Hi all,
Looks like I missed January for blog updates. I just received my first acting paycheck of the year from the Skittles commercial in which I was an extra in December. The commercial didn’t air during the Super Bowl, but that’s alright. It was also in Phoenix this year and no, I didn’t have tickets, but Chris Pratt and Chris Evans did. I had the opportunity to work six days at the NFL Experience in downtown Phoenix and it was a great deal of fun. The pay was good and I didn’t have to work shifts that were too long. However, that’s not the acting news you’re waiting for. I was also cast as a stand-in for the Pro Bowl rehearsal through Good Faith Casting, who brought me in for the Skittles commercial. I look forward to working with them again. I got to pretend I was one of the players drafted into the Pro Bowl and give mock interviews.
I bought the domain name for this blog, so it will now be http://www.annasahlstrom.com. My friend, Stephen, the amazing film god re-edited my demo reel for easier posting. I have known my reel was too long and with the wrong cuts the moment I received it. Additionally, if I am going to renew my Actors Access subscription after four years, I really need a competent reel. I need to re-instate my memberships and LA connections so I can get a lot more opportunities. I haven’t yet heard about Bogie and Bacall.
I’m going to strive to go to the Actors WorkHouse as often as I can so I can continually train. I have an audition for the production of Twelfth Night with Class 6 Theatre company on Monday night of next week, so I have to really practice my monologue. I will also be auditioning for a production company for their future commercials, feature films, and other projects. The Sunday before last I auditioned for Burning Suns Entertainment, headed up by the famous Bobby Shook, for their upcoming commercials. All these projects pay, but as for union contracts, I’m not sure there are too many of those upcoming in the Phoenix area.
I have made some changes to La Famille, with specific focus to the first 15 pages of the script I shared at the In The Works reading series. I understood that the history the script deals with needs a great deal of explanation as most people don’t know Acadian/Cajun history. I also short-changed that character and made her part much too short. I am going to get The Go-Girls campaign going. I need to put together my pitch to potential production partners, cast, crew, and directors. A fellow stand-in at the Pro Bowl shoot told me there was no reason I couldn’t go ahead and get the funding campaign started. He told me I need to quit waiting for someone else to get started. I need to establish the Cactus Flower Pictures mission statement and industry presence. To clarify: I am not trying to be like a major studio, just a small collaborative production company for my work and that of others if it gets to that level. This is not a replacement for submitting to acting projects.
I did a bit of fan page promotion on Facebook and I now have 107 likes, up from about 65 just two weeks ago. Also, the paperwork has gone through for Pick Me! with the distributor. More details on that as they come. I additionally have registered the copyright of the film with the US Copyright Office. I found out that you have to list the company producing the film if more people than yourself worked on it. I’m just learning these things.
Pray for my success.
Anna Sahlstrom.com 