We had so much fun singing and performing for them. When it came time for our last song, there were actually cries of, “No, no! Keep going!! More!” It’s a good thing we had planned on a just-in-case encore song.

After we had completed our set, we received immediate feedback from the party guests. Again, knowing that almost all of these people were somehow involved in the music industry was a little nerve-wracking, but I guess we must have done good, because their comments and praise were above and beyond anything we had expected. I think I received one of my highest performance compliments that night, when a woman asked me where I had trained (vocally). When I answered that I haven’t had any training, and that my experience has come from performing itself, she seemed surprised and went on to say how impressed she was with my vocals – from the control to the not pushing it to get the sound out, to the actual sound quality, etc… man, I was floating afterwards from our conversation. Like everyone, I sometimes get in moods where I doubt myself as a singer, actor, performer, whatever, so to hear this kind of feedback from someone in the know really makes my day. Heck, it makes my week! My month! My year! 

Singing, rehearsing, performing… it all invigorates me. And after such a great rehearsal, I was on quite a high for the rest of the night.

WHEN: Sunday, Nov 2, 2008
TIME: 9:00pm – 11:00pm
WHERE: Shaw Multicultural Channel, Cable #109 (Vancouver)

I am happy and excited that Shaw is putting on this special event, and that you have a chance to catch some incredibly creative short films. And I’m even more excited that 2 of the 9 movies will be films I was lucky to be a part of. Details of the airing can be found here.

I first started competing in this contest in 2006, and our film entry, “Rise of the Kitara” won 2nd place that year! I got to play Kitara, a character most of you would never, ever, think of casting me as… and it was sooo much fun.

A roller coaster ride of two opposites, their chance meeting, and their struggles to de-cloak each other’s true identities. “Andy” (Ed Fong) a young cable professional goes about his normal day when he meets his unexpected fantasy girl, “Kitara” (Lannette New). Fearful and curious for her son, “Mom” (Shirley Fong) starts her own investigation to expose this lady of mystery.

2007 brought about new levels of challenges as our team decided to make a musical film in 10 days -10 short, sweaty, exhausting, fun, and rewarding days. The end result was, “E.V.E.S.“, and we managed to come in 3rd place that year. As well, we won the 2007 Audience Choice Award!

E.V.E.S. is a sci-fi musical set in the future where women rule all. OK, there’s more to it than that, but I’ve misplaced the spiel and am too excited to let you know about the showing that I can’t wait. What I can tell you is that there’s good, there’s evil, it’s sexy, it’s sweet, there’s craziness and more, PLUS there’s a huge musical/dance sequence to boot.

I hope you get a chance to catch the films. I’m so proud of our accomplishments, as I’m sure the other groups are of theirs. And what a great way to share them!

I went to Michaels yesterday. I love Michaels! Oh, for clarification, Michaels is a craft store that has anything and everything craft-related. Anyway, I bought a nice simple black frame for my poster and went home and framed it up. And now I love my poster even more! It will definitely be going up on my wall of fame… I have just a few things ready to go on that wall, but this is by far the coolest. So now all I have to do is decide which wall I want to use. Yes, it’s a bit shameless, I know, but really, why have paraphernalia if you’re not going to do anything with it?

Then I got a call that evening from my agent… she had an audition for me (for today) for an actor role in a major feature film. It’s for a small role, but man, this would be huge! It’s for a movie being produced by, and starring Halle Berry!

I was actually a little anxious about this one. It’s such a small part, and I’ve never really auditioned for an actor role before. It’s mostly been for leads or principals. (Note – an “actor” role generally means you have less than 5 lines in the project.) Anyway, I got some advice from some people in the biz, and they reinforced what I normally do for auditions, so I felt pretty good about that.

I just got back to my day job from my audition, and I’m really happy with how things went. It was interesting because they brought in a casting director from Toronto to cast it (it will be filming in Vancouver). She was nice and seemed to genuinely like my choices. I did my scenes, she commented positively and thanked me, and that was it. Everything was so tightly run that I was in and out of there even before my scheduled audition time (I always arrive a little bit early)!

Sadly, it will be a bit of a crapshoot. They were seeing all sorts of different types of women for this role, so I guess it will come down to what race they want to cast (asian, caucasion, african american, etc.), and then from there, what sort of look they want. Sigh, only in this crazy business, eh?

But again, I’m happy with the character I created, and how I presented it, so I guess that’s all I can do! Wish me luck!

Outside of the film team, I also seem to have the most amazing friends and colleagues. I don’t know if words can really express the love I have for you all. Nope, words can’t. So I’ll stop writing for now. I’m smiling as I write this, and I hope that as you read this, you’ll know that you contributed to that smile. OK, I’ll really stop writing now.

We saw 15 short films at Tinseltown (all 15 teams completed their movies!). It was the first time most of our teammates got to see our film, “Peaches”, and we loved it. I am so amazed by the creativity of our crew, and so honoured to be part of such a great group. Our film also had some great audience feedback while it was playing, which was awesome. I can’t wait to get a copy of it!

Unfortunately we didn’t end up placing this year. A little disappointing, but the competition was pretty fierce. Kudos to the 1st place winner, “Curse of the Jade Falcon”. It was excellent! All in all, we still managed to walk away from the screening with a great feeling of accomplishment. I totally love this group and I so hope we do more projects together.

My original intent was to get a lab coat, but they had everything there! So I ended up leaving with a lab coat, a set of scrubs, and a chef’s jacket. It was a little costlier than I had anticipated, but now I never have to worry about what to wear when I get these calls. My scrubs are the best – I tried on a few pairs (they had zillions!) and the one that was the most comfortable, and had the best fit, of course, were the most expensive. But the brand is what’s funny… they’re called “Grey’s Anatomy”. No, I didn’t buy them for the name. They’re so comfy – it’s more like a brushed cotton, rather than the traditional stiffer scrubs… so soft! And so much more fit conscious than the scrubs I had to wear for Plague City (I looked like a kid playing dress up because they were so big).

It’s the little things like this that go towards making my day.

We went into the audition room and did our slates. Then the casting director asked the little girl what cereal she wanted to eat and got a blank stare back as a response. She asked her again and got… nothing. So I knelt down and tried to bring some fun to it by saying she got to pick whichever one she wanted! Still nothing. Then the casting director asked her point blank, “Do you want to do this? Do you want to be here?” The answer was a pretty clear, “No.” So the casting director simply said, “OK, that’s fine. You’re done!” and whisked her out of the room. Now I have to say, I felt somewhat dejected, yet relieved at the same time. It wasn’t just me that was getting no response from the little girl. Whew!

As fast as the girl was whisked out, a replacement little boy was whisked in. A cute, dirty-blond little boy, probably about 4 years old. The change in the room was remarkable. We had energy, we did our scene, then the casting director noted how great we were together. OK, not the blond-boy-with-the-asian-mom thing, but she commented on how nicely we worked together and how nice the scene was. Ahh, redemption. Plus, this casting director is known for her tendency to be realllly nit-picky with her actors.

So I was finally finished my first audition. I could have easily stayed in the area, as my second audition was quickly approaching and was just down the street. However, my change of clothes was back at the office, since I had planned on going back to get some work done, then changing there. So I rushed back to the office, ate a quarter of my sandwich that my husband had lovingly prepared for me, changed, then headed back out.

My second audition was at 2nd Avenue Studios, and for anyone who auditions there regularly, you know how crazy it is to find parking. I circled around some, then finally found a parking spot, changed my shoes, and headed in. I wasn’t late (I got in just in time for my call time), but I normally like to arrive about 10 mins early to get settled, see what’s going on, etc. Anyway, the mood was totally different from my earlier audition – only a few of us, very calm, serene…

Anyway, I did my fun little scene and was out of there in no time. Headed back to work, ate the rest of my sandwich, and completed my last hour and a half for the day. What a fun way to start the long weekend! And I’m so glad it wasn’t just me who got no reaction from that little girl.

~ Lannette