Self-Employed Happy Hour

New York-based actor and writer Ashlee Renz-Hotz is neck-deep in creative work. She joined us in the Pyragraph studio to chat about her work on stage and in film, her post-apocalpytic Greek tragedy screenplay, living and studying in England and Australia, and whether 50 Shades of Grey is worth the hype. We didn't let her leave without promising to write more about the actor/writer's life for Pyragraph!

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editors Josh Stuyvesant and Jeremy Kinter.

You may or may not know that Self-Employed Happy Hour is produced by Pyragraph, an online creative career magazine for creatives worldwide. It's Pyragraph's second birthday, so we thought it would be a grand idea for Pyragraph's founder Peri Pakroo to chat with the other editors and core Pyragraph folks about Pyragraph's first two years, and how Peri found herself launching an online magazine after a couple decades working in publishing.

We also talk about Albuquerque's burgeoning creative scene, the challenges of online publishing, struggling to untangle TinyPass and MailChimp, whether Pomplamoose are sellouts, and so much more!

Peri is joined by Pyragraph editors Sage Harrington, Josh Stuyvesant and Jeremy Kinter; Outreach Manager Cara Tolino, Creative Resident Mary Holyoke, and JAK Media owners/photographers Kendra Crooks and Austin Madrid.

Zach Sutton has built his professional photography business not just on crack photog skills, but by becoming an in-demand writer and speaker about photography as well. We share mimosas and burritos with Zach at the Pyragraph studio to talk about his client work, his writing gig at Fstoppers, his workshops across the US, and how he fits it all together.

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editors Josh Stuyvesant and Jeremy Kinter.

Actor MorningStar Angeline and Production Designer Kevin Pierce join us in the Pyragraph studio to chat about their film Drunktown's Finest, about life in and around Gallup, New Mexico. Writer and director Sydney Freeland calls in from Sundance to talk about the long screenwriting process and how she eventually scored Robert Redford as an Executive Producer.

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editor Josh Stuyvesant and Outreach Manager Cara Tolino.

The 15th annual Revolutions International Theater Festival, put on by Tricklock Company, is just getting underway, bringing incredible productions from all around the world to Albuquerque for a 3-week orgy of theater! Tricklock's Hannah Kauffmann, Erin Phillips and Shastyn Friedman come to the Pyragraph studio to tell us all about it—from the history of the festival to the logistics of getting everyone here, to the inevitable mental health breakdowns in trying to pull off an event of this magnitude. The mimosas were flowing and it was a great way to kick off Self-Employed Happy Hour's second season with Pyragraph!

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editors Josh Stuyvesant and Jeremy Kinter.

To close out the year we figured why not throw a party—hell, why not our very own Awkward Holiday Office Party for us creatively self-employed? We went and did it—and what a party it was!

We invited everyone who appeared on the show this season—plus new guests Andy Lyman and Adrian Toto from The Tan, painter Laila Cola Weeks and artist Billy Joe Miller—to talk about what's going on in their creative worlds...from starting an unofficial Appl'e Store to painting floaty cubes to wizard duels!

We also talk with 516 ARTS' Suzanne Sbarge and The Curious Townie Steven J Westman about more art and creative happenings in New Mexico! It was a blowout! Watch our site and our Facebook page for photos from JAK Media's Kendra Crooks and Austin Madrid. Thanks Kendra and Austin!

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Editors Sage Harrington, Josh Stuyvesant, Jeremy Kinter and Eva Avenue.

Happy holidays everyone! We'll be back in mid-January 2015.

All-around creative volcano Crispin Hellion Glover (Willard, River's Edge, Rubin & Ed, Back to the Future) lays it down on how to be an independent artist in a corporate funded world. In this extended interview we chat about his self-financed films (What Is It? and It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine), his books (Rat Catching and Oak Mot, among others), his frustration with sanitized media, his craft as an actor, and more. A whole lot more.

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Editors Sage Harrington, Josh Stuyvesant, Jeremy Kinter and Eva Avenue.

Beth Moore-Love paints amazing, disturbing, reality-shattering artworks. Documentary filmmaker Larry Wessel made a film about her, LOVE: The Art of Beth Moore-Love, which is currently showing across the US. Beth joins us at the Pyragraph studio to talk about her work, her evolution as an artist, working and showing internationally, and what it was like to be the subject of a documentary.

Keif Henley, owner of The Guild Cinema, also joins us to talk about the film, and about Beth's amazing work.

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editors Josh Stuyvesant and Jeremy Kinter.

LOVE: The Art of Beth Moore-Love is screening in Albuquerque at The Guild Cinema Dec. 1 to 4, and we can't wait! Beth will speak on Dec. 1. Prints of Beth's work will be available at some screenings!

Sex shop talk! Owners of Self-Serve Toys/Sexuality Resource Center Molly Adler and Matie Fricker chat about starting and running a progressive, sex-positive adult business in Albuquerque. They also share the history of Pornotopia, the adult film festival they founded in 2007, and what's on the bill for this year's fest which starts Nov. 13!

Keif Henley, owner of The Guild Cinema, also joins us to talk about hosting Pornotopia and the legal drama that went on for years — with a recent victory for Pornotopia in the New Mexico Supreme Court!

AND—as if that's not enough—Inga Muscio, author of Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, calls in to chat with Molly and Matie about sex ed and how to nurture healthier sexuality. Hot!

Think you understand how to develop a winning brand? Len Romano—who along with his wife Donna founded the award-winning marketing and branding design firm Ripe Inc.—takes us into the mind of marketing, how Ripe went about creating Marble Brewery's new look, how Albuquerque seduced him and his wife, and more!

Host Peri Pakroo is joined by Pyragraph Contributing Editors Josh Stuyvesant, Jeremy Kinter and Contributing Editor At Large Eva Avenue.