For the second year in a row, the Squaresville gang was honored with award nominations at the IAWTV Awards in Las Vegas. That's the International Academy of Web Television, in case you were wondering! It was great to see many of our favorite friends in the web world as well as meet some new ones. In the picture on the left I'm with some of my favorite ladies in New Media: Kylie Sparks, Stephanie Thorpe, Kristen Nedopak, Alexis Boozer. We had a blast! And, if that wasn't enough, we were really excited to bring home the award for "Best Returning Series". Go Squaresville! In addition to the awards, I spoke on two panels at the New Media Expo. The first panel was on Webseries: Creation to Monetization and had a wealth of talented panelists working in webseries (Jimmy Wong, Kim Evey, Matt Enlow, Scott Brown and Shilpi Roy). The next panel was on Working with Unions and focused on how to utilize the various unions (SAG/AFTRA, DGA, WGA, PGA, etc) when making your own webseries. Also, pro tip: If you are in Las Vegas, do yourself a favor and check out the Pinball Hall of Fame. Seriously, guys. They have so many awesome machines from all different eras. You can thank me later. Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays. Of course, the copious amounts of pie may have something to do with that, but even more importantly is that we get the opportunity to celebrate what we are grateful for. 2013 has proven to be an exciting year full of many twists and turns. Every year has ups and downs, and I'm incredibly grateful to have supportive friends and family to help me weather them. So, thank you (yes, you). Because, if you're reading this, you've been part of that team. Also, you may already know that I love to cook. In honor of the holiday, I thought I'd include my new favorite pie crust recipe for all of your delicious Thanksgiving pie needs... I had heard that adding Vodka to your pie crust is a secret weapon, and while I had my doubts, I am now officially a convert. Because vodka evaporates during baking, it keeps your dough together when you are prepping but leaves you with a perfectly flaky crust when you are done. It also makes for a tender crust that is much easier to roll out. In short, I'm sold! This recipe is Cook's Illustrated Foolproof Pie Crust. Makes 1 pie crust
In anything that you do, whether it's a hobby or your profession, it's important to find "your people". It's not merely about finding like-minded people. But, more importantly, people that get you. Those unique friends and collaborators who understand what you are going for and enjoy what you offer. And, guess what, not everybody is going to get you and that's a good thing. Now, of course, this all seems obvious. We learned this in elementary school, right? I guess the revelation for me came because I realized that not only had I been striving to find "my people", but on top of that I was striving to find all of the people. Some of us (for better or worse) want to be liked, and we want to be liked by everyone. Not only is this impossible, but it isn't worth it. Something that is liked by everyone is probably not that interesting. It's probably middle-of-the-road and, well, sort of boring. And as an artist, if we make something that is aiming to be liked by all, we probably aren't making anything special. So we specialize. We cultivate other people who inspire us and challenge us. Take Joss Whedon, for instance. People refer to the "Whedonverse" for a reason. Over his career, Joss has found actors and collaborators that inspire and enrich his work and naturally he chooses to work with them. Judd Apatow, too. He has found a troupe of funny guys (and some women) who inhabit his films and understand what he is trying to do. I could go on... Scorcese and his love of Leonardo DiCaprio, Wes Anderson, Woody Allen. I'm incredibly grateful that I found a number of wonderful collaborators in film school, and continue to find great artists through classes and on jobs. I should also admit that I've met a lot of lovely people who aren't my people, too. Here's to finding your people, stumbling along the way, and making great work! It's been so incredible to see how Sarah Wars has resonated with the Squaresville audience. Obviously, it's an episode close to my heart--and that's not just because I play Sarah. (Although I'm sure that doesn't hurt!) If you haven't seen the episode yet, here it is: When Matt began writing this episode, he lovingly referred to it as his "Spaceman Spiff" episode. If you read Calvin and Hobbes you know what that means. Basically, in the comic, Calvin had an alter-ego who is a space explorer. Calvin would daydream about circumstances in his life and then confront them as Spaceman Spiff. Spaceman Spiff is a fun device because wouldn't we all like to imagine an alter ego who can combat our current problems? And with such gusto! I wonder what Sarah's Spaceman Spiff episode would look like? Now back to Squaresville... The thing I love about playing Sarah is actually the biggest challenge: She's lost. She's full of potential and was once very much like Zelda, but now Sarah has fallen off course and doesn't know how to get back on. We've all felt this way, one time or another. I know I've felt it many times. I remember the rough summer after graduating from college where most mornings I would wake up and wonder, "now what?" From the beginning of the show, this was at the core of the character. Someone crippled by their own potential. It was something that Matt and I understood, and in many ways Sarah represents what could happen to Zelda. All that being said, I don't think that Sarah is a hopeless character. Her relationship with Zelda actually saves her in many ways--she reminds Sarah of all the possibilities while also allowing Sarah to mentor her. Now to answer a few great questions that you guys had:
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