Rats of Hameln

So it's been ages since my last post and I feel so terrible since this is usually the way I start my posts. lol. But once I am a little behind, then I fall a little more behind and then it's just daunting because there are SO many things that I have to write about. If I could just stay on top of it, then I wouldn't have to play catch up! lol. So I've decided to try and write about each individual project or event instead of trying to cram it all into one long post.

So this post is about my most recent project - a short film titled The Rats of Hameln. (Pronounced Ham-lyn). I am told it was inspired by the Pied Piper tale and there are a lot of allusions to it. The director/writer, Elvis Chirinos, worked on Boiling Pot with me and is actually the person responsible for bringing me onto that project! He wrote the short with me in mind, but I still had to audition for it. It was a casual audition - outside of a Jamba Juice near my apartment. He filmed it on his phone, but it died and I ended up having him film it on mine and then sent the video to him. It's the first audition of mine that I've ever been able to watch afterwards. lol. After reading the script though, I wondered what that meant he thought of me, cause the character is kind of evil. lmao.

Well, I got the part (just in case you didn't see that coming even though I'm writing an entire post about the shoot haha).

The shoot took place over two days - a couple of weeks apart. Then a third day - only about an hour and a half - was needed to re-record some audio.

I don't want to give anything away - because there's a few twists in the film - but basically, I play a villainess (though of course, I think I'm in the right). Val (my character)'s boyfriend is conflicted about the life they live and that leads to a few surprises. There's a German scientist, love, guns, and blood! I even speak a little bit of German in it. Okay, okay, it's only one word, but still! It was my idea to have Val say something in German. :P

One of the things I really liked about it was the little details that Elvis really thought about. For example: My character always had something with lace on, and something red on. My wardrobe was entirely black, white and grey with small pops of red. Like a red bow in my hair or red garter.

Even though it was only a short, it was one of the best projects I've worked on! :)

The first day on set, we were in one of the crew members' homes. I had to drop my husband off on base that morning because he was leaving for month-long training. So I didn't arrive on set until 10:00am ish. I can't really remember for sure - but I know after dropping Ethan off, I went home to take a nap because I woke up around 3:00am to drop him off. lol. I was on set until about 7:00pm I believe. So that was a fairly short day. At least in comparison to the average day in this industry, which is about 10 hours.

Day one of the shoot.
I had red lips for most of the shoot as well.
I loved my costume and even got to keep some of it! yay! 

This scene was for a flashback so they made me look a little bit younger with a braid and a "fresh" face. 

Loved the fat braid and the glittery bow! :)

Second day of the shoot was at UC Riverside in the Paleontology lab. I arrived at 9:00am and didn't leave until after 1:00am. It was a 16 hour shoot! Almost double the time we anticipated it would be. But that's the entertainment industry for you! Shoots almost always go over (not always over by 7+ hours, but they almost never take the time you think they will).

Most of the crew for this project also worked on Boiling Pot, so it was fun to work with people you already kind of knew. Although, I didn't really know any of them. Since on BP, I was mostly background and tried to remain professional and not step out of line and try and talk to any of them too much. But I recognized all of them. lol. The actor portraying my boyfriend, Ken Shiode, was in Boiling Pot as well (in a larger capacity than I was). The makeup artist, Brittany Durlach, who has become a friend, did makeup and hair for BP as well (for Danielle Fishel). The shoot took place about an hour from my apartment, so it was funny to find out that she lives right down the road from me! She works at Jeffrey Michaels Salon - which is fabulous as well. After the shoot I had her cut and highlight my hair since it had grown out a little since getting my head shots (cheaper than getting new head shots, that's for sure!)

Fossils at UC Riverside!

Day two of the shoot, I wore a creepy mask!!

I even beat up one of the scientists! Jenavee Shay also worked on Boiling Pot as background with me!

My favorite makeup artist EVER, Brittany Durlach, (also from Boiling Pot), works on the mask. 

Some fake blood got in my hair, and since I had an hour long drive before I could get home to shower, I had it in a bun. Upon taking it out of the bun, it didn't move. :P

Well a week or so after the second day of filming, I had to go back to UCR to record some audio. Since I had a mask on, some of the audio didn't come out right, plus, there was a loud fan constantly running in the lab which made it harder to hear. We used the boom mic about halfway through that shoot but all the audio before we began using it, I had to redo. It was made easier by the fact that I didn't have to match my lip movements since I was wearing a mask. Lol. I did have to match the sound of my walk though! But that didn't take too long, and I even got to see a little bit of the film while it was still in production, which was a first!

Well, I can't wait to see the final cut!! And don't worry, I'll definitely be posting it once it's up!
Thanks for reading!

Blogging and Networking

So, since my last post I have done a lot of research and reading about how to Tweet and internet-network and blog (etc) effectively. One of the tips I read was to read similar blogs to yours. Honestly (and I'm so embarrassed to say) it never really crossed my mind to do that. Don't know why. But I did some googling and found a couple of blogs - one of which was REALLY helpful because she (Brandi Ford) listed a TON of acting blogs.  Her blog is fabulous - love the way it looks - and has a lot of great recommended reads, resources, etc. I randomly scrolled down the list of about 40 blogs and opened maybe 10-15 of them. I was mostly interested in female actors' blogs since their experiences in the business will be more similar to mine. I found a couple of good ones, a couple of great ones and closed out the ones that didn't have anything that caught my eye. (Which now makes me think I should revamp my blog to do the same thing. Kind of like resumes in the "real world" and headshots, reels, and resumes in the "acting world").

One of the pages I kept open, after reading a couple of posts, I realized was Stephen Amell's (star of Arrow). I'm still surprised that I found his blog amidst a bunch of actors who are like me - struggling, essentially nobodies. Well, anyway, I emailed Brandi and asked to have my blog listed as well, she agreed (yay!) and I don't know how she determines what order she lists them, but for whatever reason, my blog is near the top. (Secretly happy about that! Okay... not so secretly. lol). Hopefully my blog will get some more traffic from that.

Another tip I read was to promote others. I'd tried to do that already, but I'm now trying to do it more. I tag people in my tweets and mention their blogs or pages or work they've done, I retweet them, and mention them in this blog, etc.

Lira Kellerman has a great blog with great articles on how to use Actor's Access effectively. First let me say that if you are an actor - especially in the LA area - you need to know about Actor's Access. She has some great tips on how to maximize your chances - what to do and what NOT to do when it comes to headshots, reels, notes, etc. Now I won't steal any of her thunder and tell you the whole article. I just hope I've peaked your interest enough to go read it now. :) She also has a great list of gift ideas for actors. To anyone who's interested... *ahem* I love this super cute crutch necklace (to remind the actor to "break a leg).

Briefly, other articles I have found on the twitterverse to be helpful:

Seven Tips for Surviving the (Independent) Film Industry

Twittering for Actors

8 Steps to Actor Happiness

Batgirl Audition

So at the end of last week, I had an audition for the character of Barbara Gordon for a tv pilot. I was SO excited when I heard about the audition - I did as much research as possible (as recommended by the director) and checked out The Dark Knight Returns from the library - that is the comic that the world of the pilot is based on, even though the character Barbara Gordon is not in that comic. So after reading that, I also checked out Batgirl: Year One and Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds.

I rehearsed the sides they gave me over and over and even filmed it a couple of times so I could watch myself and try and see what needed work. Then the day of, I drove to Colton - almost to San Bernadino - and had my audition. I was the last one to audition for the role, which could be good and bad. Good because I'll be the easiest one for them to remember, bad because they could've been tired or already seen another actress that wowed them and they'd already decided on her. Well after waiting in front, I was brought to the back where practically 20 people were sitting to watch the audition. I read the scene with who I'm assuming is a crew member, it was obvious he wasn't an actor. After we finished, another crew member (director or casting director possibly?) asked someone off to the side of the group if they wanted to "give it a go" and then a man came up to me and he was introduced to me as the lead actor playing Richard Grayson (Nightwing, the original Robin) and then we did the scene together. They had also given me a cold read for another character (Helena Bertinelli/Huntress) and I read that with Grayson as well. They thanked me and I left. I was told that they would probably make their decision by the end of the next week... so if I don't hear anything by Sunday I guess I didn't get it. But I'm not banking on getting it - I never do - cause then you're just set up to be more disappointed. I always anticipate rejection so that if I do book a role, I'm pleasantly surprised. :) 

I wore green, hoping that that might subconsciously make them more likely to pick me, or consciously if they noticed. Because the character Barbara Gordon is drawn in green A LOT!

A lot of my Facebook fans were excited for me - my inner nerd was geeking out too. :P So, just crossing my fingers but, again... just expecting rejection. But I would so love to play Babs. After reading the comics and the research online... I love the character and think I'd be a great fit for it!!

Boiling Pot, Spectrum Agent, Life

So I can't even remember the last time I posted it's been so long. =/
Just had to look it up - it was December. Boy am I behind.

Well, let's see... since I last posted, I had new headshots taken by Deidra Fahey, who took Megan Fox, Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis, Britt Robertson, Mitchel Musso etc's headshots.

I had some auditions, I did some fun photo shoots with my friend Brianna, who is a photographer.... Of course celebrated Christmas and New Year... and then in January I started working on Boiling Pot, which is an independent film about racism on college campuses - based on true events that happened in 2008. Danielle Fishel (Topanga in Boy Meets World), Davetta Sherwood (The Young and the Restless), Louis Gossett Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman), M. Emmett Walsh (Christmas with the Kranks) were starring in it. I was working for free as background because they said that there was the possibility of a speaking role. Well after about 7 or 8 days on set, I got the line "purple drank" at the "racist" party. That same day I also got some featured time with two of the principal actors and one other female background actor. I feel like I got along really well with the producer and director (brothers - Ashmawey Productions) and think they liked me (they did invite me to the wrap party) and hope that they will want to work with me again in the future in a much larger capacity. :) I loved working on that set - everyone was so nice and everyone knew who I was which I have to admit THRILLED me because they didn't know every "background" actors names - even the other ones who also got lines. lol. I was especially surprised when the big terrifying DP (Director of Photography/camera guy) knew my name (he said something like "Laura move over there" lol) - he was very intimidating to work with. I kind of had an inner competition going with all of the other female background actors that got one-liners - as I'm sure they did too - BUT the DP didn't know one other girl's name which, I'm sad to admit, made me secretly gleeful. :P

Anyway, once that wrapped, I almost fell into signing a contract with a skeezy modeling agency. A friend recommended them, but she's been in the business less time than I have so I shouldn't have trusted her. My manager looked over the contract they sent, which was confusing and raised some red flags, and there was no website or info on the agent. After my manager looked into it some more he basically told me "hell no" and that I should tell them I would "never" be signing with them. Lol. I guess I kind of just got blinders on, and I always try to see the best in people and think positively and that is why I have a manager. To think realistically and keep me grounded. lol. One of my "friends" (more like an acquaintance) signed with that "agency" and is supposedly going to be working for Fredericks of Hollywood. But she also did a lot of promotions which is not what I'm into and worked at a porn convention. So I dunno. lol.

I worked on the set of Bullet one day as well - an indie starring Danny Trejo. I thought that Robert Rodriguez  was producing it (he produced Machete, Grindhouse, Spy Kids) but actually Robert Rodriguez was producing it. (Muy confusing, no?) Well, this Robert Rodriguez was very nice, I had a nice conversation with him - he's a former banker - and he told me to send him my "stuff" (reel, headshot, resume, etc). The 1st AD (Assistant Director) also told me to send him my "stuff" and he then invited me to first "crash" the party they were having after wrapping and then invited me to the "official" wrap party. My husband thinks he was just trying to hit on me, but I like to think that he thought I was hardworking and talented and saw potential in me. :P lol.

From the set of Bullet, taken by the Casting Director. I got to sit next to (and talk to) John Savage (he is center, I am to his left)!

Well anyways after that near-fiasco with the skeevy agency my manager got me a meeting with Spectrum Talent, whom I met with before Christmas. He wanted me to meet with her on Tuesday, but my husband and I were supposed to have a roommate moving in that day - so it was scheduled for Wednesday. (Then she decided to move in on a different day, but that's a story for another day). Well that meeting took place yesterday. The day did not start off well. I woke up late, so left without eating breakfast. I got french toast sticks at Burger King and proceeded to spill syrup on the crotch of my dress. = o I wiped it up as best (and as safely) as possible driving down the 5 and cringed inwardly knowing that with traffic, I wouldn't have enough time to go to a Starbucks or something to try and clean the stain in the bathroom. My manager called to tell me the meeting had been backed up an hour (from noon to 1:00) so I called my friend Catherine who went to Sweet Briar with me and lives in LA and asked if she was able to get lunch with me. So I arrived in Beverly Hills and drove around for half an hour trying to find parking (either every street with free parking was full or you couldn't park on on Wednesdays because of street cleaning).

I finally found a spot and then found this adorable cafe - Lazy Daisy Cafe - (which reminded me of Sweet Briar, we had a Daisy Cafe too) and unfortunately they didn't have a bathroom in which I could try and clean the now crusted syrup stain on a very unfortunate location. lol. Well I chilled there and ordered a salad and waited for Catherine to arrive. We got to have a nice conversation and I was able to take my mind off of the upcoming meeting. I know that if I had to sit there alone, I would've just thought about the meeting and drove myself crazy with nerves. But I didn't thanks to Catherine. :) Well I was able to scrape most of the crusty syrup off with a knife - lord knows what the other dining patrons thought I was doing down there... And get to the office twenty minutes early. Cheryl - the agent - wasn't there yet so I sat and waited and tried not to make myself nervous. Waiting is the worst. =/ I tried to remember all that the other agent at Allensworth told me to do and all the little tidbits I picked up from watching actresses be interviewed by Jay Leno. Course the only thing I could really remember was a funny story Olivia Munn told about how she made herself better at auditions (also, another story for another time, but I can just say it was not relevant to me or my situation). lol.

Well she arrived and we went into the conference room. After the initial small talk and such: "How are you?" "Good, you?" "I had wrist surgery" "Oh no! Carpal tunnel?" "Yes." "My mom had that." "It was really severe and now because of the surgery I have no feeling in my fingers." "Better be careful in the kitchen." "LOL. *chop*" (she really did LOL. haha.)... well after all that, she told me she really liked me the last time we met and wanted to meet to make sure we reconnected (my manager later told me she also wanted to meet to see how committed I was) - and then said she wanted to give our partnership a try and would email me the contract. I didn't even need to do my other monologue (which I prepared) or give her the whole "about myself" spiel (which I also prepared as per the agent at Allensworth's instructions)! The rest of the meeting was just her telling me what I needed to do - add more headshots to some casting sites and my demo reel - and email some of those sites to add the agency to my profile - etc. So, in case that you are not able to discern from the last few sentences, I'll be blunt. I WAS SIGNED BY A TALENT AGENCY!!! :D YAYYY. lol. She will be submitting me for both Commercial and Theatrical (my goal is theatrical - which is TV and Film, not actually theater lol). So hopefully once I get the signed contract back to her, I will start getting some auditions! And then hopefully I will also book them. lol.

Well, I need to print said contract and sign it and get it in the mail!!

Thanks for reading this muy lengthy post.

I also now have a twitter account:
https://twitter.com/LauraAnnRussell

xoxo

Agent Meeting, Photoshoot, etc

So on Wednesday - only two days ago, I had a meeting with an agent at Allensworth Entertainment in Beverly Hills. My meeting was originally supposed to be LAST Wednesday, but she had an emergency and had to cancel. Unfortunately I didn't find out til I was waiting in the lobby and my manager called me. But, I also got to talk to the agent, Sandy, on the receptionist's phone and I my manager later told me that she "already liked me."

Well, before I get on about the meeting, let me just mention the photoshoot that I did on Sunday. It was for Petal and Thorn, an online bridal accessories boutique that I mentioned in my last post. I arrived at the salon (Flawless Faces) where the other model, Adrienne Ackerman (only 19!) joined me. We had our hair and makeup done and then went to the studio where the shoot was going to take place (iWink Studios) where the photographer soon showed up and then we waited a couple minutes for the studio to open and the designer to arrive.

First, I wore an Adrianna Papell white satin gown which was gorgeous and fit like a glove (and the designer, Kristin let me keep it since she only bought it for the shoot and it doesn't fit her. I was fitted with a headpiece that I never actually got to see and then the shoot began! After we got the shot, they'd switch the headpiece and keep going. So I'm kind of dying to see the pictures just to see what all the headpieces and accessories look like! haha. Well, the shoot was a total blast and a great experience, and the photographer (Juneberry Photo) told me that I should get a lot of jobs from this one shoot.

After getting hair and makeup done before heading to the studio.

The Adrianna Papell gown.

The other gown I wore - so pretty!

Photographer and other model Adrienne at work.

Behind the scenes with the designer and her assistant putting on my next headpiece.

The Facebook cover photo from Petal and Thorn's page.

Sneak peek from Juneberry Photo.

Alright, back to the meeting. Well, for the full story, I need to start the night before. My husband had to work and didn't get home until after midnight and then left at 6:00 the next morning. He walked out the door, and I tried to go back to sleep but then a couple minutes later he stormed in saying "The car got towed!" He was going to take my Nissan Murano to work so I could take his little Fiesta to LA for the better gas mileage, but had accidentally parked in a handicap spot when he got home so late cause apparently it was dark and there were no other spots open. Well, he was in a panic and was apologizing to me "I have to leave baby I'm so sorry." And then I'm just sitting there in a shock, cause that means he has to take the only other car leaving me stranded, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to cancel the meeting. He leaves, I start crying, and then decide to get dressed and figure out what to do. I called the number I found online for if your car got towed, they gave me the number of the company that towed it and I called to see if they had my car and how much it'd be to get it ($265!). A little while later, my husband called me to say that he'd leave work if he could and if he couldn't, his Lieutenant had offered to pick me up and drive me onto base so I could take the car that Ethan had driven. So, I started getting ready, doing my hair and makeup and stuff, and then Ethan calls to say he's on his way home. I get totally ready for the meeting, and then we go to get the car that was towed, and come home so I can eat lunch. I manage to convince him to go with me to LA for moral support, and we left. Got there about an hour and 45 minutes early, so we just relaxed in the car for a little bit. I went to the office at 12:15 (meeting was at 1:00) and waited until about 1:15, where Sandy surprised me by arriving behind me from the elevators and then leading me to her office. lol.

I totally bombed it. The stress of the morning and then waiting in the lobby for about an hour had completely shot my nerves. I think my monologue went great, but I was terrible at telling her about myself (first thing she asked me to do). I had prepared answers to other questions that I had found a lot of agents asked (according to acting websites) but that question threw me and she stopped me mid-sentence to tell me that that is something I need to work on. :P I also bombed my cold read. I know HOW to do it, I know the basics, but I just stared down at the script the entire time cause I was so nervous. So she told me not to do that and then to do it again. She then said that if I did what I did the second time the FIRST time, it would've been so much better because I emoted and was funny etc. Also, she said I cut off my right arm cause she noticed I had a lot of comedy and drama on my resume, and just making conversation and trying to be honest, I told her that I thought comedy was not my strength and she asked why. Then, like a bumbling idiot, I prattled on about why I was bad at comedy. ARGH. But, she gave me some great notes and after all that, still said she wants to meet with me again in January having put her notes into practice.  Mostly, she just said I need to work on my confidence, but that there is absolutely no reason I can't be a successful actress! (YAY!) So, I ordered books to read she told me about, and watched young actresses interviewed on Jay Leno like she said (to try and pick up their confidence and things that they do). Probably the best advice that she gave me though was something she learned in a workshop. "If you're NOT confident, you're still an actor. So ACT like an actor who IS confident." "Fake it til you make it," she kept saying.

I need to start with the studio I interviewed at (oh, yes, I had a meeting with an acting coach at the Actors Workshop - there's one in LA and one in Orange County - this coach's dad, who is also an instructor at the studio, studied under Meisner! - and I am starting with them in January). She told me what kind of "looks" to get with my headshots at the end of the month - but she listed more than 4 which is the amount I'm getting, so I somehow need to whittle the list down. She said "teenager/college student" (said I could portray 17-23!), "hot/sexy girl," "hipster," "young mom," "edgy doctor/business woman," and "geek/nerd." I guess hipster and geek could be about the same, if I wear my glasses. And maybe college student/hot girl could be about the same... I mean they're headshots, so what I wear won't really be seen, so I'll only be achieving these different looks through facial expressions, but the facial expression shouldn't be all that outrageous because for headshots they're just kind of intense/neutral/non-smiling. Though she said also to get some smiling, for commercial work. Whew.

But that reminds me, I need to email my manager all the notes she gave me. 

Oh, and I got my hair cut yesterday at a salon that I just adore now (Shampoo Cocktails)! The stylist was phenomenal and we got along really well (normally I find the small talk the stylists try to create really awkward!). But my hair isn't too different, just reshaped and my bangs were trimmed. 

Well... I think that was it for now.

Gotta get back to watching interviews :P

And, gotta get ready to go see The Hobbit! (Midnight premiere was last night!)

Thanks,
more later.
Laura

Shoots, Agent Meeting, Charity Event

Alright, so it's been far too long since my last post (I really do seem to start every post this way). But, not much has happened. It's the holiday season so I've been busy.
But, I got a new job as a (part-time) Nanny for a wonderful family and their neighbors want to hire me as well for the days I'm not already Nanny-ing.

My manager got me another meeting with an agent, this time Allensworth Entertainment - it is next Wednesday. He told me that my meeting with Spectrum Talent went well but they aren't signing new talent now. (Not sure if that's a nice little lie or not but oh well). One of my manager's other clients had a meeting with Spectrum the same day as me and is now signed with Allensworth. So, hopefully, my meeting will also go well. I don't feel great about my demo reel - the quality of my taped monologues is not great, but it's all I had to work with. =( But I am very critical of myself and so my demo reel will never be perfect - and the same goes for my headshots and resume.

Speaking of headshots, the agent at Spectrum that I met with said mine are not LA quality, and I was going to get new ones eventually anyway (hopefully sooner rather than later). And I know which photographer I want, but it's like $425 for a shoot with her (Deidhra Fahey) - on sale now for $300. BUT she's amazing, and has done headshots for some Disney stars and a couple other big-name actors (when they were at the start of their careers) such as Megan Fox, Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis, Britt Robertson (The Secret Circle), Mitchel Musso (Hannah Montana), the T-Mobile girl (Carly Foulkes), Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee in Breaking Dawn) etc.

I had a photographer on Model Mayhem contact me and ask if I would be interested in doing a headshot shoot. Not as good as Deidhra Fahey (who is?) but it would be free, help build my portfolio, and would at least tide me over til I can afford new ones.
I was also contacted by a designer of a Bridal accessories line (Petal and Thorn) asking for me to model some of their new products - and I'd be getting paid. YAY!
Thirdly, I was contacted by a photographer who wants to do a "Red" themed beauty/glamour shoot, whatever that means. Unpaid, but it would definitely be something different to add to my portfolio.

I need to start studying with a local acting studio soon. Grr. Man acting is expensive! :( Well, there are a few local studios, and I think I know which one I want, but I'm so afraid that I'll waste my money cause it won't be a "good enough" studio for the LA industry. I really do think too much and worry too much.
Regardless though, I need to get with a studio soon, and I really don't want to drive to LA once or twice a week for classes and then throw on driving to auditions (hopefully) and meetings. I wouldn't mind driving for auditions, I didn't mind driving 2 hours to auditions when I was in VA, but after driving 2 hours for acting lessons once a week (while in VA), I don't want to do that again. I know I shouldn't mind driving that far for lessons cause it's helping my career, and I do enjoy lessons/classes, but I really don't like driving, and if I have the option/opportunity to take classes closer to home...

Oh, and my manager sent me a link/invitation to this Red-Carpet toy drive for LA Children's Hospital at this club in LA next week. Kiss My Ass (Kiss cover band) is playing. It sounds fun, and I'd love to do a red carpet type of event and see what that's like (even though I'm a nobody, I can still pretend lol), but it doesn't start til 7:00 and I have to work the next morning and have that meeting with the agent the next day. Plus, since my husband has to work the next day, I'd have to go by myself and I never like going to social events/parties alone. It's not like a ton of celebrities would be there either - I think last year they had the stars of Storage Wars come but actors like Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr will most likely not be there. That wouldn't be the reason I would go though, but it would make it a little more exciting.

Well, I have a "surprise" shoot today that I need to start getting ready for. "Surprise" as in, for my husband. Nothing racy or anything! Just some cute Christmas-type photos with a photographer I've worked with before (Brianna Noelle Photography). Plus, Tinisha Portillo is supposed to be there as well, and I have yet to meet her in person. Lol.

Thanks for reading!

Vampire photo shoot and Spectrum Talent agent meeting

Alright, so since my last post, not much has happened in the way of my acting career (hence why it has been so long since my last post lol). For the last month I did a lot of unpacking and setting up the apartment, as well as got a job at Macaroni Grill. I had barely even begun to look for any acting or modeling gigs, but I did have one photo shoot to help build a photographer - Brianna Noelle Photgraphy's - portfolio (and mine).
Here are a couple pics from the shoot  - which was only little over a week ago. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some other local models - Valentai Cook and Shaundra Olson are both Marine wives and beginning to make a name for themselves in the online community (as in, they have followers on Facebook lol). Plus, they seem to be fairly busy and book a lot of modeling jobs. Whether they are paid or not, I do not know, but good for them regardless! :) They were both very nice girls.

With Shaundra

With Shaundra again

With Valentai

Anyways, about 4 days ago (on Wednesday), I received a phone call from my manager about meeting with a talent agent the next day (Thursday). I was a little panicked and stressed about my husband coming home from his deployment on Friday and still had a lot to do, but I agreed to set up the meeting. He said he would finalize the time and get back to me, and the next morning he emailed and said that they had an emergency and had to cancel. So, honestly, I was a little relieved because that morning I also found out that my husband would be coming home about 12 hours earlier than expected, so I had a LOT to do that day in preparation (as in, finish unpacking, clean the apartment, begin cooking his requested meal and dessert, do laundry and get his car cleaned. I managed to get almost all of that done (didn't get to unpack all the books, but that was low on my list of priorities anyway). Friday morning, I took the dogs to the PetsHotel and scheduled them for a bath and brush at the grooming salon and then went to base to wait for my husband to arrive. After waiting for about 2 hours, his unit finally showed up! Yay! To make a long story short, we went home and a few hours later picked up the dogs. The next day I had an interview with a family to potentially be a nanny for (my third interview of the kind in the last week) and then today, after a discussion with my husband, quit my job at Macaroni Grill (which, I felt terrible about and it caused me a lot of stress just thinking about quitting after only 4 shifts), but it looks like I will be -hopefully- getting a higher-paying job as a nanny/babysitter which I would enjoy a lot more and which would give me the kind of schedule I would prefer. Also, Macaroni Grill kind of wasn't completely honest with me about what kind of shifts I would be able to work. When they interviewed me, I told them I had completely open availability (which was true) but that I wanted to work mostly lunches. They said that that was fine and that they had a variety of schedules available. I know that it is a chain restaurant and that I would most likely have to work an occasional evening or weekend shift, but assumed that the servers with seniority would prefer the evening and weekend shifts anyway cause you make more money then. Well, before my husband came home I spoke to a different manager about scheduling, and she basically said that not working weekends and/or evenings was "not going to fly" and that I would HAVE to work Saturday or Sunday. She also said something that was kind of a compliment - that I would definitely have to work evenings and/or weekends if I was capable of it, and she thought that I was "highly capable." So, yay I am a good server, I should be after like 3 years, but dangit! Why do I have to be so good? lol. Just kidding. Well it may not seem like a big deal to some people, but my husband and I do not want to be one of those couples that work jobs with completely opposite schedules and never get to see each other. We have discussed it at length before because my previous job as a Pet Trainer required me to work evenings and weekends only (I never worked a daytime shift) and I felt like we hardly ever spent time together (I would leave before he got home and he would only be awake for about half an hour after I got home because he would wake up so early in the morning). Well, we would rather I make a little less money but have a better schedule, than potentially make more money and never get to see each other. Of course, there is always an exception to the rule. If the job that had me working evenings and weekends was my dream job, or you know, acting and filming a tv show or movie or something (and getting paid for it), then of course, we would live with it. But we were not going to live with that kind of schedule for a waitressing position. So, I quit. Man, that was kind of long-winded. 

Anyways... this morning I got a time for a meeting with the talent agent at Spectrum Talent from my manager - tomorrow morning (which, incidentally was at the same time I was supposed to be at work for my final test at Macaroni Grill, and honestly that time conflict is what kind of spurred me/us to make the decision for me to leave the Grill today. I was planning on doing it anyway, but maybe not for another week or so). Well, unfortunately, the agent's office is a little over an hour away (in Beverly Hills), so I will be leaving two hours in advance in case of traffic. lol. I'm still working on what to wear... And I tried to burn my demo reel to a dvd (the last one I had) and it didn't work properly, so I won't be able to take my demo reel. And I have head shots (which need to be updated soon cause my hair color has changed a bit and it's gotten longer) but my resume doesn't have the most recent commercial I did on it (the Shentel one). And I don't have the nice paper I printed my old resume on (left it in Virginia) and my printer is out of ink anyway and I'm kinda broke at the moment. lol. So, unfortunately, I'm taking an outdated (only slightly) resume to my meeting and no demo reel. Grr. I wish I had money and/or a little more time so I could fix those issues. But everything doesn't always go according to plan. I have my two monologues, just need to run through them a couple of times and I'll be good to go. 

Well, I should probably get my beauty rest. I want to look my absolute best tomorrow. :) Man it'd be so exciting to get signed! 

Anyways, I hope to write again soon with good news about the meeting. :) 

Thanks for reading! 

~L