Can you believe it?

Can you believe it? I have actually been kinda busy with acting stuff. You know, for someone at a certain point in their career and living in Wellington, NZ.

I am still reeling from the work and the fun and the frankly amazing feedback I got at a Camera and Audition Workshop taught by Peter Feeney the weekend before last. Apparently, I am much better than I have given myself credit for. I know, shameless self-promotion...

It was fantastic to get together with other actors and just work our arses off for two days. It's such an inspiration to watch other actors work and grow. I got to work with the amazing Liz Kirkman and watch my beautiful friend Jess Manins produce fantastic work! At the end of the weekend my creative batteries had been recharged and I felt incredibly lucky.

Since the workshop I've had a couple of auditions, have self-submitted to a couple more shortfilm projects and my Easter present was that my new agency profile went up. I know, it is time for new headshots but I think that will unfortunately have to wait until my bank balance has recovered a little.

I have two more auditions coming up next week so besides enjoying a four day weekend hanging out with my two boys, I will spend some time working on scripts. Yay, actor work!!!

And, not acting related but best of all, by a long shot: My wonderful, beautiful, amazing niece has made me a first-time great-aunty. Welcome to the world Violet! May you be blessed with love and luck and a long, wonderful life!

<3 <3 <3

If you don't have a plan, you don't have a clue

You know what they say about best laid plans. But what if you want to be a film maker and you don't have one at all? Well, then you end up with disaster zones like the one mentioned half-way down this post.

The team producing the webseries I auditioned for today really seem to have it together. After the aforementioned bad experience last year, this time around I had done my homework before the audition and done some googling. It turned out that a friend of mine had worked on another webseries with these guys a few years back and he told me that his experience had been nothing but positive.

I also came to the audition prepared with a couple of questions and this is what I found out. The team has an absolute shoestring budget but they have a well-thought out plan for all stages of production. They have written the first three episodes, assembled their team, and have decided on their locations - all of which are within 5 minutes walking distance from their base location. They have thoroughly thought about and decided on a shooting plan for the series - schedule to be determined once casting is completed of course. They know that they need their post-production to be minimal for a cheap, fast but high-quality turnaround, and have planned accordingly. They have a plan for distributing the series and potentially even get funding for future episodes.

What I also like about these guys is that while shooting the series they want to inspire others to get off their bums and get shooting themselves. So, the entire making-of process will be documented online, so people can see that when you have a good head on your shoulders and a good plan you can be a film-maker on a next to nothing budget. Awesomeness!

So, good luck to them and good luck to me too, aye!

First audition of the year! UPDATED

I have an audition for a webseries later today. It's my first audition this year and I am really excited! Plus if I get the part, I will be playing a god. That's right.

It'll be really nice for a change to be all powerful and actually have control over my, well her, life ^_^

UPDATE

I think I nailed it! The director/producer was very happy with the first take, saying that he loved my take on the character and that it was different to what the other actresses before me had done (Strike!). He gave me redirection for a second take and said that he was happy with both takes. I offered to give him another interpretation and he liked that one as well.

I am terrible at judging how well auditions go, maybe you're not meant to be good at that anyway. It's all about doing your job and then letting go. That said, I'm very happy with what I did and I think that's all I can ask for - beside getting cast that is...