My first film fest: ABFF in NY

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind! Daniel turned 6 months old, Stevie graduated from kindergarten, the boys are out of school for summer vacation and I visited New York for almost a week to attend the American Black Film Festival where MUTED had its' world premiere.

MUTED was one of five films selected for the HBO Short Film Competition held annually at ABFF (*To be eligible to submit, your project must have a black writer or director and world premiere status) and what an experience it was! 

It was kicked off by car service picking me up at 4am to take me to the airport and then to the hotel once in New York.

I could get used to this!

We stayed at the gorgeous Gansevoort Hotel on Park Ave. Check out the chic chandeliers!

After briefly settling in our room, we got dressed and took a cab to Bar Americain for our welcome dinner where we got to meet and greet the other short filmmakers, HBO executives and founder of ABFF, Jeff Friday.

Didn't think a NY restaurant could pull off a good shrimp & grits (I have spent quite a few years in Houston afterall) but they nailed it!

The next morning we had an opportunity to get to know some of the programming executives a little better as they had a seating chart designed to sit us next to folks we didn't know while we dined at the hotel's restaurant Asellina for breakfast.

Later that day we attended the filmmaker's reception followed by the opening night film "Think Like A Man Too", which had a lively introduction by the film's producer Will Packer, director Tim Story and lead actor Kevin Hart.

The next day was our big night! We arrived at the SVA Theatre a ball of nerves (What if the audio sounds bad? What if it won't play? What if they don't like it?!?) but also excited to finally see our work on the big screen.

We walked the red carpet (which is harder than it looks when there are a bunch of you!) and took our seats in the theatre. 

With Co-Producer Danette Wilson, Producer Tara Tomicevic, Associate Producer Matthew Owyang & Director Rachel Goldberg

Our film was up first (!) and was followed by an incredible line-up of really well-done, beautiful films including Gabrielle Fulton-Ponder's "Ir/Reconcilable" starring Jasmine Guy, Tiffany Littlejohn's "The Perfect Sacrifice" starring Nakia Secrest, Ya'Ke's "Dawn" starring Mikala Gibson, and Terron "Muthafucca Jones" "When It All Falls Down" starring Branden Wellington and MaameYaa Boafo. 

How did it feel to see my film on the big screen for the first time (and to see myself on the big screen for the first time as well)? AMAZING! There were gasps and tears and audible audience reactions and it was simply wonderful. (It's what I miss the most about doing theatre - connecting with the audience.)

After each film the filmmakers took to the stage to talk briefly with our host, the ever-fabulous Bevy Smith, about what went into the making of the films and to give a little insight into each filmmaker's process.

As I walked down the stage after our mini Q & A, the one and only Alfre Woodard mouthed "Good job!" to me. (ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME?!?) I could've passed out with glee right then!

After a glorious screening experience, the rest of the weekend was just gravy. 

Chillin in the lounge

With Rick Moore of NYLA Elise Clothing

True Blood party complete with signature drinks, custom pillows & fake vampire bite tattoos. Nice touch! As a former Special Events Planner you know I LOVED this!

At the "Get On Up" exhibit promoting the new James Brown biopic

We sipped margaritas at Dos Caminos, enjoyed the VIP lounge, attended a panel with actors from Boardwalk Empire, Getting On and True Blood (hello Joe Manganiello!), visited Chandra's dear sweet agent to thank him for all his help, cracked up at the Comedy Wings competition (shout out to Hadiyah Robinson who absolutely killed it and Amberia Allen whose brand of intelligent, witty humor could easily land her on a sitcom very soon), partied hard at the True Blood #LastCall party and finally found ourselves at the Awards Ceremony where they presented the Best Short Film Award to (drumroll please).....

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MUTED!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!!! :-) :-) :-)

Talk about an overwhelming moment! We said our thank-you's:

  

 and had permanent smiles on our faces for the rest of the night.

With producing partner Tara Tomicevic

With co-producer Danette Wilson & actor Omari Hardwick 

With actor Charles S. Dutton

Afterward we had one final meal with our HBO hosts at the ridiculously divine Buddakan...

I loved the decor in their private room! Made us feel like we were in a golden library.

and then made our way back to the hotel lobby where we chilled with the other filmmakers until around 3am. 

Oh but our night didn't end there. We got invited to a party in Soho so we threw on some jeans and headed back out and danced the morning away! 

Around 4:30 or so we tried to get a cab to go back to the hotel but none wanted to stop (that's really a thing!) so we walked to a diner and had breakfast instead. 

The French Toast was HUGE!

As the sun came up before our eyes we knew we would regret not going to bed in a few hours, but for the moment we were all still floating on cloud 9.

These were our faces when we made it back to the hotel around 6:30am to go to bed!

A few hours later we had to get up and ready because our awesome, amazing friend Leshelle secured two interviews for us at 30 Rock!

We were prepped in a makeup chair and then whisked away to the set of MSNBC's "The Reid Report" where we got to talk to Joy Reid about our film and plans for the future. 

You can view the Reid Report segment here: 

http://www.msnbc.com/the-reid-report/watch/a-muted-response-when-child-goes-missing-293193795918

Immediately after we went to another floor in the huge building and sat down with Lilly Workneh of TheGrio where we talked more about the inspiration behind the film and what steps people can take should they feel called to act after viewing. 

You can view theGrio segment here:

http://thegrio.com/2014/07/03/muted-powerful-film-explores-being-black-and-missing/

With my voice rapidly deteriorating, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our bags and bid adieu. 

It was such a wonderful, fantastic, memorable experience and I am incredibly grateful to have had it.

Muted Mixer {You're Invited!}

It's happening...



Click the photo above to enlarge and go here to RSVP. Hope to see you there!

Day 365: Reflection

Day 365: Took a final pass at my goals & action plan after reflecting on the last 364 days. I reviewed my audition tracker and saw that I've had 24 auditions, 4 callbacks, 1 avail and 2 bookings this year. What does that mean? I don't know. Some would say that's a great callback ratio, others would say it's horrible, either way I'm absolutely certain 2012 needs to bring in more bookings for me! Coincidentally I also attended 24 networking events this year which is really quite paltry for someone who absolutely LOVES to be social, meet new friends and reconnect with old ones so that number needs to at least double in 2012. I'm very thankful for all that this year has brought me {especially new friendships & colleagues that I adore} and all that this year has taught me in my role as a wife, mother, actress, writer, producer and friend. I'll roll out my 2012 goals to you all next week but in the meantime much love to you all and have a very Happy New Year!

Day 348 - 350: Holiday Parties!

Day 348: Commercial Agency Holiday Party. It was nice to see a handful of familiar faces but by and large there were lots of folks I didn't recognize. We all had a nice time though. Who doesn't like watching a dance battle? Seriously, I thought I was in a movie as it unfolded before me.

Day 349: Girls Night Out at Dillon's Irish Pub. Good food, good people, good times.

Day 350: Last private session of the year at SKS where I worked on a comedic scene. This studio has really given me a boost of confidence and makes me feel like I should be going out on TV auditions NOW.  Later that night I attended the SKS Holiday Party where I had too much fun!

Updates galore! {Day 315 - 335}

I'm sooooo behind on my updates but I have been keeping track of them and I wanna get caught up before the year is over so here we go...

Day 315: Got to be a reader today at the casting director's office where I intern and it was AWESOME!! The casting associate (who has now been promoted to full casting director) said I did an excellent job especially since it was a cold read. What I appreciated more though, were the compliments from the actors I read with. Can't wait to see who gets the part.

Day 316: Rehearsed sides with Y'vonne.

Day 317 - 318: Emailed 24 managers and Atlanta agents

Day 319: Sent an email follow-up to the program director of KETP. Will call in 3 weeks if I don't receive a reply. Really don't want to start the arduous task of looking for a new job if I'm still in the running for this. {Found out the next week that I'm not. Boo!}

Day 320: Attended a free agent seminar held at Actors Comedy Studio with a hilarious agent from Metropolitan Talent Agency.

Day 321: Gave editing notes to the director of my "Promotion" scene.

Day 322:  Mailed a thank you postcard to the manager I saw 2 weeks ago, the agent I met on Saturday and a CD who brought me in for an audition awhile back followed by a private session at SKS and a cold-read audition for a voiceover gig (I booked it!)

Day 323: Emailed 13 theatrical agents here in LA.

Day 324: Mailed a hardcopy submission to 2 of the Atlanta agents I emailed last week.

Day 325: Took Thanksgiving off and enjoyed time with my family.

Day 326: Actually saw a movie in a theatre! Do you know how rare that is? Stephen & I saw Tower Heist and it was funnier than we expected.

Day 327: Met with Greg & Lex to do voiceover for episode 6 as well as the commercials then had lunch afterwards.

Day 328: Updated my production resume since I plan to start looking for a new survival gig.

Day 329: Met with my PG Buddy and he gave me a Starbucks gift card for Christmas. Unexpected and appreciated. Thanks Tom!

Day 330: Joined WIF after discussing it with a TAN Power Group member who is a member of WIF already and loves it. Very excited to see what new networking opportunities this organization will bring.

Day 331 - 335: Off for my Houston trip. Didn't submit to anything or even look at any breakdowns. Completely took a break from acting and enjoyed time with my brother and my friends as I was down there to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. I had a ball catching up with my college besties though I really REALLY missed my 3 guys, especially since Stephen's 30th birthday was during this time. Thankfully I have a very laidback husband who didn't give me a hard time about being gone. He didn't even want me to plan anything for him despite my best efforts to get him to do it up for this milestone. Instead he just wants an iPad 2 and he'll be happy. I told him to wait until tax refund time since the darn thing costs over $700 but I'm gonna surprise him with it for Christmas. And no he doesn't read this blog so he has no idea. Shhh....

Day 311 - 314: Updates

Day 311: Went to Power Group at TAN followed by coffee with Y'vonne. I swear there are some people in this world who always make you feel better when you're in their presence, she is one of them.

Day 312: The block schedule I created isn't working for me so now I'm trying something new. Today I took my monthly goals that I shared in Power Group and divided them up week by week to make sure I do the tasks needed to help me meet those goals.

Day 313 -  314: Updated my regional rep target list by using IMDb Pro to find all the agents whose clients were on the last few episodes of VH1's Single Ladies, CW's Vampire Diaries and BET's The Game, Let's Stay Together and Reed Between the Lines since they all shoot in Atlanta.

Day 309: Manager Workshop

Day 309: Performed a scene from Private Practice at an awesome manager workshop with Melanie Sharpe put on by casting director Billy DaMota and Actor Rated. I really wasn't even supposed to be able to go but Tara worked her magic to get me on the list at the last minute. I ended up leaving in the middle of work since it didn't start until 9:30 with a coworker of mine named Liz who was also on the list and we had a great time. There were a lot of really nice and really funny scenes and everyone was prepared as requested. Afterwards I exchanged contact info with a few of the other actors whose work I liked and vice versa. Then Liz and I headed back to work a full 2 hours later where we didn't get off until 4am due to our acting excursion.