#KnowMonologues Challenge

Earlier this year, I did an interview with Nick Savides for his Baton Rouge-based nsavides Podcast exploring collaboration and local filmmaking. He approached me with an idea of how to reenergize actors disheartened by recent changes to our state’s tax incentive program. We called it the #KnowMonologues Challenge and hoped to get 30 or so submissions. We ended up with about 90 submissions! This morning, I was proud to announce our incredibly talented winners on WWLTV with the help of Eric Paulsen. 

New Orleans Film Festival 2015

The 26th annual New Orleans Film Festival began last week and continues through Thursday night. The festival opened with the premiere of Louisiana-shot Born to Be Blue at the newly restored and beautifully ornate Orpheum Theatre. A mural for the festival, painted on a stretch of St. Charles near Lee Circle, features the faces of people watching different genres of movies. I was beyond honored to be included as one of the faces reimagined by the super-talented and prolific street artist Brandan “B-mike” Odums best known for his sophisticated and grand “graffiti” work at an abandoned apartment complex set for redevelopment. So imagine how fun it was to find that every screen in the festival has the mural on it as people take their seats and every movie at the festival opens with a time-lapse short film of the artist at work on the faces.

Birthday and Anniversary – NOLA Style

I’d been vacationing with family at Bethany Beach, Delaware for 4 days already when Mom called us up to her room. We walked in and found everyone out on the balcony with a surprise 1st anniversary party for us – NOLA style. They’d decorated with Mardi Gras beads, streamers and coffee-filter flowers. We were handed a bouquet, a black top hat and a tiara with a veil to wear with our beach clothes. Rebirth Brass Band‘s Do Watcha Wanna played and a cake was decorated with that same phrase.  We danced around waving Kleenex and my brother did his best imitation of DancingMan504 jumping at our wedding in the French Quarter. It was so wonderful bringing our beloved city to that balcony in Delaware. New Orleans’ soul travels well.

Living in New Orleans – the first 5 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but my path home was winding. After living in Maryland, Washington D.C., Japan, Alabama, New York and Los Angeles, I finally moved to New Orleans in late 2009. And I’ve never been happier. When I got here, the Saints were on their way to winning the Superbowl and the city was vibrating with optimism. Most of the people who would come home after the Storm were back. Katrina money was being spent on street repairs and schools were getting instruments from places like Tipitina’s Foundation. Buildings, homes, t-shirts and more exclaimed, “Believe” and “Renew, Rebuild, Rebirth.” It was intoxicating.

Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion 2015

After a fabulous supper at Susan Spicer’s Bayona, we headed down to Royal Street in the French Quarter to catch the 29th Krewe du Vieux and 6th Krewedelusion parades. Paradetracker.com let us know when to finish up desert but the crowds were so thick, we ended up missing the first couple of floats just trying to find a place where we could see. Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion are the city’s unofficially-official start to Carnival’s parade season.  (Carnival doesn’t “officially” start until 12 days before Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French)).

Busy in Hollywood South

I love writing this blog and those of you who follow it know I’m used to being pretty busy and still finding time to write. But, I just finished a movie we shot in November and went straight into another movie and will be filming a TV movie (my first!) at the same time. I’ve missed Saints games at the Dome and dancing with the Pussyfooters in the Krewe of Jingle parade but I’ve been working with 3 home-grown Louisiana productions and loving it.

Convergence Screening and Distinguished Alumni Award

This blog is almost always about my beloved city of New Orleans but last week brought me back to Mobile, Alabama to see my name unveiled on the clock tower at the University of South Alabama. I earned my master’s in creative writing and English literature there in ’87 and became a 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award winner at a big, fancy gala last spring. The night before the unveiling, there happened to be a cast and crew screening of Convergence, the movie I shot in Mobile last fall.