Life changes and the likes

Without going into too much detail about all of the changes that have occurred over the past two years, I will say that I am diving into acting with more force than ever before. I finally did Groundlings....Improv Workshops A & B, and also Basic. Feels great to have some improv under my be T. I also took Basic Acting with Groundlings main company member Andrew Friedman. I am now in my 6th month of Meisner training with Lisa Millilo and Talia Sherman at the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Studio in Santa Monica. I'd say that it is the best thing I have ever done for my acting career to date. I absolutely love my coaches, and feel I am doing well in the class. I can really see myself growing as an actor, and am gaining an artistic eye. It is so funny now, watching movies and thinking to myself, What is their superlative? What are they reaching for? What is that person doing and how does the other person feel about it? Are they really listening and responding? Honestly, acting is hard work. It takes dedication. It takes strong observation skills. It requires you to get out of your head. But boy is it fun! I recently stopped working my full time (re: survival - job) which is a bit scary, but I can now put so much more emphasis on my acting career. This is a true test for me, as I suck at time management. I also stink, like majorly, at managing my finances. Two things that I am going to HAVE to get good at if I am going to make this whole, taking advantage of being unemployed thing work. I find that putting things on a calendar really helps me to commit to them. For example, so far today I have daydreamed to the full emotion of tears of joy, I read some of Self Management for Actors (to be further known as SMFA)...I came up with two superlatives for class that have urgency and are life altering, as well as a preset knock, I also bought and downloaded Outliers and The War of Art (both REALLY good books, and definitely with checking out, regardless of your passion). What I wholeheartedly plan to avoid, and I think what is giving me a nice kick in the butt, is the idea of approximately one year from now, having to go back to work due to financial obligations, and having done nothing during my time 'off'. Having nothing to show for it. Thinking, What was I doing with myself?' I will NOT allow that to happen. I WILL take full advantage of and make the most of this wonderful opportunity. I have been dreaming of the day I could focus 100% on my career. And finally, I can. I am making it a point to rehearse more, daydream every day so that I can fully and quickly emotionalize when needed, make superlatives so that I am prepared for when we are finished with our scenes (and I can stop stressing out before each class, wondering, what in the heck am I going to do as my activity tonight?), and I am joining my scene partner Yuka for an artistic this week (artistic =one on one session - additional training). It is a half hour between my scene partner, my coach and I, in addition to regular class time. I at one point had joined The Actors Network, however due to financial limitations I was unable to continue my membership. I am considering renewing it though. We shall see. Friday night, after Yuka and I completed our scene (we were still doing it as a table read), my coach stood up and told me that that not working has been good for my acting, & that I am a different actress. Talk about validation! It feels so good to know that the training is paying off, that the decision to not look for a day job right away is not completely ridiculous. To top it off, my dad and my step-mom are both supportive as well. And that is a darn good feeling. However my dad feels that I should spend some of this time writing, bc he says I am a very good writer. But I would be completely and utterly lost there. I dot think it is a bad idea to write my own stuff - write, produce, act in it....but I have no idea what I am doing there. If anyone feels like collaborating, working on something together, contact me and we can figure something out. You can reach me on twitter - @sarahsavin . Also, about.me/sarahsavin has a few links to some of my pages. I just ordered another 6 day Master Cleanse from www.kaengraeng.com - it is an all natural, vegan, gluten free powder cleanse. Mix it with water, juice or nut milk, you can even blend it with ice and fruit, maybe some veggies, to make it like a smoothie! Use it as a meal replacement 3 x a day for 3 or 6 days. Eat all the raw fruits, veggies and nuts that you want between meals. I have used Kaeng Raeng twice already and I love it. Doing it this third time around should help me get to where I want to be, prior to having new headshots taken. I recently had my teeth whitened, and hey, zero cavities! Let's all cheer for a beautiful smile! Ta-ta for now! Sarah

Hey there!

So, what's going on in the wonderful world of Sarah? Quite a bit, actually! Probably the most challenging of what I'm doing is DETERMINING MY TYPE! I know I'm very girl-next-door......and I look like a high school Senior (lol) but by the advice of the amazing Dallas Travers, I'm in the process of demonstrating my type in every thing I do......and I really need to make decisions! I don't want to be too 'vanilla'. This is not easy! Have you ever sat down and really thought about how you come across to other people when you walk into a room? How do they see you? I've been taking time out to determine who I really am, how I appear to others, & how to market myself accordingly. I need my business cards, my headshots, my blog, my online profiles, everything, to just put right out there what my type is, & that way I am representing myself appropriately. It sounds so simple, yet it's extremely important!
I did have a new set of headshots taken New Years Eve. They turned out MUCH better than the last ones did! My photographer was Giovanni Sosa with Modern Light Photography Los Angeles (www.modlightphoto.com), & makeup by Vanessa Caroline (www.vanessacaroline.com). She is AMAZING!!!
After receiving feedback on my most recent headshots from several respected sources, I'm pretty sure I've settled on which photo I will be using for commercial, & which one for theatrical. I'm so pleased!!!! =)
I have a profile set up on Actors Access & have been submitting for everything I find myself suitable for. So far I've had one audition (it will be another week before they decide who to cast) but even if I don't get cast, it was definitly something to learn from!
I don't have much experience on my resume, so to supplement the lack of experience I am preparing to join a couple of new classes to up my training. First I will be joining a class with Ben Hopkins (link below) & then I attend improv classes at The Groundlings. In the meantime, however, I will continue to submit submit submit!!
I'm also in the process of losing weight! I'm currently about 15 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight, which I am stoked about! Although I have at least another 14 lbs to go before I'm where I'd like to be. So far so good though! (I'm at a healthy weight for my height either way) Working out & eating right really IS the key! (breastfeeding had helped, too, I'm sure!) & I feel like a million bucks anymore!
I updated my profile on about.me today - check it out! http://about.me/sarahsavin

With that, I'd like to thank the following for their overall awesome-ness!
Rebekah Kennedy, actress (www.rebekahkennedy.com);
Liz Brown, Actor/Producer (www.lizbrownonline.com);
Ben Hopkins, Acting Coach (www.blogspot.com/actingnodrama);
Paul Alayo, Actor

Have a great week, everyone!!! <3

xoxo Sarah

One down.......

It's been a while since I've updated! I wish I could say it is because I've been crazy busy with auditions and callbacks, but that would be a lie - although I HAVE been pretty busy recently.

Tonight I had my fourth and final commercial auditioning class with Killian (killiansworkshop.com & twitter.com/killianswrkshop) & I am looking forward to taking more of his classes in the future! I HIGHLY recommend his Tuesday class - if you are in LA and want to book commercials, you couldn't take a better class for it. Be warned, Killian does not sugarcoat, so if that's what you're looking for, this class is not for you :)

So now that I've got that little addition to my resumé, it's on to the next! Wait.....the next? What IS the next?? Well, I'm thinking an improv class is in order. I've heard great things about The Groundlings. And once I've finished that I'd like to take Killian's Commercial Improv Class to add to it. After that perhaps his Callback class, & them finally, the Scene Study class. Ok well, maybe not FINALLY - there are actually an infinite amount of classes I want to take. Seriously. I want to learn different dialects. I think I could benefit from a movement class, and a speech class. I may be over thinking it, maybe some of these classes are unnecessary, but I want to be AMAZING at what I do, & I am prepared to learn everything I can to help me achieve that!

On another note, I wasn't too thrilled with my headshots, so we will be reshooting some next week. I have some new shirts which will be prefect! I'm excited to finally some day have my final shots & I hope I am absolutely thrilled with them! I would like to start submitting eventually, ha!

Sent from Samsung mobile

What are you thankful for?

Today is Thanksgiving and this will be my fourth Thanksgiving in California. And while I may be stone 2500 miles away from my family, I have so much to be thankful for I'm not even entirely sure where to begin.

So first off, I am thankful for Noah. I am so, extremely thankful to have a strong, healthy, intelligent little boy!! It is shocking to me just how many things can happen and I could not imagine going through such a painful experience as a miscarriage or stillbirth or for my child to be born with or come siren with a life threatening illness/disease. Words can not say just how thankful I am for Noah <3
Second, I am thankful for my boyfriend, Carlos. He is a wonderful man - smart, goal-oriented, driven,.passionate, healthy, handsome :) Carlos pushes me to be the best, healthiest I can be. He never fails to provide for his family, and he is a great person <3
I am thankful for my health, and the health of my loved ones.
I am thankful for the opportunity to fly to Delaware every 5-6 months to visit my family & friends on the East Coast. This may not sound very often to many of you but with flights costing so much, it truly is a blessing to be able to fly so much.
I am thankful to be spending this Thanksgiving with my little family, (my boyfriend and our son)
I am thankful for having a job. It may not be 'The job' for me, but I am blessed to have a job that pays more than minimum wage when the unemployment rate is so high in the country, and even higher in the area.
That said, I am very thankful for the opportunity to stay home with Noah for so many weeks during his first year of life! I am blessed to be able to afford to stay home for 26 weeks before Noah turns one!!
I am thankful for how everything always works itself out. Ex: My home. I am thankful to have a decent house with affordable rent in a desirable location.
I am SO thankful to the Lord for putting me in the best city for pursuing my career. I have wanted to be an actress since I was in fifth grade, and have been wanting to live in Los Angeles since about sixth or seventh. Many people have the same desires but don't know how to go about it - yet here I am by 'chance'! It has beena long string of events, some good, some not so fun to remember, which got me here, but I am forever thankful <3
I am thankful for Lucy (my cat) & her health, she has been one of my greatest friends since 2005. I am thankful to have known Koko, my dad's dog who was put to sleep yesterday. I am thankful that she is no longer suffering (old age) and that she provided such wonderful companionship for my dad over the years.
I am thankful for my friends. They honestly have NO IDEA just how much they mean to me. Just knowing I have these people as my friends.......i am so thankful, it puts tears in my eyes. I have a hard time making friends bc I think I am easily misunderstood by people when they first meet or talk to me. But the friends I do have - they are AMAZING people!!!!! I consider them my family and they certainly deserve the title <3
I am thankful for the opportunity to pursue my passion. For the classes I am taking, the books I have stumbled across (the priceless information I am gaining from them) for living in a city where possibilities are endless!! And I am thankful FOR my passion <3
Lord knows I have millions of other things to be thankful for, which I am, but I think I have covered enough here!

Here is to hoping for a wonderful, safe, memorable Thanksgiving for you all!! God bless <3

What is your passion?

Last night was week two of Killian's Workshop (it's actually next week that we are taking off, not this week). We did 2 seperate auditions, one with dialogue for Terminix commercial, and another without that we did as 2 groups of 5 for Chrysler. I am absolutely loving the class! I come home excited and feeling enlightened. The workshop motto is "Make them believe you believe" and Killian's motto for life is "Leap and the net will appear". I wasn't really sure what this meant entirely, but I think I am starting to have a better understanding of it now. For example, last night during the Chrysler audition, we were all pretty much under- exaggerating the ending. We were all guilty of it! We need to not be afraid to jump up and down in excitement, burst into tears, fall to the ground, etc. What did we do instead? We stood there with looks of mesmorization on our faces. Doh!! Or for the Terminix commercial, we learned that we can play it up, have fun with it, THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, and you know what? If they want it flat, boring, married to copy, they'll tell you! They want to see that you can bring it to the table. I think it's better to see someone bring life to it and to tell them hey, just do it like it's written......as opposed to tell someone uhh, could you try to make it more interesting? Bc you don't know that that person CAN make it more interesting, yet almost anyone could do it exactly how it's return.
So that's my take on Leap and the net will appear. Don't be afraid to take risks. Most likely they are looking for someone who isn't afraid to take risks rather than the regular guy - bc fact is, they are probably seeing 400 regular guys, and maybe only a handful of the risk-takers! And who do you think will stand out more?
Anyhow, I was thinking about how happy I am after my classes. They really put me in a great mood and I thoroughly enjoy myself while I am there. It got me wondering - I am curious as to whether everyone who is going after their career of choice (or the career that chose them!) feels the same way about what they do! For example, if you want to be a doctor and are in med school, does it excite you? Do you love what you do and are you eager to learn as much as you can about it? How about wanting to be a mechanic, how does being in a garage working on cars make you feel? This goes for every profession. And then I ask, how do you think you would feel about acting? Does taking technique classes, auditioning classes, callback, improv, etc classes, and reading book after book about the business of showbusiness and marketing yourself and then DOING THAT sound exciting and fun to you? Bc it IS for me!! This is a business but I love it SO MUCH that it feels like I'm playing. Of course it's work but I couldn't love a career any more than I do this one.

Moving forward, I need to get going so I can get my workout in this morning. I plan on spending the rest of the day reading 'Self Management for Actors - Getting Down to (Show) Business' by Bonnie Gillespie. Yesterday I finished ' The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper teaches the Meisner Technique' written by William Esper and Damon Dimarco. It got me very excited to take a class studying the Meisner Technique!! I read The Power of the Actor by Ivanna Chubbuck, and I think she is brilliant and I am positive that I will incorporate some of her into my work, but I really have a feeling that Meisner is right up my alley. Chubbuck is a bit complicated to me, and to be honest, trying to break the script down the way she does, scene by scene, was a bit frustrating for me. Meisner, however, seems to be more focused on spontaneity, imagination, playing off the other actor. And that is exactly what I am looking for I believe.
So, all that being said, off I go. I'm going to lose 25 lbs by Noah's first birthday :)

Have a fantastic day, everyone!!!

Finally!

I got the unedited versions of my headshots today.  It's been a tough call but after mulling over them all day I think I have finally chosen my main hs as well as the other 2 I'll keep on hand.  I'm a little disappointed that there isn't much variety between the three but all you really need is one anyway.  I'll let my photographer know for sure which ones I am definitely going with by tomorrow night, and should have the finished photos within about a week!
I don't have a class with Killian's Workshop tomorrow night bc it is Thanksgiving weekend and we are taking the weekend off - bummer!  BC I am missing class next weekend due to being out of town.  I suppose that just gives me more time to practice and polish up the skills we learned last weekend ;)
I've been reading a book on the Meisner Technique, and it has me interested in taking classes to further develop that technique.  But, that most likely will not be until April.

I'll put up my headshots as soon as I have the finals!  :)

First post

I've decided to create a blog where I will track what I am doing towards my acting career, as well as track what is going on with my 7 month old son (well, seven months tomorrow!).
For example, just a few minutes ago I thought it would be freeing for him to crawl around naked for a little bit.  No diaper, no clothes.....After only about 5 minutes I notice he had peed. I have a tile floor.  As I was wiping it up with a paper towel he slips in it.  That's right, he slipped in his own pee.  I had to laugh.  And in case you were wondering, he's fine :)

He is becoming a pro at pulling himself to standing.  Actually just now he grabbed onto my pants leg and is now standing in front of me trying to get the keyboard.  :)

On another note, I received a RAW copy of my headshots today.  Unfortunately I do not have the proper programs to view them so I am waiting on my photographer to send me the JPEG versions - this should be later tonight so be on the lookout!  

I had my first class with Killian's Commercial Workshop this past Sunday.  It was a lot of fun!  I was so nervous but the other actors in my class seem to be very nice and towards the end of the night I had calmed down a bit.  Killian is known for being one of the best, and I am very excited to see where this class leads me!