00;00;01;09 - 00;00;26;14
Unknown
Welcome to Film on Tape, a free audio library for creatives in film and television. My name is Misha Calvert, and I've worked as an actor, writer, director and producer for many decades. I had so many questions when I was first getting started in New York, and I just wanted fast, free answers. That is what this library is for.
00;00;26;14 - 00;00;46;06
Unknown
The work that you do as a creative. It's so important. I really hope that this library is going to help get your work out there. Film on tape is sponsored by Vermillion, a coaching and educational company for creatives. You can learn more at Club vermilion.com. We're trying something a little bit different this week and it's very exciting for me.
00;00;46;08 - 00;01;10;29
Unknown
So this is a video episode, as you can probably see if you're watching on video and we are reposting an interview that I did with Max Berry from First Kiss Theater, a couple of weeks ago. And it was a really I found it very satisfying interview about art, about productivity, about how to find your authentic voice as an artist.
00;01;11;01 - 00;01;30;09
Unknown
And Max is a friend. I love chatting with him. This is a little video intro to tell you what's going to come, and how excited I am to share space with Max and with the team. At First Kiss. They're really very exciting and fun group of people who just. They have so much joy in their hearts about performing and about creating.
00;01;30;09 - 00;02;03;05
Unknown
And if you want to know more about First Kiss Theater, you can visit their website First Kiss theater.com. They are also on Instagram and probably other social media as well, but I know them from their website and from Instagram. You should check out their upcoming performances. All right. Hello first Kiss theater company. Welcome to countdown to 2025. I'm here with filmmaker writer director Michelle Calvert and also now podcast host with the podcast Film on Tape.
00;02;03;07 - 00;02;30;11
Unknown
Misha, why don't you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself? Thank you so much, Max. It's great to be here with you. Thank you for having me. Hello. First kiss theater. It's nice to meet everybody. So I started as an actor, and that was a long time ago. I went up to theater, community theater, college, did conservatory training in New York, got out of that and was like, there's not very many roles for me in theater.
00;02;30;11 - 00;02;56;11
Unknown
And at the time it was a much more homogenous industry, and I decided I wanted to learn on camera acting, to try and open up work opportunities for myself and creative opportunities. So because I saw more people that reminded me of me on film and TV. So then I learned on camera acting. And then I got out of that self-study training and was like, well, no one's really hiring me.
00;02;56;11 - 00;03;13;29
Unknown
I mean, a few things, but nothing, you know, no real control over my career. And I was like, well, fuck this, excuse me. And so I started, writing roles that I knew that I could play and that a friend of a friend, he's like, you should meet my girlfriend. She's a producer. She would love you. And so he doesn't talk like that.
00;03;13;29 - 00;03;36;00
Unknown
But, he introduced me, and then she wanted to read. She read. She wanted to produce it. I was like, literally. What are you talking about? Like what? And she's like, yeah, let's let's do it. You pay for it and we'll go. And so I did. I paid for the first few films that I was in start and co-directed, the first one that I wrote, and then I wrote and directed the second one.
00;03;36;02 - 00;04;00;14
Unknown
And after those two shorts back to back, I was like, this is amazing. I want to do this forever. So, ever since then, I've just been all gas, no brakes, multiple projects, shooting per year, moving from short form now into feature films. I've done some episodic work as well. I've sold a couple of web series that I made, but really, I think features is where it's at.
00;04;00;14 - 00;04;22;15
Unknown
It's much easier to sell a feature film than a TV show, so I'm just trying to focus on getting this new feature produced next year, along with finishing a couple shorts and then in pre on another short right now. Awesome. So when it comes to those things, like if you're directing, writing or producing, what kind of stories are you most drawn to?
00;04;22;18 - 00;04;44;13
Unknown
Yeah, I write a lot about women and non males. I write about empowerment, journeys and confidence. I write about mental health. I write about loneliness. Lately I'm writing more and more about social issues. I mean, climate issues aren't really social issues. They're more like science based, fact based climate collapse. So I consider that, you know, pretty important.
00;04;44;15 - 00;05;10;27
Unknown
But also this new feature that I'm working on is about the evangelical church and the misogyny of Christian nationalism and how that plays out for one woman in particular. So I'm trying to address issues that matter, and I tend to go where I'm activated. So if I have a strong feeling about something, I follow the feeling whether it's angry, sad, disgusted, happy, in love, afraid, whatever.
00;05;10;29 - 00;05;43;11
Unknown
That activation is what guides me. Amazing. Now I'd love to hear more about film on tape and what actually, what led you to start that podcast? Yeah, Film on Tape is an audio library that I created specifically to give artists in film and TV info quickly. There's many times where I've wanted to ask somebody who was more senior than me a question, and I can't, like, I can DM them.
00;05;43;11 - 00;06;07;06
Unknown
They'll never see it or like pay somebody hundreds of dollars to ask them. And instead this is just a really easy way for you to go on the website when we launch, when we launch, which will be soon, and look up like a single word, like contracts or auditions or screenwriting. And then you get all the episodes that relate to that, so you can just go in and listen.
00;06;07;07 - 00;06;26;01
Unknown
Also, they're not long episodes. I mean, except for the interview ones where I interview like a casting director or a, you know, Tribeca programmer or whatever, they're usually like 10 to 20 minutes because it's so annoying. You go and you listen to like a really good podcast. You hear the answer to a question you've had for years and then you can't remember, like, was it minute 45?
00;06;26;01 - 00;06;34;18
Unknown
I don't know, I lost it. So it's a short episode. You go in, you get what you need and you get out, get on with your day.
00;06;34;20 - 00;07;00;09
Unknown
I am so excited to tell you that I'm launching a brand new slate of classes that are incredibly helpful on my website. Some of the classes include on camera acting technique and how to self produce your own film actor self-care, which is something that nobody talks about and how to write a feature film in ten days, which I'm going to teach you how I did it and how you can do it too.
00;07;00;11 - 00;07;31;28
Unknown
And believe me when I say I poured my heart into these courses. Go to Club vermillion.com. I am so excited about this website. I can't wait to work with you! That's incredible! I have had the similar frustration of trying to find the the information that's needed while they talk about their breakfast. So film on tape, it's giving, filmmaking, acting, writing advice.
00;07;32;01 - 00;08;06;24
Unknown
You also teach and do consulting. I'm curious if there is a moment where because we're all always learning, we're always kind of trying to figure out the best way to do things. And a lot of times that transition from mostly taking advice to giving a lot of advice, coming from that experience can be really exciting. I was wondering if there's a particular moment for you where, you sort of realize that that's what was happening, or if it was more of a gradual process?
00;08;06;26 - 00;08;32;26
Unknown
Yeah. So first of all, say that I had almost no mentors for most of my career. I've only had a couple. There was the man who ran my acting conservatory, the studio in New York, and then there was Kimberley Browning, who was my early filmmaking mentor. And then lately, like, there's been more, but initially that was it. I could not find mentors for the life of me.
00;08;32;29 - 00;08;59;00
Unknown
And so the ones that I had, I really they meant so much to me. And I think that partially it was because I was always very, I don't know, commanding presence. People tell me very strong in the room. And so that just didn't lend itself to people like stepping in to help me. Really. It was more like, I don't know, it was it was just a different vibe, a different energy.
00;08;59;03 - 00;09;21;15
Unknown
But then that energy started to get rewarded the older I got. And it was actually Marc Isaacman, who runs one on one. I forget how, but he became aware of me. I was a student, like I was paying for their acting seminars and one on one is great, by the way. I love what they do, but I would pay to go do their casting director workshops.
00;09;21;20 - 00;09;41;21
Unknown
Like so many of them, I spent so much money there and then somehow Marc became aware of me and I think I had just gotten into Tribeca for one of my shows, and he was like, would you want to teach a class here? And I was like, what? And he's like, yeah, would you want to teach? I really like your comedy.
00;09;41;21 - 00;10;11;10
Unknown
And, you know, you're a filmmaker. And I was like, absolutely, let's do it. So then that was the first time that I went from student to teacher in a place that I knew well. And then this year, I've also started to teach side by side with some of my mentors, which has been absolutely mind blowing. The man who ran my conservatory team taught a couple of, acting masterclasses, which and I was like, sweating so much in the first one, I was like, fuck, like so nervous of what he would think.
00;10;11;10 - 00;10;30;10
Unknown
And he was so very supportive and great. And then I, I've been since teaming up with a couple of other teachers that I've had, and it's been so humbling and special and like showing me I really do have something to say. Not that I will ever do anything that they do better. They are the masters and I defer to them on what they do.
00;10;30;12 - 00;10;58;02
Unknown
And I also bring things to the table that are unique to me. So it's really cool. Incredible. And so circling back a little bit to film on tape, I'm curious, when you first decided to start this podcast, if you had any topics in mind right away, or was it more of a process of kind of sitting down and figuring out some of the topics you wanted to to discuss?
00;10;58;04 - 00;11;19;25
Unknown
Yeah, I just took some of the most low hanging fruit that I get asked all the time by actors and classes and writers and people that I'm coaching. So I took just like the top most asked questions. And I always use the example of contracts. But I haven't done an episode on contracts yet, so I really need to do that because a lot of people ask me about contracts, but there's a lot of pressure on that because I want to get it right and my lawyer would kill me if I gave bad advice.
00;11;19;25 - 00;11;38;19
Unknown
So I had to, put the word out to my social media, my Instagram at Misha Calvert do give a follow. And I just said, do you have any questions that you want answered? Do you have something that you want to know more about? Tell me and I'll do an episode about it. And so a bunch of questions came in and I started doing episodes for them.
00;11;38;19 - 00;12;00;27
Unknown
And that offer still stands. If you have a question, just DM me and I'm happy to record an episode that will answer it well when my next questions was going to be, what's an episode that you hope to do soon? And I imagine contracts, like you said, is one, but I'd be curious if there are any more. Yes, actually I just came up with a few the other day.
00;12;00;29 - 00;12;49;02
Unknown
I want to do one called are You an artist? Short answer yes. And then another one that I really want to do that I'm excited about. I'm still building out what what's going to go into it, but is how to increase your psychic powers and your intuition, of course, through the framing of creativity and being an artist. But I have a lot of intuitive gifts, and I use them all the time in my art and in my meetings and, just getting, but, I think a lot of artists have very strong intuition, whether it's, you know, woo woo or it's something literally just our senses that we don't can explain yet.
00;12;49;05 - 00;13;13;29
Unknown
But I think helping people to become more intuitive is something I'm really interested in. We're all about that at first kiss, so I love that. I'm so excited for both of those episodes. I will for sure be listening. The last question I wanted to ask is something that we ask all of our interviewees, and that is first, because we're all we're big on finding the magic in both our art and in just everyday life.
00;13;13;29 - 00;13;25;11
Unknown
And where do you find magic in your work? And just kind of in life? That's such a beautiful question.
00;13;25;23 - 00;13;56;07
Unknown
So I'm in a somatic movement class, and the woman that teaches it, one of the ones I've teamed up with recently, she introduced me to the magic that's in the body. And what can happen when you relax and really allow your authentic self to express physically to the body and really incredible moments. Because I came in very skeptically to movement work with her and with somatic work.
00;13;56;10 - 00;14;19;22
Unknown
Somatic just means inside out, not how it looks, but how it feels. I came in very skeptical, and then I kept getting startled by what would come through my body. And then in our last class, we all did like a performance at the end. And she did a little thing. I did a little thing, and in this thing that I did, I straight up channeled from another time, another.
00;14;19;28 - 00;14;41;19
Unknown
It was like a period piece, another place, another country and another woman and the people. And I found out later, like everyone in the class, saw, that it was my life that I was talking about because it was so real. They were like, oh, I didn't know that happened to you. I'm like, no, I don't. It didn't. It was this woman from like the 1920s living in Europe talking about her long last love.
00;14;41;24 - 00;15;17;19
Unknown
So that just came. I don't even know where. And so I think we have so much access to use our bodies as a conductor, as a transistor to other dimensions, other times, other people and more and more and more, it's really important to ground because the noise is going to get exponentially louder. And if you can just be with yourself, you're going to be able to not only channel, but be grounded in a way that many other people around you can't.
00;15;17;19 - 00;15;49;07
Unknown
And they need that. They need that grounding. I love that so much. What a beautiful answer, Misha, thank you so much. Lastly, if there's anything you want to shout out yeah. Thank you. So film on tape, great free resource for actors, writers, directors, producers. I am launching a bunch of stuff on the new Vermilion site. So there's some classes, training programs for screenwriting, for acting technique.
00;15;49;09 - 00;16;11;01
Unknown
There's one called actor Self-care. There's one on creating your own films, and I try to give you everything that you need on that topic. No stone left unturned. So it's very comprehensive lessons. And then there's a how to write a feature film in ten days class as well. Because I've done that several times. It's not impossible, more achievable than you think.
00;16;11;04 - 00;16;31;26
Unknown
So those classes are coming out in December and I'm also doing one on one coaching. So there'll be a couple of specials that, you know, discounts that are announced end of year. And I feel like there was something else. Honestly, I've got so much freaking going on a couple films that I'll be casting going into the New year.
00;16;31;26 - 00;16;53;27
Unknown
And there was like, one more thing. I don't know, I'll have to tell you about it later. You can just find me on Instagram at Misha Calvary, and I usually post everything there. Awesome. Well, Misha, thank you so much. And thank you all for watching. If you haven't already, go check out the other yachts. Well, yeah. Hello.
00;16;53;28 - 00;17;13;13
Unknown
This is what I look like. If you didn't know. Go check out the other countdown to 2025. Videos and interviews. Are all of their artifacts should also be there as well? If you don't follow First Kiss theater already, which if you're here, I would think you do. But that's at first kiss theater. We will be.
00;17;13;15 - 00;17;23;25
Unknown
We got a lot of cool stuff coming in 2025, so, keep an eye out.
00;17;23;28 - 00;17;50;02
Unknown
Thank you so much for listening to film on tape. If you like the way that I approach the industry, check out our other classes, consulting and mentorship at Clipper Macomb. Vermilion is a home for artists and those looking to expand creatively. Whether you're an actor, film professional, an entrepreneur, or a CEO, we'll help you find your voice and hone your skills to thrive in any market at any scale.
00;17;50;05 - 00;18;27;24
Unknown
You can schedule a free phone consultation at Club vermilion.com.
