The Job
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Performing With Pickleville On Tour
Have you ever heard of the legendary outlaw El Juandito? Those of you who have have probably visited Bear Lake, where El Juandito has spent many a summer entertaining audiences at the lakeside theatre, Pickleville Playhouse. Once, a few years ago, we were fortunate enough to visit there as a family. It was an experience I will never forget, because the atmosphere was so different than any other I had ever experienced. The talent was phenomenal, the stage was intimate, and the air was fragrant with the fun-filled scent of popcorn and summer. This year, my actor hubby had the opportunity to co-star in a show with Pickleville On Tour.…
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Thank You For Your Time
The job of an actor is varied, dedicated, and time consuming. When Ben was acting full time in LA he would usually have eight to twelve hours on set. That’s not including the time he would spend driving there (sometimes up to two hours), applying for jobs, networking, creating content, and developing skills. His weeks were often between fifty to seventy hour work weeks if not more. Now that he has a day job his days are just as long. He not only works his 40 hours a week for his day job, he also works at least 15 hours on acting/producing/screenwriting. When he was a banker we could expect…
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When Not Much Has Changed, But Everything’s Changed
How are you all holding up? I mean… national emergency, quarantines, toilet paper shortages, social distancing, schooling at home and the threat of an unseen culprit that did all this. Are you all doing okay? We’re used to much of this. I mean… who knew it would take a pandemic to finally find commonality with the rest of the world. We already homeschooled and Ben for the most part worked from home when he wasn’t on set (which recently has been less than normal because they always want to hire someone who can have his face shaved or hair cut if need be, and Ben can’t right now). We already…
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Fellow Dreamers
I have been blessed with such amazing people in my life. Thank you to all you dreamers out there who have reached out to support Ben and I along this whirlwind journey. It’s been humbling to see how many people are rooting for us to succeed. I’ve always heard that you are who you associate with. I always feel better around hopeful, optimistic, faith-filled, cliff jumpers. I think I found what I need. I need to hang out with more dreamers. We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; — World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale…
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The Results of the Movie Watching Saga
We really should have started watching the SAG-Award nominations the moment they showed up on our porch. In all reality… we probably should have been watching way more TV shows all year to be able to vote with confidence. But… regardless, we are done. The SAG-Award votes had to be turned in by Friday, January 17th as the awards were being given out Sunday the 19th. We were able to get through so many good films. I decided to only vote for the film categories. There were just so many television series to watch. We attempted to watch a few but after one episode it was difficult to judge someone’s…
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SAG Awards
One fun aspect of being a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild is the fact that we get to vote for the SAG Awards. We started receiving packages in the mail at the end of December. At first I was confused as to what they were. I tend to just take all SAG mail and hand it to Ben to deal with. I don’t pay much attention to it because, for the most part, I am busy with getting paint off of hands, prepping meals, and teaching four children important stuff. Maybe this time I should have paid better attention. Every day we would get more and more letters and…
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Secrecy
Much of being on set is very hush hush. Film makers love surprises. They don’t want everyone to know the movie magic and plans before they hit the theaters and television screens. So, part of my job is being an excellent secret keeper. For example, I was on a set recently for a commercial. It was a Coke/Netflix collaborative effort commercial. I had to sign two intense documents stating that I was not allowed to take photos, talk about the set or even hypothesize on social media or in person etc. This particular commercial had ten hairdressers, ten make-up artists, four costumers (even though everyone had been pre-fit into costumes…
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How Much Is Your Integrity Worth?
Recently on set I ran into someone I recognized. Now… I run into familiar people often. In fact, a common phrase on set is “you look so familiar.” Well… as background performers we all work for the same company and are all on tv frequently, so yes. Familiarity is inevitable. I don’t often remember where I’ve met people. That was not the case with this guy. No… this young man I would have a hard time forgetting. I worked a night call in November. So far my one and only night call. It was a very cold night (for California anyway, no offense to my frozen-snot folk) and we were…
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The Musical
I have so much to catch up on… sigh. Life gets crazy. I can’t fill you in on everything in this post, but I am so excited to tell you about this. I recently auditioned for a musical. Our Stake (church group) is putting on a show. The musical is an original script riddled with beautiful and inspiring well-known songs. As soon as it was announced I was determined to be in it. Jess wanted to be involved in the show as well. Ben’s schedule is so hectic that we figured it best for him not to audition. Okay… here’s the deal. When Ben works he’s often gone from before…
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The Glamorous Background Job
As a background actor, I’ve enjoyed the walking, sitting, reading, eating catered food, and talking to new people that I call “work.” It’s all been quite fun, in fact. Don’t get me wrong, there is a reason we are paid; the job has its downsides. I’ll tell you a few. 1- First off, we do the same thing over and over, like a factory assembly line. Here’s some homework for you. Pick a movie, any movie. As you’re watching pay attention to the camera angles in one scene and count them. I don’t claim to be a camera expert but I do realize that many angles make a great film.…
