Last night was the first red carpet I’d hosted where I was actually a little nervous about how the interviews with the film’s stars would go, which included action stars/martial arts kings Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, and Terry Crews.

Fortunately, this was a red carpet and not a boxing ring, but if the experience would be anything like interviewing legend Muhammad Ali, I would be straining to come up with questions, clamoring for more detailed explanations than ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and hoping to death I don’t get punched in the face for annoying the guy.

Alas, none of that happened (quite the opposite, in fact) and I had quite a lot of fun with these brawny hunks of steel.

A few behind-the-scenes tidbits:

• Sly has the prettiest daughters in the world. I’d hate to the be the guy taking his first born to prom…yikes!
• Rourke was the least amiable, but he had also admitted to only being in the film for about a day and a half and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a little worn out from all red carpet hoopla.
• Steve Austin was the incredibly genuine and not at all like the “Stone Cold” persona I would watch on TV as a kid. He’s very passionate and committed to his cross-over to acting – and I think we’ll see a lot more from this guy.
• Dolph Lundgren has a great sense of humor. Swedish, mixed nartial arts medalist, award-winning chemical engineer, handsome actor, and funny?  The guy is a genetic wonderboy.
• I forgot Randy Couture’s name, so I just introduced him as “HEYYYY!” Oops. Randy, I’m sorry. I still love you.

If you’d like to catch some of the interviews, here you are:

Thanks to MySpace and Lionsgate for bringing me on board!

For me, it was always about Lance Bass. I was so completely obsessed that I bought every issue of Teen Beat with him on the cover, posted his photos up in my locker, even flew to Chicago to see him in concert with N’Sync. And finally, ten years later, I’m interviewing him in person at the premiere of Twilight: Eclipse, where thousands of screaming girls have simultaneously gathered to (hopefully!) catch a glimpse of R-Patz, or Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, or if they’re feeling rogue, Jackson Rathbone.

There’s something about the piercing screams of 9-yr olds that can make a person go crazy. But here we are, at the Eclipse premiere, and Lance Bass steps onto my platform for a live interview, and I suddenly remember. I remember what it’s like to be a young teen girl, screaming in angst, secretly hoping and praying that behind that velvet rope, your idol will lock eyes with you and know that you are the one.

Now this is all quite ironic of course, because here I am, finally meeting my first celebrity obsession, and he’s openly gay. All those years of hoping and wishing, screaming and crying, buying Teen Beat and researching his likes and dislikes, and the dude wouldn’t have wanted it anyway. (The other irony being that most of the teen girls there had no idea who Lance Bass was. Am I really that old?)

The moment passed as quickly as it came, but, for a brief second, I was 13 and giddy again.

The night, despite technical difficulties with the microphones and IFB chords, was a ton of fun. I was reunited with Jackson (who I bonded with on the set of a teen comedy we shot together several years back), and tasted some of the best brownie pudding EVER at the afterparty.

As for the red carpet, I’d interviewed Taylor Lautner before (at the Golden Globes), and so I knew to expect nothing less than a sweetheart from them, but really – every single one of those cast members is incredibly nice and open. I don’t care what some people say about Kristen Stewart – albeit awkward, she’s A DOLL and the hardest working young woman you’ll meet in Hollywood.

The best moment of the evening happened AFTER our job was over. Ali and I were given two tickets to the premiere, but since we had already been to an early screening of Eclipse, we decided to give the tickets away to two people who would treasure it most – a mom and daughter. They had been sleeping outside for 5 days just to go to the premiere, so you can only imagine the tears that came from actually receiving tickets to the film!

After all was said and done, Shira, Ali, Manny, and I made our way to the after-party which was beautifully decked out to look like a magical forest. I didn’t stay super long (three hours live is exhausting, I was ready for bed!) but we had a great time together and I literally stuffed myself with this brownie pudding stuff. Yum.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in for the live stream on MySpace, YouTube, or UStream!  If you’d like to catch a taped feed of the show, just head to UStream.tv/Twilight.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a regular update post, and so while I sit here, happily sipping a vodka/orange juice on my flight to NY, I think now is as good a time as ever.

So what’s new? So many good things!

The year started off with a lot of changes – for one, I moved into my own place (sadly leaving my best friend/roommate after three years of wine and cheese nights, awkward booty dances, and daily hikes.) Living alone isn’t as easy or awesome as everyone makes it out to be, although, perhaps I’m just a slumber party kind-of girl.

My new apartment

I also had a few personal revelations about ‘the career.’ After living in Hollywood for four years, I’ve been fortunate to dip my toes into so many different aspects of entertainment. Acting, writing, producing, hosting, even voiceover work (I’ve been fortunate to do some really cool stuff!!) And come this February, I realized I had absolutely exhausted myself. Not to mention, I had made it very tough on myself to focus on what it is I really want to do, because I now see that not every job offers the path to happiness.

Case in point: if you’re an actor and get stuck on a bad film set, your life is miserable for the next 4+ weeks. As a producer, there are a million and one things that can go wrong and make your job a living hell. As a writer, you can turn in a first draft and get it ripped to pieces. And yet for all of these misgivings, my greatest experiences have happened taking on each these duties. I’ve poured my soul out on paper; through acting and producing, I’ve brought those stories to life, all the while making lifelong friendships.

I didn’t move to Hollywood to be an actress. Or a producer. Or a host. Or to be famous. I moved here because I believe that entertainment is (at it’s heart), the best industry in the world – after all, it is the entertainment industry. There’s nothing I love more than seeing a film on Friday night, or snuggling up to see my favorite TV show during the week. All I want – honestly – is to be a part of the storytelling. Unfortunately, being a Type-A gal, I really beat myself up over the fact that I couldn’t focus on one specific career path once I arrived here.

So I stopped. Focusing, that is. No apologies. I decided that, for 2010, I would just have fun. How many people get to say that about their career goals?

My point is – I stopped trying to focus on ‘moving forward’ and instead tried to focus on having fun. The results? Wellllll, let’s just say the first few months were a little difficult. It took all of my willpower to take a few weeks off in the middle of pilot season (because I wasn’t having fun) to travel. I spent time in San Francisco, Boston, NY, Miami, and Austin – all the while, worrying about what my next strategic move would be when I returned to LA. I returned to LA, feeling only slightly re-energized, but stressed about pre-existing projects. And so I reminded myself again. Just. Have. Fun.

I took on my biggest fear of performing live by agreeing to sing my own comedy set at the Viper Room in Hollywood. It’s a rather famous place for up and coming musicians, so I was thrilled/sick to my stomach that they were so cool about letting me come and perform. And I did it.

Performing Wrong Hole at the Viper Room

I got back into hosting again – for networks like G4 and TV Guide – and booked my first network gig for NBC (the Golden Globes post show). I continue to work certain red carpets (like the Sex and the City 2 premiere in NYC) because the people I work with are AWESOME and I know, that no matter what, I’ll be having a great time.

As an actor, I’ve worked on several web series the past few months – The Temp Life (playing my favorite character, Nancy) and as a not-so-sexy sexy vampire on The Webventures of Justin and Alden – both incredibly fun projects where I was able to work with friends and other wonderful people.

Nancy and Wilson  in ‘The Temp Life’”

As a producer, I have been steadily working to finish post-production on my first feature that I co-wrote and produced. I’m really proud of it – and hope to show it to all of you soon. (Here’s the rough trailer!)

Cast of My Film, “The Co-Op”

As a writer, I’ve finally been hunkering down on a few stories that I’ve been itching to tell – and will be so excited to finally have several finished scripts!

And as for non-work stuff? I’ve been having more fun and taking more risks. Not in an effort to be self-indulgent, but just to recognize that I am much happier and more productive when I allow myself the time to do the things I love. More girls nights. More movies. More margaritas. More trips to the beach. More cooking. More hiking. I finally started planning to take a trip I’ve been wanting to take for years this September – to climb the Macchu Picchu ruins in Peru! I can’t wait.

One of my beloved girl’s nights!

Anyway. That’s pretty much it for now.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend :-)

Taryn

You may not have heard of ROLF-CON…yet, but I’m laying a bet that this two-year old convention, held annually in Boston, is going to blow up in the next five years. ROFL-CON, which stands for Rolling On Floor Laughing, is a celebration of the internet’s greatest memes (that is, icons of internet history.)

If you’ve ever bought the Three Wolf Moon shirt on Amazon, submitted photos to This Is Why You’re Fat, been fooled by The Onion, or even been Rick Rolled, then you have contributed to the immortalization of these online trends.

While I met a heck of a lot of cool people at Rofl-Con (held at MIT in Boston this past weekend), here were my top 5 faves:

1. AutoTune the News - who knew that the team behind AutoTune is a group of siblings? One sister, three brothers, all red-heads, and all INCREDIBLY talented. If you haven’t seen their stuff on YouTube, go. Now.

2. Ben Huh - Technically Ben doesn’t count since I’ve already MET him, but his FAIL and ICanHasCheezburger blog are my favorite on the net. Not to mention he’s just an all-around nice guy. (I still want him to start a blog on ninja hamsters, darn it.)

3. Little David – the infamous 5-year old from DavidAfterDentist (58 million hits and counting!) is now eight and milking his harrowing, post-dentist hallucinogenic experience.

4. Keyboard Cat - While the actual cat who plays the piano is now in kitty-heaven, his owner is still going strong and coming out with a new series of musically inclined cat videos which have made their way into mainstream TV series like South Park. Hi, cat.

5. Awkward Family Photos - I can only partly count this one, since I only met the creators (Mike Bender and Doug Chernack) briefly, but I am a huge fan of the site. We’ve all taken regretful family photos (and still continue to do so) – so it’s something most of us can relate to…and laugh at.

For video of my interviews and adventures at ROFL-Con, check out the segment below, which just aired on G4′s Attack of the Show.

And for a complete list of Rofl-Con attendees and information on how to submit your meme for next year, head to their website – http://roflcon.org.

This past March, Nancy Roder was offered the chance of a lifetime – a temp job in NYC.

For those of you who don’t know Nancy, she’s one of my ‘characters,’ although I say this liberally, since my fondness for her voice typically finds its way into my everyday conversations. I even auditioned for Glee recently under the guise of Nancy – myspace.com/gleeauditions – but due to some unfortunate technical problems, her audition doesn’t appear anywhere in their audition gallery (conspiracy???)

Now she’s back, in two episodes of the Temp Life, below:

Nancy had a blast hanging out with the stars of The Temp Life, including special guest star Ileana Douglas, and is so grateful for the opportunity to visit NYC (she had never been outside of Sherman, Oklahoma!) :-)

For those of you who would like to keep in touch with Nancy or follow her on her various social networks, here are the links:  twitter.com/nancyroder, myspace.com/nancyroder, facebook.com/nancyroder. She has also posted more than several video blogs up on YouTube, for example, Nancy Goes On A Job Interview and her original Video Resume that warmed the hearts of over 12 people.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of co-hosting Attack of the Show on G4 while Olivia Munn was away – and I had a BLAST! Between the egg salad milkshakes and Kevin’s sexy dance, the experience was all around ‘awesome sauce.’

Kevin and I originally recorded a song to perform as the sketch, but it was a little content-iffy…so we shot one about leoparkeets instead (which, all in all, was just as fun and strange as the other idea…)

Here’s the sketch in it’s entirety:

Game Reviews – E3 2010 – Comedy

And a shout-out to all the awesome AOTS fans who watched from home and gave me twitter love:
@koolaid_dude, @krunzy, @aburgeraday, @JakeHarp, @infinitekris, @Avilachris, @thisISmike_YT, @arisivakumar, @tmflaherty4, @TylerBartelle, @Themurtle, @coryroof, @Chi_Mike, @manofsteel8817, @Petey2009, @daddyharris, @drinkmoxie, @Texakinz, @Xraller, @taker349, @osiramon, @KevRuzz, @Trump244, @DjDispersion, @TheKofKs, @PrimosPro, @NSVillapana, @officialSeanTR, @carpexnoctem13, @SEANxLONG, @wrestlingguy09, @Jehuty2469, @shanebrah

Thanks everyone! Hope to see you back at G4 again soon!
xo Taryn

I woke up this morning feeling a little frazzled…and this video put a smile on my face. Happy Thursday!

A few weeks ago, Kristyn Burtt and the Web Files team dropped by to do an interview with me about how I got started in web TV. They were incredibly sweet and congrats to Kristyn on her Streamy Nomination this week!

Taryn Southern — The Web.Files #34
Uploaded by TheWebFiles. – Explore international webcam videos.

Interview With Taryn Southern

Thanks to the guys at Film Snobbery for meeting up with me on my short trip to Boston! I was pretty exhausted from all the traveling but they were so nice and Nic asked some interesting questions!

Visit filmsnobbery.com for more interviews, tips, and advice from indie filmmakers.

Pardon my French, but raising money is a bitch. A droopy cloud on a sunny day. A piece of poo on a shiny white floor.

I don’t like it.

In the past, I’ve been fortunate that most my projects have been funded from pitches, or, if they’re just small one-off things, I self-fund them. But going out and asking people for money? The horror. Even if I think my project is the best thing since goat cheese, I still shudder at the thought of playing salesperson. Hate, hate, hate it.

And then I stumbled upon Kickstarter. (Cue the sappy commercial music.) Perfect for folks who prefer a more passive, less in-your-face approach to raising money for artistic endeavors, Kickstarter is one site that I think could determine the future of the independent artist. You put up a profile, incentivize people to donate with different tiers of donation rewards, and then sit back and let Paypal do all the work. Though it currently seems to be more a site for low-threshold monetary goals (most projects on the site are asking for 10k or less), I am excited about where this could go in the future.

There are a few other sites out there like Kickstarter (IndieGoGo and ChipIn are also prominent), so you have to look at the various advantages and disadvantages of each. I personally chose Kickstarter for my project. It took about 5 minutes to be approved, and whoila!

Here is my project’s full profile: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1845100421/among-the-stars-investigative-feature-explores-th?pos=35&ref=recently-launched

Because of Kickstarter, I’ve raised over $800 in my first day (one tweet!). I’ve still got several weeks to go, but I’m hopeful that we can reach the $7500 goal, which will cover all the post-production costs of my film. (IMPORTANT NOTE: You have to raise all the money in order to collect ANY of it…and then you better actually follow through with your project and rewards…or, run the risk of getting sued. Yikes!)

I’m also looking into grants and scholarships, such as the Women in Film Finishing Fund grant (thank you Jenny Starnes for the tip) and I would love to figure out a way to start an online auction with all the gift suite swag I’ve scored over the past three years.

But enough about me. Most of you who read my blog are artists in your own right, and I’d like to know how all of you have found success raising money outside of the studio/production company development fund system.

Let me know what you’ve tried, what works/doesn’t work, and specific grants, scholarships, awards, online auctions, or other ways to raise money without having to go knocking on doors.

In the meantime, here are some links to articles about raising funds for features/web series:

The Right Way to Raise Money for your No-Budget Film – while the title is a little off-putting (there is no right or wrong way!), this article provides a no-nonsense, traditional path to approaching investors (in good conscience!)

The Money Web – a little outdated (the article was written in 2000), but still has a few websites up there in business to help you fund your latest project.

Indie GoGo – Fundraising for Independent Filmmakers – This is more a review of Indie Gogo, but it provides some insight and sample case studies as to how the site works. I am thinking about giving Indie GoGo a try for my next project.

The List of 9 - Nine tips for raising money for your film. Practical advice about what to expect when raising money.