.....

I wish what I did on Tuesday was new and more exciting but in all reality it was just more meetings and sitting on the beach.

That night we were invited to Cherie Cheri, a club on the beach, and several of the crew ended up there.  Before a whole bunch of us ended up there Amy and I decided to go for a nice quiet drink at an outside bar.  They have table set up in the street and very cheap drinks so we had a couple there by ourselves, I think we were both grateful for the solitude and then headed to Cherie Cheri.  C.C. was unlike any club I've been in because there was this huge room with a fully made bed in it and the room next to it had a lion claw bathtub.  A non-working one so that people were sitting and taking pictures in it.  It was an odd set up but still a very fun night.  Halfway through the even fireworks were set off over the water and there were just amazing.  Unlike any firework display that I have seen in Wisconsin.  Amy and I got out picture taken while we were there and then, like a home-body, I headed home.  Knowing that I have such a long, lonely walk home that it hinders me from going all out at night.  Which in all honesty is fine by me!

At the Petit Majestic

At Cherie Cheri, sponsored by Chivas

Because we were bored?  Or because we are amazing?

Manic Monday

And it was in every sense of the word.

For Falcon-Pro we had two meetings in the morning with people who knew Henri from previous Cannes Film Festivals and one with a potential producer on further projects.  The second one I thought was the coolest because he is actually coming to NYC soon to film a movie and will be handling the auditions, so I may have an in to another movie that way by having this meeting today.  That is the one problem with coming here with Henri, is that I can't just be out here to promote myself, it is strictly working with Falcon-Pro.  So I have limited time to test the waters with agents, directors and producers about having potential acting gigs with them.  But having said that, I still have met a great many of contacts so I really shouldn't be complaining.

After the meetings we had a press conference with the Netherlanders to discuss the movie and they got to interview some of the actors that showed up.  Obviously I wasn't interviewed because my part was so small and because I am not a well known Dutch or American actor.  But I hope one day for that to be me!

Then the first industry screening of Amsterdam Heavy took place at 4 p.m.  Having already seen it and since it wasn't a red carpet screening or anything, I opted not to go because I wanted there to be room for buyers and distributors for the film.  And the thought of watching myself again didn't interest me so I went back to my apartment until we had to be ready for the post-screening party.  We held the Amsterdam Heavy Party on the beach at one of the pavilions and a lot of the actors that I worked with in Holland were there so it was great to catch up and see everyone again.  One of the girls actually was handing her shirt around to the actors to get them to sign it, and she actually asked me to sign it as well.  Pretty cool!

Amy and I on the beach @ Amsterdam Heavy Party

Rough Life

There's my autograph on a t-shirt!

Popping champagne to celebrate

The producers at Funny How Films being interviewed

Later that night we had every intention of going to the Chopard party.  We even convinced one of the festival drivers to come pick us up from our villa and take us there.  But he was actually a really nice guy and we had a couple drinks with him at a restaurant and he ended up dropping us off in the official car at the VIP room.  If I haven't mentioned this yet I will now.  The new interns are AMAZING at getting into places where they are not invited.  They have a way of talking to the guard, sneaking on a yacht or just owning their confidence to get into any party.  I wish I had that kind of no-holds-bar confidence that didn't conflict with my moral compass.  But I guess that is why I normally consider myself a "home-body" because I would rather sit at home in my pajamas then feel out of place at any party.

Time to reboot.

So I have left you all with me having a bum eye and no camera.

Today it is Sunday, a day to recoup and cleanse the system.  The medicine that Celine gave me worked like a miracle and now my eye is almost back to normal.  But I called the club we were at the the South African party and he said they combed the beach and did not find my camera.  I was devastated.  I was no resolved to the idea that I had lost my camera and it wasn't coming back.

Probably 10 minutes after I had committed myself to this idea, I get an email.  One of Vince's friends that came with us to the South African party had emailed me that she found my camera!! I believe at this point I was running around Celine's apartment whooping with joy.  I couldn't believe my luck, she told me that someone found it in the sand 10 minutes after I had left to go home, and when she saw someone with it she said that she knew who it belonged to and kept it safe for me.

On Sunday I was now not feeling as crappy as I did when Saturday night came to a close.  But I still had work to do so I called Henri and told him that I was going to be working from Celine's house that day because my eye was still not 100% and I didn't want sand from the beach making it worse.  And working at Celine's house was awesome because I didn't have to walk anywhere, Celine ended up making dinner and the MOST AMAZING dessert for me, and then I went to bed early.  It was honestly the most relaxing day and when I realized how happy I was at the complete lack of going out I did (aka partying) and getting to stay home and watch CSI in french on Celine's TV.  I realized that I was definitely like my mom :)

There were no pictures from that day.  One)  I looked like crap.  Two)  I didn't shower  Three) I looked like crap.  But if you want to imagine what I looked like and how I felt, this picture pretty much sums it up.

Pirates of the Caribbean Red Carpet Night

WOW...

There were so many things to do today that I am surprised that I stayed awake for it all.

I got up really early this morning so I could go down and get a Red Carpet Ticket to the World Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  I got down to the young actors' corner at 8:30 and was number 5 on the list.  Which is somewhat of a feat because the whole building itself doesn't open until 9 in the morning so I had to do a little sneaking in to get in there before the big rush of people.  But you see I wasn't the only one if I was number 5 to sign up on the list.  So I was clearly not the first one to break the rules.

After I signed my name at 8:30 I had to sit around until ten, which was when they actually released the available tickets for that night.  It went a lot faster than the first time I stood in line at the desk because I actually knew people standing in line so I didn't have to wait there all by myself.

One of the people I was talking to in line was Vincent van Ommen.  He was actually in Amsterdam Heavy with me and since we were both going to the red carpet we decided that we should just go together.  It turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for.

When I got my ticket at ten I headed down to the International Pavilions, where I usually spend my day, and was working on my computer in the Media Pavilion.  I only worked until 3 because I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to get back to my apartment, shower, change, and look fabulous before heading back down to the red carpet.  I was also really excited about the red carpet because I had bought this amazing red carpet dress last year that I didn't get a chance to wear because it didn't arrive in time.  But now was my chance to wear this dress and walk the famous red carpet.

This is where the problems started happening.

I am just about ready.  My hair was cooperating with me so I thought it looked good, my dress looked nice and the shoes I was planning on wearing were comfortable.  Just as I am about to leave the apartment, it starts to rain.  And not just a light sprinkling of rain, a massive heavens-are-falling-apart type of rain.  Trying not to panic I called Celine and asked her whether or not she was going to be home soon, I was kind of banking on her giving me a ride if she was home.  She said that she wouldn't be home for an hour, which at this point would have made me very late for the red carpet.  So still not panicking I tried to find a number for a taxi that would pick me up and take me, but that was a fail as well.  By this time, fortunately, the rain had eased up a bit so it wasn't so bad but, unfortunately, it was now 5:15 and the red carpet would close at 6:00 and I still had a half hour walk which would most likely turn into a forty minute walk because I would now have to wear heels, carry an umbrella, carry my purse, and keep my floor-length dress in my hands because I didn't want it to get wet on the long walk.  I would have cried if I knew it wouldn't have ruined my makeup.

So I started on the long, tedious, wet walk to the Lumiere Theatre.  I got stares of laughter, pity and empathy.  It was awful.  But the closer I got the the Theatre the less it seemed to be raining, but no matter how high I held my dress, it was still getting wet.

I had finally made it to the entrance to the red carpet and I was sweaty from the brisk walk.  Now I had to wait for Vince, who had called me twice on the walk down but i couldn't answer because my arms were full and there was no way I was letting my dress run into any puddles.

Walking the red carpet was a lot more difficult than I thought.  Vince had all these tricks and which cameras to look into and he was directing me the entire way.  When I see the pictures that Vince got from his publicist I am sure I will look tense and uncomfortable but it was an experience in itself. 

Right in front of us on the red carpet was Robert DeNiro and coming up five minutes behind us was Jude Law and Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.  Pretty surreal.

But when it all came down to it, the carpet was fun and seeing all the people was great but what I really wanted to do was see the movie.  But since Vince told me to meet so close to curtain time, by the time we got in there, our seats were given away because they overbooked the theatre.  I was devastated, and I even tried pleading with the doorman just to let me in but he said I would have to go into the next theatre where they were sending all the other late arrivals to see the movie in the smaller theatre.  I would have sat and watched it but Vince said he had a whole bunch of parties to go to so I felt that I should go with him.  Which turned out to be good because I met some really cool and funny people, but I really would have loved to see the Pirates movie because that series is just so entertaining to me.

So I met up with these friends for drinks, and then we went to a place called "Pepperoni" which had the most delicious 5-cheese ravioli I had ever tasted. 

By then it was time to meet up with the "Amsterdam Heavy" crew at the South African party and that turned out to be A LOT of fun.  There was so much dancing and singing that I totally forgot about my little disappointment early on.

But today it seemed that when things started to look up, something had to come and bring them down.  By a curse from a higher power, my right eye started doing things it had never done before.  It turned bright red and just started watering the whole night, same thing goes for my right nostril.  I am sure I looked like a freak of nature.  And then I lost my camera.  Somewhere in the midst of trying to hold my dress up while dancing I lost it in the sand. 

I left the party feeling sick and rather depressed.  What I had hoped to be one of my best nights in Cannes was rapidly becoming one of the worst.  When I got home Celine helped me with the eye problem because she said she had something like this happen to her and she had some medicine to give me.  Well see how this turns out tomorrow.  But here are some pictures of my night!

Getting a picture of me and my dress.

People waiting outside in the rain to watch the Red Carpet

Jude Law

3D glasses for Pirates of the Caribbean

Jamie and I

Here you can see the red eye happening in the right :(

Friday?

There is no concept of time here in Cannes.  If I didn't have a calendar with me all I would know is that when the sun is up I am meant to be working on the beach and when the sun is down I am meant to be dressed up and partying around the Croisette.  So yes, after some double checking I realized that today was Friday.

I promised Celine, my roommate, that we would go out tonight.  So after a whole day of meetings and sun I had to muster up the energy to get ready for a night to go out with Celine.  I wanted to make sure that she had a good night because she has done so much for me since I've been in France, I mean real gone above and beyond anything I could have hoped for in a random roommate.

Since we didn't have any invites to any parties this night, I told her to just get ready, look good, and that we would walk around and see which beach parties we could get into.

We started off at the Carlton Hotel, which is probably the best hotel on the beach.  From what I understand it is where all of the celebrities stay and for a glass of champagne there it costs 25 euros.  Needless to say I didn't have a drink there with Celine but we went in there to see a couple of the new interns who were sitting at the bar.  They received intelligence that The Carlton Hotel was were Brad and Angelina were staying, so they were very intent on seeing him there.  That really wasn't what I had in mind for mine and Celine's night so after that we met up with Amy (you'll remember her from my Amsterdam posts) and the three of us headed over to the Martinez Hotel which is further down the beach but a couple of the old interns were having a drink there.  Celine was so ecstatic to be in the Martinez because you aren't allowed in there during the festival unless you have a badge for the festival.  So it is somewhat exclusive in there but you still have to pay for drinks.  So we took some pictures in there and decided to go to a party that had an open bar.

We heard that the annual Abu Dabi party was happening on the beach so Celine and I broke off from all of the ladies and decided it would be easier to get in if we weren't in a group of 10 girls.  We were waiting outside the gates of the party for maybe ten minutes when, in all honesty, this creepy guy was standing inside the gates and he kept staring at Celine and I.  Normally this kind of behavior would send me running but if it was a way into the party, I decided to take the bait.  I went over and started talking to him and he asked us if we were coming to the party, after telling him that we would love to come but we didn't have any invitations.  After hearing this he opened the metal gate to let us in.  We later learn that he was the main person at this party but seeing as I am not all that into the Bollywood scene, I kind of missed that. 

But as we were walking down the stairs to the party, Celine is poking me in the back and squealing because she is so excited to be in.  So much for playing it cool but I was glad she was happy to be there.

There was a lot of dancing and sitting on the beach in giant beach bag beds.  Later in the night, the guy who let us in invited us into the VIP section and Celine and I were smoking hookah and chatting with the people in there.  It was a fun night and Celine managed to take one of the wine glasses home as a souvenir.

 Au Revoir!

M

Have I mentioned how beautiful this place is?

Before I continue to update my fellow readers (Mom and Grandmas) on my daily escapades at the frenzy of a festival, I need to take a moment to just paint a literary picture of how absolutely amazing the view is here.  The Riviera is sand and water like any beach you can imagine but what makes it different is the stark blue crystal waters and on the horizon for 180 degrees of periphery you can see these amazing mountains on the islands across the way and you turn around to look up on the mainland and see a vast incline of villas and foliage.  This place feels like it has been entombed in a time capsule.  And here in Cannes we are sitting in a valley of perfection surrounded by some of God's greatest accomplishments.

So there was that literary picture painting I was telling you about but because I love you all so much I feel pictures would be just as incredible with my dinky camera.  Enjoy!

Amazing isn't it?

So day two of Cannes 2011.  I spent most of my day in the European Media Pavilion.  One because they have free orange juice and two because that's where several of the "Amsterdam Heavy" crew members hang out.  But when I wasn't there working on my computer, which stinks lugging around considering I have a twenty minute walk to get to the Palais, I was at the Fujifilm Terrace which gives out free Vitamin Water.  I love free things.  But the Fujifilm Terrace is located in the Martinez Hotel and each time I have been on my way up to the terrace I have seen a celebrity.  On the first day I saw Owen Wilson and on the second day I saw Rosario Dawson.  In all reality I should hang out there more often but it is a bit of a walk from the International Village and I need to be near the meeting places I have set up for Henri so...yeah.

It is really nice working with Henri on "Blisster" and not being specifically tied down to "Amsterdam Heavy" because they have eight interns working for them and they have to be up really early and when it's time to go to parties they can't all get in because there is so many of them.  But with Henri, it is just me and him working together so on the second night we were meant to go to the Marche party, director and producer party, Henri was able to get me a ticket, but as for the interns, they had to try and find and alternative way of getting into the party.

The party was amazing.  There were 8 tables of food and 2 tables of desserts.  Granted I spent most of my time at the dessert tables but still the food was amazing.  And like almost all the parties in Cannes, the liquor and champagne are free and it is encouraged to drink as much as humanly possible.  So if last night I was well behaved, this night was the exact opposite.  So like I was saying, the food and the drink were amazing at the Marche party but there was no dancing and the mood of the whole party was rather dull.  So we decided to talk a boat driver into taking us to this yacht out in the Riviera that had flashing lights and looked like a good time.  And a good time certainly was had by all.  There was music and dancing and we had amazing hosts.  Connected to the yacht was an "island" of sorts that had palm trees and sand and a pool.  We stayed out there until 5 in the morning.  It was a fun night but ridiculously draining.  It was enjoyable but I can definitely not have these kinds of nights every night.  Again I share with you some photos from that night:

All for now.

Love you all.

Megan

I'm Back, and this time I'm in CANNES!!!

Sorry to the few of you who read this blog that I kind of left a cliff hanger ending on my posts from Amsterdam.  To sum it up, we finished the movie, I had a great time, got home safely, life back home was uncomfortably normal and now I am in Cannes for the festival.  Yes, I think that rounds it out nicely.

So my job in Cannes....

When I got back to the states from Amsterdam I kept in touch with the 1st Assistant Director from Amsterdam Heavy who also lives in New York.  He was looking to get a feature film that he had been working on, on its feet and ready to be screened at Cannes.  I then volunteered to help him do Public Relations for the film and keep him organized through the whole crazy process that is the Cannes Film Festival.

There were a few hurdles that had to be overcome before I could announce to my friends and family that I was indeed going to the festival again this year.  I needed a place (cheap) to stay, being a starving artist and all, and a badge to get into the festival.  For the first problem I visited couchsurfing.orf, a great website that hooks up fellow travelers with eager hosts in other countries and I managed to find the greatest contact in Cannes.  Her name was Celine and I gathered from our many chats on skype that she was a nice, fun and easy going person.  So my place of residence was set.  The badge was a but more difficult to come by because I didn't direct a feature or a short film so I couldn't go claiming that I deserved a badge because I didn't do that and the other way was to be part of the press, clearly not me either and the third was to claim myself as an actress.  Well the third option was the most realistic but certainly not going to be easy.  To date I have acted in exactly ONE film and I can be seen on film for a total of ten minutes.  But with my gift for spin and this uncanny luck that I sometimes posses, they accepted me as an actor in the festival.  I can also attribute this to someone being drunk when they were choosing people to be actors.

So now I had a place to stay, and access to the festival.  All I needed to do was book a plane ticket and be prepared not to sleep for two weeks when I got here and plan on sleeping very little before the festival trying to get paperwork and press releases in order.

So now the festival is upon me and things are already moving at a rapid pace.  It is work every day on the beach making phone calls, sending emails, and setting up meetings.  By night it is parties and networking. Sleep is a luxury that no one can afford here.

For the opening night of Cannes I managed to get two tickets to the Red Carpet event.  Even though I am with a gaggle of people, everyone was more set on trying to get into parties rather than seeing the movie, so I took my spare ticket and found a lovely woman named Sara looking for a ticket and I told her it was hers but the only catch was that she had to sit next to me and take a picture of me on the red carpet.  Nothing like baiting a person to do what you want.  But here is the picture from my first red carpet!

That night I did not attend any raucous parties, just met up with a small group of people at a bar, had one glass of champagne and headed home.  It was a fun yet oddly relaxing night and if every night goes the way this one did, I remain happy, healthy, and well rested for the duration of Cannes.

Day 20 - January 28, 2011

Today we are back at Club Challenge.  Yesterday we filmed here when we were going my scenes but we were using the offices so you couldn't tell that we were in a club.  But today was the day that we had about 100 extras coming to help us out to make it look like we had a packed burlesque club scene.

It was the first early morning shoot that we've had in over a week.  A lot of the scenes that we have had to do previously were supposed to take place in the afternoon or at night, so in a way we've been a bit spoiled by getting to sleep in.  But this morning we were on the road by 8.  When I say we were on the road by eight I mean that everyone else was on the road by eight.  Myself and Rob and Ticho were still waiting for our ride at the hotel.  It wasn't Matt's fault this time, surprisingly, we were waiting for Maaike who was asked to pick us up.  But because the Rembrandtplein Hotel was completely out of her way, she was late and in turn we were all late getting to set, again.

By the time we got there I was greeted by about 50 scantily clad ladies waiting in the lobby all dressed in burlesque.  Most of them looked really good and when I was thinking about it I was surprised that people have these types of clothes just laying around the house.  But I have learned to never be surprised by anything that happens in Amsterdam.  But on the other hand we also had a handful of old people dressed up in burlesque.  I can even put into words how wrong some of them looked and I was asking myself where we found these people but they did seem to be having a good time so who am I to judge?  But one of the old ladies did ask me to help her fasten up her revealing top when I made the mistake of going to the bathroom.  I obliged but it was a rather uncomfortable experience.

The club we were in was pretty cool.  It was two stories, with four bars, a VIP area and cool decorations.  I may have gone to party there but its hard to tell what kind of place it would be at night.  We were there through the day filming so that is the only context I can imagine it in.

I thought filming went pretty smoothly today.  The extras took direction well and we were able to filter in and out new extras that were coming in.  Also, every time we had to shoot a new scene we would just move the extras around to make it look like it was a new group of people or a different day.  Something I've realized while shooting this film is how unreal films are.  When you watch films in a movie theatre, everything seems to run smoothly and it makes sense, even when you are watching movies at home.  But when you are watching the filming process you wonder to yourself how exactly all of these tiny cut scenes are going to fit into the film as a whole.  And when you are watching fight scenes that clearly look fake, that how do they look real in the movie.  So when I have been watching shows while I've been here I've been looking at them with more scrutiny, trying to dissect how they did things.  I have a feeling that is going to be a bad thing.  The magic of the cinema is slowly slipping away.

Like I said the rest of the day went pretty smoothly.  About two hours before wrap Amy and I decided to start cleaning up because the extras were pigs and because we had lit candelabra all over the club there was wax on practically every table.  Amy and I were under the mentality that if we didn't clean it, it would never get done.  Good thing we did all that cleaning because then when filming was over we were able to relax while everyone else packed up their equipment.

A whole bunch of us came back to the Rembrandtplein and were greeted by the owner of the hotel with two mini-kegs of Heineken and bottles of alcohol.  It seemed rude to refuse such hospitality so we sat and drank for awhile.  Beer for the men and Bailey for the ladies as the owner says.  We also order these awesome burgers from a place called "Burger Bar."  I didn't think you could find a really good burger in Amsterdam but it was possible.  I probably got to bed by one in the morning after a night of socializing.

But all of this random sleeping is really throwing me off.  That is one thing I can't wait to do.  Get back to the states and just sleep consistently for a couple days.  That may be one of the only things I am looking forward to in America.

Sleepy Love from Amsterdam,

-M

Day 19 - January 27, 2011 FILMING DAY!!!

Today is the day that I become Dr. Maria Bouer.  Hmmm, well I am not sure how I feel about the Doctor part of that character because I am clearly not old enough for that title, but I'll take it.

I awoke early today because I was scared that I would over sleep and wouldn't have time to take a shower and I honestly couldn't sleep anymore because all I could think about was how being an actress was going to go today.  But in the end, regardless of how the day would go, I knew it would be a great experience and a huge resume builder to get the ball rolling on my acting experiences in front of the camera.  The downside was that today was the day I wished I would have stopped eating like three weeks ago.  I was feeling very self conscious about my appearance.  The thing that was going right was that no army of pimples appeared on my face overnight, thank goodness!

And of course we were running late as usual.  Rob, Ticho and I were to ride with Matt to set today and I swear to the heavens that he is THE slowest person in the entire world.  Or maybe guilt is not a problem with him because he'll get to set whenever he pleases.  Even if he does have to take three of us with him.  I guess I am just not used to being constantly late because in theatre, if you are early then you are on time, if you are on time then you are late, and if you are late then you could be fired or reprimanded in some way.  Time has become very fluid on set so no one really sticks to it, just as long as we are generally running on time they let it slide.

Today I didn't have to worry about being 2nd Assistant Director.  As soon as I arrived on set I went to find out what they needed me to do in the position of 2 A.D. before I got into costume.  But Michael Wright came up to me, gave me a hug, and told me that he was going to treat me very special today because I was an actor.  HAHAHAHA I think it's funny that when you are an actor, people lovingly kiss the ground that you walk on and when you are part of the crew the day consists of being yelled at all day.  I much prefer the treatment of being an actress!  But it is sad that the people who are working hard all day get little gratification when an actor comes for one scene and they are praised.  You just have to remember that you do it because you love it, not because you will get a lot of special treatment for a job well done.

Next I was off to hair and makeup.  The makeup was to be very natural and understated and I was given a very matronly bun.  They wanted to make me look like a professional but I felt like I had hair from the same character as when I played Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker."  But matronly is definitely a step in a very different direction from my usual prostitute or man roles so bring on the matronly buns.  Costume was a whole other situation.  I was told before I left the states that I should being something business'y' so I brought a business jacket, a blouse, a skirt, tights, heels and a dress so that they would have options to choose from if they needed my stuff.  The head of the wardrobe department asked for my sizes so I was told that my costume was taken care of.  Like a boyscout and always being prepared I still brought all my own stuff just in case.  And it is a good thing I did.  What wardrobe brought for me wasn't anything like what the director had in mind.  The European female business suit must be different from the American female business suit.  So in the end I wore my own skirt, tights, shoes, jackets and they just provided me with a button down white suit shirt.  I wish I had had the mentally capacity to remember to grab my camera, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures on my own camera of my experience that day but plenty of other people were taking pictures so I am going to try and scrounge up a few of my day as Dr. Maria Bouer.

So now I was in makeup, costume and hair and I was ready to go but getting more nervous by the minute.  Now it was time to meet the actor in which I would be playing all my scenes with.  His name was Mimoun Ouled Radi, and what a character he was too.  I'll start this story by painting a picture of the scene we were supposed to be creating.  My character has entered the Immigration Office to compile data for a study on efficiency within the department.  Mimoun's character is pissed that I have come to call on them so late but I would be impressed by how they got things done and he would show me by letting me sit in on an interrogation of a man they found in a freight container trying, what they thought, to get illegally into the country.  The man in said box is the protagonist of the whole film, Rik Sinkeldam.  As the scene progresses, JD (Rik) disarms the two armed guards in his holding cell and flees the immigration office all while I'm taking notes on an IPad.  It was a really fun scene to shoot.  There were many takes and a lot of it ended up being improvisation because that was just how Mimoun was working that day.  And in between every take he would sing to me and he even made me a rose out of a napkin at lunch.  Obviously smitten with me and my brilliant acting ;)  I also had to run around the corridors of the office building while Mimoun was chasing after the escaped possible terrorist.  I ended up having to film all day but it was A LOT of fun and I hope to get to have a chance to do it again soon.  I keep looking on IMDB.com to look for the update on my acting gig on the 'Amsterdam Heavy' page.  It is still not there but I am hoping it will be up soon!

And now that I got to play around on an IPad all day I really want one.  I always thought that they were just an overrated IPod but now I feel obsessed.

The rest of the day went off without any major problems.  The only one I can think of was when one of the actors' planes got delayed in Belgium and was running late to get to set.  If he had been running on time we could have been done filming 2 or 3 hours before the scheduled wrap time.  But since we had to wait for him we just got out on time, which is still fine with me.  I was on a euphoric high and I was in the best possible mood for the rest of the day.  I think Amy was quite annoyed with my positive mood because she was having a bad day.  So instead of hanging out with her because I knew that she was stressed to the max, I went with Courtney to make sandwiches in the catering truck for our wrap dinner.  I normally don't have to help out with that sort of thing but I was feeling generous so I didn't feel exploited to help out with good duty.

When we did finally wrap, the ride I usually get back to the hotel was going in the complete opposite direction of home so Rob, Ticho and I took the train home to Centraal Station Amsterdam and then walked to a grocery store and headed home for a nice relaxing evening.  I took all of my groceries and sat at the bar in the lobby and caught up on the blogs that I was a week behind on.  So for three hours I sat at the bar with my headphones in, listening to music, eating, and pouring my last weeks adventures into some sort of controlled chaos that would make sense to anyone reading it.  I also called Caity to tell her all about what I was doing here! (Hi Caity if you are reading this).  So it was really nice to catch up with her and then I headed to bed where Courtney and Amy were watching Sex and the City.  This would be the last night of 3P because the next day after filming Courtney was headed straight to the airport to get back to London with the friends that she was staying with.  I will desperately miss her when she is gone.  From now til the rest of the shooting it will just me Amy and myself in the room.  Home, Sweet Home.

Check me out on IMDB.com!

-M

And thank you for all your love and support, it completely and utterly keeps me sane!

Day 18 - January 26, 2011

Nice and rested.  I got plenty of sleep last night and I am ready to take the day head on.  This is clearly evident because I have decided to wear a shirt and nice blouse to work today rather than my typical jeans and a sweater ensemble.  I even put on uncomfortable tights, that's how good I was feeling about this day.

Our call time on set, like I said before was one in the afternoon.  We were off to shoot at the Apollo Museum Hotel (AKA Best Western).  This is wear our lead actress, Alison Carroll, was staying and we were using her suite to shoot a kidnap scene.  Today was one of those days in which whatever normally would go wrong on set was running smoothly and whatever normally ran smoothly was going terribly wrong.  It felt like opposite day and it was fast spiraling out of my control.  Wardrobe was 1.5 hours late while sound was 2 hours late.  We definitely made use of our time though because we managed to film a whole bunch of scenes without either.  We were improvising with great ease, which I don't think would have been possible if it weren't for our director, Michael Wright.  I have never seen him lose his cool even in the most sticky situations and he always has a creative solution to any problem.  He keeps his cool which helps everyone else do their work.

So regardless of the lateness of half of the crew, it turned out to be a very fast film in the afternoon.  So another positive note was that we were still running on time in order to get to our second filming location for the day.  We were headed to film the exterior of the club that the bad guy in the movie owns.  Of course by this time it is already dark and cold outside so we were in for a long, cold night.  When arriving at Club Sportive, we could clearly see a win for the Art Department.  Everything was set up, the sign, the red carpet, the velvet ropes.  They did a great job and could now finally relax for once.  The problem with this shoot was that we had 15 to 20 extras to wrangle together.  Their part in the film at this point was to be clubbers in line to get into this awesome party.  Well it was freezing outside so I am not sure how convincing their party faces were because I haven't seen that part of the film yet but everyone seemed happy with what we had to I'm sure it was great.

We stopped shooting and wrapping a little later than we had expected and it turned out to be a stressful day so all anyone wanted to do was head back to the hotel and have a drink.  I joined them for the company but I didn't drink or do anything naughty because MY ACTING PART WAS TO BE FILMED THE NEXT DAY!!!!

I was somewhat at a loss for how to prepare for my first time in front of the camera.  I had all two of my lines memorized and I had figured out the motivation for the character and how I was going to play her.  But I was still nervous, and it was hard to get to sleep that night because I was constantly thinking about the next day and the fact that a lot of the people that are working as crew have some sort of extra part but none of them were speaking roles.  I actually get to say lines and be an actress for a whole day instead of some random person walking by the camera not in focus.  Wish me luck, I hope it goes well!

Candy dreams for you all!

-M

Day 17 - January 25, 2011

So after Courtney, Amy and I got home from our screening of 'Mad Cow' at three in the morning, I had the privilege of sleeping in the middle of what the three of us lovingly referred to as "3P."  We had taken a bed from another room so Courtney could stay with us instead of being shipped off to a hostel by herself.  We called it '3P' because the van that holds nine persons to take us to set everyday is called the '9P' so our three person bed is called the '3P.'  While climbing into the middle of the '3P' i realized that the foot of my bed was soaking wet.  The blankets on top weren't wet but the sheets and the mattress were soaking.  I think there is foul-play going on with one of the girls on set.  She and I just don't get along, mainly because she is useless and every time I see her on set she is napping, so that could have something to do with it.  But this wetness could be in retaliation for something.  Just speculation, but who knows.

Today was our glorious full day off.  I planned on sleeping in and maybe going on a canal cruise with Amy like I mentioned earlier, but I was woken up at 9:30 with incessant phone calls from our Production Assistant, Bo.  I figured since she was calling me so much that it must be important.  So after ignoring her third call, I decided to ring her back.  A lot of the crew actually didn't have a day off.  Many of the people who work for The Content Factory were required to be on set for a different film that they had started before 'Amsterdam Heavy.'  It was a film called STUK, which in Dutch means 'piece' and can be used to refer to a beautiful woman or some such description.  I think the film was based on a play that was running in London when I was there last January because the plot sounds very similar.  So a whole bunch of people were working on another film and they needed the production kit, that I was responsible for in regards to 'Amsterdam Heavy,' for the movie that they were finishing up today.  So I made my way down to the lobby in the pajamas to make sure I was there when they swung by the hotel.  Since I was already up, I decided to stay down in the lobby for breakfast.  I have actually grown quite fond of the bread, butter and jelly and coffee that has been my routine for breakfast.  It actually reminds me of my Grandma's house, because when we would stay over, in the morning we would have bread, butter, jelly and frosted flakes.  So it is rather comforting to have this kind of food for breakfast.

When Bo arrived to pick up the call sheet I traversed back up to my room to spend some time creating the call sheet for tomorrow.  Half-heartedly because I really don't enjoy doing the call sheet because there is such a large margin for one thing, or everything, to go terribly wrong.  When Amy got up we headed down to the Waterlooplein market, I kind of adored it because it was very second-hand and if you are in the mood to dig you can find some really great stuff.  But I don't think Amy enjoyed it all that much because she was eager to just walk through quickly and press on to a different venture.  We continued to walk through this massive flower market.  It is incredible that even in winter, the tulips that are everywhere are so bright, and vibrant!  Picture Below:

I've decided that if I ever lived in Holland that I would constantly have tulips around my house.  One, because they are very pretty and two, you get fifty tulips for 5 Euros.  That is a deal.  Next to the flower market was a Pankooken House (Dutch for pancake) so Amy and I decided to have lunch there.  The pankooken here are thin, buttery and absolutely delicious.  I ordered an Apple Pankook and it was easily one of the best things I've had in Amsterdam so far.  But, as filming would have it, Amy was called away for a meeting so I was left to my own vices.  I bought some souvenirs, some funny and some practical, and then I took pictures because it was finally a sunny day in Amsterdam, so I wanted to make sure that I got some blue sky pictures of my stay in Holland.

So now that the canal cruise was out of the question because I didn't really feel like going by myself, I decided to head to the STUK set to watch everyone work on set.  I got what I will call an 'encouraging' email from Rik suggesting that I attend to shoot for moral support.  Honestly it sounded more like a guilt trip but I figured since I had nothing else to do that I would go and keep people company for a little while. 

Example of me keeping Rik company while he edited film.

My visit to the STUK set was a dual purpose one.  I knew Carlijn would be there and we desperately needed to get the next days call sheet out so I sat on set waiting for her to arrive so we could wrap up tomorrow's duties.  It was actually a good thing that I went because I ended up working all day on things that should have been done before.  So my day off which started out grand turned into working until nine or ten o'clock at night.  The silver lining was that we were allowed to stay for their wrap party (drinks, dancing, company).  But I really just wasn't in the mood.  I stayed for maybe fifteen minutes into the wrap party and then decided that it was in my best interest to head home and get some sleep.  I rendezvoused with Courtney and Amy at the hotel and we watched Sex and the City in the 3P until 11 and then we were all asleep.  Right now I have the potential to sleep for twelve hours because our call tomorrow isn't until one in the afternoon.  Here's to hoping that I'll get a good nights sleep.

Kisses,

-M

Day 16 - Jaunary 24, 2011

So if you have just joined me I am in the middle of a 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. shooting call.  I am at an overpass in the misty cold waiting for the location switch because I know the next location will at least be warmer than the one we are at now.  While waiting for location change I talked to mom on the phone and I also gave Joey a prank call that I was drunk, crying and lost in Amsterdam.  No trip to a foreign country is complete without a desperate phone call to my little brother.

We finally wrapped at the overpass at one in the morning and Ticho, Rob, Matt and I were carpooling to the next location.  If I am not spending all my time with Amy then I am completely surrounded by guys.  I actually prefer it that way.  Men can be such simple and uncomplicated creatures that its less work to be surrounded by them than to keep up face with women.  True.

Our next location was the Casa Rosso.  You may remember this name from one of my previous posts because this is the same location we were at a week or so ago.  I honestly can't remember how long ago because all of my days are running together and the only way I can manage to remember what I do for this blog is to write it down at the end of the day so when I get around to writing each day I at least have an outline.  But Casa Rosso was the establishment in the Red Light District that has the very graphic pornography shows.  Not an ideal location to return to but I was happy to be someplace warm and dry.  Outside of the Casa Rosso we were filming a fight scene where JD, Rik Sinkeldam, is getting the shit kicked out of him by two women in full latex suits.  Interesting concept.  So by the time we start shooting and get everyone out on the bridge a whole lotta crazy started spilling on to the Red Light.  We had a handful of drunk, horny or drugged out men passing our set.  I of course, being the intimidating creature that I am, was in charge of crowd control.  Not an easy task because whenever I stopped a man and told him that he had to stop where he was because he was going to be in the shot we were in the middle of, they assumed that I was trying to solicit sex from them.  I got a number of interesting responses and I shouldn't be surprised that people acted that way toward me because I am a women, standing by myself in the Red Light District that I was be working the streets.  An experience that I will not soon forget, even if I wanted to.

We finally wrapped on set at 7 in the morning, an hour before we were originally told that we were going to be let out so that was exciting.  I rode with Ticho and Matt back to Rotterdam to take a quick nap.  I went to Rotterdam because Matt said he wanted to take my out to brunch.  I wasn't planning on taking a full sleep anyways because I didn't want to mess up my sleep cycle otherwise I would become a huge bitch.  Matt took me to Hotel New York, how appropriate right!?  The building used to be a docking for large ships that would take people from Rotterdam to NYC.  I was curious if that sort of boat was still running but she laughed and said that it stopped longer than all our ages put together.  We went here I'm assuming because of the NYC title but also it had a great English-style breakfast that I was told that I couldn't pass up.  Brunch was, as promised, delicious and then I caught the train back to Amsterdam.

When I got back 'home' I organized my crap once again because it was in desperate need of some TLC.  When Amy and Courtney got home from their walking tour with Henri, we went to grab groceries from the Albert again, another prepackaged dinner, before heading over to Jason's house.

The people that actually worked on 'Mad Cow' were invited to Jason's house for a celebratory screening and a champagne toast to congratulate ourselves on all the hard work it took to get the movie a theatrical release.
Below is a picture of the three of us waiting outside in the cold because the guys had gone out to buy champagne.

And everyone waiting patiently for Jason to figure out how to get the projector to work for the screening.

I also showed the gang how to set up the hookah and then ended up smoking it all by myself.  I know, at least, if Roxanne was here I wouldn't have to smoke this by myself.

The only three girls there, me, Amy and Courtney, were ready to go to bed by three so we caught a cab home with director, Michael Wright, and tried to catch some ZZZZ's.  Amy and I were going to wake up early because we have the WHOLE day off tomorrow.  Crazy I know but I think we want to do something that would take a whole day.

Well see what the day brings tomorrow.

-M

Day 15 - January 23, 2011

Well, since I got home at 3 in the morning last night I slept soundly until noon today!  I tried to sleep longer because I was mentally preparing myself for the all night shoot that was going to happen tonight.  We have a call time of 8:00 p.m., but I just couldn't sleep anymore.

Amy and I had talked about doing something, really anything because we wanted to do something for ourselves on our semi-day off.  So what did we decide to do...shopping.  None of you should really be surprised, let's be honest!  We headed to Dam Square.  It is surrounded by shops, boulangeries, Madame Tussaud's, palaces and the biggest phallic statue/monument that I have seen since the Washington Monument.  Picture below.

And here are some other touristy pictures that I was finally able to take during our dreary-weathered morning out.

Before heading home to take a power nap and relax before a night of shooting, Amy and I stopped at a boulangerie (french for bakery) and I stocked up on sweets and then headed home for nap time.  I slept for 3 hours and when I woke the three of us girls were driven to Albert Haijn (grocery store) by Erwin to stock up on food for the night because we were told we weren't getting a hot meal.  Erwin, how do I describe him?  I have taught the locals this saying "Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" and that is all I need to say about Erwin.  He thinks about half as much as he talks and sometimes he is a little too much to handle, but he was giving us a ride to the store so I was grateful, but annoyed at the same time!


When it was time for our pickup, we were taken just outside the city of Amsterdam to our lead actor and producers house, Rik Sinkeldam.  This is where we were meeting for the shoot and setting up makeup and wardrobe.  Our set location was a creepy overpass on a dimly lit road.  We brought our own generator to light the scene just as we needed so the whole scene looked great but it was quite miserable.  It was drizzling the whole time and we only had the passenger van to keep us dry during takes, so no one really utilized the van, we all braved the rain.  But I was amped on practically a liter of Red Bull so there was no way that I was falling asleep and I was in a very, very good mood!  I was actually probably too much for people to handle on the Red Bull.  People dislike cheerful Americans and they dislike them even more when they are bouncing off the walls at one in the morning when all anyone wants to be is home asleep.  But now since I have gotten to midnight in my story and I am about to start a new day I will continue this story in a new post.

See you there.

-M

Day 14 - January 22, 2011

Another late start today.

The crew is started to get spoiled by having all of these 1 o'clock starts.  We had to have a later call today because we were shooting on a houseboat and the residents of the boat weren't leaving until noon so we couldn't get in any sooner than that.  Seriously, fine by me.  I've always been more of a night owl than a morning bird anyways, so this suited me just fine.

We also were graced with a new member to our crew, and what a breath of fresh air she is.  Her name is Courtney and she is from South Africa.  She got connected with this projected because she actually acted and helped out on the film, "Mad Cow" and kept in touch with everyone and she happened to be in Europe so she is staying with us until Friday and then she is headed back to London to stay with extended family.  She is an absolute doll and she is never in a bad mood.  I wish I had her spirit!

I met Courtney for the first time in holding, which was at Jason's house today because the Houseboat was just out his back door.  To be honest though the concept of a houseboat somewhat scares me.  This thing is continuously in the water, the risk of constantly being water sick is high and there just isn't enough room for all the crap I tend to accumulate in my life.  I could probably live on a houseboat for six months, maybe even a year but that would be pushing it.  It would be a novelty for me that would eventually wear off but this houseboat we were on today was seriously modernized and I heard that it cost one million dollars to fix it up to what it looked like!  Wow.

Today was another small crew because the set was a closed one.  We had some steamy scenes with nudity that was easier to control with minimal people in the room.  Mainly for the comfort of the actors.  The thought of doing a love scene in front of an audience of people with a camera honestly makes me want to die of embarrassment.  And when its all cut it looks good and steamy but when you break it down technically into every scene and every take, its really just awkward.  Amy was on boob patrol and I was lucky enough to get to sit in holding and learn how to do call sheets.

Call sheets is another duty added to the list of things I have to do.  I really don't mind, any chance to learn is exciting for me.  It is going to be rather stressful but I think I am up for the challenge.  But while I was supposed to be doing call sheets I took a mini break while everyone was on the boat to call my mom and Roxanne (Hi ladies!!!)

Another exciting thing about today is that we found out that 'Mad Cow' was getting a theatrical release in South Africa.  That was really cool to hear because it means that when we went to France last May and partied and had fun that we also did something right and sold the movie that we brought.  Win. 

After we wrapped on the day in the houseboat we decided to go out and celebrated the good news of 'Mad Cow.'  I thought it was just going to be a small crew of people, the ones who worked on the film and helped promote it, but no, we were rolling 25 people deep when we headed out to the bars.  It is rather difficult to get into a bar when you have to get in with 24 other people.  So after several failed attempts to get into bars together and 4 grumpy people later we decided to try a completely empty bar.  We figured that we were the party and it didn't really matter if there was anyone else in the bar as long as there was booze and a bathroom.  I don't recall the name of the bar we went to but after two beers, a Village People song, Elvis and Celine Dion song later we realized that we had entered a gay bar.  This was not a bad thing, it just became painfully obvious after taking a look around at the people that had joined us in a bar.  Leave it to our crew to discover gems like that.

I didn't stay out too late but I definitely stayed out longer than I intended.  At about three o'clock, Courtney, Amy and myself got a ride home from Alfonso, listen to 'Who let the dogs out' on the ride home and fell right to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  It was a surprisingly fun night considering I didn't want to go out in the first place and ended up staying out that late.

Until tomorrow.

-M

Day 13 - January 21, 2011

Today we were back in the Red Light District.

We had several pick-up shots to shoot that we didn't get to finish the last time that we were in the District.  It was a very refreshing day because it was a small cast and crew and it was our set manager, Sabrina's, last day so everyone was in a very relaxed mood.  Sabrina is leaving us to go and shoot a TV show in Thailand.  I wish I was going to Thailand so I could be somewhere that is warm.  But then again, I do appreciate the fact that a lot of Dutch people speak English so I would be warmer in Thailand but completely lost in the language barrier.

This day was turning out to be a complete 180 degrees from shooting at The Supperclub yesterday.  And because of this general relaxed feel I was then kidnapped by Sabrina in Matt's convertible so we could drive around Amsterdam with the top down looking like we owned the place.  It was actually quite fun just to relax and let the wind blow through my hair on an actual SUNNY day in the city, but the weird thing is that at the same time I felt really guilty.  I know there wasn't much need for me on the set but you never know when issues may arise that need tending to and if I was rogue then there was no way to get a hold of me.  So while I was trying to enjoy myself I was also worried that i would get in trouble.  I do not have a high tolerance for guilt.

But we weren't filming on the street for the whole day.  After three or four hours we were switching locations to a place outside of Amsterdam.  We were off to Hoofddorp, which was twenty minutes outside the city when the traffic was tame, to a place called "China Fantasy."  It was a very ritzy Chinese restaurant that we were going to film a short flashback scene.  I said driving there would only take twenty minutes but it took our driver FOREVER to get there so I was sitting in the back of the car with the Assistant Director, Henri, and he was very chatty and empassioned about the idea that sometime soon weed will be legal everywhere and that having it illegal at all is an enfringement of our rights.  Well...I don't know that I agreed with all that he was saying but I do see a point there.  When we finally got there our long drive was made worth while because our small crew was treated by a lavish buffet of food at our table.  The food was very good and I even tried something new, duck.  I have never had it before and after trying it, I am not sure that I will ever eat it again.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad it just wasn't my favorite type of fowl. :)

We wrapped at ten and then it was back to Amsterdam for a restful night sleep.  At this point in the trip I have started referring to the Rembrandtplein Hotel as home.  I am desensitized to everything that horrified me at the beginning and now I find it endearing and I enjoy and look forward to going back to our 'home.'

Off to bed.  Love you all!

-M

Day 12 - January 20, 2011

Hello my lovelies!  Have you missed me?  Sorry that it has been so long since I've last updated you all but I am taking the time to sit down with a giant cookie and tell you all about it!

Today was an early start day, well it was eight o'clock but it sure felt early.  The few of us that were staying at the Rembrandtplein Hotel thought that we were getting picked up from the hotel at 7:30 in the morning because that was what the callsheet said.  Like a lot of the things on this set there was a misunderstanding, we were meant to walk to set.  This task wasn't that difficult but because it was early in the morning, I wasn't happy with this change of plans.  I walked to set with Arie van Dam, our camera operator, Marie, our gaffer and all around doll and Chloe, the gymnast from Belgium who is playing one of Gunter's body guards in the movie.  It took us about fifteen minutes to walk to our intended destination.

Our aforementioned destination was a place called "The Supperclub."  Now I don't know what Supperclub means to the rest of the world but in Wisconsin it means family dinners on over-sized wooden and round tables covered in a checkered table cloth or no tablecloth at all where high school age students who comprise the wait staff ask you if you would like the fried fish or baked fish for your all you can eat fish fry.  Apparently that description only pertains to the Wisconsin area.  In Amsterdam, the Supperclub is a super niche restaurant that has no tables, only beds.  Yes, that is not a typo, they serve their meals from white beds with red curtains to enclose them with bed trays to hold the food.  I don't know about you but I can't even keep my clothes clean throughout the day without spilling food on them, I can't even begin to imagine how a restaurant keeps their white beds pristine when they serve dinner to hundreds of people every night.  They must not serve ribs I'm assuming.  The room with the white beds is on the first floor, as you make your way down the stairs from the dining room/bedroom you run into the bathroom. Seeing as this place doesn't follow what I would consider normal decorum, the bathrooms are clearly not just boringly labeled "Male" and "Female."  The bathrooms are separated into "Hetero" and "Homo" classifications.  Interpret that as you wish.  Past the bathrooms in the basement you make your way to a room that has a black padded wall with hooks in the middle of each pad.  On several of the hooks you will find handcuffs and other paraphernalia.  There are also two beds that mysteriously appear our of the walls.  I wouldn't even want to sit on these beds let alone eat off of them.  Hygiene not included.

The holding room for makeup and costumes was meant to be in the homo bathroom but with enough complaining by the wardrobe department, it was moved four stories up to the office of the Supperclub.  The new holding was nice and warm and no one used it as a bathroom, so it was a nice change for wardrobe and makeup.  But for me it was a pain in the ass, literally.  I was now responsible to run up and down the four flights of exposed metal stairs once every five minutes.  Now that is a leg and butt workout if I've ever experienced one. 

Another annoying this today was the actors.  We had so many actors on set today that it was hard to keep them all wrangled, especially because they were in a very squirrelly mood.  No matter how nicely or how forcibly I told them to shut the hell up, nothing worked.  So I know hate actors ;) Not really but I have come to realize how annoying we can be.  Sorry everyone who has ever had to put up with me as an actor!

This particular location required a hard-in and a hard-wrap.  This was the first time that we were at this location and we weren't going to be allowed to come back.  With this in mind we had to make sure that we were on schedule so we could go in, get filmed everything that we needed and get our butts out of their by 6 o'clock.  But with everything running behind, getting everything filmed by 6 when we were going to get kicked out of this freaky place wasn't looking good.  By the end of the day we had to cut one part of a scene because wardrobe was being a diva and we managed to wrap filming at 6:30 and then complete chaos broke out.  Usually we allot ourselves an hour for a hard-wrap so we can get all the lights and props and equipment out of the set.  But this time we only have 30 minutes to clear out before the club opened for dinner.  Most of us were running around trying our hardest to make sure that we were out in time, which was very helpful.  But then, as in life their usually are, people who feel that they are too important to help clean up the space in which we have been inhabiting all day.  But whatever, karma.

I know you are all wondering, did you get out on time?!?!  Ha, I'm sure you are all sitting on the edges of your seats but the answer is yes, we did get all of our crap out of the Supperclub by 7 but only to have it all sitting in the street because the vans that we were supposed to load all the the production equipment into was MIA.  But we were out and all we had to do was just stand their and wait for our ride, the least stressful part of my day.  When the vans finally arrived and we loaded everything into them and Marie and I walked back to the Rembrandtplein Hotel.  It was pretty to walk home because it was a way that I hadn't been before but it was REALLY cold, so I enjoyed the walk, but in a quick manner.

After this stressful day I decided to head to Rotterdam with Matt.  I really needed to do laundry because I was running out of clean things to wear...mainly in the underwear and socks department and Matt said that he wanted to make me dinner.  I'm not going to pass up a meal and clean clothes!  We ended up doing so much chatting back at his place that we didn't end up eating until after midnight.  After my clothes were washed and dinner was done I caught the train back to Amsterdam.

Sidenote:  Being on a film set is very similar to being in high school.  People are nosy and rather immature and people talk and poke fun at you because you had dinner with the opposite sex.  Scandalous I know!  But when I have 45 year old men making fun of me, all I want to do is...................

But I did have a very lovely night!


-M

Day 11 - January 19, 2011

My "day-off"

Those ever elusive days on a film shoot where they say that you get a day off.  Well my friends, they are liars.  When they say you have a day off from shooting it means that you are not required to be on set, that doesn't mean that there aren't other things that need to be done.  Which in all honesty its really quite fine.  My day today did consist of getting to sleep in until 9:30.  Which back in the states would be really early for me on some days because me sleeping in would mean waking up when the clock said p.m.  But I headed over to Alison Carroll's hotel with Amy because she needed someone to read and record her doing lines for a movie that she was auditioning for.

It took us probably 45 minutes to walk to her place because it was across town but Amy and I didn't really mind, we were casually walking around the canals and past shops and a huge floral market.  I have decided that if I lived in the Netherlands I would have fresh tulips all around the house.  The tulips here aren't big and flimsy as the ones you would find in Wisconsin or even in the United States for that matter.  They are tiny, compact and in the most beautiful colors you have ever seen.  I didn't have my camera with me today so I didn't get a chance to take pictures of this amazing scene, which makes me sad, but I am hoping to get a chance to go back and take a couple pictures!

So Amy and I had a bit of a jealous moment when we got to where Alison was staying.  She is at a suite in the Best Western.  Picture this; full size, spacious and soft bed complete with clean sheets and comfy pillows, a bathroom in which the toilet doesn't leak, stain-free towels, a refrigerator to keep fresh groceries, a couch, a desk, and a continental breakfast complete with cereal and fresh croissants in the morning.  I would hate her because of this but she is the nicest, sweetest, most down-to-earth girl.  So in all honesty she deserves it but it really makes me jealous of her accommodations but it would probably be really lonely over there because she is the only one that is staying there.  So I'll take mediocre living and people to talk to and hang out with than luxury living in isolation.

We were only at her place running lines and recording her for about an hour but it was really interesting because what she was reading for she had to not only do her native English accent but she also had to do it in an American accent.  And doing accents in school its not weird to think about me practicing another accent or dialect to do but it was really weird to hear her try and do an American accent.  I never asked her but I am wondering if it is easy or not?

Amy and I then went to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam.  Alison decided not to come because she had a lot of work to do so Amy and I decided to have a date to ourselves, not like we don't do that all the time here.  And in NYC I would never choose to go to a Hard Rock Cafe because its a touristy place and it just doesn't hold any appeal to me but we were both craving comfort food from the mother country so big, juicy, overpriced burgers were just what we needed.

After lunch Amy went back to the hotel while I was on my way to a meeting with one of the producers, Doug, because he is leaving in a couple of days and I am to take over the call sheet for every shooting day.  Feels somewhat like a promotion, no?  So I put his address into Google maps and followed the directions and when I got to where Google said the apartment was it was no where to be found.  In short, Google is a liar and I had to reschedule my meeting with Doug until tomorrow because where he actually was was clear across town and he had to get the call sheet done soon.  So kind of an epic failure but hopefully he won't hold me getting lost in a foreign town against me.

So what do I do with this gift of more free time?  I go back to the hotel and sleep for two and a half hours.  Seems like a waste when I could have gone and seen something in Amsterdam that I haven't seen yet but it was raining and dreary by this time and I haven't really had a chance to nap during the middle of the day, which is one of my guiltiest pleasures, so a nap it was.

When I woke I had a text message from Alison asking if Amy and I wanted to go out to eat.  Again, never being one to turn down food, I was excited to go out with just girls.  I do enjoy going out with the guy crew because its usually relaxed and good humor, most of the time, but I had forgotten how nice it was to go out and just gossip shamelessly with girls.  With girls, you can laugh until your sides get sore, talk about otherwise inappropriate things and stuff your face without shame.  We went to a Thai place and I got two of my favorite things in one meal: shrimp and garlic.  And, this is also why I think that Alison is a very sweet girl, she picked up the tab between us because she was grateful that we came to her hotel to help her with her auditions.  Very sweet gesture.

I think tonight Amy and I are calling it an early night.  She has to be on set by 7:15 tomorrow and I am not really in the mood to go out either.  So all and all it was a very relaxing and fun and on top of that I called Roxanne today for the first time and just gossiped with her (Hi Roxanne!) and I called Grandma Poeppel just to let her know that I was still alive and that I loved her and Grandpa.  I feel that I can make calls now on my dutch phone because I am now the one putting money on it so its mine.  I can do what I want with it.  I make my own rules :)

Well that's all for now!

Love,

-M