They Made It Happen - Now You Make It Happen

I just finished a 12 hour drive to Lexington, KY where I’ll be covering the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. In fact, covering horse events is where I’ve spent most of my life for the past 30 odd years. So, while this next week will keep me away from the acting world, I’ll be writing and photographing some of the most talented horse and rider combinations in the world.

While the Eventers will be vying for the top medals during the day at night the Reining Championships, yet another horse discipline, will be taking place. Both these sports will be qualifiers for an event I’ll be covering in the fall in Normandy France. It’s called the Alltech World Equestrian Games and it brings together the top riders in the world to compete in eight different horse sports including Eventing, Show Jumping, Dressage, Vaulting, Driving, Reining, Endurance and Para-equestrian.

So, all that is to say that my life is often split between the acting and the horses. Both are passions I truly love.

Whenever I have a trip coming up I spend days making sure all my work is up-to-date. I hate the thought of leaving when I know I have things that need my attention. Most of these details relate to the various stories I am working on. Pulling together all that paperwork made me realize that I have a lot of stories I am working on.

These include an overview of the Working Actor Studio and a commercial agent forum I'll be covering at Scott Powers Studio on April 30. I am also continuing to work on articles related to the SAG AFTRA Conservatory and have added the SAG Foundation into the mix.

With the Conservatory I am doing my best to meet all the teachers that do a phenomenal job donating their time to teach these incredibly informative classes. So, that may take me a few more weeks to pull together.

In the meantime the Foundation piece will focus on the various bonus opportunities available to SAG-AFTRA members especially now that they are going to be unveiling their new home in New York on April 30th.

The last week in April will be a busy one for me as there are other events happening including a networking mixer on April 28th hosted by Local Talent Connect. Then on May 3rd I have an audition for the possibility of being one of 12 women being photographed for a new Cougar calendar. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that one.

And there's still more coming up in the pipeline. NYCastings reached out to me about doing a series of articles. Many actors use the services that NYCastings has but like me they are not taking advantage of everything this company has to offer.

So, I’m going to be doing a series of articles about properly pulling together your acting support materials, from your head shot and photo album to your reel, to how you respond to potential auditions and so much more.

If scripts are your thing than there will be more of that when I unravel how Mary Clem writes her monologues and scripts. I chatted with Mary about how she comes up with her themes. Mary explained that it’s all about the life she lives and what she sees in the world around her. So from pen to stage she brings life to her ideas.

My article on producer and visionary Elena Shpak is in the developing stages. Elena came to New York from Russia and has produced a number of commercials and short films based on her own visions. I admire people like Elena, who have a concept that they bring to life.

Jen Prom is another such person. This past Saturday I was on the streets of New York doing a small part for a French film. It wasn’t your typical wait in a holding area, instead we did everything right on the street. Jen wrote the script, is the main character and is creating the final video. She is shooting the scenes in both New York and France, which is where she calls home.

I found it interesting to work with someone who had the image of what she wanted to film and is not allowing anything to stop her. Jen had a vision and she made it happen and we all had a lot of fun bringing life to her vision.

Last Thursday I was back in Brooklyn doing more taping for Brian Wade’s SubUrban Underground variety show which debuts on Brooklyn TV on May 14. Brian like Jen had a vision and he’s moving mountains to make his dream a reality and we are having fun fulfilling that vision with him.

The Gummy Money video I was in now has over 127,000 hits. Nicholas Megalis is yet another visionary that has created his own thing which continues to go viral.

So, I guess the message I want to emphasize in this week’s column is that some people talk about things they want to do while others make those visions happen. So, we should all make sure that we are the ones taking whatever our goal is to the next level and not the one that says they will get it done but never does.

That all makes me think of all the stories I still have to write, but for now while I’m here in Kentucky I’ll be focusing on capturing all the action at this Olympic level event and maybe I’ll even throw a photo or two in my next column so you can see how incredibly talented these horses and riders are.