On Set- Caty's first 22 hour long work day!

Well, I'm still yet to be up 24 hours in total for the love of film-making, but yesterday was the closest I've come yet!

I started waking up at midnight to get ready to be on set for my first call at 2:00am for Kirigami Inc.'s The Last Chapter directed by the talented and fun, Italian born actress and director, Romina Carissi being filmed at The Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica! The set was lovely and the crew was exceptional. It was shot by the impressive and skilled Simon Vallejo, who is not only a DP but a director as well. Oftentimes, because Romina was acting in the scene with me and fellow actor, Gary Terra Nova, Simon was able to provide clear and helpful direction in between shots. This was an especially fun shoot as I got to play a fan girl who totally loves Romina's character, Eva Smith and is totally obsessed with her phone! It was fun to get dressed up and be goofy for a couple of hours with this fun, chill, talented cast and crew!

Here's Simon setting up one of our very first shots of the evening!

Andres Mendez, our producer, slating for Simon! Andres and Simon work together as apart of Simon's film company, Fine Light Entertainment which already has an impressive resume! As an actress it's exciting to see someone's body of work when it aligns with a future you'd like to see for yourself or be apart of with like-minded artists!

My character got to take a selfie with Romina's character, Eva and when Romina directed me to ACTUALLY take the selfie, I couldn't help but save each one! I especially like the two middle row pictures on the left and right since you can see our film crew behind us getting the reverse coverage of this shot! I think this speaks to our level of consistency as actresses, as well! And what fun we had on set! :D

I had such a fun time on set with this cast and crew even though they had been working for twelve hours the night before and about seven hours already once I came on to set on Sunday- I could only be so extremely lucky as to get the opportunity to work with all of them again in the future!

We wrapped around 5:30am on The Last Chapter and I quickly ran home to get ready to be in Burbank for my next shoot of the day with a call time of 9:00am for Starter: A Relationship Stuck!

This was a very small crew, but nonetheless, determined, skilled and talented! Michael, our writer, producer and director was also a one man film crew handling not only camera operation, but sound, lights and slate! Fellow actor, Shawn Hawkins and I did our best to hopefully accumulate PA credits on the film, but the main credit should go to our savvy director, Michael Hearn.

I was excited to be apart of this film because it's script seemed so realistic and it all takes place in a car as a couple comes to terms with the realities of their relationship and their own selves.

This was a fun set to be on as it was completely in our hands- we did some guerilla film making, filming while driving (doesn't this count as a stunt credit for me?) and we all got to be apart of deciding shots and coverage for the piece. It really showed me, if you want to make a film- you truly can, as Shia LaBeouf would say, JUST DO IT!

I was impressed with the professionality of our little band of film makers and can't wait to see the finished product of Starter: A Relationship Stuck. Michael is hoping to submit to film festivals when it's finished- maybe we'll even apply to the film festival my dear friends run back in Illinois, The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival!

It was a long, exhausting day- but so rewarding! As much as I miss home and Chicago, I really hope to keep working consistently here in LA. This has been a wild ride and the future looks bright!