In any argument, there will be people on your side whom you wish were on the other side.

Nothing sooths the soul like holding a purring kitten. Ahhhhhh....

On the bright side, it wasn't my acting that lost me the role, and the director still wants to work with me in the future. (I'm still bummed.)

You remember the speach I was going to do on film in a TN accent? The SAG stuff was more than the director wanted to deal with, so I'm out. Crud.

Q: How many location scouts does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Depends. How much space do you want lit?

Rehearse + Use A Dialect + Create Chills = Get The Gig

A director asked me to read a famous speech on camera for a project. I’d be one of about 20 actors and then he’d edit us all together, based on who performed which line the best. Sounded fun to me. It wasn’t union, and I’m in SAG, so that bothered me.
The next week I was cast in a feature that used the SAG New Media Agreement. I brought the director and my local SAG rep together. They hit it off (knew they would). A few weeks later the agreement was signed.
At this point, I figured I’d probably get caught if I did the speech project non-union, so I finally asked the director to sign a SAG agreement.
Well, he’d have to think about that. I wasn’t surprised. SAG paperwork is monstrously complicated.
Meanwhile, I kept rehearsing the speech and another week or so slid by.
This morning, I called the director, who told me he decided not to “go SAG” since he’d filmed enough people.
I asked if I could at least perform the speech over the phone, since I’d spent 5 weeks working on it.
He let me do my thing, then asked me to read it again, this time with a Virginia dialect.
I told him I couldn’t nail Virginia, but I’d performed with a Tennessee accent, just one state over.
He said that was fine.
So I quickly rummaged in my head, plucked the sounds, planted my feet firmly, and started reading the speech.
I got chills. I figured I was just enjoying the new voice.
20 seconds into the speech, the director stopped me and said, “I’ve got chills. I’ll go talk to SAG.”

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Hired As A Part Time Script Writer!

I was cast in a leading role for a feature. It’s not unusual for me to help tighten and edit scripts for films I’m in, but this time, 50% of the story was still in the director’s head. Long talks with the director and rehearsals allowed me to see what is and isn’t written. We also made new, creative discoveries about the plot, scenes, and characters each time we talked or met.
We’d agreed weeks ago to meet so I could do my usual script edit-tutor session, but I’d already contributed so many ideas, it soon became apparent that I’d gone beyond editing and into “writer mode”.
I’m pretty sure I’ll also wind up rewriting much of the dialogue (easier to do now that I know who the characters are and their complicated relationships with each other). Once you know the characters, and the plot is set, the dialogue pretty much writes itself.
So yesterday the director asked if he could officially add me as one of the writers, which was fine with me.
I’m amused. I vowed I’d NEVER write a script. They are way too long. But I’m not starting from scratch, just filling in holes. This, I don’t mind doing. (We’ll see how fun it is when I actually make a pass at the dialogue…..)

Today a director asked me to do monologue in a Virginian accent over the phone. We both got chills. 20 sec. later - "Stop. I'll go talk to SAG so I can use you."

Hired as a part-time script writer! Tightening and weaving plot while complicating characters and their interactions, fixing dialogue....YES!

Programmer - A red-eyed, mumbling mammal capable of conversing with inanimate objects.

Saw a commercial for "helpful" drug that spent more time listing awful side effects than promoting the benefits. Um...guys.....

Ideas don't stay in some minds very long because they don't like solitary confinement.
May you have an idea popping day!

I never get lost because everyone's always telling me where to go.

Q: How many script supervisor’s does it take to change in a light bulb?
A: None - the bulb was burned out in the establishing shot. Now, about that tie….

MY "LOST" ENDING: An artificial reality group therapy session. Everyone is real (so the emotions and relationships remain after the session), but all the events are manipulations to make them deal with their issues.

Rehearsals for feature "WE WERE VAMPIRES" exponentially deepened characters, developed plot, discovered action and humorous moments.

Hi. My name is Diane Matson, and I'm addicted to Twizzlers Chocolate Liquorish....