I HAVE A CAR!! :D :D :D
Pictures will come once the car is in my possession. But...
I HAVE A CAR!! AHHHH!!!! :D :D :D
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
ARTS = Applause Rising Talent Showcase
This past week, I attended The ARTS in Orlando, Florida. Here is the chronicle of my journey from flying out to returning. It is a lengthy chronicle, as you can already tell, but it is definitely an adventure. Read at your own risk! :D
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Tuesday, June 15 - The Take Off
Very early in the morning, all the bags were packed and I left for the airport long before the sun came up. At this point, I thought for sure that the reality of traveling to The ARTS would have set in, even if it took until the layover in Atlanta when they would say "Now boarding to Orlando," but no....it never actually hit. The flights were relatively uneventful, with the exception of some turbulence flying into Orlando. Hooray for thunderstorms while you're in the air. Let me tell you, it was not that great...I had hoped to sleep, but that didn't happen....and yet, the reality had still not set in. I was met at the airport by a wonderful older lady, who still acted very young at heart. She waited with me at the baggage claim, and then made sure that I arrived at the correct exit in order to catch the shuttle to the Omni Resort at ChampionsGate. She handed me the piece of paper with my name on it "as a souvenir," wished me the best of luck, smiled and said "Maybe we'll see your name in lights one day!" I don't think she realized how much I appreciated her words at the moment. Even without really knowing me, and without fully understand the concept behind the Showcase, she still seemed genuinely excited for the opportunity of every competitor. It was awesome!
A little while later I made it to the hotel, after waiting for thirty minutes in the sticky heat for the shuttle to arrive. Ok, seriously, when you step off the shuttle, it feels like a sauna. But, when you step into the hotel, you kinda feel like you stepped into the world of luxury. I waited in the lobby for Michele and her mom to arrive, which is when you say all those little updates and wall writings on here, and then we moved up to the hotel room. The bathroom in the room was seriously large enough to fit two of my bathrooms from home. It was insane! Totally felt like luxury had arrived! Though we did find it humorous that one thing unchanged between "normal" hotels and the Omni was the type of toilet paper. Anyone from Cedarville remember our freshman year when the Lawlor boys started an outcry for 2-Ply? Yeah, it was kinda like that.... Michele and I explored the hotel for a little while and discovered the wonderful tool of relaxation known as "The Lazy River." 850 feet of laziness with sections of jets, hot tub bubbles, and arched fountain sprays, and torpedo jets of water....all while floating. Amazing! We immediately decided that it was time to change into our suits and take some time for ourselves before the craziness of the Showcase began.
Wednesday, June 16 - Wait What? I'm Really Here?
Registration was scheduled to start at noon. We headed down to the lobby about 20 minutes beforehand, and the line was already quite long. We stood in the line for over an hour, the whole time wondering what competitions everyone else would be competing in...sizing up our competition, you know? It was easy to tell who the models were.... for the women, they were really tall, some about 6"5' without wearing heels! For the guys, well....they were just gorgeous, and some people (ahem, Justin Hobbs and Matt Moore) would proceed to continually point out the gorgeousness of one particular model nearly every day. But, I must admit, there were some occasions when I noticed and they didn't. Guilty! Anyways, while standing in line for registration, the girl behind us bade a total slam on theatre/acting students. I mean like, "I've been wanting to act my whole life, but studied marketing so that I would have something to fall back on." I was a good girl though, and did not claw her eyes out...nor did I let her compete better. Basically, while I discouraged at first, I used that discouragement as motivation to compete even better.... :D
Seminars began, and I attended a seminar with the NY and London actor, writer, director John B. Ok, a few notes on him.... In appearance, he reminded me a bit of Nate Terra. In humor, he was great....comparing himself to Miley Cyrus, but not...and other such random happenings. He is a "yes" person, not a "yeah" person. I will need to remember that if we ever work together in New York...or London...or Orlando....haha. :) It was after this seminar that I found Matt Moore and Justin Hobbs. Finally, the Cedarville crew for ARTS, June 2010, was complete. :D
We attended many more seminars, found food, and then watched Michele audition/compete in the singing category. Dang, was she amazing! She sang "Heard It Through The Grapevine" and totally made it her own, plus did it a capella. I'm proud of my hotel-mate! :D Then we had a monologue and t.v. commercial party in Matt's room so that we would all be as prepared as possible for the next day. It's show time!
Thursday, June 17 - Two Minutes of Fame, Seminars, and Abbie Cobb/Barry S.
Oh Thursday. We were all able to sleep in a little but because nothing much was happening until 10:15. Woo-hoo! So, we all met up at different seminars and took as many notes as possible. This was also the day that all of the acting categories were happening, so that meant for a long day, even with the extra few hours of sleep. In terms of competition, the day started with Monologue. Now, you should know that every competition started with the little kids, and while they are really cute and adorable to watch, it only builds the suspense for and nerves for when it's finally your turn. Some of the little kids were incredible! It was so great to see the youngest talent already making their mark on the world. :)
Waiting, waiting, waiting....finally, "contestants in categories eight and nine, please make your way to the sound booth for lining up." It was our turn! And by "our" I mean mine, Hobbs' and Matt's turn! Woo-hoo! We had this. It's in the bag! Oh yeah...projection is not needed nearly as much when there is a microphone attached to your shirt....right....whoops. The good news is that I was memorable. The bad news is that the reason for being memorable to a lot of people was probably because of my projection and therefore making them nearly go deaf. Way to start out the competitions, right? Oh well...everyone still clapped at the end, and then I sat down and watched the everyone else perform. There were so many competitors in the monologue competition that it went over the scheduled time by about 75 minutes. Crazy! I totally blame the teens, because they're line was the longest of all...seriously, wrapping around to the back of the room and nearly along the back wall is a LONG line. Fortunately, I didn't have to stand in that one. :D
Next category? T.V. Commercial. Woo-hoo! L'Oreal Paris Lash Architect 3-D Dramatic Mascara, here I go! Well, so I thought. The three girls in front of me also had the same monologue....along with many others in the teen category, and a few people after me as well. Awesome. Make it different right? Of course! Well, that kinda hurts when you skip two lines ("False lashes? Who needs them?") in an already short commercial. Oh well, I didn't just say the lines like they were nothing, and did my best to make them different, and that's what matters right? Do the best you can, give it your all, and then let the judges decide if you're a "fit" for what they need right now. Hobbs totally owned the commercials for "Tosh.O" (pronounced tosh-point-o). I won't give away exactly what he did, but let's just say that it's for Comedy Central and he definitely tossed in something at the end that we played with during the "monologue party" and definitely memorable. Ask him if you're really curious. :D
Hmm, Cold Read was interesting. I was paired up with one of the other girls who used the L'Oreal commercial, and was not exactly thrilled about it to say the least. She was definitely a diva, and thought she was all that. Plus, she had the perfect blonde hair, blue eyes, summer tan and size 2 look. So that was special. The script we were handed ended up being able to work with the difference between we perfect look and my not-so-perfect look. She acted like the perfect diva who could have it all, and I used my puppy dog eyes and pout lip to win over the sympathy of everyone in the crowd. Apparently, there were many "awwws" at the end, and even a few sniffles. We definitely performed our cold read differently from everyone else, which was great, and a judge even approached me afterward to say "nice work" in passing. That totally made my day!
Not much to say about the final category of the day, except that it was Improv and Hobbs totally owned! No exaggeration. He even has the 2nd place trophy to prove it! :D So proud of my tall friend!
Towards the end of the day, Hobbs and I were going to hang out....but then Matt called and said that he was going to be meeting up with Abbie by the Cedarville table. Yes, Cedarville did have a display table at the Showcase, and lots of people were interested....lots of parents and a good number of teens as well. Anyways, Matt and Abbie were going to meet up, and he wanted to know if Hobbs and I were interested in joining them. Well, yes! Hello! So we decided to join in the fun, especially after seeing Abbie in the lobby. The three of us walked down together, catch up a little bit, and before you know it, who do we see coming down the hall? Matt Moore and Barry S. Now, for those of you who may not know, Barry S. is a casting director in New York and holds a lot of power. He is basically a powerhouse, or I think he is, and meeting him right then and there was amazing! After a while, Matt and Abbie left to pick up Matt's wife at the airport, so then Hobbs and I were left watching the Lakers/Celtics game with Barry. What?! That was so....weird. But definitely cool at the same time. Not something we could have actually planned...though I did wonder if Abbie had a little hand on that one... :)
Friday, June 18 - Seminars, Seminars, and More Seminars
This day was quite literally filled with seminars until mid-afternoon. Honestly, I can't even remember exactly which seminars happened on this day, except that there was a seminar with Megan F., a big time casting director from LA. She had a lot of really good things to say about what the whole industry is like in LA, and also had some good points about NY. Mainly, she took lots of questions from those in attendance, and also fielded questions to some of her colleagues at the back of the room. It was great! After the seminar, I hopped in line behind Hobbs to talk to her, get some feedback on headshots/resumes, and see what she would describe as my "type." Very educational! I do need to get new headshots, that was something that I was expecting to hear, but something unexpected had to do with "types." Little breakdown for people outside of the lingo, which is totally fine, a "type" is basically what kind of role she could see me filling...convincingly. So, it's nice to know what a casting director has to say about such things, considering that casting directors are the ones who make those decisions. Alright, so about my type...she said that I could play a college student, friend, next door neighbor, but I don't look old enough to be the young mother. College student? Really? Some people still think I'm 16, and Megan Foley says that I could play a college student? Woo-hoo! Looks like this toothpick has now, officially, graduated from high school! Totally made my day! Also, she is easy to talk with, and super nice! SO glad I worked up the courage to stand in line and meet her! :D
While in the same room, Hobbs kinda put me up to talking with the NY agent at the back of the room. His name is Chris M., and our conversation started out by my asking tips and opinions on headshot and resume, but then it sparked into other topics too! Unfortunately, he was running out of time and had to run to another competition. But, before he ran, he did give me a business card and said "come see me on Saturday and we'll talk more." Oh my gosh!! What?! He's an agent. He wants to talk to me? He just met me! He doesn't even know where I live yet!? Holy cow, that is exciting! Mental note, go see him first on Saturday, because he obviously has more to say...and if he didn't like something about me, he wouldn't have said to see him. If one thing was driven into our heads over the week, it's that if an agent/manager/casting director likes you, they will want to see you again. If they don't like you, they will try to avoid you. True story. So that was awesome and incredibly encouraging!
After all the craziness of seminars and such, it was decided that a pool time was in order. So, we meander down to the pool area...which is HUGE...but, by the time we get down there to check it out, it's closed because of lightening. However, staff said that it would be open again in about 30 minutes. Fair enough....so we all head upstairs to respective rooms to change, and agree to meet in the lobby for when the pools were scheduled to re-open. Not a problem. That means we basically have the whole area to ourselves before all the kiddos take over the Lazy River and pools, and before all the hormone charged teens take over the hot tub. :D We even explored the kid section with the water slide, and let me tell you, that was awesome! Sure, we had to find staff and ask them to reopen it, but Hobbs and I being the first two people? That was priceless! Oh, there were also weird statue-fountain things that looked like a mutant combination between dolphins and piranha. Really weird. But, the water shot out of their "mouths" with just the right amount of force to get a massage as it bounced off your shoulders and neck, and that was awesome!
Later at night, and I mean much later, Hobbs and I finally took that time to hang out and just talk. Not that there was anything wrong with hanging out with Matt, Abbie and Barry. My goodness, that was once in a lifetime! But it was also nice to just sit and talk with someone who's known you for what seems like a really long time, and try to make sense of the whole Showcase experience. We prayed about the whole Showcase, and especially about the interviews/callbacks that would be the next morning. It was great, even though we were sitting in the hot and humid outdoors (but hey, it was usually freezing inside), and not all of the processing was necessarily "fun"...it was definitely needed. Pretty sure that counts for Hobbs too.
Saturday, June 19 - Open Interviews, Callbacks, and (You Guessed It) More Seminars
Why on earth would anyone be expected to seem alive and awake at 8 in the morning? Oh yeah, because we receive out callback lists. Right. All of Applause International crams into one room for the moment of hearing your name called, walking to the front of the room, and receiving a piece of paper with all the names of people who said "Hmm, I want to see them again. They should come see me on Saturday." Oh wait, does that sound familiar from Friday? Well...yes and no. I did not receive any callbacks according to the piece of paper with my name on it, but that does not mean hope is lost! Abbie met up with all of us Cedarville people at 10, open interviews started at 10:30, to help us prepare and figure out which order we should see people. So, here goes the open interview experience, focusing on NY, in as small of a nutshell as possible....
Table One: Awesome! Chris, who said "come see me", was at this table. I was planning to say "Hi, we spoke yesterday and you said to come see you today. I know that we only have a minute (open interviews are usually on a 60 second rotation), so I was wondering if you wanted me to come back during the callback session." Well, that didn't end up happening. I walk up to the table, and he says "we talked yesterday, didn't we?" Obviously I respond with a "yes".... Then he pulls out both of my headshots and we start talking. Before I know it, he is asking for my email, phone number, age, location, dress size, shoe size and height. Wait...what?! He's handing me another business card. What?! The next thing he says is the best: "I think you're wonderful and I'd love to work with you." Magic words, right there! Not only that, but he instructed me to contact him in 2 weeks so that we can follow up when he's back in town, and we can figure out more stuff. So, basically, an agent has just said that he would love to work with me, and I'm only about 3-4 hours away from his location. YES!! Hello to a good start for the day! Who says you need to automatically have callbacks listed on the paper in order to have a successful day? Psh, whatever! :D
Table Two: Not so awesome. In fact, not so great in general. I know that this one was not meant to work out, partially on my own account. Stumbling over words is not exactly the best way to make a good first impression. However, I did ask for feedback on my resume and headshot, and she was like "honest NY feedback?" I said "Yes, honest NY feedback." She started crossing off specific sections of my resume, like birthday, saying "as long as you're over 18, I don't really care how old you are." Oh, ok....alright, good to know. Then she crossed off a few more things and said that I need to get new headshots ASAP. Ok, not that big of a surprise. She wasn't the first person to say, and definitely not the first person to think it, so that was filed away in my memory bank. No contact info for follow up, either. She's not interested. Ok, move on. Definitely not the end of the world.
Table Three: This man makes me smile....maybe that's because he was smiling the whole time we talked? Hmmm.... He is a talent manager (basically the talent cheerleader and moral support, instead of the agent who specifically submits their clients for auditions and jobs). David D. mostly works with kids through young adults, and considering that I'm early 20's, that includes my age range! Hobbs thought about calling me though, because the whole week David had mostly been talking about working with kids, but the spreadsheet that each competitor received included young adults. So, huzzah! I'm glad Hobbs was looking out for me though. Glad for sure! So, I'm standing in line, finally reach his table and he seems genuinely excited while looking over my headshot and resume. We talk, he asks about location, email, age, etc. When I say my age, he says "you print younger." I kinda smiled and he immediately responded with "but that's not a bad thing! It's a really good thing! I was thinking more 17-19, so this is ok!" It was kinda funny. Before our conversation concluded, he called me "absolutely adorable" and said "you can definitely follow-up." Hmm, beginnings of a manager/talent relationship in NY? Possibly... we shall see how that pans out in the next few weeks.
Table Four: I went to see Barry S. again! He gave me some really great pointers for headshot and resume, and said that maybe I should start in the Boston area, because it's closer and a bit smaller market, and then decide when I'm ready to take the big leap to the big city, because it's really competitive. You know, that is definitely valuable advice, and I'm not going to completely blow it off, sometimes I just want to take a bit more of a risk. You know? I greatly respect his opinion...even though he wouldn't spill the "giant secret" of what he sees as my "type" for acting.
Table Five: Hello Vh1, how are you? So, as you can imagine, casting directors from all over come to the showcase to scout out new talent that they may be able to plug right into a project. Well, along that theme, it only seems appropriate for a casting director from Vh1 to also be in attendance. Needless to say, since she's located in NY, I went up to her table and struck up a conversation. Surprisingly, even though she didn't take a ton of information on me, she did right down my contestant number and email, and said that she would have an intern email me and that I would have to respond with a short bio, a few headshots, and be sure to include some things that I like to do. Once she receives that, she'll see if there's a place that I'd fit with them. Hello, networking and publicity! :D
So, if you're keeping track, that is 4 out of 5 experiences being positive. Woo-hoo! Good day of talking to people who can make a lot happen....but a lot is still, and always will be, on my own shoulders too. It's just a little easier to see the pieces possibly coming together. Who knows, since Chris M. specializes in commercial, you might see me on TV or in a magazine (commercial print) someday. :D
Sunday, June 20 - Cedarville Spotlight and Relaxation
The brunch was tasty, but still could have been better. It wasn't bad though. The Gospel choir was amazing, and Michele had a sweet solo in the last song! Abbie was the keynote speaker, and did she ever provide a ton of encouragement and excitement in the room! Funny, insightful, real... oh my word, I seriously love her! Following Abbie's keynote, there was the awards ceremony. Hobbsie and Matt definitely represented Cedarville strongly during this, as they each went up for awards at one time or another during the ceremony. The good news is that they did not have to face off head-to-head for awards...that would have been awkward from the cheering perspective...."wait! What do we do now??" After the awards were all distributed, we took some picture together (which will all appear later), and had to say our goodbyes. Michele, her mom and I were all staying until Monday, so we spent the rest of the day in the pool, Lazy River, or hot tub. Then we all fell asleep pretty early and I slept for about 12 hours straight. Yes, I really needed it that badly. :D
Monday, June 21 - The Journey Home
Finally able to reach mom and let her know about all the stuff that happened, especially the news about some agents, managers, and casting directors liking me. Then I hopped on a plane to Atlanta, waited there for a few hours, and then hopped on a plane to Manchester. I slept a lot on the planes, especially with my eye bugging me like crazy. Finally made it to the airport, where I landed before mom even arrived, so we met up in baggage claim. One of the first bags off the plane was mine, and then we headed to an Applebee's restaurant so that I could get some food...hadn't really eaten anything since about 12:30 at the Orlando airport, and now it 8:30-ish. So, yeah, it was time. We walk in and discover that we had just missed the huge rush of people who maxed out the capacity of the place. Good timing huh? Not only that, but our waiter was really nice, and actually home for a little while before going to Haiti and then returning to Afghanistan. I said a prayer for him last night, and will continue to do so every night. He opened up a little and shared about why he's in the US right now, the injuries that he's suffered, and why he was sent home early....he's been though a lot, and still has a long journey ahead of him. One more year in Afghanistan awaits him, and he's already been through so much. Please pray for him.
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Tuesday, June 15 - The Take Off
Very early in the morning, all the bags were packed and I left for the airport long before the sun came up. At this point, I thought for sure that the reality of traveling to The ARTS would have set in, even if it took until the layover in Atlanta when they would say "Now boarding to Orlando," but no....it never actually hit. The flights were relatively uneventful, with the exception of some turbulence flying into Orlando. Hooray for thunderstorms while you're in the air. Let me tell you, it was not that great...I had hoped to sleep, but that didn't happen....and yet, the reality had still not set in. I was met at the airport by a wonderful older lady, who still acted very young at heart. She waited with me at the baggage claim, and then made sure that I arrived at the correct exit in order to catch the shuttle to the Omni Resort at ChampionsGate. She handed me the piece of paper with my name on it "as a souvenir," wished me the best of luck, smiled and said "Maybe we'll see your name in lights one day!" I don't think she realized how much I appreciated her words at the moment. Even without really knowing me, and without fully understand the concept behind the Showcase, she still seemed genuinely excited for the opportunity of every competitor. It was awesome!
A little while later I made it to the hotel, after waiting for thirty minutes in the sticky heat for the shuttle to arrive. Ok, seriously, when you step off the shuttle, it feels like a sauna. But, when you step into the hotel, you kinda feel like you stepped into the world of luxury. I waited in the lobby for Michele and her mom to arrive, which is when you say all those little updates and wall writings on here, and then we moved up to the hotel room. The bathroom in the room was seriously large enough to fit two of my bathrooms from home. It was insane! Totally felt like luxury had arrived! Though we did find it humorous that one thing unchanged between "normal" hotels and the Omni was the type of toilet paper. Anyone from Cedarville remember our freshman year when the Lawlor boys started an outcry for 2-Ply? Yeah, it was kinda like that.... Michele and I explored the hotel for a little while and discovered the wonderful tool of relaxation known as "The Lazy River." 850 feet of laziness with sections of jets, hot tub bubbles, and arched fountain sprays, and torpedo jets of water....all while floating. Amazing! We immediately decided that it was time to change into our suits and take some time for ourselves before the craziness of the Showcase began.
Wednesday, June 16 - Wait What? I'm Really Here?
Registration was scheduled to start at noon. We headed down to the lobby about 20 minutes beforehand, and the line was already quite long. We stood in the line for over an hour, the whole time wondering what competitions everyone else would be competing in...sizing up our competition, you know? It was easy to tell who the models were.... for the women, they were really tall, some about 6"5' without wearing heels! For the guys, well....they were just gorgeous, and some people (ahem, Justin Hobbs and Matt Moore) would proceed to continually point out the gorgeousness of one particular model nearly every day. But, I must admit, there were some occasions when I noticed and they didn't. Guilty! Anyways, while standing in line for registration, the girl behind us bade a total slam on theatre/acting students. I mean like, "I've been wanting to act my whole life, but studied marketing so that I would have something to fall back on." I was a good girl though, and did not claw her eyes out...nor did I let her compete better. Basically, while I discouraged at first, I used that discouragement as motivation to compete even better.... :D
Seminars began, and I attended a seminar with the NY and London actor, writer, director John B. Ok, a few notes on him.... In appearance, he reminded me a bit of Nate Terra. In humor, he was great....comparing himself to Miley Cyrus, but not...and other such random happenings. He is a "yes" person, not a "yeah" person. I will need to remember that if we ever work together in New York...or London...or Orlando....haha. :) It was after this seminar that I found Matt Moore and Justin Hobbs. Finally, the Cedarville crew for ARTS, June 2010, was complete. :D
We attended many more seminars, found food, and then watched Michele audition/compete in the singing category. Dang, was she amazing! She sang "Heard It Through The Grapevine" and totally made it her own, plus did it a capella. I'm proud of my hotel-mate! :D Then we had a monologue and t.v. commercial party in Matt's room so that we would all be as prepared as possible for the next day. It's show time!
Thursday, June 17 - Two Minutes of Fame, Seminars, and Abbie Cobb/Barry S.
Oh Thursday. We were all able to sleep in a little but because nothing much was happening until 10:15. Woo-hoo! So, we all met up at different seminars and took as many notes as possible. This was also the day that all of the acting categories were happening, so that meant for a long day, even with the extra few hours of sleep. In terms of competition, the day started with Monologue. Now, you should know that every competition started with the little kids, and while they are really cute and adorable to watch, it only builds the suspense for and nerves for when it's finally your turn. Some of the little kids were incredible! It was so great to see the youngest talent already making their mark on the world. :)
Waiting, waiting, waiting....finally, "contestants in categories eight and nine, please make your way to the sound booth for lining up." It was our turn! And by "our" I mean mine, Hobbs' and Matt's turn! Woo-hoo! We had this. It's in the bag! Oh yeah...projection is not needed nearly as much when there is a microphone attached to your shirt....right....whoops. The good news is that I was memorable. The bad news is that the reason for being memorable to a lot of people was probably because of my projection and therefore making them nearly go deaf. Way to start out the competitions, right? Oh well...everyone still clapped at the end, and then I sat down and watched the everyone else perform. There were so many competitors in the monologue competition that it went over the scheduled time by about 75 minutes. Crazy! I totally blame the teens, because they're line was the longest of all...seriously, wrapping around to the back of the room and nearly along the back wall is a LONG line. Fortunately, I didn't have to stand in that one. :D
Next category? T.V. Commercial. Woo-hoo! L'Oreal Paris Lash Architect 3-D Dramatic Mascara, here I go! Well, so I thought. The three girls in front of me also had the same monologue....along with many others in the teen category, and a few people after me as well. Awesome. Make it different right? Of course! Well, that kinda hurts when you skip two lines ("False lashes? Who needs them?") in an already short commercial. Oh well, I didn't just say the lines like they were nothing, and did my best to make them different, and that's what matters right? Do the best you can, give it your all, and then let the judges decide if you're a "fit" for what they need right now. Hobbs totally owned the commercials for "Tosh.O" (pronounced tosh-point-o). I won't give away exactly what he did, but let's just say that it's for Comedy Central and he definitely tossed in something at the end that we played with during the "monologue party" and definitely memorable. Ask him if you're really curious. :D
Hmm, Cold Read was interesting. I was paired up with one of the other girls who used the L'Oreal commercial, and was not exactly thrilled about it to say the least. She was definitely a diva, and thought she was all that. Plus, she had the perfect blonde hair, blue eyes, summer tan and size 2 look. So that was special. The script we were handed ended up being able to work with the difference between we perfect look and my not-so-perfect look. She acted like the perfect diva who could have it all, and I used my puppy dog eyes and pout lip to win over the sympathy of everyone in the crowd. Apparently, there were many "awwws" at the end, and even a few sniffles. We definitely performed our cold read differently from everyone else, which was great, and a judge even approached me afterward to say "nice work" in passing. That totally made my day!
Not much to say about the final category of the day, except that it was Improv and Hobbs totally owned! No exaggeration. He even has the 2nd place trophy to prove it! :D So proud of my tall friend!
Towards the end of the day, Hobbs and I were going to hang out....but then Matt called and said that he was going to be meeting up with Abbie by the Cedarville table. Yes, Cedarville did have a display table at the Showcase, and lots of people were interested....lots of parents and a good number of teens as well. Anyways, Matt and Abbie were going to meet up, and he wanted to know if Hobbs and I were interested in joining them. Well, yes! Hello! So we decided to join in the fun, especially after seeing Abbie in the lobby. The three of us walked down together, catch up a little bit, and before you know it, who do we see coming down the hall? Matt Moore and Barry S. Now, for those of you who may not know, Barry S. is a casting director in New York and holds a lot of power. He is basically a powerhouse, or I think he is, and meeting him right then and there was amazing! After a while, Matt and Abbie left to pick up Matt's wife at the airport, so then Hobbs and I were left watching the Lakers/Celtics game with Barry. What?! That was so....weird. But definitely cool at the same time. Not something we could have actually planned...though I did wonder if Abbie had a little hand on that one... :)
Friday, June 18 - Seminars, Seminars, and More Seminars
This day was quite literally filled with seminars until mid-afternoon. Honestly, I can't even remember exactly which seminars happened on this day, except that there was a seminar with Megan F., a big time casting director from LA. She had a lot of really good things to say about what the whole industry is like in LA, and also had some good points about NY. Mainly, she took lots of questions from those in attendance, and also fielded questions to some of her colleagues at the back of the room. It was great! After the seminar, I hopped in line behind Hobbs to talk to her, get some feedback on headshots/resumes, and see what she would describe as my "type." Very educational! I do need to get new headshots, that was something that I was expecting to hear, but something unexpected had to do with "types." Little breakdown for people outside of the lingo, which is totally fine, a "type" is basically what kind of role she could see me filling...convincingly. So, it's nice to know what a casting director has to say about such things, considering that casting directors are the ones who make those decisions. Alright, so about my type...she said that I could play a college student, friend, next door neighbor, but I don't look old enough to be the young mother. College student? Really? Some people still think I'm 16, and Megan Foley says that I could play a college student? Woo-hoo! Looks like this toothpick has now, officially, graduated from high school! Totally made my day! Also, she is easy to talk with, and super nice! SO glad I worked up the courage to stand in line and meet her! :D
While in the same room, Hobbs kinda put me up to talking with the NY agent at the back of the room. His name is Chris M., and our conversation started out by my asking tips and opinions on headshot and resume, but then it sparked into other topics too! Unfortunately, he was running out of time and had to run to another competition. But, before he ran, he did give me a business card and said "come see me on Saturday and we'll talk more." Oh my gosh!! What?! He's an agent. He wants to talk to me? He just met me! He doesn't even know where I live yet!? Holy cow, that is exciting! Mental note, go see him first on Saturday, because he obviously has more to say...and if he didn't like something about me, he wouldn't have said to see him. If one thing was driven into our heads over the week, it's that if an agent/manager/casting director likes you, they will want to see you again. If they don't like you, they will try to avoid you. True story. So that was awesome and incredibly encouraging!
After all the craziness of seminars and such, it was decided that a pool time was in order. So, we meander down to the pool area...which is HUGE...but, by the time we get down there to check it out, it's closed because of lightening. However, staff said that it would be open again in about 30 minutes. Fair enough....so we all head upstairs to respective rooms to change, and agree to meet in the lobby for when the pools were scheduled to re-open. Not a problem. That means we basically have the whole area to ourselves before all the kiddos take over the Lazy River and pools, and before all the hormone charged teens take over the hot tub. :D We even explored the kid section with the water slide, and let me tell you, that was awesome! Sure, we had to find staff and ask them to reopen it, but Hobbs and I being the first two people? That was priceless! Oh, there were also weird statue-fountain things that looked like a mutant combination between dolphins and piranha. Really weird. But, the water shot out of their "mouths" with just the right amount of force to get a massage as it bounced off your shoulders and neck, and that was awesome!
Later at night, and I mean much later, Hobbs and I finally took that time to hang out and just talk. Not that there was anything wrong with hanging out with Matt, Abbie and Barry. My goodness, that was once in a lifetime! But it was also nice to just sit and talk with someone who's known you for what seems like a really long time, and try to make sense of the whole Showcase experience. We prayed about the whole Showcase, and especially about the interviews/callbacks that would be the next morning. It was great, even though we were sitting in the hot and humid outdoors (but hey, it was usually freezing inside), and not all of the processing was necessarily "fun"...it was definitely needed. Pretty sure that counts for Hobbs too.
Saturday, June 19 - Open Interviews, Callbacks, and (You Guessed It) More Seminars
Why on earth would anyone be expected to seem alive and awake at 8 in the morning? Oh yeah, because we receive out callback lists. Right. All of Applause International crams into one room for the moment of hearing your name called, walking to the front of the room, and receiving a piece of paper with all the names of people who said "Hmm, I want to see them again. They should come see me on Saturday." Oh wait, does that sound familiar from Friday? Well...yes and no. I did not receive any callbacks according to the piece of paper with my name on it, but that does not mean hope is lost! Abbie met up with all of us Cedarville people at 10, open interviews started at 10:30, to help us prepare and figure out which order we should see people. So, here goes the open interview experience, focusing on NY, in as small of a nutshell as possible....
Table One: Awesome! Chris, who said "come see me", was at this table. I was planning to say "Hi, we spoke yesterday and you said to come see you today. I know that we only have a minute (open interviews are usually on a 60 second rotation), so I was wondering if you wanted me to come back during the callback session." Well, that didn't end up happening. I walk up to the table, and he says "we talked yesterday, didn't we?" Obviously I respond with a "yes".... Then he pulls out both of my headshots and we start talking. Before I know it, he is asking for my email, phone number, age, location, dress size, shoe size and height. Wait...what?! He's handing me another business card. What?! The next thing he says is the best: "I think you're wonderful and I'd love to work with you." Magic words, right there! Not only that, but he instructed me to contact him in 2 weeks so that we can follow up when he's back in town, and we can figure out more stuff. So, basically, an agent has just said that he would love to work with me, and I'm only about 3-4 hours away from his location. YES!! Hello to a good start for the day! Who says you need to automatically have callbacks listed on the paper in order to have a successful day? Psh, whatever! :D
Table Two: Not so awesome. In fact, not so great in general. I know that this one was not meant to work out, partially on my own account. Stumbling over words is not exactly the best way to make a good first impression. However, I did ask for feedback on my resume and headshot, and she was like "honest NY feedback?" I said "Yes, honest NY feedback." She started crossing off specific sections of my resume, like birthday, saying "as long as you're over 18, I don't really care how old you are." Oh, ok....alright, good to know. Then she crossed off a few more things and said that I need to get new headshots ASAP. Ok, not that big of a surprise. She wasn't the first person to say, and definitely not the first person to think it, so that was filed away in my memory bank. No contact info for follow up, either. She's not interested. Ok, move on. Definitely not the end of the world.
Table Three: This man makes me smile....maybe that's because he was smiling the whole time we talked? Hmmm.... He is a talent manager (basically the talent cheerleader and moral support, instead of the agent who specifically submits their clients for auditions and jobs). David D. mostly works with kids through young adults, and considering that I'm early 20's, that includes my age range! Hobbs thought about calling me though, because the whole week David had mostly been talking about working with kids, but the spreadsheet that each competitor received included young adults. So, huzzah! I'm glad Hobbs was looking out for me though. Glad for sure! So, I'm standing in line, finally reach his table and he seems genuinely excited while looking over my headshot and resume. We talk, he asks about location, email, age, etc. When I say my age, he says "you print younger." I kinda smiled and he immediately responded with "but that's not a bad thing! It's a really good thing! I was thinking more 17-19, so this is ok!" It was kinda funny. Before our conversation concluded, he called me "absolutely adorable" and said "you can definitely follow-up." Hmm, beginnings of a manager/talent relationship in NY? Possibly... we shall see how that pans out in the next few weeks.
Table Four: I went to see Barry S. again! He gave me some really great pointers for headshot and resume, and said that maybe I should start in the Boston area, because it's closer and a bit smaller market, and then decide when I'm ready to take the big leap to the big city, because it's really competitive. You know, that is definitely valuable advice, and I'm not going to completely blow it off, sometimes I just want to take a bit more of a risk. You know? I greatly respect his opinion...even though he wouldn't spill the "giant secret" of what he sees as my "type" for acting.
Table Five: Hello Vh1, how are you? So, as you can imagine, casting directors from all over come to the showcase to scout out new talent that they may be able to plug right into a project. Well, along that theme, it only seems appropriate for a casting director from Vh1 to also be in attendance. Needless to say, since she's located in NY, I went up to her table and struck up a conversation. Surprisingly, even though she didn't take a ton of information on me, she did right down my contestant number and email, and said that she would have an intern email me and that I would have to respond with a short bio, a few headshots, and be sure to include some things that I like to do. Once she receives that, she'll see if there's a place that I'd fit with them. Hello, networking and publicity! :D
So, if you're keeping track, that is 4 out of 5 experiences being positive. Woo-hoo! Good day of talking to people who can make a lot happen....but a lot is still, and always will be, on my own shoulders too. It's just a little easier to see the pieces possibly coming together. Who knows, since Chris M. specializes in commercial, you might see me on TV or in a magazine (commercial print) someday. :D
Sunday, June 20 - Cedarville Spotlight and Relaxation
The brunch was tasty, but still could have been better. It wasn't bad though. The Gospel choir was amazing, and Michele had a sweet solo in the last song! Abbie was the keynote speaker, and did she ever provide a ton of encouragement and excitement in the room! Funny, insightful, real... oh my word, I seriously love her! Following Abbie's keynote, there was the awards ceremony. Hobbsie and Matt definitely represented Cedarville strongly during this, as they each went up for awards at one time or another during the ceremony. The good news is that they did not have to face off head-to-head for awards...that would have been awkward from the cheering perspective...."wait! What do we do now??" After the awards were all distributed, we took some picture together (which will all appear later), and had to say our goodbyes. Michele, her mom and I were all staying until Monday, so we spent the rest of the day in the pool, Lazy River, or hot tub. Then we all fell asleep pretty early and I slept for about 12 hours straight. Yes, I really needed it that badly. :D
Monday, June 21 - The Journey Home
Finally able to reach mom and let her know about all the stuff that happened, especially the news about some agents, managers, and casting directors liking me. Then I hopped on a plane to Atlanta, waited there for a few hours, and then hopped on a plane to Manchester. I slept a lot on the planes, especially with my eye bugging me like crazy. Finally made it to the airport, where I landed before mom even arrived, so we met up in baggage claim. One of the first bags off the plane was mine, and then we headed to an Applebee's restaurant so that I could get some food...hadn't really eaten anything since about 12:30 at the Orlando airport, and now it 8:30-ish. So, yeah, it was time. We walk in and discover that we had just missed the huge rush of people who maxed out the capacity of the place. Good timing huh? Not only that, but our waiter was really nice, and actually home for a little while before going to Haiti and then returning to Afghanistan. I said a prayer for him last night, and will continue to do so every night. He opened up a little and shared about why he's in the US right now, the injuries that he's suffered, and why he was sent home early....he's been though a lot, and still has a long journey ahead of him. One more year in Afghanistan awaits him, and he's already been through so much. Please pray for him.
(The CU crew with our former student who is now a Disney Star)
(The CU [former and current] students with the woman who discovered us in the corn fields)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sin Is Sin....Regardless
It is no surprise to many people that one of my pet peeves is when people act high and mighty and try to rank sin in such a way that makes them feel better about themselves. For example, if someone said "I would never talk to someone who has been involved in pornography, because is one of the most disgusting sins ever and I've never done anything that bad. Why would anyone talk to them?" I have actually heard very similar words from people before. Why does this bother me? Because with this attitude, whole people groups are alienated from ever hearing the Gospel. Now, I do understand that not everyone has been designed and/or abled to minister in every single situation with every single people group. However, it drives me absolutely crazy people are alienated from the Gospel. Christ died for everyone. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience His love.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Applause Rising Talent Showcase
Last time I posted, it was shortly before going to PA for one of my best friends weddings. What an amazing weekend! Not only did Nikki look gorgeous, but Jesse actually smiled from ear to ear and had a bit of a "wow, she's mine" glow....it was awesome. You see, I don't know Jesse nearly as well as I know Nikki (he went to a different college), and he doesn't usually show emotion. So, seeing him smile like that was totally amazing!
After the wedding, the remaining C'ville crew had a "one month reunion" complete with a pool, pool table, awesomeness snacks and drinks, and MST3K.... Ah yes, most of the "freak show" was back together and partying like the good ol' days...with a few added twists. I miss everyone again though. Saying goodbye at graduation was difficult enough, even with knowing that most of us would be together again at Nikki's wedding. But this time? Who knows when all of us will be together again. We have talked about doing another mini reunion sometime in the fall though....maybe even in Colorado? With skiing and snowboarding? Hmm....
Now I stand on the edge of another adventure, and this time it's really intimidating. Tuesday morning I will fly to the Applause Rising Talent Showcase where I will compete in three different categories for a possible career in acting/entertainment. Monologue? Memorized and within time limit. T.V. Commercial? Uhhh, still need to work on that a lot more. Cold Read? Well, the whole format of that is different, and I won't receive the script until shortly before going on stage anyway. Prep for that is more like reminding myself to breathe.
Honestly, I'm really nervous about going. I put on the happy face and come across really excited about the whole adventure, but inside, it's a constant state of screaming and wondering "why am I doing this?" The best answer I can come up with is that, if I didn't go, there would be a constant question of "what if" for the rest of my life. This opportunity was practically dropped in my lap, and I can't just ignore it... each day just seems a little more nerve-wracking than the previous one, and I feel a little more insecure than the previous day, too.
Guaranteed, no matter what happens at the showcase next week, I will end up crying at least once. Only time will tell if those tears are tears of joy, stress, disappointment, or exhaustion. Why must the inferiority complex rear it's ugly head right now?
After the wedding, the remaining C'ville crew had a "one month reunion" complete with a pool, pool table, awesomeness snacks and drinks, and MST3K.... Ah yes, most of the "freak show" was back together and partying like the good ol' days...with a few added twists. I miss everyone again though. Saying goodbye at graduation was difficult enough, even with knowing that most of us would be together again at Nikki's wedding. But this time? Who knows when all of us will be together again. We have talked about doing another mini reunion sometime in the fall though....maybe even in Colorado? With skiing and snowboarding? Hmm....
Now I stand on the edge of another adventure, and this time it's really intimidating. Tuesday morning I will fly to the Applause Rising Talent Showcase where I will compete in three different categories for a possible career in acting/entertainment. Monologue? Memorized and within time limit. T.V. Commercial? Uhhh, still need to work on that a lot more. Cold Read? Well, the whole format of that is different, and I won't receive the script until shortly before going on stage anyway. Prep for that is more like reminding myself to breathe.
Honestly, I'm really nervous about going. I put on the happy face and come across really excited about the whole adventure, but inside, it's a constant state of screaming and wondering "why am I doing this?" The best answer I can come up with is that, if I didn't go, there would be a constant question of "what if" for the rest of my life. This opportunity was practically dropped in my lap, and I can't just ignore it... each day just seems a little more nerve-wracking than the previous one, and I feel a little more insecure than the previous day, too.
Guaranteed, no matter what happens at the showcase next week, I will end up crying at least once. Only time will tell if those tears are tears of joy, stress, disappointment, or exhaustion. Why must the inferiority complex rear it's ugly head right now?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Weight Gain and Weddings
1. I am slowly gaining back the weight I have lost. And by slowly, I mean it's taken about a week to gain 1 pound.
2. One of my best friends is getting married this weekend!! I fly down to PA early Friday morning, see her dressed in a beautiful white dress, and spend the weekend in a mini-reunion with college friends.
The summer adventures officially begin.....NOW!
2. One of my best friends is getting married this weekend!! I fly down to PA early Friday morning, see her dressed in a beautiful white dress, and spend the weekend in a mini-reunion with college friends.
The summer adventures officially begin.....NOW!
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