Author: Alexandra Boylan

Have you noticed we see the same people nominated year after year, the same faces popping up on our TV screens and on the big screen along with the same crewmembers in the rolling credits, so how does anyone break into this very select industry? I recently opened my Variety magazine to find this headline staring back at me: “Breaking Into a Crowd of Veterans.” Which got me thinking, how do you break into an industry that is already populated with veterans and a line of people around the block desperate to be let in? Hollywood has created a maze…

Editor’s Note: Alexandra Boylan recently showed me an amazing short film by a young female filmmaker.  I was so impressed by the short that I immediately wanted to profile Sarah on Ms. In The Biz.  The following is a Q + A between Alexandra and Sarah. Enjoy and check out Sarah’s film below! —————- What grade are you in? I am in 10th grade, so my sophomore year in high school. What inspired you to make this film “Departed”? I needed a short film for my T.V. Production class, and one day I was home alone and thought, well what…

This year I won the lottery! The SAG awards lottery that is-I was chosen to sit on the SAG nominating committee! I was overjoyed as you can imagine, because this is like winning the Hollywood jackpot. Imagine if every movie from this past year started flooding into your mailbox. The ballot came the other day and I tore open the envelope like a little kid tearing open a first Christmas present, excitement filling my body, as I was ready to make my choices for the all the Best Actors. I opened the pages and was completely taken aback to find…

The most important part of your budget for a film is THE POSTER! I am telling you the truth; there is no reason or excuse to skimp on a professional poster. Key Art is the calling card for your movie. It is the first thing the distribution company and your audience will see; it’s what grabs their attention. Next comes the trailer. If you hook them with a great poster, then you will get the opportunity to show your trailer, and LAST they will watch your movie. So your poster is the most important part of your film. I’ve had…

(Editor’s note: originally published on Feb 17th, 2014 – additions have been made) Are you ready for an investor’s money? So I hear you have a great idea, but you’re wondering how do I pay for that great idea? Which leads you to looking for investors to fund that amazing idea of yours. But here comes the really BIG question we have all heard a million times, “What have you done?” This question used to drive me crazy. I kept thinking I know I can execute my incredible concept if someone would just believe in me and hand me over…

“It only gets bigger not better.” My acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge used to say this all of the time pertaining to success. He would warn his students that all the issues you have, whatever they may be while your struggling, wouldn’t get better when you succeeded, they would only get bigger. While making our first feature film, we felt stressed out, but it was NOTHING compared to the stress of our second movie. Because you see our first film was only our own money, and if we lost it, no big deal. But with our second movie, we had the…

A few months ago I was walking out of an event, and in my bubbling little happy go lucky self I handed my valet ticket to the man behind the counter and smiled, “How are you tonight?” Feeling all confident, excited, and inspired by what I had just learned after hours listening to experts in the filmmaking field, I was not expecting the response on the other end. “Horrible, I hate this job.” He grumbled as he grabbed my ticket. I was taken aback, and then said in my most supportive voice “Well then why are you working here?” His…

It is completely against the grain of Hollywood to go to a small town to make a movie. Especially when that town doesn’t even have a film community. But one of the many highlights of shooting my most recent film was working with a very small community in the Chippewa Valley area of Wisconsin. We broke the rules in this area, and we succeeded because we had faith in ourselves and the people we surrounded ourselves with. Crazy to think only a few months ago I was sifting through resumes and headshots lining up the soon to be cast and…

Have you ever felt like you are trapped in a never-ending technology loop? Well if you are anything like myself then you know the feeling of drowning in your own devices. I once watched this episode of Portlandia  and thought “WOW, I guess I’m not alone in this world.” It’s been over a year since I saw this episode, and only now am I really realizing how trapped I truly have become, and how ready I am to change. But the question is how do we balance our lives with an existence that is surrounded by computers, smart phones, tablets,…

Maybe it’s my Libra side, everything must be fair and equal, but I really love to watch a project unfold with the creative perspective of both sexes. Last week I attended the BANFF Convention, where I was very disappointed to sit and listen to panel after panel of men sharing their work and opinions about what is next in the entertainment industry. There was even a representative there for Up.tv which is a woman driven channel, and guess what, a man was representing it.  I grew frustrated and fidgety in my seat, looking around a room filled with more woman…

I have been thinking a lot about the people I spend my time with lately.  And ever since this subject came into my mind, everywhere I turn I keep reading articles about the fact that we ARE who we spend the most time with.  I once read that we are the five people we surround ourselves with on a regular basis.  And I put those thoughts into my mind, and decided to do some re-evaluating on my relationships. For the past seven months of my life I have been on the road, living out of a suitcase, traveling from state…

So I hear you have a great idea, but you’re wondering how do I pay for that great idea? Which leads you to looking for investors to fund that amazing idea of yours.  But here comes the really BIG question we have all heard a million times, “What have you done?” This question used to drive me crazy.  I kept thinking I know I can execute my incredible concept if someone would just believe in me and hand me over a pile of cash to bring my vision to life.  How do you make something without money?  But now, after…

We live in a quick fix society, a one-minute video viewing world.  As the Internet has grown at massive speeds of lightning our attention span has shrunk to a minimum.  I know this from making on line content, the shorter the better because people are already on to the next thing before they even really processed the first.  I have been a victim to this mentality, and it crippled my ability to accomplish anything for a long time. Many many years ago when I was fervently racing after a career as an actress, I had so many ideas of things…

I have been referencing this app game in so many of my previous blogs, that I’m  thrilled to announce its officially launched on the App Store and I can finally share the journey with you.  Similar to my blog on how we made “Home Sweet Home.”  I’m excited to give a realistic account of the time, effort and money it took to complete this unique live action game. Our team, which consisted of four filmmakers and one programmer, spent two years completing this project.   It has been a labor of love from day one.  A couple of years ago some…