About Shanice Kamminga

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So far Shanice Kamminga has created 21 entries.

On Becoming an Actress: A Confession

Forgive me, acting Gods and blog readers, for I have sinned. You see, although I’ve had a faint inkling for the last year and a half, the past six months have solidified a long standing hypothesis of mine into a full fledged, life changing truth.

I have discovered something about myself that in hindsight makes so much sense, yet took a lot for me to accept considering the last five years of my life and, well, the entirety of this blog. So behold here a baffling revelation and some brutal honesty (which I may regret when the effects of this glass of wine wind off…)

September 9th, 2015|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: , |9 Comments
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Los Angeles: Expectations Versus Reality

The end of 2014 marked 1,5 years in Los Angeles for me, or halfway through the stay my O1-B visa allows. People often ask me if LaLaLand is what I thought it would be. After going through all that trouble to get here, does it live up to expectations? Well, I’m still not married to a 90 year old producer/sugar daddy, so I guess it’s been a major letdown…I kid!

No, in al honesty, it’s a bit of a difficult question, since I kind of gradually eased into LA. I visited Los Angeles as an 18 year old tourist with my family in tow, as a 19 and 20 year old University of Amsterdam student escaping the summers to take acting classes, as a 22 year old to chase a visa for eight months long, and as a 23 year old to try one final time. So I guess the proper way to phrase the question is: How did the final move to LA and hustle to become a working actress compare to the one that had been playing in my imagination all those years? Well, tell you I shall…

February 23rd, 2015|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: , , |20 Comments
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Actors Leaving LA & Why Success Doesn’t Equal Happiness

On May 31st was my first LA anniversary. Yup, it’s been one full year since I stepped on the plane in Amsterdam and left my old life behind. It was little different than I thought it would be, since May was possibly the worst month of my LA life so far. In the span of just one month I got into a pretty bad accident with my one month old motorcycle, had to deal with the financially and emotionally draining aftermath, got hit by a car on my bicycle, slipped with my new motorcycle and both my phone and laptop died. But what matters is that my LAnniversary made me think of all the people that come here, and then leave within one or two years. And the people that come here, and stay. For years and years, sometimes without ever  “making it.” It made me wonder which of these people I would belong to…

June 20th, 2014|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: |17 Comments
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Behind The Scenes of Samson!

Remember when I wrote, produced and acted in my own short? I was pretty much on cloud nine throughout whole thing (and had a little trouble adjusting back to normal life after nearly two months of working on the short full time). We had an amazing crew, a great atmosphere on set, and got 50% of our funding through generous donations of awesome people. To inspire you to create you own projects as well, here’s a little behind the scenes video of the making of Samson…

February 4th, 2014|Categories: Los Angeles, News|Tags: , , , , |12 Comments
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Five Myths About the O1 Visa

I have booked my ticket back to the Netherlands… for the holidays! You didn’t think I was going back after more than two years of insanity-, tears-, and fear-loaded work, did ya? Nope, life with the O1 visa in LA has been pretty good so far. As an impatient and overly ambitious person I’m never quite satisfied of course, but I’m working on my craft and career everyday, and as long as I can do that I’m happy. For the first time I feel like I am where I belong, with people who are like me. It’s the little things: audiences clapping after a movie, people smiling to each other on the street… And it’s all thanks to that little piece of paper called an O1 visa, and my awesome immigration lawyer Kate Raynor. So for all of you who are also thinking of moving here to act or write do anything else creative, here are five myths about the O1 visa…

October 15th, 2013|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: |15 Comments
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Lanterns & The Meaning of Life

Let me tell you the tale of a lantern. I’m sure you’ve never heard a more exciting introduction but bear with me, this is one of those posts where I go deep, yo.

When I came back from Los Angeles in September last year I was still waiting to hear from a really big agency that I met with days before flying back. All I could think about was getting that agent, applying for my visa and moving back to LA again.

Shortly after my return in the Netherlands I celebrated my birthday with some friends and family, and one of my aunts had gotten me one of those Thai wishing lanterns. When night fell we went outside to the garden at my parents’ place, and as we lit the fire of the lantern I silently made a wish. Everyone knew what the wish was of course, but then something happened…

July 22nd, 2013|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: |23 Comments
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Los Angeles Neighborhoods: A Breakdown

Good news, the dream apartment I mentioned in the last post is mine! I’ll move in next month, making it the 9th place I’ve lived at in LA. Let me summarize: when I first came to LA for just the summer at 19 I stayed in North Hollywood. I had such a great time that I did so again the summer after. Then when I returned for a six month stretch at 22 I stayed with a friend in Valley Village, followed by two months in Venice with a roommate from hell. Luckily I then met a lovely American lady in Culver City who I stayed with until my return to the Netherlands. And again during my three month last-attempt-to-find-an-agent stay (interrupted by a week and a half in Hollywood).

Add to that the four different places I’ve stayed at since my permanent return three weeks ago, many acting classes, agency meetings (oh and who am I kidding: shopping trips) and I would say that despite me being fairly new to Lalaland, I have a pretty good idea of the layout of this city. So for all of you that consider visiting or moving to LA, here’s a neighborhood breakdown…

June 24th, 2013|Categories: Los Angeles|Tags: |9 Comments
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Interview With an O-1B Actor: Samba Schutte

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: despite rumours of everyone being fake and out for themselves in Los Angeles, I’ve met some of the most genuine, kind and giving people there. Samba Schutte is one of them. (Yup, that’s Samba and not Thriller era Michael Jackson.) Samba is a Dutch-Mauritanian Actor who moved to Los Angeles on an O-1B visa a few years ago. He is now a regular at The World Famous Comedy Store and recently played the lead in the film Haleema that premiered at the Berlinale Film Festival.

I met Samba on my last trip to Los Angeles, and he’s helped me a lot with informing me on the visa proces and keeping faith while waiting those long, long months. And he was kind enough to want to share this information with you too!

March 20th, 2013|Categories: Other Actors|Tags: , , |6 Comments
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Interview with a Working Actress: Grace Phipps

It was June 2012 and I was on the corner of Hollywood & Highland, in front of the Roosevelt Hotel, sweating like any Dutch girl would at that time of the year at that location. But an egg shell colored Beetle with a sassy brunette at the wheel came to relieve me. That is how I first met Grace and why I had no choice but to like her. That and the fact that she is a down to earth, sweet and smart actress, not always abundant in LaLaLand.

Grace was discovered at her high school in Austin, Texas and started working pretty much immediately after she touched down in LA. Two years, a bunch of exciting acting jobs (you can currently see Grace in The Vampire Diaries) and quite some LA wisdom later Grace was kind enough to share her experiences and advice here…

December 3rd, 2012|Categories: Other Actors|Tags: |14 Comments
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The Oscars, The Movies & Me

Last Sunday it was Oscar slash Academy Awards time again, or as Billy Crystal said it: millionaires handing each other golden statues in a time of recession. I personally think the Oscars have been very boring the last few years. Safe jokes, presenters who aren’t comedians…And to make it worse: this year didn’t even have stunning dresses or fresh new faces!

Not that it matters. It still is and always will be the ultimate dream for any actor, including myself, to win one of those shiny naked men. See the proof in the picture above, where I hold my very first Oscar at age 11.  This particular one was made by my mother and uncle for the Dutch holiday Sinterklaas. I received my last Oscar only a month ago, the Oscar for Best Girlfriend, left by my boyfriend after he departed LA. Because despite the decent dullness, there’s always one thing the Academy Awards Show succeeds in…

February 29th, 2012|Categories: Other Actors|Tags: , , |5 Comments
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