Venturing to my Ancestral Home

One of the first goals I set for myself this year was to get a stamp in my passport (and that Canada wouldn't count). I've been looking at pictures online, talking to fellow travelers, and assessing my meager budget, and I've decided on the UK. In fact, I'm purchasing my plane tickets today.

I'm flying into London, and I'll be there for three days. My plans are fluid, so I'm mostly just deciding between the must-see and must-dos and the take-it-or-leave-it sights and activities. The morning of day 4, I'm hopping on a train for the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean (on the border between England and Wales), where I plan to spend many hours walking around the Puzzlewood. Tolkien used to walk there, and it was a major inspiration for Fangorn and the Ents in Lord of the Rings. The BBC and other British productions also film a lot there.

From the Wye Valley, I'll be taking a train north to Edinburgh, where I will begin my circle around Scotland. I'll be spending a couple of days in the capital exploring the older parts of the city and enjoying the festivals that are going on while I'm there.

Day 8-ish, I'll take a bus north and east to Aberdeen and the Shire, where I'll be making use of my legs and hiking along the castle trails (Aberdeenshire has more castles per acre than anywhere else in the UK, and they have walking trails so you can hit 14-20 castles in one trek), and exploring the east coast.

Next up, the Highlands! I'll be spending some time in Inverness, visiting historical battle sights, the lochs, and the famed whiskey trail.

South and west to Argyll, to the city where my favorite Scotch originates, Oban. I'll be spending a few days exploring the coast and island hopping along the western shore.

Day 15-ish, I'll be taking the train back to London, where I'll spend the night, and then one more day to do any shopping and catch any major sites I missed when I arrived.

I am unbelievably excited about this adventure! I'm also trying not to plan too much beyond a general itinerary so that if something strikes my fancy, I can rearrange a day to suit any fun diversions that arise. Also, I'm still open to suggestions from friends (one has already recommended his favorite pubs!) for things to do and see in any of the mentioned areas, and I'm not opposed to changing a day if there is something not on my list that I simply MUST SEE! Just a few more months, and I will be embarking on a grand adventure!

To Move, or Not to Move...

There are intelligent questions. There are silly questions. There are rhetorical questions. Then, there are loaded questions.

You might not think "hey, when are you moving to NY or LA?" is a big deal, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I hadn't thought about it at all until it was asked.

Central Ohio (of all places) actually has a thriving film community all its own, and periodic boosts when big-budget movies take advantage of the tax credits to shoot part or all of their movies here with local cast and crew. I've managed to get myself into a few of those, but I'll save the stories for another post.

Lots of commercials, film school projects, community theaters, film competitions, big budget Hollywood movies, and low budget indie films contribute to the huge (somewhat dysfunctional) movie-making family that is the Ohio film industry. For a hardworking actress with a few unique skills, it's quite the playground, if you can get your foot in the door with the cool kids. The great thing is, once someone who is established in the community likes you, word of mouth between the indie folks can get you places no talent agent can touch (hence, my first commercials for Germain Used Cars, my numerous episodes of Framelines, and a handful of Production Assistant jobs for various projects), not to mention small-medium budget indie films who typically don't go through local agencies to cast their films.

That's not to say that having a talent agent is a waste of time/money in this market; it's not. Through my agent, I've done things like a guest spot on WWE Raw, been a featured extra on a TV movie (airing this spring), and (though I've not yet been selected for one of these) auditioned several times for TV and movie jobs for some of the biggest named casting directors in the Midwest/New England regions.

But NY and LA?

Money, of course, is always an issue. Do I have enough money to fund a move? Yes.
Do I have enough money to live in cost-prohibitive NY or LA? Nope.
Do I mind living in my car? Not really, and I love camping.
Do I have friends in the area? Two in LA, none in NY.
Do I have any pre-established contacts in the industry? Other than distant friend of a friend of a friend?
And, I still have some film commitments here in Ohio that I would fulfill before considering a move.

Well, those are some of the negatives. The positives?
LA is sunny.

Having never actually been to LA, that's the only positive I can definitively give.

Part of me is very excited at the prospect of a move to LA (can you tell I'm not that keen on NY?), but at the very least, I have to finish some film projects here and my Subaru has to be paid off. If there's a chance that I will have to live in my car, I'd like to not owe anything on it.

I suppose that's the long answer to that question. There is a lot to do here in Ohio, and there are other growing film markets besides just the Big Two that I could consider as stepping stones. Louisiana has a fast-growing industry thanks to their tax incentives, and Texas is making strides in bringing film into their state as well.

So, I'm keeping my options open, learning new skills, and working my butt off where I am, taking advantage of what Ohio does have to offer, which is quite a lot if you know where to look.