For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed award-winning actor-producer Nancy Nagrant. She founded Amenone Productions in 2014 to generate work for film, television, and theater with an emphasis on the female protagonist. Anemone’s films have played at festivals such as: LA Shorts, St. Louis, and Reel Sisters. They have been official selections in 24 festivals thus far, and have garnered eight awards from 17 nominations. To learn more, visit her website.

Q: What are you currently working on? Tell us about it.

I’m currently working on a project tentatively titled American Girlhood. It explores the subtle and not-so-subtle lessons girls learn as they come of age in American society. From “be content with what you get” to “be careful what you wear,” American Girlhood aims to create “shared memories” of growing up that all women can relate to. 

I’m collaborating with a friend from college. She and I used to collaborate on theater projects a lot back at university and also when she lived here in NYC. It’s been a while, and this is our first film project and it’s exciting to be back working with her. We’ve known each other for a long time, and know each other pretty well. It’s nice to collaborate with someone like that because you have such a refined short-hand. 

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

She and I met in Chicago in 2019 to see another college friend in a show. She mentioned she had this idea for some sort of creative project, maybe a film, but she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. She went on to share a story from her early-teenage past. It was all so clear to me, almost as if it had happened to me. We talked a lot about the impact it had on her, and I then shared a story from my early-teenage past. Each of these stories was so vivid and visceral. We knew what it looked like and felt like, without having to have had the *exact* same experience. We knew it was subject matter ripe for exploration.

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment?

I’ve had a couple of big revelations during the last year. I had COVID back in mid-March 2020 right as the massive wave hit NYC. It was a really frightening time on so many levels. I’m very lucky that I had a minor case that didn’t require me to go to the hospital. That said, my recovery took a long time. I suffered from headaches and brain fog for over a year, and still haven’t fully recovered my sense of smell. My not being able to work as I normally do really threw me for a loop.

I’m lucky to have a group of smart women to talk to on a regular basis. An important discovery I’ve had is about following my heart vs letting my mind take charge. “The mind is a wonderful servant but terrible master.” Yeah, I’m thinking about that on a very deep level. For most of my life I’ve really let my brain take charge, as opposed to letting my heart lead. My busy, loud, bully of a mind had been running rampant, and I had lost contact with what my heart was saying.

The last month or so my life has gotten busy again, and all of a sudden I’ve fallen into that same hamster wheel — putting out fires, and working on tasks for others at the expense of what is actually important to me. I’m sure that’s relatable to a lot of folks out there. I just recently listened to my 22-year-old niece talk about this very thing, and it broke my heart a little. It’s very seductive — “being productive” — and so many of us place such high importance on it, but ultimately it just makes us miserable. 

So my intention for life is to get very quiet, listen for what my heart has to say, and let that lead the way. That is my role in this moment. 

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

I am most interested in experiencing work that puts females at the center of the action. I’ve seen more than my fair share of art from a male point of view. I’m all about the female gaze. That goes across the art world, but let’s specifically talk about film and TV creators.

I’m especially excited when I see something on screen that feels like it’s lifted from my life, but that I’ve never seen portrayed before. It’s so profound and inspiring. That’s the work I’m most excited to watch, not to mention create. 

Here are creators who have given me that experience: Lena Dunham, Issa Rae, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Shonda Rhimes, Jane Campion, Reese Witherspoon, Joey Soloway.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist?

Connection and collaboration. 

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I have two short films out on the circuit right now. Miracle Baby, which I co-produced and also starred in, is a 19-minute psychological thriller about power and revenge within a troubled marriage. Incurable, which I co-produced, is a nine-minute serious rom-com about love, rejection, and an overactive imagination. I am so proud of both of them. They both premiered in 2020, which was less than ideal obviously, but I just returned from the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival that happened in person, which was absolutely thrilling.

I have also been brought on to help produce, and potentially act in, a new television series called Kangaroo Flat. It’s a half-hour magical-realism dramedy set in 1960s rural Australia and present-day NYC about finding your place in this world. 

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

As an actor it happens when I get lost in what I’m doing and forget that I’m performing — in fact I’m not really performing anymore, I’m just living. As a producer it happens when I anticipate and solve problems — taking care of the people and the project. Oh and when I’m on my way to set — I tend to feel very at peace and empowered in those moments. 

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

Developing and executive producing work that features women behind and in front of the camera. And of course, I’d have to star in some of it!

Q: What has been your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

Not being clear enough in my vision. Not having a mentor. 

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I’ve been practicing Vedic Meditation 20 minutes twice a day for eight years. It’s been a huge game-changer in my life.

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

Trying to make myself fit into what I think someone may want as opposed to just being my authentic self. 

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

I love wandering around a museum, discovering new things along with old favorites. I’m not sure I have a favorite piece of art though. The Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre takes my breath away. I’ve recently discovered Lee Bontecou’s sculptures, and they give me all the emotions. 

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead?

I admire Meryl Streep very much. Her talent is an inspiration, and she’s just so classy. Confident, kind, present. 

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Broadening our story-telling spectrum by driving forward stories that feature female protagonists, and uplifting and championing female and other under-represented humans as I do.

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Grounded. Empathetic. Fierce. 

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

I love sleeping in. I also watch an awful lot of TV, the “guiltiest” of which is competition reality shows — RuPaul’s Drag Race, Top Chef, Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model. 

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

I’d probably share the lesson about letting the heart be the master and the mind be the servant. Beyond that I’d say prioritize self-care: meditate, floss, wear sunscreen. 

Q: Where would you most like to live?

I really do love living in NYC. But I would like to live where I could see a body of water. I’d like to be able to witness something that large and impressive on a daily basis. To be able to observe its cycles. I think it would be very educational and inspirational.

Q: What is your idea of success?

A balanced life. 

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

Living in the present moment.

Q: Final Thoughts?

Thank you for inviting me to do this, and for these thought-provoking questions.

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed writer-director-producer Elizabeth Page. Olympia Dukakis produced one of Elizabeth’s first plays, Spare Parts, which moved Off Broadway to Circle in the Square Downtown and brought her into television where she won six Emmy awards and four Writers Guild awards and fell in love with the camera which brought her to film school and on to making award-winning shorts and online content for artists like Melba Moore. Page is the founder of From Script to Preproduction, a lab for women filmmakers.  For more information, visit www.elizabethpage.org.

Q: What are you currently working on? Tell us about it.

I’m working on a narrative feature film about an exuberant, ambitious 18-year-old woman who wakes up after a raucous campus party and discovers she may have been sexually assaulted – she has no memory of what happened and everyone at the party has a different story.  The film follows her efforts to get help, find the truth, and ultimately reclaim her life, jumping out to retell what happened in that dark room six different ways and never telling you what really happened. 

We explore the impacts on everyone involved – the young man who’s initially accused, his so-called best friend who may be more involved than he claims, his teammates who have reasons to hope she never remembers, and her roommate who has her own secret.  While the film is certainly issue-driven, it also aims to attract its core audience – high school students looking to college, college students, survivors and their friends and family – by leaning into classic movie tropes: mystery, suspense, courtroom drama, romance, and friendship.

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

My daughter is an only child and grew up tagging along after another only child in our building.  When this slightly older girl headed off to college, we cheered her on, only to discover a few months in that she’d been raped at a frat party.  She was devastated and her life derailed. 

It enraged me and upset me, and when my daughter was also cornered at a party – and mercifully escaped – I began to research what was going on and discovered that while sexual assault had always happened at colleges, it had now become a “thing” – that in fact 1 in 4 college girls were being sexually assaulted.  Colleges administrations had no idea how to handle it and then when the Trump administration began rolling back the few protections and processes in place, I felt compelled to do something. 

And so I wrote this script, convinced that only by raising questions and challenging students to take the issue into their own hands, would real change happen.  The plan is to make the film with students and then to take it to colleges and high schools and finally release it where students consume their content – on streaming platforms.

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment?

At the moment I’m doing what is possible.  

I pitched a weekly column about the impacts of COVID-19 on the community to a string of Hearst newspapers in Connecticut last March and they loved it. I’ve been doing that for the past year.  It may end up as a book – if we get a happy ending. In the column, I am able to talk about how the virus is impacting all aspects of our lives, and also help persuade people to trust the science and follow the recommendations.

I also took my lab, From Script to PreProduction, online when COVID hit.  The lab helps level the playing field by helping women filmmakers create all the materials they need to attract financing and producing partners.  We choose up to eight filmmakers and work with them collaboratively for six months to create loglines, synopses, pitches, lookbooks, reels, social media imagery, websites, preliminary schedules and budgets, and business plans.  I know it’s been of great comfort to the women in our cohort to be able to meet weekly and continue to work on their projects – in other words to have a community and to feel like they are progressing as artists.  While I usually only do this once a year, I decided to do it again this spring to help as many filmmakers as I can during this pandemic. Applications are open until February 15th on Coverfly and thereafter by reaching out to me.

I’m also preparing to go back out to continue raising financing for About That Night as soon as the vaccine is more available and it’s safer to meet.  I think it’s very important to have faith in ourselves and our work and keep going.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

Way back when I was of course inspired and influenced by every great writer out there – in particular Shakespeare, who still dazzles me; Dylan Thomas, who’s always been my boyfriend; and Fugard, who never fails to break my heart. 

Right now I’m swept away by Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Kitty Green’s The Assistant.  Fantastic films.  Can’t wait to see what they do next.  And can’t wait to see Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow – love her work.

I am also very inspired by the women out there today who are giving back to the film community. Tema Staig, who founded Women in Media and is focusing on training women below the line and getting them hired. Leah Meyerhoff, who founded Film Fatales and has built it into a huge resource for women directors. Naomi McDougall Jones who, along with Joanne Zippel, reinvented indie film distribution, put together a film fund and wrote a brilliant book, The Wrong Kind of Women, that takes down the film industry for its misogyny and short-sightedness.  All of them have been very supportive of my lab and their example motivates me every day. 

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist?

I have a prayer and meditation practice that keeps me grounded and inspired.  Also my work often centers on a social issue so I feel a real obligation to get the work made and out there.  Finally. my work with other women filmmakers in my lab inspires me every day – there are just so many brilliant women out there making amazing work.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I have been making notes on two screenplays – a tragi-comedy called In Your Dreams and a romantic thriller called Fever set 100 years ago.  I hope to make both films with friends.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

Any time I walk onto a set – especially if it’s to direct something I’ve written – I know I’m living in my vision.  I just love it. 

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

The barrier I face – and most women filmmakers face – is money.    If I were able to have ready access to the money I need, I’d be making a film. 

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

Money.

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I consume art.  Whether it’s reading scripts or novels, watching films or plays, listening to music, looking at paintings or sculptures. I really love great art and it always inspires me.

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

It’s kind of hard to argue with the facts – that it is in fact much harder for women to get financed and distributed.  And yet on another level, I think it’s necessary to let go of that “truth” and go for it with the expectation that it’s going to happen.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

The desert island question – what would I bring…  anything by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead?

I have to say that in my lifetime, I most admire the Obamas.  The courage it took to walk into the buzz saw of the presidency given the racism in this country – in the world! – and how they did so much to move the country forward, and did it with such grace, good humor and excellence was just astounding.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

That my work has helped women.

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Imaginative.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

First, “guilty” and “pleasure” should never be in the same sentence. That being said, I love the water – I love looking at it in every light, in every season. I love smelling the salt. I swim and sail every day as soon as it’s warm enough.

I also like to cook and I like to garden. As a writer and filmmaker, I spend so much time in my head, I just love taking a break and working with my hands.  And in both cases – cooking and gardening – the rewards are immediate.  I love to eat and after an hour or so of cooking, I get to sit down to wonderful food.  And with gardening it’s even simpler – I get to dig in the dirt!

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

It gets better.

Q: Where would you most like to live?

I’m very lucky.  I have a little house by the water that we rebuilt slowly but surely over two decades and I just love it there.  We also have a place to stay in the city.  So I get to live in my two favorite places.  

Q: What is your idea of success? 

Being paid to do my own work.

Q: What is your idea of happiness? 

Doing my own work. 

Q: Final thoughts?

Thank you so much for asking me to do this.  Thinking through all these questions was really rewarding.

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed entertainer-MC-host-Interviewer Richard Skipper. He has conducted more than 700 interviews celebrating people in the arts. This past year, Richard completed an artist in residence at the Laurie Beechman Theater in New York City where he presented a monthly talk-variety show produced by Russ Woolley. His one-man show The Magic of Believing will be ready for booking when pandemic restrictions are lifted. For more information visit www.richardskipper.com.

Q: What are you currently working on? Tell us about it.

Since the pandemic hit, I have focused solely on interviewing others. It is really nothing new, but the platform has changed. For years, I’ve done in store interviews for Barnes & Noble, red carpet events, and blogs. One of my goals this year was to launch my own podcast. I live stream on Facebook and YouTube, and then it is syndicated through my podcast, which is syndicated on more than 25 platforms.   

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

Richard Skipper Celebrates, my brand, came about several years ago when I started my blog. When I first began my blog, it was called Richard’s Rants and Raves. A good friend pointed out that I was always raving but seldom, if ever, ranting. He was right and I came up with Richard Skipper Celebrates because I believe every day is worth celebrating. I also want to be the antidote to all of the negativity in the world today.  

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment?

To uplift. Building upon what I said before, there is enough negativity in this world. Why build upon it? I don’t know why we became a snarky nation.  

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

My first artistic hero was Miss Florence. She was my first mentor. She instilled in me a reverence for those that have gone before me. She told me that every time I step in front of an audience (either physically or virtually), that I carry the mantle of all that have gone before me, and to this day, I take a moment to pause in gratitude for those that have paved the way for me. My other artistic heroes are Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, James Lipton, and Graham Norton!   

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist?

By my very nature, I’m a very optimistic person. Even with what we are going through at the time of this interview, I’m looking forward to what I believe will be an even greater future. I love the creative process. After I do my morning pages and meditation, I’m open to the possibilities of what every day holds. I think of myself as a vessel and am open to the possibilities ahead of me. I try to say YES when I can. I think of each day, especially now, as its own entity. I also only think about what I can accomplish in the next 24 hours.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I am very busy with my interview series. One of my goals going into 2020 was launching my own podcast. They stream live through Facebook and YouTube and then are syndicated on to more than 25 platforms. I’ve also launched a bi-monthly program with Dr. Judi Bloom called  Creativity In The Age of Covid.  

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

Setting an “intention”  and following it through to fruition. When I apply myself wholeheartedly to my goals and they happen! Every time I hit the “end” button at the end of every interview, I know I’m living my vision.  

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

Exactly what I’m doing now. I have found my true calling in life. I truly love interviewing others and finding what makes them tick. My focus on others takes the focus off me, which is very gratifying especially nowadays. 

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

The word ‘no’. I’m a ‘yes’ man and unless the yes is going to be met with tension, I try to be open to that. The more I’ve studied the lives of others, I’ve discovered even with the greatest successes, there are those that go through life wanting to obstruct rather than being open to most opportunities.  Imagine a world of YES instead of NO!

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I’m a huge follower of Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way.

 Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

Projecting negative thoughts about an outcome when they are not warranted.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

That is truly a difficult question. I try to look at art through the eyes of those that create it. I’m always interested in the backstory. What are the circumstances that brought this piece of art to us? 

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Being thought of as someone who is interested in others and always being present to their needs or helping them to be able to tell their story.  

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be? 

Empathetic.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

Believe it or not, my work is my guilty pleasure. I LOVE what I do!  

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

That was 2005, I was 44. I went back and looked at that calendar year. It was a very busy year for me workwise. I would say: enjoy the day to day process. Take the time to smell the roses. I also look at the people who were in my life at that time who are no longer here. Appreciate the people that make the fabric of your life. Show gratitude to all they bring to the table.  

Q: Where would you most like to live? 

Depends on the outcome of this year’s election!  

Q: What is your idea of success?

Being able to do what I desire to do when, where, and how I desire to do it without the permission of others.

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

My home life, my career, my pets, my husband, music, sitting in the audience of a great entertainer, being in the spotlight, sharing the spotlight, seeing those that I love succeed.  

Q: Final Thoughts?

Please go out and do something nice for someone else without expecting anything in return. Go to your Friend’s list on Facebook and call the seventh name on your list and tell them that you love them and what they mean to you! “We are all in this together, but not in the same boat!” -David Friedman 

 

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed  actor-director-writer-producer Morgan Millogo. Morgan spent five years as part of the Seattle Indie film scene as an actor and director, and was also a burlesque performer and emcee. Her recently released web series Tabs & Clea marks her first project as a writer, actor, director and producer since the passing of her father in 2010.

Q: What are you currently working on? Tell us about it. 

I just released my web series Tabs & Clea about a psychic going through a crisis of faith and her audacious ex-roommate showing up to help uncover the truth of a tragedy that was unforeseen. It’s six short episodes, which can all be found at tabsandclea.com. 

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project? 

Tabs & Clea is an exploration of spirituality and death. What we get to know, what we don’t get to know, how there are reasons and a plan beyond our understanding. Being a spiritual person who does ancestral work and works with spirit guides, I have learned that even those of us who are in tune and work to help people, don’t get to know everything. Also, we aren’t always meant to save people, which is a harsh lesson for any hero journey and something that I wanted to explore with Tabs. How can you have a gift that is meant to help people, and death can still result? What is it like to have a spiritual gift and go through a crisis of faith? 

I decided to make a web series because I had an acting partner to play Tabs, and I initially was going to play Clea, until I discovered I was pregnant. I knew I could pull off making and completing this series with next to no money. I also have a love for television and decided this would be a fun, doable experience. I’ve made short films and I’ve worked on independent feature films. A web series format was exciting to embark on and there was a great freedom to allow the episodes to be the length that felt organic to each individual one. 

With all of my limitations and resources in mind, I wrote the series to fit what we could do. The majority of the scenes take place in the same location that I had access to, and I used the support of friends and family and local businesses to make the little things happen, such as DIY lighting, meals for the shoot, and art direction. The cast and crew came together based on everyone reading the script and wanting to do it. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who donated their time, energy, resources, talent and skills to tell this story. 

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment? 

There are dual roles happening: an individual role and community role. For myself, I was laid off in April because of COVID and have been spending the months since running my household, doing deep work on myself, and looking for a job. My understanding is that this is my time to transform and evolve into the next chapter of my life. It is time for me to step up and embrace my dreams head on and not to give up. As a storyteller, I have a lot to offer this world, and I need to truly own and trust that. 

For my community role, being a true ally is my current focus. Within the work I do, I fight for diversity and inclusivity, and I tend to take on and support taboo or dark subjects that need to be explored and discussed. I listen to BIPOC about what good allyship looks like, and I work to be that ally. Supporting BIPOC through their projects and building diverse teams are top priorities for me as I move forward. I believe what many white people need to understand is there is room for all of us to share our unique voices. Just because a BIPOC person gets a job or gets funding for their project, doesn’t mean you will not. Oppression and racism are born out of fear, including fear of “the other” getting what you have or what you want, and then you don’t get to have it. This fear is not based in truth and can even be unconscious. It’s time to make it conscious and step up to release it. Now is the time for white people in the industry to do the hard work and not simply continue to hire their white friends and colleagues. Take the extra time to seek out true diversity, not tokenism, for your writer’s rooms, casts and crews. There is room for all of us, and we can support each other and lift each other up. 

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

During my 20s, my greatest influences were Rebecca Miller, Miranda July, and Amanda Palmer, all incredible independent spirits with a DIY drive and intriguing experimental elements with their storytelling. 

As I have been in my 30s, I find myself inspired by anyone who bravely shares their voice and tackles difficult subjects. I am currently in awe of Michaela Coel and the brilliance of I May Destroy You.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist? 

Interviews where people go into the process of how they created something inspires me. I love hearing their thoughts, journeys, and feelings about it all. What were they trying to accomplish? How do they feel about it? What did they struggle with? I love every detail, and it gets my own thoughts and ideas stirring. 

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about? 

I have a feature length, female driven, supernatural thriller screenplay that I am working to get into the hands of an agent in hopes to sell it.

I am also evolving Tabs & Clea into a full supernatural thriller series titled Missing. The series introduces an additional lead character who is a Native American woman deputy and goes into solving what has happened to multiple missing Indigenous women. The greater purpose of the series is to bring more attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and GIrls (MMIWG) epidemic that is currently happening in the United States and Canada. Currently, I am doing research and seeking out a Native American woman writing partner to co-create this with me. 

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

This last summer I directed a short film capturing the choreography and poetry of Meg Affonso, who is an incredible artist and was doing a show in Albany, NY, titled Body: An Experiential Art installation It was her expression of the separation of the body and soul and included her expression of being a black woman. The day we filmed was absolutely incredible. It was a small crew and two dancers, including Meg. There were no egos that day, and we all worked so beautifully together. Everyone contributed their ideas and the footage was gorgeous. I felt in my power and in my joy the entire shoot. That was living my vision and is my goal for every project. 

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

I would be fully financed for developing my own series. 

Q: What has been your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

Financial stability and being able to balance having a young family while working in film and TV. Working six days a week for 12+ hour days is not sustainable in general, let alone if you are a mother. I believe productions do not have to be run the way they are, and with the right mindset amongst the producers, a healthier work lifestyle can be formed. There are other ways to do production if we are willing to be open to it. 

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self? 

I take walks in nature. This is where I feel grounded and magical. My thoughts can work themselves out, and I can open up to let new ideas rise. 

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

I would let go of self-doubt and worry.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art? 

La Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi. I visited in 2011, and it has stayed with me. It felt like walking into a fairy tale. All of his work felt that way to me. The magic in his work vibrates through you and sparks your own inner magic. I’m in love with it.

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead? 

My father. I reflect a lot on who he was as a person, the layers of complexities. I try to see him as a full human being, what he had to battle and overcome in his shortened life. I admire the interesting choices he made for himself and how he loved, for better or worse. He was open to everyone and kind to everyone, no matter their race or sexuality. His best friends were immigrants, whom he supported in any way they needed. I am who I am because of what I learned from him, how he treated others, and how he loved me. His openness and encouragement of all of my whims made me believe that I could do anything. 

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

A human being with an incredible mindset and willpower to make things happen. 

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be? 

Genuine. 

Q: What is your guilty pleasure? 

Spending time by myself either going out or staying in to be engrossed in something be it art, nature, or a movie or series. 

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

Cherish these moments, even the dark ones. Spend time with those you love. Trust yourself. Believe in yourself and your path. It’s going to be really rough, but there is purpose to it all. Never give up. Follow your intuition and use your voice. 

Q: Where would you most like to live? 

In a house wherever it is safe for my bi-racial family. 

Q: What is your idea of success? 

Work/life balance with my work as a filmmaker and having financial freedom. My child(ren) growing up to be kind, respectful human beings with an incredible inner strength. My husband pursuing and living his dreams. 

Q: What is your idea of happiness? 

Happiness is being in the present moment free from over analyzing the past and worrying about the future. 

Q: Final Thoughts?

Our country is in chaos and it is hard to navigate that while navigating what we are each going through personally. Don’t give up hope. Find hope in the small things. A small kind gesture from a loved one or even a stranger. A child laughing. The sweetness of a piece of fruit. The little things can add up to get us through each day. When it all gets too hard, go outside or look out a window. Take in the air, feel how big nature is, the earth is, and feel yourself a part of it. We are bigger than just this one moment. We can overcome this rock bottom as a collective, heal, and find our way to a better future for all. We may not know how we will get there or how long it will take, but trust that even the hard, terrifying times are part of the path. Wishing health, love, and safety to everyone.

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed award winning filmmaker Zeva Oelbaum. She recently co-directed and produced the NEH supported documentary Letters from Baghdad, which showed theatrically in over 150 theaters in the U.S. and U.K. and premiered on PBS in 2018. The film is voiced and exec. produced by Tilda Swinton. Oelbaum also produced Ahead of Time, a feature length documentary about journalist Ruth Gruber, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before garnering six Best Documentary awards.  Click here to learn more.

Q: What are you currently working on?  Tell us about it.

I’m working with my producing partner  Sabine Krayenbühl, on a documentary film about the visionary artist and performer Loïe Fuller. The film is titled Obsessed with Light.  Fuller was the American creator of modern dance and a trailblazing inventor who became an overnight sensation in Paris in 1892. Electricity was still in its infancy, yet she invented remarkable lighting techniques, taking out numerous patents on these techniques, as well as stage design and costuming, as early as 1893. She even wanted to incorporate fluorescent materials into her costumes and worked with Thomas Edison on this project.  She was close friends with Marie Curie and Auguste Rodin, and her inventions became the foundation of today’s most elaborate multi-media productions. Fuller was one of the most famous performers in the world at the turn of the 20th century and although few people know her name, her legacy is remarkably strong. She has inspired or influenced luminaries including Taylor Swift, Alexander McQueen, and numerous other artists and designers. Both Dior and Valentino have referenced her in their recent collections.

We are thrilled that we just received a media production grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for this film project! We previously received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and Artemis Rising, so we’re feeling very optimistic about the potential of this project to reach a broad audience.

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

After the distribution of our film about Gertrude Bell, we were looking for another remarkable woman whose name has been forgotten, but whose accomplishments still resonate today. When we looked  deeply into Loïe Fuller, we found an unconventional woman who achieved success on her own terms. She disrupted conventional ideas of femininity and gender identity and had enormous respect for the power of science to transform lives. We feel that her story is surprisingly contemporary.

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment?

Loïe Fuller was an outlier in many ways and her story is an inspiring one. Bringing an inspiring story to an audience is always gratifying, but during these crazy and uncertain times, inspiring stories are, perhaps, even more valuable.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

I began my career as a still photographer, so I have been most influenced by painters and photographers. So many have influenced my work — from Cy Twombley to Anna Atkins to the incredible photojournalist Robert Capa. A zillion years ago, I was an intern at the International Center of Photography and have immense respect for photojournalists. I was very fortunate that Rizzoli Int. published a monograph of my cyanotypes, which I did as an homage to Anna Atkins. Atkins was the first person to publish a book illustrated by photographs in 1843. Documentary film is actually the perfect union of my love for both photojournalism and fine art.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist? 

The feeling that I have something potentially meaningful to contribute to the contemporary conversation keeps me motivated. I feel inspired by the subjects of my films and photography projects to get their stories across.  I hate the idea of people (especially women) being forgotten and written out of history.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

Our previous film Letters From Baghdad tells the story of another incredible woman, British explorer and diplomat Gertrude Bell. Bell was sometimes called the female “Lawrence of Arabia” but she was actually much more influential than her colleague T.E. Lawrence, helping to reshape the Middle East after WWI.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

When we were originally pitching our film on Gertrude Bell, we were told by one British broadcaster “why would we be interested in a film on Gertrude Bell, since she was only a footnote to history?” I’m happy that we proved him wrong. As a result of the press for the film, Gertrude Bell finally has a Blue Plaque installed at her London residence; and her archive at Newcastle University, which we used extensively, is now on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, in recognition of its global significance. It is one of the few archives with this designation in the UK.  Bell has now been profiled in television segments, books and plays and we are very gratified that we have contributed to bringing Gertrude Bell back into the history books.

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

Exactly what I am doing.

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

Allowing myself to become discouraged, if I don’t succeed right away. Too many projects are still in my drawers!

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I never leave my creative self!

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

Being timid about expressing my vision.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

Too many to choose from.

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead?

I most admire my grandmother who passed away when I was 16 years old. She was the first person in my family to come to this country. She arrived in 1905 from the pogroms in Lithuania with a cousin when she was only 14 years old. They made their way to St. Joseph, Mo. and were soon followed by the rest of their families. My grandmother and grandfather owned several buildings, but my grandfather developed a heart condition, so the upkeep of the buildings fell to my tiny 4’10” grandmother (along with raising 5 children). During the Great Depression, there were frequently men who would get off the train looking for work and my grandmother would always have chores for them, in exchange for a hot meal. She was grateful for their help and never turned anyone away. My grandmother sent both sons to medical school, two daughters to nursing school and one daughter to teachers college. She had grit and determination and was an incredibly generous soul.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Generosity of spirit.

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Curious.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

Going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art … I’ve really missed going there this summer. It is deeply spiritual and nourishing to me.

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

Not to be intimidated by people who I think know more about what I am doing than I do

Q: Where would you most like to live?

Lots of places! I like Montclair, NJ ! (where I live now)

Q: What is your idea of success?

To be productive and continually engaged in creative pursuits

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

That my family is healthy and doing well and that I am able to pursue my passions.

 

 

 

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed director-writer Tracy Brigden. She  has spent over 30 years in the theatre nurturing, developing, producing and directing new work for the stage. She was Artistic Director of City Theatre in Pittsburgh for 16 years where she produced almost 200 new plays and musicals including world premieres by Keith Reddin, Chistopher Durang, Sharon Washington, Daniel Beaty, Jeffrey Hatcher, Michael Hollinger, Cori Thomas, Adam Rapp and many more.  You can visit her website at www.tracybrigden.com

Q: What are you currently working on? Tell us about it. 

I’m writing a fictional podcast called The Okachokee Sink.  It’s about a tiny, kooky town in the Florida Everglades with only 12 residents. When one of them goes missing, the other 11 become suspects. It’s sort of Sharp Objects  meets Twin Peaks. I hope to record it with my husband, Mike DelGaudio, who is a voice actor, and some pals this summer. I just have to figure out the ending! 

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project? 

I read an article a few years ago about a missing man in a tiny town in the Australian Outback. I filed it away in my “ideas” folder and came back to it recently. I transposed it from the Outback to Florida since recording an audio drama full of Australian accents might prove a bit challenging. And Florida has such great, crazy characters, including descendants of the “carny folks” from the Ringling Brothers days who used to winter in down there. I was interested in making a podcast even before the pandemic! I loved Homecoming and Limetown and wanted to do a serialized drama like that. 

Q: In this current time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, what do you believe your role is in this moment? 

I have been doing quite a lot of reading, reflecting, posting, protesting, donating and other actions towards a more equitable and just world. It’s just my small part, but I think we are all learning that we can feel proud of our work as artists telling stories with important messages of social justice, but it’s just not enough. We have to make change in every way we can – starting with ourselves. The more we can listen and learn and reflect and act personally, the better we will be at getting the important ideas of the moment out into the zeitgeist with our work. 

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work? 

My late mother, Madeline Tracy Brigden, was an inspiration and a champion for me. She was the fiction editor at Mademoiselle magazine in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and published and worked with many incredible writers of all stripes and genres. She always told me “Do something with your life you would do anyway even if you weren’t being paid for it.” And she led by example as a woman who did not let her gender or having a family keep her from also having a wonderful career. 

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist? 

That spark that keeps showing up that says “That would make a great story!” or “Ooh, I can envision how that story could be told!” 

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about? 

I have a play that I wrote that I’m dying to get out into the world! It’s called Stage Struck and it’s about Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, who worked for the great actor-manager Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in London during the time he was writing his famous novel. The play parallels that story with a downtown theatre troupe in 1980s New York putting on a production of Dracula. The two worlds collide in theatrical ways and reveal that a life in the theatre is both fraught and joyous in any century. 

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision? 

The triumphant opening night of the first production I directed at City Theatre as a newly appointed artistic director in 2001. 

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing? 

Directing a television show or a film that I wrote. 

Q: What has been your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision? 

I have been a theatre person my whole career, and starting down the path of a whole new field takes some doing! 

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self? 

Keep reading, watching, listening and supporting other people’s work. 

Put myself in challenging situations. Recently, I volunteered to be a writer for a local theatre company’s 24-hour play marathon. I stayed up all night on Friday and wrote a play that was performed on Zoom on Saturday night. It had a whole zombie subplot. If it hadn’t been 2 am I probably wouldn’t have been brave enough to write that! 

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be? 

Self-censorship. Feeling that since I haven’t been primarily a writer for my whole career, I’m not allowed or not as talented. 

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

Too hard! I went into the theatre because I love all the arts and theatre combines them all. But, I’ll say: a whole bunch of productions ranging from Dreamgirls to the production of Midsummer I saw at the Bridge Theatre in London last summer – enhanced by the fact that it was my kids’ first Shakespeare, and they laughed their asses off and loved it. I’m also a museum and art junkie and couldn’t begin to pick a favorite painting OR song OR novel OR movie – well maybe The Godfather.  I guess any piece of art that pulls you in and transports you to another place – even for a moment. 

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead? 

Theatre people – really any artists – who aren’t actually making a financial living at their work but feel so passionately called to the art they must still pursue it every day for their whole lives.

And the Obamas. They were onstage for eight years with an audience of millions and they never missed a line or a cue or a step. They deserve a standing ovation forever. 

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be? 

Being a great friend, step-mom and wife. 

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be? 

Multi-faceted.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure? 

Wine at lunch. 

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say? 

Try to get some work or an observership in film or TV. 

Write. You’re allowed! 

Take more vacations.  

Q: Where would you most like to live? 

Greenwich Village in the 1960s.

Q: What is your idea of success? 

Work you are excited about and getting to be with the people you love. 

Q: What is your idea of happiness? 

A long dinner with friends after a spectacular play. 

Swimming in the ocean.

Wandering around a museum by myself, after a glass of wine at lunch, preferably in a foreign city.

Typing  “The End” as I finish a piece of writing.

Q: Final Thoughts?  

Vote in the fall like your life depends on it, ‘cause it does! 

 

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed  New York based writer-director-choreographer-activist Donna Kaz. For the past 20 years she has led Guerrilla Girls on Tour with performances that address social issues and prove feminists are funny. Her new eBook, PUSH/PUSHBACK 9 Steps to make a Difference with Activism and Art (because the world’s gone bananas) can be found at ggontour.com and  donnakaz.com,

Q: What are you currently working on?  Tell us about it.

I am a multi-genre writer and I work in nonfiction, poetry, stage and screen. Currently, I’m working on a play set in New York City in 1981 at the beginning of the AIDS crisis.  It is based on my experiences of living through that era and losing so many friends to AIDS, specifically a very close collaborator who directed my first plays. The play is called The Docent, and had a first read with American Renaissance Theatre Company in NYC in February.

I am also still very involved in my work as a member of the activist theater group Guerrilla Girls On Tour.  Usually, at this time, we would be touring to colleges around the country with lectures, workshops and performances but since COVID-19 we have had to pivot to virtual workshops and artist talks. Our third Art of Activism Poster Making Workshop will be offered via Zoom on June 26.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes who have had an impact on you and your work?

My mom was very creative and had an amazing sense of humor. My dad made beautiful things out of wood and I spent a lot of time in his workshop.  I have also been inspired by the work of Yoko Ono, Gloria Steinem, and others who have made it possible for women in theater to have a voice on stage, like Deborah Randall of Venus Theatre and Lisa McNulty of the Women’s Project Theatre.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist?

Realizing that creating art takes many steps, some of them slower than others, and you often have to be patient to allow inspiration to enter.  I have found that making art is a process and that putting time into thinking about an idea is often just as important as executing that idea.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I would like to share some links to some organizations doing important work within the theater community right now like The Broadway Advocacy Coalition, using the arts for social change; Honor Roll, an advocacy group for women playwrights over 40; and Guerrilla Girls On Tour’s Blog featuring womxn artists called  On Being a Womxn Artist.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision? 

Remember to celebrate your successes, even if they seem small. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Believe in yourself and your ability.

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

This is such a great question, especially during this self-quarantine year. If I could, I would be in a crowded theater, either involved in a production or sitting in the audience watching some great new play or musical.

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

Living in a world which oppresses and marginalizes women is the biggest obstacle I can think of. Patriarchy has to go.

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I read, write, listen to music, cook, and try to connect with nature whenever I can.

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

 I think of my past as something I have worked hard to accept so rather than letting it go I would like to answer this question in a different way. I could never really “let go” of the violence and abuse that is in my past – the trauma of surviving domestic violence and sexual assault.  For me it is more a question of how to accept what happened to me. In order to make peace with my past and move forward I first realized that it was impossible to change what happened. I came to accept the fact that I am who I am because of my past. The way forward for me was to acknowledge what I have gone through and that has made me stronger.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

I am drawn to activist art and work that inspires change such as the artistic responses to the murder of George Floyd like LA artist Nikkolas Smith’s portrait of Floyd; and Houston street artists Donkeeboy and Donkeymom who painted a powerful mural in Houston’s Third Ward.

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead?

Michelle Obama. I’ve never met her but whenever I see her speak I feel like she’s talking to me.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Helping to change the face of theater to include the work of more women and artists of color.

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Feminist.

Q: Where would you most like to live?

Hawaii. It is a beautiful and magical place.

Q: What is your idea of success?

I wrote a lot about this in my memoir UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour.  This is from the book: “Getting cast in a theater production or a movie or having my play produced does not make me an artist. Art is in me, lives in my soul, the vibration inside fights a way out to make stuff up. Nobody has to buy this stuff, this art, or look at it, or produce it. It is art because I am an artist and I made it up. If it is the truest stuff I can make, it is a success. Not to say that getting money for your art is not okay. It is. But it is no longer the criteria by which I identify myself as an artist. I am success. I am a success. My story is at the end of a pencil poised over an empty page. I picked the pencil up. And wrote.”

Q: Final Thoughts? 

Thank you for this opportunity to connect with other creative people. 

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed director-writer-filmmaker-producer Rachel Feldman. This past season she directed multiple episodes of Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, and The Rookie, As well as the pilot and full season of The Baxters. Feldman is the recipient of the Ravenal Grant and an Athena List winner for her feature screenplay Lilly, based on the life of fair pay activist Lilly Ledbetter. To learn more, visit her website.

Q: What are you currently working on?  Tell us about it.

I’m answering these questions in the time of the COVID-19 virus, hunkered down, “safer in place” in LA, wondering how and when our future will return to us.

I’m a mid-career director and screenwriter. I work as a director primarily in one-hour television dramas, and I write pilots and features in a variety of genre.

I work on many things at once, half-baked swirls of imagination juggling in front of me, so that I can grab at any one of them as desired. But the jewel in the crown of my slate is a feature film based on the life of fair pay activist, Lilly Ledbetter, the woman about whom President Obama named his first piece of legislation. I learned about Lilly’s story and optioned her rights, then wrote a screenplay that was an Athena List winner and the recipient of the NYWIFT Ravenal Grant for female filmmakers over 40. It’s been a seven-year journey so far and I’m not stopping until this film is complete. It’s a beautiful and important story and will make a deeply emotional and enlightening movie. 

When I first began shopping the project, the responses were similar, “We can’t make a film with a female protagonist. It’s impossible to make a feminist/political film. We might be interested if we could hire a male director.”  But I’ve stuck with this because Lilly’s story is so important. Her story is my story, and yours. It’s a film for this moment in time and for girls and women around the globe. #IAmALilly

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

Pushing back against the patriarchy is my motivation.  And making a great film. The injustice and inequity women face in every aspect of life must be shouted from the rooftops until things change. Certainly, in the past few years, post #TimesUp and #MeToo, certain aspects of our culture have become more enlightened, but Lilly’s story is the narrative of one woman who made a difference for others. Her life’s arc is brilliantly compelling. I’m a filmmaker because I know in my bones that the best way to make change is through compassion. I’m eager to share this woman’s remarkable journey through cinema, it’s rich dramatic fodder. Think about Norma Rae, Silkwood, Erin Brockovich, The Insider, or Spotlight – these were about important subjects but they were also brilliant movies.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes – who have had an impact on you and your work?

There are so many. Anyone who has survived injustice moves me. The righteous struggle is a theme about which I’m continually interested. But at heart, I’m a romantic and the daughter of a movie lover whose taste influenced mine.  The golden age of Hollywood, grandiose movie musicals with high production value including sets, costumes, lighting, great acting —these are the elements that get me excited.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired as an artist?  

My imagination is always working on many stories simultaneously. I gestate these pods of character, plot, and theme often for long periods of time before they become realized on paper. I liken this process to playing with dolls, a preoccupation that was the genesis for my story making in a primitive form. After a while the plot will focus and I will be compelled to write things down either as an outline or sometimes a first act spills out of me fully formed, and then I stop and have to figure out the rest.  I have always felt that I had a weather vane to the zeitgeist, I feel the collective unconscious often before it comes into social clarity.  But I am also motivated by image. I draw, I shoot pictures, and sometimes the way something looks evokes feelings that will send me flying into a world fully formed with characters and plot.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I have 16 projects in my slate that I’ve built up during the past 20 years in several different genres. The industry at large is not a fan of writers who have different voices. The conventional wisdom is that you should focus on one kind of material and for the most part, I do love a twisted, psychological thriller. But I also write musicals, comedy, and romance.  I wrote a science fiction screenplay more than 30 years ago and just reverse engineered it as a YA novel. I’m looking for a publisher now.

But no matter the genre, girls and women are and have always been my protagonists and promoting a progressive world, filled with challenging convention is a constant.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

That I’m often ahead of my time with regards to stories that interest me. It’s sometimes a decade or more until the industry begins to make shows from concepts similar to what I had tried to pitch when I was told that no one was interested. 

Also, my imagination is my dearest companion and I’ve been living with her for as long as I can remember. I’m a grounded person, a responsible mother and wife, but the images and ideas in my head are vibrant, palpable, and easy to access when I need them.

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

I would be the CEO of a thriving production company with multiple productions going at once in features, television, and branded media. I’d be a media mogul supervising a network of storytelling and storytellers. My company name is Dollface Films. Why? I’m from NYC, doll! Dolls were my first actors. And for me, my love of movies and my love of humans is all about the face. Hello there. 

Q: What have been big your biggest obstacles in achieving your vision?

1-The conventional, copy-cat thinking of an industry/business that considers itself creative.

2-Dysfunction, patriarchal Hollywood.

Q: What do you do to stay connected to your creative self?

I’m a very playful person and fortunately so are my husband and kids. I sing, dance, make-up voices and bad rhyming schemes, I draw and doodle. I take a long walk every day in a lovely park with large trees and open space. 

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

People pleasing. What a big fat waste of time.

Q: What is your favorite piece of art?

I love a great, classic song. The melody, the lyric, the concision of thought and feeling in one lovely and clever bite. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Rodgers and Hammerstein/Hart, you get the idea.

Q: What person do you most admire, living or dead?

I’m not good at this kind of question.  My mother was a nut case, difficult and mentally unstable, but she brought me into this world and survived so many of her own demons. I don’t exactly admire her but I’m grateful to and for her. She was my first fan – and also my first troll.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Being a filmmaker who makes beautiful films that move audiences in profound ways. 

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Persistent.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

I don’t feel guilty about my pleasures.

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

Stop worrying about what you look like. Okay, you have big thighs and frizzy hair, just wait a few years,hose attributes will be trending!

Q: Where would you most like to live?

Living in a charming village in France by the sea is a nice fantasy.  But my imagination and my ability to sink into story has taken me far and wide.

Q: What is your idea of success?

Not worrying about money. Not having to wait for others to trigger my projects.

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

Being with my husband and kids on a tropical isle with live music and fruit drinks. Or being on a smooth-sailing set, making movies and calling “Action!” 

Q: Final Thoughts?

Agents and managers. The gatekeepers of who gets in and who stays out of the creative wheel is a disastrous system. Celebrity is the single most valued commodity in Hollywood, not talent, not skill, not profound, original thinking. After that, sales agents and the perceived value of actors is the next poisonous system that prevents progressive voices and inclusive filmmakers from thriving. 

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed the multi-talented, Tony Award winning actress-writer-director Tonya Pinkins.  She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Jelly’s Last Jam, and has won the Obie, Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, AUDLECO, Garland, L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Clarence Derwent, and NAACP Theater Awards.  She is known for her portrayal of Livia Frye on the soap opera All My Children.  She is also the host of the Broadway Podcast Network’s You Can’t Say That! https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/you-cant-say-that/

Q: What are you currently working on?  Tell us about it.

I am working on expressing as much of the radiance of the divine as is destined for me this incarnation. Tangibly that looks like producing, writing, directing and acting in a socio-political horror film about the 2020 election starring Ruben Blades, Cathy Curthy, Kathy Erbe, Luba Mason, Colby Minifie and Jake O’Flaherty called Red Pill. I am also writing my next horror film Match.die, and then I am in edit on a series of 10 minute plays and songs that were produced at the Tank in 2019. They plays are about the ways women oppress one another and each play or song models a way to heal the wound. And then there is my novel The Angry Fat Black Woman Who Devoured The Earth and my travel memoir about walking the 100 mile west highland way in Scotland. It’s called A Woman’s Walk on the West Highland Way and it’s WILD meets 50 Shades of Grey.

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

I am always creating multiple projects simultaneously. It is what I was born to do. I have four children. Egon Weiner said, “The only appropriate response to abuse is creativity,” so the harder life has hit me, the more creative I have become.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes who have had an impact on you and your work?

My artistic heroes include George C Wolfe, Eve Ensler.  Larry Kramer, Jane Fonda, Ivan Van Hove, Sam Mendes, Colmon Domingo, and Lin Manuel Miranda.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

I have a spider comedy/horror trilogy called Blaracknophia. Yeah, its about black people’s fear of spiders and people’s fear of black people.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

I had a moment on the set of Red Pill where I realized that the thing I wanted most, which was to have a team, and the thing I have never wanted, which was to be a leader because I feared leading people astray, were inextricably intertwined. I have really successful colleagues but I had never been able to initiate a project with them. Yet here I was making a movie. I had a team and I was the leader. It was an epiphany. I had to trust that I would not lead them astray.

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

I would move from creative expression to creative expression. Write a piece of non-fiction, then a fiction book, Then run off to do a concert, then direct a film, act in a mini-series, write a Broadway show, travel and give away a lot of the wealth I accumulated from the success of my creative endeavors.

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

I know the value of my art and in the time when I came up and the way I was brought up I was allowed to be as smart, talented and ambitious as my heart desired. I had to fit into other people’s ideas of what i was. It has taken me a lifetime to step into what is inside of me and risk expressing it without fear or shame.

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

I would let go of the fear that pride goeth before the fall and have allowed myself to know that I was good rather than having to be faux humble for fear of inviting God’s wrath.

I would also let go of my screen addiction, which has slowed down my progress. I waste so much time mindlessly swiping pages.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

I want to be know for defying every odd and becoming one the of the most successful creative artists in the history of creativity. And that isn’t on a fame scale. It is on an artistic expression scale.

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Indomitable.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

I am a sugar addict. But food is my sex.

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

I would say: “Stop trying to do it the right way. Do it your way and it will be right for you, which is the best any of us can do.”

Q: Where would you most like to live?

I like mountains over the sea. So Bali or Mexico. But I have not traveled enough to say definitively.

Q: What is your idea of success?

There are many kinds of success.

I am successful at being authentic to my being.

I want to to be successful at magnetizing the resources to create any and everything I can imagine at the highest level possible.

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

Happiness is wanting what you have and having what you want. Doing things because you want to, and not doing things because you don’t want to and requiring no more explanation than that. Having the resources to live, travel, meet, and experience everything your heart can imagine. Being able to share your wealth and help others.

Q: Final Thoughts?

I don’t know how much time I have left. I hope I bring into the world all the stories that fill my heart. I hope I have left the world a better place for having been here. I know I have been blessed. I hope I have been a blessing.

For this week’s Fast Forward Friday, we interviewed writer-producer David Kessler.  His most recent project is the drama Minamata, starring Johnny Depp, about the photojournalist William Eugene Smith which David adapted from the book of the same name.  It will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020 and will be released theatrically in fall 2020.

Q: What are you currently working on?  Tell us about it.

Hopefully my next feature film after Minamata will be Dreamers, the story of John Lennon’s five-year immigration battle with the USA. Until recently, I was working on a story about a cult from the 1970s but had a falling out with the author of the book about it.

Q: What was the inspiration and impetus for doing this project?

Literally 21 years ago, in 1999, I sent a fax to Lennon’s lawyer, thinking it would be a great film. I didn’t hear back but did reach out again 17 years later in 2016 when he had a book coming out about the case. I suspected there was a story there – a beginning, middle and end, and a hero (Lennon and his lawyer) and an enemy (Nixon and Hoover). Little did I know how rich and moving the story was. The lawyer became a father-figure to a Lennon who had been abandoned by his own father and how the case led directly to DACA.

Q: Who are your artistic heroes who have had an impact on you and your work?

Writers, in no order: Dan Fogleman, Billy Ray, David Koepp, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin,. Musicians: The Beatles, Paul Westerberg, Graham Parker.

Q: What other projects would you like to tell us about?

Minamata, to to be released this fall, is about mercury-poisoning in Japan in the 1970s. It will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in a few weeks.

Q: What is one instance of knowing you are living in your vision?

When I was on set in Serbia for Minamata, watching Johnny Depp say my lines in an office dressed as I had described in my script.

Additionally, when Paula Wagner – of Mission Impossible I, II, III; The Last Samurai; Marshall and now a producer of Dreamers – told me to my face I was a “great writer”.

Q: If there were no barriers to entry, what is one thing you would be doing?

Writing and producing a ton more screenplays.

Q: What has been big your biggest obstacle in achieving your vision?

True-life subjects’ disinterest in working with me – nos, unanswered e-mails and letters, difficult managers.

Q: If you could let go of something that has held you back, what would it be?

Parental expectations.

Q: If you could be known and celebrated for one thing, what would it be?

Minamata

Q: If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

Quirky.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

Cookies, candy, snacks, a Coke.

Q: If you could sit down with yourself 15 years ago, what would you say?

Stay the course. This quote from Steve Jobs has been on my computer probably for that long: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Q: Where would you most like to live?

I still love living LA – I wish I had known about it way, way earlier.

Q: What is your idea of success?

Making enough money to lead a creative life i.e., no boss, no alarm clock, no structure to one’s day, trapped with unreasonable people and expectations.