Monday 12 July 2010

Day Seven: Kissing, Crying and Going Home

Day Seven

Sunday was the final shoot day for Venice the Series, season two and wow what day! I was only able to be there for the first half and then had to be torn away because I needed to make the trip back to London. I asked if someone would adopt me as a pet so I could stay but for some reason the idea didn’t fly…

Call time wasn’t too early which was nice seeing as I was exhausted from the excitement of being at the Fan Event. I’m still getting over how much fun it was and how awesome all the V peeps are! Which is clearly why I forgot it was Sunday and tweeted I’d be in traffic going to pick up some costumes for Jess. Oh Anita, no dear, it’s Sunday, there is no traffic because only insane people are up at 7.30 am.

They were filming a bunch of scenes between Jess and Nadia which was lovely, as up until now their have only done a few scattered ones. They really are sweet on screen together and the fact that Nadia was stroking Jess’ be-hind was also very nice. There was also a bunch of kissing going on, yum, yum, and Kimmy ended up with a Cheshire sized grin on her face and who can blame her! I think I came up trumps, though, when Nadia told me I had nice tits. I of course had to return the compliment!

Susan Flannery was directing and she is all sorts of awesome. She and Crystal really worked with Nadia and Jess as they were filming some important scenes, pivotal to the arc of the season and you could see them take shape under our eyes. And wow, can Nadia cry. It was amazing to watch her shift gear in a heart beat until you just wanted to gather her up in your arms and stoke her back! The climax of the scene had me teary eyed, and it is gonna be gold, so poignant and layered and real. Jess, you do your thing so well... This is the sort of stuff I love!

As I was leaving they were about to start blocking the love scene so sorry , I wasn’t able to tweet out the steamy hotness that it will no doubt be!

I’m now back in London, returning from my Venice high – I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has followed my bid to get on Venice and then followed my blogging and tweeting on set. This has been a wild ride! I can’t even begin to thank Crystal and Kimmy enough for the incredible generosity they have shown me, I am now their eternal slave. There is a special energy around this project which has only been highlighted to me in having the great privilege of being on set and I am so very excited to see season two take shape!

With love, with light, with joy
xxxAnita

Saturday 10 July 2010

Day Six: The First Ever Venice Fan Event

Day Six

Oh my what a day today was: The first ever Venice Fan Event. I didn’t know what I was expecting, I certainly wasn’t expecting to be up on the podium, sitting next to Jessica answering questions and signing autographs. People actually wanted my autograph?!? As Jessica would very sweetly and adorably exclaim: “Shut yo mouth!” But that is indeed what I found myself doing. How wonderful and generous of Crystal and Kimmy to include me in this, me who is just a fan who had a crazy idea. I have no words sufficient to describe my love and admiration for these exquisite human beings. And then Crystal actually came up to me and asked me how I was doing – just… I have no words…

Crystal riding in on the back of her dear friend was a rather awesome way to start the event, as was Jessica picking up the microphone upside down when she heard about the nipple rumour for the love scene (incidentally to be shot tomorrow). Jen Foster did a set for us and she is incredible. She totally pulled me in with her melody, her voice, her performance and I’m so buying her music ‘cause she got talent! That was followed by a two hour signing and at the end of that I was woozy I was so tired. How Crystal has managed to do this week is beyond me, because she then went straight on to the podcast and came back into the greenroom, only to be chased around by Michelle (that was rather entertaining, I must say)

And how awesome to meet all these people who I’ve tweeted, followed, been tweeted by! Such a great community, such a great energy! Thank-you to all of you for being so kind to me when I’m sure in your position I wouldda wanted to climb over me to get to Jessica!!!

I will be on set tomorrow for the morning only, I will, of course be tweeting… J

xxAnita

Day Five: Sleeping, Xena and Falling in Pools

Day Five

This was technically my last day on the shoot – I’ve finished filming my bits and right now, like a drug, I’m starting to feel the withdrawal symptoms. Suddenly my departure back to London is looming and I don’t want to go! Day five on set was great fun – I wasn’t required on set until 12pm at our second location but I became milk delivery girl so nice and early I was zooming down the freeway to Hollywood. I then promptly went and found the hammock in a corner and went to sleep. I was in good company though seeing as Woody, our sound genius, not only fell asleep but started to snore during a take. Hats off to him!

Today I got the chance to have a chat with Gina Torgnoni and what a lovely woman! I also got to hang out with Adrienne Wilkinson, aka Eve from Xena as we had a couple of background ‘walking into the shot and talking’ scenes and she rather gamely joined in my flight of fancy when I asked (while on screen of course, . I would never in ‘real life’) if she had ever walked down the street naked. Or when I asked her and Jen Foster to have a threesome. Did I really do that? All the sun yesterday must have gone to my head! Jen Foster BTW, is awesome.

I had the absolute joy of watching Nadia take a tumble in the pool. The laugh she let out as she splashed around reminded me of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. And then Crystal swooped in to towel her off. As Kimmy would tweet – I love my life!

I do have to go though, the fan event beckons, can’t wait to meet all the tweet peeps I’ve gotten to know!

xxxAnita

Friday 9 July 2010

Day Four: AKA the day I got gropped by Nadia Bjorlin

Day Four

Already!? Dang. It was a cold wind swept day which is hilarious because there we were doing the ‘I’m acting not cold’ acting. Can get kinda challenging when your teeth want to chatter, but everyone pulled on the oversized sweaters and frolicked through the day in good humour. It was a full cast day as we took the cast photo which will be fun to see! I got to meet even more actors – like Galen and Peter and they were lovely though I might have made Galen uncomfortable when I kept mentioning that seeing I walked in on him getting changed that he could have the same pleasure with me tomorrow. lolz. He was very lovely. Gosh, how can anyone stand how lovely everyone is??? And there is so much gorgeousness going on – no matter you orientation that it really does hurt! I had the awesome pleasure of seeing a beautiful few scenes between Gina and Ani that will have the Giani fans squeeing, I’m sure and I swear the last scene of the day with Harrison had everyone doubled over with laughter, poor Crystal started to cry she was laughing so hard and each take was just as funny! I swear I’m falling in love with Nadia, she keeps dropping the most inappropriate comments my way out of the blue and I love it! There was, of course, the groping but no footage exits of it, it will simply have to live in my memory as pure win.

Jess was in and I’m trying not to freak her out by staring at her or following her – to debatable success, but how can I help it when she is so lovely and gorgeous and standing in my line of sight? I think I’m developing a level of cool around them now… oh, who am I kidding? I’m like a kid a Christmas who doesn’t know what to do with herself. So I went for a walk with Tina Sloan and Elizabeth Kiefer to collect myself, who are just delightful. I’m seriously running out of descriptive words to say how much I LOVE everyone!

I did have a little scene to shoot today which was so much fun. I love being in front of the camera and being part of this project reminds me of why I don’t want to have a 9 to 5. Where else can you sling your arm casually around the top boss (Crystal or Kimmy) and rub their shoulder? Exactly.

Again I could talk forever about being on set, but sleep beckons and I do want to be alive for my final scene tomorrow. I will say this though. There is an energy around this project that is bigger than the sum of it’s parts. I call this magic. It can be seen in the way things have grown through the dedicated hard work from the wonder team that is Crystal and Kimmy, it can be felt in positive goodwill that pours from all corners, it can be heard through the excitement of the fans. And this fan is super excited about Venice, season two!

xxAnita

PS Check out Kimmy’s blog at www.venicetheseries.com! It’s got the pictures and more goss!

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Day Three: Heart thudding, banana dropping goodness...

What a day! So much happened, I don’t even know where to start! I got to meet a whole bunch of the cast today, got to see some outstanding scenes, great acting, have some awesome chats, snuggle some cute as dogs, do some wardrobe, some catering, driving people around… can you blame me that I didn’t tweet quite as much this afternoon (was it seriously 5 hours tweetless?) because I kinda fell asleep. Yeah, I know, you’re thinking really? I mean REALLY? That was until Michelle tried to put a wet willie in my ear and threaten to draw a moustache on me. Kinda woke me up.

So yeah, I got to meet Jessica and Nadia. Yes I did drop my banana and nearly spill my milk when I met Nadia and then had then had the surreal experience of Beth (@elizabethanncf – costume lady), Jesscia and I standing together as we felt our breasts… How to explain? It was a wardrobe discussion… and then we had to get our lovely Jess a bra which just happened to be Crystals and it would seem this is not the first time they’ve shared a bra. My mind naturally went straight to the naughty place. Another highlight was when Nadia called me sweet for trying to figure out who a car belonged to because it was going to get towed :) and sitting next Jess. Just sitting. Well I sat and she then called on her phone (that is one of the pics you would have seen on the V blog, www.venicetheseries.com) Oh and having a wee chat with Crystal about the awesomness of fans. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE THEM? I also took the chance to hand out the Team UK pressies and they loved them – Jess adored the little Lion for Ivy and said that Ivy loves lions right now. No haven’t met her or Brian but I hope to!

Only one scene for Jess today – a Giani scene which was just delightful. Yes, they dance and it’s yummmmmm. Urgh I love Crystal and Jess on screen together. And Jess used my bag as a prop. Is it wrong I felt so squeeful about that?

Also met Tina Sloan, Micheal Sabatino, Elizabeth Kiefer which I wasn’t expecting that and broke in to ridiculous grin and said really loudly “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, So lovely to meet you!!!!” She was gracious and said hi back, lol. I loved Blake on Guiding Light! There was also a few of the guy actors and they were all very buff and good looking but to be honest I let Harrison and his husband Patrick (the hair stylist on the the shoot) and Michelle drool over that. And straddle that. I think I was busy cuddling Dude the sweetest dog with the most amazing eye lashes. Seriously. He might be at the fan event on Sunday and you can’t help but fall in love with him.

I have another small scene to shoot tomorrow so I’m looking forward to that at the beach so it should be fun times. I get to expose my pasty white skin to the world, I hope I don’t blind the camera! I gotta go, I could keep blogging but I do need sleep!

xxAnita

Day Two: Watching the Magic Happen...

Today was an awesome day. I didn’t have any scenes to shoot myself and so I had the luxury of doing exactly what I wanted and that just happened to be watching not only Crystal do her thing but Jordan and Hillary, all of whom were an absolute pleasure to watch. I don’t know the whole storyline as I have been given only the episodes in which I am in, so as I am watching each scene film I am also discovering (albeit out of order) some of the delicious, yummy things in store for season two! I am seriously loving what I am seeing. I saw today some very lovely beats play out, some awesome interactions and some laugh out loud goodness. All of that between some good old frolicking between the props department, behind the scenes and wardrobe! I also had the chance to check out some of the rushes from yesterday and today and it looks so good I could eat it! It was a long day with a 7am call time and a 7:30 wrap but we’ve finished at our first location and will be moving onto our next one for tomorrow morning. Exciting! Extra exciting is that I will have the chance to meet Jessica and Nadia!!!

Time to hit the sack… I’m not filming tomorrow either but I am, obviously, as keen as a bean to be on set early!

xxAnita

Monday 5 July 2010

Day One on Venice: Thudding and other things...

Wow, so first day of shoot! I’m exhausted and I only did one scene while Team Venice was buzzing around efficiently, doing their thing – but then I do have the excuse of having the thudilicious excitement of meeting Crystal and Kimmy! I think I didn’t embarrass myself – too much :P. They were truly lovely and welcoming which was wonderful and after having no clue what to say because of course I wanted each word from my mouth to be nothing short of revelatory and insightful and hilarious and meaningful (no of course my self imposed expectations aren’t too high!) and resisting the urge to stalk them, I settled into the rhythm of the shoot and had a fantastic time. It was great to watch everyone doing their scenes, to chat to the cast and crew and see Venice Season Two unfurl before my eyes. Watching the core Venice cast act was simply awesome and I am in awe of them!

After my scene I have to admit I did lay somewhat catatonically on the couch for a bit and thought I could rather easily just fall asleep but didn’t want to miss anything! I’ll be on set tomorrow tweeting and taking photos and what ever else will be going on as I don’t have any scenes to shoot until later in the week and this week has already been and will no doubt continue to be made of absolute and total WIN. Kimmy and Crystal. Because I probably won’t have the guts to say this to your face: I love you. You are awesome. That is all.

Oh no, hang on that is not all - check out all the exciting and wonderful stuff that is going on with Venice at www.venicetheseries.com. Team Venice is blogging, tweeting, vloging, pic-ing during the production week, I so love how they involve the fans!!!!

I'll be blogging all this week, so do check back!!!

xxAnita

Monday 28 June 2010

Just my opinion...

How Crystal Chappell didn't win best actress at the daytime emmy's is beyond me. Silly, silly, silly powers that be. She gave an empassioned, beautiful, nuanced performance and I have actually watched a few other soaps briefly to get a taste (and therefore am not completely clueless) and GL was by far the best soap and Otalia the most riveting storyline and Crystal's performance pitch perfect. Again: silly, silly, silly powers that be. Goes to show it's not about talent, right?

Sunday 27 June 2010

IT WORKED!!??

There is something sureal about the turns that life can take. What started out as a single video to Team Venice, with no intention of making any more ended up turning in 10, which turned into a call from Crystal herself, (check that out here!) which now finds me in LA, set to appear in the second season of Venice the Series! Wow. Yes, I'm going to appear in Venice the Series, season two! So I guess you can understand my squeeful excitement!!! Of course that was the aim the entire time but there is still a bit of shift to process when I'm about to meet with these women who have inspired me and who one year ago were distant and out of reach. I'm going to be sharing screen time with them!? Perform Kimmy's words!? Wow.

Team Venice - Thank you. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. You are absolute and total WIN! :D

So I'll be tweeting, blogging and with Team V's permission vlogging my experience, stay posted!

xxxAnita

Sunday 7 March 2010

A Season of Venice

Season one of Venice the Series is now over, the set up has been carefully hung in place to slide into the next season and and I have to say I have enjoyed this experience a great deal from the tweets to the show itself. It’s been fascinating seeing the peeks and troughs as Team Venice have navigated the minefield that is the Venice fandom and before the subscription ends on the 1st of May I will certainly be indulging in a bit of back to back episode watching!

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this, never having followed a webseries, let alone a webseries with such a ‘dedicated’ fandom before the first episode even aired, but I have to say it’s been rather compelling. My highlights include the long awaited kiss, of course, but the great thing has been some of the moments I didn’t expect to enjoy – such as seeing Ani kiss Lara (most enjoyable just for the record :P) and the final scene between Gina and Tracy on the beach. This last and the lovely rapport built up with Owen and Guya allowed us to find a note of sympathy for a clearly damaged woman who has had it tough loosing a mother so young and having a homophobic father. I need not mention the Giani scenes – most notably the hugging on the beach and inverted bench slide– that had me wanting more (oh I do hope we see more development of Giani in S2!) which captured some beautiful moments.

Though Venice the Series has not been perfect, with some episodes and scenes working better than others and with some elements of structure disrupting the flow, it found lovely elements of truth and while doing so entertained me. In fact more than that, it has offered fans a (mostly) loving and warm community where I have never before seen such outpourings of love and gratitude. That is certainly something special. They have been brave in being so immediately available to us because in doing so they expose themselves to what has at times been harsh criticism but instead of retreating from it, they have taken it on board and addressed it. In this way they have shown more grace than some fans and I admire that.

Thank you Crystal, Kimmy and Team Venice for bringing us Venice, for your tireless commitment to engaging with the fans and for listening to us even when listening can’t have been easy.

With season one behind us I am looking forward to the promised titbits they will be throwing our way as they gear up for the filming of season two and to following them as they continue on their journey. I hope they know that they have my support.

So meanwhile... a hand-cuff-cliff-hanger, eh?… Intriguing…

Monday 25 January 2010

How to kill Anita DED in two tweets: A letter to Crystal and Kimmy.

Dear Crystal and Kimmy,

Hello you gorgeous ladies. It seems you are women of many skills because on Saturday you killed me DED in just two tweets which is pretty impressive.

crystalchappell : @kimmyt22 we need a part for @bidforvenice. whatcha think?
2:57 AM Jan 24th from TweetDeck

KimmyT22 : RT @crystalchappell: @kimmyt22 we need a part for @bidforvenice. whatcha think? i think she is adorable...so..
2:59 AM Jan 24th from TweetDeck

All I can say is that I am so grateful Team UK was there to resuscitate me. Please excuse my perhaps less than eloquent reply (you know, the FUCK ME YES! OMG OMG OMG) I was somewhat overwhelmed. I have since regained some measure of composure and would like to discuss with you what you would require to make your twitmusings a resounding yes. Shall I run around Buckingham Palace in Venice panties and t-shirt or would something less dramatic suffice?

If you are unsure what sort of part to give me here are a few suggestions care of some fellow tweeters:

- Spurned lover for Lesli Kay’s character Tracy. A good stalking always spices things up.

- The younger lover for Tina Sloan’s character, Katherine, for that trip to Wimbledon.

- An ambitious interior designer who wants to become Gina’s disciple. Not in a stalkerish way, no, she just wants to be Gina and copy everything she does. It is after all the sincerest form of flattery. The fact that she may or may not spend hours staring at Gina’s photo is purely for professional purposes. Honest.

- Ani’s assistant. Tracy's Assistant. Michele's Assistant (for sure she'd need an assistant!). Assisting is good. :)

- Any other role at all. Just being on set would be WIN!

Please note: I am happy to have a crush or any of the Venice characters if required and I can also play straight so that includes Owen. Just sayin’.

I’m assuming you’ve seen my message to you on my website, as well as how to contact me, so please do!

Suffice to say that you made my birthday a memorable one, so a big THANK YOU. You certainly know how to make someone’s day! (see? Many skills…)

Love, love, love
Anita xoxo