Hej!
Sometimes time just goes and I realize I've been doing things and my blog hasn't felt it. I'm not even talking about you guys reading this because I know you won't care. But I don't want to hurt my blog's feelings, you know? Okay, maybe you don't know, but anywhoooo.
I was looking through my photos and thought 67 pics are probably like... 37... pics too many? So I tried to find a theme and when I couldn't do that I decided to make up a completely dumb theme and just roll with it.
So here it is: three things or places or stuff that happened maybe a month ago. I know, I know: I'm SO up to date here. But humor me, okay?

You remember when David and I were in San Francisco, right? The long drive there featured a bunch of truck stops in the middle of nowhere, and on one of them I decided to look around a little and maybe snap some photos.

I struck gold with this car cemetery in the desert!

AND it was also the home of a whole bunch of feral kittens!

I mean. That is Truck Stop Gold right there.

I also convinced David that we needed to take some jumping photos, so you could say I was happy already- not even close to San Francisco!
I actually really like driving places with David. Well, I don't drive because I don't have a driver's license (I KNOW!) but so often when we're going somewhere by car and we're in the middle of nowhere and there's music and just roads and we are in frickin' USA and life is so wonderful and I'm just STRUCK by this magical feeling of happiness and I don't even KNOW because it's not like it was any different the morning before but it's like the open road gives me perspective or something and yeah, this was one long ass sentence so I'll put a period on this now.

And our hotel in SF was old and decorated in a wonderfully freaky way. I mean, this photo is proof enough, right?

We had a wonderful couple of days in SF and it felt awesome to be able to stroll around in a city where it's more people than just me and the homeless out walking. (Seriously LA! The sidewalks are meant to walk on! Try it for once!)

Pretty view and loveydovey us.

Around easter my sister, her kids and their friend Rebecka came to visit us. I was so excited! Here I'm sitting and waiting and listening for sounds of a jet lagged bunch of Swedish people tumbling up the stairs.

It was so great to have them all here! I took them to all the great spots.

My niece Hilda- Already a star in Hollywood.

We went to LA Zoo of course!

And I took a selfie with a giraffe.

And we went to Santa Monica pier where it was windy as all hell.

Alfred running on the beach!

I took my sister, Sara, to UCB for a musical improv show that I love- and she of course loved it too!

When they had went back to Sweden again I felt a little like this. So tired. And the apartment was so quiet. And strange. And happy that it went so well- now we know they can come back many times!

The last thing/place/whatever is a Sunday hike to where they shot the tv series M*A*S*H. It was quite the long walk there and when we reached the spot it turned out to be the least exciting part of the entire hike.
But that doesn't mean it was boring because OMG this was a beautiful place!
I found an abundance of spooky trees, for one thing!

I climbed a few of them. And balanced high up and hoped that I wouldn't fall before the self timer had gone off so I at least would get a nice photo before I'd break all the bones in my body.
I didn't fall though. Surprising everybody (well, David), but mostly myself.

The mountains and green fuzzy hills give me so many creative ideas, you have NO idea.

Just like road trips with this guy makes me indescribably happy, seeing wondrous nature like this together makes me smile from ear to ear. It just smacks me in the head: the beautiful surroundings, the adventure, the love. And that's how you know it's kissing selfie time!

That was all from me today.
And, can we just pretend the theme was solid and perfect and you bought it completely? Okay? Thanks.

/Lotta

Hej!
High time for a new blog post, right?

These past couple of weeks have been a constant stream of reminders of how crazy our lives have become. Since Lights Out went viral we haven't been able to stop and think and I believe that it'll be years before we know for sure what all this meant for us.
When I was a kid I used to hope and dream for something like this. I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be recognized for my work. And sometimes I dreamed of being famous. You know in that childish way of thinking; that being a celebrity must be the best thing ever. Being adored by fans, going on talkshows and having you're name in all the big magazines. I don't want to be famous in that way anymore, not really. It scares me to think of the lives huge celebrities have. Never being free to just go outside without paparazzi chasing you, always having to be a perfect version of yourself- a version that probably isn't even real, always being judged on your appearance, and so on.
I just want to act and make movies.
But I can't lie and say that these two couple of weeks haven't been awesome. Because they have made that child in me scream "DREAM COME TRUE!!!". It's been lovely, no scary side effects- just crazy fun!
So let me tell you about it, okay?

A couple of weeks ago we went to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to promote Lights Out. We flew in a private plane filled with celebrities. Samuel L Jackson, Alexander Skarsgård (yay, fellow swede!), Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Eddie Redmayne and like twenty other famous actors were on the same flight as us. My mouth was turned into a huge smile the entire trip. And then we arrived in Vegas and realized almost all of Hollywood was there, and we were the only people invited that no one recognized. It was a crazy day.
I was introduced to Jared Leto and I can't remember a single thing we talked about. We did a press line- that's when journalists stand in a line and the actors and directors walk from interview to interview and answer the same question a million times over. David and I sometimes had to wait a little after we had done one interview before going on to the next, because we're not nearly as interesting as Amy Adams or Will Smith...

And then we took press photos on a red carpet thing. Almost like the press line when we talked to journalists, but here it was the photographers that stood in line taking our picture. We look so calm and collected here, but let me tell you- it was nerve wracking!

It was so cool to see the Lights Out teaser poster at Caesar's Palace!

This picture is here to demonstrate how tired we were after that day in Vegas.

Last saturday we were tagged in a photo on instagram from the event Monsterpalooza in Pasadena just outside of Los Angeles. It was a photo of one of the displays there, one that was a tribute to our short Lights Out. We found out it was going to be there the next day too so on sunday we drove to Pasadena. Happy and excited, as you can tell.

Look at this thing! It's a sculpture made by The Scary Closet and it's so incredibly detailed it's crazy! The guy who made this, Mark, was super nice and we were so happy to be able to see him and his work in person.

You do know that I am both the woman and the monster in the short Lights Out, right? Yep, it's true! That's me!
If you don't believe me you can see this little clip on how David altered my face to look like the monster.

We got to sign the doll in the back of the head, and then some fans came up and wanted to take pictures with us, which felt really cool.

Then on tuesday David and I were guests on the podcast Modern Horror. It's actually been a real dream come true for me to be on a podcast. As the daughter of a radio journalist I think it's now in my genes to love being on the radio. Every time I've had the opportunity to be on Swedish radio (three or four times, because of Lights Out when it went viral) I've loved it so much and podcast has a more relaxed and casual tone to it that I really like.
Anyways, the guys over at Modern Horror were awesome, and if you want to listen to the podcast you can do that here. We're on at 32 minutes into the program if you want to go right to our part of the show. We talk about the entire journey of turning a short into a feature and the crazy adventure we're on right now.

On Wednesday David and I were invited to our first Hollywood Movie Premiere. It was for the Key and Peele movie Keanu. We really looked forward to seeing what happens at an event like this, since we have our own to attend in July when Lights Out premieres. We saw it as studying for the finals, sort of. So obviously I wanted to look like I fit in.

I love how David sneaks into my super glam selfie!

And then last Thursday David and I went to California State University Fullerton. The film students there (CSUF FMAA) had organized a screening of all of our shortfilms and behind the scenes videos and then we did a Q and A. It was absolutely wonderful!
We felt so welcome and like our story could actually inspire them in their future work. That is the best feeling for us. After the Q and A we took pictures and selfies with almost everyone and we even signed a few autographs. I've never felt more like a celebrity!
When we drove home afterwards it was with warm cheeks and hearts, and I can definitely say that THAT night was the best Dream Come True moment of them all. It was real and honest and just perfect.

Every day we are struck by this feeling of WOW! But every day we are also just living our lives. And I think that the thing that has hit me the most in this adventure is how we experience all of it the same way we would everything else in our lives. We are (obviously) the same people we were before we made a short that went viral, and every day that goes by I realize that I'm never going to turn into someone else. So if I someday end up on a talkshow I will probably, most certainly, be a total wreck before and during the interview, and I will have red cheeks and I'll talk a little too fast, and snort when I laugh, and I will for sure tell a story that is a little bit embarrassing for myself, but you know what? That's how I want it to go, because that cool and collected person from my childhood dreams just isn't me. And the Dream Come True moments wouldn't feel as huge if I wasn't acting like myself. Horse giggle and all.

Hej!
What a weekend!
David and I went to WonderCon for the Lights Out marketing and first reveal of the Lights Out trailer and the internet went bonkers.
Let's take a look at all the shenanigans we were up to!

(David and I even made t-shirts!)

But first things first: The trailer!

It feels really great that there's actually proof of this movie out in the world now. And that I'm in it too! AWESOME! I'll be in the beginning of the movie and as you can see in the trailer it's a big nod to the shortfilm.

The official Warner Bros upload is here and if you want to tweet about it, make sure to hashtag with #LightsOut.

Like I mentioned earlier David and I went to Wondercon on Saturday. It was such a blast! We sat on the stage of the HUGE Microsoft Theatre and talked about how Lights Out went from a short to a feature. Maria Bello was there (she's in the movie!) and James Wan who's producing Lights Out. It was so much fun to be a part of all that.

After the panel David and I talked to a whole bunch of journalists in a Press Line. FUN and quite exhausting.
David also spoke one on one with a few journalists, and then we could roam around WonderCon! A few fans came up and talked with us and that felt so lovely! To see some of you for real.

My sister and her kids are in LA for a week. It was so great to have her in town for this crazy Hollywood experience, and to be able to show her all of it!

When the trailer was uploaded to the internet comments started to pour in.
Because this entire journey started on the internet we love to read all the comments, and we try to keep up with everything that's happening. This time it was harder because it was just EVERYWHERE!
I have seen a lot of wonderful comments mentioning me though and I thought I'd share some of them here since they've made me so happy.

I want you to know that even if my part in the Lights Out feature isn't a very big one your comments make me so happy and sure that this is just the beginning. The fact that you want to see me on the big screen, that you root for me, makes me very hopeful and warm inside. So THANK YOU for that!

I am so proud of the journey that David and I have made so far. From making 0 budget shorts in our apartment in Sweden, to being in LA turning our shortfilm into a feature film for a big Hollywood studio. It has gone so fast!
And this is just the very start. We have more shorts to make, and we have more full length movies to make. And it is so lovely to have all of you supporting us along the way.

Love
/Lotta

Hej!
On Monday David and I went to San Francisco for a few days. David's brother Joakim was there for a gaming convention to show his new game, and since he was in the same country AND state as us we of course wanted to go and see him. We were eager to spend some time in San Francisco too, since we haven't been there more than a few hours before.
We had an amazing stay- San Francisco is a beautiful city- and on Wednesday, before we drove back to LA, I documented the hours we had left in SF with my Nikon.
Let's see what we were up to, okay?

The hotel breakfast was kind of a bummer so the last day in the city I had looked up a café that supposedly served great bagels and coffee - so we drove there.
The difference between LA and SF became very clear here. THIS is a city. LA is weird and spread out, but SF has to squeeze everything into a small area. That makes for some real hustle and bustle totally unlike LA. I like both, but it was quite refreshing to spend an early morning in this vibrant city.

I'll never stop thinking Nob Hill is funny. Never. Giggle every time I see this photo.

And here we were! Beanstalk Cafe, squeezed between buildings in the middle of building renovations. I love it!

David looked cute, and a little worried. I asked him a camera related question and this was his face before answering.

This, my dear friends and readers, is a Cragel. Croissant and Bagel coming together in a beautiful way.
When I saw people raving about it on yelp I knew I had to try. This is their morning cragel. Scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon. Yup! It was AMAZING!

OMnomnomNOM!

David also chose a cragel. Of course.

The cafe was tiny. We were so lucky to catch the only table in there. Lots of regulars came in to get there coffee and bagel fix. All of them were perfectly individual characters. The "mayor" (that's what he looked like at least) talking in his best booming speech voice as to make sure no one misses his presence. The old man sitting quietly on the bar stool sipping coffee and reading his paper like he most certainly does every day.
It was lovely to watch it all while having our breakfast. It was the perfect start of the day.

Okay. No more pictures.

Look at that cool cold brew machine! It dripped- slowly, oh so slowly- filling the decanter in the bottom.

And then we had to get going. We wanted to see one more thing before we left San Francisco.
But first one more look at the city!

We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.

And went to Muir Woods! Even though we were early both the parking areas were filled to the brim and we had to park along the road. Faaaaar down the road.
So we had to take a walk to get to the walk, haha!

SO worth it.
Muir Woods is a beautiful redwood forest with thousand year old trees looming high above our heads.

(Can you see the two tiny old ladies in the middle?)

Tourists of all ages. Isn't this the cutest?

This one is quite cute too. Trying to get an entire tree into one photo- It's impossible!

All you could do in Muir Woods was look up, following the tree trunks all the way up, up, up.

It makes you feel really small.

Aah. So lovely up there.

One of my all time favorite things: sunshine coming through the branches in spots, creating the loveliest combination of light and dark.

Here's another one.

And here. (If you look closely you can see a spider web in between the branches)

And this! See what I mean?

Spider webs everywhere!

The sunshine was especially tricky here. The contrast are beautiful, but can make it super hard to get the photo you want.

Hi!
The girl in the entrance kiosk told me I looked smashing in my outfit. That made me happy, because I felt kinda tired and very far from smashing.

I have a lot of photos like this. Dark trees and bright green foliage. Can't get enough of it!

Always a big fan of creepy roots.

Looks like some kind of pre historic monster.

It's fun to take photos of other tourists being touristy.

Muir Woods was such a wonderful place. I actually cried a little because I was so overwhelmed by it all. Nature is fucking awesome!

And when we got out of the woods we stopped to take in this fairly astounding view.

It felt like a good way to end our San Francisco trip.

We drove back to LA with new energy and when we drove into Hollywood and saw all the movie posters it actually felt like coming home. Isn't that strange?
And walking through the door to our apartment, it smelled like home.
Not like New Apartment.
Home.