Weekend Fun

On Friday night we went to the National Treasure 2 Wrap Party. For those of you who don't know what a wrap party is, it is a party the producers throw at the end of a show (weather it be the end of the movie or the end of the season of a TV show). They do this to show their appreciating for the cast and crew, however most of the time the actors don't show up. Since NT2 is a big budget movie they spared no expense for the wrap party. There was amazing food, open bar, great music and held at this super cool night club in Hollywood.

On Saturday night we went to our good friends house to play video games in his super cool game room he recently built. This is just not any game room this is an amazing game room. He has 8 xbox's, 8 flat screen TVs that way everyone has their own screen, a shuffle board table, pool table, air hockey table, fuse ball table, darts and the full size fast and the furious arcade racing games. It is so sweet! This place makes Dave and Busters look like armatures. At least once a week we go to his house and play with a bunch of other stunt guys, however he is leaving town today until November so we won't be playing again for a while. I sure will miss our late night get togethers.

He also has a movie theater in his house. We watched 300 in their last week. It is pretty fun to watch a movie in a private home theater that has better sound and picture then any commercial movie theater you go to. I can't wait till he gets back!

Work Today

I worked on the TV show Scrubs today. What a fun show to work on. The actors were so nice which on some shows is so not the case. It was my first time working on that show and everyone was just having a good time. It is strange how every show you work on is so different. I guess it is that way in the outside world too, every office has a different culture and feel. I never know when I go work on a new show what to expect. You don't know if you are walking into a stressful hurry up crazy environment or a having a good time laughing environment. I was a stunt actress (no lines) meaning I was just playing my self and not doubling anyone, so you will see me on camera and not have to use the slow motion to see my face. I decided to come to work with straight hair this time so they wouldn't make me have big hair like they did on my commercial. They gave me a side ponny tail, ,not kidding but it worked out and looked fine.

I am only in one scene but it was a fun morning (I only had to work 4 hours today). It is days like today where I just love my job. I think the episode airs around November 15th but I will let you guys know for sure so you can watch. I will write more about my day once the show airs.

My First Commercial

I just shot my first commercial and it is a national commercial! I was playing myself (ie I am not doubling anyone) so you will see my face. It was my first close up. I am a stunt actress for the commercial and on national commercials you get paid every time it airs which is pretty sweet. They will also show the commercial on the Internet.

It went great and I think they were very happy how it turned out. Jon was at the filming helping out the stunt coordinator. I always feel safe knowing that Jon is there in case something happens (like when I did my car hit and had to go to the hospital).

I am excited to see how it turns out. I think the only thing that I wasn't super happy about and have never had to deal with was I think they made my already thick hair even bigger. My hair basically had its won personality. It looked like a wig. Usually I am doubling someone and they never see my face on camera so I don't care what I look like but this time it was about me. I asked the hair lady why she made my hair so big and she said because I am playing a mom and the big hair would make me look older. I guess we will see...

Emmy Party

Last night Jon and I went to an Emmy Party to Honor those nominated for best Stunt Coordinator. We had such a fun time. Their was an award ceremony for those who where nominated at the beginning of the night. Since the theme was 70's and 80's TV shows they had actors from popular TV shows from that era to present the award to those nominated. Among the special guest were David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider), Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman), and David Soul (who played Hutch in Starsky and Hutch). They also put together stunt clips from of the famous shows of that era. It was so entertaining to watch how much stunts have changed since then. My dad was in the clip show a few times that I noticed which I thought was pretty cool. I thought perhaps my kids will watch stunt clips from my era and say "Hey there is mom on Lost or on Monk or on One Tree Hill..."

After the awards presentations the party began. Their was a live band, open bar, and food. At one point in the night I was walking down the stairs with two other young stunt girls and one said "We should do a stair fall just for fun". Listening to the good advice from my dad "Never do stunts unless you are getting paid" I suggested that I video tape them with my camera (I am so clever). So they did two stair falls in their dresses. This is the stuff us crazy stunt people do. We really never look at stairs or cars the same once you have been intimate with them on camera. Here is the video of their stair fall:



We also signed up to be a members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. There is a bunch of criteria to be a member but we were able to by pass that because the dean of the stunts was able to just sign us in which was pretty sweet. I received my voting ballot and actually get to vote for the Emmy's. Being a member for the Academy I can also attend the events they hold all the time. I am so excited to be a part of the Academy. We had a such a great night.

Back in LA

Jon and I got back to LA on Tuesday. We had a great time in WA but it is time to get back to work. I missed a few commercial auditions during my travels this summer so I need to be home for a while. It is weird, we don't work everyday with our jobs and you don't know when you are going to work again so being out of town or planning anything is tough.

Even though we aren't working everyday we are still "working". Meaning we are hustling for work, going on auditions, researching upcoming movies, networking, going to sets...etc. It is a very different lifestyle. I love it but it does take some getting use to. It is totally feast or famine. Sometimes we are so busy we don't have time to do anything and other times we watch a lot of movies and hang with friends. There is no business like show business!

In Washington

Jon and I had nothing going on this week so we decided to jump in the car and drive up to see my family in Washington. We arrived on Friday night and will tentatively stay through next weekend (this depends on if we get work and have to go back to CA early). I just love being back home in WA. This is my favorite place to be in the summer. There is just so much to do. We have a fun week planned. We are floating the river, riding horses, playing golf, water skiing and inner tubing behind my uncles boat, hanging by my aunts awesome pool and enjoying in my mom's beautiful gardens and 9 acres of forest. I guess this is the closest I will get to have an adult summer camp I talked about a few weeks ago (the only thing I am missing is the zip line).

There is just no place like home (I can say that because I have lived all over the country).

I love Summer Time!

I was sitting on my porch enjoying the sun thinking about how much I love summer. I enjoy drinking lemonade, reading a book by the pool, playing in a river and just about every other cliche summer activity there is. As I sat there I began to think how cool it would be to have an adult summer camp. Where you slept in cabins (not fancy ones but the crusty ones you slept in as a kid), paddle canoes, play on rope courses, go hiking, make smores and sneak out of our cabin to meet up with the boy cabin. Just like when you were a kid. Maybe it is just me but I think that would be so much fun.

Living in California I have the luxury of having warm weather most the year but there is just something in the air that makes people happier this time of year.

A few weeks ago we went go cart racing with a bunch of stunt guys and had an amazing time. Here is a picture taking right before I went on the track for the first heat of the night. I definitely will go back. Plus it helps with my stunt driving skills so I can consider it work training :)

Transformers

Transformers the movie opens this week. I worked on that movie last summer. There should be some great action scenes. I am in some of the big action sequences running and dodging from explosions, the robots (which are just poles in the street when we actually shot it) and things flying through the air.I haven't seen it yet but hopefully I will see it this week.

Jon and I are in a trailer for another movie that is untitled which is shown before Transformers starts. We fall down the stairs as people are running. We did 10 takes and 4 rehearsals for the stair fall. Yes, that means Jon and I had to do 14 stair falls over each other. We were padded up but we still ended up pretty bruised. It was some fun stuff! Let me know if you guys like the movie.

This week

Today Jon left to go work on Indiana Jones 4 back East for a few days. I will meet up with him at his mom's house in NJ on Sunday for his birthday. It is super cool that he is working on such great movie franchise.

My dad has been in town working on selling his show, Martial Arts Explorer. Since he was in town we decided to go to Disneyland yesterday. We had a great time but it was so crowded that it almost wasn't worth going. I guess I get spoiled living here and going on a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of September when the weather is great and there are no lines. I am still glad we went.

So funny...

I am sure most of you have already seen this because this guys is an internet celebrity but I just saw this yesterday for the first time and laughed my butt off. I don't usually share this kind of stuff but I couldn't resist...(click on the image to watch the video)

Whirlwind Weekend

I worked from 6pm Friday night until 6am Saturday morning, I slept 2 hours then got on a plane to fly up to Washington for a dear friends, Echo, wedding on Saturday night (we have been friends since we were 8, crazy). I was the maid of honor in the wedding so it was essential that I was there. I got there about 3 in the afternoon just in time to get ready for the wedding. I was so tired but Starbucks helped me make it through the day. We stayed up late and I got up early this morning and flew back to LA in order to be back in time to join a few other stunt guys to race go carts.

I was in WA for only about 16 hours. I had a great time at the wedding I only wish I could have staying in WA longer so I could see my family. I guess I will just have to make a trip up there some time during the summer.

Working

About a week and a half ago I was hired to be the double for the leading lady on National Treasure 2 for 2nd unit work. I didn't want to say anything because in this business nothing is for certain until you are at work. I am officially starting tonight so I thought is was safe to tell you all.

Sometimes they have two stunt doubles when they are filming two units at the same time. The main stunt double (a super talented stunt woman) and another friend of ours put my name in for it. I was so excited when I got hired. This is a lot of the same people who did the Pirate movies, so to work with them all is cool. They weren't sure when I would start but they colored my hair very blonde and cut a couple inches off to make me match the actress. They thought it would be 3-4 weeks of work originally but you just never know in this business it may just be a few days, either way I will take it!

Update

I surprised Jon on our anniversary night and took him to Ruth's Chris Steak House in Beverly Hills for dinner and then we went to the musical Wicked. We had such a wonderful night.

Monday was my birthday and we also had a wonderful day. We spent the day at our friends pool BBQing and hanging out. Later that night a bunch of our friends went to dinner then we went back to our house for chocolate fondue fountain, which was the best part of the night, after that we played charades. It was such a great day.

The rest of the week we spent networking and working on potential jobs. Jon was hired to be the stunt coordinator for Spike TV's First Annual Guys Choice Awards. This is so cool for Jon. This is his third coordinating gig this month.

Happy Anniversary to Jon and I!

Today is Jon and my 4 year anniversary! Each year just keeps gettting better and better. Being married is the one of the best gifts God has ever given me. To have someone to love and someone share life with is amazing. Words just can't discribe how much he means to me. At my wedding my minister said three keys to marriage are: friendship, fun and forgiveness. It is so true.

New Head Shots

Let me start off by saying I am not too happy with these head shots. I paid a lot more for these ones than for the ones I got last year but I like the old ones better. I got new head shots for two reasons: one I have blonde hair now (my friend did change my hair color on my old head shot thanks to a little photo shop so I could have used that) and two I realized that I really needed to have 3/4 body shots for stunts so they can see what my body looks like. Here are my top three choices of 3/4 body shots where I am smiling. There are other good ones that aren't 3/4 and I am not smiling I look more serious. I need help deciding which pictures look best. Let me know what you all think I should use for my new head shots keeping in mind the goal is to look young, in shape, cute and just look good. I don't think these are the best pictures ever but they will work fine. (this last picture I just thought was good but I won't use it for stunts I may use it for my commercial head shot)

Work Yesterday and our first Stunt Awards

I had an interesting day of work yesterday. We were filming a car chase scene and I was riding passenger in a Shelby Mustang GT. We were coming hot around a corner and the driver lost the back end of the car and we smashed the back end into a cement column. The back window exploded on impact and the car buckled in half (we hit hard, I mean hard). This was not a planned car crash. I felt the car lose control and I braced my self for the crash. I think that is why I ended up relatively unscathed. I guess this is why they use stunt doubles, even if it is just riding passenger.

I was able to get off work early enough to show up about 15 minutes late to the stunt awards. I was so happy I was able to be there at all. I had such a great time. The after party was amazing! There was an open bar (of course), an incredible spread of food, and a live band. I was surprised at how many people I actually know after only being in the business for a short time. We had a great time at our first red carpet event. I can't wait for next year.

(The first picture is of Jon and I on the red carpet at the stunt awards. The second pictures is the same day when I was at work in wardrobe and makeup in front of the car I was in that we crashed accidentally)

Our First Red Carpet Event

Tomorrow night is the Taurus World Stunt Awards, which is basically the stunt version of the Academy Awards. It is an award show honoring the best stunts performed in movies (doesn't include TV shows). This year the host is The Rock.

I have to work tomorrow but I am hoping to be off in time to at least make the after parties. Jon is going to go to the whole show with another stunt guy. Apparently there is a red carpet that you walk down and everything. I so hope I can make it. Make sure you watch the awards show. It airs on May 25 on AMC.

Work Schedule; 24 Hours in NYC

Things changed since I last wrote. I ended up not working as stunt coordinator covering the set for Jon because the job Jon took that wouldn't allow him to be there, he hired me for. The job was for a big big movie in New York. We got to work together for the first time with Jon as my boss (we all know who the real boss is haa haa). It was a huge job for Jon to get. We didn't really realize how big it was until we got there. Unfortunately I am not allowed to say anything about it, but when I can I will.

I flew in to New York from Seattle late Sunday night. I worked through the night Monday and went right from work to the airport early Tuesday morning and flew back to LA to be here for a rehearsal for a fight I am doing on Wednesday. I was supposed to fly out to Hawaii Wednesday night after work but I just found out that I won't be done with work in time to make the last flight out to Hawaii. It looks like they are going to have to use someone else. It really sucks to have to turn work down but at least it is because I am working on something else.

Work is Moving Right Along

We have had a phenomenal past couple of weeks as far as work is concerned. Today I had an interview with a stuntwoman's group. Basically there are three groups of stuntwoman with about 20 members in each group making up the top 60 stuntwoman in the business. I am being considered for the great honor of joining one of these groups of top notch stuntwoman. I can't even say how excited I am to even be considered after only being in stunts for a year and half. I feel so honored. I have to get letters of recommendations for stunt coordinators and some other information then I have to be voted in by the members. Pray that I get in. Even if I don't I am just happy to be considered.

The short movie that Jon is coordinating is shooting on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The big fight is on Sunday. He just got a call today to cover the set of a feature movie out in New York for a few days early next week. So he isn't able to coordinate the short on Monday and Tuesday because he will be working in NY so what does that mean... I am will be coordinating the last two days of the the movie. This is my first time being the boss and I am a little nervous. We aren't doing anything super hard but still.

I am getting new head shots today since I have changed my hair color since I got my last ones taken. Tonight I have rehearsals for an upcoming stunt fight then tomorrow I fly out to WA for a few days to see family and attend a bridal shower on Saturday. I fly back on Saturday night in time for work on Sunday morning. Busy busy. I couldn't be happier!

Martial Arts Explorer

Last fall when my dad left Lost he began working on a self created project called Martial Arts Explorer which is a documentary style TV show. Basically, they travel around the world studying different types of martial arts. It was an idea he began thinking of years ago but it wasn't until last year that everything began falling together. He was able to raise enough money to shoot the pilot. He was the director and executive producer of the TV show. My sister also worked as an associate producer.

Now he is working on selling the TV show to a network. If you would like to watch a 7 minute promotional video on his show click here. This is what he is presenting to different networks.