Nursing in a Newspaper Building

Booked and shot a small role in an indie feature a few weeks back. Guess who I was hired to play?

Helloooo nurse! (Still waiting for the call to model scrubs for a medical uniform catalog. Seriously.)

It was a low-budget feature called North Blvd, written by, directed by, and starring Amy Esacove about her real-life experiences of finding her birth parents. She previously told the story in a one-woman show, then in a short film. Shooting the feature-length version was the obvious next step! (Amy raised $38K+ on Indieagogo - impressive!)

The production was low-budget, but they generously had a honeywagon for me --

Not a deluxe model, but I was still so grateful for it - it was a crazy hot day in downtown LA!

First things first - craft services --

Spent the morning munching and writing in my trailer --

Then lunch! Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a yummy kale salad --

We were shooting at the Herald Examiner, a defunct newspaper building turned mish mash of standing sets available for film shooting. On the way to the film's set, I passed this gorgeous ballroom-like lobby --

And walked through a saloon set, which was actually the original Paddy's Pub set for the first two seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia --

We were in the police station set area, shooting in the "morgue" --

Lots of amazing women on the crew - that's what happens when you have female filmmakers at the helm!

It was fascinating watching Amy direct herself and the other actors while giving direction to the DP and crew. I've always wondered how writer/director/actors do it all at the same time. Amy was the picture of poise and collaboration - I learned so much while watching her work.

Shot my scene in the sweltering hot room and was wrapped in a few hours! Here I am with the auteur herself --

Thanks for a fun day, North Blvd! Can't wait to see the finished film!

The Hump Day Update: Mid-Summer Edition

My summer days have been anything but lazy! Here's an update on what's keeping me unseasonably busy --

• June was mostly spent in the throes of pre-producion for Early Retirement as well as stunt training --

But then, for a variety of reasons, we decided to postpone the shoot to October. I promptly started eating carbs again. I missed pizza - sue me. Pre-production continues - training will resume next month...

• The big writing project drawing my focus has been developing a new series with a big-time film producer. Can't really talk about it yet, but here's a hint --

Not much of a hint, but like I said, I can't talk about it yet!

• Jamming on my sci-fi romance novel - more than 13,000 words so far! Writing this story has been a delicious journey, particularly because of the leading men inspirations that have been swimming in my imagination. These guys are in my dreams anyway --

• Wrapped up a truly enjoyable first year of volunteering with WriteGirl at their Season End Celebration at the Writers Guild Theater. I spent most of the event wrangling the celebrity guest readers, though I was able to watch my mentee read her awesome poem. Go M!

And of course I posed for a silly picture in front of the step-and-repeat --

• I indulged my inner NPR nerd by attending a live taping of A Prairie Home Companion at The Greek Theater. My first time at the Greek! Clean, hearty, good-natured fun with special appearances by Paula Poundstone, Martin Sheen, and Lily Tomlin.

I was particularly taken by songs by Colin Hay, the former lead singer of Men at Work. His voice was still a powerhouse and his acoustic version of "Overkill" was just incredible. It sounded something like this --


Thanks to Goldstar for such fantastic seats!

(I went back to the Greek a week later to see Barry Manilow and screamed my head off. But we won't talk about that here...)

• And ICYMI, I have a new demo reel!

My New Demo Reel is Here!

Otherwise known as a collection of scenes in which I wear scrubs...



Editing genius by Bubba's Chop Shop. They're fantastic. Hire them.

Keep Writing Anyway

Genius writing advice gem from my alma mater --