Happy 5th Birthday Hollywood the Write Way! I can’t believe it has been 5 years already! Let’s take a look back on the years…

2008 in a NutshellIn June 2008, I moved to Los Angeles (I am hoping to move back to LA by the end of this year, third time is the charm so fingers crossed!) and was fortunate enough to meet Kristen Bell, the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Oscar Nuñez, Brea Grant, Kaitlin Olson, and Greg Grunberg, among others. The Screenwriting Expo was a great experience. I was a fan in the bleachers at the Emmy Awards red carpet. Talk about fulfilling a bucket list moment. And in July, as usual, I went to San Diego Comic Con. (I’ve created a San Diego Comic Con Tips Guide for any newbies.)

In August, I finally came up with a name for the blog, Hollywood the Write Way. With a name, I was ready to dive into all of my plans for the blog. My first interview was with the band, Everlife. I also interviewed Lelia Broussard who you may have seen on NBC’s The Voice last season, a handful of Def Poetry Jam Poets, Shoshanna Stern (Jericho, Weeds), Nikki SooHoo (The Lovely Bones), Schuyler Fisk (The Babysitter’s Club), Scott Krinsky (Chuck), Amber Stevens (Greek), and Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight), among many others.

2009 in a NutshellStill living in LA, I spotted Kathy Griffin and when I moved back to the East Coast later in the year, I was able to go to the Gleek Tour when Glee was still taking over the mass media. I was also invited on location before White Collar premiered on USA and interviewed Jeff Eastin, Stephanie Maslansky, Willie Garson, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, and Matt Bomer & Tim DeKay. I also interviewed ABC Family stars during a 25 Days of Christmas Bryant Park event.

I interviewed singer/songwriter, Keaton Simons, NYT Bestselling Author, DJ MacHale (Pendragon), Erin Bethea (Fireproof), Bevin Prince (One Tree Hill), Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Cory Monteith & Naya Rivera (Glee) Magda Apanowicz (Kyle XY, Caprica), Natalie Distler (Rescue Me), Ali Liebert (Harper’s Island), Joe Manganiello (One Tree Hill, True Blood), Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal on Broadway), Arden Myrin (Mad TV), Lance Reddick (Fringe, Lost, The Wire), and Ming-Na (Stargate Universe) among others.

2010 in a NutshellI moved back to LA in the summer and was fortunate enough to visit The Grammy Museum shortly after it opened its doors, I marched with the No8 Campaign during the LA Pride Parade, met Jane Espenson, covered Demi Lovato’s Mall Tour and a handful of TV tapings, one of which was a taping of The Big Bang Theory thanks to a Hollywood the Write Way reader and now friend, Jackie who noticed one of my TBBT tweets.

As usual, I attended San Diego Comic Con. I was invited to Blogger Prom which was a ton of fun! Back on the East Coast, I was invited to the set of NBC’s short lived show, Mercy which I absolutely adored & Syfy Upfronts which I had a blast at. Syfy has been so good to me over the years! God, I love Syfy! I also went to The CW Upfronts, reviewed Love, Loss, & What I Wore Off Broadway a few times, and Time Stands Still on Broadway.

I interviewed singer/songwriter, Rachael Lampa, screenwriter, Karen Lutz (10 Things I Hate About You), singer/songwriter, Maile Misajon, singer/actress, Adrienne Bailon, Eden Sher (The Middle), Julia Ling (Chuck), CaCee Cobb, David Blue (Stargate Universe), Alaina Huffman (Stargate Universe), Tamera Mowry (Tia & Tamera), Sarah Hyland (Modern Family), Christine Lakin (Step by Step), Robbie Jones (Hellcats, One Tree Hill), and Tiffany Hines (Nikita) among others. I also started Young Insight.

2011 in a NutshellI interviewed the directors of African Cats, Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, Stephen Amell (Arrow), the original cast members of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and singer/songwriter, JoJo who I had been dying to interview since I started the blog. MyTakeOnTV blogger and friend, Amrie saw one of my tweets about my love for The Chew and reached out to me to cover a set visit which was so much fun! Thanks again, Amrie! There was also a handful of conference calls that I participated in including those with Hilarie Burton (White Collar, One Tree Hill), Alison Haislip (The Voice, Attack of the Show), Callie Thorne (Necessary Roughness) and Amy Smart (12 Dates of Christmas).

One of the biggest highlights of the year was being invited to the Syfy Digital Press Tour and having them shut down The Wizarding World of Harry Potter just for us! That was pretty awesome. Especially since the Syfy actors tagged along, so I was in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Rhys Ifans who played Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna Lovegood’s father in the Harry Potter movies. Talk about surreal! I also reviewed Wonderland on Broadway which wasn’t that great but Carly Rose Soneclar who came in second place on Fox’s The X Factor this season was in this show then. Much better was Next to Normal on Broadway which I did not review but I did review Next to Normal on tour as well as Billy Elliot, and Jersey Boys on tour.

2012 in a NutshellI interviewed Christa B. Allen (Revenge), Morgan Spurlock (Comic Con Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope), and Author, Victoria Schwab (The Near Witch) among a handful of others. I participated in my first read-along and blog tours. Through networking, I was able to write for BuzzFocus for a year and went from writing a little paragraph about One Tree Hill’s 100th episode on the blog to a full on love letter over at Buzz Focus come time for the series finale.

I attended USA Upfronts, BEA, & San Diego Comic Con. One of the biggest highlights of the year, if not the biggest highlight was getting to review Hair on tour. I could see Hair on stage everyday for the rest of my life and it still wouldn’t be enough. I closed out the year seeing Cirque Éloize iD.

Interesting Tidbits
Since 2008, I have conducted approximately 280 interviews and written approximately 1,290 reviews. My TV reviews have evolved from this TV Week in Review format to this advanced review of Fringe. Notice how I gave up on Fringe back in 2008, tired of the case of the week format. As you can see, I changed my mind about that and boy am I glad I got back into the show and stayed with it all the way to its series finale. Movie reviews evolved from this review of Eagle Eye to this Blu-ray review of We Bought A Zoo. Book reviews evolved from this review of Escape by Carolyn Jessop to this review of UnWholly by Neal Shusterman. And finally, music reviews evolved from this Lelia Broussard Live Coverage to this American Idol Tour Coverage.

Over the past five years, I have enjoyed blogging about some of my favorite TV shows, many of which have ended including Leverage, Chuck, Terriers, Lights Out, Rescue Me, Caprica, Heroes, Ugly Betty, Dollhouse, United States of Tara, Better Off Ted, Mercy, Samantha Who?, and Pushing Daisies. I know I am missing a lot but these came to mind first, so if you haven’t seen any of the above, make it a point to do so. These are incredible shows! I also discovered a host of indie films that I otherwise would not have heard of without the power of social media recommending this rather than that at festivals and such and networking. I discovered new artists and new authors thanks to countless other blogs. I made some awesome blogger friends including Tara at TaraMetBlog, Colleen at Coll Writes, Jo at Jopinionated, Amrie at My Take On TV, Rae formerly of Ramblings of a TV Whore, Kenya, Rosie at Accidental Sexiness, Sammi at TVGrapevine, Melissa at The Televixen, & April at Monsters & Critics to name a few.

The above are just highlights, there is a ton more in the archives. That in mind, I am really looking forward to seeing where this year in blogging takes me. Thanks to all of the publicists, managers, and talent who have been so kind and gracious over the years. Thanks to everyone who reads Hollywood the Write Way, comments, and interacts on other social media platforms, Twitter especially. You all make this blog so much more than I ever could. Thank you, thank you, thank you!