Welcome to the Extra's Studio Blog

Hello out there! I am a background artist/extra (whichever term you would prefer to use) living in Los Angeles, trying to make it in the wonderful madhouse that is show business! I have been doing this line of work off and on since August 2007.

It all began when I set out for California on August 16, 2007 to pursue a career that I had dreamt about since the age of 7. About a week later, I registered with Central Casting and have been working mostly through them since. In late November, I returned to my home state for Thanksgiving and was basically iced in through Christmas, so needless to say, I didn't accomplish much that year. I came back in January 2008 ready for a great year and at first things were moving at a pretty good pace...

Then in early March, I received a call from one of my dad's friends saying that he had been taken to the hospital due to stomach pain. My dad was diagnosed with a perforated ulcer at a local Veterans' hospital and we were told that the surgery to correct this was relatively simple...all they needed to do was go in and patch up the hole, how hard could it be, right?

The day after the surgery, I spoke to my father on the phone and aside from sounding a little groggy from his pain medication he sounded fine. Still, I was concerned and asked if I needed to come home, and he insisted that he would be fine in a few days time, and that I should remain here. The next day, I received a call from the hospital saying that Dad had been rushed back into surgery because the work they had done had "come loose". Now I was really concerned, but that was only the beginning.

After his second surgery in two days, my dad's body went into shock. His kidneys began to shut down and he went into a coma...now there was no doubt that I had to come home. When I arrived, he was barely recognizable. His whole body was swelled up with the fluids that his kidneys were no longer filtering and his liver function had started to go as well. My mom and I were told that unless he received dialysis, he had a 5% chance of survival and since the hospital didn't have the equipment, he would have to be transferred to another hospital, as soon as a room became available.

Days went by, and still there were no free rooms in any of the other hospitals ICU's, or so they told us. After a week had passed, Mom finally became extremely angry and went to see the patient advocate in the hospital. He was not in his office at the time, but she called the number posted on the door and left him a voicemail explaining our situation. Whether it was coincidence or not, we will never know, but one hour after she left her message, a room became available at another hospital.

Dad spent over 7 weeks in ICU but he beat the odds and not only survived, but by the time we brought him home, it seemed that with a little physical rehab, he was going to be okay. His kidneys had fully recovered after 4 dialysis treatments and his overall recovery was pretty rapid considering the shape he was in when I first came home. After two weeks of being home, he had a major stroke and was taken back to the hospital.

Since the stroke, Dad has been totally dependent on my mom and me. He is unable to speak except a few words (mostly "mom", "yeah", "no", and alot of profanity since the emotional part of the brain was not damaged) and the VA had cut off his non-service related disability and getting anything out of them has been a constant battle since. We have been trying for years to get Post Traumatic Stress Disorder pension for him (he's a Vietnam vet) but so far have been unsuccessful.

Finally, at the end of July, we all came back to LA and have been here ever since. Even though it's been difficult, I still could not be happier that I'm here. Now that anyone who is reading this is probably totally in a bummer mood, how about I lighten up a little?

I may not have one of the highest paying or respected jobs in this town, but I love it anyway. I know I don't want to be doing background for the rest of my life, but I am happy with where I am right now. My short-term goal is to get in the unions and I'm more than half way there so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. :D I mean, how many other jobs would have the cool locations, celebrities, etc.? It's exciting for my friends and family back home to hear about different projects I've worked on...when I worked Hannah Montana the first time, I think I became my little cousin's hero haha.

My plan is to write here about every job I work in 2009. I don't know yet if I will have the commitment to do it, but I'm definitely going to try...I'm going to go watch Family Guy now, since my eyes are getting kind of blurry from staring at this monitor for so long.

Later!

A.A.