It's been over a year since my last post and we are definitely not in the same place anymore, so I thought I ought to update this! She was signed for a year with the Linicomn Agency, who then merged with Heyman Talent South. Over the course of the year, she went on around eight auditions for various commercials and small projects. None of them resulted in jobs, which is fine, sort of expected for her level of inexpertise, and not a problem at all for us. However, the entire experience made her realize that her heart is not in acting. I think she wasn't really walking in there with that extra sparkle that made them know she wanted that job with her whole heart. As time went by, she started to complain and drag her feet, and be more and more nervous and upset about having to go to auditions, and that's really not the goal we were trying to achieve.
We agonized over whether we should withdraw her from the agency representation, because I know that this is probably a one-shot deal for her. From the very beginning though, we said that God was the boss of this and would prepare her for what she needed, and I know that she learned SO much from the AMTC training and the entire Shine experience. We made the decision in April to pull her from the Linicomn Agency, and Ms. Danette was super understanding and really sweet about the whole thing. Gillian had been worried that she'd be mad at her about it. She's very typical oldest child, take on the responsibility for others, etc.
Right now she's not doing any acting, although middle school starts tomorrow and she'll be in second period theater class. She's gotten more interested in the technical side and says she wants to learn about lights and sound and the production part of it. She got to do some of that at our church this summer and had a great time.
I've received some questions lately about my thoughts as a mom regarding the AMTC program, whether it's worth it, and our feedback about the entire thing.
Overall, I have no regrets about any of the choices that we have made as a family over the past two years for her in this area. Yes, AMTC is expensive, but it brought our family together in a way I never imagined. The week at Shine was amazing and the friends she made, the prayer connections and vision in action were all so wonderful. I don't feel like they promised anything that they didn't deliver, and she does know multiple kids from her Shine year who are actively acting, singing, and modeling their way across the country right now. (I do use the word "friend" liberally here- we haven't stayed in contact with any of these kids past Shine, but it's still really awesome to see them on tv and see their work when their parents post on facebook!)
Here's her friend Abby, who has done quite a few things for CMT. Her dad and sister Emma are also working- I think Emma is in the latest Casting Crowns music video.
Her friend McKenna has an IMDB page now and has been cast in three movies.
Gillian was #53 all week at Shine, and Julian Silva was #55, so they stood near each other and talked all week. He's listed on amtcworld.com right now as one of their top 100 success stories- he got cast as Gavroche in Les Mis the week after Shine ended. The kid has a fantastic voice.
So no, she's not famous because of AMTC, but I believe she could have gone farther if she'd decided she had the drive for it. She does have lasting confidence, the ability to stand up straight with model posture, and composure beyond her years. She believes in the power of prayer and has met amazing warriors that she still prays for. Her grandmother always said she was praying for the timing more than anything, and that she knows without a doubt that the seeds sown during this time will bear amazing fruit. Just maybe not today. I feel like God has laid a foundation down for Gillian that is going to do wonderful things for her down the road.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Now
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.
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.
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!
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