Kicking off the blog: The Improviser!

I am about a decade late to the blogging game.  But it's never too late to start, right?  Right, let's go!

I will spare you the update on the last ten years of my life, career, NYC hustle, and travel adventures, and just focus in on the last few exciting months.  Summer-Fall 2018!

Earlier this year, I was cast in a supporting role in a new dark comedy feature film entitled, "The Improviser", with the NYC-based independent production company Rebel Lens Films.  My good friends and long-time collaborators over at Rebel Lens are a stellar group of writers, directors, producers, DPs, editors, actors and content creators, based in Astoria, Queens.

Writer-Director Daniel Florio is the mastermind behind "The Improvisor", which follows a social misfit named Brett, with dreams of making it big in the NYC comedy world, as he continuously sabotages his own success and professional relationships by offending everyone he meets.  I play Veronica, a talented and well-loved member of Brett's improv team- The Giggly Puffs- who stirs up an intense jealousy in Brett every time she achieves some great new success within the improv community.  Veronica's kindness and patience with Brett begins to wear thin as he continues to make inappropriate comments during rehearsals and the team's live performances, causing the group's morale to deteriorate.   

The unique challenge and thrill of working on "The Improviser" has been, well, improvising!  Everything!  Our writer-director Dan wrote a loose outline of dialogue for my scenes, but once we began production in June, he gave the cast a ton of freedom and creative license to ad-lib our scenes and interactions.   It is incredibly exciting and gratifying to be able to put my many years of improv training and experience into motion while developing this story, creating the character of Veronica alongside my fellow actors and "teammates" in the movie, and letting my instincts and imagination take over while the cameras are rolling, rather than being restricted to tightly written lines of dialogue.  Every day together on set, we have created so many hilarious and zany interactions completely off the cuff, and also discovered the most tense and awkward moments between rival characters.  

We are getting ready to wrap this twisted and cringeworthy tale this November, and I am so grateful to have been a part of such a highly-collaborative, creative, professional film, with some of my very favorite people.  Huge thank you to Rebel Lens Films team, the entire crew, cast, and supporters for making it possible!   Cannot wait to see where this project lands in the near future!