Free Time and Puppets!

So believe it or not, even the recession has had a toll on K.McG! I (along with many other fabulous and talented people) have been “let go” from CBC.

Sigh.

In other news, I have a lot more free time that I am filling up with work for the fantastic 2009 Toronto Fringe Kids Venue spectacular that I have co-wrote and am starring in- “Rock Time 2009.”

We did a photo shoot in the nearby alleys and things are looking good! This is Mick, our lead character just doing his thing. He is made and puppeteered by the wonderful and talented Renee Goulet!



Rock Time! - Fabulous photo by Evan Long!

I’m also writing like a maniac these days, and hooking up freelance work which is making me happy. Do you need some writing/editing/creative consulting done? Please email me! (email is at the bottom of this page!)

Maybe I should focus more on this blog!

Learning and New Things.

Upon recommendation of a writer colleague, I signed up for an online distance education course with UCLA (Scriptwriting as scene writing). Taught by Scott Myers, this class was perfect for me! It was great- a brief catch up on important scriptwriting lessons as well as a chance to talk to people who are as passionate about crafting stories as I am.

At any rate, this little week long distance ed class has got me interested in developing an animated feature for kids. What a perfect time for my gigantic whiteboard to arrive in the mail for me to start brainstorming!

You don’t know how much I love this whiteboard. It’s changed the way I write and as an extrovert it’s helped a lot, as I basically babble through everything while writing on the board, then turn my brainpower to “super” to find connections amongst ideas to craft story.

What a great week to begin another session of the ever-popular writing class for kids, “Script Superheroes” that I’ve developed and teach with Alison Broverman (amazing stories right out of the gate! Fantastic!!) And also start rehearsals on the play I co-wrote with Renee Goulet for the Toronto Fringe KidsVenue, “Rock Time 2009” –a glam rock puppet musical perfect for the whole family!



Now to mount an impressive PR campaign!

Getting Away!

I know I have been a bad blogger. I’ve probably lost all but my loyal readers. Sigh. Dear people! I know! I need to pick up my A game on this front!

Dribble! Dribble! Dribble!

Anyway, exciting news! I went and visited my dear friend Abbey who lives in LA in her childhood home just outside of Detroit. This was a good halfway point for us as it was easy enough for them to come get me at the Windsor VIA station (a lady does not take a Greyhound to Detroit) and head back to her place.


Abbey and Kristen (I obviously stole those glasses from a nearby Hipster)

When most normal people go visit other people, they try to see the sights and sounds of the world, but I am not like most normal people. This was a working vacation!

In a day and a half, we were able to take a strong concept, and turn it into a fantastic 30 page script and a bible for a show for adults! (With mucho edits of course- we’re not superheroes.)

My first experience in a long long time writing for adults = positive! If this script gets picked up I think I might just do a back flip!

Avertising All Night Long!

This is actually a photo from last summer when we were watching Question Period on TV. We don't have cable.

Oh man.

Yesterday I was up all night with roomie/advertising partner Brent as we tackled another year of the Young Lions advertising competition.

Basically, you and your ad partner go nuts and take a creative brief that's given to you at 9AM and you work and work and work until you have made a flash banner ad, or it reaches 9AM the next day.

You'll get to see it on here once the judging is done! Flash fun!

On the Air!

Woah Cool!

So the ads that I told you about are now up on this website! In addition, they're playing on TV in Seattle, so if any of you in Seattle want to wait by your television until these advertisements come on instead of clicking the link, that is totally an option!

Here's the little blurb about them:

Four massive comic book fans dress up as unlikely superheroes and take a ridiculously impractical road trip—in character—to Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle. These videos, from the website www.comiconroadtrip.com, feature the many misadventures they experience along the way.

Check them out, and also check out the fun B-Roll stuff we improvised up. It's fun to find actors off set, in full costume and get them to ham it up like mad! Props to the team at Grey Canada for making such cool stuff, even though their name sounds so bleak!

Seattle 2009!

Poems on the Fly!

Last night I was proud to be a part of a regular Toronto reading series where I performed my fantastic Improv Poetry.

Basically I combine my poetry spidey sense with suggestions from the audience and then use the words they give me to weave into a poem.

People love it and it riles up the crowd.

When you ask people in a bar for words for your poem, you usually get perverted suggestions.

That's poetry!

To Seattle!

-Photo by the lovely and talented Evan Long.

Busy as per Kristen McGregor norm!

Last weekend had me on set with three boys, all of us dressed up as characters going to the Emerald City Comic Con. I got to play a girl dressed up as Chun-Li from Streetfighter! As much malarky as can be expected by wandering around the city dressed to the nines as a video game character, with three friends- Gandalf, Superman and Robot- occurred!

We shot 9 commercials as part of the campaign which will be seen in the Seattle area, and online. (I'll update when they can be seen, of course!)

Most people thought I was Sailor Moon. Those people are total noobs!