Episode 79: Alexandra Boylan, Actor, Writer, Director

Alexandra is an Actor, Writer and Producer.  She has two production companies – Mirror Tree Productions produces Horror Films and Mustard Seed Entertainment produces Faith-based Family Films. Because there is room for both.

She moved to Albuquerque and started producing and distributing independent films, which kept growing in size and budget as she got bigger and better deals.

Alexandra is also a key contributor to Ms in the Biz, which you can have a look at here.

And this – your poster is way more important than you think.

“Sometimes you have to deconstruct your life in order to reconstruct it.”

Episode 60: Suzanne Lyons, Producer, Author, Teacher

Suzanne is a film producer, author, speaker, teacher and inspiration. You may remember the Flash Forward Institute in the early 2000’s.  She started that. She is the Co-Founder of Snowfall Films. She wrote Independent Film Producing: The Craft of Low Budget Filmmaking.

From humble beginnings in Canada, where she was told she could be a teacher, a nurse or a secretary, she quickly realized she was as smart as the men running things and might just have a go at that. At 29 she was the first female VP at a TV Network.

She is all about accountability and going for it. In this business, the key differentiator is who has actually done the work?

“In what other industry on planet earth do people relinquish their power in running their own lives to someone else (i.e. agents and managers?)”

And this: we are living on earth to experience joy and expansion. No limits.

Grab a cup of tea and settle in. Then, find more here:  http://www.suzannelyons.net/

Episode 28: Nadja Rutkowski, Distribution Executive

Nadja is Senior VP, Sales, Marketing & Operations at Terry Steiner International. As such, she places films on airplanes and with the military. A worthy endeavor indeed, and yet perhaps the least interesting thing about her. She grew up in a divided Berlin and is still dealing with her immigration issues after being in the US for more than 20 years. She has a valuable perspective on immigration and on our current political climate.

This was recorded a couple of weeks after the election, but I don’t think much has happened since to assuage her concerns. Let me know what you think.

Episode 10: Tara Miele, Director

Tara Miele is a film Director and Writer, having done such projects as Starving in Suburbia, Lost Boy, and the recent viral video project, Meet a Muslim. She is very clear on who she is and where she is headed. We talked about the hero’s journey, shooting while pregnant, migrant film workers and whiskey. She is kind of rad.

You see her video Meet a Muslim, HERE. And view her other work HERE.

Episode 3: Jennifer Warren, Actor, Director, Producer

Jennifer Warren began her career as an Actor on Broadway, Television and in Films.  Some credits include Night Moves, Slap Shot and Cagney and Lacey.  She won an Academy Award for the short documentary she co-produced, You Don’t Have to Die, and she directed several award winning feature films.  She is also a founding member of the Alliance of Women Directors and teaches at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. We talked about how she encourages the young women of today to exhibit more political thought and not be so complacent about their basic rights.  She is an activist, a mentor, an inspiration.