I can’t believe all that has happened since January 2012! As a working actor and blogger, and now, talk show host, I always feel as if there was more I could have done. When I look back on this past year and the goals that I sought to achieve, not only did I reach them, but also surpassed them beyond my imagination. To look back, not in any particular order, here are some of the highlights…
- At The Top of Our Lungs, a show aimed at tackling stereotypes that women confront; raised funds for viBe, a non-profit performing arts/ education organization that empowers teenage girls through the creation and production of original performances. Performing an excerpt monologue from Susan Miller’s My Left Breast left an indelible impression on me; it was the first time I spoke directly to an audience in character and broke the fourth wall. It is now something I truly savor.
- Artistic Resilience, Claudia Walters’ new website dedicated to new ideas and projects in the arts and beyond. What a wonderful collaboration!
- At&T Commercial spec shoot! +Elena Shupik was amazing despite the spot not being picked up, I learned so much from the production!
- Bio Channel Celebrity Ghost Series Shoot! Thank you, Lesley Mallgrave! What an amazing Casting Director!
- Drama Book Shop Paula Vogel. From this I created the Paula Vogel Playwriting Series with the expert video work of Brandon York Productions. Who also created the acting reels for me Meet Frances McGarry and First Online With Fran Trailer.
- +Gem Mag GEM Magazine. A contributing journalist to the Arts & Entertainment column. Interviews with personalities that ranged from Artistic Director of the Airmid Theater, Trish McDermott, to Olivia Bouler, an 11-year-old who raised over $2K to rescue water fowl from the Gulf Oil Spill through the sale of her paintings.
- Centerlight Healthcare. Commercial and Print ads.
- House Casting. +Brooke Thomas Brooke & Mary. What can you NOT say about this dynamic duo. With their instruction, I landed my first national commercial!
- TENA. To be aired January 2013. Thank you, +Prestige Management, specifically, Jillian Hassett who just believes in me and keeps sending me out there.
- Assorted Indie Films, with +Cath Gulick Nightingale being one of my favorites. Hope it’s on its way to Sundance. Fingers crossed.
- Promoting new works by playwrights both young and old: MCC Theater, New Perspectives, Short Play Festival. Love the work of +Lavinia Roberts!
- TV/Movie Background. Some of my favorite shoots were on the +Deception Infamous set, SMASH, and Ben Stiller’s movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
- The Spoon Trick. An audition reel for a reality talk show that featured new inventions. The instructions were to sell an ordinary object; I came up with the idea of re-inventing the spoon. Even though I didn’t get a callback, I did get a call from casting to tell me that they loved the creative spin.
- Advocacy work with the NYC Roundtable and meeting fierce women at WAM, Women in the Arts & Media Coalition, Inc. and now Co-Chairing the 2013 Collaboration Awards Event
- Exploring new resources: LinkedIn, Americans for the Arts, The Huffington Post, TRU, League of Professional Theatre Women, and more!
And last, but not least, the launching of the First Online With Fran website and its pilot episode! Thank you +Andrea Bertola and The New York Film Shop Production Company!