As you know, here at YII, we LOVE getting the inside story on successful professionals in the biz, as well as finding out about great resources we can all use. In this case, we’re getting both! Sarah Sido and Claire Winters are dedicated working L.A.-based actors who have taken their own “lessons from the trenches” and the expertise of those professionals in their boundless rolodexes and created the site they would’ve wanted when they were just starting out. Now that’s something that we can get behind!

 YII: Thank you ladies for agreeing to talk to us. So, to start with, give us a little background on your careers and where you were in them when you co-founded Brains of Minerva.

SARAH SIDO: I’ve always considered myself one of the lucky ones as far as my career is concerned. I’ve been working professionally for many years now, first in New York and, for the last decade, here in L.A. I’ve consistently gotten jobs in all the different mediums, including film, television, and theater. Voice-over work has allowed me to pay my bills and can be incredibly fun. After a video game session, I may barely be able to speak, but where else would you get direction like, “Now gurgle and drown in your own blood.”

At the time that we formed Brains of Minerva, I was doing a play with the Push to Talk Theatre Company. I really adored the group of artists that I was working with, and the fact that we truly felt like an ensemble. Commercial and television work, both on-camera and voice-over, had slowed down to a trickle as the recession had pretty firmly taken hold, making me financially far less stable than I had been in years.  This change definitely put me in a place to ask myself a lot of questions about what I wanted from my career and how I was going to go about it.

CLAIRE WINTERS: Prior to moving to Los Angeles, I had acted professionally for several years in New York – N.Y. & regional theater, some film and television – and had graduated from the MFA Program at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). During my last year in N.Y., I had realized that the on-camera work I’d done was actually the most creatively exciting for me, and started to wonder what was I doing in a town that revolved around theater. Also, I had fallen into a job teaching on-camera work to young actors at The Lee Strasberg Institute in which I’d coach the students through writing autobiographical scripts that we’d then shoot. Since film was where my heart was, I knew it was time to come to the city where the craft and business of it are in the air.

I was a year-and-a-half into my time in L.A. when Sarah approached me about doing the website. I’d know her forever. We’d met as seniors at The Interlochen Arts Academy, an arts high school in MI. And she was a huge part of my support network here. I was still trying to find my way and build a community. I was auditioning (though not as frequently as I’d expected), teaching film workshops in L.A. schools, and hosting monthly get-togethers of readings/career networking sessions for ACT alums in L.A. I was also learning how to drive in this city! I still can remember the first day, months in, when I got through the day without someone honking at me.

YII: What was the moment of inspiration that led you to co-create Brains of Minerva?

SARAH: I was working on the above-mentioned play and taking a career and marketing class. As one of the more experienced actors involved, I found that people were coming to me with questions, both about their careers and about the actor’s life in general. I’ve always found there to be a gap between the way that acting is discussed in the media and the real issues that actors struggle with in the day-to-day. I started to think about ways that these questions could be addressed on a wider stage. My career and the industry as a whole were experiencing so much change, and I also wanted a forum to explore my own questions about the business.

CLAIRE: When Sarah and I would get together socially, we’d often kvetch about what more we wanted to be doing in our careers. We sometimes got into the habit of glossing over how far we’d come. Sarah thought it would be great to develop an online community where we could share a lot of the information and perspective we had amassed over the years. About the same time, I’d gotten my first taste of journalism by writing a couple of articles on teen actor training for a now-defunct magazine called “Intercut.” I knew I wanted to do more writing. 

When I moved to L.A., I was shocked by the assumption I encountered, when meeting new people and telling them I was an actor, that I was an idiot! I could feel my social currency at parties, etc., drop ten-fold. And yet, all the actors I knew out here were incredibly hardworking and intelligent people. I was excited about the information on our site not only adding value to the lives of actors, but also reflecting an alternative image of the power and intelligence of actors. 

YII: What are your criteria for including content on the site?

SARAH: We are interested in content that enriches and engages our community.  When speaking with our writers, we regularly refer to “takeaways”. We want our readers to leave with something they can act on. That comes in many different forms. It may be advice, a specific plan of action, more in-depth knowledge, or perhaps inspiration.

CLAIRE: Our tag-line is “The Guide to the L.A. Actor Hustle,” so we ask that all pieces contain actionable information, something a reader can use immediately to improve his or her own acting hustle. That said, we encourage a variety of styles and love to change things up. Some pieces are very instructional (e.g., “The Craft of Romance” has exercises to create chemistry with your acting partner). Other articles might be first-person narratives (e.g., “Queer as Folk”’s Scott Lowell’s piece on finding his community in television) in which case the reader can find out about turning points in the writer’s personal story and apply them to his or her own life and work.

YII: What is your favorite thing about your blog?

SARAH: There are so many different ways I could answer this, but I’ll go with this: It has taught me the power of partnerships. Claire and I have truly created this together and it could never be what it is without both of us.

CLAIRE: I don’t think there’s anything out there like it. Our articles assume their audience is made up of smart, hard-working professionals. Many actor resources are written from a fear-based or expert-on-the-mountaintop perspective – “You Must Sit Like a Good Little Girl in the Waiting Room and Not Be Rude to the Receptionist!!” On Brains, we avoid the “should”s and “must”s and instead offer “this is how I did it/ didn’t do it/wished I’d done it/might do it differently in the future.” We want our site to encourage actors to share resources and to recognize how much knowledge and power they already possess (especially when the nature of the day-to-day life can often make it seem otherwise).

YII: What are your some of your favorite posts?

SARAH: It’s incredibly difficult for me to single out just a few. I know just how much work has gone into each article, but if I must pick a few to highlight:

Claire’s articles on the Breakdowns (Part One and Part Two) set the bar incredibly high and really let our readers know that this was not your run of the mill blog. and

Jody Rosen Knower’s “So I Married an Actor” makes me cry it’s so sweet and I re-read it whenever I need inspiration. It is a must read for anyone crazy enough to spend their life with an actor.

Risa Bramon Garcia (FATAL ATTRACTION, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, NBC’s “The Cape”) is a casting legend and we were absolutely honored when she reached out to us about writing. Her piece reminds me that what we do is needed in the world as it makes our own and others’ lives all the richer.

Do I have to stop?  Kai Soremekun’s series is so generous with vital information  and I love Jeffrey Marcus’ article on creating chemistry.

CLAIRE: That is a Sophie’s Choice question! All of our posts are tops! Though, some which stand out as particularly unique to our site are actor Suzie Plakson’s “The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly- A Vet’s Take on 30 Years of Auditioning,” Sarah’s “How Volunteering Enriches My Life in Acting” and Brendan O’Malley’s “10 Books to Inspire” (about using literature in your craft).

YII: What is the most surprising thing about running Brains of Minerva?

SARAH: The biggest surprise for me has perhaps been the reception by the community. Others have regularly referred to it as a service (as in, an act of service) that Claire and I are providing to our fellow actors. In some ways, it’s silly that this came as a surprise. We are putting enormous amounts of our time and energy into this project which we give away for free, but having others recognize it as that right away, was somehow a big surprise.

CLAIRE: In her piece A Clarion Call to Plan and Dream Big! actor Leslie Ishii (“Lost”) shares how she’s grown through her long relationship with the East West Players theater company by having a place to practice “stick-to-it-iveness.” As an actor, your opportunity to practice your work long-term is often in others’ hands. Brains has given me a place to practice “stick-to-it-iveness.” Through consistently applying myself to it over the last year-and-a-half, I’ve seen my strengths and weaknesses in ways I couldn’t by just auditioning or going from one short-term acting project to another. I’ve learned a lot about balancing my workload, moving on from set-backs and setting the bar higher for myself.

YII: How, if at all, has your blog helped your acting career? 

SARAH: It’s a little difficult for me to answer this, because in many ways my focus has changed from how I went about my career before we started Minerva. Before, I was really an actor for hire. I just wanted other people to hire me to “just act” and often enough (well, it’s never enough, is it?) they did.

Since founding Brains of Minerva with Claire, I have really changed the way I look at the industry and see myself as more much more invested in the entire process than someone who is hired “just to act.” I fell in love with a script and launched a production company, Term of Art Productions, to develop it. I have honed my producing chops by working on a variety of projects, currently ControlTV.com. I still get hired to act and love it, but my entire perspective is so different now.

So, to answer the question, I have made relationships through the site that I really cherish. None of them are specific, “and then she hired me!” relationships, but I have no doubt that all will be valuable in this more holistic way that I currently view my career.

CLAIRE: I’ve certainly made loads of new contacts. When I arrived in L.A., I quickly realized that I had taken for granted all the years of contacts I had made, with little effort, in New York. When I arrived, even though I had friends and alum contacts in L.A., I didn’t have a community of directors, writers, and actors. Brains has definitely helped with that, and the site has renewed my already existing contacts. 

Most importantly, working intimately on blog pieces with directors, actors I respect, casting directors, et al, has broken down the industry hierarchy in my head and made me less fearful. I take rejection a lot less personally since I’m always reaching out to contributors (and often hearing the tumbleweeds in response!), and through my own writing, I’ve started dialogues with people I respect. After “Love, Work and Documentaries” I heard from a couple of the filmmakers I wrote about and that was wonderful – to feel that by shining a light on the work I love, I’m building a community that is interested in and supports my work. 

YII: What services do you offer through your blog?

CLAIRE: We offer peer-to-peer coaching sessions (“Brainstorming With the Brains”) in which both Sarah & I participate, helping an actor with their L.A. transition, opening up our Rolodexes to share the resources we’ve found valuable. We also speak to student groups, and we’re moving into live events to expand and to support the site (and us) financially.

We have two upcoming events we’re thrilled about! We’re partnering with event planner Christina Malpero to host an evening that’s a panel discussion and cocktail party with the creative team of the new NBC show, “The Cape.” We’re then offering a 4-part webinar series with celebrity publicist Joy Donnell called “Brave New World,” which teaches you how to use all the tools at your disposal to authentically develop your brand as an actor. (Email us at info@brainsofminerva.com to be notified of details for those events and other special offerings.)

YII: Where do you see Brains of Minerva going in the future?

SARAH: I see us continuing to be a place for great conversation and exploration. I’d like to include more video content.

YII: How has your acting career evolved in the time Brains of Minerva has existed?

SARAH: I went into this a bit before. The way I look at my career is very different now, but in some ways I have come full circle. As we end what has been an incredibly busy year, I look forward to re-focusing on my acting. Auditions have unquestionably picked up, and some recent bookings have made me realize that I don’t need to always do everything. It’s so nice to show up on set and get to “just act” and oh yes, the paychecks are lovely too. I always seem to learn with big pendulum swings, and perhaps now I can find some balance. I’m as excited as ever about the feature that I am producing, but I realize that doesn’t need to rule out work for hire. 

CLAIRE: Prior to Brains, I had begun working on a passion project that started out as an audition tape for a film in development that’s based on a novel I love. As I worked on it, though, it took on a life of its own, and I ended up shooting a series of shorts about the character. I then started to envision it, now called ‘Analices,’ as a gaming-influenced web-based project about the intersection of an actor and a character. I’m now finishing the writing component, which has definitely been transformed by having to write consistently for Brains, as has my capacity to project-manage a creative work long-term. Brains has helped me develop a deeper understanding of both acting and writing, and I want to continue to use the actor in me to become a better writer, and vice versa.

YII: What would be your dream acting job?

SARAH: For me, I get excited about the people I’d love to work with.  The image that sprang to mind as I read this question – a feature film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson or Sofia Coppola. In it I’m working on a role that requires me to bring everything I have. It’s terrifying and pushes me to places I haven’t necessarily been before, but I’m surrounded and supported by such amazing talents. Sounds fun, no?

CLAIRE: I love the opportunity to collaborate long-term on the development of a character, as is the case with some feature projects (the Mike Leigh process, for instance, of improvisation to develop character and story). And I’d love to be part of the ongoing dialogue with society as with the best TV shows – “Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”… When I hear interviews with the creators and actors of “Friday Night Lights,” my heart beats faster; the spontaneity of shooting with three cameras, characters so connected to a place and time, and the huge talents – it seems like the best of both worlds.   

If you haven’t hopped over there yet, take a moment to check out Brains of Minerva. For actors and anyone else pursuing a creative live, it’s an inspiring and informative resource.

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Tags: Brains of Minerva, BrainsofMinerva.com, Claire Winters, Sarah Sido

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 11:45 pm and is filed under actor, performer, recommended, spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.