WEBVTT

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Hey everybody, Matt Major from Clickstream Studios.

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Welcome to another edition of Good News York.

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This is a fun one. Joining me is this incredibly

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handsome gentleman here. My good friend, Devine

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Bay, has joined us. And if you're a follower

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of any of our other content, you might have seen

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he's been a guest on another podcast that we

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have here, but we'll talk a little more about

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that. Good morning, Devine. How are you, buddy?

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Good morning, Matt. How are you? I'm doing great.

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I'm doing great. So Devine, we asked you to come

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in and just talk a little bit about yourself

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and all that, because you're involved in so many

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different things and interesting things from

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both the business and the community side. And

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every time I have a conversation with you, you're

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just an incredibly interesting fella. What better

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guests to have here on Good News York? If you

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wouldn't mind, jump in and just tell folks a

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little bit about what it is you do today in your

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kind of day -to -day world. Sure. Thank you.

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And thank you for having me, Matt. So I do a

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few things here locally. My main course is we

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run a boutique talent management firm here called

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DeCon Consulting Group. Essentially, we help

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companies become better at hiring and attracting

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people to work in the workforce. Wow. When you

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say you help them become better, are you trying

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to, I guess, sort of train the companies even

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and how to work with culture and things that

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help keep talent? Yeah, so we're more on the

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acquisition side. Gotcha. So everything from

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looking at a company's website to see how they're

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positioning themselves in the market, right?

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Helping them become better at engaging people

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who have peak interest into their companies,

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but also helping them become better at attracting

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what we refer to as the passive candidates. Meaning

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the individuals who aren't necessarily looking

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for work, they're doing the work and they're

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doing it very well. So positioning themselves

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to be in a position to attract that type of talent.

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Wow. What, and I'm sure that you encounter a

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lot of different things that you might want to

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tweak to reach those goals, but is there a very

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common thing when you do an engagement with a

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company, kind of a first step that almost everybody

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needs to take that maybe they haven't already?

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Yeah, that's really a great question, Matt. And

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what we find oftentimes that companies, when

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they reach out and they're engaged and, hey,

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we need to fill this particular role. And we

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like to kind of take a step back, right? Because

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we look at the hiring process as a cycle, right?

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The recruiting process actually begins way before

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your attractive role. It begins with, you know,

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let's take a look at your website. Let's do an

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audit, right? What does your company tell people

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about your organization? Because ultimately,

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the question that an employer must ask is, why

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would someone want to come work with the Y? So

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we help them develop what we call an employee

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value proposition. How easy is it for an individual

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to apply for your job on your website? Where

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are the career sections buried? Is it buried

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deep in your page, or is it right front and center?

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So those are some of the things that we look

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at at the beginning of the process. That's incredible.

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Do you find that You're met with some resistance

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on that because I feel like there's a lot of

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sort of old school business mentality where it's

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like, if I got a job, you should work hard to

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find it and get it. You know, it's like I'm doing

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you a favor sort of thing to the job seeker.

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And I don't know that's necessarily the modern

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mindset anymore. Is that accurate? Yeah, I think

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that's I think there's some truth in that. And

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we do have it's part of the education process

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with our clients, you know. there was a time

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when you can place an ad in the paper and people

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would apply. But we're at a different time now.

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And so when we encounter that kind of pushback,

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we like to provide our candidates with, our clients

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rather, with some real concrete insight into

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the market and what's happening in the market.

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It's a very competitive, it's always been a competitive

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market. It's a hyper competitive market today.

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Yeah, I can imagine. Do you work with any particular

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industries, Divine, or is it a wide variety of

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types of businesses? Yeah. So just by context,

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my background is talent management, right? So

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I worked in various different verticals over

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my career. I've worked in law firms. manufacturing

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companies, hybrid. But in terms of our business

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today, we have decided, we made a decision that

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we really want to focus in areas of growth. And

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right now the growth is happening in construction

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management, in engineering. Those are the vertical

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stack that we focus in. That kind of sounds like

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a bunch of Micron jobs. Am I on to anything there

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locally? Well, you know, so Micron is not a client

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yet. Yeah. But there are so many adjacent companies

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to Micron. And there are other organizations

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that support the work that they're doing. And

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those are the companies that we find that are

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having rapid needs for growth and expansion.

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Yeah. That's incredible and encouraging, right?

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It's great to hear that those jobs are in demand

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because they're typically pretty decent wages

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and decent jobs, aren't they? For sure, for sure.

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And we focus in on more of the mid -management,

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senior -level roles. Lots of opportunity there.

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Yeah. And there is definitely demand. And what

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I would say is that what we're finding is that,

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yes, there is a there's definitely local talent,

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but there's not a critical mass of local talent

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for those particular roles here in Central New

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York. Wow, that's interesting. Now, do you work

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at all at the other side, like with the candidates,

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or are you primarily focused on setting the companies

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up? Yeah, great question. So we actually work

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with both because we see both as clients. Sure.

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We work with the clients, but we also work with

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the candidates, right? Helping them understand,

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wait, when it's time for you to interview, The

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interview process is not the time to be humble.

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That's the time to brag. And we coach them on

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how to best present their accomplishments. Don't

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read the job description to me over in your resume.

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Tell me what impact that you had in each role.

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That's what's going to sell you. I like that.

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That's great advice. That's great advice. Along

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those lines, Devine, You know, I think that was

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an incredible tip. Are there any other immediate

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things that stand out for the job seeker side?

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Just a bit of advice that almost everybody kind

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of needs to hear from you when you work with

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them. Yeah. So I would say don't become frustrated

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in the process because it is a process. And as

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much as us on the hiring side, hiring authorities,

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HR folks, hiring managers, as much as we want

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to keep the process objective, hiring remains

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a very subjective process. Sure. Your your skills

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and qualifications may get you to the table,

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but your personality is what's going to get you

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to nod. Right. So that's fair. I love that. Great

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advice and great advice. Devine, what, if you

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don't mind me asking, what brought you to this

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particular venture? It sounds like maybe you

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kind of worked in that field and then ventured

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on your own. Is that how it went? Yeah, so I

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was what's five years ago, we're five years old,

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and Decon Consulting, and actually started when

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I was still in my capacity as head of talent

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management for Syracuse. Okay. And I started

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out kind of part time doing some side consulting

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work. And once I, you know, determined that there

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was a critical massive need there, decided to

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branch out on my own. That's great. That's great.

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I love hearing those stories. What what has been

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the biggest challenge of kind of entrepreneurship

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going from that full time guaranteed paycheck

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to now working on your own? How's that been?

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Yeah, you know, so I A few times over the past

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few years, I've had an opportunity to talk with

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business school students at Whitman and talk

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to some of the MBA graduates. And I always start

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off by saying, entrepreneurship sucks, right?

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It's not for the weak of heart. Business is a

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contact sport. And the analogy that I use, Matt,

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is when you are looking to start your business,

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it's like kind of going on vacation, right? You're

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excited about it. It's a lot of enthusiasm around

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it. You get on the plane and you're thinking

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about the destination, right? Where you see yourselves.

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But what we don't anticipate is you have to take

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off and at some point you have to go through

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some clouds and go through some turbulence. Just

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like going through a plane as your business is

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going through turbulence. you have to remain

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confident because eventually you will break through

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the clouds. And that's a process to get there.

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I often talk about starting out early on, Peter

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to Rob Paul, Pay Paul, something to Rob Peter

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and Rob Paul to make things work. But the flexibility,

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the ability to get to choose who you want to

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work with as a client, all those things are really

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important. And what I would say is that um having

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um some of the best advice that i received in

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starting up was this um choose your business

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partners wisely that's phenomenal advice yes

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i've learned that lesson the hard way in the

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past that's great uh divine you are just absolutely

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incredible uh in And so, if you wouldn't mind,

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tell us a little bit. You've got a couple of

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other things going on around town as well, right?

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Yeah, yeah. So, in addition, my wife and I, we're

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actually business partners in a different venture.

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We own a short -term rental business. And it's

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interesting because our initial goal wasn't to

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get into the short -term rental business, but

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we decided that there was an opportunity in the

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market, especially where our property was located.

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And the thing that we realized in that Throughout

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that process was, um, we couldn't go into that

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with a landlord mindset. We had to go into that

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business as being a host and hospitality business

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because what we are providing is an experience.

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We're providing an experience for our customers

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who come and to our space. So we want to make

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it feel like home. So, um, we were very clear

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at the beginning. We know what we don't know.

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and we know what we don't know, but we're smart

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and we'll figure things out along the way. And

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I'm smart enough to know that, you know what,

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in order for this space to be optimized, I need

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to get out of the way and allow. and let my wife

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do what she does best to create that internal

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experience. And so that's been really good. In

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addition, I own a kitchen cabinet dealership

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business as well, and it's called Kitchen Cabinets

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Plus. And so we primarily work with a lot of

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the local nonprofit community development organizations,

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and they're building a lot of the homes throughout

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the Central New York area. That's pretty neat.

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If you don't mind me asking, How do you get into

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the cabinet business on top of these other kind

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of different businesses? pure serendipity. We

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actually, as we were going through the process

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of remodeling the rental property, we gutted

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it out and we needed to source various materials,

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including the kitchen cabinets. And I was out

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of town and I came across this cabinet manufacturer

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and he said, hey, you seem like a really personable

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guy. We're looking to establish a presence in

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the central New York market. Would you be interested

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in being a kitchen cabinet dealer? And I'm like,

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no, I never really thought about that. But I

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gave it some thought and kind of vetted it with

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a few people that I know locally. And that's

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what landed us into this space. Wow. That's pretty

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neat. That's really neat, actually. Devine, I

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got to ask you about one other thing. And hopefully

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it's not a sore subject. I don't think it is.

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You're good friends with our good friend next

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door, Arthur, there at Ward's printing. And he

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was telling me a story about you and he in your

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younger days. Yes. Selling some clothing or something

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like that. Right. Can you tell me a little bit

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about that? Yes. So Art and I actually met up

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when I graduated from LeMoyne College. And we

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both worked for the same employer and for a local

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insurance company. And so just to put some context

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behind that, I mean, so this is 1991. We're in

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the middle of a recession. Right. And I was a

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new I have a newly formed family, my wife and

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a young son. And I was only making twenty thousand

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seven hundred dollars. Wow. Right. And there

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was no way I would be able to support my family.

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Sure. And so. While I was in college at LeMoyne

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College, I would always go down to New York City.

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I'm from New York City originally. I would go

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to New York City. I'd buy a bunch of t -shirts

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that were popular at the time. I'd bring them

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back and I'd sell them and I'd turn it over.

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That led to me getting introduced to someone

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in New York City who made custom shirts. He became

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my exclusive vendor that I'd buy shirts from.

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Eventually he said, hey, you know what? Let me

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show you how to do this. rather than coming down

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to do it with me. And I was very appreciative

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of that. And in the process of him showing us

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how to go through the process, I started coming

00:14:23.590 --> 00:14:26.649
up with this idea. And we had a couple of ideas,

00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:28.950
and I didn't have a lot of money. Art had more

00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:34.070
money than I did at that time. And so I had the

00:14:34.070 --> 00:14:36.830
idea, he had the money, and we decided to form

00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:40.009
this business. And the name of the company was

00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:45.480
called Divine Art. Nice. And we would, every

00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:47.700
weekend, we'd get our shirts printed here, come

00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.139
up with our designs. We developed a relationship

00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:53.080
with a local printer. And we would go down to

00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:55.200
New York City, Philadelphia, all throughout New

00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:59.240
York State and sell our products. And one year,

00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:03.269
well, one summer, we actually saw one of our

00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:06.929
designs on MTV. Really? Yes. That's incredible.

00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:11.850
But it was a great experience. I loved the engagement

00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:14.509
with the customers and just being able to create

00:15:14.509 --> 00:15:16.649
something that people appreciated. So yeah, that

00:15:16.649 --> 00:15:19.769
was our start. That's such a neat thing. I just

00:15:19.769 --> 00:15:23.350
love hearing those stories of young entrepreneurship

00:15:23.350 --> 00:15:25.570
and just hustling and figuring something out

00:15:25.570 --> 00:15:28.909
and doing it. That's so cool. Can I add something

00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:32.889
to that? Sure. And this is something that I would

00:15:32.889 --> 00:15:35.549
say for entrepreneurship. I think it's really

00:15:35.549 --> 00:15:39.529
important that at some point, you have to turn

00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:43.570
off the noise around you. Even people who care

00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:45.809
and love you may not always understand your journey.

00:15:48.110 --> 00:15:51.769
So when I started the T -shirt business, as I

00:15:51.769 --> 00:15:56.250
mentioned, young family, we weren't making tons

00:15:56.250 --> 00:16:01.440
of money, but we were doing okay. But I listened

00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:05.379
to the noise around me. Hey When are you gonna

00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:07.419
get a real job sure you're gonna do anything

00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:10.080
now? Ironically some of the people that we were

00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:13.580
on that circuit with they've gone on FUBU Yeah,

00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:16.440
they gonna have very various careers and I just

00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.039
wondered what would have happened had I had we

00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.899
turned off the noise and Had pursued that where

00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.779
we would have been with that entity. Yeah particular

00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:28.700
to time. That's that's interesting And always

00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:30.159
something to think about, because you hear that

00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.080
all the time. Especially people that don't do

00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:34.600
those things will be the first to tell you, oh,

00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:39.120
that'll never work. And I think that's phenomenal

00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.779
advice. You still got some of those divine art

00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:46.539
designs anywhere? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. You

00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:48.720
fellas should, I don't know. I feel like things

00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:51.500
that were popular in the 90s are trendy again.

00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:53.580
There might be something there. I don't know.

00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:57.899
I'm just saying. Yes, yes. We are discussing

00:16:57.899 --> 00:17:00.299
that every week. That's awesome. I love to hear

00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:04.380
that. Oh man, Devine, you are, like I said, it's

00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:06.779
just incredible and this is why I was so excited

00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:09.839
to have this conversation because such phenomenal

00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:14.700
advice and experience that you've had. You also

00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:16.720
do a little bit of work in the community, right?

00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:19.940
That's not even necessarily a business -centered

00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:22.019
activity, right? Can you talk a little bit about

00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:24.200
that? Sure, sure. So I'm involved in a few different

00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:28.019
organizations. I am a board member of ACR Health,

00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.460
which is a Syracuse based organization here.

00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:34.660
I'm a member of an organization called 100 Black

00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:37.480
Men, which is a mentorship organization here.

00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:40.720
And I also belong to a couple of local fraternities

00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.559
in the market as well. That's incredible. And

00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:46.299
my spouse, my wife is actually, so we're both

00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:51.160
foodies. She's actually she teaches she's a faculty

00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:53.500
member. She teaches culinary arts. Oh, wow, but

00:17:53.500 --> 00:18:03.079
we travel lucky you But no we we are She is in

00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:05.519
the process now kind of thinking about how does

00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.359
she begin to extend that education to underserved

00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:10.900
populations? Wow community as well. That's neat

00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:13.519
So you mentioned a little bit doing a little

00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:15.960
travel what? What are some of the destinations

00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:17.700
you like to go to to experience some of this

00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:23.069
different food? Yeah, so, you know, we travel

00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:27.369
frequently to South America, South America, Panama.

00:18:28.569 --> 00:18:32.549
We've been to St. Kitts and Navis. We have been

00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:35.210
to various islands. My wife has actually been

00:18:35.210 --> 00:18:37.349
across the pond. I haven't been there yet. She's

00:18:37.349 --> 00:18:39.750
been to France. She's taken a few courses over

00:18:39.750 --> 00:18:47.559
there in Paris. I like, me personally, I love

00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:55.819
Caribbean food. I love Mexican food. I love food.

00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.980
I love food. What's your go -to Caribbean meal?

00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:04.539
I would say jerk chicken. I like a little spice.

00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:11.400
I love that. That's so cool, man. Traveling the

00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.140
world, I think, and experiencing. That's something

00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:15.619
that so many folks don't do. You go to Europe

00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:18.740
and eat at the McDonald's or something. It seems

00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:23.579
silly. But just having those experiences. Because

00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:26.720
food is so tied to culture as well. You kind

00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:30.339
of get the history lesson along with the taste.

00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:34.180
It's a really good point. Growing up in New York

00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:37.730
City, I grew up in Harlem. And during the time

00:19:37.730 --> 00:19:41.369
when I grew up in Harlem in the early 80s, there

00:19:41.369 --> 00:19:44.690
was an influx of immigrants coming from Western

00:19:44.690 --> 00:19:49.630
Africa into Harlem. So what happened was I got

00:19:49.630 --> 00:19:52.849
exposed to some of the cuisine. What I started

00:19:52.849 --> 00:19:57.869
to realize was that the universal nature of cuisine.

00:19:58.190 --> 00:20:02.730
So there's a real popular dish in Nigerian Senegalese

00:20:02.730 --> 00:20:05.730
culture called jollof rice, which is basically

00:20:05.730 --> 00:20:11.130
a tomato -based rice. My maternal side of the

00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:13.690
family are from Charleston, South Carolina, Gullah

00:20:13.690 --> 00:20:16.890
Islands. I grew up eating a dish called red rice,

00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:20.390
which is a tomato -based rice. And once you begin

00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:22.549
to understand the history of the trans -Atlantic

00:20:22.549 --> 00:20:25.640
slave trade, Jollof rice became peas and rice

00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:28.619
became red rice became jambalaya and you see

00:20:28.619 --> 00:20:31.480
that the continuity in a connection with food

00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:35.240
conversely Being in the recruiting space you

00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:37.759
meet people from various walks of life and what

00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.839
I have found is that food is a way for me to

00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.059
When I understand where people are from I know

00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:46.900
some of the foods from those areas and that allows

00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:49.380
the relationship to form Yeah, and it's a great

00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:53.319
a way to kind of experience different cultures.

00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:56.019
But traveling really just opens up your aperture.

00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.279
And what you realize, what I realized in my travels

00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:04.680
is that people are people wherever you go. There

00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.019
are prototypes, they may speak different languages,

00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.700
they may dress differently, but people are people

00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:12.380
kind of wherever you go. And it's really phenomenal

00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:14.839
just opening up the aperture and traveling and

00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:16.720
seeing the world and experiencing, and getting

00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.339
different perspectives in the world as well.

00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:24.950
That's absolutely incredible. Great that you

00:21:24.950 --> 00:21:28.609
can do that and experience that. And it sounds

00:21:28.609 --> 00:21:30.710
like you've got an incredibly talented wife who

00:21:30.710 --> 00:21:32.230
can even recreate some of those things when you

00:21:32.230 --> 00:21:35.730
get back home too, right? That's the part that

00:21:35.730 --> 00:21:37.430
I couldn't do. Oh man, this tastes great. I could

00:21:37.430 --> 00:21:40.910
never do it again. So I have to travel. That's

00:21:40.910 --> 00:21:43.910
great, man. And locally Syracuse has an emerging

00:21:43.910 --> 00:21:46.009
food scene that's emerging, that's growing. And

00:21:46.009 --> 00:21:49.450
I'm really happy to see that. You know, there's

00:21:49.450 --> 00:21:52.690
so much new variety that's coming into town and

00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:56.630
I think that's going to be good for our local

00:21:56.630 --> 00:21:59.390
folks here locally. A hundred percent. Having

00:21:59.390 --> 00:22:01.490
those options. You know, when I was a kid, I

00:22:01.490 --> 00:22:04.009
grew up in a tiny small town and your options

00:22:04.009 --> 00:22:08.470
were Italian or Chinese. That was as cultural

00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:12.930
as we got, unfortunately. But even a lot of these

00:22:12.930 --> 00:22:14.410
small towns and things are evolving. And you're

00:22:14.410 --> 00:22:16.109
seeing all kinds of different and new foods.

00:22:16.170 --> 00:22:20.109
And I love, I love seeing that. My wife is from

00:22:20.109 --> 00:22:24.470
Queens. And, you know, first time I'm very, yeah,

00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:27.250
the first time I visited her family, we're getting

00:22:27.250 --> 00:22:30.119
all kinds of different things that like This

00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:32.579
is what you guys need on a regular basis. I don't

00:22:32.579 --> 00:22:34.460
I don't know that my parents have ever even had

00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:38.680
these things. You know, so it's it's great to

00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:41.279
see. Nice to know there's more options, you know.

00:22:42.819 --> 00:22:44.640
Divine, I don't want to take up too much more

00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.819
of your time and let you get back to the massive

00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:49.279
list of things that we just talked about that

00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:52.039
you got going on. But we should take a minute

00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:54.160
and just tell folks where they can find more

00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.299
information about this. So you got some some

00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:58.119
websites, some social media, things like that

00:22:58.119 --> 00:22:59.900
that we should share. Sure, sure, absolutely.

00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:05.140
For the HR consulting, that website is Decon

00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:10.160
Consulting Group. Or actually, the website is

00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:15.440
Decon Group, D -K -O -N group .com. Gotcha. For

00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:18.539
the kitchen business, that's kitchencabinets

00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:23.819
.plus. kitchencabinets .plus. And feel free to

00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:26.880
reach out to me on LinkedIn, Divine Bay, D -A

00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.859
-V -I -N -E -B -E -Y, and I'm on LinkedIn. That's

00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:31.799
awesome. And the last thing I'll say, Devine,

00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.779
is who would you like to hear from most? So in

00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:38.059
all these conversations, are you very much looking

00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:40.180
for candidates for particular things? Are you

00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:43.339
looking for more organizations that want to place

00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:45.700
candidates? You're looking for homeowners with

00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:48.359
kitchens? You know, what's the, just the folks

00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:51.980
to know who should contact? Yes. From an HR standpoint,

00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:55.759
we're really looking at, I'd love to hear from

00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:00.240
local employers. who are having a difficult time

00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.640
filling critical roles. I'd also love to hear

00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.880
from local talent, specifically folks who may

00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:10.700
be in the construction fields, project managers,

00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:15.240
superintendents, and engineers. From the kitchen

00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:19.500
cabinet standpoint, local developers who are

00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:21.640
looking to build multi -unit properties would

00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.579
be ideal for that as well. Gotcha. That's awesome.

00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:28.710
Divine Bay. We could talk for days and we definitely

00:24:28.710 --> 00:24:32.549
will. So as you know, we're massively expanding.

00:24:32.789 --> 00:24:34.470
These are a couple of the last few episodes we'll

00:24:34.470 --> 00:24:37.470
actually be doing from this facility. So we'll

00:24:37.470 --> 00:24:38.829
definitely have you in for our grand opening

00:24:38.829 --> 00:24:41.109
and then have you back on Good News York on a

00:24:41.109 --> 00:24:43.809
regular basis as well. So anytime you got something

00:24:43.809 --> 00:24:48.069
new or interesting or just in general, you want

00:24:48.069 --> 00:24:49.630
to talk some more, we'll have you back anytime,

00:24:49.710 --> 00:24:51.569
my friends. This has been great. Thank you so

00:24:51.569 --> 00:24:53.589
much, Matt. Appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.

00:24:54.349 --> 00:24:58.730
That was an incredibly jam -packed interview.

00:24:58.890 --> 00:25:01.470
I really appreciate Divine for joining us. Tomorrow's

00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:04.490
Micron Day. Yes. We are groundbreaking. The Good

00:25:04.490 --> 00:25:07.349
News York team will be there covering it all.

00:25:07.990 --> 00:25:09.910
I don't want to promise live in case Verizon

00:25:09.910 --> 00:25:13.509
goes out, but we will be covering it all in great

00:25:13.509 --> 00:25:17.069
detail and very excited to see that project kick

00:25:17.069 --> 00:25:19.089
off and celebrate all the great things that are

00:25:19.089 --> 00:25:21.250
happening here in New York State. So with that...

00:25:21.819 --> 00:25:23.940
Check out our friends at ads on the go. Get ads

00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:27.680
on the go .com. Our buddy Zach will be more than

00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:34.019
happy to hear from you. Peace out. Hello and

00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:36.759
welcome to good news York sponsored by ads on

00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:39.680
the go get ads on the go calm I am your host

00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:42.460
Mike Brindisi You can follow me on all socials

00:25:42.460 --> 00:25:45.140
at Mike B TV and you can follow us at good news

00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:48.220
York good news York calm I've already spoke to

00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:50.359
my special guest for probably a good half an

00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:52.259
hour before we even got on the air We should

00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:54.660
have just mic'd that as our interview. This is

00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:57.339
a very special guest An L .A.-based actor and

00:25:57.339 --> 00:25:59.940
voiceover artist with over a decade of experience

00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:02.160
working with top networks, producers, and recording

00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:05.039
studios in the industry, including Disney, Hulu,

00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:07.779
FX, Nickelodeon, E! Entertainment, Sundance TV,

00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.099
PBS Kids, Crest, Hershey's, Rockstar Games, and

00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:12.720
more, a native New Yorker from Syracuse, New

00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.960
York, give it up for Jamie Sarah Lewis. And thank

00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:17.779
you for clapping. I'm going to clap for myself.

00:26:17.779 --> 00:26:20.839
You should. Why not? Because I do this, so whenever

00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:23.140
we have a guest, I like to, you know, yay. and

00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:26.180
it sounds so sad because it's one clap so I think

00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:27.819
maybe if the guests start clapping for themselves

00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:29.480
it'll feel like we need to do yeah we need more

00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:31.440
of a smattering of applause you know what I mean

00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.279
it's like a pat on the back absolutely Jamie

00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:37.740
I want to get right into it um just such an impressive

00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:42.359
resume and career um I want to get into your

00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:44.519
background and I know it's pretty extensive you

00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.779
have done work uh as an actor but also uh as

00:26:47.779 --> 00:26:51.519
a voice actor some acting classes, which we're

00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:57.539
going to get into. kind of started for you. Yeah,

00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:00.279
you know, gosh, I feel like it's so there's so

00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:04.359
much right there is I know, I was 16 when I started

00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:07.400
interning in radio in Syracuse, New York. And

00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:09.420
you know, I started off by doing like food runs

00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:11.700
and things like that board hopping Howard Stern

00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:15.920
show. And I came across this wonderful voiceover

00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.559
artist who still is like the voice God his name

00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.099
is Howard Parker. And he was doing production

00:27:21.099 --> 00:27:24.200
and radio. And he got me in front of a mic. And

00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:25.880
he's like, why don't we just play with your voice

00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:28.220
a little bit. And it's something that I never

00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:31.460
even thought about doing. But I started doing

00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.140
voiceovers for different companies. He got me

00:27:34.140 --> 00:27:36.559
my first one. And I just watched him and trained

00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:40.720
with him. And then I became a DJ. And I did a

00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:43.059
lot of local theater here. And then I was just

00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:46.950
like, all right, acting is... Was in my bones,

00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:49.430
you know, I had the bug so I was like, alright,

00:27:49.509 --> 00:27:51.470
let me go to New York City Let me go to New York

00:27:51.470 --> 00:27:54.690
City, which I did without knowing What the heck

00:27:54.690 --> 00:27:57.150
did you you know, I don't come from an entertainment

00:27:57.150 --> 00:28:00.819
background. So I had absolutely no roadmap It

00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:02.640
was like, when I think about it now, I'm like,

00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.200
wow. People don't understand that before Google,

00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:10.059
there was really no roadmap. And a lot of actors

00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:13.039
and people in the entertainment industry would

00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.369
have to just kind of create their own map. You

00:28:16.369 --> 00:28:19.029
know, there's no set way to do it. There isn't.

00:28:19.509 --> 00:28:23.549
And even also to know how to audition and to

00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:26.349
prepare for an audition and knowing that you

00:28:26.349 --> 00:28:28.410
you have the fearlessness, you love performing,

00:28:28.410 --> 00:28:30.670
but it's like, OK, how do I walk in the room

00:28:30.670 --> 00:28:32.349
and how do I get rid of the nerves and how do

00:28:32.349 --> 00:28:35.589
I prepare to, you know, stand out and also have

00:28:35.589 --> 00:28:38.230
the confidence of knowing who you are and what

00:28:38.230 --> 00:28:41.900
you can bring to the table? But. I found my way.

00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:44.960
I went to conservatory, which is it's a it's

00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:47.380
a two year, very strict acting school in New

00:28:47.380 --> 00:28:51.839
York. And when I left conservatory, I started

00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:54.099
auditioning for film and television and theater.

00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:57.799
And I played with all the things. And then. I

00:28:57.799 --> 00:28:59.460
think you and I were talking about this beforehand.

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.519
I really resisted voice work because I was like,

00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:05.819
oh, I'm going to do more on camera stuff. I want

00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:08.400
to play around and whatever. But I just kept

00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:13.440
booking voice work. And then I feel very lucky

00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:17.380
in what I do. But I'm telling you right now,

00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.039
so much training, so much training. I paid so

00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.769
much money for it. Lots of training in New York

00:29:23.769 --> 00:29:28.829
in LA, but yeah. Yeah, I It's really impressive

00:29:28.829 --> 00:29:31.170
that you know, you you're not only doing the

00:29:31.170 --> 00:29:34.190
acting, you know on on camera But with the voiceover

00:29:34.190 --> 00:29:35.930
work and you know people don't understand you

00:29:35.930 --> 00:29:38.609
hear training and some people might go Well,

00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:40.210
you know, you turn the mic on. You just do a

00:29:40.210 --> 00:29:42.009
different voice. There's so much more to that,

00:29:42.089 --> 00:29:44.990
isn't there? There is so many elements to voice

00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:48.049
acting. When somebody gets a microphone in their

00:29:48.049 --> 00:29:50.809
face, they tend to just start announcing. They

00:29:50.809 --> 00:29:53.029
feel like they got to talk like this. And it's

00:29:53.029 --> 00:29:55.329
actually the exact opposite, especially right

00:29:55.329 --> 00:29:57.569
now. The trends are so very natural. When you

00:29:57.569 --> 00:29:59.470
think about the TikToks and the influencers that

00:29:59.470 --> 00:30:01.490
are out there, everything's kind of like... Hey,

00:30:01.710 --> 00:30:05.089
guys, it's me in front of whatever they're doing.

00:30:06.049 --> 00:30:08.269
There's mic technique. There's certain distances

00:30:08.269 --> 00:30:12.190
you have to keep from a mic. There are levels

00:30:12.190 --> 00:30:14.009
that you play with on your audio mixing board.

00:30:14.430 --> 00:30:17.549
But yes, the bones are acting. And I always say

00:30:17.549 --> 00:30:21.509
a microphone is like a camera. It picks everything

00:30:21.509 --> 00:30:25.509
up. And with acting, for the camera, everything

00:30:25.509 --> 00:30:29.569
is behind the eyes. And if you need to have those

00:30:29.569 --> 00:30:32.269
thoughts and you you need to feel those thoughts

00:30:32.269 --> 00:30:35.269
in order for it to really, to hit its target.

00:30:35.410 --> 00:30:39.390
Same thing with microphones. The roots are acting

00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:44.470
and being completely believable. And when I'm,

00:30:44.650 --> 00:30:47.029
I train a lot of people, I coach people globally

00:30:47.029 --> 00:30:51.410
all over the world about acting, but also particularly

00:30:51.410 --> 00:30:54.509
in voice acting. And I always say, it's like,

00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:57.299
We know when you're reading and we know when

00:30:57.299 --> 00:30:59.680
you're actually living in the moment truthfully.

00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:02.720
A hundred percent. I remember, you know, in some

00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.059
of the acting experience I have, I remember hearing

00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:09.220
the term like, you know, we want to be able to

00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:12.579
smile with your eyes. And I always thought that

00:31:12.579 --> 00:31:16.400
was BS until I had to try to smile with my eyes.

00:31:17.059 --> 00:31:20.539
Smiles. Yeah. And that's a good example of like

00:31:20.539 --> 00:31:22.859
the kind of Things you learn in training and

00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:25.680
why it's so so important and you are doing some

00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:28.400
acting classes again We will get into that. Do

00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:30.559
you find we were talking about how you know as

00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.759
a performer? People don't understand that when

00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:36.940
you're not performing it just it it is excruciating

00:31:36.940 --> 00:31:39.359
and it's not because you need to hear good job

00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:43.619
it's because it's it's you just you want to Perform

00:31:43.619 --> 00:31:47.309
you want to get you do and so Do you find that

00:31:47.309 --> 00:31:49.750
it does it scratch the same itch? Does the voiceover

00:31:49.750 --> 00:31:52.269
work scratch the same itch that that did you

00:31:52.269 --> 00:31:55.170
have for for on -camera acting work? That's a

00:31:55.170 --> 00:31:59.690
really good question. Yes, it does. And no, it

00:31:59.690 --> 00:32:01.470
depends on the character and who you're doing.

00:32:01.609 --> 00:32:03.509
You know, there's a lot of work that I do that

00:32:03.509 --> 00:32:07.210
is just very straightforward corporate self medical

00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:08.910
stuff that's just that, you know, they're looking

00:32:08.910 --> 00:32:11.930
for a voice to, you know, captivate and whatever.

00:32:12.369 --> 00:32:14.289
But then when I do a different character, when

00:32:14.289 --> 00:32:16.809
I do animation, I mean, that's what feeds me.

00:32:17.109 --> 00:32:22.450
I love being on stage. Yeah. I think that that

00:32:22.450 --> 00:32:24.690
actually gives you the adrenaline that nothing

00:32:24.690 --> 00:32:30.339
else does. I agree. I don't know why. And it's

00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:31.660
not even like what you were saying, like it's

00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:34.619
not because all eyes are on me. It's just maybe

00:32:34.619 --> 00:32:36.779
it's more of a connection thing, connecting.

00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:38.640
You know how like when you, I mean, I work out

00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:40.420
a lot. So it's like when I'm at the gym or I'm

00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:42.500
in a yoga class, like I want to be with people.

00:32:42.539 --> 00:32:43.680
Like I don't want to work out alone. I want to

00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:45.660
work out with people. It's the connection. You

00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:50.150
know, that's such a great perspective. Personally,

00:32:50.710 --> 00:32:55.730
I think what it is is in, when you do radio or

00:32:55.730 --> 00:32:59.309
voiceover work or you do film, there's not that

00:32:59.309 --> 00:33:01.630
immediate feedback or that immediate connection.

00:33:02.130 --> 00:33:05.170
You gotta wait till the film premieres or maybe

00:33:05.170 --> 00:33:06.529
someone stops you and says, hey, I was listening

00:33:06.529 --> 00:33:09.029
to that show or I heard your voice. When you're

00:33:09.029 --> 00:33:13.950
live or just in front of a crowd. You get to

00:33:13.950 --> 00:33:15.789
see and feel that connection that you make with

00:33:15.789 --> 00:33:17.089
people, whether you're making them laugh, whether

00:33:17.089 --> 00:33:19.029
you're making them cry. And I think, I mean,

00:33:19.509 --> 00:33:21.930
I could be wrong, but that's... No, you're absolutely

00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:23.809
right. And you've been on stage, so you know.

00:33:24.130 --> 00:33:26.430
Yeah. I will say a quick little story. Please.

00:33:26.430 --> 00:33:30.009
When I was working in local radio here, I worked

00:33:30.009 --> 00:33:33.690
for a rock station. And I mean, 90s rock was...

00:33:33.690 --> 00:33:36.910
Yes. It's still my juice. You want to do a whole

00:33:36.910 --> 00:33:40.269
episode on that? We can. Yeah, we can. Well,

00:33:40.269 --> 00:33:42.970
you know the band live. Of course I do. I just

00:33:42.970 --> 00:33:45.930
saw them. Me too. My buddy was their touring

00:33:45.930 --> 00:33:48.369
drummer for a little bit, so I got to go backstage

00:33:48.369 --> 00:33:50.250
and meet them, actually. They're phenomenal.

00:33:50.369 --> 00:33:52.289
They're really cool, and this is kind of part

00:33:52.289 --> 00:33:55.490
of my story. So I was working in radio, and at

00:33:55.490 --> 00:33:58.750
the time, it was probably the late 90s, early

00:33:58.750 --> 00:34:02.430
2000s. And I got to go backstage and meet the

00:34:02.430 --> 00:34:04.630
band, and I remember I was talking to Chad Gracie,

00:34:04.750 --> 00:34:08.099
who I... because there was their drummer. But

00:34:08.099 --> 00:34:10.500
I was like, hey, do you guys have any like front

00:34:10.500 --> 00:34:12.179
row tickets? Because I didn't have any front

00:34:12.179 --> 00:34:13.579
rows. I was kind of the back is one of those

00:34:13.579 --> 00:34:15.440
things. And he's like, why don't you just hang

00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:18.179
out on stage while we perform side stage? So

00:34:18.179 --> 00:34:21.480
I hung out side stage while they performed. And,

00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:23.619
you know, I've done a lot of theater, but there

00:34:23.619 --> 00:34:26.219
is nothing like feeling that energy with those

00:34:26.219 --> 00:34:28.820
guys feel every single day. It was like one of

00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:30.860
those moments. I was like, wow. These rock stars

00:34:30.860 --> 00:34:33.320
feel that energy and it's also all that love

00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:37.159
like they're fans, right? So I mean There's a

00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:39.659
small percentage of people like obviously like

00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:41.179
the Taylor Swift's and all those other people

00:34:41.179 --> 00:34:45.019
Sure that feel that love and energy. It's incredible.

00:34:45.059 --> 00:34:47.420
I I don't even and like like you were saying

00:34:47.420 --> 00:34:49.579
it's not a validation It's not that we need attention.

00:34:49.860 --> 00:34:55.260
It's just like an energy Yes, it's it's an energy

00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:58.559
and it's like it sounds so corny, but it's because

00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:03.300
you're all in one room, experiencing one thing

00:35:03.300 --> 00:35:05.639
together. And when you're up there with your

00:35:05.639 --> 00:35:08.360
band, you're experiencing it as a band. But even

00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:12.099
as a fan, it's just like, you're all together

00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:14.920
on one night, singing these songs. And it's just,

00:35:15.420 --> 00:35:17.239
especially nowadays I have more of an appreciation

00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:19.900
for that because we've moved away from in -person

00:35:19.900 --> 00:35:22.000
more and everything's on these things, you know?

00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:27.250
So it's so special. Do you have a preference

00:35:27.250 --> 00:35:29.849
over, do you find that now, I know you like to

00:35:29.849 --> 00:35:31.210
follow the work, we talked about that, which

00:35:31.210 --> 00:35:36.050
I love, but do you find that you enjoy the camera

00:35:36.050 --> 00:35:38.510
work, a film work more than voiceover, or is

00:35:38.510 --> 00:35:40.889
it kind of a watch, you like both? I like both,

00:35:41.050 --> 00:35:45.070
I mean, well, I love obviously my voiceover work,

00:35:45.230 --> 00:35:47.250
right? I would never like poo on that stuff,

00:35:47.269 --> 00:35:50.409
because I love it, but the thing, the main...

00:35:50.409 --> 00:35:52.650
reason that I got what we were just talking about

00:35:52.650 --> 00:35:55.050
connection got into acting is because I do love

00:35:55.050 --> 00:35:57.650
connecting with another actor right there it

00:35:57.650 --> 00:35:59.710
is being in the moment I said there's this whole

00:35:59.710 --> 00:36:01.610
set you know living truthfully in the moment

00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:05.190
which I talked about before yeah under imaginary

00:36:05.190 --> 00:36:07.630
circumstances so right so you're doing a scene

00:36:07.630 --> 00:36:09.590
and you're connecting with another actor and

00:36:09.590 --> 00:36:12.750
you guys are playing the scene there is nothing

00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:14.670
more special than actually being in the room

00:36:14.670 --> 00:36:18.039
with another actor and That's how I feel about

00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:20.139
even these acting classes. Like I teach virtually

00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:24.559
a lot, but I love connecting with humans. I love

00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:26.559
connecting with people. So I do think that being

00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:30.539
on stage and being on film or television is a

00:36:30.539 --> 00:36:33.719
special thing because, and you know, acting too,

00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:37.269
the big thing about acting is, you know, I tell

00:36:37.269 --> 00:36:39.369
this to a lot of the people that I teach, you

00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:41.969
know, it's not just spewing out your lines. It's

00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:44.510
actually becoming a really good listener. You

00:36:44.510 --> 00:36:46.150
know, if you were and I are doing a scene and

00:36:46.150 --> 00:36:48.449
you said something, I'm watching and listening

00:36:48.449 --> 00:36:51.309
and reacting to you. You know, it's not me knowing

00:36:51.309 --> 00:36:53.369
my lines and how I'm gonna say it. No, I actually

00:36:53.369 --> 00:36:56.190
shouldn't know how I'm going to say it. I should

00:36:56.190 --> 00:36:59.550
know how I'm feeling, but listening to you and

00:36:59.550 --> 00:37:01.869
then reacting, whatever, you know. It's funny

00:37:01.869 --> 00:37:03.630
you say that. That's something I learned along

00:37:03.630 --> 00:37:07.000
the way too is that took an acting class when

00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:09.860
I went back to college and I had already had

00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:13.719
some some acting experience professionally, but

00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:15.360
obviously doesn't matter how much experience

00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:18.300
you have you can always learn and So on the first

00:37:18.300 --> 00:37:20.320
day the professor was like so like what he wanted

00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.619
to go around and ask what each actor? What they

00:37:23.619 --> 00:37:25.840
wanted to get out of the class and I kind of

00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:29.019
said that same thing which is I want to learn

00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:32.539
What to do when I'm not speaking I want to learn

00:37:33.019 --> 00:37:37.260
I want to learn how to create space between lines

00:37:37.260 --> 00:37:42.699
and how to react better. There's just something

00:37:42.699 --> 00:37:46.659
to be said about listening and not. Yeah. You

00:37:46.659 --> 00:37:49.719
know, speaking and there's just a lot to learn.

00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:51.940
There is a lot to learn. And that's part of like,

00:37:51.940 --> 00:37:53.980
you know, I do a lot of one on one coaching,

00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:55.920
especially for a lot of kids in the area who

00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:58.519
are looking to book their their high school plays.

00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:02.639
Right. And they they come in and they do the

00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:04.659
monologue for me. And I always create a very

00:38:04.659 --> 00:38:07.199
safe environment for them, supportive and safe.

00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:10.489
But I talk about. Before you know what to do,

00:38:10.530 --> 00:38:12.670
what I like to do is choreograph the monologue

00:38:12.670 --> 00:38:14.690
a little bit for them to help them get into their

00:38:14.690 --> 00:38:17.929
bodies. Because say that you're right now listening

00:38:17.929 --> 00:38:20.210
to me, you're not thinking about how you're reacting,

00:38:20.369 --> 00:38:22.250
right? You're just kind of having a neutral face.

00:38:22.289 --> 00:38:25.159
Now I'm putting it on you. Well, not now. Now

00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:30.179
I'm thinking about how I look. Well, like, I,

00:38:30.179 --> 00:38:32.219
you know, I listened to the podcast, Smartless,

00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:34.980
and not that I should talk about another podcast

00:38:34.980 --> 00:38:37.099
because this one's fantastic. Oh, yeah, sure.

00:38:37.659 --> 00:38:39.619
Not that we should compare. But Jason Bateman

00:38:39.619 --> 00:38:41.880
was talking about how important it is as an actor

00:38:41.880 --> 00:38:44.579
to have a very neutral face. Yeah. And I think

00:38:44.579 --> 00:38:46.820
that that actually when he said that, I was like,

00:38:46.820 --> 00:38:49.280
wow, that speaks volumes to me. Because, you

00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:51.000
know, just in life, when you're listening to

00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:55.070
somebody, you're not going. Right, that's exactly

00:38:55.070 --> 00:38:57.650
what I meant contrived right that that was part

00:38:57.650 --> 00:38:59.849
of what I meant It wasn't the whole idea, but

00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:01.570
when I said to the professor, that's what I meant.

00:39:01.710 --> 00:39:04.570
Like yeah, I don't want to learn I mean, I do

00:39:04.570 --> 00:39:06.750
want to learn how to become a better actor overall

00:39:06.750 --> 00:39:08.909
But I'm more interested in what what to do when

00:39:08.909 --> 00:39:12.250
I'm not speaking how I'm reacting What are my

00:39:12.250 --> 00:39:15.809
hands doing but also like having silence like

00:39:15.809 --> 00:39:18.650
it's okay to for there to be a pause, you know,

00:39:18.909 --> 00:39:21.150
artistic. Did you train under Meisner? Do you

00:39:21.150 --> 00:39:24.570
know what that is? I do. I the Meisner theory

00:39:24.570 --> 00:39:27.710
or technique. Yeah. So a lot of the really cool

00:39:27.710 --> 00:39:29.510
that, you know, I'd love to get into with my

00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:31.550
students is down the road to it's, you know,

00:39:31.550 --> 00:39:33.329
I'm doing this intro to kind of acting, but this

00:39:33.329 --> 00:39:34.650
is something a little bit more down the road

00:39:34.650 --> 00:39:36.989
with them. But Meisner technique is when you

00:39:36.989 --> 00:39:40.250
bring in an activity. So say you had like I'm

00:39:40.250 --> 00:39:42.230
just throwing something out there. Say you had

00:39:42.230 --> 00:39:45.050
like a wooden model airplane or something. Right.

00:39:45.070 --> 00:39:46.699
Yeah. And you come in and we're going to be doing

00:39:46.699 --> 00:39:48.440
a scene and the other person is just kind of

00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:51.340
doing the airplane, putting it together. And

00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:53.139
you guys are working together to see, because

00:39:53.139 --> 00:39:55.559
you're putting the energy into something else,

00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:59.039
right? So the only problem with, so that helps

00:39:59.039 --> 00:40:01.159
you when you're on set doing things like that.

00:40:01.539 --> 00:40:03.900
But during an audition, they usually don't allow

00:40:03.900 --> 00:40:07.099
you to have props. Right. But that helps as well.

00:40:07.219 --> 00:40:09.809
Look, I love device. You know what? I did do

00:40:09.809 --> 00:40:11.630
the Meisner technique because in that class,

00:40:11.809 --> 00:40:14.469
one of the things we did is, it was a little

00:40:14.469 --> 00:40:17.949
while ago, but basically we were given wrapping

00:40:17.949 --> 00:40:22.449
paper and an object. Yeah. And I forget, I think

00:40:22.449 --> 00:40:25.269
he gave you, the professor gave you a backstory

00:40:25.269 --> 00:40:27.869
on what the situation was. Like you just lost

00:40:27.869 --> 00:40:30.170
your job and you're wrapping a gift and you had

00:40:30.170 --> 00:40:32.469
something like that. And you basically had to

00:40:32.469 --> 00:40:36.820
convey. All of what happened that backstory without

00:40:36.820 --> 00:40:39.400
speaking and while you're wrapping the gift and

00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:41.460
and I was like well This is what I asked for

00:40:41.460 --> 00:40:44.500
and it was Hard. Yes, it's hard. It was really

00:40:44.500 --> 00:40:47.639
hard. And you really have to have real thoughts.

00:40:47.739 --> 00:40:50.440
Yes. You really have to have real thoughts about

00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:53.199
what you're you're feeling in the moment or what

00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:55.920
you're I always say, like an opinion. It's it's

00:40:55.920 --> 00:40:57.920
an intention and it's an opinion. If you have

00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.239
an opinion, I don't care what it is. It's going

00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:03.059
to transcend like it's you're going to, you know,

00:41:03.059 --> 00:41:05.400
a lot of the times with with my kids, when I

00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:07.860
work with them and like trying to memorize their

00:41:07.860 --> 00:41:10.800
monologues, I have them do it in gibberish. Yeah,

00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:13.260
like a feeling so. It's like, say if they come

00:41:13.260 --> 00:41:15.420
in and they're talking, but if they're like,

00:41:15.800 --> 00:41:21.460
huh, hmm, hi, hee hee hee. I have them do that

00:41:21.460 --> 00:41:23.820
so they know where the feeling is. I like that.

00:41:23.820 --> 00:41:29.199
And then they can add into, add their words.

00:41:29.739 --> 00:41:32.099
Yeah. What word am I trying to find here? Add

00:41:32.099 --> 00:41:35.159
their script. Let me ask you this. I didn't plan

00:41:35.159 --> 00:41:37.840
on asking this, but I... I've always wondered

00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:41.380
this with other actors is so you you hear about

00:41:41.380 --> 00:41:43.300
method acting pretty much everyone under the

00:41:43.300 --> 00:41:45.440
Sun knows what that is and we think of the extreme

00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:48.360
cases like there was a whole documentary on Jim

00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:50.960
Carrey when he played Andy Kaufman which was

00:41:51.070 --> 00:41:53.989
Absolutely phenomenal performance. Yeah, me too.

00:41:54.349 --> 00:41:57.090
And you know, that was a very extreme case. Have

00:41:57.090 --> 00:42:00.389
you encountered other, I don't know, do you use

00:42:00.389 --> 00:42:02.409
the method technique and have you encountered

00:42:02.409 --> 00:42:05.969
others that do? And do you find that it can cross

00:42:05.969 --> 00:42:08.130
the line and be obnoxious or do you completely

00:42:08.130 --> 00:42:11.510
like totally respect it? Yeah, I know I just

00:42:11.510 --> 00:42:13.829
threw a lot. No, no you didn't because here's

00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:15.650
the thing is I absolutely respect it I don't

00:42:15.650 --> 00:42:18.590
think that I've come across anybody in particular

00:42:18.590 --> 00:42:20.550
like a Daniel Day Lewis or something. You're

00:42:20.550 --> 00:42:24.869
not gonna work together yet I absolutely will

00:42:24.869 --> 00:42:27.869
respect that. No, I do I use the method acting,

00:42:27.949 --> 00:42:32.349
you know what? So Uta Hagen who is a famous acting

00:42:32.349 --> 00:42:37.030
coach Created the coined the phrase sense memory,

00:42:37.030 --> 00:42:40.900
right? So here's the thing is that I think I've

00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:44.380
been doing this long enough now, where if I have

00:42:44.380 --> 00:42:48.219
to get into the feeling, I do activate it because

00:42:48.219 --> 00:42:50.579
I have been doing it for so long. So I guess

00:42:50.579 --> 00:42:52.320
that can be considered. It's like muscle memory.

00:42:52.860 --> 00:42:55.219
Yeah. So like if I had to cry for a character,

00:42:55.300 --> 00:42:57.500
which, you know, I do a lot of video games, there's

00:42:57.500 --> 00:42:59.239
times where I'm crying and like I'm in my studio

00:42:59.239 --> 00:43:01.940
really crying. Do I snap out of it? Absolutely.

00:43:02.059 --> 00:43:04.719
It's like right out of it. But I don't have to

00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:08.539
try to do it because I remember that feeling

00:43:08.539 --> 00:43:12.159
of that emotion. And here's part of the acting

00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:14.000
training that I went to. It's like, it really

00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:16.639
helps you bring everything to the surface, right?

00:43:16.780 --> 00:43:19.539
Like your feelings are right there whenever you

00:43:19.539 --> 00:43:22.739
need it. And I do remember, I do have to kind

00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:24.360
of touch on this real quick because when I was

00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:27.139
in my method acting, or I'm sorry, my Meisner

00:43:27.139 --> 00:43:30.179
technique training, I had this amazing teacher.

00:43:31.849 --> 00:43:35.570
and Pam, Pam Karaman, and she... Hi, Pam. Hi,

00:43:35.570 --> 00:43:40.090
Pam. I was kind of a little shit, you know, going

00:43:40.090 --> 00:43:42.150
in there, and I was like, oh, he's been kind

00:43:42.150 --> 00:43:44.710
of this tough kid, right? So I was going in here,

00:43:44.730 --> 00:43:47.750
not really having much training, and I, you know,

00:43:47.769 --> 00:43:50.329
we're acting, and I'm kind of holding my guard

00:43:50.329 --> 00:43:52.469
up, like, you're not gonna get, you know, whatever,

00:43:52.650 --> 00:43:54.449
and we're kind of doing the Meisner technique,

00:43:54.469 --> 00:43:57.170
and she starts yelling at me, and you little

00:43:57.170 --> 00:43:59.630
shit, you da -da -da -da -da, like that, and...

00:43:59.449 --> 00:44:02.730
Boom. It worked. Crying. And I walked out of

00:44:02.730 --> 00:44:05.050
there being like, wow, she was so mean to me.

00:44:05.110 --> 00:44:06.929
Like she hates me, blah, blah, blah. And it took

00:44:06.929 --> 00:44:09.250
me years down the road being like, no, she broke.

00:44:09.800 --> 00:44:12.139
That's what she was trying to do. She was trying

00:44:12.139 --> 00:44:14.260
to break me She was trying to penetrate me to

00:44:14.260 --> 00:44:16.559
know that I needed to react I needed to let that

00:44:16.559 --> 00:44:19.380
other the other actor in and it changed my life

00:44:19.380 --> 00:44:22.440
Wow It was like it was like it was like it was

00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:25.320
like acting boot camp I'm gonna strip you down

00:44:25.320 --> 00:44:28.500
and rebuild you we were in a black room for hours

00:44:28.500 --> 00:44:31.519
and hours and hours during the week You know

00:44:31.519 --> 00:44:33.840
the closet everything was black the floor the

00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:35.239
ceiling is black. The walls are black The floor

00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:37.219
is black every you step into the black room and

00:44:37.219 --> 00:44:39.860
it's yeah conservatory training is is It's intense.

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:45.360
It's intense. Yeah. Real quick. You know, for

00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:47.159
the most part, especially nowadays with social

00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:49.500
media, we kind of have an idea of what it's like

00:44:49.500 --> 00:44:52.860
for a film or television actor on set. But we

00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:54.679
don't really know too much other than, you know,

00:44:54.679 --> 00:44:56.940
you're in an isolation booth for voiceover work.

00:44:57.239 --> 00:45:00.780
But those can be extremely long sessions or extremely

00:45:00.780 --> 00:45:03.360
quick sessions. Can you take us through like

00:45:03.360 --> 00:45:05.880
kind of what what the process is like and what

00:45:05.880 --> 00:45:07.760
is your favorite and least favorite part of those

00:45:07.760 --> 00:45:10.780
sessions? You know, here's a with voice or without

00:45:10.780 --> 00:45:15.719
voice with voice stuff, you know, sometimes when

00:45:15.719 --> 00:45:18.059
you look for video games and stuff like that,

00:45:18.159 --> 00:45:20.280
the efforts are hard. Yeah. Voice, you got to

00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:21.940
be careful. You use your voice. There's certain

00:45:21.940 --> 00:45:24.159
things that I won't even do anymore. You know,

00:45:24.179 --> 00:45:26.000
like I'm not going to get eaten by a bear and

00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:28.179
react. Right. Because it's like, you know, like

00:45:28.179 --> 00:45:30.460
that hurts my voice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know.

00:45:31.099 --> 00:45:33.880
The voice acting isn't as long as the film acting

00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:35.719
because a lot of times like they're changing

00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:38.139
the set, they're changing the lighting. There's

00:45:38.139 --> 00:45:40.039
a lot of waiting around. But then again, that's

00:45:40.039 --> 00:45:41.659
the time that you get to connect with other actors,

00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:45.840
which is cool. So those can be long and tedious.

00:45:45.980 --> 00:45:47.500
I mean, a lot of these actors that are on set

00:45:47.500 --> 00:45:51.460
are like filming, you know, for long, long, long

00:45:51.460 --> 00:45:55.260
hours. You know, I do long sessions with voiceovers,

00:45:55.360 --> 00:45:59.280
but they tend to be about two to four hours.

00:45:59.519 --> 00:46:03.639
You know, four hours is kind of my max of what

00:46:03.639 --> 00:46:06.980
I will go at. It depends, but that's usually

00:46:06.980 --> 00:46:09.280
because it is a lot. You know, it depends on

00:46:09.280 --> 00:46:11.980
what you're doing. You know, a lot of the times,

00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:14.039
you know, I'm union, so there's there's also

00:46:14.039 --> 00:46:15.800
different, you know, regulations that they have

00:46:15.800 --> 00:46:19.440
to withhold. I'm saying after so like with the

00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:23.139
snitches, you know, this is a 45 minute special.

00:46:23.320 --> 00:46:25.579
I worked on that for like a year and a half.

00:46:25.690 --> 00:46:28.730
Wow. You know, so there's, it's, it's a, I mean,

00:46:28.769 --> 00:46:31.869
in these video games, um, there's things that

00:46:31.869 --> 00:46:33.889
I'm working on that probably won't come up for

00:46:33.889 --> 00:46:36.550
years. I mean, Wildwood. Yes. I want to talk

00:46:36.550 --> 00:46:38.630
about that. I started working on that in 2000.

00:46:39.219 --> 00:46:42.019
23 or something. Really? Yeah. Let's talk about

00:46:42.019 --> 00:46:46.260
Wildwood. Yeah. What is Wildwood? And what can

00:46:46.260 --> 00:46:48.880
we expect? What's it all about? Yeah, so Wildwood

00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:52.880
is a trilogy. It's being produced by Laker Studios.

00:46:53.019 --> 00:46:57.719
They did Coraline, ParaNorman. And I got to work

00:46:57.719 --> 00:47:00.579
with Travis Knight, who is Phil Knight's son.

00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:04.480
Phil Knight's the guy who created and Travis

00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:08.300
also does claymation and he actually is such

00:47:08.300 --> 00:47:11.340
a nice and humble guy and super creative and

00:47:11.340 --> 00:47:16.170
very talented. I was supposed to go in studio

00:47:16.170 --> 00:47:20.150
to film that and something happened that I wasn't

00:47:20.150 --> 00:47:22.230
able to go and I was able to record it from my

00:47:22.230 --> 00:47:25.010
studio and they filmed me over zoom and they're

00:47:25.010 --> 00:47:27.570
turning me into a character from what they filmed.

00:47:28.289 --> 00:47:31.510
And you know, I actually that was a very special

00:47:31.510 --> 00:47:34.929
booking for me because they went through like

00:47:34.929 --> 00:47:37.210
three rounds of auditions trying to find the

00:47:37.210 --> 00:47:38.969
right voice trying to find the right voice and

00:47:38.969 --> 00:47:42.289
on the and I'm not talking callbacks like rounds.

00:47:43.069 --> 00:47:45.969
So, and they booked me. And at the time I wasn't

00:47:45.969 --> 00:47:47.389
able to go in the studio and I almost turned

00:47:47.389 --> 00:47:49.530
it down. And there was also an NDA. So it was

00:47:49.530 --> 00:47:51.650
like, I couldn't, they couldn't really tell me

00:47:51.650 --> 00:47:53.809
what it was. But I remember my agents just being

00:47:53.809 --> 00:47:55.989
like, you really don't want to turn this one

00:47:55.989 --> 00:48:00.300
down. And I didn't. And it was a really cool

00:48:00.300 --> 00:48:02.880
experience. And my character is, you know, it's

00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:04.679
a small character. It's not a huge role by any

00:48:04.679 --> 00:48:08.360
means, you know, but it's to be a part of it

00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:10.380
and to be able to work with such creative, talented

00:48:10.380 --> 00:48:12.239
people. That was really great. Do you know when

00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:16.539
it's going to be out? No, I don't. What the hell?

00:48:16.820 --> 00:48:18.400
Yeah, hopefully this year. It was supposed to

00:48:18.400 --> 00:48:20.639
be out last year, but this is stop motion feature.

00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:23.679
So this is claymation and every little move and

00:48:23.679 --> 00:48:25.739
every little, you know, I mean, I don't really

00:48:25.739 --> 00:48:28.199
know what goes on to the inside of because you

00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:30.139
know, I'm not a part of that part of sure the

00:48:30.139 --> 00:48:33.579
production but But I can imagine it takes a really

00:48:33.579 --> 00:48:35.380
long time to make I mean, I mentioned yeah, I

00:48:35.380 --> 00:48:38.860
took years and years pair Norman. Yeah Yeah,

00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:40.639
that could go in the strings. Yeah, that's another

00:48:40.639 --> 00:48:42.559
one that they did couple more questions And then

00:48:42.559 --> 00:48:44.000
we'll get into the meat of it one time what the

00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:47.659
acting classes you're doing You know back to

00:48:47.659 --> 00:48:50.960
the voice of a real quick For the most part and

00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:52.960
when we talked about this There's really no clear

00:48:52.960 --> 00:48:56.099
-cut path for actors on on how to do it and what

00:48:56.099 --> 00:48:59.699
to do But there's kind of some things that you

00:48:59.699 --> 00:49:01.719
know that you should do, like try to get an agent.

00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:05.139
But with voiceover, again, that's a little more

00:49:05.139 --> 00:49:07.059
up in the air. What kind of advice would you

00:49:07.059 --> 00:49:10.469
give to young actors that... specifically want

00:49:10.469 --> 00:49:12.550
to do voice, what's a good first couple steps?

00:49:12.690 --> 00:49:15.130
Yeah, and there are a lot of different, there's

00:49:15.130 --> 00:49:17.130
a lot of information out there. And, you know,

00:49:17.130 --> 00:49:20.050
I'm a part of this amazing platform called Skills

00:49:20.050 --> 00:49:23.590
Hub. It's run by Jennifer Hale, who is a legend

00:49:23.590 --> 00:49:25.469
in the voiceover world. I think she holds the

00:49:25.469 --> 00:49:28.150
Guinness World Records for voicing the most video

00:49:28.150 --> 00:49:30.469
games. Wow. And she not only that, she's like

00:49:30.469 --> 00:49:34.250
a she's a super cool human. So Skills Hub, it's

00:49:34.250 --> 00:49:36.750
it's acting dot skills hub dot life is where

00:49:36.750 --> 00:49:38.409
you want to go to. And I coach on this platform.

00:49:38.469 --> 00:49:40.860
The great thing about this platform is it's for

00:49:40.860 --> 00:49:43.059
people that want to get started in voiceover

00:49:43.059 --> 00:49:46.139
and had no idea where to start. So there's, there's

00:49:46.139 --> 00:49:48.440
paths, there's many different coaches to work

00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:50.500
with. I mean, I work with so many different clients,

00:49:50.500 --> 00:49:52.420
but I'm also like, I always say like, you know,

00:49:52.500 --> 00:49:54.199
don't just work with me, work with others. You're

00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:56.159
going to learn. It's just like for me, like taking

00:49:56.159 --> 00:50:00.059
a yoga class. Like I, I take many different yoga

00:50:00.059 --> 00:50:01.480
classes with different instructors and you learn

00:50:01.480 --> 00:50:04.260
so much, but same thing with, with voice acting.

00:50:05.019 --> 00:50:06.760
And we talked about this before. It's like, follow

00:50:06.760 --> 00:50:10.440
the work. People tend to make demos too quickly.

00:50:10.739 --> 00:50:14.300
And then that demo is their resume. So that's

00:50:14.300 --> 00:50:17.059
their representation, right? So say if I have

00:50:17.059 --> 00:50:21.280
my demos, which it costs quite a bit of money

00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:23.440
to get a demo made. But say I was doing my commercial

00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:26.619
demo, where it's I'm doing all national commercials.

00:50:26.860 --> 00:50:28.659
Like say I'm doing like Crest, Imes, Hershey's.

00:50:28.679 --> 00:50:32.500
It's like whatever. those demos are going to

00:50:32.500 --> 00:50:34.739
cost some money. And then I start sending these

00:50:34.739 --> 00:50:37.000
demos out to agents or to, you know, casting

00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.480
directors. And if it's not a good representation,

00:50:39.480 --> 00:50:41.579
and if you don't know what you're doing, you're

00:50:41.579 --> 00:50:43.119
just going to get a bad name in the industry.

00:50:43.900 --> 00:50:46.280
So training, training, training. And the problem

00:50:46.280 --> 00:50:49.500
with training is it does cost money and people

00:50:49.500 --> 00:50:51.480
are on a budget. And I totally get that. The

00:50:51.480 --> 00:50:53.619
great thing about skills hub is you become a

00:50:53.619 --> 00:50:56.780
member for I think it's like $22 a month. And

00:50:56.780 --> 00:50:58.860
there's a lot of free different assets that there's

00:50:58.860 --> 00:51:01.610
these rooms that you can enter called workout

00:51:01.610 --> 00:51:03.710
rooms and then different coaches will host them.

00:51:05.170 --> 00:51:08.250
There's a lot of really well -known voice actors,

00:51:08.550 --> 00:51:10.630
very successful actors that are a part of that.

00:51:11.309 --> 00:51:14.369
There's this one coach that he just creatures.

00:51:14.630 --> 00:51:16.590
I'm telling you guys, if you have not looked

00:51:16.590 --> 00:51:19.820
up... like voice actors that just do creature

00:51:19.820 --> 00:51:23.940
voices, it is unbelievable. Yeah. That's something

00:51:23.940 --> 00:51:27.079
that, I mean, I can make things happen, but my

00:51:27.079 --> 00:51:29.159
God, that's a talent. I do remember the footage.

00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:32.519
I guess this isn't really voice, but I do remember,

00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:35.079
what is it, Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. There

00:51:35.079 --> 00:51:39.260
was a lot of footage of him doing it, and the

00:51:39.260 --> 00:51:43.519
voice, and the... Yeah, and it was just like,

00:51:43.739 --> 00:51:45.199
this is mind blowing. I mean, it really is a

00:51:45.199 --> 00:51:49.119
performance. It is. So clearly, especially in

00:51:49.119 --> 00:51:52.119
the last 10 years, the world is changing rapidly.

00:51:53.019 --> 00:51:56.380
And so are the industries, music business, the

00:51:56.380 --> 00:51:59.219
entertainment business, acting. From your perspective,

00:51:59.679 --> 00:52:01.579
what is the biggest change? If you go back to

00:52:01.579 --> 00:52:03.679
when you started acting, what do you think the

00:52:03.679 --> 00:52:05.599
biggest change in the industry has been that

00:52:05.599 --> 00:52:07.820
you've noticed or experienced? Yeah, I've been

00:52:07.820 --> 00:52:10.059
through some changes. I'll tell you that right

00:52:10.059 --> 00:52:13.460
now. I mean, when I first... got into acting,

00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:15.239
you know, you go and get your headshots and then

00:52:15.239 --> 00:52:17.360
you go get them printed. You get like 500 of

00:52:17.360 --> 00:52:19.880
them printed or you go and you get your demo.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:22.119
And then I remember going to this this place

00:52:22.119 --> 00:52:24.780
in New York City and just printing my demo and

00:52:24.780 --> 00:52:26.929
getting them. What do you call them? Printed?

00:52:27.010 --> 00:52:29.130
If you couldn't print it on CD? Sure, yeah. Whatever.

00:52:29.409 --> 00:52:30.650
I don't even know anymore. What do they call?

00:52:31.449 --> 00:52:33.829
So, and I'm, you know, putting my package in

00:52:33.829 --> 00:52:35.909
the Manila envelope. It's my resume and the back

00:52:35.909 --> 00:52:38.170
and the stapling on the back of my thing and

00:52:38.170 --> 00:52:40.110
then sending them out and hopefully it makes

00:52:40.110 --> 00:52:42.909
to the casting director or an agent. And now

00:52:42.909 --> 00:52:44.929
everything is done digitally, right? So everything

00:52:44.929 --> 00:52:48.170
is like send an MP3 or send a JPEG or whatever.

00:52:49.329 --> 00:52:51.829
You know, upload your submission on this website,

00:52:51.969 --> 00:52:54.699
you know, to different. casting directors, you

00:52:54.699 --> 00:52:57.699
know, the things that and taking classes virtually,

00:52:58.099 --> 00:53:02.059
that's different. But, you know, I when I first

00:53:02.059 --> 00:53:04.079
started in this business, I auditioned by going

00:53:04.079 --> 00:53:06.400
as I started off in New York City. So I rode

00:53:06.400 --> 00:53:08.260
the subway and went to an audition. I had like

00:53:08.260 --> 00:53:10.800
a 230. Then I'd have like a 310. It finished

00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:12.340
with that audition. Go to the next audition.

00:53:12.579 --> 00:53:14.119
Always say if you're running, if you're running

00:53:14.119 --> 00:53:15.980
late, I came from another audition. That's what

00:53:15.980 --> 00:53:17.340
it's like. Boom, boom, boom. That's a good one.

00:53:17.460 --> 00:53:22.000
Yeah. You use it every time, every time. So you're

00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:24.760
going all around and now when I audition I audition

00:53:24.760 --> 00:53:28.239
alone So self -direction is something is an art

00:53:28.239 --> 00:53:31.119
that you have to learn now So it used to be I

00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:33.239
get in front of a casting director and they would

00:53:33.239 --> 00:53:35.840
guide me through it direct me and so now it's

00:53:35.840 --> 00:53:38.559
all self -direction So it's like, okay I'm gonna

00:53:38.559 --> 00:53:40.260
try this one way and I have to do it that my

00:53:40.260 --> 00:53:43.380
second take a different way and am I even Capturing

00:53:43.380 --> 00:53:45.599
what they're looking for and I always say to

00:53:45.599 --> 00:53:47.719
people it's like, you know You need to tell you

00:53:47.719 --> 00:53:49.420
need to show them what they're looking for rather

00:53:49.420 --> 00:53:51.239
than questioning. What are they looking for?

00:53:50.800 --> 00:53:56.139
for, but that is a giant change. Also streaming.

00:53:57.199 --> 00:53:59.900
Streaming has changed the industry. And that's

00:53:59.900 --> 00:54:02.780
one of the reasons why we went on strike. We

00:54:02.780 --> 00:54:04.539
went on strike because we weren't getting paid.

00:54:04.619 --> 00:54:07.800
We were getting paid for prime time and national

00:54:07.800 --> 00:54:11.380
networks. Same thing with video games, but video

00:54:11.380 --> 00:54:12.920
games are heading in a really good direction

00:54:12.920 --> 00:54:21.090
as long as they keep the AI clauses within. I

00:54:21.090 --> 00:54:23.670
worked hard to become union, and I'm union. Good

00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:27.449
for you. That's a big deal. That's a big deal

00:54:27.449 --> 00:54:30.289
in an acting world. Yeah. It's a special day.

00:54:30.550 --> 00:54:35.329
I'm SAG eligible, but I never, because I'm not...

00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:38.039
you know, acting primarily, you know, it wasn't

00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:39.940
worth it. But I remember just being SAG -eligible

00:54:39.940 --> 00:54:42.420
after being in a film was like, what? Yeah, you

00:54:42.420 --> 00:54:43.579
can start. I mean, look at Harrison Ford. I'm

00:54:43.579 --> 00:54:45.960
SAG -eligible. Is Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman?

00:54:46.460 --> 00:54:48.199
A lot of these guys started off. Yeah, yeah,

00:54:48.280 --> 00:54:50.260
yeah. Absolutely. I'm not saying that you're

00:54:50.260 --> 00:54:52.960
old. No, no, no. I mean, I'm no spring chicken.

00:54:53.900 --> 00:54:55.980
So now you are based in Syracuse now. I mean,

00:54:56.119 --> 00:54:58.340
you still work all over the country, but you

00:54:58.340 --> 00:55:01.699
are here. Originally from here? I am. Yeah. I

00:55:01.699 --> 00:55:04.539
was born and raised here. And I was born in Syracuse.

00:55:04.619 --> 00:55:07.860
Yep. Yes. But the main reason you're here, other

00:55:07.860 --> 00:55:09.480
than your amazing resume and everything we're

00:55:09.480 --> 00:55:13.760
talking about, you are offering acting courses.

00:55:14.199 --> 00:55:17.760
Let's talk about it. Yeah. Where, when, why,

00:55:17.900 --> 00:55:20.619
all of it. So I'm offering them acting courses.

00:55:20.940 --> 00:55:23.960
And this is something that it's just the jump

00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:26.519
off, because I would love to do this for adults

00:55:26.519 --> 00:55:28.099
as well, because I actually do teach a lot of

00:55:28.099 --> 00:55:33.079
adults virtually. But I taught a class for a

00:55:33.079 --> 00:55:36.039
homeschooling community not too long ago. I taught

00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:40.119
them an animation course and I brought the microphone

00:55:40.119 --> 00:55:42.119
in and we had some fun with all these different

00:55:42.119 --> 00:55:44.820
characters. But a lot of it, we did a lot of

00:55:44.820 --> 00:55:49.260
warmups and improv and things like that. I'm

00:55:49.260 --> 00:55:51.860
just a natural teacher. I've always been like

00:55:51.860 --> 00:55:53.820
that. I'm a little bit more maternal. I have

00:55:53.820 --> 00:55:56.960
a very positive outlook. And I wanted to start

00:55:56.960 --> 00:56:01.139
teaching these acting courses also because growing

00:56:01.139 --> 00:56:03.659
up here, like when I was touched on a little

00:56:03.659 --> 00:56:06.360
earlier, I don't come from an entertainment industry

00:56:06.360 --> 00:56:09.059
and my parents just didn't know what to do, right?

00:56:09.320 --> 00:56:12.599
And don't begrudge them for that by any means,

00:56:12.800 --> 00:56:15.400
but I would have loved to have taken classes

00:56:15.400 --> 00:56:18.139
to just learn how to say I have to get a monologue

00:56:18.139 --> 00:56:20.239
to perform to audition for a high school play.

00:56:21.320 --> 00:56:23.099
You're just going to go in there and do the best

00:56:23.099 --> 00:56:25.579
you can. But if I give you a roadmap and help

00:56:25.579 --> 00:56:29.019
you navigate that and use your use what you have.

00:56:29.059 --> 00:56:32.519
And I always say like every kid or actor brings

00:56:32.519 --> 00:56:34.699
in something different. Let's use those differences

00:56:34.699 --> 00:56:38.639
to be our best assets. Right. And celebrate that.

00:56:38.840 --> 00:56:41.639
You know, you're not you're not going to portray

00:56:41.639 --> 00:56:44.920
a character the same way that like Joe is or

00:56:44.920 --> 00:56:49.539
that Emma is. And I really want to help young

00:56:49.539 --> 00:56:53.610
performers feel confident going in and auditioning.

00:56:53.809 --> 00:56:55.510
And even if you don't get the part, you walk

00:56:55.510 --> 00:56:58.550
to you can walk away knowing that look like I

00:56:58.550 --> 00:57:00.469
did the best I could. And here's the thing, too,

00:57:00.469 --> 00:57:02.289
is that not getting the part doesn't mean that

00:57:02.289 --> 00:57:05.349
you did a bad job. It's the dynamic of how they

00:57:05.349 --> 00:57:07.469
want the production to work. It took me a long

00:57:07.469 --> 00:57:09.789
time to realize that, you know, you do take it

00:57:09.789 --> 00:57:11.989
personal and you realize you've got to remember.

00:57:12.090 --> 00:57:14.429
And when I started writing my own scripts, I

00:57:14.429 --> 00:57:17.110
realized it's a lot of times they have an idea

00:57:17.110 --> 00:57:19.690
in their head of who this character is. And it

00:57:19.690 --> 00:57:21.869
could be a little thing it might be you know

00:57:21.869 --> 00:57:24.349
you just don't have the the same the gruff look

00:57:24.349 --> 00:57:26.250
they're looking for or you were just picturing

00:57:26.250 --> 00:57:28.590
something different for a long time I thought

00:57:28.590 --> 00:57:31.409
I I made a mistake it's like no no you didn't

00:57:31.409 --> 00:57:33.809
make a mistake as long as you prepared but and

00:57:33.809 --> 00:57:35.650
you know what and we're sensitive guys we're

00:57:35.650 --> 00:57:41.039
happy yes very way we feel So I, you know, and

00:57:41.039 --> 00:57:43.579
that's something that comes with time as well.

00:57:43.780 --> 00:57:46.360
I mean, I just touched on this the other day.

00:57:46.400 --> 00:57:50.739
I lose way more than I win. And it just becomes

00:57:50.739 --> 00:57:52.519
part of the game. And you don't hold on, you

00:57:52.519 --> 00:57:55.079
don't make any of these jobs too precious and

00:57:55.079 --> 00:57:56.659
you continue to follow the work. And the thing

00:57:56.659 --> 00:57:59.900
is, is that in acting classes, everyone gets

00:57:59.900 --> 00:58:02.820
to be the main role. Absolutely. Absolutely.

00:58:03.539 --> 00:58:05.159
And everything I've ever learned, and it's cliche

00:58:05.159 --> 00:58:06.920
because you hear it now on social media, but

00:58:06.920 --> 00:58:09.599
it's like everything I've ever learned has been

00:58:09.599 --> 00:58:12.239
from losing or failing, not from when I succeeded.

00:58:12.400 --> 00:58:13.960
I mean, you learn from things when you succeed

00:58:13.960 --> 00:58:17.150
too, but that's where the... That's where it's

00:58:17.150 --> 00:58:19.889
at. That's where it's at. So these acting courses,

00:58:20.369 --> 00:58:23.070
what can somebody expect coming into the course?

00:58:23.150 --> 00:58:25.369
What kind of things are you doing? So I'm doing,

00:58:25.449 --> 00:58:27.110
I didn't mention this before, but I'm doing these

00:58:27.110 --> 00:58:29.710
classes in Camillus. But I might be bringing

00:58:29.710 --> 00:58:31.630
them to other areas like Fayetteville and things

00:58:31.630 --> 00:58:33.030
like that. Because here's the thing, too, is

00:58:33.030 --> 00:58:35.030
that I'm a mom. So I get it. My daughter's in

00:58:35.030 --> 00:58:38.449
a lot of different activities. And if you have

00:58:38.449 --> 00:58:39.929
tons of kids, it's like, oh, I've got to take

00:58:39.929 --> 00:58:43.250
this kid, this kid. So I'm hoping to do these

00:58:43.250 --> 00:58:46.559
classes seasonally. maybe do a summer camp too.

00:58:46.800 --> 00:58:48.739
But what to expect for these classes. So these

00:58:48.739 --> 00:58:51.340
classes are set up for beginners, people that

00:58:51.340 --> 00:58:54.039
have done moderate theater or any type of performance,

00:58:54.059 --> 00:58:56.320
and people who actually have a lot of experience.

00:58:57.179 --> 00:59:01.199
It fits all different types of levels because

00:59:01.199 --> 00:59:05.019
we are digging in to improv. We're gonna dig

00:59:05.019 --> 00:59:08.039
into comedic timing, which is the best, right?

00:59:08.039 --> 00:59:10.639
You know that. We're gonna learn how to prepare

00:59:10.639 --> 00:59:12.659
a monologue, do a little scene study, you know?

00:59:12.900 --> 00:59:14.929
And a lot of, with my kids, You know, this is

00:59:14.929 --> 00:59:19.309
all play based, so. But I also want to give them,

00:59:19.349 --> 00:59:22.250
like I said, a road map so it is set up for anyone

00:59:22.250 --> 00:59:25.469
can come into my class at any level and still

00:59:25.469 --> 00:59:27.869
have a great experience and still walk away learning

00:59:27.869 --> 00:59:32.800
so much, you know. It's set up for everybody.

00:59:33.079 --> 00:59:36.960
Between the ages of 8 to 17, I do want to do

00:59:36.960 --> 00:59:38.739
adult classes and if I get enough interest, I

00:59:38.739 --> 00:59:41.719
100 % will hold them. Take this for what it's

00:59:41.719 --> 00:59:46.400
worth, but in the classes I've taken or the training

00:59:46.400 --> 00:59:49.960
I've done, there's times when you're scared going

00:59:49.960 --> 00:59:51.360
into these things because you don't know what

00:59:51.360 --> 00:59:54.539
to expect. You know, in this business, you're

00:59:54.539 --> 00:59:56.139
going to find a lot of people who are like, do

00:59:56.139 --> 00:59:57.880
you know who I am? And I just want to tell you,

00:59:57.880 --> 00:59:59.760
you are the furthest thing from that. And you're

00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:02.139
very, very comfortable to talk to. So I think

01:00:02.139 --> 01:00:04.679
that's a really huge character to have, especially

01:00:04.679 --> 01:00:07.000
when you're training people and teaching. Yeah,

01:00:07.000 --> 01:00:09.699
because here's the thing, too, is that for these

01:00:09.699 --> 01:00:11.760
kids, like I said, we're all sensitive, right?

01:00:11.900 --> 01:00:13.920
So I'm definitely one of those people, too. So

01:00:13.920 --> 01:00:16.699
for these kids, my goal is when they come into

01:00:16.699 --> 01:00:20.300
this class, I want them to experience a connection

01:00:20.300 --> 01:00:22.599
and a bond with each other. in the room and let

01:00:22.599 --> 01:00:24.920
them know that this is a safe space to explore.

01:00:25.039 --> 01:00:27.619
This is a safe space to play. There's absolutely

01:00:27.619 --> 01:00:31.320
no judging yourself. or each other's choices.

01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:33.760
They're just making choices. And here's the thing,

01:00:33.840 --> 01:00:35.320
too, is that I always tell the people that I

01:00:35.320 --> 01:00:38.099
train, this is a collaborative effort. I'm just

01:00:38.099 --> 01:00:41.260
here to guide you and to direct you into finding

01:00:41.260 --> 01:00:44.920
your own imagination and creativity. One of the

01:00:44.920 --> 01:00:48.739
things I learned late in life with some acting

01:00:48.739 --> 01:00:51.099
training, someone said something to me that I

01:00:51.099 --> 01:00:52.980
never thought of. And they were like, it was

01:00:52.980 --> 01:00:55.239
in regards to speaking publicly or performing

01:00:55.239 --> 01:01:00.050
live. And they said, Nobody wants nobody in the

01:01:00.050 --> 01:01:02.889
audience is is waiting for you to screw up or

01:01:02.889 --> 01:01:05.670
if you do screw up. They're like They're actually

01:01:05.670 --> 01:01:08.590
just as uncomfortable as you are everybody in

01:01:08.590 --> 01:01:11.969
that audience is rooting for you and I just This

01:01:11.969 --> 01:01:13.889
is years after I'd been performing live and I

01:01:13.889 --> 01:01:15.349
was I never thought of it that because you hear

01:01:15.349 --> 01:01:17.289
like just picture everybody in their underwear

01:01:17.289 --> 01:01:19.070
and I'm like that doesn't work in fact, that's

01:01:19.070 --> 01:01:22.309
gross, you know, but but for me, I just thought

01:01:22.309 --> 01:01:25.019
wow, what a You know, what a concept. Nobody

01:01:25.019 --> 01:01:27.719
wants you to screw up. So you saying, hey, take

01:01:27.719 --> 01:01:29.500
chances. Everybody here is on the same team.

01:01:29.559 --> 01:01:31.519
That goes a long way. It does go a long way.

01:01:31.539 --> 01:01:33.739
And I heard that before too. And I was just telling

01:01:33.739 --> 01:01:36.920
a young girl that I was coaching the other day.

01:01:36.940 --> 01:01:39.199
And I said to her, you know, when you walk in

01:01:39.199 --> 01:01:41.059
the room, you say your name, there's the casting

01:01:41.059 --> 01:01:42.860
director or the panel of people. And I was like,

01:01:42.980 --> 01:01:47.159
she wants you to win. She wants you to do well.

01:01:47.360 --> 01:01:49.599
Don't think that she's judging you, right? And

01:01:49.599 --> 01:01:51.380
then also it's like, don't ever look at them

01:01:51.380 --> 01:01:54.139
in the eye. Look at them like up here or over

01:01:54.139 --> 01:01:56.199
here. And that's something that I was taught

01:01:56.199 --> 01:02:00.920
too. There is something that I think takes time

01:02:00.920 --> 01:02:04.079
to get, right? So say if you're, and I was just

01:02:04.079 --> 01:02:05.460
talking about this actually with Jennifer Hale,

01:02:05.559 --> 01:02:07.440
the woman that owns that company that I was talking

01:02:07.440 --> 01:02:10.960
about. It's like when I'm performing, I am very,

01:02:10.960 --> 01:02:13.179
very much, if I have to be it by myself, I'm

01:02:13.179 --> 01:02:16.280
very within. So it's like I could be on stage

01:02:16.280 --> 01:02:18.219
and there could be thousands of people there,

01:02:18.500 --> 01:02:21.599
but I'm very focused and very within. And I think

01:02:21.599 --> 01:02:25.650
that takes time to learn. There's a way to connect

01:02:25.650 --> 01:02:26.969
to the, I know what you mean, like there's a

01:02:26.969 --> 01:02:28.829
way to still connect with the audience while

01:02:28.829 --> 01:02:31.690
still kind of being in your bubble and kind of

01:02:31.690 --> 01:02:33.690
closing it off. Is that kind of? Yeah, it is.

01:02:33.789 --> 01:02:35.510
I mean, like you were saying that you did stand

01:02:35.510 --> 01:02:39.210
up. Yeah. God, that is such a connective performance.

01:02:39.489 --> 01:02:41.449
You ain't kidding. And you're like trying to,

01:02:41.550 --> 01:02:43.409
like, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of improv

01:02:43.409 --> 01:02:45.869
that goes with that. Oh, yes. And things that

01:02:45.869 --> 01:02:47.150
are off the cuff and there's things that happen

01:02:47.150 --> 01:02:48.630
that you don't expect. And that's what makes

01:02:48.630 --> 01:02:51.070
it all fun and exciting. But you still have your

01:02:51.070 --> 01:02:52.829
routine. You still got your thing that you're

01:02:52.829 --> 01:02:55.070
going to. And you have to make it sound like

01:02:55.070 --> 01:02:57.809
it's off the cuff. You do, and the one thing

01:02:57.809 --> 01:03:00.909
in stand -up is it's like, it's fun and it's

01:03:00.909 --> 01:03:04.110
actually encouraged to go down a road off the

01:03:04.110 --> 01:03:07.909
cuff, but you have to have enough experience

01:03:07.909 --> 01:03:11.809
and be good enough to be able to do that and

01:03:11.809 --> 01:03:14.269
then zip right back to where you were. You know,

01:03:14.269 --> 01:03:16.170
that's a challenge. Yeah, just like, where was

01:03:16.170 --> 01:03:20.329
I? Where was I? Anyway, before I want to do one

01:03:20.329 --> 01:03:22.829
last thing, but where can people go for these

01:03:22.829 --> 01:03:24.829
these acting classes? So you can go to my website.

01:03:24.949 --> 01:03:28.030
It's my name, Jamie Sarah Lewis dot com slash

01:03:28.030 --> 01:03:30.730
classes or just go to my website, Jamie Sarah

01:03:30.730 --> 01:03:33.090
Lewis dot com. And then you can find find my

01:03:33.090 --> 01:03:35.889
classes in the menu. So you can find my work

01:03:35.889 --> 01:03:38.550
there, too. Awesome. I've been seeing it in some

01:03:38.550 --> 01:03:41.650
fancy pictures. Wildly, wildly impressive. All

01:03:41.650 --> 01:03:43.610
right. Rapid fire questions. How do you feel

01:03:43.610 --> 01:03:46.449
about that? I feel great about it. I feel great

01:03:46.449 --> 01:03:50.079
about it. OK. Here we go. Question one. Favorite

01:03:50.079 --> 01:03:52.760
character you've played or voiced. Oh, man, I

01:03:52.760 --> 01:03:54.940
get this all the time. Oh, I gave you a hack

01:03:54.940 --> 01:03:57.559
question. Dammit. Favorite character that I've,

01:03:57.559 --> 01:04:04.099
you know, probably. I don't know. I really don't

01:04:04.099 --> 01:04:07.559
know. That's so hard. You know what? We can skip

01:04:07.559 --> 01:04:09.280
it. Can we skip it and come back? We can skip

01:04:09.280 --> 01:04:12.670
it. Geez, I have so many. Pass. It was a hat

01:04:12.670 --> 01:04:14.170
question anyway. Here's another hat question.

01:04:14.590 --> 01:04:17.070
Dream director to work with. Oh, Paul Thomas

01:04:17.070 --> 01:04:20.269
Anderson. Wow, that was really rapid fire. Dream

01:04:20.269 --> 01:04:24.329
actor to play opposite. I mean, Daniel Day -Lewis.

01:04:24.369 --> 01:04:26.070
I knew that was coming. Is that really gonna

01:04:26.070 --> 01:04:29.530
happen? That's everybody's, I think. Favorite

01:04:29.530 --> 01:04:32.030
performance by an actor in a movie. That's another

01:04:32.030 --> 01:04:35.280
tough one. It is so tough because I'm going to

01:04:35.280 --> 01:04:37.420
say something and I'm like, why didn't I say

01:04:37.420 --> 01:04:39.719
something else? You're going to watch this and

01:04:39.719 --> 01:04:41.719
then you're going to go, why did I say that one?

01:04:42.780 --> 01:04:48.079
Man, you know, damn it. I did a bad job. I'm

01:04:48.079 --> 01:04:50.099
asking complex questions and putting them in

01:04:50.099 --> 01:04:52.820
a rapid fire. I'm like, tell me about your life

01:04:52.820 --> 01:04:56.739
in five seconds. Maybe you know who I love. Breaking

01:04:56.739 --> 01:05:01.139
Bad, Gia Caralato, the guy who plays the cartel.

01:05:01.260 --> 01:05:05.679
What's his name? Giancarlo Esposito. Danny Tripodi.

01:05:06.000 --> 01:05:08.420
I'm going to tell you real quick why I love him

01:05:08.420 --> 01:05:11.460
so much. And I talk about like being in control

01:05:11.460 --> 01:05:13.679
and a level of chaos. So my husband's a scientist

01:05:13.679 --> 01:05:15.400
and we talk about he was talking about chaos

01:05:15.400 --> 01:05:18.300
one day and like the greatest level of chaos

01:05:18.300 --> 01:05:21.320
is like is like something that's loud and crazy

01:05:21.320 --> 01:05:23.539
and blah blah blah blah. But something that is

01:05:23.539 --> 01:05:26.500
completely contained in control. He played that

01:05:26.500 --> 01:05:28.880
cartel like the most power like when you're playing

01:05:28.880 --> 01:05:34.099
a high status. You are powerful. Yeah. That's

01:05:34.099 --> 01:05:36.219
probably my favorite show of all time. It's incredible.

01:05:36.239 --> 01:05:38.380
It's a good one. I really like that role, but

01:05:38.380 --> 01:05:39.980
I'm sure there's a lot of others. All right.

01:05:40.199 --> 01:05:43.960
I know, again, here we go. L .A. or New York

01:05:43.960 --> 01:05:50.659
City? Oh God, I love both. But I think for now,

01:05:51.059 --> 01:05:53.519
at this point in my life, I'm a big fan of the

01:05:53.519 --> 01:05:56.039
LA. Okay. I just like the sunshine. Listen. I

01:05:56.039 --> 01:05:58.619
like the vibes there. People are cool. But listen,

01:05:58.760 --> 01:06:00.840
you throw me in New York and I'll own that shit.

01:06:00.840 --> 01:06:03.000
Heck yeah. I love it. Of course you will. All

01:06:03.000 --> 01:06:06.260
right, last one. Biggest pet peeve when you're

01:06:06.260 --> 01:06:12.139
working on set. Mean people. Well, yeah, you

01:06:12.139 --> 01:06:14.280
know people that just act like you were talking

01:06:14.280 --> 01:06:15.920
about the act like they're bigger and better

01:06:15.920 --> 01:06:20.659
and trying to Show off and out act each other

01:06:20.659 --> 01:06:22.440
like I'll tell you in auditions This happens

01:06:22.440 --> 01:06:24.840
a lot you walk into a room and everyone's trying

01:06:24.840 --> 01:06:26.900
to out funny to each other and in the waiting

01:06:26.900 --> 01:06:29.400
room And you're just like I've I was I mean,

01:06:29.579 --> 01:06:31.000
I'm not saying I haven't done things that have

01:06:31.000 --> 01:06:32.539
pissed people off But I vote I'm always like

01:06:32.539 --> 01:06:34.840
the quiet one. Yeah, you know what? I'm so glad

01:06:34.840 --> 01:06:37.059
you said that because I've done stand -up shows

01:06:37.059 --> 01:06:39.320
where there's like five of us Oh my god, you're

01:06:39.320 --> 01:06:41.159
probably all funny to each other. And before

01:06:41.159 --> 01:06:43.980
it starts, everybody's trying to be funny. And

01:06:43.980 --> 01:06:45.920
I'm like, I don't want to do this funny off.

01:06:46.179 --> 01:06:47.699
You know what I mean? Like, let's just be natural.

01:06:48.260 --> 01:06:51.940
All right, give us the plugs. Website, social

01:06:51.940 --> 01:06:55.239
media, classes. Hit it. Yes. So you can find

01:06:55.239 --> 01:06:58.639
me on jamysaraluis .com. You can find me on Instagram,

01:06:58.880 --> 01:07:02.840
jamysaraluisvo. Find my classes online. Honestly,

01:07:02.940 --> 01:07:05.440
if you Google me, you can get a hold of me. And

01:07:05.440 --> 01:07:11.139
honestly, if you guys have any questions about

01:07:11.139 --> 01:07:14.639
the business, you can email me. I'm always happy

01:07:14.639 --> 01:07:17.219
to help. And that's one thing that somebody told

01:07:17.219 --> 01:07:20.119
me a long time ago, too. It's like, usually when

01:07:20.119 --> 01:07:23.400
you ask someone for help, 99 % of the time, people

01:07:23.400 --> 01:07:25.539
want to help you. Absolutely. I ask for help

01:07:25.539 --> 01:07:28.889
along the way. I ask for guidance. Jamie Sarah

01:07:28.889 --> 01:07:31.210
Lewis, this has been an absolute pleasure. No

01:07:31.210 --> 01:07:33.190
offense to the other people I've had on the show,

01:07:33.190 --> 01:07:35.949
but this might just be my favorite interview.

01:07:36.070 --> 01:07:38.329
I'm not kidding you. Definitely one of, I've

01:07:38.329 --> 01:07:40.730
had so much fun. I could talk to you for another

01:07:40.730 --> 01:07:43.530
hour. You guys are great. I can't wait for your

01:07:43.530 --> 01:07:45.690
studio to open up. Well, we're moving to our

01:07:45.690 --> 01:07:49.650
new studio, Clickstream Studios soon. So, thank

01:07:49.650 --> 01:07:51.849
you for joining us. Best of luck. Thank you so

01:07:51.849 --> 01:07:55.309
much. Jamie Sarah Lewis, she's amazing on screen,

01:07:55.650 --> 01:07:58.630
on mic, and in person. This has been another

01:07:58.630 --> 01:08:00.829
episode of Good News York, sponsored by Ads on

01:08:00.829 --> 01:08:04.309
the Go. Get ads on the go .com. You can follow

01:08:04.309 --> 01:08:06.929
me on socials at MikeBTV, and you can follow

01:08:06.929 --> 01:08:10.429
us at Good News York. GoodNewsYork .com. We will

01:08:10.429 --> 01:08:11.550
see you tomorrow.