Author: Bri

Since college I’ve had a folder on my laptop called “Be Professional,” where I keep the various versions of my resume, my professional headshots (a thing I never thought I’d need), my business card InDesign file, and my cover letter templates. Since childhood, I’ve had a pretty clear understanding of what my professional path would be. It was gonna be great- I’d go to a small liberal arts college somewhere in Oregon or Washington, graduate with a creative writing degree, write novels, and work as a barista until I was published.

It’s misleading to say that was always the plan, I guess. I had a brief flirtation with law school after my first year doing speech and debate in high school, and I dabbled with graphic design because I was an early (and young) adopter of Photoshop and rudimentary web design. In both cases the plan was still to be a published novelist (and maybe YouTuber- John Green I’m comin’ for ya), but I knew I needed a survival job that paid well in the meantime.

I didn’t really have ambitions in the film realm, and I certainly never imagined myself working for a series of exciting media start ups where I’d use skills I’ve cultivated as hobbies for literally two decades, but here we are. In an attempt to explain to my family what exactly the fuck I do for work, and in an attempt to showcase how the strangest things end up being professionally important, I wanted to go through the steps that brought me to where I am now. Unpack my career path as it were.

TL;DR? I am currently employed as the Film Community Manager for Seed&Spark, a film crowdfunding platform, and as an adjunct professor for two MFA programs- one in Brooklyn where I teach a class on web series production, and one in LA that’s low residency (meaning it’s 95% remote) where I am the thesis advisor for four students writing a web series for their capstone script.

Continue reading “Be Professional” →

1. Write 5 new projects. In Progress. Hasn’t been as much time to write as expected, but I did write a mini series in the Better With You Universe, a pilot for a shelved Brains audio drama reboot, a set of rules and the first two adventures for a homebrew DnD game, and have started a number of other pilots and shorts, so I feel good about my progress here.
2. Host 3 table reads. In Progress. This was on the list because I was allegedly “stepping back a bit from producing this year,” which hasn’t been true. Technically we had a Better With You table read, and I’m sure once Kailee and Amanda move to NYC we’ll have another one or two, so progress here as well. 
3. Post one blog and one YouTube video a month. Failure. Hah hah hah hah hah
4. Cook dinner at least twice a week. Doing ok. While I’ve certainly cooked more this year than I have for a years, I probably haven’t averaged twice a week in a few months. I didn’t expect to be traveling so often so when I am home it’s usually in between trips and we haven’t been able to go to the grocery store. Now that I’m working from home full time though I expect to get better about this. I’m also traveling… less, though I will be traveling again as of August at least once a month. 
5. Start or end my day active at least three times a week. Doing ok. Another thing that’s been aided by working from home but hasn’t been 100% consistent for a while. Using the traveling excuse again even though excuses are for quitters.
6. Release and submit for festivals both projects I have in post. Boom goes the dynamite. Buy In’s IRL festival premiere is TONIGHT and Sam and Pat has been released and being submitted to fests for months.
7. Leave New York at least 4 times. Current tally with planned trips for the future included:
   1. January- Los Angeles, Washington DC
   2. March- Los Angeles again, Oregon
   3. April- Washington DC again, Northhampton, MA
   4. May- Utah
   5. June- Denver
   6. August (upcoming, probably)- Los Angeles again
   7. September & October- Colorado
   8. November- San Diego
   9. December- Colorado
8. Save $2k. In progress. Had a bit of a finance scare this year for a variety of reasons I won’t get into right now (but suffice it to say it wasn’t on me this time), so this got interrupted because I had to take $2k OUT of my savings to pay rent and whatnot for a few months. However, my auto-transfer I set up at the beginning of the year has continued to transfer from checking to savings once a month so I have technically put $1425 into savings this year (though if this resolution had meant save $2k on top of my existing savings balance, I’d be at -$575). I’m hoping once things get back to normal I can put back what I took out of my savings to survive during the weird months, but even if I don’t, the point of putting money in savings is for emergencies like paying rent during weird income months.
9. Pick my battles. In progress. The Great Financial Scare of 2019 helped a lot with this one, weirdly, because I had to learn to prioritize and set boundaries in ways I never had to before. Also with all the traveling I’ve done this year I’ve been too tired to fight as much as I used to fight, but I’m still counting this as progress rather than a reaction to exhaustion.
10. Be a better adult. In progress. On non-travel weeks I’m generally pretty good about this, and in general Quinn and I have gotten a lot more consistent about chores and cleaning and whatnot. The day I wrote this post (a week in advance, like an ADULT) Quinn and I did a deep clean of the apartment/fridge and made some plans to tackle a bug problem that’s been there since we moved into this very old building. Mom, I swear, New York City just has bugs, it’s not our fault.

Not as bad as I thought! The resolutions that require a week over week lifestyle change I’m giving myself a break on because I’m human and I’ve still got a few months of the year left to change these habits, and calling them a failure in July seems unnecessary. 

Been a while! I foresee a handful of New Years Resolutions not being fulfilled this year, because this year has been… unexpected.

Last year was insane for me, one of the busiest years I’ve ever had, one of the most creatively rewarding, and one that I felt very strongly about not repeating right away. “2019 will hopefully be defined by boundaries and balance,” I stated in a blog at the end of last year. I even made my work Slack status “Boundaries and Balance 2k19” for a while, because branding is important.

And then 2019 actually started and I remembered that I’m me and that’s not how things tend to go in my life.

Continue reading “2019, Noticed” →

1. Write 5 new projects. Be them short films, web series pilots, TV pilots, audio dramas, or a play, I want 5 brand new things written in 2019. 5 scripts doesn’t count unless they’re from 5 different projects.
2. Host 3 table reads. Since I’m stepping back a bit from producing this year, I’m going to miss my actor friends. So in order to focus on my writing but also keep my creative, talented friends involved, I want to host at least 3 table reads for 3 unique projects in 2019.
3. Post one blog and one YouTube video a month. I really did try last year, but it got away from me. This isn’t an insane ask, though, so let’s try again.
4. Cook dinner at least twice a week. Quinn has taken a lot of the burden of cooking for us- when he doesn’t, we order out, and that’s not fair or healthy. Plus, I used to love cooking! I want to recapture that this year.
5. Start or end my day active at least three times a week. No excuses 2019.
6. Release and submit for festivals both projects I have in post. I filmed two major projects in 2019, and they both deserve a shot at glory and laurels. This is my pledge to actually put them into the world.
7. Leave New York at least 4 times. Everyone knows I’m bad at boundaries and balance, so in 2019, I’m making an effort to live a less workaholic life. I have 2 guaranteed trips (DC in January and Christmas) that I’ll be out of the city for, so it’s unfair to just say “2” like the last few years. 
8. Save $2k. Last year I saved $1500, which was great, but I’m an adult who goes more into debt every time I make a student loan payment because of accrued interest, so I’m not in great financial shape. Savings will at least keep me, well, safe, in case something terrible happens.
9. Pick my battles. As I age, I get better at when my input or opinion is needed, but I’m also a naturally argumentative person. In 2019, I want to really analyse when a topic deserves a debate or when I should just let it go. 
10. Be a better adult. When I get overwhelmed or over-tired, I neglect important things like dishes and emptying the trash and cleaning my room and the bathroom. I am almost 27 years old- that’s gotta stop. Regardless of my exhaustion level, the dishes need to be done, and not just when company is coming over.

What are YOUR resolutions this year?  How did yours last year shape up? Let me know, and here’s to at least a pretty ok 2019!

Last year, I:

• Lost my job at MTV, a job I loved
• Moved apartments
• Released my short film and the second Brains Extended Universe project
• Attempted to film and release a new web series, called “Why Isn’t Bri Making A New Web Series?”
• Failed at that
• Went broke
• Wallowed in self pity
• Started working for Stareable, first for free, then part time, then full time
• Crowdfunded for two projects in one month
• Wallowed some more
• Shot and released Sam and Pat Are Depressed season 1

This year, I:

• Shot and edited a brand new short film (January)
• Spoke at a web series panel/screening in New Jersey (February)
• Moved apartments, unplanned (February)
• Produced the web series The Mother Lode (February-April)
• Produced the web series Stray (February-July)
• Organized a film festival from scratch (January-July)
• Spoke at a film festival in Toronto (May)
• Launched a podcast with Stareable (June)
• Crowdfunded for Sam and Pat season 2 (June-July)
• Produced and shot Sam and Pat season 2 (May-August)
• Started a podcast for Sam and Pat (July)
• Spoke on a panel at FlameCon (August)
• Hired as the digital media professor for my old grad program (August)
• Spoke at a film festival in New Jersey (September)
• Starred in a one-act play (October-November)
• Started a DnD podcast (October)
• Started planning another film festival from scratch (November)
• Hit 1000 followers on Twitter (December)

“I am dedicated to making this year my most creatively fulfilling one yet, and so far, I’m as on track as possible.” -Bri, January 2018

Last year, the only new thing I created was Sam and Pat, a show I love and that continues to bring me joy. But I made it late in the year, after a year of professional and financial setbacks that nearly overtook me. Yes, my short film and a Brains EU project came out last year, but both were already completed and just needed releasing, so they don’t count as “new.”

Last year, I was miserable. Trump was newly elected, I was newly laid off, and I was floundering. I wasn’t creating, I didn’t feel productive, and everything sucked.

This year, whatever the opposite of that happened. As you can see from that list, I was building something every month, whether it was a film project for me, a film project for someone else, a podcast, or a major work event. I traveled all over to speak at festivals and film schools, was hired as an adjunct, and despite that, I still only completed half of my New Years Resolutions. I wanted a busy 2018, and I got it, but I’m looking forward to calming the hell down next year.

I’ve never been great at balance. Some (much) of this years’ busy schedule was out of my control, but plenty came from choices I made. I am… exhausted. Yes, I feel better about this year than last year, but I am so, so tired. I need a break. I need a vacation! I haven’t had a vacation all year- every day I took off of work was spent working on something else. Half my weekends (probably more) were overtaken by meetings, being on set, traveling to speak somewhere, or post production. Not again.

Since Brains came out in 2015, I like to think I’ve proven myself in the indie production arena. I’ve made two seasons of Brains, two extended universe projects, two seasons of Sam and Pat, and two short films, all in three years. And that’s not counting the projects I’ve personally produced (Relativity, the first two episodes of Vloggers, History, The Mother Lode, Stray). But I think that that phase of my life is coming rapidly to an end, for two reasons:

1. My means haven’t changed. While every project has of course improved in production value and marketing strategy, I still have no real, sustainable way of paying my cast and crew, let alone myself. And I’m past the point of the “passion project” defense. I’ve got plenty of no-budget work that I’m proud of on my resume, but unless my means change, every subsequent project is going to be more of the same. 
2. I don’t want to be a producer. I really, really don’t enjoy logistics, particularly when it’s not my project. I love the work I’ve gotten to do, and the people I’ve gotten to help, but I do not love producing, and continuing to produce will only make it harder to do the work I actually want to do: write and direct. 

I don’t want to continue to make no-budget work, begging friends to volunteer their services, and go further into debt every time I do. That’s not getting me to the next stage of my career, and makes me a shitty friend. With very few exceptions, unless my means to pay people (including marketing people) increase, I’m taking off my producer hat for a while.

So what does this mean for 2019? You’ll see in more detail when I publish my new New Years Resolutions on the 1st, but as a teaser:

• More writing. Like, by a lot
• More table reads, to keep in touch with actor friends despite likely not seeing them on set
• Releasing two projects (Buy In and Sam and Pat season 2) and giving them a real shot at success with all that I’ve learned about marketing, film festivals, and more
• Even more writing. I’m a writer, I should be writing, and not just how-to blogs for work
• Vacations. I didn’t take any time off in 2018 that wasn’t explicitly for an indie production, and I can’t do that again. I need to actually take non-work time because being this tired all the time isn’t healthy

2019 will hopefully be defined by boundaries and balance, two things I’m The Worst At. Since there is no finish line in sight, I’m going to try not to put so much pressure on myself to become a household name by 30. I am enough as I am right now, and killing myself to hit a “more impressive” level of success by a “more impressive” age is short-sighted and dangerous.

I’m an adult. And I need to start acting like one.

I hate the word “boyfriend.” Have for years. Once Quinn and I passed the two year mark it stopped feeling descriptive of our relationship, especially as we transitioned to living together and making furniture and holiday travel decisions as a unit. “Boy”friend just feels infantilizing at this stage: we’re in our late 20s, have been together for almost 6 years, and have lived together in relative harmony for 3. For lots of reasons we aren’t married yet, so fiance and husband are off the table. As a result, basically since I moved to New York, I’ve been slowly but surely transitioning to partner when I’m identifying him. Continue reading “Partner” →

Bri: Can I interview you for my blog?

Quinn: Sure.

Continue reading “Needlessly Mooney” →

I think as liberals, especially liberals who are well-educated about discourse and rhetoric and identity who could be considered the “intellectual elite”, we often get the idea into our heads that if we just won the argument, those who disagree with us will finally come around. I can cite endless clips from comedy and straightforward news programs alike where a liberal reporter or correspondent interviews people on the street with simple questions designed to make them think about their preconceived notions differently. Like most viewers of these programs, I held my breath waiting for just one interview subject to notice how absurd they’re being. Spoiler alert: it never, ever works. And so we all feel superior and smug and work on new thought experiments to try again. But in watching the endless and yet also far too brief Supreme Court hearings these past few weeks, I remembered that that’s not how it works. It’s not that these powerful men don’t believe Dr. Ford. Even if the FBI investigation had been allowed to run its full course, the decision makers wouldn’t be any more or less convinced. It’s not about belief. They just don’t care. Continue reading “It’s not about belief” →