This episode of Comic Movie-10 addresses the latest interpretation of Wonder Woman. In 2017, the movie Wonder Woman was released, and although fans of the DC Universe had seen Gal Gadot’s cameo in Batman vs. Superman, the world was really unsure what this new movie would be about.
Much to DC fans’ pleasure, Dot proved herself to be an incredible leading lady. What is even more impressive is that the movie is full of female power, as a female directs it, and the story line circulates entirely around a female in the leading role as a superhero. The Kane brothers agree that the writing and delivery of the story are incredible, and the information presented is historically accurate and interesting. The movie displays high action and intense, real emotion. Joe and Dan explain how this film has really surpassed many of the other DC movies and they speculate on why that might be. They also address how much money the film brought in, and compare that to other DC movies.
Have you watched Wonder Woman yet? Let the Kanes know, and leave your comments, questions, and opinions below. Be sure to tune in next time to the next episode of Comic Movie-10!
This week’s guest is actress and comedian, Jill-Michelle Melean was introduced to us by our good friend Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle. Jill is known for her work on the sketch comedy show MadTV where she had memorable moments impersonating Hollywood stars such as Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears. You may have also seen Jill in Comedy Central’s Reno 911 and most recently in This is Meg which she co-produced and wrote with Alex Ferrari.
We talk about Jill’s family life growing up in Miami, her transition to Hollywood and her worst moments as a female comedian. She’s held her own on the road with the big boys of comedy such as Carlos Mencia and has a unique perspective as a white latina. Look out for her 1 hour comedy special, called White Latina coming soon.
Jill grew up in Miami with a strict Latin upbringing.
Fun fact: Jill and her family were season pass holders for the Miami Hurricanes football team.
She fell in love with TV & film at an early age but she had no idea how to get there.
Jill realized she could make her Grandma laugh by humping her leg at an early age
Not attending college wasn’t an option for her.
During college she thought she wanted to be in theater but soon realized film was where she flourished by creating a family for a few months and nothing is ever the same.
Jill believed in the power of laughter and moved to LA without knowing anyone.
Making the Cast of MadTV
Jill’s advice to those that want to do comedy is go to Second City in Chicago because now it is like going to University.
While doing stand-up comedy for a year and a half the folks at MadTV would follow her shows. At that time, female comics weren’t a big thing.
She wanted to audition for a sketch group when she got to LA but she had to pay her dues first.
Every time she would go back and audition for MadTV it would be like doing a one person show for an hour including impersonations.
When she landed the part on MadTV it took 6 auditions that resulted in an on-air test where she did Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears and they made her a cast member immediately after.
“Welcome to Hollywod!” Jill recounts having to get down to a skimpy outfit in her first role on TV.
Life after MadTV
After MadTV Jill landed the Latino Locos comedy tour with Carlos Oscar, Ralphie May and other big name comedians.
She hosted the tour and learned from them really developed her time.
From there Jill landed Reno 911 where she met Carlos Alazraqui who she became brothers with on and off screen. You can catch Carlos in This is Meg as well.
Jill was lucky to go from one tour to the next during that time for 7 years doing hardcore theaters.
Jill also talks about her time working with George Lopez on Reno 911.
Surving in Hollywood is hard work
Going over notes for a pitch recently Jill had to remind herself how grateful she should be for the position she’s in.
She’s never satisfied and still hungers to get to the next level. You’re never going to be done.
The game has changed and it’s going to change again. Either you change and keep playing or you get out.
When she booked MadTV, she thought she’d be done. The reality is you book a TV show, then you don’t work for 5 years.
Jill has done multiple pilots that haven’t been picked up, even with the producers from Curb Your Enthusiasm behind it.
The future of Hollywood
“It’s the craziest industry to get into, but it’s also the most rewarding.”
Even though there’s more outlets, it’s actually made it harder. You can’t centralize the marketing.
Jill believes a shift is coming and after a attending an industry meeting recently they had the following to say: “Comedy is the only thing that has longevity. Comics have a strong clear voice…That’s where TV shows are created.”
Advice for females in comedy
Link up with a bigger male comedian so it doesn’t become an all female show.
Bookers like to promote the “sexy female” comedy show but that’s not where you want to be.
Open up for a bigger male comedian and then it’s easier to transition later because all the bookers know you. Hold on to their business cards because you will have to network yourself.
This is Meg
This is Meg is streaming on Hulu and is also available on Amazon, iTunes & YouTube.
It was a passion piece based on true events.
Jill wanted to portray what it’s like to live as an actor in Hollywood and the relationships you experience, not just the business.
Involving her friends was important and there was no drama on set.
Normally directors will not let a producer be that involved, but Alex Ferrari was able to put his ego aside and get the best shots possible.
Watch This Is Meg on
Her First 1 Hour Comedy Special
Jill has done specials for Showtime and other networks but White Latina will be her first 1 hour comedy special.
Piggybacking off This is Meg, she wanted Alex to shoot the special at The Improv to keep it personal.
Hearing her discuss how it’s shot and her decision to not show the audience is especially an interesting point. In comedy, it’s all about material.
Comedian’s that inspire
Going back to her love for TV, Jill loves the work of Carol Burnett, Tracy Ullman and shows like the Golden Girls.
Jill also loves the stand-up of Ellen Degeners, Richard Pryor and George Carlin.
We also discuss her love for Louis CK and says he’s the kindest man and was completely shocked by the news circulating today.
Cinematographer, Valentina Caniglia has worked on over 60 film productions, documentaries, music videos commercial work and more. She is known for her work on the film “The Stand” where her astonishing lighting and camera work caught the attention of American Cinematographer magazine which featured an exclusive article in March 2017 issue.
As a DP (Director of Photography). Valentina is the real deal and brings her positive attitude to her work and life. We discussed the challenges of shooting on location in Palestine to being snowed in in New Jersey. Her eye for coloring and lighting are what makes Valentina’s work unique and why she’s won so many awards. As a female cinematographer her journey to success has not be so easy.
“Pomegranates and Myrrh” winner of the Golden Dagger for Best Cinematography, premiered in USA at Sundance film Festival and received the Audience Award at Doha Tribeca Film Festival handed out by Robert De Niro. “Madeline’s Oil” was the winner of the Best Cinematography award at the Louisiana International Film festival.
“I always adapt at filming each project with versatile visual style that best translates each story’s unique concept into breathtaking moving images that unravel the characters’ state of mind throughout the progression of the storytelling. Cinematography represents a concept of beauty that stands beyond the aesthetic aspects, something more intense that supports, follows and enhances the story where the camera can capture and show the transparency and the awareness of visuals drawn by the emotions.” – Valentina Caniglia
Where did you catch the filmmaking bug?
In reality, my father wanted to be a Director so I took a lot of inspiration from him. Then I realized his dream became mine.
Is film school in Italy difficult to get accepted to?
I didn’t go to film school in Italy. I came to New York after London and majored in film at New York University.
What filmmakers inspire you?
I think it was mostly paintings coming from a country where art is important. There was a lot of influence when I saw these paintings in Italy and all over Europe. I realized I wanted to be a cinematography because I wanted to work with lighting. I wanted to recreate what these artists were doing on the canvas.
How did the film Blindness include your love of art?
Blindness was interesting because it was about a woman who was losing her sight. We had to tell the story with visuals and not many words. The camera was capturing what she was seeing but not very well. It was a long journey because I had to see beyond what we see normally. What I said to the director was sometimes what you don’t see is more powerful than what you do.
I like European film because isn’t a lot of dialogue and there’s more visuals. It’s also nice to see how independent films are being done in the United States as well.
What is your relationship with the lighting crew?
When I decided I wanted to be a DP (director of photography) I made a point to meet all the lighting rental businesses and owners. I knew I really cared about lighting so I wanted to explore how I could get them to give me what I needed and also new equipment that’s becoming available.
It’s also important to say you don’t need a lot of light, you just need the right light to make it work.
How much interaction do you have with the director on set?
We do a lot in pre-production where the director will tell me what he or she wants in terms of mood and movements. I anticipate and interpret what they want while reading the script and translate the words into visuals. I write my notes and compare each scene and character. Sometimes I give each character a color to identify them because I see their personality.
It’s a visual way to tell the story and the director how I see it. During pre-production they have the final say and that’s when they’ll let me know if they like my idea or maybe need to go another way. It’s important to listen to what the director wants.
How important is still photography for setting up your film shoot?
It’s actually very important because I like to capture the moment. Things may look very well lit but sometimes I just observe what’s around me and I just snap it. It depends on the situation as well. If I shoot a documentary I like go and explore right in the moment. To be honest, I’m coming from a culture where everything can be done in the moment and I’m not afraid of that. Basically we live day by day and I like to take this approach to film as well.
Maybe in that moment even though you do a lot of pre-production, it may not work the way you and the director thought. You have to be ready to have a plan B, plan C, and plan D as well. Maybe the actor doesn’t want to do certain things so you just have to come up with an idea.
I shot a movie in Palenstine behind the wall. In a place like that where theres a lot of bombing, I realized to get the story out there you have to think in the moment.
What was the most challenging shoot you had to film?
Every shoot you do is not really difficult because you love what you do. One of the most challenging was definitely another Palestinian film. Not because of the crew but because of the situation. I shot a movie in Italy that was complicated because we shot in Sicily and difficult to get to the location. I shot another movie all in New York called Without Grace that just opened. It was a small crew with an emmy nominated actress Ann Dowd. We shot in Jersey during the winter and it snowed like crazy and couldn’t move it so we were blocked in the apartment we were shooting in. We had to just stop and go home and come back in two days because we couldn’t put up lights or do anything
I always translate the worst into the best. It’s survival. You have a lot of support and never give up because you want to make something good. Even if you have a big budget, it’s not going to be any easier. The producer may be afraid to take more risks.
What award did Madeline’s Oil win at the Louisiana Film Festival?
Madeline’s Oil was a period piece about slavery and racial discrimination. I loved it because we shot all over the fields and in the mud and every swamp in Louisiana after the hurricane. In that moment you will see people were all united including the actors. It’s challenging because you really have to deal with what you have at that time even though we had a bigger budget. The film won Best Cinematography at the Louisiana Film Festival. I’m very happy about it and love Louisiana.
I actually shot another film in Louisiana called The Stand. It was interesting because it was all shot on a bus and there was a terrorist attack with Christians and Muslims all together. They had to make it look like they were all the same people. We shot in Louisiana where it was supposed to look like West Africa. Big fields with dirt roads. I really relied on natural light and worked a lot with mirrors.
I say it was easy but it really was not. Buses are wider in the United States so I thought I could put up a light but I didn’t count on every seat being occupied. I couldn’t put up any light whatsoever and the windows were small. I actually put the mirror on the ceiling creating triangles of light using what I had.
You have to worry when you see the faces of your Gapher, your Key Grip and First AC go pale and they don’t actually know how to tell you the problem. When you see that you start to see there is a problem.
What challenges did you face breaking into the industry?
As a woman cinematographer it’s difficult to break in because especially when I started in 1998, I was one of the few DP’s around. Every time I was on set I was the only woman on set. I had discrimination but I didn’t have much because I also had a lot of people that believed in me and supported me. I’m bothered by women who don’t support each other as men do.
I used to have a big shirt over my shoulder but I’m a boxer and they didn’t know. A lot of women would start to panic wondering if I could do it. If you train it’s not about the strength it’s about the power you have from your legs as well.
What is your go to camera?
I think it really depends on the project. I can’t always say I want to use a particular camera. I do prefer the Alexa. My work is not all the same. Every story calls for a different cinematography style. You have to go with the story. You can use any camera really, it’s about the story.
I shot a TV pilot with Joseph Sikora. I thought I wanted to shoot with an Alexa but I did some tests and showed the director how it looked with a Red anamorphic lense and we just liked that much better.
What is your new film Amytal Therapy about?
The short film I just directed and DP called The Amytal Therapy. It’s about a woman who has a double identity looking for the murderer of a companion.
She’s a psychiatrist, living in New York that spies on her own patients, though the security cameras she’s personally installed in their homes. She knows what they do. She knows what they want. She knows how to stop them.
The good thing is if I wanted to put someone in the darkness I didn’t have to turn around and ask someone. The bad thing is I didn’t have a companion. I really did miss the collaboration between directory and cinematographer though. It’s amazing because you have someone who covers your back. I think my next move I want to continue to be a DP (Director of Photography).
This week’s Imperfect Podcast guest is Manon de Reeper, who is the Editor in Chief and founder of independent film magazine Film Inquiry. Manon is also a screenwriter currently shopping her Screencraft Fellowship quarter finalist MORAL TREATMENT. She has two academic degrees and currently lives in beautiful Perth, Australia. Starting as her own personal blog, Film Inquiry has grown to having over 100 contributors.
Film Inquiry is an independent, crowd-funded magazine with which purposefully steers away from the current online journalism trends of meaningless click bait. Instead you’ll find long-form reviews and articles, as well as in-depth resources that are interesting to cinephiles and filmmakers. Film Inquiry also supports women and minorities in film and behind the camera.
Since December ’16, Film Inquiry is a Rotten Tomatoes approved publication and all of our reviews are counted towards their tomato-meter. To support Film Inquiry, you can join the Film Inquiry Society that will grant you complete access to all of their archives, as all posts older than 30 days (aside from a few freebies) are locked. Once a member, all the content is ads-free. Members also get a 10% discount to the Film Inquiry shop, and more.
Watch How To Get Your Independent Film Reviewed by Film Inquiry
Interview Highlights with Manon de Reeper Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry
How did Film Inquiry get started?
I founded Film Inquiry as my own personal film blog where I was doing my own amateurish film reviews. I had just graduated from university and was doing some research while studying criminology. It’s still the most geeky thing ever, where I studied how a science fiction film effected the future effects of real life policies.
It was the best time of my life and I wanted to keep doing it because I always wanted to do film. Film was my biggest passion but friends and family recommended I not go to film school but I ended up making everything about film anyway.
I moved to Australia with my partner and he got a job here and I was hoping that I’d be able to do something with my criminology degree and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I’m not one to sit still so it was my chance to jump into the whole film thing.
People liked the blog and I wanted to involved more people so we could do more. The ball started rolling in early 2014. Every since, we’ve been steadily publishing. I don’t want to publish too much because I get too overwhelmed with how some of these magazines push out content. We want to keep the content schedule minimal but the actual articles bigger. It gives us the opportunity to go more in depth and explore one film more. More and more people are joining us to write.
People have told me they are pretty disillusioned with the current online film journalism. We really want to be able to talk about film in a context more than Marvel’s easter eggs. It’s fun and more people are picking up on it. I’m stoked an excited that all the hard work is paying off.
How do you decided which films you write about?
Honestly, at this point I have the luxury of having a team of 100 people so I have a combined amount of a time. I personally don’t review many films anymore. I’m trying to get a YouTube series going for myself but even choosing the films I’m going to watch every day is becoming a challenge. It’s starting to get so busy but I feel like I have this responsibility to watch movies.
What does a typical day as editor in chief at Film Inquiry look like?
I have to say I set it up pretty smoothly. What I do is coordinate when film makers ask us to review films, then I make sure that my team knows this film is available for review. They let me know if they want to review it, I request the screener, send it to them, they write the review and it’s reviewed by a few editors. I’m always the final review before publishing. We have a pretty strict schedule we adhere to so I make sure all the time slots are filled in. For general feature articles, its mostly all the writers pitching their good ideas. It’s a lot of work but it’s also fun.
Where does your love of films come from?
My Dad was very much into films and my Mom too actually. They would always take me to the movies. For instance, on Christmas we wouldn’t go to church, we’d go to the movies. That was our thing and it just stuck with me throughout life. I started exploring film myself when I got a little older.
What was the first article published on Film Inquiry?
I think it was a review of the film Elysium, by the South African director Neil Blomkamp. Everyone was raging on how incredibly poor it was and I thought it was pretty good. I wrote a little essay on how the criminological aspects of it were interesting.
How does your degree in criminology influence your writing?
It definitely taught me to look further than just the actor’s performances or the visuals. I always want to explore the idea of the film more. What are the film makers trying to tell us. We learn so much from film. Most of the situations these characters find themselves in, we wouldn’t ever find ourselves in. Seeing those things it teaches us a lot about life.
The way a camera is used and how a scene is framed adds to an idea. If you shoot someone from below, it elevates the person and adds meaning.
What is your screenplay Moral Treatment about?
I wrote a story influenced by academic background. It’s about a woman who is a British Royal set in the late 1800’s. It’s a Victorian era script. She has the privilege of receiving education in the UK and is married off to a rich guy in the US, an industrialists son. She starts to work at a local asylum because she’s a psychiatrist. It’s quite fascinating to me because there are so many terrible horror films set in these type of asylums. I wanted to do the opposite and give a very realistic portrayal of mental health and how these people were treated back then.
How does it differ from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
In a way, it was quite influenced by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I personally really love that one because it’s a realistic portrayal of mental illness and what a mental hospital was like back then. It does have a big twist in the end like Moral Treatment does. I say it’s a mix between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Shutter Island.
Is Moral Treatment your first screenplay?
No it wasn’t but it’s the first one I fully completed and edited. It was a challenge for me specifically how do you get into the mindset of writing. You need to put a lot of creative energy into writing which I did for 30 days. If you don’t keep at it every day, it’s easy to get out of that again. I adapted the National Writing Novel Month for my own needs. I was traveling and working during that time but because I had this goal of writing 3 pages a day, which is doable, I finished writing 90 pages in that month and had 30 pages before that. If you’re just focused on writing you don’t have the time to go back and edit it constantly.
Watch Manon’s video on “How I Wrote a Script in One Month”
I had seen the deadline for the Screencraft contest and gave myself that concrete goal. It was my first complete script and I wasn’t thinking I would ever win. Considering there were over 2000 submissions I was completely stoked to have made it to the quarter finals. It doesn’t even matter how good your screenplay is at that point. It’s more like a game of luck because there are so many people that submit great work. I still think there may be an audience for my script and winning one contest isn’t going to win you the Hollywood game.
What did you learn as Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry?
I learned it’s more about the people you know. I feel for the people that believe they need to win a contest to make it because that’s not the way it works. I’m in Perth Australia and trying to get to know people in Hollywood. Film Inquiry has definitely helped with that in a very casual way. Knowing people is the most important thing.
How can film makers get coverage at Film Inquiry?
Everyone can send their request to info@filminquiry.com and I will always put their requests in front of the team. It’s up to the team whether they pick it or not. It happens sometimes that nobody is interested. We also cannot guarantee a positive review.
I try to put everything out there. There is an audience for every film so I don’t filter it. I offer it up to my team for them to decide.
Talking with actress Chanel Ryan we learned that being an actor is like being self-employed. That means you need to treat acting like a business. As an actor or actress have you asked yourself, should I take acting classes? It’s no secret that to make it Hollywood it takes guts and a whole lot of work. By taking classes you’ll get a solid foundation that will translate into confidence for yourself and the potential casting directors and other actors you’ll be working with.
Chanel Ryan is an American actress who has successfully navigated the acting and modeling industry over the past decade. Descriptions of Chanel are as varied as the roles she plays which you’ll see in our interview. A ball of energy with captivating eyes in a pretty blonde package. She’s a chameleon with strength, vulnerability, and great comedic timing in equal amounts. She shines in the lighter, bubbly types and specializes in darker material, playing edgy and troubled young women.
In 2011, she shifted her attention to acting full time. Her recent roles include a guest appearance on THE LATE LATE SHOW opposite James Corden and John Stamos; Starring roles in two independent films, horror film CIRCUS OF THE DEAD alongside genre legend Bill Oberst Jr., and the psychological thriller HOUSE ON RODEO GULCH. She can also be seen in the upcoming release of the comedy HYPNOTIZED starring Vinnie Jones and Kevin Pollak, as well as the drama BIGGER THAN THE BEATLES.
This past year, Chanel believed in getting a solid foundation for her career so much that she took time off to do just that. She’s been working on her craft daily to make sure she can lands the type of parts that will make her proud. We hope you learn as much as we did from Chanel Ryan.
Read The Highlights of Why Actors Should Take Acting Classes:
Are you a Los Angeles native?
No I grew up on the east coast in Pennsylvania but we moved a lot. From Pennsylvania, to New Jersey to Northern California to Southern California. I feel very fortunate to have had the best of both worlds. We had a pond so in the summer you swim in the pond and in the winter we would skate on the pond. Then when we moved to California there was the beach and we had a pool. I got to experience the country as well as the beach.
When did you catch the acting bug?
When I was little I wanted to do one of three things. I loved art and was always drawing and painting. A lot of the grocery stores where I grew had contests. Around Easter who ever colored the egg the best and Christmas it would Santa or a tree and Halloween it’s a witch or a cat. I would win every holiday. I’m a vegetarian but I would win my family a turkey or a ham. A couple of times a store manager thought I was cheating and had an adult do it so I had to go in there with my little art box and color for them.
I had an illustrated children’s book published when I was little and my stuff appeared at the festivals in Laguna Beach. That’s what I always wanted to do.
I always liked the thought of acting but it seemed so far away. I don’t have any friends or family in the industry. I’m not from LA or New York and I had no idea how to get into it. I laugh now because I thought it would be a very glamorous and easy job. There are parts of it that are glamorous but 95% of it is not glamorous.
How did you transition to acting?
I was fortunate. In junior high I was living in Southern California I was approached on the beach to model for a swimwear campaign. From there a few other jobs came in. Around the same time I was at a park with my girlfriend and someone approached us to audition for commercials and I got that as well. It was a series of events like that. A friend was doing wardrobe on a film and I went for dinner at her house and the director was there. He thought we were all cute and asked if we want to be in a movie and that’s how I got my first part.
I was planning to go to art school because I really wanted to be a fashion designer or an interior designer. I started working so much, modeling first and acting equally with a lot of success modeling in other countries. It’s really hard to turn down a paid job in an exotic location rather than stay in town in hopes that you’ll get an audition and then from that audition hope that you’ll get a call back and then hope that you’ll get a job.
Does acting account for more of your career than modeling now?
It does. I still model a little bit. They are both really full time jobs. You can only do so much. A few years ago I decided if I didn’t want to be one of those girls who used to have a career. I kept saying I wanted to be an actress so I needed to switch my focus, stay in town and buckle down.
The first few acting jobs I had were huge studio productions and I no clue what a big deal that was. When I worked with John Frankenheimer I auditioned on the set and he offered me a part. I worked on the film for about 2 weeks and you barely see me. He had said to me I’m going to put you in all of my movies, I’m going to make you a star. His assistant would call my home to try and book me for stuff and I would come to messages on my answering after I was off modeling wherever I was.
The first movie I did regardless of what IMDB says is called Waitin for the Rocket. I was about 16 years old and I had switched my ID to say I was older so I could work. It was Disney style family comedy and I was one of the lead roles I had no idea what a big deal that was to book the lead in any film. Shortly after I worked with Frankenheimer. I did an Easter special with Andy Williams for the BBC with 60s themed skits. I did a pilot with Bill Murray called The Sweet Spot. I did a lot of big things when I was very young and unfocused.
When did you start taking your acting career more seriously?
I had done a lot of commercials so a lot of agents were interested in me because I could make them money. I’ve studied with some of the biggest acting teachers in Los Angeles and each one of them I took something away from them. I had really been looking for a more solid foundation so about a year ago I started studying the Meisner technique with Alex Taylor. I recommend any actors in Los Angeles study with him. It’s a big time commitment but it’s worth it. With the intensive program you go the first 4 months 4 days a week. It’s like condensing 1 year into 4 months.
I’ve been turning down a lot of jobs so I can focus on class. A lot of films I had been in I felt like some I was good in and some I was terrible. When I did something that was good I didn’t necessarily know how to do it again. This is why I was searching for a solid foundation and he’s given me that. I feel like I can handle anything now. Every Monday we would do a different accent and every Thursday we would do a different impediment. It’s a full on drama school. I’ve given myself a gift and taken some time off to grow as an actress so I can always deliver good work and feel confident about it.
Whats the difference between indie films and studio work?
I go back and forth between studio and indie. Comedy is actually my first love. On the indie films it’s hard for me because I know what it’s like to be on a studio set. I know how its run, what the rehearsals are like, everyone’s fully trained and memorized their lines. It’s really easy to do good work under those circumstances. I love the indie world and I’m booked for indie roles coming up but one of the problems I was having and really wanted to study was a lot of times you only get one take. There aren’t many rehearsals. Sometimes the people you are working with are trained sometimes not. Sometimes they’ve memorized their lines and other times not. It’s challenging to good work.
I was on a film recently and the other actor hadn’t memorized his lines. He said he had the gist of it. I had to explain that each character has an arc with a beginning middle and end. If we don’t by the script we will never get to those. Depending on the director there may be room for improv but if you don’t have everything down there is no room for improv.
Do you have any audition war stories to share?
I’m sure I do but I tend to block out the traumatic stuff. We’re all busy. There are times you run into an audition and you’re not prepared, looking it over in the car. That can never be good. There are a few instances where you just have the right look and you get the character but for the most part it’s never good if you’re not prepared. I’ve done some terrible auditions I’m sure.
Which actors did you work with that inspired you?
All of them. I feel so fortunate that I’ve been cast so often among people that are way more talented and successful than myself. You’re only as good as the person you’re working with. Each person I worked with I learned different thing. Bill Oberst Jr. and I had a great time shooting Circus of the Dead. We were laughing and joking between takes and then I’m crying and running and screaming. I’m a vegetarian and at one point he licks my face after he had just eaten meat for dinner. It actually helped me because it smelled like meat. Bill is the nicest guy and would apologize in advance.
Judd Nelson was great to work with in Bad Kids Go To Hell. It’s interesting to see actors who are seasoned veterans how they come to the set. He was much more experienced than anyone else on the set in front or behind the camera. Judd was offering his advice to everyone about the scenes and stood up and fought for what he believed was right.
What was working with John Stamos like?
So nice, such a professional. Everyone was jealous and I’m a huge James Corden fan and watch his show every night. I heard about the audition while out of town and I had to put something on tape. It was me being a complete fan girl. The guy that taped me was like, “Are you sure you want to send this in?” I was like yes and I got it. I never watched Full House if you can believe that. John Stamos is ridiculously good looking. His comedic timing is amazing and a consummate professional.
When you work with people who have that sort of status it can be intimidating. I’ve been lucky that everyone I’ve worked with has been super nice.
Is establishing relationships important for getting more work?
I have a lot of the same people that hire me over and over since I was a teenager, especially commercially. I probably have 8 to 10 producers that book me. If I just worked for them, everything would be great and I have the same thing with a lot of theatrical directors which is great. Don Richardson I did a fun comedy called Attack of the Bimbos and we are about to do called Busted Reality. It’s about 3 girls who wanted to be famous by getting reality shows.
When I had first auditioned for him he was interested in me for a role but I was leaving for Canada. He really wanted to have rehearsals but I couldn’t be there. I was in Canada at a convention hosting different events and I get a call from Don offering me the lead role because he was having issues. Long story short I ended up cancelling some things in Canada and learned the script on the flight and started shooting.
What advice do you have for actors & actresses looking to break into Hollywood?
Don’t do it! There’s so many amazing things about it but I think a lot of teenagers are so influenced by reality television and think you can become famous by doing something stupid. What a lot of people don’t understand and only see the glamorous side. You’re basically self-employed and there are not enough hours in the day. You have to treat it like a business.
If you wanted to be an interior designer you would go to school for that, study for that, get an internship, start working under someone to learn the ropes before you go off on your own. It’s the same with acting. It’s a job. Every day you should be taking a serious class and working towards your goal. Whether it’s working on an accent, memorizing, researching casting directors or scripts. That way when you get an audition with one of these casting directors you understand how they operate.
My first jobs were offered to me but I was always prepared. If I was asked to bring wardrobe, I brought the best wardrobe I could. I always gave 110% and took advantage of every opportunity that came my way. I get to work with creative people in ridiculously exotic locations I might not otherwise see.
Have more questions for Chanel Ryan? Ask us here and we’ll make sure she gets em!
An accomplished actress and stunt woman, Melanie Wise has been acting professionally for over a decade. As lead actress of the award-winning horror-action film, Hanah’s Gift, Melanie won best actress at the IndieFest Film Festival. She is also an accomplished producer, video and sound editor with skills in sound effects, graphic design, 2D motion graphics, and specializes in polishing troubled projects.
Melanie is the founder of the Artemis Film Festival. Now in its 3rd, it’s more than your typical indie film festival. It not only celebrates women, but women who kick ass. From female action heroes and stunt women to female activists and business women, the Artemis Film Festival features 3 days of action packed content in Santa Monica, CA.
Talking with Melanie we learn what it takes to run a film festival, what being a female stunt woman is like in Hollywood and why women kick so much ass!
Team Members:
Sean Newcombe, Co-Founder: @therealnewk
Megan Hubbell, Social Media Goddess: @MeganHubbell
Indus Alelia, PR & Outreach Mgr: @IndusAlelia
Watch The Entire Melanie Wise Interview
Read The Melanie Wise Interview Highlights
How did you get involved in the film industry?
I started out modeling and that was a non-starter which doesn’t make sense at my height. They say models have to be tall but in Los Angeles it was the bathing suit industry and all the models are 5ft tall. I eventually ventured into acting and I’ve always been physically inclined so stunts were a no-brainer. One of the first jobs I worked was a Sunkist commercial. They only hired me because I was big enough to tackle a guy.
It was a non-union with just a day rate, no residuals and no bumps for stunt hits and I was dumb enough to not know to ask for it. There were a pile of people jumping into this one thing and I would end up at the bottom every time we did a take. I was covered in bruises from one end to the other but it was fun. At the end of the day, I got paid for a day on the beach to tackle a guy.
Was that your first professional job?
It wasn’t the most professional, but yeah. Some people consider low budget film making, not very professional and I’m not sure I align well with that sentiment. Anytime you have less resources, the thing that you need to excel at is creative problem solving. I think that’s where the professionalism does show up.
How did you make the jump to film and stunt work?
I’ve done all of my own fight scenes and I love fight stunts. I don’t get into things like fire burns and high falls. I consider the stunts that I do to be the simplest version. When people call me a stunt woman it’s kind of a lie because there isn’t much an “oops” factor to it. If I screw up I might break a bone but in some stunts if you screw up you might be dead. I have a long athletic history so doing a fight scene is a long athletic dance.
Have you had any formal martial arts or fight training?
I do have some martial arts training, some boxing training and some stunt training. I want to start training on wire work.
What’s the craziest stunt you’ve ever done?
It wasn’t crazy, just difficult. The film Hanah’s Gift was shot from the point of view from one of the characters and in real time. The whole movie looks like a 90 minute cut. There is a fight scene in it that’s kind of short but the actual take was 9 minutes long. In most fight scenes you setup angles and takes and directions. For what we shot there were not cut-to’s. You had to nail it. We wound up taking that 9 times and when it was all said and done I had broken two bones.
I don’t know if I could live with myself if I was careless and actually hurt somebody. There was a fight scene I did with a guy and we choreographed and rehearsed. We know it was going to be dark on set going in. I’m supposed to swing a flashlight at him and for whatever reason he stepped into it and I rotated my hand and I actually clocked him in the head. It was just an extraordinary error. Looking back I’m just glad nothing serious happened. Simple simple things can cause big big problems.
What goes into choreographing and prepping a fight scene?
It depends on the difficulty level of it. Punches and kicks and basic throws aren’t bad to do. When we shot our crowdfunding video we shot 4 short action sequences. I think our entire shooting time for choreography and shooting was probably 12 hours. We choreographed and rehearsed on one day and shot on another.
When you choreograph you’re not necessarily doing it on location so you have to make some adjustments on the day of. It depends on the skill level and strengths of the people you have. You wouldn’t ask someone who’s not good at kicks to do a head kick. Part of doing stunts is getting bumps and bruises.
Where did you get the idea for the Artemis Film Festival?
There’s a team of us. I’m called the founder but I prefer my title “Fucking Professional Picky Bitch.” I want to put Melanie Wise, FPPB but you know. All of us have known each other for a lot of years and love content that was action oriented with female leads. We struggled with putting that type of content into the world so we started our own festival. It’s a great thing and I’m honored we can do it every year but it’s a lot to do.
Our first year I thought we were going to get laughed out of the park but we actually got over 200 submissions from 25 different countries in 2 months. You get content that doesn’t fit but the majority was content with badass women in it including narratives, documentaries. Things about history that aren’t known from shorts to feature length films. We block together shorts that are similarly themed.
The regulation for the festival is that the film needs to feature a female in a leading or co-leading role in a physical action role or some type of activism. We don’t have distinctions that women need to produce or direct. On screen we just need to see empowered images of women.
What is your selection process like?
What’s interesting is, if you look at most film festivals, unless it’s a genre festival like horror or action, there’s not a huge number of festivals these films can play at. Most film festivals program documentaries, dramas and comedies. A lot of these films don’t have a good home and they should.
How many years have you been running the Artemis Film Festival?
We are in our 3rd year. We are still very young and have been fan backed every year. I think it’s fair to say our fans like us. It’s been an amazing ride. I’ve had the belief for years that women in action is something that popular audiences are into. That’s true the world over because we are getting films from all over. Our first year we got a film from Iran about female empowerment.
What films standout as a favorite of yours?
I’m not a festival goer, I think it’s a yawn to me. We program exciting stuff. It’s not like you’re going to walk in and fall asleep. This year amongst our submissions we have a film that won Student Academy Award. It’s a period piece that features a female racecar driver. We’ve got a documentary from Tazmania of all places. The lady that actually brought the piece together and actually told her story through the events that happened. They took down a billion dollar logging company. Those kinds of stories are ones we really need to see.
When are submissions open for the Artemis Film Festival?
Submissions closed on December 15, 2016. For our 2018 festival we are getting ready to announce the submission schedule which we probably open in August. The festival takes place Thursday April 20 – Sunday April 23. Our red carpet will be in Beverly Hills and the last 3 days of the festival will be in Santa Monica.
What film makers inspire you?
One of my favorites is Joss Whedon. He does amazing action. From what I’ve read for Avengers is that he wrote so many female roles and fought tooth and nail and ended up with one female character. He tells amazing and brilliant stories and casts equal distribution of men and women roles.
Are women in film making headway in Hollywood?
I definitely think things are changing. I can’t look at it and say wow we’ve accomplished so much. The cool thing is TV is way ahead of film. We have a snobbery between the small screen and the big screen. The bottom line of it is cable is turning out some badass female characters. We still have a lot of room to make up in film and we aren’t anywhere we need to be.
I just participated in article discussing sexism in Hollywood. They included some quotes of mine and I read the stories from the others that were included. One lady talked about she was physically intimidated for saying something she didn’t say and tracked down to her by 4 men.
What’s in store for you in the future?
I’m trying to get a better sense of balance and either get my energy back to content making or something else. I really would like to see our whole team focus on making content. We’ve been working really hard behind the scenes. We have more honoree announcements to make for this year but I have so much on my plate I’m trying not to plan too much. Honorees this year include Tom Cruise and Nichelle Nichols, the original Lieutenant Uhura. The stunt people we have every year are legendary.
Herding film makers is like herding cats. The amount of people that make a film and don’t make cover art. When I start asking for deliverables like high res files and I don’t get what I need. We need Blu-Ray to be able to showcase their films or they come in with region 0 and don’t play in a region 1 DVD player. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it but film makers need to start mastering the business side of things.
This week we interview actress Tami Stronach who made her acting debut as The Childlike Empress in the Neverending Story in 1984. The Neverending Story, which catapulted Stronach to stardom, has been a huge inspiration in pop culture and is just as popular today as it was when it was first released. She was studying acting in California, when she was chosen for her role as the Childlike Empress in the iconic 80s movie and the rest is history.
After a couple of decades of making dance and theater in NYC, Tami has now turned her attention to laying the foundation for a content shop that makes ‘family friendly’ work – not unlike “Neverending Story”. The brand is called Paper Canoe Company, which she founded with husband, Greg.
Tami made one album “Faerie Queen” that nostalgia buffs will remember was a sleeper hit in the ‘80s. This new project is the first in a series of collaborations with a notable crew of indie folk rock artists in Williamsburg. In the coming months she’ll be choreographing and performing in videos for the album and doing promo concerts in preparation for launching a full live theatrical experience later in the year, that will be built to tour nationally and internationally in theatrical concert venues with video projections, puppets, and Tami performing the role of Harmony, the Giant’s Rock Star Daughter.
Watch the Entire Tami Stronach Interview
Read The Tami Stronach Interview Highlights
Where were you born?
I was born in Teheran Iran. My Father is a Scottish archaeologist and my mother is an Israeli archaeologist. They met on a dig site and I grew up in Iran on excavations looking for artifacts. It was much more boring than it sounds. After the revolution of 79 we bounced around the globe a bit until we found home in the US and we settled in the San Francisco Bay area.
Were you taking acting classes in California?
I was dancing and acting throughout my childhood. In California there’s a wonderful acting school in San Francisco. I used to take singing classes and acting classes and I was also in ballet recitals. That was my world as a kid. I came out of the crib hamming it up. I would actually carpool to San Francisco to those acting classes on my own. I was super determined to get to those acting classes.
How did the opportunity for The Neverending Story come about?
It was a happy accident. I was in an acting class and a casting agent, her name is Anna Gross, was in San Francisco looking to cast somebody for the roll and she was friends with my acting teacher. She wanted to have lunch and came to Fort Mason where the school is and happened to be a little bit early and saw the tail end of class and thought that I might be a good person to audition and she invited me to audition.
I had no idea what she was asking me to audition for. I still have an issue with taking on too much. At the time I was in a traveling troupe that performed at local schools. The morning of the audition I had a show and I arrived really disheveled. I was playing Piglet in a Winnie-the-Pooh show so I had makeup smeared all over my face.
Did you enjoy auditioning as a child?
I think as a child you have less fear. I really love to be inside stories and figured if I didn’t get chosen I would just do another one. I think I just got really lucky and the material really resonated with me. I really identified with the character, I fell in love with her. By the third audition in Germany I was like I really want this. It got progressively more nerve racking.
Did you understand the gravity of the Neverending Story at that age?
I don’t think I totally understood the gravity of the Neverending Story and don’t think my parents understood the gravity of the movie. Partly it was filmed in Germany over the summer. It was sort of like, let’s go take this family vacation in Europe and you’ll do this little European release and we’ll come home and no one will ever see it and you can do your next dance recital. We didn’t really understand what we were doing. Maybe I was blessed to not know it really because I just didn’t have any expectations for it to be seen or to become iconic in that way.
What was your favorite character in the Neverending Story?
I didn’t spend a lot of time with Falcor. The Empress and Falcor don’t have a lot of scenes together, any in fact. I saw Falcor once as a head with a green screen behind but I never saw the whole thing, he was in pieces whenever I saw him. For me the Bat, the rock biter and that little enclave of puppets, I was able to watch their scenes get filmed, and I was able to watch the people move the levers on the side. I loved the fact that it was a person and a puppet that they sort of mixed together. I also sat in on the swamps of sadness scenes which was completely amazing. I’m so happy wasn’t around for the scene with the horse.
What was it like working with the puppets and animatronics?
That’s a really interesting question. I know there is a difference between acting for film and acting for stage in the sense that you want to make your gestures larger for stage, body language is more important for stage and you want to be more subtle on film. But at the same time it was much more a kin to theater than a lot of films are today. The set was real in the same way you would have it like a set onstage. Everything was physically there and touchable.
I’ve been on sets with green screens where you’re imagining the whole thing and the director promises you that there’s going to be a lot of people. I had a really good acting teacher who always said that acting is 99% listening. It’s not how you’re delivering the line it’s how you are responding to the line you were given. I think that with a puppet you’re able to do that listening part where as if the thing gets filled in later it’s all your choices and not so many reacting to other choices.
What’s happening now is really cool because they are combining animatronics with CGI and there’s a better sense of when to use what aspect and why.
You might also like our interview about the short fantasy film The Lookouts
What was it like working with all the young actors on set?
We got along which is good. They were boys and I was a girl at age ten. I was all business “Does anyone want to go over their lines. Let’s go over the scene” and Barret would have his little GI Joes and be like let’s play with these. But I really liked them both, they were wonderful. I have fond memories, we definitely got along.
I have a funny story with Noah. We were at a German outdoor pub, there were these train tracks next to the pub. We spent all of our time off set at pubs. That’s where the camera people and the makeup people were. There was a train really really far off and he was sort of playing this hero. So out of nowhere he suddenly grabbed me and flung me across the railroad tracks into the bushes. I was like what’s going on and he was like a train is coming. And we sort had to wait for the train to sort of come for a long time. Then I had to be like thank you for saving me.
What is life like for you today?
Mostly theater work these days. I founded a company called Paper Canoe Company with my husband actually. After the birth of my daughter I wanted to start making family theater again. The Never Ending Story was sort of family oriented. For me, trying to bring all of my passions under one umbrella seemed really important. I was a mom and I wanted the stuff that I was making to relate to my kid and to my community and all of those things to exist together.
We created two live shows in New York. The theater show was a light and dark comedy my husband wrote. It was a story where a scientist with good intentions steals the sun. We were speaking about how everything’s faster and everyone knows too much. In this world people stop dreaming, stop sleeping, the lights always on and everyone’s trying to be super productive. People lost the ability to dream and relax. The scientist creates a slumber yard and took away the sun so everyone could relax and over time everyone forgot there were lights. All the actors wore self-cranking machines with head lamps and we generated all of our own light in the production.
My vision is to turn the story into a graphic novel and possibly a feature film. The story would come alive on a graphic novel page even more so than the theater. I’m a creature of the theater, live theater is my medium. As we developed Paper Canoe we are finding that we are more and more curious about diving into digital content. Our third project is a digital project and that’s Beanstalk Jack which is a folk rock album.
This week we talk to Tonya Kay, actress, stunt woman and self proclaimed most dangerous woman in Hollywood. She is crazy and that’s what we love about her. Being a dancer, Tonya brings a lot of physicality to her performances which is unique in and of itself. She is an actress appearing as a series regular in the upcoming Puppet Master: Axis Termination by Full Moon Productions.
As a lead actress she has graced the screen with leading film roles in A Better Place (Cannes), Dark Space and Earthtastrophe on SyFy and The Other Wife on Lifetime Movie Network. The only female nominee, Tonya Kay won Best Villain from the Horror Society 2016 for her lead role in Bastard (20th Century Fox) and draws upon Meisner, Anthony Meindl, Second City and iO West training to shape her fearless instincts.
Adding to Tonya’s diversity she’s been a stunt woman for Pink and a stilt walker in American Horror Story. Tonya also used a whip on stage with Howie Mandel as a contestent on America’s Got Talent. This is guaranteed to be one of the most diverse Imperfect Podcasts to date due to the varied talents Tonya brings to the table.
Watch Puppet Master: Axis Termination starring Tonya Kay
Watch the Live Interview with Actress Tonya Kay
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in farm town in Michigan. Very rural. (a wholesome midwest girl?) My grandpa always said, “When they made you Tonay, they broke the mold.” I like that. I do appreciate nature and I do appreciate all the things that the small gave me and now I live in the city to pursue the things that the small town didn’t give me. I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve lived in New york, I’ve lived and worked in Los Angeles. I’ve toured the nation.
I do appreciate that I did grow up in rural area because I can just sit down at a bonfire, stare at the stars and consider it a good time. I can also be around immense diversity in saturation of culture and art and feel like I’m still a pioneer, I’m still progressive and I’m still making shit happen. I’ve enjoyed that I’ve worked in all three cities so that I have a perspective on the markets and the type of vibe each city offers.
How long were you in New York?
I was in New York for a couple of years and I did Stomp, I did De La Guarda, I did concert dance and I taught dance as well. I worked in mostly experimental theater. New York is where I found out I was good at weird shit.
What are some examples of weird shit you’re doing?
I spin fire, I throw knives, I pole dance, I drum, body percussion and I started out as a tap dancer. As grinder girl, I grind sparks of my metal bikini cod piece. I swallow animal balloons whole.
What jobs have you landed because of grinder girl?
That’s my signature act. That’s landed me all over the world. I’ve done it in Spain, South Africa and the Caribbean. I’m brought in to do it because it’s so weird. I’ve done it in all sorts of music videos, television on Comedy Central. I have done stilts, dance and fire on Glee. On The Voice I just finished a stint doing dance, stilts and drumming. In LA its a small community after you do weird shit, then people know you do weird shit.
I’ve got this reputation where one day I fielded calls from five different agencies that don’t represent me. Everyone in town knows I do weird shit so this agent who doesn’t even represent me is like, “Oh this is weird, get a hold of that Tonya Kay girl.” It’s nice to know that if it’s the exact right gig its going to find you no matter what.
What came first dancing or acting?
When my parents read me bedtime stories, I acted them out on the stage of my bed. I’d say in my soul, acting came first. I started classes for dance first and then my first public performance was in theater, acting, singing, dancing, all together.
Where did you go to college?
I didn’t go to college, I was working before I graduated. I did graduate as valedictorian so I could have gone to any college I wanted but I didn’t want to. I’m very anti-system and I wasn’t into college and higher education. If you want to go to college that’s fine but it wasn’t right for me. You couldn’t convince me that going into debt was going to be good for my artist career. I couldn’t think of a single career that I wanted that I required a college education for and I didn’t want to go into debt.
I remember the time that I realized the whole system was lies. I’ve always been like this. I was in the fifth grade and we were handing in our social studies paper and all of the answers were guys names. I was a fifth grade chick walking up there going, this is lies. My history answers were all male. I said that’s not true, women did stuff. At
that moment I just thought I’m gonna ace this test and get outta here.
I was pressured to go to college. I had an argument with my Vice Principal. She was saying no valedictorian of ours isn’t going to college. She says what are you gonna do with your life? That’s the type of support I got and I said, “Be a tattoo artist.” I’m not a loser I’m an artist.
How was working with Eric Roberts in Paradise Club?
It was great, Eric is cool. He’s a vegetarian and he and his wife Eliza are big on animal rights which we share in common. I’m a vegan so we had a ton to talk about on set. He and his wife were both on set, she was in the movie too. It was fun to work with him, he’s such an old pro. He’s done more movies than I think any actor in Hollywood. (Over 400 listed on IMDB). He doesn’t turn down roles, he likes to work and I do too. I look forward to having 400 credits some day myself.
With over 63 acting credits, what roles have stood out and why?
I would say every single one. This year on Lifetime, a movie called The Other Wife was cool because I learned a lot about myself as an actor. Through that process the director Nick Lyon and I both found out I can do what’s called ‘cry-on-command.’ I’m pretty good at it and now know that. He used that to the extreme.
Every scene, they’d setup then do a rehearsal and get in place. Nick would walk up to me and say very quietly right before saying action, “It’d be good to get a few tears on this one. Action!” I did it for every scene and I learned so much about myself. I call it always on the verge of breakdown but in acting they call it cry on command. I’m really good at it. I’m good at accessing a genuine despair on command. That’s why I really like The Other Wife because I learned a lot about myself as an actor.
What about the horror film Bastard?
I get a lot of villain roles. Everyone says I’m nice off stage but you’re so evil on. Bastard was really cool, it was cool to work with the co-directors who were fresh out of school. This is their first feature every and look at it. It’s beautiful. They were a joy to work with, they had that comradery vibe, nothing was a big deal. The product was great, it got theatrical release, it got released by 20th Century Fox. People saw it, it got great reviews. I won Best Villain for it from The Horror Society. That was cool because I like villains. It’s my favorite. Who would want to be an ingenue when you could be a villain? I can be very cold inside and love it.
I’ve thought a lot about villains. What makes a bad girl/guy different than a villain? The difference is if you’re the bad girl/guy you are that way from the top of the film all the way to the end of the film. As soon as people lay eyes on you they are like that’s the bad guy. If you’re a villain, they don’t know. You win their affection, they engage with you, root for you and even support you. They relate to you and then, flip, you’re a villain. You destroy their world but they’re still in admiration of you because you’ve earned their respect and the relationship before that. That’s why villains are way better than the bad guy/girl.
How was working with Penn Jillette?
Working with Penn Jullette was unlike working with anybody else in the world. He has a loud voice. He has a strong presence and he has big opinions. And he’s a big dude. By the way I can say after we worked together he stopped eating animal products and lost over 100lbs. I’m not saying thanks to me I’m just saying there could be something to it. Working on that show it had a lot of heart. It was called Street Cred on Travel Channel. It took us out to the streets and we went to Boston for example and unbeknownst to the street performers in the square we were watching them.
We were on microphone broadcasting back to our secret lair where we were judging them. We had someone on the ground walking around talking about what they were seeing in person and we were back in the room judging them from different camera angles. In the end, we saw so many street performers and award $10,000 to one of them just by putting it in their hat but they have no clue they are even on the show. It had a lot of heart to it.
America’s Got Talent or The Voice or whatever talent competition show, the heart isn’t there like it was for this show. Because all those people have expectations. They are going to be seen by 11 million people. They’re going to be a star. They have ideas of fame and these people were just street performers, performing for the people in front of them and we gave them $10,000.
Didn’t you whip a rose out of Howie Mandel’s mouth on American’s Got Talent?
I’ve been on Amercan’s Got Talent a few times, Season 1 and Season 8. Howie Mandel was very brave. I got to work with him for five minutes. He did a great job.
What’s the craziest stunt you’ve ever had to perform?
The craziest stunt I ever had to perform is drowning. It was in a supernaturl thriller and I’m scared of water, I don’t swim. In the shower I don’t get water on my face. In fact I don’t even take a shower, I take bathes. It’s more controllable that way. We shot in Maryland and it wasn’t in the script. I knew I had a death stunt. I don’t remember what it was supposed to be but it wasn’t drowning.
We got there, all the way to Maryland, Washington D.C. and we did the table read and the script was different than the one I had read back in Los Angeles. Now it said you’re going to pulled by the unseen force under water. Pulled! Forecably! Under water! I said I’ll do it but looking back at the playback the terror in my face is true. That was the craziest stunt because I don’t like water.
I think indie film making, in some cases, we’re doing 10 to 13 pages a day. I’ve also been on blockbuster sets where they do half a page a day. When you think of the team work and the ability that needs to come together to accomplish a 12 page day, you feel like, who’s the real film makers here? And we don’t have money! That’s some real film making when you can do that day after day and get it done. It’s like boot camp for film making.
What was the job like as a stunt double for Pink?
It was for a commercial campaign for Cover Girl, she was their Cover Girl. It was pretty easy actually. At the time I looked a lot like Pink. My hair was cut like hers, I’m a lot taller than her but we do some of the same specialties like fire and aerial. That’s why I got it because I looked like her and could do the same specialties. On the day it wasn’t that hard because she does a lot of her own stuff.
It wasn’t an uncontrollable stunt like drowning. They had me doing specialty stuff like fire and breaking glass, kicking glass and standing in for the aerial stuff. It was cool working with her because she took the time to learn my name and some celebrities don’t. She took the time to acknowledge me and say hi to me and talk with me so I got a lot of respect for her.
Tell us about your role as a series regular in Puppet Master on the El Rey Network?
Puppet Master is a franchise by Full Moon Features. You have probably all seen Charles Bands work, Evil Bong & Puppet Master. This is number 11. I was hired on as the villain in a feature length film but because distribution is so interesting these days it is actually going to premiere on the El Rey Network as a mini-series first. Can’t wait to see it on El Rey Network. They feature a lot of grindhouse stuff and they’re interested in entertaining the English speaking Hispanic audience. Puppet Master is a perfect fit for that network. It was a quick shoot for the actors but the animitronics takes months.
It’s going to take months but I think, don’t quote me on this, but February 2017 is a projected idea so it’s still a short amount of time. Puppet Master is Full Moon Features 273rd film. This is a production company that knows how to make their product. They know how much time it’s going to take, who’s going to be working on it, they know the budget and what they’re going to recoup. Charles Band is brilliant. Full Moon Features is brilliant. There is such a cult following for these films.
Do you have aspirations to produce your own films or web series?
I have a television pilot that I’m working on with a development company and we’re going to pitch it. I’ve pitched in the past, TV series ideas. Just the other week I was thinking I should executive produce my own film. It’s time.
How has your diversity including Burlesque dancing helped or hindered your crossover to network television?
It’s both. I’ve worked as a performer exclusively for my income for 26 years. I’ve never had to waitress or do any other jobs. My diversity in performance genres is why. If I just acted it would be so much more difficult to make the money I need to live in LA or New York. I happen to be good at many things which works to my advantage. On the other hand, sometimes it’s a hiccup.
I try to keep things segregated even on my website. If you go to my website, if you’re there for acting hopefully I make it easy on you to look for the acting stuff all in one place. Because burlesque especially and grinding sparks of your metal bikini cod piece, it’s so sensational, once you see it you can’t forget it. You can never unsee that. I kind of keep it away from my acting contacts until it comes up.
Where can people find you online?
I’m on every social media there is and available to interact because I likes my fans and interacting and having genuine connections with people. I think that’s why we do it. In theater its very easy. It’s to go, those are my employers sitting in the seats because they paid for a ticket and that pays my wages. We sometimes forget that when we are on camera. We see our employer as the studio or the network. They’re our buyer but they’re not our consumer. Our consumer is still the audience and the fans and the people that watch us and support us. To me those are the most important people to please and be interactive with and have a positive conversation with. Find me, I will interact with
you.
