Jes & Lora goes round the world



 February:

Jes And Lora is an official selection of Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival showing Friday Feb. 19th at 11am on the BIG screen at the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in downtown LA!

2/13: Auditioned for a previous director of a Town Street Theatre production on an exciting multi-media piece addressing racism from the 1800s to present day. After my read, the artistic director invited me to audition for another piece she's directing, and would see me at the callbacks for this one!

 2/3: Callback for a tour member of an environmental awareness elementary school assembly program for the LA region!

January 2016:


1/31: Shoot day 2 on the educational web series as a project manager at a tech firm

1/30: Volunteered at the monthly LA Casting/Casting Networks seminar at SAG-AFTRA with special guest, commercial CD Emma Nelson who booked me on my first SAG job where I became a full-fledged member!
- Followed by day 1 of 2 shooting an educational web series as an entitled young mom

Pictured with lovely actress Brie Eley  (Photo by Kat Vondy)

1/29: Auditioned for a tour member of an environmental elementary school assembly program
- Submitted my votes for the SAG Awards! Thanks SAG Awards for the screeners of The Big Short, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton, Trumbo, The Danish Girl, Brooklyn, Room, The Revenant, Steve Jobs and others. January is my favorite time for movies!

1/26: Workshop at the SAG Foundation for the kind, veteran CD and producer Craig Campobasso.

1/11: Auditioned for a new high-concept play at The Boston Court in Pasadena.

December 2015:

12/29: My first radio drama I was cast in, Rusted Magic--like a supernatural NPR story--is released!
https://soundcloud.com/andrewwardlaw/rusted-magic-101


12/28: Production meeting sharing various concepts and ideas for a friend's new production company benefiting local animal rights organizations

12/23: Shot a few great sketches and Vines with Hari Williams and his team:

Left to right: Lamar Stewart, et moi, Parnia Nyx, Lu Louis, Hari Williams

12/21: Auditioned for the role of a teaching artist in an acting program for at-risk youth in LA

12/14: Shot a leading role in a very cool short film as a young woman just trying to cancel her cable.

12/13: Performed my team's new production at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. I played Michelle, a young woman, disillusioned by real life relationships and detached from anyone around her until a customer comes to her work to disturb her reality.

12/11: Met with my writer, director and co-star for One Axe Plays' challenge where after introductions, we improv'd ideas and worked them out for just a couple hours until we developed a relevant and poignant one act.

12/6: Auditioned for a powerful dramatic short film based on a true story, as the wife of an American soldier, separated for too long

November:

11/20: Auditioned for the lead in a feature as a young woman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia

11/19: Auditioned for a lead in a comedy pilot as a girl currently in a psych ward attending group therapy

11/17: Read at a table read for a pilot as a comedy club hostess

11/15: Filmed the lead, a young woman who's being emotionally taken advantage of, in a dramedy short with an awesome all-female team

 

11/14: Producers table read as the lead in an exciting short

11/12: Auditioned for the lead in an improv-heavy web sketch -- and booked it!

11/11: Read the shy and traumatized Kailey in a dramatic staged reading at We Make Movies

11/8: Jes And Lora is a Golden Key Award winner for drama in the Open Door Showcase!


11/4: Read the coked up and vengeful ex, Natasha in a dramatic staged reading at We Make Movies

October:

10/28: Offered the lead in an AFI film!
Went to the callback for a Tostitos national!
Performed as Melikah, an emotionally abused wife, afraid to leave, in  In Spite of It All by Jay Levy at We Make Movies.

10/27: Got a callback for Tostitos for the  next day. Time to completely change my schedule!

10/25: Shot a cameo in a parody commercial with the talented Jacob Gillman and Matt Diebler!



10/23: Callback for the lead in an AFI film!
- Auditioned for a national Tostitos spot!

10/20: Audition for lead in AFI film as a doctorate student, gripped with the death of her beloved grandfather, has become seriously distraught by noise and light while under a deadline to finish her dissertation.

10/18: Screening of No Return and other Apple Film Challenge shorts at We Make Movies' monthly screening series.

10/17: Shooting as the lead in a LGBT-themed short, No Return, about broken relationships in a 48-hr like Apple iPhone Film Challenge with We Make Movies!

10/16: Jes And Lora is an official selection of Vancouver's Golden Panda North American International Shorts Film Festival! It's available to watch online now until 11/19.

10/15: Cast as a lead role in another One Axe Plays, female-driven, production!!
- AND cast as the lead in a dramatic LGBT short film! Lots of lady love today ;)

10/7: Jes And Lora screens again in England as part of IndieFlicks!


10/6: Attended a SAG Conservatory panel with illustrious film CD Pam Dixon (Zorro, The Craft, GoldenEye, Angels in the Outfield, City Slickers, Tremors) and TV CD Cami Patton (3rd Rock From the Sun, Pushing Daisies, Parenthood, Hannibal, My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

10/3: Jes And Lora wins BEST SHORT FILM at Louisville Int'l Film Festival!!

10/2: Jes And Lora screens at Louisville International Film Festival (board members include Lily Tomlin and Doris Roberts!)

September:

9/23: Auditioned for a musical Toyota holiday spot!

9/21: Got the good news, I'm now managed by AFTM!

9/15: Met with potential new manager, Marla Davis of AFTM.
- Jes And Lora is an official selection of IndieFlicks in the UK!

9/7: Taped one good and one painfully bad example of self-tape auditions for Actors Access seminar presentations to actors.

9/6: Put myself on tape for a fun project as the quirky lead in search of love in a sea of weirdos.


Jes And Lora featured in Benicia Magazine!

9/5: Jes And Lora screens in the Bay Area at the Benicia Film Festival!

9/2: Jes And Lora screened at NewFilmmakers NY! It was such a treat to fly out for this experience and run around Manhattan in my down time.


August:

8/29: Volunteered at Casting Network's LA Casting seminar with lovely guest and commercial CD Arlene Schuster-Goss of ASG Casting.

8/20: Auditioned for a nurse in an improv-based project with an Emmy award-winning director.

8/18: Met up with stellar comedic actor and Stupid Fights co-star, Mike Murphy, to hash out ideas on a new web series.

8/15: Hired as a model for a figure drawing group:

Sketch by the mad-talented Nikolai Drjuchin

8/14: Jes And Lora debuts internationally at the Isle of Wight Film Festival in England!

8/13: Sent a voice-over audition for various school-age boy roles in a new animated series.

8/8: Jes And Lora is an official selection of the Benicia Film Festival in northern California!

8/5: Auditioned for the lead in a short as a woman who has endured depression since a traumatic event as a teenager and struggles with her failing marriage and unfaithful husband.

July:

7/22: Performed as an Eastern European woman who had been kidnapped and caged in a staged reading workshop at We Make Movies.

7/20: Auditioned for a supporting role in a feature as a bookish and meek assistant bullied by her overbearing misogynist boss.


7/16-18: Lived a dream when I was hired to PA and do crafty for Jim Henson Co.'s Turkey Hollow at their studio and offsite and got to watch the greats: Kevin Klash (Elmo, Bad Polly, Spa'Am, Dinosaur's "Not the Mama" Baby Sinclair & Grandma, Labyrinth muppets), director Kirk Thatcher (Muppet Treasure Island screenwriter, Muppets Tonight, Dinosaurs), Ludacris and more!!!

7/15: Performed in We Make Movies' improv night as the daughter of a the town patriarch.


7/13: Jes And Lora is an official selection of England's Isle of Wight Film Festival! Cheers!!

7/11: Met one of my sheroes, Lucy Lawless, along with Bruce Campbell at SD Comic-Con!

7/2: Recorded walla and looping for indie feature The Outfield and Shane Dawson's I Hate MySelfie Pt II. (fun fact, I did the voice for the girl getting banged by a teacher in the opening :))

June:

6/30: Submitted a self-tape to actor enthusiast CD Carmen Aiello.

6/27: Volunteered at Casting Networks' LA Casting monthly seminar with special guest commercial casting director Chadrian McKnight of House Casting.
- Jes And Lora played closing night of WMMFest at the Hollywood Fringe Fest to another full house!

6/26: Went on a go-see for a VW print ad.

6/23: Auditioned for the lead in a feature as a witty, rebellious, a gorgeous young lesbian.

6/22: Attended my first Ms. In the Biz mixer meeting some fabulous and talented and fabulously talented industry women, and saw the highly anticipated coming-of-age indie I Believe in Unicorns by Leah Meyerhoff which was so haunting and touching.

6/21:  Cameo'd in a parody video starring actor/singer Adrian Anchondo, taking Maroon 5's "Sugar" and turning it into a vote for Hillary video featuring the talented Pandora Boxx in Hillary drag!


6/20: Filmed as Ginny Weasley in a Harry Potter twerktastic video by the awesome Adrian Anchondo on Rihanna's "B* Better Have My Money" spoofed into "Snitch That's My Hermoine" (I appear halfway in on both videos)

- Submitted a voice-over audition for Hulu's series East Los High

- AND (busy day!) I auditioned for a short in the AFI Women's Directing Workshop

6/13: Reconnected with CDs Billy DaMota and Michelle Metzner at Argentum's free seminar series, plus a few friends.

At Jes And Lora's Hollywood premiere with 
director/writer Patrick Duncan (left) and co-star Brendan Weinhold (right)

6/11: Jes And Lora screens for the Hollywood Fringe Festival with We Make Movies' official Fringe shorts program WMMFest.

6/10: Auditioned for the lead in a web series as an overworked lawyer who used to be quirky and fun, but smitten by her new masseur.

6/5: Photo shoot for a short film, Streets of Antioch, as a graffiti crew member.

 On set of Streets of Antioch by Zack Ramsey

6/2: Attended my first Women & Hollywood mixer event. Such a fabulous organization! It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many kind, driven, supportive and creative people at one time.