Portfolio Update for Florida!!

This might be my last post before I go to International Talent Showcase in Boca Raton, Florida....SO EXCITED TO GO!

One of the competitions that is mandatory to participate in is the Photography competition. It's fairly straightforward - you come to the stage, state your name, height, (and age, if you're under 21 - HA!) into a microphone, and they put up a headshot and full length photo on the monitors behind you.  These are pre-selected photos that you submit before the competition.  No problem, right?  Except I didn't really have any decent photos!  Sooo...I spent a few hours last Sunday with Andria Lambert of Lambert's Creative Photography (go LIKE her on Facebook!).  The results were no less than amazing.  I've posted a few of the good ones on my Headshots and Photos page, but there were many more I could have chosen as well.

After almost a year of preparing for this, I waiver back and forth between feeling completely confident and excited to disbelief that the time is finally here!

Mariana has improved 110% since we started.  The first few workshops, I was really wondering if I was making a mistake trying to bring her to a professional showcase when she seemed so young and unprepared. Now, I see a confident little kidlet who is ready to clean up the competition and win some awards!  If we've gained nothing else from this whole experience, we've both grown in poise and confidence.  If it turns out that we're not ready to take on the industry at a global level, we've at least improved our skills for our local market.

Here goes nothing...

Next Up for the Family...

Today starts Mariana's next project...

She is a Poppy in Matthew's Community Theatre's Production of The Wizard of Oz.  We have a cast meeting at noon where we will get details, schedules, etc and then it's straight to work next week.  This production is sort of  the year-end project of the acting class she started back in August.  I'm hoping it will get her more comfortable on the stage, since she's still a bit of a deer in the headlights with a live audience.  It could be that she ends up sticking to camera work, but I'm trying to give her a fair shot at working on stage presence.  Any experience will help build her confidence and get her more comfortable "performing".  Plus, even if she does clam up during the actual performance, she LOVES the process...practicing songs and learning choreography. June Bayless is a great director and she'll have fun, which is the whole point of any of this.

ITS Workshop - Aaron Marcus

Yesterday's ITS Workshop featured Aaron Marcus - professional actor and commercial model. One of the coolest things about Aaron is that he does make his living as an actor/model, but chose NOT to make the move to LA or NYC and instead resides with his family in Maryland.

Aaron also gives seminars all over the country on HOW to do what he does.  He's written a book, has a monthly news letter, and a website, but he is about the most down to earth guy you could ever meet.  He answered all kinds of questions (even from the kids), and gave invaluable advice regarding auditions, go-sees, what to do when you get a job, what NOT to do when you get a job and other important industry "stuff".  He also treated us as if we were starting from scratch, but without talking down to us.  It's easy for people to forget that the only way to gain experience is by doing jobs, but in your first few jobs, you don't have that experience, so you don't know what you're doing. Double-edged sword.

Anyway, if you have any interest in "the business" and every get a chance to hear Aaron speak, it would be well worth it.

Aaron's IMDb Page

Aaron's Website - How to Model

Aaron's Facebook Page