Tag Archives: acting

4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch)

Posted on February 12, 2019 | Comments Off

It’s so crazy to believe, but my current mentoring circle from Women In Film has been meeting for 4 years now! I knew that this group of women was special when we were actually able to meet between our meetings with our mentors, but I had no clue that we’d be able to continue the group after that first year ended. But it turned out that we bonded together as a group a bit more than we bonded with our mentors so it makes sense that we have kept things up.

While we have been meeting for 4 years, things have changed a few times. When we started, we technically met every month since we met with our mentors every other month and then on our own for the alternate months. And when we started meeting on our own after that first year, we continued to meet every other month since that was the routine that we got used to. But as time has gone one, most of us have gotten busier (which is a good thing) and it’s been harder to meet up. So at the end of last year, we decided to change things up so that we now meet every 3 months so we see each other 4 times a year.

Our first meeting of 2019 was this past weekend and we had our traditional brunch at Rush St. which has been our brunch place for a while now. We almost always get one of the booths, and that works perfectly for our group to feel like we have our own little meeting space and not in the middle of a busy restaurant.

When our mentoring group started, we had a few more members than we currently have. But I understand that continuing with the group wasn’t for everyone and that’s pretty much what happened with my first group that never met outside of our few meetings with our mentors. But we still have almost everyone in the group and we work hard to try to make the meetings we have. This time, we were missing 2 people, but I know they tried hard to make it and there were just circumstances that prevented them from being able to be there.

I’ve said in the past few recaps of my brunches with my group that I haven’t had a ton of news to share but I loved hearing what everyone else has been up to. This brunch was the same. My biggest news was about how it is going to be election season soon for SAG-AFTRA and that I’m more involved in my slate than I have in the past. Nothing about that is too exciting, but I know they are important things and something that not everyone is doing. I wish I could tell them amazing news about booking jobs or amazing auditions, but those just aren’t happening for me right now. I’ve had auditions, but they are nothing spectacular or unusual so I don’t really feel like sharing about those.

But as always, everyone else had amazing updates and hearing about them was the highlight of brunch for me. I’ve never really been the type of person to compare my journey to someone else’s, so I can just get joy out of seeing the steps that everyone else has been taking. And they have been doing some really amazing things that have been getting closer to reality. And one of the benefits of being a part of this group for so long is that I have been able to see the long game with everyone’s journey. One member of our group is getting close to the play she has written being on Broadway. And when we started as a group she had just produced a reading in LA and we have been getting updates about readings in NY, finding a producer and director, and now finding investors. It’s so amazing and I couldn’t be happier for her.

Because this play has been in the works for so long and the finish line seems so close, I think everyone in the group can’t wait to find out that it will be premiering on Broadway. We’ve been joking that we will all have to have a meeting in NY when that happens because of course we all want to be there. And maybe if it happens in a year we can celebrate the start of our 5th year together as a group by seeing the show premiere. But even if that doesn’t happen, it’s so fun to dream about doing that together.

While I would love to have more and better updates when the group meets again in May, I’m not going to worry about it too much. I just have to keep working hard and I know the results will happen eventually. And when they do happen, I don’t doubt that the group will be just as happy for me as I have always been for them with their amazing news!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, brunch, friends, mentoring, support, Women in Film

A Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity)

Posted on January 29, 2019 | Comments Off

Every year I look forward to watching the SAG Awards. I love all award shows, but ever since I became a member of SAG-AFTRA I feel so connected to the SAG Awards. I know a part of feeling connected is because it is the one award show that I currently get to vote for. My vote helps to decide the winners and that’s something that most people don’t get to experience.

I also think that I feel so connected because I feel like the people on my screen are truly my colleagues. I know that’s technically true for any award show where there are actors, but there’s something different with the SAG Awards. It seems so much more obtainable and closer to me and it really is a unique experience.

Even though the SAG Awards feel different for me, they are pretty standard award shows. The awards are only for actors and they categories are a bit different, but they are still about someone winning and giving a speech thanking the voting body and the people they worked with and in their life. It’s nothing too crazy compared to other award shows and this time of year there are so many of them!

But this year, the SAG Awards really felt different. I heard this from several of my friends and we all had a similar reaction. In the speeches this year from the winners, there was so much pro-union and union inclusive language. There were winners that thanked all actors that work on their show and specifically named background actors. Background actors are almost never thanked, so to see them get acknowledgement was very cool. And it also seemed like most speeches were talking about how important being a union actor is and how we all need to stick together.

Some of the things being said reminded me of what is said in the Union Working videos. They talked about making sure all actors on set are being paid what they earned and not missing out on different things like a meal penalty if a meal period is skipped. There may be some lead actors not aware that those little bonuses are being skipped, but if they are looking out on their contracts they can see if they are skipped and make sure that everyone working is getting paid what they are promised by our contracts.

One of the best moments of union unity was during the lifetime achievement speech by Alan Alda. He had a very nice speech talking about his career and what it has meant for him. And he ended his speech urging everyone watching to honor our union contract. This is such an important thing to hear as we are currently on strike with an ad agency over them deciding to not honor the contract that they previously signed with us. And with the contact negations about to start, it’s important that we have a united front saying that we want a fair contract. It was such an awesome moment watching him add that to his speech because we do need everyone to hear about it. While I have been working hard at educating myself with union issues, I know not everyone is doing that and maybe hearing someone in their speech emphasize how important it is to honor our contract will be a reminder to them or push them to learn more.

And it wasn’t just in the speeches that we saw moments of union unity. When SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris spoke, that was the theme of her speech. She reminded all of us that the union is us and we need to make sure we are working together to make the union strong for all current and future members. And Megan Mullally even got to share a moment of why our union is important while she was being the host of the show. She shared about how her dad, who has passed away, is still receiving residual checks for work that he did decades ago. Residuals are an important part of our union contracts and it was awesome seeing someone share that to the audience so those who aren’t in the union yet have an idea about what we are fighting for as a benefit for all actors.

I don’t know if any other award shows this season will have the same vibe of union unity or strength, but to see it happen in any award show is so special. While I know that it won’t change the minds of the people we are in negotiations with or people who have nothing to do with our industry, it is important for all of our union members to hear. I know there are some people in the union who don’t do much with the union but enjoy the benefits and the screeners we get for the SAG Awards. If they watched the show, they would have seen so many examples of people sharing why the union is important to them and maybe that will inspire them to support the union in whatever way they feel is best.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, awards, sag awards, SAG-AFTRA, union

Seeing Actors Supporting Actors (or An Awesome Union Working Project)

Posted on January 17, 2019 | 1 comment

For almost the entire time I’ve been a part of Union Working, our big goal was to work on the next commercial contract negotiation. It’s a very important issue for actors right now as we want to see our commercials remain union. Working under a union contract guarantees so many things for actors and we want those guarantees and protections. And while there is still work do to before the negotiations start soon, we are seeing the results of some of that work now.

While most of us in Union Working are middle class actors (or just starting out), we have been so lucky to have some A-list celebrities who are just as concerned as we are about things happening in our industry. Many of them wanted to make sure they could voice their concern for the issue as well as their support for their fellow union members. Some of the leaders of Union Working have been filming these actors so they could help the cause and the first video was just posted on our YouTube channel.

I know that some people who aren’t in the entertainment industry aren’t as familiar with the issues of the working actor, but I can give a good example of why working union is important.

I did a non-union commercial in 2007 for a hair care product. I don’t exactly remember how much I made, but it was about $1,000 which seemed amazing for a day of work. I was so excited about it and didn’t think too much about it being non-union. When you do a commercial, you can’t do another commercial that conflicts with it (so you can’t have a Coke and Pepsi commercial running at the same time). When you work union, there is a length of time they are allowed to run your commercial and if they want to extend it they have to pay you to do so. That’s not the case for non-union work. My $1,000 seemed amazing when I made it in 2007. It’s not as amazing when that commercial is still airing today and I haven’t made another penny from it. If this was a union project and they wanted to air it for over 10 years, I would be getting paid continuously for it in holding fees and residuals. I know that many non-union commercials are not ones that can run in perpetuity like mine is, but it’s still a possibility.

I have shared this story about my non-union commercial many times with actor friends. I feel like it’s important for actors to know what risks they are taking if they want to work non-union. I wish someone had explained it to me because I would have been smarter about things. I probably would have still done the project, but I might have asked about adding a line in my contract to change it from being able to run forever to having an end date. There’s no guarantee I could have gotten that change made, but I would have liked to have been educated about what I was getting myself into.

This is not to say that non-union work is bad. Everyone starts out somewhere and the experiences I’ve had when I was a non-union actor have been invaluable. But I also understand the benefit of working union and I am proud of what our union has gotten us as actors. I also have become much more aware of what all unions have done for their members. So I want to support union work as much as I can. And when commercials are only going non-union sometimes to save the corporations making them a little bit of money, that doesn’t seem right. I understand that companies have to save money on some things, but I don’t think it should be at the expense of working class people trying to make a living. I think most people agree that when companies don’t give their employees a raise but will give their executives raises that it’s not right. Or it’s not right for companies to encourage their full time employees to go on food stamps or other subsidies to help them afford the cost of living. Employees deserve a fair wage and that is exactly what actors are asking for.

I know some people probably roll their eyes at us and think that we don’t have a right to complain, but there are working class actors just like there are working class employees in other industries. When you don’t know when you are going to work again, it’s important to make sure you are making what you deserve. Working class actors aren’t making millions of dollars a year. Some of us make $5,000 a year from actors. Many of us make less than that. And we do supplement our acting income from our day jobs, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve what we make when we do get to act.

I am so proud of the video that Union Working made and the actors that have been participating in the project. I love seeing actors helping each other out at all levels of success and I am so grateful that we have some incredible talent on our side looking out for us.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, SAG-AFTRA, union, union working

Just A Simple Dinner Out (or A Union Working Hangout)

Posted on December 18, 2018 | Comments Off

I’ve been helping out with the Union Working group for a while now. For me, it seems so easy to run the FB live and it’s not a big deal. But I know that for the core members/leaders of the group, it is a big deal because that is one less thing that they have to worry about. And they really don’t have to worry about anything because I come to the meetings with all the equipment needed to run it and I set things up without needing any help. And with our new location for the meetings, we have WiFi so it’s even easier to run the live stream.

I know how hard the core members/leaders of the group work to run Union Working, so when they invited me out to a hangout to celebrate an awesome year as a group I was really honored! I am friends with some of those leaders, but others are people who I don’t know that well and I was excited to get to hang out with them in a casual setting and get to know them better. When we are at the meetings, I don’t want to bother them since they are so focused and working on running the meeting. So this was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

The hangout was at a brewery that is near where we have our meetings. I got there early and had a chance to hang out with a friend of mine who is one of the leaders before other members arrived. We found a big table that would fit us all and people started arriving pretty quickly once we were sitting down. A bunch of people were ordering drinks, but fortunately the brewery had a nice food menu too so I got a grilled cheese (which was delicious!).

Most of the time we were there we were just talking about random things. Some of them were acting related, some of them were just normal every day things. The conversation never stopped and there were times that 2 or 3 different conversations were happening at the same time. I was seated at the middle of the table so I was able to be a part of it all, but sometimes I just sat back and enjoyed listening to everyone else. It was pretty entertaining when some people got a bit silly and I just had fun watching it all happen.

There were some moments where the group and the accomplishments of the past year were mentioned and each of us were singled out for what we were able to do. When it came to me, they thanked me for taking over the FB live and for just jumping in and helping. They also thanked me for keeping them on task and bringing new ideas. It just reminded me of how something that might not be a big deal to me is really appreciated by others and I should accept their thanks instead of playing it off. When it’s a big deal to someone, I should acknowledge that and allow them to thank me however they feel appropriate. I don’t have to play it down and try to be modest that I’m not doing much. It’s not an easy thing for me to do because I don’t like feeling like I’m getting credit I don’t deserve, but I did deserve the credit from their perspective.

As it goes with so many events like this, I had every intention of leaving at a reasonable hour so I could get home and to sleep, but that didn’t happen. I was just having too much fun hanging out with everyone and I didn’t want to leave. But I couldn’t stay too late since I did have a bit of a drive home and had an early workout the next morning. But I was there for a few hours before I said my goodbyes and headed back to my car.

I left the hangout really feeling like I had made friends out of more of these core members/leaders. While I’m sure they were always my friends before, I really got to know them when we weren’t worried about working and I feel much more a part of the group now. I’m happy just doing my FB live work, but if they want more I know that I am willing to do that because I want to help however I can. And I’m much more comfortable now asking for help from those leaders if I need it because I know them better now.

We’ve got some amazing things happening with Union Working in the new year and some things that will still be happening this year. I can’t wait to get to share them when I can because they are really cool. I love getting to be a part of this group and every time I meet with them I appreciate the group more and more.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, dinner, friends, hangout, SAG-AFTRA, union, union working

A SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends)

Posted on December 14, 2018 | Comments Off

The SAG-AFTRA Holiday Party is an event that I love. I haven’t always gone to it, but I’ve tried to go every year the past few years. It’s not often I get to attend a union event that is all about being social and not about various union politics or issues. While you can’t always avoid discussing those things even at a party, the holiday party really is a time to relax and have fun.

And this party isn’t just a hangout. The LA Host Committee does an amazing job having a nice buffet meal, entertainment, and a photo booth. I usually don’t eat while I’m there and I don’t know if I’ve ever taken advantage of the photo booth, but I have always appreciated the options to have fun and I know that it makes so many people happy.

This year, even though the party fell on a nausea/pain day, I wasn’t feeling too bad when I got there. I was a bit tired from having a long day, but I perked up when I arrived and saw a friend of mine in line. She was nice enough to let me join her in line and that gave us a chance to catch up! Once the party officially started, the check in line went pretty quickly and we were inside within a few minutes!

Our first stop was to get some food and this year I was going to be enjoying it too! There was a really nice spread with lots of options. I had some salad, chicken teriyaki, shrimp ceviche, pot stickers, and prime rib! And there was a dessert spread too with cookies, brownies, and cake (I got some cake that had really delicious frosting!). After we all got our plates we found a table to stand at so we could eat without worrying about holding our plates.

The party was a bit crowded, but that is to be expected. And I was constantly running into friends and people I knew! I really felt amazing when I realized how many people in the union I do know. Sometimes it feels like I don’t know anyone or there are too many people there, but this year it didn’t feel like that. And even though I didn’t get to spend too much time catching up with many of my friends, I did make an effort to do my best. And I also tried to get photos with a couple of people too since I usually forget to do that!

Where we were standing to eat ended up being right next to where the quick speeches were going to be, so that worked out well for us! There was a quick speech to thank the LA Host Committee for doing such a great job with the party and to thank those of us who made it for attending. Then there was a short speech about the current strike we have with BBH. BBH is an ad agency that has declared that they no longer have to follow our union agreement and we as a union are not ok with that. They have an agreement to do union commercials and they should abide by that. So we are on strike until an agreement can be made. It’s an important issue for the union and I’m glad that they took some time to talk about it at the party so everyone there could be up-to-date on what is happening. They also had signs for us to take photos with to show our support for our union, and of course I took advantage of that!

The party was only 2 hours long as I was planning on leaving before it was over because my tiredness was starting to kick in. But of course I kept running into people I knew and got caught up into different conversations. I think I ended up leaving about an hour after I started to say goodbye, but that’s normal for events like this. I always end up finding people I know and hadn’t talked to yet and I don’t want to leave without at least saying hello and goodbye. And I was also helping a friend get an Instagram account set up and didn’t want to leave them until they had everything ready and knew how to post photos.

I’m so glad that I took a bit of a rest day earlier this week so that I could be at the SAG-AFTRA party. Even though I was still a bit tired, I think that had more to do with my early morning workout and maybe not getting enough sleep and not because of feeling overwhelmed and burnt out from too many events. I still have some more holiday parties to go to, but I am evaluating which ones are the most important so I can prioritize them if necessary. I want to make sure that I can have as much fun at any other parties as I did at the SAG-AFTRA one!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, friends, holidays, party, SAG-AFTRA, union

The First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer)

Posted on November 30, 2018 | 2 comments

This week was the last Union Working meeting of 2018. With the holiday season starting, it’s tough to plan for a meeting in December because so many people have travel plans or other events to go to. And this meeting wasn’t a regular meeting, it was part meeting and part holiday mixer. But it was the perfect way to kick off the holiday season and the parties I’ll be going to.

I got to the meeting early so I could set up the Facebook Live things. I know that the team at Union Working appreciate that I do this for the meetings, but I always feel like I should be doing more because it’s not that hard for me to do. But if that’s what they need me to do, I’m glad I can do it! When I got there, a lot of the things for the party were already set up. There was a table full of amazing food and a bar area set up and I know that we were expecting a lot of people to be there (actors love free food and drinks!).

People arrived in waves since it was more of a party so I felt like I was always seeing someone I knew and getting to say hi and catch up with them. It was nice to not have to worry about getting everything ready for a meeting to start and to just enjoy time with those who were there.

About an hour into the party, the meeting portion of the evening happened so I got the Facebook Live video ready. It was a very brief meeting with the premiere of a new video that will be released soon regarding keeping the union strong, some notes about how we have merchandise for sale for those interested in representing Union Working with a hat or key chain, and then the leaders of the group were sharing their appreciation for everyone else. It was really nice to see how passionate the leaders of the group are about working hard for all actors. We see that passion when they are running the meetings, but seeing them be grateful for what we have accomplished was a different type of passion and it made me even more proud to be a member of the group.

After that was done, it was back to the party. I kept the Facebook Live running because we wanted to give people the opportunity to come over and say things to those watching in other parts of the country. A few people did come over to say thank you to those in other markets for working hard, but most of the time I was running it there was nobody there and I was just looking at the step and repeat.

Even though people weren’t coming over to talk on the video, I wasn’t by myself at the party. Friends were coming over to hang out and talk with me throughout the evening. And it actually worked out a bit better since where I was wasn’t as crowded as the area by the food where most people were hanging out. I liked having my own party area so I didn’t feel as overwhelmed or like I was in the middle of a crowd. I did go over and get some food (which was delicious!), but most of my time was over by the step and repeat.

And even though I always tell myself that I want to get a picture in front of the step and repeat, it usually is taken down before I remember or get a chance to do it. This time I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass so I finally got a fun selfie in front of it.

Most people were taking advantage of the step and repeat being out of the way and available and were taking photos too. There were so many selfies taken and a lot of fun group photos. I thought about doing some group photos with my friends in front of the step and repeat, but because so many people were busy talking I didn’t want to interrupt them. And I loved watching everyone talk because there were lots of conversations about union related issues and lots of new people meeting each other and becoming friends. It was kind of fun being able to sit back and just enjoy the people watching.

But since everyone has a camera and was taking photos, I did get one group photo with my friends when the party was winding down. It’s not in front of the step and repeat, but at least I got one photo that proves I was there with other people!

I got everything from the Facebook Live cleaned up before the party was done so when cleanup was happening I asked if I could help in any other way. We had some amazing volunteers who were doing the cleanup and they didn’t need me. And that was ok since it was getting late and I had to work early the next morning. So I made my rounds of goodbyes to my friends and headed home.

Even with being over by the Facebook Live setup for most of the party, I never felt like I was alone or separate from everything going on. I loved having my own area to talk with my friends and to meet new people at the meeting. I know that next year is a big one for our union with elections happening again along with contract negotiations, so it’s going to be more important than ever to be as involved as I can with Union Working. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing!

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, friends, mixer, party, SAG-AFTRA, union, union working

Auditioning For Class (or When Rejection Is Really A Win)

Posted on November 13, 2018 | Comments Off

It has been a while since I’ve been in an acting class. And it’s been even longer since I’ve been in an ongoing regular acting class. I’ve struggled to find a new acting class that I wanted to be in for a long time. Part of it is financial and part of it is finding someone I connect with as much as my acting coach who passed away. But I know that I should be in class because it’s always a good thing to work on your skills. So I have looked into a few different classes to see if there are any that seem to be a good match for me.

A friend of mine told me about an acting class that she is in (I’m not saying the name just to keep things a bit discrete). It’s an ongoing class that meets once a week to work on scripts. You can bring in a script you need to prepare for an audition or work on random material in class. But what is so special about the class is that there is no teacher or coach. It is a group of 12 actors that work together supporting each other. Everyone is a teacher and a student at the same time.

When she told me about this class originally, it sounded really amazing to me. I love the idea of a collaborative class where everyone is an equal. And not only did the class sound great, it was one of the cheaper classes out there because they only had to pay for the rental of the space they used. They hold auditions to join the group once or twice a year, whenever one of the 12 members is leaving the class. Sometimes they have 1 space, sometimes they have more than one. But it’s always a very limited number of spaces open when they have auditions.

My friend told me about the auditions about a month ago so I could check my schedule, and the actual audition was last week. We were given a script to work on and present to the group. Then after we did our scene there was an interview portion where the current members of the group could ask me questions. It’s so important with a small collaborative group like this that everyone gets along, so I understood why they had to do an interview along with the audition.

I don’t want to make excuses for myself, but I did not have my best audition. I was dealing with some nausea and cramps that evening. I’ve been lucky over the past 2 years because I haven’t really had any auditions on my bad days. But this time, I did have that. And because I wasn’t feeling myself, I was struggling with keeping the lines memorized. Again, I don’t want to make excuses for myself because I now know I need to work harder at being extra memorized to be prepared in case I have to audition on a bad day. But it still was unfortunate that I felt pretty bad after I finished my audition.

I felt much more confident during the interview. The questions were things that I was expecting like if I could commit to the time the class was held, if I was ok with how much the class cost, and what I would bring to a group like this. I tried to answer as openly and honestly as I could without rambling too much. I was very conscious about making my answers solid and quick so I didn’t seem unsure of my answers. I was actually much more prepared for the interview part and was expecting much harder questions, so when it was done I was almost shocked that it was over.

When I left, I told my friend I was sorry that my audition was bad. I knew it wasn’t great, but she let me know that it was good and that I did a great job. But she also let me know the next day that I didn’t get accepted into the group. It wasn’t a surprise to me (I would have been surprised if I did get into the group) and she gave me some notes about what the others thought. The main thing was that because I wasn’t as memorized as other people, I didn’t appear to be as prepared. It was actually good to hear that because I knew that was an issue. I was happy it wasn’t an issue I wasn’t already aware of.

Although I would have loved to have gotten into the class, I know that I can audition again the next time there is an opening. And I plan on doing just that and making sure I work even harder on my audition. I now know what to expect when I go into the room so I will be more prepared than I was last week. And hopefully I won’t have the audition on a bad day.

But even with being rejected from the class, I had the best time at this audition! Any time I get to act is an amazing day and brings me so much joy! This is how I know I’m on the right career path right now. Being rejected from an acting class is still better than my best day at my day job. And I have gotten good at rejection from auditions and other acting related experiences. It’s a part of this career and I am glad that I don’t let rejection affect me or make me question if I’m not supposed to do this.

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Posted in Acting

Tagged acting, audition, class

A Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

Posted on November 8, 2018 | Comments Off

I know that on Election Day there were quite a few freebie or discount offers for anyone who voted. Busses and trains in LA were free, ride share companies were offering free or discounted rides to polling places, and there were a couple of fast food or chain restaurants that offered things like free coffee or dessert if you were wearing your voter sticker. I usually don’t do any of the voter freebie offers since they aren’t things I need or want, but this year I did take advantage of one.

One of my headshot photographers, Adam Emperor Southard, posted on social media last month that he was offering free mini shoots for anyone who voted. These would be 10 minute shoots and done quickly and efficiently. This doesn’t mean they wouldn’t look as good as normal headshots do, but it would be done in studio with a single background and with a single look. It’s been a while since I’ve done headshots (right now I don’t have the money for new ones but I look like my current ones enough so it’s ok), so I immediately signed up for a mini shoot!

I was going through my clothes to pick out what I wanted to wear for my shoot. Even though I knew it was just a single look, I was hoping that maybe I could do 2 very similar looks if I made it quick. So I had a black tank top on and brought a sweater and scarf with me. I was hoping that maybe I could do photos in each, but I also knew that I might have to just pick one and that would be ok with me.

For regular headshot shoots, I have someone do my hair and makeup. I timed my hair being done so it was done the day before the shoot. I knew that would make it still look nice and not as frizzy as it can be when I do my hair. And for my makeup, I really just tried my best to do my makeup. I’m getting better about doing it and realizing that I have to almost look overdone when I look in a mirror to actually look good. I think that’s because I don’t wear makeup that often, but it’s still a tough thing to remember that I don’t look like I’m wearing too much to everyone else.

I went to the shoot right after I was done with work on Election Day. Traffic wasn’t as crazy as it could be so I got there much earlier than my appointment time. I figured it would be fine if I had to wait but maybe Adam would be ready to take my photo if there wasn’t someone right before me. He was just finishing a shoot when I arrived so it ended up being perfect timing! And I asked if I could do both looks since it was such a minor change and he said that I could!

I did the look with the sweater first and tried to not think too much about how I look. It was tough because I know that normally the makeup artist is checking to make sure my hair looks good and nothing else is off. I asked to see a preview of a photo and fixed my hair a bit (even though it can be fixed in retouching too) and tried to relax. While I was doing my photos someone else showed up for their shoot, and I let them go after I was done with the photos in my sweater and would do the photos in my scarf after they were done.

When I did my second half of the shoot, I tried to do a variety of faces and looks. But since it was so quick I know that I probably didn’t do as much as I would have loved to. And to finish off the shoot, I decided to do some fun pictures with my voter sticker (which I love that I get since I do a mail in ballot) and those ended up looking very fun when Adam showed me a quick preview of how they looked.

Adam just sent me the photos from the shoot and I will spend some time going over them and seeing which ones I like. With this free shoot he is also including a free retouch, but I can pay for more to be retouched if I want them to. So far, from what I have looked at, they look amazing! My hair isn’t quite what I thought it would look like because there was a weird piece out of place but my makeup is much better than I thought it would be! And of course, since Adam is an amazing photographer the photos are all incredible!

I love that Adam did this shoot as an incentive to get people to vote. I would have voted with or without this shoot, but it was fun to have something awesome as a bonus for voting in this midterm election. And it is a bonus that really is something I needed and will be very helpful with my acting career. This was really just an amazing gift that Adam offered us all and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of it.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, election, free, headshots, photos, vote

Last Mentoring Group Brunch For The Year (or Switching Things Up For Next Year)

Posted on October 31, 2018 | Comments Off

It’s been over 3 years since I started meeting with my current mentoring group. Next year will be 4 years since the first meeting and I love that this group is still going strong! Even though not everyone can go to every meeting we have as a group, we all still support each other whenever we can. We email the group from time to time and know that we can turn to each other if we need advice or help. I’ve said this over and over again, but I am so lucky to have this group of women in my life!

This past weekend we had one of our catchup brunches. It ended up being a smaller group with just 3 of us being able to make it, but with everyone’s crazy schedule we knew that it was going to be tough to get a big group there. We try our best, but we also know that for everyone to be able to attend it would take a miracle. So we try to pick the date that works for the most of us and we do our brunch then. And usually someone can make it to the next brunch so we just get to double up on the update from them the next time.

With it just being 3 of us, we had a quick update time. I had a few things to share this time which was a nice change compared to feeling like I have nothing to share. There’s nothing major happening, but I did have a recent change in my representation. I still have the same agents that I had before, but instead of them being at the same agency they are now split at 2 agencies. This isn’t a huge thing, but it will be the first time I don’t have my agents working at the same agency so there are a few changes I need to be aware of. It’s mainly things like notifying each of them separately when I book out when I’m out of town or making sure the other knows when one gets me an audition. I really don’t think anything else will change, but I guess I’ll find out as time goes on.

The other 2 people at brunch had some fun updates including a new show that one has written and is working on presenting to different networks. She was telling us all about the show and it does sound amazing! I have a feeling other people will be interested in the idea and it has a good chance of being worked on as a pilot. We all know there are so many variables with what happens for a show to get on the air, but just getting it in the works is a huge deal and I really hope that it happens!

While we were at brunch, we were talking about how tough it has been lately for us to find dates that work for a bunch of us. And if we were trying to do every other month like we have been for the past few years, that would make our next brunch in December. I know that it will be impossible to find a date to meet in December because of the holidays and everyone having travel plans. So we knew that the brunch was going to be in January.

But one of the women at the brunch mentioned that since we’ve been struggling to find the time to meet up, maybe it was time to make a change in the attempted frequency of our meetings. Things naturally have just worked out this year to pretty much be a meeting once a quarter. We try for every other month and then it gets pushed back a month. So to do a meeting every 3 months isn’t going to be much of a change. We brought it up to the rest of the group who wasn’t at the meeting and it seems like everyone thinks this is a good idea.

I think it will be nice to have some of the pressure off to try to plan these every other month. Also it will give me more time to have more of an update each time we meet up. I know I don’t have to have a big update every time, but I do like to have something to contribute to the conversation. And it’s a great opportunity to get advice but I can’t get that advice unless I ask for it or have a specific question. So having a bit more time to have things happen in my life will be a good thing for me.

It’s crazy to think that by the time we have our next brunch we will have been meeting for 4 years! That’s such a long time to keep this going but we are all so lucky that we’ve been able to keep it up. I know it’s only possible because everyone else is as motivated as I am about continuing these meetings. And I’m glad that we are just as motivated as we were before as well as being flexible to change things up as we see need to be adjusted.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, brunch, friends, mentoring, Women in Film

Union Working Support (or Celebrities And Middle Class Actors Unite)

Posted on October 25, 2018 | Comments Off

This week was another Union Working meeting and as always it was so informative and inspiring. Even if there aren’t action steps for me to take when I leave a meeting, I always leave wanting to do more and finding out more ways for me to help and be involved. I felt for a while that running the live stream of our meetings wasn’t enough to help, but now I realize that it is an important job and really appreciated by members who are in LA and cannot attend as well as members who live in other cities.

This meeting didn’t have as much of an agenda as some in the past have had, but we still had lots of things to go over.

There was a brief discussion about the W&W meetings that have been happening. I really have wanted to attend one, but the way my schedule works it’s not easy. And when I thought I could attend the last part of a meeting, something comes up that prevents me from going. I still have a few more chances to go, but there is a possibility that I won’t be able to make it to one and that’s a bit upsetting to me. I really planned on going because it is so important to be there. But I also know there will be more opportunities in the future when maybe my schedule isn’t as packed.

One of the big things we discussed at the meeting was our social media presence. We have got some great things up on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages and we want everyone to subscribe to them if they are interested in supporting unions or knowing more about unions. Union Working isn’t just about the actor union, we support all unions. And if you’ve checked out any of our social media, you may have seen a lot of pictures like these.

And that’s because we have been reaching out to celebrities to see who wants to join Union Working in supporting our union, making our union stronger, and supporting all other unions. So many famous people have wanted to help us which is amazing. We know that there is strength in numbers, but there is added strength in having known people joining the cause. And I’m so grateful that so many people who have such busy schedules have taken time out to help us.

And we are continuing to look for celebrities who want to help us. Most of them remember what it was like to be a struggling actor or a middle class actor. And sadly, with so many projects becoming non-union, the idea of being a middle class actor is going away. People used to be able to support themselves by doing a few commercials a year. Now, that’s not happening. There is still a middle class of actors who support themselves but are not famous or known, but those numbers are getting smaller and smaller.

We need the help of those who can help us and I’m so happy that we have gotten some incredible people to join us in our fight for all union members! There are more videos about this on the Union Working YouTube page and more amazing videos are coming soon. I can’t wait until everyone can see what has been in the works and what we want the world to see.

One of the last things that was discussed was having more Union Working groups around the country. While LA is one of the biggest areas for actors, there are actors all over and some of the cities that used to be considered minor markets are now very busy with work. We know that we have the support of people outside of LA, we just want them to be able to keep building those communities of support like we have here. And one of the things we do for those other cities is the live stream that I run. I loved watching the comments on the live stream come in from people who don’t live in LA. And they can ask questions at our meetings as well since I can see those questions as they are posted and ask them on their behalf.

We will have one more Union Working meeting in November for this year and as soon as that information is finalized I’ll be sharing it on my social media so those who want to join us can do so. Then we’ll have the holidays off before getting back to our regular meetings in the new year. I’ve already done so much with this group in 2018, and I can’t wait to see what I’m able to accomplish next year when I’m sure I’ll get even more involved.

Comments Off on Union Working Support (or Celebrities And Middle Class Actors Unite)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, support, union, union working

Tag Archives: acting

4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch)

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A Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity)

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Seeing Actors Supporting Actors (or An Awesome Union Working Project)

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Just A Simple Dinner Out (or A Union Working Hangout)

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A SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends)

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The First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer)

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Auditioning For Class (or When Rejection Is Really A Win)

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A Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

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Last Mentoring Group Brunch For The Year (or Switching Things Up For Next Year)

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Union Working Support (or Celebrities And Middle Class Actors Unite)

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