Hi Everyone! It has been a minute. Just wanted to check in and let you know that we have not forgotten about you! We love producing this podcast and we want to make sure you know we will be back soon with both Artistic Beginnings episodes and some of the new stuff we are working on now! While on this hiatus we are exploring more content to create and ideas to share with you. Hope you are doing well and let us know what you think Belly Button Round is...

This week we have our mom on again to share her sage advice on the pod! We can't wait to hear what you think of all the great tid bits of insight our mom shares! Connect with us and let us know how awesome our mom is! It's ok... don't be shy... we know. :D

Melody talks all about reputation in this episode as we revisit her past and talk about the positive and negative aspects of reputation in the entertainment industry. This is an episode you don’t want to miss! Mel shares all the dirty details of a time where she was a troublemaker and the funny moments her shenanigans lead to! Lots of fun this episode with some heavy topics to boot!

Mitch shares a little about what he learned while in the arts and shares his insight into some of his experiences while acting and what he took away from it. Hopefully you can learn a bit about his experience and apply it to your own! We also chat a bit about character development. Kind of a fun topic huh? Let us know what you think!

We are still here every other week! This week we catch up, take a breather and get back to business! We will be changing up the flow a bit but we are still the same Artistic Beginnings you know and listen to occasionally... Love you all and check back in on us when you can!

Join us this week with a Masterclass in Breathing with our dad Steve Hollis! For this very special 50th episode we have our dad! We talk a bit about his past (more history of the Hollis family to come soon) and about breathing! Have you ever wanted to level up the way you live and how you perform? This episode is for you! Learn some of the technical aspects of breathing and get a whole new appreciation for the foundational importance of breathing in the performing arts! For more on our dad or if you want to take lessons with him (if he has space in the calendar) check out his website: https://www.stevehollismusic.com/

In this episode, we have a chat with our very own Gabrielle Friedman. She started her following on TikTok and is one of our favorite creators. She entertains and puts out content that moves and shakes the earth. If you want to learn more about what it takes to be a creator on TikTok or you want to just see how Gabrielle thinks about it, this is the episode for you!

Check out Gabrielle on Instagram and Tiktok

@theartisticpod

Join us on this wonderful journey into what Tik Tok is... For those non “Zoomers” out there join Mitch as he learns what Tik Tok is. Learn a lot about the state of the world through what Tik Tok is. If you like Tik Tok follow some of the people mentioned in the episode they are our top watches, and if you don’t like or don’t know Tik Tok listen and find out if it's worth a download for you later. Let us know your thoughts on the episode and Tik Tok on Instagram @theartisticpod and let's chat it up!

As an entertainment professional do you watch a lot of tv and movies and call it “work”? In many cases that is totally legitimate. Melody and Mitch discuss how they have balanced their consumption of the arts and talk about where the line is for them. Listen to this episode to share your thoughts on what constitutes consumption of entertainment as “work” vs. a leisure activity. Can you turn off the actor inside, or are you always going to analyze acting styles and never give in to the story and get sucked into a new world? Reach out on Instagram @theartisticpod and we can chat!

To the New Girl’s Producer Laura Hunter Drago shares her story and digs into the process and path she took to making her work impactful and meaningful. Laura shares the milestones in her story and goes in depth on the experience of making To the New Girl possible! Join us this week and hear a great conversation with Laura.

Laura Hunter Drago is a producer, writer, and actress living in Los Angeles, California. When she’s not making art, she works in marketing & web design. Laura is a proud SAG-AFTRA member and guest speaker at the SAG Conservatory, is the assistant editor-in-chief of Ms. in the Biz, and is the co-founder of New Girl Pictures. She also likes baking, obsessing over Olympic ice dancers, and having long conversations with her dog Buffy. She dislikes being bored. Most recently, Laura is finishing up post-production on her first feature, To The New Girl.

As we close out 2020 we realize not all is bad.

I made some good decisions, some bad.

One good one from this very long year.

Has to spread love and cheer.

In the form of a podcast with Melody my Sister

Thanks to this podcast I never had to have missed her.

With joy in my heart and Happiness in my mind.

Sit back relax as I share a bit of a rewind...

Thank you Melody! This episode is for you for an amazing time doing this podcast with you!

To wrap up our thoughts on College... Worth it? we discuss an article that was shared with us by a listener. It had some great topics and this writer has some great insight for the artistic community interested in learning how to make it as an actor from a different perspective. This article was written by "Secret Agent Man" a secret... writer at the backstage.

Check out the article here: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/agent-on-yale-juilliard-college-acting-programs-72103/

Also take a listen to our other college episodes if you have not already! They were fun and had some good nuggets to think about on your path to becoming an actor.

Also feel free to drop us a review on itunes

or send us a message on instagram @theartisticpod

To round out our perspective on College as it relates to whether it is a good fit for you, we figured we should speak with someone that went to school for the arts... We know we were definitely coming off one sided so here is the gift of perspective! Get some! Brendon shares his story and great insight that should help inform your decision! Take a listen and hear some great advice from a great person!

___

This year, close to 100 performers (including myself!!!) - drawn from over 20 casts and spanning over 30 years - created The Christmas Schooner 2020. This online experience combines a newly orchestrated score and hours of footage into ONE performance. All of which, you can experience from the safety and comfort of your home.

All of the proceeds from this event - including the time and talents of the performers and production team - will be donated to Season of Concern.

A $20 donation to Season of Concern gets you a front row seat to this unique event.

Be sure to mention “SCHOONER” when you make your donation, so you can receive a link and password to view the show. (SOC will send you an email with the video link/password). https://seasonofconcern.org/donate/

This online performance will only be available from December 23rd, 7pm CST to December 27th, 7pm CST. View the video as much as you'd like during this specific time.

To continue the College episodes we talk about the Pros and Cons! So excited to share our thoughts on what the pros and cons of College are. In addition to talking college, we have a trip down memory lane with a show that Mitch did as a kid - The Christmas Schooner! It was such a great show to be a part of and this year a special COVID Virtual release of the show will be live online for your viewing pleasure! Many actors from the many years the show ran are putting together a virtual version of the show for a great cause! Season of Concern! to find out more about the cause check out this link: https://seasonofconcern.org/ and we will keep you posted on when you can see the christmas schooner online for a donation to season of concern! Stay tuned to this episode and the following episode as we hear from another Christmas Schooner alumni on his College experience Brendon Martin! He will share even more pros and cons than we cover in this episode based on his experience at Stanford!

As we take a break to be thankful for everything we have and for getting through difficult times we turn to what made us most happy this year and share a special project that we did this year for your ears only! Join us with this special short episode!!

Melody and Mitch talk about their College audition horror stories. Going to college for the performing arts wasn't the right call for us but what about you? There are pros and cons to going to college for the performing arts and not. We talk a bit about why we didn’t and why others may find value in it. This is going to be a series of episodes about College and the Performing Arts. We will talk with people that went to school, we will give our thoughts on it, and more! Let us know what you want to know about College. Do you have questions?

https://www.instagram.com/theartisticpod/

www.artisticpodcast.com

This week we talk stage fright. How does it manifest? What are some examples? How can we fight it? We talk all about our experience with stage fright, talk about how people deal with it and learn a lot about what you might need to know about pursuing the arts with stage fright. Don’t let stage fright keep you from sharing your story. Stage fright impacts many of us. We all have stories to share, and a gift for our craft that is unique and important. We talk about what stage fright is, how people cope with it, the importance of working on tactics to manage stage fright, and what you can do for yourself and others that are impacted by stage fright. Let us know what your experience is with the performing arts and if you have any tips and tricks to handle stage fright! hosts@artisticpodcast.com

Links and Resources

Conquering Stage Fright | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA

Joe Kowan: How I beat stage fright

Speaking Up Without Freaking Out | Matt Abrahams | TEDxPaloAlto

Megan Washington: Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking

Art of the week!

OPIA - https://open.spotify.com/artist/70zHrrrPfBkVV44AEhFyyh

COIN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBxQDxHt1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiYtI8Qezt8

Is play to play worth it? What is pay to play? Can it be good, is it all bad? Our mom Dawn Hollis is here to tell us the truth behind pay to play and the challenging part of the entertainment industry. With years of experience as an actress and working in the entertainment field our mom is a leading expert when it comes to understanding pretty much anything about being an actor and an artist. Listen to us gab on about pay to play and other performing arts topics in this weeks episode of Artistic Beginnings

This week Jodi Moore Lewis shares her story and we talk all about becoming an actor and fighting the cliche of being a performer in Los Angeles. Jodi opens up about how she felt about becoming a performer and her goal of becoming a working actor with a learner’s mindset instead of coming out to Los Angeles to be famous. She shares about her path from trying to be an actress, to becoming an Artist! Hear how Jodi stopped trying to act the way she imagined the casting directors would want her to act, and started acting authentically and telling the true story of the characters she was portraying.

Social Links

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Other Links

• Park Acrobats - Amazon

www.artisticpodcast.com

This week we share our deepest darkest Actor’s Nightmares that cause us sleepless nights, and shed light on why we are the way we are... Join us as we talk about why we think we experience the nightmares, what we do to deal with it, and share our neurosis... We want to hear from you. Write in and share your actor’s nightmare that causes you to think about life deeply, maybe we will even share it (anonymously) on the show later on to let people know that they are not alone in having these earth shatteringly scary nightmares. We may even share our dad’s nightmares in later episodes if you all share this episode and give us a review on apple podcasts... ;) email us with your performing nightmares at hosts@artisticpodcast.com.