Then, This Happened...

What an awesome summer!  Fun times with friends of course, and I had the pleasure of traveling with my hubby.  We went up to WA to visit extended family, and had a much needed weekend getaway in Provincetown for some yummy seafood and awesome sandy beaches.

After months of praying and patience, both my husband and I got great boosts in our incomes and careers.  On top of getting some celebrity pub for AntiBling, my husband got a new job as a Project Manager at a Architectural Millwork firm, and one of the 5 huge projects he's working on is Carnegie Hall.  As for me, from August til now, I've received some great career surprises:  I discovered that I'm on the cover on a bridal webzine;

featured in a SamsungTV web promo;

I was called in by Jodi Angstreich from Laura Rosenthal Casting to audition for a Time Warner Cable commercial;
and a sketch video I did with a couple of my FLW castmates is featured on FunnyOrDie.com, Cheezburger.com, CollegeHumor.com, HuffingtonPost.co.uk, and is nearly at 1 million views on YouTube.

Also, I've made it my main focus to network and build relationships with the heads of network TV.  This past week, I just completed a 2-week class with Clint Alexander.  And later this month, I'll will be taking a 4-hour workshop with Clint, Trey Lawson, Janet Murphy-Butler, and Rori Bergman, and then a 2-week class with Trey Lawson.

Last year, a fellow actor, who is doing really well right now in the indie film circuit, gave me some awesome advice, which has really stuck with me. I know there are a lot of actors who spend so much money on 1-day workshop intensives, and then complain about not getting anything out of it. My actor friend told me to save my money and take the classes with the casting directors that are two weeks or more, because they'll have a better chance of remembering me and the work that I can do, and if I'm on point, it'll boost my chances of being seen and/or cast in future work.  He also said it'll make a world of difference between it being a 20-year journey to make a mark versus a 5-year journey. Guess which path I'm choosing... :-)

Everything is falling into place in the most awesome way, and I'm in a constant state of joy and gratitude. And I know as long as I keep pushing through the way that I have, that this time next year, I won't be trying to get work, I will be balancing my schedule with all the work I've gotten and will be getting.

Happiness is this!

Labor of Love

Well, I've reached my Saturn return (Yayy, me!)...

And another wonderful year of wedded bliss (Yayy, us!)...

 

And now it's time to prepare for the summer...

 

 

A month ago, I put into motion something wonderful.  A awesome labor of love known as Velma. 

 





Velma has been in the works for little over a year, and everytime I think about how awesome everyone is that helped me get to his point, I just get so elated and filled with joy. I would not have gotten here without the awesome people behind me.

A little background: Around the beginning of last year, there was word about the re-launch of In Living Color. Actors from all over, were uploading audition videos onto the interweb.  I saw an interesting video that someone posted on facebook, and I was like, "Sheeet, I can do that!" 

I came up with the character of Velma, who is the mixture of some interesting folk I've encountered here in Zoo York, wrote a sketch, and my awesome buddy, Bill Johnson, co-starred in it, and helped me shoot it.

As the Universe would have it, there were some hiccups in trying to get the sketch burned onto a DVD, then sent to the proper channels to be considered. Instead of freaking out, I meditated on what really was my motivation for putting this character out into the world. Did I want to just do this one audition, and be done with it, or did I want to explore, and really see where this character and her world could take me?

After doing more research on the progress of the reboot, I learned that the project had been cancelled.  I was glad that I didn't put all my hopes and dreams into one basket, and knew that the hiccups from before, was just the Universe's way of showing me that better things were coming.

I made sure to remain on the radar of the casting director, Amber Bickham, 'cause well, you never know...And I began work on what to do, and where to take Velma next.

One rainy afternoon, I met my friend, Guy Shahar, for coffee, who told me he wanted to do a project that was funny, crazy and inappropriate.  I showed him the video of the sketch, and the rest is history -- or history in the making, I should say... :-)

The pilot for the webseries is shot, we're now in pre-production, and I'm looking forward to the launch... :-)

About a week ago, I was (half) joking with a friend about how cool it would be if there was a VelmaCon in the near future, with folks dressed up as Velma and other characters from the show: A revelry of geekdom as far as the eye can see...

Ahh, my inner geeky child (I'm still a geeky adult lol) is smiling :-)

I Survived The Mayan Apocalypse, And All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt

On December 21, 2012, I started my vacation in Detroit and Chicago.  On December 22, 2012, we were still in Detroit. Now either the world didn't come to an end, or we're all just ghosts in purgatory. Granted, the notion of the latter would be pretty interesting, I'd have to believe that it's more fathomable that the former is true.

Fast forward past a cold and snowy Xmas in Detroit, and a cold and windy New Year's in Chicago, and we were happy to be back in a not-so-cold brand new year in NYC. I enjoyed the vacation time, but I couldn't wait to get back to work:  Networking, Networking, Networking, Writing, Producing, Rehearsing, and Auditioning. 

Fighting Laughter Warrior had two great performances.  We had the first at the Legion Bar, and the second at The Producer's Club, which we recorded live as a potential pilot to shop around to producers.  Both shows were filled to capacity, and we now have even more fans. :-)

The Sundance Film Festival was in the middle of January, and even though I couldn't make it this year, I was happy to attend my friend Guy Shahar's bi-coastal Pre-Sundance party.  I had a great time as usual, and made some awesome new connections.  I used to be skeptical about going to the festival, but Guy said not being in a production that's in the festival shouldn't deter me from going. Networking, networking, networking is key.  And I know if I want to move forward in my career, not only as an actress, but as a writer and producer as well, I know I have to network my butt off, and build strong working relationships.

This year started out great:  I got my website up and running, my reel is finally done, and I finally got my foot in the door to meet and workshop with the cds from network tv. Also, today, I got producer Fotene Trigonis  to come on board to help me out with the Velma project. 

February 4th, and life is good.  Greg and I got and survived the flu. I've dropped 10 lbs, not only from that, but also cause I cut wheat out of my diet. We decided to make some lifestyle changes, to live a more happy, healthy and abundant life. 2013 is our year.

I'm excited about this month's performances, events and workshops.  I'm happy to move forward with the Velma project, I'm happy to be performing with Fighting Laughter Warrior, I'm happy to be working again with Phyllis Yvonne and Timothy Stickney, I'm happy that everything I've ever wanted is coming to fruition. It's only Februrary 4th; I'm excited about what the rest of the year will bring. :-)