Note: This episode is SEVERELY overdue and a bit outdated (as we briefly discuss the potential IATSE strike in 2021). 

On this episode, Nina and Shaina take a dive into talking more about safety on set and stage and break down some of the key components of intimacy coordination.  

Your hosts Tyee and Shaina sit down on a Friday night for a chat.  We talk about Tyee's journey to become an actor, trauma and how it is dealt with on sets and stages and a healthy debate about the show 13 Reasons Why.  We also talk about racism in the industry and Tyee shares his top 3 favorite movies. 

Tyee  Tilghman is an actor, screenwriter, and director.  He received an MFA  in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre, and a BFA in Drama  from West Virginia University.  He is also the co-host of this podcast, Lights On! Mental Health.  

Select Film & TV credits: Party  of Five (FreeFormTV), Baskets (FX), How to Get Away with Murder  (ABC), I'm Dying Up Here (Showtime), American Nightmares (directed by  Rusty Cundieff & Darin Scott), Criminal Minds (CBS), and The Young  & The Restless (CBS).

Select Theatre credits:  Salif in Our Very Own Carlin McCullough (dir. by Tyne Rafaeli at Geffen  Playhouse), Reggie in Skeleton Crew ( dir. by Patricia McGregor at  Studio Theater), Caesar in Gem of the Ocean (Marin Theater Company), and  George Murchison in A Raisin in the Sun (dir. by Israel Hicks at Denver  Center for the Performing Arts).

This is part one of many conversations with Nina Domingue because we have SO much to talk about!  Nina is an absolute treasure.  

Nina is a New Orleans native who is currently based in Cleveland.  She is a part of Cleveland Public Theater’s Premier Fellowship Cohort for the 2020-2021 season. Her solo show The Absolutely Amazing and True Adventures of Miss Joan Southgate has been included on The Kilroy’s List 2020. She was a Barbara Smith Playwright in Residence at Twelve Literary Arts and the Nord Family Foundation Playwriting Fellow and Catapult Artist at Cleveland Public Theatre during the 2019-2020 theatrical season. Her solo show Ya Mama! (dir: Nathan Henry) launched its tour at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and a run at Cleveland Public Theatre this past fall. Credits include: Paradise Blue (Justin Emeka, Karamu House), Revolt, She Said. Revolt, Again (Sarah E. Wansley, Dobama), Medea At 6 (Ensemble Theatre), It Hasn’t Always Been This Way by Ntozake Shange (Off Broadway, Diane McIntyre). Critics say that Nina is “...a young Anna Deavere Smith” and watching her is “like a master class in acting."

Look out for more episodes in with Nina the future!

Enjoying the podcast?  Want to hear more about a certain topic?  Email us at [email protected] and tell us!

Ja’ire is a MA in Psychology candidate at Antioch University, Los Angeles, a Life, Executive, and Relationship Coach, a practicing MFT, Trainee, and an international entertainer and songwriter. Ja’ire has an extensive background in sales and marketing, building, and promoting brands, and formulating skillful and targeted approaches to increase consumer and business engagement. Her work experience spans across various industries including entertainment, health and wellness, sustainability, and behavioral sciences giving her a unique ability to empathize, connect, foster strong relationships, and ensure strategic goals are met. Her upbringing was spent facilitating community programs serving underprivileged and disadvantaged communities. She is LGBTQIA+ affirmative and a social justice advocate for BIPOC communities. Her holistic health perspective, empowerment, mindfulness, and individualized solution-oriented approach help her clients to dig deeper to find clarity and courage, and to implement essential tools to attain their goals. It is that same genuine and vibrant energy that allows audiences worldwide to connect to her powerful onstage presence and inimitable soulful sound.

The International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees  (IATSE) is the union that supports behind-the-scenes skilled technicians, artisans, and craftsmen in the entertainment industry. This includes camera, lighting, hair, makeup, wardrobe, props, set construction, sound, editing, and others. This weekend the members of 13 LA chapters will be voting on whether to authorize a strike as they negotiate the Hollywood basic agreement with the AMPTP, the producers association. Some of the key sticking points are living wages, adequate sleep, and meal breaks. The breakdown in negotiations has fueled many workers to speak out against conditions across the film and television industry, where the Covid pandemic has put even more strain on a workforce already at a breaking point. IA_stories, An Instagram account, has become a hub for workers to share countless horror stories of injustice, maltreatment, bullying, and trauma. These employees are crucial to the entertainment industry and the creation of content that streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and Hulu produce, and continue to make billions off of.

Kara Haas has worked in some aspect of the entertainment industry for 20+ years and is currently a member of New York’s IATSE Local 52 as an On-Set Dresser.

Tyee Tilghman is a Lights On! Mental Health collaborator, actor, writer, producer, and Shaina‘s partner!

Shaina spoke with both Kara and Tyee this past Sunday, September 26, as she attended a rally in New York City to show unity and solidarity for the LA chapter is voting to authorize a strike.