MUTED was one of five films selected for the HBO Short Film Competition held annually at ABFF (*To be eligible to submit, your project must have a black writer or director and world premiere status) and what an experience it was! 

It was kicked off by car service picking me up at 4am to take me to the airport and then to the hotel once in New York.

I could get used to this!

After briefly settling in our room, we got dressed and took a cab to Bar Americain for our welcome dinner where we got to meet and greet the other short filmmakers, HBO executives and founder of ABFF, Jeff Friday.

Didn't think a NY restaurant could pull off a good shrimp & grits (I have spent quite a few years in Houston afterall) but they nailed it!

The next morning we had an opportunity to get to know some of the programming executives a little better as they had a seating chart designed to sit us next to folks we didn't know while we dined at the hotel's restaurant Asellina for breakfast.

The next day was our big night! We arrived at the SVA Theatre a ball of nerves (What if the audio sounds bad? What if it won't play? What if they don't like it?!?) but also excited to finally see our work on the big screen.

With Co-Producer Danette Wilson, Producer Tara Tomicevic, Associate Producer Matthew Owyang & Director Rachel Goldberg

Our film was up first (!) and was followed by an incredible line-up of really well-done, beautiful films including Gabrielle Fulton-Ponder's "Ir/Reconcilable" starring Jasmine Guy, Tiffany Littlejohn's "The Perfect Sacrifice" starring Nakia Secrest, Ya'Ke's "Dawn" starring Mikala Gibson, and Terron "Muthafucca Jones" "When It All Falls Down" starring Branden Wellington and MaameYaa Boafo. 

How did it feel to see my film on the big screen for the first time (and to see myself on the big screen for the first time as well)? AMAZING! There were gasps and tears and audible audience reactions and it was simply wonderful. (It's what I miss the most about doing theatre - connecting with the audience.)

After each film the filmmakers took to the stage to talk briefly with our host, the ever-fabulous Bevy Smith, about what went into the making of the films and to give a little insight into each filmmaker's process.

As I walked down the stage after our mini Q & A, the one and only Alfre Woodard mouthed "Good job!" to me. (ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME?!?) I could've passed out with glee right then!

After a glorious screening experience, the rest of the weekend was just gravy. 

Chillin in the lounge

With Rick Moore of NYLA Elise Clothing

True Blood party complete with signature drinks, custom pillows & fake vampire bite tattoos. Nice touch! As a former Special Events Planner you know I LOVED this!

At the "Get On Up" exhibit promoting the new James Brown biopic

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MUTED!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!!! :-) :-) :-)

Talk about an overwhelming moment! We said our thank-you's:

 and had permanent smiles on our faces for the rest of the night.

With producing partner Tara Tomicevic

With co-producer Danette Wilson & actor Omari Hardwick

With actor Charles S. Dutton

Afterward we had one final meal with our HBO hosts at the ridiculously divine Buddakan...

I loved the decor in their private room! Made us feel like we were in a golden library.

and then made our way back to the hotel lobby where we chilled with the other filmmakers until around 3am. 

Oh but our night didn't end there. We got invited to a party in Soho so we threw on some jeans and headed back out and danced the morning away! 

Around 4:30 or so we tried to get a cab to go back to the hotel but none wanted to stop (that's really a thing!) so we walked to a diner and had breakfast instead. 

The French Toast was HUGE!

As the sun came up before our eyes we knew we would regret not going to bed in a few hours, but for the moment we were all still floating on cloud 9.

These were our faces when we made it back to the hotel around 6:30am to go to bed!

A few hours later we had to get up and ready because our awesome, amazing friend Leshelle secured two interviews for us at 30 Rock!

We were prepped in a makeup chair and then whisked away to the set of MSNBC's "The Reid Report" where we got to talk to Joy Reid about our film and plans for the future. 

You can view the Reid Report segment here: 

http://www.msnbc.com/the-reid-report/watch/a-muted-response-when-child-goes-missing-293193795918

Immediately after we went to another floor in the huge building and sat down with Lilly Workneh of TheGrio where we talked more about the inspiration behind the film and what steps people can take should they feel called to act after viewing. 

You can view theGrio segment here:

http://thegrio.com/2014/07/03/muted-powerful-film-explores-being-black-and-missing/

With my voice rapidly deteriorating, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our bags and bid adieu. 

It was such a wonderful, fantastic, memorable experience and I am incredibly grateful to have had it.

I'm sooooo behind on my updates but I have been keeping track of them and I wanna get caught up before the year is over so here we go...

Day 315: Got to be a reader today at the casting director's office where I intern and it was AWESOME!! The casting associate (who has now been promoted to full casting director) said I did an excellent job especially since it was a cold read. What I appreciated more though, were the compliments from the actors I read with. Can't wait to see who gets the part.

Day 316: Rehearsed sides with Y'vonne.

Day 317 - 318: Emailed 24 managers and Atlanta agents

Day 319: Sent an email follow-up to the program director of KETP. Will call in 3 weeks if I don't receive a reply. Really don't want to start the arduous task of looking for a new job if I'm still in the running for this. {Found out the next week that I'm not. Boo!}

Day 320: Attended a free agent seminar held at Actors Comedy Studio with a hilarious agent from Metropolitan Talent Agency.

Day 321: Gave editing notes to the director of my "Promotion" scene.

Day 322:  Mailed a thank you postcard to the manager I saw 2 weeks ago, the agent I met on Saturday and a CD who brought me in for an audition awhile back followed by a private session at SKS and a cold-read audition for a voiceover gig (I booked it!)

Day 323: Emailed 13 theatrical agents here in LA.

Day 324: Mailed a hardcopy submission to 2 of the Atlanta agents I emailed last week.

Day 325: Took Thanksgiving off and enjoyed time with my family.

Day 326: Actually saw a movie in a theatre! Do you know how rare that is? Stephen & I saw Tower Heist and it was funnier than we expected.

Day 327: Met with Greg & Lex to do voiceover for episode 6 as well as the commercials then had lunch afterwards.

Day 328: Updated my production resume since I plan to start looking for a new survival gig.

Day 329: Met with my PG Buddy and he gave me a Starbucks gift card for Christmas. Unexpected and appreciated. Thanks Tom!

Day 330: Joined WIF after discussing it with a TAN Power Group member who is a member of WIF already and loves it. Very excited to see what new networking opportunities this organization will bring.

Day 331 - 335: Off for my Houston trip. Didn't submit to anything or even look at any breakdowns. Completely took a break from acting and enjoyed time with my brother and my friends as I was down there to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. I had a ball catching up with my college besties though I really REALLY missed my 3 guys, especially since Stephen's 30th birthday was during this time. Thankfully I have a very laidback husband who didn't give me a hard time about being gone. He didn't even want me to plan anything for him despite my best efforts to get him to do it up for this milestone. Instead he just wants an iPad 2 and he'll be happy. I told him to wait until tax refund time since the darn thing costs over $700 but I'm gonna surprise him with it for Christmas. And no he doesn't read this blog so he has no idea. Shhh....

Day 309: Performed a scene from Private Practice at an awesome manager workshop with Melanie Sharpe put on by casting director Billy DaMota and Actor Rated. I really wasn't even supposed to be able to go but Tara worked her magic to get me on the list at the last minute. I ended up leaving in the middle of work since it didn't start until 9:30 with a coworker of mine named Liz who was also on the list and we had a great time. There were a lot of really nice and really funny scenes and everyone was prepared as requested. Afterwards I exchanged contact info with a few of the other actors whose work I liked and vice versa. Then Liz and I headed back to work a full 2 hours later where we didn't get off until 4am due to our acting excursion. 

Day 274: Coffee with Aisha Lomax at a very quaint cafe called Larchmont Bungalow. Always good to catch up with a friend. Hopefully we'll have a chance to work together in front of the camera soon. In the meantime, we're both racking our brains to find 2 contrasting monologues from published plays that are appropriate enough to be performed in front of high school students {that takes The Mercy Seat off the list} without being overdone. Not so easy when you don't read new plays on a regular basis. I'm sure my New York colleagues would find this task a breeze but since most actors out here are reading screenplays instead, it's a little daunting. 

Day 275: Audition for www.christianeducation.com. This was held at the ad agency's office rather than with a casting director. The session runner was really sweet and it's always nice to have an opportunity to audition for something faith-based. Afterwards I went to my internship where I'm continuing to build relationships with the people who work in that casting office.

Day 271: Lunch with Lisa Nicole Bell. She's truly a force to be reckoned with {check out her upcoming speaking engagements to see what I mean} and I love it because she's the giving type who always asks what she can do to be of assistance to you. Moreover, it's always interesting meeting with her since her role in the industry is more behind the camera than in front so her perspective on things can be refreshing.

Day 229: Quick brainstorming session via telephone with Tara to complete our outline. Finished reading Save The Cat- though I checked it out from the library it will be a book that I purchase for my own. 

Day 230 - 231: Started reading Save The Cat 2: STC Goes To The Movies

Day 204: Writing Session

Day 205: Internship- learned more about the assistant's story, how she got into casting and where she wants to go from here. Afterwards I had coffee with Ben Whitehair, Vida Ghaffari and Joy Donnell to discuss the new media, self-producing world that we are all active in in some way or another.

Day 206: Class- Cooper & Stone scene. I don't know if this pilot was picked up or not but it reminded me a lot of the show Rizzoli & Isles. I did okay today, just okay. Need to do better next week.

Day 207: Read chapter 4 of Save The Cat

Day 208: Cardio Hip-Hop Dance Class at Your Neighborhood Studio. Worked up a sweat and loved every minute of it.

Day 209 - 210: Read chapters 5 & 6 of Save The Cat