Demos, Heros, and Choosing my Reality.

Ok.

I know.

It's been a while.

I know I have used the baby excuse already, so I'll just be honest, and say I was busy, and lost some of my motivation for  a while. I had a slump where I second guessed if this is where I should be going and what I should be doing....and I lost faith. It happens! Here is how I fixed it:

Step 1: I watched some of my old favorite cartoons.

GI Joes, Transformers, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Simpsons, Futurama....really I could go on forever...But thats what I did. And I played along, and laughed along, and joked along with characters that have been there my whole life, the characters that made up my childhood. I made funny voices and sang the theme songs to my son.

And I remembered why I wanted to do this: I want to play, forever.

Step 2: I cut a new "Commercial" demo.

Yes, animation is where I want to be, but commercials pay the bills...hopefully more of them soon...So in order to book a new agent, or at least get mine to send me out more, I needed a new commercial demo. I did a LOT of research and found Chuck Duran at "Demos that Rock," and let me tell you, they do. I love my new commercial demo, it shows a range of what I like to call: "The people I have inside me," and does so, in an upbeat minute and 7 seconds. You can listen to it here: http://www.voices.com/talents/search?conditions%5Bkeyword%5D=Abby+Collins

Now cast me. Or send it to someone you know who CAN cast me :)

Step 3: Sometimes, you need a hero...or two.

Mine came in the form of Rob Paulsen and Maurice La Marche.

I know, if you're in VO they are your heros too. And because my husband is AWESOME, I got an opportunity to hang out with them yesterday afternoon while they were guests on a new show he is producing. SHAMELESS PLUG**** "Show Interrupted," is on USTREAM at 5pm every Tuesday!*** You can watch it here: http://www.ustream.tv/showinterrupted

Back to blogging....So I got to meet them in person, and just chat with them, and listen to them just play, and talk, and curse, and have fun in some of the voices that changed my childhood. And they talked to me about my dad. And I was inspired. All of the dreams came back to me, and I came back to one simple thing: I want to change someones childhood....I want to CHANGE someones CHILDHOOD.

So, I un-slumped, and decided to be brave enough to go after what I want. Who can really say that? Who REALLY says "This is what I want, and WILL do!" and then refuses to settle. I have no back up plan, I have no fall back, no plan B. There is this, or failure. I chose to dream REALLY big, and show my son you can have everything you want. I choose this as my reality.