French Connection / Make A Scene

French Connection just launched their Make A Scene campaign initiative, which utilizes a digital film machine that gives users the power to produce unique, personalized film at the click of a button. 

A variety of scenes from their Spring 2013 campaign are available to choose from and it’s up to you to decide their perfect beginning, middle and end. Users can also add in special effects and select a soundtrack to complete their creation. They are essentially allowing our customers and fans the opportunity to become their own “film makers” through our Spring campaign.

Film entries can be made here: http://makeascene.frenchconnection.com/

Once a video is complete, all participants are then asked to share their finished film with as many people as possible through their social networks. The film with the most shares will win an incredible all-expenses paid trip to the Sydney 2013 Film Festival in June. Runner up prizes include $500 and $1,000 shopping sprees.

If you would like to see what one of these short, creative 60 second films could look like, here are some videos:

My video: http://po.st/UuIwGA

Dylan's video: http://tinyurl.com/bsjz2l4

Diary of an actress #25: A Milk Gallery Project Presents: Larry Clark Stuff

This event was pretty sick. Awesome film posters, t-shirt designs, and skateboards. Manhattan's tragically hip were out in droves. Did I mention the free Peroni?

Diary of an actress #24: The Unstoppable Leah Cevoli (Part 2)

Candy Washington: What’s your favorite part about the job? Have any crazy stories for us?
Leah Cevoli: My favorite part about acting is getting to be anything and anyone that you could ever imagine. So much of my time is spent on the business side, the networking, but the absolute best is getting on set or in the booth and turning into that character.

Crazy stories? Hmm, well when I was working on Robot Chicken it seems they always cast me in a role that had to scream at some point, lol. I love screaming, and they know that. Working, on the horror short Body of Work, my character gets murdered, and later returns as a ghost (spoiler alert), and I was airbrushed to look all veiny and decaying, with rotting lips, that was pretty awesome. 

But, I think the craziest thing I’ve ever done as an actor, was a self-produced, no budget video for After Dark Films, where my character has to drown in a swimming pool. My friend Andy Mackenzie (Sushi Girl, MacGruber, True Blood), directed me and was also behind the camera, so he’s pushing me under the water with one hand on my head, and the other operating the camera. I’m in stilettos, a corset, a long skirt and boa, and he’s yelling at me to keep my eyes open longer under water (for the drowning effect), meanwhile, I’m coughing and spitting water up after every take. It was awesome.

The other thing I LOVE about my job is getting to travel to conventions and speak to fans and peers about this industry. In the past few years I’ve been invited to speak at The Freak Show Horror Fest in Orlando, Wonder Con in Anaheim, Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles, and the highlight of my Con experience so far, was this past summer as a guest on The Most Dangerous Women of Comic Con panel in San Diego. I love, love, love, being able to share my story and experiences with a live audience and inspiring others to just live the life of their dreams, no holds barred, no matter what the circumstances. It’s such an awesome feeling to have someone come up to you after a panel and share something that touched them.

CW: What’s one thing that you know now, that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?
LC: Wow, well I have no regrets about my journey, I truly believe that things happen the way they are supposed to. But if I could share wisdom with someone just starting out, it’d probably be to truly embrace the development of not just your craft, but of your mind, body, and spirit too. When I was first starting out in Hollywood, I partied a lot, and although it may look glamorous to be at big fancy parties, the people that are getting the job opportunities are not the ones out partying every night. They’re the people at home, in classes, working out, getting a good night sleep, and taking care of themselves. A lot of people come out to Hollywood and get caught up in the Hollywood Hills party scene, and before you know it, opportunities are passing you by. This career is about longevity. And what that means, is that YOU are your product, and as such you must take care of all aspects of it. Stay away from the energy vampires, surround yourself with positive, healthy friends and hobbies, and take care of your body, with the right food, sleep, and exercise. Or else you’ll find yourself depleted of energy and depressed. I’ve been there. I’m not going back.

CW: I know that you wear many hats in the industry – do you want to tell us about producing?
LC: Sure! I’ve always had a knack for organizing large groups and getting tasks completed. The majority of my producing experience has been with music and charity events, including a fundraiser for the Twin Towers Orphan Fund, right after 9/11 occurred. We had 13 bands, 6 comics, and 10 Emcees at the Key Club in West Hollywood, more recently I produced an event in 2010 called Hollywood Rocks Haiti, where we raised money for Unicef. This experience has now transferred to the screen and I’ve been involved with producing on a few projects, from short films, to web-series.

I enjoy producing, but I’ve found that I’m much more excited about producing something that I also have a role as an actor in. My friend Brooke Lewis, http://youtu.be/4p-oDyBk9rg is someone I look up to for career advice, and years back, she told me that it’s important as an actor to find other skills you have, to help leverage when you come across a project that you’d like to act in. Producing is not for everyone, but I do have a knack for it, so if I’m approached by a project that I truly believe in, I will most definitely put on a producer hat.

As a producer my skills lean towards the organizational, putting all the pieces together, on the ground work. Finding and hiring the right cast and crew. I also have a strong social media following and have been an asset to more than one project in their fundraising and promotional marketing.

To be honest, I’ve been burned a bit in this area, and unfortunately got involved with an unsavory character that utilized my producing and fundraising skills, and then kicked me to the curb right before we were scheduled to shoot. As such, I am much more cautious about who I partner up with, or what projects I put my name too. I’ve learned the hard way that a contract is really only as good as the two people who sign it.

The entertainment industry is tough, and until you have a team of lawyers, managers, and agents looking out for you, you’ve got to do it all yourself.

CW: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
LC: In 5 years, I’d like to be acting in more feature films. My passion is in the horror, romantic comedy, and fantasy genres. I would love to be shooting a feature film every year and working with cutting edge directors. I’ve become much more bi-coastal lately, and have rediscovered what a truly kick-ass city Philadelphia is. There is so much going on here, and so many amazing young artists and filmmakers that I hope to truly expand my work as an actress to both coasts. I see myself as a permanent fixture on the Cons/Panels circuit, hosting award shows, and hopefully have a budding family by then. I also see myself continuing the work I do producing/hosting charity and live music events, and possibly doing more philanthropic work around the world. Oh, and animated features, would really love to give voice to a Pixar or Disney film. That would be so much fun!

CW: What’s one thing that my readers can only find out here about Leah Cevoli?
LC: I am totally afraid of needles and getting blood drawn! I have seven tattoos, and love horror movies, but I hate needles and blood. Go figure!

CW: Upcoming Projects?
LC: I am really excited about 2013! Besides Space Command, which is going to be a game-changer for self-produced projects, I’m also set to star in a trans-media Fantasy project called Legendary, (Teaser: http://youtu.be/z8Hx0gctKmU) this will shoot in Portland, Oregon fall of 2013. This project is very Game of Thrones-esque and my character Honora Ambrosena is a bit of a figure head for the town, a business woman who owns a lot of property and the local tavern, where many dirty deeds are plotted and planned. And then there is, the dark-supernatural feature film shooting in Missouri. Everything, written by Jeffrey Williams, this reminds me of the older tales from the poets like Poe and Shelley, where there’s more than meets the eye, and even the monsters have glimpses of compassion. This was originally a short story, and after the creator saw my audition, he wrote an entirely different role for me, and it transformed from a short to a feature. That’s pretty dang awesome!

Last entry: Diary of an actress #23: The Unstoppable Leah Cevoli (Part 1)

Contact Leah:
LivinOnADreamPr@Gmail.com
www.imdb.me/LeahCevoli
www.facebook.com/LeahCevoli
www.twitter.com/Leah_Cevoli
www.leahcevoli.tumblr.com
www.youtube.com/leahann4
www.linkedin.com/in/leahcevoli

Make up from the shoot!

Shout out to MAKE Colour

Mani-pedi in one of my favorite colors: Lilac

Like a Rhinestone Cowboy - love these glasses

I lost my glasses in my apartment for nearly a month. Found them, then lost them, now found them!

Oscar 2013 Style: My top picks - part 2

 Miranda Kerr

 Kate Bosworth

Lily Collins

Diary of an actress #23: The Unstoppable Leah Cevoli (Part 1)

Candy Washington: Leah, do you want to tell us how you got started in the industry?
Leah Cevoli: When I was a young girl I was always performing for whoever would watch, family gatherings and holidays were my favorite time of year, because I had a captive audience, and being the oldest of five, I had a built in cast of players at my disposal. I took dance classes, modeling, gymnastics, cheerleading, choir, and drama as a child but as I got older I began to let my passions slip to the side, I guess I felt I wasn’t good enough at any one of those things, to seriously pursue any of those as a career, and so I focused more on education. I was/am extremely smart and was always in all the honor classes. A bit of a dichotomy as I was also the girl wearing guns n’ roses t-shirts in those honor classes... a bit of a nerdy/rocker I suppose. I obtained a double degree in Psychology and Elem Education, and then something happened that changed the course of my life. I ended up working on tour with my favorite rock band, Poison in 1999, assisting with Bret Michaels’ fan club. And for me, that was it, it opened my eyes up that there was a whole ‘nother world outside of the Philadelphia/Delaware County area filled with rock stars and movie stars and I wanted to be a part of that. I didn’t know how or why, I just knew that I had to go and give it a shot.

Side Note (This was 15 years ago and Philly was NOT the cultural center and thriving entertainment community that it is today. I didn’t know anyone pursuing a creative life out in my hometown. Things have changed a lot since then!)

So I packed up my bags and my car, with a few hundred dollars in my pocket and no real plans for housing or a job, and I moved to Hollywood, California.

I soon found myself booking rock bands at local clubs, that lead to producing larger events and charity shows, and that lead to hosting/emceeing the events on-stage. After a few years, of barely scraping by (as an independent band promoter/booker, there is no guarantee that you’ll make any money on a given event, you may even lose money), I had an epiphany on my 29th birthday and realized that I was promoting everyone else’s career but my own. I soon switched paths, enrolled in acting classes, began doing extra work, and student films, putting demos and press kits together and began hustling to be a working actor in Hollywood. It’s not easy and as I soon learned, you have got to be ready when opportunity knocks. My first big opportunities came back to back in 2004. I had been working as a non-union extra on the HBO show Deadwood for the entire run of the series, and by 2nd season I was assigned a character name, by 3rd season I had a trailer and a few speaking lines. This was an amazing show to work on, with the most incredible cast and crew. I have life-long friends because of this show, and will always be grateful to David Milch and the kindness and opportunities he bestowed upon not only myself but so many others just starting out in the business. Around the same time, I met a young man named Matt Senreich, who noticing how hard I was working day in and day out as a non-union extra for minimum wage, gave me a shot on his new animated show. One day, I received an email telling me I had to be at their studio the very next day, as an A-list Star had to cancel, and I was going to record the characters instead, not only would this be an amazing opportunity on what was sure to become a hit show, but it was also my taft-hartley into the Screen Actors Guild. I was green as far as voice over acting, went, but I must have done a great job, as they brought me back for 9 episodes in total, and to date I have recorded about 30 character voices for his show, which of course, is the now Emmy award winning Robot Chicken co-produced by Seth Green. I can’t even express how much love and gratitude I have for Matt, Seth, and the entire writing team (Tom, Doug, Dan,..) over there. In the blink of an eye, after 5 long years in Hollywood, I was now officially a Union actor. 

These opportunities would have never happened had I not been pursuing my career full-time. If I had a part-time job somewhere, I may have had to turn down these shows. So when I look back, I know the ability to be open and available to these opportunities, is well worth the struggle of making ends meet. Shortly thereafter, I joined SAG, and have been an active member ever since.

CW: I hear you are involved in a pretty awesome project, please tell us more about it!
LC: Ooh, Space Command! Space Command www.SpaceCommandMovie.com is a project created by writer Marc Zicree (Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, TN ). It is a series of sci-fi feature films that will follow 2 families, The Kemmers, and The Sekanders over the course of about 2 centuries. The thing with Space Command is, the team behind it are people whose faces you may not recognize, but their work you surely do. Our character designer for instance, Iain McCaig designed Darth Maul, as well as a ton of legendary characters and movies, like Interview with a Vampire, Harry Potter, and Avengers; and the producers Marc and Neil Johnson decided that they wanted to produce a film(s) that were studio quality, without having to go through the major studios to make it (or hope that it got made). So Marc and Neil took it to Kickstarter. I first got involved with this project as a social media intern in the spring of 2012. This soon turned into me coordinating and assisting with a very successful San Diego Comic Con Panel, Appearance and Party, and have since been hired as their Social Media Director, as well as an Associate Producer on the project. The entire process has been amazing so far, we tripled our original goal on Kickstarter, raising over $221,000!

The project gets more exciting every day, with many well-known sci fi actors coming on-board every day. (Sybil Danning, Armin Schirmerman, Robert Picardo, etc). We are scheduled to start shooting the first of four movies, Empire, in the spring of 2013. Please follow us on www.twitter.com/SpaceCommandMov as well as Facebook and YouTube.

CW: What are some of the challenges you face as an actress? How do you overcome them? Well, the most obvious, is that there is no linear path. There is no set job-course and promotion path and raises like there are for most traditional jobs. It’s the passion that keeps me going, not the Christmas bonuses, or Vacation Pay. Those things don’t exist for us in the entertainment world.

You have to be really committed to make this career work. You have to be willing to watch your friends back home buy homes, and start families while you’re still living in an apartment, auditioning for day-player and co-star roles. AND you have to be thrilled about it. If the passion is not there, don’t even bother. It’s not an easy path, there are many milestones that will go unnoticed by family and friends, because what seems huge to you, say getting a producer session for a major horror film that you would love to be in, well when you don’t get that role, most of the world sees that as a let-down, and it’s NOT. It’s to be celebrated, because guess what, you got that far, and next time you’ll get farther.

For me personally, I do a lot of yoga, a lot of journaling, and meditation. I focus on the journey, and celebrate each success. I try not to compare myself to anyone else’s journey because we are all unique, and try to be the best me that I can be.

I also try to align myself with great people. Positive people, who want to lift each other up. I’m a connector, I always have been. I enjoy referring people for projects and gigs that I think they would be great for, and in doing so, hopefully that leads to a strong community where people have my back as well. It can be dog eat dog world out in Hollywood, not going to lie, but it can also be a warm, wonderful, community of people who support and respect each other.

Contact Leah:
LivinOnADreamPr@Gmail.com
www.imdb.me/LeahCevoli
www.facebook.com/LeahCevoli
www.twitter.com/Leah_Cevoli
www.leahcevoli.tumblr.com
www.youtube.com/leahann4
www.linkedin.com/in/leahcevoli

Next entry: Diary of an actress #24: The Unstoppable Leah Cevoli (Part 2) 

Last entry: Diary of an actress #22: Actor Freddie Fox launches The Definitive White Shirt in St James's, London

Oscar 2013 Style: My top picks

 Georgina Chapman

 Kerry Washington

 Naomi Watts

 Jessica Chastain

 Nicole Kidman

 Amy Adams

 Sandra Bullock

Zoe Saldana

Watch The Cut's new original series: The Making of a Collection

From The Cut: http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/02/making-of-a-collection-with-ohne-titel.html

 "Shortly after spring New York Fashion Week in September, the Cut began a months-long process of documenting Ohne Titel's journey to their fall 2013 collection, which debuted at Milk Studios last week. Each day this week, you'll see a new video showcasing every element of their creative process, from inspiration-hunting to sketching to fittings to runway show.

Today, we begin with the germ of what this collection eventually became. With their studio in the heart of Chelsea's gallery district, Flora Gill and Alexa Adams like to pop in to see new art shows whenever they get the chance. "It's a delicate balance," says Gill. "You have to keep your idea, your zeitgeist of the brand and kind of expand it and evolve it." Watch our video above to see how two artists' work in particular (Tauba Auerbach's woven tape paintings and Rupert Deese's geometric plywood panels) provided the inspirational foundation for the Ohne Titel collection, moving from spring's soft, wavy shapes to more structured grids and tiny plastic squares that would eventually provide accent and texture to some of their final looks."