busy is good.

yeah, i know i have been slack in blogging the last several months. but i have been busy working, so that's good, right? a valid excuse i think. at any rate, i stumbled across this quote today, and thought i'd put a little post in.
"Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it. The more you need the money, the more people will tell you what to do. The less control you will have. The more bullshit you will have to swallow. The less joy it will bring. Know this and plan accordingly."

~Hugh Macleod, How To Be Creative: 15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not... 08-22-04
(borrowed from here.)
interesting cause i think so many actors who are struggling do fall into this trap. it's funny, the non-actor people in my life who love and support me often ask after a good audition (or callback or even a booking) if the job is going to pay a lot. and my answer is always, honestly, "uh, i don't really know. i don't really worry about that at this point."
that may seem naive, but it's done well by me so far. i didn't get in this business to get rich, i did so because i have a passion for it and can't live without it. so if i get rich, that's just gravy. right now i'm surviving fine and have the good fortune to be able to say, "it doesn't matter what it pays." and i'm curious to see if my future will hold any of the cautions mr. macleod mentions above.

i would kill...

...to start getting involved in projects like this.

aim high, aim high, aim high....

deflation

hey y'all~my episode of "24" aired last night, and my family, friends and i have all been looking forward to it for quite a while, fingers crossed that i wouldn't get cut out. well, i didn't get cut out... entirely, but they did cut my lines.
what a bummer! it was as close to looking like background work as you can get.
i know i can't be too upset~after all i got my taft-hartley out of it, and i did get a few seconds of screen time....
but i can't help feeling a bit deflated about it all. i just hope i can get my hands on my original footage somehow. definitely can't use what was aired for my reel.
thanks to everyone who has been so excited for me and who gave up their monday night to watch for my 2 seconds of fame :)
i'm off to book a commercial!

MY EPISODE OF "24"...

...will apparently be airing on monday, may 22 @ 8pm (yeah, that's an hour earlier than usual, for you diehard fans) on your local FOX station. hope they don't cut me out!

i'll be in the *first* hour of this 2-hour season finale. so get your butts in your chairs on time! watch for me in the second half of the hour (8:30-9), that should be when i'll show up.

i'm playing a flirty homeland security staffer. look for the low-cut, tight black sweater. :)

my fortune cookie

so while i was home in michigan, i got this fortune cookie that said "all the preparation you've done will finally be paying off!"
i guess it's true because i am shooting a co-star role for "24" on friday!
soooooooooo excited! this also makes me a "must-join" for SAG, which many of you know i have been working towards for quite some time.
hoping this great news will open a few doors in terms of getting the theatrical agent i want as well.
yes, i'll let you all know what the air date is as soon as i have it!

yadda yadda

okay SO!

josh and i shot MONKEYLUVR at the famous swing club/brown derby "The Derby" (yes, the historical society is considering making this a landmark since it's the first and last of its ilk in l.a.) and had a very successful shoot. it was an overnight, while the club was closed, and things were smooth like buttah! we got everything we needed footage wise, and we've watched it all once already, and will get down to the business of choosing takes and editing starting this weekend. we're very excited and totally pleased with the way things turned out.

mike mechanick, who wrote, composed, and directed the musical film i did last year "finding gloria bainbridge," called me from nawlins last week to let me know that he's recut the film for his sundance (yay!) and other submissions etc., and i'll be getting a copy of that this weekend. screening party of the new cut on friday night. looking forward to it!

still interning over at "24" and the pilot "13 graves"~super cool stuff with an insider info edge. great people, i adore working there.

had 3 auditions and 2 callbacks last week (films, yay) and still working on this theatrical agent. new headshots almost up. disc should arrive today.

back in class with shari shaw~missed her tons. what a great, straight-up, no b.s., no coddling kind of coach. just my thing. so happy to be back in her clutches. ;)

also did a couple of workshops with casting directors thru act now. have another scheduled for april.

that's about it right now. will start rolling around ideas for my feature film script soon!

holy pilot season, batman!

hey hey hey
back from the missing and wounded!

it's pilot season, full-strength around here. and not only am i caught up in the whirlwind of that, but i am also prepping to shoot the short film "MONKEYLUVR" my friend josh taback and i are making. we wrote it, are acting in it, will direct, produce and likely edit the thing. and i know that sounds terribly grab-your-family-camcorder-and-make-a-funniest-home-video, but we have a great professional crew, a fab-u location, an excellent and accomplished writer helping us tweak the script, and some admirable talent to add to our own burdgeoning coffers of ability. (wow, no i have not been reading shakespeare...where did that come from?)

so that's why i've been out of touch, along with taking on another internship on the pilot "13 graves" with the wonderful casting people from 24.

really exhilarating times, people. and i got new and improved oh-my-god-is-that-really-me-? headshots too. be posting them on the web site soon. stay tuned!

thoughts on audition wardrobe (or lack thereof)

well, today i had my first "bathing suit" audition. yes, that's correct. i had to go in and prance around mostly-naked, in all my winter-pale glory, in front of strangers, and then lay all over a half-naked stranger while they evaluated my bikini-wearing and jacuzzi-imagining talents. i thought today was a day that would test my resolve about using my talents instead of my physical being to get work~but strangly enough, i am secure enough now in my talent that it was not really much different from any other audition.
you see, i figured out a long time ago that it would be reasonably easy to exploit myself in the so-called pursuit of my dream. people make that very easy, no matter what you look like. however, my dream has never been to be lauded for the way i look. so i refused that notion.
since moving to l.a. i have determined that there's not a lot of choice, people view you through your external filter anyway. so the best that i could do was be comfortable with how i look and not overdo, while focusing the actual energy on my work, continue developing my talent.
so this morning, while i was getting ready for my audition i sort of started thinking, "well, kate, you watch what you eat and you go to the gym regularly. you should be proud of your physical appearance and just consider that a perk to your more-relevant talent. feel good about being called in for having both."
which is all great self-conversation. and i bought it..... but let me tell you, it was still a bit strange...
well, someone has to pay the rent. i hope it's domino's~that was the spot.

make that....

now 6 auditions (oops, as of 5pm have a 7th)! had to pass on 2 of them, but of the 4 others i've gone to, i have already found out i booked one!

it's a short sitcom "mobisode" that will be sale for download to cell phones in the near future. cool way to get my face out there and on the cutting edge of technology and opportunity in my field.

will you keep you posted on the details~expect to shoot within the next week!

2006 starts with a bang

hey y'all~hope your holidays were fabulous and relaxing. and that you didn't get into too much trouble in your bid to start the new year off with a spark....

so far in these first 4 days of 2006 i have been called for 4 auditions!
that's pretty darn exciting, don't ya think? people are barely even back to work!

anyway, the biggest and most exciting of these happens today, and is for a possible recurring guest star spot on 24. looking very much forward to walking in there and nailing it. wish me a broken leg!

beyond that, i saw:

the secret lives of dentists: wow, what a surprisingly heart-wrenching film. talk about taking reality and harnessing it in a film. i am really getting to be a huge campbell scott fan. check this one out.

memoirs of a geisha: beautiful film. book was better. but really worth a see, and if you can do it while it's still on the big screen, get there.