This past week I spent a lot of time out on Long Island, not on the beautiful lakes and parks but indoors, watching a totally different kind of beauty...people's imaginations and messages come to life...on the big screen.

You see last week was the East Coast version of the Sundance Film Festival... The Long Island International Film Expo (now in it's 10th year) where 147 independent films from all over the world were screened over an eight-day period at the Bellmore theater, all hoping to walk away with a festival award in their perspective categories.

I had been involved in last year's festival when "The Signs of the Cross" won best film...that's the movie where I played a fast talking real estate agent –yeah I know, a real acting stretch... (You can see that clip on my website under my acting reel if you like.)

Anyway, this year, I was involved, not only as an actress but in three ways total:
I was the host of a documentary film called, "4000", a film by director Mike Arbouet that I wrote about in a previous blog. The film has an anti-smoking message revealing the 4000 plus toxic chemicals that are in each and every cigarette.
I was asked to by the Nassau County Film Commission to be an award presenter at the Awards Ceremony Gala to present an award to one of the winning films or honorees.
I decided to make this whole event into an episode for my new reality show called Fran's World that is shown on the RockMetv.com network.

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Even though I love my work (and most of my "work" might as well be a hobby since it's what I would do, if I weren't doing it for a living anyway), I still on occasion just go out and do something without thinking about writing, blogging or doing a TV show about it. Which of course is weird because now I am about to write about this very thing for my blog...the thing that I said I wouldn't write about but was doing just for fun....are you following this?

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As a performer you have to be able to pull your act together no matter what is happening in your life. To do that you have to be in the moment, the present moment onstage or the audience knows it. (Actually you should be in the moment in everything you do...can you imagine gazing into your loved ones eyes, eating dinner and thinking "Oh man, I forgot to change the cat litter"...would kind of ruin the moment.)

The bottom line is, when you are in the moment...you feel the energy of your work and your surroundings. Depending on what type of show you are doing, it can also affect your mood. (Face it, the cast in Wicked, is not in the same frame of mind as Death of a Salesman.)

Well this weekend my performance ability was put to the ultimate test.

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With all the means of fancy advertising, sometimes word of mouth still seems to be one of the best methods of getting booked. Such was the case with my latest gig where I was asked to be the keynote speaker presenting my Dare to Do it! Talk in front of a room full of world-class surgeons, breast cancer survivors and businesswomen who just needed a nice weekend away from the hubby and family.

Turns out a women by the name of Kendra from Fry Foods had seen me speak a year before with Sweet Connection at the Women's Expo and recommended me to John C. Lincoln hospital as their keynote for this two day stress relieving event in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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