Behind the Scenes of My First Commercial

So, my meeting with David McDermott at JGD went really well and he now represents me on a freelance basis. The day after we met, I was sent out on an audition for Bank of America. I was given a callback and went on to book the commercial!! This is my very first real commercial and I was super excited, I still am!

So, the BoA commercial that I shot was shot POV style and I had to wear a special camera helmet to capture the proper visual effect. Two days before the shoot, I had to go to the studio for a rehearsal with the helmet. When I was on set, the crew was still putting the final touches on the camera and I knew it was going to be very heavy. Luckily, I had brought my big beanie hat with me and wearing that under the helmet gave me a great deal of cushion. The director had me walk around the set a bit and gave me specific directions. The camera on the helmet was connected to several monitors that allowed the producers and crew to see exactly what was being captured.

The day of the shoot, I arrived at about 10:30am and went straight to craft services! There was SO.MUCH.FOOD. I sat in the holding room and met some of the other actors that would be in a few of the scenes with me. I didn't realize until the day of shooting that I was the "star" of my spot. There were four spots being shot over the course of two days and I was the last one. The others involved a mom and her two children, a young business man traveling for work, and a hip artist living with his two dogs. My character was Kaye, a young college grad hanging with friends and celebrating her birthday.

Because the equipment that I had to wear was so heavy and restrictive, I was really doted on. The director, AD and DP (assistant director and director of photography) constantly asked how I was, brought me water and tea when I wanted, and gave me pillows to make me comfortable. Here's a video of me, Chef the AD (who liked to call himself chocolate thunder), and in the background wearing the striped shirt is Pat, the DP.

Once we began shooting around 1pm, it went pretty quickly, only taking about 5-6 hours. My first scene was in full makeup and dress, the only scene where you will actually see my face. Then we shot the other three POV scenes: hanging with my friends at a burger joint, at home in my apartment alone, and at dinner celebrating my birthday. The equipment was pretty heavy and the shooting style was very technical and somewhat difficult. The were certain shots where I had to look down or move sideways, but because the camera was so heavy, Pat had to stand behind me and literally guide my head wherever I needed to point the camera. It was very meticulous.

Everyone was so cool and laid back, and I had the best time ever. The day really flew by and I was a bit sad to leave. I felt really special when the director have me a big hug after the shoot. He told me that he only chooses the best and he knew when he saw me at the casting that I would be great. All of the producers told me how wonderful I was and that my next commercial needs to be for toothpaste! :)

Being silly.

My "friends" in the commercial. This shot is exactly the way it will look on film from my POV. Pretty cool huh?

I was in this thing for hours! Ok, a few breaks in between.

Progress Report

1. Booked a photoshoot for Baked Lays/Sun Ships but had to turn it down because it shot the same day as the BoA commercial. :(

2. My manager set me up with Michele Bianculli, the head of the new commercial department at Stewart Talent. I met with her yesterday and the meeting went very well. She told me she would get the rest of my info from my manager and we would move from there.

3. On Thursday, my manager got me a meeting with a commercial agent at Innovative Artists and I'm crazy excited about that. Most actors/models know that Innovative is one of the THE biggest agencies out there, both East and West coast, so this is a great opportunity. I hope I'm able to impress them.

4. I have an audition tomorrow for a Macy's SAG industrial.

Babies R Us...Again

I have the worst cold ever! Sunday I woke up and could barely move my body. My throat was sore and I couldn't breathe through my nose. I called in sick and literally stayed on the couch all day drinking apple juice. I had to send my honey to the corner store twice. I needed to feel better because I knew the next day was going to be a long one. I was shooting for Babies R Us again and had to be on set at 12:30 which isn't that early, but the shoots are in New Jersey. I fucking hate going to New Jersey.

I got to the set and for this particular shoot there weren't going to be any children, it was a baby shower theme. The other two models were my age, and we thought it was funny that they always cast really young women to play the moms. Apparently, according to one of the other models, when BRU does consumer polls, the majority of the women have the most positive reaction to ads with very young moms. Who knew?

So anyway, the shoot only took about 3 hours and we spent most of the time sitting around and talking. I was surprised by the length of the shoot because the other two times I shot with them, I was only there for about half an hour or so. I felt horrible for one of the other girls, she had an audition for one of the big soap operas at 3pm and totally didn't make it. We didn't get out until 3:15. I wonder if she still got to audition?

These particular ads are supposed to run in all of the parenting magazines so I'll keep an eye out for the next few months. Those would be some great tear sheets for my book.

Progress Report

Tomorrow is a pretty big day!

1. I have an audition for short film that pays per day. I love those.

2. My manager, Chris, set me up with a meeting with a commercial agent tomorrow morning. His name is David McDermott and he's with Jordan, Gill & Dornbaum or JGD. I've heard great things about this agency, although I didn't know they worked with adults, so that's really cool. Chris told me that David is a great guy and very well respected. I'm super excited I really hope that he likes me. It's like Chris read my mind or something because I've been searching around for a commercial agent to submit to.

Hey Y'all

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Okay, now that I got that out of the way I just want to apologize for being so MIA these past few weeks. December was one of the most stressful, roller coaster months I've ever had. Lots of highs, but a few lows to go with them. If I explain every single thing that went down this post would never end. So instead of that, I'm just going to make a list for you to quickly catch up on.

1. I booked Soft and Beautiful. I was then replaced two days before shooting because a.) they wanted to texturize my hair AND cut it after I'd already told them no and b.) the hairstylist burned the entire front section of my hair off with a curling iron during a hair prep session. Yes, you read that correctly, he burned my hair off. After I became upset (sobbing) and had to call my agency (CESD) I left the salon after having been there for nearly 7 hours. I had to threaten legal action in order to be paid for my time. I was devastated by this turn of events and cried for several days. Not only did I (through no fault of my own) lose out on a huge opportunity and paycheck, I had to cut out three sections of hair.

2. My Prestige agency is now known as PMG Models, but on the acting side, it is still Prestige Management Group.

3. I signed with a manager at Prestige. WOO HOO!!! Christopher Silveri, my manager (still getting used to saying that!) had set up a showcase the day after my Soft and Beautiful fiasco with Jed Abrams, an acting agent at Talent House. I went in a performed sides and a monologue for Chris, Jed, and two others. Chris called me in the next day and told me that he loved me, thinks I can be a star and that he wants to sign me. He also said that Jed loved me and wanted to me to come to his agency and meet his partner, Pete. I signed with Chris a few days later.

4. I met with Jed and Pete, read for them, and sent in a taped audition. They want to do an exclusive freelance with me for pilot season and if I get good feedback, they may sign me.

5. I've shot for Babies R Us...twice, and I'm shooting with them again tomorrow. I guess this means they like me??

Other than this, I've been slowly getting back into the swing of things, I'm still kind of tired from the roller coaster ride that December took me on, but I'm excited about the next several weeks and what's to come. I've narrowed down my acting school choices to a handful of prospects and I'm excited to get back into class, it's been too much time. I will not be making a list of goals right now because I'm not really sure what they are at the moment, I'm just kind of going with the wind right now until I'm able to refocus.