Parts and Labor
David Dean Bottrell
- Location
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Birthday
- April 06
- Title
- President
- Company
- Quitcher-Bitchyn Entertainment, Inc.
- Bio
- David Dean Bottrell is an actor (“Boston Legal”) and screenwriter (“Kingdom Come”) who writes a weekly blog about being strangely middle-class in Hollywood at www.partsandlabor.tv
MY RECENT POSTS
- You Kill Me
November 22, 2010 12:02PM - Don't Clap For Me, Argentina
November 15, 2010 10:33AM - As Seen on TV!
November 08, 2010 01:07PM - Star Baby!
October 31, 2010 02:48PM - You Don't Have to Live Like a
Refugee
October 24, 2010 01:02PM
David Dean Bottrell's Links
You Kill Me
I was 20 minutes late when I arrived at the theatre.
It was a small joint carved out of an old retail space and the
metal door squeaked loudly as I pulled it open. Inside, seven
latecomers and an usher turned and stared disapprovingly. About
twenty feet in front of us, the… Don't Clap For Me, Argentina
The first time I ever appeared on stage was in a
high school play. I was at the time, a nerdy, nervous 15 year-old
with bad skin who had only auditioned because of a terrible crush I
had on a fellow cast member. As our opening night performance
neared its end,… Read full post »
About a year ago, I came out of “theatrical"
retirement to act in a play here in Los Angeles. During the run I
was interviewed by a local arts reporter who asked which medium I
like better, theatre or TV and why. It was an easy question to
answer “Theatre," I… Read full post »
I was anxiously looking over my bills when the phone
rang. Someone was calling me via their cell phone and it was a very
bad connection. “David, it’s Ogger,” a friendly,
but very scratchy voice said. “Hi!” I replied, not
knowing who I was talking to. “… You Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee
Once when I was a young actor in New York, a casting
director recommended me to an agent. I was very excited. The agent
was well established and had a nice office. I felt sure that if I
could convince her to represent me, I’d be well on my way to… 
I was very new to Southern California in 1993. In
fact, I wasn’t even sure what I was doing here. In theory
I’d come here to work as a writer, but so far nothing much
had happened on that front. Just as I was about to give up hope, a
play… Chin up!
Stunted
Last weekend, I met a young guy at a barbeque who
had just relocated to L.A. When I asked him what had brought him
here, he was a little vague at first, but eventually confessed that
he was interested in possibly doing some stunt work. I wished him
well. Being the… Read full post »
Getting It Straight
A couple of days ago, a friend sent me a link to a
piece published on Newsweek.com by an openly gay entertainment
reporter that really pissed me off. It was a piece basically
claiming that casting openly gay actors in heterosexual roles
simply never works.As a gay guy trying to make…
After several anxious months, the Hollywood community
breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when it was
announced that the land above the world-famous
“Hollywood” sign had been saved from the clutches of
developers who had planned to construct a series of luxury home… Sweet Charity
There have been a lot of news stories lately about celebrities showing up to raise awareness and funds for some of the areas of the world that have been ravaged by natural disasters. Most major diseases and political causes can usually count on a celebrity or two to fill the seats… Read full post »
Shameless!
When I was a young actor I was pretty damned determined
to “make it.” To me this meant I had no choice but to
nag the hell out of any and all potential employers. Every time I
booked a job, I made sure every living person in show business knew
about… Read full post »
Streep Tease
Last
July, I was in the gym, huffing and puffing away on the treadmill,
when a stand-up comic named Roy Cruz (a guy I barely knew)
approached me and asked if I would be interested in appearing in
show he wanted to produce at one of the local comedy
theatres. … Read full post »
Magic Envelopes!
I’m usually upstairs in my office when the
postal carrier arrives, but the second I hear the creak and clank
of the mail slot opening, I bound down the stairs like an Olympic
sprinter to see if maybe, possibly today’s mail has brought
me that which every entertainment profess… The Waiting Room
I’ve never been a particularly patient person. I
came from a family of slow-moving people who seemed to think that
life was something that just unfolded on its own terms and our job
was merely to roll with the punches. Even as a kid, I hated that
philosophy and became determined… He's Got a Ticket to Ride, But He Don't Care
Recently, I was reading in one of the entertainment rags
that in 2009, Steven Spielberg was paid $50 million dollars by
Universal for theme-park royalties based on his movies. It made me
wonder if Steve (as I like to call him) might be interested in
designing a ride based on my… Read full post »
A few weeks ago, the Oscar nominations came out and I
was shocked to see that my name was not among the nominees. I
suppose there’s some logic to this, given that I
haven’t really worked in over a year, but still.
Sadly, awards season is usually a little rugged for… A Serious Man
Last night, I sat and watched the students in my acting class do some very good work. I’ve been blessed with a very gifted and unique group this time out and for me, there’s no more pleasant way to spend an evening than working with talented artists. As I walked… Read full post »
I recently discovered that a short movie I wrote and
directed a few years ago, had actually been viewed by over 100,000
people on YouTube. This sort of floored me, mostly because it the
odds against that little movie even being made were enormous.Our story begins in the summer of 2005…
A New New Year
I recently posted a question on my Facebook page asking my creative friends if they were making any New Year’s resolutions for 2010. I was a little surprised when the majority of them said no and pointedly added that in their opinion, resolutions were just a recipe for disappointment. As a… Read full post »
Fresh Cut
A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from one of the junior agents at my acting agency who informed me that the agent who had originally invited me into the company had left. However, a terrific "new guy" had been brought in to head the theatrical department and I was asked to… Read full post »
It’s weird, but there’s something in the popular culture lately that seems to have it out for Christmas. Most of the holiday movies are now about how awful and embarrassing everyone's family is and what a drag it is to have to visit them. I recently went on Pandora.com and dialed… Read full post »
Stage Struck
Theatre in L.A. is sort of a strange beast. When I first
arrived here to seek my fortune as a screenwriter, I was floored by
the number of small theatres just in Hollywood alone. It seemed
like there was one on every corner. I initially found this very
comforting since I'd… Read full post »
Ego Stew
Ego is always a force to be reckoned with here in
Hollywood. Although we didn't invent it, you could say we perfected
it. One of my favorite quotes on the subject comes from that
undisputed queen of self-expression, Madonna who once said, "Hey,
everybody's entitled to my opinion."
When I was a kid, my mom used to complain that there was nothing on TV half as funny as Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” used to be. One Saturday night, when I was a kid, I turned on our old Zenith and happened onto a movie called “A… Read full post »
Monsieur Chariot
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com