David has always been fascinated by movies. As a little child, he was able to repeat dialogue lines word for word. He preferred classic comedies such as The Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers, and the M*A*S*H TV series. His 2nd grade teacher, after watching one of David’s school plays in which he had a lead role, said, “You’ve got a little ham there.” We never thought he could actually start acting in a serious way. That is, until he was called by The Hollywood Group. His confidence grew by an order of magnitude, the door was open, and we set out on a path we did not think existed for regular people.
It is the boost of confidence combined with the information we received that we think are among the most valuable services from The Hollywood Group. David became a member in September 2007. He registered with Kids Background in October and did his first background job the same week on the set of the new ABC show Women’s Murder Club. We cheered when we saw him on national TV for the first time. Since then he did background work on a movie ranch that became a Macedonian town for the NBC show The Unit, two Disney productions, Nickelodeon, and a movie, Girl of the Year. He had to pass on a number of other opportunities for scheduling reasons.
Another most valuable service of The Hollywood Group is a realistic path towards finding an agent. David took part in a talent showcase on Dec. 1, 2007. At that point he had been attending scene study classes with Constance Tillotson for a few weeks. How else would we find our way to Constance’s young actors studio if it weren’t for The Hollywood Group? Some of the advice that Constance gave David before his showcase was “Sound natural. No performing.” David did well, even though he said he was unconscious half the time. Two of the agents were interested in seeing him, and he signed with David Matis and Mimi Michel of Rising Stars.
This was the point when he needed professional headshots. David’s were taken by Michael Lamont, who is a fantastic professional who made the session unforgettable. One of the shots that David Matis insisted on was that of the whole family. Since then, David has been sent on ten auditions, mostly for commercial work. He earned two callbacks to national commercials - both are yet to be decided. His last audition was actually for all of us. We auditioned as a whole family for Disney/California Adventure commercial.
In closing, we are grateful to The Hollywood Group for sending us on an improbable journey. Thank you Mitra, Perla and others!
Roman and Helena Sasik
