Self-Producing Actor with Good News

Hi Bonnie,

I am very excited to be on your mailing list. I have been reading your column for a few years now and I really love your insight and generosity toward actors and filmmakers.

I live in Toronto and have been a professional actor for 15 years (making my sole living for the past seven). I have been to LA quite a few times over the past four years. Since I have a family and a good working base in Toronto, I am unable to dedicate as much time as I would like in LA. I do love LA and always look forward to returning (hopefully this fall for part of episodic season).

I also love to read your column and try to apply a lot of what you offer to my life as an actor and now producer. Here is a link to a webseries trailer I produced with some friends in Montreal. We are planning to launch the series in October. We shot 28 days and will have 21 episodes ranging from six minutes to 14. We managed to get all the actors to donate their time with an agreement that they all partake in any profits.

It has been a long, exciting journey and we managed to pull it off for under $50,000. We are now in postproduction and likely to spend another $10,000, but I thought I would let you know about it as I am really excited for the release. It has been a wonderful learning experience and really taught me how we can have the power to create our own projects if we work hard enough and surround ourselves with people who are willing to work hard and roll up their sleeves.

I ran a professional theatre company for over ten years, so I know all about getting my hands dirty. 🙂

Thank you for taking the time to watch the Claddagh trailer, and I wish you all the best.

Take care,
Nick

Nick, this is all fabulous news. I — of course — am such a fan of actors taking as much power into their hands as they can through self-producing, and of course as a theatre owner, you know how much hard work there is to do! Fantastic that you’ve created something that’s heating up and that you’re so close to finishing it up in a way that you can be proud. I love that you’ve surrounded yourself with people who agree that working on something everyone is excited about is a great use of energy.

Awesome! You asked if I would check out your work, and honestly, I’ll do you one better: I’ll ask the readers of The Actors Voice to check out what you’ve got brewing and hopefully the community at large will support you and encourage you to soldier on!

Keep at it and thanks for checking in! 🙂


Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!


Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001559.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.

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