Call-backs for a commercial! :D

Wow- what a weekend! 

Last Friday, I got a phone call from a friend (who is a human talent agent) asking if she could submit Jasmine for a Green Giant audition in LA. I said- sure, why not?   Little did I know, later that evening, she would write me saying that Jasmine went straight to call-backs!  (Which means they want to see us in person.) She wanted to know if we wanted to go LA for the call-back, even though it was super last minute.

  

I debated if I should go for a while.  It's a long drive for such a slim chance.  But I still kinda wanted to do it anyway...  just even to take that chance.  (and to have the opportunity to have Jasmine perform in front of casting directors.)   So after consulting with friends and family, I figured why not.  :)   I have family that lives out in California, so I could stop in and see them briefly before going to the audition...

Um... Jasmine?  Where am I supposed to sit??

It was about a 7 hour drive to LA.

Jaz is wondering why I won't play with her?!?

  Maybe because it was past midnight by the time we got to the hotel!

  Jaz- the next morning... wondering why on earth we were getting up so early??

Jasmine looking out the hotel room- checking out LA.

 Our call-back time wasn't until 2:30 pm, so we had some time to kill.  I met up with some family members for lunch in downtown LA!  Then we took some pictures (which was good practice for our audition!)   Jaz was sure being a cutie.  :)

Jasmine can be a little TOO friendly!  I went inside the hotel restroom to wash my hands, and Jaz stuck her head until the stall door to say hi to someone!!  (I came back later to take this pic!) 

Jasmine - waiting for our turn to audition.  She was PERFECT!!!!  We sat in a small room with other people until it was our turn.  They try to get through all the auditions pretty quickly, so I knew we wouldn't have much set-up time.  When it was our turn, some people helped me get our props into the room.  There were about 8 people sitting on an L-shaped couch.  There was a coffee table with snack foods on it.  And there was a man behind a professional video camera. 

A guy named Adam was being a mock reporter, and "interviewed" us.  He said "I hear you have an unusual dog here."  I said, "Yes, this is Jasmine.  She's pretty talented."  Then I showed 4 of her tricks, and he made funny little commentaries about it. She pushed the shopping cart (which was on business-style carpet, so it wasn't super fast, but you got the idea.)  Then we did the mailbox trick. (Bringing me the mail.)  Adam quipped "So does she rip up the junk mail?"  Then the suitcase trick (opening, then hiding in the suitcase until I say okay.)  Adam quipped "I see you've found a way to save on baggage fees!"  Then finally we did the Basketball trick.  (Making a slam dunk with the basketball.)  Adam commented, "Looks like you should start your own NBA team!"  It was nice having him making the small talk, because then I could just focus on the tricks!

For every single trick, Jasmine was SPOT ON.  I was SO PROUD of her.  Sometimes she'll look at me, and the basketball will go to the side of the rim.  Or she'll fumble trying to open the lid of the suitcase.  Or she'll try to bring me the mail, but drop it before I grab it.  But not this time.  She did EVERY SINGLE TRICK PERFECT!!   I finished our routine, and said thank you, and was back out in the hall.  What a whirlwind.  But it was fun!  

It was nice having my family around to distract me before the audition.  And so I really didn't start getting nervous until about 2 hours before the audition.  I texted my friend Lauren (who has the trick dog Paige.)  She told me "Don't be nervous!  Be yourself!  You can do this!  Just do what you do best and remember... WE LIKE DOING THIS!!"   LOL

That was hilarious to me- because that's exactly what I had told her the week before when Lauren had told me that she was nervous about Paige performing on a talk show!  Now here she was telling me the exact same thing I told her.  LOL.  It was what I neeed to hear.  I wasn't too nervous after that.  I really do like performing with Jasmine.  (Jasmine LOVES doing tricks.)  It's me who has to remember not to get nervous.  (Especially for auditions and live TV appearances.)  I love doing commercials and TV spots, because you can always redo anything that doesn't go perfect.  (and in fact, sometimes you redo shots that seem like they were perfect!)  So that's more my comfort zone!!   

After the audition, we headed straight for home.  Jaz was one tired baby on the drive home.  She just slept in my arms almost the whole way...  So we left on Sunday, and came back on Monday.  Yikes.  Crazy whirlwind trip.

But all in all, it couldn't have gone any better.  If they don't end up picking Jaz, that's okay.  It was a good experience overall.  And like I said, Jaz did everything perfect.  So they'll either want to use her or they won't.   But I won't have any regrets.  She was awesome.  :)