Alyssa Jacobsen is a rising star. When she smiled at me during our interview, I couldn’t help but smile too. Alyssa plays the cheerleader in the recently released movie Rise of the Fellowship, which also stars Justin Moe, Jayme Bell, Cole Matson and Emma Earnest. Rise of the Fellowship tells the tale of a team of gaming geeks who go on a quest to win the Lord of the Rings gaming championship in Orlando, Florida. Alyssa describes it as “a zero to hero movie.” I watched the sneak preview and I think the movie is adorable. Alyssa always had a passion for acting. She grew up in Northern Virginia, where started acting in high school and continued acting throughout college. While in college, Alyssa attended an intensive summer program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She describes her time at the academy as “one of my favorite parts of my acting career.  I learned so much. It was an amazing experience. I got to spend time with people from all over the world.” Plus, it was the first time Alyssa flew on a plane by herself. “That was pretty cool too.” Alyssa auditioned for Rise of the Fellowship before she moved to Los Angeles. Then she found out she got the part of cheerleader, so she had to fly back for filming. After filming, Alyssa returned to Los Angeles and has been acting there ever since. Alyssa credits her drama teacher in high school with inspiring her and pushing her in the right direction. “He told me to go for it. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I would have taking acting as seriously. I had great teachers in college as well.” When Alyssa performed in plays, she met other young actors who also encouraged and supported her. When I asked Alyssa what her perfect acting role would be, she smiled broadly and responded with “anything Rachel McAdams would do. I love anything that she does! Any romantic comedy, probably something cutsie and girly.” Alyssa uses social media to connect with fans and promote her work. “I use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and I do have a website. It’s just AlyssaJacobsen.com.” She tries to update her websites as often as possible. She mostly uses Facebook to post pictures, articles and events “to brag about.” What’s up next for Alyssa Jacobsen? She’s going to begin filming a short film. She consistently auditions for new roles, and she looks forward to receiving positive responses. For other young actors just starting out, Alyssa recommends, “Keep learning. Take classes. You meet a lot of people who teach you things along the way. There’s always something to learn in the industry. It always changes. Keep training, practicing and auditioning.” Keep pursuing your dream, Alyssa. I’m glad that I could help. Watch the YouTube video interview: http://youtu.be/LLHyVCaK5lc Rise of the Fellowship trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y4kZdTbasg   Amused Now Featured Artist Series Alyssa Jacobsen AlyssaJacobsen.com @AlyssaJacobsen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alyssa.jacobsen1 Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now @Amused_Now Facebook Google+ YouTube...

Charlene Amoia is best know for her role as Wendy the Waitress on the hit TV series How I Met Your Mother. Fortunately for Amused Now, Charlene graciously agreed to a written interview, to reminisce with us about the show and to talk about what’s next in her rising career. We’re excited to share that interview with you! Cynthia: You’ve been cast in the upcoming Marc Morgenstern  thriller Vitals with Christopher Showerman.  The plot sounds quite creepy. Your husband wakes up in a hotel room missing a kidney and you are in line to be next. Frightening! Tell us more about the plot. When do you start filming and does the film have an expected release date? Charlene: It’s a terrifically-written, completely frightening and very original genre film and I’m very excited to be part of it! We’ll be filming throughout December. Can’t say too much about plot yet, but if you like thrillers, you won’t want to miss this one! Cynthia: You’re best known for your role as Wendy the Waitress in the hit comedy series How I Met Your Mother. That show must be a blast to work on! When you started playing the role of a waitress, did you think “this could be my big break?” Tell us about working on that series and how your role changed as it grew in popularity. Charlene: Oh, you never think “this will be my big break.”  Originally, it was only supposed to be a one-off , but I was just lucky enough to be upped to a recurring player. We got to see quite a bit of Wendy over the years.  It was such a special show to work on too, just a very collaborative and supportive environment.  I love it that I’m still recognized as Wendy the Waitress. Cynthia: How long have you been acting? Where did you get your start? Give a little about your back story. Charlene: I grew up in Buffalo, New York, but my family left there when I was 15 to move to Las Vegas. I did some modelling and that ultimately lead to acting. I got my start doing commercials and independent films before landing guest spots on various TV shows. Cynthia: You’ve starred in several feature films and television series. Given all of your accomplishments, tell us about your most memorable filmmaking experience. Charlene: “Glee” was probably my most memorable filming experience. The episode I shot casted a group of kids that came over right from the hospital. They were cancer patients and the show was doing an episode  around them. It was probably the most special and amazing experience working with those kids that day. Cynthia: I watched your short film She. I absolutely love it! So touching and real. You acted in the lead role and helped produce the film. How did you get involved with the project? Where did you find the darling rescue dog Bunny? The film has no dialog, which makes it quite interesting. Did you sing the vocals? If not, who did? I could not find who sang the soundtrack in the credits. Charlene:  Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. My partner, Nick, directed the film – which is how I came to be in it – and Bunny didn’t have to audition for her part either, since she’s my dog. I’m really proud of “She,” and I’m really happy that people are discovering it online. The vocals are sung by a lovely artist named Jolie Holland. Cynthia: We started the Amused Now blog as a place for artists to help other artists by sharing information and supporting each other. We’re also building a platform where independent artists can post their music, films and e-books for sale and profit from their creativity. Since Amused Now is about artists helping artists, what advice do you have for actors and filmmakers who are just starting out? Charlene: Just believe in yourself, but don’t take things too seriously – just...

Aaron Thomas and I connected on Twitter. After I watched previews of his upcoming 2-part thriller feature film Dumar, I just had to interview him for the Amused Now Featured Artist Series. Dumar is the story of a hedge fund manager who was framed for fraud by his employer. Aaron wrote the film script. Originally a horror film that “just didn’t work,” he updated the script to focus on finance. Dumar Volume 2 releases in December, which starts at midpoint in Dumar’s story. Aaron decided to release the second half first, because he “wanted to do something different. I wanted the audience to be quite confused when they started watching it. Since it’s such a massive story that I want to tell, because it’s character driven, it felt more organic to start midway through.” Aaron Thomas’ Fruit District Group has several films and collaborate projects in progress. When I asked Aaron about his selection criteria for choosing projects, Aaron explained that he looks for character-driven stories. It’s essential that he finds “characters who have a lot to tell, characters who are in some way victims.” One of Aaron’s upcoming movies in pre-production is This Paper World, adapted from a book by the highly acclaimed author Jeff Lane. The story is about an 18-year-old college student named Jim Hunt who confronts his destiny. They recently launched an app to build buzz for the movie.  Aaron Thomas explained that the app started as a trailer for the film. Aaron felt that he could get more from the trailer, so he partnered with a tech company to create the app. Jeff Lane is an online, new age author, with podcasts, novels, novellas and short stories. “Jeff’s had over 400,000 audio downloads, so it just made sense to continue his journey with his online brand and build his online audience.” Aaron takes advantage of the web and social media to promote his projects. He has a website for The Fruit District Group, a website for Dumar and multiple Twitter accounts. “The foundation of Dumar has been built online in terms of cast, in terms of location and just generally meeting people.” A lot of their soundtrack came from SoundCloud. “We want to continue this trend. That way, our fan base is able to see what we’re doing.” Even though Dumar will have limited release in the UK, most of the film’s audience will be online, because they have built an international audience. Aaron has an interesting approach to funding his projects. “At first, getting funding was a horrendous riot. It changed for me when I decided to fund my own film. I worked really hard. I did anything from cleaning warehouses to office jobs.” Aaron knew that he wanted to work with certain companies, so he reached out to them and made product placement deals, where he agreed to show their products in the film. Many companies want to associate themselves with the independent film business and it’s a growing market, “so it made sense to reach out to people on the same page as ourselves, it made sense to use brands that coincide with the project.” “Most of all, it’s just believing in the project itself, believing in the cast and the crew. Know that even at times when we were not able to have the budget that we want, we’ve got to work with what we’ve got. Stay focused. Have faith. Have faith in what you’re doing; have faith in your team. Work hard.” Aaron does plan to charge for viewing the film to recoup his investment. Production of Dumar Volume 1 depends on the success of Dumar Volume 2. The companies that Aaron has placement deals with will help with film promotion. This is organic growth in “an industry that says you’re nobody, even though you know that you’re somebody. It’s difficult, because people tend to listen to the industry a lot, but...

If I had to choose one word to describe Ruby Modine that word would be adorable. She’s animated, energetic and passionate about art. During our interview, we discovered that our creative processes often start with painting. I’d love to spend the day painting with her! Ruby Modine recently released two songs, Tell Me a Story and Radio, with demos available on SoundCloud. Ruby’s sound is very original. She credits her influences to Amy Winehouse, Joan Jett and Taylor Momsen from the group The Pretty Reckless. She has yet to record a song in her genre, which is hard rock and metal. Her next song with her newly formed band Your Wyldest Dream will be much harder and louder, so she’s really excited. Ruby’s musical career began with story writing in elementary school. She’s visual, so her process starts with writing what she visualizes down on paper. Ruby also paints and draws what she sees in her mind. She writes stories too. All her creative outlets combine into inspirations for her songs. “It’s a long process, but I really do like it, because it really makes me think, it really makes me get all of the emotions that I’m thinking about out on paper.” Acting is Ruby’s first passion and it’s exciting to see her acting career really taking off. She’s currently working on four projects: Memoria, Violence and Women, Julia and a film in pre-production called The Bagman. She begins filming Memoria in October. The film is based on James Franco’s book Palo Alto and will be directed by Nina Ljeti. This will be her second film by James Franco. It’s a cool coming-of-age story about teenagers roaming around California, skateboarding, partying and falling in love. Ruby describes Violence and Women as incredible. It’s a dark comedy feature film directed by Chad Ostrom that begins shooting in New York in March 2014. It’s grim, gory and amazing. I’m intrigued. The Bagman is an animated film Directed by Christopher Stoudt. They’ve created a Ruby cartoon character, which is “really, really rad.” Julia is a short film directed by her father, Matthew Modine, another Amused Now featured artist, and Leon Vitale. When I asked Ruby what it’s like to work for a parent, she told me, “Honestly, it’s amazing!” She describes it like this, “you have a relationship with your parents, but when you break that boundary and go into work mode, that’s no longer present. You’re listening more for the advice that they’re giving you. My father has always been a very big mentor for me.” They advise each other and have cultivated a fabulous give-and-take working relationship. Although Ruby has a social media presence, she says that “I’m not really into social networking,” mainly because she had some prior bad experiences with Facebook. She has a lot of fun on Twitter as @rubymodine, meeting new people (like me) and promoting music and bands that she loves. Ruby has a website that she keeps up-to-date. Plus, she recently opened an Instagram account, launched between our video interview and posting of this article. Ruby is also in the process of creating a new Facebook page and giving that another try. Ruby enjoys talking to everybody. “A lot of people say you’re supposed to use social networking to talk to specific people, but I think you should talk to everybody. That’s why I like promoting myself.” Ruby’s advice to young artists: hard work. “There are days that you cry because the dream that you want is taking so long, but it really does come from hard work. You have to wake up every day and have a new goal. Seriously, you get what you put in. My advice is to have a dream and work towards it and never give up. Stay as positive as you can.” It’s been fabulous getting to know you Ruby. To watch the complete video interview on the Amused Now YouTube...