In Search Of

Today we present the first of two podcasts with the amazing Hope Shanthi!  In this episode, we chat about how Hope started her acting career and how she balances producing and acting.  We get a little deep when we discuss recognizing what you have to offer and running with it, as well as the importance of knowing you are enough and being yourself.  Hope talks about “aha” moments she’s had in her career that were sparked when she started asking herself “where are you stopping yourself as an actor?”  We HOPE you enjoy this podcast and be sure to tune in to the rest of the conversation in part two!

In today’s episode we discuss how we became actors.  Deciding to make art your career can be pretty daunting. It isn’t an easy decision and doesn’t make for an easy life.  But here we are, making it happen one day at a time.  Tamara talks about the time she quit, and McKenna discusses the challenges of taking that initial leap to be an actor.  These are our stories and we would love to hear yours!

Today we welcome Faith Nolan to the podcast! She is the creative director at Trifilm, Inc. and is also getting her MFA in screenwriting at the University of British Columbia.  In this episode, we speak to Faith about the many projects she’s writing, and how she’s been advised to tweak her work in order to make it more marketable- sometimes to the detriment of her artistic vision. How much do you sacrifice for your work to be more profitable, and therefore more likely to be bought and seen? We also chat about reinventing yourself and what Faith looks for in the audition room.

Today McKenna shares with us two on-set anecdotes; one positive and one negative. We talk about the challenges of collaborating on set and finding the courage to fight for your artistic vision. Directors have a lot to think about while shooting and sometimes how to speak to actors is at the bottom of their list. Totally fine, don’t take it personally but also know that it’s ok to disagree. We offer ways to respectfully question direction.

Today, we sit down with T.K. Johnson! T.K. is well-versed in the industry as a director of photography, editor, colorist, producer, and writer.  In this episode, we discuss two of T.K.’s short films, “Period The Movie” (just premiered at Hollyshorts in LA), and “Blind Spot” (currently in post-production).  He shares with us his advice about auditions as well as the trials and tribulations of having multiple roles on set.  T.K. confirms for us that we need to have empathy for everyone involved in filming a project- it is a labor of love for everyone, not just actors.

Wondering about self-tapes? We got you.  In this episode we discuss what we think

makes an acceptable self-tape; our thoughts on equipment, slating, and readers.  We both had the opportunity to submit for the

same role in a project, so as a fun experiment we watched each other’s

self-tapes and then talked about it! 

It’s rare when you get to see someone else’s take on the same role as

well as another actor’s set up, so we took full advantage.  Is there something we didn’t cover? Still

have questions? Let us know!

In this episode we are lucky to have actor and stand-up comedian Kimi Rutledge chat with us! Today Kimi brings us the topic of appearance and how it can be useful to stay detached from it.  As actors, sometimes it is important to have insight into our physical appearance and (therefore) our marketability.  We wonder how much of ourselves we are willing to compromise for a job or to make ourselves more hireable. This leads us to a discussion about diversity in film and the idea of tokenism in media. Lastly, we talk about what it takes to be a female in comedy and battling the stereotype that “women aren’t funny”. Listen to hear more about Kimi, all of the fabulous projects she’s in, and dates for her upcoming comedy shows.

In today’s episode, we discuss our recent auditions and what we took away from them. McKenna touches on the fundamentals of auditioning that she observed while helping out at a casting. When it comes to auditions so much is out of your control, but your level of professionalism is not. Even if you know you won’t book, put that smile on your face and show up because you don’t know what might happen!

Today we’re very excited to welcome Diane Kenley! Diane has been a represented actor in the PNW for around 20 years, and has an extensive background in many areas of film. First, we ask Diane to discuss her recent experience in New York where she took an acting intensive (someone in her class took “break a leg” a little too seriously). She talks about what she learned, and shares her biggest takeaways- including not to be afraid to take risks. Then, we talk about her opinions on New York versus LA and why she thinks one city suits her better.

This week we explore the struggle of trying to keep an authentic performance while also maintaining continuity.  Here’s the problem- all performances need to be interesting and truthful (authentic), but they also need to be done with some continuity so that different takes can be used for the same scene.  If authenticity means giving a varied performance and continuity means giving a similar performance, how does that work?  When you add in the pressures of being on set, it feels even harder.  It’s easier to “get the shot” when you’re repeating exactly what everyone else needs you to do.  Every. Single. Take. But then the performance can get robotic and boring.  So we’re asking you: is it possible to act fully and not be an editor’s nightmare?