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

I’ve been bizzz-z over this past month, which is great!  There have been tons of auditions and I’ll go ahead and say it, a TON of callbacks and “holds”.  This is all good news and it finally paid off.  I just booked another commercial for Burlington Coat Factory.  It shoots this Thursday and I’m really excited about it.

I also had a constructive conversation with my theatrical agent, Chris Roth, (Tv/Film) and we had a frank conversation about why I’m not going out more for tv/film auditions.  We decided that it is critical to get new photos.  I know, I feel like I’m always taking photos (and I am) but each agent (Theatrical, commercial, Host, and Print) needs a different “type” of photo.  Commercial images tend to be more cheeky and basic “mom” type looks, whereas film/tv need to convey an emotion.  It was during this conversation that I realized I have absolutely NO comedic headshots, which is my strongest genre!  I know, it’s so simple yet I didn’t have anything!  Maybe it was God’s way of protecting me so I didn’t get called in too soon and not be prepared.

Thanks to the talented Charlie Chipman, I think we captured some great images (to be posted asap).  I also have been busy in my cold reading class and after easing back into the flow of classwork, I nailed a comedic piece last week and prior to that, a director was in observing my class and he pulled me asside afterwards and told me that I would be perfect for his next film!  While I didn’t get the lead in his movie, it is so nice to know that the hard work is paying off and that I actually have talent  

Gotta run to my fitting for the commercial but I’ll leave you with one of the images (I won’t be using but is funny nonetheless) that the fabulous Charlie Chipman took!

I booked another commercial and already shot it this past week!   It’s for Direct Buy (appropriate for those of you who know we are going through a major renovation and have house items to purchase).  It was a wonderful shoot, great director, amazing cast and I’m stoked to be able to add another commercial to my repertoire! 

I also booked a hosting gig for a women’s natural health web-site.  The details for the shoot aren’t finalized but I’ll be sure to post a link when it’s completed.  I’m particularly excited about this because I’m a huge fan of natural medicine and have been exploring this arena myself and so it really is a perfect fit!  More to come but wanted to keep ya’ll updated!  Have a great Saturday and don’t forget to watch the Golden Globes tomorrow!

xo

Ang

All I can say is that life is going great!  Last week was the week of auditions and I busted out four in one day!  To make it even sweeter, I received two call-backs scheduled for tomorrow and am crossing my fingers for another shot at a hosting gig for a major network.

I have to credit my new and amazing hosting agent, Kati Herrera with NTA.  She is so incredibly kind and actually cares about her clients and talent.  She is always willing to offer input, suggest different strategies and basically told me “hey, you need new pictures”.  Which, some might get upset with but I am so grateful that she is actually taking the time to sincerely represent me.  She’s also managed to get me two incredible hosting auditions. 

Recently, I auditioned to be an archeology assistant where I’d travel the world to some pretty crazy and exotic locations.  The audition went fantastic and I’m hoping for a call-back but one never knows what they are looking for.  I was also called in for a new Bravo show that will deal real estate.  I don’t want to disclose too much just in case it’s confidential.  I have to be honest though, it didn’t go as well as I would like it to have gone.  I had already completed two auditions (the ones I got the callbacks for) and by the time I arrived – I felt a little off, slow and felt that I was uninspiring.  I mean, the one thing I absolutely know about myself is that I can connect with people and pride myself on giving off good energy so it’s a little frustrating to feel like I didn’t do my best (at all).  Hopefully though, the content of my answers was enough to prove I know a thing or two and I’ll have a chance to meet with her again.  It would also be a cool show because I’m taking my passion for real estate to a new level and pursuing my realtors license (estimated to have this by late February or early March - it’s so much reading!).

I also jumped back into my cold reading class with the amazing Annie Grindlay.  It’s a great class and it’s nice to be working consistently (even if it’s a weekly class

Thought I’d post a few of the photos my lovely host agent requested (they are a little DIY/Everyday News-ish)

I try to maintain this blog as a “professional acting” forum and I use it as a sort of open journal to chronicle my journey as an actress living in Los Angeles.  Part of this journey entails the struggles that I have endured, the victories I have celebrated and the lifelessons I have managed to learn along the way.  Yet, on a deeper level, none of these ups, downs or nuggets of wisdom would be nearly as manageable or sweet without the people whom I love and care for supporting and loving me - – the people whom I am thankful for.

To all of my friends, family, agents and loved ones who care enough to read this blog and who may even go so far 

as to say a prayer every now and again on my behalf and who send me good energy – thank you.  Thank you for making this time in my life fuller, happier and more abundant than I could have imagined.  While my quest for success if important to me, it would feel empty without people, whom I love, to share it with.

Happy Thanksgiving.  Below are a few photos from this past Holiday weekend we spent in San Diego.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am fortunate to have partnered with Avant Artists for theatrical representation.  In the last two weeks, I’ve had two good auditions:one for a the Nickelodeon television show, Victorious, and another for a cool independent film, Trattoria. 

Victorious went well and I had the casting director and her assistants laughing throughout so I like to think of that as a “job well done”.  I also noticed that the breakdown asked for a 6’2″ woman who is big and burly.  It was for a scene in a foreign prison where they asked me to do a Borat accent about one minute before I walked in.  Oh…the sides (also known as the script) went from 5 words to 7 pages and this too was a last minute “adjustment”.  I felt great though and despite being about 1/3 the size of most of the other gals, I felt tough and intimidating.  Needless to say, I didn’t get the role but it was another great experience to make others laugh and hopefully plant the seed for the future.

My most exciting audition though was for a small independent film, Trattoria.  It’s scheduled to film in San Fran between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I felt really really good after my read.  The wonderful thing about this specific audition is that it was held at CAZT, which records your audition and then you can go online and review it and the casting director can also leave comments for you.  The casting director was Julia Kim and her comments were, ” You have a good look and nice earthy presence. I enjoyed your read and interpretation of the role.”  This felt good to get and such a novelty in this town to actually hear what the cd though of you..  I am especially grateful because the the breakdown (also known as the casting notice) requested that Cecelia have a nice look and a “earthy” quality.  I don’t like to get my hopes up but I really enjoyed the script and the audition so fingers crossed.

I am not gonna waste a lot of time but I got put on “avail” for a Sunny Delight commercial but alas, didn’t book it in the end.  It was the longest and most awkwardly run audition of my life but it was nice to be rewarded with an avail (also known as Availability - usually between two actors).  Nonetheless, it makes me appreciate all of the jobs I have actually booked because there are SO many actors and a lot of competition.  Until next time.

Xo

Los Angeles Rock n' Roll Half Marathon

I did it, I ran a half marathon and it felt fantastic! It’s been a longtime goal of mine to run a full marathon but logic got the best of me and I thought it would be best to try 13.1 miles before launching into the 26.2 realm of torture. I didn’t run for a fast time, but rather ran to finish the race and now I have a great time to compete against in the future.

I wish “making it” in Hollywood was as simple as training for a half-marathon but I keep forgetting that when you’re running it’s just you and the pavement but when in Hollywood it’s “you” plus many other people – - many of which you have no control over. Nonetheless, I am hopeful that I’ll cross “both” finish lines in the near future. I still believe that if I keep training, working hard and doing all I can then success is sure to follow. 

Boo Ya

xo
Ang

Hit up The Colony in Hollywood last night for the Wilhelmina party.  Good time, great venue and a fantastically fabulous agent!  Woo hoo

With my fabulous print agent – Tricia!

Lets try the hair down