I spent my Friday shooting a campaign for Wells Fargo at the Port Brewery in San Marcos.  With a call-time at 6:30 am and rain in the forecast, it was a very long and cold day.  Yet, it was one of the more enjoyable photo shoots I’ve been a part of.

It's very Laverne & Shirley right?

I have been hired by Wells Fargo in the past and so it was fun to reconnect with some of the marketing people and meet new friends.  The photographer was the very talented (and a little kooky) Jim Erickson.  He is incredibly detail oriented and a fascinating person – - he had at least four extra shooters working with him at any given time and so the day felt very typical of my usual paparazzi filled day  

In addition to a paycheck, I also met a super fun gal, Angela Tom, and we’re looking forward to connecting in LA sometime soon.  So you see, you never know what’s going to come out of a job!  And, it didn’t hurt that we got to taste some delicious beer while we were there! 

Angela and Angela tasting the Lost Abbey Frambois raspberry beer after a long day. Cheers!

Every time I go out of town, I book a job.  I’m not sure what that says about me but maybe I should leave more often.  I’ll be shooting a campaign for Wells Fargo.  I’m not sure where the images will be distributed but likely on the web and possibly in posters at the bank.  I’m grateful for the work and it seems to be revving up these past few months so that is really really exciting!

I also met with an incredible manager today, Todd Diener, at The Collective.  He is such a positive person with a wonderful energy and generous spirit.  While I wasn’t expecting that he would take me on to manage my career, I was hoping to gain perspective on the role of a manager in my career and he did a great job of spelling out the benefits of a manager and what to expect.  In my dream world, I’ll be managed by someone of his caliber one day.  He was an absolute dream to meet with and who knows what can happen – one more connection = a successful meeting for me.  Cheers!

I was have a delightful little “linner” (lunch/dinner) with my good friend and fellow actress, Christina Hondromihalis, yesterday before I jetted off to my acting class and she reminded me of something very important – don’t apologize.  I don’t mean “apologize” in the typical sense of the word.  In fact, I’m actually working on saying I am sorry more often because I tend to be stubborn.  This is never fun but a really important component in any meaningful relationship.  What Christina meant is that I shouldn’t downplay the work that I get or make apologies for the work not being “sexier”. 

For example, I booked a hosting gig and shot it this past Sunday and got paid!  It wasn’t thousands of dollars, but it was a good amount of money for a few hours of work.  Not to mention, it was great practice and the chance to meet new people!  I really appreciated her encouragement to not downplay it, and this helped me to open my eyes and make a decision to accept every accomplishment – big or small.  This town is tough and even the “smallest” job is victory to be savored.  I recently completed another small hosting job for a womens healthcare web-site and the director told me that 450 people had submitted for the job and the client selected me!  It sounds a little like a child being selected for a dodge-ball team but everyone likes to “be picked” and actors are no exception (esp. when being picked means being “paid”).  So, I own these small victories because they are small steps to achieving my goal of being a successful host and actress!

Christina is also an incredible actress who has a knack for comedy.  She and her friend Rene put together an incredible campaign for Adam Sandler to put them in his next movie – check it out here!  Whether it’s a small hosting gig or a self-made campaign – we have to own our successes.  I am proud to call myself  an actor and to live a life where I’m surrounded by such cool and creative people!

In closing, I will leave you with some photos from the shoot where I ”play” a hearing care specialist/doctor

This was filmed at Native Instruments in Los Angeles

I'm a doctor!

The Burlington Commercial gig went really well.  Despite the morning rain (and it being an outdoor “park” shoot), we managed to stay warm.  I play the Burlington mom, who is the nice mom.  I’ll definitely do my best to post the footage when/if I ever receive it.  Suffice it to say, it was a great day and thanks to Mel and Liz casting and my fabulous agents at Daniel Hoff!

On another note, it looks like my head shots that I had my good friend Charlie take aren’t going to work for my theatrical agents afterall.  They assured me that there are some good commercial images but that I need something “more”.  We spoke on the phone last night and we were all frustrated.  After taking a moment, I reminded myself that we are all on the same team and they need the “right” marketing tools to get me auditions.  It really doesn’t matter what I think about my current head shots, the reality is that they aren’t getting me called in as much as we’d all like.  That being said, I am now moving onto plan z and looking into booking a session with Vainey Poyey.  I am grateful for my agents at Avant for taking the time out of their days to talk with me about how to advance my career and above all, to be part of my team.  I’m pretty certain that they wanted to throw me off of a building last night but they are patient and kind and I think they’re the best.  It’s rare in Hollywood to have someone on “your side” and they are definitely looking out for my best interest.

To end on a more promising note, I went out for a great audition yesterday for the new re-make of Wonder Woman.  It was a cool experience walking through the Warner Bros. lot up in Burbank and I’m really hopeful that they’ll cast me as Artemis.

Leaving you with an image of the Burlington Shoot!

Burlington Shoot