i haven't updated yall in a minute so here goes...

business for me at The Cutting Room is really picking up...I have a couple of jobs in the works. My website is up and running thanks to Robert Thomas!!!!! (www.thecuttingroompost.com) And seriously, people are interested in hiring me solely from the snazz and pizzaz of the website...My portfolio isn't even up yet.

Dance rehearsals start September 4th (www.lacontemporarydance.org). I'm trying to get my mind right...Hopefully, I can be featured/get a solo or something...but I'm excited about it...Hopefully the choreography will be the bomb.

I'm getting a new hairdoo...I'm ready for a change...and yall know I hardly do my hair anyway.

Um...been doing alot of assistant editor type things at work...and if I have down time, I practice on what I've learned so in the event that I may be asked to do something, I can execute it quickly.

I'm in the market for a used car...Boogie is struggling...but he's gonna hold on until i get a new one.\

im running out of things to say...oh...i went to see a friend, charles jones, perform with reeve carney at molly malones...oh mi gosh...i think he may be one of my favorite singers now...and his sister can blow...his brother can play...he's the bomb...his music is not generic and neither are his lyrics...seriously, i was blown away and stayed til the end and after to hang out with charles even though i had work at 8:30 in the morning...it was all worth it...you only live once right? (well i meant in these earthly bodies)

oh...one of the producers told me he wanted me to learn posting and prepping...definitely a good sign because these are the responsibilities of an ASSISTANT EDTIOR!!!...and i told him that i learned how to do layoffs (from an assistant editor) and he said, "that's great!" so even though i didnt actually sit with an editor today...(referring to previous post...i never made it back there)...i still had some substantial progress today...so tomorrow, ill start learning that stuff...ask someone to teach me...and ill have my notepad in hand...God is good.

my oh my...i haven't updated in a minute...we have a new office manager and she is PURE AWESOMENESS...praise God from whom all blessings flow. I've been spending more time with the editors...learning....

I turned in the radio spot today. The client loved it. It's airing August 1-3. This is the second spot I've done for them. Now if they'd hire me again, that would be great....like tomorrow.

This past weekend, I was on cloud nine. I have a boyfriend now...officially and he's great. He was in LA this weekend and I had to play tour guide...it's been a long time coming for us.

My social life has picked up in the last few weeks...I've been going to shows, hanging out with people, and having to turn down invitations...

I need to step my game up though...with my company and at my other job. So with that, I'm about to go bug an editor or two.

(points to icon)...any who knows me knows what this refers to and my sister wants to do it too. can anybody feel me? holla at a playa...

so i had to check my last posting to see what i updated you guys on last...im bored...really bored right now...and you can guess the location where im bored at.

ummm i have a boo...woop woop. that being said...i hate the word "boo" and only say it (rarely) to make fun of the people who do say it. he will be visiting in t minus 12 days and counting. ive been single for too long...if you wanna read about the adventures of single me, feel free to read my back entries...gosh...it will be so weird saying boyfriend again...

i plan on going on a cruise of the mexican riviera in august with some homies. excited about that.

ummm i want/need to start dancing yesterday. (points to icon)

ummm i danced on the stage of a cruise ship last sunday...zadrian, a friend who dances for carnival right now, wants me to help him with choreography and dance with him for an audition tape that he hopes will put him on a cruise ship that docks out of rome. ill be meeting with him all this month. so that was cool...i pulled a muscle though.

i got dsl at the homestead...dial up is NOT the business...especially for an internet junkie like myself. gosh...it was hurting me before but now im elated.

im working on a radio spot for power 106 (im editing it)...and id like to say that it is a hilarious experience...the product is...umm...ok you'd have to hit me up on aim or something for that one. cuz i wanna keep getting clients...

ummm i bought the new cds for corinne bailey rae and india.arie. india's cd is HOT...the bomb diggity...great songwriting, singing, moving...like i was really moved...like tingly feeling moved. i love corinne bailey rae's voice and her vibe...her cd is laid back, easy listening.

ok im done here...gonna finish reading robbie's updates...hopefully that can make my day go by faster.

so i hung out with the cast of the hit musical Happy Days. Yesterday was their opening night in Toluca Lake at the Falcon Theatre. Let me tell you...if you're in la and you like musicals or you loved happy days, you MUST see it...it is the bomb diggity...it's funny, those people can sang...and well acted...plus my friend/broadway star/pva graduate-dequina moore is in it. AND it's being directed by none other the famous film/tv director garry marshall who created the tv shows, happy days and laverne and shirley...directed pretty woman and beaches and runaway bride and the princess diaries... AND I MET HIM! I SHOOK HANDS WITH AND YUCKED IT UP WITH GARRY FREAKIN MARSHALL....and i met his daughter Kathleen Marshall and gave her my card. she's a producer. and she said she would love to work with me. i mean OH MI GOSH...and then the cast was mad crazy...and all of them are like future tony award winners...two members of the cast are leaving soon to join the cast of wicked-one on broadway and the other on the equity tour. i was like wow...im surrounded by truly talented and nice people...it was a great feeling. and dequina is the bomb...seriously. if you go the website..she's the only black person in the cast. you won't miss her. but that girl is so talented, it's not even funny. and she kept telling everyone...(EVEN GARRY MARSHALL) that i was a great director and i would cast them...and they needed to watch out for me. i was like she betta plug me to these famous people...so yeah...it was great fun...havent had that much fun in about...a month...the lacdc company party is tomorrow for new company members and old ones so that should be fun...i hope it's as fun as the happy days cast party.

I MADE THE COMPANY...AGAIN!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!!!...man but we dont start rehearsing until September...im sad...but we will be doing company classes...hopefully...and im looking forward to that.

check out the website. Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company

but let me tell you...i have never been more sore...in my entire life. callbacks were saturday and i was dancing like nobody's business...now it's important to say that i havent really be dancing in a year but anyway...yeah...

also...my best friend/homie/lover/friend is coming to visit me next month...can we say im just a little overexcited...(said like tommy on martin) my status is about to change dog...

Dance company starts this week...ahhh!!!! I'm helping out with auditions. Open call is this saturday and sunday and callbacks are next weekend.

My birthday is thursday. 23...a month's worth of partying straight ahead. hit me up if you wanna get in on the action.

i started working on a trailer for a movie...im coming in on the weekends cuz im serious about getting promoted...i think i can do some good work and impress the producers.

hanging out with the gogos (minus 2)...this weekend for the birthday...good times

the trip to houston was awesome...aziza looked beautiful at her graduation. (photos are on facebook) alot of good eating, good fun, and i got to go to a motown revue at the miller outdoor theatre that was great.

im going to see my friend from high school in joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat at pantages next month.

RENT IS COMING TO PANTAGES...ima be all up in that piece.

i had to give someone a piece of my mind...tell that person how ive really been feeling...it's something that has needed to be said for ummm 3 yrs...yeah...and let me tell ya...it was GRRRREAT! LIBERATING! AWESOMENESS! SWEEEET!

today will be a good day. gimme a comment if you read this...i dont know why im asking though...

my sister (2nd oldest) passed her medical boards!!!!! (it's like the bar exam for doctors)...ive been praying for her for like 5 months cuz that test don't play no games...

lee came to my office today looking like tom hanks in castaway...i was like dang...i dont see you for a month and now look at you...

my packaging came yesterday...yayyyyy

The CW tried to come across as the best of the WB and UPN, but it felt more like 1+1=1.3. --The Hollywood Reporter
oh snap...that was kind of harsh wasn't it.

So last week, I ordered packaging and designed address labels for the biz. Making good progress.

Went to a Judith McAllister concert last night. Man, I love that woman...Her music is awesome. If you wanna get your praise on, you want her cds. If you know that you need some help getting your praise on, get her cds. If you're going through it, get her cds. She's an amazing praise and worship leader/singer/songwriter and she just came out with a third cd that i bought last night and started listening to on the way home from the concert even though she had just performed most of the album Check her out

I'M GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND!!!! SO EXCITED. My sister is graduating from The High School For the Performing and Visual Arts. We'll be partying all weekend.

ok so im looking back over the last year of my life because ive gone to some grad festivities/parties in the past week and come to the full realization that ive been out of school for a year...and i just wanted to do a review of the things that have happened...have i accomplished anything?...

**so May 2005...graduation from usc, the stomping grounds of the mighty trojans. BA in Cinema-Television (Production), Minor in Advertising.
--The day after graduation...an audition for the la contemporary dance company
--A week later...i made the company...one of eight dancers out of the 60 who auditioned...me = uber excited.
--After making it to the final round, i find out i didnt make it into a filmmaking mentoring program that i really really wanted to be in...i was quite disappointed but thought well...i guess God has something else for me
**July 2005 - lacdc debuts to packed audiences in santa monica
--Got a freelance job as a transcriber for Brave New Films, a documentary production company
--The job searching intensifies...no responses, no interviews...i was in a drought i tell ya...
**For the next few months, although working as a transcriber from home (great gig)...i was beginning to feel inadequate...i mean i went to usc...why the crap wasn't i getting any job interviews...sooo i became a couch potato...direct tv became my best friend as i simultaneously would send out resumes all day.
**August 2005 - Moved from North Hollywood to a condo with my sister near Long Beach.
**November 2005 - Hired at Mark Woollen & Associates as a post pa. Praise Jesus!!
**January 2006 - Decided to start a freelance film/editing business.
**February 2006 - Started working with my first client doing a trailer/promo for a documentary feature.
**March 2006 - My company got its DBA (Doing Business As)
--Given a good review by my bosses at Mark Woollen. Given access to equipment after hrs to work on trailers.
**April 2006 - Got my next two clients: a well established actor and a prominent distribution company. And this is all without starting any advertising campaigns
--Hired to edit a national radio spot...the clients loved it.
--Made my business a .com...website currently under construction
--An SC student created a bomb logo for my company.
--Car started dying...gotta make steps to buy a new one.
**May 2006 - Got business cards for the company.
--Helped Elle B with staging/choreography for a show at Cinespace in Hollywood
**June 2006 - LACDC starts up again.
**October 2006 _ LACDC's first full season begins.
--To be continued...

I think I've done well with myself in the past year...i mean, i was thinking the other day..man this is going kind of slow...but I'd have to say that especially for the industry that im a part of, as well as me being a recent graduate...my first year out of college was a great one. Praise God for the things He has in store for me...He already knew what was going on when I was sitting on the couch depressed and He already knows what is to come.

so the best editor at my company gave me the greatest compliment today...he's a veteran editor and has done trailers for some of the best movies...anyway...im in the kitchen on lunch duty...separating people's lunch orders to then distribute and he comes in the kitchen and I give him his lunch...and he says hey jamila...im so excited for you because I know that i will see your name in lights someday...and i said really? what makes you say that? and he said...it's just a feeling that i have...i can see it...your name up on the screen...and im gonna tell [insert name here] (his wife), you remember jamila? isn't it great? and i was like wow...well that makes me feel really good...and he said well im excited...and i said i think you just made my day...and as he walked out the kitchen, he said, well it just flashed in my head so...yeah...have a good day...and i said, i will and my whole self began to beam right there in the kitchen....i mean seriously...i have not done anything creative (in terms of editing cuz im a post pa) since ive been working here for him to make that statement...i mean ive helped out the editors on the avid and done other stuff but still, that's a big statement...and he's been around so im like why would he just randomly say that to me if he didn't mean it? I MEAN WOW...

what do you people think?

i haven't updated in a hot minute, but that's because i've been working on a project that, if executed well, can give my business a regular entertainment industry client. It's due this Friday and I'm sending in a draft to the company today. But I think that I've done a good job with this one. I still have a few changes to make, but I am quite pleased with it. It was a bit more challenging than I thought, but it's so cool to see the final results, especially since I know that at one time I was sitting slouched in a chair and twiddling my fingers over what I was going to do. I praise God for providing me with this amazing opportunity.

I went to the dance show Friday. Great show. It's still a bit weird sitting in the audience. But LACDC is starting up in a little over a month so I won't be in the audience anymore. Yayy. Went to the cast part party. Ended up staying much longer than I planned. Those kids are crazy. I went to see Melaina in Fences on Saturday. Amazing. I love that girl. (FYI: She is the girl featured in the music video on my website). Worked with Elle B and background singers on choreography for the show. They're looking good. They'll look even better if they will be able to remember the 'ography.

I'm in the market for a new car....Boogie is struggling. But we're gonna make it...right up until I get that new one.

Update....update...update...

So I've been gone for a minute...here we go.

Last weekend: Met my deadline for the documentary trailer...(which is the bomb...) I will check the director this weekend to see how it was received by investors.

This week: Finally let go of my parasite, my leech, which really cleared my mind...and when I did that, God started doing things like whoa...

Got a call from a good friend who is the associate product manager for Ventura Home Entertainment, a dvd distribution company, Reference that put out The Cosby Show, A Different World, and The N Word among many other titles. She also graduated in film production with me from 'SC. Anyway...she called to ask if I was interested in editing a radio spot (commercial) for them. And I was like whoa...To make a long story short, I am now editing two radio spots for them for dvds that will be coming out in a few months. And there is another major opportunity that is even more amazing but I won't disclose that info until I get it (in Jesus name). So if I do well on these two radio spots, I may become their go-to person for radio spots. I am so excited. Not only did God give me the means to start a business, but only four months later, I'm doing work for a major company in the industry, getting paid, and getting exposure in radio markets all over the place.

So I'm working on my reel to get that position that I won't disclose just yet. And if that happens, man oh man...are we (me and Jesus) in the money...

I joined stank, fleamarket, myspace. So find me...be my friend...

This weekend: Mos Def concert at SC. Will be there live and in full effect. Working with Lee on his acting reel. Attending the ROS end-of-the-year banquet. Dinner with Zakiya and Trisha on Resurrection Sunday. Stretching so I can be the bomb when June comes around.

UCLA IS DEFEATED....AGAIN!!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

houston has been great...alot of sleeping, eating, and good fun with family...but it's been soooo hot though...

aziza's recital is tomorrow...good stuff...going to the airport right after...then back to work and life as a grown up...

the trailer deadline is this weekend....i think ill be alright.

i found someone to do my logo!!! or someone to try to do my logo...i pray that he does a good job so i dont have to go looking for someone else...

duke is a retard....and he needs to recognize that i am always the winner in the battle of the wit.

thank you....and good night.

i got a promotion!!!! and insurance!!!!!

yessssssss....

the long awaited, over a month overdue meeting was finally two days ago and it went oh so well...the producers also told me that i have full access to the avid (the editing systems) after hours and i can use any of the movies that the company is working on to make trailers and make my own reel...they said they have given this opportunity to other people but only one person at the company has really taken them up on it...(other details about that convo, ask me)...anyway...im so excited cuz i can keep my avid skills on point while using/adjusting to Final Cut at home...AND put the trailers on my website (as specs of course) but that will give my stuff more credibility because of the access i will have to movies that haven't been released yet. My oh my...how God works...

We have a screening tonight...the private LA screening of Jam. Check it Out

Tomorrow, Zakiya and I leave for Houston for Aziza's senior recital. Basically at HSPVA (The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts) senior recitals are the big bruhahaha...your thesis...your dissertation...big deal...aziza is a vocal major as i was and zakiya was a music major (harpist)...Zakiya is going to accompany aziza on the harp for "the water is wide" and she has to go h-town early to rehearse with her...really looking forward the time spent with the family in houston (minus one because sharifa has to stay at med school and study...booo).

The documentary trailer is going very well.

Stuff is good...I just need someone talented enough to create a logo for me and not charge an arm and a leg or do it on a barter system in exchange for something my company can do for them...any ideas? referrals?

Kate emailed me back!!! I love her...dance company auditions are coming up but i am already a company member so i don't have to worry about that...but im just happy that i get to dance again...finances have kept me from taking classes but not from attending peformances (how does that work?)...Kate is the artistic director of the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and our first full season (we had a premiere last July) is in October of 2006.

alrighty...gotta get back to work...but shoutout to intlpopstar who is designing my website!!

My high school, The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, has recently been ranked the second BEST high school in Houston.

Excerpt from These Kids Go to the Best High School in Houston:

Both DeBakey and HSPVA are tough as nails to get into. Each year they admit fewer than 25 percent of applicants from throughout the Houston area.

"It's a privilege to go to this school; we all understand that," says HSPVA senior Imani Harris-Johnson, who aspires to become a Broadway actress.

At HSPVA, budding art students are taught by professional artists with decades of worldly experience. Every teacher is a potential mentor.

The school fosters an environment that's strict yet creative, competitive yet nurturing.

"There's a big difference between me and teenagers from other schools," says Tassity Johnson, a 17-year-old senior at HSPVA. "Not only do I have to keep up with my regular classes, but I have to think about who I am as an artist."

At this moment, hundreds of teenagers throughout Houston are on pins and needles hoping to receive callbacks from HSPVA, which each year auditions some 800 kids and accepts 175.

The process can be grueling. Parents aren't allowed inside to watch as their kids dance, paint, deliver monologues or showcase their musical talents in a setting reminiscent of the film Fame.

The high-pressure environment doesn't end with an acceptance letter, either. Every semester HSPVA students must withstand a portfolio review in which they lay out what they've produced, how they've improved, why they attend the school and what they hope to accomplish in their high school careers.

The result is a mature, independent and self-possessed student body.

"Our kids want to be here," says 11-year principal Dr. Herbert Karpicke. "They want to be here very badly."

Started in 1971, HSPVA is one of Houston's oldest magnet schools and has served as a model for other similarly specialized programs throughout the country.

The teachers are professional artists who not only inspire students with their own works but offer practical advice on interviewing techniques, creating portfolios, marketing their work and how to survive in big cities as the archetypal starving artist.

The Montrose-based school is also getting it done academically, an impressive feat since students are screened solely on artistic talent and training. Last September the U.S. Department of Education named HSPVA a No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School for academic excellence.

"There's a strong correlation between academic and artistic achievement," says Karpicke, a professional violist and conductor. "English, math and social studies teachers are expected to be gurus, too."

According to Karpicke, roughly 40 percent of HSPVA graduates pursue preprofessional art programs at two- and four-year colleges. But, he says, even those who go on to become doctors, lawyers and engineers remain deeply committed to the arts.

"We don't say everybody needs to be professional artists," Karpicke says. "We want our graduates to be lifelong artists."

Well, now you know. Don’t believe me? Visit: HSPVA is the bomb yo

PLEASE watch this...and tell me what you think...

Leprechaun Madness

i finished my sister's senior recital invitation...it's the hot diggity bomb yo...holla at me if you wanna see it.

there's something a-stirring...we'll see what is to come of the next couple of weeks...

i am learning a lot about myself...and that's good.

my hair is growing fast...and that's good too (but ima cut it off again...)

had an air hockey tournament last week at my job...i lost...but it was fun and hilarious...will be posting facebook pictures soon.

tyra and i are going to see the world renowned jose limon dance company next saturday at the ahmanson theatre...

i miss dancing so much, it hurts...

ima hit the hay....loving life, Jesus, and my hefty supply of chapstick....

not only is there a song...

Facebook Livin



BUT THERE'S AN EFFIN MUSIC VIDEO!!!!

Hilarious