Zip On Your Alligator Skin

Hi all,

Happy Mother’s Day!  I made sure to call my Mom today because I love her so much.  We’ve really become friends as well as mother and daughter.

Today’s blog title comes from one of the panels that I attended at the Film in California Conference two weekends ago.  The event was held at LA Center Studios and has been going on for many years.  The keynote speaker was the amazing actor, Courtney B. Vance, who got his start in professional theatre.  I needed to go home early due to a conference call for the 48-hr Film Challenge team that I was chosen for.  I was one of many actors so I will have to hear if the script they write for the competition has an acting role for me.  Whatever happens, I will help them out any way they need.  As you’ll recall, I’ve been on three 48-hr film challenge teams, including the IFP Phoenix 48-hr Film Challenge from which Business Casual came.  Well, the second panel I attended that day was about women who work behind the scenes.  The panel included TV director Millicent Shelton, cinematographer Loren Yaconelli, Chief Creative Officer Rachel Shane, and veteran Production Designer Jeannine Oppewall, who all talked about being a woman in the industry and how they have made their mark in male-dominated positions.  I really loved when in response to the question about who inspired them, Jeannine Oppewall responded that she was her best support and motivation back when she was one of the few female production designers.  She also said that every morning she “zipped on [her] alligator skin,” which is a motto I need to use from now on.  The industry will be tough and I’ve got to just push through.  While I have never wanted to have a technical position, I can certainly take my inspiration and motivation from any of the veteran ladies in the industry.  There was also a panel for the Amazon series, Bosch, which is exclusively filmed in and around Downtown LA.  It sounded like an interesting cop series, which my Mom would love if she had an Amazon subscription.  My parents now have a Netflix subscription, which can have additional users, so now I can watch anything on Netflix!  Unfortunately, The Handmaid’s Tale is on Hulu so I can’t watch that right now.  And there were exhibitors from every county of California with free cookies, chocolate, phone chargers, and even popcorn.  Of course, I also picked up the brochures and business cards even though I have no idea how I’m going to film in San Francisco.

This past week I auditioned for Mary Poppins at Glendale Centre Theatre and I got a dance callback, but I haven’t heard if I was cast yet.  I’ve gone on EPAs for other theatre productions and no news from them yet.  I will be sending in a self-tape audition for a staged reading of a brand new play in Louisville, Kentucky, which will be in June.  And I have another self-tape for a table reading of a pilot that I procrastinated on.  Then, I had an audition for a paid short film yesterday for the cutthroat CEO/Agent in a Black Mirror/Westworld type of world.  I did have an acting teacher say I had an extreme casting.  So, I’ve got some auditions right now but I hope for bigger, Union bookings on recognizable TV shows, plays, musicals, and films.  I’m praying to God double time to make it all work out.