Tag Archives: Women in Film

An Evening Of Fabulous Women (or Getting More Involved At Women In Film)

Posted on January 20, 2015 | 2 comments

Last week, Women In Film had their annual membership summit. I had been to this summit once in the past, but the past 2 years it was held on an evening that I couldn’t attend. But this year, since I’m not working in the evenings anymore, I was able to make it.

Ms. In The Biz founder (and my friend), Helenna, just joined WIF so she and I went to the event together. The summit was being held at the Arclight movie theater in Hollywood and fortunately there are a bunch of great restaurants right there. We met up at Stella Barra which is right next to the theater. We had some dinner and got to catch up a little. The Ms. In The Biz book launch is coming up soon and we got to talk a little about that.

Soon, it was time to head over to the theater for the meeting. Check-in was little crazy, but soon enough we were at the theater where the meeting was held. And of course, we had to take a few pictures in front of the step and repeat.

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Because the check-in was a little slow, we were some of the very first people in the theater. So we got some pretty primo seats right up front and by the podium.

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The idea of the membership summit is kind of like an overview of everything that WIF has to offer. There have been many changes in the past few months so the person in charge of each of the different programs within the organization got up and spoke. They each shared what their program does and if they are looking for volunteers (and what they need volunteers to do).

It was a pretty short meeting because there was a little party afterward. As soon as the meeting was done, the different programs that were looking for volunteers had sign up sheets so we could get more involved in WIF. While so many of the programs seemed amazing, I signed up to help with the annual awards banquet auction and the film screening series.

I haven’t heard back from those programs on what they need me to do, but I’m super excited to be more involved in WIF. While I’ve been a member for several years, outside of the mentor program and various film screenings, I haven’t really taken advantage of my membership. I know that there is more to WIF than what I’ve been doing and hopefully volunteering for those programs will help me feel more comfortable with joining other groups and programs within the organization.

The party was held downstairs at the theater. As we walked in, we were handed hats with the new and updated WIF logo (it now includes TV, Digital and Media as part of the logo).

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There were food and drinks passed around. I didn’t get any photos of those because Helenna and I were busy meeting other WIF members. I also ran into one of my fellow mentees from my old mentoring circle. She didn’t apply for a new mentoring circle like I did so we won’t be in the new mentoring circle together again (I was kind of hoping we would be).

I didn’t stay too late since I had work the next morning, but I did meet a ton of new people at the event (and a lot of non-actors which is awesome!). I’m so excited to see what I can do this year with WIF and what new opportunities will come my way because of that.

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Default ThumbnailWomen In Film (or Brunch and Ghostbusters) Default ThumbnailLess Networking More Socializing (or Another Evening With My Fellow Mentees) Default ThumbnailMentoring Circle (or Women Who Support Each Other) Default ThumbnailEnd Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready To Get Mentored Again (or A Evening With WIF) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing)

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Getting Ready To Get Mentored Again (or A Evening With WIF)

Posted on November 20, 2014 | 2 comments

When I did the WIF Mentoring Circle the first time, I was so excited to have a bunch of meetings with other motivated women for a year. At first it seemed great, but after the first meeting, pretty much only 2 other mentees came to meetings. And while the agreement was to have 6 meetings within a 12 month period, my group only had 4 meetings in 18 months.

It wasn’t a total loss. The other 2 mentees who came to the meetings were awesome and I learned a lot from them. I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to apply for another mentoring circle until my group completed all 6 meetings, but since it was announced that that would not be happening, I applied for the Winter circles.

In my application, I said how I could see how amazing the mentoring circles could be, and sadly that wasn’t my experience with my group. I was so excited that I was accepted again, and there was a mixer this week to meet some of the other women who would be in the program this time.

The event was a pretty casual evening. There were food and drinks (I ate before I went so I can’t tell you if the food was awesome but I’m assuming it was) and most of the evening was unstructured so we could just chat with some other woman at the event.

I was at a table that happened to be full of non-actors (a rarity and a nice treat!). We were all chatting and I don’t quite remember how the conversation got started, but I started chatting with the woman sitting next to me about the podcast Serial (which we are both obsessed with!). It turns out this woman (who I didn’t ask permission to name on my blog so I won’t right now) got a fellowship for WIF through UCLA where she is in the screenwriting program. That’s pretty awesome!

After about an hour at the event, the women who run the mentoring circles spoke and explained that we will know who our mentors and fellow mentees are by the end of the year. They haven’t put the groups together yet, so if there are people who we want to have in our circles we can request them (but no guarantees).

After the speech, I got up and spoke to the woman in charge. I just wanted to thank her again for accepting me into the program for the second time. And I wanted to make sure that I would have different mentors this year. I loved my mentors, but I think part of doing this experience again is to meet more people and expand my networking circles. She said that they would do their best not to put me with the same mentors again, and if for some reason it wasn’t like that, I can let them know.

After that, I decided to head home so I could get some work done before having to work the next morning.

Overall, it was a super successful kick off to the next mentoring circle. I’m so excited to see who’s in my group and who my new mentors will be. I can’t wait to find out what everyone’s specialty is and what jobs my mentors have. But I’ll have to wait a bit to find that out.

 

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“The Theory Of Everything” (or The Fanciest Movie Theater I’ve Ever Been To)

Posted on October 30, 2014 | 1 comment

Last week was full of movie screenings! First I saw “What The F@#- Is Cancer And Why Does Everyone Have It?”. Then I got invited to check out “The Theory Of Everything” in an advanced screening!

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“The Theory Of Everything” is the story of Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane. The movie was based on a book that Jane wrote about their relationship. I was super excited to see it, and I invited my friend Robert to be my plus one.

The screening was put on by Women In Film and held at iPic Theaters in Westwood. I knew that it was a fancy movie theater, but I had no idea how luxurious it would be!

I’ve been to some fancy movie theaters before, and I’m well aware that I am spoiled by that. But seriously, this was more than I could image! When Robert and I walked in, we realized that basically every seat in the theater was a leather recliner.

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We got there pretty early, so we were able to get 2 recliners pretty much right in the middle of the seating area. A few minutes after we sat down, a waitress came over to us. She explained that Women In Film was treating us to 2 drinks and whatever food we would like to order (up to a certain amount).

I was totally not expecting that!

So Robert and I checked out the menu on the iPad that was at the little table between our seats.

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I got a water (since I didn’t feel like having a cocktail in the middle of the afternoon) and some truffle fries. But there were so many food options available including entrees. I have no idea what the fries normally cost, but I’m sure they weren’t cheap. While we waited for the movie to start, we googled the theater and realized that the seats we were in usually cost $25 each for movie! Definitely not something that I could afford normally.

The movie started and soon after our food was served. And after that, complimentary popcorn was served too (I turned that down since I was happy with my truffle fries). We were definitely treated well at the theater! And I thought having waiters going around the theater during the movie would be distracting, but it really wasn’t. The way that the seating is arranged, the waiters are never really blocking the screen as they help other patrons.

And the movie was incredible! I didn’t know that much about Stephen Hawking before seeing the movie. Just some of the basics like he has a disease similar to ALS and that he is a scientist, mathematician, and a writer. But this movie covered his life pretty much from college until about his later 40’s. And his wife Jane was pretty amazing too! I actually downloaded the book that this movie was based on onto my Kindle as soon as I got home.

I have no doubts that this movie will be getting a lot of awards during awards season. I think it could totally win Best Picture at the Oscars. The performances were so amazing that at times I forgot that I was watching an actor play Stephen Hawking and not the man himself. It’s just so mind-blowing!

After the movie, Robert and I were in agreement that this was one of the most amazing movies that either of us has seen in a while, and easily the best movie of the year! The movie officially comes out in a week and I highly encourage you all to go see this movie!

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End Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch)

Posted on June 30, 2014 | Comments Off on End Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch)

My WIF Mentoring Circle has pretty much come to an end. My group had a lunch meeting this past week and the mentors announced that this would most likely be our last gathering. We might have one more in the fall, but we have been told that we can apply for new mentoring circles when applications are being accepted again.

I had gone into the mentoring circle experience with really high hopes. Since Women In Film could no longer match mentees with their own mentors, they hoped that these circles would create a little community where all the mentees could help and support each other.

The first meeting of my mentor circle had about 10 mentees (plus our 2 mentors). But after that first meeting, there was only one other mentee who attended all the meetings. There was another mentee who attended all but this last one, but she is based in NYC and is about 7 months pregnant and unable to travel now. But she still joined us by phone to join in on the conversation.

Pretty much everyone else who attended that first meeting never came back for another meeting. It was a little disappointing. I was totally looking forward to getting to know the other women and to see how we could all help each other reach our goals. I believe that over the other meetings, there were 2 women who each showed up for one meeting. But 5 women never came back at all.

I didn’t get to know those 5 women really at all. But the 2 women who were there at pretty much every meeting I did get to know. And I keep in touch with them both outside of the meetings. I share my successes with them and they share theirs with me. If my entire group (or even half of my group) were filled with women like these 2, I would have zero complaints about the mentoring circle.

But I am going to apply for another one. I’ve talked to a few people who were in other mentoring circles and they did not have as high of an absence rate as my group did. Also, their groups did meet 6 times within 12 months (which is what the application for the groups said we would do). My group met 3 times within the year plus this 4th time after the one year mark had passed.

I don’t want to say that my group was a dud. That’s not it at all. I did meet amazing women and I’m so grateful that both of my mentors have said that I can always come to them for advice. I just wish that I had gotten to know other women who are in the same spot in their career as I am. I wish that I had more chances to get to know the women in my group.

I think I can apply for a new group in the fall or near the end of the year. As soon as I can turn in an application, I will. And hopefully my next mentoring circle will be everything that I am hoping for.

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More Mentoring (or This Is Exactly What I Needed)

Posted on July 25, 2013 | Comments Off on More Mentoring (or This Is Exactly What I Needed)

Yesterday was the second meeting of my Women In Film Mentoring Circle. The meeting was held again at UTA (which has the most gorgeous building in Beverly Hills).

For this meeting, only about half of my fellow mentees could attend, so there was a lot of personal attention. And our mentors arranged for a special guest to be there who is an agent as well as a manager.

While it’s great to be around like-minded people who aren’t looking at you like they are trying to figure out what they could gain, there’s just so much about this meeting that was exactly what I needed at this point in time.

I’m still pretty pissed about the car accident. Right before going to the meeting, I had my phone interview with the adjuster from the other driver’s insurance company. I felt like I had to defend myself a lot, but fortunately the adjuster seemed to almost side with me more than with her own customer. It just put me in a downer mood.

But the first thing that we did in our meeting today was to go over what we’ve accomplished since our last meeting. And even though I feel like I’m gotten nothing done, when forced to figure out what to share, I’ve realized that I’m made some great steps (including getting some clips from the scenes I shot up on my online casting profiles).

Also, it’s nice to hear that I’m not the only one struggling. Lots of people don’t like to share when they are having a tough time. Everything is sunshine and rainbows with them. It’s similar to how some actors like to hide the fact that they have a day job and want people to think that all they do is acting. I don’t understand why others hide these things. It’s so isolating and knowing that you aren’t the only one frustrated really helps make it seem more bearable.

I got some great advice from the mentors, guest, and my fellow mentees at the meeting. The other mentees and I are really trying to help each other out however we can. One offered to help me edit a demo reel when I’ve got more clips together. Another is going to help me with some stuff on here. It’s nice to have that sort of support. The only other place I’ve felt that was at The Actors’ Network, and since TAN is online only now, some of that is gone.

So after leaving the meeting, I really felt like I had some great steps to take to help my career. I have a plan for right now, and I know exactly where I can ask for help if I need it. And hopefully at the next meeting, I won’t struggle to find accomplishments to share but instead will struggle to edit down all of the accomplishments that have come my way.

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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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Getting Mentored (or Wanting to Have Positivity Around Me)

Posted on November 29, 2012 | 1 comment

I joined Women in Film last year during one of their membership drives. Honestly, when I joined, I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of the membership. At the time, I was at an old job where I only worked Monday-Wednesday, so I had time to attend a couple of events. But what sparked my interest the most was their mentoring program.

The mentoring program then was a one on one program where everyone got matched up with someone in the industry. They might not have been in the same part of the industry as you, but that’s a good thing in my mind. A bunch of my friends and I all applied for the program in January. And then we waited.

Out of the 6 friends that I know who applied, only 1 got a mentor. The rest of us didn’t hear anything.

Well, it turns out, way more people applied this year than expected, so they changed up the program for the future. Now, we are going to be in mentoring circles with 9 or 10 mentees and 1 mentor.

Personally, I’m super excited about the change. I think that it will be amazing.

Since there were so many of us who applied in January who didn’t get matched, Women in Film hosted a get together for us this week. It was a little party to say thank you for being patient and an opportunity to mingle with other mentees and some of the mentors.

This event was exactly what I needed. There are far too many negative people in this industry. People try to put you down or make you feel less so that they feel more. There are so many scams out there that seem legitimate. But this event was all positive people who just want to help look out for one another and make sure that we all can succeed together.

There are very few industry places where I feel this much positivity. Being a member of The Actors’ Network is like this too (if you aren’t a member of that organization yet and want to check it out, there are 2 free orientations left this year). I feel like I need to be a more active participant with this positive groups to outweigh all the negativity out there. It’s tough with the job right now. I need to find a way to balance working so late 3 nights a week and trying to attend events. But whenever I do make it, I feel like I’m recharging my batteries and I’m ready to go out and battle whatever I encounter out there.

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