The Psyche of the Modern Day Artist

I spent years sitting by the phone hoping the perfect part would magically fall in my lap. Eventually, I discovered my story would never be told unless I wrote it.

These are a collection of lessons I've learned in my 12-year journey on how the modern day artist and actor must can create his or her own opportunities. 

-- Creating your own content is much easier than you think with the Internet, accessible state of the art camera gear (including the camera on your phone), and filmmaking resources like Final Draft Pro and Story Writer on Amazon. As Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family food company notes, “If you are creative and you know how to execute your ideas, you can win and you can build something that is a living, breathing work of art.”

-- Learn from the greats. Watch interviews and read articles from the artists you admire most and pay attention to how they took bold action to get their voices heard. I highly recommend Mark Duplass's speech, "The Cavalry is Not Coming." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeWOAliA6Y

-- Find a team of like-minded collaborators committed to creating new and original content and getting it out through the countless channels at your disposal.

-- Just get started and learn as you go.

Sister Circle

Back in grad school we studied playwrights like Brecht, Shakespeare, Odets, Williams, and my favorite, Ibsen. Each writer presented a unique glimpse of the world and wildly different challenges. 

But looking back one thing there wasn't a great deal of was work from women or people of color. The voices were compelling but often felt linear in tone. It was probably something my overly earnest and anxious 25-year old self didn't really take the time to consider. I was just happy to be performing.

There were a handful of classmates, who thankfully, felt different. A group of African-American girls started a terrific little theater company called, Sister Circle. The group was made up of actors and playwrights who wrote, directed, produced, and performed original works. The stories were bold, unique, and personal. The girls were a big hit.

Most importantly, Sister Circle was an excellent example of a group of artists who refused to wait for permission to get their stories told. They felt the program wasn't doing enough to support underrepresented voices and instead of complaining took bold initiative to do something about it. It's a story that still inspires me to this day.