Orbit!

Goodness, it's been a busy few weeks! The weekend after I got back from LA, it was time to hit the set of Orbit--a film directed and written by Jessica Dorfman, a UT grad student. Orbit is her thesis film--a coming of age story about a 13-year-old girl who begins to learn tough lessons about love, loss and growing up while attending her father's wedding to his new wife.

It's been a really cool experience--the wedding in the film is a Jewish wedding, so we've learned all about Jewish traditions in the process of researching and filming. I even learned a little Hebrew for the ceremony! It's been 100 degrees plus for the entire 11 days, and the extras have been amazing--cheerfully dressing up for a wedding every day, day after day, and then sweating through their finery. We've been filming at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden, which is a gorgeous setting for a wedding--they've been so kind and welcoming to us. Really amazing.

Our last day is tomorrow--one more chance to dance the hora, enjoy seriously the best craft services ever (let me know if you need a contact in Austin--this guy is a rock star...) and spend the day with cast and crew. I'm already feeling that bittersweet feeling...

Cell: The Web Series' ITV Fest Red Carpet Premiere

I might be the only one there who didn't know the red carpet was called a step and repeat. And now I understand why! The red carpet is a red mat--it's about the size of a king-sized bed with a pop-up backdrop behind it. You stand in line, squeeze in, have your picture taken and get out of the way! Again. Everyone else probably already knew this...

The party was great--enjoyed meeting everyone, found out about some cool new series (check out Squatters everybody--will hook you up with a link when the ocean isn't beckoning) and all around had a great time with everyone. Had my first taste of El Pollo Loco afterwards and some sips of honey bourbon before. Damn good stuff.

I know I should put down all the details now, but I've been uploading pictures, etc. for the better part of two hours (I'm slow), and now I need coffee and fresh air. Will reflect and post again later. XOXO!!

Clearly Not All LA Yet

How did I prepare for an exciting day at ITVfest? By starting with a healthy breakfast--a bacon, maple, butter biscuit. Nom, nom, nom!

Red carpets and the really important stuff

I'm in LA to tag along with the creator and cast of Cell: The Web Series for its ITVFest premiere. It's been accompanied by the normal internal drama--am I pretty enough? I'm not pretty enough. I could wear this--I don't have anything to wear. What am I going to talk to people about? It sounds shallow, because it is shallow. And I'm not going to lie to you guys--there's nothing like something like this to bring out the inner 14 year old. In me anyway.

My husband is working today, and he had a business dinner this evening, which means I had a lot of alone time to make myself crazy. But, at some point you have to take a break, and that meant dinner.

I found reviews for an Italian market--Bay Cities Deli--that's supposed to have the best sandwiches in town. I drew myself a map, walked over there, found a nice employee to help me order, found a fellow patron to enjoy a pleasant 'waiting for the sandwich' conversation, ordered a caprese, found a bottle of sparkling French lemonade, found some fresh cucidati (Italian date cookies), and decided to have a picnic on the beach.

I have to wear these pants for the next four days, so sitting in the sand was out, but I found a bench, enjoyed my sandwich, enjoyed my lemonade, and enjoyed the people watching. I slogged (literally--not pretty) through what felt like miles of sand to get to the Pacific Ocean. I stood on the edge and let the waves submerge my feet. It felt wonderful. I took pictures of the sunset. I wrote "I love you" in the sand and took pictures of that. I took pictures of my own feet, and the waves, and an abandoned sand castle, and a tree (I think) that looked like a penis, and a path, and a fence, and a statue and before I knew it, my whole brain had reset, and I was blissfully happy.

I had a sunset. A very simple sandwich. The opportunity to travel with my husband. Fresh cherries waiting in the room. A sweater and the cool breeze that necessitated such things. And when I am old, and the only way for you to see the me I am now is through my eyes, I. will. still. have. those. things.

And those are the only things I need.

Daytime Confidential Shows Cell

This awesome shot of Jourdan Gibson (Sarah) and Beth Chamberlin (Brenda) was on the web site Daytime Confidential today talking about Beth's role in the season finale of Cell's season one. Her fans from Guiding Light seemed to really enjoy seeing her in such a strong role--we did too! She scared the crap out of us!

Can't say enough about what a kind woman she is in 'real life' though--speaks volumes about her acting chops. And yes--that's me (Lara) lurking in the background in the white wife beater. Scott Mullins (Drew) is in the yellow shirt; Robert Tamble (Robert) is in the front left and Martinique Duchene-Phillips (Joan) is in the front right. All three deserve mad props--the guys for having to wrestle Jourdan all day (not as much fun as it looks) and Martinique for having to wrestle Hilary Wagner (Katie).

Cell: The Web Series

More than a year ago, I read a script by Mark Gardner that I loved. It was smart and real and compelling and properly punctuated. And it referenced King of Pain, and I have a soft spot in my heart for Sting after my brain irreversibly and inexplicably tied the best date/day of my life to a Sting song. TMI. Sorry.

Anyway. Since I read that script, I've been wanting to work with Mark Gardner. And this month, I was given that opportunity when he invited me to appear in the Season Finale of Cell: The Web Series, which is the magic that started out as that script I read such a long time ago.

I was thrilled. Not just to work with Mark (who ended up being as great as I thought he would be), but to work with an amazing, amazing collection of people--from Jourdan Gibson, who has brought Sarah to life to Danny Cameron's turn as Brian and Kevin McCarthy's work as The Man. And if seeing their performances wasn't intimidating enough, Beth Chamberlin, an Emmy-nominated actress, joined the cast for the Season Finale. And that doesn't even mention the crew that Mark managed to assemble, which is like a superhuman who's who of the best of the best around here. (And there are some great people around here.) They help to explain how on a complicated shoot, we managed to wrap early, not once but twice. After finishing more than we thought we could.

Anyway, enough talking. Watch it.

Fantastic Fest??!!

Fantastic Fest has a special place in my heart for a number of reasons, only one of which is that this year's SXSW experience was so fantastically fun due in part to a bumper that was originally created for SXSW Presents: Fantastic Fest @ Midnight.

You can probably imagine my excitement when the infamous Joe Nicolosi called (seriously, tell me you've seen his work! If not, for the love of God, check out this video.



And no, it's not the one I pimped for a month straight. I'm not even in it, and I'm pimping it! He's that good!) Aaaahhh, I digress.

So, Joe called and asked if I wanted to help him out with a short he's been working on. And I said hell yes. Really. That's what I said. So we did a little shooting this week. And I saw a little sneak preview of the in-progress film. And it's awesome.

Hoping Fantastic Fest feels the same way and that I see you guys there!!!