Almost to busy to blog

Seriously.

Usually when I’m not blogging it’s because there is nothing particularly interesting in my life at that point. But this week has been so busy that I WANTED desperately to blog about things and I was WAY too busy.

As an actor, this is GOOD. But as a blogger it poses difficulties. So here is, in a nutshell, my last 2 weeks. Readers Digest Version:

I booked a commercial. This is a good thing. It was a SAG job, meaning decent pay and a great treatment on set. And the people were awesome. The director was Patrick Daughters who may be best known for Feist’s 1234 video (which is AMAZING, btw). It was incredible to work with him and with the DP who also shot that brilliant video. He was a joy and made the work easy. Our choreographer was the fabulous Michael Rooney who may be best known for his work on the video It’s Oh So Quiet featuring Bjork. But the thing that thrills me to no end about Michael (besides the fact that he was super fun to work with) is that he cohreographed GO FOR IT BY HOT SUNDAE!!!!!!! Seriously! I got to work with the man who made Kelly, Jessie, and Lisa the pop idols of Bayside High in the episode “Jessie’s Song” of Saved By The Bell. That may be the coolest thing ever. And there are a lot of cool things.

Also, my cancelled vignette has become un-cancelled and can be viewed through stphoenix.com or on YouTube or roght here:

YAY!!!

After that the awesomest news is in the film premiere realm. Tomorrow night I will be in the Pacific Place cinema (my 1st venture into a non-Imax thestre to see a film since I left my previous career in cinema management/promotions/projection) to watch the premiere of The Whole Truth. The premiere is sold out and should be a great time; I will report back honestly on the quality of the film, but if shooting it was any indication, the finished product should be HILARIOUS! Director Colleen Patrick has already been approached by distributors, so hopefully all the world will be able to see the movie very very soon.

More info when available 🙂

Stuff to Watch and Listen To

Much media is the post today.

First: watch the trailer for Dear Lemon Lima, that’s me on the far left hand side of the bench full of girls in pink t-shirts at 1:03.

Then watch the trailer for The Whole Truth. I’m not in the trailer, but I am in the film.

Then tune in to Blog Talk Radio this afternoon at 3:00 to listen to ST:P Executive Producer Leo Roberts and Phoenix star Ben Andrews (their segment begins at 3:30). Our people will be following the editor of STAR TREK Magazine as guests on the show, so it should be really interesting.

And then tune in on the 31st to our first live call-in podcast. It will begin at 11:00 PDT and will also be on Blog Talk Radio but on a different channel- our OWN!

Looking forward to hearing the radio interviews and to seeing DLL on the 23rd of June at the LA film fest.

When it Rains, it Pours, and I mean that in a good way.

So here I am, sitting in my room on an unfairly cold and rainy afternoon in May, thinking about these 20 tickets to JJ Abrams STAR TREK I need to give away before Sunday (REG deja-vu much?). And as I contemplate movie tickets on this cold day my heart is warmed by the thought of my first network television appearance as an adult. Which, incidentally, can be seen HERE in case you’re not friended to me on Facebook (why?) nor on the very long list of people I emailed that link to this morning.

And as though the glory of my brilliant performance on the local NBC affiliate wasn’t enough to keep my little publicity-hounding heart happy for a good long while (which, incidentally, it TOTALLY could have been) I got to see today the first glimpse of the film I love, the film I worked on, the film I am planning a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to see, Dear Lemon Lima. The trailer is adorable and gives a great overall feel for the tone of the finished film. And did I mention that it will premiere on June 20th at 5:00 PM at the Los Angeles Film Festival? Well, it will. And it will play again on the 23rd of June at the same venue. I will be at Chris and Sora’s wedding on the 20th, but folks in the audience on the 23rd should watch for me, because I’m doing everything I can to find the time and the money to go see it.

And about that trailer: I’m in it. Really. Are you excited? I am. Suddenly it’s not only the three plus minutes of local television, but also the first teaser for a brilliant feature film. LOVE IT! You can watch it through the director’s (Suzi Yoonessi is amazing, btw) Facebook page HERE.

I think you should watch the trailer. And I think you should see the film when it hits theatres. Hooray!

Big Weeks Ahead!

Everyone here in the Northwest will have a chance to see me in person, on screen, online, and on TV in the next four weeks. REALLY.

ON TV: Tuesday, May 5th our much lauded and much postponed Evening Magazine segment is scheduled to air finally. We will be meeting in the lounge of the Seattle Hilton on 5th Ave in down town and we’d love to see fans there to celebrate our debut into the local news arena.

IN PERSON: Aside from the party on the 5th, I will be with a contingent of 25th Century Starfleet Officers and very dedicated ST:P Production staffers at PGE Park in Portland on Wednesday night, May 6th. We will be there helping the Federation battle the Klingons in the age old battle of smooth foreheads vs. bumpy foreheads. It’s in honor of the Portland Beavers’ annual Star Trek night and we are looking forward to meeing Oregonian Trekkies for the very first time.

We will then be present at the Boeing Imax Theatre for the premiere of JJ Abrams STAR TREK. There will be a large group of cast, crew, and production members present for the 7:00 PM IMAX experience and we’d love to meet fans and hear what you all have to say about this new vision of the old future.

ONLINE: And this is new good news. THIRD DEGREE, my vignette filmed back in October, has been rescued from post production limbo thanks to Leo Roberts (who rocks), Our amazing post-production supervisors at Sonnet Realm FIlms and our super talented VFX Supervisor, Zach Paul. The scene, which was shown in its current, unfinished state at Norwescon, should be ready to launch via the website this month.

ON FILM: I am pleased to announce that The Whole Truth, the hilarious screwball comedy I had the honor of working on last year, will be premiering at The Seattle International Film Festival . Director Colleen Patrick has full details at her blog, Wassup! Be sure to check out the SIFF schedule and get out to see TWT and other remarkable films this summer!

Such is life these days. Hectic and loving it. More movies hopefully happening this summer as well as much Trekkin’ Cheers!

Television Killed the Internet Star?

Ok, so it’s a silly title, but whatever.

I am about to be on TV, and I think I like that.

Next Thursday, March 19th at 7:00 PM those of you in Seattle can see the King 5 Evening Magazine segment about our series and hopefully at least some of the interview they did with Ben Andrews and myself. Everyone not in the Seattle area will be able to see the segment on the King 5/Evening Magazine website beginning on Friday March 20th.

And one month later: April 19th at 9:00 PM ET/PT on Comedy Central Ron White’s new comedy special Behavioral Problems will debut on Comedy Central. That’s right, folks. That’s me on national television. Cool huh?

In TREK news, we have two more character vignettes in the pipeline and a rehearsal for both tomorrow will tell me more about just how awesome they are going to be. But I know that the actors involved are solid and that the scripts are solid as well. All should be great. And more scenes from the Pilot are slated to shoot the end of this month. All will be revealed at Norwescon.

In personal news, I had the amazing opportunity to see The Lion King here in Seattle with my friend Maurica in the role of Nala. If you have a chance to go see this tour: GO. It was great. I won’t spoil anything for you, but get there early because the opening number is worth the entire ticket price.

And this week I auditioned for a musical and a film and am currently driving myself mad wondering if the phone is going to ring. Call backs for said musical are Sunday and Monday and so there is still time for a call to come (please?) and the film should be cast by tomorrow night. So I’ll be squirming for only a couple more days.

More when there’s more news!

Best Week Ever

This past week was quite possibly the best ever- I’d have blogged more but I was too busy enjoying it. The week started out like any other, really. Monday was just a monday. But then there was Tuesday.

Tuesday was election day. I’m not sure that I voted for any candidate who won or any ballot measure that passed. BUT that doesn’t make the voting and the volunteering any less wonderful. It’s about the process; America gets to save itself or damn itself every November and I, personally, love that about my country. I went and voted in the morning, volunteered in a GOTV phone bank in the afternoon, got my free Starbuck’s and free Ben & Jerry’s (Cherry Garcia in a sugar cone) that evening and then went to an election night party at my friends’ beautiful new house (Thanks Chris and Sora for having us all over!).

Wednesday was just another Wednesday save for the fact that the whole city seemed to be in a better mood thanks to the liberal leanings up here and the election results. I got some house work done and generally had a nice day. Wednesday I also bought THIS DRESS to wear to Abigail’s bachelorette party.

Thursday I got to go and see the premiere of Poppies at the gorgeous Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon and enjoyed it immensely. Thursday was also my first chance to see the rough cut of “Third Degree”, and I can’t wait for everyone else to get to see it. Danara is one heck of a character and I hope that everyone else will love her the way I do. Thursday I also got a casting notice for an upcoming Ron White comedy special.

I got the job.

Best. Job. Ever.

That was my Friday morning: some very nice people paid me to hang out with Ron White and his buddy Alex for a few hours and laugh my proverbial butt off. Oh, and they fed me wine. And Ron jacked a sip of it from me. He was SO friendly and fun to work with, and he gave me a silly nickname which I will not repeat, but which was overheard by the VFX supervisor of STAR TREK: PHOENIX and therefore repeated on the set on Saturday.

Which leads me to Saturday. We shot the third vignette in the prequel series: “Holo-Victory” starring Ben Andrews as Captain Bryce Avari. I won’t spoil the plot of it, but suffice to say it was intense. We shot the vignette in the “play barn” at Gas Works Park and the shoot, although frought with the usual perils of location shooting (rain, the public, etc.) was great and I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Friday night, thanks to Ron and Alex, I got to go and watch the taping of the upcoming Ron White DVD (the one I had done the opening and closing scenes for the previous day). I took Leo Roberts with me, the Senior Executive Producer of STAR TREK: PHOENIX and a huge Ron White fan. Alex had told me that he wasn’t sure where our tickets would be, because they don’t save the front rows for house comps when they’re shooting for TV (makes sense). Well, we wound up in row 3 and had a great time. Everyone will want to watch this DVD when it comes out; it’s hilarious- AND I am the girl with Ron in the closing sequence so you will definitely be able to see me.

Sunday I was glad to be able to prepare my house for my upcoming house guests. We went to a nearby Linens-n-Things and got great new sheets and towels and blankets for the girls who will be staying with us… Janet and Rachel, if you’re reading this, you will be very comfy when you get here :). Then we made a pilgrimage to the Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale to serch for shoes for the wedding and Bachelorette party. I found THESE in black and they will be perfect for both. We then came home and washed the foster cats and their things so that we could let them come upstairs and join the houehold (although still in a crate most of the time); so now we had 2 new kitties (mom and baby) added to our sitting room. And as though that was not enough for one week:

Last night I was watching an MSNBC documentary and trying to catch up on my NaNoWriMo word count when I heard the oddest sound: a really loud squeaking noise that I could not identify. I looked over at Bristol (foster mama cat) and thought maybe she had hurt herself and the noise had come from her. Not so. Turns out she was pregnant and we didn’t know it.

Before bed last night the number of kitties in our house doubled. We went from 4 of our own 1 foster mama and 1 foster baby to our 4, the foster mama, the foster 8 week old baby and 6 foster newborns. Yep- SIX of them.

This week will see a VFX meeting, two house guests, a film industry gala (good luck Ben and Rodrigo!), a bachelorette extravaganza, a tea party, a wedding rehearsal complete with italian dinner, and a wedding. Oh, and a birthday of undisclosed number. And I still have a novel to write.

And Nothing But The Truth

Yesterady I had the honor of spending a second day on director Colleen Patrick’s The Whole Truth. It was my last day playing ace reporter Cherly Olsen, and the props department was kind enough to let me bring my press badge home. I guess they’re not going to need it.

I have loved working on this movie. The sense of humor on this set was absolutely wonderful. Elisabeth Röhm was great to work with, and looks even more gorgeous in person than she does on TV. And I have to mention that Colleen Patrick’s comedic sense is really something to experience. Things that I would never have thought of: from where to seat the leading actress to just when the lawyer won’t look at his client, are HILARIOUS!

I have loved working on this film and the chance it gave me to meet cool people and to laugh with A-list actors. I will be laughing even harder, I’m sure, when I see this bit of hilarity on the big screen next year. I haven’t worked on a comedy this funny, stage or screen, in a long time. Sad it’s over, but gald to have been part of it.

And in STAR TREK news: we’re throwing a party!! Well, that is: I’m throwing a party and the rest of the cast is coming. We’ll be at the BalMar located at 5449 Ballard Ave (at the intersection of Ballard and Market streets) on November 1st from 4:00 PM until they kick us out. We’ll have prize drawings, TREK-themed drinks and general fun. The BalMar has also been chosen to be the first location to play SAL 14, the lounge aboard the USS PHOENIX, so anyone who comes to the party will have the chance to hang out on what will be a set come January.

The party is open to the pubilc and we’d love to see you there!

The Six Degrees of Pensacola

People who know me have likely heard to the “sucking vortex” that exists in my hometown. People leave and come back, and come back, and come back. But I think the reason that vortex has to be there is that P’cola is this ridiculous nexus of talent. Just a few examples: actress Abigail Spencer, recording artist Josh Walther, Broadway actress Ashley Brown, and former G4 Cheat Cory Rouse are just a few folks that I personally worked with when we still lived in my home town.

Andrew and I watch TV and every now and then I’ll see somebody and cry out, “he/she’s from Pensacola!” It drives him nuts.

And in the be all and end all of Pensacola spreading it’s talented tentacles into the rest of the world, my friend and super talented actress, Katy Mixon just wrapped a film called All About Steve in which she worked with the indomitable Beth Grant which, you likely recall, I was thoroughly enamored of when we worked together on Dear Lemon Lima.

Is that crazy, or what? Katy and I, who have known each other since 1994, have just this year worked with some of the same people even though we’re in different cities thousands of miles away from home.

Pensacola is pretty cool sometimes. And the people from there cooler still. This week has also gotten me in touch with some of the best friends I ever had, and every one of them is just as cool as ever.

Life is good. I should be back on set at The Whole Truth later this week. For full details on the film and its progress, you should read director Colleen Patrick’s blog “Wassup!”. I just discovered it (thanks Mireille!) and am reading it regularly now.

News from STAR TREK coming soon!

What, and Leave Show Business?

People often times have an image of movie making that is very glamourous. They picture shiny trailers parked outside of an enormous soundstage studio or exquisite location, and usually also a well-appointed greenroom. This is not always the case. Studio shooting provides some of the comforts of home, the couches are cozy, and the hair and makeup areas are lit just like the set. Location shooting, however, has a unique set of challenges.

The location where I worked yesterday had all of them. AND we had a 6:00 AM call time, AND it was a 2 hour drive to each way for me, AND it was a 16 hour work day.

It’s fall here in the Northwest, gaining on winter. I built my first fire of the season on Monday. The building in Tacoma where we shot yesterday had no heat. This was not such a challenge mid-day when we were all on set with giant klieg lights shining through each window. The combination of huge cinematic lighting instruments (incidentally, gaffers ROCK) and lots of bodies made it almost unpleasantly warm. A kind PA woud turn a fan on us between takes, which helped a little. But once it was time for dinner, and we returned to the holding area, the only word was “bloody cold”.

And the shoot was in a beautiful historic building in the heart of downtown Tacoma, which is basically empty. If you’re in Tacoma, and you take the Pacific Avenue detour and then continue south, you’ll see it, as it’s the building on the street that’s closed that has all of the big green cranes with lights pointing in the third floor windows. The elevators worked when they wanted to, and the plumbing not at all. You heard me: NO RUNNING WATER. That means, no hand washing, no face washing, no way to wash a piece of fresh fruit, and no bathrooms. Ever picture a movie set littered with honey buckets? It was not what I expected nor something that I had ever experienced before.

Yeah. Luckily for me and some of the other ladies with delicate sensibilities, the crew made us aware of an accommodating Starbuck’s just down the way. They made me a great latte and the facilities were clean and working. If I had their address, I’d post it just for good will- maybe I’ll get it the next day I work.

Oh yeah, I’m going back.

That’s the thing I’ve learned about doing this job: it’s never what you expect, but it’s usually better when you add it all up. When you’re a day player, you get to spend a lot of time meeting and chatting with people who you may never have met otherwise. I met a beautiful young fashion designer and her totally gorgeous mom, a fellow actress with whom I have friends in common, and got to see several folks I met and befriended on my last film. All told, it was a great day- even with no bathrooms and even having woken up at 3:00 AM to be there.

And I got to play a little scene with Sean Patrick Flanery who my husband is a HUGE fan of. He is a fun but focused actor and it was great to sit beside him and react to his reacting. I can’t wait to see how that looks in the finished film. And we had a really good time, which is also important. I hope to work with him a little more next week.

Thanks to Denise Gibbs for the chance to do work on this film. Can’t wait until my next shooting day!

News for October

First announcement: The October Podcast for STAR TREK PHOENIX is available for download. We had a blast recording this edition and were thrilled to bring Ben Johnson aka Cmdr. Talis Jaryn to the podcast staff as the new host. I had the chance to interview Ben in this month’s edition and I can say that he’s a real joy. Remember, if there’s anything anyone would like to know, or to see included in the podcast you can email it to the producers at [email protected] or visit the Podcast Questions thread on our forum.

We’re working on a party for PHOENIX fans and geeks of all varieties to have a chance to mingle with our cast and crew. The date is tentatively set for November 1 and the location is TBA, but the place we’re looking at is HOT.

Also, I am thrilled to announce that tomorrow is my first day shooting on The Whole Truth I will be a courtroom observer and I look forward to working again with Denise Gibbs who I met and befriended on the set of Dear Lemon Lima as well as the super talented cast that has assembled for this picture.

Stories and maybe photos soon!