Shoot, Agent meeting

So, last Wednesday (one week ago) I had the House of Cards shoot. My call was 1:00 and there were 19 other extras in my "category." We were all colleagues of Kate Mara's character, Zoe. We were there for about 8 hours (short for a day on set!) and one guy was lucky and got a line! (It was "hi!" haha). But, we were told that we are supposed to be recurring characters. So I'm just hoping to get a call soon asking me to come back in! :) haha.
Today I had a meeting/interview with an agent. I left so that I would get there half an hour in advance, but the traffic was AWFUL because they were doing construction, which I did not know ahead of time because I never go that way. I arrived only a couple minutes after 1:00, but luckily the agent I was supposed to meet with was also stuck in traffic. Haha. So I waited for her to arrive for a little while but then the owner took me back and did the interview himself, though, interestingly, he didn't really ask that many questions about me. He told me about their company and some of their clients, and then filmed me doing two monologues. Then he got on the phone with the woman I was supposed to meet, and they talked about submitting my monologues to a movie that they are doing the casting for. But I had to start my monologue twice, cause after I started it the first time he stopped me cause the phone rang and he then proceeded to yell at his daughter/receptionist to not answer the phone again and to turn the ringer off. After he came back into the room and I was about to start, the phone rang and guess what? His daughter answered it and he went back out to fuss at her. He unplugged the phone and then I was able to start my monologue - but I was kinda off my game at that point so I don't think I did it as well as I have in the past.
I talked to my manager tonight about it, and he was thoroughly upset that Connie didn't show up and thought they behaved rather unprofessionally. Also, this company is an agency, casting company, and has an actors studio where they have workshops and classes. The owner told me that though they do not charge any up-front fees, they get a 15% commission (rather high for an agent) unless it's a large role, for which they get 20%. Also, their clients are not required to study at their studio, but most apparently do. Basically implied that they would want me to. AND, he said it would cost me $55 to get my headshot and information on their website. To which my manager said is total bull****. It's disappointing that the agency turned out to be a bit of a scam and not very professional. But, it was good experience. I have at least now talked to an agent and have a bit of an idea of what to expect when I get to California.
I don't have any more meetings or auditions or anything lined up at this time, unfortunately. But I'm constantly searching.
The commercial I shot in June was posted to Facebook today, and I'm just trying to figure out a way to get it onto my blog. I may have to wait for my acting coach to get me a copy of it on a cd but once I have it, I will put it up here.
Also, my IMDB rank went up, yay! I'm currently ranked at 38,993. This is so exciting! :) Especially considering I don't have any credits on my page. I can't wait until I finally do get some credits listed and then hopefully it will just continue to go up and up and up til I get the lead in Fifty Shades of Grey or some other blockbuster. :) heehee.

Date	Rank
2012 Jul 22	38,993
2012 Jul 15	73,373
2012 Jul 8	64,709
2012 Jul 1	99,953
2012 Jun 24	1,000,209

Well, that's all for now.
Thanks!
~Laura

Lesson, auditions, agents, etcetera

So, yesterday I had my acting lesson. It was my third one with this instructor - Russ Randall at Final Act Drama in Richmond Virginia. That's one thing about me - I'm very dedicated to anything I do - especially acting. Richmond is 2 hours away - so that's 4 hours in the car!
Well a little over a week ago, my manager told me to call this agent - Connie Lamothe (at 24/7 Models and Talent)- based in Virginia (he had already talked to her and told her I would be getting in touch to set up a time to meet). I called her and left a message and then never heard back. Yesterday I emailed my manager to tell him I hadn't heard back (while I was in Richmond) and then when I got home checked the messages and she HAD called. So I need to call back. Hopefully I will get in to meet her soon and maybe I'll get signed and will get some gigs while I'm still here in VA!
I also have to call Central Casting to find out about the House of Cards shoot on Wednesday as well as call the restaurant I work at to find out when I'm scheduled for this week.
I also have scheduled an audition next Wednesday for a web series called Shotgun Mythos. It sounds very interesting, but it would not be paid and it's in West Virginia - an hour and a half away. But it would be something to add to my resume, IMDB credit list and demo reel.
But grr... my IMDB starmeter dropped! I knew it would... but man I was hoping it would just keep going up! lol. I just need to keep submitting myself for auditions so more people will look at it and then it'd be so nice to get a job so I can add to my IMDB page!

I just called both Central Casting and Connie Lamothe - Central Casting told me to call back in an hour, and no one answered at 24/7 Models and Talent. Haha. Seems like I may be playing phone tag with Connie Lamothe for a while unless she calls back today and I don't miss the call for any reason! lol.

So... just going to try and pass time for another hour so I can call the Casting office. haha.

Well, that's all for now!
Thanks
~Laura

House of Cards Shoot

So, today I was supposed to be an extra in the new Netflix series "House of Cards" starring Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, and Kate Mara.

Kevin Spacey

Robin Wright

Kate Mara

But yesterday, when I went onto the casting company's website to check the call times and find my name and check-in number (as instructed) my name was not listed. In a panic, I emailed the casting company just double checking that I was still working the next day and had all the correct information. I received an email back in minutes from the woman I had spoken to on the phone that morning. She said she had left me a voicemail and wanted to know if I could work Wednesday instead of Friday. So I hurriedly leaned closer to window to pick up a signal to check my messages on my cell phone (no daggum service out here in the boonies lol). The message said "The production loved your look and they thought you were beautiful however, they think you're a little bit too pretty to do the scenes on Friday and so they would like you to do a scene with Kate Mara on Wednesday instead." WOOHOO! haha. I never thought I'd ever be "too pretty" for anything. Kinda thought it'd be the other way around. lol. I've never had super high self confidence - I mean I know I was blessed with some good looks and nice eyes but... jeez. lol. Anyways, so I was told to call back on Friday (today) to get more information. 
So I called this morning and was told that "the producer and director liked me but thought I would take away from Robin Wright if I was in the scene on Friday." WHAT? ha. Alrighty then. I don't think there's any way anyone could detract from the Princess Bride, but I'll take it. lol. I was told I would be working as a reporter with Kate Mara (her character is also a reporter). I would KILL to have some lines or even better, a recurring role! Anyway, I was instructed to call back on Tuesday to get the final info... that just seems so far off.... ugh. lol. 

On a different note, at my audition for Ping Pong Summer the other day, I caught myself judging the other actors. "Wow, her shorts are so short! You can see her bum!!" and "I can't believe she wore that to an audition!" Not all of it was bad though, I did compliment some of them in my mind: "Her dress is so cute, she's adorable." and "He looks like Kurt Hummel in Glee." But, I realized that, although I am competitive, judging another actor based on their appearance isn't going to help me get the part. It isn't going to stop them from possibly being amazing actors and just leaving the competition in the dust. And so, I'm going to do my utmost to stop judging and criticizing others - especially based on appearances. I have been so bad about it in the past. I mean, I know that I wouldn't judge or criticize another actor if it was Rachel McAdams or Robert Downey Jr or someone whom everybody knows. Because I'd be in awe. lol. But, I should do the same thing to other young actors. I should respect them and give them the benefit of the doubt - they may not dress professionally, but they still could be just as good as me if not better. 

So, at my upcoming audition on Saturday and then the shoot on Wednesday, I vow to do my best to not judge others and to be just as nice and kind inside my head as I am to people out loud. :P Well, I mean I vow to do that every day in every instance, but especially at auditions and shoots - being judgmental isn't going to help me or do me any favors. And I urge you all to do the same thing on an every day basis!!

That's all for now!
Thanks. 
~Laura

IMDB

Ever since I created my IMDB page (imdb.me/lauraannrussell) I have become slightly addicted to checking it fairly frequently. I check the casting calls, I check to see what my starmeter is (right now Emma Stone is #1 for females and I'm 64,709) and compare mine to other actresses that are either other clients of my manager or that went to school with me or something like that. 64,709 may sound really low... but considering when I created my page it was 1,000,209 and a girl I know who has some credits listed on her IMDB page (whereas I do not) is currently ranked over 300,000. So I'm quite excited about it. And clearly quite competitive. lol. Also, even Emma Stone who is, as I said, currently number 1, did not get into the 5 digit rankings until over a year after her page was created (September 5 2004, ranked 601,832, then September 12 2004, ranked 60,325). So, I'm hoping this bodes well for me. ;)

My Starmeter data table as of July 12, 2012

I'm a terrible person, but I do find joy in the fact that I am currently ranked higher than other female clients of my manager who all have a lot of credits on their imdb page. Like I said, I'm very competitive. lol. I know that it will fluctuate and my ranking will go up and down a lot (Emma Stone's did!) but I'm hoping it will tend to go up more than it goes down. :P

Well, that's all for now. 

Thanks!

~Laura

Ping Pong Summer Audition at Pat Moran Casting

So yesterday, I had my first "big" audition. Granted it's for an independent film, but it has Susan Sarandon and Amy Sedaris in it!
My new manager (woohoo!) Tom Townsend told me about this website (dragonukconnects.com) which has all of the major casting calls in this area. I found the one for Ping Pong Summer, submit myself, and they called me in for an audition! I found out less than 24 hours in advance, so the day that I got the call I stressed about what I was going to wear. Thank god for my mom and sisters (and dad on occasion) for helping me! The part I was auditioning for was a 16-17 year old teenage girl (circa 1985), whom after auditioning, I believe would be the lead character's sister. So, I was really worried I would not be able to make myself look 6 years younger than I am! Jeez I never thought I'd feel this old at not even 23. Haha.
I left early the next morning (not that 10:00 is early, but I mean I left early in that it takes 2.5 hours to get there, and I left 4 hours in advance). And I arrived in Baltimore almost 2 hours before my audition time was supposed to start. I grabbed some lunch at Qdoba (delish! First time in years actually) and then couldn't figure out where else to go so I went to the casting office, hoping I could find a bathroom in the building before I went in to their actual office to freshen up and maybe somewhere to sit for at least half an hour so I didn't look like a complete fool coming in an hour and a half early. No such luck. They had to buzz me in, and then there was nowhere to go but up the stairs and then the office. At least they let me wait in their waiting area and gave me the sides to study. I memorized them and then around 2:00, all at once a bunch of teens/young adults came in. Hard to judge some of their ages, but most of them were under 18 (could tell because their parents were with them) and then there were a couple who looked to be about my age or younger (no parents with them). And I was relieved to observe that not all of the female actors were up for the same role as me.
Being the first to arrive, I was the first called in to audition, and was a nervous wreck! It didn't go horribly though. We rehearsed the scene once, Pat Moran (casting director) told me I had "good instincts and good cadence/timing" but needed to "tone it down" a little. As I've always been taught, it's better to have them tell you to tone it down then to have them try and pump life into you. Much easier to get an actor to tone something down than to make it bigger. So I took that as a good thing! The second time through, they taped it. I fudged up one of the lines (dang it!) but not horribly so. I stayed in character and tried to fix it and keep going.
Once the scene was over (it was only about 10 lines long), Ms. Moran said to me, "That's all we need, thank you, good bye." Which threw me a little bit because I had been preparing to say something that my manager instructed me to say at the end of every audition. ("I really appreciate the chance to audition for you today. If given an opportunity, I promise I will work hard and will not let you down.") But I didn't feel as if there was an opening for it since she clearly had just told me to leave! lol. (not in a mean way, she was very nice but professional and extremely busy). So I just said, "Thank you for the opportunity." And left.
I was out of the office by 2:15 (and my original audition slot was 2:30). So I called my manager, grabbed some Starbucks, and drove the 2.5 hours home. Then ran 2.5 miles (it was a great stress reliever lol) and submit myself for more auditions.
Now, all that's left is to, firstly, no longer stress about it. Secondly, wait! I just pray for good news, as always. Cross your fingers for me! :D
Though this isn't related to the Ping Pong Summer audition, yesterday I also scheduled an audition for a local studio's commercial on Saturday and then today received a call from Central Casting asking me to work Friday in House of Cards (starring Kevin Spacey)! It's just as an extra, but I don't care! I'm just so excited! lol. Though the listing I responded to said "recurring/featured extras," so we'll see!
Keep checking back for more posts about my auditions and gigs. I'll try to update as frequently as possible.
Thanks!
~Laura

Laura Ann Russell