By Vanessa Verduga, Guest Latinowood Contributor
Vanessa Verduga is an actor, writer, singer, director, producer, and lawyer committed to examining social issues for their impact on the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She is the creator and star of the popular award-winning web series Justice Woman, which follows the story of an Assistant District Attorney, by day, who becomes a defender of truth and justice at night. Vanessa also stars and produces H.O.M.E., a feature film that examines the loss of communication told through the immigrant’s perspective, and is in pre-production for a comedy feature film she wrote and will star in entitled The Implications of Cohabitation.
In the entertainment industry you must promote yourself, because if you do not brand your face, your project, and your unique talent, who will? However, I believe self-promotion is the vehicle you drive after you create the vision—a wonderful new world of make believe that you find a home for through self-promoting efforts.
What happens though, when the road is blocked?
You may vividly imagine a character, perhaps even a world, but if there are roadblocks in front of you, your world is stuck in a stalemate and your character is not allowed the right to be born. You wait for a collaborative effort (usually a directing, writing and acting team), confident that someone or something will come along to spark and give life to the ideal Hollywood machine.
Sometimes you wait for years on end. Auditioning here and there, interviewing and interacting with influential people. At what point do you put the vision ahead of your own comfort? When do you step outside of the role of a supporting player and take the idea by the helm?
From a Pitch to a Script
Eight years ago, my web series Justice Woman was just an idea in my head; I saw that the domain name was available and thought it would be a fun idea. I was one of those many hopefuls who had a great idea and wanted to see it happen through the collaborative process. After all, the movie business needs good ideas, right? (Sure it does. That’s why we’re so busy remaking TV shows and movies from the 1980s).
Along the way to this dream collaboration project, I learned a lot about myself, about acting, and more importantly, about the whole experience of entertainment. I had recently graduated law school and I got to see firsthand how our legal system worked, for better and for worse. This knowledge complemented my formal education when I went to learn at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
While I was learning, I was writing. Not by choice, but by necessity. After graduating, I needed an actor reel to showcase my work. I spent so much energy trying to find good directors and writers; it was just a matter of time before I realized that writing my own scripts would be more practical. And the more I wrote, the more I realized that my voice was forming. While writing Justice Woman, a series of tumultuous events were happening throughout the world that fueled my desire to write not just on my behalf, but also on behalf of others who had suffered some form of injustice. I began writing about the many unfair things that exist in our society pertaining in part to homophobia, immigration, discrimination, double standards, sexual hypocrisy, class power, political corruption and so forth. After a while I wasn’t just writing exposition or action sequences—I was creating a vision. I was communicating deep and relevant ideas.
I had to write to develop my acting, to pitch my great idea and to help others see the potential this idea had. And at that moment, when you recognize that you have the ability to write a full script and flesh out an idea…that’s usually roadblock number two for most self-starting artists.
From a Script to a Series
As if writing and developing that craft weren’t challenging enough, I had to face the reality that I was Justice Woman’s biggest fan and that when it came to project completion, I wasn’t even at the 1% mark, as far as developing a creative team. At this rate, I would be pitching Justice Woman in her retirement years! I was the producer of the project, the one who wanted to see it through and the one with the obligation to give that unique voice a platform. I, Vanessa the producer, believed in Vanessa the artist.
My vision for the series was actually quite grandiose. I wanted it to look like the comic book movies I loved, like Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City. Assuming that no one was going to make that big demand happen for me, the producer side of me worked out the logistics of what that would entail – lighting setup in production and color correction in post. I didn’t go to film school; just put two and two together. I looked up what I didn’t know and learned it. I set goals on a regular basis because that “producer” side of me wanted to get this project moving.
Part of being an entrepreneurial artist also involves taking initiative and experimenting with channels. I would have loved to have the show picked up by a cable channel from the get-go. But I didn’t want to wait years, keeping the idea locked in the idea stage. So I opted to create a web series. I researched how to do that and saw some of the experts in action, like Felicia Day and her web series “The Guild”.
In sum, I didn’t have tons of money from producers, I didn’t have film school training, and I didn’t land the big green light that everyone assumes a great idea is going to get. So I had to take on all the individual tasks to make Justice Woman happen. And of course, thanks to the encouragement and support of friends, family and business associates, I was given everything that I requested in the way of shooting locations and props.
I wasn’t given a dream team, I wasn’t given money, I wasn’t even given a lot of “ideas” as to how to turn my vision into a reality. But what I received was the support I asked for. People were more than willing to help me when I communicated to them exactly what I needed. I played the role of visionary and helped Vanessa the artist get started.
It’s like I learned in acting class—our characters are created by our own emotions and memories. We immerse ourselves in the character, and thus become part of that fictional world that we create for that character. In the end, we do everything to bring that character, that story, to life. The artist writes. He/she produces and directs if necessary.
To create the world you want to share you have to be able to self-create the vision. Self-produce the art, well before you think about self-marketing. Sometimes you can’t rely on other people or wait for the perfect opportunity. Life in show business is not fair in that way, in much the same way justice is not always delivered in an imperfect system.
The question is, how much do you believe in yourself as a visionary? I have been in both worlds now, as a regular actor struggling to get a gig, identified mostly and limited by my label as a “Latina actress”, and also as the self-producer.
So my advice to artists who are feeling the blunt of rejection, of missed opportunities, and of discouragement from a rough industry, is to take control. Of yourself, your project, and the art you want to create. Put yourself in the driver’s seat and tilt the balance if you must.
You have a voice as a creative artist. If that voice matters at all in the world it will not be silenced. You will continue to speak your message until the world sits up and listens.
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