Boston Legal - Waitress

Yesterday, I worked on Boston Legal, one of my favorite shows. My call time was at 9:30 am and the studio where they shoot Boston Legal is in Manhattan Beach (which isn't too far from me). The scene was for episode 5 and was in a fine dining restaurant. I was to wear black pants and black shoes, but when I went to see wardrobe, they gave me different black pants, a white button down shirt, a black tie, and a long black apron (which covered up the black pants, lol). I didn't mind that they gave me black pants to wear, though, because I discovered yesterday that mine have gotten a wee bit tight and it's time for me to go shopping for new ones. Anyway, wardrobe didn't like my shoes. I have a pair of "shoes for crews" that I ordered when I was waiting tables. They are black loafers that are comfortable and have a non slip sole for slippery kitchen floors. Wardrobe gave me a pair of black suede pumps with 2 1/2" heels and said since it was an upscale restaurant, I needed upscale shoes. That was a laugh. They weren't comfortable at all, and although I've suffered through scenes in the past wearing uncomfortable shoes that wardrobe gave me, I was nervous about this scene, because I would potentially be carrying dishes, etc and trying to navigate set. So, I brought them with me to set, but I didn't put them on, because I wanted to wait to see where they would place me and whatnot.
It was a quiet scene with James Spader and a date. I believe it was 1 1/2 pages and some of the dialogue was almost a whisper. Now, most of the time, when working background, it's all pantomime. You don't talk or whisper, or make any noise, which is what they wanted for this scene. They kept asking us to try to walk quieter. They checked everyone's shoes, and put shoe foam on the bottoms to help with the noise. When the wardrobe lady came over to me, I thought she was going to get mad at me for not wearing their shoes. But she just had me walk to see if my shoes were noisy (which they weren't), and didn't say a thing. Every time I had to walk by the lead actors' table I was holding my breath trying not to make any noise. Finally, when they moved in a bit tighter, they told us we could take our shoes off. That was awesome for me, because it gave me the freedom to move more naturally.
All in all, it was a good day. We wrapped around 4:30 pm. It was really cool to be on the set of one of my favorite shows!

Life - Jogger

Worked today on a new show called Life. They booked me as a jogger and my call time was 1 PM. They were shooting on location on Mulholland Drive, and for once I had no traffic problems getting there and actually arrived half an hour early. There were a handful of extras ... some neighbors, some joggers and 1 dog walker. They finally started using me and one other girl to ... well ... you guessed it ... jog. We had to jog uphill toward the sun, past the house the lead actors were heading in to, but not for too far really. We did it about 7 or 8 times, and they waited until the sun went down to break for lunch. And then we were wrapped. Not a bad day, really, and good money since they didn't break us for lunch on time. I was told they were shooting the 3rd episode.

Brothers & Sisters - Worker

I joined a background service this week. It makes finding work as an extra much easier, especially once you've joined SAG since those jobs are harder to find. The service submits you to Casting Directors and if chosen, the casting director books you through them.
I was booked on Brothers & Sisters yesterday and was excited to be working again as an extra. Senator McCallister and Kitty (Rob Lowe and Calista Flockhart) were touring some plant for McCallister's presidential campaign and we lined up to shake his hand as he was leaving. Very easy day. We were used only for the one scene and I spent the majority of my day reading.
We were wrapped close to 5pm and I hurried to get out of there hoping traffic wouldn't be bad. And I was right ... until ... traffic on the 405 was coming to a complete stop. So I took the next exit and found my way on back streets ... and came to very very slow traffic and realized this wasn't much better. Not much I could do. As I was sitting in traffic, I finally heard a traffic report. Apparently a man with a machete was shot and killed by police on the 10. Part of the 10 in East LA was shut down which caused all the traffic in west LA, adding an extra hour to my trip home. Only in LA!

No more chocolate ...

Sunday was my last day as a Dove Girl. We went to the Hollywood Farmers' Market. I had never been to that farmers' market before and it's huge, with lots of great stuff! I definitely need to go back. But for now, no more handing out free chocolate. Now it's time for me to find more work!

The JKL skit aired on Thursday night, without the extras lol. It was cool to see the end result though, since it was all done in front of a green screen.

Jimmy Kimmel Live - Dodger Fan

Was called on monday to work as an extra on JKL on Tuesday. I was excited, since I've never worked on this show and I've heard lots of good things about it. My call time was at 1PM. After arriving and filling out all the paper work (AFTRA) and meeting the others, we all sat and waited until 4PM. In the meantime, we were treated to some good fried chicken, corn and mashed potatoes. Finally, we went out back behind the theater to a parking lot. The skit is about Uncle Frank sitting in a kayak trying to catch the big home run ball at the dodgers/giants games here in LA. It was all shot against a green screen and when they were done with Uncle Frank, all we had to do was walk back and forth in front of the green screen a bunch of times, like we were heading into the game. I was wearing a white dodger baseball shirt and a blue dodger cap. It was the easiest extra work I've ever done, and a lot of fun. I don't believe it aired last night, so look for it tonight. =)

Dove Girl

Well, I got my laptop up and running again! Had to take out my RAM and since the top of the screw was stripped, it was no easy task.

I got back from South Carolina on July 4. Had fun with yard work while I was there and got to meet our new dog, Zoey. She's a sweetheart! I'll post a picture as soon as I have one. =)

Got a promo job as a Dove Girl for now. It works 4 days a week (thurs - sun) for 4 weeks. It's not as organized as the promotions I worked when I lived in Atlanta, but the money and hours are good. Giving out free Dove chocolate isn't so bad, although some people do get confused between the Dove lotion company and the Dove chocolate company. Here's a picture from our first day.
Our uniforms are brown silk robes and flip flops. At least we're comfortable!!

Laptop Woes...

Well reinstalling the OS didn't seem to do the trick. =( It's been really frustrating not having my laptop for work and whatnot. I wanted to post some pictures from last weekend, but since I'm on my Windows 98 PC still, that will have to wait.

I leave for Columbia, SC to visit my parents next week. =) I'll be there for 2 weeks and I'm really looking forward to it.

Computers = Love/Hate Relationship

Sunday 3 June 07
So I really do love my laptop...until today. I opened up, checked my email, looked at a website or 2 and then logged onto World of Warcraft (Yes I am a geek). I managed to say good morning to some folks and was just walking around ... BLAM my computer turns OFF

and proceeds to reboot itself. I'm sitting there thinking, "Gosh, it hasn't done this since it used to overheat ... and it's no where near hot yet."

Next thing I know, it just hangs before it loads windows ... I'm staring and a black screen and it's not doing anything ...

So to make a long boring technical troubleshooting story short ...

Some file or something is corrupt on my laptop. I have 2 options at this point. I can reinstall the OS (Windows XP) and lose all my data (I use my laptop to work) or I can put a Windows XP CD in and hit R to repair. Now, for those of you that aren't computer techies, the handy dandy little CD that comes with your beautiful computer when you buy it does not have this repair feature. You can only REINSTALL from this helpful looking CD. So now I have to find someone with a REAL Windows XP CD or buy one to see if this little repair feature will actually work.

In the meantime, I'm on my beautiful Windows 98 machine unless I'm at work.

Monday 4 June 07
Well ... with not much of an explanation ... I've managed to load windows and here I am typing this from my laptop ...

I wanted to try the repair option before anything drastic was done and any data potentially lost ... so I went to The Computer Place (they service Toshibas and serviced mine there in the past) to ask if they had a full win xp cd so I could try hitting R for repair to see what that would do. After some talking, the guy that has helped me in the past, got a CD from one of their techs. It wasn't an official XP CD but had it written on it. So I popped it in, booted it my computer from the CD Rom and followed directions by hitting R for repair. It asked me which drive ... only one choice ... then asked me for the administrator password. I tried 3 times and it wouldn't accept any of my passwords and said since I tried 3 times I had to hit enter to restart the computer ... so I did ... went through the whole 3 minute reboot, got back to where I was, tried 3 more times ... still wouldn't accept any password I tried.

I decided I would try one last time and did the restart ... turned to talk to the guy that had helped me earlier and told him I was stuck because of the password (I wasn't allowed to ask any questions since I was borrowing the cd and not paying them, etc) ... forgot to hit F12 because I was talking to him ... the next thing I know Windows XP loaded and I'm looking at my desktop!!!! So I bought a memory stick since I had forgotten mine and put everything I thought important on it just in case I could never come back to windows again. Then shut down the laptop, handed back the cd, and headed home.

I turned it back on when I got home and sure enough windows seems to be ok.

Tuesday 5 June 07
Well, my windows was short lived on my laptop. I woke up this morning to no windows. Back to the drawing board. At least I was able to back up my work files yesterday. I'm still gonna try and fix it without wiping everything ... though it is tempting just to do a reinstall.

Back from Seattle

I had a blast in Seattle. Spent a week there and the weather was gorgeous. Apparently I brought the LA Sunshine with me. I did the whole touristy thing, and since the weather was so nice, the view from the top of the Space Needle was breathtaking. Seattle reminds me a lot of Austin, TX.

As far as work goes, Walk Hard wrapped last week. Went to the wrap party, which was a lot of fun. John C Reilly got on stage at the Derby with a band and performed for most of the night. They rocked! And of course, got to see a little preview of what the movie will look like. Looks pretty funny ... can't wait to see it.

National Treasure 2 is back in town and so been working on that and picked up another movie called "Surfer, Dude" which just started filming. There's a chance I may get to go to Hawaii later this summer to work as a casting assistant there, but we'll see. I'm pretty burned out on it all for now and am staying here through May and then will try to do more acting and dancing.

Casting Assistant - Walk Hard

So I've been working as a casting assistant once again ... pretty much since January. Been working on Walk Hard since the end of February and it's been pretty crazy. We were scheduling 50 people a day for fittings for a few weeks and that meant staying in the office until 10. That finally stopped, but it's been day to day surprises since then. Just found out on friday I have to book 100 more people for fittings next week for tues and wed ... oh joy.
I think it will be a pretty funny movie. It's been a handfull though ... Scenes have been canceled and rescheduled here and there, making our job harder and the actors frustrated. But it's winding down in May, and I'm leaving on May 9 to visit a friend in Seattle for a week. I've never been, so I'm really looking forward to it.

National Treasure 2 - 1865

So, I got to go back in time Friday night. The scene was a DC town in 1865, the end of the civil war. I was prefit in the costume a few weeks ago and that was the first time I had ever worn a corset, or even a period costume like this. It was a night shoot and my call time was at 4:30 at Universal. I arrived on time and after checking in had to wait in line a while to see wardrobe to get into costume. It takes a while to put the costume on, so the women's line moved much slower than the mens. Although, the mens line moved much slower at the make up tent, due to facial hair (mustaches and sideburns) ... women didn't get any make up ... so it evened out in the end. Once I had my dress on, I felt more comfortable than I did at the fitting. They must have had the corset too tight at the fitting ... that, or the fact that I had worn a waist cincher for 2 days on Walk Hard had better prepared me! Anyway, I was in the last group of women to get into wardrobe, and soon after they began bringing us to set. WOW! The set was really quite a sight to see! The streets were covered with dirt and most of the balconies and store fronts were decorated with older american flags. There were lots of horses and even a few dogs. The first thing you noticed on the way to the set was the smell. They had some sort of smoke cans set all around the set and it didn't smell like the normal atmosphere smoke you usually get on sets or in dance clubs. It smelled like frankincense; most people are familiar with that aroma from church ceremonies where they swing the little brass can. The scenes they were shooting were street scenes. They seemed to be doing some wide angle shots, shooting down one street towards an intersection where I believe the theater where Lincoln was shot was supposed to be. There were 3 men with tall Abe Lincoln hats standing on one of the balconies. They placed everyone and we stood in place and waited ... and waited ... and waited some more. There was a lot going on with the horses, horse and buggies, and even some civil war reenactor soldiers (yankees of course =P). After a while, we rehearsed a few times. And finally they told us that fireworks were going off and pointed in a direction we should look. Then they started rolling and as they called action, real fireworks went off in the distance ... I wasn't expecting that since usually when you're told something like that, it's just to give the background a general direction to focus and whatnot. That's when I realized this scene they were capturing must really look cool, with the street scene of all the hustle and bustle, people holding sparklers and fireworks in the background. After some takes, they moved us all around to different spots for a different but similar shot. This time I had to walk down the street, in the street toward the camera and then cross the street. I got to hold a sparkler and maneuvering around the soldiers and all the horse traffic was a little bit of a challenge. They had wet down the dirt and so there was quite a bit of mud everywhere ... occasionally my boot even got stuck in the mud. Aside from my lower back killing me from all the standing around, it was really quite a fun experience. After lunch, I was wrapped along with quite a few others as they were beginning to do smaller scenes. My back was happy to be rid of the corset although my balance was a little off for a while. The batteries in my camera died, so the only photo I have was taken from a camera phone.
I liked the first National Treasure and have been trying to figure out what National Treasure 2 could be about. In talking with a friend about Lincoln, he told me that he had recently read a book about the Lincoln assassination and that in recent years more journals from that time period have turned up and there seems to be more to the story than what we all learned in school. I'm interested in reading that book now and seeing this movie.

Walk Hard - 1953

I was booked and prefit as background for Walk Hard a while back and finally worked wednesday and thursday. It was a lot of fun. The majority of both days were spent sitting around and waiting to be brought to set, but during late afternoon we did get to work. It was a talent show scene. The movie is a parody of rock legend movies and stars John C Reilly. In these scenes, he was playing a 14 year old at a high school talent show in the 50's. All the teens go crazy over the music and all the parents get really angry. I was a teen and it was pretty fun ... although, I am a little sick of doing the twist! Here is a picture of me in my 1953 teen costume. It was really sunny and I'm squinting ... oh well ...

It was really cool to watch the process on set. They did a lot of improv with no real shot list. Sometimes they would just let the camera roll and do different versions of the scene or lines. That's the one thing that I like about being an extra. Even if you are one of many and not seen much on camera, you are on a set and get to witness the whole process. I was sitting right behind ma and pa cox at the talent show, so who knows, you may see me twisting away in the background. ;)

Jury Duty 2007

The letter in the mail that most people dread. I received one back in November and since it was scheduled around the same time I was planning on leaving for the holidays, I postponed it to February. Beginning Feb 4, I had to call an 888 number each night to see if I had to go to the court house the follwing day. If I made it through the week not being told to go, then I was done. On Wednesday, Feb 7, I was pretty tired and went to bed. Just before I was about to fall asleep, I realized I hadn't called the Jury Duty "Hotline" to check if I was needed. So, I made myself get back out of bed and call ... and to my dismay, heard the message that I was expected the following morning at 8am. So I let my boss know and reset the alarm to an earlier time.

I arrived at the courthouse to find that it wasn't your typical old style government or courthouse building that I had expected. It was a 9 story pretty glass building. There was a long line snaking through the lobby of the building of potential jurors waiting to go through the xray machine when I walked in. The jury waiting room was on the 4th floor but apparently they make everyone wait to go through security at the same time. One of the security guards was very good at keeping everyone in a neat line and cracking jokes. Finally, around 8am, they let us through and up to the 4th floor we went.

The jury waiting room is a large room with TV's hanging from the ceiling, vending machines and even some desk space with internet connections. After everyone grabbed a seat, a woman came out of an office and explained how everything worked and then played a DVD for us on the TV's that explained Jury Duty even more and also told us how great Jury Duty was. We then had to fill out a survey and line up in groups to turn in our paper work. When we turned in our paper work, we were given juror badges to wear. They did not display our names, but a juror id number that we were given.

If no court needed us, then we would stay in that waiting room until about 4:30 or 5 and then that was it ... our service was over. If we were called into a court room and were excused from a jury, then our service was over and we could go home. So, at this point, it was just a waiting game. We were free to turn on the TV's or whatever, but not to wander to far from the waiting room. Around 10 or so, we received a visit from a judge, who talked a little more about jury duty and what it means and how it works, etc. He was very nice and very informative.

Around 11 or so, they read off a long list of names, of which my name was one of them, and we were told to report to a court room on the 7th floor. We all filed into the courtroom. There were 14 chairs in the jury box and 4 in front of it. They then called out juror numbers and one by one, people filled in the 18 spots. I was not among them. Each of the 18 potential jurors then had to answer 3 or 4 questions, mainly where they lived, what they did, and if they had been on a jury before. After that, the judge then asked more questions. It was so obvious that some people didn't want to be there, by the way they would answer these questions, and the became more and more annoying. Instead of answering yes or no to a simple yes or no question, whining and whatnot would ensue. Once the judge was done with his questions, the defense attorney and prosecutor each took time to ask them questions. Once all this was over, both lawyers took turns thanking and excusing some of the 18 potential jurors. Finally, they were down to less than 14 jurors, and so new juror numbers were called to fill the remaining seats back up to 18 again. I was yet again not called. The new people had to each answer the first 3 or 4 questions and then the judge simply asked each juror, if they had an answer to any of the questions that had been asked prior by the judge or the lawyers. Thank God they didn't have to go through all the questions that were asked, although, there had been a lot of questions asked, and I began racking my brain in case I was called. At some point, during all these events, we had broken for lunch and returned and so it was now mid afternoon. More jurors were thanked and excused and eventually my number was called. I answered all the questions I could and I was not thanked and excused. After more whining from more potential jurors, they finally had their 14 jurors (12 + 2 alternates) and we were sworn in and told to report back the following day at 10:30 am. We were also told that the trial was expected to last 4 to 5 days.

Courtroom hours aren't bad. We reported each morning at 10:30 am. We broke for lunch at 12 and returned from lunch at 1:30. We'd have a 15 minute break between 2 and 3 and then were dismissed by 4:30. The following Monday was Lincoln's birthday, so the courts were closed and I worked my regular job that day, training a new guy that my boss had brought in to help cover for me since I wasn't going to probably be there for the whole week.

Closing arguments finally came, Thursday morning and we began deliberations that afternoon. It felt good to be able to finally talk about the case with someone, even if it was only in that room with the other 11 jurors. We had 2 counts to decide on: wreckless driving and hit and run with injury. If we had a question, we could ask the judge, but it had to be in writing and we would have to go back into the courtroom with everyone present and then the judge would read the question and answer there. We could also have testimony read back to us by the court reporter, and again this would happen in court on record. We asked a question that afternoon and after the judge answered it, it was around 4 so we were dismissed and told to come back at 9:30 the following morning. It was a complicated case. You can be charged with hit and run even if your car was not touched in the accident. It's too complicated to go into here, but we had to figure out if the defendant knew that he had been a cause of the accident.

So, Friday we arrived at 9:30 am, and had the court reporter read back some testimony and asked the judged another question, dealing mainly with the way the particular law was written, because it could be read 2 different ways. After getting our answer, we were unanimous on our decisions, and filled out the paper work to hand in the verdict.

/soapbox
I am glad I had this experience and although it was time consuming and you only get $15 a day, I won't be upset if I get called again in the future. As annoying as jury duty is and can be, it is part of being a US citizen. Having the right to be tried by a jury of our peers is one of the reasons this country came into existence. I think most people take this for granted nowadays. If I was accused of something, especially if it was something I did not do, I would want people like me and you on the jury. It was so disheartening to see so many people whine and complain and try to get out of it. For people that just can't afford it, it's understandable, but that's not the case with everyone. The only time that I feel my time was really wasted during this whole process, was the first day of jury selection. The bulk of that day was wasted listening to people whine and complain and try to get out of it. The trial might actually have begun and ended sooner had people just sucked up and answered the questions honestly and let the process take its course. So, as hoakie as this may sound, if you get called up for jury duty, be thankful that you live in a country that protects your rights from being judged unfairly.
/off soapbox

Back to a full time job ...

I have been working as a casting assistant off and on since I got back home from the holidays. As of last week, though, I am officially working on a movie once again, Charlie Wilson's War.
It's great to be working full time again. I'm still hoping to take an improv class in March and hopefully that won't mess up my schedule.
Basically, I'm a casting assistant to Specialty Casting. We need to find 1,000 Afghani's or Middle Easterners to play Afghan Refugees from the Afghan conflict in the late 80's. We've already had some open casting calls and plan on having more. It's a fun project to work on.

No interview ... well sort of ...

So the interviews were cacelled yesterday. They decided they wanted to see pictures before people came in for interviews. So I got my landlord to take a few shots of me all geeked out in the parking lot and emailed it to the casting director. I had forgotten that my glasses got dark in sunlight, but the casting director said the pictures looked great. So, now I go in to interview this evening at 5:00 and I get paid for yesterday's interview as well. Here's my geeky warrior girl look...

Mama's Boy

Today I have an interview for a featured extra role on the movie "Mama's Boy". The character is described as a geeky warrior girl ... think dungeon and dragons ... and is supposed to be pelting someone with tennis balls. Sounds like fun, lol. I'm doing my best to look geeky with my hair in pigtails and wearing glasses. I have an old skirt that I'm going to use as a cape. Having a cape was suggested by the casting director.
I'm a bit nervous as always, but looking forward to it!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!!

Every year for as long as I can remember, our fire department has been bringing Santa Claus around our neighborhood to say Hi and bring us some candy. The last few days it's been rainy, but he finally showed up last night!

You can hear him from a long way off ... here he is making his way up our street ...



And here I am with Santa!!



And here he is giving candy to a little girl that drove up


HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

Home Again for the Holidays!

Yes, I'm back again in good ole South Carolina! I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family so I flew back the sunday before thanksgiving and will be here until Jan. 3. I'm going to try to sneak to Atlanta for a few days, but haven't locked down any dates yet.

The weather has been pretty nice in LA, so the cold hit me pretty hard when I got here. Even got to see some sleet! But the week after the sleet, it warmed up to the 70's and it was like spring around here. The plants in the yard got confused and we even got a nice showing of some flowers.

The angel trumpet trees we have (pictured to the left) were pretty much in full bloom! They are so fragrant at night that you could almost believe it was spring time.

But now, winter has returned. It is cold and windy yet again! More leaves are covering the yard and so I will be busting out the rake yet again!

Other than than, all is well. My dad is doing ok for now and even looks a bit healthier.

Will try to do better at keeping this blog updated ... even if I don't have an interesting LA story ;) ...

Lazy Days ...

It's been a lazy past few weeks for me. Haven't really worked much. Looked for some extra work, but now that I'm SAG that's a bit harder. Everything I saw was either 18 to look younger, or strippers or bikini girls ... nothing really for me. And the few things I did submit for I didn't get. *shrug* Not that big a deal. Unemployment comes in handy for times like these. Last week, I worked as a casting assistant again, helping to set up interviews for principal roles for a documentary. It was fun.

So, it's the holidays yet again...
I want to spend as much time with my dad as possible, so I flew back to Columbia, SC yesterday, and I'm here until Jan. 3. It's actually cold here. I like experiencing real weather again, but brrrrr ... not used to it!

The Magic Castle

The wrap party for The Great Buck Howard was at The Magic Castle. How cool is that! Not everyone can go to the Magic Castle and they have a strict dress code there, so I was excited to go.
First of all, I got turned around on the way there. Ended up at Hollywood and Highland, not a great place for traffic on a friday night, and could not make a left turn and could not turn around to go in the direction I wanted to go! After about half an hour of trying to get from one side of Highland to another, lol, I finally made it! Talley, who had worked on casting, was not far behind me, and so I waited at the valet for her to arrive. We walked around the building to the room that had been reserved for the party. It was very cool. Everyone was so dressed up, it was difficult recognizing some folks. =) I decided to check my coat and was told that I had to go to the front desk at the entrance. So Talley and I went on a scavenger hunt for the front desk. Through the long and winding rooms and hallways, with a magician around every corner, we finally found it, and after checking my coat, Talley said the password to the owl to allows back through the secret door. Back at the party, there were magicians there to entertain us. We got to see the world champion of magic perform, which was so much fun. Apparently, not many americans have won that title. Finally, after some more food, drinks, magic and dancing, it was time to go home. I had a blast!

Talley and I posing for the camera

Here I am with Ted, one of our fabulous stand ins

The Great Buck Howard - Last Days

So I worked my last 2 days as background coordinator this week. We had 375 extras working Tuesday and Wednesday, and filmed at the Palladium. Things went fairly smoothly on Tuesday, but yesterday was a different story. The morning started with an extra fainting. An ambulance was called and she was sent home so she could go see her doctor. On this note, for anyone working on a film set, you should know that there is always a medic working. They are there for anything from someone needing tylenol for a headache to emergencies such as this one. When the extra fainted, it was a bit scary because she did not wake right away. So a few people called 911. Can't blame them, because it is ingrained in all of us to do so in an emergency. But the medic hadn't even gotten there to assess the situation. In our situation, it turned out that the paramedics came in handy. But in talking to the medic, he told me that in a lot of cases, this isn't so. A film production has lots of resources at hand, and if an emergency isn't immediately life threatening, a medic can take care of the situation at hand and then use the transportation department (affectionately known as transpo) to bring the victim to the hospital. So if you are ever working on a set, cast or crew, and, heaven forbid, a medical emergency happens to you or someone around you. Don't grab your cell phone and call 911. Find the nearest person with a radio and call for the medic.
Another side note I learned ...
When calling 911, it is much faster if you call from a land line. Calling from a cell phone will require transfers to the right place and then you have to be able to tell them exactly where you are. Whereas if you call from a landline it goes to the right place immediately, along with all the info (address,etc) that is needed. So basically, the time it takes for a medic to come assess the situation and potentially have 911 called from a landline can be shorter than if someone were to call 911 right away from a cell phone.
OK, so that was my lesson for the day ... thought it was good info I should share ...

So, the wrap party for The Great Buck Howard is tomorrow night. I'm super excited about it because it's at the Magic Castle! I've never been before so I'm looking forward to it. The only issue is ... what to wear? There's a formal dress code there ... guess it's time to go shopping!!

Back to 14 hour days...

What a week!! Last Monday we were in a new location, the Dorothy Chandler Theater downtown ... where they used to have the oscars. I had never been there before so I was looking forward to seeing it. We were filming in the lobby, and I kept meaning to peek at the theater, but unfortunately never did. We were at this location Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but Monday was the craziest. A nice "welcome to the coordinating world" for me. Let's see ... after checking in 170+ extras, I made some calls to "no shows" and whatnot and waited for the late arrivals. Of course, there was someone that I woke up that had had their alarm not go off and I told her to get there as fast as possible. Then there was someone that got in a car accident and totaled her car. She had her car towed and had a friend bring her. Most people I think would have just gone home after an experience like that. Any time there is an alarm excuse or a car/traffic excuse, the AD's roll their eyes. Well, it is LA and you really do need to factor in huge amounts of time when planning to get somewhere due to traffic. So, we get our count and start bussing everyone to set. I get there and a "missing" extra (that has not checked in) is introduced to me, and the PA introducing him to me quickly leaves. I slowly figure out why. I explain to him that we have our count and since he is late we cannot use him. He doesn't like that answer. And proceeds to tell me that he drove all the way from Orange County and left at 4:30 this morning, etc etc ... If he had some how made it to base camp where we had done the checking in, I might still have been able to check him in, even if he was late ... but apparently he couldn't find the shuttles from parking to basecamp that were marked with large signs. Well, 170 extras found basecamp, early, on time and late. There was nothing I could do ... it was too late. He then demanded to know the name of who "replaced him" (like that would matter!). After dealing with him for about 10 minutes or so, the casting director calls me to see how things are going. I step away to talk to her, but he doesn't get the hint and doesn't leave. He gives me my space to talk on the phone, but doesn't leave. So I tell her what's going on and then let her talk to him. Which of course now she is just telling him what the PA told him, and what I had explained to him earlier. He starts demanding names of who she is and who replaced him and just being nasty and very loud. You didn't have to be close to him to hear his tirade. He finally hands the phone back to me ... but doesn't leave. He just stands there!!! So I am told to radio security. Which is somewhat intimidating since I'm still getting the hang of the radio. I try and I get no response. I see a familiar face in the distance, a set pa, and I call him on the radio and wave him down. He comes over and I tell him what's up. He tries to talk to the guy. He tries to call security. Apparently, security is not on radio ... but he manages to find someone in security finally to escort this guy away.

So that was the beginning of my day ... the day had just started ...

Without having too long an entry, I'll try to make the rest short and sweet. I ended up having to send a group of extras home early, because they felt they could not do what was expected of them in the scene. The final group we were left with was just a strange group. You meet all kinds of people in the "extra" world. A number of them had trouble following directions ("don't take anything to set, leave your bags in holding") and were sometimes difficult to find when it was time to roll.

We had this same group for the next 2 days. So, for the next 2 days we had to deal with lots of the same ... people not following direction and "missing" extras.

Thursday ... new location and new batch of extras! What a glorious change!! The location was at CSUN (California Sate University Northridge). A little bit of a drive to get there, but nice to be somewere different. Basecamp was pretty spread out on the campus and the set kept moving around, so lots of excercise due to all the running around! But, it was a good day, and a great way to end the week for me!

I will probably be working again on Wednesday. They will also be filming in Las Vegas and there is a chance I will get to go since the calls are 300 extras each day. I've never been to Vegas, so it will be cool if I get to go!

Background Coordinating

Friday was my first day working as a background coordinator. It was a large call of about 200 extras doing an audience scene. John Malkovich plays Buck Howard, a mentalist, and the scene was his performance in "Bakersfield". I've checked in extras before, but I've never "coordinated" before and was trying to learn the ropes of everything I needed to do. I wasn't wearing a radio, but after a while a set PA gave me one, which made me a little nervous. I haven't had a job where I've used a radio in a very long time. But it was nice being able to have an ear on what was going on. They have more large calls next week, so I will be back to work again! It's great working around a movie set again.

The Great Buck Howard

Just got a job coordinating (extras) on The Great Buck Howard. It's a large call tomorrow, so I'm a little nervous because I've only coordinated a little here and there, but it should be fun!

Back in LA!

Well, here I am, back in LA! Actually finished unpacking yesterday!! Usually takes me much longer. lol Anyway, been settling back in this weekend ... cleaning up my apartment, stocking the fridge once again, and getting my car washed ... it was so dirty that it was no longer black and the car wash guy spotted me as an easy target to get talked into a good wax. He knocked $20 of the price and it needed it badly. My car is much prettier now. =)
Next week should be interesting and crazy for me. I have tons of phone calls to make. Have to let my agent know I'm back. She's been calling me to find out when I'd be back in town so she could submit me for commercials, so that sounds promising. Also have to call my loan officer regarding mortgages and then find a real estate agent so I can begin house hunting. Yep, I'm buying a house and moving my parents from SC to here. My dad is doing ok, not too bad, but not too good either. Hopefully, we can find a way to find a good deal on a house and get them moved here stress free. It all comes down to the loan officer and what she has to say about a mortgage. *fingers crossed*
It feels really strange being back in LA since I've been gone for 2 1/2 months. But after the heavy humidity weightbearing heat of the south, it's nice to be back to a cool sea breeze.

August 3!

I will be returning to LA the evening of August 3!

Still in SC

Looks like I am spending the summer in South Carolina. Trying to help out my parents the best I can. Ideally, we will sell this house and they will move to California where we can buy a house together. But they've been living in this house for 30 years, so there is a lot of work to be done.

My dad is doing ok for now, but his eyesight is not so good. So, I'm the primary driver while I'm here. He sees his doctors about every 2 weeks. At the end of July, we find out if the medicine he's been taking has done anything to his cancer.

As far as work ... I missed an audition the day after I flew here. Everything had happened so quickly that I hadn't had a chance to call my agent. It was for a national starburst commercial which sounded cool. So I contacted my agent and apologized for missing the audition and not getting in touch with her sooner. She was pretty cool about it and said that there were actually quite a few actors out of town because of family emergencies.

It is a little frustrating that I can't be in LA and go to the auditions that my agent is getting me. After I had signed with them in the fall of last year, I hadn't really heard from them at all. Then in the spring and just before I left for SC, I started getting calls for auditions from them. Apparently, they had reworked the way they had things organized in their office ... and now it seems to be working much better. I just can't wait to get back to LA and go on more auditions!

As far as what I'm up to and what's been happening here ... it's HOT! Good ole southern hot summer. The week that was the hottest (100 degree weather and no rain), our ac decided not to work anymore. And the technician that came out on that tuesday told us we needed a new one. We arranged to get a new one and wouldn't you know it, it wouldn't be here until the following Monday!!! So we suffered through days of high heat and no ac. That really sucked, but we lived though it. =) That same week, 2 days after the ac broke, my tooth broke. It was the tooth that I was going to get crowned when I got back to LA. It just couldn't wait that long I guess. So off to my dad's dentist I went. Was worried I might need a root canal, but didn't. Unfortunately, there's not much tooth left (had a filling before), but the dentist worked hard and fixed me all up and made the tooth ready for a crown when I get back.

On July 3, my cat sasha looked sick. He hadn't moved out of his one spot most of the day. I went to pet him and he barely moved. I picked him up and he was almost limp in my arms. I realized after holding him for a little while that he was really hot. We debated on taking him to the vet (more costs after the new ac and the dentist), but decided since the next day was a holiday, and sasha really didn't look that good, that we should take him. So we did, and apparently he had a really high fever. The vet said he was probably bit by a flea or something and picked something up. They hydrated him and he stayed there for 2 nights. He's all better now. =)
So ... that's what's going on with me right now. Doing lots of yard work and getting a good tan and muscles in the process. Average life in suburbia. If you've read this far, you get a prize of knowin' what I've been up to! lol

Don't know when I'll be back in LA. Hopefully in August.

SYTYCD Starts Tonight!!

Tonight is the premiere!! They're showing New York and Charleston auditions.
www.fox.com/dance/

Roller Coaster Monday

Wow ... what a day!! I am feeling emotionally drained.

On the way to work, I was talking with my dad who had just left his doctor's appointment. He told me they thought he had lung cancer. He's been seeing doctors most of this year, trying to find out why his optic nerve is swelling, and well as of today, they think this may be the cause. So I am flying back to Columbia, SC to be with my parents and help them out on Sunday.

About an hour after I got that news, my agent calls and tells me that I made it to callbacks for the Wells Fargo audition and that it was scheduled at 3:28pm. My head was spinning!

So I went to the callbacks, and this time the director and the producer entourage were there. They had brighter lights around and when the director was giving me directions, I could barely make him out, lol. Anyway, I have no idea how I did, but everyone that left the room of the audition made the same face ... including me. *shrug* It'd be nice to get it, but I really have no sense on how it went.

Now I have to get ready to leave for Columbia on Sunday ... got lots to do ...

First LA Audion

So my Commercial agent called me out of the blue yesterday to send me on an audition today for a Wells Fargo Bank commercial. I said I would have to check my schedule and would call her right back. I had to talk to my boss to see how crazy busy she thought we would be today and if it would be alright for me to go. She gave the go ahead and so I called my agent back and got the details.
This would be a lot of firsts for me so that made me kinda nervous. First audition in LA; first audition for my agent; first audtition in front of a camera; first audtion for a commercial ...
I took a commercial class last year that I learned so much from and the audition itself wasn't as nervewracking as the fact that I hate doing things for the first time. Not to mention that I hate my wardrobe and was overwhelmed just a little trying to figure out what to wear. But since I was told the age range was 24-29 and that I had to look as young as possible, I opted for a brown t-shirt with nice jeans.
When I got to work this morning, my boss surprised me and we left the office for an hour and she took me to Banana Republic. She bought me a brand new outfit as a birthday present for this audtion. And let me just say that she is a FABULOUS shopper!! I definitely have to bring her shopping with me again!!
Anyway, so I have on my fabulous new outfit and leave the office at 1:15ish to get over to the audition by 2:00ish. Got there before 2 and once I figured out where to sign in (there was a nintendo print audition going on too), I read what the audition entailed and signed in.
Thanks to my boss, I had the best looking outfit there! ;)
So, anyway, the audition had no lines. I had to "walk in" with grocery bags in my hands, take out a long receipt and put it under a "magnet on the fridge that already had lots of receipts under it". Then, just as I was starting to "put groceries away", "the magnet starts sliding down the fridge from the wait of all the receipts". So I "watched it, forcing it to stop with the power of my mind". "The magnet stops sliding" and then I "open the fridge door to put something away and when I close it, the magnet falls spilling all the receipts".
(There was no fridge or magnet ... everything in quotes I had to mime)
I was asked to do it twice and that was it! =) All my firsts were over and done with! =)
Callbacks are on Monday ... haven't heard anything yet ... but who knows. *shrug* I'm just happy to have gotten through my first LA audtion!! =)

POSEIDON

WOW

The special effects and the action are almost unbearable. I know I wasn't the only one to bring my hands up to my face more than once in watching this movie. The sad thing is ... no character development. =( When someone died, nobody really cared. And no time to really shed any tears for anyone. This movie is definitely a ride, but don't expect to get emotionally involved.

Can you see me? Yes you can. =) In the background of course. You can see me sitting at a table in the opening ballroom scene, but it's far and you have to know where to look. After the ship flips over, you can see me at least twice that I remember. Both in the lower right corner of the screen.

I had a blast working on this film, and made some good friends in the process, so this movie will always have a special place in my heart. As for the movie itself ... I'm sad that it's not as good as it could have been, but I'd say it's worth seeing in the theater just for the special effects...

Oh ... and I didn't see it on an IMAX screen ... we bought the wrong tickets.

POSEIDON OPENS TOMORROW!!

May 12!! And in IMAX too! Going to go see it at 12:45 in IMAX tomorrow. Can't wait!! I hope the movie is as good as it looks and I can't wait to see all the ballroom scenes to pick out all the people I spent 19 days with!

Orientation

So I went to my SAG orientation today. Wow. Lots of info. Two and a half hours of nonstop information, and they ran out of time. They talked about everything from agents to pension plans and health care. I'm glad I finally made the leap to join SAG. Even though I'm working as a casting assistant full time for now, it's nice to know that when I jump back into trying to act full time, that I have the resources of a union.

On another note, I recieved a residuals check last week. My very first residuals! It was for The Skeleton Key when I had a dance contract. I had forgotten all about that and wasn't expecting them at all. The check after taxes was only about $44, but it was just cool to get one. =)

Comic Relief

So the past 2 days have been crazy busy in the casting office. Lots of things going on. And in the middle of all the craziness, we had to send some girls on a rush call audition. Rush call usually means right away. If they got the part, they would work later that day. So we find some girls and send them on their way. Later that afternoon, we get a call. And let me just say, that it lightened up the whole day for us.

So, one of the girls shows up for this audition. And she proceeds to tell the producers, that normally she has 2 weeks to prepare for an audition, because auditions make her very nervous and that she is currently in therapy for this. And if she auditions right now, it will mess up her therapy!

I guess her therapist hasn't told her that she has chosen the wrong profession!!

SAG

As of today, I am officially a member of SAG. Woohoo! Finally, have the question of to join or not to join behind me! =)

Can you spot me? =P

Well the new trailer for Poseidon is out and a friend of mine spotted me. =) Here's the link for the trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/poseidon/trailer2/
Can't wait to see it! Here's 2 images I pulled from it ...

I Can Dance =P

Well ... I don't know how much I can say ... I had to sign a release form and I just finished reading it and don't think I'm supposed to say much ... but I'll say what I think I can ...

I am 7 months too old for these auditions ... but I've done mostly ballroom since college and a friend of mine wanted to audition, so with only a weeks' notice, we put something hastily together ...

The whole experience was fun and exciting =) ... It's not much different from other auditions I've been to except for the reality aspect of it ...

The one thing that bothers me is that the whole time I was "my partner's partner" ... got a black mark on my wristband and everything ... then once we made it in front of the judges in the first group of 10 ... standing on stage, we were told that we had to perform solos ... this came as a shock and surprise to both me and my partner and the other ballroom couple next to us who also only had one member of their partnership auditioning ... needless to say, by that moment I was not prepared ... I had thought of the possibilty before, but up until that moment, they portrayed it as not likely... *shrug*

I had fun though and look forward to cheering on those that make it to vegas and beyond!

So you think you can dance?

Well, apparently not ... will post my little story this weekend when I've finally had some sleep.

So you think you can dance?

Well ... we'll see ... auditions tomorrow!

Casting Assistant

Well, working as a casting assistant is pretty cool. But pretty darn crazy at times too. Since this job is full time, I haven't been able to work as an extra or go out on auditions lately, but I have been able to save up some money and am thinking about going ahead and joining SAG. And then taking some much needed classes. I really want to take some improv classes.

Happy New Year!!

So, it's been a while since I posted ... I got back from SC on Jan 3 and have been fighting with the Post Office ever since! Can you believe that even after placing 2 orders to have my mail forwarded, that not one piece of mail was forwarded and that when I got back, there was no mail coming to me here either!!?? Long story short ... I'm actually getting my mail now and am only missing one package of ram that I ordered ... hopefully that will clear up soon ...
I started working as a casting assistant once again when I got back and it's been so crazy! We had to book 500 asians who look Japanese for a night shoot last week. Now things have settled down a bit, but it seems there's always something crazy popping up.
I also got to work as a tango dancer on Jake In Progress. I have no idea when or if it will ever air, since the network is reshuffling that show around, but it was a fun day. =)

Hope everyone is having a great 2006 so far!! =)

Poseidon Trailer

The Poseidon Trailer is out!! www.apple.com/trailers/wb/poseidon/
I can't wait to see the movie! =)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, ok it's already the week after Thanksgiving but I'm still in the thankful mood!! Thanksgiving was great here in South Carolina with my parents. It's nice to be experiencing weather again. I got here just in time to see all the colors of the leaves before they finished falling off the trees.

I was worried about working right before I took all this time off and fortunately I was able to work as a casting assistant on Fast and Furious 3. It was 9 days in a row of craziness, but all in all, I enjoy working in casting. It's a lot of fun.

Anyway, it's nice to be taking it easy here in SC ... hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!!

The Gifties are on ...

So I taped Desperate Housewives Sunday night, since I was working on that rush call. As I watched it last night, I started to fast forward through the commercials and realized ... there it was. The Old Navy "Gifties" commercial that I worked on. That was fast! You can't see me. But when they do a wide crowd shot in the beginning you can see a red blob where I'm standing. I'm wearing a red jacket. I'M FAMOUS!!! haha ;)

Americanizing Shelly

Americanizing Shelly is a low budget film that doesn't have too much info on imdb. It took me little over an hour to drive up to Thousand Oaks ... for some reason there is always this "rush hour" on Sundays around 5 and 6 and it always screws up my travel time because I always forget about it. Anyway, I got there and basically sat around and read for about and hour or 2. The bar was open and some bar patrons were there, so, all in all, it felt pretty laid back. I met this guy, who was also a paid extra, that was the spitting image of Vince Vaughn out of Swingers, and just as loud and obnoxious as you might imagine. He was a lot of fun to talk to. They finally broke for lunch around 9, and the burrito buffet was pretty good. They had an electric slide lesson on the dance floor right after. I had suspected there might be dancing, since it was a country western bar with a good size dance floor and thought I might get to two step. =) I was right. Well ... sort of. An AD asked me if I could two step and I said yes a little. I'd been fortunate to do it some while I was in Austin. =) Then, they picked out a guy and told me to teach him. Now, out of all the dances I know, I know very little about leading two step, so teaching a guy was not something I was confident about. They found 3 other couples that were regulars at the club that could two step, so once I showed the guy they paired me with what I came up with as a basic and an underarm turn, it helped to see them and get a better feel for it. I have to say that my partner had no dance experience, but he did awesome. He really picked it up quickly and for a guy to learn a traveling dance like that and not only have to maneuver a dance floor right away, but a dance floor packed with camera and crew, he really pulled it off and made it look like he'd done it before. And he wasn't even a paid extra ... he was just there with some co-workers. We had to go around the line dancing electric sliders in the middle, somewhat like you see on a normal dance floor. However, the first few takes we did, they had us going the wrong way ... against the line of dance ... which even messed up the real two steppers. Then we finally got to go the right way, but we also had to maneuver through the line dancers, which is not typical, and needless to say, there were a few bumps here and there. All in all, though, that was the most fun of the evening and the most interesting to write about. After the dance scenes, there were just your normal bar scenes with pool playing and what not in the background. We didn't get out of there until 2:30, and they were still filming,, but they couldn't afford to pay us OT, so they got rid of us. I got home about 3:30ish and fell fast asleep. =)

Rush Call ... Americanizing Shelly

Just got a call for a rush call on a movie called Americanizing Shelly. It's tonight from 6pm - 1am. Should be fun and easy money. It's at a country western bar. Hopefully it won't go past 1am. ;)

It's Official

I'm heading home for the holidays ... but my dad and I worked up a scheme. I'm surprising my mom for thanksgiving. I haven't had thanksgiving with my parents in 6 or 7 years, so I'm excited. My mom has no idea so this should be fun. =)
And since it's somewhat of a long trip I will be in good ole Colatown, SC (that's Columbia for all you folk not from the carolinas) for all of the holidays. It will be a long stay, but since work is slim in december, I might as well take advantage of hangin' with family. =) I plan on coming back in January fully refreshed and ready to work, work, work!!

Not much to report...

Not much going on. Haven't worked on anything because I'm trying to get my big list of "things to do" narrowed down. Signed up with LACasting 2 days ago under my new agent and am in the process of getting my 300 copies of my headshot. I hope to work more next week. I hope to get everything I need to get finished this week.

The Gifties

I got to work on my first commercial this past week. Just as a non union extra but the pay was decent. 2 days on Old Navy ... I'm guessing it's one of their new holiday commercials. Mostly it was boring work, especially the first day because they barely used us. I was a "fan" and it was set up to be like the red carpet outstide the oscars or grammies (get it? ... gifties =P). So we were standing in some bleachers pretending to cheer for the celebrities that were coming out of the limo onto the red carpet ... and the celebrities were the boycut jeans. ;) All in all it was cool to get my first taste of what it's like to work on a commercial.

The Nanny and other stuff...

Well, I haven't worked as an extra in a while. Worked as a nanny for my cousin's 1 1/2 year old for a month ... then got sick for 2 weeks ... then my mom visited for 2 weeks ... so it's been a bit crazy for me. In the meantime, I got a commercial agent and got new headshots. Hopefully I will get more work soon!

17 Days

Well the whole experience was great! It was great working on a film for such a long time and I made a few friends along the way. I'm really looking forward to seeing Poseidon when it comes out, if nothing else the special effects will be fun to watch. The sets of the 2 ballrooms were breathtaking and although it was a bit tiring wearing the same strapless dress the whole time, I'd do it again.

I've posted a few pictures. Mostly of the people I saw and hung out with on a daily basis.

Shannon and Donna 

lots of extras with a lot of time to wait and pose for the occasional "illegal" picture... 

donna and lisa 

Before the ship flips ... waiting around in holding... 

you can barely see me, but I'm there ;) just standing around and waiting for the balloon drop... 

balloon drop 

first day after flip ;) I ended up getting bloodier and dirtier with every day :P

Well ... here it is Monday ... call time 4:30 am ...
Last week was long, tiring and fun. Along with the cast, I spotted 2 other miscellaneous celebrities around the set ... Salma Hayek, who was checking out the set and holding hands with Josh Lucas ... and I saw Rob Reiner pull up in a golf cart and go into the set ...
Well, it's time to go to work. I'm trying to get my hands on some pictures ,,, my digital camera decided to quit working, but I should have some soon. =)

On The Flip Side ...

*YAWN* It's too early ... =P
Yesterday was fun went by surprisingly fast, but after having less than 3 hours sleep Sunday night, I feel extra sleepy this morning ...
We began filming on the upside down set yesterday, and from what I understand, yesterday was the most complicated. We did the part right after the flip, when everyone is coming to and the emergency lights are starting to come on. They had water dripping from the ceiling (from the "ship's busted water pipes") and fires in various locations and tons of stunt people falling from the balcony and catching on fire. Everyone starts out in various locations on the floor (ceiling) and slowly gets up (if they can or aren't dead =P). I started out on an upside down table on top of a dead guy (fake dead guy ;)). Then as I was "coming to" the chandaliers start sparking and a man catches on fire next to me. It was pretty cool to see it all, but I do have to say I am already waking up with bruises. =P
The make up on everyone is amazing and really cool. But I'll go into that tomorrow. Need to get ready to go. =) Got to be there at 5am today ...

Poseidon - Round 2

Well, I start on Poseidon again tomorrow when they'll begin filming after the flip. Central Casting just called me with my info. My call time is at 5:30am (a little better than last time. =P And my category is Injured ... the girl told me they have healthy, injured and dead ... should be fun. =)

1 week down ... 1 to go ...

WOW! Last week was just a blur. I'd have to say the most fun was Friday. We did the countdown to midnight and they had a balloon drop and streamers shooting and the whole shabang ... we had to rehearse it a couple of times before they released everything ... basically, while we are singing Aulds Lang Sine (or however you spell it =P), the "alarm" goes off and we "hear a rushing sound" and everyone panics, etc ... when we did it for real finally, it was actually quite chilling to be in the middle of all of that ... I was near the back of the dance floor kinda in the middle and when people started screaming and running, I literally could not make it to my table ... My hands were still shaking by the time we did it again ... this time of course we just picked up a few balloons and threw them in the air ;)
Anyway ... I can't wait to see how it all turns out on film!
I get to go back on July 12th for the upside down scene. I'll get pics of my dress "after the flip" and post 'em when I can. =)

I'm not wearing the pointy toe shoes that I'm supposed to but you can just imagine how silly it looks with that dress! 

can you tell I'm tired!!?? =P 

Lisa and me 

Poseidon - Day 3

Call time was still 4:30am ... oh joy ;)

The scenes we were doing last friday and yesterday (monday) were set during the New Year's Eve party between 11:30 pm and 11:40 pm ... today we went back a bit and did 10:00 pm. The captain, Andre Bauer (sp?), made a speach and introduced Gloria (played by Fergie). Kurt Russel and Kevin Dillon were on the set today for their scene at a poker table with Josh Lucas at 10pm.
Nothing really to chat about ... I am really tired. Good news, though ... I don't have to be there until 5am tomorrow. =) So instead of waking up at 2:30 ... I get to sleep in until 3am!! =P
Still no pictures. =(

it's just wrong ...

getting up this early =P
Can't find my batteries for my camera ... but I know other extras that are bringing cameras. =)

Poseidon - Day 2

I got to peek at the upside down ballroom set today ... they are still building it and won't be filming that part until July. It's pretty cool. In the ballroom there is a grand staircase that spits into 2 arms that go up to the casino floor. In the upside down set, one arm is still attached but the other is on the bottom all mangled ...
Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas was there today to "sing" her "last song" before the "wave" hits. Her dress is beautiful and full of sparkles.

Sleep is going to be a rare commodity this week ...

Good Morning Sunshine

It's 3:30 am and I have to be there at 4:30 am ... hopefully I will have pictures by tomorrow. =)

The Adventure has begun ...

Call Time = 4:30 am
I get up at 2:30am and get to Warner Bros on time ... to wait in line after line ...
First I get on the shuttle in the parking lot and wait ... then I get in line to get your WB lot pass ... then I walk across the street and get in line to go through security ... then it's the line to get checked in ... then there's the line for hair and make up ... then fortunately the line to wardrobe has diminished so I change into my dress ... then I have to wait to get body make up for my tan lines which aren't too too bad (my dress is strapless). Then finally I get to go to that wonderful spot called Extras Holding. They've set up huge tents between 2 stages with lots of chairs ... it looks like a church revival or something. By the time I get there, it's probably 6:30ish. After milling around a bit and partaking some of the craft service, they lead us to set.
WOW
Set is unbelievably huge and beautiful. It's hard to believe all the hard work and detail that goes into building it only to have it broken back down in a matter of weeks. It really looks and feels like you're on a luxury cruise liner.
The crew has a sense of humor, and often you hear jokes like ... "I have a bad feeling about this ...", "Did you bring your swim trunks?"
A couple of guys I worked with on Constantine are working on this, so it's cool to see familiar faces.
I will write more when I can ... next week will be hard ...

The Adventure begins tomorrow ...

Well ... got my call time for tomorrow ... 4:30AM ;) Have to call the hotline tonight after 6 to get all the info like parking, etc ... and then it's off to bed for me ...
Will post pics in the next day or 2 if I can get them ;) ...

Syriana

I was given a hotline number and told to call Friday night after 7pm to get all the info on location and call time (what time I'm supposed to be there) for Saturday. So I patiently waited until 7 pm ... and found out that everyone booked as embassy workers were also added to the funeral scene ... I had to come wearing an outfit appropriate for a funeral in the summer time and my call time was ... 4:45 AM ... so once I had the location address, I got off the phone and tried to find something appropriate for a funeral and set my alarm for 3am ... I think I finally got to bed around 9:30 ... so not too bad ...
The one thing about having a call that early is that it's much more fun to drive on LA's highways ;) ... it's almost eerie seeing so little traffic . I got to cast and crew parking right on time and we were bussed to base camp ... an old abandoned prison . It was kinda cool and creepy at the same time ... there were giant brick walls and barbwire everywhere ... I'm sure the location is used for lots of filming .
we were told to partner up with the actors that were booked for the funeral scene with their cars and that we would caravan to the cemetery ... so that's what we did and once we got there, the cars stayed in line and we just parked and waited in our cars ... basically all we did was get out of our cars and head toward the green tent out in the cemetery ... I would say it's one of the nicer background scenes I've done just because you got to sit in between takes ;) ... so we did that for a few hours ... when we got back to base camp (around 7:30ish) it looked like a different world ... all the other extras were now there and it was strange seeing the walls with barbwire and men dressed in army desert fatigues and middle eastern men and kids dressed in pakastani wardrobe ... if I didn't mention it before, the setting for the scene I was originally booked on was an american embassy in pakistan ... now there was an american flag and a pakastani flag flying ... It's always so cool to see how the set dresser's and decorators can magically turn one location into something else completely .
We finally get led to the set, which is a courtyard with a gated entrance complete with metal detector and the "entrance" to the embassy ... basically during the scene we all had to walk in different directions around the actors doing dialogue . I was partnered with this girl from australia (who is also booked on Poseidon) and we had to walk fast like we were late past the actors into the building ... I know, I know, it was a very challenging role, but I think I did ok (<-- sarcasm :P) ...
well, they finally broke the 4:45 people for lunch and since it was past time for lunch, that meant we got a meal penalty (that's extra money) ... and we got a whole hour for lunch ... but I was getting real sleepy by the time I finished stuffing myself.
after lunch, we did 1 more outside shot, and they had Sallie (the australian girl from earlier) and I just stand in place and carry on a conversation as people were walking in through the metal detector ... we just kept talking and it was funny, because all of a sudden we looked around and almost everyone was gone! But they weren't far ... they were just getting ready for an interior scene ...
Well ... to make this boring blog entry short ... they ended up cutting a lot of people, but keeping most of us (the embassy workers) for the interior hall scene ... my exciting part was standing in the hall having a conversation and then walking down the hall ...
Finally, we wrapped and I got signed out with 11 hours to my name ;) ... love that overtime ...

Fitting, Fitting ...

I made it to both my fittings today ... had to bring choices for Syriana of conservative office wear ... and had to be in full hair and make up for Poseidon ... Syriana went quick ... they chose a skirt and blouse I had brought and had me try it on and liked it and that was it ... then I went down to the cages for my Poseidon fitting ... got there a little early and had about 4 women in front of me ... they were running a little behind ... the wardrobe is for a ballroom on a cruise liner on New Year's Eve, so the guys had tuxes and the women pretty dresses ... so of course it took longer picking things out for the women ... anyway, I finally got called back there and they put me in this really pretty Jessica McClintock dress ... it's black with 3 or 4 large bronze rectangles with white piping and it's strapless ... I like it a lot =) ... the shoes ... well, I don't like them at all, but oh well ... would rather like the dress and not the shoes than the other way around ... just can't get used to wearing extremely pointed to witch is dead shoes ... shooting is slated to begin June 24 so I'll try and snap a picture and post it ...

Submitting, submitting ... BOOKED!!

I've been mostly submitting online with Extras Casting Guild (Hollywood OS) and haven't really found to much, but today I thought, "Maybe I should check the Central Casting Hotline" ... the third message in I hear ballroom and descriptions that I acutally fit!! So i get the number and call right away ... 5 minutes of busy signals later I finally get a ring ... and before I know it I'm booked on The Poseidon Adventure (a remake of the 1972 film) ... and the best part is ... it's not just for 1 or 2 days, but ... 2 WEEKS!! =) While I'm getting the info I need for the fitting for tomorrow, my phone beeps and I just let it go to voice mail ... I finally get off the phone and listen to the message and it's another casting director for something I submitted for online at Extras Casting Guild ... so I call her back and get booked for Syriana as an embassy worker that films on Saturday ... the fitting is tomorrow at Warner Bros just like the fitting I have scheduled for Poseidon ... so she books me for 2:00 while my Poseidon fitting is at 3:00 ...
Isn't it great when things fit together like that!!??

Hit Me Baby ...

I haven't been doing much as far as extra work ... haven't really had much to submit for ... but I've seen postings for audience work for different shows ... so I finally decided to submit for one of those ... I figured it couldn't be too bad, if you're getting paid to watch a show ... so I submitted for the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson (i think that's who it is), and when I got the call for it, she said she could actually use me on a different show ... Hit Me Baby One More Time ... so i agreed to that ... I hadn't seen the show on TV, but I'd seen the previews and knew the general jist of it (for those of you that don't know: it's a show that brings back old bands from the 70' & 80's and whatnot, and has them do their big hit and then sing a song that's popular today ... and then the audience votes on the best performance) ... the pay is $40 cash right after the show ...
It takes me forever to get there with traffic and all (call time was 6:30) ... it's at Hollywood Center Studios, which means street parking and hard to find parking ... so I finally find a spot and walk up to the area where I'm supposed to be and ... there is this loooong line more than half the block ... so i go up to the last people in line and asked them what the line was for, and they say internet tickets ... so i pause and then ask for what? and they reply for Hit Me Baby, but if i already had a ticket to go up to a different line ... so i did and checked in with some girl with a clipboard and then went over to the entrance and they let me right in ... i felt kinda bad because there was a huge line of people that wanted in just to see the show, and I didn't even know who was on ... so they have us sit down on this long row of benches and tell us if we have to go to the bathroom we have to do it now, because we can't during the taping which lasts about 2 hours ... then they gathered us into one line and proceeded to do a headcount about 10 times ... so i finally turn to this group of asian guys with valley accents behind me and ask who was going to be on the show ... *please excuse my spelling* - Wang Chung, Sophie B Hawkins, Cameo, Howard Jones, and Irene Cara ... these guys were all wang chung fans ... they finally let us in and the seated audience was already sat so that meant we were the "lucky ones" that got to stand by the stage ... well, ummm, that was kinda cool, except that meant standing in a crowd by the stage for 2 hours ... AND only the seated audience got to do the voting! ... oh well ...
So, they continue to try to pack us in ... I got close to the edge stage left ... not anywhere you could actually see me on tv ... my watch was glowing in the black light though, so if you see clapping hands with a glowing yellow watch, that would probably be me =P
Anyway, this warm-up guy gets up on stage to ... well ... warm us up ... and well, he's ok funny ... a little annoying, but he had some moments up there ... his big thing is that we are not audience members but show enhancers ... so finally the host comes out to start the show ... he's a hottie ...
And well ... the rest of it you'll just have to see on TV =P ... I will have to say Wang Chung and Cameo were my favorites, but if I could have voted it would have been for either Cameo or Irene Cara ... it was pretty cool to see these artists perform these songs right in front of me ... Now I can say I saw Wang Chung perform Everybody Have Fun Tonight LIVE!! =)