An Impromptu Commercial Shoot (Sounds Fancier than it is) & Some Great News...

I recently shot an Independent Feature called FOOTSTEPS which I will write an entire blog about very soon.  The director, Noam Kroll is an amazing man who is not only a creative genius but wonderful to work with.  He called me late on Sunday night because he had an actor back out on him for a commercial shoot the next day.  I really needed to get some fairly basic aspects of my life under control (ie laundry, and definitely xmas shopping) but Noam is awesome and I was happy to do him the favor.  We shot on the U of T campus and luckily the weather held up for the most part and my hands only went ET on me once (I have bizarrely poor circulation...).  It was especially worth spending the day shooting just to hear some exciting news about FOOTSTEPS, there is interest from some major Film Festivals (AH!).  Stay tuned.

The day before the commercial shoot I had auditioned with my boyfriend for a short film called MEMORIES and we were both pretty keen on the sides.  The director didn't realize that we were a couple and we decided to leave it that way.  We found out yesterday that we booked the part!  Shooting will be over 3 days in early January.  So excited to work with my man and such a young and bright director.  

Murphy's law struck pretty hard when the shoot dates conflicted exactly with my sister's bridal shower/bachelorette which I am helping to plan and partially hosting.  Luckily, both of my sisters and the other bridesmaids are amazing and my initial meltdown was totally pre-mature as we have moved the entire weekend of celebrations to the following weekend.  

I've been slacking pretty heavily on the running this week.  Last week I ran 20K and this week I've only run 5K total.  No point in dwelling on it though - going to get back on that horse tomorrow morning before work and ride into the sunset.  And I'll be listening to this song to get me going (shout out to my sister Meg for introducing me to this awesome running tune)...

Good luck with the Christmas shopping!  Remember:  If you find yourself standing in the middle of THE GAP or some comparable store with arms full of generic t shirts in a cold sweat...put the clothing down, go to Starbucks and REGROUP!  I'm not speaking from experience here or anything...

Take care, enjoy the Christmas lights and music and treat yourself to something yummy or pretty, or both!

xoxo

Allie 

Auditions, Meetings, and some great new tunes...

I had the chance to meet with Canadian actor Riley Gilchrist (Degrassi the Next Generation, Being Erica) over a sushi lunch yesterday.  I haven't been great about networking with people in the city but am making a concerted effort to do so more, and it turned out that this was the highlight of my week!  First of all, I've recently become a die hard Being Erica fan so that in itself made me pretty hyper.  Also - he was an incredibly down to earth guy who had a lot of great advice on classes in the city and was very complementary of the training I got at The Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC.  The meeting left me feeling motivated and on track.  And that carried into my audition for CanStage today.

I literally imagined that my acting teacher from the Playhouse was with me (sounds crazy, but it works).  I did my two monologues and sang my song and aside from fumbling up one of the lines, I think it went ok! It was one of those auditions where you leave the building and the next 10-15 minutes are an absolute blur because you're on such an adrenaline rush.  Fingers crossed but either way it was an excellent opportunity and it's always good practice to do a monologue audition.

I headed to work and en route stopped at the Starbucks at King and Yonge and ordered my festive special a "decaf grande half sweet skinny peppermint mocha" - it's effing delicious try it when you can.  The Barista drew me a skinny chocolate man on the top and I almost spewed my rice krispy square all over the bar laughing.  Amazing.

If you can tear yourself away from the Christmas tunes - Check out the album "A Different Kind of Fix" by "Bombay Bicycle Club" on itunes.  This is my favorite tune of the moment but the entire album is awesome.  This tune is great if you need an addition to your workout/running playlist.  (Shout out to Christine Wheatley for recommending Bombay Bicycle Club to me!)

Enjoy the Christmas Lights :)

xoxo,

Allie

Weekly Goal Update:
Acting Career:  CanStage Audition done!  Cards sent out to industry, done.  Meeting with Reel editor tomorrow, try to get it finished and sent to casting directors before x-mas!!!
Running:  12.5 out of 15 K complete
For Fun: Christmas Treeeeeeee!

The "Santa Shuffle" - aka Rump Roast Part One

Something inexplicable has happened since my 25th Birthday.  I knew that at some point my metabolism would slow and my body would change a little, but nobody warned me that my once flat-as-a-pancake bum might transform into a full blown rump.  And so it has.  Interesting.

So I decided to run the 5K Santa Shuffle for the Salvation Army.  I was encouraged by my good friend and fellow blogger Krysten (Misadventures of a Darwinian Fail) to run with her.  

The weather was great, the spirit was incredible and Santa gave me a high five as I crossed the finish line of what was my very first race.  Aside from accidentally throwing my iphone into the middle of the stampeded half-way through the run, it seemed to be a success!  And I made my goal of completing the run in under 30 mins.  I also completed what is the first step of an even larger goal, to run my first half marathon in May.

I Auditioned for a condiminium commercial yesterday with more complex dialogue than I've had to memorize for a Shakespearean piece!  This should be illegal.  After stumbling over the company's name a few times, I finally spewed out "TAMPAX!" and after a small rumble of laughter I was excused from the room.  The funny thing is - I'm probably more likely to book that commercial than all the other ones where I left the room thinking the audition went really well!  Totally unpredictable.

CanStage General audition coming up this Thursday.  I've got my 16 bars of a song and 2 contrasting monologues picked out and ready to go.  Wish me luck!

xoxo,

Allie

*Note to self for goal setting - make small realistic goals for short term but remember to keep the big ones within sight!

Goals - This Week

Acting Career: Mail Holiday Cards to Toronto Industry (half-done), prep for CanStage Audition, Network with people in Toronto.

Fitness:  Run 15K (4.5/15 complete)

For Fun:  Get a Christmas Tree!!

Goals - Longer Term

Acting Career - Audition for The Stratford Festival, book a good commercial, Act for a Living

Fitness:  Run a Half Marathon (May!)

For Fun:  Get a Puppy