Well, it's been a while. Work and illness have interrupted my regular posting schedule, for which I apologize, and thank you for understanding. I'm also about to head out on a vacation, carefully timed to correspond with hiatus season in the television industry. So I'm going to cut myself a break and allow myself a little Working Actor Wisdom hiatus as well. But in the interim, I want to share two recent discoveries that are conducive to chilling out, and yet are entirely relevant to your working actor journey.
1. For reasons I will not get into, I was determined not to be a Game of Thrones fan. But it happened, in no small part because I've discovered that HBOGo not only has the full series available on demand, it also has short, behind-the-scenes extras that get into the production process. It's fascinating, as the show uses lots of special and practical effects that are usually reserved for features. If you have access to HBOGo and are interested in learning more about television production, I highly recommend them. (If you don't have access to HBO extras, here's a great behind-the-scenes short focusing on the camera department that you can watch without a subscription.)
2. Fellow fans of The West Wing may already be aware that cast member Joshua Malina (currently on Scandal) and co-host Hrishikesh Hirway are several episodes in to a podcast called The West Wing Weekly. Basically, they're re-watching and then discussing every episode of the series, and bringing on guests from the cast and crew to discuss the experience of making it. Whether you're a fan or not, the podcast is full of fascinating information about the production process, and looks back at each episode in a way that provides an unusual insider critic's perspective.
I hope you find these nerdy inside-baseball gems as interesting as I do. If you have other resources you think make great hiatus homework, share away! I'll be back once it's officially summer, and hope you have a chance to enjoy some rest and relaxation too. Happy hiatus!