Slow week, but I saw my sister!!!

Last time I left you I was getting ready to be part of a student film entitled "Syrup Attacks." We filmed it overnight last Thursday and Friday in a Bristol Farms grocery (really nice grocery. Really overpriced), and it was so much fun! There was an entire crew for lighting, camera work, etc, and it was so great getting to know all of them. I'll post the video somewhere once it's completed, so you'll get to see that. Should be pretty hilarious.

As I also told you, I worked as Neil Patrick Harris' stand-in this past Monday. It was for a TV Land Awards promo commercial introducing Neil as the host of the awards and showing some of the stars who would be in attendance. I was there to stand-in for Neil while they set up lights and tested the camera, etc. There's lots of tedious things that have to be done, and they don't want the "talent" to have to stand there and wait while they set up. It was super easy, and I kind of felt bad that I wasn't doing more to help out. Guess someone had to do it, though! The crew was really great, and I loved working with them. Once Neil got there and was ready to film, I just sat back and watched everything. It's fascinating to be on a set and see how things unfold. I've learned that editing is HUGE! They can piece together so much stuff that I have no idea what the final commercial will look like. Plus, it was filmed on a giant green screen stage, so I'm even more clueless on what will be going on. Neil was really cool and funny, too. Seems like a nice guy. I didn't get to talk to him much, but I shook his hand and introduced myself. Played it chill. Haha!

Also, my sister came into town (well... came to Costa Mesa. About an hour away from me) on Sunday night for a business meeting, so I drove down to meet her once filming wrapped with Neil. It was SO GOOD to see her and just relax for a bit! I'm pretty crazy and my sister is pretty crazy, so when we get together we're just ridiculous. Monday night I went with her while she tried on wedding dresses, and that was hilarious! I'll just say that at one point she was laying on the ground in a wedding dress with her feet up in the air. Don't believe me? Ok... here you go:



I told you we were crazy. The salesman had no idea what to do with us. Here's a normal picture of us:



Ok, seriously. Here's one:



That night we just ate an extremely overpriced meal in the hotel restaurant (though, it was good) and then hung out in the room. I waited around until Rebecca was done with meetings on Tuesday and then we headed to Newport Beach! We ended up renting a bright yellow, double-seater bicycle and rode along the beach. It was amazing... and we looked like idiots. Haha!




After that, we drove around for a bit and then went to eat in Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach did NOT live up to the hype. It's a kind of sleepy, residential town. Nice enough, but not too exciting. Oh well.

Sadly, Rebecca had to head back home on Wednesday morning, so she didn't get to come to my apartment here in LA. That means she'll have to come back soon, though! I really do hope my family gets to come out here soon. I miss them, and it'd just be fun to show them around. It's such a cool city, and it'd be fun to have them here. Not sure if that'll happen, though, considering how far away it is.

The rest of this week has been spent waiting to get booked for some extra work jobs and not getting booked. Fun, huh? No. I guess the Lord just wanted me to have some time to slow down and remember to trust Him. I actually had a great time last night with a group of college students from Oregon (a friend of mine, Aubrey, has a sister thats with the group doing mission work in Compton, so thats how we connected with them) at this inner city church. There were some special musical artists there, who were... different. All the students had such a great energy and passion for Christ, which was really encouraging to see. I loved talking with them and sort of feeling like I was back on some youth group mission trip. Man, I miss those days of careless living! After we went and got some pretty disgusting shakes at some shady place in Inglewood, Aubrey and I took the Red Dragon (thats what I call her car. It's a bright red firebird) to Santa Monica and jumped in the ocean! It was so random and spontaneous and freezing cold. I loved it!

Today I just went and read a little up at Runyon Canyon up in the Hollywood Hills. It's so awesome! Tons of people go up there to run or take their dogs on walks (there's dogs everywhere), and there's usually a few celebrities. I finally got booked for some work tomorrow, so I'll be shooting some promo for MTV where I'll be a male gymnast. Haven't done any tumbling in quite some time, so this could be interesting. I think I've still got some in me if they need it! We'll see.

Alright. I'm done. Hopefully I'll have some more jobs lined up for this next week, so I'll keep you updated!

Robby

My First Feature Film!

... as an extra. Which is still fairly exciting to me! It was the new "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" movie. Booya. And I'm not kidding about the "Squeakquel" part. It kind of frustrates me how Alvin gets all the attention. Why is that? Just cause he has some sweet hoodie now? I don't like it. Not one bit. I have a feeling Simon and Theodore will eventually revolt or just become heavily addicted to some life altering substance... as will Alvin. It's sad, really.

Anyway, I won't tell you all the good secrets (like I know any), but I will tell you that the chipmunks have made it to high school! Alvin is of course doing great. Voted "Most Popular," class president, prom king, etc. Simon is goth. And Theodore is flunking out and got his girlfriend pregnant. Just kidding about the majority of those statements... I hope. All I really know is that I got paid to sit around on a beautiful sunny day for 8 hours in the quad-like area on the campus of Cal State with snacks and a full lunch and then go sit in a high school auditorium for 4 hours and pretend I was watching imaginary chipmunks perform. Seriously?!?! Yes... seriously. I did this along with 350 other extras. 350 x $8/hour x 14 hours (including overtime) + catering = $40,000 (approximately... and thats not including SAG extras who get double the pay of non-union extras). Wow. I hadn't thought about that until just now as I typed it all out. Thats insane.

It really was a fun day, though. My new friend Phillip was also booked as an extra, so we hung out most of the day and ended up having a really great conversation with a girl who was an atheist. It's so cool/frustrating to see that we as humans can do nothing to draw others to Christ. We can present the message of who He is and what He's done for us, but He has to be the one to open their hearts to that truth. I'm not sure how our conversation will impact the girl (her name was Kara), but I really do hope the Lord softens her heart. She was a really sweet girl. Sadly, I haven't taken many opportunities like that to share my faith, but it was so great! It's definitely good to have your faith challenged to really think about what you believe and why you believe it. I was really convicted to hide the Word in my heart more and be more intentional about sharing with others. I have no doubt He'll provide plenty of opportunities!

More exciting news... I booked work to stand-in for Neil Patrick Harris, which means that I'll literally stand-in for him on scenes when the crew is setting up lighting and shots so that Neil doesn't have to be there doing that tedious stuff. I am SO thankful to have gotten this position because it pays a good bit more than extra work, and I definitely need the money to cover my bills. As far as I know I'll only be booked for that one day (this coming Monday), but I guess there's a chance they might use me again for other work Neil does. That would be so great!

I'm also beginning a shoot for a student film tonight. We're filming it in a grocery store tonight and tomorrow night from 10pm to 4am. Crazy, I know. I'll just have to sleep during the day for the next two days! It's going to be a really fun shoot, and the story line is hilarious. Hopefully I'll be able to post the final video on here or something. The basic outline of the story is that 3 people are going to have a all out battle for the last remaining bottle of chocolate syrup. Should be interesting.

I still have moments of extreme homesickness and gut fears wondering what I'm doing out here, but as I've said so many times the Lord has been SO incredibly faithful to show me that this is definitely where I'm supposed to be for now. I have no doubt that He has a plan, and even though I don't know where His plan is leading I'm following as best I can. He is good. So good.

Love and miss you all... unless I don't know you... or if I don't like you (but there's very few of those people out there, and I doubt they're reading this blog),
Robby

Full-time Extra

After talking with a friend of mine who's out here doing extra work full-time, I'm going to try and pay my bills by doing purely extra work. I didn't think it'd be financially possible for me to survive on just background work, but if I get consistent work then it should work out. I'm excited about this because it's flexible, I enjoy it, and it allows me to be on movie and tv sets and learn from watching! Just pray I get enough work to pay my bills!

This past week I was booked for a Bollywood film that I learned today has been cancelled. Pretty frustrating. We had two days of rehearsal because we were gonna be part of a wedding dance scene. So, I spent two days learning choreography and not doing extra work to have the project cancelled. It's not nearly as bad for me as it is for everyone who's been involved in the project thus far. That would be miserable.

On Thursday, I got to work on the pilot for a show called "Lily." It's a spin-off of "Gossip Girl" set in 1983. I was part of a huge group of extras who were dressed as 1983 rockers. I was put into some maroon pants, a torn up maroon, blue, green, and tan knit sweater with diamond design, maroon suspenders, and black boots with yellow snakeskin accents. I looked ridiculous. Then they put a ton of eye makeup on me that made me look like David Bowie. Hilarious. Most of the day was spent sitting in this shady warehouse south of downtown LA where I met quite a few interesting people. We filmed in this basement room that had been spray painted with graffiti and stuff to look like a club scene. We were supposed to be rocking out to the band "Snowed Out" which actually turned out to be "No Doubt." I'm serious. I was in the same room as Gwen Stefani and the rest of No Doubt filming a TV show. Where the heck am I?! Haha! The lead character is played by Brittany Snow, so it was pretty cool to see her. The episode will air on May 11, so be on the lookout!

I also met some really fun background actors toward the end of the night, so we had a lot of fun acting like idiots together. My "background family" as we began calling ourselves consisted of Joy, Sarah, Michael, and me. They were hilarious, and I hope we get to work together again soon.

This week Jared DeVirgilis and his girlfriend Rachel also came in town! I can't believe that I've already had two of my friends come and visit LA since I've been here. It's been really good to have them come and make it feel a bit more like home here. I showed them all the usual LA tourist spots, and I think Jared is now in love with the city. He says he's really gonna consider moving out here, so it'll be interesting to see if anything comes of that. I have a feeling his parents would definitely not be too fond of that idea!

Oh my gosh! Speaking of family... my sister Rebecca got engaged on Friday! Many of you don't know my sister's story, but it's quite interesting how God has moved in her life and all of our lives over the past year. He's definitely been a source of unbelievable strength through a very difficult time for her and our family. It's just so incredible to see how the Lord's plan is worked out. She's engaged to a guy named Lance McCord (this means they'll be two Lances in the Stone family. My other sister Rachel married a Lance), and he's been a great friend of hers since the 9th grade (although, he remembers her from when they were in 5th grade together... crazy, I know). I have a feeling that he's always had a crush on her. Of course, everyone had a crush on Rebecca. If you've ever met her, you can see why. Anyway... he was a senior with her when I was a freshman at Grissom, and he was sort of my "big brother" on the track team. After I graduated and went off to Samford, he would apparently stop by my parent's house and visit with them from time to time even though all of us (the kids) were gone. How awesome is that?! So... after years of being separated and many life experiences later, they met back up and something was different about their relationship. They started dating, and I'm pretty sure they knew right away that this was it. I have no doubt that Lance loves her more than any other guy ever could, and I'm so excited for them! Also, Luke absolutely loves Lance, which makes everything even better. Here's a picture of the two of them from Christmas:


And another one of Luke, Rebecca, and Lance (they're crazy):


Alright. I'm gonna end on that news, cause it can't get any better! Hope you're all doing well, and I'll post again soon!

Robby

More to Come

It's been a pretty busy past few days, and I'll elaborate on that soon, but I thought it might be time for a "Celebrity Sighting Update!!!"

Don't forget. They're people just like you and me. It's just fun to keep track of who I see.

On Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills:
- Elizabeth Berkley

In Kitchen 24 (such a good restraurant):
- David Moscow

In church at Bel Air Presbyterian:
- Billy Bush

On the set of "Chuck" filming at Hollywood First Presbyterian:
- Chevy Chase
- Zack Levi

At the House of Blues in Hollywood:
- Matt Wertz

On a street corner in Hollywood. No... he's not a hooker. He was doing an interview:
- Cooper Anderson

On the set of "Lily" filming at some shady warehouse south of downtown:
- Brittany Snow
- Gwen Stephani (plus all of "No Doubt")

Hope to tell you about the past few days soon! I'm heading out now to hang out with Jared DeVirgilis and his girlfriend Rachel. They drove out here this week! I have the greatest friends ever. Seriously. I miss you all!

Robby

Why do I not trust Him sometimes?

God is SO GOOD! Like I just posted earlier, I signed up with Extras Management today, and they just called and have already booked me for work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! It's for an Indian film, and I'm gonna be part of a big dance number. Are you serious?! That's my dream! And I'm being serious! Tuesday and Wednesday will be rehearsal days and then filming will take place on Thursday. Unbelievable. I just had to share that. God really is so good.

Robby

Job Search

That was the theme of this past week... the job search. And, oh, how fun it is! I spent hours online submitting my resume and searching for jobs and also applied at 6 restaurants. Have I heard back from any of those efforts? Um... no. Right now definitely isn't the time to be looking for a job, but you've got to try, right? I should be completely stressing out, and I admit that I have my moments of panic, but the Lord has been so good in keeping me calm and focused on the fact that He alone can provide. I trust He will.

So, since last week's search was seemingly unsuccessful (obviously the Lord has other plans), I decided to pursue extra work full-time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to make enough money to pay the bills while just doing extra work, but after talking to a friend currently doing full-time extra work, I think it's possible to live off of it! I'm really excited about this because I really do enjoy doing extra work and just being there in the industry. I signed up with Extras Management which is a calling service that books extra work for you so that you don't have to call in and book yourself. This will be EXTREMELY helpful to me because it's really frustrating to try to call in and book yourself. Example... one time I called over 300 times getting a busy signal and when I finally got through the jobs were already filled. Not fun. It's also not fun that Extras Management will cost me $75/ month. Again... it'll be worth it. I hope.

I also met up with a new friend that I was connected to by Katlin Miller (pronounced Cat-lin... not Kate-lin. Get it right or pay the price... $200). Katlin is a friend of mine from high school and my roommate freshman year at Samford. He moved out to LA for a year after our freshman year and met a girl named Aubrey while he was here, so he connected us. I met up with her and a few of her friends at her church (Grace Community Church), which will probably become my new church home. It's where John MacArthur preaches, and when I told my parents where I was they were so excited. John MacArthur is my dad's favorite pastor, so he and my mom were so excited that his church is right up the road! It definitely makes them feel better knowing that I'll have a church home that practices solid, Biblical preaching.

Anyway. It was so good to meet up with Aubrey and her friends! They are extremely sincere and fun, and we had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them quite a bit and building some good relationships out here. It's been fun to start building a community out here.

I also got the chance to meet up with Joel Davis who is a friend of mine from Samford and UCF (University Christian Fellowship... our college ministry) who is now living with his wife in South Pasadena. He really is one of the nicest guys ever, and it was such an encouragement to talk with him about his current experience and what the Lord is doing in both of our lives through the move out west. I'm excited to see how God uses him. He's one of the most talented musicians I've ever known. I have a feeling there's big things ahead for him. I actually attended his church in San Marino on Sunday night and really enjoyed the tight-knit community they're building there. It's a bit too far for me to want to make it my home church, but it'll definitely be a place I want to go every once-in-a-while to reconnect with the people there.

Though it could have been a somewhat frustrating and discouraging week, God was so faithful in providing people and advice at the perfect time to help me refocus on the Lord and His goodness. My experience out here thus far has been completely different than I had expected, but I have consistently felt a calm and a peace about being here. I really don't have any idea where the Lord is leading me or what He wants me to do yet, but all I can do at this point is take small steps in the direction I feel He's leading. It's the most exciting and difficult test of faith I've ever been through, but I know He's growing me in ways I could have never grown.

All this to say... God is good.

Alright. Hopefully I'll be busy with 12 hour days on set doing extra work on random shows (hopefully some feature films!). I still haven't seen any of the shows that I've worked on yet, so it'll be funny whenever that happens. Keep praying that the Lord will provide some great opportunities and continue introducing me to wonderful friends. I appreciate the prayers more than you know! I miss all of you back in B'ham, and I hope to make it back sometime soon. Not sure what "soon" means yet, but we'll see.

Robby

A month into this thing.

So, I left Birmingham on my way to Los Angeles one month ago today. Strange, huh? I really can't believe its been that long already. Although, some days it feels much longer than a month. Life is funny like that.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend from B'ham come and visit LA this past weekend for her birthday. She stayed with Danielle Broome, and we had such a great time! Of course we hit all the usual Los Angeles hot spots (Hollywood and Highland, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica pier, Venice Beach, etc.), which is always fun. However, the best part about the weekend besides spending time with great friends was the celebrity siting. Yep. We saw a few this weekend... and I saw some today. This is the best picture we had from the weekend:

First, we went to the House of Blues to see Matt Wertz perform on Friday night, and he was great! Honestly, though, the band that opened for Matt was my favorite part of the night (The Alternate Routes). The lead singer was unbelievable, and the music was really fun. Seeing Matt was kind of like seeing a celebrity. Kind of. Anyway... after the concert we headed over to Kitchen 24, which was awesome by-the-way, and as we were sitting there who walks in? David "Freakin'" Moscow. Ok, so I didn't really know his name right when I saw him, but I knew he was famous. Then it finally hit me... "Newsies!" He was the main kid in "Newsies" besides Christian "Anger Management" Bale. Awesome. You have no idea how excited I was unless you know how much I love "Newsies."

Saturday was spent doing some touristy stuff, which was fun. The next day I went to church at Bel Air Presbyterian, and who was sitting in front of me? Billy Bush (Another celebrity that I wouldn't have been able to name without some help). You probably know Billy from his work on Access Hollywood as a news anchor. He seemed like a really nice guy.

After church we went to Sprinkles to get some famous cupcakes and then heading over to Malibu for dinner at the Malibu Seafood Cafe. So good, but I felt so sick afterwards cause I ate so much. I had to go to sleep pretty early cause I had an 8:00am call for the show "Chuck" where I played a wedding guest. It was a long day, for sure, but I really enjoyed the cast and crew of "Chuck." They were really nice and appreciative of us (which is sometimes not the case when you're doing extra work), so it's always nice to work in that kind of environment. Plus, I was able to see the star of "Chuck," Zack Levi, and Chevy Chase stopped by for some reason. Random. It's always so funny to see these people out here, cause you feel like you know them, but you don't. And they'll probably never know who you are. Although, some of my friends here are good friends with Zack, so maybe he will know me someday. We shall see.

Oh. And please keep praying about the job search. I'm planning on spending time tomorrow applying to different places in hopes of finding a way to financially support myself while I'm out here. I wish doing extra work full time would provide me with enough money to cover the bills, but it just won't. I know the Lord has something for me, so now I've just got to be patient for Him to open the door.

Alright. This is long. I'm sure I left out something exciting. Oh! I did! We had a new roommate move in this weekend. The old guy (who was really nice and cool), Ben is his name, ended up moving out, but this awesome guy Josh moved into his place! I'm really pumped cause he seems like a really chill, great guy that will mesh well. God has been so faithful to take care of situations like that so far. He's incredible.

Oh my gosh! I don't know if I've talked about the "Garden of Oz" that we found in the Hollywood Hills, but Dwight, Danielle, and I found it the first Sunday I got here. The garden is right off of a road in the Hollywood Hills, and it's made of winding paths of brightly colored tiles and glass stones, jewels and random toys/ statues. I can't even begin to describe it. Anyway, the first time we found it, I put a note in the "Garden of Oz" mailbox requesting entry to the garden, but never heard anything. Well... watch the video below and you'll see what happened this time around.


Also, I miss my family and friends a whole lot. The newness and excitement of the move is beginning to fade away and the reality of the situation is hitting. It's tough. I have no doubt that this is still where I'm supposed to be, but that doesn't mean it's easy at all. I just hope they all know how much I love them.

OH! And I freaking missed the snow in Birmingham. That really does make me mad. Lord... you really are hilarious. I love snow so much, and it hasn't snowed in B'ham ONCE since I've lived there (No. I don't count tiny slivers of ice falling out of the sky as snow), and then right when I move it snows like crazy! What the heck?! I'm glad all my family and friends got to enjoy it for me, though. It really did make me sad to miss it.

I think thats it. Yeah... thats it.

I'll check in again soon,
Robby