Some helpful definitions and background information for the next series of posts:

Feature Film: (noun) Depends on who you talk to. Basically in the industry there are two lengths of films - short films, and feature films.  There are varying definitions as to time length, but basically a feature film is a longer film (60 mins. is a general starting point).

Crew: (noun) All the people involved in a movie who you don't see on screen.  They're all those names in the credits you don't look at unless you're one of those die-hard people who sticks it out til the end of the movie.  Even then you only read them to find interesting-sounding names.

Audition: (noun or verb) A necessary evil in the life of every actor.  That too-short time period when you are completely at the mercy of, most likely, someone you've never met.  You put your entire soul on the line and hope they like it enough to give you a job.  If they don't, you pick your trampled soul off the floor, brush it off, give a good spit polish, put it back in the hardened case of your cynical exterior and head to the next audition to do it all over again.

Living the Dream: (phrase) Pursuing one's ambitions whether or not for any discernable monetary advantage.  When living the dream you will often encounter phrases such as "non-paying", "un-paid", "no", and the like.  Living the dream is often synonymous with "being poor."

Copy, credit, meals: (joke) Another phrase encountered while "Living the dream."  Technically it means you will be given a copy of the project you work on, credit for your role in that project (remember those names no one sees?), and meals during production.  In reality it's just another way of saying "un-paid." Also, the "copy" part is generally held to be a myth.

Example:

While living my dream I auditioned for - and got cast in! - what turned out to be a feature film with a small crew.  I was promised copy, credit, and meals.

The previous statement is true.  More to come.

Here's a little short film I was in recently called "Hats Off to You".  I'm supposed to be a high schooler and I think it's kind of obvious that I'm a little too old to pull that off, but I think the film turned out really well regardless.  It's a cute little story and there are some mad special effects happening, plus I do my own stunts.  Enjoy.