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...

I’m blown away by the growing number of self-funded, independent web filmmakers. I met Jonathan Holbrook, creator of STILL: The Web Series shorty after I published my interview with Anthony Blaine about 4 Hire. Like Anthony, Jonathan is funding and producing the series himself with the help of his volunteer actors and crew, who he loves like family. In fact, one of the series’ stars, Dave Shecter, joined Jonathan for our interview. Jonathan describes his science fiction thriller as “a cross between The Walking Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”  The series starts with news reports of something happening to the magnetic waves omitted from Earth’s radiology belt that caused strange sounds in the sky, beached whales and dolphins, and tingling sensations in people’s hands. These occurrences actually happened several years ago, and they were caused by electro-magnetic storms. In STILL, something “foreign” is transmitted inside those sounds, but Jonathan won’t spoil the plot by revealing what it is. From the previews, I can tell that the video quality is excellent. Jonathan produces corporate videos and commercials by day, so he has all the equipment for filming and editing the series. They film just outside Seattle, in Lake Stevens, Arlington and Everett, WA. In Episode 1, they actually shut down a street in Everett. Although Dave Shecter works a 9-5 job, he made time to act in six indie films last year. Dave says, “The others were pretty good, but this one really grabs you. The effects, everything is just amazing. That’s why I’m a part of it.” Jonathan tells us, “when you produce something like this, it’s usually 20% production and 80% marketing.” He spends a good portion of his day updating his social media accounts: Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, which he enjoys the most. To get more Likes with Facebook, you have to promote your page. All the actors have accounts and they share everything that’s on STILL. It’s a team effort. For budding filmmakers, Jonathan recommends attending film school to learn the technical aspects, like production design, production management and networking. However, “you can’t really teach creativity. It has to be inside the person. If you feel like you’re creative, but want to go further, it’s probably the technical side that needs work.” Jonathan attended the University of Washington film extension program. STILL is starting a Kickstarter campaign soon, so watch for it. The word is out, and a couple of stars want to come on board the project: Joe Porter, stunt man for Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and another movie actor. Rumor has it that a horror icon may also be joining the cast.  The buzz is well-deserved. I can’t wait for the series release in October on Chronicle Factory. Amused Now Featured Artist Series To watch my video interview with Jonathan Holbrook on YouTube: http://youtu.be/jdPsVgXR7IA To watch STILL: The Web Series trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfeYBjb5NFg Jonathan Holbrook, Creator of STILL: The Web Series @STILLWebSeries Facebook Google+ Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now @Amused_Now Facebook Google+...

I met Anthony Blaine from Parallel Worlds Productions on Twitter, when tweets about his upcoming web series 4Hire caught my eye. The series is about 4 childhood friends who grew up together and became vigilante hit men who “right the wrongs where justice falls short.” Anthony and two friends, Jake Smith and Adam Apperson, came up with the idea over some tequila and appetizers at a local restaurant. They liked the concept of a bad good guy. Adam came up with the hit men idea. The show Dexter had a big influence on the project. Since initial concept, it’s taken the team over a year and a half to get where they are today. The project started with a small group of 10 people and has grown to over 140 volunteers. Their original Kickstarter campaign raised $1166. That money got the project off the ground. Other than that, the project is 100% funded through volunteer work. The team recently launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help push the project through to the final stages of production.   Parallel Worlds Productions has taken what I like to call “Community Sourcing” to a whole new level. 4Hire has the overwhelming support of the entire city of Boise, ID. In addition to the volunteer crew, many businesses provided real-life sets for the series: a pawn shop, the Idaho capitol building and downtown Boise. The local police department allowed the crew to use their brand new Charger cop car in a crime scene. This community support takes crowd sourcing out of the virtual world and into the real world! “In this day and age, you have to be on everything.” Anthony uses Facebook, to keep fans updated and to post behind the scenes footage. He also posts to such well-known sites as Google +, Twitter and Instagram. Anthony posts to a site targeted to filmmakers called FilmBreak for short stories, films and documentaries. The site uses a rating system to decide what to films to promote. If you score above a certain number, FilmBreak will help promote your film to larger networks like Netflix or Hulu and studios like Universal and Paramount. The original plan was to release the web series as 4 short 10-minute films on YouTube. The last episode ends in a cliff hanger, leaving the viewer wanting more. The team is in talks with outside sources and may decide to release 4Hire as a short film. They plan to premiere a 45 minute short film locally, in Boise. “There are a lot of options for independent filmmakers to get our films out.” Parallel Worlds Productions wants to make money too, so they’re trying to decide what distribution options work best. 4Hire premieres in October, so Anthony should have Amused Now as a money-making option. Anthony’s advice to new filmmakers putting together their own projects is “Never say ‘No.’ If you think it’s too big, ask anyway. If you keep asking the right questions to the right people, you’ll find the answer you’re looking for.” Nobody can do this by themselves. This is not an industry for one man bands. “Keep at it. Don’t look back and say, ‘I should have done it.’ Go out and do it!” To make a living, Anthony does sub-contracting. A lot of the guys work day jobs and work on the film weekends and late nights. Scheduling has been one of the biggest hurdles. Everyone involved believes in this project. Anthony emphasizes that if you can instill belief with your crew and as they begin to see the final product, then anything is possible. All you need to do is work hard and ask for help. I believe him.   To watch the complete video interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUvK977qm6g Amused Now Featured Artist Series Cynthia Kahn Twitter: @Amused_Now Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmusedNow YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/amusednow Google+  ...