It's here!

In which our Diva is available on podcast and DVD

Two and half years after our time at the Icebox Inn (not unusual for an indie feature), Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer is out on DVD today! I'm honored to be part of such a knockout cast, and proud to have played sidekick to the fabulous Patricia Belcher.

My friend (and fellow Resonance collaborator) Mary Czerwinski is co-host of DVD Geeks on Fearless Radio, and she was kind enough to invite me on for a brief interview to go with their review of the flick on this week's show. Check out the podcast on their site. Mary and John have the skinny on the new releases every Monday night, and I can guarantee you they know their stuff!

Speaking of Resonance, we're planning plots and plotting plans for new Chicago story content and clues in a couple different formats. Look for a link or two by the weekend, and be sure to follow the Twitter feed or Facebook page to keep up with the latest developments.

Fairies and cannibals

In which our Diva has rather a wide range of projects

Ooops! I really didn't mean to go nearly a month between posts, but I got really busy with auditions and geekiness. The latter involved getting ready for and attending Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con and Dragon*Con, both of which were ridiculous amounts of fun.

Now they're done, and I've emerged from my sewing room to find that Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer will be screened at the Chicago Horror Film Festival, September 24-26. The movie will be shown on Sunday evening, and is up for several festival awards. After all the pouting I've been doing about not being able to make it to the other events where it's screened (okay, I'm still going to pout about London!), I'm seriously stoked to get to see it on a big screen locally! If you come out for it, I'd love to chat at the event.

With other projects taking precedence, I've only just now finally edited my video diary for Storefront Shakespeare's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream this past June/July. If you thought that bunch was crazy onstage...





Special thanks go to the lovely Emma Wallace for kind permission to use her song "Pet (Helena's Lament)." I discovered her through our director, Nora Manca, and just love her "modern ragtime" style. Be sure to check it out! And don't miss her blog, where she frequently offers free "song sketches" to fans.

Cyrus does Atlanta

In which our Diva wishes she could be there, and hopes you can

As I noted in passing recently, Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer is the closing feature at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival, tonight at 9:30. I'm a bit bummed that I can't make it, when I'll be in that very city three weeks from now for Dragon*Con!

But such is life, and I hope a bloody good time is had by all!

Sorry, wrong redhead

In which our Diva was planning to blog about something else entirely today, but...

First, the good news: As mentioned in this Fangoria interview with director Mark Vadik, Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer will be the closing feature at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival on August 15.  There's a bit of a kicker in the fact that it'll be in a city where I'm going to be (for Dragon*Con) just three weeks later, but it's still pretty cool.

Google Alerts are really handy for letting me know about things like that article. Then there are the... less useful links it turns up.  On today's interwebz, pretty much as soon as you have an IMDb page, you start turning up on all kinds of goofball "celebrity" sites. The one with my horoscope and biorhythms and stuff is particularly entertaining. Mostly, though, they're clutter.

In any case, most of these things are automatically generated, including the ones that pull bits of text from various places -- say, random celebrity names and assorted porny keywords -- and splice them together into bogus metadata to lure you to a page and infect your machine with malware.  At first, I thought the link that had my name and "show her left tit" in the same sentence was one of those. Then I realized that (a) the sentence made sense, and (b) it was describing a particularly intense scene in Cyrus.  There's just one... no, actually, there are a number of problems with that. But the first one that sprang to mind was that I'm not in that scene.

The link checked out according to my virus-protection software, so I let curiosity get the better of me. And yep, it was exactly what it sounded like, to wit, a site (I trust you'll excuse me for not linking it) collecting video clips of nudity or near-nudity from assorted sources. (It's apparently the updates from a particular day, which I assume explains why it randomly runs the gamut from an actual porn star's artificially enhanced full toplessness to a few frames of a Doctor Who companion's upper thighs under her fluttering nightshirt.)

Now, we all know The Internet Is For Porn. I think about that every time I hear or read a comment from an actress about how she chooses whether to do nudity in a role. The most common litmus test is whether it's integral to the story.  (Which is perfectly reasonable, if unavoidably subjective. I'm not saying there's no such thing as a story that can't be told effectively without it, but I personally think they're rarer than people tend to think.)

That reasoning is solid as far as it goes, but it only goes as far as you can rely on the story to remain intact. And these days, that's until about 24 hours after the pirated DVDs hit the streets of Bangkok or wherever. After that, congratulations! Your bits have almost certainly been yanked out of context and thrown up in sloppily-constructed virtual galleries for the convenience of any bored guy with an internet connection and a roll of toilet paper. Which is a very, very different transaction with the audience from the one you had in mind.

Thus it is that, in this particular instance, an actress who worked her ass off in an emotionally and physically exhausting role has one of its most disturbing moments amputated, its significance reduced to a glimpse of aureola. And, just to top it off, labeled with a caption identifying it as someone else entirely.

Funny thing -- Jill Sandmire was the one to note that there were four red-haired women among the principal cast: herself, Anne Marie Leighton, Patricia Belcher, and me.

Four quite distinct women, or so we concluded during that idle conversation between shot setups. But apparently we're interchangeable to some virtual voyeur who's only interested in our bits.

Stay classy, pal.

If I had a million dollars

In which our Diva displays her preference for experiences over stuff, though stuff is nice too

If I had a spare few hundred bucks lying around:

When I designed costumes for Barnum a few years back, I got to participate in one of the circus workshops arranged for the cast at The Actor's Gymasium. A. Maze. Ing. I've wanted ever since to do a full session of their aerial class. I'm still determined to get the knack of wrapping my feet in the Spanish web so I can actually climb up to the loop and play. I did have a great time on the lyra, though, and also discovered that I do in fact still have my 180-degree split -- by being hoisted seven feet off the floor that way!  They're also affiliated with Lookingglass Theatre, one of the companies at the vanguard of physical theatre in Chicago.

If I had a spare grand or so lying around for airfare and lodging, I'd be headed to London in October for the UK premiere of Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer at the Gorezone Film Festival. (Despite the topless promo photo of one of the emcees at the top of their webpage.) I love a good horror weekend anyway, it'd be all kinds of fun to do the whole red carpet thing, and I could visit with friends in the UK. My role in that is, of course, too minor for them to send me anywhere, but I'm still holding out hope that there will be some kind of event Stateside that I could go to. Apparently it's already out on DVD in Australia (a couple blog reviews have popped up on my Google Alert), and I'm hoping to get a copy of it soon.

If I had a spare three or four grand, and the ability to take a month off besides, I'd finally go to Shakespeare & Company's full Intensive program. I learned so much just in the couple weekends of theirs I've done -- one in 1995 and another in 2001 -- that's still very much at the core of my actor's toolbox.

Of course, spare cash lying around is, as for pretty much everyone else these days, not so much something I have. I'll just have to make do with playing one of my dream roles in an exciting production with a brand-new theatre company. Darn. ;-)

Song for today: Been running through my head, and inspired this post. Which, considering I've been neglecting this blog for a couple weeks for lack of inspiration, is a darn good thing.

Gotta say, though, I have several real green dresses, and I don't think there's anything cruel about them. ;-)

En-title-ment issues

In which our Diva probably should have done better than that pun

Oops, nine days since my last post. I'm basically over being sick, so I think I'll blame the Olympics. Who wants to blog when they can watch Evan Lysacek? (YAY LOCAL BOY YAY!)

In the midst of the sick, I had a very busy January, and one of the projects I shot during it was Ken Cohen's Tasting the End, which is slated to be released this spring. When I auditioned for my role as a home hospice nurse, the title on my sides was Smelling Anosmia. By the time we shot, that had been truncated to Anosmia, which was evocative but perhaps a bit literal? With the new title, Ken has hit on a memorable ring, and I can't wait to see the finished film. I've done several offbeat comedy projects lately; this one probably fits most properly in the "black comedy" category. I shot one day on it, and had a great time.

Movies commonly go through several title changes even after they're wrapped, for a variety of reasons. A little birdie told me last week that business wheels are turning behind the scenes, and there should be release news on Cyrus before too terribly long. Since a comedy by the same name got a fair amount of attention at Sundance, I'm guessing that news will come with a new title. I'm curious to see what it will be!

And then there's Raymond Did It, the first feature from horror writer/director (not to mention comics writer and RPG designer) Travis Legge, which I'll be shooting in Rockford this summer. One of my audition sides came with the draft title The Revenge of Ray-Ray still attached, but Travis had moved on to the punchier title by then. It's already getting attention in the horror blogosphere, and you can get in on the ground floor of support and news at its IndieGoGo page.

Looking forward to that one, as I get to play my own age for a change -- the mother of a teenager! Plus, how can I not love the first-ever design for a real movie poster with my name on it?

Coming soon?

In which our Diva is thinking happy distribution thoughts

Cyrus will have two screenings at the American Film Market, November 5 and 7. Wouldn't it be an awesome birthday present to hear that it got snapped up? Stay tuned!

Song for today: "Good Behavior" by Plumb, just because it's been running through my head the last couple days. Probably something to do with last week being hella stressful on the day-job front, just in time for P&P tech week! But the show is going great (two weekends left - have you bought your tickets yet?), and strategies for dealing with the recession-fueled craziness are kicking into gear. And I have high-energy cathartic music running through my head. So it's all good.

New Cyrus promo

In which our Diva is actually in this one!

None of my lines, but you can spot me just past the halfway point, munching away on a "Road Kill Burger." (It's the bright sunny shot with no blood. *g* As opposed to the most of the rest of the video.)

Check it out on MySpace!

Hopefully you can't tell I'm freezing my tushie off in that cute little rayon dress!

Cyrus on the market

Just found out that Cyrus is one of two movies the distributor, Moonstone, is screening at the Marché at Cannes. One of the three screenings was this evening. Hopefully it'll get snapped up... Can't wait to say I'm coming soon to a theatre near you! *fingers and toes crossed* And I can't wait to see it myself!

Seems like we're steadily getting more feature production in Chicago, and Michigan is really hopping. Those tax credits are doing their job. Keep the work coming, filmmakers!

CYRUS official website

Check it out!

See the skeeeeeery trailer, read Mark's cool writer/director notes, and register for the forum to keep up with the news!

And yes, I'm bouncing dorktastically at the thought that I am officially a cast member posting on a fan forum. Deal. ;-)

Movie sign!

In which our Diva has way too many Google News Alerts set up

Cyrus is starting to turn up on horror news sites/blogs. Looks like it's thanks to the distributor, Moonstone Entertainment, which is making a preliminary promo image available. Always good to have a visual when you're trying to start generating buzz.

They're shooting some additional pickups (there's a posting on the Craigslist gigs section today for extras to play more victims, as well as poster models), so now it's that post-production period of "OMG I wanna seeeeee iiiiit!" that always seems to go on forever. But, yay, promos!

Random tidbits of Hollywood Midwest

In which our Diva's illustrious movie career moves a step up the ladder with Cyrus

In no particular order:

• Patricia Belcher is down-to-earth, professional, and an all-around class act. I am now officially a fan, and am privileged to have spent a day on set eating stone cold hamburgers with her.
  
• I know "interior" does not necessarily preclude "freezing frickin' cold." I KNOW this. Next time I neglect to pack longjohns? Shoot me.
  
• SAG "ultra low budget" (which has a specific definition that determines requirements for pay levels, how many non-union actors you can employ, etc.) is still "way more resources than almost anything else I've ever been in." Which is just...so much less stressful a way to work, I can't even begin to tell you. For a zillion little completely practical reasons. I could totally get used to working in that sort of environment, lemme tell ya. I don't need some big wasteful blockbuster loaded with superstars with a zillion frivolous riders on their contracts. Just a nice professional set with a good day's work to do.
  
• Favorite moment: Brian Krause (who was directing second unit while I was there; he plays the title character in the present day) bounding into the talent trailer announcing "I just made a hamburger on camera!" Which was immensely cool because "usually they hand you the stuff already done, but I don't think I ever actually put food together on camera before. This is so going on my reel!" (I, of course, was thinking "Well, maybe if Piper hadn't been quite so possessive of her kitchen..." Because I pride myself on my professionalism, but I will never not be a geek on the inside.)
  
• Runner-up favorite moment: While getting my makeup done, listening to a conversation between an assistant director and the SFX makeup guy that started with "We need to kill someone with a pitchfork," and wended its way through "All the extras want to get killed." -- "Wouldn't you?" to "One guy wants to be decapitated" and everyone in the trailer cracking up. Yes, there are limits to the magic, folks, at least on location on the spur of the moment. Sad but true.
  
• I missed Lance Henriksen by about three hours, which makes me sad. My current wishlist involves some sort of premiere party where I will get to shake his hand and think "Dude, I am IN A MOVIE WITH LANCE HENRIKSEN." Because that's just not going to stop being cool anytime soon.
  
• Though of course the people I actually worked with are no less cool, cast and crew alike, and I would work with any of them again in a heartbeat under pretty much any circumstances. I wish it had been for more than one shooting day!
  
• Joel Castleberg is, like, the complete opposite of the Hollywood producer stereotype. He was right out there with us in the cold, always upbeat and personable and just plain nice.
  
• When I took my leave of the wrap party (which, judging by the pictures, I'm really sorry to have missed most of on account of having to drive back early the next day), the director, Mark Vadik, thanked me for "making my job easy." Considering the company I was in, I can't think of anything better for him to have said. If there's anything I want to get a reputation for, that's it: I do my job, do it well, and don't create bumps in the road to getting the day in the can. That's the thing that will get me hired again, and just incidentally the way I actually enjoy working all day. And his saying that helps me believe this wasn't just a fluke, and motivates me to keep putting myself out there for more and better.

There's probably stuff I'm forgetting, but mostly I'm just happy to have felt so at home and felt like I did decent work. It just felt like the right place to be working. I learned so so much, but wasn't so green I didn't belong. It was perfect.

Dear Universe: More, please?

Staying a step ahead of circumstance

In which our Diva is grateful to be of an adaptable nature

Weird, weird week, driven mostly by two different shifts in the Cyrus shooting schedule. The second of which (due to a late-breaking emergency for an actor being flown out from LA) occurred too late for me not to drive to Michigan on Monday afternoon. Ah, well. At least I got to meet pretty much everybody, including the guy playing the younger version of Brian Krause in my scene, so I'll feel that much more at home when I go back to actually shoot on Saturday. That's more valuable than it might be in circumstances where the crew haven't already been there for almost a month, and most of the other actors still there have been for a week or two.

So, no stories yet, except that the motel is oldish and cheapish and really freakin cold -- it took my room several hours to warm up the other night with the heat on full blast! The people running it are nice, though, and seem to be having fun with the outpost of Hollywood Midwest that has essentially taken over their second floor. The town is also smallish, but as it has actual businesses and stoplights, I'm trying not to snicker aloud at a few dyed-in-the-wool city folks who are fairly convinced they have been consigned to Hell. (They're mistaken; it's actually a fair bit east and a little north of our location.)

Meanwhile, one of my zillion recent auditions got instant gratification -- I was the last person reading last Saturday for a student film at Columbia College, and the guy offered me the role on the spot! It's a punk girl grieving for her boyfriend, and I was actually kinda looking forward to having purple hair for a couple weeks. With the schedule shift, though, it's looking like we might need to downshift to clip-in extensions, because various people's schedules may result in my shooting one short scene Friday morning before I head back to Michigan. And Tanny is not the purple hair type, to say the least. I'm jazzed about filming as such radically different characters so close together, but wasn't banking on it being quite such a game of Schedule Tetris! %-}

A brief observation...

...from the wild hinterlands of Hollywood Midwest:

I love an environment where "I have to go make blood" is a perfectly sensible statement.