28 March, 2010

Just a quick update before bed...

I really need to stay on top of this better. Uh, that's what she said?

Har... :)

Anyway! i <3 lac;) (I Heart Laci in text-ese) is now officially a SAG production!!! WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Laci also has a comedy scriptwriter, and a marketing guru, and a dream cast and crew.

I met with Crystal Gardner today to go over her Marketing Plan--we could have stayed for hours chatting, but we only had two! We covered a lot in those two hours, though--and I can't WAIT to start implementing some of those plans!  We've already started our twitter account: @IHeartLaci (You can get to mine from there, too, if you're so inclined. ;)   )

The user pic will be changed soon.

Saturday we filmed "Annoying Habits" with the core cast--so much fun, and I think everyone will find it pretty dang funny! I'm trying to see if we can film another ep in two weeks. I'd like to have at least three episodes on the website for our launch party in May.

Yep--a real, live Launch Party!!!! More later--this is supposed to be quick, Christa!

Right now I'm trying to gather 6 actors, one photographer, and one make-up artist for a photo shoot sometime in April.

HERDING. CATS.

I'm about to pull my hair out. No joke.

Instead, I'm going to update my website, check my email, brush my teeth, wash my face, put on various magic potions and creams, and head to bed.

Ah, bed... :)

G'night!

21 March, 2010

Who on Earth is Laci and Why Do You Keep Talking About Her?!

First thing's first: No callback. That's okay. "Move on dot org," as my mom would say. :) I also had to turn down an audition Friday, as it films during job training. Unfortunate, but the reason I have the job is to get to LA, not to be successful in small commercials in a small market. I will do as much as I can here, and make it work as much as I can--and I'm not poo-pooing anything in the Denver market, not at all. :) But...oh, you know what I mean!

On to Laci!!!

So if you've been keeping up with my blog, you know I've started a webseries loosely based on a modern Ricky and Lucy. We have a disclaimer from CBS and had originally planned to keep the same first names, but we decided it would be better to change them entirely.  It's called  i <3 lac;)   (I Heart Laci, in text-ese.)

Last week I attended the monthly CASA Mass Focus meeting, where I was able to fill people in a bit on what we've been doing...and for the first time after an industry meeting, people were waiting to talk to me. Normally, I'm always waiting in line to talk to other people...this is all very exciting for me! It's the little things, you know. :D

Anyway, after speaking to a few people, we now have a PR/Marketing guru, so I don't have to stress about that anymore! *whew* I had ideas to get us out there, and things we should do, but it's so much easier having someone who does this for a living...knows what will work and what won't. And one less thing for me to worry about. Now I can focus on other things!

We also have a script guru! We were writing them ourselves...maybe one of us would write a rough draft, and the rest would make suggestions. But we're all busy and trying to get even just the second script written was difficult. So Kevin was a gift from heaven! (Oh, that rhymed!)

Our first meeting with the both of them was today, and we've squared a few things away, worked more on our characters and what we're hoping for the series...Kevin's going to pitch 10 or so ideas for a couple of episodes, and we'll choose one (hopefully two) to film next Saturday.  And just keep on goin'!

There's also a lady on a local PBS program who would like to get us on...which would be fantastic! Hey! I'll be on PBS! That's *close* to BBC, right? ;)

So...things have been going slowly for a while. We've hit a couple bumps--had to re-cast our Ricky (now Richie)--schedules are tough--etc. But we are on a roll now!

We've generated so much interest so far, and we don't even have anything up yet! We've got high hopes for our little series. Originally, it was going to be for fun, and something to get us SAG eligible. But it's turned into something bigger than that and I can't wiat to see where this goes! I won't tell you what I'm hoping...once we get our website started, we'll keep everyone updated on what's going on. So you'll just have to stay tuned, I guess!

We're going to be scheduling a photo shoot soon, which I'm excited about. A proper photo shoot!!!! For something that I created! This was a little idea in my brain, and now I have a cast, and a crew...and not just any cast and crew, either. Everyone is so dedicated and helpful--the cast is all experienced and professional (you have no idea how much easier that makes everything!). The crew knows exactly where to go and what to do.

And something else awesome about our cast? Multi-ethnic. :) Very proud of that.

Now I need to think about a short little jingle to be the theme song. Anyone wanna write something for me to sing? ;)

11 March, 2010

Decisions.

So my agent sent an email yesterday for an audition to be held Friday (tomorrow). Nothing wrong with that, except the callbacks will either be next Tuesday or Thursday. Tuesday? No problem.

Wednesday, I start training for my new job, and there is absolutely no way to take a day off during that month of training. So, I sighed and decided I couldn't do the audition.

I talked with Andy about it--it would be a VERY good gig to get. Commercials, radio, print, web, VO and it could be for the entire year.

I'm a responsible person, which is both good and bad. When I moved to SoCal the first time, I only had two gigs. I couldn't audition because I was afraid of taking the time off of work. But that's kind of silly. Yes, this job pays the bills and I still need to be responsible and loyal. BUT...if an opportunity comes up, I can't keep closing the door on it.

(That responsibility, by the way, translates very well in my acting career. I am ALWAYS early for auditions and on set. In India, I was ready for my scenes and on set an hour before anyone else. If a break is 15 minutes, I'm back in 10. Call time's 5 AM? I'll see you at 4.45. There are plenty of people who don't do this--and it's a huge waste of time and money waiting for everyone to get ready. This is your job--you can't stroll in 20 minutes late and expect the producer to be happy about that! Time is money! Time is money!!!!!!)

So, I'm going to that audition tomorrow. And I'm hoping the callbacks are Tuesday. If they're Thursday, I'll try and make it as early as I can. If I get the gig, I quit the survival job. (After jumping around and screaming for a few hours.)

I couldn't let this one pass. My agent called me this morning about it...the casting director had called her and asked specifically if I was going to be there. No, that doesn't necessarily mean my chances are better--but it means I can't say no! It's a great thing to have the CD ask about me. I can't tell you how wonderful that makes me feel!

I'm so excited! This would be a perfect gig for me...I hope they just fall in love with me! I need to be extra cute, cute, cute and funky tomorrow! Will be scouring the closet today...cute and funky, cute and funky. Will definitely wear my glasses!

You know what would be really nice? Having a casting assistant pick out my outfit for every audition!

Thank God my new MAC mineralize SPF 15 makeup came in yesterday. That stuff is AWESOME. (P.S. More affordable on eBay!)

Off to: workout, memorize script, pick out the perfect cute and funky outfit. :)

Oh--and rehearsals tonight for a scene-done-stage-style from JIMMY SAID that I'll be doing for CASA's Mass Focus on Saturday! If you're in Denver, you really should be attending MF on Saturday. Just sayin'! Check the link, you'll see why. Once a month--Mass Focus! Be there! If you're a screenwriter, we do cold reads of part of your script--actors, it's a great way to network!

See you Saturday!

goodjujuformyauditionplease! ;)

08 March, 2010

Laci Love!!!

Lots of changes this past month!

First, we've changed the Lucy web series name to:    i <3 lac;)  (I Heart Laci.)    We changed the names of the major characters, just in case. We do have a disclosure ABC gave us to include in each webisode, but we don't want anything else to come back to bite us. So: Laci, Richie, Frank, Eve and two new characters: Jimmy and JoJo are eager to make your acquaintance!

We're almost finished with all the SAG paperwork. I'm pretty excited about it--but wow! That's a lot of paperwork! I can't imagine having to do this for a feature film! It'll all be worth it, though. We'll have a SAG production on our hands, and the possibility of being able to Taft-Hartley ourselves into SAG. Well, I don't plan on joining quite yet--but just having "SAG-Eligible" on my resume will be fantastic. I won't join while living in Denver...there's not enough SAG productions out this way to keep me employed!

We've finished our first "official" webisode, and would like to shoot a couple more before putting them online. Getting everyone's schedules to mesh is the hardest part. All of us are pretty busy and it seems like we're only able to film about once a month at this point. Nevertheless, we're going to get started on marketing and fan pages pretty soon. :) I'll let you know when we're ready to debut the first episode! You'll finally be able to figure out why we have pie all over our faces!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="362" caption="Mmmmm, pie!"][/caption]

I've started a new workout routine. I'll be the first to admit I can be lazy in the fitness aspect of things. I'm not overly fond of working out, and that's putting it mildly. But I have to. Not only do I feel better about myself when I'm toned and fit and healthy, I also look better on camera! It's kind of necessary to my "type" to stay toned and slender. I'm doing Jillian MIchaels' 30-Day Shred video and find that it really kicks my arse!!! No kidding! It's about 25 minutes everyday, but in that time, you're really working hard. Please note--I am neither endorsing this video nor asking you to buy. The link is so you can see what it is and read other reviews! ;)  I'm really liking it, though. I can't use time as an excuse anymore, as it's less than thirty minutes. I get strength, cardio, and abs 5-6 days a week and hopefully in a few weeks, I'll start noticing small changes in my body!

My last blog had mention of EYE OF NOOR, a vampire vs. paladin movie I had accepted a role in. Due to several reasons, I had to bow out. I won't go into any details, but I hope all the best for the production!

If you'll notice in my Blogroll, The Actor's Voice is among the links I've included. Bonnie Gillespie is an LA-based casting director. Though I can't claim to actually know her, I have been able to talk a bit with her through email and Facebook, and I follow her weekly column (AND advice!). These past couple of weeks, she's been asking us actors for resumes, headshots, websites, etc. to critique. I'm sure she gets asked all the time to critique materials, but she decided to dedicate a couple of her columns to the critiques, in order to help us all out. I submitted my website, because I feel it's just a bit boring. There's a few things I know I need to fix professionally, and I will do that...but I feel it needs a bit more of my personality to it, without going overboard. Anyway--imagine my surprise to open her column these past couple Mondays to find myself !!!! She has critiqued both my headshot and resume so far. And *whew* So far, so good. :) I've fixed my resume--except that darn formatting issue which always screws up!

I'm just excited knowing that an LA casting director has looked at my stuff! Does it mean she'll call me tomorrow when a breakdown fits me? Sadly, no. :) But when I do get to LA, there's at least one casting director who knows my name and a bit of my work.

Which brings me to an issue I'm having. Not a huuuuge deal, but frustrating, nonetheless. I'm ready to create my reel--a short video of some of the films I've been in--but am having trouble getting footage (whether raw, edited, whatever) from my gigs. Having a reel on my website and on Actors Access will help so much, but I can't do it right now. About once a month, I ask various directors for anything to use. I don't want to annoy them, but it is my career. Reels help showcase an actor's work, and do more than a photo and resume would to get in the door. So I'll just keep asking, I guess!

Something exciting may happen: Andy and I might move! We don't know when or where, though! It could be overseas...or it could be LA. As much as I would love moving back to England, right now I need to be in LA. If I'm going to be successful at all, it needs to be LA. That's just the way it is.

We won't move for a little while, and it's really all dependent on Andy's job at the moment. But within a year, we could be in LaLa Land!!!

And I'm back to having a Survival Job. I had a few months after India of blessed freedom, but bills don't really disappear. I wanted another part-time job, but I found a full-time job (evenings) that I can do from home. Saves moolah on gas!!! I may not be able to audition as much, anymore, but we'll see what happens! This will help so much in getting to LA--and it's really there I need to be auditioning, not smaller markets. But I'll be out there, Denver and New Mexico, as often as I can!!!

Oh--before I forget! Please visit my IMDb page as often as you can. Just once a day helps a lot.

www.imdb.me/christacannon

It may sound silly, but the more visits I get, the higher my "star rating" is. And don't forget--this business pays attention to who's popular. A bigger way of driving up my star rating is to talk about me on the message boards! As much as I'd love to log in under assumed identities, I have to leave this in your hands. :)

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STARmeterTM and MOVIEmeterTM are rankings of every person and title in IMDb. Available only on IMDbPro, our website designed for people who work in the entertainment industry, STARmeterTM and MOVIEmeterTM provide industry professionals with insights into the popularity of film and television productions as well as the people who make them. To learn more about our rankings, sign-up for an IMDbPro two week free trial. To start your free trial, click here.

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Plain and simple, they represent what people are interested in, based not on small statistical samplings, but on the actual behavior of millions of IMDb users. Unlike the AFI 100TM or Academy AwardsTM, high rankings on STARmeterTM and MOVIEmeterTM do not necessarily mean that something is "good." They do mean that there is a high level of public awareness and/or interest in the title or person.

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So keep clicking away!!! You have no clue what a help it is.  This week I went up to #43,049 from a dismal #87,355. Is Sam Mendes or Baz Luhrmann taking note? Again--and sadly--no. :) But they will!!!