JAMES GREEN

I have described a lot about life in LA, the differences with regards castings and work, but haven't necessarily talked about how I'm personally getting on. I believe the time is now for that and to explain why I have returned to the UK. In LA I was doing some football coaching to keep me busy and to get some money to simply enough be able to live out there. I was greatly appreciated to be able to do this as it kept me busy, kept me motivated, but more importantly enabled me to be able to put food on my table. Sound dramatic? Well its not. Having the responsibility of being in an adult relationship and living with someone requires you to be committed and sensible with everything. The coaching wasn't earning me a lot of money, but it was a necessity. With modeling work and presenting work not really happening over there, I needed to ensure I was earning enough to survive. This was very different to how I was living my life previously and how I have lived my life in the past....

This section is to let you know what castings are like in LA and how they differ to anywhere I've been in the world. The main difference is the fact that you very rarely get an opportunity to meet the clients for the jobs you cast for. There are a lot of casting directors and casting agencies in this town that are employed by companies to cast potential talent for jobs. What this also means is that it add's an extra stage to the casting process, which for the client it makes it easier to cast someone. For the talent however, it is a completely different story and one I have become increasingly frustrated by since arriving in LA. It means that for practically every single job available, whether a modeling job or an acting job, there are a minimum of 2 stages of castings. That means 2 trips to the casting studios on two different days, a lot of time commitment and more money spent on travel. Now you can imagine that if your casting every single day and if you get fortunate enough...

Tinseltown was upon me and I arrived in January on a 3 year working visa ready to take on Hollywood and all that it had in store for me. I was extremely fortunate and lucky to have the amazing support of my girlfriend who has been living in this city for 4 years. It was tough at first, as LA is a city where you have no choice but to have access to transport, a car to be precise. The metro system is not great and the buses aren't the best either. I quickly learnt that castings were all over the city, and LA is one big big city too! From Hollywood to Santa Monica, to Downtown LA to Studio City, you name it and the traffic around the city is insanely bad. But hey that's part of my new life in a new city across the other side of the world. It was time to get out and about as much as possible, to start exploring my new home. I was straight into my agency, Wilhelmina and it felt great to start cracking the modeling industry out in LA. Castings were happening straight away, and I was ...

Hi everybody, A question that has been asked to me so much since I made the decision to come over to the states. "how did you get a visa?" This is where I became very very fortunate, just. When I arrived at the end of August, I got my modeling portfolio sent out to me. The reason I did this was because I first arrived on a tourist visa, which literally anyone can get, lasting 90 days. So, if my bags were searched, which does happen in the US, and they found my portfolio, they would think I am here to work illegally. I couldn't take this risk as I was moving here for someone and to follow my heart. Through my agency back in the UK, they helped set up some open call's with agencies in LA. This simply means anyone who wants to model here goes to an open call in hope of becoming a model. I went round to LA Models first, they said no. I then went to a smaller agency called Q Models. They showed a lot of enthusiasm for me and said they would give me an answer very soon (som...

Hi Everyone, Apologies for going very quiet on the blog front! It's been a strange, crazy 10 months I have to admit. I wish I was blogging all the way through because so much has happened since my last update. I hope you enjoy. What a year its been! From South Africa to LA, back to London and back to LA! I have so many friends who have been and done the whole LA thing as a holiday, but theres me in love and moving to the other side of the world. That is her in the picture with me outside the famous Staples Center in LA, home of my new team the LA Lakers. Yes I am now a huge basketball fan, one of many changes in my life whilst I've been living in LA, Hollywood to be precise, tinseltown as they say!!! My year has been so crazy including celebrating in the craziest parade ever for Halloween! I have never seen anything like it in my life! The costumes were absolutely crazy! (check out my facebook for more pictures) - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505970401 House parties g...

Hey guys, I had to do a post on Beverley Hills, I could not resist talking about how incredible the area is in LA. It is insane, completely insane. The money in this area is unimaginable. The shops, the cars and most importantly of course, the houses! They are absolutely huge! This is the area where the majority of the movie stars live and the directors and just anybody with vast sums of money. There is a famous street called Rodeo Drive where the houses are renound for being completely insane and it is so true. House after house is just like a dream and makes you want it so much. In a strange way it made me feel like I want to strive to achieve what these people have done in their lives, whatever it might have been. A different area of Beverley Hills was in the Hills itself, which was where the location of the first white party was held. These houses are extremely private with gated off areas that are often patrolled 24 hours a day by security, but the views of the city that they have...

Hey, Labour Day weekend, my first weekend in LA and we head to Venice Beach on the Monday for the day. Now Venice Beach is completely different to any other beaches in LA. It is a very diverse area around Venice beach, which made for a nice change to that of the nice place of Santa Monica. There were loads of stools down by the beach front and a lot of street entertainers to keep the thousands of people entertained. We met a friend of mine here too from Bud House, Hilton, which was great for me to see him and made me feel more settled knowing that there are other people here and friends of mine in the City. After a great weekend, I knew I needed to keep myself entertained and busy during the days and wanted to stay in shape too for the meetings with the modelling agencies which I had planned for the following week. So, I decided to sign up to a gym, a gym that was absolutely huge! A 24 hour gym and a 15 minute walk from the apartment in Hollywood, so perfect. Now when I first went down...