagination to be able to function in
• 27:06
  that.
• 27:06
  >> And the great thing about that is is
• 27:08
  that those same thoughts that got me
• 27:10
  into it can get me out of it.
• 27:12
  >> So, I lay it in and lay it out, right?
• 27:14
  >> Yeah.
• 27:15
  >> And both of those psychologists, my
• 27:17
  sister as well as this good friend of
• 27:18
  mine said something really profound.
• 27:20
  Harvard and uh I think it was Cornell or
• 27:22
  Yale, one of those did a partner study
• 27:25
  on the places of the brain where things
• 27:28
  reside. So they brought in adults and
• 27:31
  they would ask them a bunch of normal
• 27:32
  questions to see where memories came
• 27:34
  from and they pinpointed the creative
• 27:36
  part of our brain where memories came
• 27:37
  from. Then they brought in children and
• 27:40
  asked them a bunch of questions for real
• 27:42
  memories.
• 27:43
  But then they would talk to the kids
• 27:45
  about where is uh where did you have
• 27:49
  your most favorite imaginary playtime as
• 27:52
  a kid? And these were three, four, five,
• 27:53
  six, seven year olds, right? That would
• 27:55
  start talking about this playtime that
• 27:57
  they had.
• 27:58
  >> Well, they had brain scanners and MRI
• 28:00
  and patches all over their head while
• 28:01
  they're talking about this stuff and
• 28:03
  they would be these kids would talk
• 28:05
  about this imaginary playtime. They
• 28:06
  would get them talking about it to the
• 28:08
  point where it went from logical brain
• 28:10
  and then it would carry over to the
• 28:12
  exact place where real memories were
• 28:14
  stored molecularly
• 28:17
  >> these imaginary play times these kids
• 28:19
  going and then I flew on the spaceship
• 28:21
  past Saturn but I noticed that a star
• 28:24
  was going to hit it. SO I JUMPED OUT OF
• 28:25
  MY SPACESHIP AND I HAD TO GRAB THE STAR
• 28:28
  AND SWING IT AROUND and it was coming
• 28:30
  from a real memory place.
• 28:32
  >> Wow. at a molecular level which proved
• 28:34
  that if you can emotionally attach an
• 28:37
  imaginary thought
• 28:39
  >> to something you as an adult could
• 28:42
  function in that exact same space
• 28:45
  >> of believing out of a place of belief
• 28:48
  >> of this is what I created for this
• 28:50
  person and then flow in that character
• 28:53
  and then flow right back out.
• 28:55
  >> Wow. Wow.
• 28:57
  Okay. So, you just blew my mind like a
• 29:01
  couple of different times. So, I know
• 29:02
  everybody's here that you're gonna want
• 29:04
  to hear Dave. You got to come back for
• 29:06
  sure.
• 29:06
  >> Oh, 100%. I would love it. [laughter]
• 29:09
  >> But, okay. So, let's let's talk a little
• 29:11
  bit about your comedy because you're so
• 29:14
  funny and I think people underestimate
• 29:18
  how much skill comedy actually takes.
• 29:22
  So, what's the difference between an
• 29:23
  actor who's genuinely funny in a scene
• 29:26
  and one who's trying too hard to get a
• 29:28
  laugh?
• 29:29
  >> Great question. So, one of the great
• 29:32
  things about comedy is that um it's
• 29:36
  always funny if you don't try.
• 29:39
  It's a pretty profound thing that I
• 29:40
  learned about comedy.
• 29:42
  >> And, you know, I was on Anchor Man 2.
• 29:45
  Um, and in the film, I think I'm on
• 29:47
  screen for like eight and a half
• 29:48
  seconds, right? [laughter]
• 29:50
  But I'm in the room. We shot for days in
• 29:53
  this room in this scene. And I watched
• 29:55
  these masters of comedy, Will Frell and
• 29:58
  Steve Carell and all the whole team,
• 30:00
  right? Paul Rudd, all of them
• 30:01
  improvising and flowing in comedy. And
• 30:04
  they would say things like, "Hey, I'm
• 30:06
  going to go up on that. You go down."
• 30:08
  And I would think about like what do you
• 30:10
  what do they what do they mean? Like I'm
• 30:13
  going to go up, you go, you go down. And
• 30:15
  it's interesting because they would
• 30:16
  trade positions.
• 30:18
  >> And what it is in comedy is if somebody
• 30:20
  is the is the wild and crazy up, you
• 30:23
  have to have a straight man that is the
• 30:25
  flat in order for that joke to hit,
• 30:28
  right? So they would trade those
• 30:29
  moments. And I noticed that and I would
• 30:32
  hear Adam McKay, the director, say
• 30:34
  things about, "Hey, this is going to be
• 30:36
  funnier if instead of you you doing
• 30:38
  this, you just say super still and then
• 30:40
  just look out of the corner of your eye
• 30:41
  and come back and stay really straight
• 30:43
  and let him hit that joke and then your
• 30:46
  reaction will make it funnier." And I
• 30:47
  was listening and watching and learning
• 30:49
  and I'm just a fly on the wall. My I'm
• 30:51
  nothing in the scene. Right. Right.
• 30:53
  >> But I'm literally just watching them
• 30:55
  going, "Wow."
• 30:57
  And I think a lot of times people who
• 30:59
  are really funny in real life don't even
• 31:01
  know why they're funny in real life. But
• 31:04
  a huge part of funny is being someone
• 31:08
  who either cannot do or is assumed to
• 31:12
  not be able to do a thing
• 31:14
  >> and then you do that thing or you try to
• 31:16
  do that thing. Right?
• 31:18
  >> So um a dude who's wanting to date a
• 31:22
  lady that's way out of his league
• 31:24
  immediately funny. Right. [laughter]
• 31:26
  immediate. Everyone always goes, "Oh,
• 31:28
  yeah." Right? Like that kind of vibe.
• 31:32
  And one of the things I learned in
• 31:33
  writing comedy was that that power
• 31:35
  shift, a lot of actors don't see that
• 31:38
  there's a power imbalance, right?
• 31:42
  >> Comedy is really funny when there's a
• 31:44
  power imbalance.
• 31:46
  >> And if I try to be funny, if I hit a
• 31:49
  line, and one of the big things that a
• 31:51
  lot of people do is when it's a funny
• 31:52
  line, they all of A SUDDEN GET LOUDER,
• 31:54
  RIGHT? THEY just
• 31:56
  and you're like watching the audition
• 31:57
  going,
• 31:59
  you're kind of away from [laughter] the
• 32:00
  frame. But I tell people all the time in
• 32:04
  these comedy auditions, what if you drop
• 32:07
  and start whispering that line instead
• 32:10
  and then it gets really funny because
• 32:11
  they're watching THEMSELVES GOING, "OH
• 32:13
  MY GOD." RIGHT? BECAUSE THE LINE took
• 32:15
  care of itself. Right.
• 32:17
  >> Right. Right.
• 32:18
  >> So a lot of people don't understand when
• 32:20
  you write comedy, it kind of looks like
• 32:22
  a heartbeat monitor,
• 32:23
  >> right? If you go heartbeat monitor, it's
• 32:25
  a really high joke, then a really low
• 32:28
  response to make it funnier, and then
• 32:30
  there's some dialogue and some flatline
• 32:32
  that brings you to the next joke, right?
• 32:34
  >> Yeah.
• 32:34
  >> So,
• 32:35
  >> if you know that that's kind of the
• 32:37
  rhythm of comedy,
• 32:39
  >> now you can see those beats and know
• 32:41
  where in this joke am I is my person.
• 32:45
  So, I know then how to react.
• 32:48
  >> Yeah. And so I think if people try less
• 32:51
  and they just be themsel and allow
• 32:53
  things to flow, I think Dairo said it
• 32:55
  best where the greatest actors do
• 32:57
  nothing but they're always being.
• 33:01
  >> Right.
• 33:02
  >> Yeah. But you know what's so funny
• 33:04
  because now see [laughter]
• 33:06
  when I watch comedians I'm gonna looking
• 33:09
  for this little heartbeat thing. I'm
• 33:10
  like, "Okay, that's where he he he
• 33:12
  lowered it down just a little bit."
• 33:15
  [laughter]
• 33:16
  >> Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
• 33:19
  >> Tell me about the um climbing the call
• 33:21
  sheet. Tell me more about that.
• 33:23
  >> Yeah, you know, a year and a half ago, I
• 33:26
  was
• 33:28
  uh busy doing a lot of the production
• 33:30
  company stuff we do. I was writing a
• 33:32
  pilot, writing a film. I had sold a
• 33:34
  script and someone asked for another
• 33:35
  one. So, I was writing another script.
• 33:37
  But I keep having actors reach out to me
• 33:40
  be like, "Hey, I need some help coaching
• 33:41
  on this. I need this. I need that." And
• 33:43
  I just didn't have time.
• 33:44
  >> And they're like, "Yeah, but what about
• 33:46
  this and what about that?" And I felt a
• 33:48
  little bit convicted because I know that
• 33:50
  part of my gift is teaching. And so I
• 33:53
  knew I probably should have been doing
• 33:54
  it, but I just kind of let myself get
• 33:56
  busy.
• 33:57
  >> So I very truly I just kind of retreated
• 34:00
  and started praying about how can I
• 34:02
  structure this to where it's insanely
• 34:05
  affordable and brings the most value out
• 34:08
  of anything on the planet so that people
• 34:10
  get everything they need in one place. I
• 34:12
  do not want to create something that's
• 34:14
  just more expense for actors. Nickel and
• 34:17
  dimeing having to pay hundreds of
• 34:20
  dollars a month for a membership, having
• 34:22
  to pay $400 bucks for a workshop or $800
• 34:25
  to be a part of a weekend thing. I was
• 34:27
  just like, God, it's so overwhelming for
• 34:29
  them. A lot of them can't afford it. So
• 34:31
  then they just sit and they go, I hope
• 34:33
  I'm doing it right.
• 34:35
  >> So I really, really
• 34:37
  prayed and then I had the idea, let me
• 34:39
  call about a hundred agents. and just
• 34:42
  see what they would want their actors to
• 34:45
  be a part of and at what level.
• 34:48
  >> Okay?
• 34:49
  >> And I mean over a hundred agents were
• 34:51
  like it has to be insanely cheap and I
• 34:53
  don't want them to ever complain about
• 34:55
  how much money they pay and they got to
• 34:57
  be able to get everything they need like
• 34:59
  audition technique for commercials for
• 35:02
  TV for film for comedy for drama. Can
• 35:04
  they just have a home that is theirs?
• 35:09
  And I was like after talking to all
• 35:11
  those a took like a month and a half and
• 35:12
  just was calling agents every day.
• 35:14
  >> Yeah.
• 35:15
  >> So I got all this information from them
• 35:17
  and I'm like okay. So I'm looking
• 35:19
  through my journal one day and five but
• 35:22
  like from weeks and months past
• 35:24
  >> and five or six times I saw this phrase
• 35:26
  in this statement that said, "God,
• 35:29
  continue to help me climb the call sheet
• 35:31
  to make a bigger impact behind the
• 35:33
  camera and in front." And then I would
• 35:36
  have another affirmation a few weeks
• 35:37
  later that would say something like,
• 35:39
  "God, I thank you that I'm climbing the
• 35:41
  call sheet to make a bigger impact
• 35:43
  behind the camera and in front." And
• 35:45
  then I realized most storytellers are
• 35:49
  storytellers because they feel this pull
• 35:51
  from inside of them, almost a calling to
• 35:53
  do it.
• 35:53
  >> Yeah.
• 35:54
  >> And they just want to make an impact.
• 35:56
  They want the stories they tell and the
• 35:58
  thing they're a part of to make an
• 35:59
  impact. Whether it's making people laugh
• 36:01
  a ton
• 36:02
  >> or bringing a story, communicating a
• 36:05
  something, right?
• 36:06
  >> So, I kept seeing that phrase that I
• 36:08
  just had written in my journal and I'm
• 36:09
  like, well, that's it. The higher we
• 36:11
  climb on the call sheet, the more impact
• 36:12
  we can make. So, we're going to make a
• 36:14
  path so that actors can be climbing the
• 36:16
  call sheet their whole career and know
• 36:19
  the difference between U5s, U10s,
• 36:22
  co-star, guest star, recurring, series
• 36:25
  reggg, and know how to flow and function
• 36:27
  with all of that. And so it's I
• 36:31
  literally was like what is the cheapest
• 36:33
  thing I can do but still so that it's a
• 36:35
  planting a seed type of situation where
• 36:38
  they get a harvest. My grandpa always
• 36:39
  taught me
• 36:40
  >> um everything free fades but every seed
• 36:43
  that is planted will reggerminate and
• 36:45
  grow
• 36:46
  >> because he was a farmer.
• 36:47
  >> Okay.
• 36:48
  >> And so um I said okay we're going to do
• 36:51
  27 bucks a month and you get access to
• 36:53
  everything I've ever done. every
• 36:55
  workshop, every library content, every
• 36:57
  course, everything from film and TV
• 36:59
  prep, audition prep to fast improv prep
• 37:02
  if you have a short deadline to crushing
• 37:05
  a commercial so that you can dominate
• 37:07
  everything you ever do commercially, the
• 37:09
  corporate game, what advertising people
• 37:11
  are doing. Um, and because this last 10
• 37:14
  years I've been casting for Stillwell
• 37:16
  with Stillwell as a casting director
• 37:17
  too, I've got that interesting point of
• 37:20
  view from the client and the ad agency
• 37:22
  behind the scenes so I can get a little
• 37:25
  007 on you, right? And be like, "This is
• 37:27
  what the agency always says, right?"
• 37:29
  [laughter]
• 37:31
  And so I just did that. I was just like
• 37:34
  I emailed all the agents being like,
• 37:35
  "Look, this is 27 bucks a month forever.
• 37:38
  It's never going to go up. You get
• 37:40
  access to everything I ever do. a free
• 37:42
  workshop a month. We meet every single
• 37:43
  Sunday night as a start your week to
• 37:45
  focus on a different aspect of the
• 37:47
  industry and you get access to me so
• 37:49
  your career can grow. It is pointless if
• 37:52
  you're just a part of this community for
• 37:54
  feelgoods. No,
• 37:56
  >> right?
• 37:56
  >> The point is growth. You have to climb
• 37:58
  the call sheet. What is your career
• 38:01
  right now? Where do you want it to go?
• 38:03
  What does the mentality? What does your
• 38:05
  spirit have to be? What does your
• 38:07
  technique and your work ethic have to
• 38:09
  be? and where do you have to focus to
• 38:11
  grow it? And that's the entire thing. We
• 38:14
  got to grow careers.
• 38:15
  >> Yeah.
• 38:16
  >> And so, um, everything from people
• 38:18
  wanting to write, not knowing how to.
• 38:20
  So, we got a writer part of that
• 38:22
  community. We've got a couple directors
• 38:24
  that are in there who just want to know
• 38:25
  what the heck actors are thinking so
• 38:26
  they can direct better, which is
• 38:27
  fantastic. And then we got a bunch of
• 38:29
  actors in there just flipping growing
• 38:31
  and doing their thing.
• 38:32
  >> Love it. Love it. And you know what? I
• 38:34
  wanted to go back a little bit to your
• 38:37
  boxing. To your boxing. So in boxing,
• 38:40
  you you train hard, you have a strategy,
• 38:43
  and you still get knocked down. So
• 38:45
  >> you ain't lying. [laughter]
• 38:48
  >> Acting isn't much different. So what did
• 38:50
  boxing teach you about resilience and
• 38:53
  rejection and knowing when to keep
• 38:55
  fighting versus
• 38:57
  when to maybe change your approach?
• 39:00
  >> Yes, great question. You know, one of
• 39:02
  the things in boxing that that I was
• 39:04
  taught very early, I was a cocky little
• 39:06
  dude, man, growing up. I had some major
• 39:08
  issues. And so, [laughter] so I go into
• 39:11
  this gym and I'm one of the random
• 39:13
  tiniest little dudes ever. I think
• 39:15
  soaking wet. I was 140 pounds. And so I
• 39:18
  walk in, I'm like, "Yeah, I WANT TO BOX.
• 39:19
  LET'S DUNK THAT." AND THE trainer
• 39:21
  immediately, Mr. H, we called him. Uh,
• 39:23
  he looked at me and he was like, "You
• 39:25
  really want to do this?" I was like,
• 39:26
  "Yeah, let's go." He's like, "I'm going
• 39:27
  to teach you how to dominate right from
• 39:29
  day one." I was like, "LET'S GO. I'M
• 39:32
  GONNA CRUSH." HE GOES, "Come on." Gets
• 39:34
  me right in the ring. And there's a dude
• 39:36
  across from me about my size and I'm
• 39:37
  like, "Oh, I'm going hammer this guy.
• 39:39
  Let's get it." So he puts boxing gloves
• 39:42
  on me.
• 39:43
  >> And then he goes, "Let me see your arms.
• 39:44
  Drop them down." And I'm like shaking
• 39:46
  them out, shaking them out. And he
• 39:47
  brings them behind me and straps them
• 39:50
  behind me. So they're taped behind my
• 39:53
  back.
• 39:54
  >> He gets out of the ring and rings the
• 39:56
  bell. Ding. And my hands are behind my
• 39:59
  back tied. And I'm looking ahead with
• 40:00
  big old deer eyes. And here comes this
• 40:02
  little dude toward me with his arms up.
• 40:03
  I'm like, "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT,
• 40:05
  WAIT, WAIT." And he goes, "Better move
• 40:08
  your head." So, I'm like, [laughter] "I
• 40:11
  don't know what I'm doing." And this
• 40:12
  dude knocks me out cold three
• 40:17
  times.
• 40:18
  >> Oh my gosh. Oh my god.
• 40:20
  >> Three times.
• 40:21
  >> Wow. Wow.
• 40:22
  >> And he goes, "Uh, so then I'm on the
• 40:25
  canvas the third time. Head is pounding.
• 40:28
  It hurts so bad. I got a neck issue at
• 40:30
  that point, right?" I'm like, I'm too
• 40:31
  young for neck pain, but I'm my whole
• 40:34
  I'm hurt. I'm just hurting.
• 40:36
  >> Everything hurts.
• 40:38
  >> So, I get up
• 40:39
  >> and he looks me right in the eye after I
• 40:41
  settle. And he goes, "Listen to me. The
• 40:44
  key to life and the key to boxing is you
• 40:47
  can't do anything if the only thing
• 40:48
  you're doing is getting hit."
• 40:52
  >> Got it.
• 40:53
  >> And he I was like, "Wow."
• 40:55
  >> It's legit profound.
• 40:57
  >> Yeah. and a lot of actors and and here's
• 40:59
  what that means in the acting world. I
• 41:01
  found right when I got in it when I made
• 41:04
  my marketing plan, I immediately, you
• 41:07
  know, did the research and started doing
• 41:09
  my marketing plan and even my agent when
• 41:11
  I started getting asked by casting
• 41:13
  girls, hey, this young dude Dave, you
• 41:14
  have let's see him for this little
• 41:16
  co-star. And they would ask me, how do
• 41:18
  they even know who you are? I was like,
• 41:19
  oh, well, I started my marketing plan.
• 41:21
  And they were like, you're what? Like a
• 41:23
  marketing plan? Mhm.
• 41:26
  >> I right away viewed it as such a
• 41:29
  business that I had to have a balance
• 41:31
  of offense and defense.
• 41:33
  >> Yeah.
• 41:34
  >> And I think a lot of actors are only on
• 41:36
  defense where they sit
• 41:39
  and they only wait for their agents to
• 41:41
  send them stuff. Now, that's wise to do
• 41:43
  because your agents are working their
• 41:44
  butt off. Right.
• 41:46
  >> Right.
• 41:47
  >> But after I had that lesson in boxing,
• 41:50
  the very next day, he was working on me
• 41:52
  with punches. He said, "Look, if the
• 41:54
  only thing you ever do is go in the ring
• 41:56
  and move your head around, move your
• 41:57
  head around, move your head around,
• 41:58
  defense, defense, defense, you're still
• 42:00
  going to lose because he's going to land
• 42:01
  something. You got to learn the balance
• 42:03
  between defense and offense.
• 42:05
  >> So, I learned the importance of trusting
• 42:08
  the defense, which is you sitting at
• 42:11
  rest at peace in your spirit, mind,
• 42:14
  body, soul, will, and emotions. I'm at
• 42:16
  peace. I've got people working for me. I
• 42:19
  have learned to trust them and I'm gonna
• 42:21
  sit here at peace and let it come to me.
• 42:24
  That's what they call letting So defense
• 42:26
  is letting the fight come to you. Right.
• 42:28
  Right. Right.
• 42:28
  >> So you're gonna let those auditions flow
• 42:30
  in and you're going to crush every
• 42:31
  opportunity you get.
• 42:32
  >> Right.
• 42:32
  >> Then the balance of that is that offense
• 42:35
  where now I'm going to market and I'm
• 42:37
  going to reach out and I'm going to let
• 42:38
  them know I'm here just once a month or
• 42:41
  every other month. Just a top of- mind
• 42:43
  little reminder. Dave's smiling cheesy
• 42:46
  face, right?
• 42:47
  >> [laughter]
• 42:47
  >> just let them know I'm still here,
• 42:49
  right? Like and then then back to
• 42:52
  defense, right?
• 42:54
  >> That balance I found
• 42:56
  >> really allowed me to win a lot in boxing
• 42:59
  and it's really allowed me to be in this
• 43:01
  structured kind of arc of just rising my
• 43:04
  career as well. Not settling into just
• 43:08
  sit and wait
• 43:09
  >> and then complain like most actors do.
• 43:12
  Um, but sit, wait, be at peace, and then
• 43:16
  flow from that place into letting them
• 43:20
  know that I'm here. So, a nice balanced
• 43:22
  kind of attack, if you will.
• 43:25
  >> Yeah.
• 43:25
  >> Um, really, really helps things grow at
• 43:29
  a very, very perfect pace.
• 43:30
  >> Great strategy. Great strategy. I love
• 43:33
  that. Now Dave, we talked about business
• 43:36
  bookings, even gotten knocked down a few
• 43:39
  times, but [laughter]
• 43:40
  but now I want to have a little fun with
• 43:42
  you. So, we're going to play play a game
• 43:44
  called I'd rather.
• 43:46
  >> Oh, sweet.
• 43:47
  >> So, I'm going to give you two choices,
• 43:49
  and you got to tell me which one you'd
• 43:51
  rather do. And you can't can't think
• 43:53
  about it too hard. Okay, you can
• 43:55
  yourself if you want to.
• 43:56
  >> All right.
• 43:58
  Would you rather book a recurring role
• 44:00
  on a hit television show where your
• 44:02
  character barely speaks or one
• 44:04
  unforgettable scene in a major movie
• 44:07
  where you steal the entire show?
• 44:09
  >> Unforgettable scene.
• 44:11
  >> Awesome. Would you rather show up to a
• 44:13
  set and discover they've completely
• 44:16
  rewritten your scene or find out you're
• 44:18
  doing the entire scene in one take with
• 44:20
  no rehearsal?
• 44:23
  >> Entire take with no rehearsal.
• 44:25
  >> [laughter]
• 44:26
  >> That's your improv schedule.
• 44:28
  >> That's right.
• 44:30
  >> Okay. Would you rather perform standup
• 44:32
  comedy comedy in front of 5,000
• 44:34
  strangers or do an improvised scene in
• 44:38
  front of 20 casting directors who aren't
• 44:40
  allowed to laugh?
• 44:43
  >> 5,000 people. M would you rather direct
• 44:47
  an incredibly talented actor who
• 44:50
  questions every decision you make or a
• 44:52
  less experienced actor who follows every
• 44:55
  direction but gives you absolutely
• 44:57
  nothing unexpected?
• 45:00
  >> Oh, seasoned actor who questions
• 45:01
  everything. [laughter]
• 45:03
  >> Oh yeah.
• 45:04
  >> Okay, a few more. Would you rather
• 45:06
  accidentally call the casting director
• 45:08
  by the wrong name during an audition or
• 45:11
  nail the audition and realize afterwards
• 45:13
  that you forgot to hit record on your
• 45:16
  self tape?
• 45:18
  [laughter]
• 45:22
  >> That's fantastic. Probably the second
• 45:24
  one since I've done it. [laughter]
• 45:28
  >> I love it. I love it. Okay. Would you
• 45:31
  rather play a character who is
• 45:32
  completely opposite of your real
• 45:34
  personality or play a character who is
• 45:37
  so much like you that everyone thinks
• 45:39
  you're not acting?
• 45:41
  >> Oh.
• 45:43
  [laughter]
• 45:44
  Oh, this hurts to even choose. What a
• 45:46
  great question. Um, I'm gonna go with
• 45:49
  the completely opposite of me just
• 45:51
  because of the challenge of it.
• 45:53
  >> Okay. Okay. Two more. Two more. Would
• 45:56
  you rather get a phone call from Adam
• 45:58
  McCay offering you a role in the next
• 46:00
  movie or get a call from a major studio
• 46:03
  offering you the chance to direct your
• 46:05
  own film?
• 46:10
  [laughter]
• 46:11
  >> Oh, I would have to say um oh my gosh,
• 46:16
  this is one of the This is the hardest
• 46:17
  ever. This is the hardest ever. Um, Adam
• 46:21
  Mccay is one of my big do I've already
• 46:23
  worked with him, but I'm like I'm gonna
• 46:24
  be legit in one of his things. Which one
• 46:26
  is it? I I uh
• 46:29
  uh uh [laughter]
• 46:33
  >> um Adam Mccay. Adam Mccay.
• 46:34
  >> Okay. All right.
• 46:37
  >> Okay. Final question, and this one is
• 46:40
  personal.
• 46:40
  >> Okay. Would you rather be remembered as
• 46:43
  the actor who gave unforgettable
• 46:45
  performances or the coach who helped
• 46:47
  thousands of actors achieve their
• 46:49
  dreams?
• 46:50
  >> Coach,
• 46:51
  >> love it. Love it. Dave, thank you so
• 46:54
  much for playing that with me.
• 46:56
  >> Absolutely. What great questions. Oh my
• 46:58
  gosh, those were awesome. Thank you.
• 47:01
  >> Awesome. And I think one of the biggest
• 47:03
  takeaways from our conversation today is
• 47:04
  that building a career in this industry
• 47:07
  takes more than talent. It takes
• 47:09
  preparation, persistence, and a
• 47:11
  willingness to keep learning. So, thank
• 47:13
  you so much for joining me on today's
• 47:16
  episode. [laughter]
• 47:17
  >> Well, you're so welcome. Thank you for
• 47:19
  having me. What a phenomenal time. This
• 47:21
  was so fun. Thank you so much for
• 47:23
  letting me share.
• 47:24
  >> Oh, you're so welcome. And you're going
• 47:26
  to come back, right?
• 47:27
  >> 100%. You tell me when and I'm all in.
• 47:30
  >> Awesome. Awesome. All right, guys. We
• 47:31
  want to thank Dave Pledgy for joining us
• 47:33
  today. And we see you on the next
• 47:35
  episode of the Deia Avery Show, The
• 47:37
  Industry. We will talk to you later.
• 47:39
  Bye-bye.