
Behind the scenes photo of actresses Jennifer Keller and Chanel Marriott with writer/director Bruce Marchiano.
January 12th was a beautiful day. It was the first day of filming for a faith-based independent feature film called “Alison’s Choice”. My teeth were chattering as I arrived at 6:30am on set in Arcadia, CA. I was greeted by the second AD, Frederick Gourgue, who introduced to the make up artist, Kristen Castellano. I enjoyed chatting over hot tea with our film’s star, Chanel Marriott.
I play Rita, a upscale mother of two, whose chance encounter with Alison influences her journey in the film.
“Alison’s Choice” writer/director, Bruce Marchiano, greeted everyone with a kind welcome and we jumped right into rehearsal and filming. For me acting is always a mix of joy and fear. I love my craft, but there is an element of vulnerability every time I step in front of the camera. There is that little voice in the back of my head that says, “don’t blow it”. And as I sat outside on that park bench with Chanel, my teeth chattering, I just had to tell that little voice to quiet down, to trust in the work I put into the character of Rita (as my favorite coach, Christinna Chancey, would remind me). One of the great things about working with Bruce on set is that he has a gift for encouragement. He has a kind word for everyone. And surprisingly, most actors will agree that is a rare on sets. And so I breathed life into the character of Rita that day and trusted in Bruce’s direction.
It was a pleasure to work with both Bruce and Chanel on this scene. I’ll be on pins and needles until I see the final product.

Behind the scenes of “Alison’s Choice”. Photo Credit: Joth Riggs.