Life Moves Pretty Fast. If you don't stop to look around....

A great line from one of fave movies when I was younger.

So yes, we do move fast here in LA.  Especially in the biz of showbiz.  Since I last wrote, we picked up a Manager,  I have heard conflicting reasons as to why/why not get a manager.  "You need a career to need a manager", "If you have a good agent, you don't need a manager."  "Getting a manager was the best thing... the quality of our auditions has improved."  I was ready for the next level, so I found one of those managers, too.  The next level being that I needed to see something different than the 5 years of what we have already seen.

So what did she do for this guy during the interview?  We, at  6 years old, she went in by herself, did a monologue and basically acted like my mother in law and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked his ear away.  By the end of 20 minutes, he agreed to take us on board and made reference to her chatty nature.  He also commented on how she would do well in comedy.  (uh oh, better not be the next Disney sitcom star.  I am not sure I want this for her or our family)

She goes to print auditions.  She goes to commercial auditions.  She did 1 feature film audition.  And she has done zero television series.  I would like to see more theatrical as this is why I think we are still in this game.

When I do think about this hobby, I wonder what else we could be doing, how else could I make her more ready.  And although it is still unclear what our path is, I feel like this is a step in the right direction.  So day 1 with a manager....how did it go?

My phone started to blow up at noon.  I of course, do not pick up because I am at the park tending to sand in her eyes and the thing in her foot that is upsetting her.  Drama Queen.  I am serious.  If it is not one thing, then it is something else.  And the tears for Petes sake.   My perfect son was as good as can be.  Not a peep, not a pee stain, not a tear. He is just good like that.

By 4 pm, Tae Kwon Do time, she has been confirmed for 3 auditions.  2 commercials with sides and 1 print.  Is this the result of having a manager?  I really do not know for sure.  This has happened to us int he past where I needed to be in three places within 2 hours in LA.  But whatever it is...it has sent our new Manager a sign that she is a busy girl, a message to her agent to remind them that she is in demand and it reaffirmed myself of our decision to pick up a manager.  

After dinner, I will go over her sides and get ready for tomorrow.  

So wish us luck tomorrow.  Well really her.  I will need luck as I will be towing 2 kids around traffic in LA,.  

Tootles.

Now that's a Vacation!

Ok, I'm back. Its been a while, I will admit. 4 years? In that time, I had me another baby. He's almost 4 now. Two kids certainly keep me busy. Now that I am back, I have lots to talk about. Like lots. Like I am so excited to write about all the things and voices going on in my head. (red or white? martini or vodka tonic? choices choices. I love America.) 

For starters, what is my little girl up to? Well, she is still at this modeling/acting thing. Shes a professional now. Joined the union, makes nice with her stage parents before an audition. She even pays her own taxes and accounting fees. She is 6 years old. Athletic build, 6 pack and dimples. A California girl born and raised. You know what I mean by that. She has shoulders like she can swim for endless. Thats what the kids here in So Cal have because of all the swimming we do year round. I was trying to pick her up one afternoon while she was laying down and her pants were sagging. And all I saw were abs. Abs, Abs Abs. She has got the gift from her father. And with her 1/4 Asian porcelain skin. You know if this acting thing doesnt pan out, I wonder when we should leave our agent and just hit up LA Models. Anyway....

 So yeah, we are like totally busy. Every week since 2015 we have been hitting an average of 1 audition a day. This has gotten me worried at first as I was scared of all the school she will be missing. But alas, the casting agents must all finally have kids and get that auditions must happen right afterscool and not at 10 am. So auditions have never been an issue. Work could be an issue. We have never booked mulptiple days for print, but we have 2x this year. That meant I had to yank her from school for 5 days each time. Shaggy? Oh the guilt. I grew up with strict parents who always always put education first. I taught her to read at 3 and I did pretty well with her academics. And here I was now...an Ugg wearing, Daisy Duke sporting Stage mom taking her kids out of Kindergarten AGAIN.

 Oh the shame I felt. A few asians work the front office at school and I felt so shameful for pulling her out and explaining to them. Notice how I used the workd shame 2x in my opening paragraph? Luckily for me, school is out very soon and I won't have to look at them in the eye and feel this way. Gotta run, Tae Kwon Do class calls....

Too Much Nyquil It Seems

So little G and I went to an audition on Monday. I think I mentioned this before. She did great. So I thought. She was the epitome of a healthy happy and coherent baby. She smiled, she crawled. She climbed. She even did her Downward Facing Dog pose. They even asked for me to depants her. Slam dunk?

It would appear at this time as a No. Puzzled, you may be. I just learned that a little boy in her audition group is On Avail for this commercial. It may still be early, but if I recall correctly....this boy couldn't get to a crawl position without assistance. He was unresponsive to the director. His face was blank. And he didn't have interesting features on his face. He was just a baby.

I am learning that it really doesn't matter what I think. Or how well she may do. Or what the CD says afterwards. You really just never know what they are looking for. My little G was really, skating circles around the rest. Her motor skills are strong and she is alert and interactive. So maybe what she has is what they are not looking for. They wanted a 9-12 month baby and shouldn't 9-12 month babies crawl, laugh, smile, downward face dog and stand? :)

And if she really doesn't book this job, then this blog is a testament to that saying. But we wont be sad or get discouraged. I think that is one thing I am learning. Not getting a job doesn't mean she is defective. Its just not what they want. And I hope that when G is older, she will learn to deal with this rejection as well as I am. Really. This is the only part that scares me about this business.

So its my duty, as her mommy, to teach her about self esteem and doing things to please herself and not others.

Was that a rant or what? Tootles!

I am sorry, I have been missing

But we are back! I was gone for a number of reasons...the most important one being, it had been crazy with her schedule. We do the weekly mommy playdates and hit the gym regularly. Momma needs a tight ass, right? That on top of this little hobby was the reason we have been MIA.

Since you last heard....she booked a commercial. 3 weeks ago, she booked a job for Valerie Tabor Smith. Like Anne Geddes, G will most likely be on a greeting card or calendar.....in Europe. BOO HOO!!!! But at least I was able to snag some images for which I am truly truly grateful. Out of the 7 she booked since starting, this is the only product I have seen!

What should be out soon is her ad for Munchkin safety gates. Munchkin never made gates and acquired a company in the UK to expand the market. So once the gates hit the US, looks for G on a box or online ad. She was the asian baby, so I am not sure if they will decide to use her ad. But she did great....she shot all of the scenes with a cute puppy from Frontline fame.

TV spots are different from print. They like to group babies and then bring them back into the green room where they tape each baby. And I will be honest, she hasnt done so great on her tv auditions, primarily because most her of auditions require her to be held by another 'mom' which she isn't having any part of. So, many times, its a complete waste of our time. But yesterday, wow. I couldnt have been prouder.

They wanted a baby to be a baby. So I sat her down in front of the cameras. The other babies ahead of her, either cried when the parent walked in front or looked non responsive and just sat there. Some couldnt even move.

But little rambunctious baby G. The reason why I cannot get anything done in the house pulled out all the stops. She sat. Smiled. Climbed on me when I tried to move away. Director loved it. Then when she crawled to me...she smiled and then did her downward facing dog in front of the camera.

"Can you remove her pants?" says the director.

"Excuse me???" says the mommy in an obvious falsely offended manner?

Maybe I am her mom and I think she is better than sliced bread. But I really believe she knocked this one out of the park. And if she doesn't get a callback on thh 26th, then I must be taking too much Nyquil during the day.

Again, wish us luck and I will keep you posted.

I'll blog about the whack jobs I have run into on her jobs....just to let you know the ugly side of this hobby.

Until then...tootles!

xo,
Baby G and Me

First Commercial!

So my little Girl did it! She landed her first commercial! I know the news is late, but I have been super busy with all of her auditions and callbacks. I did this as a hobby, really not expecting to have 3 appointments in one day.

The lowdown and reality. Yes I am thrilled that she was 1 of 8 babies out of hundreds for a national commercial. But the reality was....6/8 of them cried in the scene. And G was one of them. But it is still one helluvan accomplishment!

What's next on the burner? This week, she had a request from Gap for their Fall2010 campaign. It shoots this week if all goes well.

Wish us luck!

This is a fast, fast world.

Things can happen in minutes. Since our last post...I just learned she has a callback for her first commercial! Way to go, BabyG!!! Its tomorrow, so wish us some luck!

Gymboree. Weeeee!!!!

This morning, we went to the Gymboree audition in Culver City. It was supposed to be a madhouse....some fool on the boards posted the location on a public forum. Anyway, we were in. Smile. Giggle. And out. I get a "Great job, Mommy!"

Seriously, I have no idea why she was so cooperative this morning. Usually, its like a smirk. But today, Thank You G for working with me! It makes the whole waking up early and trekking to the city all worth it.

Fingers crossed...I hope she gets some work out of this. It would be nice to finally see her in print. If she gets booked, she can be called for Jane/Jack and Crazy8 all summer!