Tag Archives: acting

Self-Tape Saturday (or Turning A Video Shoot Into A Photo Shoot)

Posted on October 17, 2018 | Comments Off on Self-Tape Saturday (or Turning A Video Shoot Into A Photo Shoot)

I’ve written about self-taping auditions in the past. While I love going into an office for an audition and getting to work with a casting director or assistant directly, self-tape auditions are becoming more and more common. And they are even more common with auditioning for the smaller parts. Because they are more common, I’ve slowly been upgrading my self-tape set-up at home. I now have a tripod that I can use my iPad with (it’s not my best camera, but it’s close to the best one) and I have a backdrop that I can use on a wall in my house so that it looks more professional. So when I have an audition that calls for a self-tape, I feel pretty comfortable that I can do it.

The only thing I need to find is someone to help me tape the audition. It’s not too hard since most of my actors friends are willing to help out (because I would do the same for them), but I still usually have to ask around to find someone who is available when I am to be my reader. So when I found out about a self-tape audition I needed to do this weekend, I immediately started to text my friends to see who was free. And my birthday twin, Joanna, was not only free but she also had a self-tape audition that needed to be done!

She mentioned that she had a self-tape set-up at her house, so I was happy to go over there to work on our auditions. I had my tripod and iPad with me to use as a camera and I wasn’t totally sure what her set-up would be. I knew it would be fine, but I was so impressed when I walked into her house!

It was so professional looking! She not only had the backdrop and tripod, but she also had lights and a microphone! I knew this was going to be one of my best self-tape auditions as far as looks go. And I was really excited to get to spend an evening working on auditions with a friend.

Joanna was going to use her phone to record her auditions (it was just easiest for us each to record on our own devices) and since that was already set up she went first. We rehearsed her scene a few times so she was comfortable and I was familiar with the lines that I would be reading for her and then we started recording. We did a bunch of takes because I wanted Joanna to feel completely certain that she got the best take that she could do. And I was having fun being her reader and getting to have a little bit of silly acting before doing my audition.

Then we switched things up and it was my turn to do my audition. My audition had some unique rules about how they wanted everything to be done so even though my scene was significantly shorter than Joanna’s my audition was taking longer. But she had the same patience for me that I did for her and we did a bunch of takes until I felt like I had the audition that I wanted to submit.

After we were done doing our videos, we decided to take some silly photos. We both were going to post about spending our night self-taping auditions and we might as well have pictures to go along with it! We were doing pretty normal photos until Joanna discovered how cool it looks to have the iPad screen covering my face so you see my face on the screen.

And of course after she took that photo of me I made her get in front of the iPad so I could do the same for her. We were just having fun and being so silly after working on auditions and it made the night so much more fun. I love getting to hang out with a friend and getting to do any form of acting, but turning this into a photo shoot was an added bonus that made my night.

I started to edit my audition to cut out my best take the next day. Since my scenes were so short I told Joanna just to keep the camera running between takes. We had to pause sometimes because her neighbors slammed a door or there was a plane above us so the noise was distracting, but that’s just how things go. When we were pausing for noise she and I usually were talking about random things. And while watching my videos to find my best takes I was laughing at all the crazy faces I made while talking to Joanna just as me.

I don’t love to watch myself on camera, but the more often I do it the easier it gets. I found my best takes and got everything edited the way the casting director instructed us to do. I did have some problems submitting my audition on the website we needed to do it through, but fortunately my agent was able to do the submission for me so I didn’t miss the deadline. I did get things straightened out with the submission site the day after the deadline so hopefully I won’t have this problem again. But I was just grateful my agent could do it for me and wasn’t upset that I ran into trouble.

I’m so glad that things worked out so well for Joanna to help me with my audition. And I was so inspired by how awesome her self-tape set-up was as well! I’m now looking into some things that I can hopefully get in the future to make my self-tape set-up at my house as close to what she has. I know that when casting directors ask for self-tape auditions they don’t expect them to be super professional, but they shouldn’t look like they are completely amateur either. I want to find the perfect balance and I think adding a few more things to what I have will take things much closer to looking like they were done at a casting office.

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Default ThumbnailSelf-Taping At Home (or Auditioning In Yoga Pants) Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailSkype Audition (or Maybe I Should Have Worn Regular Pants) Default ThumbnailA Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie) Default ThumbnailAn Amazing Photo Shoot (or Dress Like A Woman) Default ThumbnailUpgrading My Self-Tape Set Up (or 2 Auditions In 30 Minutes)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Such An LA Night (or Just Having Some Fun With A Friend)

Posted on October 9, 2018 | Comments Off on Such An LA Night (or Just Having Some Fun With A Friend)

I usually write about the SAG-AFTRA Film Society at the beginning of the summer because that’s when the season usually starts each year. But this year, there were some delays with the theater and the season had to start late. But since we are going to have a shortened season, we also had reduced pricing so I’m not too mad about it! And finally this past weekend we had the first screening season!

The first weekend had 2 screenings but I was only able to make it to the first screening. And the first screening was “A Star Is Born” and I was so excited to see it! I had heard so many great things about it and the screening was going to be on opening weekend which is a rare treat!

More often than not, I go to screenings alone and that’s fine with me. But I always ask around to see if anyone wants to go with me because it’s always fun to see a movie with a friend. Plus, since I pay for the season, I like to invite friends so they can get a free movie! It’s one of the fun things I get to do and share with others and it always makes me happy when someone can come with me.

This time, my friend Dani wanted to come along. She has never been to one of these screenings before (although she has been to screenings through other ones) so I think she was excited to see what the Film Society is all about. We got there pretty early since the first screening weekend is usually crowded. The way they had us line up was different from the other years I’ve done it so it looked like there were so many people in line, but I reassured Dani that it always looks like that but then when you get inside the theater I can almost always find seats in the center.

While I still have moments of realizing that I’m talking to someone I recognize from tv or movies, it’s seeming more normal to me. But when Dani and I lined up for the movie, she had a look on her face like she was trying to place someone she thought she knew. She told me a bit later that a woman behind us in line was in one episode of “Friends” and she remembered her from that one episode. I love when friends get excited about stuff like that because it’s one of those “only in LA moments”.

When we got inside the theater, I was right and we were able to be seated almost exactly in the center of the theater. We had some time to kill before the movie started, but we used that time to catch up and discuss lots of random things.

My quick review of “A Star Is Born” is that is was amazing! The story is pretty similar to the past versions of it so nothing was super shocking or surprising. But it still seemed to feel new and fresh. And when it was one of the dramatic scenes toward the end (if you know the story you know what I’m talking about), I felt like I couldn’t breathe. And Bradley Cooper did a wonderful job directing it and making the film look beautiful. For his first time directing, he did an incredible job and I have a feeling there will be a lot of award nominations for the movie.

After the movie, Dani and I decided to get some dinner. We were looking at different restaurants near the theater and nothing seemed to be what we wanted. But then Dani asked if we could go to Pink’s Hot Dogs since it wasn’t too far away. She had never been there before and wanted to check it out. I really enjoy Pink’s and don’t go that often so that sounded perfect to me! I prepared her that there may be a huge line, but when we got there the line only had about 10 people in it! It was fate that we went there!

We both enjoyed our hot dogs and just hanging out and chatting. It was also such a nice night outside so it felt good to be sitting outside and not feeling too hot or like the humidity was stifling. Even though we just had hot dogs, Dani and I decided to continue our night out and get some dessert. We were trying to think of a very LA type of dessert and decided to go Milk which is an ice cream shop and a bakery. I had never been there before but had heard amazing things about it so we got in the car and headed over there.

So many of the things on the menu sounded great and neither Dani nor I could decide on what we wanted. So we decided to get 2 different ice cream sundaes so we could try a few types of ice cream plus the brownie and blondie.

Those desserts were so good, but they were so giant! We each tried both sundaes and I think we both agreed that the blondie was the better of the two. But even with us both eating that sundae it seemed like we didn’t even make a dent in it! But we were both so stuffed and the store was closing so we only finished a portion of each before heading back to my car to head back.

We joked that this night was such an LA/Hollywood night. We went to a screening, we went to Pink’s, and we went to an ice cream shop that is known for Instagramable foods. It was so silly but so awesome at the same time! Whenever I have these low-key hangouts with friends I always say how much fun they are, and this one was no different. And hopefully I’ll be able to have more nights out like this with some more of the screenings this season!

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Default ThumbnailFYC (or A Drive-In TV Screening Night) Default ThumbnailMore Friends More Fun (or Still Building My Social Circle) Default ThumbnailA Night At A Screening (or Forgetting What Non-Screenings Are Like) Default ThumbnailAnother Grove Adventure (or Dinner And Not A Screening) Default ThumbnailA Tasting And Theater Night (or Enjoying A Fun Night Out) Default ThumbnailMagic Castle Fun (or Girls Night Out)

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

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A NextGen Mixer (or Just Having Fun With My Friends)

Posted on September 27, 2018 | Comments Off on A NextGen Mixer (or Just Having Fun With My Friends)

So many of the union events I go to are a bit more serious. They are informative sessions about an issue concerning the union or are related to the elections. But sometimes I get to go to a fun union event which I love! Even though I want to be involved in the union and want to understand the issues we are passionate about, I also just like having fun with my friends and meeting other members. Fortunately, there are events like that from time to time.

A lot of the events that the NextGen Performers committee does are those fun ones. One of the main goals of that committee is to get younger members of the union involved and excited about what is going on. And having a mixer with free food and drinks is a great way to get people to come to an event! And while they are there, you can educate them about things that may be affecting them as union members. And for non-union members who attend those events can learn more about the benefits of union membership and what the differences can be between union and non-union work.

There was a mixer this week and because my mind was on other things I completely forgot about RSVPing for it. I went online the night before and the registration was showing closed. I didn’t know if that meant that they were filled or that it was too close to the date to sign up, so I texted a friend who is on the committee to see what was happening. He was able to add me to the list so I could attend and I was so grateful for him doing that (it wasn’t even what I was asking about, he just went ahead and did it)!

The mixer was at Lure in Hollywood. I had never been to the venue before, but it was pretty close to the Pantages so I knew that parking might be a bit tough to find. I skipped searching for street parking because there was a lot of traffic and road construction and just went to a parking garage. It wasn’t the cheapest option, but it was convenient and right across the street from the venue. And since I didn’t want to be out too late, I wanted to get to the mixer as close to when it started as possible.

As soon as I checked in and walked inside, I started looking for people I knew. It’s always a bit nerve-racking when I’m at a big event and don’t see a familiar face so I usually look for a friend as soon as I arrive. Fortunately, I saw some friends and union staff members right inside the door. I went over to say hello to them and then started seeing more people I knew. And then some of my friends were heading inside from the entryway where the step and repeat was into the ballroom and I followed them.

I wish I had taken photos of the venue because it was really amazing! The ballroom was nice and open with lots of seating all over. There was some food being served, but the line for food was a bit long and I wasn’t too hungry. So while my friends went to get food, I was scanning the crowd to see who else I knew. I saw my friend who got me on the list for the mixer so I went over to say thank you to him. And he was chatting with some other friends of mine so I started to catch up with them.

The rest of the evening was pretty much me moving around and finding more friends I knew. I walked with some friends to the step and repeat and saw more people I knew. I didn’t really care about taking nice photos so I went over to my friends. Then they were going to head up to the stage to talk for a bit about the event and the groups that organized it, so I found a couch area off to the side where I could watch.

When my friend Ben (who was my date to the Convention Gala last year) was speaking, I took a photo to share on social media. It was only after I took the photo that I realized that the video on the screen behind him had a clip of him at the exact moment that I got the photo. So it was double Bens!

After the speeches, the mixer was back to being a social event and I went to find my friends again. And while I was chatting with them I noticed a friend who I hadn’t seen in quite a while walking past us. It was also his birthday that night so I wanted to tell him happy birthday! And he was telling me all about the amazing things that were happening in his life after he had a bit of a rough patch. And because he is also single, our conversation turned to some ridiculousness we both have had with online dating and dating in LA in general.

The mixer was only 2 hours long so while I was catching up with my friend the event ended (and they turned the lights on so it was clear they were hoping we’d all be leaving quickly). But before I left I wanted to grab a quick photo with the signs they always have at the NextGen Performer events. The step and repeat was already down, so I just got a photo in front of the bar. My hair looks a bit weird because there was a piece in front of my face, but I wasn’t really thinking about how I was looking when taking the photo.

I’m so grateful my friend was able to get me on the list for this mixer and that I went. I love having opportunities to see friends and this was a great one! I didn’t get to meet that many new people because I was focused on catching up with all the people I saw that I knew, but that’s ok. I know there will be another event soon where I can focus more on getting to know more union members.

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Default ThumbnailA Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother NextGen Mixer (or A Fun Post-Election Hangout) Default ThumbnailA Happy Hour Mixer (or Being A NextGen Performer) Default ThumbnailThe First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer) Default ThumbnailA SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends) Default ThumbnailA MOVE Mixer (or Learning More About What I Can Be Involved In This Year)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Working On Rejection (or Why Can’t Dating Be Like Acting)

Posted on September 21, 2018 | Comments Off on Working On Rejection (or Why Can’t Dating Be Like Acting)

As an actor, you deal with rejection all the time. Actors get rejected for more jobs than they are offered. Every single day, I submit myself to various projects and my agents submit me as well. A majority of the time, I never hear back from those submissions so I was rejected for even an audition. And when I do get an audition, I don’t usually book the job. I don’t see that rejection as anything bad since everyone deals with it. And I know that not every part is right for me. My job when I audition is to do the best job I can in the room so the casting director wants to bring me back when there is another part I might be right for.

But even though I am very comfortable with rejection in my acting career and it doesn’t bother me one bit, I can’t say the same about dating. There are some times that I think everyone would agree that I am right to be upset over rejection or someone lying to me. I don’t think anyone expects someone to be ok with being hurt that way, especially when it’s someone who you cared about and you thought cared about you. I also know that those situations are sometimes inevitable and are a part of life. Dating has always had some rejection or heartache, that’s not just something that started with online dating.

And I guess ghosting could have been a thing before as well, but it seems like it really picked up with dating apps. I’ve had a couple of guys ghost me, but more recently there have been 2 that really got to me. One guy I had 2 dates with and then they were out-of-town (this was something we had discussed on our first date). From before our first date through their time out-of-town, we were texting at least once a day. We were making tentative plans for when they were back in LA. And once they were back, they stopped texting. They never unmatched with me on the app we matched on, but all communication stopped. I reached out one more time, they responded, but then ghosted me again. That really bugged me because there was nothing that made me feel like things weren’t going to move forward with another date. But I guess he didn’t care to see me again and he didn’t feel like he should say something to me.

And more recently, there was someone who seemed like a real great guy. We got along, could talk about a ton of different subjects without awkward silences, and he was planning creative dates for us. On our last date, something just didn’t seem right to me. I mentioned it hoping that would make things better (sometimes it’s better to bring up a weird feeling than ignore it and hope it goes away) and he said everything was fine but he was just tired from working long hours. That could have been it, but I still had a gut feeling that something was off and he wasn’t telling me. We made plans for the next day, and I haven’t heard from him since. I honestly have no clue what happened, but again I was ghosted by a guy who didn’t have the manners to end things like an adult.

Those ghosting situations are the standard ones because I had met these guys in person and we had been talking and dating. I don’t know what to call the guys who disappear before I even meet them since I don’t know if it’s really the same thing as ghosting. But a new trend I’ve been seeing is a guy who is messaging with me on whatever app we connect with (I don’t give out my number until I meet a guy in person to protect myself from scammers and catfish) and we make plans for a date. Sometimes everything is planned, sometimes it’s just the date and time and we are going to figure out a location later. And then the day of the date I go to the app to message them to either finalize plans or say that I’m excited to meet them, and they are no longer listed in my matches. They could have been scammers or had their accounts blocked, but more often than not they just unmatched with me.

I know that there are some guys on the apps who are in relationships that use dating apps to get an ego boost. They don’t consider it cheating if they never meet someone in person, but they message as if they wanted to meet up just to get the validation that a woman likes them. I think it’s stupid and if I ever figured out in advance that a guy was doing that with me I’d unmatch with them first. But of course, most of these guys give no clue that they are doing that so I just feel rejected because I had been excited about the date that won’t be happening.

I’ve gotten much better with dealing with dating rejection in the past year, but it’s still not easy for me. I think a lot of the rejection I struggle with comes from when I meet a guy (or am messaging with a guy) who seems genuine and kind. I don’t try to imagine what a future could be with them, but I think everyone thinks about stuff like that when they meet someone they are interested in. The rejection is almost more of feeling hurt that a potential future isn’t going to happen anymore. And while I have the same feeling with auditions (whenever I go out for a big role I have to stop myself from imagining how it could change my life), but I have had so much more practice with acting.

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Default ThumbnailAdventures In Online Dating (or My Luck Might Be Changing) Default ThumbnailDating Life Update (or I Guess I’m Lucky I’m Still Seeing Humor In This) Default ThumbnailStaying Strong And Having Standards (or Still Learning From Dating) Default ThumbnailStill Figuring Out Dating During COVID (or Phone Calls, Video Chats, And Social Distances Meetups) Default ThumbnailMore Thoughts On Online Dating (or Not Letting My Past Dictate My Future) Default ThumbnailAuditioning For Class (or When Rejection Is Really A Win)

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Posted in Acting, Dating, Tough Stuff

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More Union Working (or Influencers And Contracts)

Posted on September 14, 2018 | Comments Off on More Union Working (or Influencers And Contracts)

This week was another meeting of the Union Working group. Ever since I joined the group, we have been focused on the next contract negotiation for the commercial contract of SAG-AFTRA. Contract negotiations only happen every few years so they are extremely important. We want to make sure that we ask for the things we need and don’t waste time or hold out for things that aren’t as important. And it’s tough to know sometimes what matters and what doesn’t, which is why it is so important for as many actors to participate as possible.

To prepare for our negotiations, we have meetings called W&Ws (or Wages and Working Conditions). Those meetings are when any member of SAG-AFTRA in good standing can come and present something that they would like to see in the next contract. As long as it is something that is allowed, it is considered. Not everything will get into the contracts or be presented at negations, but if you don’t share it during the W&Ws and you are the only person with that concern you know that it will be extremely unlikely that it will be in the next contract.

The past few Union Working meetings have been about preparing for the W&Ws. They can sound very intimidating and members who haven’t been involved in the union might be scared to attend. And Union Working has been working on educating other members on these meetings, what they can expect, and what they need to have prepared if they are going to present an idea. I think that more actors are understanding they power they have as union members and I hope that many people will take advantage of this and go to at least 1 of the W&Ws.

This meeting was another one to prepare for contract negotiations and the meetings that lead up to it. Since we were sharing basic information on what the meetings are like (and not ideas of what we want in the next contract), I was able to live stream a lot of the meeting for our Facebook group.

It’s a pretty easy job for me to run the live stream, but I know that it is appreciated by the core members of Union Working that I do it. And at this meeting, we had several presentations and I was able to ask a question that was asked on the live stream from a member who was watching in Portland. That was actually very exciting because it proved that the live stream is important and the message of Union Working is being shared in our locals and not just in Los Angeles.

And having more actors from the other locals was another big thing that was discussed at the meeting. Union Working is mainly in Los Angeles right now and we don’t want that to be the case. We want members of SAG-AFTRA all over the country to be involved even if they can’t be at the meetings. They can watch most of our meetings on the live stream and I can always work on finding out better ways to keep things interactive with those watching while at the meeting. I would  love it if I had to keep track of questions from members all over the country while at the meeting so I could ask them on behalf of those members. I want to make sure everyone can be involved if they want to no matter where they live.

And since we are trying to spread to other locations, we are asking SAG-AFTRA members all over to please follow us on social media. If you are an actor (even if you aren’t in the union yet), please follow our social media to stay informed about things happening with Union Working. A lot of great information is shared and we just want people to know what is going on.

Another big thing that was discussed at the meeting was the idea of influencers and how so many of those projects could be union so those influencers would have the same rights and protections as all actors. Many of those influencers create their own content while partnering with a brand (basically making their own commercials). There have been some steps made toward helping influencers understand what being in the union would do for them, but there is a lot of work to still do there. And the issue of influencers is one that is important to me.

While I don’t have millions of followers on social media, I do get companies approaching me to do sponsored content. I rarely do sponsored things on here or social media, but sometimes I will. But when those companies ask me to do a video as well as a post, I can’t do them unless they are going to make those union. I cannot and will not do a commercial for a brand that is not a union project. That is against Global Rule One and I do not want to work against my union. And I know that the more that influencers know what’s going on and what their options are, the more likely that brands that approach me will understand I will only do video for them if they do it through the union.

While I have been a union member for a few different contract negotiations, this is the most prepared I feel for one. I am trying to work my schedule out so I can attend at least one of the W&W meetings. I don’t have anything to contribute, but I do want to watch it happen and learn what other members are concerned about. And something someone says may spark something in my mind that I will want to bring up. But the most important thing to me is that I show up and make an effort to participate. And I hope that many other members will do the same this year and we have a high attendance rate at these meetings coming up.

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Default ThumbnailListening About The Union (or Showing Up No Matter What) Default ThumbnailUnion Working Support (or Celebrities And Middle Class Actors Unite) Default ThumbnailBack To Union Working (Elections, Contracts, and More) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Working Meeting Of 2018 (or Union Strong For All) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Working Meeting (or Rolling With The Technical Difficulties) Default ThumbnailFinal Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable)

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Posted in Acting

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Actors With Day Jobs (or An Empowering Hashtag)

Posted on September 7, 2018 | Comments Off on Actors With Day Jobs (or An Empowering Hashtag)

If you were on twitter over the weekend, you may have noticed #actorswithdayjobs as one of the trending hashtags. I usually don’t pay too much attention to trending hashtags or topics on twitter because so often they are things I don’t have a clue about or know what’s happening. But this time I knew all about it and what was going on. And as an added bonus, it was a friend of mine who started the hashtag going!

If you aren’t familiar with what happened, this is a quick version of the story. Geoffrey Owens is an actor and he is known for big shows like “The Cosby Show”. Someone was at a Trader Joe’s and noticed that he was working there. They took a picture of him and sent it to some news/tabloid outlets saying how he was working there. For some reason, those outlets decided to shame an actor for working a day job between other jobs. Fortunately, most people were disgusted by this and were shaming the outlets for the story and sharing their support for Geoffrey Owens. And one way they were showing support was to share their day jobs with the hashtag.

I couldn’t believe that people were trying to shame him for working an honest job but I was inspired by seeing how much support he got from people who understand the journey of an actor. There is absolutely no shame in having a day job. I have several of them and have written about them on here and on other blogs. Even if you work on a couple of shows in a year, that money isn’t necessarily enough to support you for all the time you aren’t working. Most actors work jobs in-between their acting jobs. It’s not something that is weird or unheard of. It’s something that almost everyone I know does and is a normal part of life.

And this isn’t just an actor thing. I have some friends who are teachers who work a second job after school, on the weekends, or during school breaks to make enough money to support themselves. I have friends who work in an office job and drive for Uber or Lyft during their time off to make ends meet. I wish that most jobs would pay a living wage, especially in expensive cities like LA, but that’s just not the case. Many people I know cannot support themselves on a single job. And those who can consider themselves very lucky.

There was a lot of discussion around the hashtag with a political slant as well. Some people were saying that certain news outlets say that they are for the working class, but then those news outlets were also the ones that shamed Geoffrey Owens for working. There was also discussion about respecting freelancers and union members as actors are both of those. But even taking out the political things, I think most people understand why the articles shaming him were ridiculous and why we should all support each other and we should appreciate those who work hard.

I’m so glad the hashtag was created because it did allow for me to spend time on social media over the weekend reading the various stories of actors and their day jobs. I did enjoy seeing what jobs my friends were listing and seeing what jobs actors that I dream of working with used to do. It was a way to create solidarity among actors no matter what level we are at in our careers.

It was a bit ironic and fitting that this all happened over Labor Day weekend when we are celebrating unions and the worker’s rights that they got us. But I think the timing also helped to make the hashtag go viral and get more people wanting to share their stories. And I think because it went viral, people who may have been embarrassed they have day jobs realized how normal it is and that it isn’t something that needs to be hidden. I saw more conversation online about day jobs over the weekend than I ever have seen before and the conversation hasn’t stopped. Hopefully any stigma people thought existed about having day jobs have started to fade and that fear can be changed into a more positive energy.

I know that there are so many stories about social media being bad or giving a platform to bullies. I’m just glad that I get to see the positives from social media as well. And while this story started as a negative that turned into a positive conversation, I think that almost makes it more empowering.

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Default Thumbnail#YesAllWomen (or This Is Why This Hashtag Is Important) Default ThumbnailLA Actors Tweetup (or My LA Family) Default ThumbnailPodcasts and Twitter (or An Evening Out With Some Actors) Default ThumbnailThe End Of The Election (or Actors Please Remember To Vote) Default ThumbnailWorking Girl (or The Secrets of Day Jobs) Default ThumbnailUnion Working (or Connecting With My Fellow Actors)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Work

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A Belated Brunch (or Just Enjoying Supporting Each Other)

Posted on August 22, 2018 | Comments Off on A Belated Brunch (or Just Enjoying Supporting Each Other)

It has been a while since my last brunch with my mentoring group. This is pretty much my fault since I am the one who organizes these for our group. But I’ve had a lot of things happening in life that have distracted me or just put scheduling this in the back of my mind and not having me take action on it. Fortunately my group understands and everyone is just appreciative that we do these meetings when we can even if they aren’t every other month.

Half of our group was able to meet for brunch this past weekend and I was so glad to get to see everyone. As it has been for a lot of our meetings lately, I knew I wouldn’t have a ton of updates to share with the group. But for me I get just as much from hearing everyone else’s journeys and the advice that they get from everyone else. And sometimes I am able to give advice to someone else that really works as advice for myself as well. Sometimes you don’t know what you need to hear until you hear you say it to a different person.

We had our brunch at Rush St. which really is now our go-to brunch place. We have tried meeting at other places, but they just haven’t worked out for one reason or another. We all love the food and the service is quick and efficient there. Plus, they have booths that can fit the entire group if we are all there and it makes it easy for us to hear each other. It can be noisy, but being in our booth makes the other noise a bit muffled so we can focus on the conversation within the booth.

Since that is our usual brunch location (and I’m there so many other times as well), we all were able to order quickly. I usually get either an omelet or the 2 eggs any way for brunch and I got my 2 poached eggs which were perfect.

When our group started meeting several years ago, we were a bit more organized and worked on giving everyone equal time to talk and get advice. But since we’ve been doing this for so long, things are much more casual. We had been talking about random things before we ordered our food and once we ordered we naturally went into hearing what one person in the group has been up to since our last meeting. And things naturally and easily went from one person to the next.

My update was very limited. I haven’t done much as far as acting work goes in the past few months. I have still been involved in the union and learning as much as I can, but that’s not really an update to my career. I did talk a bit about my book about online dating (more on that another time) and some other things I have been doing that are beyond my day jobs. I know I need to take more control over things and seeing what else I can do, but I know I was in a bit of a slump lately. Between being sick and just feeling off, I haven’t been as motivated as I have been in the past. But I know I need to take some time to myself to see where I can be more proactive with things since I don’t want to just sit and wait for others to have projects for me.

But everyone else had fun things to share. One person has been busy directing lots of projects including a short film for HBO. Another person has been working on a one-woman play she wrote and now it looks like it might end up on Broadway. And another writer in the group has finished a script and has been submitting it to people she knows to get feedback before working on the next draft. And we heard little updates from other members of our group via email that couldn’t make the meeting and everyone seems to be doing so well.

I know that I could be feeling down on myself and feeling like everyone else is making huge strides in their careers and I’m not. But I also know that everyone else has the same struggles that I do and I don’t necessarily know about them. Even I really only share the positive things happening in my life when we are at the meetings. I did share that I had been sick and some health updates, but besides those everything was a positive update. So I can’t compare knowing everything happening in my life with the little bits I know about everyone else’s. And I think our group shares that we all struggle so nobody has to feel like they aren’t doing as much or accomplishing as much as everyone else.

As with all of these brunch meetings, I felt so great while I was there and after leaving. I love having these check-ins and supporting my friends and having them support me. It makes me feel so amazing having such incredible people in my life and I am always so grateful for their advice for me or hearing their advice for someone else.

I’m hoping the next brunch we do won’t be as delayed and I’ve been making efforts to make sure that doesn’t happen. Our next brunch is supposed to be in 2 months and I’ve already sent and email out to the group to see what dates work for everyone. Hopefully we can find a date that works out for all of us and we can all be together in 2 months. But if that doesn’t happen (and there’s a good chance it won’t since we all have crazy lives and schedules), I know that whenever we are able to meet up again it will be just awesome as it always is.

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Listening About The Union (or Showing Up No Matter What)

Posted on June 28, 2018 | Comments Off on Listening About The Union (or Showing Up No Matter What)

I am almost always looking forward to any opportunity I have for any union related things. If there is a mixer, educational session, or event and I can be there I go. There have been the rare times that either something conflicted with something and I had to pick which I would go with or I was sick and couldn’t go, but those are not the norm at all. And when I knew we had a Union Working meeting this week, I was excited to get to go.

Not only was I excited to go, I knew I needed to go. I have been running the Facebook Live video of the meetings for a while now and while it is an easy job I do take that responsibility seriously. I have friends who depend on those videos because either they work during the times we have the meetings or they currently aren’t in LA. I’m glad that I’m able to help out and I know that even though I think it’s easy that it is a big deal to some of the leaders of the group (it takes the responsibility off of them so they can focus on more important things). So I know the meetings are something I need to go to besides just want to go to.

But before the meeting this week, I was struggling. I was dealing with lots of pain and nausea that I expected would have been over by then. I also was exhausted from a lack of sleep. I’ve been trying to sleep more, but there have been things that kept me up later than I expected (like going out with friends) and because I’m getting good at getting up at the same time every day I’m not sleeping in. So even if I go to bed 2 or 3 hours later than I wanted to, I’m still getting up at the same time and I’m losing that sleep. I usually don’t feel bad if it happens once in a while, but this was several days back to back and it really caught up with me. But I knew I needed to be at the meeting.

Well, when I got to the meeting I found out I actually didn’t have to run the Facebook Live. We can only live-stream certain parts of the meeting because some parts are a bit more confidential (like when we are discussing what we want to bring up in contract negotiations) and this entire meeting was going to be more confidential information. So nothing could be shared publicly and I didn’t have to run the video. I did share to a friend that I might not have come to the meeting if I didn’t think I needed to because of how I was feeling, but I was glad I went because it still was very educational.

The entire meeting was a panel with 4 major agents and how they feel about different things we as actors are concerned about. I can’t go into too many details but most of the things we were asking about were common negotiation issues (pay, union vs. non-union projects, opportunities for all actors). Some of the things discussed were issues that I don’t have personal experience with or have a strong opinion on, but I knew they were important to my fellow actors so I wanted to learn about them. And if I book a really great job those issues could start affecting me so I don’t want to have to play catch up if that does happen.

Recently at the meetings I’ve had to split my focus between whoever is speaking and running the video. I do have technical issues from time to time because cell service isn’t that great where we have the meetings and when the video goes down I need to work on getting it back up. I do still try to listen while I’m fixing it, but I know I’m not paying as much attention as I could. So it was nice to have a meeting where my focus was on the speakers completely and there was nothing else that really was grabbing my focus (although my pain and nausea did from time to time).

As our contract negotiations get closer, there may be more meetings that I cannot do a live video for. So if you are an actor who wants to stay informed I do recommend coming to the meetings. Even when we do stream the meetings there are always things we cannot put in videos so you don’t get the entire meeting online. But I will always go to the meetings prepared to run a live-stream in case we can post things online because I really do believe that an educated union is a strong union.

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A Backstage Adventure (or Back to Back Pantages Nights)

Posted on June 27, 2018 | Comments Off on A Backstage Adventure (or Back to Back Pantages Nights)

We were just at the Pantages, but we had another night out there the night after seeing “Cinderella“. But this time, we weren’t there to see a show. Because we have season tickets, we were invited to an open house and backstage tour of the theater! I was so excited to get to do this for a couple of reasons. I am a huge theater nerd and wanted to see what all the backstage stuff was like. Plus, I love to learn how things work and all the technical weirdness. So this was something I  was thrilled to get to check out!

When we were at Wood & Vine the night before for dinner, the manager told us that they were one of the restaurants that would be featured and have free food. And he told us about a few of the other restaurants that would be there. We figured out that we wouldn’t be there right when the open house started, but he said that would be fine and that there would be lots of food and fun no matter what time we got there.

He also promised to take a photo of the theater empty since that wouldn’t be possible for us to take when the open house started. And he was right that the empty theater is an incredible sight to see.

We arrived about 30 minutes after it started and the lobby and many parts of the theater were almost empty. But when we got to the stage where all the food was, it was packed! They had a much larger crowd than normal at the open house so many of the restaurants were running low on what they were serving. But we did get to have the Nutella Bombshell from Wood & Vine again along with a few other nibbles. While we were looking forward to the food, the main reason we were there was to check out all the stuff we normally can’t see.

The tour of backstage was more of an exploration. So many different areas were open for us to check out and take photos. We first went to the star dressing rooms which were on the stage level. In the biggest dressing room there was a poster with signatures of so many actors who had used that room while doing a show at the theater.

And of course, with the dressing rooms having giant mirrors we had to take some silly photos in them.

Then we went below the stage to see the ensemble dressing rooms. The star dressing rooms are nice because they are big, but to me I think the ensemble ones feel a bit more exciting because I think about all the performers sitting next to each other getting ready for their show.

In all the dressing rooms, people had signed their name in different areas. I didn’t get photos of them, but the smaller mirrors with wooden frames had signatures all over them as well as under the tables. It was fun to see the casts from shows we saw recently who autographed various pieces of furniture.

I was hoping we’d be able to check out the orchestra pit area, but that was closed to the public (only a few spaces were closed off to us, but that was one of them). But next to the orchestra pit was where the lift area was created for when “The Lion King” was performing there. I don’t know if they use the lift area for more than storage now, but I feel like there have been some trap door stuff in shows I’ve seen so they must still use it.

We continued to wander around the various rooms below the stage. Since “Cinderella” closed the night before and the next show wasn’t going to be in the theater for a few days, most things were pretty empty. It would have been cool to see some of how they organize the props, costumes, and set pieces; but I understand why it would be difficult to do an open house when there is a production using the space. Maybe one day in the future I’ll have a friend in a show there so I can explore some more backstage while I show is running.

When we got back up to the stage level, we checked out the restaurants that were still there and got a bit more food. We also took a look at some of the random things on the sides of the stage like a collection of rubber ducks that were just off stage and the photos on the walls of various production crews from the shows that recently toured there.

Things were starting to clear out a bit when we were getting ready to leave, but it was nice to see things with not as many people crowding the stage. I took time just to look out at the audience and take it in. I don’t perform in front of an audience that often so it was nice to feel that sort of feeling I had when I used to do plays again. And of course I took a look at where our seats were located to see what it looks like looking at our seats from the stage (compared to the stage from our seats).

I don’t know what I was expecting when we found out about the open house, but it did exceed my expectations in a bunch of ways. I just loved getting to see a different part of the theater than what I usually get to see as an audience member. And I think all of us just enjoyed having another night out too. We’ll be back at the theater in a few weeks for our next show, but I think it will feel different watching now that we know what the view is like for the actors on the stage.

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Inside Acting Podcast (or The End Of An Era But Not The End)

Posted on June 21, 2018 | 1 comment

If you are a listener of the Inside Acting Podcast, you know that we released an episode this week which is the final episode of one of the hosts and creators of the podcast. Trevor has been incredible and he did so much good work with this podcast, but he feels like it is time for him to move on. As sad as I am about that, I am very excited to see what Trevor will be doing next. I will be working with the other host and creator, AJ, on what the new version of the podcast will be like. But this is still the end of an era and the version of the podcast that has existed since the beginning.

I was looking back at when I joined the podcast and smiled when I realized that the start of my time as their production coordinator and when I started this blog was around the same time. I’ve shared about how this blog has been life changing for me and the podcast has as well. It’s so fitting that they both came into my life at the same time.

If you listened to the episode that was just released, you heard a voice memo from me about my start with the podcast. I was a listener from the beginning and they had shared on an episode how they were starting to need some help. They had always been “just 2 dudes with a podcast”, but they needed someone to help with production work and scheduling. I sent an email in to them and explained why I love the podcast and how the skill sets I have would work with them.

I looked back at that original email, and it’s funny that a lot of what I said I would do is exactly what I ended up doing. But at the time, I figured there must be so many people who would be better at the job or have better skills than I did and that they would go with them. So when they told me that they would love to have me as a part of the team, I was shocked and so excited! But I am so grateful that they picked me because it has been such an incredible experience working with them both!

I’ve helped them with interviews with people who I never thought I’d get to meet. Because of that I have gained more confidence in approaching people I don’t know but want to meet. I’m still a bit shy around new people, but it’s much better than it was before. I’ve learned new skills in team management, coordination, scheduling, and being more efficient in email communication. And it has kept me connected to the acting community even if I’m not doing a lot of acting work at that moment.

I’ve also loved the various events I’ve helped to organize. When we had the 100th episode, we did a live episode (no party for that event) and while it was stressful it was so much fun to organize! I spent almost the entire time there worried that something would go wrong and I really wasn’t able to focus on enjoying the moment. But when it was done, I was so proud of Trevor and AJ and what they had created.

The 200th episode brought new stress to me. I was used to the live recording part of the podcast so I was able to relax a bit about that. But we were also throwing a big party at a second location after the recording. And since I couldn’t be in 2 places at once, I had to let go of some of my control freak tendencies and allow someone else to set up the party. The live recording went well and I we had a nice sized crowd there. I loved seeing so many familiar faces and watching the guys do what they do best. And that party ended up being epic! We had a step and repeat and everyone was loving it and taking so many photos. We also combined the step and repeat with a photo booth with props and I smile when I look at all the crazy photos I took.

The 300th episode should have been a bit less stressful. We weren’t doing a live recording, just a party. But of course, it wasn’t just a party. We had a photo booth with a step and repeat again and it was a big hit as we expected. I didn’t take as many crazy photos because I was busy helping run the party, but I’m glad I got one of the entire podcast team.

While the party part was running smoothly and not too stressful, what I was stressing about was a surprise that I had worked on for a while for the guys. I had contacted all of our past guests and invited them to send in a video telling Trevor and AJ congrats on 300 episodes. We had some technical difficulties getting the video started, but it almost worked to our advantage because the first video was with the guest we interviewed for the 300th episode. So the guys thought that she just sent in a quick video since she wasn’t at the party and they didn’t think too much about it. But once we got it running, they discovered what we created and I was just enjoying watching their faces react to it.

I’m so glad we pulled off that big surprise, but at the same time I was aware that the podcast would be going through a transition. I tried not to be sad at that party and just celebrate the guys, but it was in the back of my head. This podcast has been a huge part of my life for so long and I really can’t imagine it ending.

Fortunately, it won’t be ending. As much as I would love it to stay the same, we are going to transition and have a new version of the podcast in the future. AJ and I have had some ideas of what we would like to do and what we could do, but it’s still all in the works. I don’t know the timeline for when we will have a new episode of the podcast out, but it will happen. My job with the podcast has always included bugging the guys a little bit to get something back to me or to let me know information. I’m going to continue that with AJ and bugging him that we need to figure out what the plan will be moving forward.

I still can’t believe that the podcast will be transitioning into a new version and that Trevor won’t be hosting it along with AJ. It’s been that way since the beginning and it is so weird to think of it any differently. I have a feeling that when I email AJ about podcast things that I will accidentally CC Trevor from time to time because that’s the habit I’m in.

But I’m also choosing not to focus on the unknown or the feeling that this is ending in a way. I am remembering all the amazing things that have happened because of this podcast and from my involvement with the podcast. I’ve told both Trevor and AJ how much they mean to me and how they have changed my life for the better. And even though Trevor won’t be a part of the podcast, we are friends so we will still see each other. I am so grateful for these guys and for what they mean to me.

I’ll share on here when I know what the next version of the podcast will be like or when we release episodes. And if you are a new listener to the podcast (or have never listened to it), now is the perfect time to catch up on the 314 episodes we have done so far!

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