'Skipping Ahead' Short Film Shoot

Earlier in June, Neil and I had gone to see Sean McCracken, in a 10 Minute Play Festival.  We saw about seven different 10 Minute Plays and we were immediately captured by the play that McCracken and another girl performed.  So when Sean came to Neil telling him he wanted to film the play/scene, Neil was in.  When Sean's scene partner fell-through, I jumped into the role with open arms!

We had a couple rehearsals to put together an idea of what we wanted to do for filming, and tightened the script so it would run smoothly.  We discussed costume changes, locations, and any other details that needed to be worked out.  Sean had found a great park to film in, Lacy Park in San Marino/Pasadena, Neil had the camera, we had nine scenes to do, with nine different costume changes, and the script was ready for us to rock.

When we got to the park on that Friday afternoon it was kid central (as any park is going to be) so we finally found a bench that was further away from the play area, that was shaded by a nice big tree, and we prepped everything for our first shot about an hour after arriving.  Little did we realize why Production blocks off a whole street when they're filming something because the people walking into the shot, or talking loudly, the kids running by and playing in the trees were all stuff that would have been avoided.  Unfortunately, we can't stop the planes and helicopters from flying overhead or the wind that rustles the trees for minutes on end.  So we'd have to stop and start but I think we all handled it really well and certainly made us all far more patient that day!

First day of shooting...'Maybe we should skip ahead some more!'

A few hours into the shoot, Neil's camera died, but we were able to work around that by having him charge the battery at an electrical wall while McCracken and I changed wardrobe and rehearsed the next scene.  The only other thing that could stop us was that the light changed after being there for five hours.  It was the end of day one and we had done six of the scenes and we had saved all the emotional stuff for our last day of filming.

From happy to angry in seconds...oops ;)

We shot the last three scenes earlier in the morning a few days later and this was where all of our emotions were coming into play.  We had a huge fight scene, a very sad scene, and the opening scene.  I had to get emotional and teary-eyed which actually came fairly easy for a bunch of the takes but by the end of the day, I was all dried up.  Thank goodness we were done after two hours because I had nothing else to give!

Neil did a great job directing us and giving us ideas to play with and change around.  Not only was he the director but he also was editing the entire video and had hours of footage to go through for this 10 minute short.  It was fun to work with McCracken and joke around on-set.  I was able to play all these different characters and felt like Kate Hudson from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.  There was a lot of Method Acting going on for me, which means I pull from personal emotions and memories to live currently in that moment; especially on our second day of shooting.  We also used the Meisner Technique which allows quick responses spontaneously with what you're saying in that present moment.

Now we're just waiting on the final finished product and I'll be really excited to share that with everyone :) 

Casting Workshops in July: Part 1.

This past month I've been kept busy with Acting stuff and that makes me so happy.  As an Actor you go through spurts, or really slow times in your career, and sometimes when it rains it pours.  I love those moments and that's how I've felt this month.

I had three weeks of Casting Workshops that I took this month at Act Now.  My first was with Erica Silverman (Bream) who most recently was working on Revolution and has also cast for Criminal Minds, Workaholics, House of Lies, and Law & Order.  This workshop was an all day intensive with her and the class had received our scenes on Friday for our Sunday workshop.  Mine was from Revolution and I was nervous and excited to perform in class.  After meeting her and answering some questions about the casting process, what she's looking for in a headshot, and on a resume, we got started with One-Liners and then had a Mock Producer Session for each group that was performing.  Basically, there were a couple of us assigned to decide who the role would go to after they had performed the one line they were given.  It was interesting to see each actor make a completely different choice than the other and what was more difficult was deciding who would get the role.  The few of us that were deciding made choices based on certain parts of their performance while other times it was easier and one actor stood out or just fit the role perfectly.  

Erica looks for a headshot that looks like you
(makes sense) and is natural!

Next up, we did Jargon Roles where each of us got cast as a Doctor, Paramedic, Lawyer, or in my case, Pharmacist.  This was also a great opportunity to practice this type of role, even if in typical casting, I might be a little too young-looking to play this type of role.  I had a lot of fun doing these Mock Producer Sessions and thought it was a great addition to the Workshop experience.  Although, it would have been really beneficial to find out why we didn't get cast over someone else so we could improve on something, if that was the case.  

Our last part of the afternoon was performing our assigned scenes, which we did on camera, and then Erica gave each of us a re-direct and we got to perform again.  I really like when we get assigned a scene because then you see what a Casting Director sees when they look at you, and the types of roles you could play.  I played my scene like a typical reporter:  Excited, asking questions, being a little bit of a know it all, but at the end of the day, searching for answers.  She re-directed me saying I was over my job, burnt out, and it was definitely more work than it was fun.  I loved the differences in playing each side, made strong choices for both, and was happy with my re-direct!

I was really happy to meet Erica and spend the day learning about different roles that come up in nearly every Television show and get to perform them in front of such an encouraging CD.  Not only did I have a fun day at this Workshop but I felt like I learned a lot too!

Casting Workshops in July: Part 2.

After my Intensive with Erica I was very excited about my next Workshop which was two weeks with two different Casting Director's from the same Casting Office.  The CD's I had targeted this month were for Drama and I felt it was good for me to change it up and try something different.

The first week was with Marlo Tiede who is currently casting Grimm.  She has also cast Necessary Roughness, Ghost Whisperer, the new Beverly Hills 90210, and Castle.  After doing an initial Q&A she talked about the Casting process for Grimm.  She looks for mostly guys because it is a more men-heavy show and also character actors since most of the roles transition from human to animal throughout the episode.  She paired us with a scene partner and assigned us scenes that we were able to rehearse for about 10 minutes.  I liked my scene but my scene partner proved a little bit difficult because I couldn't connect with her and felt like we were on opposite pages.  The scene was from Grimm and there was some major crazy terminology but my scene partner was trying to memorize and changing the lines every time she did them so I couldn't be off script because she wasn't consistent.  She was playing the mother role and I was the younger daughter-in-law role and as soon as we performed and were finished the CD had said there was no connection or chemistry with us.  I couldn't have agreed with her more!  She also said we weren't listening and made the wrong choices; I needed to play my side more sympathetic and understanding while she needed to come off more over-bearing and bitchy.  I made my adjustments but my partner read almost exactly the same way she read the first time so I just listened and responded as best I could.  I felt defeated when we were finished.  I knew I did the best I could and made the changes she had asked for (which she did notice) but I couldn't help but feel frustrated with the whole situation.  

The face and smile of Determination!

 Last week Monday was my workshop with Kendra Castleberry who currently casts Castle but has also cast for Wildfire, October Road, Life on Mars, and The O.C.  She was very direct and said she was looking for someone who could bring it on the first read or audition.  She treated the Workshop like an audition and we had one opportunity to impress her.  Kendra had sent out scenes to the class a week earlier so I had chosen one from Ghost Whisperer that gave me the opportunity to play a bunch of emotions.  I'm glad I had my scene memorized since she had mentioned it was important to come to auditions prepared and since we were given a week to do so, the class really had no excuse.  We all performed only once but she did give feedback to each of us and mine was that I gave it too much, the scene was more subtle, and didn't need all the emotion.  That surprised me since I had rehearsed the scene with Kristina and Neil, and both had thought the scene was emotionally full and gave me the ability to portray so many emotions.  We could have been completely wrong but I would rather hear I gave too much rather than not enough, because it's that much harder to bring it than to tone it down.  Once again, I felt a little disappointed but proud in my decision to play the role the way I thought it was written and didn't waiver.  I made a choice and even if it was wrong, I stuck to it.

You can't create chemistry, nor can you make someone listen to you (in real life or acting), or even be exactly what the casting director is looking for because you just don't know.  But you can be open to the process, positive and understanding in receiving feedback, and hard-working and determined with the material.  Every Workshop is a lesson and practice for an audition, day on set, or real-life experience and you just need to make strong choices and be optimistic in your life.  If you gave your all just know the only thing you need to be is the best version of yourself :)

'Ghost' at The Pantages and Federal Bar!

It's always fun to do something new in LA and although I saw Jekyll & Hyde at The Pantages last year with my friend, Kristina, I wanted to take Neil to see Ghost at The Pantages a couple weeks ago.  He told me about the show on Broadway years ago so I was excited to surprise him with tickets while it was touring here in LA.  Seeing a musical together was new for us!

All dressed up for 'Ghost' at The Pantages!

To make the surprise even better we both got dressed up and once we got to the theater, we had a glass of wine at the bar and then took our seats for the show.  I instantly connected with Molly, felt like she was the stronger actor between her and Sam, even though Carl was more of a major character in the musical.  For the most part, the movie and the show were pretty similar but they gave some of the characters more stage-time than they had in the movie.  I actually really liked Oda Mae, even though she was really pushing for comedy but didn't need to, because it was already there.  Of course, as soon as the audience heard 'Unchained Melody' it silenced the entire theater and every time the melody or song played I started tearing up.  I loved the song 'With You' which Neil had played for me years ago when he introduced me to the musical and would love to learn that for Karaoke some time.  I really liked the vibe and music video feel of Oda Mae's song, 'I'm Outta Here.'  They way they transitioned people from living to ghost was incredible and the effects and lighting were phenomenal.  When I read the program, I found out that the girl that played Molly was from Wisconsin (woo hoo) and a bunch of the cast members were from the Midwest!  Overall, I thought the show was good but it didn't come close to Jekyll & Hyde or when I saw Les Miserables on Broadway before I even really knew the whole story behind that show.

Salted Caramel Cake

After Ghost I planned to have Dinner at Federal Bar in North Hollywood because we always talked about eating there but had only ever had drinks when we had stopped by.  I brought a bottle of Wine with me that was similar to a Shiraz or Merlot and we started off with the Ahi Tuna Crudo that was light and had a really yummy cilantro aoili on it.  I picked out the Roasted Beet Salad with arugula, fennel, orange, feta, and a white balsamic that was a huge portion (awesome) and had so many different flavors going on that mixed really well together.  Neil ordered the Grilled Salmon while I went with the Bone-In Short Rib with corn mashed potato and brasing au jus.  I had no idea it was going to be that much food, but it was absolutely delicious!  I tend to avoid fat, especially when it's connected to meat, but for some reason, however they had prepared the Short Rib made it so tender that it didn't have the typical consistency that weirds me out; it almost had more flavor than the actual meat!  Needless to say, I wasn't able to finish even half but was quite excited to take home leftovers for Dinner the next day.  No meal would be complete without dessert, so I decided on the Vanilla Salted Caramel Cake.  It took a while to get to the salted caramel but once you did, it melted in your mouth.  Even Neil liked the dessert and he's not a sweets type of guy.  There was a jazz band playing, and initially I was really excited but it got SUPER loud and we could barely have a conversation for about a half hour while they were doing this lively set.  Thankfully, it got more bluesy after a break when they did a singer/band set and that was much more enjoyable.  We'd definitely go back there again and try more food because everything we had tasted amazing!

Diego was quite excited about the Short Rib Bone...he got to play with it for a couple hours ;)

It was nice to plan a fun night out and do things that were new to us.  I'm still keeping up with my resolutions, new restaurants, something different I haven't done, each and every month, and that resolution is going strong :)

Pictures from Afterbuzz TV's Neon Party & Catalina!

I had so many fun pictures from our Afterbuzz TV Neon Party hosted by Maria Menounos & Keven Undergaro that I had to post just a few more!  And Catalina was so beautiful, I wanted to share a couple more from that trip as well :)

With Joe Gear and some of our Afterbuzz TV Hosts!

With Leslie from 'Masterchef' and cheesin' with Steph in the upper right corner, while Maria looks absolutely amazing!

Boats in Avalon at Catalina Island!

Perfect day in Catalina :)

I'm loving the Summer here in sunny California!

Catalina Island :)

I can't believe it's already been a month since my 31st Birthday!  This past month has flown by and there's been so much going on especially in the past couple weeks.  I've been super busy with Acting stuff and am so excited for new projects coming up and working on my craft.  Back to my Birthday, Neil took me to Catalina Island and it was an amazing trip to cap off my Birthday week :)

Cocktails on the beach...

Neil surprised me with a trip to Catalina as we arrived in Long Beach and got our passes for the Ferry to Avalon.  On the Ferry over to the Island we saw a school of dolphins jumping through the water; it was so beautiful!  Unfortunately, we couldn't check into the Hotel so we got a great work-out in walking around with my bag (we could have left it at the Hotel but there was no security so we decided against it) and exploring the Island.  We walked through some of the shops and checked out some restaurants and bars for later and then decided hitting up the beach would be a good way to spend our morning!

We went to Descanso Beach Club which was a little bit out of the way and quieter with tropical beach music playing.  We ordered some fruity cocktails and enjoyed the sun and gorgeous weather.  The water was a little too cold for me and after an hour or two we decided to make our way back towards the hotel where we watched one of the World Cup games at a fun bar.  We explored a little more for options later that night and then picked up some groceries and were finally able to check into our Hotel at The Glenmore Plaza.

Magic Hour at Avalon Grille :)

Next on the agenda was Dinner at Avalon Grille.  We had scouted it earlier and found out they didn't have a corkage fee so we had picked up a bottle of wine and after catching the final moments of magic hour for a photo we were ready for our yummy meal!  We started with raw scallops in a citrus ponzu, and then I ordered the parmesan crusted mahi mahi with scalloped potatoes and vegetables while Neil got the sea bass.  Both of our fish was impeccably cooked and I absolutely loved the potatoes.  Of course, no Birthday Dinner is complete without dessert, and we got this ice cream cake with caramel and chocolate that was a perfect end to the meal.

Last moments in Catalina!

Neil had talked about Chi Chi Club since it was right across the street from our Hotel and so we decided to go there for some after-Dinner drinks and perhaps dancing.  We stayed for about hours and had an absolute blast and for the majority of the time we were there the club was empty.  It was a Monday night, in Avalon, so we knew it wasn't going to be bumpin' but we figured there'd still be people out.  So we set up on one of benches and then discovered free Pac Man & Frogger!  After playing video games, it was dancing time to burn off some of our Dinner, and then we set out to find some locals at a different bar.  Marlin Club was packed, with all the bar stools full minus two, and people playing pool, dancing, and drinking.  It was a divey bar but once again, we had so much fun :)

The next day we had Brunch at Avocado Cafe where I had an incredible BLT and then Neil said we had to go to Big Olaf's for ice cream before we left.  When we first got to the Island we had walked by Big Olaf's when they were making fresh waffle cones and wow did they smell delicious!  So after some ice cream and last minute shopping it was time to head back to LA after a wonderful trip.  On the ferry back to LA I even saw a shark!

We had such a great time and since it was my first time to Catalina Island, we really took in the full experience.  I can't wait to go back and check out more activities like kayaking, hiking, or zip-lining!  Thank you, Neil, for such a memorable 31st Birthday <3

Afterbuzz TV's Neon Party!

Afterbuzz TV has it's annual Neon Summer Party held at our Founder's, Maria Menounos & Keven Undergaro's house in July.  Now that I've been working at Afterbuzz since September and I'd been hearing about how epic last year's party was, I was really looking forward to it!

It was the perfect day, the sun was out, and as soon as I parked I could hear the music from down the street.  One of our Hosts, DJ Jesse Janedy was playing the tunes all day long.  He played perfect Summer Pool Party music that everyone was singing and dancing to; I was super impressed by his choice in music!  There were songs I hadn't heard since college but everyone remembered!  Love it.  The pool was filled by party-goers, there were Hot Dogs and Hamburgers coming off the grill, plenty of snacks, and two separate bars for cocktails and refreshments.

With Cortez & Ashida!

I was so happy to see Cortez and get to hang out with him and meet some of his fellow co-hosts and also English, since we had all worked on the 'Shahs Of Sunset' After Show together.  It was great to get to spend some time with Ashley and Stephanie from our 'Real Housewives of New York' After Show outside of Afterbuzz.  It's also nice to cut loose since we try to be as professional as possible when we're at the studio, and even though we have fun, we can all be ourselves and just enjoy a great party!

After saying hello to a few of my friends I made my way to get a drink and some food and saw Costas, Maria's Dad, whom I recognized from her book, 'The Every Girl's Guide to Diet and Fitness,' as well as her show, 'Chasing Maria.'  We had the cutest conversation about family and how important it is to be a good role model, and make sure that your children are happy.  He obviously wants grand kids and I could completely relate in knowing that my parents say the same thing to me all the time!

On top of over 200 of our Afterbuzz TV Hosts that were invited, all the guests that have been into our Studios were invited as well.  I talked to Leslie from 'Masterchef' as it's one of my favorite Cooking Shows currently on TV, and he's been known as the villain.  There was no villain present on that Saturday afternoon, as we were dressed in matching shades of orange and talked a little about cooking and also about his competitors.  I'm rooting for you, Leslie! 

Speaking of orange, Maria and I also matched, and she called me her Tangerine Twin.  It never ceases to amaze me at how generous and kind, she, Keven, her whole family, as well as our Afterbuzz Team are.  I love that I feel like I have support behind me, and while I know that my friends and family show that, hearing how Keven wants me to succeed, just makes me work even hard for it!  Thank you to Keven and Maria for creating an outlet for all of us to get a chance to do what we love, and know that not only do we believe we can achieve our dreams, but that you both do as well :)

With Afterbuzz TV Founder, Keven and Matt D'Andria from Motorator & CarCast :)

It was an awesome day and I'm lucky to know such incredible people and be able to work at a job I absolutely love!