Brilliant idea! In our pajamas, coffee breath, teeth and hair “unbrushed,” we headed towards the fire. It never dawned on us that the fire trucks, police and media right up our street may be a sign that if we leave, we won’t easily get back…Clueless, we are off into the smokey sunset. And after a drive down the fire-threatening road, our interest dissipates and we turn around and head back. Hitting a blocked off road now, I have to pee. Bad! And when I mentioned we were in pajamas, what I mean (for me) is…a long t-shirt and knee high pokadot red and bright orange socks. The end result: An embarrassing run into a nearby restaurant where I didn’t dare make eye-contact as people stared at the mental case (me) running into the bathroom.

OK, so there you have it. Our first dramatic morning gone bad.

Luckily, the police road block only lasted a half hour. But, with our plot to park the car, take back roads into the deep woods and sneak past all the commotion (knowing very well we might potentially get arrested), luckily…the bright orange cones preventing us from going home were gone when we returned from the restaurant (we’ll never go to again).

It was over!

And back home we went without police chases, plots executed, nothing

The remainder of the day was spent watching bad re-run 90’s flicks on regular television, and feeling restless, bored, and a little discontent.

So, here I am. In my house…With my new boyfriend….(there’s a little scandal to this story but I’ll save it for another time), and no clue how to live the country life. Nor, do I know why the trash man skips my little house and leaves my trash piling up at the end of my driveway for a third week in a row now. I think that’s where I’ll take my daily blog about my life out of my comfort zone (Los Angeles) and in Big Bear today.

Let’s talk trash.

Did you know that you have to be on a list to get trash pick up at your rental?

I didn’t. Not a clue. I mean, I know to get into Hollywood’s hotspots “the list” is a necessary given. Everyone knows that. But, for some trash guy? Come on. Who knew that the Big Bear disposal co. had the elite privilege to choose who had the luxury of pick-up and who didn’t….Not me.

Needless to say, I learned the hard way after double bagging, triple bagging, leaving sweet notes, and one week I even left out a small gift bag of gummy bears and lollipops. Nothing. My trash went ignored. Until…I called and had some lady ask; “Did you put your name on the list, Stupid?”

“You mean Justin Timberlake’s VIP, gold card, trash pick-up list?” I replied, laughing. “Nah, I’ll just use the regular guy.”

Crickets.

“The list is for Jose!” She said.

Jose is the trash guy. And I realized he has clout in Big Bear?!*!&%!

And I finally got put on the list.

And yesterday, my trash got picked up. That is, after Jose (I presume) pounded on my door and lectured me about “trash weight” and having too much trash….He said something about breaking his back? I just smiled and promised it would never happen again. Whatever.

This is my new life…Good God!

Lacking an identity.

In between chapters, so to speak.

Yep, that’s me.

My name is Megan and my life has been flipped upside down. It’s my choice. After twelve years of living and working in Hollywood, I moved to Big Bear, California. I used to escape to Big Bear on weekends and go hiking, swimming in the lake and spend endless hours doing nothing except sunbathing. I used to fantasize about living up here… away from the fast-paced city of angels (and demons, I might add). For almost a decade I imagined it, especially after a bad day. But, on the good days, when my heart would pound from the rush of my next big interview (and uncertainty as to whether I could pull off another day of pretending I actually belong with these Hollywood people)… those are the days I….well, obviously forgot….that is, until now. Now that I’m actually here….living in Big Bear.

I’m in a house in the middle of nowhere. I hear coyotes at night. I think. Could be the neighbor’s dog? Not sure. But I have heard many coyote horror stories from locals so…

I have no friends. And I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here? It was a fantasy…not my reality! So, what am I doing?!!!!

Oh yeah. I’m making changes in my life. Big drastic changes!

Who the hell am I? No idea anymore.

Not a clue.

Currently in pre-production, Murphy had five movies going which include: Poor Things (with Rosario Dawson; Shrinking Charlotte (with Kathleen Turner); and The Expendables with Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li and Jason Statham. While there hasn’t been much said in the news about her marriage, I remember when she dated Eminem and then Ashton Kutcher who recently commented on her death via Twitter.

Wrote Kutcher, “2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany’s family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon.”

Her other two recently completed films are Deadline and Abandoned. Brittany Murphy was a talented, lovable actress and her death is very sad. She will be missed!

Here is a clip of Murphy’s 2009 horror flick, Deadline:

Here at Acted By, we are about to go through one more major website make-over with content specifically targeting the Indie film sub-culture and will launch nationwide in less than two weeks.

Hollywood Woman is coming with us so please come back!

It’s late and I was finishing up another project (a book), where the final chapters to be written cover  drug abuse. I started thinking about Hollywood women…all creative women and addiction. As a woman who battled this demon off and on throughout my entire life, I wanted to share it with someone.

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Love, Pray gives a great lecture,  pushing writers to stray from the bad and strive for good because it unleashes the best writing.

Until next time…Keep Dreaming!

“There’s a crack (or cracks) in everyone…that’s how the light of God gets in.”  – Elizabeth Gilbert.

Although the poet Sapphire released her novel as a work of “fiction,” the premise is REAL. One of the realest depictions I’ve ever seen, actually. Precious, a severely overweight teen who is sexually abused by both her mother and father, physically abused, verbally crucified, and forced to eat and stay “fat,” is a whole lot of girls out there. And let’s be honest here. Life is hard. A lot of us go to the movies to escape reality with a vampire for a few hours. In Precious, however, you will face the darkest version of reality.

Originally calling the film Push (like the book,) the name-change came when another film (a thriller) titled Push was also hitting Hollywood’s scene. Simply to avoid confusion, Precious emerged. After a Sundance big win, it was Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry who stepped in, enabling its distribution.  Both Winfrey and Perry are victims of sexual abuse and that was the driving force behind pushing Precious into the theatrical limelight. Why release a film so tragic and horrible?  That’s the thing….underneath the nightmare, something powerful is there.

Just to clarify, the powerful drive behind Precious isn’t wrapped up nicely in a Hollywood blockbuster-type climactic triumph.  The colorful fantasies that offer Precious refuge during the ugliest moments don’t materialize into her new reality in the third act. We don’t get the gratification of watching Precious kick the living sh** out of her father, “accidentally” drown her mother,  get skinny, win millions, become famous and land the hottest guy on her block.

Precious has two kids. They belong to her own father. That will never change.  And even after finally leaving the cramped dark apartment where she spent those sixteen hellish years, there is still one more big blow.

Director Lee Daniels found a way to show the horrors of sexual abuse, delicately. It is ugly but  he never emotionally over-dramatizes our wounded protagonist. We are alright. Promise! In fact, we are somehow a little more than alright. While unable to stand up for her own life, it’s when Precious fiercely puts up a fight to protect her child when I got it.  Unloved by her parents, Precious loved her children more than I think we can understand. The cycle of abuse ends with her. Precious’ wounds resulted in two children escaping, their innocence  intact.

A little later…

Ironically,  I was flipping through channels and caught a glimpse of actress Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) on Jay Leno. Looking great, she was so bubbly, cute, fun and full of life. She looked humble but  proud. And what’s even weirder is somehow I felt proud, too. I felt proud of survivors who were sexually abused as children. Yep, proud!

Hollywood Woman, a daily column celebrating women in film begins with a five part series about sexual abuse as seen in the movie, Precious. This is the second edition.

It is written “For Precious Girls Everywhere.”

To open the basement door and shine the flashlight on the elephant.

The topic that goes hand in hand with ’silence,’ more than any other tragedy in the world is the harsh truth about sexual abuse. Calling it an “elephant in the room” is for the people who can’t really hear the way it REALLY is. An elephant in the room is a G-rated version of explaining the unexplainable…the unfathomable. It is why sexual abuse is statistically happening to every third child (based on the few that report it), yet little is done to protect these helpless children. Who knows how many more there are?

Listen, I could go on forever on a topic that is so close to me, personally. It is why I strongly applaud films like Hounddog, Black Snake Moan, Lolita (starring my best friend, Dominique Swain), Precious, and others…These films are important…more than you know. The popular line calling silence “deadly” is very accurate. From all the well-written memoirs by brave women (young and old) who unleash their personal truths about the darkest days of their lives, I learned one common lesson: To own a past you wish never existed is to heal. And to hide it is to die….painfully and slowly.

“There are times when I’ve felt so violated [by criticism of my art] that sometimes I’ve wished I hadn’t said something,” Push novelist, Sapphire admits. “But the price of silence is great, you know? The price of silence is suicide [or] a lifetime of depression.”

Tomorrow….How Push became Precious….

Hollywood Woman, a daily column celebrating women in film begins with a five part series about sexual abuse as seen in the movie, Precious. This is the second edition.

It is written “For Precious Girls Everywhere.”

She is me.

She is a lot of us. And she is the drive behind this new column about women…women in film. Women in art. Women who express themselves creatively. Women who are unafraid to be…

I remember my first introduction to an escape from that dark dreadful place we call despair. It was in Elizabeth Wurtzel’s 1997 book she brilliantly titled, Prozac Nation. It was the rawest account of depression, desperation, and drop-out-of-normal-life story I ever read. It boldly left behind the majority and spoke to the minority of us…the girls like me.

It saved my life.

And the more films/books/artwork I see that reveal the drowned woman who can’t go on anymore and would rather sink to the bottom then fight for air, the more I feel hopeful that change is coming. It’s the artists who inspire me. The women artists who not only point at the elephant in the room but shout out, “There it is; there’s the elephant!!! There! RIGHT THERE!!!”

Through their shrieks, we are forced to see.

And in the end, with her insides shredded, Precious asked, “Why me?”

That’s what I want to explore tomorrow. Thank you so much for reading this column. It will be a seven day a week thing.

Hollywood Woman, a daily column celebrating women in film begins with a five part series about sexual abuse as seen in the movie, Precious. This is the first edition.

To be continued…

“That’s why we are making such a big bet there,” he said during a keynote appearance at the annual Media and Money conference, hosted by The Hollywood Reporter parent The Nielsen Co. and Dow Jones.

According to Armstrong, there are three waves that have and will hit Internet development:

• Accessibility

• Platforms – from Facebook to iTunes

And the final wave is content. Armstrong states; “It hasn’t seen as much innovation by online firms. Online video will be a key part of that. Already, AOL is doing six times as much video as a few months ago. We are excited about video. You’re going to see us do much more in the future.”

Acted By magazine began merging into a video magazine for similar reasons. With statistics stating that video is going to bring in the biggest profit in the near future, it was the obvious way to go. However, there aren’t that many video online mags out there. Why have we thought of it before the others? Well, hosting your own video site is a lot harder than you would think. As advanced as technology is, we’ve got a ways to go in regards to perfecting a video system that works just as easily as word press templates.

It will come. Until then…we just have to keep pushing forward and work with what we got.

As for AOL, they recently laid off a lot of people and are separating from Time Warner to become their own entity again. Adding my two cents, that’s a good move.

Coming tomorrow… Innovative ways actors are using websites, video, and their talent to bring in an income while they wait for that big break.

Techchick (that’s me), is my daily column covering the latest video, web, and other tech news that all of us jumping on the Internet’s bandwagon and heading towards the future will need to begin our online million dollar business.

As my grand opening (if you will), I’m going to list 10 top ways to build a new website:

• Great Content: We all love to write about ourselves. It’s my favorite thing! It’s for me and my reader, ME! Picking topics that will draw a REAL reader in is key in building an audience. Update content regularly, and keep it short, sweet, and simple. While I think my pink argyle tall socks and matching skirt and picnic at the park with my girlfriends are fun and cute to read, no one else gives a damn.

• Optimize your SEO: Interpretation…create keywords that people will potentially google to see your site pop up. Placing them is a whole other story…I go with the web guy on that one. Basically, it works like this: Type in “popular blogs,” the popular blogs aren’t listed sequentially in order. Those are the key words that a site put in and luckily landed at the top for popular blogs.

• Submit to search engines: Search engines do it automatically now but just to play it safe, most sites have a “submit your site” somewhere. Look for it and the rest is easy. Type in the URL, a spam code, and there ya have it!

• Get in bound links to come to your site: I personally hate this. I’m only an extrovert 20% of the time at best.  I’ve never been that girl who gossips, and talks about cooking, weather, lunch dates, etc…Problem is that we have to link to other sites – similar sites that are popular, offers more recognition from Google.  And FYI…Google is God.

• Newsletter: Hook up a newsletter subscription on each page. The more people can sign up to it, the better.

• Create a newsfeed: RSS – Just another way for people to sign up to your site’s pages. Most new blogs already have this system installed. If not, time for a part-time web guy for hire! He should be able to hook it up in a half hour.

• Article marketing – A place to submit your articles and once approved, it will send it out to a ton of other sites that post free articles. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan! Twice I tried it and light coding is involved (which is heavy to me), and it took a frustratingly long time. Once I finally got it, these articles were repetitively posted all over google. It cheapened them and everyone knows you submitted your work for free. However, it allegedly is great for traffic –  EzineArticles and GoArticles.

• Viral Content: Add content that is hitting the search engine news. Add a “email a friend” plug in so friends can reach out easily to others. And make sure to have socialbookmarking links. You know, the symbols of Twitter, Facebook, etc…

• Press Release: Once your site is ready to blow everyone away (ok, sort of ready – none of us are ever really ready to launch), there are samples on Google. Type in Press Release and get to it. Then, you can find a variety of services to distribute them. Here are two examples: PRLog or openPR.

• Promote Your Site Offline: Get business cards, flyers (I think not but it was on the list) and seek out coverage! Get exposure from the friend at the LA Weekly who can hook you up with a little paragraph in the corner far somewhere. Hey, coverage is coverage!

Got all that? Good!