Tag: actor life

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. I wanted to use this opportunity to celebrate my awesome career administration partner. On June 23rd, we will be marking our first anniversary of weekly accountability and support. Wow, where does the time go?!

Career administration groups are a vital part of an artist’s journey, and I have been fortunate to be part of a few incredible ones in my time. My current administration partner and I have met every single week since June 23rd, 2025. In that time, we have set and achieved several goals—advancing different aspects of our careers while hosting Zoom writing sessions and table reads of our scripts. We have also provided support with auditions and class assignments, in addition to providing each other with different industry resources and tips. By constantly asking the next question, we challenge each other at each meeting and check in throughout the week to offer extra boosts of support. In fact, when he was working on a feature film set late last year, we famously pivoted our entire schedule just to ensure we never missed a meeting. At the end of the day, I can confidently say that we have created a space where art and administration can occur free of judgment and criticism. Keep reading below 🙂

When I went searching for a new career administration partner last year, I knew I wanted a one-on-one situation. I also knew I wanted someone who I could trust and be open with—a person who was an artistic force and also possessed a wonderful sense of integrity and ethics. When I landed on this particular person, it felt right. He was someone I had admired for a while and knew he would be a great fit. I approached him at a mutual friend’s wedding and asked if we could set up a meeting. He agreed, and we set up a time. We met, I pitched my idea, and he was immediately down for creating an admin group. The rest, as they say, is history. Keep reading below 🙂

I am excited to see what year two brings as we continue moving forward and supporting each other’s careers. Keep reading below 🙂

By the way, I’ve never revealed who my career administration partner is. Without further delay, here he is!

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. On April 19th, I shared the thrilling news that our script, “The Third Act,” was selected as one of only 20 global finalists for the prestigious Largo.ai pitch competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film. I wanted to give you all a quick update.

Our leader, Richard Lawson, pitched “The Third Act” on May 14th, and it was a huge success. The reception was incredible—he even had people stop him on the street to let him know how wonderful the story was. He followed up the pitch with a fantastic meeting with an agent at one of the top agencies in the world. In addition, he met with an accomplished business executive who has helped many companies thrive. This executive shared some wonderful insights with Richard, viewing “The Third Act” as a “gold mine” and suggesting it might be more impactful as a series rather than a film. As a multi-season series, it would have a much wider reach. Richard will schedule follow-up meetings to not only continue fleshing out this idea, but to pitch a world where both the film and series can coexist. I will be sure to keep you all updated! Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. In my last blog entry, I presented The Multi-Hyphenate’s Dictionary. It was a fun, behind-the-scenes look and a reality check at what a multi-hyphenate’s work actually means.

One of the definitions I provided was for my Powerbase (aka office):

Powerbase [pou-er-beys] (noun) The official command center where big Hollywood career moves are strategically engineered and executed. Though known more commonly—and less excitingly—as “an office,” it is a sacred space where the magic occurs and where I occasionally stare at the computer wondering whether my Madonna hat is channeling the right executive energy today. Keep reading below 🙂

My office is a command center, and to survive the rigors and demands of daily career administration, you need the right gear. With that said, I thought it would be fun to share my “survival kit”—those items that keep my momentum alive and functioning at the highest level possible. Keep reading below 🙂

1. Wardrobe. It sets the tone and vibe. Whenever I am in my command center, I usually rock a t-shirt, shorts, and my Madonna Celebration Tour hat. This wardrobe combination makes me feel relaxed, free-flowing, and comfortable—perfect for being in the zone with my career administration. Also, for that added touch of comfort and to draw out my inner Vassar nerd, I wear prescription glasses instead of my contact lenses. Keep reading below 🙂

2. Hardware. The laptop is my favorite technological device, and I can’t live without it. In my case, I utilize a MacBook Pro. I feel so powerful and intentional whenever I work on my laptop. It’s like my partner in crime because it does so much of the heavy lifting with me. From research and outreach to tackling weekly goals and writing scripts on the latest version of Final Draft, I love my laptop so much.

3. Fuel & Liquid Focus. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I love milk chocolate protein shakes. I drink two protein shakes in the morning when I’m in the command center. Whether it’s the BOOST High Protein with Fiber Ready to Drink Complete Nutritional Drink or the Carnation Breakfast Essentials High Protein with Fiber Ready-to-Drink, they make me feel good and energized to tackle my day. And I don’t have a favorite mug—I just drink them right from the bottle.

4. Musical Playlists. These are a must. These are essential whenever I am working in my command center. Music moves me, and I feel a powerful connection to it. I like to create upbeat, inspiring playlists on a daily basis (usually Madonna-focused ones, though other artists certainly make their way into the mix!) The reason why I lean so heavily on Madonna’s music is because it puts me in the zone. Her music reflects strength, power, resilience, and boss energy. It is like a call to battle. Put simply, her music makes me feel c*nt—as the kids say—so it’s the perfect energy and mindset I need.

5. Office Supplies & Stationery. As much as I love my laptop, there is something equally powerful, tangible, and satisfying about putting pen to paper. I love pens, particularly the ones that have an ultra-fine point (.05 mm or less) and gel ink. I love the way they feel as they write and glide across the paper. I also love fancy executive ballpoint pens; I feel like a boss, a CEO, whenever I write with them. In terms of stationery, I have been using the same planner for the past few years. Again, I love the tangibility of holding this powerful book in my hands. I love writing my to-do lists in it and then crossing them off. I usually have my planner right next to my laptop, working in perfect harmony.

6. Framed Artwork. I have framed artwork on the walls and on my desk. Originally acquired as ways to celebrate various wins, these creative works of art from Milton Katselas, Braxton J. Fuller, and Manuel Acevedo provide that additional artistic fuel and motivation to keep going. They remind me not only of my past accomplishments, but of where I am headed next.

It’s your turn now! What items are keeping your daily hustle alive this year? Let me know in the comments below!

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you already know these terms. We talk about the DOIN, career administration, career administration meetings, and Zoom writing sessions all the time, and usually, we take them seriously.

While these words sound lofty and powerful on paper, the reality of executing them is sometimes less glamorous and a little more chaotic than I sometimes let on. Keep reading below 🙂

Since we are flying through 2026, I thought it would be fun to take a step back and give my regular vocabulary a much-needed reality check. For everyone who has been following my journey, here is what the work actually means when you pull back the curtain. Welcome to the Multi-Hyphenate’s Dictionary. 10 definitions below.

1. DOIN [doo-in] (noun) The powerful, strategic business plan for my career that keeps me on track by essentially yelling at me through a megaphone whenever I veer off course. Love you. Mean it.

2. Career Administration [kuh-reer ad-min-uh-strey-shuhn] (noun) The highly disciplined, consistent actions I take to achieve my short-term and long-term goals, which actually looks like multitasking with eight arms across three screens, drowning in open tabs, and aggressively managing documents while wearing the exact same shorts, shirt, and Madonna Celebration Tour hat in my office.

3. Career Administration Meetings [kuh-reer ad-min-uh-strey-shuhn mee-tings] (noun) Weekly career accountability meetings with your awesome partner, which consist of 2% troubleshooting tech issues, 2% trying to remember where you saved that to-do list from last week, and 96% mutually agreeing that you both are stars.

4. Zoom Writing Sessions [zoom rahy-ting sesh-uhns] (noun) 5% troubleshooting tech issues, 15% checking in on each other’s sanity, and 80% pure creative magic.

5. Multi-Hyphenate [muhl-tee hahy-fuh-nit] (noun) A Hollywood professional who seamlessly operates as an actor, writer, and executive producer, resulting in a permanent state of professional split-personality disorder—where actor-me begs writer-me to write a project for them, and then writer-me pitches producer-me to fund the whole damn thing.

6. Solo Preparation [soh-loh prep-uh-rey-shuhn] (noun) The grueling, hours-long process of research, writing, scene analysis, and rewrites that in reality looks like pacing around your office for seven straight hours passionately acting out your scenes until your neighbors start to look at you differently.

7. Postulate [pos-chuh-leyt] (verb) The “Top of Mount Everest” of your business plan; a powerful prediction of where your career is ultimately headed, fully understanding that the path to industry success is never a straight line, but a chaotic series of wild zig-zags, sudden detours and pivots, unexpected stops, and complete resets. Buckle up!

8. Audit [aw-dit] (noun) A new addition to my vocabulary defined as the act of honestly assessing my progress each quarter, which actually means peeking through my fingers in absolute terror as I scroll through my DOIN. Just kidding.

9. Powerbase [pou-er-beys] (noun) The official command center where big Hollywood career moves are strategically engineered and executed. Though known more commonly—and less excitingly—as “an office,” it is a sacred space where the magic occurs and where I occasionally stare at the computer wondering whether my Madonna hat is channeling the right executive energy today.

10. Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog (a complete sentence of relief)—which is actually code language for: “Holy amazeballs! After 10-plus years of blogging, I was still able to generate and publish another entry!”, all while doing cartwheels down the hallway.

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. Because I’ve spent the last few weeks understandably focused on our Cannes win for “The Third Act” script, I wanted to take this opportunity to update you all on some other exciting wins in my artistic world.

1) Kelly Tighe and I put up a great scene in class from a show called “The English Teacher.” We were both assigned this scene a while back as a “shoot.” A shoot is an exercise we do in class that mimics what actors would experience in the professional world of TV and film. Typically, when an actor books a role on a TV series or film, they do not receive the luxury of rehearsals. They show up on set, meet their co-stars on the spot, do a quick blocking rehearsal, and then that’s it. The director yells “action!” and you deliver your work. Keep reading below 🙂

The beauty of being in an acting class is that you have the opportunity to rehearse and utilize tools to help you shape your character and scene. Through the rehearsal process, you create a system of preparation you can repeat over and over again. It’s through training that you can show up on a professional set with confidence because you’ve done the work beforehand. Kelly and I both put in that individual preparation. We never rehearsed the scene together (again, we were mimicking what we would experience on a professional set.) The only time we rehearsed together was 30 minutes before our scene went up. In those 30 minutes, we discussed blocking and shared our ideas. By the way, working with Kelly is always magical. We had instant chemistry and trust from the start, and that energy carried us forward into the scene itself. We did a fantastic job with our scene and received a great assessment. Please see photos from our scene at the very end. Keep reading below 🙂

2) My career administration partner and I had a second writing session on May 19th. We met over Zoom again, shared our goals for the session, and got to work. He wrote. I wrote. That’s it. Nothing fancy. No bells and whistles. Just an opportunity to create accountability and support as we move our writing projects forward. Our writing session was another success, and we are scheduling another one soon. Keep reading below 🙂

3) I presented the follow-up administration plan for my writing journey. Late last year, I first shared an administration plan in class that revealed how I wrote my latest feature film script from start to finish. After that initial presentation, Kelly assigned me to create another administration plan for the next chapter of my script’s journey. On May 14th, I shared everything I’ve been doing since January of this year with Kelly and the class. I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment as I presented my latest administration plan. Kelly gave me some new ideas to work on, and I look forward to tackling them. Keep reading below 🙂

4) My latest feature film script, which revolves around the rugby world, was recently selected as a quarter-finalist at the Filmmatic Screenplay Competition! What a lovely win! I am honored! Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week!

Below photos from “The English Teacher” shoot. Swipe across:

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. I have been so excited as we inch closer to “The Third Act” script hitting the stage at the prestigious Largo.ai pitch competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film. I have been counting down the days till May 14th and being intentional with capitalizing on this big win.

In addition to my Cannes-specific administration, I have also executed and checked off other action items on my to-do list. One of those latter items was a simple yet highly effective action that I would like to highlight. Something that warmed my heart. A stateside win. Every Monday, my career administration partner and I meet to discuss our progress from the previous week and to highlight what we want to focus on for the new week. Our administration meetings create a space for accountability and support from one week to the next. Recently, we checked in on our 2026 goals. We examined where we made progress with them and where we needed a little extra push. One goal my admin partner identified as lacking was in moving his writing project forward. He was on a roll, building outlines and writing scenes, but then fell off a bit. Totally understandable! Keep reading below 🙂

I suggested we do a 30-minute writing session over Zoom. He could work on his script while I polished an existing script I would like to workshop in class. We show up. We write. No one says anything during that time. No excuses. No distractions. Just 30 minutes of accountability so we can write. That’s it. He liked that idea, and we immediately set a date and time to meet over Zoom on April 28th. Keep reading below 🙂

When we met for our administration meeting the following Monday, May 4th, he expressed how powerful, simple, and effective that writing session was. He made progress with his script and moved it forward. It was a successful action that he would like to repeat with more frequency, perhaps every other week. I could see the happiness in his face. I could hear the empowered shift in his voice. Something clicked for him. Knowing that I was able to provide him with support and a solution made me so happy. On my end, I shared that knowing he was on the other side of the screen was powerful because we were in the zone with our writing and I could feel that collective energy. A big win indeed and an opportunity to keep doing more writing sessions together! Also, our win is a testament to the power of groups. Keep reading below 🙂

And of course, with all these wins I’ve been having lately, I wanted to share how I am celebrating them. Madonna, my QUEEN, my artistic WARRIOR, is releasing her new album on July 3rd. I’ve already pre-ordered a few different variants of “Confessions II”. Her longevity, unmatched creativity, and power is the perfect way to celebrate these recent wins, and I can’t wait to receive them!!!! Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. This year has been a blessing of wins. From launching a new artistic website to putting up great work in class to “The Third Act” script chosen as a pitch finalist at Cannes, it’s been great. But, LOL, let’s get into my office. Oh man, it needs some love! I get so tunnel-visioned about my administration and goals that I have literally neglected my office. I finally had to admit that it was a mess. Papers on the floor, dust covering various surfaces, clutter on my desk, etc. I realized that if I wanted to be producing at the highest level possible, then my office, my power base, needed to be a space where art could occur and thrive.

However, I can’t clean my office just yet! My administration needs me! It’s begging for my attention! I have to focus on my administration. No! I must pull away and clean my office! I forced myself up from my desk and got to work. I created a junk pile in one corner of the office consisting of various papers, old planners, a crumpled concert poster, and a takeout bag from a fancy Beverly Hills restaurant, to name a few. I removed Christmas gifts and a large pile of paperclips (yes, paperclips) off the floor and finally stored them away. I organized books that were resting in different parts of my office. I took the paper from my junk pile and shredded it. I swept and mopped the floor. Keep reading below 🙂

Cleaning and organizing are powerful actions. The second I started taking care of my office, I felt lighter. The space felt brighter, more open, and inviting. I immediately started feeling a sense of relief. I wondered to myself, “I keep the inside of my car pristine. Why not offer the same respect to the space from which I work and create?” As I continued cleaning and organizing, I felt better and better. I now feel even more excited to sit down and tackle my administration. Keep reading below 🙂

I have seen Richard Lawson assign his students to clean up their spaces. The results they experienced after cleaning and organizing their spaces were powerful, empowering, and in some cases, life-changing and miraculous. I knew that I was due for a cleaning and an energy shift. Keep reading below 🙂

Is there an area in your living space that needs attention and care? When you gave that space the love it needed, did you notice a change in energy? Did something shift for you? Let me know in the comments section below! Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week!

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. Last week, I wrote that our script, “The Third Act”, was selected as one of only 20 global finalists for the prestigious Largo.ai pitch competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film. How thrilling! How exciting! What a milestone achievement and win! And then, a few days later, I had a quick and minor sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. A feeling of, “Uh-oh. How do I top this win? What’s next?” I imagined those artists winning an Academy Award and feeling like, “Uh-oh. How do I top this win? What’s next?” I also drew from my personal experiences whenever I completed a film shoot or other creative project. “Uh-oh. How do I top this win? What’s next?”

Fortunately, the answer came quickly to me. Just keep doing the work and move forward. For example, shortly after Richard Lawson shared the Cannes win with us, Kelly and I delivered a great scene in class the following night. I continued checking off action items in my DOIN (Declaration Of Independence, aka business plan). I continued attending my career administration meetings. I’m marching towards my primary goal for the year. The work continues. And that’s why having a DOIN is so vital. It keeps me actively plugged in and doesn’t allow me the opportunity to go off track. It creates a system for me to repeat successful actions and produce wins. The DOIN empowers me to start over, expand upon, and continue my work. It maintains stability and sanity. Keep reading below 🙂

Cannes also made me realize that I needed to create an administration plan to capitalize on this amazing win. This additional outflow will create new inflow for me to deal with and act upon. Also, just as important, I will remind myself to enjoy the ride and have fun with this new administration plan for Cannes! And CELEBRATE! Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week!