Got the call

On Wednesday we got the call, "Hi, this is LA Models and Talent, Lainie has an audition tomorrow for a Disney print ad. She'll need to be there between noon and 4pm." OK, what?? Tomorrow?? So I wrote down all the info, double checked it all with her, asked her a bunch of stupid questions (the poor girl that called probably thought they were stupid!) and we got moving. Had to pick out an audition outfit, do some laundry, pick Mason up from school, figure out school for him the next day, and call as many people as I could in a short time!! When I called Tulsa he suggested that we go the night before, so Lainie hadn't spent 5 - or 7 hours thanks to LA traffic- in the car right before an audition. Good idea seeing as how she occasionally gets carsick.

So we left around 5 that same evening. Traffic was horrible just getting out of town, and we made it to LA around 10-10:30. I thought, it's a Wednesday night, finding a hotel room should be no problem. WRONG!!! UCLA is just starting classes this week, so 6 hotels that we tried were all booked. We finally found a hotel close to midnight, good thing we didn't have to be at the audition early!

The next morning we had some breakfast and got Lainie all cleaned up. We found the audition place easily, it was close to our hotel. We got there at about 12:15, signed her in, and got ready to wait. There were a lot of little girls there, but they were moving quickly. They called Lainie's number about a half hour later so we went into the audition room. All Lainie had to do was pose for some pictures, they took 4 or 5, and we were done! Lainie stopped to talk with one of the casting agents, another high fived her on the way out. Not that I'm biased in any way, but I didn't see any of the other kids talking to any grown ups or getting any high 5's - I'm just saying...

After her audition I promised we'd go check out the ocean and get some lunch. We stopped at Santa Monica beach, beautiful! We were so hot and tired after our walk to the beach we decided to head home and get lunch on the way. All in all, it was a really fun trip with just us girls. Now we wait to hear if she gets picked! Hopefully it will happen within a week - but who knows...

Contracts and Agents

So we met with Dana at KFTDA to go over our contracts and figure everything out. Dana told us Ms. Kim Flowers- the owner of her acting school- had offered to be Lainie's manager. She takes on very few students, so again - another big honor! Lainie now has an agent in LA, and a manager here in town to help us through everything. Her job is to keep in contact with Lainie's agent, let us know about auditions, and answer our many questions. Both her agent and manager only get paid when Lainie gets paid, so it's good incentive to find our girl some work! They're pretty sure Lainie's going to be a star, it's crazy!! Now that contracts are signed and returned, we just have to wait for "the call" saying we need to be in LA for an audition.....

So then...

Audition call back lists take a week to 10 days. The last one, Lainie's first audition ever, she made the honorable mention list. Big honor, means that they liked her, but they weren't offering to represent her yet. About 10 made the call back list, and 10 on the honorable mention list.

Her second audition, the one where she yelled at the agent, was a different story. On this past Tuesday, we got an email. It was an e-contract from Tracy Dwyer at LA Models and Talent. No other information besides this contract. I printed it all out and read it, and the first 4 pages were "Welcome to LA Models and Talent" and what they needed right away. So Lainie's school called the next day and were like, "Did you get an email???" So I said yes, and I needed some help!! What do I do??

After Vacation

So we got home from vacation on the 18th of August. I called the KFTDA hotline when we got home. It's a number we're supposed to call every day, I was slacking on vacation. Turns out, on August 11th there was an "Audition Alert!" Tracy Dwyer from LA Talent and Models kids division would be at KFTDA Sunday, August 23rd. I called the school right away, and they had 3 spots left. Her audition time was 1:38pm on the 23rd.

We went to the audition, please keep in mind that Lainie has no idea what an "audition" is. She just knows that she'll have to do her slate and a commercial. ~Side note: Her slate is "Hi! I'm Lainie Crum, I'm 4 years old and I'm currently represented by Miss Kim Flowers." ~ She came out of the audition room yelling, "No! It ends with an E!!!" I'm not entirely sure to this day, but I think they were arguing about how to spell Lainie's LAST name. I just stuck my head in, said thanks, and we were on our way. Didn't think the audition went too well, but she said she had fun. That's what counts in our minds...

Lainie has had to do 2 photo shoots. When I say had, I mean was able to do 2 photo shoots. She Loved them. The photographer was super good with kids, and was all "Work it Lainie, you know it girl, you're the superstar!" Lainie sucked it all up and got right in to it. She got to change clothes and hair a bunch of times, and totally loved it all. She'd do a new photo shoot every week if we could afford it!! Here's some pictures from them...

So then...

By the time we got home that day, 30 minutes later, we already had a call from KFTDA. The message said, "This is Angelica from KFTDA, please give me a call back as soon as possible." All we could think at the time was, "Kim Flowers wants to be her agent!" (We didn't know at the time that she isn't an agent.) So I called them back, and they set an appointment for Monday.

Monday we went in, and Lainie was invited to be a part of the IMTA Convention in LA in January 2010. She was the only one of her demographic from KFTDA to be invited. It's the same convention where Katie Holmes and Ashton Kutcher were discovered. That's how much they love her. It's absolutely amazing the things they say about Lainie. "She's so special." "She's a natural." "All kids are cute, but she's just got that 'something'". They make me tear up every time they talk about her.

So we turned down this "huge" opportunity because it was REALLY expensive for her to go. I asked if she would be "blacklisted" if she didn't go, they said no. She finished her first set of classes on July 30th, we left for vacation that same night.

Classes and Auditions

Alright, so Lainie started classes on May 28th. She began with Commercials I with Mr. Jarvis, and Self-Design with Ms. Toni. She loved her classes and teachers and made lots of new friends. Her very first audition was June 28th. The day before, she took an audition seminar with Ms. Charlie at KFTDA. Ms. Charlie looooves Lainie. She's convinced Lainie's going to be a star. So she learned how an audition would go, and we left feeling excited for the big day (which was on the same day as her big dance recital - so it was a very big day!!)

The day of her audition, she had her dance recital first. Fun morning, her recital was adorable! We went to her audition and signed in. Then we had to wait, and wait.... They finally called her name, so we got in line to go into the audition room. Her audition was with Daniel Mayhan of eNVy models and talent. She went in, did her slate, performed a commercial for him, then pulled her dress up and flashed him! Oops! She was also asked to sing a song, so sang to him and Ms. Flowers (who was also in the room). When she came out everyone was smiling, Lainie again loved it! She lights up when she gets to perform for people! We were told it would take a week to ten days for the callback list to be posted.

The Beginning

So I wanted to document all that's been happening to our little Lainie. We're excited and nervous and happy and well, there's a million things going on right now. So here's what's been going on, from the beginning...

Back in March of 2009 we got a postcard in the mail advertising Pretty Little Princess Pageants. We thought it would be a fun thing for Lainie to do, it said every girl gets to be on stage, modeling 2 different outfits. All girls received a trophy, certificate, and flower just for entering. The winner of the pageant received a $250 savings bond. So we signed her up.

Lainie entered the pageant on May 17th and had a blast. She LOVED being up on stage! She was mad after the pageant - not because she didn't win- but because the winner got to wear a sash! (She wanted a sash too!!)

Two days after the pageant we got a call. It was a scout from Kim Flowers Talent Development Academy. They said they saw Lainie at the pageant and wanted her to come audition at the school. We thought, "Of course, they probably just called everyone..." Not so. There were 4 or 5 girls from her pageant that were at the open house, about 20 kids in all. So we learned about the school, the kids did on camera tests, then interviewed with a consultant. We were told if they were interested in our child we would receive a call by 11 AM the next day.

The next morning we waited and waited, thinking, "Of course, everyone probably gets a call back, why wouldn't they want our money?" (are we skeptics or what?) I was on the phone with my brother at 11 that morning, no call. I was whining to him, "Why wouldn't they want my Lainie? I'm so sure" (As he was calling me Dina Lohan - thanks Josh) At 11:03 the phone rings. It was the National Director of Kim Flowers TDA, offering the full year, unlimited classes. Turns out they loved Lainie, and she was the only one offered that block - everyone else was able to sign up for individual classes. So it was a big honor for Lainie, and she started classes there on May 28th.