Tag: community

This Is My America

Chasing The George

With everything that is happening in America at the moment, I couldn’t find the exact words to express how I was feeling. Then, I remembered the healing power of art. And how I could use art as a way to reveal the kind of America I want. The America I see. The America I know we can become again.

I see America as a place of inclusion. Of color. Of acceptance. Of possibilities. Of freedom. Of equality. Of helping one another. I’m not here to talk about politics, but rather, to express what I want America to be through different forms of art. And I know there are several works of art I’m leaving out, so I’ll continue to add as it occurs to me.

In no particular order, this is my America:

Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 10. “I Am American”:

 

Madonna “Why’s It So Hard To Love One Another” from The Girlie Show:

 

Whitney Houston “National Anthem”:

 

Working TogetherPhoto by Clip Art

 

 

689-03733355                                             Photo by Master File

 

Kids Playing         Photo by Purestock/Thinkstock. Featured in Slate Magazine

 

Citizenship CeremonyHector Colon (left) and Victor Duran, both of the Dominican Republic, wave American flags after being sworn in during a naturalization ceremony in Atlanta on Tuesday. Photo by David Goldman/AP

 

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Homeward LA (Art Making a Difference)

Chasing The George

Art is powerful. Art creates change. Whether it’s a movie, a song, a painting, a book, etc. Art has the ability to make us move towards change. And as an artist, I love using my art to create and inspire change. That’s why I am honored to be a part of Homeward LA.

Homeward LA is a 10-day citywide event from April 13 to April 22, where over 20 productions of monologues based on stories from people who have experienced homelessness will be performed by actors all around the Los Angeles area. I will be acting in the April 22nd production at the Richard Lawson Studios at the WACO Theater Center!

Together we will experience stories from the lives of those who strive to find their way home, increase awareness around the homeless crisis facing Los Angeles, and raise funds for The Midnight Mission, an amazing nonprofit organization on Skid Row.

If you are interested in attending, please click on this link:

http://bit.ly/homewardla

Homeward LA

My 2018 Goal

Chasing The George

Hey kitty girls! I couldn’t resist. RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 premiered on January 25th and I am getting all my life right now!

We’re still in January and 2018 is still very much new and filled with wonderful possibilities. I wanted to share with you all what my goal is for 2018. I recently shared that my birthday wish was to continue honoring my imagination as an artist. Which I love! So, what is my goal for 2018? What am I focused on?

When I look over my DOIN’ (Declaration of Independence aka my personal business plan), one of my postulates is:

I am a household name infiltrating and conquering mainstream Hollywood through my film acting work and by creating TV and Film content that is just beyond the margin of comfortability (Daring and artistically free content that falls within the wheelhouse of HBO, Showtime, Netflix, A24 and powerful indie studio houses)

Which is great! I still love and believe in this postulate. However, as I looked at it, I realized that in order for me to fulfill that postulate, there was a prior step that I needed to accomplish. There’s a step that comes before becoming a household name and I need to achieve that first. And that is to become an industry name first. I want name recognition and name value with industry professionals (e.g., producers, writers, directors, casting) That fellow colleagues know my name and respect it because of my professionalism and hard work.

So the goal for 2018 is to close the deal on at least one writing and one acting project that puts my name in the entertainment trades (e.g., Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, IndieWire, etc.) I have created a DOIN’ specifically for this goal. My 2018 DOIN’ as I call it. I’m so excited to have a plan of attack to make this goal happen in 2018. Close the deal so that fellow colleagues in the industry take notice of my name.

What is your 2018 goal or goals? I’d love to read what they are in the comments section below!

An Arrogant Farewell To 2017!

Chasing The George

My last blog entry for 2017! I will see you in the new year! But for now, I am here to give an arrogant goodbye to 2017. Arrogant as in “claiming for oneself” and “pride”. I have so much pride in the wins I’ve had in 2017 and I’m going to share just a sampling of them. I’m tooting my horn. As should you. What were your wins in 2017?

Cause at the end of the day, what’s a horn for but to toot it?

Here we go!

January 4th: Audited a scene study class at Jame Franco’s acting studio

January 13th: Celebrated my birthday with friends, drag queens, bottomless mimosas and twerking

February 5th: Celebrated one year anniversary with Chris

February 6th: Attended “Assassins” musical fundraiser at Rage to support my fellow Richard Lawson Studios members

February 9th: Imported the rest of my relationship map into Insightly

February 10th: Took a wonderful trip to Seattle with Chris

February 24th: Had a kick-ass audition playing a character like Huck from “Scandal” in the PDP 3.0 class

February 25th: Shot new headshots with Marisa Leigh

March 7th Made final payment to company and got rid of an outstanding debt

March 24th: Co-hosted the first of 13 viewing parties for Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race

March 27th: Took a picture with my favorite drag queen: Bianca Del Rio

April 13th My blog entry, “Sending The Elevator Down”, was accepted into the Huffington Post’s Thrive site

April 13th Had coffee with one of my favorite actors and people, Justin Huen

April 17th Signed with the Paradise Group for commercial representation

April 18th Participated in the LA Law charity event (our group raised the most money in the history of the event)

April 21st Did a kick-ass cold read audition as a doctor in the PDP 3.0 class

April 29th Attended the inaugural Wearable Art Gala wearing a custom-made metallic gold mask

April 30th Attended Drag Con and took pictures with Alyssa Edwards, Nina Bo’nina Banana Fofana Osama Bin Laden Brown and Karen From Finance; received video shout out from Shangela. Also attended a handful of wonderful panels.

May 6th Attended “Assassins” musical in Silverlake to support my fellow Richard Lawson Studios members

May 13th Attended The Bougee Party in Woodland Hills

May 13th Attended screening of Chinatown at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with Chris, Lindsay, Jordan, Sarah and Ryan

May 19th Did a kick-ass procedural audition as the CEO of Caster Industries in the PDP 3.0 class

June 1st Began Round 1 of social media campaign for my James Franco feature film project

June 2nd Had a meeting with Oakley Entertainment about my James Franco feature film project

June 3rd Wrote the first draft of my movie pitch

June 4th Posted my 100th blog entry

June 5th Was a reader for a feature film that Kim Hardin was casting

June 10th Attended screening of The Wizard of Oz at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with Lindsay

June 17th Attended Danielle Eskinazi’s workshop and did a kick-ass read during the workshop. I had a commercial copy from a Honda spot

June 20th Did a kick-ass cold read audition as a fashion consultant in the PDP 3.0 class

June 23rd Sasha Velour won Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and represented Vassar College beautifully (Sasha was class of 2009)

June 25th I attended first Richard Lawson Studios teachers meeting

June 26th Email sent by Oakley Entertainment to one of James Franco’s producing partners

June 30th Shot a computer hacker scene with Lindsay, Lauren and Kenny

July 2nd Final cut completed of Human Revolution short film  (a film I executive produced, co-wrote and co-starred in)

July 3rd “Curtsy, Mister” became an HBO finalist at MVAAFF (in addition to 15 other film festivals it has already been accepted into. This is a feature documentary film I acted in and also was the first assistant director on)

July 5th Signed with the Paradise Group for theatrical representation

July 10th: My weekly blog, Chasing The George, turned two years old

July 18th: Shared the computer hacker scene I shot with Twinkie Byrd, Danielle Eskinazi, Monika Mikkelsen

July 19th: Lindsay shared computer hacker scene with various casting directors on Twitter

July 24th: Dropped off cream puffs and James Franco script with Reed to Rabbit Bandini Productions

July 25th: Did a successful on-camera audition from The Librarians TV series in the PDP 3.0 class

July 26th: Oakley Entertainment reached out to Laurie Holden’s people for the lead female role in my James Franco feature film script

July 26th: Successful production meeting for phase two of the Human Revolution movie

July 29th: Started window shopping for office furniture

July 30th: Did research on 10 film festivals Lauren gave to me and I reached out to them via email for premiere requirements

July 31st: Intention without hesitation. Back to back actions on:

    • Emailed top CAA agent re: Human Revolution (HR) submission to Vassar Film Festival and drop off to James Franco’s production company
    • Followed up with Jessica re: HR viewing
    • FB message to Ryan and Sarah re: Princess Bride screening and mini-golfing
    • Tweeted computer hacker scene link to various CD’s of Mr. Robot, Fear The Walking Dead, etc.
    • Sent film festival update to HR producing team
    • Tweeted Twinkie Byrd about collaborating
    • Researched and sent literary inquiry letters to Heroes and Villains Entertainment, Rafterman Media, Original Artists & Society Entertainment

August 3rd: Chasing The George was included in Vassar’s “In The Media” July 2017 round up email which is sent to graduates all over the world

August 4th: Submitted Human Revolution to the Vassar Film Festival in D.C.

August 8th: Sent Julia (my agent) my DOIN’ (aka my business plan) and she loved it

August 8th: Human Revolution submitted to SXSW, Atlanta Film Festival, Slamdance

August 9th: Submitted Human Revolution to Taos Shortz Film Festival

August 10th: Followed up with the literary agents I submitted to on July 31st

August 15th: Emailed Julia and asked her to do an intro for me to the casting director of Gente-fied.

August 16th: Received another IMDB actor credit for a feature film called Zombie TV that comes out in 2018

August 16th: Sent Tady link to HR

August 17th: Sent FB message to the creators of Gente-fied

August 17th: Sent literary inquiry letter to The Mission Entertainment

August 18th: Sent email to Kelly Edwards re: HBOAccess program

August 19th: Sent Travis link to HR

August 20th: Participated in a career administration panel at the WACO Theater Center

August 23rd: Submitted Human Revolution film to Sundance, Sarasota Film Festival and the Utah Film and Awards Festival

August 26th: Celebrated 15 years of living in Los Angeles

August 28th: The Huffington Post’s Thrive section published a second blog entry of mine, “What Is A Win?”

August 31st: Worked with a private client who wanted to start learning an approach to acting

September 2nd: Submitted Human Revolution to the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival

September 4th: Posted my 10,000th tweet

September 5th: Submitted Human Revolution to the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival

September 5th: Emailed the casting director of Gente-fied and received her response on September 6th

September 9th: Did a self-tape audition for the feature film, French Fries

September 26th: Did cold stand up comedy in the PDP 3.0 class and rocked it

September 26th: Outlined a new short film script in 32 minutes

September 30th: Took above outline and wrote first draft of script in 1 hour and 25 minutes (which became The Doppleganger)

October 10th: Auditioned for Criminal Minds and received a callback 5 minutes later

October 15th: Did my second ever video blog and had a lot of fun

October 17th: Registered my script, The Doppleganger, with the WGA

November 7th: Co-taught the PDP open class with Kelly

November 10th: Co-taught the Audition open classes with Lindsay, Kelly and Beth

November 10th: Had first read through rehearsal for my film, The Doppleganger

November 12th: Posted third video blog

November 15th: Had second rehearsal for my film, The Doppleganger

November 17th: Had first rehearsal with Courtney for scene from The Out of Towners

November 22nd: Had third rehearsal for my film, The Doppleganger

November 23rd: Celebrated Thanksgiving with Chris and friends

November 26th: Shot a self-tape audition for the PDP 3.0 class

November 26th: Shot another self-tape audition for an exciting top-secret project

November 28th: Did cold stand up comedy in the PDP 3.0 class

November 28th: I was offered the role I auditioned for in the exciting top-secret project

December 3rd: Shot the role in the exciting top-secret project

December 3rd: Had a scouting and production meeting for my short film, The Doppleganger

December 7th: Had a final rehearsal for The Doppleganger

December 10th: Shot The Doppleganger (a film I wrote, executive produced and co-starred in)

December 11th: My feature film script was emailed to James Franco’s manager

December 15th: Had a great audition for an untitled Noah Baumbach feature film which stars Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern and Merritt Wever

Recurring wins:

I taught the PDP 3.0 class several times

I was a guest DJ several times for the Richard Lawson Studios scene study class

I posted a new blog entry every Sunday morning

Overall happiness and health

Constant give and help to others in my community

Back On Another Film Set!

Chasing The George

I’m excited and thrilled to be back on another set! Last Sunday, December 3rd, I shot an exciting project and today, December 10th, I’m back on the set of The Doppleganger. I wrote this film and I am also executive producing and co-starring in it.

I’m proud of the script. I’m proud of the cast and crew I’ve assembled. I love that 96% of my crew is FEMALE! I handpicked each person to form a wonderful, exciting and positive set.

I want to thank my co-star, Javier Lezama.

I want to thank my director and fellow producer, Lindsay Hopper.

I want to thank the GIRL POWER crew:

Beth Pennington (1st AD), Taylor Babb (Key Production Assistant), Lauren Elle Christie (Script Supervisor and Continuity), Sayaka Miyatani (Sound), Jessica Sade Ward (Camera Assistant) and Courtney Nichole (Craft Services)

I want to thank our honorary GIRL POWER crew:

Hitoshi Inoue (Cinematography and Director of Photography), Craig Taggart (Associate Producer and Location Manager) and Jordan Bull (Production Assistant)

I want to thank Chris Beber for your love and support and for always running lines with me!

And lastly, I want to thank the Richard Lawson Studios for truly creating a space where art can occur. For creating causative and powerful artists. For being a place where I and many other artists can workshop our material and take it to the next level!

Here’s a picture of Lindsay, Javier and I at our last rehearsal this past week:

The Doppleganger

Here’s a picture of me on set. Picture taken by Lauren Elle Christie:

The Doppleganger

Actor Wonderland

Chasing The George

Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! I’m excited for today’s blog entry because I realize how thankful I am to be doing what it is that I love to do. I am first and foremost an actor. I love acting. Love it. And I am currently working on three different projects. Each one is completely different from the other in terms of genre and tone And I love how each one is igniting my sense of imagination, play and instincts. How my fellow co-stars and I are asking the next question and having a blast creating art together.

I am in an actor wonderland.

So this is a shout out to my fellow co-stars and to other actors out there. Below is a picture of my awesome co-stars! Clock-wise from left: Alesha Braden, Courtney Nichole and Javier Lezama:

Actors

Alesha and I are working on a scene from Christopher Guest’s “Best In Show”. “Best In Show” takes a personal look into the world of various dog owners who are preparing to compete in the annual Best In Show dog competition in Philadephia.

Courtney and I are working on a scene from Neil Simon’s “The Out Of Towners”. This is a madcap, physical comedy about a couple that flies to NYC for a business trip and everything just goes wrong for them over the course of 24 hours.

Javier and I are working on a short film that I wrote called “The Doppleganger”. I love “The Twilight Zone” and “Black Mirror” and those shows inspired my short film. It takes a look at the lengths someone will go to in order to achieve happiness, normalcy and closure. We are shooting “The Doppleganger” on December 10th.

I’m thrilled to be in an Actor Wonderland and to be working with such talented artists!

The Power of the Human Spirit

Chasing The George

With all that’s been happening both domestically and internationally, I wanted to take a pause from all the career administration, the writing, the phone calls, the relationship map building, the rehearsals for scenes, the acting classes, etc., to reflect on the power and determination of the human spirit. We as human beings are incredibly powerful. There’s a resiliency. There’s a life force. There’s a fight to do and be good. A banding together to be better, to help and to uplift one another.

I was struck by this beautiful quote by Leo Tolstoy and I wanted to share it with all of you. I hope that it impinges, inspires and empowers you the way it has me.

Never give up. Never lose hope.

Tolstoy Quote

Happy 15th Anniversary!

Chasing The George

15years-majic-painting

Photo courtesy of Majic Painting

On August 26th, 2017, I celebrated 15 years of living in Los Angeles!!!!!!!!!!

I celebrated by attending a Moët champagne and Veuve Clicquot champagne taste testing, amongst other cool things!

I am so blessed and grateful for the journey that I have been on as a person and as an artist. I am blessed and grateful because I came here to create my dreams and I am still in the game. I am blessed and grateful because I am still living my dreams and enjoying them whereas I have seen countless others give up on theirs. I can’t tell you how blessed I am that I am still living my dreams. I am blessed and grateful to have turned many no’s into yes’s. I am blessed and grateful that I have changed perceptions and enlightened many people on what I can do by honestly being who I am. I learned who I really am by moving to Los Angeles, living on my own and becoming an adult.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I went to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. I am from the East Coast. However, Los Angeles is my home and I look forward to the next 15 years here.

I want to thank the following people and things that have contributed to my experience here in Los Angeles. This is just a sampling and not a comprehensive list:

My family: both biological and the ones I’ve created here

My friends past and present

My teachers past and present

Relationships past and present

Places of employment

My former co-workers

Past apartments I’ve lived in

My agents past and present

Actors

Co-stars

Casting Directors

Directors

Producers

Writers

Various crew members who also make the magic happen

Concerts

Writers Retreat

The beaches

Madonna

Harvey Weinstein

RuPaul

Drag Queens

James Franco

Jennifer Garner

Evangeline Lilly

Ryan Murphy

 

Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!

 

 

The Revolution Begins!

Chasing The George

“Human Revolution” that is! “Human Revolution” is a 22-minute SAG-Aftra dramedy film that I had the honor of executive producing, co-writing and co-starring in last year. This film came to life and was made possible through the collective efforts of the Richard Lawson Studios community. From crew members to actors, many people came through with their love and talent.

My fellow co-producer and I approved the final cut on July 2nd of this year and we’ve just recently entered the next chapter of film festival submissions and seeking distribution!

For myself, my co-producer and our director, our goal with “Human Revolution” was always about the bigger picture. To use this film as a calling card to spotlight what we can do as artists. And we want to do that by submitting our film to targeted/specific film festivals, to seek avenues of distribution and to share it with key influential people on our relationship map.

I’m very excited for this new chapter!

The first film festival Human Revolution was submitted to was the Vassar FilmFest in D.C. on August 4th. Vassar is my alma mater, so I knew I wanted to personally submit there. A few days later, “Human Revolution” was submitted to Slamdance, SXSW, the Atlanta Film Festival and the Taos Shortz Film Festival in New Mexico. Upcoming film festival submissions include: the Sarasota Film Festival, the LA Diversity Film Festival, the Utah Film Festival, the Mill Valley Film Festival, TriBeCa, the Bentonville Film Festival, Dances With Films, etc.

I will keep you all updated!

“Human Revolution”: Four strangers who meet at a weekend transformational retreat center discover that the teachings and life lessons they are seeking are actually found in each other.

Left to right: Angela Robinson Witherspoon, Jorge Ortiz (Chasing The George!), Sayaka Miyatani and Robin Karfo

Human Rev 1

Human Rev 2

Human Rev 4

Human Rev 3

A Big Win With James Franco!

Chasing The George

Hey everyone!

Last Sunday, I mentioned that I was taking a big action for my career on Monday, July 24th. That I was taking an action that would move one of my projects significantly closer towards my goal for it. I also mentioned this was a project I had been diligently working on since November 2014 and I postulated how everything would go on Monday.

The project was my feature film script that I wrote with James Franco in mind to play the villain and I successfully dropped it off to his production company!!! Shortly after I dropped off my script, my management company emailed his production office a PDF copy of my script! And let me say that this wasn’t an unsolicited drop off. This was a result and culmination of all the hard work I’ve done to get to this point. And I am filled with extreme gratitude and pride.

Monday was a lesson and RECONFIRMATION of many things.

#1 Postulates. I saw exactly how the drop off would go. I saw how the conversation would go with the contact person at his production office. I saw it so clearly. Now, on the day of, there were a couple of hilarious twists and turns that were thrown into the mix, but they still led me to the postulate I had. Everything played out how I saw it in my mind. And because I saw it in my mind, I was able to deliver my product successfully in person.

#2 Community. I could not have done this without the support of my teacher, my trusted classmates and friends. Richard Lawson for teaching me what it means to create your own career and to go after it. My classmates for asking me the next question when I would present my script in class and when I would present ideas I had to create exposure for it (e.g. From having a table read to creating an extensive social media campaign) Lindsay Hopper for researching and gathering info the week before. Reed Iacarella for being the best assistant a person could have. You are a great cheerleader!

#3 Research. Knowing what I’m walking into. Knowing who the buyers are. Speaking their language and vibe. When you take the time to do research and be thoughtful about your outflow to someone, it makes a difference. Research creates an honest connection and it was incredibly satisfying to see items that I had already been outflowing to them in their possession.

#4 Always be nice to the gatekeepers! They are the first line of defense: Security guards, receptionists, assistants, etc. We were so nice to the gatekeeper and treated them like a fellow human being, that they quickly became our ally. When we arrived, the person we were looking for wasn’t there yet. We waited. We knocked on the door. We made a phone call. We then decided to go downstairs and because we were so nice to the gatekeeper, they asked us how it went. When we told them that our contact person wasn’t there, they immediately said, “Wait, I just saw them go upstairs. Go back up there!” They wanted us to successfully complete our meeting.

#5 Celebrate. After all was said and done, I celebrated and let it go. I focused on that win. What happens afterwards, happens afterwards. The win was that I delivered my script to James and his staff. My manager also delivered my script to them. That’s the win. I delivered my product. The rest is out of my hands now. I DELIVERED my product and the rest is now out of my hands.

That being said, I WILL finish my social media campaign today (Sunday) just to complete that cycle of action (and so everyone can see all the cool celebrity endorsements I utilized to create visibility for my feature film) And I’ve already begun working on securing an attachment for the female hero and lead of my feature film script.

Onward and forward!