A while back I had the opportunity to play Elizabeth in the trailer for the new Charlotte Holmes novel The Case For Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro. Working with Emma Pfaeffle, Matt Rosell, and Kit Williamson was a blast! 

These Things Never Last, a film which I wrote, directed and acted in is being featured in the New York Women in Film & Television Fall Shorts Festival, which will play online through Indevue.com November 1 – 17.Link to the festival is here: http://bit.ly/2jbJBLV

These Things Never Last follows Olivia (Charlie Gillette) and James (Jack Archer), a young couple who are forced into a long distance relationship by new border regulations and rising socio-political tensions in their respective countries. They use technology to communicate as they struggle to stay together as the world falls apart around them.

The film is a compilation of vignettes made up of FaceTime conversations between the couple over the course of a year of forced separation. Originally conceived as a web series, this is a condensed version of the series edited specially for this festival. 

The film was written and filmed in early 2016 during the lead up to the UK Referendum and the 2016 US Presidential election. The film is a response to the disturbing socio-political trends we've noticed leading up to these votes and after them. 

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of directing, co-producing and co-editing the #GETBEHINDUS campaign. #GETBEHINDUS is a social activist art video made by women, for women. We celebrate the multiplicity of women's experiences by empowering lady-identifying people & their allies to:
- Get off your butt!
- Get your activist jeans on!
- And support a cause that matters to you!

The video was produced by a 100% lady-identifying team, which is incredibly rare in the film industry.I'm proud to have lead this team and hope that this will be the first step towards inspiring, empowering, and celebrating the next generation of artists and activists. 

The video premiered in Teen Vogue and was subsequently published in Elle UK, Bustle and OddNaari. 

My first feature film has premiered in Film Inquiry alongside an interview with me about the project!

Made while studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (in Cardiff, Wales) Charlie Gillette and Jack Archer’s film, These Things Never Last, is inspired by the all to scary political zeitgeist. While we have moved leaps and bounds in terms of rights and justice for people of both sexes, all races, and the widening range of sexualities and gender identifiers, a great pool of bigotry remains. This bigotry is cloaked in ideas about job security for our nations, concern over rising crime, and raised taxes. And essentially a lot of the western world’s problems, which should be laid at the doorstep of bankers and narrow-minded politicians, are now being laid at the feet of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
It is this misunderstanding of the world and a fear of the unknown that has led to the bigger problems we now face. A shockingly misguided decision to have a referendum on the UK’s position in the EU, along with a mismanaged campaign and the subsequent leave vote, has divided the country in two. In the US Donald Trump is using bigotry and lies to rally his position to be the leader of one of the world’s most powerful countries. The world isn’t what we thought it was. But while we may dislike this new world, where refugees from Northern Africa fight for their lives, and our friends are being abused because of their skin colour, us white westerners can still count on some freedoms. Or can we?
In These Things Never Last the American Charlie Gillette and British Jack Archer tackle the idea of how a white western couple would survive in a future without the freedoms we so easily take for granted. Using the simple narrative of a long distance relationship, but one in a scarily potential future, students Gillette and Archer threw caution to the wind for the final project of their MA in Acting for Stage, Screen & Radio. Ditching the usual idea of a play, they instead embarked upon a one hour film created entirely through FaceTime.

Head over to Film Inquiry for the full interview: I’m always looking to collaborate with like-minded individuals (especially women)

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama made it’s off Broadway debut today September 26, 2016, performing its first US Showcase in front of an audience which included Matthew Rhys and Kate Burton. They were among the guests at the Showcase, held at New York’s Signature Theatre, which featured recent American and Canadian acting and musical theatre RWCMD graduates. Other guests included casting directors, managers, agents and key friends and influencers of the College. “I was staggered by the quality of the performers,” said Matthew Rhys, International Chair in Drama at the College after seeing the Showcase, “it was way beyond what I expected from a student showcase. They looked like they had been doing this as professionals for years. “
The Showcase was opened by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Kate Burton, daughter of the great Welsh actor Richard Burton.“I was staggered by the quality of the performers. It was way beyond what I expected from a student showcase. They looked like they had been doing this as professionals for years.” - Matthew Rhys, Actor
“The young actors were amazing and far more advanced than I had anticipated.  They are as good as or even better than some of the actors coming out of the best US conservatories” - Ian Caldaron, Robert Redford Foundation


Photograph by © Dan Callister 
www.dancallister.com

Excited to have my name printed in the original cast list in the newly published En Folkefiende script by Brad Birch. It was such a pleasure working with this team to create a new piece of work. ​

The new single is called “Wednesday” from Galileo Galilei is a Japanese Band
Directed and Produced film by Charlie Gillette and Oliver David
shooting on location in Norfolk, England.
This is the new music video I co-directed and produced with Oliver David for Galileo Galilei! 

These are some stills from the music video I co-directed and produced with Oliver David for the Japanese band Galileo Galilei. The new single is called Wednesday and is inspired by the Wednesday Addams character. We had a lot of fun shooting on location in Norfolk, England. ​

MUSIC VIDEO  COLLABORATION WITH GALILEO GALILEI IN SAPPORO, JAPAN

Hokkaido natives Galileo Galilei invited me to their home studio in Sapporo, Japan and performed their latest single 嵐のあとで (After the Storm).

Yuuki Ozaki -- Guitar, Vocals
Kazuki Ozaki -- Drums
Hitoshi Sakou -- Bass
While traveling in Japan, I had the incredible pleasure of filming indie rock band, Galileo Galilei performing their new single 嵐のあとで for my music web series Neue Vox

We’ve begun production on a new Web Series I’m writing, directing and producing. We will be releasing the first promo video by the end of the month. 
ECHO HELIX synopsis
In an alternate present day America, nuclear fallout has left much of the population barren. As a result, the government has enacted the Bona Dea Project to maintain the dwindling population and protect the limited survivors. When ELLE is mistakenly forced outside the city walls for the first time, she quickly learns that things aren’t what they seem and discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society.
A dystopian thriller meets coming of age story, which layers mythology over an ethereal narrative that grapples with the socio-political turmoil in modern America.

E.M.M.A. has been accepted to 11 film festivals all over the world. So proud of this little film and our team! ​

I made this Taylor Swift Parody video as a commentary on the sexism and racism present at the Oscars each year. The video has been hugely successful and was written up by The Hollywood Reporter and UpWorthy. 
“Considering it’s a parody of Taylor Swift’s hit "Blank Space,” it’s obvious why “Blank Slate” is an automatic head-bopper. But it’s the lyrics that really drive home why this parody is so spot on. “Read about it in a magazine
Ain’t it funny just how white 
The year’s lineup always ends up being 
So hey, let’s pretend 
That racism is at an end 
Grab your remote and my hand 
We can be colorblind just for the weekend.” — “Blank Space Oscars 2015 Commentary”When you look at the numbers, along with firsthand accounts from women and actors of color in the entertainment industry, it’s hard to deny that Hollywood still has a lot of work to do.“ -  Franchesca Ramsey (UpWorthy)

During my senior year at Barnard College, I interned at the Athena Film Festival. It was one of the best and most inspiring work experiences I’ve had. This year I was asked to share my story about working at the Athena Film Festival. Enjoy and get your tickets to Athena15!  ​

Year Released: 2013
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 14 minutes
Stephen Herman’s short film E.M.M.A. is a sci-fi tale with at least one strong twist. The short tells the story of Emma (Charlie Gillette), a woman with a remarkable ability to memorize anything she reads, but who is simultaneously unable to remember who she is, or what happened yesterday. As she sits in a room, doctors John (Nicholas Wilder) and Carol (Kristen Carbone) grill Emma about her memory, revealing the answer to her strange condition.
Well, some answers. As I mentioned, this short has one solid twist that works as a good twist should, elevating the narrative to come before it instead of just confusing the audience with something unexpected. And that is something to be applauded here, because giving a film a twist is easy; giving it a good twist is not.
Another aspect worth kudos is the acting, as all three of the main leads play their characters in befitting fashion. Nicholas Wilder’s Dr. John, for instance, goes the Good Cop route, acting more as a sympathetic character for Emma as Kristen Carbone’s Dr. Carol aggressively, and impatiently, lights into their subject. In both instances, there is a level of nuance that isn’t clear until the film wraps up. In the middle of it all is Charlie Gillette’s robotic Emma, who breathes a softness and life into an otherwise stiff and mechanical character.
In the end, though, the strength of this one is going to reside in how the audience interprets the final twist, and what emotional stock they do or do not put in the narrative along the way. I think the film has moments of emotional engagement within the material, but there is a detached feel to things that, while making absolutely perfect sense for the story, also keeps you at arm’s length. Thus, you may find the tale interesting or intriguing, but is it something that you’ll connect with and remember? That’s debatable.
I found E.M.M.A. is be a strong entry in the science fiction short film genre, but I also didn’t connect in a way that would make this something I would watch again. I think it is well-made, and very clever, but felt more like an intellectual exercise than engaging on a more intimate level.​

Read more: http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/69820/#ixzz2kXCocd73

E.M.M.A.
Directed By Stephen Herman (2013)
Two scientists interview a robot in a lab. E.M.M.A. knows nothing of her own existence. Or does she? As the scientists start by explaining why E.M.M.A. the robot is there, and how she can’t remember anything about the day before despite being able to memorize whole books I was tricked into thinking that we the audience were having everything spelled out for us, and this was going to be a really bog standard script. But no – this is a test that E.M.M.A must pass – fail, and she will be discontinued. Pass, and she will go onto another test. But what is bothering the scientists is E.M.M.A.’s perpetual belief she has been outside riding horses…And that is when this film becomes interesting, and all that has gone before makes sense. I was delighted.Kristen Carbone as Carol, a prissy scientist is somewhere between Sean Young and Joan Cusack, lending a classic sci-fi air to the piece with her old-fashioned tone (does anyone really say effing?). Nicholas Wilder as John the scientist, is one of those actors you’re sure is already famous and is both geeky and handsome as the focus emotionally. Charlie Gillette as the eponymous E.M.M.A. seems slightly miscast (38? Really?) but does a good job with her robotic lines and has a way of moving that entirely convinces she is not human.This is as it turns out, a clever script with no fat on it, shot carefully and put together with a high regard for storytelling. However, sometimes the importance of the script has taken over from some of the visual impact. For instance, the actors are sometimes filmed in conversation in reaction shot rather than when they speak, losing performance on screen – the storyboard had been followed so tight that I could see it in boxes on paper sometimes. The only other point I would have liked to have seen would be a little more finish – the film’s texture would have benefited from a little more coloring and filter; the green sheen could go up a lot higher without losing integrity.
Overall this is an exciting and intriguing short with an enjoyable sound scape, capable actors (Hoorah! A short with capable actors!) and strong narrative, and well worth a quarter hour of anyone’s time and would be a sure hit at sci-fi festivals anywhere. Recommended.

I had a lot of fun at the Big Apple Film Festival this past weekend. Got to reunite with my cast mates and director. I also got an awesome E.M.M.A. logo shirt and met tons of cool new people. If you were there, follow me and I’ll follow back :) ​

I spent this past weekend promoting Broken Box Inc’s short film E.M.M.A. at the Williamsburg International Film Festival. I was interviewed about my character in the film and got to meet a bunch of cool young filmmakers. 


The most exciting event of the weekend was the first annual 60-second Pitch Contest. On Friday night, I pitched an idea for web-series and WON the contest! I now have the opportunity to set up further meetings with the distributor and receive a $100,000 investment grant. I’m so excited for this opportunity to make my series a reality and am looking forward to the next steps.