The Humor in Being an LA Actor (VIDEO)

What does it mean to be an actor in Los Angeles?

Perhaps boasting about your training ....or exhibiting the extremes to which actors will go to "bring it".

Check out the above very funny "Office"/documentary-ish video on what it means to be an LA actor. In this short, a documentary crew follows around a group of LA actors (co-starring Penn alum Jill Magilone C'00) trying to rehearse for an Industry Showcase. Things get out of control when Ben and Renee show their true colors...

Jill is great in this. Her tone reminds me of a cross between Anna Faris and Julie Hagerty (from Airplane! fame). Very castable!

(Be sure to check out the Joaquin Phoenix reference in there...or at least I think it's a reference as the guy looks like him!)

Check out:

• my Penn Actors Headshot Gallery HERE!
• the new Penn Actor Video Reel section HERE (add yours HERE)
• Advice for the actor who wants to move out to LA HERE

Check out my other Funny Friday posts here!

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He's Been Named The Hollywood Reporter's Top 5 Under 35

Matt Reilly on far right

News of another alum making an important Hollywood List...

Last week, Matt Reilly (C'00) just got named as The Hollywood Reporter's Top 5 Under 35.

Here's the scoop per the Hollywood Reporter,

"Matt Reilly, 30
vp production
Warner Bros.
New Jersey-born Reilly first tasted the business as a summer intern for James Moll and June Beallor, makers of the 1998 Oscar-winning docu "The Last Days." His big break didn't happen until a college buddy working as an assistant to Patrick Whitesell, then at CAA, suggested Reilly take his place. He had only been on Whitesell's desk a month when the agent famously jumped ship for Endeavor. "He called me on a Sunday night and asked, 'Do you want to go with me?'" Reilly remembers. "I was in the eye of the storm of something really big, but at the time I was just going with it." Reilly soon realized he didn't want to be an agent after all. He credits Endeavor's Tom Strickler for pushing him to take a job at Warners, comparing the studio with the Yankees: "'You want to play for the Yankees, don't you?'" Reilly recalls Strickler asking. Reilly now oversees an upcoming slate that includes the Seth Rogen comedy "Observe and Report," political thriller "The 28th Amendment" and Ben Affleck's "The Town.""

Check out other important "lists" alumni are on!

Other Penn film producers

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Her "Election" Documentary: Distributed By a Musician We All Know!

In the spirit of the upcoming presidential election, Erika Frankel's (C'00) documentary campaign film (with a twist!) is about to be released nationwide on October 24th.

Since I posted about Erika's film Frontrunners last September, they had their world premiere in competition at South by Southwest (SXSW) and were picked up for distribution by Adam Yauch's (of the Beastie Boys) new company Oscilloscope Pictures. Frontrunners is their third release.

Per Erika here's the synopsis,

"What do Tim Robbins, Thelonius Monk, Drew Nieporent, Jerry Nadler, and Lucy Liu all have in common? They all graduated from Stuyvesant, the jewel in the crown of NYC’s high schools for gifted students. Not surprisingly, some of the nation’s smartest, most media-savvy teenagers run an election for class president with primaries, televised debates, newspaper endorsements and considerable schmoozing in the halls. Stuyvesant accepts 3% of the 25,000 kids who apply, and when just one is going to be class president, you can bet that tensions run high."

FRONTRUNNERS screening locations/dates:

New York City - Film Forum (Oct 15-21)
Tickets now on sale here

Los Angeles - Nuart Theatre (Oct 24-31)
San Francisco - Lumiere Theatre (Oct 24-31)
Berkeley, CA - Shattuck Cinemas (Oct 24-31)
Denver - Starz FilmCenter (Oct 24-31)
Boston - Brattle Theatre (Oct 24-31)
Philadelphia - Ritz at the Bourse (Oct 24-31)

For more information about the film, visit http://www.frontrunnersthefilm.com/

Click to learn how Erika got her start as a documentary film producer

Read this informative review from The New York Times!

Check out more Penn documentary filmmakers

Suggest other Penn friends to my Facebook profile and win swag!  More here!

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He's a TV Hustler...and a Good One At It

Ryan Oakes (C'00) is using his slick magician skills on a new TV show about cons and scams.

Ryan appears on each episode of The Real Hustle taking part in various fun (to watch) scenarios in which he and his colleagues show how easy it is to swindle people out of money. The show puts you "in the know" by helping to educate you on the scams.

Per Ryan, "I work as a professional magician and sleight-of-hand artist in New York City. I travel all over the country performing at corporate events and high-end private affairs. Got involved in the show because they were looking for someone with a skill set similar to those who pull these cons for real on the street... the deceptive techniques used in magic are very similar to the methods used by professional con artists."

Watch this great interview with Ryan

Watch "The Tenant Trap": Excited by the prospect of an apartment that's too good to be true, would-be tenants hand over their cash.

Watch "Scratch and Lose": A contest "winner" gets hustled

Check out the Variety review and the NY Post review

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Her Stunning Photos have Appeared in Major Publications

Tara in above photo taken while on assignment for Glamour in Chad.

Over the past year, I've covered many stories about Penn actors, filmmakers, and musicians and now it's time to showcase another talented Penn international photographer whose beautiful work has appeared in many worldwide publications.

Based in the Middle East, Tara Todras-Whitehill (C'00, Eng'00, Stimulus Children's Theater) is a photographer who lived in Cairo for the past 2 1/2 years and just recently got a job with the Associated Press in Jerusalem where she'll be covering Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Her journey from undergrad to professional world photographer is quite an interesting one (she's a quite the jetsetter!). Check out all the publications her photos have appeared in!

Tara has posted some really stunning photos on DT that you should take a look at...

Click here to see these photos Tara took for Glamour Magazine and New York Times Travel ...including portraits of Benazir Bhutto in her home in Dubai plus more!

Click here to check out Tara's site

Check out another great International Penn Photographer

Click to see what other 2000 Penn grads are up to

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Tuesday Tips: Advice for the Writer who Wants to Move Out to LA

Penn writers Phyllis Zimbler Miller (WG'80), Eric Barker (C'94), Hadley Davis (C'93), Josh Heald (C'00)

In this week's Tuesday Tips series, I have enlisted the help of my Penn alumni writer friends out here in Los Angeles to offer advice to the Penn undergrad or alum who has decided to move out to Los Angeles to pursue a writing career.

Between the four of them (Phyllis Zimbler Miller (WG'80), Eric Barker (C'94), Hadley Davis (C'93), and Josh Heald (C'00)), they have written for books, TV and Film and have offered up some great advice to all of you including answers to the following questions:

-What classes should you take?
-Writing programs to use?
-Registering your work
-Events for networking
-Groups to join?
-Best place in LA to write?
-Any other advice?

I too have chimed in based on my years being a writer in Los Angeles and all the lessons I have learned.

Click here to find out what our alumni writer panel has to say and/or add your own advice!

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Love Week: She’s a Cupid for Penn Alumni

It's Valentine's Day and that means that we've reached our last day in our Love Week series. Before we end this though, I have 3 fantastic posts coming up today! First up...

Hey single NYC Penn alumni…Someone wants to set you up.

After reading my "Love Week" posts, Saryn Chorney (C’00) contacted me to let me know that she is working for a popular publication pairing people up (free of charge!). Did I mention that the meal is also free?

For you outgoing guys and gals looking for love in all the wrong places, click here for all the details! (this is great!)

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Emmys mean Swagtime for Jenna Seiden (C'95)

This Sunday's Emmys mean glitz and glamour.

But to one alum it's all about the swag. And who doesn't love a good bag of swag?

That's what Jenna Seiden (C'95) thought when she and her business partner decided to start swagtime.com, a business dedicated to celebrity swag. Their philosophy is simple, “What was exclusive is now inclusive”.

For those unaware, per Jenna, '"SWAG" stands for the products and services that celebrities are getting, giving and using." Jenna's site scours everything from the gift bags and gift lounges at award shows, charity galas, film festivals, sporting events, private celebrity functions and more to tell you about these great products and services.

And what would be a swag site without the site actually giving away swag itself?! Sign up with her site and you can win a bag of an event's actual swag yourself!

And that's not all for Jenna. She is also a video games/interactive agent at the highly reputable talent agency CAA. Per Jenna, "I now represent game developers, writers and talent who make console games and I work to take these game IPs and make movies, etc. So by day I'm gamesgirl and by night I'm swaggirl."

...On a related Emmys note, good thoughts go out to Becki Newton (C'00) on Ugly Betty being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Click to read about about Jenna's journey in Hollywood

Check out Jenna's site

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Erika Frankel's (C'00) campaign for Frontrunners

Judging by how I'm seeing many freshmen enthusiastically using Facebook to campaign for Freshmen elections, many of you undergrad (and alumni) overachievers will appreciate Frontrunners, an upcoming documentary from alum Erika Frankel (C'00)...

Click to read more...

Per Erika, Frontrunners is "our own independent documentary on the race for school president at the most competitive high school in the country, Stuyvesant High School in New York City. At Stuyvesant, we discovered a bunch of very smart, very funny people whose political tactics are just as calculated as our nation's leaders, leaving us to wonder whether political animals are born or made…"

This sounds scandalously delicious to me!

Frontrunners will be making its big screen debut at the Angelika (in NY) as part of the IFP Film Market on Monday Sept. 17 @ 2:00pm and Wednesday Sept. 19 @ 1:45pm.

If you/ your company are registered to attend the market, Erika hopes you will come and see her film! Otherwise, please email her for more information: frankel@suhfilms.com

Click here to watch the trailer

Click to learn how Erika got her start as a documentary film producer

Learn more about Frontrunners

Check out more Penn documentary filmmakers

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READ MORE - Erika Frankel's (C'00) campaign for Frontrunners

Jennifer Weber (C'00) brings hip-hop ballet(!) to Seattle this weekend

"Hip-hop ballet" sounds cool, doesn't it?

And it is ...thanks to Jennifer Weber (C'00, Strictly Funk Dance) who this weekend performs in Seattle's Bumbershoot (music and arts) festival.

Founded in 2000, Jennifer's all-female performance group called Decadance recruits women from the United States and Japan to perform hip-hop ballets that transcend the world of dance. Inspired by the urban folk culture found in clubs and on the streets of contemporary cities, the group tells stories through dance of the evolving hip-hop generation.

Jennifer is not the only Penn talent that will take the stage this weeknd. Also performing is singer-songwriter and Penn alum, John Legend (C'99)

Click to see hip-hop ballet in action!

Click to check out Jennifer's Decadance Theatre

Click here to see how Jennifer's "beginnings" and how she got her start

Click to see what other 2000 Penn grads are up to

Check out my posts about John Legend (C'99)

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Becki Newton (C'00, Ugly Betty) gets Hot in Hollywood!

Becki Newton (C'00), and her Ugly Betty co-stars America Ferrera, Michael Urie join other Heroes, ER, and Grey's Anatomy TV stars to ham it up to benefit Local AIDS Charities for HotInHollywood.org

Click here for this fun video

Click to check out my other Becki Newton posts

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Jon Avnet (C'71): to direct DeNiro and Pacino / "Starter Wife" debuts

Director/Producer Jon Avnet (C'71) will direct Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Righteous Kill. According to Entertainment Weekly, Jon only (barely) reveals "They're both cops, and they're buddies".

...While we're speaking of Jon, his show The Starter Wife debuted this week. For those of you who haven't seen this on the USA network, it's kind of Sex in the City meets a bit of Desperate Housewives. Debra Messing's performance is definitely stellar here showing her Grace-like humor combined with some nice touching/authentic moments we haven't seen from her before.

From youtube, "The Starter Wife is a sexy, savvy and wickedly funny tour de force about life after divorce and one woman's quest to redefine herself after years of marriage to a Hollywood studio head. After being blacklisted from premieres to pilates, Molly Kagan (Debra Messing) searches to rediscover life after divorce. A brief respite in Malibu and some oh-so-Hollywood friends prove to be the perfect cocktail for her transformation from "Starter Wife" to her new life."

Check out a preview of the show here!

...*On another Penn related note, Chris Diamantopoulos who plays "Rodney" in the series is married to Penn alum actress, Becky Newton, C'00 (Ugly Betty)

READ MORE - Jon Avnet (C'71): to direct DeNiro and Pacino / "Starter Wife" debuts

Who Knew?....Becki Newton (C'00) as Amanda on Ugly Betty

Just when I thought I knew what most of the Penn alumni were doing here in Los Angeles, I just found out that Becki Newton (C'00) aka "Amanda" on Ugly Betty is an alum.

She is hysterical on the show as well as on the weekly Ugly Betty podcast she hosts with actor Michael Urie ("Mark" on the show)

For those of you who don't watch, click here to take a look at her best moments on Ugly Betty

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