Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A FORK IN THE ROAD's official premiere with the New Filmmakers' Series at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City!


A FORK IN THE ROAD -- the short film written, produced & directed by Heidi Philipsen-Meissner, and starring Michigan actors Grant Krause, Barbara Coven, Matt Anderson & Shelby Howe will be screening this month (JUNE 10th @ 6 p.m.) with the New Filmmakers series in New York City at the Anthology Film Archives.

For more detailed information on tickets, directions and times, visit either the New Filmmakers or Anthology Film Archives web sites, by clicking on the title links above.

You can also check out the film's official web site for details:

www.aforkintheroad-themovie.com.


Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

New Day

The quality I love most about actors and the talents that acting lends to them is the ability to reinvent and refine.

You are never confined today to what you were yesterday (unless, of course, you've made extremely bad choices in life and have committed some horrible crime).

And so I take back what I said in my last blog about age -- 37? Hah! I stay in shape and look like most 30 year-old-women with seven years' more life experience for my craft. I laugh in the face of aging and age stereo-typing by creating my own work and testing it to the max, pushing the boundaries in the process.

Life is fragile. Acting, writing and directing teach me to embrace and make the most of it.

Today, I send my thank yous out into the world for all of the truly beautiful people out there who live life with generosity and true integrity -- and rewrite their own destiny every day.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Personal Crossroads, II

I received many supportive notes of encouragement, wisdom and understanding in response to my last Blog.

One friend offered insight into this stage of life -- wisdom shared from the experience of realizing that we are not immortal and that life truly is only valued in its day-by-day seizing.

Another mentor suggested that I maintain my focus on "creating, creating, creating" and that, in doing so, the process of creativity will bring me closer to understanding the true meaning of life, as well as get me through the sadness of mourning.

And my next door neighbor, who noted my saddened expression from day to day of late, left a book on my doorstep with a kind card, filled with encouragement.

I believe that we have the power to be angels and that, as angels, we do reach out when called upon for help. All of the above extensions of thought and sharing of personal reflections about life and its journey are nothing short of angelic in my eyes and I'm thankful for your kindness.

SEIZE THE DAY

My cousin Debbie was wonderful at being positive in spite of all the odds -- she fought cancer for fifteen years and, we all thought, had it beaten. She thought she could beat it and, thus, so, too, did we. She wanted to live. Pure and simple. Even toward the end, after the cancer had been found in her thyroid and she could barely talk, she refused to stay bedridden. If there was a family gathering, she was there. Any time I traveled to Wisconsin to visit the family, she'd be the first at Auntie Neva's, where I'd being staying, to get to me and give her magic hug.

And even though cancer did slow her down in the end, preventing her to do all of the things she loved, Debbie never stopped taking interest in the active lives of those she cherished. Her mother, my aunt, Beverley, said that Debbie would love to hear about all of the new things that I was doing in television, film and theater... she talked of me as a hero.

In all honesty, Debbie is my hero -- far more successful in living her life than I should ever hope to be in living mine. I've complained too often, felt sorry for myself too much, and teared up in jealousy over anther's accomplishments that trumped my own.

Debbie was not like that.

Still, she must have seen something special in me -- as have my angels who've passed their wisdom and caring thoughts along -- and for this I live each moment wholly.

CREATE, CREATE, CREATE

I finally feel as if I am beginning to get this thing called "acting." I no longer have the energy or muse to act -- but relish the moment to take on an author's words and thoughts, sit in the moment, and let them be my own.

It is such a pity that the American creative industry is so obsessed with youth alone -- I feel like, now that I'm 37, I have finally lived enough to posses the proper insight to understand the material with which I want to analyze and create.

I don't know how old I look, I only know how old I feel -- I feel timeless, ageless, and free from the tethers of a history book. I could waltz across its pages.

And so, heading the advice of an old mentor and far away friend, I "create" without looking back--or memorizing my own space on the virtual timeline.

In fact, just in the past three weeks, I've auditioned for two equity theaters (in two different states), worked as a precision driver in Columbia Picture's thriller feature film SALT with Angelina Jolie, finished the storyboard for my next short, period piece film, and finally found a great female Director of Photographer, with whom I see a solid working collaboration as divinely possible.

I create to celebrate life -- mine, my families', yours, and Debbie's.

I sense that Debbie, like many of my friends and relatives who are dearly departed, is watching over me and living with me. Therefore, one could infer that I'm not really just living for my self.

That being said, I guess I better make each day of this life a good one. Shakespeare, if you're listening, I'm going to be making romantic comedies out of the next few years, as I've had enough of the tragedies, so get out your quill and ink and start taking notes.