# I Finally Got Into UBCP and ACTRA



## BostonBob (Apr 24, 2010)

So I finally got my 6th Acting credit about 2 months ago and received my Union of BC Performers / ACTRA Membership card today. Already the benefits are paying off as I just got hired on to play one of the regular prisoners on J.J. Abrams new show Alcatraz. Shooting starts on the 23rd and we are scheduled to go into late January but I was told that it will likely go longer. One of the perks of being a union member is that because we have to commit solely to this show during it's shooting period I will still get paid ( 50 % of an 8 hour day ) on days I'm not being used. The only thing is that I have to be ready to go in at any time.


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## NewGuy (Apr 22, 2010)

Cool when the show gets going you will have to let us know which of the prisoners is you. Also as a regular actor are you better off than the stereotypical starving artist now?


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Outstanding! Congratulations! I look forward to watching Alcatraz and catching your performance.


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## LikeItLow (Jan 11, 2011)

congrats!

i was in a few commercials. pretty cool to see how things are done behind the scenes.


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## BostonBob (Apr 24, 2010)

Well Alcatraz is certainly off to a slow start as the first day of Main Unit shooting has been pushed back again. Originally we were supposed to start on August 16th but that was pushed back to the 23rd and it just got pushed back again to August 26th. With all these early delays I can see this thing going way past January.


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## BostonBob (Apr 24, 2010)

NewGuy said:


> Cool when the show gets going you will have to let us know which of the prisoners is you. Also as a regular actor are you better off than the stereotypical starving artist now?


To be honest even though I'm in the Union with 6 Acting Credits I don't consider myself an actor. I've only taken a few weekend Acting Workshops along the way. I got 2 of my credits using the regular method - audition, callbacks and then the job but the rest were honestly just a case of being in the right place at the right time. On Alcatraz I will be working only as a Background Performer but will be working a lot more then some of the actors that are not part of the main cast. And by being there on a regular basis there is a small chance that I might get thrown a line by the Director which happened to me before when I was a regular Cop on The Sentinel and The Commish.



LikeItLow said:


> congrats!
> 
> i was in a few commercials. pretty cool to see how things are done behind the scenes.


Yeah - it's definitely not as glamourous as most people think. The hardest part for me is all the " hurry up and wait " time that you spend on most days. My other regular job is bartending and that's a job where the more you hustle the more you make so it took a long time before I got used to all the sitting around. Now I love the fact that I get paid pretty well when about 80 % of my day on set is spent reading, playing cards or just shooting the breeze with my buddies.


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## BostonBob (Apr 24, 2010)

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this show as the first day of shooting has been pushed again - this time all the way back to September 6th. I was told that I will have to go in at least twice before shooting starts for a wardrobe fitting and to get a haircut. I'm really hoping that these delays are because of something like a schedule conflict with one of the main actors or the director and are nothing more serious that could lead to the whole show being scrapped.


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