“Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” – Albert Einstein I first heard this quote by Albert Einstein in my acting class with Harry Mastrogeorge. He would use this as an example to an actor, who had never had the life experience of the character they were playing. But he encouraged us to imagine ourselves in those circumstances and promised us that with time it would become real to us through our imagination. This is a key element, in my opinion, in the actor’s journey. My practice of sitting down alone and imagining myself in the life experiences of the character were…
Author: Alexandra Boylan
Alexandra Boylan
Alexandra Boylan (Producer, Writer, Actor, Co-Founder Mustard Seed Entertainment and Mirror Tree Productions) Alexandra is an award-winning filmmaker. MirrorTree Productions, has produced numerous feature films, including "Home Sweet Home" and "At Your Own Risk". Her company Mustard Seed Entertainment's film "Catching Faith" had a two year run on Netflix and was on the shelves of Wal-Mart. Her most recent film "Wish For Christmas" sold to Pure Flix Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Alexandra’s script "Switched" was awarded the winner of the Kiaros Pro MovieGuide award for best screenplay. She is the author of "Create Your Own Career in Hollywood: Advice from a struggling actress who became a successful producer" available in Kindle and print on Amazon, and is an active member of Woman in Film Los Angeles where she served on the WIF PSA Board. Alexandra co-collaborated on the book "Thriving in Hollywood!" for msinthebiz.com
In the fall of 1999 I packed up my Toyota corolla and headed out west to follow my dreams! I was nineteen years old, full of hope and promise, determined to live a life I loved. It was worth it to me, to move three thousand miles away from everything I knew to pursue everything I wanted. By summer of 2000 I found myself homeless. Living in my car, determined not to give up, I stuck it out. It was worth it to me to be homeless and continue forth on my journey in life. This was just the beginning…
Passion is an all-consuming feeling! Passion is the driving force behind the people who will truly go on to succeed. Because it wasn’t success they were after, it was the feeding of their souls in creating their hearts desire. I meet a lot of industry people who say they want to make films because they love doing it, but then I hear a counter balance with how much money they think they will make. My dear friend and collaborator, Raquel, and I had a long conversation about this the other day. I felt compelled to take inventory of where my…
The other day I found myself in a three-hour wait at the DMV. I had visited the DMV earlier in the week, only to discover I had to take a test and didn’t have the time to do it that particular day. So now in the DMV, on this random Tuesday afternoon, I stood in the back of a crowded room filled with aggravated people constantly checking the time. I happened to be standing next to three gentlemen who struck up a conversation with me. I won’t lie, if I was to have met these men on the street at…
When I first moved to Los Angeles, many moons ago, I had a meeting with a producer at Warner Brothers. His advice to me as a young fresh off-the-boat-actress was to never do extra work or ever be seen as anything but an actor. I took his advice to heart, and went into my tunnel of going at this industry in one direction. Waiting tables- slash waiting for people to pick me to audition for their films. This man generously gave me three days as an extra on his show to obtain my SAG card and looking back at this…
After years of making content, ie: Web Series, shorts, a play, a feature film, and even now an app game, I have learned the lesson of how much time everything takes. I am a person who wants everything yesterday, and patience has never been my strong suit. Every time I begin a project, I think, “O this will only take a few months” and of course a year and a half later, the project is still in the making. I wanted to write about this because I think it is so important for people to be aware of the time…
In honor of my feature film “Home Sweet Home” releasing this month in the US from Image Entertainment, I thought it would be appropriate to share our experience making a movie in true indie style. First I must give all props to the team that made this movie, I always say “you don’t need a lot of people, you just need the right people.” “Home Sweet Home” is the perfect example of this. After my husband and business partner John KD Graham and I had finished making a web series and a bunch of short films together, we thought it…
After years of practically slamming my head against walls, trying to figure out how to “work hard enough” to succeed as an actress, a light switch went on in my head! What if I choose myself? So after pulling out of the rat race of being a struggling actress, I jumped into becoming a successful producer. I decided I wanted control over my career, and in just a few short years, the production company I formed www.mirrortreeproductions.com produced numerous short films, a 12 episode web series, and a feature film (distributed by Image Entertainment), all of which I star in. …
My feature film “Home Sweet Home” recently sold at the America Film Market to Image Entertainment. The exciting news came on the last day of the market, and now I must share how such a little indie film got bought by such a big company. Before we even took meetings with a sales rep, we had 1. A Great tittle 2. A Great Tag Line 3. A Great Poster 4. A Great Product Of course in every business endeavor timing is always key to everything. But what really sold our movie, was the marketing materials. We had everything a distribution…