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Self Producing Friends

7 Nov

I’ve talked a lot before about the importance of self-producing when it comes to making a career as an actor. I always love it when I see my friends and former co-stars or colleagues making their own work. Here’s just a little slice of my diverse talented group of friends and their Kickstarter/Indie Go Go pages. Some have expired as the projects are completed, but I wanted to include them, too, to show the results of crowdfunding and all the cool stuff my friends are doing. They aren’t waiting for someone to hire them- they’re going out there and making their own work!!

Wallflower short film

Three Puffs of Gold short film

Yo Se music video

Low Shoulders short film

 

Gypsy Gift short film

Have You Seen Alice play

Support these artists following their dreams!

When it Rains it Pours

17 Oct

I mean figuratively of course. This is LA. However, even this figurative rain is seasonal. In fact, I think right around this time last year I had a shit ton on my plate just like I do now. Of course for the past three months I’ve been twiddling my thumbs and then, all of a sudden- down pour. I don’t want to complain- this is all good. Very good! No more dry spell. No more doubts. No more thinking, really. There just isn’t the time. Here’s what I have going on:

1. Spoken Word Poetry – opening 10/21

One of my many day jobs is high school theater teacher/director. This is my second year and I couldn’t be more excited about this production, which we’ve been working on since the start of the semester. The students wrote their own pieces for an evening of Spoken Word Poetry. However, instead of performing the pieces in the style of a poetry slam or an open mic type event, they are all staged theatrically, as if each poem is its own one-act. Anyhoo, I’ve been rehearsing with them practically every day and it opens this Friday!

2. Nothing But Besties Short Film – shooting 10/24-10/26

I’ve been in rehearsals every weekend in preparation for filming this comedic short next week, which all stemmed from a little stage play that I got to be a part of. It’s crazy how everything connects and it’s fun to trace the steps back to the beginning.

3. Life Changes – opening 11/11

This experience is so reminiscent of that fateful audition that changed my life. It’s a new play written by the woman who is also producing it, as the inaugural show of her and her best friend’s production company. They put a call out, I auditioned, got cast and from the start it’s been an incredible fun and positive experience with great people.

4. The Black Eyed – opening 12/9

This play is so cool. So HARD, but so cool. I know I’m not being that articulate, which is funny because neither is my character in the play, but it is a really interesting thought-provoking piece. It’s a contemporary play about four Palestinian women, written in the style of Greek theater- very poetic and lots of chorus work. It will be interesting to memorize (not to mention the other two scripts I have in my brain!) And a funny small-world moment- this play received its world premiere in SF, which was directed by the same woman who directed my friend (who wrote PianoFight’s Forking that I was in, both in LA and SF) Daniel Heath’s latest play. I didn’t think I’d come across a name I know when researching the play.

5. Grad School! – apps due 12/1

Oh yeah, and that. I had the brilliant idea of applying to grad school amidst allll this stuff going on. Well, not really. I mean, I’ve been thinking about grad school for the past two years now. It just so happens that all these projects landed right at the same time. But, I’m up for the challenge!

I went to a theater opening party Saturday night and bumped into an old actor friend. He was having the same down pour, and we were saying how funny it is that one second you can be bored out of our mind wondering if you should just give up on this career altogether and then the next you’re seriously considering turning down projects. But neither of us did. I got offered parts in two plays just 3 days apart. I knew some of it would overlap but I was going to make it work god dammit. Short film in between? Oh well. This is what I came back here for. I’ll take it in whatever way it comes. Even if it’s a god damn hurricane.

Saucy Maid

29 Aug

Do I have a story for you!

So, like I said in my last post, jumping back into the swing of things wasn’t what I had hoped for. But, I jumped in nonetheless and slowly but surely got into the rhythm of submitting, auditioning, writing and meeting. Last Monday I went in to audition for a night of one-acts at a theater in West LA. Tuesday morning I got an email from a guy who is friends with the person I auditioned for saying that he is a casting director for a reality show to hire actors for reenactments. Followed a few minutes later by another email saying he saw me in Skeleton Stories and enjoyed my work. Tuesday afternoon I met with him. Wednesday I filmed.

One, that shows how fast things can work around here (on a much, much smaller scale) and two, the beauty of putting yourself out there and building a network of people who get to know your work. Three, shows you how I landed my first job upon returning home.

Now let’s get to the job. It was one of those experiences that I chalk up to really good late night interview material for Leno or Letterman. Like the low-budg horror flick I stared in two years ago. You can’t write this shit.

So, the job. My part was “Saucy Maid” complete with french-maid costume: fishnet knee-high stalkings, ridiculously tiny and equally useless lace “apron”, faux pearl necklace with matching bracelet and a white feather duster. Yup. My character worked for a “maid” company where women in sexy maid outfits would “clean” homes. Yes, lots of quotation marks. So there I was, standing in the typical LA summer heat (that for some reason or another didn’t come until this past week), in a very non-breathable nylon and sequin mini dress, holding a freakin feather duster in the middle of the Valley. Yeah, I felt like a prostitute… or porn star, take your pick. I also felt like a hypocrite. I spend my days avoiding breakdowns precisely like the one that most likely accompanied the very character I was hired to play. I’m a woman. I’m an actor. I’m a feminist. And I’m not Angelina Jolie or Meryl Streep where I’d get to pick my script, any script. How do these things align? How do I reconcile feminist, actor– new actor– as I take on this career path?

Now, I’m not saying I regret doing this project. Honestly, it was a blast. Cool people. Hilarious story line. Lots of fun. And a paycheck. I also know that not every part out there is going to be “Hannah” or “Erin Brokovich” nor would I want it to be. I was just standing there in my Saucy Maid outfit, killing time with my iPhone in one hand and fanning the heat away with a feather duster in the other, wondering, what does this all mean……

Tracing the Steps

27 Jun

Nothing But Besties, short film shooting fall 2011You never know what will lead you where in this crazy acting world. When you trace an opportunity back to it’s origin (all of the baby steps that add up), it’s kind of crazy, and also a testament to the fact that you should check your ego at the door and be open to anything, try new things with new people in new places, and, hopefully, be doing this because you love it. Just follow the passion. And when you do, you will get somewhere, I promise. I already see it happening with me.

Okay, so let me show you what I mean… My example is this, starting from the end result and traced back to the precise moment where it all started:

7. I was cast in a short film that will be shooting this October. I’m pretty excited about it as the character is very fun and I know that the director/writer/producer is one very passionate, thorough guy who will put everything he’s got into the making of this film.

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6. He cast me because I was in his original stage piece that inspired this movie, originating the role that I will reprise in the film.

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5. I was cast in his original stage piece because I was part of the production team, including him, that produced the playwriting festival, which his piece was in.

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4. He was a part of the production team because I invited him, since I had worked with him before and trusted his work.

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3. I worked with him before on another show of one-act plays with another theater company.

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2. I auditioned for a new theater company I was unfamiliar with that I had submitted for on LA Casting and was called in to read the part in a new short play, which he was directing.

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1. I went online and made my submissions to the casting sites for the day.

You could even fork the arrows up at step 4. and add another parallel path along side it:

4. He was a part of the production team because I invited him since I had worked with him before and trusted his work.

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3. I was a part of a production team to invite him to because I decided to head the LA chapter of my SF theater company.

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2. I was part of that SF theater company to begin with because I had auditioned and was cast in a play back in the summer of 2007 and never stopped working with them.

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1. I saw an ad on Craigslist* and submitted.

And who knows how many arrows will stem back to point 7 of getting cast in the film? That is what they mean in this business when they say, “it’s who you know.” Not, like, if you know Spielberg or something, but if you know the regular every day artists like you who you meet along the way…

*I would never do that in LA, it’s just too risky with all the crap out there… a definite Red Flag!

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