All Things T

A Hero's Journey

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:58:00 -0800

"Where we had thought to travel outward we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone we will be with all the world". Joseph Campbell

I love moments. Though fleeting and potentially overwhelming if true weight is given to its microcosmic representation of the human condition that moment of awareness of connectivity with the event and those around you is intoxicating. I've come to a place in my life where those moments and the awareness of them have become too weighty and moving either in a positive or negative way but usually a positive to experience on my own and then simply let go. So I've begun trying to capture them either on one of my cameras or on a scrap piece of paper where I hope my writing will be legible enough the next day when I stumble upon it in my purse. Why? Because I need to share them.

Obviously I did a lot of sharing these past few weeks while I was in Vancouver. I twittered and blogged about almost all the Olympic events that I attended and didn't hold back on the joy that I was feeling. Though I worried a little about backlash 'must be nice to take 2 weeks off to galavant around Vancouver and drink beer at curling matches and let us all know how much fun it all is eh?' I knew it was too momentous an opportunity to pass up and not share and something told me that I would take away an important no defining experience from the event as my past life as a Vancouver figure skater and current life as an LA storyteller collided head on.

What I witnessed was an abundance of collective joy...brought on by the hero's journey. For those of you already Joseph Campbell fans you're very familiar with the latter term. But for those of you aren't it seems pretty self explanatory: the journey which often implies struggle that a person undertakes in their life to achieve something bigger than one's self. The Vancouver Olympics regardless of what all the protestors want you to believe was a shiny conduit that brought the hero's journey to a worldwide audience. And that collective audience whether at a bar a stadium or on the streets reacted with joy as one. People discovered a community that they had forgotten they were a part of. Why? Because we don't see many heroes anymore we only see celebrities. When we look at celebrities we don't see achievement...we just see fame. And fame can be achieved and I use that term loosely through the randomest of occurrences I won't go into myriad examples but leaked sex tapes are my favorite. Even with celebrity artists ie. Hollywood stars we know the celebrity actors aren't the best ones- just the most famous. Because we the collective audience don't see the journey that it took that person to achieve celebrity and fame we didn't see the work or the struggle or the competition perhaps because there wasn't any just luck or nepotism. Most importantly their shining moment doesn't include us at all we're not a beneficiary to their success we're only fans. So they can't be true heros. Hence we are as eager and curious to see them fall from grace as finally we can be a part of the celebrities journey and see their human side.

Have we lost touch with the idea that something can be earned and achieved if you work harder than you think possible struggle against the odds pour your heart and soul into your passion sacrifice realize that you are doing it not just for yourself but for your family your friends your community and the greater good? As Joseph Campbell said to Bill Moyers "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than one's self".

I along with hundreds of millions of people witness the hero's journey. Through Joannie Rochette through Evan Lysacek the Canadian and US hockey team through Lindsay Vonn Tessa and Scott and the Chinese pair team Shen and Zhao. "There are two types of deed. One is the physical deed inwhich the hero performs a courageous act in battle or saves a life. The other kind is the spiritual deed which the hero learns to experience the supernormal range of human spiritual life and then comes back with a message" Campbell. These Olympic athletes did both and so brought together communities and countries.

What is different for me then now that I have returned to my 'regular life' devoid of security lines ice rinks and podiums? How has this experience colored my own unique goals? I believe even more strongly that people want to feel a part of something people want to feel PART of the story not just be passive observers. People may want to look at the pretty the glossy the skinny in the pages of a tabloid mag at the nail salon but they will invest in something more heroic- they WANT to be moved. When it comes to the community that I am a part of the web content creators community what does that lead me to say? Tell the hero's journey and BE the hero's journey. We all are already undertaking the latter even if we don't know it with the amount of personal struggle we go through to survive in this space. We are laying the framework and foundation for a future generation with our blood sweat and tears- so share it teach it document it and RECOGNIZE IT. And when writing and creating your content don't ever forget that people just want to connect with the character's journey. We strive to make our series interactive strive to make it slick to make it funny when we should primarily strive to make it human. I can't remember for the life of me who said or wrote this but if I could only chose one rule that I act and now write by it is this: "the more personal it is the more universal it is". This is what I witnessed everyday in Vancouver and what I strive to bring to my work today.

I hope you found some nuggets of truth in my post that made you think and feel something new in this exciting and important time for webseries. Congratulations to everyone who received a Streamy Nomination. I am extremely proud of all my friends and associates whether nominated or not...especially those involved with "Compulsions": I couldn't be more proud to be a part of such a dark and powerful webseries that articulates a remarkable journey for so many people involved.

"The heros sphere of action is not the transcendent but here now in the field of time of good and evil." Joseph Campbell

In Defense of Sequins and Spirals

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:13:00 -0800

Greetings from Vancouver! If you don't already know because you don't follow me on Twitter I am up in Vancouver my hometown for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games! It's very exciting for me because I LOVE the Olympics; I was a competitive skater for almost my entire childhood and the Winter Games have always been a big deal to me. I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of event tickets so I have been going crazy with recording everything and have been blogging a lot of my adventures on the site Taryn at the Olympics. No new media or acting related posts there all Olympics all the time. But because this is my main site I wanted to post my original skating opinion piece because defining the sport well as a sport is important to me. When you see a skater on TV for four minutes all glitzed out in sequins and spandex exhausting five hour practices in black sweatsuits on a freezing practice rink at 5 in the morning went into creating that sparkly performance. So on the eve of the 1st leg of the Ice Dancing competition what I competed in which is sure to be riddled with controversy I defend my old sport. Just substitute twizzles footwork and lifts for 'jumps' as ice dancing is a little different than the other disciplines of skating.

Cue the music.

I’m going to say this once: Figure Skating IS a sport and it deserves to be in the Olympics. I write this rant on the morning of the first skating event at these Vancouver 2010 Olympics the Pairs Short Program in honor of all the people that I have debated with over the years and especially the guy in New York three weeks ago who happened to ask me at a cocktail party ‘you don’t happen to be a figure skater do you?’ before launching into a tirade on the topic. Why yes I do happen to be a figure skater an ex-competitive ice dancer to be exact. I stepped on the ice at age three and lived there until I was almost 16 when a knee injury ended my career a career that had taken me to the national championships twice once medalling with my partner Victor Kraatz…Victor continuing on to become ten time Canadian National Champion and World Champion with Shae Lynn Borne. So yes after my childhood was spent waking up at 5am training all day while juggling schoolwork living away from home and dealing with the pressures of adult competition I take offense to someone who doesn’t see it as a sport worthy of Olympic competition.

But I know he’s not the only one so let’s get to it. OK I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING: “But the outfits the music the dramatic arms movements and the gay guys for heaven’s sake!” and “How can 4 minutes of someone dancing around to ‘Carmen’ be considered an Olympic sport?!” and “Not saying it looks easy but still…”. Yes I’ve heard it all before. I think of it sometimes when I punch the heavy bag yup just pointing out that I’m a badass. Some people just don’t like the showy aspects of skating and that’s their prerogative. But just because the competition element of it includes some stage makeup doesn’t mean that that the other 95 of what goes into the sport should be negated…it’s like saying that the iceberg hidden below the water doesn’t exist.

So here’s what I’m going to offer you the disbeliever A Question: when a snowboarder pulls a bunch of Backside 720s on a half pipe during a 2 minute run THAT’S a sport right? The boarder traverses back and forth on the half pipe sets up and pulls a trick at each pass…and then gets judged for the level of difficulty and execution. Well that’s funny because that’s what skaters do. They perform two different programs with at least 20 elements in it jumps spins footwork and then get judged on it based on the difficulty technical merit and execution artistic merit. So that sounds a lot like snowboarding except as opposed to snowsuits skaters wear spandex and put everything to music. Oh and they ‘perform’ the program to the audience weaving a suspension of disbelief that their every thought isn’t about the next upcoming element that could make or break their career but instead about the story that they are telling on the ice. Maybe if skaters were more like snowboarders or gymnasts for that matter and took out the artistic expression making it very apparent with both the set up and determined facial expression that a triple axle or an intricate footwork sequence was about to be performed more people would take it seriously as a sport.

Grunt focused look skate skate skate jump skate skate skate brow furrow grunt spin…skate skate jump…is this a more Olympic worthy picture?

If so that’s pretty sad. Because art and athleticism can go hand in hand and one shouldn’t let a little flamboyant behavior and poor choice of Broadway music mask the truly spectacular nature of this sport. Sure there is corrupt judging but whenever you have humans judging an event and not a time clock you will have flaws. I’ll be writing more skating commentary over the next two weeks but I just wanted to get my rant over and done with. I’ll gladly take on anyone who wants to argue Skating’s legitimate place at the Olympics either here on the site…or in the boxing ring. :

Oh and by the way…a 720 for an Olympic skater is friggin’ easy. Those boarders should try a 1440 aka The Quad and then land it on a steel blade an 1/8 of an inch thick. Just saying.

'It's not a pink slip it's a blank slate'- Want to be inspired to follow a dream? Watch 'Lemonade': http://bit.ly/7apLHj

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:10:45 -0800

Space and time are modes by which we think not conditions under which we live-- Albert Einstein

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:05:57 -0800

The Prestige of the Pad. I mean the Page.

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:10:00 -0800

I had no real interest in blogging about the iPad yesterday. Yes I awaited the arrival of this new device like a child on Christmas Eve: what kind of magical shiny new gadget would Santa Steve leave for me under the tree this year? Did I have room on my Amex to make my life a little more connected and future friendly? Yes I was curious and eager and my mind ran amok with what it would all mean but I also knew that loads of bloggers and writers would explore these far reaching ramifications of the device and I didn't think I had anything unique to say so saw no reason to jump into the conversation. After the fact my only wish besides a built in camera was that William Gibson's marketing wizard/ symbol sensitive heroine from 'Pattern Recognition' Cayce Pollard were a real person and that she could have dissuaded Santa Steve from labeling the device with such a repugnant name. But it's just a name. Well until today when I read that J.D. Salinger had died. R.I.P Mr. Salinger. I have enjoyed everyone's quotes and tweets reflecting on the man's literary genius. And I have to say it: I have NEVER read any Salinger. Hello embarrassing! I have no good reason for this blunder except that I went to school in Canada and it was never on any school reading lists nor was I assigned it in college; it was always Shakespeare and Milton Friedman for me. My initial reaction to seeing the first tweet was 'wow Salinger was still alive?' then 'frak I need to download Catcher in the Rye!'. The convergence of the past and the future present in one thought of course made me think: with the birth of the iPad came the symbolic death of the page. Maybe there is something to write about after all.

Ok- I have no doubt there are countless other writers out there putting forth this same romantic symbolic observation. The weathered dust jacket of a spine ravaged hard backed novel as a metaphor for our past and the sleek eco-friendly aluminum casing of the iPad as our future. What I wish to think on however is how will we find the next Salinger when the consumption of the written word transitions into the digital era? The past is full of rich stories about how our idolized writers ended up reaching the masses. I am half way through a biography on Max Perkins the revered editor from Scribners deemed responsible for finding and shepherding the careers of Fitzgerald and Hemingway. I have little doubt after reading this book that Fitzgerald especially would never have succeeded as a published writer had it not been for the supportive guiding hand and early monetary advances of Perkins. A publishing house both then and now invests much in its writers as printing marketing and shipping let alone the creative guidance all come at a high price...so finding that one editor to champion your storytelling is and was paramount. But this fiscal reality also reflects the essential barriers to entry. How many gifted writers never made it past those hallowed walls of Scribners Random House or DoubleDay? What if Shane Leslie had never sent 'The Romantic Egoist' manuscript to Perkins? We may never have read Fitzgerald. Ever. His typed manuscript pages would have faded and wrinkled with time lost forever. Don't I sound dramatic?? But that is no longer the case- those barriers to entry have come tumbling down and virtualized content storage prevents the page deterioration thing especially after yesterday.

So it's 2019 and physical book publishing has ceased save for expensive coffee table books of Helmut Newton's work from Taschen. Everything is consumed on a portable tablet of some sort the lines of corporate and self publishing blurred....how do we find the new Salinger the new Fitzgerald and if we find them will we accept them as such if there isn't the corporate stamp of physical approval behind them? What will a book really mean?

I find the magazine world offers up a good case study. With the proliferation of the internet came the blogs: the word press blogger and tumblr platforms that enabled us to spread our stories pictures and observations without cost or permission. No one has been writing the great American novel though - too much content to consume at one sitting and the web is about bite size morsels. But with the iPad maybe that will change. But how will we make this transition? The magazine empires slowly caught on to the necessity for a digital destination for their content. Not only did they digitally publish the articles that appeared in their physical magazines but also recognized the need to publish additional content only available online. In essence they added and named it as such a blog element to their magazines. Considering the nature of most magazine articles this evolution was a necessity. How could you remain relevant when the hard content of the magazine was written a month or even months prior? So the blogging to capture the frenzy of the real time nature of the web came forth on myriad sites. Now I can't tell them apart. And when I say them I mean the articles that I read in this month's Wired are no different than the additional articles that I read on the Wired blog. Maybe the latter are shorter but no less thought provoking and no less insightful. The blogger used to be a second class citizen to the 'published' writer but magazines and their necessary transition into digital entities if they are to survive are slowly equaling the playing field.

What does this spell then for the future of books? And just as a side note I'm not getting into monetization /divergent business model discussion or the evolution of the digital magazine as that's a WHOLE different topic!. Well once we become conditioned to consuming most of our written content online the site it lives on might not be so important anymore. Personally the site that you are published on means nothing to me- I'm just interested in your content: is it good does it teach me something does it move me do i want to share it with others? I'll post a link regardless if it's on VanityFair.com or JoeShmo.com. The former site however is a trafficked destination and the latter is probably not. So how would I find it the great but obscure article? Word of mouth? And so how will I find the next great novel in the new iBook store populated with millions of titles where 1/3 of them never went through the traditional 'publishing' process and have no marketing budget behind them? Because you KNOW that something no many things of brilliance are there waiting to be found and read regardless if Little Brown 'e-published' it or not.

I think the answer will lie with an advanced version of what we already see in use at Amazon.com and Netflix.com that suggests our next purchase or film to rent; sophisticated algorithms that can search across all platforms and deliver the best of the best and even deliver you your own specific reading list. These algorithms will pull your preference for topics authors writing style tone setting point of view politics...maybe even reflect your dreams from the types of 'wish lists' that you build on line and sites you visit. And if we have been weaned off the idea that a great writer has to have his or her words rest within two book flaps then the evolution of the book has succeeded. But that's just my rather lengthy two cents. How do you see the next great American or Canadian Haitian etc writer taking birth in this new digital era? William Gibson wrote 'Neuromancer' on a typewriter so anything is possible. Now time to read me some Salinger short stories on the New Yorker site and right the wrong of my eduction.

Once More With Feeling: Do We Need Tech to Feel?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:32:00 -0800

While stuck on the rain soaked 405 an hour ago a breaking news story popped into my iPhone inbox: 'Avatar' is now the 'king of the worldwide box office'. It took just over a month to 'sink' that other mammoth box office champ 'Titanic'; both films of course conceived of and realized by James Cameron. Wow good day for him. Yes that is an understatement and no I don't want to think what stratosphere his ego now resides in. It got me thinking though as I navigated around inexperienced rain drivers what really propelled these two films to the pinnacle of mass consumption. Was it simply the awe-inspiring 3-D of Avatar and CGI of Titanic. The obvious answer would be yes those elements were certainly instrumental to the initial draw of the films. But what if those pioneering hi-tech elements were intrinsic to a more primal reaction shared by the masses? What if those technically advanced films just made people feel more?

The stories as we all know are recycled: derivatives of 'Romeo and Juliet' 'David and Goliath' man against nature man against machine; we've all seen the mash-up of the Avatar voiceover on the Pocahontas trailer. Avatar and Titanic couldn't be more basic in their character arc types and narratives. But what moved so many millions of people to go to the theatre and then go again was that those tried and true love stories were presented in an immersive yet awe inspiring fashion that compelled our complex neuro web to make us feel something new. In both cases we had NEVER seen that type of spectacle before in our lives. Each movie may have told only a simple universal love story but it was nestled within a very un-simple foreign yet believably tangible landscape. Hmmm. As human beings are we becoming so desensitized to filmed entertainment that we need huge advances in technology to have the story affect our primal center for emotion? Do we need tech to feel more human?

I read a fascinating article in Wired the other day what else is new about a new company in San Diego called MindSign Neuromarketing. It uses brain scans to pin point when the amydala the center for primal emotions and emotionally based memories and other key regions of the brain activate in response to viewings of movies and trailers apparently Jerry Bruckheimer used this fMRI technique to fine tune his last Pirates of the Caribbean trailer. As I do quite a bit of neuro-research for different projects that I'm working on I found this fascinating yet very expected. If a studio can craft a trailer that creates peak experiences in your emotional center whether you want it to or not they have you hooked. With regards to the draw of Avatar mapping neuro responses to theatrical stimuli is the other side of the coin. What patterns will be discovered? What level of stimuli will we need to get our next 'hit'?

This topic is obviously a huge one and has far reaching ramifications definitely beyond simple consumption of movies. The advent of Twitter and Facebook made us feel more connected; when someone adds you as a friend or replies to a tweet the pleasure center of the brain activates the folks at Twitter know this or why would they have put an exclamation mark after their email alert that someone new is following you!. But now these social media platforms are part of the more traditional landscape and in becoming part of the norm what is them the future technology that will for lack of a better phrase give us our new hit of happy? It also brings forth something that I struggle with as a fledgling sci fi writer. The science and the fiction is important and the delicately constructed web that I weave to create my unique world is paramount to the genre but the story has to be elevated by the it not detracted which is why I think most scifi films do poorly at the box office District 9 being an exception for the obvious reason in that it connected on an emotional level.

I have so many more thoughts on these nebulous issues as I delve into what the future means to me and the technology I think that will define it but I have to end this post for now. I would love to hear your thoughts. In the mean time I'm going to try to remember that a simple story one that connects on a human level with the masses is not something to discount...it just has to find it's way through our overloaded neural pathways and into our well-protected hearts.

High Heels and Cobblestones - NYC style

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:40:00 -0800

I am a huge dumbass. I barely took a picture this past week in New York!?! This midtown shot on the 2nd day way one of six pics I took- I really do stand in shame especially with NYC treating us to unseasonably warm and sunny weather for mid January. Usually I am 'the crazy woman with the camera' trying to capture every picturesque moment in this city that screams its authenticity and begs to be frozen in time. But no not this time I must have been too busy and in the moment...which I guess is a good thing! I'll post work related pics in another post

Even in the craziness of running around the city in high heels I rediscovered my love of the West Village did it ever really go away and did want to post some pics not mine of the fabulous bistro that Steph my work partner if you don't know her already and I ate at the first night of our trip. It's called Cafe Cluny and was the perfect spot for two aspiring Parisians to enjoy the magic of the West Village while soaking up some quaint french ambiance and an hour of calm before three hectic days of meetings and events!

We sat at the table in the corner. The duck salad is a must!! We even stumbled upon a cafe later that night for dessert and were treated to a thought provoking but odd performance by a singer and her bass and piano player. Ahh New York!

After two days of dashing around the city Steph and I even squeezed in a night at the theatre after a long day of meetings on Thursday. We saw Tony Award winning play 'God of Carnage'.

Though I wasn't sold on the specific cast and performance of it I enjoyed the overall theme and am interested to see what Roman Polanski does with the screen play adaptation. I think heavy dramadies like this and 'August: Osage County' will benefit from the intimacy of the camera. To do the story and characters of these 'peak experience' type plays justice the actors must go to physical and emotional extremes...I don't know how that is physically possible eight times a week- you'd be a psychological mess after a two month run- some are able to do it but what I often see are the actors 'acting' a lot...you know what I mean pushing and pretending not experiencing in the moment. Most of the audience eats it up especially if voices are raised and things are thrown but not me. If it doesn't move me if I don't feel that authentic moment happening on stage it loses me. But I'm a tough critic. Film is about capturing that private authentic moment and then elevating it even more with editing cinematography and the score. I'm hoping that some of the moments that fell flat to me during this play will be resuscitated by the upcomng film.

Off on a theatre tangent I just went! Anyway we ended the night taking very touristy pics in Time Square on our walk back to our hotel at 49th and Lex...where we witnessed a bevy of drunken business men. Really drunk. One asked me if he looked like the end of the world. I told him I'd already seen it and no he looked nothing like it. And on that note I'll save the After Judgment team's adventures on The Temp Life and on the red carpet for my next post. Thanks NYC! My feet may be sore but can't wait to see you again! T

New Years Day 2010

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:19:40 -0800

I finally got my Flickr account up and running! Here is the set I took on New Years Day at Sunset when I happened to be in Venice down at the Pier. The Sunset was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever witnessed and I tried to capture the magic with my iPhone. It was pretty cool being on the Pier with hundreds of other people who were also moved by nature's majesty. It was a perfect start to 2010. Enjoy!

What an Ensemble!

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:40:00 -0800

I haven't blogged much about the two webseries projects that I produce - mostly because I'm still tinkering around with the video embed function of my new site and my personal YouTube account doesn't have any videos in it ?!?! I know I know. But considering the Streamy Awards are here and public nominations are open until January 15th I wanted to link to one of AJ's eps that showcases how many awesome actors we have in the latter 8 episodes of Season 1 that are eligible for Streamy Nominations. If the first 8 were establishing the post apocalyptic world of the show and introducing Steven and Michelle the last 8 are about the unique rag tag band of strangers and the role they will ultimately play in saving mankind. I would love for the very talented actors in our show to be recognized for the amazing work they did to bring these characters to life so please help nominate us for a Best Ensemble Cast in a webseries.
After Judgment also received some praise today in a blogpost from theonetrueB!x in a review of a high budget webseries called Riese: The Series. The following is an excerpt from that review:
"While my introduction to web series came through Dr. Horribles Sing-Along Blog and The Guild it wasAfter Judgmentwhich convinced me that dramatic science fiction not only could successfully take to the form but be done well. For all of Rieses much-vaunted budget After Judgment manages to best it on almost every count proving if nothing else that it isnt money or connections or marketing savvy that makes for a good web series. All things considered Ill take a lively script and dynamic performances but no real budget over the opposite any day."
I can't tell you how much I appreciate comments like these it makes the countless hours and blood sweat and tears that we have all put into to making this show worthwhile as we know that it has resonated with an audience. I would love for AJ to be nominated for Best Dramatic Webseries so if you want to help please vote here.
THANK YOU everyone for your continued support-everyday gets more exciting for us online storytellers but we need your help to continue making inroads into the vast digital frontier.
Taryn

A fitting thought

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:39:41 -0800

I subscribe to a mishmash of blogs, mostly tech and media ones, but my guilty pleasure blogs are The Fug Girls, This Is Glamorous, and Habitually Chic (I don't seem to have time for my fashion ones anymore, sorry Fashionista). Wanted to post a quote that was on the New Years Day feed from Habitually Chic as it's a great sentiment to get you inspired for 2010.
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day!"
Edith Lovejoy Pierce
You can also open a blank Word or Final Draft document and have the same thought!
T

As We Await the New...

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:49:32 -0800

Call me sentimental but I couldn't forego the opportunity to reflect on this past year on this last full moon lit night of 2009.

It really doesn't benefit any of you if I list all the exciting things that happened this year or delve into the trying times but I assure you the good out weighed the bad by a landslide.

I have learned more about myself in one year than I think I have in a lifetime primarily because of all you; I have met so many talented and fascinating and kind people this year because of my involvement in new media webseries the digital space now media...whatever we end up calling it and that's the cool thing- we as a community have the power to decide the name! who have challenged and inspired me and who have also allowed me to embrace all the different sides of myself and my creative passions. I can only hope that the depth and breadth of my myriad experiences in 2009 can be reflected in my life and my work in 2010.

To my friends colleagues and especially my family I raise of glass to you and yours and smile excitedly as we cross into 2010 together.

All my best

Taryn

I don't have a catchy title but it's about The Bannen Way and the Streamys

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:27:00 -0800

Let me tell you a little story. Early last year I'm talking February of 2008 maybe even late '07 I was perusing the Breakdowns the online casting notices sent out to agents and managers and spotted this cool ass role on a webseries. Now I had just finished shooting 'After Judgment' and we were in the editing 'what the hell do we do with this' phase so seeing anything to do with a webseries on the mainstream breakdowns as it was still a fairly new phenomenon piqued my interest. The role was for a sexy thief named Madison and the show was called The Bannen Way. A website was listed on the breakdown so I surfed over to a fairly sleek promotional site that gave the full run-down on what this nifty little webseries was about what it would look like it even had a video mashup of other films to show the style the products it could integrate and the audience it was targeting umm any straight male with a heartbeat. I'm sure I must have given it the 'well I'm impressed' nod but then a 'well it's not really my cup of tea as there are just a whole lot of babes with boobs' eye brow raise...and then submitted myself anyway. I never got an audition.

Cut to September of '08 and I happened to make a comment on an entertainment lawyer's Facebook link about webseries which ultimately resulted in a message from some guy who was producing a webseries himself and his name was Mark Gantt. His Facebook avatar looked so familiar...right! He was one of the guys behind The Bannen Way who apparently didn't think I was babelicious enough to even audition for his show. But I messaged him back anyway as he seemed quite nice and then checked out the new site. Holy shit! The site was gorgeous with a small teaser trailer...Jaguar Miu Miu and Prada product endorsement everything shot on the RED. Who the hell were these guys and what connections did they have? I was struggling to prep for the indie release of 'After Judgment' Mike and I having no idea really what we were doing and racing with our webmaster to get our site up and ready and here was this show that just seemed to have everything primed and prepped for the big time.

So I exchanged phone numbers over Facebook and had a two and a half hour coffee with Mark...and found out that everything I saw on the site every product placement every gorgeous piece of content had been independently achieved produced and financed by Jesse Warren and himself. I was honestly flabbergasted and then incredibly inspired. There was no benefactor behind them no studio deal yet they had cold-called Jaguar to borrow a car for the shoot called in production favors and designed and built the site themselves. My conversation with Mark was an eye opener. I'm not saying they didn't have resources and not that I'm privy to that info anyway but they've both been in the biz for a while and Jesse's wife is O.C. actress Autumn Reeser and regardless what their combined bank statements look like they independently produced a killer online sizzle reel two awesome episodes and built a beautiful site...all because when they sent the scripts to agents and studios they were rejected across the board: 'Show us something'. So they did.

What is my point here? The Bannen Way and Mark and Jesse are as indie as the rest of us. They just made something on spec and on point that the studios were eager to compete over and ultimately buy. If Mark and Jesse had chosen to release the episodes that they had already shot on their own in '08 I guarantee you they would have been at the Streamys last year and probably won. But they kept things under wraps and waited to make a studio deal. Good on them for the faith and patience. Don't turn on them or the show because you're angry that Sony released three episodes in advance of its official release date so that it would be Streamy eligible: The slick studio throwing its shiny new webseries chalk-full of Hollywood stars on its site with no warning so that it can take home all the awards for a year that it wasn't even really streaming during and then it will win everything AGAIN in 2010? Sure I understand the general frustration. But what if Sony had set the official release date for December 23rd? If those three episodes that are on Crackle right now were 'officially' released would it make a difference? But Sony made a business decision based on whatever X Y Z variables to release the series in January probably due to some ancillary market distribution deal. And come to think of it what if Sony had released say 5 episodes in 2009 and the remaining 9 in '10? 'After Judgment' released 8 episodes in '09 thus we're still eligible. Same problem but no cloak and dagger routine. So is it the underhanded slightly shady Hollywood-type play that Sony made to a make Mark and Jesse happy so they could have a shot at a 2010 award and b take advantage of any potential Streamy publicity that we are miffed about or the fact that one season of a studio webseries is now eligible for two Awards seasons thus potentially taking away awards from deserving low budget fair that could use the exposure? I'm thinking it's a bit of both but neither is the fault of the show itself. We should be thanking the internet gods that The Bannen Way is good.

Obviously the rules need to be re-examined and possibly re-fined next year but as they are now: 3 episodes released in the '09 calendar year means Streamy eligibility. The Bannen Way is eligible. Done. That means some of us won't get guest star nominations because Michael Ironside and/or Robert Forrester get it instead. Well that does kinda suck. But that's the real world baby and if more of the mainstream media picks up the Streamys because of The Bannen Way then more mainstream studios and their offshoots and then independent financiers and brands will have the confidence to finance original content for the web and that behooves us all. We're the original players kids so make all this craziness work for you.

One last thing...this debate also means the Streamys mean something to us as a community. In one year the Streamys have become a big thing. I remember Marc Hustvedt telling me about his plans for the Streamys in November '08 and I remember thinking 'how cute'. Nothing cute about it these days well except for the pic of Felicia. Also remember there is an actual board an IAWTV membership that votes on the Streamys comprised of YOUR PEERS and I'm fairly confident that this board takes their role pretty seriously. It has the responsibility to push our space to the forefront but it also doesn't want to be seen as a Hollywood sellout. I'm hopeful that the great shows and talent of '09 will be recognized.

So! Run your campaigns vote and support the space watch The Bannen Way and enjoy what Mark and Jesse have achieved. Know that if you have a kickass mainstream idea that you can deliver on and that can be monetized across multiple platforms the web arm of a studio will probably be interested. If not just tell a story that you are passionate about. This is going to be an awesome year.

Shanley on Streep

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:52:00 -0800

As an actress and as a creative in general, I find great inspiration in John Patrick Shanley's description of working with Meryl Streep (published in this month's Vanity Fair) on his film adaptation of 'Doubt'. I want to bring this type of approach to all my work from now on:

"She's rigorous, stringent, and challenging in her thinking. She's completely open to free association, but she has an analytical mind that is coupled with an enormous imagination, which is unusual. Meryl is spacious in her imagination and yet clinical in her approach to the material. She asks questions- of herself, of the character, of the scene, of the director-and she doesn't assume she knows the answer. She's looking around for something, and it's not about her; it's not about power or the clash of egos. It's about the clash of ideas..."

Thanks for all the charity site suggestions- will check them all out...

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:51:22 -0800

What are the best websites that list good charities to donate to?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:56:20 -0800

Basic Info

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:26:00 -0800

I realized that I don't have some basic information on my shows on the web or how to reach me so I thought I'd add it.

Webshows that I produce and act in:
After Judgment Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate!

Webseries that I can also currently be seen in:
Compulsions The Crew

Agency Contacts:
New Media/ Theatrical: Brandon Martinez at Abrams Artists (310) 728-1100 Commercial/ Print: Alicia Ruskin KSR & Associates (818) 769-9111
Direct Email: contacttaryn@gmail.com

Life Liberty...and the Pursuit of Paid Content: Part 2

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:28:00 -0800

I really have to thank you guys for making so many comments on my previous blog post. It gave me a lot of food for thought over the weekend both in regards to the web space in general and my personal involvement in it. Modelmotion brought up a great point make that many great points in one of his many comments: "information wants to be free". Lumping in let's say the current debate over whether newspapers should charge subscriptions to their online site with the discussion about Hulu charging to stream its online videos is counter productive as they are two different types of content. The argument with the online newspaper side of the monetization topic is that though information wants to be free the individual expression and interpretation of it by the Washington Post writer covering it shouldn't have to be...or should it? I'll leave you to ponder that as I'm not overly concerned about Rupert Murdoch's future earnings.

When it comes to online content though I have changed the way I watch webseries or any online videos in fact to reflect a cost benefit analysis that modelmotion alluded to. "Time is the most valuable commodity and it should be respected and appreciated. And it does cost time to watch anything." I concur sir and I had neglected to think on that point. The hours and minutes of our day have not changed but the amount of content that is available to us has tripled...to the nth degree. I have very few hours these days to commit to entertainment televised or online so the competition for my attention especially my undivided attention is fierce. What gets it? Something that makes me feel something...'Glee' makes me giddy because I love to sing and perform 'Fringe' satiates my love of conspiracy stories and scifi 'Gossip Girl' makes me laugh because of the whip smart pop culture dialogue and heightened Upper East Side world plus my husband is obsessed with Blake Lively...and what do they all have in common? A defined 'world' that is just a bit escapist and removed from own. Did you notice that I didn't have an online series listed? Yup noticed that too. I try to watch as many webseries as I can both to support the space and for research but there really isn't one that I eagerly await a new episode to land. I enjoy The Guild but I don't connect with it though many people do!...I was much more invested in Dr. Horrible because of the misfit superheroes breaking into song world. I love re-watching our After Judgment season 1 episodes and I'm not just saying that for promotions sake. The dystopic world that we created really resonates with me and I love the characters just as I did when I first read the scripts and pushed to get it made and I know there are those out there that feel the same. Compulsions is also something that even thought I'm involved with I have an authentic desire to know what happens.

So how do my personal tastes and reflection on the currency of time play out in the Hulu argument? Taking into account a new variable speed of access. You missed 'Lost' and you want to watch it the next day? Well ABC.com and Hulu will charge you for that immediate gratification. You want to download that episode so you can watch it on a plane or on your ipod at the gym they will charge you even more. If you are okay with waiting 2 weeks or whatever window is established then you can watch it for 'free' just as you could have live. The Syfy website has different windows for when people can watch their shows online. Established shows like 'Sanctuary' and 'Ghost Hunters' have a week delay before you can watch but new shows the shows they are trying to build audiences for are available the next day. Makes basic sense no? The pay to view option however is not there. On the flip side Dr. Horrible was available for free the first three days after each episode's release and then moved to a pay to download situation it ultimately becoming available for streaming on Hulu. The strategy worked as the die hard Joss Whedon fans came first and then spread the word to the masses and then the die hard fans came back to buy it on iTunes. Again as modelmotion pointed out it comes back to simple supply and demand.

How does this circle back to valuing independent online content? I stand by my conflicted observation that to be valued we need to be 'good...and competing on that level established by million dollar episodic television is tough. And money begets money. A bunch of us on Twitter were discussing Riese the Series yesterday. My feeling on the series is that it is beautifully shot and styled the steampunk world is pretty darn cool and it has the wardrobe and art direction to give it life and there is an intriguing mythology being laid out but the story is unravelling too slowly for me especially considering the fact that the episodes are eight minutes long where maybe two plot points are revealed and there are two weeks between each episode. How can I be judgmental? Well because I read that the nine minute pilot cost 50000 ! and a scifi wire article pointed out the host of notable tv guest stars that will be showing up in future episodes. This tells me that the production has financiers behind it and the producers have strong connections into Vancouver's production scene so I automatically raise my level of expectation. We shot the entire season of AJ for a fraction of this budget guerilla style on the streets of LA. I shudder to think of what we could have achieved with that sort of budget and the man power that comes along with it. That being said Riese has done an extraordinary job of creating a 'world' that is unique and enticing for an audience to venture into. It can compete for your time because it offers something distinctive something that doesn't exist in mainstream entertainment. I smell a Sanctuary type move to the Syfy channel brewing.

For the rest of us who don't have the connections or aren't VC savvy enough to raise some serious dough for our online content the argument for 'being good' is still in full force. Compulsions could not have made their deal for exclusive front page placement on Daily Motion and the 80000 views that have come along so far if it wasn't good. But what's also become apparent to me is being unique. We talk about interactivity and online community etc etc. but I'm seeing that occurring for shows which bring a unique world and experience to the space. With the web you can really 'enter' the world; you have more than just the video content but the site itself and its ancillary content it's forums its fan fiction to differentiate and sweeten the experience. Even though it's a multi-channel site Daily Motion does it well by having it's front page ie. the header and the wallpaper dedicated to the headliner even if there are 20 other videos on the page as well. But there is that funding issue again...it costs money to create that portal into your show's unique world.

Finally with the traditional Hollywood system crumbling more writers directors producers and actors will look to the web as a viable launching pad for their product. They know that they will have to prove themselves first online where the cost and thus risk is lower before ascending onto the hallowed television or even movie platform. I know this because established producers people I used to work with back in my William Morris days are now coming to me for advice. They want to sit down discuss how they can take all their projects in development and adapt them into a something that is fit for the web. They know this to be the future of entertainment but they have no idea how to do tackle it. This means that we have to either partner up or get better fast because the regular Hollywood folks will learn how to turn their good idea into something viable for the web and the studios will want to green light that product first before ours. But then again that means that better original content will start hitting the web and with it an audience potentially willing to 'subscribe' to it.

What is your time worth? What shows are worth your time let alone your money? How do you see this playing out? Share your thoughts as I'd really like to know...

Yes Virginia the leaves do change in Southern California...

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:06:30 -0800

Finally just downloaded all my pics from last weekend's Thanksgiving excursion to Santa Barbara's wine country with a few friends of ours. The scenery was spectacular as all the vines were glorious in their golden and crimson hues and the partial clouds allowed for some pretty amazing light. Every few minutes I would yell for my husband to stop the car so that I could take another photo; I think our friends thought I was a little mad. Having the impulse to capture as much of the visual beauty as I could reminded me what an inspiration nature is to me.
I'll post more pics on facebook or flickr and/or in this album Thanksgiving '09 if you are interested.

Life Liberty...and the Pursuit of Paid Content: Part 1

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:37:00 -0800

A huge flood of thoughts hit my brain today. After coming out of a shooting bubble and as I embark on a new series of work endeavors I scribbled down thought after thought of what I think the issues are that currently challenge our web content creators ever changing digital landscape. Far be it for me to know the nuanced details of certain issues as I’m more of a macro girl but I think that my drought of new media posts are about to change as there is some great discussions to be had at this time of consolidation and change.

The first one that I want to tackle in potentially a few posts is currency for content or valuing art as a commodity and not a right. People including myself were recently a twitter about Hulu announcing that they would soon start charging for content. Hooray went some but most booed in revolt. The portal that we have come to rely on in our busy lives when we forget to TiVo 'Fringe' or suddenly want to rewatch on an old season 'Sliders' and the red envelopes of Netflix don’t come fast enough or aren’t available for streaming suddenly will have a barrier to entry. I don’t know what form of subscription the joint studio powers that run Hulu will set up for their revered portal but it will definitely require your credit card. But as many argue we watch the ads right? Why should we also have to pay for the show as well? I think the question is why do we think we shouldn’t? It’s a service and we’re consuming a product. Isn’t it that simple? Why do we expect content on the web to be free? How did we get here?

I believe we have a disconnect with our Art. When I speak of art I’m not referring to the abstract painting in the gallery; if you wish to take the painting home and enjoy it you know you have to buy it. The art I speak of is the mainstream entertainment we consume on a daily basis: television and films and in extension web series videos. Think of the system to which we adhere. You turn on your television click through a hundred channels that you pay Direct TV or Time Warner a fixed amount every month for watch your desired show while basically ignoring or at least fast forwarding through the commercials and then turn it off. After a long day at work it’s our capitalistic right to zone out in front of the TV and be moderately entertained. The average person has no idea the time money and manpower that goes into producing just one hour of televised scripted entertainment or the amount of cameramen and editors it takes to spit out an hour of reality programming. Here’s the kicker though: The next day in a time when no one’s job is secure and your retirement fund has shrunk you open Vanity Fair or click on Us Weekly’s website...what do you see? You see pictures of those actors you watched on TV the night before living an extraordinary life. They are rich and privileged running around the palm treed playground that is LA in their Range Rover sipping their Coffee Bean. That movie star who you paid the equivalent of 2 Vanilla Ice Blendeds to watch in his newest action flick is caught canoodoling with a new piece of arm candy at his Tuscan villa or sharing a meal with his equally rich actor friends because all famous actors are friends right? at your favorite celeb chef's newest restaurant. Even the new ‘indie’ star has a spread in the LA Times and just walked the red carpet at the Venice Film Fest. The space between that space between creating the ‘art’ or at least the Hollywood version of it and our consumption of it is diluted filtered and most importantly vast.

I can’t tell you the amount of people that have commented to my parents how well I must be doing as I have a commercial running ‘she must be set for life’- yes they actually say ‘set for life’. Outside the shiny albeit crumbling walls of Hollywood the rest of the world assumes that if you are on TV if you are in a movie you must be rich. How you got that way is of no concern or interest to them except that if you made it into their living room or on the big screen it must be so.

My friend and Artemis Eternal mastermind Jessica Stover forwarded me a blog post a few weeks ago from lead singer of the Dresden Dolls Amanda Palmer and girlfriend to Neil Gaiman. It is an in your face no apologies given post about asking no demanding money for her art. She started her career as a street performer coercing folks out of their pocket change and has carried that experience through with her to the now. This paragraph struck me as something that was relevant to what I am mulling over:

“if you think i’m going to pass up a chance to put my hat back down in front of the collected audience on my virtual sidewalk and ask them to give their hard-earned money directly to me instead of to roadrunner records warner music group ticketmaster and everyone else out there who’s been shamelessly raping both fan and artist for years you’re crazy”.

And these points:

"artists need to make money to eat and to continue to make art."

"artists used to rely on middlemen to collect their money on their behalf thereby rendering themselves innocent of cash-handling in the public eye." "artists will now be coming straight to you yes YOU you who want their music their films their books for their paychecks."

These sentiments are awesome. Serious kudos to Amanda for having the bravado to offer up such a declaration. But TV/ Film actors and show creators don’t have that personal relationship with their fans they can’t stand on a soapbox and perform and then hold out their hat for tips. They are far removed separated by that ‘space’. The ‘middlemen’ that Amanda references are those who populate that space. The studios the ad agencies the brands the agents the publicists. They all function under a veil of anonymity- the general media consuming public is ignorant in its bliss just as they were in handing over their hard earned money to egocentric money managers who turned magic profits…until they didn’t. In what world could we be used to tv and movie actors coming to us the public for their paycheck? As the television moves towards becoming a 52” computer and traditional commercials become obsolete are we willing to watch an hour long Ford commercial masked as an episode of 'White Collar' or are we going to realize that content and not just it’s delivery model has a value that we must contribute to?

So how do we fix this disconnect and how can the solution be applicable to helping monetize content on the web? Should television actors become more transparent about why and how they make so much money? Should they talk about the ‘system’ under which they work where the network that debt finances their show is at the mercy of both the shareholders of a parent company and an antiquated advertising model one which ultimately makes the car computer pizza you buy more expensive because of the money it costs to to produce and distribute that commercial which you probably didn’t watch anyway? That disclosure would sell a lot of ‘Life & Styles’ right? Oh ignorance is bliss…but burying your head in the sand only leaves you with oxygen deprivation and a sunburn from your neck down.

I know that I get my fair share of “so how do you make money on your show” questions from people outside of the biz so there does seem to be an awareness that being on the web doesn’t necessarily mean that you automatically monetize; the lack of barrier to entry is apparently recognized. But does this mean that people are willing to step up and support what they like? From five middlemen to none- with great interactivity comes great responsibility. You like feeling connected and a part of a specific show’s culture? You appreciate being able to communicate with those involved? How about backing that relationship with a little green? But there in lies the important point. Your piece of content on the web and the consumption of it has to be valued. It can’t just be appreciated or respected or acknowledged it has to be valued. And in most cases that means it has to be good.

Reaching that standard on the web isn’t easy. What we consider good stems from years of television viewing and good on TV costs a hell of a lot of money. You feel thrilled by an episode of 'Lost'? Well there’s a skilled composer who writes a sweeping score to subconsciously tell you how to feel a team of editors to create the heart pounding tension expensive cameras hoisted on cranes that capture the grandness of the Island…the shots are color corrected the dialogue ADR’d if the wind got in the way a staff of writers sit tied to their computers crafting and fine tuning each word of the script the list of elements that create the ‘good’ goes on and on. So for us web content creators to create ‘good’ programming is a monumental task. We have 1 of those resources. But the expectation from an audience is the same. And in a sense it should be. I only want to produce write and act in good shows.

How do we make up the difference in production scope between web and tv so we can ultimately be valued? We all know the answer: Interactivity and Accessibility. But creating an effective marriage between the viewer and the show isn't as easy as it sounds. We're all voyeurs by nature...that's what tv magazines and even the internet has conditioned us to become; the screen is a two way mirror we can watch but those we watch can't see us. The webseries that succeed destroy that reflective barrier and make it OK to engage. The opportunity to actually 'become' part of the art now exists but we have to make it appealing...and thus valued.

I really could just keep going but I think it’s a good time to stop and more importantly open the discussion up. How can we change the masses’ lazy consumption of mainstream art? How can we illuminate the value of it instead of perceiving it as a right? Is creating a level of transparency around the Hollywood machine necessary and would it help or hurt the industry? How do we train people to value out uber low budget web content thus making them receptive when we ask for money. And how do we make our shows better with the limited resources we have. Will the cream rise to the top? With the television turning into a 52” computer not vice versa how will entertainment consumption change and how will the advertising model be forced to change with it? I feel so lucky to be even peripherally involved in this important time of transition and it is our responsibility to exercise our insight and our experience and grab the reigns when the traditional figures of power are scrambling to figure out what their next move should be. And now: DISCUSS

Thanksgiving memories...

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:35:00 -0800

I can't believe it was a year ago that we were in NYC for Thanksgiving. My family and I have a history of going to New York for Thankgiving because my brother lived there and could never get enough time off to come home. So we would all just go to him- an excellent excuse for some big city Xmas shopping too! But last year by brother and his soon to be fiancee unexpectedly left NYC to move back to Vancouver...but our Thanksgiving trip had already been booked- so my parents and my husband and I decided to still go and we truly had a magical long weekend: From trekking up to the Parade and having a friendly security guard let us into a residential viewing area to the power walk around Central Park that ended at a phenomenal little french bistro on Madison to seeing the plays 'August Osage County' 'Billy Elliott' and Christine Ebersole perform at a famous jazz club to Christmas shopping and reconnecting with an old college friend in the West Village...it was all fantastic. I felt truly thankful to be able to share all these wonderful moments and experiences with my parents.

This year brings my brother and his new wife happily settled in Vancouver and a staycation for my husband and I in LA- lots of movies to watch turkey with his grandma today and a little day trip up to wine country tomorrow. I'll bring the ol' camera out tomorrow and capture some more memories. Until then here are some of my favorite scenery pics from last year...NYC we miss you! Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are all grateful for all that you have and for those in your life! I certainly am :

Is There a Method to this Madness? A New Moon Mania Perspective:

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:01:00 -0800

142 million? Did 'New Moon' really just make that much money opening weekend? It did indeed and with it a whole lot of interweb anger at the notion of it almost knocking The Dark Knight off its well deserved platform check out the 200 comments at the bottom of the Nikki Finke article I linked to. Well since y'all got such a giggle out of my last post about Twilight I thought I would give you my 2 cents on New Moon and the phenomenon surrounding its reach and its success. I think I might be a good person to actually review the film as I'm a fan of the book series but will freely admit to how embarrassing it is that I am. I've seen the first Twilight multiple times and though I know it to be a poorly constructed film I do have a minor in Film from Duke thus have a bit of experience deconstructing film on paper it is a big guilty pleasure for me. For whatever reason I am a fan caught in the series' spell but aware enough to admit the story's pitfalls...so perhaps I can comment on it with a balanced perspective...you be the judge.

BTW: After reading a lot of online reviews...you movie bloggers are all guys....and a lot of the good tv bloggers are women...hmmm...interesting.

I saw New Moon opening day though not at midnight and was pretty excited to slip back into the rain soaked angst filled world of Stephenie Meyer's supernatural take on Romeo and Juliet...this time helmed by Chris Weitz. I've read New Moon a few times and was really looking forward to it coming to life on the big screen especially the chapter when SPOILER Edward broke up with Bella and left her in the woods. I honestly had a viseral physical reaction to that scene when I read it on a plane to NY for Thanksgiving a year ago. I think I actually clutched my chest and my eyes tears up. It makes me laugh thinking about it but as a writer I am also in awe that Ms. Meyer's simplistic prose made me feel so much.

Well sadly the movie made me feel very little well except perhaps frustration. The part that New Moon plays in Twilight's success is pretty clear cut to me. Establish Bella and Edward's fantastical soul mate connection while explaining some key backstory elements integral to the future of the series then rip it apart then put it back together under some high stakes situations and lush scenery. Throw in a good ol' fashion 'other man' who happens to be a werewolf and Bam! you have a fun film that could appeal to fans and non fans alike. But no for the sake of playing time it seems like Chris Weitz and Summit felt it unimportant to flesh out Bella and Edward's relationship at the beginning of the film for the sake of high octane action scenes of werewolves and vampires fighting and chasing each other in the second act. We had one 'let's hit you over the head with the literary symbolism' relationship scene in a classroom while the two watched Romeo and Juliet a moody birthday scene and then we were right in the woods with Edward leaving. Couple this lack of set up with Kristen's unmoving performance in the forest and anguished painful nightmare screams soon after and I was already sighing and wishing I had been on set to coach the actors. I can't imagine what an un-indoctrinated viewer would have felt in watching it.

Jacob ie. Taylor Lautner was one if not the only highlight of the film for me. Not being a tweener the appeal of Taylor doesn't exist for me- he's just too young. But except for a few one dimensional scenes from him at the beginning I really came to enjoy his presence on the screen and the scenes between Taylor and Kristen were by far the most honest and believable. Robert Pattinson's Edward however fell completely flat for me. At least in the first film Edward had a degree of warmth and likability even if he was constantly keeping his monstrous inclinations in check with pained looks. Edward was down right unlikable in this film though still a treat to look at unless he had that twingey constipated look going on. He was painfully stoic and sullen and lost whatever inner sparkle he had in Catherine Hardwick's version. Other lacking elements of the film for me? The CGI of the werewolves the 'visions' of Edward the poor ADR in the Bella/Jake scene in the rain the overwrought fantasy epic type score and of course Alice's 'vision' of Edward and Bella running through the forest looking like Hansel and Gretel. The things I did like? The supporting actors especially Billy Burke Anna Kendrick and Michael Sheen the 'slo-mo' fight scene with the Volturi Peter Facinelli's performance the cliff diving scene and how they made the parking lot at the school look the same as in the first Twilight even though they were shot at two different places so I appreciate that type of continuity.

But enough of the review- there are countless reviews out there tearing the movie to shreds and countless others from mostly fangirls screaming it's praises. So why do I chose to write about it? Because I want to see it again. Don't be a hater but seriously I do see myself going to the theater again and plunking down my 12 for another viewing. Why? I honestly have no friggin' clue. Why did my mom call me at 10:45pm to find out how it was as she has now read all the books and seen the first movie twice? I have no idea either. But I really need to figure it out.

Is it as simple as our genetic code compelling us to reprise the archaic role of a damsel in distress who wishes to be rescued by a handsome yet flawed ie. a stalker and control freak creature that worships us for eternity and who actually loves foreplay? Or are we at the mercy of a larger scheme by movie studios and publishing houses using mass vertical integration in their marketing reach and a salacious gossip hook on whether Rob and Kristen's relationship is real? Do women really need fictional characters to fulfill their romantic ideals? And are those that revere the books and the films being unfairly criticized in the media for having those unfulfilled needs? Men aren't chastised for wanting entertainment full of explosions and boobs so why are so many Twilight 'moms' being harshly attacked for their fandom? Does the power of the female ticket buyer now threaten the Hollywood machine? Rick Ross and Bob Iger apparently are mandating that studios adjust their slate to reflect the power of the woman so change is on the horizon.

The best article I have read on these topics was penned by Annie Petersen an article I found through following proggrrl. She hit the nail on the head regarding the legitimization of the female audience and how at the same time that legitimization is being undermined by gender criticism.

New Moon having the biggest opening day EVER has far reaching ramifications whether you want it to or not. It is at best a mediocre movie but it has wooed millions and millions of women across the world. It's opening comments on the psyche of the female population and their purchasing power. It comments on the themes of love and romance or lack there of in a post 80's/90's wonder women era where we have learned that you can't have it all. Or maybe it's just a book penned by a lonely stay at home Mormon mom who was an average looking seventeen year old with fantasies about love and a vampire...that a whole lot of women and girls simply relate to. But it just can't be that simplistic. Regardless it's worth exploring as the entertainment that will be offered up to you in the coming years will have been affected by The Twilight Saga's success.

Check out Anne's article and of course feel free to comment if you think you have something crazy or constructive to say. Tomorrow brings a Twilight free post about Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Paid Content!

Finally back on track with some new media posts.

Later Skaters...

picture courtesy of www.robert-pattinson.co.uk

Oh boy it's a new moon....

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:32:00 -0800

One of the reasons I love my blog is that I get to out myself. It's rather masochistic of me but I love to rattle people's preconceptions of me by literally embarrassing myself. So I'll come right out and say it. I love Twilight. I heart Robert Pattinson. I've seen the movie twice in the theatre and a few more times at home. When I procrastinate it's usually by clicking on the different RPattz links on Twitter or heading to Vanity Fair to gaze at the outtakes from the December cover story good job VF on the staggered release of the pics. I know the books are poorly written the themes misogynistic and the movie sophomoric but I don't care. Something on my X Chromosome can't get enough of this supernatural love story and the actors well really just the one who bring it to life. There- phew- it's out there. And trust me I know I'm not alone.

So in advance of 'New Moon' opening this Friday and my 5pm adventure with 'Oz Girl's' Shanrah Wakefield to see it in all of its sparkling glory I look back fondly to a post I wrote a year ago...before I had read the books seen the movie had the CD on repeat in my car...before I went down that 'Twilight hole'. So enjoy...and I'll see if the movie and all the hoopla around it prompts a new theory on the draw of the vampire and the state of the female psyche...after all it did partly inspire a new project of mine that is still underwraps...

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I'm having problems enjoying the "Twilight" trailer. Is that weird? People are lining up already to see the movie on opening night and poster signings have been cancelled because of the potential for mob madness. I think I have seen spreads of Robert Pattinson Edward and Kristin Stewart Bella in every magazine publication this month always looking pale disheveled and sexy; our generations eek can I say our? maybe my younger cousin's is better Romeo and Juliet. What is better than young forbidden love...especially when one of them is a vampire. But I'm just kind of put off by the trailer. It makes me feel unsettled. 'So what' you ask? 'Aren't you a little old for that schmaltzy fare anyway?' Why yes I guess...but...well no. It actually doesn't matter what I am when what I really am is out of the loop. Horribly painfully out of the loop. I haven't read the books. I don't know the world and haven't been swept off my feet by Edward yet and that just makes me upset! And even worse everywhere on the web that I turn I see a reminder of my neglect. 'Why does this upset you' you ask? starting to worry a little bit about my sanity no doubt. Well because I am a normal girl on the exterior at least with a semi-normal life who just loves loves loves her vampires.

Wow- TMI you say! All my budding credibility as a creative voice just vanished like a vamp in direct sunlight. But alas it's true I am addicted to the vampire genre and I have been for a long time. But I had a brilliant idea today which hopefully will be fleshed out as a new project sooner rather than later that made me really look at my fondness for the fare. And I think I might have discovered the root of it all: It's really actually a very simple thought. The romantic desire for the perfectly flawed man: the male vampire hero. Think about it...I'll let the thought stew for a minute and reminisce before returning to it. But just so you know I'd like to figure out at least so this piece has a function and isn't completely reflective a What does he it represent and b what role does he it play in our generation's narrative. I add 'it' because technically 'he' is not alive of course.

When I was a child I had an extremely over active imagination and would have an impossible time trying to fall asleep. My parents would turn out the light and I would suddenly be plunged into a terrifying paralyzing darkness where I would tug the sheets above my head shielding the opening with an army of stuffed animals and basically mummifying my body perhaps that explains it all- I was oxygen deprived as a child so that nothing from the world of the unknown could get at me. My most vivid fear besides the clown in the closet from 'Poltergeist' and the worm/parasite thing in the ear from the second 'Star Trek' movie was of vampires. My third eye would rise from under the sheets and watch in horror as an evil wraith of a non-human would glide towards my bed looking to feed. I would hold my breath and lie so still so that it would think I was already dead again the lack of oxygen thing. It was awful. But I honestly can't remember where I derived that fear from and I've wracked my brain on that one as I was under strict lock down from the parentals when it came to watching horror movies though obviously I was able to sneak in a few of them as they had an early inkling that my imagination wasn't exploring worlds of rainbows and unicorns though "The Last Unicorn" was the best movie!!.

So how did I go from such paralyzing fear to such unadulterated fanship? I think I made the transition to tweenhood I hate the word puberty so couldn't use it in a non-parenthesized sentence and started liking boys. I started watching the Canadian TV series "Forever Knight" and seeing the movie "Lost Boys". Suddenly vampires were sexy forbidden and the cool kids or they were saving damsels in distress from evil mob bosses. Did you ever watch "Forever Knight"? It was a fantastic show that starred Geraint Wyn Davies born in the same Welsh town as Catherine Zeta Jones btw as police detective Nick Knight an 800 year old vampire. I didn't quite know at the time why I was so drawn to this show as I was supposed to be watching '90210' and 'Melrose Place' but something about the flashbacks to Nick's adventures in 15th Century Italy the forbidden budding romance between him and the mortal doctor trying to reverse his 'condition' and his explosions of vampire power during the pinnacle fight scenes where he was saving the day or night as it had to be were intoxicating. He was such a flawed yet engaging hero. Now that I think about it it's so obvious. Two of my favorite TV vampire characters Mick from 'Moonlight' passionate fan base and Angel from well if you don't know who he is then you probably aren't still reading this post are just reincarnations of the same character. They are both private investigators love a mortal ass kicking girl can't act on their feelings but swoop in and save the day- fangs bared- before retreating back into their solitary loner world after giving their love a longing glance. Yumm! No need for "Days of Our Lives" here! I just dig a misunderstood loner who is all sensitive to women's needs as he's been around the block for 600 years and has finally learned from all his mistakes. So with that thought throw in Bill from "True Blood" and Louis from "IWTV". Lots of members of the romantic vampires club. And not only are they reluctant heroes but these vamps declare their vulnerabilities and must embrace them- no sunlight for them and don't pass the holy water. They want to return to the land of the living and give up immortality for their fair haired maiden but when things get tough that sentimentality goes straight out the window and mr. bad ass comes out swinging- inhuman strength speed and stylish mayham on a plate- saving the day in the process.

OK now I'm becoming a little self conscious about what I'm writing as it just seems like I've dropped myself into the crazy world usually populated by comic con attendees airport romance novel fans and those who will indeed stand in line for 5 days in advance of the Twilight release because I am very different from them please believe me. But my basic discovery serves a point. The vampire is our generations Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen had to illuminate Mr. Darcy's dark side by throwing him into fits of...silence. Silence? Well rudeness too he would be abrupt and rude to Lizzie as he didn't want to show his true feelings for her. And he was unattainable because he was rich and wasn't supposed to marry beneath his class. Well OK. Those reactions to puppy love aren't too exciting in the 21st century and class boundaries don't really hold up anymore but ancient gypsy curses and the need to feed on human blood certainly do! Vampires are just a big old manifestation of our need for romance. Of the unattainable kind.

I'm going to end this post on that note but also note that there are lots of vampire movies and shows that I'd love to explore from a digital blogger and writer's perspective let me know if you have any requests. I may even go see 'Twilight' and write about it even if I haven't read the books. Be back soon.

All Things T

Who are the other female web actresses/writers/producers out there? besides tarynsouthern and feliciaday?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:16:27 -0800

In Flanders Field...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:46:00 -0800

The phrase November 11th has always held great meaning to me. As I sit here in front of my desk the LA sky overcast and gloomy I travel back to my days as a child growing up in Vancouver. It was also usually overcast and gloomy but the air cut with a frigid wind and often a drizzle of rain. I also remember pea coats and poppies. The pea coats would be worn by a host of elderly gentlemen who entered the school gymnasium and the poppy would be worn by everyone else pinned to the v-neck bright blue sweater that was part of our school uniform and the cardigan sweaters of our teachers. There would be readings there would be hymns sung and the gentlemen at the front of the room would be honored by a hundred usually chatty adolescents. Something held our attention.

On the streets that day everywhere in the city the red poppy was there. It would be pinned to trench coats duffle coats overcoats...a sea of poppies. Everyone it seemed joined in common respect and gratitude for the men and women who had served and a child that gave me great hope.

It's almost been 100 years since the start of the Great War WWI and with men and women still fighting around the globe I thought it fitting to attach a copy of one of the greatest war poems ever written. I had to learn it as a child and for many reasons I still remember the entire thing.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived felt dawn saw sunset glow
Loved and were loved and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Pass the poem around if you want otherwise just sit with it for a moment.

I honor all those who have served on Remembrance Day/ Veterans Day.

A call for Inspiration.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:41:25 -0800

First I want to apologize for the delays in posting to my new site; I miss blogging let me tell you! But as reality would have it I haven't been able to clone myself yet so I have been in a bubble working on post -production for our new show 'Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate! which I am very proud of EPISODE 2 is now LIVE! as well as a number of writing projects that I am very passionate about. And then of course auditioning and some other acting gigs that I'll hopefully be able to post about soon. In immersing myself in so many different projects as of late however my brain though friggin' exhausted! has been on the fast track to 'big thoughts'. The pilot of 'V' plus immediately watching a group of Orthodox Jewish families walk back from temple had me ruminating on religion science and technology...and the ultimate convergence of such yes I said the C word. Those thoughts are still percolating so a blog on that will have to wait- though I do have a theory about the color white...cue reader confusion. Yesterday however I saw a few things that made me want to write about the letter 'I'. 'I' of course not being about myself but rather about that lofty feel good term 'Inspiration'. What were the two visuals that set me off? Well one was an LA Times Calendar review on TV of the upcoming Holiday movies and the other was a billboard for 'Glee'. Indeed.

It seems that the Hollywood machine is actually going to be churning out some thinking man's & feeling woman's fare. From Jason Reitman's 'Up in the Air' to Sandra Bullock's new biopic 'The Blind Side' and Oprah Winfrey's 'Precious' a handful of movies offer the promise of a dark emotional journey frought with stark social commentaries and searing inner turmoil but also promise to deliver us to a final place of hope and joy. I was honestly moved not just by the content of the movies themselves but by the idea they are actually seeing the light of day in a dark theater.

We live in a time where optimism is a guarded word. There is a resigned acknowledgment that the world as we knew it has changed. No job is taken for granted no assurance that a 401K's or social security will support you at retirement can be made. My generation wonders how they can ever prosper as their parents did let alone feel secure enough to send any future children to college. In general it's an overwhelming feeling of ARGH!!! Which is why I look forward to movies that don't hold their punches and that offer a glimpse at what being human can really mean.

I think we have forgotten but we are resourceful little fkers with a huge capacity for love compassion and generosity. When we go into survivalist mode like we are in now it's easy to ignore the traits that actually define us as human beings and separate us from other species on this planet. But during tough times are inclination is to put our nose to the grindstone and throw on those 'no distraction blinders'. I mused on this idea earlier this year:

"We’ve come to a point in our collective experience as a society hit from all sides by a flailing economy that we are resigned to hunker down. We’re working hard glad if we actually have a job to work hard at stashing any excess cash under the mattress as banks of course can’t be trusted anymore and just keeping our head down so the recession monster can’t come and snatch up our heavily mortgaged house. The tags of our daily life are now ‘surviving the downturn’ ‘weathering the storm’ and ‘simplifying your lifestyle’. It is certainly not a good climate for day-dreaming. "Day dreaming?" you laugh. You know going inward allowing the sub-conscious to take flight throwing off the shackles of the mundane world like we do while we sleep but only you’re actually awake. But these days if someone were at their desk and caught staring off into space the office collective would probably shake it’s head and silently confirm that if someone had to go- it was going to be the day dreamer. Why? Because not actually ‘doing’ something physical not indicating the ‘work’ that you are doing with your body is more often than not seen as doing nothing at all. We’re by-products of the Industrial Revolution and the Puritanical settlers of this country. The enlightened didn’t jump on the first rickety ships to the New World the workers the builders the farmers looking for a better life enslaved under the ruling thumb of the imperialist governments did. When the going gets tough that historical arch-type the one who laid the concrete foundation for this powerful nation is who we are supposed to become again. It’s time to work not think...or at least if you have to think think hard! Ugh. "The source and center of all man's creative power. . . is his power of making images or the power of imagination. " ROBERT COLLIER"

Yup I postulated that during tough times it's ok...no it's ridiculously important...to give yourself the permission to 'imagine greater' thanks SyFy. And on that platform allow yourself to be inspired; Allow yourself to be moved. The ubiquitous billboard of "Glee" had a big 'most inspiring' review tag line on it. I stared at it from my car on Highland and Wilshire and just smiled. They're right I AM inspired by it. I'm inspired to realize that I love the way that the performances in that show make me feel. So what if the vocals are over-produced and there doesn't seem to be an actual plot that is going anywhere; when I finish an episode I feel happy...and inspired to make someone else feel as good. I feel inspired that such moving stories like 'Precious' have arrived on the big screen and that people across the country regardless of socio-economic status are uniformly embracing it. So I step back and look at the web space that I work in. Where's the inspirational webseries? Am I missing them? Don't get me wrong I love both the shows that I have produced and am passionate about the ones that I am writing but do any of them capture that uplifting je ne sais quoi that makes a show truly moving? Do any of yours? Ummm no? Why the hell not people? Why haven't we produced something that gets to the heart of the matter and connects with viewers regardless of niches and genres? Are we too wrapped up in what supposedly 'works' online how to make it interactive how to appeal to sponsors how to make it look cool while on a tight budget?? At this moment at this point in time that must be the case or else we've lost sight of why we tell stories.

So I challenge you writer/creator/director/actors in both the web and beyond to start getting to the heart of the matter. A searing biopic of a disenfranchised youth may not work online yet but whether it's comedy or scifi just start feeling the beating heart underneath your characters again this is a note to myself as much as it is to you. It's time we started remembering why storytelling is such a powerful thing...because it reminds us of our humanity.

If you have or know of a webseries that hits these notes please make a post about it in the comments section...I would love to be proved wrong and love even more to help spread the word about it.

Be back soon- I promise

All Things T

Things of Beauty

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:19:00 -0700

One of the reasons I'm so excited about my new website is that I can have forum discussions on all sorts of topics. I may still be in the midst of writing a new All Things T blog post that revolves around new media wait what are we calling it now 'cause it ain't new anymore but in the meantime I can post about a whole variety of things that peak my interest. I may be an occasional badass and like to tango with a heavy bag but I'm still a girl and occasionally love girlie things- like fashion travel and art and Twilight- don't judge. Photography is a big passion of mine. I think it runs in my blood as my father and I both love to capture images that move us and ultimately compete to see who got the better photograph. I will honestly be driving along and see something in nature- the way the sun is setting or a storm is coming in or how the light is hitting the marine layer - and pull my car over to the side of the road so that I can take pictures with my iPhone while cursing that I don't have my canon with me at all times. Today I stumbled on a beautiful set of black and white photographs from Parisian photographer Elisabeth Toll on a very girlie blog called This is Glamorous. My breath caught in my throat as I gazed upon a set of captivating images that quickly awakened lush memories of my trip to Paris two years ago and my subsequent desire to live there for a spell. It also reminded me what a photograph can do and how it will forever bring you soaring back to that moment you captured it. Moments in time. That's what it is all about anyway right?

So what does this mean? Well just that I'll be blogging and posting about an extended array of topics above and beyond the corner of Hollywood I inhabit that I enjoy - some of which you might as well- and lo and behold there is a whole area on my site that we can chat about it.

Make sure to check out those photographs by Elisabeth Toll- I honestly want to dive through my computer screen and end up on the other side in them a scifi Mary Poppins with the sidewalk chalk drawings if you will. The picture of Paris at the top of this post though is by me. And this one of the elephants was by my dad.

Pretty awesome. Moments in time. Be back soon.

Had a great meeting with mbeckett about my new umbrella site- going to be launching the social networking functions shortly!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:12:54 -0700

Good to be home...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:48:31 -0700

The past few weeks have been such a blur! With my brother's wedding (which was amazing), the shoot for our new show (Awesomeness with a capital A) and another wedding this past weekend, I am definitely wiped but ready to get back on track as this week is going to be busy! Some news about our new show will be coming out tomorrow, I have a new blog post to publish (which will hopefully spur some conversation) and I'm back on Operation BABE.

Until then, wanted to share some pics from Vancouver- it was truly fall up there and I witnessed it go from beautiful and sunny to inclement and cold- but the leaves were still stunning regardless. Enjoy!

Comic Con 4 day passes already sold out? Check out a post I wrote in May on 'Renovating Geekville'-

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:08:56 -0700

Did you know that the original meaning of geek, according to wordnet.princeton.net, is a carnival performer who performs disgusting acts? Not only is a geek a carny but he/she does something utterly grotesque (apparently it was in reference to a performer biting off the head of a live chicken- in all seriousness). The Germanic root of the word geek is geke (foolish) and the Dutch root is gek (crazy). What an auspicious start. I connect with this next definition a tiny bit more: a person who is single minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits, but is felt to be socially inept. That definition is pretty inter-changeable with the one for nerd, except that nerd covers all different academic fields and has an even more pejorative tone to it. But the most significant definition that I keep finding is more of a reference point than a definition: See 'computer geek'. That instruction often manifests in my geek Google searches. And to compound this observation, if you type in computer geek in a Google search field, geeks.com comes up. What is this site? It's an online computer store. And the cartoon logo of 'the geek' is highly stereotypical: glasses, messy red hair, big nose, beady eyes. Geeks and computer geeks are more often than not interchangeable...at least on Google. I wonder why that is? (#sarcasm). This parallel sheds some light on the celebrity Geek backlash. Is being an authentic geek contingent on an affiliation with computing? And I'm not talking about owning a MacBook Pro and having a Twitter account, I'm referring to serious programming skills. So how much is needed? If this quiz that I found really does establish who is and is not a geek, then I better travel back in time and yell at my Comp Sci teacher. No celebrity, save Bill Gates could call himself a real geek (he's known as the alpha geek actually), nor could, I'm assuming, 90% of the people showcased on the I Am A Geek video. But I know that this must be an outdated definition as the very purpose of this post is to address the evolution of the term geek, thus I rejoiced when I landed on this great passage from Julie Smith: "He was the very personification of a 'geek', a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace -- somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager's room in his parents' house." Sigh. Eyes almost welling with nostalgic tears. In my reality, I used books and my imagination to escape to non-Earth planets as a youngster, but the image above still hits home. Here is someone who would hard wire his brain to his computer's mainframe had he the chance and escape into world of limitless possibilities, built on 1's and 0's. I think this passage sums it up perfectly: geeks turn to technology for escape from the regular world. This passage illuminates three important points about geeks: an affinity for technology, a need for escapism and an inception at youth. How does escapism go hand in hand with an obsession with computers, you ask? Why the escapism? Let me ask you a question first...if you do consider yourself a geek: Were you popular in school? Don't give me the, "yes I had lots of friends in band and one really close buddy that lent me his dad's Playboys and who I went to see 'Return of the Jedi' with". We're you popular? Were you part of 'that crowd' that ruled the school and was filled with stereotypes from a John Hughes movie? If you consider yourself a geek and were popular, I really want to know so I can put you in a room and study you. Throughout school, I resided on the fringes of popularity. I was a cute girl and was friends with one of the popular girls, probably because I lived in a nice house, but did I feel liked and more importantly understood by my popular peers? No...Definitely not. When I was a younger, even as a teen, I felt horribly different and alone. Having panic attacks about the sun going supernova on the Earth and trying to understand the probability of random accidents befalling me and my family were common occurrences by age nine (not that my parents knew or to the shrink would I have gone!).

Beyond the chaos of my tortured brain, however, I simply wished that I had a super duper group of best friends who liked me. Unfortunately, the world around me just didn't seem all that accommodating...so I got got lost in stories. I couldn't seem to digest enough of them- in fables, Greek Mythology, Nancy Drew and Chose Your Own Adventures and in Roland Dahl's worlds of peaches and witches. Then in Betty and Veronica comics and 'He-Man' cartoons. My favorite stories were actually ones that my father and my grandmother would make up on the spot, about Sinbad the Sailor and about a brave young girl lost in the woods trying to find her way home. Because they were told instead of read, I became enamored with the power to create a multi- dimensional image with just words. I didn't know it at the time (as all I would envision was the day when I was finally an adult and free of 'mean girls'), but those hours of storytelling coaxed my brain to become idea generator that it is today. I was reading an article on one of the co-founders of the internet, Leonard Kleinrock, who credited his obsession with Superman comics with inspiring him to build his first radio, at age six. No wonder children have an easier time crossing over into the parallel universe on 'Fringe', their minds have the opportunity and the willingness to go anywhere and do anything.

So my thought is that if our childhood reality was fairly miserable, our instinct to survive compelled us to create a new one. For some of us, that was in our heads through an active imagination, for others it was vis a vi Dungeons and Dragons. How can it change our lives? Well for me, I dreamed of experiences far past the boundaries of my hometown and my creative essay secured me a spot at a top university (I know this for a fact). I have held on to the idea (albeit naively) that if I can envision it, and I work hard enough, it is possible. For others still, it was looking at a computer terminal and dreaming what the potential of such a device was, of actually teaching one to speak and think. Hello technology, good bye status quo and the popular crowd that embraces it. What about geek culture and the fact that it is becoming more mainstream? All I have to say is Comic Con and even the least geeky person has heard of it, and might even be trying to get tickets. Geek is chic now...which aligns with the whole celebrity aspect of my post…but why? Because the geek culture represents a passionate, supportive community. The sense of community in society today is practically non-existent; do you know all your neighbors or go to Town Hall Meetings? Didn't think so. You probably don't go to church anymore either (I certainly don’t).

We as human beings need companionship, a community, we need a tribe (as Seth Godin explores in his TED speech). If we are ones who don't align with the status quo, we definitely need to find our tribe. How do we do that? If you weren't popular and didn't feel accepted by the popular kids in school and turned to comics, or 'Star Wars', or 'Buffy', how did you find like-minded devotees? Technology, as Seth Godin pointed out, solved that problem. The internet didn't create one large homogeneous community, it allowed countless smaller ones, tribes as he calls them, to form. These communities don't care about where you live, your dress size or your paycheck, just your passion for the topic. As these online communities strengthened, so did the technological platform that they were built on. You can now connect and play against million of people on 'World of Warcraft' and then watch a webseries about fictional WoW players! Soon, you will be able to become part of a Star Trek online gaming experience if you chose to put your Trekkie knowledge to the test and subscribe to the MMORPG. These type of online communities have of course now spilled into the mainstream. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, these are all social networking platforms that could be seen as mass derivatives of online communities originally founded by ‘geeks’ looking to connect. Though created by geeks, technology has become a device of the popular. What do you do when the popular even want to call themselves geeks? Let them. Let popular people be exposed to the subjects, gadgets and stories that have long dominated the lives of us here down in the sub-cultures. We all need a little escapism these days and as geeks we need to be welcoming, not cliquee. Because, can we honestly say that Shaq was part of the status quo as a kid? No, he was a 7 foot alien to his peers. Or Oprah? Talk about bashing down the status quo! And she didn’t have Twitter to help her during her early years. Or even Ashton...he was a model and a sitcom star who has made a respectable career for himself as a producer. Look at what he’s done- it’s pretty innovative. He’s definitely an idea guy and he challenges the mainstream’s idea of entertainment all the time. I have no idea what their childhoods were like but somewhere there was the impetuous for them to create change, so they might be the geekiest peeps amongst us. Do you see why geeks can't just be computer geeks anymore, though there is a direct correlation between the original term and the more evolved one? I don't believe there is one set of parameters that defines who is a geek in today's times. I definitely agree that it shouldn't just be because someone uses Twitter, but then again, maybe that someone joined Twitter because they wanted to expand their perspective on life and be exposed to new minds, new ideas. If no one desired change, no one would challenge the status quo, thus no evolution would occur. In a nutshell, I believe a bunch of geeky, unpopular kids paved the way for life as we know it today. They dreamt big because they had to. So during these days economic and social strife, head to Star Trek for two hours of fantastic escapism, turn off your phones out of respect now matter how much you want to twitter, and let's just support all those who don't quite fit in and want to dream of something better.

Phew!

Be back soon...All Things T

The Now: Getting characterized

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:47:49 -0700

Partners in Crime

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:51:59 -0700

My producing partner Stephanie Thorpe and I ready to tackle a scene in our new show. Can't tell you about the scene yet but threats chases and Colin Firth were involved- awesome!

Awesome day meeting all the cast and crew we've assembled and doing a table read for our new scifi comedy project. More tomorrow!

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:12:47 -0700

I really love playing a badass!

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:07:37 -0700

Had an amazing time shooting with the Bui Brothers for 12 hours!?!. Here is a sample of what we did- this is from the final set of pics called BadAss- I just pulled it from the proof sheet- so psyched for you to see more!

Here in Vancouver on a beautiful aft--about to start shooting a new proj. so make sure to subscribe to my new site as I'll be updating there

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:36:11 -0700

I wonder if I can get these scene breakdowns done and a treatment revised in 2 hours- apparently not if I'm online

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:58:09 -0700

In case you didn't see it: My final All Things T post on my old site: Times Are Changing!

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:23:10 -0700

What a year. I can't believe that a year ago next week, Michael Davies, Stephanie Thorpe and I launched our scifi webseries After Judgment and in doing so dipped our toe into this world of new media that I would now like to consider home. In less than a year, webseries and the platform upon which they exist, have become my life. I have been fortunate to have After Judgment embraced by the community and the critics; being nominated for a Streamy was such a thrill. I have been a part of two new webseries recently (as an actor) and have five new shows in development or pre-production, two of which I have written. I don't think that would have been possible if, a year ago next month, I had not launched this blog. I had no idea what I was doing or what I would write about but I knew that it would challenge me to define my own voice, give me a platform to explore ideas that were meaningful to me. And so birthed All Things T.

What have been my favorite posts? Probably ones you haven't read. 'The Perfect Man is a Vampire', 'Creativity', 'The Trade Off', 'It's a Bird, It's an Invisible Plane...' and probably my first post, which was untitled. I didn't know who was going to read them and I didn't really care (analytics aren't my forte), but what ultimately mattered was that I finally had a place to give my thoughts (and feelings) free reign and articulate them in a way that felt natural. I've found that I'm fairly personal, passionate and idealistic in the way I write and like to use 'asides' (as my Gemini brain often likes to comment on what I am thinking- it's like a Brecht play) and that format was never one that I could previously adhere to in college or even my early attempts at screenwriting. So it would always make me smile when someone would tell me how much they liked my writing style and how specific 'my voice' was; I'm just writing how I think! The feedback that I most treasure, however, is the occasional email or facebook post telling me that I have inspired someone. I hope that doesn't sound conceited (as I actually sat here for a few minutes figuring out what I should follow that sentence with, and that never happens), but I guess these comments make the countless hours that I put into a post worthwhile.

I am inspired daily by people, by a lot of you new media peeps who are reading this now. We are in the trenches are we not? Trying to climb up onto the other side where our content is valued and our risk is rewarded. We are redefining what it means to be a creative storyteller; master of our own destiny has a new meaning as we can control the idea all the way through to the distribution of it. We can also control our 'brand', how we are perceived and 'consumed' by our audience and our virtual communities, through our avatars, postings, blogs. Or at least we can try to. I may post a lot about my love of scifi and being a badass babe in training, but my real brand is 'my voice', the one that I have developed here on this blog, the one that has given me the courage to really go after the professional career that I can now envision, the journey of which I'd like for you to be able to join me on.

And so the voice has a wonderful new home. The uber talented principals at EQAL, Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, have been kind enough to host the new and improved All Things T site on their exciting new Umbrella platform. My new site will connect all the dots: All Things T blog posts, my Twitter and Facebook communities (soon YouTube), webseries and acting updates, videos, pictures, you name it! And the best part is that there is a forum where users can be a part of it all; each post I make will have a forum in which people can foster discussions, thus hopefully letting us each inspire each other (but be constructive as I am a lethal weapon). So this will be my last post here at Blogger. I'm a little nostalgic as I've been on such an amazing journey this past year, and I can see it reflected in what and how I wrote, but it's time to get off the interstate and make my own tracks. So thank you for reading and supporting my blog and I hope that my new home is one you will come over often to.

Be back soon....but at www.tarynoneill.com

All Things T

In honor of closing down my old blog I'm posting the first post I ever wrote...that started the journey a year ago:

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:43:33 -0700

Well this is a little unnerving, my first ever blog post. I guess I will just dive right in as this is more of an introductory, hi, how are you, my name is Taryn, hope you find what I write to be interesting and entertaining but if not please don't add a rude comment as I get enough rejection already being an actress, post anyway. I actually have to give credit to my brother for motivating me to start this blog. I know in my 'about me' column I credit all the blogs and vlogs that I've come across because of 'After Judgment' for the inspiration but it was my brother, his newsletter and his lack of a blog that really put the fire in me.

My brother Tim sends out an email newsletter every morning called 'Confessions of a Lehman Trader:'. You see he happened to leave his fast paced Wall Street life and ultimately move back to Vancouver on the very day that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Pretty crazy I know. So now that he is back in our hometown and weighing his many options, he started writing. Now I haven't read something of his since high school when my mom would make me look over one of his papers as I was his super smart sister who went to Duke. Sorry Tim, but those papers weren't very good. So when I heard that he would be writing a daily newsletter on investing, regardless of how successful he had been at Lehman's on his trading desk or the 4 years he spent at Tufts, I freaked! (in a big sister protective type of way). What if they were poorly written and were non-sensical? I feared that his reputation would be sullied before be even launched his financial career in Vancouver. I held my breath and waited for the 'ting' of my inbox. How proud I am to now say how wrong I was! Every morning at around 6am, I receive a well-crafted, engaging and insightful commentary on the world of investing and finance. And I understand about 20% of it. But that's OK (well not really as I was an economics major) as I can at least understand the thesis of his piece and gleam a bit more information on what a positions trader at an investment bank actually does. Why is his newsletter so great in my opinion? Because he writes what he knows (which is apparently a lot) and he is incredibly passionate about it. I can only imagine the valuable insights that a junior trader could take away from reading Tim's well-articulated thoughts. (Just like the amazing ideas I gathered from watching the PRNews Webinar that Brian Solis and Publicity Hound hosted last week on using Online PR to grown your business- I was like a kid in a candy store.) What is wrong about his newsletter? Not enough people have the chance to read it! He doesn't post it anywhere on the web! The more I think about it from an outreach perspective the more I lose my marbles! But I will work to change that...his lack of blog that is, not my marbles.

So how does this boomerang back to me? Well, there are a lot of things that I am passionate about and a lot of things that I consider myself knowledgeable on, they just don't all reside under the same roof. I have never had the opportunity to merge all the sub sects of my creative work and interests in my life onto one cohesive platform, from my audition tales and acting adventures, to my continuing attempts to write a mythic TV series, to my love for travel and art, to discovering new ideas in media and technology, to my dabblings in the fashion world, and to my musings on life in general, but maybe through this blog I can. I warn you- I'm a Gemini- so I never know what story or thought will tickle my fancy. I love to discover and learn new things, call me an aspiring Renaissance woman, and when I discover something new and fantastic I love to share (but don't ask to borrow my clothes I'm very particular about that). So I guess we'll see where this blog takes me! Lots of exciting (and challenging) things happening in the world, especially with the election tomorrow. Get out and vote- make your voice be heard- like I'm endeavoring to do as well.

On a side note, I'm thankful to all the people in my life who have been a champion of my big dreams and my unorthodox choice to pursue the 'creative life'. Here's to them and to my little bro. Be back soon.

All things T.

An Epic Shoot

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:20:29 -0700

Wow shot with the Bui Brothers for over 11 hours yesterday! We did everything from 'young mom' commercial shots to theatrical beauty and editorial shots to weapons wielding Badass. The Bui Brothers came to my attention at the Streamys this past year as they were the official photographers of the event. Needless to say I loved their work. I'm also a fan of their recent photo shoots with Veronica Belmont iJustine and Felicia Day. Considering I needed new headshots AND wanted to do some fun pics for THIS site I thought they were the perfect photographers to collaborate with. So yesterday I loaded up my car with a crazy amount of wardrobe and props and headed to their studio. But wonders never cease as I didn't get one picture of the day!? So I've attached a photo Lan took:

I'm currently on a little thing called OPERATION B.A.B.E....I've been on it for close to two months now- check out what started it all...and know that tomorrow I'll be a playing a badass on camera.

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:01:57 -0700

I think this is why I love Twitter...it doesn't let me get away with anything. Namely my Gemini tendencies of coming up with a great idea and then losing interest in it a month, a week or even a day later, especially if I'm working on it solo. But with Twitter, I have a team! I put it out there and the twitterverse gets hold of it, creates momentum, takes it to a new level and then keeps me accountable for the follow through. Yikes! But also, very cool. We ARE champions of our own destiny but that doesn't mean anything if we don't act on our dreams.

So let's get to the point- Operation B.A.B.E.

B(adass) A(lien) B(ody) E(ndeavor)

Here's my tweet:

Yup, that's right. I'm going to pretend (ie. act, which is what I'm trained and experienced in doing anyway) that I am up for the lead role in the upcoming Ridley Scott directed prequel to 'Alien', where to do the role of Ripley justice (or whatever form that role is re-written into), I will have to be a lean, mean alien fighting machine. With cleavage (let's be honest). So I have decided to document/journal/blog about my training, my periodic results, articles and tips that I find to help the process along, and most importantly my personal and professional discoveries.

But first, before I go (to the gym no doubt), what was the genesis of this Tweet you ask and what were the responses that lead me to take this single thought and turn it into an Operation? Well I was coming back from the gym, bemoaning the strict diet and exercise regime that I was just starting to shed the excess pounds that I have put on as of late (due to vacation, writing for long hours, Comic Con and a few episodes of day drinking with my girls and evening out with my hubby) when I read a tweet from @Whedonesque. It basically said that Eliza Dushku was MTV.com's first choice to play a young Ripley in the recently announced 'Alien Prequel'. Umm, why should Eliza get to play such a kickass role? Just because she is hot, ripped and can kick some ass? Well hell yes! She may not hold a candle to Signourney Weaver in the acting category (sorry Eliza fans, but maybe after she has more meaty roles under her belt and some theatre?, but maybe not even then) but do you know what? She already looks the part, she walks the part...and that my friends, is half the battle. So I took a moment and then tweeted the above. Because when it comes down to it, Ripley is the type of character that I want to play as an actress. It's why I got into this messy business to begin with: I know I look like a normal gal, but underneath it all, I feel anything but normal: I feel like a misunderstood badass. I started martial arts training years ago because I connected with 'Buffy', I pulled every string to audition for 'Alias'. And as many of you know, I believe I am secretly an Amazon and actually started writing because I attempted to write a Wonder Woman short that would get me an audition with Joss (but that's another story). In a nutshell, I want to play kick ass, life or death defying characters...so I better be able to look like one.

The response I got from friends and strangers alike was no less than awesome.

My favorite?:

If this doesn't get you motivated then what the hell does?! Plus, more importantly, I had tweets from people who said that I had motivated them to kick it up a notch themselves and aim for something big as well. Hell yeah!

So I'm going to be disciplined. I'm going to be fierce. And do it on my own- at this point anyway- without the help of food delivery service or a trainer. Because I have a mortgage and bills (but I would be happy to shoot another national commercial or sell one of my webseries- by all means). And I'm going to keep track of it over at my brand new Tumblr blog:

OPERATION BABE

So, see you on the other side...guns blazing!

And kick some ass people.

All Things T

I thought I'd repost one of my recent All Things T entries on Mentoring:

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:44:46 -0700

"I was sustained by one piece of inestimable good fortune. I had for a friend a man of immense and patient wisdom and a gentle but unyielding fortitude. I think that if I was not destroyed at this time by the sense of hopelessness which these gigantic labors has awakened in me, it was largely because of the courage and patience of this man. I did not give in because he would not let me give in." Thomas Wolfe

Good thing I don't have due dates on these blog posts because seriously, I never know what my next topic is going to be until it hits me (usually when there is some serious physical distance between myself and my computer or the shower makes it difficult to type a note on my iphone). And the idea is almost always the result of a random conversation that, in the moment, seemed, well, like any regular conversation but somehow the next day it morphs into a platform for thought. Not to dissuade you, fair reader, from hiring me as a writer (as you'll be giving me topics to mull over and muse on if you happen to be in a position to do so) but I don't want to waste anyone's time by reviewing District 9 or writing about my food journal. Wait I do that. Sorry. But I really only try to twitter out that posts that are either embarrassing or fun (usually involving pictures of stealthy bad ass babes.) So back to my point. It is usually through that nifty interpersonal activity called talking that I get the light bulb moment that inspires me to write. This time it was when a friend bemoaned a number of bad business decisions that she had made at her last job. "If only I had had someone to tell me that I should have signed that actor. I didn't know! I was just sitting there trapped in my closet of an office doing things as best I could on my own." There are a lot of other things that she regretted that I won't repeat, and her office was definitely bigger and infinitely better decorated than a closet, but the root of the conversation kept pointing back towards one definitive thing, her lack of a mentor. She was at a fantastic company, at least it seemed like one if you waited in the post modern chic lobby sipping your Americano, but her office might as well have been in Siberia for all the inter-office support she received as a junior manager. The corporate culture supported competition and secrecy; co-workers clashed about projects and clients as if collaboration was a dirty word. And there was no effective farm system to train the young associates; they either made it off of a desk or they didn't. And once they were promoted, they either learned how to swim or they sank. (Cue 'Swimming with Sharks' clip) Oh, old Hollywood. How I don't miss you. No one doubts the value of a mentor so why do so few of us have one these days? Musicians, writers, entrepreneurs, creatives in general throughout history have looked to an elder for guidance and inspiration. Even well known artists of this decade admit to being mentored: Oliver Stone was mentored by Marty Scorsese at NYU, poet Maya Angelou mentored Oprah Winfrey. But in looking at my peers and contemporaries (both in corporate and artistic fields), either in traditional Hollywood or New Media, I don't see it (and if you do, skip to the bottom and just leave a comment ;-p) The word mentor was first used in the Odyssey when Odysseus left his son under the charge of Mentor whilst he partook on his epic journey (and then the proper noun turned into a verb, but that is for another post, not to be written by me) so it's been around for a while. Given, us modern day whiz kids have access to information and inspiration any moment we chose by clicking on our Safari browser (Odysseus' son nor the majority of famous mentor/protege pairs had the interwebs to learn from) but I see such value in having someone take a personal interest in your career. Believe it or not (and I know some of you out there don't think people do anything that is not in their own self interest), these mentors did it because they wanted to and someone probably did for them. "Every student deserves to be treated as a potential genius." Anton Ehrenzweig said it well. Perhaps that is why Seth Godin or Tony Robbins are so popular because they offer up a wide brushstroke of guidance, through their seminars and books, that is lacking in the work force. It's not tailored to you specifically though. The life and executive coaching sectors are certainly expanding but that is still a business transaction; the coach is helping you because you pay them to. Why is it that people aren't simply helping each other out anymore? And during this time of economic crisis and change, the need for this, the need for a mentor, is even stronger. But there in lies the problem. What would our potential mentors be mentoring us on...if everything is changing. So I pull focus back to my own industry and the specific landscape that I inhabit: that of content creation and the attempt to monetize it on the web.. There is a fantastic article in Wired about 'Socialism' and the intellectual collectivism that is elevating the internet to a cyberland where we, as a society, benefit from sites like Wikipedia, operating systems like Linux and 'free' restaurant recommendations (from all the people that took the time to write a review) on Yelp. I would like to think that our web community is an offshoot of that idea; that the creative members of our space are a supportive community that often work to simply to elevate the original web content landscape, or within the context of my mentorship topic, help someone out...just for the sake of helping. But here's the thing. How can someone be my mentor in the digital space, how can they 'help me out', when we are both struggling to monetize our own content, create an active and interactive audience around our own shows and be abreast on all new technological developments that affect the space that we distribute via so we can make a successful living at this? Is there one digital company that has 'cracked the code' yet? Nope. Regardless of the VC that does or does not back us, we are all at the precipice of big change and all of us are guestimating the outcome. So, if we are technically competitors then how can we foster a mentor/ protege environment? By changing the vertical nature of that relationship and re-examining competition. I have always believed that that the sum of this industry is much greater than the individual parts. Gennefer Snowfield wrote a great article for Tubefilter.tv on this topic called 'The Only Competition for Webseries is UnAwareness' where she posited that 'the underlying issue isn't competition (between series) but discoverability' thus content creators, especially those creating series within a similar genre, should band together and cross promote each other's shows, not consider each other competitors. Out of that article and subsequent twitter conversation spawned The Scifi Collective. Still waiting to hear what exactly that is, but between it and the soon to launch SciFinal site (where original scifi web content will have an awesome home) we're on the right path in joining our powers. We also all got our starts in different sectors: entertainment, technology, law, etc but have landed in this upstart sector together because we see the opportunity to be a pioneer. Even if we can't foster a traditional mentoring relationship, like say Bob Evans had with his mentor Darryl Zanuck as Mr. Zanuck was the head of 20th Century Fox and Mr. Evans was a producer who aspired to such (ended up becoming the head of Paramount), we can each look to each other's strengths. The fact that we all didn't start in the UTA mailroom is a GOOD thing. I have experienced nothing but support and kudos since stepping onto this quickly changing landscape. It's the first time that I didn't have to limit my identify to one field: I'm just an actor, I'm just a web producer or I'm just a writer. In the web community, I'm all of the above because I have to be. Being a multi-faceted creative is a fiscal necessity because of the budgets that we must deal with in this space, but in being such, we are setting ourselves up to reap the rewards when those budgets become bigger, when Madison Avenue has faith in the space or the web subscription model takes off (?). So what do we need to do to make certain this happens? BE BETTER. I need to be a better writer, a more knowledgeable producer, a more savvy salesman (I think my acting is pretty cool but you never know). I can learn from media blogs, conferences and articles as much as I can, but I can ultimately learn more from you. Would you be my mentor? I would be happy to be yours as well. Be back soon. All Things T

Commercial Headshot

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:39:13 -0700

Ah yes the warm and fuzzy headshot that gets me a lot of commercial auditions. Taking new ones soon as my hair has grown. Elisabeth Caren took all my recent shots.

Headshot

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:33:38 -0700

The wonderful Elisabeth Caren took this glamour shot of me.

Clairol Commercial Shoot

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:22:42 -0700

I had such a fun time shooting with Angela Kinsey from 'The Office' on a new Clairol campaign that Barry Levinson directed! It was a very fancy shoot to say the least- thanks Proctor and Gamble!

Shooting with the Coen Brothers...

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:13:56 -0700

On set with the Coen Brothers this past February for a commercial shoot. They are as phenomenal to work with as you would think.

Coming Soon!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:56:11 -0700

Hey everyone! I am incredibly excited to have a brand new site launching thanks to the folks at EQAL. Isn't it cool?? The site is built on their new Umbrella platform and it is the future. BUT!! It's not quite done yet (at least on my end as I have to import a lot of stuff, and well, as a lot of you know, I can really busy!!). But very soon, I will have lots of my All Things T Blog posts, pics, videos and will be running my twitter updates from here. So stay tuned- and please subscribe! I'm going to work hard to make this site great. (Oh and as soon as I publish my Facebook Fan page it will connect to that automatically so please join!!)

Be back soon!

All Things T

Welcome to my new site!

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:55:09 -0700

My new site 'All Things T' is just getting going.

Become a member and stay tuned for more!