Ooooo...the Zippy blogosphere has been suffering! After a nice detour into a health issue, I am back, feeling lovely, and ready to begin this incredible new year with lots of excitement and anticipation.
In September, I became involved with Directing Actors Gym here in NYC and have attended several events. The next, featuring casting director Wendy Mckenzie, is on Sunday and should be awesome. I'm not performing, but there to observe, learn and cheer on my fellow actors. It should be an awesome time.
I had a new reel edited and it turned out wonderfully. Up on Actors Access and my website. I'm really happy with it.
I've been letting my hair grow again and am seesawing on whether to leave it or cut it again. If I leave it, I want to keep it a little shorter than it is right now, but I would need new headshots. Hmmmm.... My primary type is the intense, opinionated, strong woman and can work with shorter or shoulder length hair. I want to give this more thought.
I'm writing sporatically. I have been continuing my work on Penny Templeton's book, which should be done in the spring, and now that I have a new laptop that actually works, I hope to write a lot more at home on my screenplay.
2010 is movement. Riding the wave.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thursday, August 27, 2009
August 27, 2009
This has been a great week so far. Had a fun audition for a Kodak web commercial and really nailed a scene at at an invite-only casting director seminar with Erica Jensen of Calleri Casting. Saturday, I have a indie short film audition. Keep 'em coming!!
Friday, August 14, 2009
August 14, 2009
So I shot a national infomercial with Joan Rivers on Wednesday, August 12th. What a great experience!! And hopefully I will have goodly airtime in the final program.
Just watching Joan at work was a lesson in professionalism and how to be a star, not a diva. This woman is a workhorse and will do take after take after take to get it just right. She improvises the majority of her dialog with ease and knows exactly what she wants. She also knows when she hasn't nailed a take and will say so. Though she stayed in her dressing room the majority of the time she wasn't filming, she didn't play spoiled diva. She would talk to people as she went to set, was affectionate and kind. And she was funny as hell! It was obvious that the crew enjoyed working with her.
Speaking of the crew, what an incredible professional crew this was. This was a four-camera set and there were a lot of people, but it really ran smoothly and quickly. Sure, there were a few moments of craziness once in a while, but I've been on sets before that had only a small crew and were completely disorganized. This was a pleasure.
I'm looking forward to seeing the final product and looking forward to getting some solid commercial tape. Yippee!!
Life is good!!
Just watching Joan at work was a lesson in professionalism and how to be a star, not a diva. This woman is a workhorse and will do take after take after take to get it just right. She improvises the majority of her dialog with ease and knows exactly what she wants. She also knows when she hasn't nailed a take and will say so. Though she stayed in her dressing room the majority of the time she wasn't filming, she didn't play spoiled diva. She would talk to people as she went to set, was affectionate and kind. And she was funny as hell! It was obvious that the crew enjoyed working with her.
Speaking of the crew, what an incredible professional crew this was. This was a four-camera set and there were a lot of people, but it really ran smoothly and quickly. Sure, there were a few moments of craziness once in a while, but I've been on sets before that had only a small crew and were completely disorganized. This was a pleasure.
I'm looking forward to seeing the final product and looking forward to getting some solid commercial tape. Yippee!!
Life is good!!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
August 5, 2009
Quite the break in blogging. Sometimes life just interferes!!
Just had an audition for an infomercial with Joan Rivers. The audition wasn't with Joan, of course, and it really was more of a go-see than an audition. Cool product.
Auditions have been slow. Not sure if it is just the market or that my type isn't in demand at the moment. Everything cycles, so it can be frustrating at times. I am bummed that yet another NYC soap is adios - All My Children is moving to LA.
It's one of those knuckle-under times. Focus on what I can control - my health, my acting skills, my finances - and not get sucked up by negativity. A key thing is to not allow others who are in the negativity mode poison my energy.
August is a month to focus on getting my reel redone, getting that footage up on Actors Access and my website and improving my subtle on camera work. Allowing my inner self to shine through to the camera.
And I keep on truckin'!!
Just had an audition for an infomercial with Joan Rivers. The audition wasn't with Joan, of course, and it really was more of a go-see than an audition. Cool product.
Auditions have been slow. Not sure if it is just the market or that my type isn't in demand at the moment. Everything cycles, so it can be frustrating at times. I am bummed that yet another NYC soap is adios - All My Children is moving to LA.
It's one of those knuckle-under times. Focus on what I can control - my health, my acting skills, my finances - and not get sucked up by negativity. A key thing is to not allow others who are in the negativity mode poison my energy.
August is a month to focus on getting my reel redone, getting that footage up on Actors Access and my website and improving my subtle on camera work. Allowing my inner self to shine through to the camera.
And I keep on truckin'!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 22, 2009 - Goal Setting
I am an idea person. I am juiced by the idea of ideas. The Big Picture. Finding the overarching story and absorbing the effects.
Details, on the other hand, are difficult. I always see the goal but not the first step on the path.
In January, I wrote a post about setting five 3-month goals with 2 weekly goals for each goal. Through this process, I began to see that I again did something that aids in knocking my wheels off the track - I have too large or encompassing goals that need to be broken down further into doable steps. I also took on a goal that I believe sabotages many actors - "getting an agent". Talk about a generic, nebulous statement that involves the will of another person, something I have no control over.
That brought up a challenge for me. How to let go of the things I can't control. That's a 12-step mantra and though I have doubts about the 12-step process, I do believe that this statement is really a truism in becoming successful. When you let go of having to control what another does and put all your energy and focus and talent into what YOU do, you create a space for that goal to happen inside of you. In my shamanic studies, I've learned that when you call power to you, you must make a place for power to live inside of you or power WILL leave. By power, I'm not talking about the traditional Western view of power "over" another. Power is personal. It is standing in who you really are. It is valuing yourself, not in a narcissistic, self-indulgent way, but in realizing you are a unique and valuable individual that is an essential part of a greater whole.
So in applying this to my goal to "get an agent", I realize that that's not a goal I personally have control over. What I do have control over is making myself the best actor I can be and in doing that, I create my own successes. I let go of the aura of having to "get an agent" to succeed and let an agent find me. That doesn't mean stopping doing all of the marketing and promotion I need to do as an actor. It means basically making the vision of what it would be like to work with an agent and the benefits of that have a place to live inside of me. It's the old "act as if".
I know that might seem like a lot of mumbo jumbo, airy fairy bs, but truly, I think the most successful actors that I personally know become successful because they finally let go of needing to control what is outside of themselves and just focus on their work. They study, they audition for work they submit for, they build their contacts and they focus on being the best actors they can be. Opportunities then come.
I remember talking with Kevin Spacey when I was very young and green outside a Broadway theatre where he was appearing and he was so kind to speak with me and my student friends for about 20 minutes about doing the work. He's right. It is about doing the work. I didn't become an actor to be Paris Hilton. I became an actor to be an actor, to work as an actor, to live my life being a creative collaborator. When I took off acting for 10 years, went to grad school, did my career as an art therapist, I was very successful because I had no doubts whatsoever. I just did my work. It's time to bring that to my acting.
So yes, I will do my work. I'll continue my studies, get my new reel finished and posted up on my website, audition for everything I'm right for, be disciplined, talk to people I respect, meet new contacts and keep on going. Perseverance pays off in this business.
Details, on the other hand, are difficult. I always see the goal but not the first step on the path.
In January, I wrote a post about setting five 3-month goals with 2 weekly goals for each goal. Through this process, I began to see that I again did something that aids in knocking my wheels off the track - I have too large or encompassing goals that need to be broken down further into doable steps. I also took on a goal that I believe sabotages many actors - "getting an agent". Talk about a generic, nebulous statement that involves the will of another person, something I have no control over.
That brought up a challenge for me. How to let go of the things I can't control. That's a 12-step mantra and though I have doubts about the 12-step process, I do believe that this statement is really a truism in becoming successful. When you let go of having to control what another does and put all your energy and focus and talent into what YOU do, you create a space for that goal to happen inside of you. In my shamanic studies, I've learned that when you call power to you, you must make a place for power to live inside of you or power WILL leave. By power, I'm not talking about the traditional Western view of power "over" another. Power is personal. It is standing in who you really are. It is valuing yourself, not in a narcissistic, self-indulgent way, but in realizing you are a unique and valuable individual that is an essential part of a greater whole.
So in applying this to my goal to "get an agent", I realize that that's not a goal I personally have control over. What I do have control over is making myself the best actor I can be and in doing that, I create my own successes. I let go of the aura of having to "get an agent" to succeed and let an agent find me. That doesn't mean stopping doing all of the marketing and promotion I need to do as an actor. It means basically making the vision of what it would be like to work with an agent and the benefits of that have a place to live inside of me. It's the old "act as if".
I know that might seem like a lot of mumbo jumbo, airy fairy bs, but truly, I think the most successful actors that I personally know become successful because they finally let go of needing to control what is outside of themselves and just focus on their work. They study, they audition for work they submit for, they build their contacts and they focus on being the best actors they can be. Opportunities then come.
I remember talking with Kevin Spacey when I was very young and green outside a Broadway theatre where he was appearing and he was so kind to speak with me and my student friends for about 20 minutes about doing the work. He's right. It is about doing the work. I didn't become an actor to be Paris Hilton. I became an actor to be an actor, to work as an actor, to live my life being a creative collaborator. When I took off acting for 10 years, went to grad school, did my career as an art therapist, I was very successful because I had no doubts whatsoever. I just did my work. It's time to bring that to my acting.
So yes, I will do my work. I'll continue my studies, get my new reel finished and posted up on my website, audition for everything I'm right for, be disciplined, talk to people I respect, meet new contacts and keep on going. Perseverance pays off in this business.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
March 18, 2009
First, I want to send out into the ether prayers for Natasha Richardson and her family. Such a tragedy, compounded by the press being incredibly irresponsible and rumor-mongering.
Spring is TOMORROW! I'm excited. NYC in the springtime can be so lovely and since I live near the Park, it's my favorite time to go exploring and see what plants are coming up.
And it also puts a spark under me. Yes, winter doldrums happen to actors...gee...and sometimes enthusiasm for yet another audition and yet another callback and yet another time just missing out can get to a person. With so many things that actors are not in control of in this business, staying healthy and sane is the one thing I can do for myself. It's not easy sometimes, especially in a bum economy where taking that showcase could mean losing your job....but I have faith. I have always been shown the way I need to go, always in the right place learning the things I need to learn, difficult or exuberant, so it's just a question of reframing. I love what I do, am blessed I am able to do it. Many people can't say that.
Auditions....Yes! Auditions have picked up some in the past month. I had two auditions for The Onion News Network, one for an infomercial "host" kind of gig, an indie film and a couple of NYU student films. I now have gotten enough new footage for a new reel so I'm looking into a couple of places to get the reel made and picking out my scenes.
Postcarding is interesting. Whenever I send out a postcard follow up, I'm always rewarded with a nice boost to my IMDb page! Which I'm not complaining about. My Starmeter likes that.
I'm going to go and see "Power" at the Metropolitan Playhouse to see what the director came up with for a staging of the script - it's written as a huge ensemble piece. They only cast two women, which I found sad, out of five parts in the breakdown. Good women's roles are hard to come by. But I'm looking forward to the play. It's a cool script.
I'm disappointed not to be able to audition for "The Group!" written and directed by Ronald Rand because of conflicts with the rehearsal start date. But the producer, Kathryn Furrow-Zacharski is a great contact and I'm looking forward to the play being brought to NYC. Ronald's one-man show, "Let It Be Art!" on Harold Clurman was awesome!!! All of you in Louisville, KY the end of June check out "The Group!"
Resume and letter writing, mass mailing materials.....getting myself referred by word-of-mouth and on eLance to offer these services to performers in particular, but anyone in general, who needs help honing their resume and making it the best it can be. This is a new project and as I enter the home stretch with Penny Templeton on finishing ghostwriting her acting book, I'm looking for a new ghostwriting project.
Spring is TOMORROW! I'm excited. NYC in the springtime can be so lovely and since I live near the Park, it's my favorite time to go exploring and see what plants are coming up.
And it also puts a spark under me. Yes, winter doldrums happen to actors...gee...and sometimes enthusiasm for yet another audition and yet another callback and yet another time just missing out can get to a person. With so many things that actors are not in control of in this business, staying healthy and sane is the one thing I can do for myself. It's not easy sometimes, especially in a bum economy where taking that showcase could mean losing your job....but I have faith. I have always been shown the way I need to go, always in the right place learning the things I need to learn, difficult or exuberant, so it's just a question of reframing. I love what I do, am blessed I am able to do it. Many people can't say that.
Auditions....Yes! Auditions have picked up some in the past month. I had two auditions for The Onion News Network, one for an infomercial "host" kind of gig, an indie film and a couple of NYU student films. I now have gotten enough new footage for a new reel so I'm looking into a couple of places to get the reel made and picking out my scenes.
Postcarding is interesting. Whenever I send out a postcard follow up, I'm always rewarded with a nice boost to my IMDb page! Which I'm not complaining about. My Starmeter likes that.
I'm going to go and see "Power" at the Metropolitan Playhouse to see what the director came up with for a staging of the script - it's written as a huge ensemble piece. They only cast two women, which I found sad, out of five parts in the breakdown. Good women's roles are hard to come by. But I'm looking forward to the play. It's a cool script.
I'm disappointed not to be able to audition for "The Group!" written and directed by Ronald Rand because of conflicts with the rehearsal start date. But the producer, Kathryn Furrow-Zacharski is a great contact and I'm looking forward to the play being brought to NYC. Ronald's one-man show, "Let It Be Art!" on Harold Clurman was awesome!!! All of you in Louisville, KY the end of June check out "The Group!"
Resume and letter writing, mass mailing materials.....getting myself referred by word-of-mouth and on eLance to offer these services to performers in particular, but anyone in general, who needs help honing their resume and making it the best it can be. This is a new project and as I enter the home stretch with Penny Templeton on finishing ghostwriting her acting book, I'm looking for a new ghostwriting project.
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