Andrew Ortiz
Actor and Writer in Los Angeles, CA
Andrew Ortiz
Actor and Writer in Los Angeles, CA
Growing up a Jewish looking Puerto Rican in Philly whose Father is an undercover narcotics detective from Brooklyn my life is pretty much already a sit-com. I'm an actor/writer living in Los Angeles, CA. My current project is a sit-com pilot I'm shopping around.
If you are an actor, writer or film maker it's hard to stop. I worked as a caterer in an office building in downtown LA for five years. Around year three I knew the ropes and could do my job blindfolded. The lay out was 13 floors of offices and meeting rooms in the main building, 4 floors in the building across the street and 6 floors in another building across the other street, basically forming a triangle of tall buildings at a strange intersection.
One day I found myself on a TV show with a few lines of dialogue. My friends back home in Pennsylvania thought I was suddenly a big deal. I wanted to show them my real, actual, not building that much momentum life so, I filmed myself at work filling a display fridge with soda cans and having the labels face front. I posted it and called it An Actor's True Life in Hollywood. In the comments a friend put "I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow." and that's how it started. I made and edited a new video everyday and posted it the next morning for 501 days in a row. Like I said, it's hard to stop.
The videos became more and more theatrical. Three part Film Noirs in black and white with a jazz trumpet playing while I narrated my run in with Sid "The Squid" from The Calamari Club, Twilight Zone themed episodes where everyone in the building disappears and some just silly experiences that occurred while interacting with secretaries. I made some videos using other caterers, security guards and even employees working in their cubicles. I learned a lot about shooting from the hip, constantly being creative, writing quickly, editing, getting all the shots you need, etc. Then a year after I had stopped making them I got fired. It was worth it because I learned the most important thing for me in LA, to make everyday an adventure!