I called this blog Journey to Shine for a couple reasons. First, it was so new and exciting and I wanted to remember all the details about it. Also, since so many people were helping us with fundraising, it was nice to be able to keep them in the loop. Also, I really felt like this whole thing could stop with Shine. I didn't want to go into it anticipating that she'd be signed or do movies or tv or modeling or anything at all. We were all content from the start that the road to get to Shine would be good enough, even if that's all it was. I didn't want to think past that.
As it turns out though, that isn't the end of it. She has been signed with an agency! It feels very surreal. We've got contracts and child actor work permits and she's submitted to three different casting websites. I'm getting multiple notices everyday for projects she could audition for. Most of them are in New York, so they're not an option, but it makes me feel all cool and insider-y to know what things are in production and what is being cast. She got one about a new crime drama that they're shooting the pilot for right now, and another that's a TV movie starring Sam Neill. And we did get one directly from her agent last night that's a casting for a Nike commercial. It's tomorrow OR Friday, about three hours away, and we just don't have that kind of flexibility in our schedules right now, so I'm not submitting her for it. I see why so many people choose to homeschool in this business. The interview to land her agent was at 1:00 on a Tuesday and I pulled her out of school to do it. She gets good grades and I'm not worried about doing it every once in awhile, but I could see running into problems if she gets busy.
She hasn't gone on any actual auditions for roles yet, so things are just trucking along with regular life right now. At any time though, we could get word from her agent. I really like saying that. My girl? She has an agent.
See? You can check her out here.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Prayers
I love listening to G pray at bedtime. Many times it shows so deeply what's on her heart. We're scheduled to have a followup with an agency in the next week or two and she had such wise words about it. "Lord, help them to see my passion and to like me. And Lord, if they don't, bless the girl they take instead." She went on some more and just sounded so sweet and humble and grownup I was almost in tears by the time she was finished.
And then at the end she said, "And also God, please send me a pony. Amen."
Yup, she's growing, but got a ways to go yet.... I couldn't stop laughing.
And then at the end she said, "And also God, please send me a pony. Amen."
Yup, she's growing, but got a ways to go yet.... I couldn't stop laughing.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Sunday
Our last day at Shine! This was the day that was stressing me out the most in terms of making sure we had everything right- flash interviews and callbacks! We had our team meeting first thing in the morning and were given our callbacks envelope. 86% of the Dallas Hub received at least one callback, and they told us that the audition we had done the night before counted as one. So we knew there was a chance our envelope would be empty, with no new callbacks, but I made sure to pump her up and remind her that she DID have at least one and we're so proud no matter what and God's timing is magnificent.
Her envelope had two more callbacks. Happy Mama, happy girl. One was with an agency in LA, which was very exciting but not super realistic for our current situation. But again, you never know, and God's provision over us had been amazing up to now, so why would we think it would suddenly change? The other one was for a Dallas agency, which made me really excited. My favorite scenario for her is that she sign with a local agency and do modeling- print work, maybe some commercials or small acting jobs, while she builds her resume. Much more attainable for us.
So, with a total of three callbacks, it was time for flash interviews. We had gone through the hefty list of attending VIPs and decided who was high on our agenda for meeting. Cross off all the singing and dancing agents, cross off the ones who don't see kids, and then check location and specialty for the rest to create a list. We would see the three callbacks later in the afternoon, so now was the chance to meet with some of the others, give them her resume and/or model card, and talk to them face to face. She was supposed to be prepared to talk for 60 seconds about herself, interests, personal things about the VIP that she knew, anything to keep the ball rolling, while answering any questions they might ask. I was not supposed to step in, no matter what she was saying or not saying, unless I was specifically spoken to. It was hard. I wanted to remind her to tell them things or stop saying "like, um..." But alas, I was not allowed.
It went well, as far as I could tell. We spoke with quite a few. A different LA agent was really super nice and said that if we ever decided to relocate to LA, she wanted us to call her and set up a meeting in her office. Made us feel good.
It was pretty tiring though. G lost steam after about an hour and was ready to go, and I figured there was no point in standing in line to talk to more people if she was going to look all droopy and not be at her best to speak to them. So we went and had lunch and got ready for her callbacks.
The lady from Katz Kasting said we didn't need to stand in her line, since our callback audition had already taken place. So we talked to the LA agent, who asked Gilly different questions than she was expecting and threw her off. We had heard her talking to the boy in front of us- tell me about yourself, what's been your favorite part of the week, stuff like that. She asked G what her career goals were as an actor. I don't think that's something that she ever really hammered out an answer for ahead of time. So she stumbled a little and then told the lady that she wanted to be the pink Power Ranger. At least she came up with something. I still wanted to do a face palm though. Really? That's all you got, sugar? The agent chuckled and said she had a few years to go before she could really think about that, nice to meet you bye. I don't honestly expect to hear from her, especially since we do live far. But who knows? Maybe that was a memorable and honest answer that will work in her favor down the road.
Then we met with the Dallas agency rep, who said she'd like G to work on a sixty second memorized monologue and prepare for a cold read. We're supposed to go to the office the first week of February. Very exciting.
After that, it was SO NICE to be done with everything! We went back to the hotel room and got ready for the fancypants banquet, followed by the dance party.
I love this dress. We borrowed it from her bestie Kenzie, and it fit so nicely. Really good for the humid Florida weather, and fancy enough to make her feel awesome.
New friend. Love this girl and her mama. I wish we lived a little closer to them. I would stalk her a bit. In a good way. She has a great cooking blog. You should go read it. But not right now.
Here's Trevor. He's 18. He told G to come sit on his lap and they both got the giggles. I love listening to him sing. And he still calls his mama "Mommy". Warms my heart.
And here is G with our roommate. She was such a doll. We got very blessed with roommates.
So we ate the dinner, which was very bad. They did have gluten free plates available for us, so I really shouldn't complain. At least we got to eat something we knew was safe. It just didn't taste all that good. But it was okay. The chocolate mousse was nice.
After dinner there was a big awards show. They did a three minute highlights reel to kick it off with some of the best performances of the week. G's runway walk was on there, which was exciting.
Even more exciting? They called her name as a finalist for Overall Female Child Model. Mama screamed real loud. And she didn't win it, but she was a finalist!!! Woo hoo!!! It's still something we get to put on her resume, and right now her name is on a list on the main AMTC website. After it was over we all got to go back up onstage and she threw confetti in the air. The stage lights are kind of glaring, but I SO MUCH love this picture.
Pretty much sums up our week. God is amazing.
G's fabulous acting coach, Ms Chey
Our fearless and wonderful team leader, Ms Gina, who answered my questions and saved my bacon many times over. I love her.
After awards, with child achievements, model finalist, and her friend as actor finalist.
All four roommates living large. Such a great way to end our time in Orlando.
After that we went to a crazy loud dance party and then packed like madmen and left the hotel at 5:45 am the next morning. We realized at the airport that we'd left her special bear that she's slept with since she was 2 in the hotel bed. And at that point she lost it. She'd been SO good the whole week, never complained once about being tired or having to be on best behavior, but the thought of losing Almond was just too much. She sat down on the airport floor and sobbed. It was horrifying. Really, it was one of those moments as a parent where you would do anything, spend any amount of money, just to fix it for your kid. I couldn't let that be the last thing she remembered. So I marched her into the universal studios gift shop and spent too much money on the stuffed Hedwig I'd previously said I wouldn't buy, and then spent a few nerve-wracking minutes on the phone with the hotel. They found him. They said they'd ship him home. They did. I haven't seen my credit card statement but I don't even care how much they charged me to do it. We're all home. Me, my girl, her trophies, Almond, and about a thousand perfect memories. It's all been worth it.
Her envelope had two more callbacks. Happy Mama, happy girl. One was with an agency in LA, which was very exciting but not super realistic for our current situation. But again, you never know, and God's provision over us had been amazing up to now, so why would we think it would suddenly change? The other one was for a Dallas agency, which made me really excited. My favorite scenario for her is that she sign with a local agency and do modeling- print work, maybe some commercials or small acting jobs, while she builds her resume. Much more attainable for us.
So, with a total of three callbacks, it was time for flash interviews. We had gone through the hefty list of attending VIPs and decided who was high on our agenda for meeting. Cross off all the singing and dancing agents, cross off the ones who don't see kids, and then check location and specialty for the rest to create a list. We would see the three callbacks later in the afternoon, so now was the chance to meet with some of the others, give them her resume and/or model card, and talk to them face to face. She was supposed to be prepared to talk for 60 seconds about herself, interests, personal things about the VIP that she knew, anything to keep the ball rolling, while answering any questions they might ask. I was not supposed to step in, no matter what she was saying or not saying, unless I was specifically spoken to. It was hard. I wanted to remind her to tell them things or stop saying "like, um..." But alas, I was not allowed.
It went well, as far as I could tell. We spoke with quite a few. A different LA agent was really super nice and said that if we ever decided to relocate to LA, she wanted us to call her and set up a meeting in her office. Made us feel good.
It was pretty tiring though. G lost steam after about an hour and was ready to go, and I figured there was no point in standing in line to talk to more people if she was going to look all droopy and not be at her best to speak to them. So we went and had lunch and got ready for her callbacks.
The lady from Katz Kasting said we didn't need to stand in her line, since our callback audition had already taken place. So we talked to the LA agent, who asked Gilly different questions than she was expecting and threw her off. We had heard her talking to the boy in front of us- tell me about yourself, what's been your favorite part of the week, stuff like that. She asked G what her career goals were as an actor. I don't think that's something that she ever really hammered out an answer for ahead of time. So she stumbled a little and then told the lady that she wanted to be the pink Power Ranger. At least she came up with something. I still wanted to do a face palm though. Really? That's all you got, sugar? The agent chuckled and said she had a few years to go before she could really think about that, nice to meet you bye. I don't honestly expect to hear from her, especially since we do live far. But who knows? Maybe that was a memorable and honest answer that will work in her favor down the road.
Then we met with the Dallas agency rep, who said she'd like G to work on a sixty second memorized monologue and prepare for a cold read. We're supposed to go to the office the first week of February. Very exciting.
After that, it was SO NICE to be done with everything! We went back to the hotel room and got ready for the fancypants banquet, followed by the dance party.
I love this dress. We borrowed it from her bestie Kenzie, and it fit so nicely. Really good for the humid Florida weather, and fancy enough to make her feel awesome.
Here's Trevor. He's 18. He told G to come sit on his lap and they both got the giggles. I love listening to him sing. And he still calls his mama "Mommy". Warms my heart.
And here is G with our roommate. She was such a doll. We got very blessed with roommates.
So we ate the dinner, which was very bad. They did have gluten free plates available for us, so I really shouldn't complain. At least we got to eat something we knew was safe. It just didn't taste all that good. But it was okay. The chocolate mousse was nice.
After dinner there was a big awards show. They did a three minute highlights reel to kick it off with some of the best performances of the week. G's runway walk was on there, which was exciting.
Even more exciting? They called her name as a finalist for Overall Female Child Model. Mama screamed real loud. And she didn't win it, but she was a finalist!!! Woo hoo!!! It's still something we get to put on her resume, and right now her name is on a list on the main AMTC website. After it was over we all got to go back up onstage and she threw confetti in the air. The stage lights are kind of glaring, but I SO MUCH love this picture.
Our fearless and wonderful team leader, Ms Gina, who answered my questions and saved my bacon many times over. I love her.
After awards, with child achievements, model finalist, and her friend as actor finalist.
After that we went to a crazy loud dance party and then packed like madmen and left the hotel at 5:45 am the next morning. We realized at the airport that we'd left her special bear that she's slept with since she was 2 in the hotel bed. And at that point she lost it. She'd been SO good the whole week, never complained once about being tired or having to be on best behavior, but the thought of losing Almond was just too much. She sat down on the airport floor and sobbed. It was horrifying. Really, it was one of those moments as a parent where you would do anything, spend any amount of money, just to fix it for your kid. I couldn't let that be the last thing she remembered. So I marched her into the universal studios gift shop and spent too much money on the stuffed Hedwig I'd previously said I wouldn't buy, and then spent a few nerve-wracking minutes on the phone with the hotel. They found him. They said they'd ship him home. They did. I haven't seen my credit card statement but I don't even care how much they charged me to do it. We're all home. Me, my girl, her trophies, Almond, and about a thousand perfect memories. It's all been worth it.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Saturday
This is why I wish so much that the ipad had been cooperating- I think it was more fun to blog daily before I knew what was going to happen. It's harder now to write only about what we felt on Saturday, when we know now what happened during the following days. But oh well. You do what you can. I'll blog until I'm tired and that will be a post. Maybe this is the last one, maybe there are more. We'll just have to see.
Saturday morning was her last showcase- kid runway. Before we got to Shine this was by far her favorite. Now that we've gotten through an intense week of acting, she can't decide which one she likes best. The acting bug has definitely bitten her. And while she's really fun to watch during acting, I get nervous for her. My favorite to watch is the modeling because she's herself. She doesn't look nervous at all, she's got a big smile and a casual jaunty walk and she looks like she's having the time of her life. There are no lines to flub or choices to make. Just be you. And of course some people hate it and don't look natural and feel scared, but she doesn't. So it's my favorite.
After that we had promised the girls we'd go get ice cream. There was a Haagen Dazs shop in the hotel which we had avoided all week because they talked so much about healthy eating and giving your body the best fuel for its work. Absolutely true. But sometimes after you're done you need to celebrate with a little ice cream.
We met some amazing friends this week that I hope we continue to keep in contact with. AMTC families are pretty much just awesome- I would have any of these girls AND their mamas over any day of the week. It was really fun to enjoy mom time with people who completely understood what we've been doing these last eight months.
During the afternoon we had one more seminar and then it was time to get ready for the acting finale. They streamed it live, so some of you might already have had the joy of sitting through the entire thing. For which I thank you. Sometimes it's not as fun to do when you're not a judging VIP and when you don't know any of the people. If you want to go see it now, it's online here, click acting finale 2013. Her scene read begins at 17:56 and her group improv is at 57:20. The talent finale is on there too. It's called AMTC 2013. She wasn't in it because she didn't do singing or dancing, but it's kind of fun to watch. Some of the people are super talented. The beginning has some more well known AMTC grads who came back to perform. Mathai who was on Adam Levine's team for The Voice in season 2 did a song. And then she signed autographs after. Gillian was so giddy!
She's just as beautiful and talented in person as she was on tv, and she's SO NICE.
After all that was done, we went to dinner at a restaurant in the hotel with a bunch of friends and then went back to check the boards again. They'd been telling us all week that some of the agents were planning to leave early and would be posting their callbacks whenever it was convenient for them. If you missed seeing your number on the board and didn't go to your callback, you pretty much just blow your chance at working with that agent. So we checked it a lot, and good thing, because we had a callback scheduled for 10 pm that night which would be an actual film audition!
The agency is local to our area, so they called back pretty much everybody in our team who could fit the specs for the look of the part. It was supposed to be a 12 year old mean girl with heavy makeup and a pink streak in her hair. And honestly that's a bit of a stretch for my fresh-faced 9 year old who hates to be mean to anybody and just started acting. But hey, you never know, and every audition gives her more experience and advice that could help her later. Plus even if this part didn't work for her, it gets her in front of the casting director who is probably working on multiple projects and maybe could use her in something else.
So she did the audition. She felt like it went well. We didn't get a second callback for the part though- some of the other girls were asked to go to the set next Saturday to do another audition with the director. I know that was confusing when I was talking about it before- yes it was a callback, but we didn't get a callback from the callback, if that makes better sense. :) They did say that they're going to need four or five more girls for non-speaking extras in the hallways and stuff and they might contact us this week if she's got the right look for one of those.
She was a little bummed about it when we got back to the room but I was really proud of her attitude. " I got a callback mama! And even though I'm not gonna get this part, one of my friends will probably get it! That's so awesome, and God has something different planned for me. It will be okay."
Saturday morning was her last showcase- kid runway. Before we got to Shine this was by far her favorite. Now that we've gotten through an intense week of acting, she can't decide which one she likes best. The acting bug has definitely bitten her. And while she's really fun to watch during acting, I get nervous for her. My favorite to watch is the modeling because she's herself. She doesn't look nervous at all, she's got a big smile and a casual jaunty walk and she looks like she's having the time of her life. There are no lines to flub or choices to make. Just be you. And of course some people hate it and don't look natural and feel scared, but she doesn't. So it's my favorite.
After that we had promised the girls we'd go get ice cream. There was a Haagen Dazs shop in the hotel which we had avoided all week because they talked so much about healthy eating and giving your body the best fuel for its work. Absolutely true. But sometimes after you're done you need to celebrate with a little ice cream.
We met some amazing friends this week that I hope we continue to keep in contact with. AMTC families are pretty much just awesome- I would have any of these girls AND their mamas over any day of the week. It was really fun to enjoy mom time with people who completely understood what we've been doing these last eight months.
During the afternoon we had one more seminar and then it was time to get ready for the acting finale. They streamed it live, so some of you might already have had the joy of sitting through the entire thing. For which I thank you. Sometimes it's not as fun to do when you're not a judging VIP and when you don't know any of the people. If you want to go see it now, it's online here, click acting finale 2013. Her scene read begins at 17:56 and her group improv is at 57:20. The talent finale is on there too. It's called AMTC 2013. She wasn't in it because she didn't do singing or dancing, but it's kind of fun to watch. Some of the people are super talented. The beginning has some more well known AMTC grads who came back to perform. Mathai who was on Adam Levine's team for The Voice in season 2 did a song. And then she signed autographs after. Gillian was so giddy!
She's just as beautiful and talented in person as she was on tv, and she's SO NICE.
After all that was done, we went to dinner at a restaurant in the hotel with a bunch of friends and then went back to check the boards again. They'd been telling us all week that some of the agents were planning to leave early and would be posting their callbacks whenever it was convenient for them. If you missed seeing your number on the board and didn't go to your callback, you pretty much just blow your chance at working with that agent. So we checked it a lot, and good thing, because we had a callback scheduled for 10 pm that night which would be an actual film audition!
The agency is local to our area, so they called back pretty much everybody in our team who could fit the specs for the look of the part. It was supposed to be a 12 year old mean girl with heavy makeup and a pink streak in her hair. And honestly that's a bit of a stretch for my fresh-faced 9 year old who hates to be mean to anybody and just started acting. But hey, you never know, and every audition gives her more experience and advice that could help her later. Plus even if this part didn't work for her, it gets her in front of the casting director who is probably working on multiple projects and maybe could use her in something else.
So she did the audition. She felt like it went well. We didn't get a second callback for the part though- some of the other girls were asked to go to the set next Saturday to do another audition with the director. I know that was confusing when I was talking about it before- yes it was a callback, but we didn't get a callback from the callback, if that makes better sense. :) They did say that they're going to need four or five more girls for non-speaking extras in the hallways and stuff and they might contact us this week if she's got the right look for one of those.
She was a little bummed about it when we got back to the room but I was really proud of her attitude. " I got a callback mama! And even though I'm not gonna get this part, one of my friends will probably get it! That's so awesome, and God has something different planned for me. It will be okay."
Friday!
Okay! The team leader said Thursday was the day she usually starts to see people unravel but I vote for Friday. Good grief I am tired. We kicked off our day with a seminar from a VIP at Game Changing Films, talking about casting sports in movies. It was pretty cool. You don't really think about the fact that if a lead character is on a team, you have to cast a whole field full of two teams of kids who can actually play the sport. I think it really made G take a second look at whether or not she wants to stick with softball. She had talked about taking a break from it but she's definitely reconsidering!
She had three showcases today. First up was photography. That one was just really fun. She wore her AMTC tshirt and denim and went out on stage to do her slate while the ginormous screens showed a couple of her shots from the photo shoot. Very cool. And she talked about playing softball. :)
Then she did cold read, which is the one she was most nervous about. It's
**this is how much of it actually saved. After Thursday's post got eaten, I rewrote it and posted it on Friday. Then I wrote a HUGE post finishing this one. It took me an hour. I hit publish and poof! all gone. Went back to draft and only this much of it was here. So I'm finishing the rest now as best as I can. grr.**
So she was nervous about cold read. It's one of the events that's shot in the camera room and put onscreen, and you don't get the script for it until you're waiting in line to go film. It's much more like an actual audition and therefore nervous-making. She did fine though. And she looked cute too.
We had another seminar after that which was probably my favorite of the whole week. It was by David Doan and was all about kids in the entertainment industry. Some of the seminars ended up to be the kind where the VIP talked for five minutes and then we had to sit through everyone coming up to ask them questions. And you know that saying that starts, "there are no stupid questions?" well it's a lie. There are very stupid, repetitive questions that make it clear you haven't been listening all week. Thankfully, David actually talked to us for most of the time and only fielded a few questions- and his information was really interesting and he had tons of anecdotes and was super fun to listen to WHILE we learned lots. My favorite kind.
Later in the afternoon she did group improv. Not too long ago they changed the format of it. It used to be very much like Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where the actors are in chairs next to each other and everyone talks as the mood strikes and there's no order. That's fun to watch in terms of spontaneity if someone comes up with something hilarious, but when it's not on a professional level you usually get someone who sits in the chair and doesn't take a turn. So they changed it to where they all stand in a line so you can only see the first person, and when that person starts, they are all supposed to listen and then continue the story in that character, as if it was really one person talking the whole time, and that way everyone gets 15 of the 60 seconds to talk.
I think her group was the best kid one by far- they actually did listen to each other and stay with the flow of the story. Some of the other groups had a kid who listened to the original prompt rather than the people in front of them, and even though they were third in line they started talking about their ideas instead of continuing the monologue their teammates had started.
We were pretty tired after three showcases in one day, and Tangled was on the Disney channel, so we went back and had dinner in the room and got into jammies early. Our roommates had their team meetings at night after everything was over instead of crack of dawn like we did, so they had to leave around 9 to go check in with their team. They got back around 10:15 and let us know that the numbers for the acting finale had been posted and they saw 53 on there. G was so excited that we got dressed again and ran back through the hotel to the area where the boards were so she could see it. Sure enough, she made the finale for her scene read, and also for her group improv. There was much squealing and glee. Really fun to end the day on such a high note.
Face of maniacal glee here. She was so sweet about really trying not to jump up and down and freak out, because there were people sobbing in corners when they didn't see their names on this list. I texted hubby this picture and he replied back, "I don't see her name or number anywhere!" You can see though that group improv #1 made it, which is her group, and the scene read page was up above her head so I couldn't get it in the shot. There were a ton of people waiting to check the board so I didn't want to take a lot of time staging a picture.
She had three showcases today. First up was photography. That one was just really fun. She wore her AMTC tshirt and denim and went out on stage to do her slate while the ginormous screens showed a couple of her shots from the photo shoot. Very cool. And she talked about playing softball. :)
Then she did cold read, which is the one she was most nervous about. It's
**this is how much of it actually saved. After Thursday's post got eaten, I rewrote it and posted it on Friday. Then I wrote a HUGE post finishing this one. It took me an hour. I hit publish and poof! all gone. Went back to draft and only this much of it was here. So I'm finishing the rest now as best as I can. grr.**
So she was nervous about cold read. It's one of the events that's shot in the camera room and put onscreen, and you don't get the script for it until you're waiting in line to go film. It's much more like an actual audition and therefore nervous-making. She did fine though. And she looked cute too.
We had another seminar after that which was probably my favorite of the whole week. It was by David Doan and was all about kids in the entertainment industry. Some of the seminars ended up to be the kind where the VIP talked for five minutes and then we had to sit through everyone coming up to ask them questions. And you know that saying that starts, "there are no stupid questions?" well it's a lie. There are very stupid, repetitive questions that make it clear you haven't been listening all week. Thankfully, David actually talked to us for most of the time and only fielded a few questions- and his information was really interesting and he had tons of anecdotes and was super fun to listen to WHILE we learned lots. My favorite kind.
Later in the afternoon she did group improv. Not too long ago they changed the format of it. It used to be very much like Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where the actors are in chairs next to each other and everyone talks as the mood strikes and there's no order. That's fun to watch in terms of spontaneity if someone comes up with something hilarious, but when it's not on a professional level you usually get someone who sits in the chair and doesn't take a turn. So they changed it to where they all stand in a line so you can only see the first person, and when that person starts, they are all supposed to listen and then continue the story in that character, as if it was really one person talking the whole time, and that way everyone gets 15 of the 60 seconds to talk.
I think her group was the best kid one by far- they actually did listen to each other and stay with the flow of the story. Some of the other groups had a kid who listened to the original prompt rather than the people in front of them, and even though they were third in line they started talking about their ideas instead of continuing the monologue their teammates had started.
We were pretty tired after three showcases in one day, and Tangled was on the Disney channel, so we went back and had dinner in the room and got into jammies early. Our roommates had their team meetings at night after everything was over instead of crack of dawn like we did, so they had to leave around 9 to go check in with their team. They got back around 10:15 and let us know that the numbers for the acting finale had been posted and they saw 53 on there. G was so excited that we got dressed again and ran back through the hotel to the area where the boards were so she could see it. Sure enough, she made the finale for her scene read, and also for her group improv. There was much squealing and glee. Really fun to end the day on such a high note.
Face of maniacal glee here. She was so sweet about really trying not to jump up and down and freak out, because there were people sobbing in corners when they didn't see their names on this list. I texted hubby this picture and he replied back, "I don't see her name or number anywhere!" You can see though that group improv #1 made it, which is her group, and the scene read page was up above her head so I couldn't get it in the shot. There were a ton of people waiting to check the board so I didn't want to take a lot of time staging a picture.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Thursday, Take Two
I wrote a lot last night. I talked about tons of stuff and I'm really sad that it disappeared. Usually it auto saves while I'm writing so even if I think it's gone, I can go back and get at least some of it. But this time the whole post got eaten. Very sad. I'm hoping I can reconstruct but even just the next day it's hard to recapture the feelings of each day. This is such a whirlwind adventure.
Ok let's see. Yesterday she had two showcases- tv presenter and scene read. TV presenter went well. That's the kind where she goes into the camera room to film and we all sit in the big ballroom and watch her on screen. She read well and was able to make it look like she was just talking for the most point instead of having to stop at the end of the line and wait. I've seen celebrities do a worse job with TelePrompTer so I think it went okay. She got a script about eating s'mores so she had a good reference point for it and was able to sound authentic.
Scene read went well too, and I think she and all the girls around her should get extra points for professionalism. The girl right in front of her threw up everywhere just before she was about to go on. G said it was three inches from her shoes. They're about to walk on and all of a sudden things stop and the emcee says, we need #52's mother right now at the stage door! We didn't find out what happened until afterwards. They put a chair over it and went on, G did her read, and in a few minutes 52 was able to rally and get hers done too.
I've just been so amazed and proud and impressed with my girl all the way around on this trip. She's being so responsible and organized with everything. When we leave the room she's got her bag with her notes and water and extra pens, wearing her number with her hair pulled back, and she's the one reminding me to grab the room key and my observer pass (which I forgot on Tuesday night and had to go back for because they wouldn't let me into the convention center.) she's learning so much and never complains.
I had more in the first post but I already forgot and now I'm thinking about today. So I'll just go on to the next post I guess!
Ok let's see. Yesterday she had two showcases- tv presenter and scene read. TV presenter went well. That's the kind where she goes into the camera room to film and we all sit in the big ballroom and watch her on screen. She read well and was able to make it look like she was just talking for the most point instead of having to stop at the end of the line and wait. I've seen celebrities do a worse job with TelePrompTer so I think it went okay. She got a script about eating s'mores so she had a good reference point for it and was able to sound authentic.
Scene read went well too, and I think she and all the girls around her should get extra points for professionalism. The girl right in front of her threw up everywhere just before she was about to go on. G said it was three inches from her shoes. They're about to walk on and all of a sudden things stop and the emcee says, we need #52's mother right now at the stage door! We didn't find out what happened until afterwards. They put a chair over it and went on, G did her read, and in a few minutes 52 was able to rally and get hers done too.
I've just been so amazed and proud and impressed with my girl all the way around on this trip. She's being so responsible and organized with everything. When we leave the room she's got her bag with her notes and water and extra pens, wearing her number with her hair pulled back, and she's the one reminding me to grab the room key and my observer pass (which I forgot on Tuesday night and had to go back for because they wouldn't let me into the convention center.) she's learning so much and never complains.
I had more in the first post but I already forgot and now I'm thinking about today. So I'll just go on to the next post I guess!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Dang.
I just wrote a huge post and blogger ate it. And now I'm tired. Argh!!! I'll catch up tomorrow. So annoyed!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Day 3
Well, we've made it through another exhausting, rewarding, fabulous, tiring day. I'm realizing I didn't bring a single pair of shoes that are comfy. However, I DID pack the band aids and blister blocker that our team lead suggested, and those have saved my bacon. Yay.
We attended several really informative seminars today conducted by various VIPs that gave us some great inside info. One of the biggest things I'm taking away from this is how much booking a job is about your look and not your performance. It could even be decided by an outside factor you never would think about. One guy told us a story about an audition where they all loved the actress- everyone agreed she gave an amazing performance. After she left they said, so she gets the job right? And the producer said no way. I loved her but she wears the same perfume as my ex-wife and I don't want to be around her that long. Like you could do anything about that?! Crazy business. But so fun. G is loving it.
She had her first showcase today and she did really well. I think I was more nervous than she was. It's so weird to have been doing all this work for months and then it's over in twenty seconds. But at least we have on-camera under our belt and done.
Today we were going back to our room and happened to catch a fish feeding. There's a huge waterway inside the hotel with different aquatic exhibits. We got to see them feed these huge redfish some squid and shrimp and the guy told us all about the science that goes into keeping up a habitat of that size. It was pretty cool. Then he let us follow him down to the baby alligator area. Gatorland is nearby and the hotel has a contract to house some of the babies and then send them over there when they get too large. They had a tank with four one year olds. G got to hold one and pet it. She was super excited. She said its belly was very squishy, which I found odd. Anyway, I think that was the highlight of her day apart from her 20 seconds of on camera fame.
His name is Peanut. And he has a rubber band around his snout in case he gets any crazy ideas.
L got brave and came over to touch it while G was holding it, but she was not interested in holding it herself. Oh no Gillian! I just want to watch YOU hold him! :)
She's got two more showcases tomorrow- scene read and TelePrompTer. Again, she's excited about both and really looking forward to the day.
Oh and I didn't make the choir. :) no big deal. Only five people from our group did, and we have MANY very talented singers. I'm actually kind of glad not to have to work practices into our busy schedule.
We attended several really informative seminars today conducted by various VIPs that gave us some great inside info. One of the biggest things I'm taking away from this is how much booking a job is about your look and not your performance. It could even be decided by an outside factor you never would think about. One guy told us a story about an audition where they all loved the actress- everyone agreed she gave an amazing performance. After she left they said, so she gets the job right? And the producer said no way. I loved her but she wears the same perfume as my ex-wife and I don't want to be around her that long. Like you could do anything about that?! Crazy business. But so fun. G is loving it.
She had her first showcase today and she did really well. I think I was more nervous than she was. It's so weird to have been doing all this work for months and then it's over in twenty seconds. But at least we have on-camera under our belt and done.
Today we were going back to our room and happened to catch a fish feeding. There's a huge waterway inside the hotel with different aquatic exhibits. We got to see them feed these huge redfish some squid and shrimp and the guy told us all about the science that goes into keeping up a habitat of that size. It was pretty cool. Then he let us follow him down to the baby alligator area. Gatorland is nearby and the hotel has a contract to house some of the babies and then send them over there when they get too large. They had a tank with four one year olds. G got to hold one and pet it. She was super excited. She said its belly was very squishy, which I found odd. Anyway, I think that was the highlight of her day apart from her 20 seconds of on camera fame.
L got brave and came over to touch it while G was holding it, but she was not interested in holding it herself. Oh no Gillian! I just want to watch YOU hold him! :)
She's got two more showcases tomorrow- scene read and TelePrompTer. Again, she's excited about both and really looking forward to the day.
Oh and I didn't make the choir. :) no big deal. Only five people from our group did, and we have MANY very talented singers. I'm actually kind of glad not to have to work practices into our busy schedule.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Day 2
In bed in the dark again, listening to one girl snore while the other kicks me and says she isn't tired. She's lying. And when I kick her out of bed at 6:30 tomorrow morning she will be sorry. We had such a full day! I don't see how she's still awake. My body is super tired and I'm glad to be off my feet but my brain hasn't shut down yet. Plus I never go to bed this early and my body thinks its central time instead of eastern.
No. Your itchy pj tag is an excuse, not the problem. Go to sleep already.
We got all registered today. The line was monstrous long and it took a long time, but we got it all done. We also got to walk through all the areas where her showcases will be and make sure we know where to go and what to do, attended three seminars, watched part of a singing showcase, and I auditioned for the gospel choir. Productive day to say the least. The girls got to practice runway modeling together, which they both enjoyed.
Here's the runway. It's much bigger than it looks here. The tables with the yellow tablecloths are where the VIPs sit. Families were back behind. And they have the video on the big screen at the same time so you can still see even if you're way in the back.
We also spent some time going through the performer book we got at registration. It's got a headshot of every person here and where they're from, and also all the VIPs who are here. There's an autograph day later in the week but one of the little girls from Mississippi came up to G today and asked her to sign her book. She was super pleased.
G informs me I have hit the a 17 times since she started counting. The kid is evading sleep in a big way. Some people count sheep, we count As.
I'm excited to find out tomorrow if I get to sing in the choir. I didn't realize parents were allowed in so it's kinda fun.
Tomorrow we have team meeting, orientation, a seminar about commercial work, on camera showcase, and a meeting about her group improv showcase that's coming up later in the week. Should be another awesome and exhausting day.
They had an area set up with red carpet taped down and theater ropes so it looked fancy for picture taking. She wanted to take one every day.
No. Your itchy pj tag is an excuse, not the problem. Go to sleep already.
We got all registered today. The line was monstrous long and it took a long time, but we got it all done. We also got to walk through all the areas where her showcases will be and make sure we know where to go and what to do, attended three seminars, watched part of a singing showcase, and I auditioned for the gospel choir. Productive day to say the least. The girls got to practice runway modeling together, which they both enjoyed.
Here's the runway. It's much bigger than it looks here. The tables with the yellow tablecloths are where the VIPs sit. Families were back behind. And they have the video on the big screen at the same time so you can still see even if you're way in the back.
We also spent some time going through the performer book we got at registration. It's got a headshot of every person here and where they're from, and also all the VIPs who are here. There's an autograph day later in the week but one of the little girls from Mississippi came up to G today and asked her to sign her book. She was super pleased.
G informs me I have hit the a 17 times since she started counting. The kid is evading sleep in a big way. Some people count sheep, we count As.
I'm excited to find out tomorrow if I get to sing in the choir. I didn't realize parents were allowed in so it's kinda fun.
Tomorrow we have team meeting, orientation, a seminar about commercial work, on camera showcase, and a meeting about her group improv showcase that's coming up later in the week. Should be another awesome and exhausting day.
They had an area set up with red carpet taped down and theater ropes so it looked fancy for picture taking. She wanted to take one every day.
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