Presenting a very real e-mail interview with Paul on his movie.

How do you make the time to work on a movie when you have regular day job work, other acting work, and a family? This is a situation many people are in and want to make the best of their time.

The creative side is the easy bit. I always say my mind has 23 tabs open at any given time and I always have a pad and pen handy in the house and at work so when I get a random thought I can jot it down. It's fairly easy for me working a 9-5 so at the weekend I can spend the day writing and fleshing out the ideas. The practical side is a real juggle though I have to make sure everything is planned well in advance and that after filming I buy wine and take the family out the weekend afterwards so I don't get in trouble!

Why did you switch from drama in making The Pact to comedy for this film? Was it to avoid being pigeon holed into one genre?

My mind is pretty random - i wrote The Pact (which is very dark) in the happiest time of my life (my wife was pregnant with my son) so how that came out of my head at that time Lord only knows. While making that we tackled some very real life situations that are awful so I decided to write something more light hearted to balance it out. So while im making a film about spousal rape and drug abuse, I wrote a romantic comedy. Somewhere in my head that makes sense. While filming the comedy I wrote a horror - I don't think it's about avoiding pigeon holes as much as I'm just a bit random!

How did you coordinate filming locations and casting on a very tight budget? By tight, actually tight, not the studio director “low budget” version. “The budget was $700,000 on this movie, and $600,000 of it went to my bank account.” 🤣

Tight was The Pact, which cost a packet of sausage rolls and a 4pk of doughnuts. Nigel is big budget I've spent £100 so far 😂

Im lucky to know lota of actors locally who ive worked with before and who trust me in what I'm doing. Im not out to make myself famous. I want to tell good stories and showcase really talented people. They read the scripts, they like what I'm trying to do and they work for nothing because I give them shpwreel footage, exposure and a really fun set to work on. Location wise the main locations for this are my local pub, local church and my own house so I'm definitely a cheap date!

Why a story about a guy who can’t make it in love?

I was that guy once. Single. Shy. Quiet. Couldnt get a date. Friend zoned. And i did used to use dating apps once upon a time and while I can never tell THOSE stories the fiction isnt far from the truth!

Nigel goes on a dating app. If you were younger again, would you be scared or want to meet dates in reality? Asking as a fellow “old person” who did not grow up with dating app culture either.

I used these apps in my 20s and they’re a scary place! Every girl is 'looks aren’t important' but unless you have a 6 pack you don’t get anywhere - I just met some very lovely and in some cases very unique ladies - and I thought it would be funny to take those experiences to a more extreme level. I don’t think I'd use them now though, its all very silly and shallow, I'm not sure how a single person meets anyone these days.......

What is the plan for Nigel with the film festival circuit?

Hit it hard in the UK and US, it's a lovely feel good film so want to try some of the comedy shorts festivals in Europe too. The Pact won 7 awards so obviously I'd like to top that!

Last month, I had the privilege of interviewing the cast on the CinematNIC podcast. Listen to this episode and more on Spotify.

The following is an automatically generated transcript. It may or may not contain errors.

[Nicole]

My podcast has returned and it's a holiday edition, indirectly. Happy holidays to everybody, this is going to be released on December 23rd, 2024. It is rare having the pleasure of interviewing two female leads in a movie, and having four leading ladies is such a wonderful thing.

We have Marie, who plays Maya, Chyna, who plays Hattie, Amanda, who plays Rebecca, Teagan, who plays Anna. They all co-star in the new indie film The Imposters, a wild dive into an LGBTQ love. And all around it, I didn't watch this film because I didn't want to get my...

I have a tendency to have spoilers in my questions, so I said I don't want to do that. But to me, that's what it looks like, a mysterious thriller. It's directed by Nicholas Winter, and it just might be your next peak viewing experience.

So let's have the cast all tell us about who they are and all of that first.

[Tegan]

Hello, my name is Tegan Mordt and I am a South African actress living in London, and I play Anna in The Imposters.

[Chynna]

Hey, I'm Chynna Walker. I live in Austin, Texas. I'm originally from Flower Mound, Texas, which is north of Dallas area.

And I play Hattie in the film.

[Marie]

Hey, my name is Marie Everett. I play Maya in The Imposters, who is the person you meet who has just broken up with her girlfriend and is going through a very difficult time. We're not entirely sure why.

And we watch how things play out and life unfolds after meeting the very enigmatic character, Hattie.

[Amanda]

Hi, my name is Amanda Michaud and I play Rebecca in The Imposters.

[Nicole]

Okay, question number one. This film is set up so the character Hattie has dark secrets. How do you all act in a story so you don't give things away like me?

Because you have already read the script.

[Amanda]

My character is an integral part of the story, but she's sort of slowly revealed over the course of the film. So I always just describe my part to people as a supporting character who has a hand in setting events in motion.

[Marie]

My way of dealing with this was after the revelation, as soon as that happened, and my character begins to understand what's going on, I had a big line in the middle of my script. And up until any scene before that line, I was in a romance. And after that line, I was in a slightly different film.

But I just didn't even think about what I knew to be coming. And tried to play it much more innocently and remain focused on the connection between myself and the character Hattie.

[Chynna]

Yeah, I think with a character like Hattie, I think she's a good liar, or she should be. And so when playing someone like her, I actually just just try to play her genuinely, even when she's lying, just playing that as if she's not lying. Because I think she's a good liar.

And good liars kind of almost believe the things they're saying, and you don't want the audience to know. So to make it simple for my brain, I just go, well, this is who she is. This is genuinely who she is.

She really just is someone hitting on a girl, and she's kind of awkward. So yeah, that's kind of the simple route I take. And then if there's moments of little Easter eggs or foreshadowing with a look or a statement or whatever, I think that I would rely on the director, in this case, Nick, because he has, I think, a better understanding of the overall arc and kind of where we're going in a bigger sense.

[Tegan]

Well, for Anna's character, she really doesn't know anything that's going on. She doesn't know that Hattie has these dark secrets. She doesn't know who Hattie is, and she doesn't even know what Maya's darkest secrets are.

She doesn't know what Maya did. And so for me, it was just important to play it as honestly as I could. And Anna is very suspicious that obviously something's going on and that Maya's having an affair, but it's deeper than that.

And she doesn't know what Hattie's intentions are or who Hattie even is up until the end. But for me, it was to just play it as honestly and innocently as I possibly could, because she is really collateral damage in the whole situation.

[Nicole]

What did the director want when initially working with you so your best would be brought out in the performance?

[Chynna]

You know, it's been so long. I mean, it's been over two years since we filmed this that I have a hard time remembering specific direction. I do remember me and Nick having tons of conversations about Hattie, but it felt very collaborative.

I've said that word so many times about this project, but it was just really collaborative. Nick was very open and I tried to stay really open too. And we just had a ton of conversations about her and really molded her through those conversations and within the scenes.

And he just made me feel like I could ask him any question or nothing was silly or stupid. It was just, we were figuring it out. So it really felt more like that.

I can't remember a specific direction, but it just always was a really easy conversation with him and really crafted Hattie together.

[Marie]

I knew he wanted me to be me, which was nice. I found that out just before we started shooting in the sense of I was having a little wobble and was asking a few questions about the character. And I mean, we were just about to pretty much start.

It may have been the night before or it was the day of the first shoot. I was asking some questions about Maya and does he see her like this? And does he see her like that?

And he just was like, the character is you. You're the character now, kind of thing. And it just made me feel so calm and it kind of gave me the ownership of that character.

It felt like he kind of passed the baton over and it was like, this is yours now, just be, do you. And I also, I once asked him, Nicholas Winter, the director, how he saw my casting. And he kind of explained it to me as the thing that makes you unique, your kind of USP is not necessarily anything that's like really specific to you and the way you look or anything like that, but it's the way that you can impact other actors in scenes.

And the effect that you can have on them. And although he wasn't telling me, this is what I want you to do. It kind of made me think, well, this is what he wants me to do.

And I'd never thought of it that way. And I'd never seen that as like anything unique to what I did or anything, but having him say that opened my eyes to it and for sure whether it was conscious or not had an impact on how I played things in the film and how I went about stuff and choices that I made. Yeah.

[Tegan]

Having those initial conversations with Nick on the phone about who we both saw Anna as were very important in helping me build her character. And I think what we got to was the very core of Anna being, wanting to be loved by Maya. And that she wasn't getting that love.

And that was her core motivation. And that was very easy for me to connect with and dive into and give everything to. And the way she went about trying to get that love from Maya.

Nick did say to me, he wanted there to be contrasts between Maya and Anna, like Anna being physically taller, blonde, more extroverted and direct and says how she feels and trying to get a reaction from Maya to show Maya's state of mind as being very insular and keeping secrets and almost being numb to Anna. And so you saw a big collision in personalities. And I think that that was something that was important to show about where they were at in their relationship.

And that helped me a lot.

[Amanda]

I would say Nick was a very observational, neutral director. Almost felt documentarian in his approach. He was never super overbearing or aggressive.

He was very trusting of us and our vision for the character and for the performance. And if anything, he would guide us towards what he wanted very gently, usually with leading questions or just sort of curious statements, you know, like what would it be like if we tried this? What would it be like if we did something this way?

And, you know, it would just kind of coach what he wanted out of me, at least. That was my experience. And I think it was very helpful that he wasn't overbearing.

[Nicole]

What are some new improvements to your acting chops and range that happened because of The Imposters?

[Marie]

I mean, I've been acting for a while now, but this is one of the only jobs I've ever had where there was actually a long lead up process. You know, this happened over COVID and then I was pregnant. So there was a lot of delays that happened from kind of between the first draft to like we're shooting and actually like rolling the cameras.

And so it just gave me a lot of time to reflect and work on my process. I just had time, which is just not something you normally get as an actor. And by doing that, I got the opportunity to kind of with trial and error and stuff, see what kind of actually really worked for me and what resonated.

And, you know, kind of a decade out of drama school, I think I might have finally got my process and mainly because I didn't have to just pick one. I got to like just do it in a way that there was room to try things. So silver lining of delays after delays is that I think I was probably better because of it.

But also, yeah, selfishly, I think I now know what really works for me and feel confident about really knowing what my process is.

[Tegan]

I would say that some of the improvements to my acting was having to go to places that I'd never been before in terms of my emotional life. I'd never worked in such a high stakes situation. That last scene where we go into the desert and we know that we're going to have to have a life or death situation.

That was really something that pushed me to go to places I'd never been before and live in that world of I might die out here. And that was something I've not ever done on a set before. And I would say that watching the two leads at the very end, just working off each other, improving and just living in the moment in that life.

It was like two people. It was like they were just really living it. And that was a masterclass to watch for me.

[Chynna]

Yeah, a big thing that happened from this film actually that has really carried through other films is honestly that just what I just said about it being so collaborative. I think Nick's energy and openness really because he was that way really helped me speak my mind and trust my instincts. And since that film, I feel like I'm so much less afraid to really ask questions and figure things out in an unashamed way and really voice my opinion.

And he, that film was the film that really, this film was really the film that kind of solidified that. And since then, definitely just feel like a more confident performer, at least in terms of just voicing what I am feeling and what I'm thinking. And if it's not received, totally fine too.

I think it's just such a collaborative medium or I think it should be in a lot of ways. It isn't always and that's okay too. Sometimes there's very specific ideas a director has and I've definitely been shot down and you just move on and you make the most of it.

And that's good too. I think just trusting who's ever in charge, but yeah, this film really helped me kind of build that foundation of trust within myself. And that's a big part of that is to Nick.

[Amanda]

Well, this experience was a new challenge for me in every way, practically. It was my first time going abroad to shoot a film. It was my first feature entirely.

It was the first movie I did where I was shooting scenes of a more intimate nature. So I think it really tested my abilities in every way and showed me, like any project, kind of the areas that I could improve on and work on more. And just sort of the things that I will now take with me to my next project and work on.

[Nicole]

How do you relate to a character who may not be anything like you?

[Tegan]

I got very lucky with the impostors. I found Anna very easy for me to relate to. Being a struggling actress and having financial issues are very relatable.

I know all about it. And also being in a relationship where you're not feeling fulfilled or made a priority is very easy for me to relate to at least. But I think when it comes to characters where you don't immediately click and you don't immediately understand their motivations, I think it's important to just keep asking yourself those questions to find your way into them.

What would have to happen to me in order for me to behave in this way or for me to want those things or do those things? And it's just a process of going deeper and deeper into yourselves, into what could possibly happen in order to find yourself in them.

[Amanda]

You know, I think you find what common ground you can if it's something similar in your background, an experience maybe you've had in common with the character. And if you can't find much of anything like that, which I was lucky enough to have a couple of things that I think I could draw on for Rebecca, like just being an anxious teenager in general at a point in my life and a couple other, well, yeah, I mean, mostly that just remembering being an anxious teenager. But if you can't find anything that's sort of similar between you yourself and the character you're playing, you, I think at that point, just look for context clues in the script and then link them to other sources.

So, you know, people you know in your life that remind you of this character that behave a similar way to the character, other fictional characters and films and books and TV that you've seen before. So that's what I did. A lot of my research for Rebecca was actually just kind of collecting characters from other media that I felt were similar to her in some way and just building on that, like just building layers.

[Chynna]

I think with any character, even if they're, you know, outwardly very different, I feel like I can find some kind of through line, at least in terms of desire. And I think for Hattie, you know, this, I think she has a deep love for the people in her life that she's loyal to. And that in itself is something I understand.

And though in Hattie, it created a vengeance in a way, you know, kind of a violent reaction, though that wouldn't be for me. I can understand why it would happen. And so I think it's just finding that innate quality that or desire or want or feeling that I also, I can relate to and just kind of pulling that out and pushing into it maybe a little more aggressively than than I would myself.

[Marie]

Normally, you can find stuff that is like you, even in the most far, what feels like when you first read something, the most far off characters. There actually normally is some stuff, there's like a, you can normally, as you spend more and more time with the character, start to find that, oh, there is a part of me that's like that. And if I imagine this situation, or if I was, you know, if I'd actually grown up in this world, then maybe I would have been a bit different.

For me, if I don't relate to a character initially, it's all about doing lots and lots and lots of imagination work. So I will imagine and play out lots of scenarios in my head, almost like a very like kind of like a deep meditation, you know, I will literally like close my eyes, put the kind of inspirational music on that suits what it is I'm doing that might take me to that place. And I'll think about like, you know, the scenario that I'm struggling with, the aspect of their personality, and maybe the relationship with their parents that happened before, and then the big fight that they'd had with their parents that may have led to them being like this, and kind of fill my mind with experiences and reasons to help shape who they are.

And so then I kind of stop judging the character because I know that the reason they're doing this is because of this, this, this, this, and this that I've kind of lived and experienced in my mind already. And it takes away that judgment.

[Nicole]

I can't believe I am saying this because it is a good problem. But now the LGBTQ female thriller is getting to be an overcrowded genre. What makes this movie unique?

[Amanda]

I honestly don't know that I would say it's overcrowded. You know, I think I understand the question. I think it's definitely becoming something we're seeing more often.

But of course, you know, there's no shortage of traditionally, you know, heterosexual couples and movies or, you know, relationships between heterosexual characters or, you know, exploring that dynamic. And I think even, you know, I'm very happy that we've won so many awards that have to do with, you know, LGBTQ, best LGBTQ film. Like, that's fantastic.

That's super exciting to me. And I'm very grateful. But I think in the future, it may become an obsolete label in that these are just human stories, human relationships that we're exploring, like any other film.

And right now, of course, I understand that it's maybe necessary to have these labels because, you know, we want to find our audience and we want to... That's the word I'm looking for. We want to...

Oh my god. So sorry. I'm totally blanking.

Yeah, we want to find our audience and represent. We want to represent that portion of the population. So I think it's necessary right now to label it as such, but I don't necessarily think it always will be.

I hope that it won't be anyway, that the traditionally, quote unquote, niche character types and minorities in film won't be looked at as any different than what we've seen as the mold.

[Tegan]

I think that The Impostors is unique in the LGBTQ female thriller scene because the film doesn't make a big deal about asexuality. In fact, it doesn't even mention anything to do with their sexuality. It's just simply part of who they are.

It's about their lives, their stories, their secrets and everything that unfolds, but it doesn't dwell on labeling or defining them by their sexuality. And I think it normalizes the experience of queer women because it focuses rather on their humanity and their struggles and their relationships, rather than making it and reducing it to a single narrative about their sexual orientation.

[Chynna]

Well, I think a big thing that makes this movie really unique, at least as far as I've seen, is that it's a completely female cast. There's not a single man in this movie. And it's high quality for being really scrappy.

We were just actors, makeup artists, and Nick, and that was it. And we made this beautiful thing with truly nothing. And it really inspired me too.

I'm like, if Nick can do this and create this thing, then anyone can make a movie. You just got to have the drive, the ambition, the passion. And I think this also just has so much of that foundationally pulling it forward.

And that's something that though a lot of filmmakers, so many artists have, of course, and create films with that. I think it's not always there in the films we watch. Sometimes it's just a money-making machine, which is cool too.

But this one definitely has a lot of heart and passion. And yeah, I'm really proud of it.

[Marie]

Things that make it unique is definitely the, well, the all-female cast. I think there's only 27 films listed on IMDb that have ever had an all-female cast. So I don't think that aspect of it would be an overcrowded area.

That's pretty niche. It's certainly not something I've ever seen in all my years of auditioning so far. This is the first time I've ever seen an audition for an all-female feature film script.

The other thing I think that's interesting and makes it different is within those all-female relationships is that there's a lot of power dynamics at play. And as an actress, power dynamics is so often focused on between men and women in film or a lot of the films that I've seen. And there is a completely different twist on that when it's between women to women and how we view that as a society and whether we're more lenient on it or not.

And whether it is as, I don't want to give too much away about the film, but is it as bad? Is it not as bad? It makes you ask certain questions.

And I found that a very interesting aspect of this film.

[Nicole]

What are some tropes the film avoids from female-led scripts and LGBTQ cinema? A complaint I have as a viewer of some shows and films is they don't give LGBTQ characters full personalities enough of the time. Sticking someone into a plot is not enough because that person deserves a backstory.

[Marie]

Yeah, I agree. I've seen a lot of stuff coming out in particularly more recent years where it feels like we're trying to move forward and have those LGBTQ plus characters, but they've maybe just been shoehorned in or popped in there, not fleshed out, but they're just there to tick a box sometimes. And it was really refreshing to have a script that these are the main characters.

This is a small cast of well-developed, complex, interesting characters. There is no tokenism here. They are the story and that feels great.

And also from the perspective of just as a woman to read a script where you're like, wow, like it's just us, like we're enough. And that feels brilliant. So I think by keeping the numbers small and really focusing on these characters and lots of drafts of this script to get it to where it was, it had so many different shapes and forms and actually was probably a more action-packed film on first reading, but in the earlier drafts and by the end, it was a much more complex, emotionally driven kind of a piece, which was just really allows for that kind of more in-depth character work from all the actors and is a gift as an actor because it's not something that appears in a lot of scripts that we get to read.

[Chynna]

I definitely have the experience of, you know, it's difficult to really read a script and find a female character that actually has depth and complexity. And I think specifically I can speak for Hattie because I played her. She's so much of that.

I mean, I'm still figuring her out. You know, I watch the movie and I'm like, Hattie, who are you? And I think that is such a gift as an actor because especially a woman, because they're just, there aren't that many female roles that are really, really interesting like that and really genuinely female.

And I think Hattie is that girl. She is that girl.

[Tegan]

I would say one of the key tropes that The Impostors avoids is that none of the women are stereotypes. I think in a lot of LGBTQ films, many queer women are reduced to certain cliches or one dimensional roles. Whereas in The Impostors, none of the characters are defined by a stereotype or their sexual orientation.

I feel like each character is fully realized, three dimensional with their own personality, backstory and motivation. And them being queer is just a part of who they are. It's not the defining central aspect of their character.

[Amanda]

My character, Rebecca, I feel she has a pretty well-rounded backstory. You know, the things that she does make sense in her narrative, her behavior comes from a place of maybe some neglect, a lack of love in her life, a need for control. All these things come from past events, at least things that I, well, there are some that are explicitly stated in the script and then some things that I filled in myself just in my character development stage.

Yeah, I think it avoids that trope of sort of just thinly written LGBT characters just because it gives her motivation. In a way that feels very real.

[Nicole]

You largely come from the stage. How does it feel for each of you having the chance to do multiple takes versus a one shot, no chance to fail performance?

[Tegan]

I feel, you know, I don't think Nick likes to do that many takes. He's not a director that does hundreds and hundreds of takes. In my opinion, he, you know, he's not going to give you a thousand takes.

He likes to keep things fresh in my opinion. But I think knowing that you can do another take does give you some room to play with in terms of trying different things out. And maybe this take you want to try this out and the next take you want to try something different.

And also knowing that maybe your performance improves with each take, hopefully, and you get more settled into the character and you get more relaxed and more free into trying things. So that's what's exciting about working with film. Although obviously there's downsides where you can feel like you're becoming a bit robotic and falling into a line reading.

But yes, I guess that's where stage is exciting. Stage is very in the moment, fresh. There's a feeling that you're getting from the audience.

It's live, which film doesn't often have. But I think they have their beautiful things about them. But yes, I think having, you can still fail a performance, even if it's film.

But yeah, I think knowing that you have that second take, it's exciting to be able to play with different things and try things in each take.

[Chynna]

I love theater. I haven't done it a long time, actually. So film feels much more, I don't know, it's just much easier now than it used to be.

I definitely did more theater growing up and up until my early 20s. But yeah, I mean, the ways in which theater is hard, film is easy. And the ways in which film is hard, theater is easy.

And so I think it's a give and take. And there's such a thrill in a live audience. And that is definitely something that I miss with film.

But then in film, you can play so much. And there's so much intimacy in film that I really love, and so much realness in film acting that I really love. So I don't know, it's a give and take.

But yeah, I love them both. But I think I was always told I was too small when I did theater. So I probably do better in film.

And it does feel, you know, it's gotten to be much more comfortable to me.

[Marie]

Yeah, the great thing about when you're working on film and having those multiple takes is that you get to offer different things. And each, you know, you can, you can ride the wave of a scene. And it can be what it can appear quite similar, but the camera picks up everything.

It can be incredibly different, each scene, and you can try different things. And that's an amazing kind of freedom that you don't get in quite the same way on stage, you get to obviously do it night after night. But you are, I think, more committed to once decisions have broadly been made, you kind of have to stick with them.

Whereas with the film, the thing, you know, it's great to have that freedom. But the thing that's hard about it is that you're also handing over so much of the creative choice and freedom and the shape of that performance at the end of the day is decided in the edit. Obviously, it is what you give.

But if you know, if you've given five different versions of that scene, and they're pretty different, how the editor puts those together, which bits they choose when they're focusing on your face. I mean, so often they're using parts of the take that were not the reaction to that line, they're actually reacting to a different line, but they kind of, you know, they like how it looks there. So you have to be okay with letting it go.

And also understand that the what what is created at the end of it is also not necessarily what you even did. You probably never did a take that looked like that. It's an amalgamation of all the takes.

So it can be a weird one, because you don't know quite how good you are. Because it's a weird feedback, because you don't know how much you were helped by the editor and music and all of those kind of things. Whereas on stage, you are definitely you know, there's a bit more you're out there on your own.

And yeah, win or win or lose. And whether you're going to succeed is kind of in your hands a bit more. So there is definitely a bit maybe a bit more safety, or you can be helped along a bit in film, but equally at the same time, you better be working with good people, it's so important who you're working with, because they could shape the end product so much.

So it is so deeply, deeply collaborative. There has to be a lot of trust there.

[Amanda]

So I'm actually mainly a film actor. I've I worked in theatre or not worked in theatre, but I did theatre in my school years. But um, yeah, I think that's kind of one of the differences between American and English actors is that a lot of English actors really go through intense schooling and start out on the stage.

Whereas, you know, American actors kind of fly by the seat of their pants and kind of fail upwards into into these jobs. It's a very different system, starting out at least for a lot of people on different sides of the pond. It's so I've only really ever done I started out doing background work and short films and student films and music videos and that sort of thing.

So this wasn't different in that sense for me.

[Nicole]

What are some of the lessons people don't know about the ins and outs of acting when you're not filming? You're an actress trying to do your best with auditions, training, working and the rest of it.

[Chynna]

Yeah, I think you know, a big thing for me is it's it's really hard to find, you know, a day job when you're not making, you know, your full income from acting, which hopefully someday will happen. But for me, you have to find a day job if you're fully committed to acting, which I am. I don't want to work at a place that's not going to be flexible, you know, because you'll get an audition for something.

You'll find out you have an audition for something the night before you have it, or you'll find out you booked something the night before you you have to be on set or the week before you have to be on set or you're out for a month. And so it's hard. It's unpredictable.

And it's a lot of work. And I think that's why a lot of actors that I know, you know, work in in restaurant jobs or remotely now, I feel like that's more available now. But because it's just much more flexible.

Like right now, I'm working at a restaurant in Austin. And, you know, thankfully, I found this place that they are super supportive of my acting career, and they're very flexible. And you just got to find someone to cover your shift, and you're good to go.

And people are really kind and, you know, helpful with that. So, but it can be hard to find a place where they understand that because, of course, people are running a business and they don't want employees that are just going to leave it on a whim. But so that can be really difficult.

And, you know, 90% of this job is just auditioning too. And I think, especially for people who want to be actors, I think there's this idea that it's all just, you know, fun performance opportunities on big stages or in big films that it's like most of this is actually just taping in your bedroom or going into a live audition, which doesn't really happen anymore, at least for me. And so I think people get burnt out because they realize that's kind of the thing and you really have to like that.

And so far, I still like that. So that's why I'm still doing it because I actually really enjoy self taping. But yeah, it's just a lot of work.

It's a lot of unpredictable things.

[Amanda]

Oh, you know, it's not glamorous, maybe 95% of the time. It's hard work when you're first starting out, especially when you have no connections. It's hard work on its own, but you're not only doing the work of developing your craft and training and studying and auditioning and developing, but you're also like, you know, for a lot of people, working class actors anyway, you're working a full time job on the side to be able to make money to support yourself.

And I think one of the hardest parts about it is being your own motivator. A lot of the time, you know, when I first told everybody around me that I wanted to be an actor, I was at that point, a very shy teenager who never done that work, never even started a play in school because I was so shy. No one really thought that I could do anything with it or go anywhere with it.

And, you know, they were supportive, but it wasn't. I really had to motivate myself. And I think that can be hard when you're coming from what sort of a working class background and it's seen as a bit of a pipe dream or something that children dream of doing, but then you grow up and you get a real job.

You know, so I think that's it's really tough. It's very grueling mentally and emotionally. And honestly, like, you know, people think of it as, you know, it'll pay off and it'll be glamorous, but it's there's no guarantee that you're ever really going to get the glamorous side of it.

Right. That's the most successful people in the industry are the ones that you see on the red carpet. And I think it's also to just remembering that like actors in general, you have to be very OK with embarrassing yourself to do this job.

It's not something for the weak of heart. It's you can't be afraid to look ugly. And your performance, you can't be afraid to sort of pull embarrassing faces, make embarrassing sounds, just do things that you would never do normally and look weird in front of a lot of people.

And, you know, that's something that you really do have to like. That's where classes come in. We're just getting used to sort of being mildly embarrassing in front of people is is very helpful.

You can't be vain really doing this work, which is ironic because I think a lot of people view us that way or view actors or, you know, yeah, actors in general, celebrities, I guess, as vain people. But I don't think you can really successfully be an actor and be very vain.

[Marie]

The ins and outs of acting when you're not filming are pretty brutal, as you can expect. There's obviously long periods where stuff isn't happening and then it does happen. It warms up once and you have to try and juggle multiple jobs and childcare and everything.

And it's it's always been like that. And I think, you know, people always talk about you have to be able to deal with the rejection, you have to be able to deal with the time off. But a huge thing I've seen that is really prevalent in people that manage to stick it out and keep working is that they're also willing to keep backing themselves over and over again.

And like it's the the self-belief and the ability to keep picking yourself up again after these rejections, because the dampening of spirit is is hard and can be really tough. And you've got to be able to like repeatedly pull yourself out of lows and out of dips. And yeah, pull yourself up again, get yourself infused again, make sure that, you know, you're feeling good and happy and fit and looking after yourself, because otherwise it's so hard to walk into a room and and sell you to people otherwise, because people are buying into you.

And you are the even if, you know, obviously you're going to play a character, but it's it's you that's it's you that's doing that. And you need to be your biggest supporter and cheerleader and investor and friend. And I think so much of being an actor is like self work in order to be able to sustain a career and the lifestyle.

Like most people I know, in fact, I think every all the actors I know very well anyway, who have continued to act for long periods of time, are very introspective and think deeply about how to how to make how to make this all work. And they do a lot of self work, because you have to become very strong and very resilient. And often that is the harder part than the acting.

You know, people say you need to keep acting all the time and go to classes. And that is all great. But actually, I feel like acting is always there.

It always stays with you. Like I've taken big breaks at times from acting and then you go and do a job and it's like you never stopped. It just kind of is straight back.

But your mojo or and your motivation and your inner like spirit can be the harder thing to just call back upon. Like once that gets dampened, once things have gone a little bit badly for a while, once you've had a series of no's and knocks, the harder thing can be to to keep that up. And that's like the great skill kind of I think that that people need that gets them through through their career.

[Tegan]

I think what people don't realize about acting is there'll be big periods of time when you're not acting because it's so fickle, the industry. I mean, you might have a year of being able to book so many different jobs and then you might have, I don't know, 10 months of it being really quiet. And I think the biggest lesson that I've learned in this whole career path, I guess, is that it's important to have something else that you love, do something else that you love, that you can do in between when you're not acting.

It's important to have that base job that keeps you busy and that you love on the side of acting. Your side hustle needs to be something that you love doing because you're going to do it a lot. And constantly training is what's going to keep you feeling like your skills are growing and you're connecting with other actors and you're still doing your thing, like going to the gym.

It's important as an actor, you don't just stop acting when you're not on a job because you need to constantly be training for the next one. It's like going to the gym, like being an athlete. So that's the two main things that I've learned in this career is never stop acting, always go to class and find something else that you love to do in between because there can be really dry periods.

Let's say, for example, COVID or something that happens again, you need something else that gives you life. But just keep going to class and keep loving it and keep remembering why you're doing it. And if you're doing it for the love of it, then those in between periods will still be fulfilling for you.

[Nicole]

What have you learned about promoting an independent film when it is harder to make money and have a claim against proven franchises and brands like Barbie?

[Marie]

You don't have those famous names which are going to draw people to watch it, and you don't have that huge promotional budget. So suddenly that festival run is so important because you need something that says, hey, this is good guys. And that's how I pick films that I want to watch.

If I'm looking at independent cinema and it hasn't got anyone, it hasn't got people I know in it, maybe not a director I know, I'm looking for those lols. If it got into that festival, I've kind of heard of that, I know that's good. I'm way more likely to watch it because it's kind of already got a stamp of approval.

It feels like that was the approach of the imposters. And luckily, you know, it seems to have worked because it got into festivals and ended very well. So it seems like you just have to take a very, you have to take a different approach.

You have to work with what you do have and just encourage people to watch it. So yeah, get it in festivals, get people to say it's all right.

[Amanda]

Well, yeah, you know, bigger projects, obviously, are going to feel more glamorous, and maybe to some people more rewarding. You know, if you can say, oh, yeah, I was in Barbie. People know that that's a recognizable IP, like people have seen that movie, everybody who hasn't seen it has heard of it.

And it makes you, I guess, in certain ways seem more legitimate in what you're doing. But I think smaller indies like ours are able to push the boundary of filmmaking in a way that bigger studio movies cannot. In that, you know, they're thinking about their bottom line, first and foremost, they're investors, they want to make a buck on their film, which is why now we're seeing sort of this influx of sequels and prequels and origin stories and remakes and just all this stuff that is like, you know, it's really just about making back the money.

But, you know, you ask any creative in the industry, any actor, director, you know, most of them will tell you, if you ask them for their favorite films, they'll give you some titles that are generally somewhat obscure to general audiences. You know, it'll be things that are older or just a little more niche or maybe foreign, smaller, low budget stuff is sort of what it's driving everything forward, driving the creative side of the industry forward in exciting new ways. And I think it's very, very necessary to keeping it fresh.

[Tegan]

I think an important lesson that I've learned from being part of promoting The Imposters is that every little counts and that you should always celebrate the small wins and that they aren't small wins, that they're actually amazing. And that all of the film festivals it went to, it was maybe over 150 or something and came back with so many awards and wonderful reviews that we got. And it was, yeah, for that it's, that is success.

And I think it's about redefining what you think success is and knowing that this is not a blockbuster film. This is a very unique story with a small group of actors, a very small budget, one director, producer and crew. And to be proud of what we achieved and just staying true to what it is.

And I think what's amazing about indie films is that it reaches audiences in a more genuine, authentic way, in a more intimate way. And that's exciting. And yeah, so I think it's about celebrating the small wins and connecting with local communities, creating a more personal connection with viewers and listeners.

And yeah.

[Chynna]

You know, we just kind of started promoting it. So I think I'm learning the lesson actively in this moment. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but yeah, I've had, gosh, I don't know how to compare it to those bigger films because I've never been in one of those, you know, I don't know what those kind of, kind of experiences are in terms of promoting.

It seems like it's long days of talking to people live. And this is definitely, you know, it can be a little scary because I've never done this before. And so it's like, oh, you know, what if I say something stupid?

But I think there's some release you just kind of have to have. And maybe that's the lesson I'm learning is just to let go and let myself sound stupid, maybe, possibly. And you know, it's not the worst thing.

[Nicole]

Are any of you off to direct and or write your own material?

[Amanda]

I have my ideas. I will say not yet, but hopefully eventually.

[Tegan]

I've always wanted to direct and write my own material. I've sort of got ideas in my mind of what I want to do. But yeah, it's something that I feel like I'll do in the future when I have more money, one, and more experience.

But I definitely want to write and direct my own stuff. Absolutely. So let's say it's in the incubator for now, but absolutely would love to do something like that.

I do love dark comedies and that's probably the realm in which I would want to play with. So you never know. We'll see what happens.

Maybe 2026.

[Marie]

I've done a bit of writing in the past and that's been performed in theatre. I find writing so difficult that I think I will leave that up to other people. I do have a deep desire one day to direct.

But even saying that, I feel like I'm like, oh, God, can I? Can I? Will I ever?

Oh, I don't know. But yeah, we shall see. I've said it now, so I might have to go do it.

Good.

[Chynna]

I've been wanting to write my own feature for a while now, and I've learned a valuable lesson in the last few months that I have a very hard time doing things if I try to do them by myself, especially things like the daunting things like writing a feature. And so I asked a friend if they wanted to collaborate and we were reading Save the Cat together and working through writing a feature. And it's been really fun so far.

So yeah, that's kind of one thing I'm working on. And then, you know, just auditioning and everything as usual.

[Nicole]

And the last question, a cheesy question I end with frequently. Where do you all want to be with your careers in a decade?

[Chynna]

Oh, you know, in a decade, I would just love to be, you know, rich and famous. You know, just honestly, if nothing else, I would love to just be an actor and be making money as an actor, at least a creative and be able to support the life that I want, which is like, you know, having a house, having a family and also being an actor. And that's all I have to do.

That's the dream. And if I could be rich and famous, too, that would be, you know, that'd be fine. I'd be fine with that.

So yeah, I think 10 years. That's that's kind of that's kind of the goal for sure.

[Tegan]

Well, I've always absolutely loved and adored Saoirse Ronan. So I hope in 10 years time that my career looks just a little bit like hers. I want to be doing the type of projects and films that she does.

And I would love to have my own production company churning out some fantastic and amazing films. So that's my plan for the next 10 years. Hopefully Saoirse Ronan will be working with me.

[Marie]

My drama school audition, I remember saying, oh, I what's my you know, they were like, what's your goal? And I was like to be a working actor. If I can kind of if I can make my money, if I can live off being an actor, I will certainly think I've been successful.

But things change as time goes on. And, you know, you hit that goal. And then you're like, oh, actually, I want something else.

So I think it's like an always evolving question. And I think in 10 years time, my answer will be probably different to what it is now. But currently, what I would like in 10 years time is to a still be acting and be a happy actor, like still be enjoying it.

But be to be being like challenged and to have been progressing within my abilities. So I don't know how that would look exactly. But I would like to be being more challenged as an actor.

I'd like to be playing characters that interest me and getting the opportunity to do that regularly would be nice. Yeah, I think you realise you're like, like, just just living off acting definitely isn't isn't enough. You know, you want to be creatively fulfilled, you need that you need to cut to get to get kind of filled up with these creative jobs.

And, you know, doing something like The Impostors, getting to play kind of these meaty roles, it makes you it certainly made me realise I'm like, that is what I want. That's it. So more of that, please.

And yeah, to be to be content and hopefully somewhat fulfilled with my job would be would be delightful.

[Amanda]

I would love to still be working. That's that's sort of my aim. If I'm if I can still say I'm acting in 10 years, I'll be very happy and honestly, not even just acting.

I think just working in film in whatever capacity I decide to work in it would make me happy. There's lots of things I'd like to try out. I'd love to do costume work.

I'd love to do set design, cinematography. I'd love to try my hand at writing and directing and having more creative control over the final project and or the final product, I think would be great. And it's really exciting to me.

So we'll see. Fingers crossed. I hope I hope that I'm still kicking around in the industry in 10 years.

And thank you so much for this interview. It was great to think about some of these are great questions that made me it was exciting. So thank you very much.

[Nicole]

Thank you to everybody who appeared on this episode. And thank you to all of the listeners out there. Happy holidays.

May the Grinch bless you with a visit to your home. And I don't know exactly. I may have to rewatch that.

I don't remember what the Grinch does, but he's angry. So I hope you spend your holidays not angry and not grinchy. I love all of you listeners.

Thank you so much for supporting my show. And please support this movie, The Imposters. Support all the movies starring women and LGBTQ plotlines.

Have a great holiday. See you next year. I hope I hope I have a new podcast next year.

For the ten years you worked at FOX, you had an unpredictable ride.You received a letter from Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, covered the Chandra Levy murder investigation and broke news on the Monica Lewinsky scandal. You've since switched over from political madhouse ticker updates to the slow paced world of murder trials over at HLN. Did you have to rework your whole mentality in the new coverage genre? It's like the news leaks, slowly but surely, and the bulk of coverage is wondering what could happen, right?

Whether it's covering politics or trials, it's far from slow at any moment in the news world. I'm still covering everything from an NSA leaker to George Zimmerman's trial, and both are equally fascinating. HLN is having big success with gavel-to-gavel trial coverage and all the various twists and turns. On my WOR Radio show, we've had on everyone from President Jimmy Carter to Vice President Dick Cheney to Tom Hanks and Dog the Bounty Hunter. There is never a dull day.

Everyday is like cramming for a college exam, except my test is LIVE on the air! Plus, the audience ultimately gives us the grade. I've always been an information junkie who likes to be over prepared and known for burning lots of midnight oil, but I am also lucky to work with great producers who certainly know their stuff as well. Broadcasting is a team sport.

Sadly, this has happened several times. The hardest cases to me are the ones that involve children. I covered the Newtown shooting last year and was so sickened to learn that a 20 year old would open fire on helpless children and teachers at an elementary school. Some crimes are so horrific and unexplainable.

The Chicago musical turned movie was based on real events in Cook County back then: the public's real desire for crime stories that ultimately made murderesses into temporary media starlets.Why do you think people still crave this almost 100 years later?

People are fascinated with "why" people can commit such horrible and surprising acts against strangers or ones they love: how a human being can be so twisted to do something so terrible. It is amazing how people are so glued to every development in these large profile cases such as Casey Anthony, Jodi Arias, etc. Having covered crime cases for many years now, I have seen every kind of defendant, from a homeless grandmother to a successful businessman in a three-piece suit. They come in all shapes and sizes.

What about you is fun? You have to have some fun besides working. The worst Manhattan workaholic has fun at some point, so please don't say, "But I work too much to have fun!" You have to like some kind of indoor or outdoor activity, or you wouldn't smile as much as you do.

I'm a "work hard, play hard" kind of gal. Even though I'm constantly on planes (and jumping out of them) for work, I love to travel when I'm off air too! I've hung out with the penguins in Antarctica, rode mopeds in Mykonos, taken hot air balloon rides over volcanic peaks in Turkey and climbed an erupting volcano in Hawaii! Maybe I should have gotten a Fun and Fearless title for what I do off air as well!

My home and office are like "mini-news bureaus" with multiple TVs on virtually ALL the time and stacks of newspapers and magazines.I am always voraciously checking various online news sites looking for new nuggets or interesting angles. My Blackberry is constantly beeping! After decades in the news business, my contacts are sending me news tips from around the world at all hours of the day and night. I am thankful that I am well conditioned to get minimal sleep! I tell young journalists that is often the key to success, plus a good sense of humor and patience.

Answering these questions for starters! Secondly, I like to experience life to its fullest and I've never shied away from interviewing a despot or someone in the remote regions of Afghanistan or elsewhere. I've checked off quite a few things on my bucket list already, including doing a skydive with the Army's Golden Knights at 13,500 feet.

Advising women who want to be better journalists, or go into journalism is pretty vague Of Me Or Anyone. The media world's love affair with technological advances changed culture forever in the last decade. So I shall pose it like this. What is problematic today? What do you hate most about the mass media's new makeover and feel needs to change with women in journalism?

There is so much Information overload for all journalists. There are so many websites and blogs and it's become even more imperative to know how to sort fact from fiction. As far as women in journalism, I think that we've come a long way since I started in the business. I still think we need to work on pay equity overall and seeing more women in management positions. But we have made great strides in all areas of journalism on and off air, and that makes me very happy. I believe opportunities for women now are endless.

I think we all want different perspectives and compelling story telling, which explains why there are so many cable channels and other news sources on line today. We all view and read news through our own visions and life experiences. Whether you are a man or a woman is secondary. I've had guys stop me on the street and ask me about a fashion story, and then women call into my show about motor sports. Everyone has different interests and views about how they see a case or political election come out.

Years ago, you wrote a bestselling book on Anna Nicole Smith. Because you are on the reporting side, do you lead your life carefully with the understanding of how someone could one day write a book about you posthumously? I'm not alleging you've ever done what the Playboy centerfold was rumored to have lived. It's really a weird thought I had: what if people one day reported on you as you do them? What if, at your death, there were 24/7 news programs devoted to what you might have been like, "the untold story?" How would you feel being in someone else's shoes?

If someone plans to do an untold story on me someday, I better start "bribing" my high school friends now! Yikes!!

These past few years have been truly incredible ones for me. Not just because of the work I get to do on TV and radio, but by doing a bestselling book with my own father, which was an incredible and deeply personal experience for both of us. I've been speaking all over the world about the heroism of our American military and their families since US troops literally saved my father, who was a Nazi POW in WWII. I want everyone to know what a gift it is to be an American and that freedom is far from free. We are blessed to have great men and women in our military. For all my latest appearances, and especially how you can help our troops, check out QuietHero.org and follow me @RitaCosby on Facebook and Twitter. As you can imagine, I am always tuned in!!!

Since this is your debut EP, were you afraid of the cliche, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression?”

Hi everyone in America and around the world, my name is Alex Bowen, and I am an independent soul/blues singer songwriter from Newcastle, Australia. I have been touring under my name for just under two years and have just released my debut 5-track EP, Feather In The Ground.

Yes! I have been playing in bands for 10 years or more and have previously released EPs with those bands, but this would be the first record that I would release under my own name. I guess the person that I wanted to leave most impressed would be myself. I really needed to prove to myself that this “solo artist” idea was possible and that I could be creative enough through my own influences, experiences and emotions, rather than a song or record being collaboratively created.

Does pressure help your creativity?

Pressure definitely helps me meet deadlines. Whether it helps my creativity is questionable. The pressure I put on myself in songwriting will have me trying different ways of writing and playing it, which will motivate me to create more options in the song. If it’s pressure from fans, companies or any other outside influence, it can make me feel restricted and even claustrophobic at times and can make me rush things and not have as much creative input as I’d like.

What I take away from hearing your music is how less is more. You’re by yourself: no extreme backing vocals or a huge band. And you’re able to do a lot with your basics that other artists don’t do with the best orchestra backing, synths and Autotune. How do you make your songs so timeless?

In an era of Autotune and synths, I think these things can smother the song and cloud the connection between the artist and the listener. As I produced my debut EP, and it was my first step as a solo artist, I really wanted to strip the songs down and have the lyrics and music really connect with people. Soul music can thrive on big backing bands, but at the moment, that’s not what I’m trying to do.

I once read, and I forgot who said this, the more you listen to your favorite artists’ music, the more you subconsciously emulate them in your songwriting. You can accidentally plaguirzie them. Do you think this is true? What would you recommend for aspiring songwriters?

This is definitely true, though I’m not sure about the word “plaguirize.” Whatever I am listening to most certainly colours what I’m writing, never to the point of copying or replicating. Subconsciously,, these influences can come through but that is all they are: an “Influence.” I’d recommend to other songwriters to keep your mind open to other genres that can influence you. They seem to be the most effective and help create your individuality in your own genre.

Next month is also special because you’ll release your new music video for “Wait For Me.” How involved were you in the video shoot synopsis? What can we expect?

The film clip for my debut single, “Wait For Me,” has no official release date yet, but you can expect it before the end of August. The two producers of this clip are Gavin Blyth from Blyth Cinematics and myself. This being the clip to my first release, we needed to get my profile out there and put a face to a name. The three and half minute clip is filmed from a camera on a tripod and no other angles, so it involved a bit of acting.

This year, you’ll tour Australia. What is special about performing in Oz that you don’t find anywhere else in the world?

Australia is a country that is getting behind its small boutique festivals. These festivals can have anywhere from 500 to 5,000 people and usually put on a variety of different genres. The main thing that I find special about this is that people are willing to pay money to see a bunch of different styles of music and are genuinely open to whatever comes on stage next. With Australia being a very young music culture, this is a step in the right direction for people: not to have tunnel vision for a certain style, but allowing other genres to be appreciated too.

In 2014, you’re off to the European tour. In the time between now and the moment you perform over there, how do you plan for people to discover your music?

At the moment, I am an independent artist, which is great because it allows me to have complete control over my whole musical direction and anything that I release to the world. However, with the creative control of being independent, the status also has its downfalls and minimal outside financial support. Therefore, meaning a smaller budget for promotion and publicity campaigns. So the trick for touring internationally and creating a hype so people can discover your music is to build a team around yourself in that country, agents, label support, publicist, manager, etc. These people have the time and knowledge of that country’s scene and can spend your money much wiser. The European tour in 2014 is to launch my debut EP, Feather In The Ground.

Learn more about Bowen on his website, AlexBowen.net, find him on YouTube and Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @AlexBowenMusic.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

Quotes from our interview:

“Whodunnit? is a murder mystery reality competition, and I've never seen one of those. It's also created by Anthony Zuicker, who also created the CSI franchise, and made by many people involved with CSI, so the whole feel of the show is very like an episode of CSI, only real! I enjoy Vincent Price, though I don't know if he ever played a butler, and I'd like to think that there is a little of him in Giles.”

“I was continually surprised as the show progressed. Especially the finale, when the Killer's identity is masterfully revealed…on that day, I was astonished!”

“That expression is a disparagement of the great art of butlering, and Giles takes offense that it is bandeyed so often. He would never and could never have done anything of the sort. It would call into question his entire existence. The training of a butler is far too long and rigorous to have time for personal agendas. He is here to serve well and gains all possible enjoyment from doing so.”

“Of course, Giles hopes that his next employer is not quite so diabolical. However, he is afraid that he is cursed and somehow will keep on being employed by maniacal serial killers. I suppose if that is to be the case, he would prefer to be dealing with death and destruction in...say, the Maldives? Or Martinique perhaps…”

“I love murder mysteries. To be in the middle of one and not be about to be killed – at least, I hope that is the case – is a nightmare come true.”

“Hating is so tiresome. If you don't like it, don't watch. But if you like shows like CSI, and you think you are the type of person who can solve crimes by correctly picking up clues along the way, then you owe it to yourself to check us out. And take a stab at seeing if you can't work out: Whodunnit?!”

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

How does someone recover from the mental and physical anguish experienced on this reality show? You weren’t out on the town shopping like MTV’s The Hills. You go through so much on this show.

You re-approach ‘normal’ very slowly. The game is no joke – I lost over 40 pounds over the two seasons I was on Survivor. When I first got home, my body couldn’t handle carbohydrates, and I was unable to hold down any heavy, rich foods for almost a month (not that it stopped me from trying). And the initial weight you put on isn’t muscle; your body is used to starving and thus converts any fuel it receives into fat stores. For the first few months at home, I carried around a sizable fast-food-fueled tire around my waist.

Mental recovery is a trial as well. When you spend a month constantly having your entire peer group discussing your downfall behind your back, you become suspicious of everyone. It was my first day back home, and I was checking out of a grocery store and was asked, per custom, “Paper or plastic?” My brain started racing as to what this little Hispanic woman was trying to get out of me: should I respond honestly? Was she feeling out my level of environmental awareness? Will she gossip about my answer to the bag boy once I’m gone? It’s not a switch you can just turn off – I was not the most socially graceful human being when I first returned from the island, and I apologize to my friends that were affected.

On your Survivor biography, you described yourself as “cocky.” How did this quality help you in the competition?

It felt a bit too wordy and boring to describe myself as ‘comfortably self-assured,’ and cocky is a bit more fun, so I ran with it. I feel you should enter any situation in life with some measure of confidence – I can’t imagine going into a game or meeting or date with the idea of failure in the front of my mind. It would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So while I don’t think I’m over-the-top arrogant, a bit of swagger and self-confidence go a long way in life and definitely helped on the show.

What happened on the show that taught you about human nature in real life and business?

In the everyday world, we primarily interact with people that are similar to ourselves, be it in an office with generally like-minded people or with your group of friends that you have naturally filtered and selected by how much you enjoy their company. You don’t deal with people that you don’t have some degree of similarity to for any length of time in modern society.

Survivor forces you to spend 24 hours a day for over a month with a large group of people that, due to reality show casting, is a complete melting pot of personalities. On my first day on the beach, I was teamed up with a devoutly religious chaplain, a former Miss Teen Utah, a redneck tire re-treader (yes that’s a thing) and the only licensed sex therapist in the state of Iowa. And we didn’t sit around in an air conditioned room with coffee and chat; we had to immediately mesh and work together to survive the elements. These were people I’d barely ever interact with in real life, and I’m sure some of them weren’t too sure how to deal with a longhaired bartender from the beach either.

The most striking aspect of human nature that quickly became apparent was how different people reacted to this forced social interaction that was so radically outside their comfort zone. You can learn a lot about anyone by observing how they treat and talk about someone they don’t relate to. Now, imagine those reactions after living in constant stress with several such people for a few weeks. Most contestants can put on a smile for a while, but as the days trudge on and personalities clash, you get glimpses into the psyches of people, and it isn’t always pretty. When the stress and starvation provided by Survivor finally wears through the facades and veneers, you see some people’s inability to accept others’ differences in beliefs, lifestyles and personalities on a core level, and it’s a disappointing insight that’s impossible to get most anywhere else.

You said you’re a fan of the original Survivor seasons while growing up and puzzles. Did you rely on those things to prepare for your appearance on the program? How do people get themselves ready for something we don’t learn about in school?

Prior knowledge of the show and preparation was a limited advantage. I knew what situations would be thrown at me and what skills I needed to develop before starting the game, but study and practice are not a substitute for experience.

Say you’ve watched baseball your entire life. You know how to run bases and what to do when the ball gets hit to you. You’ve played catch in your backyard and you’ve hit machine-thrown pitches in a batting cage at the local amusement park. In all the drills you’ve run from the comfort of your own neighborhood, you’ve been great, but what happens if you’re thrust into a real MLB game? Now you must do all of that against live opponents, with ground balls flying off the bats and professional pitchers throwing heat at you. Now you have to do it with the pressure of cameras catching your every move and 40,000 fans screaming at you. Simply put, there’s no way watching baseball on TV and practicing at home can prepare you for the big leagues.

For Survivor, I practiced making fires in my backyard, and I did crude dry-runs of popular challenges from previous seasons to coach myself up. I read books on survival, as well as military and psychological strategy. But actually putting that knowledge to use is a much different story. You get to your island that first day and there’s dozens of cameras pointing at you, it’s roughly a million degrees Celsius outside, bugs are swarming you like hot garbage and the fear and paranoia of other’s plotting against you becomes real instantly. Strategic decisions don’t get to be thought out while perusing Machiavelli’s The Prince, sitting on your couch with a beer. They have to be made while two live opponents are staring you in the face waiting for your answer and keying on your tells. All those miles you ran and weights you lifted at home were done on a full belly with no competition or pressure; now you have to do an event twice as demanding after starving for a month, knowing that failure could literally cost you a million dollars.

If you’re going to be on Survivor, prepare. Prepare physically – get yourself in the best shape possible. Prepare mentally – study seasons from before, and practice puzzles and the like. But most importantly, prepare for all of that preparation to amount to not much at all.

Survivor is a great springboard for career opportunities. What do you want to do now?

I’m currently trying to ride the wave of popularity I’ve been lucky to have and take advantage of the opportunities rising in its wake. I love writing and am working through a memoir of a year I spent as a teacher after college, and there are a couple television projects in the works.

As a bartender, are you ever going to go into a beverages business since you’re now more known? Bethenny Frankel does pretty well with her Skinnygirl empire.

I’m better at mixing and consuming them than I am at selling them, so I’m not sure how much of a future I have in the alcoholic beverage world.

The Survivor franchise really “outlasted” all the shows from its 2000 debut. We don’t see Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? Season 12 on ABC. Why then, in your opinion, has Survivor performed so well, and how are you going to be a survivor like the show so we will still care about you in a few decades?

Survivor is still alive and kicking because the format is simultaneously authentic and impossibly dynamic. Outside certain twists and challenges that are created by production to keep things exciting, almost nothing is controlled: you drop 20 people in the jungle, give them a machete and some rice, lay down three or four ground rules and let the castaways run a social experiment with minimal interference. It touches a sweet spot in many Americans’ sense of adventure, a Lord of the Flies situation with everyday people that could ostensibly be the viewer one day. No two seasons play out the same way, and episode to episode, it stays generally unpredictable. Old women have won just as often as young men, and cast members have to use their respective skills – be it strength or wits or charm, with no trait more advantageous than the other – to outlast their opponents.

Survivor lives on because there’s simply no other game like it. I suppose the best way to ensure I’m still cared about down the road is to be equally unique.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

Below…quotes from our conversation:

“Growing up in New York City and then Long Island, gangsters almost always dominated the local and at times national news - it was far from boring. As a kid, my favorite "fictional" mobster was Michael Corleone, but there were a lot of cool gangsters in the news. Cool in the sense that I felt there was so much more to the their lives that I wanted to know about.”

“(I'm laughing right now) - Great question. I have a close friend in New York who's an attorney, and his expertise is in organized crime. He was an amazing source for me. Additionally, I just got into that head space and had to imagine how an older man that spent 20 years in prison would react in a much more progressive society. A lot has happened in the last 20 years.”

“I think if you look at this world and understand how the rules are/were enforced, it's rather easy to see why these Mafiosos did what they did. The air of this danger and power lingers in Paul Sorvino's character, "Mr. Joe." The mobster mentality is a convergence of power, easy-money, living on the edge, respect, etc. Although, I'm not so sure that that's just a mobster mentality. We see people in D.C. and Wall Street behaving the same exact way nowadays.”

For writing the lead character, David Rodriguez had to ponder what it was like being incarcerated for two decades.

“Paul Sorvino was an automatic choice for the film. Since I'm from New York and know that world pretty well, I was confident in the script and felt like Sorvino would fall in love with it. Fortunately, I was right, and as a result, we became very close even after the film wrapped. Steven Bauer and I have been close friends for several years, and I wanted to see him on the law enforcement side of this story. Bauer is such a formidable and talented actor, so I felt he could really push Sorvino and vice versa. It was an amazing experience throughout the picture.”

“Unfortunately, the answer is NO. I've never been catapulted into anything I didn't expect - YET. At least nothing at that level. 20 years is a long time to be in a cell.”

“Absolutely! I feel like the mobster thing for "Mr. Joe" is a vocation. He's a loving father, a giving man and family is everything to "Mr. Joe." Quite frankly, these are genuine qualities that make even the real guys charming and people you may want to be around. It's what makes them "street celebrities."“

“I gravitate towards good stories. If I come up with one or read one, I'll be all over it. I recently co-wrote a big film with a female, but I'm waiting for the right time to get that one done. It's coming soon!”

“Look out for Last I Heard this fall in theaters - fingers crossed!”

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

You have inspired so many musicians of all ages with The New York Dolls. Do you always start writing songs with fans in mind?

No, I write with myself in mind and always have. The first, and I guess the most important thing for me, is to amuse and entertain myself. But then again, is my psyche that much different than the fans’? Who knows. I just think as an artist, one has to remain true to oneself, otherwise the whole enterprise is likely to start resembling a job with pandering and all sorts of unseemly vulgarities. Yikes!

Do you feel more powerful when you are Buster Poindexter? What can Buster do or say that you cannot as David?

Well, in The Dolls, I’m representing a group philosophy, nebulous as that may be. It’s kind of like a speech writer for a party. As a solo performer, there is a certain nobility that I try to maintain. It may not be noticeable, but it’s there, holding things together. Buster, on the other hand, is more about the imperfection of the human condition, the impossibility of creating superior art. Buster is like the lie that tells the truth.

I loved seeing your performance! You still sound really young. Do you do anything to stay fresh mentally and vocally?

A while back, I stopped smoking, which is something I’d always assumed would be impossible for me to do. It’s made a tremendous difference in my vitality and overall outlook. I don’t normally eat junk, and I exercise moderately. A little qigong. Nothing fiendish.

Do you really feel “saved” like you sing? How so, if you do?

Yeah, I guess I do. I’m the kind of person who takes everything to the N-th degree, yet I somehow manage to get some sense at the last minute and get to carry on with a newfound wisdom. With what happened to most of The Dolls and so many people in the business, I guess I’m kind of a miracle. I have a lot of gratitude for that.

Who do you think carries on your indie rock legacy of today’s bands? Do you think it is possible in the current music industry to have true artistic spirit?

It’s possible, if you’re an artist, if you don’t follow the herd and you have your own opinions about things. It seems to me that a true artist is in it for the long run, and being able to live an artist’s life is its own reward.

How can young people bored with Top 40 find new inspiration in music from your band and its contemporaries?

Well, a lot of people don’t really like to think all that much and will pretty much go along with whatever the system hoists upon them, as far as entertainment and otherwise is concerned, but some have the capacity to think for themselves, and they seek out stuff that’s got something more to it than mere consumerism.

If someone wants to start being a great songwriter, how do they discover their inner honesty? What can they learn from you?

Just dig yourself. Strike the right smart/stupid balance. People will dig it too.

How can people go see your show? Give us all the info.

I tweet at @BusterPoindextr, and we list upcoming shows on Facebook.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

What was your personal story with an eating disorder?

I was a fairly heavy and very shy child growing up. I was over 200 pounds by the time I was in junior high and it wasn’t muscle. I was close to 260 by the time I graduated high school. I had a difficult relationship with my mother in which she often criticized my weight calling me fat. I was also bullied at school culminating with a physical assault in junior high in which I was “pantsed.” I was walking home with a group of kids when they began to make fun of some gold pants I was wearing that my older brother Mark had given me. He was thinner than I was so the pants were pretty damn tight on me. The kids started making fun of them. A couple of them started pulling at them, then tearing them. Others joined in and they eventually tore them completely off and threw them in the street, forcing me to walk a mile home in my underwear. In addition to this there was simply a lot of the common types of fat-shaming name-calling that you see present-day. If you take away the Internet and social media, the type of brick and mortar bullying I went through in 1971 is pretty much the same stuff you see today. This type of bullying and the verbal abuse at home caused me to start seeing myself as a deformed individual that could only be fixed by taking control of my body in any manner I could. It was the early stages of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). From then on there was constant shame and a growing, obsessive preoccupation with my weight. BDD is a psychological disorder in which the sufferer is preoccupied with a distorted sense of self-image and is often afflicted with depression, addiction, and eating disorder. It often begins in adolescence and affects as many as 1–2% of the U.S. population, both male and female.

The eating-disorder switch flipped when I was a freshman at Penn State. I remember it like it was yesterday. As everyone was moving into their dorm rooms, I made eye contact with a pretty girl. She saw me smiling at her and proceeded to announce to her friends how ugly I was at a decibel level that sounded like a sonic boom to me. I was devastated. Every shameful thought I had about my appearance and ability to “fit in” were validated once more. I cried myself to sleep. The next morning, I woke up with a plan. I would simply no longer eat until I was at a weight in which everyone would accept me and see me a member of their peer group. I started to deny myself food, surviving on 600 calories or less a day. Every day and every evening I would go down to the campus infirmary and obsessively weigh myself and scrutinize every part of my stomach in the mirror. Each time I looked I saw the same thing. A fat, ugly kid. It meant I had to starve myself even more. It became a vicious cycle. The mirror image never changed no matter how much weight I lost. I was deep into BDD, which I would battle along with attendant eating disorders for 27 years.

By the end of my freshman year, I had begun binging and purging as well. I could no longer mentally sustain the anorexic eating behavior because I kept seeing the same fat kid in the mirror. In my mind it wasn’t working. One evening I headed down to the local buffet and binged. It felt so good: the solace of food that relieved the depression and loneliness! Then came the guilt. Now I would be even more fat and ugly. I could not stand the thought of it. For the first time I purged my food. I had transitioned into bulimia. The feeling of relief and control in being able to have my cake and not eat it too was incredible. I had discovered and stayed bulimic until 2007. In addition to the eating disorders, I also battled depression, cocaine and steroid addiction as well as a near suicide attempt in 2005.

Why do you think people notice signs of eating disorders in female friends or daughters but think it is OK for men to be obsessed with weight, particularly in situations like losing weight for wrestling or modeling?

I think it has a lot to do with the way eating disorders are portrayed in the media as a female disorder and the way defined gender roles and stereotypes in society have developed. When I was a child, it was a much different world from a gender role perspective. I was a baby-boomer coming on the heels of the Greatest Generation (World War II). Women were in the home with very defined, feminine roles and men who had fought in World War II and The Korean War were supposed the be the strong, silent, Gary Cooper type. To even think of such things would be to show weakness and confuse roles. That has of course changed for women for the better and continues to change but on a certain level I think society is still predisposed to view men as being the strong, silent, stoic types who don’t admit to such things. Men also tend to think of themselves that way.

As far as wrestling and modeling, I think we have to be careful with generalizations because there are other variables at work. The fact that a wrestler or a model may engage in extreme, temporarily obsessive and often dangerous weight loss behaviors such as laxatives, or food restriction to make weight for a match or do a shoot or runway show does not necessarily mean he/she has an eating disorder. It means they are dropping weight, albeit in an unhealthy manner, for a specific vocational or sports related purpose. Could they ALSO have an eating disorder? Sure, but that is a diagnosis that should be made by a treatment professional. Is the person engaging in a temporary behavior for a specific purpose or is it a way of life. Of course those seemingly temporary eating behaviors can turn into a way of life. When I was starving myself, in my mind it started out as dieting. It never occurred to me that that thought process would stay with me for most of my life.

You aren’t an actress like Portia DeRossi or a Top 40 singer like Demi Lovato: the type of person we usually hear about having eating issues.Do you ever think sensationalizing young women’s eating disorders in the media makes people regard them as almost a normal thing? Are you worried that the media might be less interested in reporting on your book because you aren’t an attractive young woman in Hollywood?

I don’t agree that such things are sensationalized. Making Demi Lovato’s eating disorder sound worse than it was would be “sensationalizing” it. Both men and women die from anorexia, bulimia and BDD. I got no sense that has gone on in the media. Simply reporting on it increases awareness and that’s a good thing. Demi coming out was a great thing for eating disorder awareness. Men receive the benefit of that.

I hope society will one day view eating disorders as something that happens to both men and women. Then both will feel less shame in talking about it and we will see more treatment options including better health insurance coverage for eating disorder treatment.

I’m not worried about the book at all. It is what it is. I can’t control the media but I can control the message. I will put out the most compelling, supportive message I can to raise awareness for both men and women. Just as men get the benefit of Demi Lovato, women get the benefit when men break the stereotype. I have people email me every day about themselves, their children or their friend with an eating disorder thanking me for telling my story. If not one single media outlet reports on my book but I continue to get those emails, it was all worth it.

What should we notice in young men if they have an eating disorder? What might be different than seeing it in young women?

I am not a treatment provider, so I can only speak as to what I went through. From the people I have spoken with, I am confident a lot of it is the same for both sexes.

What should people look for? An obsession with body weight or body size or shape. I was weighing myself twice a day every day and spending inordinate amounts of time staring at my stomach in the mirror. Constantly talking about being fat, being ugly, seeking reassurance. Those things are not done in a vacuum. Something happened. Isolating was very big for me.

When there is so much shame of either body image and/or eating disorder activity, the desire to isolate can be intense. I spent a lot of time in my bedroom at home and when I got older alone in my dorm room, apartment etc. I was ashamed both of how I looked and what I was doing. I could binge and purge and feel my guilt in privacy. If no one could see me, no one would know my shame.

There are also the basic behavioral things to look for. A drastic change in eating habits and/or body weight. Unusual bathroom habits that may be camouflaging purging. Evidence of purging that has not been cleaned up in the bathroom. Scraped knuckles from repeating pushing the hand down the throat. Finding laxatives or diuretics. There are a lot of different signs. Any one of them should at a minimum trigger an initial phone call to a treatment provider for some guidance BEFORE you address it with your child.

What scares men from talking about it? Is it a fear of being viewed as less masculine?

Absolutely. It’s a huge reason I did not come forward earlier. I only came out when I got on the Internet and saw I wasn’t alone. The need for support cannot be under-stated. It’s 2013, and there is still a huge stigma for men. There are other reasons as well. I have had men tell me they are afraid of losing their job, being thought less of by their wife or children, even being thought of as gay. I know both straight and gay men and women with eating disorders. The disorder does not discriminate.

Your discussing this openly is fantastic, but having good self esteem overnight is difficult when you don’t think much of yourself. How should someone feel if he or she gets called heavy or ugly? Or more commonly, always thinks that of themselves?

You’re not going to get a good self-esteem overnight. There were a lot of experiences over the course of my life that got me where I was. It was like building the brick house. It takes a while to build and can take just as long or longer to tear down then rebuild again. It took me over 30 years and I am still working on it.

How should someone feel? They should feel hurt! That’s a normal human reaction. It is what happens next that sets the tone. Will the person shrug it off and forget it? Will he or she fight back? Will it stick with the person, internalized and have a lasting effect on self-image? We are all wired differently. We all bring our own genetic makeup and psychological disposition to the game. No two people will react exactly the same to insults and bullying. Some may be wired to shrug it off. Some may be wired to fight back. Some may be wired to internalize it and let it eat them up like I was. That’s why it is so important for parents to understand how their child is wired and not automatically respond to these issues base on how they were brought up. Your child is not you.

People talk about your brother because he owns a basketball team and seems really outgoing. When you were younger, did he ever get more attention than you did based on his personality? Did you ever feel like you compared yourself to him physically?

If you’re asking about peer group attention, it was a non-issue because we ran in different circles growing up. There is a 2½ year age difference between Mark and me. He had his circle of friends. I had mine. I, of course, looked up to him as my older brother. I never physically compared myself to either of my brothers because I did not feel judged by them. I was however, afraid that telling anyone about my shame could end all that. So I never told anyone in my family. They were probably as surprised as anyone when I came out in 2008. When I did, Mark and the rest of my family were supportive. We were always there for each other when we had something to talk about. I wish I had the strength to tell him and the rest of my family when I was younger. That was something our father stressed all of our lives. Staying close and supportive as family.

What advice do you want to pass on to young people, and young men, about handling an eating disorder?

The best advice I can give is to tell you that you’re not alone in your suffering. I am out there. Many others are male and female. This is support and a road to recovery but you have to want to take that first step. There is a safe place for you to talk about your problems. Find it. There are people out there that love you and are waiting to help you. I know it’s not an easy journey, but if you can just take that first step there is an eating disorder free life out there waiting for you. Once you get that behind you, the world is yours.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

What should people e-mail TV bookers and print journalists, and how do you ensure they actually reply to your e-mails?

A good pitch is interesting, catchy, concise and polite. It should also be well researched. Know who you’re pitching and if your pitch will make sense for the recipient. I put in a lot of hours online digging for the right writers and producers for my clients and their services or products. I look at their titles and the past work. When pitching, I often reference some of their past work so they know that I’ve done my due diligence and I’m reaching out to them for a specific reason. If the pitch is great and it’s a good fit for what the journalists cover – and it’s the right time for it; a very important piece of the puzzle – you should receive a reply. I’ve pitched The New York Times several times, thinking that the journalists wouldn’t respond because they’re too busy or my pitch wasn’t strong enough. In two instances, however, the journalists have replied that my pitch was on point, and they wanted to pursue the story. That was definitely a confidence booster, and it let me know that my pitch is relevant.

How often should you change your pitch?

Personally, I change my pitch to each recipient every time I have something new to introduce. I send the initial pitch and follow up a week later. If I don’t hear from them after a couple weeks, I start with a new pitch. You have to keep it fresh. I give some time in between though. I don’t want to bombard the inboxes of contacts I’m trying to establish. That’ll just annoy them. If editors are reading the same ol’ spiel over and over again, they’ll become even less interested than they were before.

Is it best to contact a top editor, the writers or the second tier editors?

When I’m targeting a consumer publication, I research the masthead and browse the magazine to find specific writers who are covering what I have to pitch. For instance, for my beauty client, I go directly to associate beauty editors or market editors. I never pitch the editor-in-chief, and I rarely pitch the senior editor of a section of a consumer magazine. I will, however, pitch the editor-in-chief of smaller regional publications since their teams aren’t as large; many times they’re the ones making the editorial decisions.

What can you do so no one steals your ideas and uses them with more famous sources?

Certainly, I worry that my pitches are being ignored or not even received when I don’t hear anything, and there’s also a fear that my pitches are being used in-house to generate ideas among the staff. I don’t think that happens often – it’s beyond unethical, and most people don’t work like that – but I’m sure in the history of pitching clients, somebody somewhere has ripped the idea from the flack and pitched it as their own in an editorial meeting. Alas, there’s really nothing I can do about that since I don’t have a mole on the inside and I don’t the time to police the editorial content of every publication I pitch, so I try not to worry about it.

What is an unlikely route to good publicity that worked for your clients?

I use whatever means necessary to find the best places for my clients. HARO, Twitter, in-person networking at parties, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and sending products to celebrities. Twitter works especially well when I can’t find the e-mail address of a journalist I want to contact. I generally receive a reply with that method. Giveaways also have given my clients more exposure than they expected, so I’m always looking for a good opportunity to partner with a well-read outlet to offer their readers fun swag.

Let’s say I have a new product out and own my own company. How do I begin so I can be that guy who is always invited on morning talk shows, MSNBC and so on for news commentary? Like most people reading this article, in this example, I have no reel whatsoever to show any TV bookers and feel uncomfortable making a shoddy, homemade “reel” for YouTube. I’m a serious businessman, not a teenager playing with a camera.

I would suggest sending an e-mail or picking up the phone. Simple as that. If the product is dynamic, and it’s at the right place at the right time, chances are there will be interest from editors or producers. Many of my clients are small businesses who are coming straight out of the gate. My pitch is the first that anybody has heard of it, but I’ve managed to land their products on national TV and in national consumer magazines. As I mentioned before, you have to savvy about to whom you’re pitching. Make sure it’s the best person for your product. It also doesn’t hurt to make sure you have an incredible product. Everybody thinks they do, but nine times out of 10, they’re wrong. I choose my clients wisely because even I can’t sell something that nobody wants.

Finding yourself is important. You need to know who you are to sell yourself. But that’s easier said than done. What is your advice for people so they know exactly how to sell themselves to journalists and bookers?

Be confident and genuine. There’s one phrase in my pitches that endears many journalists to me that I won’t reveal here, and even though I know that phrase is somewhat charming, it’s also completely honest. I know that this phrase works because when I receive replies to my pitches, the journalists often call that portion out and congratulate me on getting their attention. I also write my pitches in a way that speaks specifically to the recipient. I let them know right off the bat that I have time for them, that I took the time to do my research and that I’d like just a few minutes of the attention in return. This all came with trial and error, of course. When I first started, I was sending out generic pitches so I could be more efficient. It didn’t work. I slowed myself down and started concentrating on building relationships opposed to chasing placements, and the whole business changed overnight.

What do you know are journalists’ pet peeves so people won’t anger anyone? With me, I hate getting people sending unrelated pitches.

Eh. I don’t think it’s disrespectful – it’s hard out there, so people are trying to get whatever they can – but they won’t get very far with that approach. You’re right though, the number one pet peeve is a lack of research. I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve been guilty of it in the past, and the recipients of those pitches have been quick to chide me for it. I’m thankful for that. It sucks to be told you’re an idiot, but ultimately it has helped me be more conscious of what I’m doing and how I’m doing it so I can improve myself and build a better business.

How is seeking TV publicity different than radio? What about print versus online media?

TV and radio is sort of obvious – it’s visual opposed to audible. If I have a client whose products need to be seen to be appreciated, I’m not targeting radio. It’s a waste of time. Print and online media are sort of in the same territory for me. In theory, you can get more visits to the client’s website with a placement online (which can turn into a purchase), but that’s not always the case, especially considering how much media is put out everyday; often it gets overlooked. Print, however, is targeted. Those magazines are going to a specific demographic that is eager to devour the latest issue since in most cases it’s monthly. The only downside is that you have to convert that print reader into an online buyer which is an extra step that most readers won’t take. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

How much rejection does someone face before getting a press mention?

I don’t experience a whole lot of outright rejection – most people don’t even respond – which means that there’s just a whole lot of silence. If that’s happening, you have to sit back and ask yourself, what’s wrong on your end? Is it the contents of the pitch? Is it the product? Are you sending the pitch to the right people? Once you nail those aspects of it, you’ll generally start to hear something. Not everyone will be interested, mind you, which means more silence but you’ll know when you have the winning combination. When The New York Times responds, you’re doing something right.

If someone is ready to hire a publicist, and he or she decided doing it themselves isn’t worth it, what do they do so they know they aren’t being ripped off by the new PR team?

My approach to PR is pay-per-placement, meaning that my clients don’t pay for anything they don’t get. There are no retainers, no hidden fees, no gimmicks. My service is based purely on results, and I have a rate card that breaks down fees based on the type of media: online, national print, national TV, etc. I use this model because PR is relatively new to me. I didn’t go to school for it, and I didn’t have any in-house training when I worked for agencies in the past. I was approached by a client about handling their PR about two years ago, and I decided to take it on. But because it was new to me, I didn’t feel that it was fair to charge an outright retainer for something I didn’t know how to do. In the past two years, however, I’ve worked my butt off to build this part of the business, and now the PR side of my company maintains a dozen clients who have been featured in numerous consumer magazines like Every Day With Rachael Ray and Better Homes and Gardens, in major newspapers like The New York Times, online at The Wall Street Journal and on national TV shows like Good Morning America. I’m proud of that, but I’m even prouder that this business model attracts a lot of small businesses that can’t necessarily afford agency PR and the high retainer fees that come along with it. I enjoy working with these new companies to help build their businesses while providing them an affordable service. It certainly lets me sleep better at night knowing that I’m running a business rooted in ethics and principle.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

What is the correct way to spell whiskey?

The spelling of the word whiskey can be a hotly debated topic. I often refer to the delicious spirit as “whisky,” paying homage to the way it is spelled in its homeland of Ireland and Scotland. However, here in America, the liquor is most commonly spelled using the ending “ey.”

How does someone develop a fine taste for whiskey?

Just like anything else, it’s a process of extensive tasting, learning (researching and studying) and familiarizing over an extended period of time. Whiskey, as a general category, is encompassed by many sub-categories such as Irish, Scotch, Canadian, American, Japanese, Indian, etc., which are usually named after the country of origin. Each country also has various categories of whiskey, in which locally-governed laws dictate how each whiskey is defined and what distinguishes one from the other, even though some laws may overlap. There is, undoubtedly, much information to learn just from each style of whiskey. Once one develops an understanding of the whiskey, tasting and consuming it becomes a little easier and more enjoyable. Then you begin to properly learn and figure out what you enjoy the most for each style. Have I discouraged anyone yet?

You probably sample many excellent quality whiskeys for inclusion on the menu.

Over the past decade, I have sampled hundreds of whiskies from all over the world; some much older than I, and some barely old enough to crawl; some I still dream about; others I can’t forget about fast enough. When sampling new selections, I like to keep it non-biased and try not to see what I am sampling and develop a profile. I have to admit: I get thrown off completely from time to time. I will then make a sound judgment to whether or not it stands out and is worth putting it on the list. Our current Book of Whisky includes 550 selections from many styles, some not commonly seen, such as Single Grain Scotch or Single Malts, from uncommon countries. We pride ourselves on the many highly-rated and extremely rare selections that are rarely seen on one list. But looking at the bigger picture, we have to cater to all palates, and we are proud to offer many of the mainstream selections.

What is the proper etiquette for drinking whiskey?

My question is: who are you trying to impress? You know what you like! Drinking whiskey how you like it is completely at your discretion. I have seen it all (I think). People will look to me for guidance on how to properly taste a new whiskey, in which I will always suggest to cleanse the palate with one swirl and take a second taste to develop descriptors. If the whiskey is too hot or abrasive, I will serve an eye dropper with cold water on the side (instead of ice) and ask them to open or wake it up with just a handful of drops. If it needs additional water, one can control how much to dilute until he or she will find their comfort level. Keep in mind that each dram (pour of whiskey) will be different, as is everyone’s palates.

The Book of Whisky is more than a menu. It literally is a book. With so many ordering options, if you have no idea what you are doing, what is a good safe bet?

One thing that I feel that we do best in the restaurant is asking our guests the right questions and getting a good feel for what he or she is looking for in a drink—not only for whiskies, but for cocktails as well. As part of the whiskey experience you receive, we pride ourselves in making the best decisions in selecting a whiskey when a guest asks us to choose for them. We think that even the smallest of details matter! It’s always a satisfactory feeling when someone’s expectations are surpassed, which happens quite often.

What should someone order to accommodate the whiskey experience? Is whiskey enjoyed most with a light meal or a heavy one? Is there a perfect time of day or night for it?

We offer an assortment of unique and rare flight selections of various whiskey styles and ages, which many guests find attractive. Others like to mix it up themselves. The bottom line is that whiskey can be enjoyed at any time and especially with one of our award-winning steaks. There is most certainly a whiskey for all occasions.

How can people stop by for your secret, off-the-menu tastings? Are your work hours advertised?

Our Book of Whisky is available during lunch and dinner at Delmonico Steakhouse seven days a week, as well as our unique selection of specialty, vintage and whiskey cocktails. Any other offerings, you’ll have to come and see me personally. You can find me behind the Delmonico bar every Tuesday through Saturday evenings and sometimes Mondays, when I’m not traveling. See you soon!

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

I had to interview you because I am a fan and want the new generations to love you like I did. Please explain to readers about why you are irreplaceable!

I suffered from eating disorders when I was just a kid. I did not like me or the way I looked. But back then, you could not tell anyone. I took laxatives, learned to throw up and starved and ended up in the hospital. I have always told my story. and I think it is important for others to tell their story too. By telling your story, you are helping the new generation how to deal with life without destroying their health.

When you see young girls like Lady Gaga being open about their past or current eating disorders, if you were their friend, how would you support them? Do you think it is harder for young people?

They deal with things like Instagram photos all day, Photoshop, etc.? Do people just compare themselves to other people’s bodies all day, all the while as they look at us and say, “Wow, those people look better than me?”

I think it is very important that you like yourself for who you are and not want to look like anyone else. You also have to understand, many people have had cosmetic surgeries in order to look the way they look. So why look like them when you can just look like you? And there is nothing wrong with looking like you. You are one of a kind and unique. Never forget that.

Can perfection exist if people are happy with themselves, or does it only come with impossible body image standards? Why are people afraid to change their lives in a healthy way?

When we are kids, we develop certain habits, and habits are very hard to break. I was raised in New Orleans, and everything was fried. We even fried pickles. I always thought that when I pass away, someone will deep fry me. We are taught these habits by our family. If they were inactive, chances are their kids would be inactive. If they had unhealthy eating habits, those can be passed on too. But habits are not impossible to break. I broke them, and my formula has always been: “Love yourself, move your body and watch your portions.”

I remember you cried a long time ago while discussing your past issues on TV, I believe on E! How did you get to be so happy with yourself today?

I am a cryer. I have always been. When rain pours down from the heavens, angels are crying. I cry tears of joy and sometimes, tears of sadness. After all tears, comes a rainbow.

What advice do you have for people with “drunkorexia:” starving themselves and binge drinking?

I am not a drinker. I was raised in New Orleans, where I saw people intoxicated everyday. Drinking ages your body inside and out. Our youth should be high on life and on friendship, and on their dreams.

Now, a guest question! I just interviewed Brian Cuban. He’s a great guy who wrote a book about his eating disorder. Brian wants to ask you, “What do you think we need to do to bring male body image issues into the mainstream to the extent that women’s eating disorders are?”

Eating disorders used to be thought of as disorders that women went through, but that is not the case. When you are not happy with you, you do things to hurt yourself and ruin your health. My advice is not to bottle it up inside but to reach out for help. When you are facing disorders of any kind, support is what you really need.

My Former Classmate made me a huge follower of yours. He brought over your incredible exercise tapes, and I loved your positive message about accepting yourself or literally, “killing” yourself with an eating disorder. He wanted to tell you how when he was 6, he pretended his empty vegetable cans were the weights you used. Meanwhile, I felt like you came out of the videos with your big personality, like a friend who happens to be a positive role model. Did you ever think you would one day inspire people much younger than you?

I live to inspire people. It is my desire to inspire. In my workouts, I just want people to be happy and to believe in themselves and exercise to the best of their ability. I am overwhelmed that people of all ages treat me like a friend.

You’ve released a song, have a clubhouse and came out with a new Sweatin’ to the Oldies DVD. What else does your future hold? Any dubstep dancing? What about using music by current Top 40 artists: Usher, Taylor Swift, etc.?

My future plans: I just finished my first music video, called “Hair Do,” that I wrote and sing. Chris Phillips from Toronto wrote the music, and his wife, Kathy, sings on the songs too. I have written 29 songs and will do more music videos. I like to do anything to inspire people and to bring them joy.

A WORD FROM NICOLE

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

You are donating some sales from your new single to the Sandy Hook Support Fund. Is this because you have a personal connection to someone hurt by the event?

No, I was just so touched and devastated by the tragedy, and I felt I wanted to let the families know in a very small way that we were thinking of them, standing with them and giving them all of our support. I know you can't take away any of their pain, but I wanted to give something to them to represent how much we cared about what happened to those children.

Does most of jazz writing really come from romance?

I am not sure that jazz comes from romance at all. You hear Dizzy and Bird and the founders of jazz, and I don’t think they were inspired by romance or love. I think they were inspired by pain and freedom of expression and a whole mess of tough emotions that created this music: an original American art form. You hear their strife, their struggle and their creativity most of the time in the face of adversity. That is what I believe created jazz. Now, standards, that is another story. American standards are all romance and love- as they should be.

Can you write songs when you are single?

I find it hard to write songs when I am in a good relationship! When I am happy, I am not inspired as much as when I am crying in my beer. For me, it is a lot easier to write a sad song then a happy one. They are always more interesting. I am happy now, so my writing is suffering.

Do you always feel like the songs that you are singing when you perform them? I heard some artists says they do this subconsciously.

I try to be very careful about which songs I choose for which performances, and I always try to bring myself to the song, so when I perform a song, I feel it deeply. I may not have gone through exactly what the song is talking about, but everyone can relate to love, pain, excitement, etc. I try to find what the song means to me and share it with an audience.

You are now contractually emancipated from your ex, who served as your manager. Are you now your own manager?

I am managed by CAMI (Columbia Artists Management), but it is a very different relationship now than my previous management experience.

What can a singer do so his or her relationship with any type of manager or agent is going well?

I think it is very important to be honest with yourself and figure out what you need in your life. If you aren’t a person who can handle micro-management – the kind of manager who likes to tell you which dress to wear or how to wear your hair – then be clear about that. You need clear, professional boundaries, and I think it is also important to be pro-active with your career, whether or not you have management or not. It is still your career. In the end, you are responsible for where you are.

What do you think would have to happen for jazz to overtake the Top 40 charts?

That’s a hard question. Jazz was never really on the charts. It works best, most of the time, in small intimate venues. That is great for the audience and terrible for the performers, because making a living is so tough. I think more education is key – many young musicians don’t know anything about jazz, and I think if they did, they would incorporate it into their music, and then possibly have it evolve into something new and something that a new generation of listeners would love. Artists like Esperanza Spalding are doing that now. I am hopeful for the future, because jazz isn’t going anywhere. We just need to get more people into the clubs.

What does an artist have to do now that people download music, and often, steal it? How do you convince people your music is worth buying?

Call me crazy, but I think if people have an option to pay a dollar for a song or get it for free – but they are educated that if they steal it, the musicians that they love are paying the ultimate price and won’t be able to make more music for them – they would pay the dollar. Again, we aren’t talking about a lot of money. The way things are going now in jazz and any music that isn’t Top 40 is that record companies don’t have enough money to pay artists what it costs to even make records anymore. This can’t continue.

Where are you performing soon so people can see you?

I am working on my first record in two years now, which will be out in 2014, and I will be performing in August at the Cooperstown Music Festival and starting a Symphonic tour in the Fall. Check out HilaryKole.com for my schedule.

A Word from Nicole

This article was first published on another website, before I had my own place to keep my work. My interviews, old and new, are now found on Lucky Pineapple Films.

A very WHAT THE FROG happy moment: I made a chart for the first time EVER. Very briefly, I'll take it! Top 50 streamed tracks in the Philippines and globally over on Spotify, with an old 2016 quick, no thought to it, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" orchestral thing I put together one afternoon.

You can find it over on my Spotify artist account. I am so grateful to everyone supporting this little track.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

For our audio drama album, How to Tell Corn Fairies If You See ‘Em by the wonderful Carl Sandburg, out today on streaming everywhere, things went a tinge country. The radio play is describing the cornfields of the Midwest in the heydays of prairie life. Why not?

The product is like that last minute BFF you need for anything. Picnic, movies, food at a new cafe, he’s all in? I tested this out, and it sounds great with any sort of beat or style.

They don’t call it SILK because they feel like it. And, cranking up that SILKy sound is easy. Know chords? Great! It works with your composing and/or songwriting! Don’t? Who cares? There are buttons to manipulate the sounds and help out people who never studied music.

Digital cello enthusiasts may like their standards from other brands. Murst Instruments’ Legato Cello is a steal at $29 USD and won’t be the classical variety but will add a uniqueness to any standard pop track or film score. With some points in my account from Plugin Boutique, I snapped it up for $15!

For my The Pact film score, I worked with a mix of cello sounds, one of them being Murst Instrument’s nifty, little tool. Available for the free Kontakt Player 6.3.1 and above, it requires a low 100MB of free drive space.

For anyone who loves horror and naturally has a spooky composing style, the sound with some reverb enhances the eerie on its own as a solo line. Atop other blends, it is really something magical!

Legato Cello is available at Plugin Boutique.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

Jason Adam⁠ chats going from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire into being a ⁠professional working film actor⁠.

I wanted the taste of that poison paradise and got it in making the new instrumental version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” with UJAM Virtual Drummer LEGEND. At age 36 21, I am definitely not too young to remember when this song first came out and nonetheless was obsessed with it when I first heard it on MTV’s TRL that I watched regularly, whoops I mean, what some old person’s obsolete iPod. I only own a whole handful of iPods and am such the old person, oh who I am fooling with lying about my age? #LOL!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

Putting together the track’s famous strings sound was easier than I thought. One music plug-in did that. Problem solved.

I slapped on my standard UFX Reverb I use for everything since it came out, like ever-errryyyyy-thang including my upcoming score for Paul Sutton’s British indie film, The Pact, and went to town making the sound so much bigger. The synths are all from Usynth PIXEL, a product invented for a 90’s video game sound that gave it a swanky 1960’s Austin Powers house party vibe. Remember friends, a product may say it is intended for something. Use it however you please!

And somehow in this all, don’t ask me why, this unintentionally reminds me of No Doubt’s “Hella Good” with the aforementioned drum kit.

“Toxic” has a bunch of things going on at once. Until I remade this track, I never really paid attention to the little complexities going on in the background.

Glad you asked!

From UJAM:

In the world of music production, there's nothing quite like the timeless allure of the '70s. It's an era celebrated for its distinctive drum sound, and now, you can bring that iconic vibe to your music with LEGEND.

Step into the studio of '70s icons who pioneered the dry drum sound. LEGEND is your gateway to that punchy, warm, and retro feel that cuts through mixes. Whether you're crafting varnished beats or raw jams, LEGEND is the tool that empowers your creativity.

Nostalgia is the key to standing out in the music scene, whether you're an indie rockstar or a retro mastermind. LEGEND's naturalistic impact is touching, and you can feel it in every beat you produce. Engineers of the past refined their rhythm sections with close mics on deadened drum heads and dampening techniques. LEGEND faithfully emulates these classic tactical strategies.

Virtual Drummer LEGEND contains the following features:

• ●  690 playable MIDI phrases in various styles

• ●  MIDI Drag-and-Drop and direct MIDI out for custom tweaking

• ●  5 Drum Kits with 6 Mix Preset aesthetics to fine-tune your sound

• ●  Special 'Dust' and 'Color' FX controls to alter miking technique

Clean, tight drums are the gold standard for experimental production. With LEGEND's upfront, direct recorded sounds, you have the canvas to absorb additional processing and make them entirely your own.

Virtual Drummer LEGEND is available now in VST2, VST3, AU 2 and AAX formats today and also as a free fully functional 30-day trial. Don't miss this opportunity to add the magic of the '70s to your productions.

UJAM is a German-American maker of music technology co-founded by Hans Zimmer, Peter Gorges and Pharrell Williams that develops Virtual Instrument and Effects Plug-ins. With the Plug-in series Virtual Pianist, Usynth, Groovemate, Symphonic Elements, Virtual Guitarist, Virtual Bassist, Virtual Drummer, Beatmaker and Finisher UJAM helps people to make music.