November 18, 2002

Dear Diary,

You will never guess what happened to me!

I just had my first General Meeting at a casting office since I got to LA! I got called into the office that handles the Gilmore Girls, and I don't even have a Theatrical Agent! How did I do that? Well it all started waaaaaay long ago in a month called October. I read in Kevin E. West's book that a good way to pursue a TV show on your target list is to write letters to the producers of shows instead of casting directors because they get a lot less mail from actors.

"Sure let's give it a try," I thought.

I decided that my target show would be the Gilmore Girls--I love its snappy patter and the unspoken bond between 3 generations of Gilmore women. Every time I watch it, it's like reading the Ya-Ya Sisterhood all over again. Sometimes my friend Amir and I will talk on the phone while we are watching the show and we will argue over whose girlfriend Lauren Graham is--mine or his. As a compromise we now refer to her as "our girlfriend".

Now, we realize that 2 guys watching Gilmore Girls makes us easy targets for our friend's jibes so we had to come up with some codenames for it. "Hey you wanna go watch Gilmore Girls Gone Wild?" we'll say. We tried to defend ourselves by reminding them, "TV Guide named it the Best Show You're Not Watching!" but for some reason that only made it worse. Anywho, I decided to target this as my first show in a little experiment I like to call Project Restraining Order™. I decided that if I was going to harass this poor Producer I may as well do it tongue in cheek so that she won't feel threatened. I looked in the Ross Reports and got the name of the Producer of the show, who we will just call Patricia to protect her anonymity. A few phone calls to my buddies in the CIA and I had her mailing address as well. (Thanks Chubbs, I owe you one.) Then I started to send her letters once every few weeks. If you want to read the letters click on these links:

Writing the letters was kinda fun because I realized I really have nothing to lose. I ALREADY don't have any roles on this show. The worst that will happen is that I will CONTINUE to have no roles on this show, but at least I will have tried. So I just sent these letters out and forgot them and the next thing I know I get up one morning to go to tech rehearsal for the first week of Osama Yo Mama and my roommate says, "Hey, did you get that message from the Gilmore Girls?" And I, of course, was like, "What the hell are you talking about Dave?" He responded with a ultra witty, "Go check the answering machine you jerk!" And so I did. "Hi there Michael, this is Sarah from Gilmore Girls Casting and I wanted to know if you were available for a general meeting on Monday at 10:40 AM. Please call us back to confirm." Well after I peed my pants and passed out onto the floor I called back and left them a message saying I would be there.

Monday. I wake up, drive to the WB lot and after a quick trip though the security checkpoint I was on my way in. Might I say that the WB guards have a very gentle touch when they frisk you. It kinda tickled. I got to the office and met the casting directors Jami and Mara, and their Associate Sarah. The interview was casual. "So, how long have you been in LA?" "What have you been up to lately?" etc. And then halfway through, "So you are friends with Patricia right?" (Confused look.) "Well, kinda. I just wrote her some letters." (Confused look from all three.) "You mean you aren't her daughter's boyfriend? (Super confused look.) "Ummmm, no. Sorry. I'll try harder next time." (Sheepish grin.) I still do not know how they got that idea. I feel bad. I envisioned somewhere out there the REAL boyfriend is scowling at a phone thinking, "She told me they were gonna call!" At first I was afraid that I unintentionally misled Patricia but then I realized its not WHY I was there that was important so much as the fact that I WAS there. Well needless to say they will probably remember me and at the very least I had enough subject matter for plenty more letters. The first thing I did was go home and write up some thank you letters to both Patricia and everyone at JAM Casting. If'n you wanna read those they are here:

Well Diary I think that's all for now. Man I really ran off at the mouth today didn't I? Sleep well Diary, you earned it.

MN