Listen up “Gotham” cast: Fox’s “New Girl” thespians have some advice on how to survive your first television upfronts presentation.
This crazy time of year — where networks pitch their new shows to potential advertisers — offers a flurry of network news, panels and trailers, all coming full-speed from New York City. It’s a tough week to get through for journalists, publicists and, of course, the actors, who have to help sell their new projects to the media buyers.
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TheWrap asked upfront veterans — the cast of Fox’s “New Girl” — to dish out advice to their the newbie Fox brethren on how to make it through their first go-around. Here’s their amusing responses:
Hannah Simone: “I’d say do it all because you actually get to meet the extended family of your network … which is really nice because you get to run into each other throughout the year. So, I say go to everything talk to everybody. The next year they become your partners in crime — you gotta build your gang in the first year.”
Max Greenfield: “Just calm down put it all into perspective, because Joe Lo Truglio of ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ is the face of Fox and always will be … everyone should just ease up. We all wave, and then they put a big picture of Joe up on the screen, and then we all get nuts, and then we all go home.”
Zooey Deschanel: “Make it through the day: drink lots of coffee, wash your hands, take some vitamins.”
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Damon Wayans Jr.: “Don’t drink too much because you’re going to have to do interviews and you don’t want stuff in print — sarcasm doesn’t translate into print.”
Lamorne Morris: “Wear something comfortable and casual and don’t drink too much — I’ve already made that mistake. It’s a nightmare when you drink [like] crazy — especially when you are in New York. I lived in New York for a little bit, and you don’t want to drink too much because you walk too much — and that’s not fun. And don’t sleep with strange women or strange dudes.”
Jake Johnson: “Hydrate, don’t drink too much early. There will be an event that starts at 11 [that] inside it will feel like a party; it’s not, you’ve got a long day head of you — pace yourself. There’s not much that you have to do, but you have to do everything. So, slow and steady wins the race at upfronts.”
Good advice, for all of us.