This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:
Jul. 5, 2015 Tracy's writing career: I wrote some things down on my notebook and now am typing it up.
Apr. 25, 2015:
I know there are so many avenues for my writing.
1. TV script- This is the main goal I've been aiming for since I was 14 yrs old. At 22, in my last semester of my 2 yr college diploma in Professional Writing, I was actively pitching my script The Vertex Fighter. I pitched in from 2008-2012 to all these TV production companies in Canada. A lot of producers, writers, and script readers read it, but they reject it.
2. TV production companies- I applied to get a job there. I did 1 interview at Dynacor Media in 2008 when I finished Professional Writing. I then did apply to as many Edmonton companies as I can get to in 2012. That lasted about 2 months.
I did try to get an internship in 2003 at CBC. That was when I was 18. CBC HR said they only hire NAIT TV students for internships. There used to be A- Channel, but then they went on strike in 2004. Now I can't apply there.
I did apply at CKUA radio back in 2005. They can't pay you. I did apply to NAIT's radio program but I got rejected in Fall 2004 and Winter 2005 intake. That's alright, the radio program wasn't really for me. I didn't volunteer at CKUA because I got accepted into Professional Writing.
I did apply to be a script reader at some companies in 2012. Only John Kerr sent me some scripts for me to read.
3. Journalism- I passed my resume to the Edmonton Journal a couple of times. I emailed a couple of articles to Metro and 24. That was years ago around 2008-2009. No one ever called me back.
4. Magazines- I pitched to Merge, an Edmonton magazine. It was short-lived. It folded. I may have applied to Avenue magazine. This was in 2009.
5. Short stories and poems- I had 2 short stories "TJ's Story" and "Chase", my poem "Downtown Streets" published in the Canadian Poetry Institute. I wrote that in 2006- 2007 when I was in Professional Writing. I then sent it out and it got published 2010- 2012. (You can read it on my blog.)
6. Websites- The Golden Vanguard published my movie reviews before the website closed down. 2012. (You can read it on my blog.)
7. Publishing companies- I did apply to some or at least look them up. I thought be an editor. They were hiring sales people though. I wrote about this before on my blog.
8. Tracy's blog- this blog has been with me since 2008. It's to showcase my writing and I can be discovered. At the very least, it's an archive of my weekly emails. When I want to bring something up from 3 yrs ago, instead of typing it up again, I can go look for it on my blog.
I know when to narrow and widen my focus. The main focus was getting my script produced. Everything else was on the side.
I guess I'm typing this because today I was talking to my co-worker M who worked as a hostess today. She said about volunteering at places to gain experience. Even if a TV production company isn't hiring, they may still need someone to work for them, but can't pay them. There's also there isn't a lot of work at a company so there isn't a point of a volunteer.
I would have to look into a company.
Aug. 13, 2015
Getting the right people's attention on the internet: I was going through my job articles I cut out so I can put it on my blog. I found this article "4 Novel Ways to Tackle Your Job Search In 2013" by Ashleigh Trahan. Here's an excerpt:
Alec Brownstein, a 28-year-old Copywriter, landed a job through a fantastically simple personal marketing campaign. When advertising execs Googled their own names (admit it, we’re all guilty of the “self-Google”), Alec’s paid ad was the first result on the page. The ad directed these potential employers to his personal website, and resulted in multiple job offers for Alec.
Here's a 1 min video that tells about it called "The Google Job Experiment":
Youtube comment:
This what you call "thinking outside the box"! #Google #Creativity "One New York graduate who wished to work in a top advertising agency Googled the names of the creative directors of these agencies and then spent just six dollars on a set of Google ads that were triggered when the directors searched for their own names. The adverts said "Hey, (creative directors name), Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too" Of the five directors he targeted, four gave him an interview and two offered him a job"
Kris Andrews: Well my blog did attract the attention of Edmonton boxer Kris Andrews. He emailed me last month, and we emailed each other a bit. In Jul. 2009, I tried to get him into production The Vertex Fighter. Back then it was called The Fighter.
Now in Jul. 2015, he contacted me. It was because one of Kris's friends looked him up on the internet and it lead to my blog. So Kris emailed me.
I wrote about him way back in Jul. 2009 post called "funny/ Kris Andrews/ Jamie Kennedy Experiment":
Kris Andrews: I'm going to admit something to you. A few months ago, I tried to get Edmonton boxer Kris Andrews in my movie. At the same I was trying to get MMA fighter Kit Cope in it, but they were supposed to play 2 different roles. I first learned about KA when I saw him in an ad for the fight Blunt Force Trauma.
I went to his site www.krisandrews.ca and emailed his manager. The manager and I emailed each other. I sent them the script. After 2 weeks, KA turned it down, but they wished me luck. I was disappointed. I tried to comfort myself by saying: "There are 100 guys out there who would love to do your show right now."
That does remind me of that TV show 2gether where Jerry (Evan Farmer) says right before a performance. It's about a fictional boy band back in 2000.
Jerry: I can't perform.
Manager: What? What do you mean you can't perform? If you don't, there are 18 O- town rejects who would love to take your place right now.
If you want to learn more about Kris, here he is:
That's what I've been trying to do with other actors:
Craig Olejnik (The Listener):
Eric Johnson (The Knick):
Job articles: I have been putting up lots of job articles since the beginning of 2015. I put the articles up, with my comments on them. It doesn't seem to be attracting any employers. I hope people are reading it and learning on how to get a job, and be more productive.
At the very least, my blog is "work- safe." That means appropriate for anyone to read.
Nov. 2, 2015 Playbackonline.ca: I read about this website in the newspaper. The website is about film and media. I looked at the site and the careers section right now are all for Toronto and Vancouver.
There are articles about TV, film, and film festivals.
There aren't any TV jobs in Edmonton listed.
Dec. 22, 2015 Book Publishers Association of Alberta: I have actually wrote quite a bit about this before.
I was looking at the list of publishing companies and it lead me to Blue Bike Books:
Humor and Trivia may not seem all
that important but who among us
can resist reading little factoids or
funny anecdotes. Such simple things
can put a ray of sunshine in an otherwise
cloudy day and make our load seem just a
little lighter.
At Blue Bike Books, humor and trivia are
serious business. Well, okay they’re not really all that serious—but we like making books about them anyway.
Jan. 5, 2016 Merge magazine: Here's the twitter account and the last post was in 2011.
Magazine writing: I was decluttering these women's magazines like Marie Claire my sister gave me a few years ago. She read them, and then I did. Then on Jan. 2, 2016, my friend Jessica and I went to Value Village and donated all these magazines to them.
It did get me thinking about how back in 2007 when I was in the Professional Writing program at MacEwan. I thought it would be so cool, fun, and exciting to write for teen magazines like Seventeen because I really like reading them.
I was more focused on writing TV scripts. Now I don't really want to write for teen magazines.
My week:
Feb. 19, 2015 Funny Between video: I decided to check out about the Canadian TV show Between. I went on Twitter and follow the Edmonton actor Kyle Mac on the show (he plays the bad guy Ronnie.) There is Jim Watson (who played the good guy Pat) on the show. Watson is at Chuck's trailer. Justin Kelly (from Degrassi plays the popular jock Chuck on Between).
Watson slowly opens the trailer's door. There is some music playing.
Cut to Justin Kelly wearing a cowboy hat and his letterman jacket on his elbows. He's dancing to it and then he turns his head. He's startled when he sees the door is open.
Watson closes the door quickly and runs.
I was surprised to see it. I laughed at it.
My week:
May 26, 2015 My opinion: I thought it was funny. Then I thought they could have intentionally made the funny video together.
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It looks like it was unintentionally funny.
Yeah, well at least Kelly wasn't changing his clothes.
Kyle Mac: On Mon. I was checking out Kyle Mac's Twitter account as usual and he posted a trailer that the second season of Between will come out Thurs. Jun. 30, 2016. I retweeted it and liked it.
I'm so excited about it. I'm going to write about more TV pilot reviews so I can mitigate my excitement.
Here's a bit of a Twitter exchange we had last month. I asked to see his new demo reel, and he said that it's not on a public website.
Tracy Au @TracyAu2 Apr. 14
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May 30, 2016 Richard Jones: I was on Facebook and there was news that Richard Jones won Britain's Got Talent 2016. I decided to watch his magic card performance as he tells his story. It was entertaining and inspiring 3 min. performance.
Sleep: I have a guest staying overnight for the last 3 nights in my room. I sleep on the couch, but it's kind of loud with my family talking and the TV. I go to bed at 9pm and my family is still up.
Today is Mon. so my brother and sister got up early. I wake up at 6:30am too.
May 31, 2016 The Family: I watched the first 3 episodes when it came out. Then I recorded all of it and watched it in the past few days.
"A community is rattled when a politician's son, who was presumed murdered years ago, returns home."
It's a very good show. It got cancelled after one season, but I thought it stood well on one season. I did read what would have happened in the second season. All the actors were so good with playing their characters. It was intense with the drama, conflict, and tension of this story. How does this family readjust to their son coming home?
The actors could use a lot of the material into their acting reel (like a resume for actors) to show all their best work.
The interview to what would happen in season 2:
Jun. 1, 2016 Papercuts magazine: I was rereading my 2 Papercuts magazine that I got from Professional Writing. They were made by the Magazine editing class.
I also read Pop City 1 magazine made by Professional Writing and the Design program students.
By reading this, I am still uninspired to write. As in creative writing.
Jun. 2, 2016 Editor's Association of Canada: I read my "Meeting Editorial Standards Revised Edition Self- tests" book and the "Solutions and Discussion" book. I bought this for my Proofreading and Copyediting class. I didn't like that class.
Played: This TV show came out in 2013:
"Played follows the Covert Investigations Unit (CIU), an elite undercover police unit set up to infiltrate criminal worlds."
When I first heard about it, I wasn't really interested in it. Then I was reading the Globe and Mail about it and I saw this picture of Lisa Marcos in this pink, white, and black dress I saw in a West Edmonton Mall brochure. I continue looking at her and her name. Then I thought: "Wasn't she on The Listener season 1 as a cop?" Yeah, I was right.
Then in summer 2015, someone accidentally recorded the episode "Girls" onto my DVR. It's on the channel M3. I had free time and decided to watch it. Marcos was wearing that dress. I really liked the episode. (It was about a prostitution ring). I then continued watching it. I watched an episode/ pilot "Drugs" I missed last night. I have one more episode "Money" to watch. Then I would have watched the whole season.
CTV is now airing the show on Mon. nights at 9pm so go watch it.
Between full episodes on City TV: You can watch the whole first season (6 episodes) on City TV.com. I found that out while I was watching Wayward Pines. I really recommend you watch Between. I put this on Facebook:
