Category Archives: Acting

First Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again)

Posted on April 14, 2021 | Comments Off on First Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again)

Before the pandemic, I had a few different union events and meetings I would go to. I went to the local board meetings to be an observer which was about once a month. I tried to go to social events like the holiday party. I went to unofficial union meetings through Union Working. And I was on my first committee with SAG-AFTRA, the organizing committee. I never could attend the organizing committee meetings in person because they were during my work time, but they always had a way for me to attend virtually. It was a little odd to be one of the few people listening in when a majority of the committee was together in person. But I made sure I was as prepared as I could to listen so I didn’t miss anything I needed to know about.

When everything shut down, the union had to focus on what was most needed by members. Those things included departments like safety (since people were working) and residuals (so people could be paid). A lot of the staff had to be furloughed so there weren’t as many staff members as before who could help out with different committee meetings. So the organizing committee wasn’t able to meet. While that was unfortunate, I understood why other parts of the union needed more focus.

But things are starting to slowly reopen here, so that means that things are also starting to pick up again. There are still a lot of things that aren’t back to normal yet, but it’s starting to get there as more and more people are vaccinated. And because they are opening up again, we finally had our first organizing committee meeting since the pandemic.

This time, nobody was at the union for the meeting. Everyone was on Zoom together and I think I preferred that. It was nice to be able to see everyone’s face and to have it easy to know who is talking. And when we had someone presenting information, they were able to do a screen share so we could all see the slides instead of me listening and taking notes (and getting copies of the slides after the meeting). And it was a little easier to hear everyone since everyone was in the same system versus having one microphone in a larger room where some people might be closer or further from it.

But what I liked most about it was that it happened. I have missed feeling like I’m involved in the union. It has become a big part of my life and I don’t know if I really understood that until I didn’t have it. And while I have tried my best to stay informed about what’s going on, I know I haven’t been doing a great job at that. When I’m attending meetings, I’m much more aware of union news than I am when I’m just looking it up on my own. And like with so many things I haven’t been able to do over the past year, I think I didn’t realize how much I missed and needed this until I got to do it again. I didn’t forget about being involved, but there was so much that I was missing that I couldn’t pinpoint anything specific. But after this recent meeting, I realized how much this meant to me and how much I crave it.

There’s no timeline yet for things being back to how they were. I know that there was an announcement that things should be 100% open again in CA by mid-June, but that’s not a guarantee. We’ve all learned over the past year how quickly things can change. But I’m hoping that if things are really able to open by mid-June, that means that we will also be closer to being back to the regular schedule for union meetings. Even if they have to be virtual for a bit longer, I’d love to have these as a part of my routine again.

And while I am waiting for the next meeting, no matter which group or committee it will be for, I want to work on catching up on news and information that I might have missed. I want to find ways to learn and stay on top of the news without the meetings. It won’t be easy, but I know now how important that will be. Maybe this means that by the next meeting I will have things to share. I usually am more of a listener, but I can empower myself to be a more involved and active member.

I’m going to think of this first meeting as the start of things picking up again for me and my work with union service. I hope that is true and I will have more union events to share on here coming up. I love being able to share what I learn and know when I can. And hopefully, I will be able to do that more often between meetings and my own efforts in learning.

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Default ThumbnailGetting Informed About A Contract (or A Union Meeting Before A Vote) Default ThumbnailFinal Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable) Default ThumbnailA Low Key Union Working Meeting (or Getting To Fully Focus On What’s Being Said) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things) Default ThumbnailMore Union Education (or Making Sure Ads Go Union) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Working Meeting Of 2018 (or Union Strong For All)

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It’s SAG Awards Time! (or I Still Love Watching To See Who Wins)

Posted on April 8, 2021 | Comments Off on It’s SAG Awards Time! (or I Still Love Watching To See Who Wins)

The SAG Awards is one of the award shows I look forward to the most each year. It’s the one award show that I get to have a real hand in selecting the winners. I love getting to vote for all the different categories. And I do take voting seriously. I watch all the movies and shows that I can (I can’t always watch everything, but I try my best) and I pick based on the performances and not just wanting to see someone win. And I love watching the show because it feels much more connected to me than other award shows.

But this year, like so many things, the show had to be a bit different. I think all the award shows have been trying different things to see what is going to work and seem like the same show they had before. And I have to say, I love what the SAG Awards did.

Many shows seem to be doing something as close to normal as possible and having all the nominees appearing on Zoom so they can give their speech on live tv. And the run time for the award shows has been similar to what they were when everyone was in a space together. But the SAG Awards almost honored that we are in a different time by not trying to make it seem like a slightly different version of normal.

The show was only an hour long. All the award announcements were pre-taped so they didn’t have to worry about technical difficulties during a live broadcast. They did have all the nominees on Zoom like other shows have, and that helped it seem like each category was celebrating the winner together. It was fun to see these different little communities for each award and watching everyone as a group. And between each award presentation, they had these fun interviews with different actors about things that I think most SAG-AFTRA members could relate to. I don’t know if people outside of the industry enjoyed those segments as much as actors did, but I found them amazing. I especially loved seeing the one where the actors were talking about the random special skills listed on their resume and which ones were real and which ones they put on there and hoped they were never asked about.

The only negative thing for me about the SAG Awards this year was something that was my fault. This year, I didn’t watch that many of the nominated films. I watched so few that I actually didn’t vote for the winners. I didn’t feel like it was fair for me to vote when I didn’t really know if the performances I liked were the best of all the options. And I didn’t really have a good reason not to watch the screeners I got. I had the time, I just didn’t have the motivation. And maybe it was because I also am missing going to a movie theater to watch movies. While I love watching movies at home, it’s usually because that feels so different from what I normally do. But now, all movies are being watched on my tv. So I don’t feel the same way about feeling lucky to watch the screeners I got.

I’m so glad that even though I didn’t watch all the movies this year, I still loved watching the SAG Awards. It makes me so happy to see actors celebrating actors and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it. And I loved seeing what the producers of the show were able to do to make it feel special and unique even if it couldn’t be the way we are used to watching award shows. Hopefully, by next year things will be able to be done the way we are familiar with and everyone will be celebrating the winners together.

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Default ThumbnailA Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity) Default ThumbnailSAG Awards (or Watching After Knowing The Winners) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailThe SAG Awards (or I Am An Actor) Default ThumbnailBeing An Active And Interactive Viewer (or SAG Awards Live-Tweeting) Default ThumbnailEnjoying The Emmys (or This Awards Show Will Be A Bit Of A Time Capsule)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

Posted on March 23, 2021 | Comments Off on An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

It’s been a while since I’ve had some new headshots taken. I know I need to do some new ones soon, but I’ve been putting it off for a bit. Before the pandemic, I was hoping I would have a different enough look to need them (like if I changed up my hair or lost weight). I know you don’t have to wait until you look different for new photos, but that was the excuse I was telling myself. And then during the pandemic, I’ve been telling myself that I wanted to wait until it was safer. I know several photographers have been doing headshots and have found ways to stay safe, but I was still using that as an excuse.

But last week, I had to get some photos done for my social media day job. We all needed official work photos done. Some people had some that were taken before, but everyone was getting new photos taken even if they had them done in the past. These photos are going to be used on the company website, in our work emails, and when we are doing something where we are representing the company. But because many of us who work there are also actors, they wanted the photos to be great for work and also possible to use as headshots.

The photos were taken with The Headshot Truck. I’ve known about The Headshot Truck for several years now and I hadn’t shot with them before. But I loved their work and was really excited to get a chance to shoot with them. Because of safety issues, the photos would all be taken outside but I knew that they were going to be great no matter what.

Since these photos are primarily for work-related purposes, there were a few things we all had to do. The main thing was that we all had to wear blue since that is the company color. That was fine with me since I think I photograph well in blue. So I wore one option and brought a few others in case I needed to change. We all only had 15 minutes for our shoots, so there wasn’t really time to do multiple looks. But I wanted to have options just in case I needed to change before we started shooting. Fortunately, the outfit that I wore to the shoot was perfect and I didn’t have to change.

One other difference between other headshot shoots was that I had to do my own hair and makeup. I almost always have someone to do my hair and makeup, but since this shoot was a mini-shoot and mainly for work, I wasn’t going to hire someone this time. So I did my own hair and makeup and hoped it would look ok.

The shoot itself was really fun and easy. There were 2 outdoor locations were did the photos in. And halfway through the shoot, the photographer let me look at the photos so I could see if there was anything I wanted to change. I’m glad I did look, because there was something odd with how my hair was going over my shoulder. It wasn’t anything bad or something anyone besides myself would notice, but I’m glad I could fix it because I know it would have bothered me looking at the photos. I will also likely do retouching (since you always need to do that) so I could have fixed it in retouching too. But I am glad I could change how my hair looked so I could feel better about my photos.

I haven’t gotten the images back just yet, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only seen a few shots from their computer screen after the shoot was done, but they look great!

I know my photo of their screen isn’t the best and it’s not easy to see the photos, but I was happy when looking at them. And I’m sure I’ll have a few different ones that are my top choices and I’ll ask friends to help me pick the best one. And maybe I’ll find one that I love for my work shot and another that I love for a headshot!

I love that I had this chance to take some new photos. Even though the main reason for them is for work, this is another thing I was able to do to get ready for being back to auditioning again. I’ve been doing self-tapes over the past year, but I know in-person auditions will be back in the future and I want to have myself in the best spot possible for those when they happen.

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Default ThumbnailTime For New Headshots (or Adding Some Personality Into My Photos) Default ThumbnailA Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie) Default ThumbnailExpress Headshot Day (or Another Fun Podcast Event) Default ThumbnailNew Headshots (or Trying To Be A Quirky Office Girl/College Student/Young Mom) Default ThumbnailBeing Underestimated (or Does My Opinion Not Matter?) Default ThumbnailGetting Pretty (or A Fresh Look For My New Pictures)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Work

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More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Posted on March 18, 2021 | Comments Off on More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Over the past year, I’ve done a lot of virtual meetings regarding SAG-AFTRA. Some of them are more official and some of them are unofficial but still related to union service. I’m not sure if I’ve been a part of more meetings than normal since virtual ones are easier to attend, but I know that it hasn’t been as big of a decrease as I feared at first. There are different virtual meetings and events to attend each week and I only have been a part of a small portion of those. But whenever there is a bigger official meeting, I do my best to be a part of it.

There haven’t been a lot of big meetings lately, but there have been a few. There was one last year regarding the health plan that I made sure to be a part of. Even though I’m not eligible for union healthcare, I wanted to understand what was going on so I could try to help other members who had questions. I also like to understand what is going on because then when I’m eligible in the future I will already have some knowledge about the system. I did that before I joined the union. I attended several meetings that were open to non-union members so I didn’t join without understanding a lot of the union benefits and the important people I should know about.

I do miss attending the Local Board meetings. I was doing really great with attending those each month. And while they are doing those meetings over Zoom these days, they are not open to observers like the in-person meetings are. But as soon as those are able to have observers again, I plan on being back there and being as active and involved in the union as I can.

But last week, there was another big official meeting. The LA Local Membership meeting is an open meeting to all members of the LA Local. Normally, it’s held in a big room and there is an expo before the meeting so members can learn about different committees and services that the LA Local has. And during the meeting, there is a lot of information given, like how things have been going for the union and the progress of things coming up. And for the second half of the meeting, it’s a Q&A where you can ask the local leaders questions about anything union-related. Some people have questions about contracts, some ask about the health and pension plans, and some are more general questions.

Something I love about the LA Local Membership meeting is getting to see so many of my friends. I usually am socializing before and after the meeting. Sometimes a little socializing during the meeting too. But I usually am trying to pay attention and see what new things are happening that I need to be aware of. It’s a long meeting and full of information, but it’s always something I am glad I attended.

This year, obviously they couldn’t have the meeting the way they usually do. So it was done on Zoom with only the leaders being seen. There were presentations about a few things, but not as many as they have done during the in-person meetings. I don’t know if they were trying to keep more time open for the Q&A or if there wasn’t as much to present. But I’m glad they did keep the Q&A time because I know I had a lot of friends that had questions. I had some questions I wanted to ask too, but I couldn’t stay on Zoom the entire time and I didn’t want my turn to come up when I wasn’t on there. So I just listened to what other members asked.

And most of the questions were things that I expected to hear about. Some of the same questions that we are used to hearing at these meetings and some that are specific to this time. Being safe on sets and at auditions is a big concern for everyone, but the union has been doing a great job and creating guidelines for how to accomplish that.

While I didn’t get to meet anyone new in person like I normally do, I did connect to someone through social media after they asked a question that I was able to help with. I’m glad I was still able to help a member, but it was weird having to find them on social media and hope they were ok with a random person messaging them. Fortunately, they were ok with me doing that and I was able to get them connected to others who I thought they should know.

While this was still a really great and productive meeting, I was a bit sad that it was done virtually. So much of what I love about union service is meeting new people in person and connecting with them. You can’t really do that over Zoom. And I think most of us are ready to be done with virtual meetings and seeing people face to face again. But we can’t do that just yet. Things are getting safer, but they aren’t safe just yet. And I don’t know what it will take for meetings to be in person again, but I do trust that whatever the union decides to do, there will be a lot of thought behind it. So I am ok with them not rushing back, but at the same time, I can’t wait for it to happen.

Hopefully, this was one of my last big union events that will be done virtually. I know there is some chance of things coming up that will be virtual, like the National Convention, but that’s also half a year away. Nothing has been decided yet and so much can change between now and then. All I can do is continue attending the things that I can and try to find ways to still be involved and make connections. And I’m sure it won’t be long before I am back to attending things in person and maybe I’ll even start missing the time that I attended things virtually.

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A Different Type Of Self-Tape Audition (or Recording An Audition In Bed)

Posted on January 27, 2021 | Comments Off on A Different Type Of Self-Tape Audition (or Recording An Audition In Bed)

While I haven’t had a lot of self-tape auditions, I have had enough that I feel pretty good about my setup. There are still a few things that I want to get to make my self-tape auditions better, but nothing is desperately needed. But I have a feeling that even when auditions can be held in-person again, there will still be more self-tape auditions than there were before the pandemic. And I’m ok with this because I’m happy for any auditions I can get!

All of my self-tape auditions have been on video. Some have been for tv shows and some for commercials. I don’t think I’ve had a movie self-tape yet, but it’s the same idea as tv and commercial auditions. They are filmed and it’s on-camera. I have a place in my house that I use for recording these because the light is the best and I have a way to set up my tripod and everything else I need to look the best I can. And I know I have to look good when I do them. I might wear sweats on the bottom with a nice top or dress on top, but I look presentable and have my hair and makeup done.

But not all auditions are on video. Voiceover auditions are just sound recordings.  I rarely audition for voiceovers, but I have had them in the past. But those auditions were all done at a casting office or recording studio where they had a sound booth to do the audition in. I know that recording voiceover auditions (and even some jobs) at home has been common for a long time, but it’s not something I had any experience in.

Until this past weekend.

I got an audition notice from my commercial agent about a voiceover commercial audition. It was pretty simple, only 2 lines, but it needed to be done at home. I guess I could have rented a recording studio for my audition, but that would have cost money and I knew it wasn’t necessary. My audition didn’t have to be perfect, but I needed to find a way to make things as clear sounding as possible.

I knew using my external mic on my phone was going to be the best option. I guess I could have tried my headphones, but I know that things usually sound better on the mic than when I use my headphones. And I also knew that clothing and fabric are great for soundproofing and muffling other noises so a lot of people recommend recording in your closet. But my closet is a weird shape where it’s almost like a little hallway with the handing rods in the back. I did try doing one take in there, but it was very echoey and you could hear some ambient noise.

So I did some research online for other options and one that kept coming up was recording under a blanket. Covering yourself with a blanket is the same idea as being in a closet. You have fabric all around you and have a good chance to not have any echoes. I don’t own a ton of blankets, but I figured the comforter on my bed would work. And I didn’t have to sit up to do this, so I got back into bed with my phone in front of me to have the script up and my mic near my face.

I still did a few different takes to make sure I had a take that I liked. There were a few where it didn’t sound the way I wanted it to, but that was about my performance and not any outside noise coming in. It didn’t take too long, but I still took my time doing this. And after doing a little bit of editing to cut out the dead air at the beginning and end, my audition was done and ready to be submitted!

I don’t know if I want to try to pursue more voiceover work. There are a lot of things I don’t know about doing voiceovers that I should learn if I want to do it more often. But it was fun to play with it this time and it would be really cool if I booked it! I don’t expect to since I know some of the other women who auditioned for this part are very experienced in voiceover. But no matter what, it was another day to audition and have fun. And anything that makes me happy and brings joy into my life these days is amazing!

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A Virtual Holiday Party (or Missing My Union So Much)

Posted on December 22, 2020 | Comments Off on A Virtual Holiday Party (or Missing My Union So Much)

I’ve been getting more and more involved with my union. A lot of my involvement has been related to union service, such as being a delegate and attending board meetings. And being involved with union service is important since the members are leaders of the union. Even though we have staff, so much of what the union can do is because of the membership. So being involved in union service is something I try to do a lot of and try to encourage others to do so as well.

But I also have been trying over the years to do more fun things with the union too. And there are normally a lot of fun opportunities, such as going to screenings and attending classes and Q&A interviews. And a few times a year, there are big social events for the union. The biggest one in my opinion is the annual holiday party!

I’ve attended the holiday party for the past several years. I haven’t always been able to attend, but I always try my best. And it’s just a good fun time. It’s all about being social with other members. There is food, lots of photo opportunities, and lots of time to just talk to each other. Since there is no real agenda for the holiday party, it’s a great time to catch up with union members I haven’t seen for a while and to meet new members. Since most of the members I know are also involved in union service and a lot of members aren’t involved, it’s always been a time that I get to meet a lot of new people.

It can be a little overwhelming being in a big crowd when you don’t know everyone, but I’ve never regretted going. Sometimes I don’t stay too long, but I always go when I can and I always leave feeling so happy.

So with everything going on this year, missing the holiday party was just another thing that couldn’t happen. But that didn’t mean that it was completely gone. Normally, the holiday party is for the Los Angeles Local, so it’s only members from LA that are a part of it. But this year, with everyone getting used to having virtual hangouts, they made the holiday party a virtual one! And it was with union leaders from all over the country!

There were different videos that were included in the virtual party that highlighted different Locals within the union. And it was very positive and upbeat about how we have made it this far during the pandemic and soon things will be going back to how we are used to having them. Film and TV have started up again but at a very reduced capacity. I think everyone is ready for the entertainment industry to be back up and running and all of the leaders were very encouraging about that happening soon. We can’t control when the pandemic will end, but we can be prepared for when it happens so we can get back to work.

There was also some entertainment at the virtual party. Since our union covers singers too, we have amazing singers in the leadership. And there was even a short video with a cooking demonstration. It was really cute and I loved what they were able to put together.

I did miss out on seeing my friends and meeting new people, but that’s how I’ve been feeling about this entire year. I’m hoping it won’t be too long before we can all be together again. And I know I will appreciate it even more. And I hope that next year, they can do both the in-person and virtual holiday party. I love the in-person one because I get to meet so many members that live in LA. But I loved the virtual one and how it included members all over the country! That feeling of unity was wonderful and I want to continue feeling that.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens next year with the party (or parties). But I’ve got my fingers crossed that we will have 2 parties in a year!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Almost Getting To Act (or Being On The Other Side Of A Self-Tape Audition)

Posted on November 24, 2020 | Comments Off on Almost Getting To Act (or Being On The Other Side Of A Self-Tape Audition)

I’ve had a few self-tape auditions during this pandemic. Even though there are a few more in-person auditions these days, self-tape auditions are still more common. It’s an easy way for casting directors to set up auditions and to keep themselves safe. And I think most of my actor friends have gotten a pretty decent system down for how to do the best self-tapes. I know I have. I might not have all the equipment I would like to have, but I’ve got a way to do decent work and I know that casting directors aren’t expecting something to be perfect in terms of film quality.

One of the weirdest parts of doing self-tape auditions these days is having someone to read the other lines with you. Before the pandemic, I would invite someone to come over to help me do a self-tape. They would run the camera and read the lines with me. But now, it’s not really safe to do that. And I think most people have done the same thing: we have our readers on a phone or video call.

I’ve figured out a way to have my reader on my phone while I record my audition on my iPad. And I set up my phone to be in a place where my friend can see the screen of my iPad if they are on a video call. That way, they can make sure that I’m still in frame and things look good. It’s a weird system, but it works. And I think most casting directors understand why our readers might sound tinny.

And this past week, I had the chance to be a reader for a friend’s audition. I hadn’t done that before and it was fun to do. I know it wasn’t my audition so I wasn’t really acting much saying the lines I had to say, but I also tried to make them sound a little more lively than if I was just reading them. My friend had a commercial audition with 2 scenes he had to do. So we had a couple of takes with each one until he felt like they were what he wanted. He had a camera recording him with a screen he could see, so he didn’t need me to be checking the frame. I just was seeing things off to the side to help him with an eye line.

There are so few opportunities right now to do any acting, so being a reader for someone else was a treat for me. It was a fraction of what I get to do when I book a job, but it’s much more than I normally get to do. It really made me so happy to do it. Plus, I was helping out a friend and that felt amazing too. I don’t do a ton of video calls because I think most people are a little burned out on them, so it was nice to get to have a quick catch up with a friend and actually see them and not just hear them. Honestly, it really was a highlight of my week last week. I don’t get to do much that makes me happy, so this was just much more special.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for my friend to book it (I think he did a great job with the audition). And I hope I get more opportunities to either do a self-tape myself or to help a friend record theirs. I crave any type of acting related work I can do and I hope I can do more of them. I know that eventually, things will be safe again to do in-person auditions more and more. They might still keep self-tape auditions. They’ve been a thing before, just not that common. And there are pros and cons for having them. But they are still auditions and they are still fun for me. And I’m grateful whenever I get to have any part in one, even if it’s just to help a friend with their audition.

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Helping Friends Make Progress (or An Evening Of Feeling Like I Have A Purpose)

Posted on October 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Helping Friends Make Progress (or An Evening Of Feeling Like I Have A Purpose)

There are so many things I’ve learned about myself during this pandemic. One thing I learned was how important having a purpose is to me. I’ve always kind of known this and that’s one thing that pushed me into union service. But now more than ever I understand how having a purpose is something I need. When I don’t have a job and feel like I’m accomplishing things, it’s more obvious than ever when I don’t have a purpose. I feel like I’m just floating along in life and I’m not grounded. So whenever I have a project to do, I go for it because it gives me a purpose and makes me feel so much better.

And sometimes, I get a purpose out of being helpful. And that’s exactly what I got to do this week. Someone that I did improv class with reached out to me on social media. I don’t think we’ve seen each other since finishing the class, but we’ve stayed in touch over social media so we both know what the other is up to. So he knows I’m pretty involved in the union. I don’t think he exactly knew what I do with the union, but since he had a question about the union, he reached out to me.

He is still not in the union yet, but he wanted to make a union project to put online. This is actually one way that someone can become eligible to join the union and is a very common type of project that people do. But he wanted to make sure that he was doing everything correctly so that he can hire union actors and he didn’t want to make mistakes. So he reached out to me for more information.

I’m not an expert in self-producing and haven’t done it much. But I did have a little background information on what he needs to do. I also know people who know a lot more than I do, so I was able to reach out to them to answer his questions and connect them so he can ask them more. It was a very productive conversation with him and I think he feels much better and confident about the project he’s going to do. He’s still in the beginning stages of getting things ready, but that’s exactly when you need to start getting the union paperwork together. So he did it perfectly because he is going to get all the paperwork done with plenty of time before he is planning on filming.

These days, it’s a little more complicated than normal because you have to have more safety protocols in place. But it’s still possible to film. And my friend who knows more about this than I do is going to help him make sure he gets everything that he needs to make it completely compliant with our new protocols. And he does understand why things have to be this way, so he’s very willing to work with the protocols. It’s always good when someone gets why things are the way they are and I’m glad that he’s willing to work with the rules and figure out how to make it work.

The entire call I had with him went so well and I am so excited about the project he’s working on. It sounds like he’s really passionate about self-producing and taking advantage of the free time he has right now. I can’t wait to see what he creates!

And even though this is a little selfish, I’m so glad he asked me for help. It did make me feel like I was useful and it gave me something to do that I could accomplish. He did give me a purpose that day. And I needed that feeling. I’ve totally been feeling lost lately and he helped me focus on something, even if it was only for a short time.

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Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailFriends Helping Friends (or Not Being Afraid To Ask For Support) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Out With Friends (or An Excuse To Dress Up) Default ThumbnailA Week Of Progress (or Feeling More Like Me) Default ThumbnailFeeling More Progress (or Olympic Workouts) Default ThumbnailFeeling Better About My Progress (or Coming Back From The Dri-Tri)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Enjoying The Emmys (or This Awards Show Will Be A Bit Of A Time Capsule)

Posted on September 22, 2020 | Comments Off on Enjoying The Emmys (or This Awards Show Will Be A Bit Of A Time Capsule)

The Emmys were this past weekend. As I usually do, I watched them live so I could also live-tweet them. I love watching awards shows, I always have. But as I have gotten more and more involved in my union, I have gotten to know people who are up for various awards. This year, there were a few people I’ve met up for Emmys and some people I would consider acquaintances. It made things even better. Also, I had watched “Schitt’s Creek” this year with the Movie Club I helped to start, so I was so excited to see them up for so many awards.

Watching the awards this year wasn’t that different from how I normally watch them. I was on my couch, alone, and I ordered some delivery food. That actually felt really normal to me and having that feeling was something I needed. But the show was definitely not normal.

Because of the pandemic, there was no audience watching. Very few presenters were at the show. There were some that were done by Jimmy Kimmel, who was the host, and there were some that were pre-taped by actors and essential workers (which was a nice touch). And the nominees were all watching on their own with cameras live-streaming their reactions into the show. I saw some behind the scenes stuff about how the Television Academy sent all the nominees cameras and lights so they could do this. It was pretty incredible to see how it turned out and I think it was really good. The cast and crew from “Schitt’s Creek” were watching together and having a mini-party and so did some of the team behind “Watchman”. But they were following protocols and staying safe.

I am so glad that “Schitt’s Creek” was together since they had a clean sweep of the comedy awards! Seeing everyone be so excited for each other brought me so much joy. And anything that brings joy these days is so special. And even watching people win and have to give their speeches alone in a room was fun and joyful to watch. Honestly, I think we all needed an awards show at this time since there hasn’t been anything like that lately to watch. Some may feel like it was frivolous, but so are a lot of things that people are excited about. And to me and I bet so many others, this was something we needed to feel like not everything is gone because of the pandemic.

I hope that this is the only time that the Emmys have to be this way and that by this time next year things will be back to normal and people can be together. I actually didn’t mind this new format and would love to see how it could be incorporated in the future. But I also love it when things are held in a single space and you could see everyone there excited for all the winners.

No matter what, this show was very clearly held during a pandemic. People were wearing masks (and many had ones to match their outfits or found a way to make them stylish). The awards were given to the winners by employees in hazmat suits. People were isolated and not together. One day, looking back at this show, people will instantly know that it was held during this time. It’s a moment in history. I wonder if other award shows in the next year or so will be the same. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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Default ThumbnailBeing An Active And Interactive Viewer (or SAG Awards Live-Tweeting) Default ThumbnailA Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailA Night Of Oscars (or Last Minute Costumes and Enjoying The Show) Default ThumbnailThe SAG Awards (or I Am An Actor) Default ThumbnailSAG Awards (or Watching After Knowing The Winners)

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Another Self-Tape Audition (or So Grateful For Anything Related To Acting Right Now)

Posted on September 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Self-Tape Audition (or So Grateful For Anything Related To Acting Right Now)

Things are starting to slowly reopen in LA. There are a few shows that are back to filming after some safety guidelines are in place. There are a lot of things that have to be done in order to have a safe set, such as regular testing and having actors wear masks or shields except for the brief time you are filming (everyone else on set has to keep their mask or shield on). I know a few people who are series regulars on tv shows, and they have been able to start working again. I’m so happy to see things starting up again, but I also know that they aren’t fully opening. Even with the shows that are back, I wonder how many actors that aren’t the regulars will be in each episode. I know things are still being figured out and things can and will change, but each step forward is positive.

There have even started to have auditions that are held in casting offices. I haven’t had an in-office audition yet, and I’m not sure how safe I feel going to one. Fortunately, for people who are nervous going into an office, most casting directors are still allowing actors to submit self-tapes. And more often than not, all of the auditions are being done as self-tapes. So that makes things easy.

For most self-tape auditions, you have at least a few days to get them done. Sometimes, if they are a general audition like my other pandemic audition, you get several weeks to do your audition. I appreciate having the time so I can get my lines memorized, find a friend who can help me with my self-tape (now, having help over a video call to have someone be my reader), have time to film a few takes, and then editing it and submitting it. Rarely, for self-tapes and in-person auditions do you have a same-day audition. But they do happen. And that’s almost what happened to me this past weekend.

Technically, it wasn’t a same-day self-tape audition, but it was close. The audition notice came in very late at night. I was actually asleep when I got it so I didn’t know about it until the next morning. And it was due by 8 pm that day. So I had to quickly figure out who could help me so I could get this done and submitted. I was lucky that another actor from my union slate was able to help me out. And it wasn’t a long audition so I quickly had it memorized.

I still want to improve my self-tape setup, but it’s not too bad. I have a good tripod for my iPad (which is my best camera) and I have a place in my house that has good natural light. I struggle with my current setup with doing full-body angles (which are typically needed for audition introductions), but that’s not too bad. And I think most casting directors understand that home self-tapes might not be perfect. But even with the improvements I want to make, I think my self-tape auditions look pretty good.

I’ve been doing more video editing lately since I have to do minor edits to the livestreams I help to run, so editing my self-tape was pretty easy. It was made even easier because every take that I did was actually the same video clip. I just started my camera when we started and kept it running through all my takes and adjustments. I just had to watch it to figure out which take was the best one. And while I don’t like watching or hearing myself on camera, I’m getting better at it and it’s not as difficult for me to do the editing.

I was able to get my audition edited and submitted a few hours before the deadline. I had a few issues getting it submitted, but the casting director gave us a few options of how we could do it so I was able to use a different method from what I originally planned on using.

For a self-tape audition, this was quick and easy. I’m shocked how fast I was able to get it done, but it really just fell into place. And having the chance to audition made me so happy. I don’t believe I booked the commercial I auditioned for, but that doesn’t matter. I had the best day having an audition and it really made my time being isolated a lot more fun.

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Default ThumbnailSelf-Taping At Home (or Auditioning In Yoga Pants) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailAn Isolation Audition (or Working On My Self-Tape Game) Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailUpgrading My Self-Tape Set Up (or 2 Auditions In 30 Minutes) Default ThumbnailAudition Friends (or The Kindness Of My Competition)

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