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June 2016

My First Premiere

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Mission: “Range 15”, Zombie Veteran Movie and the Bad Asses involved with it.

Being the new girl at Jade Umbrella can be quite intimidating. For someone who loves Indie films, I was lucky to land at “Range 15,” a Veteran zombie movie directed by Ross Patterson and has raised $1.1 million via IndieGoGo. It stars a group of impressive military veterans; the Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell, Mat Best, Nick Palmisciano. Medal of Honor recipients Leroy Petry and Clint Romesha produced “Range 15.” It is the first ever veteran-made blockbuster. It was a just a privilege to be with that many decorated veterans at the same time, let alone a movie premiere and this was my own red carpet boot camp. My respect for veterans is deep. Grandfather served the US Army in Korea and my Father-in- Law served in the US Air Force in Vietnam. So when I found myself surrounded by these veterans, actors, producers, and writers; you can imagine how nervous I was. To say that I had overthought the event would be an understatement. Like Scar from the Lion King, I like to be prepared. I stressed out way too much before the event about what I was going to be wearing. I lost sight of what was more important. I got a specs sheet with everyone’s picture on it and their names. These specs sheets are for the media, a “Who’s Who” tool for the event, but I wanted to feel a lot more confident knowing everyone’s name. I wish I had researched everyone like Anne Hathaway’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada.” At the “Range 15” pre-party I got to meet so many people and even met veterans who came out to support the movie even though they were not personally involved. This is where I got to really have a lot of fun taking pictures of everyone.

20160603_213550(Me with a Veteran who came to show his support)

20160603_210356(Weston Scott from “We Are The Mighty” interviewing Mary “WonderNubs” Dague)

20160603_21425320160603_21115820160603_204928(Some candid shots of Jessie Wiseman, Jarred Taylor, Vincent “Rocco” Vargas, Mindy Robinson, and Siva Kaneeswaran)

Soon we were to leave to the Vista Theater for the red carpet. I drove my own car. I also do not have an Uber account. I found great public parking in the heart of the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Score! But now I could have gotten stuck walking to the Theater 2 blocks away in 5-inch heels. No thank you, Uber to the rescue! You can guarantee I have an account now. The thought of being anywhere near the infamous red carpet sent me into to a bad episode of “Fashion Police.” I opted for wearing 5-inch heels. They look fabulous and are comfortable for about 3 hours. I was not going to be the focus of these pictures and lost sight that I should be more concerned with everyone else looking fabulous. Those 5-inch heels became the bane of my existence. I had asked permission when I was hired to wear comfortable but fashionable footwear, but when the email came with dressing guidelines, I took “wear heels” a little too literally. As a result, my toes were numb for 5 days. I wish I had the flip-flops I drove in or the beautiful pair of Gracie Dr. Martin’s I had planned on wearing. These are the most beautiful Dr. Martin’s I have ever seen. They should make a line of footwear just for publicists. Look at those fabulous heels below. Ouch!

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(Logan Stark, Black Rifle Coffee and Melissa Jensen, Producers)

I longed for my digital camera at home because I could not compete with large professional flashes. Below is an example what happens when my tablet has to compete with a professional camera flash. The digital cameras these days come with BlueTooth Technology I can upload and post to social media right away. I’d splurge on the waterproof camera. I’ll need it for kayaking and swimming with sharks (more on that later). I carried my Samsung Note Tablet, Samsung Phone, and left my backup charger plugged in at home because I was so nervous. Halfway through the event, my phone died. Luckily I had my tablet to continue taking pictures but I wish I had my backup charger.

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(Bo Roses, costume designer for Range 15)

I learned that I need to be aware of my surroundings and where everyone puts their belongings. Everyone from Jade Umbrella is “slating” stars, taking pictures, and helping everyone and I kept an extra eye on personal belongings to help everyone involved. There is a lot of action and there may not be security. I took the initiative with anything I saw unattended. Paparazzi are not friends and may show up and spoil the fun. I learned to care of celebs. There may not be much we can do other than warning that celeb where paparazzi is lurking or plan to have them walk a different route but that is still better than nothing. I wore an engraved dog tag style necklace that my aunt got all her nieces in my grandfather’s honor to the event. As the night progressed I got more comfortable with conversation by wearing those dog tags. This was good because I asked for my first celeb selfie. Trevor Snarr, one of the actors in “Range 15” also who served 7 years in the air force AKA “Don” (“Summer Weedley’s” boyfriend) from “Napoleon Dynamite” was nice enough to take a selfie with me, not only with his camera but texted it to me since my phone died.

Getting comfortable with this experience was getting better as I shared with everyone that this was my first time. Now, “Range 15” is the #2 comedy in the nation. So far, the butterflies I had in my stomach still have not gone away. Every review I see, every tweet, or blog; I cannot believe how much I lucked out to see this milestone for the Military community.

-La Vida Verde