Ever since I started writing this blog actors have been reaching out to me to talk about their own projects, and sometimes to collaborate. What a revelation!

This week it occurred to me: writers write from their own POV. Most of the writers for TV are guys.  This cannot end well for women in general - both the actresses and the audience. So why wait for the perfect role when we can start creating it now with collaborative teams?  

Roz Coleman Williams put it best - we don't wait for our place to open up in this industry and we don't keep looking for the right door to walk through. The time is now.

I personally think there is no such thing as a big break anymore. To move up in our industry full time, we have to remove the wall and walk in. I think we have to create our own entrance.

I want to create original content because what I think is funny and observant isn't as well represented as it could be. And I think that actresses are poised to tell their own stories right now. This is an important time in history. Take the mike! Or the pen. Waiting for anyone else to write it is just silly to me now.

I also like that I look like my audience. I reject the notion that media must either elicit the fantasy of a woman or the nightmare of a woman. I am real. What I write about is real. And it's real funny.

If we, as actors, start writing and producing our own TV, film, and theater work then we are immediately cast-able. No more ethnic or gender bias in writing...we have to write for ourselves and our friends. And we have to make new friends. Not everybody is up for the heavy lifting. Hmmm...maybe this was the game all along. They always say that this business is all about who you know.

I think now it's all about who you know that is also creating and producing original content. So what are you creating this year? I have 3 projects - all comedies. I have pushed 2 films to 2013. 

What about you? What's your most passionate project right now? Who is self producing and inspiring you?

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I was so happy to be a part of Jennifer Weedon and Erin Brese's sketch on Funny or Die. These two go-getters are talented, funny improvisers who planned, produced, and promoted Shit NY Moms Say. Erin's blog about it and the video are in Backstage here.

I first read about natural consequences in a magazine wherein a woman allowed her daughter leave the house without a jacket on a chilly day, just to experience that choice. She never left without a jacket again.

Humans adapt their behavior by experiencing the natural consequences of that behavior, and who are we to rob them of that?  However, I am  very uncomfortable when I am aware that I am delivering those natural consequences in the form of a confrontation. Especially as actors, we have to pick our battles, and often I opt out. 

Case in point, I was at a holiday meal and there was some much needed hired help in the kitchen. It was sweltering in there and the sun beat down through the windows. I noticed that their sweat was dripping precariously close to the soup, so I closed the blinds. Not long after that, one of the workers sought me out with his wet face and a sweat-speckled black shirt. He asked could we please close the blinds, as someone had opened them. 

"No. I prefer them open," was the host's answer. As I relayed his preference, the caterers all leaned in to stare in disbelief as sweat rolled off their hairline, down their cheeks, and right into the soup. 

At what point do we say, "Hey stop being weird about the blinds. These people you hired are suffering and you have an obligation to stop it!" But there was a crowd and that seemed wrong. Also, he was being cruel and self entitled. So I just let the man eat the soup with droplets of funk and dander. Natural Consequences.

How many people are just letting you eat the soup? Are you really open to hearing honest talk about your own stuff? 

One way to find out where you stand on anything is to begin a collaboration; to self produce. As actors we no longer need to solely fit into someone else's vision/film/play/TV series. When we self produce, we evolve personally and professionally. And our professional work is only as great as our personal growth, so what are you self producing this year?