My 2018 actually started late in 2017, when I auditioned for what I thought would be a small live show that would be produced by some folks in LA in Austin during the week of SxSW. It was called The Pride of Texas, and I taped an improvised monologue as requested and sent it off to the TX Casting director, Sarah Dowling. The callback was a hoot, I booked the job in January (though not the character I initially auditioned for), and I waited for a script and further instructions. When it all came later in the month, it was in the form of an NDA for HBO and a script that grew by the week for 2 months, until it reached 444 pages! Turned out we were doing an ACTIVATION (which is the bringing to life of an entity like a tv show, computer game, or object in the form of interactive theatre for a target audience made up of fans or users) for the popular TV show WESTWORLD, and our show was from that time on known as SxSWestWorld (aka WestWorld Interactive Experience)!
The bottom line is I got to be Marla Haskins, the postmaster’s wife in Sweetwater, TX for a week in March in a completely refurbished Ghost Town in Manor Texas! I got to prepare for 2 months, working on a story for a series that I was already a fan of for HB freaking O!!!! I got to work with some amazingly talented and perfectly cast LA, NY, and TX actors, got to be directed by the brilliant creative and awesome human being David Wally (who also wrote the script), got to work with an amazing team of content developers at MyCoToo, and got to work with the amazing team of creatives at the Giant Spoon Ad Agency! When it was over, I got to see the entire experience reviewed online and offline by people who were blown away by what we did, and over the course of the rest of the year stood by as HBO, Giant Spoon, and MyCoToo were awarded with multiple Emmies, Clios, and the Gold Lion at Cannes!
It was an epic start to an epic year of performance, the forging of many friendships, and an experience that has crowned my many years in this business (and of which I will forever be proud).
Stayed tuned for My Epic 2018, Part 2, coming soon!
And here’s a great article with pictures and video from a reviewer who loved what we did!
https://cinapse.co/sxsw-2018-saddle-on-up-for-hbos-brilliantly-executed-sxswestworld-24513a9c6a65
Judy McMillan, Actress and VO Artist 