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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sara Niemietz 'Hooked On A Feeling' at The Grand Ole Opry!!!

SARA NIEMIETZ
Barbizon Midwest Illinois & IMTA Alum
Barbizon Midwest is so proud of our Schaumburg, Illinois graduate Sara Niemietz for her performance this past Friday, June 28, 2013. Sara performed a duet with B.J. Thomas at The Grand Ole Opry!

Thomas is best known for his timeless music and true American classics from Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head to Hooked on A Feeling(Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song. The singer, an Oscarfive time Grammy and two time Dove Award winner, has sold more than 70 million records and is ranked in Billboard's Top 50 most played artists over the past 50 years.


The Grand Ole Opry with Sara Niemietz


Sara Niemietz at The Grand Ole Opry House!

Sara Niemietz backstage at the Grand Ole Opry House!

Sara Niemietz on stage performing "Hooked On A Feeling"
at The Grand Ole Opry with BJ Thomas!

Backstage at The Grand Ole Opry
Sara Niemietz, Keb Mo, BJ Thomas

Thomas' duet with Niemietz on "Hooked On A Feeling" marked their first Grand Ole Opry appearance together. The duet is included on Thomas' latest album, THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS, which features intimate acoustic re-imaginings of 12 of his most renowned songs with such acclaimed artists as Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Richard Marx, Issac Slade of The Fray, Steve Tyrell and Keb' Mo.


Sara Niemietz tweeted this pic of herself holding her signed copy of
BJ Thomas' latest album, which features Sara!


GET YOUR COPY NOW!


FOR MORE ON SARA:






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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Oana Gregory's Crash and Bernstein Season 2 Premiere!

Oana Gregory
Barbizon Midwest Grad & IMTA alum
Oana Gregory, graduate of Barbizon Midwest of Illinois, has become a household name thanks to her starring role as Amanda Bernstein on Disney XD's "Crash & Bernstein." The season 2 premiere aired Monday, June 24, 2013.

Oana Gregory, age 17, graduated from Barbizon Midwest Schaumburg. Upon completing her modeling and acting education, Oana took the next step by competing at IMTA in 2006 and won IMTA Pre-Teen Actress of the Year and 1st Runner-Up for Pre-Teen Model of the Year. Check out this interview on "Aspiring Hollywood" to hear in Oana's words exactly how she got her start in the industry.




Oana's other acting work has been noticed by top names and talent, and her movie Spork was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Outfest Film Festival. Oana has also had roles in other Disney XD shows and has done voiceover work for Nickelodeon! As a model, she has walked the runway for popular designers like Haylie Duff and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen!

Oana Gregory as Loosie Goosie in Spork!


In another interview on June 21, 2013 Oana tells WZRA TV her journey to stardom.





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Monday, June 24, 2013

NY MODEL JEN DAU IS ALL WORK, WORK, WORK!!

Barbizon Midwest Minneapolis graduate and model with NY MODELS, Jen Dau has been keeping so busy we can barely keep up! Check out her latest work!


SSENSE Beyond Control



Relapse Magazine Editorial




Ash Backpack Ad


Congratulations Jen! Keep up the good work!




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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Barbizon Midwest Kansas City's Lauren Delgado for BCBG!

Barbizon Midwest Kansas City graduate, Lauren Delgado recently did a photo shoot for the Kansas City Star! She modeled clothes for BCBG Max Azaria. The shoot took place at one of their stores.

LAUREN DELGADO FOR BCBG MAX AZARIA!



Love, Love, Love the photos, Lauren! Congratulations! You look beautiful!



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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Lauren Elyse Buckley Breaking into the Industry!

Lauren Elyse Buckley
Barbizon Midwest Illinois graduate, Lauren Elyse Buckley has been acting since childhood in local plays and musicals and is finally breaking into the world of film! Originally from Chicago, Lauren now lives in Los Angles, represented by Golan and Blumberg. She is currently studying theater and screen writing at Loyola Marymount University.

Lauren spent her weekend in the desert, filming a music video for the Frontier Boys!


CHECK OUT BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS





Lauren has also been filming the web series "Cart of Hearts!" The comedic series follows lazy senior Trey and perky freshman Claire as they traverse the insane world of college work-study. Check out the first episode below!


For more on Lauren:


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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Michigan's Brendon Eggertsen Lands the Big Screen Again!

Barbizon Midwest Michigan Grad
Brendon Eggertsen
Barbizon Midwest Michigan grad, Brendon Eggertsen, will co-star in the upcoming faith based feature film "Pass the Light." The story is based around the Christian high schooler, Steve Bellafiore (Cameron Palatas) who boldly runs for Congress against the conservative and intolerant, Franklin Baumann. With the help of his loyal circle of friends, "The Faith Crusaders," this colorful and charactery group unite to start the "Pass the Light" campaign, which quickly commands national attention. Brendon plays the character Francis, an awkward, nerdy loner in high school who Steve recruits to the group. Francis evolves throughout the film from a social outcast to a confident and self-assured young man, who is consistently impressing his new friends with his wit and humor.


HOLLYWOOD DREAMS

Brendon grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and after graduating from Barbizon Midwest he competed at the famed IMTA competition in Los Angeles. Not only did he score several awards and rave reviews, but also found his first and current manager, Julie Abrams of LA's DreamScope Entertainment. It didn't take long before Brendon and his mom took the plunge to Hollywood to pursue his dreams in the entertainment industry.

We were personally honored that Brendon came by IMTA LA 2013 in January to cheer on Barbizon Midwest!






Brendon Eggertsen with Adam Sandler

BREAK OUT ROLE

With his extensive and impressive list of credits at just the age of 16, Brendon, "Will always be grateful for his breakout role in Adam Sandler's memorable motion picture 'Just Go With It.'" Considering Adam Sandler is one of Brendon's personal comedic idols, Brendon was thrilled to play the role of Aril just opposite of Sandler. 

INDUSTRY CREDITS

Last year Brendon appeared again on the big screen with the supporting role of Derrick in Paramount Picture's "Paranormal Activity 4." In January 2013, Brendon showcased his dramatic chops in Showtime's dark comedy, hit series Shameless. He also appears in CBS's crime-drama series The Mentalist.



For MORE on Brendon Eggertsen:

Official Website: http://www.brendoneggertsen.com/

IMDB Pro Profile: http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm3293813/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrendonEggertsen

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Saturday, June 15, 2013

New Series "MATCH" Casting in Chicago June 18 and 19!!!

My TeeVee, a free, Internet-based entertainment and social networking website will be hosting in-person auditions across the nation for its first web series, MATCH, a serialized show in which individual episodes are tied together only by the common theme of "the passions that drive us."


NOW CASTING NEW SERIES in CHICAGO on JUNE 18 AND 19

June 18 - 11:00am - 6pm (OPEN CALL 11:00am - 3:00pm)
June 19 - 11:00am - 6pm (CALL BACK)

LOCATION: Chicago Actors Studio, 2040 N. Elston Ave

Here are sides for your preparation: http://on.myteevee.tv/match-sides/

Please submit to: iwang@myteevee.tv

For people unable to attend an in-person audition, links to headshots, resumes, and acting reels can be emailed to casting@myteevee.tv

The complete schedule of audition call times and locations can be found at: http://on.myteevee.tv/match-audition-tour


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Friday, June 14, 2013

Why Actors Need to Understand Social Media!!!

An actor without a social profile is like an actor who has no headshot and just assumes they will make a decision when they see him in person. Waiting in the dark to be picked is NOT a good strategy. Offering up a good personal network is valuable currency because it takes time to build. Anything that can give you a leg up on a similarly talented person should be used.

As CEO of You Inc., it's your job to make sure your marketing department is up to snuff. (And by marketing department, we mean YOU.)



Marci Liroff is a Hollywood Casting Director and recently wrote about the importance of social media for actors. Marci writes, "While working on the feature film 'Vampire Academy: BloodSisters,' based on the best-selling series of six young-adult paranormal romance novels, I noticed some really bad behavior by a few actors; they were tweeting about coming in for auditions, and how they did on said audition. One actor simply tweeted, "Christian Ozera" (the name of one of the very exciting male characters in the book series) and the Internet went wild with rumor mongering.

To put things into perspective, this book series has a HUGE fan base. The Facebook fanpage for the movie - which hasn't even been made yet!-has more than 250,000 fans.

I got an email from one of my producers who asked that all casting news come from the production and that what goes on behind the scenes (i.e. who's auditioning) should be controlled by us. The producer added that any further "leaks" would compromise an actor's potential for being hired.

The Facebook fanpage and Twitter blew up with speculation and thousands of fans were hysterically talking about whether the actor who tweeted about auditioning for Christian was going to get the part. I had to call his representatives and suggest that this was perhaps not the most professional approach to getting the role. I knew in my heart that he had tweeted this in an innocent way, not realizing what trouble would ensue from his simple tweet.

Another actor on Twitter and Facebook who wanted one of the lead roles so badly would fan the flames of speculation and neither deny or confirm that he was being offered the part. He even created a Facebook Fanpage for his mission.

Because IMDb is actually a fan site much like Wikipedia, anyone can enter information. We hope and depend that the site actually vets the information, but an actor who was "rumored" to be in the mix, who actually wasn't, was listed as "rumored" to be playing the role. This added to even more confusion.


I've seen actors fired from commercials for tweeting things like, "Hey, I just booked a (fill-in-the-blank) commercial!" Same goes for television shows. The producers, networks, studios see this sort of thing as a leak of information. This news should ONLY come from the production if and when they see fit and in the venue that they want it to come from. If after reading this you still feel compelled to share this kind of information, you should clear it with the producers first."

Kevin Brockman, Executive Vice President, Global Communications, Disney/ABC Television Group spoke on this topic. He said, "We are very actively involved in guiding our actors and productions in the social media space. At ABC and ABC Family, after series are green-lit and before production begins, our social media and PR teams walk the actors and producers through a social media 101 that points out the potential positives and negatives in these arenas. Series spoilers are a large part of the discussion and our rule of thumb is, ask you executive producer or Publicity team before posting anything that may be a problem. Our actors, especially on our shows with mystery elements, like 'Scandal,' 'Pretty Little Liars' and 'Twisted,' are very cognizant of this, as they don't want to hurt the viewing experience for their fans."

Brockman added, "At Disney Channels Worldwide, we host Talent Orientation programs that provide new actors information on what to expect from their colleagues on the Production team and from the colleagues at Disney Channel, and what's expected of them. During the Orientation, we cover the subject of social media and reiterate to our actors and their parents that what they say and do on social media or when communicating directly to their fans, should be done with care. We remind them to "think before they tweet or post" anything, and ask them to appreciate that millions of young fans may look up to them."

Dan Berendsen, writer/producer/creator of ABC Family's hit TV show "Baby Daddy" also had some input. He said, "All five of my cast members have a significant Internet presence (twitter, instagram) and are an integral part of the show's marketing. They are the source of the show's real social media. We acknowledge that and promote it - they are partners in the successful marketing of the show. Consequently, we talk about what information is best for them give out and what's not. To make it work, the actors have to be completely on board with what you're trying to accomplish.

Historically, "leaks" and "spoilers" are more likely to come from the studio audience and the extras. There is almost no way to shut that down on a show that's filmed in front of a live audience - other than to ask people not to ruin the surprise for everyone else."

Of course, we understand the feeling we all have these days to share news within our community of followers on Facebook and Twitter and along with your website. We suggest you share it AFTER the project is completed and ONLY when it's about to air. Another thing to do so that you feel connected is to say something benign like "Auditions went GREAT today! I was so prepared!" That way, nobody gets hurt!


Here are just 10 of our graduates you should be following:

Sara Niemietz:
https://www.facebook.com/SaraNiemietzMusic
https://twitter.com/SaraNiemietz

Michael Viruet:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Viruet
https://twitter.com/MikeViruetFan

Katrina Hoernig:
https://www.facebook.com/khoernig
https://twitter.com/khoernig

Martyn Hale:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Martyn-Hale
https://twitter.com/MartyH20

Breanna Lynn:
https://www.facebook.com/BreannaLynnMusic
https://twitter.com/BreLynnMusic

Michael Adrian:
https://www.facebook.com/michaelcadrian
https://twitter.com/MichaelAdrian24

Carolina Davis:
https://www.facebook.com/carolinadavis.musicianpage
https://twitter.com/carolinaRBdavis

Brendon Eggertsen:
https://www.facebook.com/BrendonEggertsen
https://twitter.com/brenegg

Oana Gregory:
https://www.facebook.com/OanaGregoryfanhere
https://twitter.com/oanagregory

Lauren Storm:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Storm
https://twitter.com/laurenstorm


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