I've been a writer fo
r as long as I can remember. From fiction, to poetry and in more recent years, journalism. (This lovely artwork on the left is the actual makeshift book jacket for one of my novels created around the age of 11. I know, it's amazing I didn't become the next Rembrandt!) If I had to choose a "passion", writing would be it. Unfortunate for me, and the majority of writers in the world, it rarely makes you an incredible amount of money...unless of course you're writing the next tell-all novel about the secret sexcapades of so and so celebrity, and I'm sorry but my time (and attention span) doesn't allow for such. So since I can't make a living off that I....
r as long as I can remember. From fiction, to poetry and in more recent years, journalism. (This lovely artwork on the left is the actual makeshift book jacket for one of my novels created around the age of 11. I know, it's amazing I didn't become the next Rembrandt!) If I had to choose a "passion", writing would be it. Unfortunate for me, and the majority of writers in the world, it rarely makes you an incredible amount of money...unless of course you're writing the next tell-all novel about the secret sexcapades of so and so celebrity, and I'm sorry but my time (and attention span) doesn't allow for such. So since I can't make a living off that I....Have a full time job working with great people... which I'll never talk about here, so in which case we'll move on to how I...
Jumped into the entertainment
business as (at first) a model. Don't laugh, I'm not that hideous. Ever since I had broken out of my ugly duckling/ tomboy phase at the age of 16, people started telling me I had great skin, was pretty, photogenic, yada yada. At 21 I gave in and linked with a (then) amateur photographer named Nathan Blaney. Over the next 2 years, Nathan and I would develop a friendship and an awesome portfolio. I like to think that my begging of Nathan for extra shots helped catapult him into photography greatness... or maybe he's just totally great on his own. (Did I mention I'm full of myself? I'm so not!) With some awesome head and glamour shots on my plate, I started to contemplate next steps. There was something else I'd been harbouring since childhood... The inescapable want to be a star. Although I'd dabbled ever so lightly in improv during college, I had no formal evidence to conclude that I could act. I was going with a gut feeling based simply on the fact that I'm terribly convincing when I tell stories (some people call it lying, I call it "saying what's necessary for everyone's lives to stay happy"), and what is acting but telling someone else's story? So then I...
business as (at first) a model. Don't laugh, I'm not that hideous. Ever since I had broken out of my ugly duckling/ tomboy phase at the age of 16, people started telling me I had great skin, was pretty, photogenic, yada yada. At 21 I gave in and linked with a (then) amateur photographer named Nathan Blaney. Over the next 2 years, Nathan and I would develop a friendship and an awesome portfolio. I like to think that my begging of Nathan for extra shots helped catapult him into photography greatness... or maybe he's just totally great on his own. (Did I mention I'm full of myself? I'm so not!) With some awesome head and glamour shots on my plate, I started to contemplate next steps. There was something else I'd been harbouring since childhood... The inescapable want to be a star. Although I'd dabbled ever so lightly in improv during college, I had no formal evidence to conclude that I could act. I was going with a gut feeling based simply on the fact that I'm terribly convincing when I tell stories (some people call it lying, I call it "saying what's necessary for everyone's lives to stay happy"), and what is acting but telling someone else's story? So then I...Had a talk with my friend Pablo a few years after we'd graduated from Rutgers together and he told me there was a script. A script he'd written and wanted to shoot. Said script only involved one actor...playing 5 different roles. Ok. I've never acted before and suddenly I'm a one woman show. A hus
tler who doesn't have time for bullshit. An annoyingly sweet housewife. A party 'til she drops, drunk. An irritated grad student. And the last character who has no clue what's going on (kind of like me in real life). It was a Sunday when we shot it, took about 6 hours and when it was all said and done, I felt sort of confident. Surprisingly so. It wouldn't be until months later when the short had been edited and released, that I would undergo a life changing experience which made my want to act fall quickly to the back area of my brain. My ambitions were fizzled and instead of embracing the positive reviews of my work, I would smile, say thanks, and just continue on an aimless road towards...blah. That was until...
tler who doesn't have time for bullshit. An annoyingly sweet housewife. A party 'til she drops, drunk. An irritated grad student. And the last character who has no clue what's going on (kind of like me in real life). It was a Sunday when we shot it, took about 6 hours and when it was all said and done, I felt sort of confident. Surprisingly so. It wouldn't be until months later when the short had been edited and released, that I would undergo a life changing experience which made my want to act fall quickly to the back area of my brain. My ambitions were fizzled and instead of embracing the positive reviews of my work, I would smile, say thanks, and just continue on an aimless road towards...blah. That was until...A random blog I used to keep caught the eye of an Associate Editor at Rap-Up Magazine, who reached out to me via the ever so useful Myspace, and asked if I had any interest in music journalism. Sure, I could
totally do that! ( I was bluffing, I'd never even tried at it.) And just like that I was given the opportunity for my first phone interview, a piece on Miss Issa. Sweet girl, haven't heard from or about her since. Oh well, wherever you are Miss Issa, thanks for helping me open the door! From that piece which was ripped apart by my editor (rightfully so!), I began to improve my journalistic skill and went on to interview the likes of Kia Shine, Zion, The Dey and even attended the Boost Mobile Rock Corps Concert in Radio City Music Hall where I met the boys from...Bombin' Magazine. Completely by chance, I sat next to the Editor in Chief and Creative Director from the mag who happened to be totally cool, totally
talkative and totally ready to bring me on board. At first it was all about connects, like how I could have a star-studded birthday party (with all the friends I'd made along the way) and have it dubbed as their extravaganza fully equipped with the tasty liqs of Trump vodka. But later, as the EIC suddenly reali
zed, "HEY! This chic can write!" I was brought in as a contributor and given the chance to interview my good friend and mentor, Bobbito Garcia (turntable master with an extensive sneaker sense and even greater heart.) Pics from that interview will come in time. OK, here's a little sneak peek right up above.As the writing assignments continued to come in, both from Rap-Up, Bombin' and then other publications like Latino
University Magazine, I kept up my pen game on print. But, in the between time I started a blog on both SiTv.com and HuffingtonPost.com where I told the stories behind my interactions with stars like Zoe Saldana, Matthew Fox and The Dieting Mavens of Madison Avenue (ok so they aren't celebrities, but they are trying to look like them!), and my thoughts on Latinos in entertainment in general. And while I'm on the topic of Latinos in entertainment...
University Magazine, I kept up my pen game on print. But, in the between time I started a blog on both SiTv.com and HuffingtonPost.com where I told the stories behind my interactions with stars like Zoe Saldana, Matthew Fox and The Dieting Mavens of Madison Avenue (ok so they aren't celebrities, but they are trying to look like them!), and my thoughts on Latinos in entertainment in general. And while I'm on the topic of Latinos in entertainment...I 
might as well wrap this intro up with a story about where I've been spending the majority of my time since September '07 (while still toying with all the above.) That story would revolve around a comedy troupe called Room 28. What started as an adventurous evening at a house party within the confines of an apartment whose owner I hardly knew, would magically transform into a friendship and partnership with a group of multi-talented individuals that I may cherish for the rest of my life (unless of course one of them turns around and writes a tell-all book about moi!) On a random Sunday, I was invited to sit in on a day shoot for some sketch comedy skits. What I never would have imagined is how that one experience would be enough to convince me that with them is where I belonged. Furthermore, it would be the catalyst to boost my creativity, my management skills and my love life. It would be with them, spending endless weekend hours, that I would get a better glimpse at what I want from life, and how to make it work even if I have to spend the other 40 hours of my week making that thing people find necessary to survive (strange substance called money.) But what doesn't pay me, ignites my passion (creative passion! this isn't a bio for Nora Roberts!). And what's life without passion?
might as well wrap this intro up with a story about where I've been spending the majority of my time since September '07 (while still toying with all the above.) That story would revolve around a comedy troupe called Room 28. What started as an adventurous evening at a house party within the confines of an apartment whose owner I hardly knew, would magically transform into a friendship and partnership with a group of multi-talented individuals that I may cherish for the rest of my life (unless of course one of them turns around and writes a tell-all book about moi!) On a random Sunday, I was invited to sit in on a day shoot for some sketch comedy skits. What I never would have imagined is how that one experience would be enough to convince me that with them is where I belonged. Furthermore, it would be the catalyst to boost my creativity, my management skills and my love life. It would be with them, spending endless weekend hours, that I would get a better glimpse at what I want from life, and how to make it work even if I have to spend the other 40 hours of my week making that thing people find necessary to survive (strange substance called money.) But what doesn't pay me, ignites my passion (creative passion! this isn't a bio for Nora Roberts!). And what's life without passion? Keep reading,
Lauren
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