Premiering TIA

"What do a Broadway-or-bust diva, an avant-garde performance artist, a dancer starting too late, and a hapless jack of all trades have in common? Find out in the new webseries, This Is Art, a satirical love letter to the postgraduate misadventures of undiscovered artists living in NYC."

THIS IS ART is a comedy created by and starring my best friend Emily Floyd, who has been mentioned on the blog several times, and myself. We just premiered in partnership with BroadwayWorld.com Comedy and we'd love for you to tune in and watch! The first two episodes are out and available for viewing with a new episode airing every two weeks afterwards. 

In 2011, we did an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the show and exceeded our $6000 goal by over $1000. We successfully crowdfunded our entire first season and dove headfirst into production. After a whirlwind ten day shoot, we started a bumpy post production period that lasted years as we worked to complete what equated to a full length feature film, requiring the talents of industry professionals willing to work for way below their typical pay grade.

This is also a wonderful look back in time to a older version of myself. I'm no less proud of my performance and all the hard work I put into this show but this was a pre- Project Reroll Anne. I hardly recognize that girl when I see her on screen and I am so grateful that I've been able to pursue performance more vigorously since getting serious about personal health. I'd love to bring my new self, experiences, and physique to a new season of THIS IS ART.

If our audience for the first season is good, we may get an order from Broadway World to make more seasons of the show. Please watch and consider supporting us by sharing on your social media pages.

Here's our premiere on BWW Comedy:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwcomedy/article/STAGE-TUBE-Watch-Episodes-1-2-of-New-Webseries--THIS-IS-ART-20150113?PageSpeed=noscript

Our website:

Http://www.watchthisisart.com

Like us on Facebook:

Http://www.facebook.com/watchthisisart

Twitter:

@followthisisart

Subscribe on YouTube:

Http://www.youtube.com/watchthisisart

You can also contact us at thisisartwebseries@gmail.com

Thanks for supporting our show!

Bill Lowe: The Pillow

It was just two days, but I really did have a great time with these guys. It's weird how you can come together for a project and just get on with people you've never really met before. There were times where we even got on too well and had to be chastened mildly so we could get our work done. But! For a few days, we made zee magics for the camera and we had a lot of laughs and that was just raw fun. 

Basically, my whole role takes place around the D&D table. Some of us had scripted in game characters. I was Sam-Dumb, the Barbarian, whom I decided was a gnome. While we were waiting for shots to get set up, some of us actually filled out our character sheets. You can have a look at mine here. It contains gems such as "Maximum Hit Points: Infinity" and "Flaws: Hybris... NONE." 

We obviously weren't looking to create characters by the rules, but the jokes on everyone's sheets were genius and I'm only sad that they never really get featured. We'll just chalk it all up to our very rich character development rituals. My personal favorites for other people included:

• Alignment: Bi
• Alignment: Pilates
• Languages: Horse Whispering and Horse Yelling. 
• A caster's health points: 180

I seriously should have take more pictures of our stuff. It was great. 

One of the great privileges of working on this was getting just be an actor. Often times on webseries sets, you have multiple jobs. Frankly, at the Renaissance Faire we all chipped in when and where we could to get the whole job done. That was definitely the case for other people on this set, but I really just had to show up, get dressed in my costume, have my make and hair done, do some line throughs, and get the scenes shot relatively unscathed. I say relatively because for some reason after we punch in to my close ups, I always have a tendency to somehow FORGET my lines. How silly is that? It was just really nice to be able to focus on character and exploration and being present when the cameras got rolling while not trying to do a million other things at the same time, which I always seem to be doing on my other projects. It was so refreshing and such a gift to get to focus on what I enjoy doing most for the last few days and it was just a nice bonus that the other people on set, both cast and crew, were so much fun. Plus, on my second day, our Costume Designer, Elise VanderKley, gave me Princess Leia buns. MY WILDEST ON CAMERA DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE. I can die happy now. 

So please take a moment to visit the Bill Lowe (the pillow) Facebook page. You can watch the season one videos on YouTube and follow the show on Twitter to keep abreast of all Pillow type uploads and news. I'm sure there will be more as they ramp up to release season two! I'll certainly be linking my episodes here and on my Facebook page (which you should Like on the side bar here because I link a lot of cool stuff there guys!). 

I did not manage to eat any better today, so I just got it out of my system and had the ice cream I've been craving on my way home. Bah. Tomorrow will be a better day and a day to get on track once more. The good thing is that I have a lot already cooked, so I don't have to really try very hard. 

Mixed Berry Juice

Banana

Green Tea with Honey

Corn Chips & Hummus

Organic Apple Cider

Pizza

Icecream

Day 10

Eggs, onion, mushroom, and pepper

Bacon

Espresso, almond milk, and stevia

Cashews

Ahi Tuna/Avacado/Mixed Greens Salad with Balsamic

Sashimi of Salmon, Tuna, and Yellow Tail

Pickled Ginger

White Wine

White Wine

I made it through the day relatively well, considering I had social obligations in the evening. I probably didn't need TWO glasses of wine, BUT IT HAPPENED and white wine was on my Paleo approved list of alcohols. The fish was wonderful and fresh and I have to give a shout out to my friend Steven who gifted me such a wonderful dinner and introduced me to some of his awesome family members along the way. The Tuna, in every incarnation, was glorious. Everything was so glorious that I didn't take a picture for the blog until it was almost too late. So here. Have this tuna with ginger and a flower.

I also spent time preparing for this week by doing a bit of shopping and preparing some snacks/fruit for the first day of the Bill Lowe (the pillow) shoot. Food is supposed to be provided but I'm not sure whether it's stuff I can eat, so we'll see! Just want to make sure I can stay on track. I also had to pack up some options for costumes so the designer can choose what she wants me to wear. She sent some drop box images and it doesn't seem too hard bring her stuff that fits the mold. The character is a nerdy girl who plays a lot of D&D and is a bit snarky. 

What a stretch. Heh!

But yes! I'm off to bed to get some beauty sleep now so I can be ready for my closeup in the morning.

Day 9 Log

Mixed berry smoothie 

Chai tea with almond milk and stevia

Cashews, dried mango

pistachio, cranberry, and agave bar

Bacon, eggs, onions, peppers, mushrooms

Sweet Potato and Cinnamon

Man, at first I was surprised to find how not hungry I was this morning but by the time it came to making dinner- GOOD LORD I WAS RAVENOUS. 

I also baked up some chicken and more sweet potatoes for use this week while memorizing lines for the webseries I'm shooting. You can check out the first season of Bill Lowe (the pillow) in the meantime. It's a lot of fun and it is written and produced by my friend Sketkh Williams. I'm super excited to be cast in season two, plus it means I get to spend the next 4 days purely on my craft, which is just good for the soul.  

Honestly, it's just nice to have a nice evening in after a cold cold COLD commute in the rain.