Time to write

Spent a little time revamping my reel.  Take a look-see:



Other than that....we have arrived at a Friday of another quiet week.  Looking forward to a relaxing weekend and hoping that the audition gods perk up and shower me with opportunities next week.  If they don't, that's ok.  I'll keep making my own.

My favorite book becomes a movie: Uh-oh

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is one of my favorite books.  I read it this year and then lent it my mom but I want to read it again.  The way it is written.  The characters.  The journey.  The perspective.  I just love everything about it.  And now...it is a movie...that I will see because I can't help myself...but I'll go in knowing that it can't ever live up to the book.  That all being said...the first trailer is out.  Wanna see?



The tenth anniversary of 9/11 affected me differently than I expected it to.  It felt like it was just yesterday.  And so I'm a little nervous about how I'll respond to this story on the big screen - as opposed to in a book, that I can put down and come back to when I want to.  And Tom Hanks.  Come on.  He is my favorite.  I'm choked up just thinking about it.  Looks like I'm going to have an emotional day at the movies this Christmas.

Check, please

Did you get to watch the Girl Parts: Revealed episode this week with our director, Mike Drobinski?  If you haven't yet, I'd love if you did!  His interview gives a lot of insight into how this project came together, the behind the scenes and the reality of shooting.  I was going to embed the video but there is a preview for next week's episode at the end of it and it's not really suitable for young ears.  So above is a link for grownups only.

And for fun...have you checked out my IMDB page lately?  There may be some new credits and pictures to peruse...

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

Rock

You rock, so stop modeling yourself after someone you think you'd like to be.

Above is the "quick" version of my horoscope on Yahoo today.  Since it applies to life in general -especially in this business - I thought I'd share.  It is incredibly hard to put on the blinders.  To not compare one's self to someone else's success - or illusion thereof.  It is even harder to put on the blinders when we live in a world of social media where every status update, tweet, and picture is a landmine of opportunity to see beyond the blinders we try to put in place.  Because people love to post when they are working.  Or getting called back.  Or signing with a new agency.  And they should love to post!  Reaching a goal and getting to where you want to be is something to be celebrated, so sharing is encouraged.  But when you're not where you want to be yet in your own life, a landmark for one person becomes a landmine of envy for another.  And we are quick to forget that on both sides of the landmark/landmine trap.  Example: I'm excited to tell people to watch for my commercial...but a friend of mine may have been up for a commercial and didn't get the job, so this could give them a twinge of envy.  Just like when one of my friends posts that they have a guest star role on a new fall show and I feel a twinge of envy...because it's been awhile since I've even gotten the chance to audition for something like that.  But that's the thing though, isn't it?  YOU ROCK.  I ROCK.  We are all doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing and we are exactly where we are supposed to be.  And instead of feeling envy we should be feeling excitement - because there is a enough success to go around.  And if one friend is on their way it is a reminder that it can be done.  And will be done.  We are in charge of how we perceive milestones.  And I'm choosing excitement over envy.  It just feels better.  And right.

New website!

I'm kind of thrilled to share this with you.  I've been working on updating my website for awhile now and it is finally up and live! Some of you lovely readers have already stumbled upon it - thank you for checking it out!  If you haven't gotten a chance yet, I'd love for you to.  Also, I know a lot of you come to this blog from my website and there still is a link to do so on the latest version.  Just go to the "contact" page and there are three icons underneath the email form: one for Facebook, one for Twitter and the last orange one is for Blogger.  Click on that and it will take you straight here.

www.meagangordon.com

Happy Friday to you all!  I'll be shooting a short film tonight - it's actually a project I've worked on before but now we have better equipment and a crew so we should have a much better product that can be submitted to festivals.  And it will be my first footage as a redhead.  I'm looking forward to it!

This week and last

It's been a slow-paced week, in stark contrast to last week.  I've been sleeping in later than usual, lingering over breakfast, going the pace that the gray mornings have dictated.  I had a commercial audition earlier in the week but callbacks aren't until late next week, so there hasn't been any anticipation or worry.  I've been working out and I got my hair color spruced up yesterday.  I saw a friend's play which was cute and she was fantastic in it, as expected.  I'm going to meet a friend this afternoon for coffee and then I have a casting workshop tonight.  Tomorrow I have a quick shoot for a short film.  These past two weeks have been a great reminder of how lucky I am to be living this life.  Last week was full of activity - auditioning and booking and shooting a job in a matter of sequential days.  This week has been more low-key -  steadily working but at my own pace.  I've been doing "this" for nearly ten years now and it has only been recently that I've grown to appreciate weeks like this.  Before I would feel like I should be doing something, anything, and grow frustrated that I wasn't being more productive - that every week isn't like last week. Don't get me wrong, I still have that intention of being productive but now I realize that weeks like this make me more effective for weeks like last week.  I work out.  I recharge with friends.  I redesign my website.  I work on marketing.  I write.  I am kinder to myself.  Because there are highs and lows in this business and not every week will be like last week.  But weeks like this prepare me and help me appreciate the so-busy-if-you-blink-it's-over weeks.  And both kinds of weeks are what it's all about.

Funny Women

 

Obviously...this was one of my favorite moments from last night.  I already knew that Melissa McCarthy was going to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy.  Not because I'm a psychic.  But because I was watching the Emmys on delay - we were at my friend's comedy show and I had to catch up when we got home.  And before the comedy show started, the emcee told us about Melissa McCarthy because she was really excited for her. So I almost fast forwarded through this part (it was nearing midnight, I was tired, and I needed to get to the awards I didn't know about).  I'm so glad I decided to slow down for a minute.  When they started announcing the nominees and they called Amy Poehler's name and she ran up on stage, I laughed so hard.  So hard.  And it took me awhile to realize it was a gimmick and not something spontaneous that was happening.  But what a great gimmick because it totally worked.  And to have all of those women up there, so supportive and happy for one another, was a thrill.  I hear the whole thing was Amy's idea and that just further cements her awesomeness.  So happy for all of the nominees, for Melissa McCarthy, and for funny women in general.

And speaking of!  The comedy show my friend was in yesterday?  It was my friend Melinda Hughes, who had been a part of a competition called California's Funniest Female.  They started with 80 female comics, went through a series of rounds lasting over a month and she made it to the Final 8!  And the finals were last night.  All of the women were hilarious - I definitely have more smile lines today - and....drumroll please....Mindy came in 2nd!!!  That is HUGE.  The winner was a hilarious woman named Lola, who is 81 years old.  It's hard to beat the "Betty White" of the standup circuit.  And Lola has been doing this for 30 years.  Mindy has been doing this for less than a year.  To make it that far, to do that well, and to not even have a year's experience...trust me, Mindy is going places.  So very proud and happy for her.

Last night was a great night for funny women.

And today the funny continues!  All new episode of GIRL PARTS at 2pm PST, 5pm EST.  Make sure to watch!

Happy Friday

Had a great time shooting yesterday! The rest of the gang in the spot were a lot of fun to spend the day with, the director and crew were great and I even got to work with the same awesome makeup artist that I worked with on another commercial.  So it was a lovely day.  And we were working all throughout.  A lot of times you'll get on set only to have a lot of down time.  But on this spot we were working the whole time - and I love that.  I brought a book, a magazine and my knitting just in case but I didn't need to get them out of the bag.  Ok, that's not entirely true. I did do some knitting after lunch when they were getting a shot I wasn't in.  But I didn't get much knitting done because it wasn't long before I was needed on set again.  Also after lunch they refreshed my hair and makeup and put my hair in pins to keep it looking pretty:

I hear the spot should start running in a few weeks - so a quick turnaround! As soon as it's on the air, I'll  tell you what it is and what to look for.

Hope you have a great weekend!  I'm going to spend mine watching the Gator game tomorrow and then watching my friend Mindy kill it in the final round of a stand-up competition.  Oh, and I hear there is a little awards show on Sunday too.  Maybe I'll catch some of that.

It's a Good Thursday

I'm up earlier than usual today because...I booked a commercial!  The audition that I had on Monday led to a callback on Tuesday which led to a booking and fitting yesterday.  Today we shoot!  As soon as it starts airing I'll let you know what it's for and what to look for.  For now, celebrate with me another victory on this road.  Excited to be working today with some good people on a good job.

It's been awhile.

Sorry for the lack of posting.  Life got a little crazy and there was travel, funerals and not much acting.  Everything is balancing out a bit more now though and the busy Monday morning I had has put me back on track.  The day started with a run - gotta get back in a fitness routine! - and then I had a commercial audition.  Straight from there I went to meet my new 3rd graders...today was my first day back as a BookPAL this school year.  Both groups are sweet and rambunctious all at the same time and they seemed to enjoy the book I brought, Jumanji.  I'm excited to be volunteering as a BookPAL from the beginning of the year this time.  Last year, I started after the winter break.  Thank goodness I have some book-savvy nieces to give me suggestions!  There are a lot more weeks to fill this time around!

Also, since it's Monday, that means there's an ALL NEW episode of GIRL PARTS! Hope you get a chance to watch!

What are you waiting for?  Oh, the link? You don't have that bookmarked yet?  Fine...here it is again:  http://blip.tv/girlparts.  Enjoy!

Catching Up

Sorry the postings have been sparse this week.  Seems like things have been busy.  Here are some highlights:

Tuesday was a busy day.  Had an audition early in the afternoon and then Kelsey Robinson came over and we spent a majority of the day working on marketing for Girl Parts. Then she and I went to mingle and mix at the LA Actors Tweet Up:

Always fun to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones.  And tell people about our awesome show!

Yesterday I had an epic meeting with my agent and I felt really great leaving the office. We have a solid plan to close out the year and fingers crossed we reach the goals we set!  Also, the lovely ladies over at Indie Intertube chose Episode 4 of GIRL PARTS as the Comedy of the Week this week!  So very excited to hear that!  It's a pretty big deal since both juggernauts, The Guild and Bandwagon, were new this week too.  So proud of our show and how it is being received!

Today is a laundry day (yawn, I know) but the best part is, after I'm all finished, I get to spend the afternoon uninterrupted working on my screenplay.  No other outstanding commitments so I plan on turning off the wifi and hunkering down.  Wish me luck!