 Hi, good morning. It is December 2nd and I'm about to go on a walk. But before I go on a walk, I wanted to quickly tell you the things that I have to do today. So you know what this vlog is going to be about. So today I am going to contact my agents for them to start thinking about what headshots they want from me next for a few different reasons so we can prepare better for 2021. And I'm going to be scheduling another headshot session with the headshot truck, which I worked with in July and I did my first session then and I want to do another one now. And I also want to share my Christmas wishlist for you for 2020 because I have a lot of acting related voiceover related things on my wishlist and I want to share them with you. So if you're an actor, you can share this video with your family, people that are looking to buy you something that's very useful, that you would appreciate or if you want to buy these for yourself for Christmas. My self-tape audition setup, I just realized I've had everything for at least a year and one of the items I've actually had for almost four years because I got it for Christmas four years ago. So I'm going to share all of that with you, but I need to go on a walk because I'm working from home and being sitting down, being inside all day is really starting to get to my body. I always feel tired like my blood isn't circulating right. So let's go on a walk. This year of course because of the coronavirus, everything slowed down a lot, but specifically I slowed down a lot in self-submitting because there's not a lot where you are guaranteed that they're going to be COVID conscious and a lot of the things that I have been self-submitting for, I only submit for it if it's filming at home remote or you can get tested day of, day before and it seems more safe because I don't want to get really sick for an acting job. I have been very cautious, but for 2021 I really want to ramp up the amount of submissions my agents submit me for, you know the amount of bookings that I get through my agents as well as get agents in LA so that I don't only have representation in San Francisco. My next goal is to get representation in LA and then after that expand to other cities as well. So when I contact my agents, I am going to ask them what headshots do you want next. The agent that was helping me last time told me that next time I get a headshot that we can do more young like best friend or college student because she says I can play mom or I can play a college student which I totally agree with. So I want some headshots with that and I did get these really cute pink glasses so I want to get updated headshots with these as well because the last headshots I took I had my black frames which are great for tech commercials. This is a little bit more quirky so I definitely want some headshots with these because I absolutely love these and I want some more, some more commercial headshots in general. Yeah I really want 2021 to be a lot more successful and I want to feel safe in these jobs. I also really really want some coffee right now but I've been so sensitive to caffeine lately and one of my fellow acting classmates for my online acting class that I'm taking right now she suggested I do matcha and I haven't had matcha in a really really long time so I'm gonna go get some matcha from Starbucks right now get a little one get a taste of it drink it slowly and see if I get anxious because I that's not what I want today. I'm waiting for my order to be ready and while I wait I wanted to tell you that this year my wishlist is a little bit different than it has been in years past because a lot of voiceover jobs are wanting you to have a professional setup or are looking to cast somebody that has a professional setup and I've been doing a lot of research for a while but specifically this year I learned about Laurie Burke who has done a lot of lives on backstage the backstage casting their YouTube channel as well as she has videos on her channel and she suggested a all-in-one package where it has everything you need in order to create a setup so I'm excited for all of the voiceover things that I have on my wishlist. For my wishlist I like to put prices of all categories because I know some people rather just get me one thing one nice thing and be done with it and I know other people like to be more creative and buy me a lot of little things the voiceover section of my wishlist does have some things that are cheaper 10 to 20 dollars and then there are some things like the one that Laurie Burke suggested in one of her videos that is a bigger you know all-in-one setup which is still a really great deal to be getting all of those items. Okay my order is ready so we will continue this conversation I got the matcha and I'm going to try it I haven't had I don't know if I've ever had a matcha latte from Starbucks I know I've had a hot one I know I've had an iced one years and years ago but smells earthy it also tastes earthy will I drink this again I really want some coffee I like coffee for the flavor and also the energy it gives me but anyways let's let's go back home and we can talk about the wish list so far this matcha has not gotten me jittery I feel that I have energy but I don't feel anxious or jittery or anything so this is doing good so far but the flavor I don't love the flavor maybe I should try matcha from a few different places before I give up on it entirely but it's time to talk about my wish list my Christmas wish list what's on my wish list as well as what is on my actor's essential list it's an ideal list on amazon that is public and of course I'm going to leave all of the links of everything in the description of this video but we're going to talk about amazon wish list subscriptions for actors as well as the small businesses that I want this holiday season so the last one the small businesses is not about acting and I'm going to leave that to the very last if you want to give somebody in general a gift there are some really great ideas in there and they're small businesses most if not all are also women owned so it's a great place to start your research if you want to shop small this holiday season also if you are going to purchase on amazon and you feel a little bit bad or you want to you know give your money to somebody to an individual versus a company if you do click on amazon affiliate links that person is getting a small percentage of the money that you spend so for example for me all of my links are affiliate links and I always label them in the description but if you start shopping through somebody's affiliate links such as mine if you click on any of the links in the description and then go shopping because amazon knows that I was the reason why you even went onto amazon they will give me a commission so it's you're still supporting a small business if you start with the youtubers link so if you know that somebody such as myself has affiliate links you can start your amazon shopping there and at least a little portion of it will go to an individual versus a huge company now let's start with my actor essentials list on amazon everything that I have acting related in my wishlist this year is on this list so I either have it or it's on my wishlist if I have it I'm going to show it to you unless I'm using it because I'm using my favorite tripod that's in here as well as my microphone but we're going to start with the cheapest thing it is this remote you can get it for about five dollars if you want a strap with it I have a nine dollar one on there because it's easier to hang on to unless you have pockets and it's fine this is a timer so when they are you or they are filming self-tape auditions or recording something they don't have to run to the camera to start and stop it so this is the remote and it's also a great stocking stuffer next is this pop filter and this one is only ten dollars and it's the one I used for my ASMR video a few weeks ago and I've seen some really expensive 160 80 dollars this is my first pop filter so I don't really have much to compare it to but the difference between the microphone without the pop filter and with this is a pop filter you hear the difference it's really good only ten dollars and if your stocking is big enough you can just fold it and put it in there the artist's way is a book it's eleven dollars on amazon it is on my list because whenever I read a thread or I'm following a thread of good books for actors or recommend me a book about acting the artist's way is always in there so I'm excited to hopefully get it for Christmas and I will of course make a video about it once I do read it for fourteen dollars you can get a garment bag and this is really really great when you get cast in something and you need to take clothes with you it has zippers at the bottom so I like to put my shoes in the bottom and then you can carry your things neatly it won't get dirty or wrinkled for fourteen dollars you can get jenice fisher book the actors the the actor's life a survival guide she wrote a really great book about her experience in Hollywood and how long it took her to even get a decent role and it really gives you a good glimpse into what acting is like this is a great book for any kind of actor beginner or veteran because I learned a lot from it and I could sympathize with a lot of the things that she went through for fifteen dollars you can get this audition book this book I have had for so many years and I had to actually purchase this in college so it is professor recommended and also belgica recommended for fifteen dollars you can get this other book it is the sanford meisner on acting book I have this on audible I have this hard copy and this is my favorite acting technique I recommended again for pretty much any level of actor for sixteen dollars you can get this really sturdy tripod mount that is able to accommodate pretty much any phone I love this when I first bought this I thought this is a little expensive for only amount because it's just a section for sixteen dollars but I love it so much that I have two if you have a latinx actor that you are purchasing something for or you are a latinx I have this monologue book for latinx people actors and it is a great introduction as well to anybody that is interested in literature in general because this book gives you monologues for female and male and it gives you information about the playwright so that you can learn about them and see other plays that they have written and be able to read other other work of theirs and this is twenty five dollars for twenty eight dollars you can get this tripod that is quite flimsy but it's cheap and usable I used it for all of 2017 and 18 and it was fine flimsy but it did its job for thirty four dollars you can get that backdrop stand that's right behind me the black you see and then for about thirty to a hundred dollars you can also get them the paper depending on the size this paper backdrop that's behind me is fifty three inches I purchased it at an actual camera camera store and it was about fifty dollars the next thing that I recommend is also on my small business wishlist because she is not a huge business I would say she's a one of the larger small businesses that I have chosen but it is a passion planner because actors of course we have a lot going on classes day jobs auditions depending on what size you get this is about thirty five dollars this is getting into the voiceover part of the wishlist this is on my wishlist this year it's fifty nine dollars and it is an absorption patch so that you can stand there when you're filming your voiceover auditions and it sounds great nothing is bouncing off the walls or the closet because usually we record these in the closet but this is on my wishlist and if if nobody buys it for me I am getting this the day after Christmas for sixty one dollars you can get this backdrop that has a gray side and a blue side I have this on my wishlist because one of my fellow members of the work I did this actress program I have another video on that but she bought this and I have been seeing this all over the place that I thought I want to try this out I want to see why so many of my friends have it personally I love the paper backdrops because I can get so many colors and I honestly love the way they look just this against the wall I know that's kind of silly but also for photos head to toe photos I can have that go all the way down but anyways this backdrop I'm definitely going to try it out and I would recommend it because we need a nice solid backdrop for our auditions for eighty five dollars you can get them a ring light and this already includes a mount to put your phone or your camera on but I have found that when you do that especially for the kind of filming that I do which is usually auditions or YouTube or you can see this much of my body it is a little bit too close because then the ring light is in my eyes or on my glasses which I'm trying to avoid right now but this is a ring light that I've had for four years and I am still using it all of it all the time right now it's actually behind me and I have some two other umbrella lights that I'm not including on here because the light bulbs I got them from another store but it is linked in the description as well and for eighty five dollars that ring light is great that's the one thing that I have noticed that changes in price a lot I have seen it for 112 I have seen it for 75 so all of these prices because it is amazon it tends to change of course and depending on the seller for seventy nine dollars you can get this amazing tripod that I'm using right now I actually purchased this tripod for my boyfriend last year for Christmas and I've never spent so much money on a tripod seventy nine dollars for a tripod sounds like a lot of money but one day I was like can I borrow your tripod and when I used it I loved it so much I'm using it right now it's very versatile it didn't come with a phone amount so I had to purchase the heavy-duty one I shared talked about earlier totally worth it I absolutely love it not flimsy at all solid sturdy I love it for ninety dollars you can get them an e-reader and you might be able to find cheaper versions that are totally fine but when you're on set a lot of the time they ask you to not have electronics out or not bring electronics with you to set and if you have a reader it's you're going to be able to read you can memorize your scripts and you can read random novels or books and be like this thing doesn't have a camera can I bring it with me to set and you guys if you're not an actor you've never been on set most of acting when you're actually on set is just waiting and you can get really really bored so you're gonna save you're gonna help their sanity if you get them this e-reader for a hundred dollars you can get this microphone and it is actually the microphone that I'm using right now the microphone that I use for self-tape auditions and I have seen this microphone between fifty dollars and right now it's saying it's a hundred so it really depends when you click on it but I have had this microphone for a little over a year right now I'm using it without the little fuzzy head but it also has that for two hundred and sixty dollars you can get them the whole voiceover shebang well minus the absorption pads but this Laurie Burke actually recommended uh if you guys don't know Laurie Burke I just found out about her this year and actually I just realized I worked with her a few years ago on a commercial um but on her channel she recommended this and it is the whole deal so it is essentially everything you need in order to film professionally at home if you're a beginner starter disclaimer I'm I've never had a studio of this caliber so I'm excited to either get it for Christmas or purchase it for myself um and then this plus the sound absorption I'm so excited I'll I'll show you guys when I get it if I get it so that's my list on Amazon now for subscriptions so actors we have a lot of different subscriptions it can get really really expensive so this next one you might not be able to necessarily purchase a subscription for them or you might not want to because you don't know which one they want which one would work for them so for this one I would suggest that you give them cash money solid money or Venmo or something and give it to them in a creative way so it doesn't feel like you're giving you're just giving the money or you're just giving them a gift card I would suggest that you figure out a way to give them some money and within that card or cute gift that you give them put the money and then maybe uh tie it with a little bow or a little note and say uh something about you know I I support your acting career I'm so happy that you're going for reaching for your goals etc and you can say here is a blank amount of money to go towards your subscription for backstage for example or LA casting SF casting differing depending on where they live they have a lot of different places actors access IMDB these are all places that actors have subscriptions for and they can get very very expensive I have a video on how much money I have spent so far this year on acting another subscription that I know every actor can use so you can just go ahead and buy it for them is the headshot truck and I actually did a video with them and I collaborated with the headshot truck um in July and I had a great experience with the headshot truck so I hundred percent recommend them right now because of COVID they're only able to do stuff in LA in their studio as well as now they have outdoor photos that you can do um but they have a subscription it's $50 a month which is great because you can get up to six shots for the whole year but you can go to their website and figure out how much money that that would be because you can get them a one-time thing or you can get them a subscription and headshots I mean every actor needs headshots even if it's your first day acting or your 10th year acting you're going to need headshots okay now for the non-actor but for everybody gift ideas I have a bunch of different shops most of these I either know somebody that's in it or they're women owned but let's start with the first one the first one is shop del Carmen I actually met her through um online just were social media friends and through we excel which is a non-profit but she has a bunch of really great accessories she just celebrated her second anniversary um for her online store she's so sweet she also has a youtube channel I'm actually going to feature her at the end of the video if you guys want to go check her out um and she has really cute clothes she's a Latina she owns the store herself and I have a few of her items on my wishlist oh and let me tell you this spreadsheet that I created for my family I put the price range so in case they you know they have a budget or they just want to buy me one more little thing then they can look on here for the price and then items that I like I listed items specifically from that website that I like and if there's any discount codes I also included them there so they could take advantage of that so for shop del Carmen uh I put some stuff and let me show you uh her clothing she has this really cute cute shirt where it says cafecito which means coffee or like little coffee so adorable she's so cute okay the next one is soaps from etsy and this is a black owned business uh at the beginning of the year there were a lot of black owned businesses list going around so I went ahead and favorited them at the beginning of the year and now they're still on there so I have some soaps on there handcrafted by Kate 510 these are really cute earrings oh she just added some more stuff I again I favorited a few of these she has some really cute new designs that look like knitted sweaters but they're earrings the next one it are masks specifically mask with cacti on them or plants copper coffee even though coffee is making me really jittery now I know I'm going to be able to enjoy it hopefully in the future or my boyfriend can enjoy these but I didn't want to take it off my wish list this is also female owned she's a Vietnamese woman um sustainable coffee it's I believe this is called like pour over coffee um really delicious Vietnamese coffee so good also so strong and the last one is black girls code I put a section on my small businesses wish list that they can donate any amount of money on my behalf or in my honor so those are all of my Christmas wish list items ideas um let me know if you have any other great ideas for actors um and now I need to get ready for my acting class because it's going to start in a couple of hours and I still need to make dinner cook dinner and be ready for the class thank you so much for watching I'll see you tomorrow for day three of vlogmas at the end of every video I feature another channel today like I said I'm going to feature Moisa um is that how you say your channel name I don't know anyways she's an owner shop del Carmen go check her out if you would like to be featured on my next video make sure you're subscribed like this video and leave me a comment