Prints Unedited

Thumbprint Studios sat down with D-Nick, a storyteller, musician, and self-produced entertainer. Hear D-Nick’s story about how he has paved his own path in the music industry, by using the skill set he acquired during his higher education.

D-Nick The Microphone Misfit is the lead MC, lyricist & artistic director of the group The Microphone Misfitz. The group has toured worldwide from grassroots gatherings to South By Southwest; from Algeria to China. Sharing stages with luminaries such as Crucial Conflict, Dead Prez, KRS-ONE, Jeru tha Damaja, Saul Williams, Mega Ran and more. Focused on the themes of living for a healthier state of mind; and uplifting those who are trying to find their path in this world, The Fitz embodies the acronym Healthy Independent People Helping Other People (H.I.P. H.O.P.). In 2018 the group made history by being the first Hip-Hop group from the USA to officially perform in China since the country banned Hip-Hop. Each of the group's albums come inside of a full-length comic book. Along with performing and recording music each member of the group does arts programs in Chicago and abroad training and educating youth in dance, music production, art, vocal training, and restorative justice. The group has held residencies with organizations and universities such as Columbia College Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Changing Worlds & Civic Leadership Foundation.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Make some tea and grab a comfortable seat as Thumbprint Studios interviews The Educated Actor (TEA). Get to know the each member of TEA and what their group brings to the table. 

Hosted and produced by Natalie Cruz, Mat Belnas, and Caroline Xique, The Educated Actor podcast is an ongoing conversation with emerging Los Angeles actors who are trying to figure out "the business," just like YOU!

Edited by: Rachel Post 

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young 

Transcript: TBA

Having lived in multiple countries, we discuss how artistic funding works in different places with the hilarious and talented Ruxy Cantir.

“[One] of Scotland’s leading visual theatre makers,” Ruxandra Cantir is a Moldova-born, US-trained, Glasgow-based physical theatre artist. Ruxy holds an MFA in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Blue Lake, California). Since her graduation in 2013, Ruxy has devised and performed original work in a variety of styles all around the world, both in self-started projects, and as an invited artist in established companies. Recent notable productions include Storify and Unicorn Dance Party - two online series for young audiences for National Theatre of Scotland's Lockdown Family Programme, an outdoor theatre piece commission from the Hans Christian Andersen Festival in Denmark, and Draculala by LARDS - the much-anticipated first performance by a brand new ensemble made up of 5 of Scotland's finest physical comedians and visual theatre creators at Edinburgh's Manipulate Festival 2020.

With a knack for the absurd and the grotesque, Ruxy most often works in the styles of Clown, Vaudeville, Physical Comedy, Storytelling, and Movement theatre. Inspired by transformation and embarrassing stories, she likes to celebrate the unusual by embodying outrageous characters in intensity-filled situations.

Ruxy is also a dedicated educator, multiple language-speaker, and has an ongoing research interest in the Alexander Technique. www.ruxandracantir.com

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Join our host, Jaina, with guests Chuk Obasi, Victoria Melkonyan, and Moraud Lebaschi as we discuss the importance of our given names and how the world around us has reacted to their existence.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

In this week’s episode, we talk with actor and puppeteer Emma Wade about her work with objects and space. Listen as we get into some silly and fun object work spontaneously during our chat!

Emma Wade is an actor, puppeteer, teacher and director based in the north-east. She has trained closely under the mentor-ship of Lenard Petit in NYC, developing in-depth explorations of Michael Chekhov Technique for actors. Her work with Chekhov continues to grow and to cultivate her own offerings as a teacher and performer. Before this mentorship in NYC, Emma was primarily working with puppetry. She has had professional experiences with puppetry legends such as Bread and Puppet Theatre, Ralph Lee and Basil Twist. She will share at Thumbprint Studio’s Tea her thoughts on how actors might benefit from exploring puppetry for developing work in isolation and in virtual spaces.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Get to know Thumbprint Studios’ very own Chuk Obasi!

Chuk Obasi is an actor, writer, director and choreographer. He is currently the Co-Director at TÉA Creative, a Company Member with The Private Theatre, and a Company Member with the People’s Theatre Project. He is also an educator, having served as a Movement Project Director at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, a Musical Theatre Adjunct Professor at Drew University, and a frequent guest teacher for LAByrinth Theatre among other engagements. He has recently worked with Intersections International (Artist in Residence), the National Dance Institute (Teaching Artist), and STAR Theatre at the Director’s Company (Choreographer). Chuk has performed, written, or directed across disciplines, including theatre, film, television, dance, and live poetry performance.

Chuk recommends Cast: The Origin of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

This week  Kholan Studi (Cherokee) talks with hosts, Jaina & April, about why Representation matters, a second generation look at the entertainment industry.  Kholan had his first professional job, at 14, was in “Among The Shadows Haunting” with Gary Farmer and DeLanna Studi at the College of Santa Fe. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, he is a company member of Native Voices at the Autry, where he gave standout performances in “Bingo Hall” by Dillon Chitto and “They Don’t Talk Back” Frank Henry Kaash Katasee, which also ran at the La Jolla Playhouse and Perseverance Theater in Alaska. Kholan played Elias Boudinot in the Marin Theatre production of “Sovereignty” by Mary Katherine Nagle, reprising the role at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, NM.

Native Voices at the Autry, IG: @nativevoices

New Native Theatre, IG: @newnativetheatre

Perseverance Theatre, IG: @perseverencetheatre

Urban Native Era: Specializes in clothing design and content to increase the visibility of Indigenous Peoples.

Native Apparitions edited by Steve Pavlik, M. Elise Marubbio & Tom Holm

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

This week on Prints Unedited... Jaina Alexander and April Sigman-Marx sit down for tea with Katherine Tanner Silverman, founder of Mentalhaus, a devised theatre company whose main focus is on humanizing mental health in both characters and individuals. On this episode, the three leading ladies discuss self care and the importance of choosing to be kind to yourself in your artistic and personal life.

Katherine Tanner Silverman has embraced a renaissance theatre career holding various positions including director, education manager, instructor, actor and producer before moving to Chicago. She holds an M.F.A. in European Devised Performance Practice from Columbia College Chicago, a program which included 10-months of intensive study with Arthaus-Berlin in Germany. She most recently served as one of the 2020 Festival Directors for The International Voices Project during it's 11th season and first virtual season.

Check out Mentalhaus

Check out Mentalhaus & Thumbprint Studios co-production: Collab24, a virtual 24hr devised theatre festival happening July 2021

Edited by: Rachel Post and Emery Lade

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

In this week's episode host, April Sigman-Marx sits down for an exciting conversation with LA film producer Laura Hunter-Drago to talk about adapting theatre for film.

Laura Hunter Drago is a producer living in Los Angeles, California. Originally from a small town in Virginia, Laura grew up performing in theatre both in school and professionally. She trained as an actress at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company School and the Lee Strasberg Institute. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.

Laura is the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Ms. In the Biz, a website founded by Helenna Santos that provides resources for female entrepreneurs in entertainment. Laura co-founded New Girl Pictures with one of her best friends from her high school theatre days, Samantha Macher. Their production company focuses on getting women into positions both in front of and behind the camera early in their careers. New Girl Pictures’ first short film, an animated piece called The Echo, was made a finalist in the Coven Film Festival Quarantine Film Challenge which will screen as part of an online festival through Seed & Spark in July 2020.

New Girl Pictures’ first feature film, To the New Girl, made by an all-female cast and creative team has made waves on the festival circuit as well. The film had its festival premiere at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters on Hollywood and Highland as part of the Golden State Film Festival and is also an Official Selection at the inaugural FEMINYSTA Film Fest in Brooklyn. The film most recently won four awards at the Queen Palm International Film Festival in Palm Springs, California, including Best Feature by a First Time Filmmaker. To the New Girl released on VOD worldwide August 11, 2020.”

Watch Laura’s new movie for free on Tubi or rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video

Visit the official website for To the New Girl.

Laura recommends Create Your Own Career In Hollywood: Advice from a Struggling Actress Who Became a Successful Producer by Alexandra Boylan “[this book] is a crash course in indie film making based on real, practical experience from someone who has done it successfully.”

Laura’s article in Medium about adapting theatre for film.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Welcome to Episode 3 of Prints Unedited with Yamile Lima!  We had a wonderful chat about teaching theatre with a social justice focus and some of the tools that Yami uses herself in her classroom. Yamile is a firm believer in the need to bridge the gap between education and the community, and the power of language to help uplift students and community members.

Yami Lima is a Latinx Middle School Theatre Arts and Language Arts Educator for Miami Dade County Public Schools, one of the largest urban area schools in the United States. She holds her M.S. Ed. In Education and Social Change from the University of Miami and her B.F.A. in Musical Theatre Performance from New World School of the Arts Conservatory through the University of Florida. She has been a performing artist, designer, production assistant and director for over two decades in educational theatre, local theatres, private studios, films and voice over studios in Miami, FL. Her belief is that in education, as teachers, we need to integrate social justice, and SEL practices within the classroom to assist in affecting change in society. As a teacher-activist Yami believes that you must assist the community to help bridge the gap between what is done within the schools that works and implement it within the community. As Paulo Freire stated, “Teaching is a political act,  no pedagogy is neutral.”

Book Recommendations that Yami recommends in our video:

Radical Possibilities by Jean Anyon

Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal

Everyday SEL in Middle School by Carla Tantillo Philibert (Also available for Elementary, Early Childhood and High School)

Reading, Writing and Rising up: Teaching about social justice and the power of the written word by Linda Christensen

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA