Stock Photography

I gotta say that I don't like to do stock photography. There's a few very big companies out there that make a killing on selling stock photos. Two of the biggest are Getty Images and Corbis. Getty has a huge office on Colorado St. in Santa Monica, Calif. that is just beautiful! I've gone there to audition to be one of their stock photo models. Man, that's a raw deal! They pay you, maybe, $300 for a half day. That includes the session and the use of all the photos they take -- forever! And ever...and ever. Without ever paying you another red cent.

Why would you do this? Well, one reason is because you're broke. I'm not broke, but I'm getting there fast. Today, in fact, I just blew a bunch of money on the stock market. I used to think I was good at investing in stocks. Not anymore. I can't figure out why. Nothing I buy goes up. Everything I sell goes up right after I sell it. I buy high, sell low. That's been my pattern, starting, I don't know, in late 2004. Before that, I usually made a little money here and there. Go figure...

Anyway, I got a call from my print agent yesterday saying they wanted me to stop by Corbis to audition to do stock photos. I called back (they had left a message on my voice mail) and left a message on their voice mail saying I don't want to do any more stock photos. Period.

Oh, by the way, I just saw Finding Neverland yesterday and I have to say that you probably aren't interested in going, but if you do, it'll be one of the best decisions you will make this year. It's great. Johnny Depp and what's her name, from Titanic, uh, Winslet, big girl, is in it too. She's good. I saw it at a screening at the Directors Guild (DGA), provided by the fine folks at Miramax. After the film let out, there was a screening right after for The Aviator. I saw it already at an AMPAS screening, but since Leonardo DiCrapio, er, uh, that's a typo, DiCaprio was going to be speaking after, I decided to sit through another 3 hours of, well, another Hollywood movie.

I don't know about you, but Martin Scorcese doesn't do it for me anymore.

Anyway, I gotta say that the second time was much better than the first. And maybe my memory is off, but the first screening I saw seemed different. And longer. So, yeah, I liked it better the second time. But it's still a long frickin' movie.

Leonardo, to me, doesn't have an off-screen presence. But that's not a put down. Many very great actors and performers don't. I saw Robert DeNiro once at the Gap in Santa Monica and barely recognized him, even though he practically walked right into me. I read a book on DeNiro and it confirmed this too: Sometimes, he's just an empty shell. Leonardo isn't an empty shell, but he seems awfully plain in person.

So, just now, just this very moment, I had a revelation. A bit of an epiphany.

Every actor worth his union card has an innate ability to turn it on. To be ON. Every stinking one of them, myself included. Some can be on all the time. They're just that way. But me? I can't do it. Don't have the energy for it. When I'm in a club, I turn it on. When I'm on a date, I turn it on. When I audition for a union job, I really turn it on. And when I do the union job, I turn it WAY on, just thinking about the potential residuals.

But when I do stock photography? I'd really rather just pull the covers over my eyes and sleep another three hours.