The Hollywood Report

My little family of 3 (plus our sweetheart babysitter!) made our way to LA last week to venture in an exciting opportunity for my singer/songwriter hubby, Stevie.

Long story short: Stevie and his buddy Jeff created a story for a made-for-TV family movie called The Jensen Project (airing July 16, 2010 on NBC, 8/7c.). That, in itself, is so exciting for us! Then to make things even sweeter, Stevie was given the opportunity to write a song for The Jensen Project soundtrack, being produced by Randy Jackson. Randy liked the song Steven wrote (called Anything is Possible), so we headed to California!

Below is Stevie recording in the sound booth. My heart was beating fast for him as he sang for one of biggest music moguls around. He did fantastic job and there were high-fives all around when he finished. Randy complimented his vocal range citing that most men can't sing that high. Go Steven!

(Below) Steven and Randy (a REALLY nice guy) in the control room. Randy is an interesting and interested (in others) person. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I met him, but I was surprised and impressed how real and down to earth he is. He's also an insanely talented musician and producer. One thing is for sure, he didn't get to where he is now by accident.

Keith, the sound engineer, is in the background. Also, a REALLY nice (and talented) person.

Talking to Randy, below. We were actually talking about event planning! He told me I had the hardest job and shared stories about event planners he knows having to deal with celebrities (their tardiness and crazy requests) at events... I'm not quite there.. yet, at least! ;)

Below is one of the actresses, Alyssa Diaz, from The Jensen Project. She was in the studio that night recording a song for the movie soundtrack. Everyone said we looked like sisters, but she insisted we looked like cousins instead, which became a running joke that night.

Baby Joy, Emilee (our terrific babysitter!) and I headed back to Cinci a day early because I had a wedding to be home for. It was a quick, tiring but FUN trip. These are good times in the Manuel home!