We're having some trouble with the archives section on the sidebar, which is grossly out of date (by about two months). So, if you're looking for older posts and more bits of wisdom from back in the days of April, March, and Mike Huckabee's campaign (kinda makes you feel old, doesn't it?), just go to the page count at the foot of this her' homepage.

Excelsior!

Senses of Cinema is an editorial/online journal site that has some great writings/insight on the art of film making. They have reviews, festival updates, up-to-date features on films and directors, and some book info as well. If you are looking for some inspiration (i.e. what to do and/or what not to do) and have some time to kill, check out this site. You might learn something new that you can apply to your "experiments".

And, in sort of an unrelated note...

...this being New Roots, comedy is one of our many affairs. George Carlin was a giant in the world of comedy...not just stand-up, but in the various other forms as well. He changed the nature of what we say and do in comedy (along with Bruce and Pryor), so his passing will definitely hit many hard. So, I will humbly pay homage to the man by displaying my personal favorite routine/clip of his. Follow the jump for the goods.

George Carlin: 1937-2008

A harrowing piece up on BlogStage today about the dangers independent actors face going on auditions.  It's a scary and also fascinating exploration of the notion of instinct, and how we all learn to draw the line between ambition and self-respect.  The most provocative passage:

As a new actor fresh out of college, I told myself that I would go to every audition offered to me. When I got a call to audition for a nonunion film at the director's house way out in Brooklyn, I stapled my headshot and résumé and pulled out my subway map. Did I have reservations? Certainly. I Googled the director and found that he had attained distribution for another film. I also noted that the film appeared to involve a lot of vampires running around very scantily clad. I was wary, but the vampire film was out on DVD. I wanted to be on DVD. So I went to the audition, and upon minutes of reading the very poorly spelled sides, I was informed that they would like to offer me a part, but only if I went into another room -- a bedroom, no less -- with the director and stripped topless in front of the camera. I declined. If I had trusted my instincts, I never would have shown up in the first place.

It's a scenario countless actors have found themselves in, and females in particular, who already have to deal with demeaning writing much of the time, even when the director isn't trying to sleep with them.  I'm curious as to whether any New Roots readers have had similar experiences, be they hilarious, frightening, or somewhere in between.  It's a dilemma that is particular to our profession, which requires profound emotional availability and sacrifice, and thereby makes us ripe for exploitation by the unscrupulous.   

As you are perhaps aware, another round of labor disputes is roiling the waters of the entertainment industry. No sooner was the WGA dispute resolved when those pesky actors started getting touchy about their contracts. At issue, as was the case with the WGA, is the messy question of rights management as it relates to the use of actors' likenesses in "new media," that wonderful catch-all term for the Internet and all its corridors.

For some detailed reporting on the ins and outs of this ongoing dispute, I recommend BackStage's excellent BlogStage, which has been on top of the story from the get-go and continues to have the latest developments. Of particular note is the internal rift between the Screen Actors Guild (the union for film actors) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (which, as its name suggests, represents actors in television and radio).

I wanted to take a moment to note an interesting subtext to this dispute as it relates to the independent community we cover here at New Roots. It has been my general observation that much of the indie scene in both theater and film operates essentially parallel to the complex and hard-fought structure of union-sanctioned productions. As a matter of fact, I've been told by several independent directors that they try to avoid casting union members for independent work simply because of the crippling restrictions it can place on a production strapped for cash and resources. While I of course recognize the value of the rights these unions have fought so hard for, I do find it troubling that it has created this rift at their very roots. I've spoken to many actors and writers who have a difficult time sympathizing with their union counterparts and their impassioned cries for help in claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wages. Many independent artists are spending themselves into debt just to get the attention of these unions and their members, and many have similarly seen their projects handicapped or even derailed by stringent union regulations designed according guidelines that many view as completely out of touch with the realities of self-producing in New York City.

A prolonged strike would therefore have a complicated effect on the artistic underground; it would create an opening for renewed focus on the thriving independent scene, but it would also pose the danger of further stigmatizing those artists working outside the union model, painting them as disloyal to their striking brothers and sisters in the industry.

Damn those sexy GoDaddy.com superbowl ads! We have now officially opened www.newrootsproject.com for business. So, from now on y'all can type in that abridged version and still be taken to our site! Why are we so excited?! Hmmm, not sure...seems kind of common sense-y, doesn't it?

Our new home: www.newrootsproject.com.

Tell your friends and confidants!

It's a new site so we're having some growing pains.  Our commenting and searching functions are down at the moment, so bare with us while we try to dig up the root of this problem.  (Yes, the pun is intended and we stand proudly behind it!)

We shall alert when business returns to usual. 

I'm talkin' 'bout the New Roots Revolution. Yes yes!

The New Roots Project is myself and Mr. Dan Angeloro, and our goal is to debate, venerate, and investigate independent doings of cinema, theatre, and comedy around New York City.

My beat will be the theatre and comedy components of the trifecta. We'll be takin' you from downtown to uptown to Bucktown and everywhere in between for the latest in what the beaten path couldn't handle.

You want the hot scoop? Well, we got it.

So DUCK FOR COVER! Dingman over and out...for now...