When Wednesday doesn't feel like a WINsday

Geoff's post is honestly a better recap of lessons from Wed that what I have the gusto to get down at the moment, so please go visit his post!
Here's my two cents

We must take direction. We must take it with no friction.

Jon can be very hard to understand at times, especially when you are new and it's the first time you're experiencing it, when he is unwavering in direction.
I said at the end of class I have had many a night where I felt defeated, felt argumentative, felt angry even. I've lost my cool more times than I would like to admit.
It's a constant lesson to re learn. So, if you were sitting there cussing Jon out in your head, IT'S OKAY. we have all done it. You are not alone in your frustrations.

I believe that Jon will sometimes be aggressively unwavering on purpose, to see how we react. a test of sorts.
I had said that Monday's critiques of our idea of improv were nicer than I had ever heard from Jon, made a joke about him bein' a lil' soft Monday night.
Whew, sorry guys I did not mean to poke the beast! heehe

All joking aside, I would like to make it clear, from my perspective, Jon does not have a malicious bone in his body.
You took the class to have a mentor. Well, now ya got one! Mentor and bestie are not the same. I feel lucky to have such a layered relationship with someone as complex and wonderful as Jon. He can be a bit of an asshole, he has admitted this openly on many occasions...but he will fight tooth and nail for you should you ever need him to. He has for me. He has for others I know personally. He is someone I want in my corner. The reason that I get so upset with him sometimes is because he is directly pointing out what I'm doing wrong. Well, I don't like that! I want to be 'right'! Even after six years of him pleading with us to quit trying to be fucking right and just BE a person!     So maybe some of you felt that on Wed?
The class felt tense to me all around. Release tension. Take direction. PLAY. then, it's fun again!

While there is never a time where a director, or any person hired to be there for that matter, being overly negative towards someone on set is acceptable or professional, I would like to ask you to consider;
What if Jon is creating a circumstance that is stressful, annoying, difficult to navigate through, so that we can practice here in class....and not be unprepared out in real life?

I would like to share, and if you have more questions about this stuff or other co op stuff gimmie a call sometime. 828-808-6943

One of the worst days I ever had in the studio was an audition that took ONE HOUR AND FORTY EIGHT MINUTES to film.
It was also the best day ever.
This was my first audition EVER for film, and my first audition after Jon signed me, and it came in the WEEK AFTER he signed me.
So I'm pumped right, got myself a big girl audition! whoop whoop I knew I could do it!

I left in tears. I left ready to tell Jessy to tell Jon exactly where he could shove it. I left ready to never drive to 2002 riverside drive again.
The next morning I got a callback for a recurring role on a major network. They loved the audition.
I don't know if you fully know, how big of a deal that is. I got a CALL BACK in less than 24 hours on my FIRST submission.

Now, I didn't get the part. But I made it to, it's me or this LA girl. the LA girl got that one.
My point is, at the 25 minute mark of filming that day, I didn't think,  I KNEW -that my audition was awesome and exactly what the breakdown was asking for.
Jon walked from behind the curtain to tell me exactly how smelly that shit was.
No one had ever been that honest with me before, and so my reaction was highly emotional.
Jon didn't let me off easy on that one. He knew what a big deal this audition was. He fought with me. for over an hour he made me start over. and over. and over. NO. START OVER. nope. no. What did I tell you about that moment?! didn't I JUST tell you about that? you forgot already?! Are you going to act like this on set!? NO I DON'T BELIEVE YOU. YOU ARE FAKING. YOU ARE FAKING. SEE IT. SEE HER! SEE IT! MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU!
So nearly two hours later, we get something on tape that is real. I HATED IT. I fought with Jon for another 20 minutes about how
wE sHoulD uSe tHe OthEr TakE cAuSe mY HaIr wAs BetTer iN ThAt OnE and I mAdE a wEirD fAcE aT thE enD or whatever the hell I was going on about.
(cause you know, I HAD A DEGREE so I knew every fucking thing. ) He tells me we submit the last take, or we don't submit. The others were bullshit and he doesn't represent bullshitters.

I didn't understand for maybe a whole year after that, Jon wasn't fighting WITH me. He was fighting FOR me.
I'll put the gloves on and get in the ring with you anytime, Jon. Thank you for loving me enough to say the hard stuff.

xoxoxo

I love you. Gosh, I do sound like an asshole. But I’m alright with it, because I know what is at stake.

I love you!!
<3

I think I've been so conditioned that acting = pain, that I'm kind of...pseudo prepared to be beaten down? But it's okay because from the ashes we rise. I think its important to stand up for your art and not all mentors are right, art is subjective. I had a Voice Acting mentor who I LOVED, but at the end of our 3 class set, he wanted to make my demo and I got MAJOR red flags and chose not to at the time. I'm glad to have someone tell me I'm not ready, ESPECIALLY in the beginning. Its equally as important to be open and receptive to those new/alien ideas because that's how you grow.