Season Launch [Group Thread]

[THE NETWORK]

WHAT: Season launch party for USBC - Celebrating all shows. On the roof the the USBC building.

WHO: Execs, actors, extras, crew, anyone involved in a show in any way, respected people in NYC, people attending as dates, townsfolk (as dates, working the event, or special invite)

Dress: Dressy casual

THINGS?: Open bar, a live stage with bands, dance floor, sit down dinner locations.

[River Blue Ashford]

River did not want to be here. Normally he didn't want to be anywhere, especially when the studio asked it of him, and usually he would have told them to f*** off or ditched and stayed home but his manager made it very clear: He attended each and every thing they asked him to without argument or else he'd lose his gig on the show. He wasn't in a place where he could risk doing so and he knew that. His hopes were that if he got another season or two under his belt, saved enough money and got his reputation back, he could then leave and pursue what he actually wanted to. Produce his own films and body of work so he could be taken seriously.

He managed to dodge most of the photographers outside slinking past some other starlets who relished in the spotlight and the constant flashing of cameras and yelling of questions all at once. No thank you! Shielding his eyes and face with his hand he raced down the carpet and into the building bolting toward the elevator. He didn't exhale until he heard the ding and the doors finally closed. Phew. If he could get through tonight and avoid like he had just done he would be home free. Swallowing he just as quickly made his way out of the elevator and onto the roof the cool air tickling his skin even though he wore nice dress jeans, black shirt, and a blazer (this was as dressed up as they were going to get him and they should be thankful for that). He chose to stay on the outskirts of the decorated roof by the railing and one of the bars and refreshment tables. Just far enough though so that not everyone would try and make conversation with him. That would have been terrible... If only he could find another place to sneak off to. He had a tiny book in his back pocket that he wanted to get back to reading. He just needed a hideout.

Sucking in the inside of his cheek he let out another sigh, this one more tired than before. He was already exhausted from this whole thing even though he had just arrived partially because he had been through situations like it a thousand times before. At this rate probably a thousand more. UGH!

[Deleted]

Seriously, how did she let herself get talked into wearing a ridiculously high pair of heels again? I mean, yes, she understood that she was shorter than the average person, but surely there was an alternative solution to footwear that was going to deform her feet and leave her limping at the end of the evening? She was grateful Marissa wore a lot of flats on the show. However, the dress and the hair made a pleasant change from her character's rather outlandish style. She did like feeling glamorous when the time called for it.

As she entered the event she walked straight into the press area, immediately assaulted by camera flashes and shouting. She spent some time posing for shots and answering as many questions as she could. This was a big part of her job, and she didn't mind it as much and some other actors seemed to. Though tonight they did seem rather pre-occupied by the fact that she hadn't brought a plus one. Well, she didn't have anyone to bring so she just didn't. Apparently her love life was the subject of gossip these days. Sam didn't care to read, she couldn't see what the interest was.

Once she'd finished with the press, she entered into the party proper, the autumn air suddenly more apparent on the roof of the stuidio. She noticed that River was here, frankly Sam was surprised to see him, he tended to avoid anything that involved socialising. But as usual he was in a corner looking as miserable as sin, and Sam had to suppress a sigh, opting to ignore it. She wasn't going to let his attitude spoil her evening. She had to deal with him enough on set and she wanted to have fun tonight. She took a set towards the dance floor, waiting to see who else would arrive and just enjoying the atmosphere.

[Deleted]

They could make her attend, but they couldn't make her force chit-chat with idiot spotlight-junkies and put on a dress.

Truth be told, she hadn't changed a damn thing about her outfit before she'd sulked up to the roof from her shoebox-sized office on the set of People Matter. Or brushed her hair. Her half-ponytail remained as frizzy as ever, and her jacket reeked (as it always did) of cigarette smoke. Not that it mattered so much up in the open on the rooftop. The air in her office was practically blue whenever she was in there by herself for long periods of time.

One of the many benefits of having worked late in her office and gone straight up to the Event was that she'd avoided the rugby scrum of photographers down on the street. It wasn't as if they gave a shit who she was, anyway. If a female director wanted recognition, apparently she had to be married to James Cameron, first, and then grind away until, finally, in her fifties, the industry took some damn notice. And even then, they'd keep talking about her ex-husband half the time.

No f***ing thanks.

She wanted the recognition now, and in her own right. Not that TV was movies, but it was its own sort of animal, requiring skills a features director rarely got a chance to hone. Multiple stories had to be managed, shooting rarely seemed to stop, constant audience feedback every week could make or break the entire production, and tension had to be maintained over arcs and seasons and years, all while keeping the characters and conflicts fresh and interesting enough to engage people, to keep them coming back to find out what happens next. James Cameron could have made Avatar twelve hours long--it still wouldn't have held anyone's attention once the blue-people-saviour-arc was evident.

Tara made her way to the drinks table and didn't bother taking one of the frothing flutes on offer. Once the server set down the bottle he'd been pouring from to begin moving some glasses to a tray and make his rounds of the rooftop, Tara swiped the half-full bottle herself and pushed back the stray bits of foil in order to swig from it directly, leaning her hip against the railing and ignoring everyone.

[Deleted]

God he did NOT want to be here, and from what he had heard around the network, NO ONE wanted to be here. It was one of those things that he had had to endure for as long as he was in the acting profession. He knew it was coming, but that did not mean that he had to like it. It came with the territory, part of the job and all that, but for the love of Christ, it was almost physically painful. He had known this event was going to be held for a few days now, but he had taken his time preparing for it, trying to put off the inevitable. To him, it was just another wasted night where he would fake a smile, fake a conversation and pretend that he gave a shit about anything or anyone. He would much rather be anywhere else at the moment, the middle of the ocean getting oral sex from a shark came to mind, but at least there would be alcohol. Jason was not sure he would be able to make it through the night without getting totally blitzed or without the woman he was currently with. 

He had just met Jyothi the week prior at the bar he had frequented for some time. She had approached him and they had chatted for awhile, and before he knew it, he had invited her to this party. He had no idea why he had done it, but was glad he did. At least he had someone to share in him misery, and to be honest, she was NOT hard to look at. If anything, she would increase his credibility, which could always use a boost. He did not know much about her yet, but wanted to, and there was always time for that later. 

He approached the entrance, dressed in a plain white dress shirt, black pants, black string tie, leather vest, and a cowboy hat with her on his arm. He knew that was dressed a bit unconventionally, but as usual, he did not give damn. The paparazzi with their shouted questions and flashing bulbs made him want to punch every one of them in face, but tonight, tonight he would restrain himself.

@jyothi

[Deleted]

Jyothi kept having to remind herself to take slow, deep breaths, and smile. Well, the smiling was easy. She was practically giddy. How in the hell she'd managed to charm an invitation to the network's season launch party on the arm of Jason Andrews was something she still couldn't entirely make sense of, but she wasn't about to demure and insist she didn't belong here. She did--or would. She'd make sure of it. Somehow. People were going to take her more seriously, perhaps, than they would knowing she was just the girl who handed their coffee across the counter downstairs. Now she was upstairs--and she wasn't delivering drinks. The cafe was now closed, and she wasn't there just to open it. She might not officially have an acting job--yet--but she had an invitation to the party, which was something, after all. She could approach people and talk to them without being thought weird or inappropriate. It was astonishing that Jason hadn't kicked her butt to the curb the moment she admitted she was an out-of-work actor.

Not wanting to go full bimbo as arm-candy, she'd spent the better part of two days strategically planning her outfit. Her dark blue dress was tasteful and even modest by some standards, though it left most of her back and arms bare and she couldn't help but feel the chill in the September evening despite the warmth of lights and outdoor heaters planted at varying intervals. This was practically a job interview...sort of. She didn't want to look like an idiot or a naive little girl--she had to be a cool, calm, professional woman who was totally in control of herself and her career.

She could bottle up the internal screaming and save it for later.

Jyothi couldn't help but feel a few butterflies when she took hold of Jason's arm and they made their way up the--yes, it was an honest-to-God red carpet, holy hell--and paused for the press. There were a few pat answers given to questions, but no-one thought to ask Jyothi much of anything...mostly because no-one had any clue who she was. Someone threw her a bone and asked her who she was wearing, and Jyothi had to pretend not to hear them because there was no way in hell she was going to admit her dress had come off the clearance rack at Sears last summer.

"Oh my God, there's so many people..." she said to Jason in a half-whisper, still enough to be heard (by him, at least,) above the clamouring of journalists. At least with Jason she didn't entirely have to keep up the facade of being Somebody. For better or for worse, she'd been pretty honest with him right from the start about the barista thing.

[Deleted]

Anna enjoyed these events. Even when it was like this and not focused on the media interaction. She had of course made sure she was dressed for the event in a floor length black laced designer dress. She had shown up alone but that was expected with her. Not that others didn't want to know who she would bring if she did. But it was also known that she would not discuss it with the press or even on interviews. Her personal life was her personal life. Even if her manager tried to convince her otherwise.

She hadn't had a chance to discuss it with Samantha but she would have suggested them to show up together. The press would have ate it up. Either way she was all smiles as she went through answering questions. While most press did try and get her to talk about different things, most asked about what she was wearing and about the show. She was glad to answer what she could and what she was allowed. 

After a moment or two of that she made her way past the press area and to the party proper. She already recognized a few people there though there were certainly others she didn't know. Still that was half the purpose wasn't it? Networking?

(her outfit)

[Deleted]

Imogen arrived alone to the party, but gave the admirable impression of a woman who was doing just fine without a man to cling to--and she was almost approaching the age where it was no longer polite to ask, even if one was paparazzi. Of course, there was always the sort of scum who would mine that for drama, if they could...but they rarely did it to her face. Tabloids tomorrow would just make a big deal in some bottom-corner of the fifth page over her solitary arrival, and in the half-second between smiles they would capture the perfect photograph to use to paint her as the tragically lonely woman with a uterus progressively withering away with every tick of the clock and little else to live for.

Having given as much time to the cameras as she felt honour-bound to give, she made her way across the lobby--enjoying the satisfying click of her high heels on the polished stone floors--and took the lift up to the roof. She waved to a few people she knew, and lightly kissed the air beside the cheeks of a few people she knew better, and got herself a glass of white wine. There were one or two photographers milling about, but doubtless they'd been vetted by the studio and were the tamest sharks available, and so Imogen felt reasonably comfortable to be swimming with them.

[Deleted]

Dex was on his way to his first ever event on the East coast, he had spent the last two days to himself. Actually not by himself, he had a little handful of women at his hotel room during these days. Being from the West coast Dex had very few friends, just his agent who was also his modeling agent who had landed his first gig as a nurse on 'Code Blue'.

The move from Washington to New York had left a huge chunk of anxiety on his shoulders, so tonight no matter the jitters in his gut Dex was going to let loose with his case mates and the suits. The week before he left to come to New York Dex ran himself down with as many as modeling shoots he could mostly small beard product companies, online ads, and small magazines. All the work out a chunk of change in his pocket to cover the move and spending dough.

So Dexter Skinner had a job, a apartment, the limo he was renting right now, a buzz, and this woman kissing his neck in the back. As the limo came to a stop he pours a quick shot, downs it before reaching for his jacket, and giving the woman who he'd already forgotten her name a small push back and a smile.

"Sorry pretty lady but I, uh," the door opened and a small flood of camera flashes each behind him, "got this event tonight, Mark has your number right?"

He didn't really know or care, so he got out quickly smiling for the cameras as the door slammed, he was sure the last thing he heard her say was, "Your famous?!"

Throwing his jacket on Dex walked with a certain flare towards the event, flashing a pearly white smile to a girl here and there. Those butterfly that had invaded his stomach all day by the thought of this were numbed so far by the two bottles of wine and shots of Fireball. Tonight was going to be great.

[Deleted]

It wouldn't be fair to say Imogen made a beeline for Dexter the moment she saw him, but seeing as they'd rehearsed scenes together in Code Blue--her character being his character's boss--they'd wound up with something like camaraderie...and so she sauntered over with a smile to say hello.

"You look as if your night is just ending, rather than beginning," she chided him lightly, taking in his attire at a glance. All very tidy and fashionable in its way, but young men seemed to tend to wear their clothes as if they couldn't care less if it were Armani or a kilt made out of a bin liner. "Ready for a season of being splashed with cunning imitations of blood, vomit, and all other possible substances the human body can expel?"

Really, it was more of a headache for the hair, makeup, and costume departments--though costume merely kept several sets of identical scrubs on standby while the others could take an industrial-strength-scrubbing. Having only one face and their own hair, however, hair and makeup had a trickier job of tidying up the actors before any reshoots could take place of messy scenes.

Fortunately that wasn't the lion's share of scenes, even for Code Blue's action sequences. They tended to save the really explosive bits for a few shocker cliffhanger scenes or season finale disasters--and too many of those sprinkled throughout every episode would soon make an audience numb to it. The day to day gore was, generally, very tasteful and even discreet...and kept out of people's faces and hair for the sake of the sanity of the hair and makeup teams. Imogen had found a makeup assistant fast asleep on a gurney once they'd finished filming last season's finale (involving multiple grotesque bodily trauma,) fake blood still staining her hands a faint pink.

[Deleted]

River Blue Ashford

It hadn't taken much to get Savannah out of her apartment, surprisingly. She, unlike some of the other actors, was excited to be going to the season launch party. It was only her second season on Our Chaotic Life, and therefore only her second year at USBC. People warned her that the excitement would wear off, but Savannah was enjoying it for now. Sure, she had plenty of shows to catch up on, but the idea of publicity and press and networking was surprisingly appealing. The entertainment industry was fickle. If she wanted to further herself regardless of Our Chaotic Life, she had to make an effort. There were plenty of twenty two year old women looking for jobs at USBC on a well known sitcom. Besides, once she got in to the party, she would just be able to relax. It was meant to be a fun time, not that other, more worn out celebrities necessarily felt the same way.

Savannah was wearing a dress out of soft sweater-like material, light gray and just above her knees. There was just a small slit on either side, only reaching a couple inches up her thigh. The short sleeves didn't offer much protection from the biting cold that Autumn brought to New York City, but fashion came before sensibility to the starlet. Her black strappy heels clicked on the pavement as she approached the red carpet, and Savannah kept her head high. A smile was kept on her face by the thought of the varying degrees of reactions to the press that her fellow castmates must have had. Undoubtedly River would have wanted nothing to do with it. Savannah, on the other hand, answered a few questions as she walked down the carpet at a snail's pace: "Yes, I'm very excited for this coming season. No, I can't reveal if Liz is dating or who. Yes, these are very high heels," which Savannah took pride in, as a matter of fact. The heels sent her to about five foot ten, and she relished in it.

When the press had seemed to move on to someone new, Savannah made her way to the rooftop at last. Plenty of people had already arrived, and she surveyed the area for any of her friends. The first person that grabbed her eye was River, standing on the edge of the crowd, clearly not happy to be at the party. As to be expected. But she knew exactly how to handle his negative attitude. Scooping up two glasses of wine from the bar, Savannah made her way over to one of her costars.

"Nope, not today," she declared, "We've got a whole season ahead of us, and plenty of time for you to mope later on," she hoped her grin would be at least a little bit contagious, or at least paired with the offer of the glass of wine. Her outstretched arm hopefully tempted River with the alcoholic drink, and she mentally crossed her fingers for him to take it with a smile.

"Just think of it like an average Thursday wine night. There's cheese and crackers over there," she pointed with a bit too much energy, merely trying to cheer up her friend, "and there's just a couple more people than normal." If he would loosen up, it would make the whole night so much easier. Surely her other castmates were here already, but Savannah couldn't doubt that they simply didn't want to deal with River's mood. The two of them seemed to understand each other more than the others, especially on Savannah's end. She was a bit more bubbly and friendly than he was, which seemed to help just the tiniest bit. If anyone could get him to crack just the tiniest smile, it was Savannah.

WORDS 633
NOTES my bb

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Deleted]

Unlike some of his peers, Jake actually loved these kinds of things. It gave him a chance to revel in the spotlight, which he loved. Being the center of attention? Free drinks? The chance to make himself and others look like fools? Jake was all in. he sauntered up the red carpet resplendent (so he thought) in a shockingly bright lime green tuxedo with a yellow and red bow tie and matching top hat, an easy going smile on his face. He deftly avoided the reporters that he knew were less than reputable and made his way to those he knew would not destroy him, which were not many. :Hey hows it goin" Yeah, show is great! Yes I WILL have a Kardashian on at some point, but probably just Bru...I mean Kaitlyn. Minnie baby! Looking good as usual, we need to have breakfast sometime!"

Silly nonsensical words, but it was him, and his easy going, friendly, and sill manner had made him a star, he was not about to stop now. 

Finally, he made his way up the rooftop party, actively looking for someone or a group of someones that took like way too seriously so he could prank the hell out of them. Then, he saw her. Savannah, perhaps the only person that could totally make him cut the shit and act seriously. Though he would never really admit that to anyone, especially her. He had had a thing for her at least a year, but fear had kept him from doing anything about it. He had masked his affection by acting like himself around her....that is to say, goofy and humorous. It was him only defense. Deciding to keep up that act, he approached her as she was talking to her co star, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her in the air.

"Savy baby! So good to see you my love! Break any hearts lately?" 

He knew that he was playing with fire, but at this point, he really did not care. He was starting to think that it was time to do something, anything. That, and the feel of her slim waist in his arms was driving him crazy.

[Deleted]

306 words notes: xxx JUNIER OF GS + ADOX

As a long time cast member of Friday Night Live, Michelle's appearance at the season launch party was assumed at this point. She was a major player in the USBC family, and it wouldn't be a season launch party without Michelle causing some kind of giggly commotion. She approached the red carpet, donned in a light blue floor length dress with long flowing sleeves. Even though she was advised to wear more neutral colors for fall, Michelle took no heed. She had her favorite styles, and she challenged what she was told. On her feet were a pair of silver heels, though the length of the dress made them difficult to see. The press had plenty of questions for her, but Michelle only answered a few of them, as was her normal attitude. How the press expected her to actually stop and answer so many ridiculous questions, she wasn't sure. Besides, more likely than not, she didn't know the answer. Either she was clueless or left out of the loop on scripts until the week they were to be performed. Or both. It felt like forever before Michelle made it to the rooftop, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. There were plenty of people from all kinds of jobs at USBC there already. Stars from Code Blue, Our Chaotic Life... Michelle was on friendly terms with plenty of them, but most of them seemed busy, whether it was with another person or costar in the case of Savannah and River, or in their own thoughts. There was no way she was going to just grab a drink and sulk on her own, so Michelle made her way to the center of the launch party, grabbing a quick snack and then heading to the dance floor. Maybe a friend would come to her. tag: ?

[River Blue Ashford]

He was nearly face first in his beverage when he heard the familiar bubbly voice belonging to Savannah Dalton. Swallowing down the bitter drink (not even wincing because he had lost that ability long ago) he then turned to face his friend. "Everyday." He insisted flatly with a serious expression on his face. "I can always make time to mope. It's part of my charm." She was always on his case about that. Didn't she know by now no matter how much she badgered him he wasn't going to budge or change? Whatever. If this sort of routine made her happy and gave her some sort of comfort she'd be one of the few he would let get away with it. She was the only one of the young women on the cast that he had managed to semi bond with due to her very young age he felt the weird need to protect her from all of the awfulness that this industry could hurl at her that she seemed naively unaware of. River had been through it during his time as a child star and in many ways was still going through it. He didn't want that for her.. Not anyone really (even though he tried to pretend otherwise).

"This is nothing like that." He declared bluntly. He actually liked their one on one bonding nights at his place. Drinking wine while she watched some trash tv show on television and he read (much to her chargin). At least then he knew that she was safe and taken care of. Here, with all of these dangerous industry folks, that wasn't so much of a sure thing. "Just what I need. To be surrounded by these soul suckers all evening. I'm ready to go now but my manager said I have to stick around for at least an hour. Sixty whole minutes. Ugh." Spotting the offered drink he made himself down his current beverage (not caring if Savannah was horrified by the gesture or not) and then took the wine glass holding it by the stem and immediately taking a long, slow sip as she babbled on. He'd need it to get through this evening like his manager and the studio wanted especially since he had been there just fifteen minutes and already wanted to jet.

"Just so you know when I leave you're going too." He informed her casually in a low voice taking another gulp of his wine and glancing around the roof. He knew she wouldn't like that but deciding to play the big brother role he figured it needed to be said. He wasn't about to leave her alone with all of these vultures. "I'll even take you to Ihop." He added for good measure. Maybe the promise of a short stack would sway the, er, short stack of a woman. Speaking of... "How tall are those things?" He questioned with a horrified cringe. Looks like Samantha and Anna got a hold of her and her wardrobe. Christ. His feet hurt just looking at those shoes. That's when Jake picked the wrong time to approach.

River's eyes instantly narrowed. "She's not a real baby so you don't need to swaddle her like one." He insisted flatly and not even caring reached out in an attempt to make the bigger man set his costar down. "Just because you have a show named after you doesn't mean it makes everyone company property." He didn't like this. Not one bit... Even if it was risky considering he'd need to be on Jake's show a few times before this series was over. "Hey Mays, is it a regular thing for talk show hosts to interrupt everyone all of the time or just on their show?" 

[Deleted]

What was Autumn doing here? Oh right, she didn't have a choice. On of the produces for The Late, Late Show With Jake Mays told her she was to show up to the launch party since she was Jake Mays's assistant and that was what the job entailed. If you couldn't tell, Autumn wasn't one for social gatherings and was usually quite miserable when attending one. She didn't like large parties for several reasons including the inevitable drunk people, the humidity of the room the party was being helped in, and the general lack of good food.

So here she was, huddled in a corner while poring over her Tumblr page on her phone, hoping that no one would take notice to her. Hopefully she wouldn't be stuck her for too much longer and could go home. Maybe if there were some good appetizers she would be convinced to stay. Autumn laughed to herself as she read a funny post, not even caring at how much of a loser she looked. She was standing in the corner of the mostly crowded USBC roof, alone and laughing by herself while staring at her phone. If other people were judging her, it was their loss.

Against her better judgement, Autumn put her phone into her clutch and tried to remove any of the nonexistent wrinkles on her grey dress. The only upside to this launch party, in Autumn's opinion, was an excuse to go shopping even if it did mean she had to go to a social gathering. She watched her coworkers mingle and interact, continuing to hope that she could go home soon. She only recognized a handful of people including a few executive, some FNL actors, and a few townies.

Even though she was content with continuing to stand in the corner, Autumn knew that she had to interact with others eventually. She looked around, searching for someone, anyone, that looked friendly enough to talk to. Her eyes landed on Michelle Carter, an actress on FNL. Autumn was a huge fan of Michelle, but Michelle seemed to be someone that she could go up to and talk with.Autumn swallowed any fear that she had and started slowly walking towards Michelle. As she moved closer to the woman, her confidence grew. Eventually, she reached Michelle and tapped her shoulder. "Um, hi. I, uh, work at The Late, Late Show and my name is, uh, Autumn. I'm a super big fan. I really loved the sketch when you were that teacher and, uh. Sorry. I'm rambling." Autumn sighed in relief as she smiled at Michelle.

@michelle