The L.A. Report – Part 30

10-14-2022

Hey Everybody,

My last report was in January so I don’t have a whole lot of news.

My programming contract with UCLA finally ended in June, after 3½ years. There are plenty of remote contracts available but 90% of them need you to work either Central Time or Eastern Time; being on Pacific Time, that would mean getting up around 4:00 a.m. Some people are okay with that but not me! I’m open to going back into an office if the commute isn’t too hellacious, but working from home has definitely spoiled me!

I’ve still evaded COVID (knock on wood), even though most of my relatives seem to have gotten it, albeit mild cases, thank God (as it were). I just had my second booster (Bivalent) two days ago. Luckily, I’ve never had side effects from any of my four shots.

Still running, although slower and slower all the time! Oh, well, at least I can run.

My family will be pleased to hear that I’ve gotten hearing aids. I’ve tried them twice before but they just didn’t help. These new ones do seem to work pretty well and they have Bluetooth, allowing you to stream your phone or TV directly into them.

My new agent is getting me quite a few auditions - ten so far this year, but I haven’t booked anything lately. I haven’t posted any of my 2022 ones on my Web site yet but will before too long. You can see most of the ones I’ve done for the last few years at https://www.jayblake.actor/videos/auditions.html. I put an asterisk in front of four of the better ones.

In my last report, I told you I was thinking about writing an adapted screenplay based on a book that a friend of mine wrote. With his blessing and encouragement (and authorization), I decided to take a stab at it (no pun intended; it’s called The Black-Handled Dagger) and finished it in my time off from real work. Even though it’s totally my baby, I did get some advice from him on it and we have collaborated on ideas for pitching it to production companies.

Using a web site that allows you to pitch to hundreds of agents, managers, and production companies, I pitched a summary to twelve different production companies, from small to major. Fully expecting to get twelve NO’s, I was shocked that two wanted to read it (including a biggie, which I probably shouldn’t name at this early stage)! I haven’t heard back yet from either of them but they’ve had it less than a week. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, if any of you want to read it, let me know and I’ll send you the PDF. Here’s a synopsis: “The Black-Handled Dagger” could be described as The Exorcist meets Columbo meets Rosemary’s Baby. The story is about Dan Gelke, his wife Amanda, and their young son Danny. At her new health club, Amanda befriends an odd woman named Magdelena, who turns out to be a witch, and I don't mean Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, although it seems that way at the beginning. Through chants and spells and potions cleverly disguised as therapeutic tea, she gradually brainwashes Amanda in an attempt to get her to surrender Danny to the coven. Amanda finally snaps out of it and she and Dan seek the services of Jasinski, a charactery retired NYPD cop now working as a private detective. Attempting to escape the clutches of the coven, they flee to Paris, where they are followed by the coven. They manage to thwart a handover ceremony in a Paris cemetery, enraging Magdelena even more, whereupon the Gelkes fly back to America and change their identities. But just as they're getting settled into their new identities, Magdelena makes one final but fatal attempt to take little Danny. We meet many other interesting characters along the way but that's the story in a nutshell.

Take care,

Jay