Tag Archives: acting

Mentoring Circle (or Women Who Support Each Other)

Posted on March 22, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday I had my first meeting with my Women in Film mentoring circle. This circle consists of two mentors (my mentors are a tv producer and film agent) and 8 mentees.

We met at UTA which is one of the big agencies in town. It was a pretty intimidating building.

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Makes me so grateful that my agents are in a location that is very welcoming and makes me feel like part of the team.

Our group had a lunch in one of the conference rooms, and for this first meeting, we just did introductions. Most of the women in my group are actors, but most of those actors also do something else (like how I produced the documentary). We do also have a writer and director in the group and I’m excited to get to learn from them.

One of the greatest things about this group is how nice and supportive everyone is. I try to be supportive with all my fellow actors out there. When a woman who is my direct competition (I joke that she is my evil twin) needed to know where the audition we both had was going to be, I gave her the info without hesitation. I know some people wouldn’t do that because it increases their chances to book the role, but I know that if I’m meant to book it, I’ll book it.

I’m so used to having to watch out for these ultra-competitve actors (and many of them are rude and try to knock you off your game in the waiting room). It was truly a breath of fresh air knowing that I wouldn’t have to encounter that in this room.

We will be meeting again in about 2 months (the program is designed to have 6 meetings in a year). I’m hoping to connect with some of my fellow mentees on Facebook or twitter because I’d love to be around supportive people more than every other month.

I think in any industry that is competitive, it is such an asset to find people who just want to make sure that everyone gets ahead and nobody gets left behind. I’m so lucky that I was put into a group like this where that is happening.

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Default ThumbnailMeeting My Mentoring Circle (or Being In The Minority) Default ThumbnailEnd Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch) Default ThumbnailMore Mentoring (or This Is Exactly What I Needed) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentoring (or Having Faith In My Agents) Default ThumbnailWIF Mentee Potluck (or How Many People Can I Fit In My House) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready To Get Mentored Again (or A Evening With WIF)

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Learning A Lesson From Myself (or The Outcome Of The Music Video)

Posted on March 4, 2013 | Comments Off on Learning A Lesson From Myself (or The Outcome Of The Music Video)

Remember how last month I shot a music video and couldn’t wait to share it with all of you?

And remember how last week I wrote how there are no guarantees that the work you do on set will ever be seen?

Anyone want to guess how this story ends?

Yup. I was cut out of the music video. Well, all the actors who shot all the various scenes were cut out. The singer tweeted out at the end of last week that the music video was finally being released. And the tweet right after that mentioned how after thinking about it, they decided to keep the video simple and representative of the song.

So I knew before I watched the video that chances were that I wasn’t going to be in it. That didn’t stop me from being a little pissed and saying some choice words (I was alone when I watched it). And I’m not mad that I’m not going to be seen all over the internet or anything. I’m mad because I’m really proud of the work I did, and I was looking forward to my family and close friends being able to see it.

I need to get over this very minor setback and keep moving forward. It doesn’t matter that the work isn’t seen, I still booked this job. That is the end goal in this career path. And the people I worked with including the casting director, producers, director, and all the rest of the crew know that I booked this job. I was worthy of this part over all the other people who auditioned for it. And I will be worthy for the next one that comes up.

I need to focus on the good work I did on set and not the result. I did what was needed in a timely manner (very important when you are the last set up of the day and the producers don’t want the crew in overtime), and I was polite and (I hope) easy to work with. These are qualities that make me bookable for another job in the future.

I still think it stinks and find it incredibly ironic that I just wrote about a similar situation last week. But like I said then, this is the reality of this job.

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Spending the Day Living My Dream (or A Taste Of What I Hope Is To Come)

Posted on February 8, 2013 | 3 comments

So Wednesday was my big exciting day.

I went off to the valley to audition for the pilot just after lunchtime. I worked on all of my lines previously, but I got to the location about an hour early so I would have time to relax and work on the lines some more.

Once it was about 15 minutes before my audition time, I headed upstairs to the office where the audition took place. And I have to say, this post from Marci Liroff really came in handy! While there weren’t too many people waiting in the room (and I was going to be the first person to read), there were plenty of things that could have psyched me out.

Instead of hearing another actor brag about auditions, it was hearing the receptionist in the office call agencies to get quotes for actors that they wanted to test for the pilot I was auditioning for. They could have already chosen the actor they wanted for the part and were just auditioning us as back-ups. But I tried not to listen to her and just focused on the scene that we had to do (we all prepared 3 but only 1 was required).

Also, instead of spending all the time in the waiting room sitting down, I stood up and walked around a little (always still in earshot of the room so I could hear my name called). I think that helped my energy in the room a lot.

I don’t know when/if I’ll hear about a callback for this part. It’s just an honor for me to get to audition for something this awesome! And to me, it’s more important to book the office and not the part. That way the casting director will know that I’m good and will keep bringing me back. Eventually I will book the part that I am meant to book.

Right after my audition was done, I headed straight to the location for the music video. I don’t know if I can say who the artist was or what song was for the video, so until it’s released in about a month, I’m going to stay quiet. I will say that I bought the artist’s album before going so that’s what I listened to on repeat the whole drive (I heard the song about 9 or 10 times).

When I got to the set, I was immediately taking to wardrobe to have my outfit selected and makeup to get pretty (which is still really fun for me).

After getting ready, we headed over to the exact location where we were filming. We ended up using my car, so it was nice to have all my stuff nearby. The first set up required me to cry a lot. I’m lucky that crying on cue isn’t too tough for me, so we only had to do 2 takes of that. Then there were a couple of close up shots of me walking, and we had to do those about 3 takes each (there was some technical difficulties as well as me not doing exactly what they wanted).

The final shot (for me and for the shoot), was a zoom out from a close up on my face to a full body shot. They had a pose for me in mind, and while I was waiting for the lighting to be set up, I joked with the director that I wanted to try the Superman pose. He asked me what that was, and I explained that it was something that I saw done on an episode of “How I Met Your Mother”. Although the pose in the episode was done naked, I just liked the idea of the pose.

After he saw me demonstrate it, he decided that he liked it and we did a couple of takes with that pose. I was totally kidding when I suggested it (and felt like it was the type of set where I could joke), but I’ll be super excited if that makes the final cut.

I was scheduled to be on set for up to 8 hours, but managed to be done in 1.5. It helped that I was the last set up for the day and that we only did a few takes of each set up.

I’m really excited to see the final cut of the music video and can’t wait to share it with you all! And I hope that I have more days like this (without the congestion) in the near future!

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The Past Few Days (or The Crazy Life I Lead)

Posted on February 6, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ve been busy for the first half of this week. Saturday was the Color Run (and following that was the cleanup and recovery from it). Sunday was the blogger brunch and trying to run errands at my house.

Monday I had my dental procedure planned. I was going to take the day off of work, and I had planned to take my panic meds to make the procedure go a bit easier.

I said “had planned” because on Sunday I found out that I had an audition on Monday right after my dental procedure. So no panic meds for me.

I did ok at the dentist (no fainting so that’s a win in my book). And I got home with time to change for my audition.

Went to the audition (for a music video) and thought I did a pretty awesome job. I had to cry in the room, which I did. I even cried so hard that one of my contact lenses fell out (I found it).

Got home from the audition, and had a wonderful text message from my agents. I had an audition for a series regular in a pilot! That’s the best thing ever (I’ll write about pilot season another day).

Right after that text, I got another text that I was being put on hold for the music video. Which shot the same day as the audition. I had to make a decision. Go to the audition and say I’m not available for the booking or cancel the audition and take the risk on whether or not I’d be booked (being put on hold normally means it’s between you and another person).

I decided to go for the audition. I emailed an apology to the casting director of the music video and said I wasn’t available.

Cut to Tuesday. I was getting ready to go to my day job, thinking the next day would just be a day to go to the audition. I get a phone call from the casting director of the music video. I booked it! But she never got my emails saying I wasn’t available.

After a couple of back and forth phone calls, this is what it is now. Today I will go to my day job from 9-2. I’ll go from my job to my audition (I want to get there nice and early to have time to get ready). Right after my audition, I head to set for the music video, which will now be a night shoot for me.

All of this happened within 24 hours. I really thought this week would just be a boring normal week for me. Now I get to spend at least one day living my dream.

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Failure of a Plan (or Balancing Out The Good And The Bad)

Posted on February 1, 2013 | Comments Off on Failure of a Plan (or Balancing Out The Good And The Bad)

I had yesterday planned out a while ago, and nothing that I planned really ended up happening.

It started a few months back when I scheduled my dentist visit to be on 1/31. At that time, I was expecting to be unemployed, so going to the dentist wouldn’t cut into my work time. Also, but not going to work after the dentist, I wouldn’t have to worry about how low-energy I’d be at work because of my panic meds (my fear of the dentist continues!).

Well, as I’ve mentioned before here, I’m not unemployed now. But I did plan my dentist visit to be the first thing in the morning and I didn’t have to be at work until noon, so I’d have time for the panic meds to wear off.

Then on Wednesday, I get my favorite type of text message in the world: a text from my agents saying I have an audition! Yay! This audition was for a commercial, and the audition was also going to be yesterday afternoon.

I wasn’t worried about having to miss work for the audition (my boss is super understanding). I was worried because I know from past experiences that I do not audition well when I have taken panic meds.

So I had a decision to make. Do I risk going to the dentist without medication or do I risk auditioning with it? I would have rather moved my dentist appointment, but I got the audition text after the dentist was closed and I was not going to cancel 30 minutes prior to my appointment in the morning.

I took the risk and went without panic meds.

It wasn’t too good. I survived without fainting, but this was just a cleaning so there were no needles involved. I did have a small panic attack (nothing like the one I had a few weeks back) but I did have a moment where I couldn’t catch my breath and was crying. Fortunately, the hygienist is one of the nicest people out there and was trying to help me get through the appointment.

I also found out at the dentist that I need more work done. It’s not a crown, but a filling. I’m having it done on Monday, and since it involves needles, I will be medicating (and possibly taking the day off from work).

The positive in all this: I discovered that in an emergency, I can make it through a dental cleaning unmedicated, but won’t do that unless necessary.

And my audition went better than I could have hoped! I’m glad I was able to audition unmedicated and now I get to play the waiting game.

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The SAG Awards (or I Am An Actor)

Posted on January 28, 2013 | 1 comment

We are in the middle of awards season. The Golden Globes already happened and the Academy Awards are coming up.

And in the middle are the SAG Awards.

As I’ve mentioned before, this is my first year getting to vote since I only joined the union prior to the merger last year. I loved getting to have the opportunity to see pretty much all the nominated films (I still haven’t finished all my iTunes rentals and have about a week left to try to see them).

It was very exciting to see the winners, and I was very happy when the people/projects I voted for won. Also, my friend Woody was one of the producers this year and I got to see his name in the credits at the end.

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Besides enjoying watching the winners and all the fun fashion (I’m looking forward to “Fashion Police” tonight), my favorite part of the SAG Awards is at the very beginning.

A couple of actors are chosen to share their story a bit. Some of them are silly and a bit made up, but others are serious. I loved how Hal Holbrook shared that he took a drama class because there was no homework.

What was really nice this year is that during the acceptance speeches, several actors talked about how they got into the union.

Jennifer Lawrence said how she got in after doing a commercial for MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen”. Ben Affleck mentioned that he got his card in 1986 (I learned at one of the screenings I went to that he got it doing an afterschool special).

It’s always nice to be reminded that the Jennifer Lawrence’s and Ben Affleck’s of the world started somewhere.

It reminds me of a quote I once saw on Pinterest: Don’t compare your page 1 to someone else’s page 20.

This is great advice for all parts of my life! I might only be on page 1 now, but I’m excited to turn the pages of my life and make it to page 20!

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Live Podcast Episode (or Another Way You Can Support Me)

Posted on January 25, 2013 | 6 comments

I joke that I have a million day jobs. It really does feel that way. But in reality, I have more like 6 or 7 (depending how you count them).

One of my day jobs is production coordinator on the Inside Acting Podcast. I’ve  been a fan of this podcast since day 1, and in August I started helping out on their podcasts.

The two guys who host it, Trevor and AJ, are really great guys and I’m glad that they are my friends. I love helping out with this podcast because it really is a great way to learn new and interesting things about the entertainment industry.

The podcast has done 93 episodes so far. And for the 100th episode, we have something really amazing planned.

We are doing a live podcast episode partnered with SAG-AFTRA and the SAG Foundation!

The live podcast will be on March 12th at 7pm at the SAG Foundation office. Everyone is welcome to attend! And I’d love to see some blog readers there!

If you want to attend, you can email the podcast at insideactingpodcast@gmail.com and let us know you want to attend. Please only do this if you really can go. There is limited space, and we want to make sure the room is filled with amazing people!

And if you don’t listen to the podcast already, you should totally check it out! It’s available for free on iTunes or you can listen to it from the website. A lot of new people start from the beginning of the episodes and make their way through, and I think that is awesome! The podcast really has grown and evolved over the past 93 episodes.

It’s nice to have something happening in a day job that makes me this excited. I miss feeling this way sometimes. And I know that every day leading up to the live episode is going to be just as exciting!

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Being Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting)

Posted on January 22, 2013 | Comments Off on Being Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting)

Sometimes, I love the ups and downs of the entertainment industry. It’s so hopeful. You never know when the big job that will make all the difference is around the corner. It just takes one great booking to tip the scales in your favor.

And there is the constant rejection, but I’ve gotten used to that and it doesn’t bother me too much anymore.

Except recently.

I had submitted myself for a job (I’m keeping the details vague to protect the project and casting director involved). This was a self-submission, not through my agents, so I was responsible for being on top of things.

I got an email back from the casting director with an audition notice. But in the notes of the notice, it said that all the casting director needed was a picture of us showing face and body and they were going to cast off those pictures. That’s nice. I didn’t have to drive and wait at an audition, and I was able to take a photo on my break at my day job (I know it isn’t great, but all they needed was to see what our body looked like).

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Then, on Sunday, I got an email that said that I booked the job! I was going to get a phone call on Monday morning with all the details. I was super excited (this was a pretty cool project). I let my agents know that I booked something and that I would give them details once I had them.

Monday came and I heard nothing. I was so paranoid that my phone would go off when I was in spin class or in the shower. I kept my phone next to me at all times when I could.

By 4pm, I started to worry. I emailed my agents and asked their advice. They told me to email the casting director to check in. I did that, and I when I got an email back from the casting director, I found out that I got the booking email by mistake. I was not on the final list for the project.

I was a bit pissed off. Not at the casting director, who seemed very apologetic and thanked me for being so understanding. It was an honest mistake, and was not done to hurt me in any way. But I was pissed at myself. I got so excited that I had a booking. And that it the reasonable response to the email that I got. But now I’m in a little funk.

But this funk is only going to make me push harder to get that first booking for 2013! I know I am going to get an amazing project in the near future and I can’t wait to see what it is!

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Awards Season (or I Have No Idea How I Can Watch All The Movies)

Posted on January 14, 2013 | 2 comments

This is my first awards season as a SAG-AFTRA actor. This means I get to vote for the SAG Awards this year.

And since I get to vote, I have to see all the movies in order to make an educated vote. SAG-AFTRA actors are invited to screenings (like I went to for “Lincoln”), get free iTunes movie rentals, have free movies passes, and my favorite is getting DVD screeners.

This year, I got these three movies as DVDs:IMG_1257 IMG_1262 IMG_1249

Since I had seen “Les Miserables” in theaters, I don’t have to watch it again, but I definitely want to. I watched my “Silver Linings Playbook” DVD when I was babysitting over the weekend. And I went to a SAG Foundation screening of “Argo” on Sunday morning which had a Q&A with Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, and Bryan Cranston before the screening.

But I still have a bunch of other movies to watch, mainly my iTunes rentals. I have at least 5 that I feel I need to watch in order to be able to vote fairly.

But with only 1 day off a week (which is now Monday, but that’s a blog post for another day), I don’t know when I’ll have time to watch them. I’m planning on trying to watch at least 2 movies tomorrow.

I know that this is a total first world problem and I sound like a spoiled kid (too many free movies to watch, poor me), but it just bring back my issues with creating a work/life balance.

It is a reminder to me that I need to figure out a new way to get through this time in my life where my work is not my career yet.

But when I was watching the Golden Globes last night, I was reminded that it can be possible to make acting my work and career. I need to stick it out and not give up yet.

Who knows, this struggling time could be the perfect thing to say in my award acceptance speech one day?

😉

 

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Specificity Matters (or Wanting an Emmy Not an Oscar)

Posted on January 11, 2013 | Comments Off on Specificity Matters (or Wanting an Emmy Not an Oscar)

Yesterday, the nominations for the Oscars were announced. I try to wake up and watch them live, but this year I set my DVR and watched them when I woke up. I got me thinking about how I used to want to win an Oscar more than anything in the world.

I first caught the acting bug in elementary school when I played Chair #3 in a version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. After my chair “broke” (I was the too small one), I stayed under a table and was able to watch the audience the rest of the play. From that moment on, I was hooked.

I always said that I wanted to win an Oscar. Even in my senior quote in high school I mentioned it.

But once I moved out to LA and started to seriously pursue acting, I realized that I had the wrong goal.

I wasn’t thinking exactly what an Oscar required growing up. I didn’t grow up around the entertainment industry so I didn’t always have all the information I needed to create the correct goal.

I’ve discovered that I love television more than movies. That’s not to say if I got offered a movie part that I’d turn it down, but if I had to create my dream job I’d want to be on a tv show. And more specifically, a sitcom style, or multi camera, show.

Once I had that specific goal in mind, I could create steps to help me reach that goal. I’m still at the early stages of those steps, but I know that I’m heading in the right direction.

I need to be more specific with other goals I have in my life. I want to lose 100 pounds. I know that. But I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to go about it. Do I want to train for some crazy event and use that as my method? Do I want to have a goal of attending workout classes or working out at home a certain amount of time a week? I’m honestly not sure yet.

I’m going to spend my weekend picking out my specific goal and then working backwards to figure out the steps I need to accomplish that goal. It’s what I am doing for my acting career. And just like in my acting career, I need to be accepting that it will not be a straight line to success. There will be ups and downs, but in the end, progress will be made.

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