Adventures of A Webutante in Hollywood

It’s true. I’m getting better at keeping up with a weekly YouTube vlog, and I’ve learned that the key is just DOING IT. I have to remind myself – I’m not making art here, just updates. How hard is that, right??

First, I posted a video rehash of my experience hosting the Golden Globes pre and post show two years ago (talk about late to the ball game), but it feels good to clean out the hard drive and maybe give some people an inside look to what it’s like. I received a lot of comments/questions about hosting (how can I host a red carpet like that? what do you study in college?) I’ll be doing a follow-up post answering some of those questions, and later this fall, I’ll be releasing a book that will go into them in-depth…but more on that later! Read more…

Last week I spent several days in Vegas for the IAWTV Awards at CES. I was nominated for a Best Actress Award for my work on BlackBoxTV alongside several very talented actresses, and was also presenting in several categories.

To be perfectly honest, Vegas isn’t my favorite place on earth (something about the fact there are no windows in the hotels REALLY bothers me), but it was so much fun hanging out with my pals from the web TV community. Tony Valenzuela, iJustine, Ethan Newberry, The Fine Bros, Sean Becker, Felicia Day, Paula Rhodes, Stephanie Thorpe, Jenni Powell, and of course my agents and reps and all the wonderful new media execs I’ve become friends with over the years. We drank, we ate, we were merry, and….here is a fun little video of some things I observed while in Vegas that I thought I would share with you all. Enjoy!

xo

T

**Warning: this feels like an incredibly self-indulgent blog post – and it is. It’s being written if nothing for accountability, but I don’t expect anyone to find it interesting.**

I’ve always been an insanely meticulous pre-New Years goal setter. Every December since the 8th grade, I’ve typed out a “review” for my previous year, as well as goals for the upcoming year, and posted them on a bedroom wall. While this innate obsessive compulsiveness might seem a little ridiculous, quite honestly, I look forward to this brief period of reflection every single year.

One my favorite bloggers, Chris Guillebeau, does the same thing, and goes so far to share his review with all of his readers (I presume there’s no greater motivation to getting stuff done than having to answer to all of your fans.) So, in the spirit of sharing, I’ve decided to do my own Annual Review of 2011, broken down below:

TRAVEL. I explored Asia and London (this trip technically fell at the end of 2010/beginning of 2011), the South of France, Austin, Mexico (Tulum), Atlanta, New York (7 times), San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, and my home-diggity-home of Wichita, Kansas. Next year, I have plans to visit Macchu Picchu, Miami (my old alma mater), Lake Tahoe (gotta love the slopes!), and Las Vegas. Fingers crossed for Yellowstone, Argentina, and Brazil. Bonus points if I make it to Europe, my stomping ground for inspiration and relaxation. Read more…

Just in case you were getting a little too cheery…

Just kidding! I do actually love the holiday season and (mostly) everything that comes along with it.

“You Suck, Christmas” is part of a 3-video series, in collaboration with Ethan Gallagher of Totally Sketch and the oh-so-talented Ethan Newberry.

To see the other videos, please click on the links embedded in mine!

And if there’s one gift you can get me for Christmas, it’s to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Every person counts! http://www.bit.ly/TarynSouthern

Happy Holidays xo

Taryn

Last month I had the pleasure of working “It’s Fred!,” a new animated series based on Lucas Cruikshank’s infamous Fred youtube character, written by Eryk Casemiro and Kate Boutilier, best known for their work on “The Wild Thornberries” and “Rugrats” (I LOVED Rugrats!!)

Although I’ve done a little bit of voiceover work, this was my first time using a character voice (and voicing several different characters!) I had a blast, though unfortunately didn’t get to meet Lucas since he was doing his voiceover work from his hometown of Nebraska. Maybe next time!

Hope you enjoy the series, here’s the first episode:

Sometimes I wonder how my parents feel when I make music videos like this.

xo

Taryn

P.S. Support a sister and buy the iTunes song HERE. If you want to watch all the behind-the-scenes action, click HERE.

It’s always a pleasure working on a show that’s fun; it’s AMAZING to work on a show I’m actually a fan of! A few weeks ago, I got a call to host the official pre-show of the US version of The X-Factor, and could barely contain my crazy-teen-fangirl-esque excitement.

Not only am I obsessed with the British version of the series, but I’ve always had a thing about wanting to work as a host or judge on a talent competition series (psychologically speaking, probably to minimize long-term damage from my own terrifying experience as a former American Idol contestant.)

Anyway, enough babbling. Every week though December, I am hosting the official Pepsi pre-show with the hilariously awesome Dan Levy and Jim Cantiello. And if you don’t blink too fast, you might occasionally catch me hosting a segment for The X-Factor network broadcast on FOX (last week I explained the interactive elements of the X Factor app to viewers.)

So if you’re an X-Factor fan, you can tune into the pre-show every Wednesday night, 7pm EST/8pm PST on www.thexfactorusa.com. You can also download the X Factor app on iTunes and watch the pre-show on your iPad or android device. If you’re not a fan of the show, you…owe me a marshmallow.

Many of you know that breast cancer is a very important cause to me. This past weekend, a group of my lovely girlfriends (and their boobies!) came together to make a video reminding people to do their self-breast exams in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Please share if you feel inclined, and…TOUCH YOUR BOOBIES!

Read more…

Heidy ho, old friends!

Judging by my last blog, any visitors over the past three months might have assumed I disappeared in France or became a crazy spinster cat lady. While the latter might be true (see end of post), it really has just been quite a busy/fun summer – and as always, one that went by entirely too fast.

So, here it is, the UPDATE OF ALL UPDATES!

FIRST, WORK STUFF:

- BREAK.COM DEAL: I signed a little first look deal-a-roo with the awesomely hilarious video site, BREAK. A “first look deal” is really just the fancy schmancy Hollywood way of saying that they think I’m a pretty cool gal, and I think they’re pretty cool, too, so we’re gonna do multiple projects together.

On Set with Jareb Duplaise

My first project with them is Game for Gamers, a comedic instructional series teaching gamers how to get girls using gaming strategies.

You can see four promos for the series here. I had a great time working with my friends on them, and am really excited about my other stuff in the works over there. Plus they have free coke machines in their lobby. Read more…