Conventions

By On February 13, 2012 · 23 Comments

An Excerpt From “Pleasure Thresholds”…..

A word about conventions.

The actors who are on the shows that get promoted at cons are a very lucky bunch. You could be on a hit series like ER , but those shows don’t have fans dressing up in scrubs and getting in line to meet them. These days we are seeing more mainstream shows have their stars go to cons thanks to the success of the mega cons like San Diego Comicon. But nothing beats sci fi and horror fans.

We are the lucky few who have the opportunity to meet the folks who have bothered to find our show on syndicated TV or buy a ticket to our little horror movie. On the B5 set, we worked in a vacuum, playing in our Tin Can In Space. No one says “good job”, or “great work” other than your scene partner. The Powers That Be tend not to want their actors to think too much of themselves. So for us to have the chance to get out and meet you, is a very fine thing. You say nice things to us and buy our autographs, share stories about your lives, and introduce us to your kids. It’s a marvelous thing. It helps me to remember why I do this! Cause it’s not only Not Easy, it’s fucking brutal.
This business is set up to keep the power out of the actor’s hands. We have absolutely no control. Unless it’s the actor’s project to begin with, or they are the star the studio needs to sell it, actors are the bottom link of the chain of power. From the first conception of a script, and the producers start to search for a cast, actors are kept out of the circle of creativity. The breakdown of roles goes out to agents, it’s actually illegal for actors to have access to it. In what other business is it illegal for a person not to have access to job classifieds? Actors are discouraged from contacting casting people, directors, production companies, just about anyone who can help them, directly. Many actors find creative ways around the barriers set up against us. And we are constantly dealing with more and more barriers. My business ‘Talent To Go’ is all about helping actors navigate all this. We tend to feel helpless, alone, and in a constant position of neediness. My point to you is it’s really FUCKING HARD to be a working actor. Unless you are trying to do it, you have no idea. So when we have a chance to meet you and hear nice things, it can be so lovely. We all always networking and auditioning, or trying to. Just getting an audition these days is like winning the lottery. When you say, ‘Why don’t you get on Star Trek or Lost or Torchwood’, it hurts. ‘Why haven’t you been working?’ kills me. That can make me go into my room and not come out sober for a long time.

Breaking News: Actors are people. We all have to have other jobs to bring in the monthly nut. We have spouses, partners, kids, pets, houses , gardens, parents to care for , responsibilities to all kinds of things we care about. Unless you are a very famous actor on big shows, you don’t make more money than any one else in the USA on a yearly basis. Actors are middle class, if they are LUCKY. So please understand, I cannot fly to another city for the weekend without a lot of arrangements to cover these afore mentioned responsibilities, and that COSTS me money. I pay for a house, child and pet sitter. There is now a charge for your bags, so we pay for that. Transportation to and from the airport here in LA, plus food and water at the con, there are all kinds of costs you don’t think about. Actors have to invest in inventory such as pictures, DVDs, etc. I am always exhausted after a con weekend, so I need a day at least without too much going on when I return, so I am hiring an assistant to cover me then too.
If I am selling autographs and other products, please know I am only charging what is fair, but I will charge money. You only need my autograph once, or twice on things. Once you have it, you never need it again. It’s not like selling soap, clothes or food!
On Facebook or Twitter I am asked all the time why don’t I go to this con or that.
Once again, actors have no power. We can only go to a con when we have been invited. I am not showing up, and paying my own airfare or hotel. I need the con to promote me so the fans will come who want to see me, and get my autograph. I know some of the footloose and fancy free actors will pop into a con. But they are usually single and childless! That is certainly not going to be me. I cannot come for free. The best way fans can help their favorite actors to come to a con, is to contact the con promoters and request them. That way the promoter knows they can sell some tickets based on that actor’s attendance. Thank you for your understanding.

Sometimes a con promoter will lie to the fans about an actor who doesn’t make it to the con. This just happened to me. We (my manger and I) were in negotiations for a midwestern convention. It was only a few weeks away. While I said yes I was interested, we didn’t have a full agreement. When we looked into the airline tickets, the only seats available would have me changing planes 2 and 3 times, and only on the ground at the con for about 36 hours. That wasn’t going to work for me so we asked to book me for next year, and we’d have plenty of time to get better tickets so I could be at the con for the whole 3 days. Done. So I thought. I found out through a friend that I was being promoted at the con. They were selling tickets based on my appearance and lying to the fans. While my manager went after them to take that down, they then put up a table at the con with a poster as if I were coming in any minute. They kept telling the fans I missed my plane, then my plane was delayed etc. They never copped to the fact I wasn’t coming. I still have fans asking why I didn’t show! Now I can’t ever do that show. Many con promoters are people without a moral compass. You may never know what happens behind the scenes, but actors get screwed all the time by these people. We make deals to get paid at the con instead of paid in advance, because we know times are hard and the con needs the gate to pay the actors, and then we never see the money. Happens all the time.
So I have a very specific contract to get me to conventions safely, and without losing money. I simply can’t afford to travel without it. I know it seems to many folks like hey, you’re getting food, and we are paying for your pictures, you get to have fun and tell stories…how hard can it be? I hope I have shared enough here so you understand what it takes for us to leave our homes to come meet you.

Preparing for a con weekend has gotten harder for me for some reason. There is more anxiety around traveling since 9/11. I need to make sure I have what I need but that it doesn’t weigh too much. I have to print enough pictures, have the right pens, and any other materials for my table. I need to look nice for you so I plan outfits for every event. At home I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. On the road, I wear much nicer stuff. Hey you are paying to see me, I had better look good! Or as good as I can anyway. There is communication to have in place with my office, house, pet and child sitters. Then there’s the Energy Factor. While I do love people, it takes a lot of energy to constantly be ‘up’ and ‘on’. It’s hard to hear in those big rooms with all the noise so I’m straining to hear folks and trying to keep up with the conversation. Some cons require the actors to sit at a table all day. That makes me feel like a monkey in a zoo. I get agitated if I am not busy. And kind of mortified, just sitting there like an old relic. So I end up running around the place talking to people and looking at the cool stuff in the Dealer’s Room I wish I could buy. Makes my handlers crazy. After a con weekend, just the energy drain can flatten me for days.

I realize that watching a favorite TV show every week can become a rather intimate experience. We are in your living rooms, sometimes bedrooms, with you on a regular basis. You think about the show and the characters and they become a part of your personal life. We share family time, meals, and lives. I get it! I do it too! I was devastated when Buffy went off the air. But the is a reality line that gets crossed. I am often treated like someone who is well known to the fan. They tell me “Gee you look fatter than the last time I saw you.” People also seem to forget that actors are mortal, and we age just like everyone else. Please don’t be mean to us about it. We can’t help it! I know you just saw us on TV looking the same after 20 years but I promise you we will look different in person. I should think you’d find it comforting, but some seem to think it’s a failing on our part. I know actors who will not go to cons or even out much because they find it so hurtful. Often I am chastised for some event that happened on the show, disappointing the fan. “You are so mean to Zack. Why don’t you give him a chance?”
“You should have used your powers to save Byron. That was really stupid.”
I cannot TELL you how many times I hear “Oh you already know that. You can read my mind.” Or “Oh I hope you can’t read my mind now, you’d slap my face.” Just fair warning to anyone out there who likes to tread those fine lines; I am a real redhead and I have a famous temper. I will not be held responsible. You have been informed.

Doing conventions can be awesome. I love to travel. And even though most of the time there isn’t enough hours in the day to fulfill my obligation to the con and see the sights, I enjoy going to new places. I really love people, as many of you know who have met me. Meeting you is a highlight for me. I really appreciate you buying my products. I try to make things special for you. Like this book; something different and personal from me that you cannot get anywhere else. When you go to a con, don’t you almost always come back with great stories? I have tremendous memories of the places I have gone and people I have met or the antics of my fellow actors (OMG, right?) . Some of them are in this book! See photo of Rick Biggs in the Klingon jail! Being able to go with my friends from other shows and get silly is so fun! See the photos of me with the Lone Gunmen! Babylon 5 and X-Files had expos going on Navy Pier in my hometown at the same time. I had worked with Mitch Pileggi on a film called “Shocker” and decided to crash their show at the end of the day, and we all went out for food. There was a whole storyline thought up that sodden evening in a Chicago pub , we had decided Lyta’s next boyfriend should be one of them. Not a good storyline of course, but we thought it was brilliant at the time. This is what I mean. Little mini adventures happen at cons!
So while most actors are happy to come to your local convention, we need certain things in place to help us make it happen. That’s up to the organizers of the con. Let them know you’d like us to come and maybe all our dreams will come true!

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23 Responses to Conventions

  1. Danny says:
    February 13, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    Glad to hear you’re coming back to Australia this year for Armageddon (Melbourne this time!) It was fantastic to meet you last year in Adelaide, and I think having yourself, Bruce, Mira and Joe together is going to be brilliant!

    Reply
  2. Tim_Shehan says:
    February 13, 2012 at 4:46 pm

    This is probably one of the best blogs I have read. A lot of people either do not want to know or care to know what reality is. They just expect you guys to follow the script of how they feel it should be. When I can afford to go to cons, which is very rarely, I do look forward to seeing stars I have watched. The presence of any particular star has never been the reason I have gone, but they do create the icing on the cake. To just get the chance to meet and interact with them is what makes the con so memerable. If and when I ever get the HONOR of meeting you, I do hope it is with you in tshirts and jeans, because I would want to meet the REAL you, not just the window dressing. And you don’t have to warn me about redheads, I grew up with some red headed cousins. I very nearly didn’t survive.

    Reply
    • Patricia Tallman says:
      February 14, 2012 at 5:06 am

      LOL! I have red headed sisters and brother, nieces and nephews too…So I know !
      And we LOVE coming to cons. It’s just that we need you to understand we need to plan and prepare. CC and I have had a lot of folks ask us lately, Hey Why don’t you stop up here in Birmingham, or over here in New Jersey, and it gets frustrating. We would love to come see you. YOU have the power. Tell the con promoters who you want to see!

      Reply
  3. Mike says:
    February 13, 2012 at 8:38 pm

    Great post. Let me say that my daughter and I got to speak with you briefly at NY ComiCon, and you were very gracious. We both appreciated your time. So all the hard work you put in doesn’t go unnoticed, and is not in vain.

    Reply
  4. Andrew Swallow says:
    February 13, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    When you get back do not forget to stick a picture of a fan asking for an autograph on your punch bag.. They say “No” and give it a big kick.

    It will make you feel a lot better.

    Reply
  5. Les Eveson says:
    February 13, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    Hi again Pat, it was brilliant to see you in London, and such a pleasure to talk to you about B5,. You’re a hard working professional actress who loves her job, and it shows.. My best wishes to you and Claudia, and I hope to see you again soon.

    Reply
  6. Susan Hoover says:
    February 13, 2012 at 9:39 pm

    Pat!
    I have worked (volunteered) at many cons over the years (mainly NorWesCon in Seattle),. I have seen how hard the special guests work at these cons.. I hope all your fans in London enjoy seeing you there!

    Thanks for the insight into what it is like to work the con.

    Susan

    Reply
  7. Valksy says:
    February 14, 2012 at 6:52 am

    Thank you for taking the time and trouble to share this with us. I can’t deal with crowds any more, so no longer attend conventions, but I have a very fond memory of meeting you in Blackpool, England in 1997 and having the most amazing conversation about the extra difficulties female stunt artists sometimes face. Being polite and respectful to the actors in attendance just made sense to me, and I was always dismayed by bad or thoughtless behaviour. Being starry-eyed and tongue-tied is one thing, outright rudeness is intolerable. I have so much respect for what you do, from the other side of the table.

    I was interested by your comments on the trouble some people have with the illusion of intimacy between the screen and real life and wonder if tools like Twitter and Facebook make that worse by inviting people closer. Or is it a necessary tool of the trade?

    Reply
  8. Sonali says:
    February 14, 2012 at 8:10 am

    Pat, this is a really refreshingly honest article. I’ve only been to one convention but this article does not surprise me in the slightest.. It does sadden me however that there are people who don’t think before they speak and don’t treat you with the same courtesy that they would treat their friends and acquaintance, just because they feel that they ‘know you’ somehow (when really it’s your character they know). You and Claudia come across as very surprisingly down to earth and gracious women. All I can say, is keep giving that positivity and just don’t take it personally. People always have their views over how people should be in certain jobs (and let’s hope the vast majority are joking on your being a telepath) and don’t take it to heart too much. I appreciate from personal experience that some days that is more easily said…. but as a professional woman who appears 10 years younger than I actually am, I constantly get comments over when will I graduate (many years ago thanks)? How old am I? I am too young to be married etc… furthered by the worsened ignorant comments of… how long have I lived in Britain etc? I seem to speak good English (considering I was BORN here I would hope so).

    Anyway, I guess my point is that this article I believe, can resound with all of us as we have most of us experienced it at one time of life or another. Unfortunately life does not pay for itself and if I am honest, I would rather pay you for your autograph than other actors who behave arrogantly and are ou of touch with the rest of the planet, because they really buy into their own hype.

    Hope you’re not missing your boy too much over here and you both continue to have a pleasant stay in Britain. x

    Reply
  9. Anye says:
    February 14, 2012 at 10:48 am

    I hope everyone reads this and takes it to heart.. Famous people deserve to be treated kindly and with respect and have a right to make a living from their efforts just like everyone else – people are people! It makes me sad that you have to effectively apologize for being human and wanting respect and kindness from ‘fans’ . While I am by no means a famous person I used to run a small company that ran booths at conventions and I know how exhausting it is – my voice would be in tatters by the end of the first night and I’d be croaking like a frog by the end of a long weekend. So I for one appreciate your efforts.

    To those who have said unkind things to you in the past and those con organizers who have done you wrong – I offer words from the esteemed Wil Wheaton “Don’t be a dick.!”

    Reply
  10. karenhales says:
    February 14, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    love your blog pat,i was unable to meet you and claudia due to the most tragic death of my step-nephew at the weekend,one day i shall meet you lovely ladies in person,but for now my family needs me.xx

    Reply
  11. Robert Coleman says:
    February 25, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    Ms. Tallman:

    One of my mottoes is the phrase, “Real Life Comes First”. That being said, I shouldn’t be surprised that fans sometimes don’t realize that actors are not the character they play, but real people with families, responsibilities, and lives. Most of us really appreciate the effort you and others in your profession put forth to make yourselves accessible to us when you are able.. You have all our hopes for success..

    Reply
  12. Kim Morris says:
    March 4, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    We usually go to Dragon Con in Atlanta every year and love to meet the actors from our favorite shows and it is comforting to see that they are just like us the fans really nice and great to meet and just to say a few words to and o’course getting that photo and or autograph, but your blog about conventions is really great you gave me a point of view that I really never thought of thanks! Also meet your one of your costars Bruce Boxleitner and he was great hope you get to come out to Dragon con one year thanks

    Reply
  13. Andrew Granger says:
    March 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Doing a bit of catching up on Babylon 5, season 4, and watched the “Falling Towards Apthesis” episode with commentary, and I loved it. I wish I had the opportunity to attend more conventions, but it is hard to keep up with conventions now that I am living overseas. I just think it is great that actors go through all that to meet fans. Thank you for the time. I hope I will have the good fortune to meet you at a convention one day, if you should ever find your way to the area around south-western Germany.

    Reply
  14. Steve Drevik says:
    April 8, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    “Hey, Pat- just finished reading your book. Thanks! It’s great. It’s great ‘inside baseball’ for us non-Hollywood types who rarely see or know what happens in the backlot (I’ve only been backlot twice with minimal involvement, and I found lurking was fascinating). JMS came off… well, pretty much as I pictured him to be. I loved your direct points about cons, you probably did a lot of people a big favor by laying it all out on the table (assuming people will listen…). Seeing the pictures of Jeff, Andreas, and Rich made me a bit sad, but I am heartened to know they got to work on such a great project, one that seems to have been managed and run in a more humane way than pretty much any other production. Not many actors get that chance, it sounds like a really special and unique experience.

    Again, thanks for writing that and saving all those pictures. Now I have to go re-watch some scenes and look for some of the things in the book……

    Reply
  15. Michael says:
    June 25, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    Thanks so much for offering us a view, painting us a picture of what it’s like for you on the other side of the experience – it’s so poignant, honest. It’s been great to see you do your stuff over the years … I’m glad to have the chance to begin to understand what it’s like from the inside out. Thanks for all your hard work – !

    Reply
  16. Lars says:
    June 25, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    Thank you for that article from your book. It’s a real eye opener about the organisation and planning of conventions and their guests. I now realise how hard it is for convention guests to attend these venues and be away from their families and the costs involved.

    Reply
  17. jason says:
    November 19, 2012 at 12:19 am

    Hey Patrocia , just want to say I’m a huge b5 fan and say that your character , Lyta, was my favorite. also< I was wondering what kind of stuff do you like to do in your spare time

    Reply
  18. Mark Busuttil says:
    May 21, 2013 at 8:08 am

    Hi Patricia – it is so refreshing to hear truth & honesty about the acting business. For those that make smart talk about you being a telepath, if you belt one of them, please post it to Facebook (I’d love to see it). I would have loved to have see you in Melbourne at Armageddon but with 3 kids, I guess I am mixing in the wrong circles (don’t have many Sci Fi friends). If you are ever in Australia or NZ again & I know about, I promise to try to see you. Thank you for sharing so much about yourself to us – yours fans. If I knew enough people, I’d fly you out to Australia & pack out an evening with a special private audience where you could just speak & say what you wanted (and maybe answer a few questions from fans). No signatures or other crap (mechandise in the auditorium but not for you to be hassled by). I hope one day to meet you in person.

    Reply

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