"YONDER" REHEARSALS

Spending the week rehearsing and prepping for YONDER.

Thank God the local Hospice is only 10 min. away.  Got to learn (so it looks like I've been doing it forever) many of the routine things the amazing Hospice nurses do.

So my hands can be busy while I'm saying my lines and improvising others with the other great actors in my scenes.

Poor Script Supervisor.......however do they stay sane?

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

7:42 AM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

"THE FIXER" - PRK - "YONDER" - FEO AMANTE

***THE FIXER***

MON., AUG. 4
The website is live!!!!  www.thefixer.tv
Jon F. Merz, the writer/producer, asked me for a bio, and pictures of me wearing something black, with guns.  Preferably this week.
Bio - check!

Put in a quick call to Lars, a friend of mine who's a photographer, and he's willing to do a mid-week photoshoot.  We planned to get together in July, just for a fun shoot, but this is even better.

Plus, an article about THE FIXER that mentions I'm playing Rogue goes up on the Feo Amante website (per request of the marvel behind the site - Eddie McMullen).  www.feoamante.com/ 

WED. NIGHT, AUG. 6
Lars shot about 200 photos of me, wearing black, holding/aiming 1-2 guns.  We had a blast (no pun intended), and hope Jon will like at least a few of them.

I got 2 hours of sleep because......

THUR. MORNING, AUG. 7
Got PRK laser surgery to correct the vision in my right eye.  Don't have enough cornea for LASIKs, so forced to take the next week off while the eye heals, and vision slowly (oh, so very slowly) improves.

Kept my mind off my troubles by devouring books 3 (Eclipse) and 4 (Breaking Dawn) of Stephanie Meyer's addictive Twilight series.  Then reread my favorite bits.  Never had this sort of draw to any books before.  They're like a drug.  The woman is dangerous around a keyboard.

THUR., AUG. 14
My review of "Fracture" (awesome!!!), goes up on the Feo Amante site.   My first review.  Not unlike writing a book report, but much more fun.


LATER THIS MONTH......(God willing....)

I'm in the feature "Yonder".  Playing a Hostpice nurse.  Supporting role, but my favorite character in the whole film.  Lucky me!

9:27 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

MOVIES, TV SHOW, REPORTER, IMDB

Sorry about the lapse in BLOGing.  Figured it was time to catch y'all up.

I just learned that my NY end of Sept. shoot has been scrubbed so my director can have eye surgery. 

The poor boy was all worried I'd be offended. 

As if you don't need your best vision to shoot a flick!

No worries.  In the meantime, I'm preparing for my role as Head Nurse in a feature called YONDER.  It's been mophing and growing into a richer, more real character, thanks to the fabulous director-writer, Matt Wilkins.  The film shoots at the end of August.

Plus I'm in a TV show!

The Lawson Vampire series is written by a wonderful writer named Jon F. Merz.  (And I'm not biased because he cast me in the TV show based on the series.  He's original, interesting, witty, creates interesting characters, and plots that move right along.)

Unlike all the other vampire lore, his are actually a different race of men, so they are living, not "undead".  The show is called THE FIXER (because the lead is part of a team that "fixes" vampires by killing them). 

The show will shoot in Boston, but not immediately, since he's still writing the episodes - in between the other books he's contracted to write.  (YAY!)

My character's name is Rogue, but that's all I can say right now.  Stay tuned……

Now, because I'm in this series, I was contacted by the owner of http://www.feoamante.com/,  It's the biggest horror-thriller-action website around (go ahead and read through the home page and see if you recognize anyone).  The site deals in all media that have to do with the horror-thriller-action genres.

Anyway, the owner of the site called and asked me to write a press release on the Lawson Vampire TV show I'm in, as well as any other projects that are action-thriller-horror genre.

Wow!

And, happily, I can comply with his request, since I'm also in 2 features - KILL ME! and HEART STOPPER (both thrillers, shooting in LA).  I believe KILL ME! will shoot first.  The wonderful Farnaz Samiinia is currently working with the writer and producer to make the script the very best it can be.  We love her!

But first I figured I should finally fork over the dough to pop my resume and a few more pictures on IMDB.

Hm…I forgot to add some theatre credits, so if you'll excuse me, I'd best go take care of that.

Hope you're having a great summer!

Diane

Q: How many boom operators does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Depends how many they break.

3:30 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

GOT 4 OF 4 ACTING ROLES I WENT AFTER - IT’S A MIRACLE!

Feature in LA

Another feature in LA

Voice-over for OR project (2 roles, did 3 voices for each giving the director had options). 

So now I've worked in SIX states now, though I didn't actually record IN Oregon, so it's cheating.

Feature in WA

Script read - played narrator, mom, 10 year old kid for a star's first script.

Oops.  That's 5.  Never was very good at math.....

CURRENTLY:

Waiting to hear back about a role from a Boston filmmaker.   More on this gem later.

Thanks so much for your warm wishes!

As you can see, it helps!

2:47 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

IMDB & NO MORE GRANDPARENTS

It's a very surreal time right now, both for good, and bad stuff.

For the first time, I'm in IMDB for not just one, but TWO movies that haven't been filmed yet.  Progress!  (Right?)   :-)

A few weeks ago, my grandma, and last grandparent, died.  She was 93. 
3 of the 4 were in their early 90's when they died, and their bodies were failing badly, so there wasn't much of who they were left by the time they died, which helps, kind of.

Even worse than her death is that there's no more grandparents now.

For the first time in my life.  It just feels so wrong and unnatural.

No more grandparents?!  How can this be?

Doing a lot of jig-saw puzzles right now.  It's a good way for the subconscious to process while it tries to figure out how to put my life back together.  Did them when my other grandma died, 2 years ago.  I was closer to her, so I'm revisiting some of that grief, because there isn't another grandma. 

Got all 4 parents though!  (Birth parents and in-laws.)  All the siblings.  Everyone's still happily married.

That's an amazing miracle, and I know it.

But I'm getting reeeeeeeally tired of crying. 
Where's a drama I can throw myself in and made good use of these wet, salty things that fall down my face so easily?

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STRIKING NEW HEADSHOTS AND REEL - Diane Matson’s March, 2008 Newsletter

Congrats on surviving the strike!  Onward and upward!

THINGS TO DO DURING A WRITER’S STRIKE:

1 - GET NEW HEADSHOTS

To see the headshots, go to this page of my website.  [http://www.dianematson.com/colorheadshotphotos.html]
You can download or print them from there.
(The html version of my newsletter showed the 6 photos, linked to the 8x10 version on my website.)

Thanks to:
Jamie Rose [http://www.jamie-rose.com/mua/]  for hair and makeup! 
The Bill Murray behind the camera [wm@Bluescooter.net] for the fabulous photos!
Rocket Repro [http://www.rocketrepro.com/] for printing them up!

2 - PUT LATEST FOOTAGE INTO A NEW REEL

In a new 2.5 min. reel, [http://www.dianematson.com/reel.html] I perform:

Comedy: Crazy lady - adored by a normal guy (Seattle International Film Festival)
Action: Lara Croft besting baddies (Awakenings)
Horror: Crazed murderess (feature (Ray of Darkness)
Drama: Dying wife, tasting death through an out-of-body experience (The Waiting Room)

Edited by the wonderful and amazing Brad Tollefson! [http://www.vlstprod.citymax.com]!

3 - GET CAST FOR THE LEAD IN A NEW YORK MOVIE
Scheduled to shoot Fall, 2008.

4 - AUDITION FOR AN INTERNATIONAL, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR’S NEXT MOVIE
He loved it.  Now to charm the director…..

FAN OF THE MONTH
Find out what makes Kate Sykes stand out from typical UK 14 year olds and why I find  her utterly amazing.

I’d love to hear from you!  What have you been up to?

Thanks For Reading!
DIANE MATSON  

www.DianeMatson.com
Read "My Mostly Movie Adventures" BLOG http://blog.myspace.com/dianematson

Q: How many studio executives does it take to change a light bulb?
A: We don’t know. Light bulbs last longer than studio executives.

11:12 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

2 ROLES - LA & NY!!! (Without An Audition?!!)

Yesterday I was given the role in an LA film, and a few hours later I was talking to my NY filmmaker to discuss the shoot dates (Sept.).

I was hyperventilating with happiness!

I woke up this morning, thinking about the films, and then realized what a real miracle it was because I haven’t technically auditioned for either film, though my acting got me the roles.

Here’s the story.....

TO GET THE LA FILM ROLE:

A few years ago I filmed an audition (at home, with cast and crew to make it look decent) and then did final call-backs for a TV sit-com. 

Didn’t get the lead, but the filmmaker and I invented a better part for me (initially disguised as a completely different character each show).  The show didn’t quite manage to get aired, but the filmmaker assured me I’d get to be in future films.

TO GET THE NY FILM ROLE:

I’ve never met the filmmaker.  He’s seen my film clips and I wound up reading jokes to him over the phone. 

You know the jokes friends send you in email?  I’d save them so I could read them out loud to my wonderful Grandma.  We laughed and shared good times.   After she died (2 years ago), I didn’t want to read them to myself, and it’s a shame to waste a "funny", so I kept a lookout for someone to share them with.

Behold - my NY filmmaker!

I also read his script out loud over the phone (a few times, as drafts developed) so he could hear it outside his head.  And then he couldn’t imagine anyone else in the lead because somehow, for some wondrous reason, the character married itself to my voice.

I’m still in awe and filled with gratitude.  (And enough excitement to wake up at 4:30 in the morning....there’s a reason I need horror stories to distract me from film thoughts.)

More updates:

I’m putting my new headshots on resumes.

My new reel is at the duplicators and next week will be on my website.

Have a great Easter weekend!

5:38 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

HEADSHOTS, REEL, WRITING (FOR $)

Would you believe I'm STILL working on getting my headshots and reel done?

Making progress.
 

The headshots are at the printer, but they wanted to lighten the prints, so I'm waiting for a sample before I give the go-ahead.

The reel is on hold as I wait for a 30 sec. "best bits" of me as Lara Croft compilation from busy folk.

My Creative Consulting writing job is waiting for a paycheck, and my boss (overworked AND has The Crud Bug going around) is filling in some abstract details before I can further help organize and rewrite what I'm working on.

But in the meantime, I'm getting paid to write blogs on scents for Team Look-Look.  I think there's 4 writing assignments.  They ask questions which spawns thinking and typing.  It's actually really fun and should be done around the 14th.  http://www.teamlook-look.com/look/jsp/index.jsp

To add to the chaos, we just got new carpeting and linoleum, which entails clearing all the furniture from rooms and putting it back again.  Doing some reorganizing and cleaning while I'm at it.

Well, I'd best get back to my Look-Look blogging.  J

11:35 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

NEW NEPHEW, CREATIVE JOB, & ADVERTISING TOOLS

My nephew has made the world a brighter place.

My creative consulting job is allowing me to combine my editing, writing, teaching, organization, and soon, acting skills for the betterment of others.

Details once the website is launched.

In the meantime, new headshots and DVD reel are also in production.

Happy 2008 everyone!

2:55 PM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

HUGE ADMIRATION AND HUGS FOR SCRIPT WRITERS!!!!!

You folks should be asking for at least 10 times more.

You are the foundation of our performances.

Our rock.

The source of favorite quotes.

And, sadly,  "Most Likely To Get Yanked Off A Film".

The used and abused. 

Hang in there!

We're rooting for you! 

Eventually, the "other side" will lose more money than you're asking for.  Once that figure starts to double or triple, I suspect they'll start begging for pens.

10:50 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment