Oops, was on vacation!

Hiiiiiiiiiii...

The last month and a half have been crazy for me--I was on vacation, then had to travel some more for family related stuff, etc, etc. I haven't had much time to update anything as a result--just been too busy!

Some tidbits, though:

~had my general meeting with Mark Measures from Abrams Artists (head of commercial), which I won via a contest on Twitter. It was a really interesting, educational experience. I went in without an agenda. I really just wanted to meet Mark and see what he was like. I didn't have any questions for him, at least, not any pre-planned ones or difficult ones. He was an interesting guy, very much what you might expect from an agent at a high powered agency. I don't know if he was thrown off by my lack of questions (he did comment on it), but I found his insights and advice to be smart and worthwhile. He gave me a tip about my resume, spoke with me about type, etc. He made two comments that I thought were worth thinking about the most, in relation to me specifically: 1) consider changing my hair, because it's so 'shampoo commercial' that it could be keeping me from being cast in the more traditional 'young wife/mom' sort of roles and 2) the people who work the most in commercials are the ones who blend in--if you can remember an actor from a commercial, chances are that they will not keep working. He did tell me--prefacing it with "don't take this the wrong way"--that I had a face that could make a million dollars in commercials--it's very All American. I didn't take that the wrong way at all! Could I have taken it as, "you blend in" and whatever negative connotations go along with that? Sure. But why would I choose to do that to myself? Doesn't get me anywhere. And, come on, he just told me I could WORK IN COMMERCIALS AND MAKE A MILLION DOLLARS. Seriously, the better choice is obvious here. :)

~had a callback and audition the same day that I returned from my second trip--I kept getting calls from my commercial agents, readjusting my schedule, trying to work out if I could make it to both. I did. :) It was kinda crazy--running from LAX, to my house to shower, then to the audition (in the valley), then to the callback, and then to work (no, for real). It was a long day! But I loved it. :)

~been redecorating my living room, which I know is not acting related, but it is making me really happy. :)

~considered Mark's comment about how this business is all about a haircut (this was related to his suggestion that I consider finding another way to do my hair that made it "less"--I really do have a ton of great hair, and I feel like a jackass saying that, but I do. It's probably my most-commented-upon feature--when I bother to do it nicely)...I spoke with my rep and decided to go about cutting it a lot shorter. My hair was very long, especially for commercials. So...I chopped it a couple of days ago. It's now just above my shoulders, which means it'll grow out to match my last round of commercial headshots well (my hair is just below my shoulders in those). I love it. I was so scared to cut it, because I've had such long hair for about 2 years now, and I was so attached to it...but I really love the cut. I have an amazing stylist, who takes into account bone structure--both face AND scalp, which determines how your hair lies and keeps style--and I love what she's done. I'm excited to see if this opens up anything as far as bookings go!

~along with the new haircut, I am looking to do some new headshots in a couple of weeks. My commercial shots should all be okay for right now--yes, my hair is a couple inches longer in it, but I think it'll be okay. My theatrical ones, however...no go. All of the ones I use are photos where I have my very long hair. So...new headshots!

~I did get some commercial headshots printed--my main shot that my agents use--just to have them, because I don't really have any commercial ones printed up. I also have some matching post cards that are waiting to be approved at the printer--going to do that today, I think. :)

~I'm also signed up for two workshops--one at the end of the month, with a cd associate that I've seen before (about 4 months ago). I did really well in that workshop, so I'm hoping to do well in this one and start the ball rolling on a good relationship with her. The other is a workshop with a commercial casting director, with whom I've become friendly on Twitter, and it is in September.

~now, on to class--I had an amazing class last week. I'd been in a bit of an acting funk lately, not feeling like I was totally into what I was doing, etc. But, despite having a hard time wrapping my head around my scene initially, I ended up locking into the scene about an hour before class and getting some power imagery done during our meditation time at the start of class. And my scene was awesome. It was one of those scenes that you can scarely remember what you've done because it was almost out of body. It was from "An Education" (I was playing a character who has one scene--a powerful scene--near the end of the film, with the lead character...trying to keep it spoiler free!). When we were finished and turned to receive coaching/feedback from our teacher, he and other members of the class were like, "Yeah, that's it." Which is, to say, that was a one take scene. It was amazing the first time through. No need to do it again. But we did it again anyway. :) Just to see what we could do, to play with it, etc. I changed my prior moment from a gentle, happier one, to a darker, more annoyed one, and it changed my reactions to the scene--my voice had more of an edge and I had a moment at the start of empathizing with the other character, before the edge took over. It was interesting. At any rate, I was so happy to have had that moment in class, because I needed it. Funny how that works, right? :)

So...I think that's it for now? I might have another post later, or soon...we'll see!