Producing
I'm back in the producer's seat again. Tara and I hired a wonderful talent by the name of Rachel Goldberg to  direct Muted and things have been pretty much nonstop since then. We've posted a breakdown and requested some of the actors to put themselves on tape. We're meeting with DP's (another word for cameramen mom/grandma). We're putting the final touches on our Kickstarter (fundraising) campaign and we're even planning a party to kick it off which should be a lot of fun.

Writing
I finished draft 3 of my screenplay. I'm happy with its progress but I know it's time to get a script consultant to read it. I have a few in mind but my funds are reserved for other more pressing needs right now so unless they're willing to barter their services for some baked goods, I have to wait.

Acting
I filmed a nice procedural scene with my classmate & friend Yvonne. It's still being edited but we were very happy with the rough cut. No audition updates, yet, but I'll keep submitting knowing that my roles are right around the corner.

Headshots
My agents want me to get new headshots and I'd love to but my funds are being saved for another car. As soon as we get a second car (which will hopefully be in the next 4 weeks), then I can start planning my shoot. I've already selected the photographer and my agents were very specific about the looks they want me to capture so I've just gotta book the shoot. In the meantime, my buddy Hugo shot these:

Pretty happy with them! Though I'm really giving someone the evil eye in that second one. :-)

Day Job
So already I'm sick of transcribing. It was fine when I was doing it as a supplemental thing but to do it every day for such a small amount of pay is ridiculously monotonous. If I were to go back to working at a production company then the pay would be a lot better but as an independent contractor working from home, it's low (and will be even lower once taxes are paid on them next year). So I'm back in the day job seeking hunt once again. I even thought about going back to waitressing but that makes my soul shudder at the very thought. I love people and I love food but working as a server can really make you hate both and I just don't wanna do that. I've been looking at Event Sales and Event Coordinator jobs lately and I just had an interview today that went really well. I have to do a second interview with the owners of the venue and I'm hoping to knock it out of the park as I'd be coordinating a lot of birthday parties, premiere parties, screenings, wrap parties, etc. - all events that I enjoy working on. So we'll see.

Only one more week left in March and then the first quarter of the year is over. Crazy right?

Well it's been a whirlwind few months for me. In good news I signed with a new commercial agency, Brick Entertainment, and have gone out a handful of times already so yay for that! I was also selected as a mentee for the mentor circles that Women In Film are spearheading this year and recently attended my first mentor meeting. LOVED IT!! The ladies in my group are all intelligent, ambitious, driven and so incredibly diverse that I'm really looking forward to seeing how all of us grow and stretch and accomplish our goals over the next 12 months.

On the personal tip, I left my day job. Well I didn't completely leave it. I still come in on Monday mornings and do paperwork for about 2 hours but I'm no longer an office manager. This is both gratifying and terrifying. It's wonderful because now all of my mental space & energy that was being consumed by this job over the last 8 months has been released! But it's also terrifying because I have bills to pay. Rent's gotta be paid, kids have to eat, a car NEEDS to be bought and let's not forget the never-ending expenses that come with the pursuit of an acting career. So, to make up for the hit to my bank account, I've signed on to work from home with 3 transcription companies. The work is tedious and confidential (so don't ask me which shows I transcribe) but I get to set my own schedule and, more importantly, telecommute. Such a beautiful thing!

In addition to transcribing, I've also launched my home bakery business - Sugar Swag Bakeshoppe - and I'm having SO MUCH FUN creating custom goodies for friends and family. Don't worry, I'm not gonna turn this into a food blog, but you can expect to see pics of any sweet treats I create that are entertainment industry related so you've been warned. :-)

What else? I'm sure there's more to share but that's enough for one post. Hope you're all well and making most of this (fast) year as it whizzes by.

Kate Walsh talks about how age ain't nothing but a number. Love this!

For the last 8 months I've been working on a deal that fell apart earlier this week. The short version is that we (Tara & I) reached out to a well-known actress (she's a series regular who also acts in feature films) whom we read was beginning to transition into directing. We sent her manager the script, she loved it, she met with us (which was SO awesome) and all we had to do was figure out the scheduling. Well since our meeting she's gone on to act in a short, act in a feature, direct her first feature and now her TV show has gone back into production (of which she's recently been offered to direct an episode of as well) so despite all our efforts we just couldn't get around scheduling conflicts. *Sigh* We were SO close! This left me kinda bummed and feeling like last year was a bust until I read this awesome post from my friend DaJuan. Here's a snippet:

"I bet that if you look back to January 2012 you’ll see you are in a much different place than January 2013. Sure you may not be on the tv show you want to be on yet or you did not sign with that new agent you wanted to land — but, it’s COMING. You have to believe that... “REMEMBER THE WINS.” Sometimes we just forget how awesome we are doing and need to be reminded. It helps to keep a list of your accomplishments somewhere visible. Yup, write them down. Call it your 2012 WIN LIST if you like... Anything goes here and hey, it’s your list nobody else has to see it. By doing this you will have a tangible visual to help remind you how far you’ve really come. I’ve said this before, sometimes in our business there aren’t a lot of tangible things to show our accomplishments. This helps calm my anxiety and I can say, oh yeah, I forgot — THAT HAPPENED."

1. Wrote a short
2. Wrote a feature (extended said short)
3. Said feature advanced to the final round of consideration for the 2013 Sundance Screenwriters Lab
4. Established a relationship with the CD's and associates at one of the top casting offices in town via a weekly volunteer position.
5. Joined SAG-AFTRA
6. Met with a HUGE manager with multiple A-list clients 
7. Had lunch with said A-list client of whom I've been a fan of for years and she was every bit as nice and down to earth as I'd hoped she'd be! 
8. Learned that anyone in this industry is accessible - we just gotta get over our fear of reaching out (This discovery was huge for me!)
9. Had 7 auditions
10. Booked the webseries Math to the Rescue and the training video ABLE with Group 1 Productions
11. Booked an industrial for Hertz with High Heat Media
12. Attended 27 networking events
13. Had two successful table reads of my short. The first I organized on my own and had a bunch of friends help me out. The second came months later and was part of a weekly workshop put on by We Make Movies where writers can submit their work for actors to read on stage. Both reads were incredibly helpful in terms of shaping the characters and refining the plot and I made some new friends from the WMM read which is always nice.
14. Did 4 cd/agent/manager workshops
15. Started a monthly goal accountability group
16. Had 15 coffee/lunch dates
17. Opened a business account for our pending production
18. Celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary
19. Found a great & affordable facial cleanser (as someone who's struggled with breakouts all my life, this makes me very happy!)
20. Made my first cake pop sale (yeah I'm a budding baker now, a topic for a later post)

Compiling this list helped me feel SO MUCH BETTER about the last 12 months and served as a good reminder that we're usually a lot harder on ourselves (and our PERCEIVED lack of accomplishments) than we should be. Again, Dajuan:

"Finally it also helps to remember that although you don’t see it sometimes you have just laid brilliant seeds for things to come. Which may not look like much, but down the road when everything comes together so wonderfully it will all make sense."

Amen, amen and amen!

What are your 2012 wins - personal, professional or otherwise? You don't have to share them with the world but write them down somewhere to remind yourself.

I haven't blogged consistently in a while but I think this year I'll be getting back to that. Going too long without getting out my feelings & experiences doesn't work for me. It just makes me feel like I'm taking everything in without releasing it back out into the world and letting it go - and my blog helps me to do that. 

So with that said, Happy New Year! 

May this be the best year of your life financially, emotionally, physically and in every other way possible.

We all want the work we're making to be as good as our ambitions but it takes time (and a lot of work) to get there. This video is such a simple yet effective reminder of that.


Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Click this link if you can't see the embedded video above: http://vimeo.com/24715531

"Dear Brandi,
We are pleased to inform you that your script MISSING has been selected for the second round of consideration for the 2013 Sundance Screenwriters Lab!" 

That was the news I got via email about 3 weeks ago and needless to say, I was thrilled! I was also under the gun as I had to send them the complete script for the second round by August 17th (only had to send the first 5 pages along with all this supplemental material like a synopsis, my vision for the project, my bio, etc.) but I've always worked best under pressure and I'm proud to say I finished the first draft in the nick of time.

According to their site, this is what will happen next: Filmmakers selected for the second stage of the review process are asked to submit full screenplays of their projects, which are reviewed by Institute staff. A short list of projects is then recommended to a Selection Advisory Committee comprised of writers, directors, and independent producers who work with the staff to make final decisions.

Ultimately only 12 projects will be selected for participation in the lab and while I'd LOVE for my script to be among them, I'm very happy that this news forced me to complete writing my first feature, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.


In other news I recently participated in a manager and agent showcase at SKS and I've started a support group of actors, writers and other industry folk called 3-2-1 that meets once a month to discuss 3 goals we will work towards achieving, 2 industry people we will contact and 1 person or organization that we will help. I'm very pleased with how motivating, supportive and collaborative the group has already become and I look forward to wonderful things happening because of it.

Finally, as the summer starts winding down and episodic season begins winding up, it's time for me to really get focused on what the hell I'm doing on the acting front. I mean literally, nothing's happening right now. Mind you, that's not a complaint, just a reality. My reality. I have friends and colleagues who are going on plenty of auditions right now but that's just not me. Part of it is that I'm unrepped (my commercial agent dropped me back in May) and have been really focused on working on my short. But a bigger part of it is that casting directors don't know who I am, so I have to change that. And now that I have a day job that I'm really liking and hoping will work for the long haul (we'll get to that on a later post) I really don't have the time to intern. What does that mean?...

Time to dip my toes into the CD workshop waters. Ah the controversy! Yes it's "pay to play" and no, I'm not a fan but I've come to accept that it is what it is. It's certainly not the best or only option out there for building relationships with casting directors but it is a popular one and it's one I'm going to test out over the next few months. We shall see what comes of it.

This is EXACTLY how I've been feeling lately! I'm Jennifer and the ballroom dancers all rolled into one...



Got some great things in the works. Don't wanna share until everything is signed and it's a done deal but just know that I'm in a really fantastic headspace right now.  Loving my family, loving my friends, loving my LIFE in general and truly Focusing On The Work as I said I would this year.

Hope you are all doing well.

Shot this scene for Kirsten's reel. Loving how my twist-out looked. :-)