They are rock stars, artists, entertainers, and actually they're on a lot of different episodes. So there'll be in the show links below, so you can dive deep more into their journeys, but they were with me before I even started the podcast. And I'm getting very emotional because actually this is the season finale. This is the last episode of season three, and then we're going to be taking a break. So until we get to season four. So since this is the last episode, I thought it would be really beautiful to bring my friends together, you know, to share the journey along the way from zero to hero of, you know, before I even had the podcast.
And we're going to indulge in some beautiful stories to add value. So as artists, as entrepreneurs, so you can be inspired so we can be a ripple effect for you. So you can have the morals and values ethics and the quality of choices for your life to inspire and do what you do in your world. And right now we have over 4,000 downloads per month, so, and growing. So I'm so grateful for all the new subscribers listeners, everyone tuning in. It's a really special episode. So make sure you go to chonacas.com and get on my email list. And I'm going to give some people, some surprises it'll be mailed directly to you from the Sophisticated psychos team from me personally.
And so, yeah, just make sure you go to chonacas.com and put in your email subscribe, stay in tune. Also, like I said, check out the show notes. So you can dive deep to listen to Nicky Scorpio and Ali, Sandra Levy, prior episodes of she's all over the place and any episodes that you haven't listened to definitely fill up and tune into all of those. So you're all caught up for when we get to season four and I have a very, very special announcement I have decided Season for, I am going to curate for you a women empowerment series. So everything women, so like female identifying human beings.
This is a women empowerment Series just for you. Also people who hold space and honor the divine feminine and you know, who empower women. So I already have actually seven people lined up for season four and you are going to be really excited. I have art curators, international art curators, and I have really special people. So okay. With no further ado, Ali, Sandra Levy. I love you. Hi girl.
I just want to say congratulations. And you know, it is kind of wild because remember this all started as, you know, Katie's corner YouTube channel, and then it was like, wait a minute. Why not bring this to podcasting? And clearly you've tapped into a market. So just want to say congratulations so exciting.
I have chills. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I love you, Nicky Scorpio.
Yeah, definitely. I congratulations. It's awesome to see everything unfolding and you know, Ben goodness, we're able to be consistent. And so keep spreading the positivity and definitely we celebrate the divine feminine for sure.
and so kind of deep diving into Ali Saundra was just saying, so how it started as Katie's corner YouTube videos, and then they transferred to podcasting. Actually I wanted to start a podcast eight years ago and I didn't know how to get on the train tracks and then a Nicky Scorpio. And I, because I was so adamant about it, we had the Sophisticated psychos podcast and then I met this guy who was a Lyft driver who knew about Libsyn. I had no idea and the number one syndication and, and he had some shows and he was an editor and we were going to do stuff with him, Rick.
So we actually went to Vox and we recorded Tom lawless. We had this huge mic stand and the mic and we recorded Alex. Socolow backtrack of Tom lawless is the president of one of the top voiceover agencies in the world, Vox who Nicky and I are both with in Los Angeles. Then we met up with Alex, Socolow in the Hamptons and he's the writer for Tory story, the original toy story animation. And he gives the whole story of how buzz and Woody came to life. So you can definitely go to season one, to listen to Alex Okolloh to hear about his amazing journey. And he's an amazing person and he's killing it with all the animation movies and stuff.
So, and then Tom Wallace is in season two, but yeah, so Nicky, you know, we, when we went to Vox, we went to the Hamptons. We were going around with this heavy pound, Mike San doing these podcast interviews in Arizona, Miyamoto spa with Jim root, the GM. And then we had these episodes and, oh my gosh, even the mayor, the mayor of Georgetown in Texas, the whole town is green. And so we recorded some things, but we didn't align it to getting it out there and going. So then we literally left LA drove across the country, went to Greece for a month island hop, seven different islands then was going to Atlanta for work for TV and film.
And then everything was self-taped. And I'm like, I'm like twiddling my thumbs here. I'm like, oh my God. I'm like, I'm like, oh, okay, I'm going to do lifestyle. I'm going to relax in Atlanta. You know, kind of switch gears from LA and New York and just, you know, get my roots down to become kind of like how in Michigan, when I started this small fish in a big pond, I wanted to go to Atlanta because with my credits, I would be able to obtain credits. I thought like a lot sooner, right? It was a chess player move. Anyway, I'm in Atlanta twiddling my thumbs, no, we have this influencer trip to Mexico and I'm in Mexico. I'm in my hammock for seven days looking at the stars and the moon. And I'm just like in this white robe, reflecting, what do I need to do?
And I'm like, who do I want to be around? And I'm like, I love New York. Paul's in New York. My godmother's in New York, my best friend. Logan's in New York. I'm like Ali, Saundra boss, lady
In New York. I mean was at the time
Producer a woman, I looked up to admired. We had our Mastermind weekly east, east coast, the west coast. So I pivoted and went to New York city. Cause I just needed to be next to Ali Saundra. And we met up at a Greek restaurant. We broke bread, boom. That our second meeting pouring out my heart and soul. She was like, yeah, let's just do that. I was talking about like the YouTube thing was happening. She was like, yeah, let's do a YouTube thing. And Ali Saundra produced a Nicky Scorpio, did the editing and we produced Katie's corner. And so we in the YouTube business, it was like, oh, you want to do like five to like eight minute videos, short videos because people have short attention spans as I'm rambling here.
And so I ended up stripping the audio from those original Katie's corner and then created what I got on the train tracks to start the podcast. And I, the first one oh ones is like the Oak foundation of Katie's corner of like who I am and what the show would be about. And then they created branches of their own. So circling in and honing in this is how Katie's corner and the podcast journey began. So any thoughts on that, Ali, Sandra,
It was just such an awesome organic way to go from the YouTube channel to the podcast, you know, and I remember like you coming over to my booth in New York and we recorded the intro on the outros for the podcast. And I was like, oh, this is going to be good. Like, I remember that's sort of how I remembered feeling when you were recording your intro and outro. That's just how I felt it was immediate just saying to myself, oh, this sounds like it's already in existence. You know? So I just remember that being really exciting. And we've always talked about how well, I think both Nicky and I agree, like we just are in awe of how you make connections, how you are this great connector and you somehow know this person or who knows that person, you get introduced through them, et cetera, et cetera.
Just the amount of people, not only that you have on the podcast, but then just the range of people, you know, it's unbelievable and how you've been able to reach out to them. And, you know, I mean, not that you've convinced them to come on the podcast, I'm sure that like once they meet you and talk to you, they're like, yeah, I want to be on your podcast, but it's just incredible. I think that you're using your superpower of connecting people and connecting with people that you've been able to have incredible guests on the podcast. I mean, you know, some of the top people in their fields, you have connected with them and you have been able to interview them and have really, really amazing deep conversations and connections with them. So that's how I feel about it.
Yeah.
Yeah. I just got chills when, when you were sharing so wild because the podcasts and then the YouTube videos and then like now the podcast and like we're doing videos. So definitely check out the video on YouTube. If you want to tune in to the
Visual funny editing by Nicky too, like he would put in sound effects and like cool captions and does really fun visuals that made it just very charming and funny. And it was cool. Cause that's sort of like how Nicky was able to like insert his creativity and his sense of humor into it too. But it's amazing because think about it now. I mean, like we're celebrating so many wins right now as a team, you know, and it's just so cool to think like, okay, well we're doing this as a team and now, you know, over the pandemic, it's like creating a web series that is now having great, you know, a claim attached to it. So it was just so cool to see our, you know, as, as a triad has like a, a triangle of friends is like what we've been able to do since then, until now.
And what's happening now with us is just incredible.
Yeah. And to highlight what you were saying about Nicky for the person tuning in, when they go to the listen to the, the first, the one oh ones, you'll hear all the funny things Alessandro's talking about. And I'm so grateful for those things, but now the podcast, they don't have those things. Alison was talking about. However, it would add so much value and so much fun quirks to my show. If it did have that, however, something I want to dive deep into is, you know, that takes time and you know, that takes money and through the whole process of us curating and creating together, we've had find, and we're going to share about this today, but we've had to find ways to unhook responsibilities. So we're not feeling boggled and weighed down.
And so we're honoring one another with our natural talents and what we can do, but we did this with no money and we did this as creators and we don't have like a trust fund or someone sponsoring and funding, everything we've done. We did this as a trio over the last like five years we've been creating together maybe, maybe more, but we can tune into those dates. Exactly. But we've done this with our blood, sweat and tears from our heart and our soul. So I just really want to, you know, dive deep and honor everyone's skill sets and what we've curated together and how also the struggles of those things and how we had to emotionally dismantle, because they were weighing us down because as a creator, we're doing so much, we'll do auditions.
Like we're all three voiceover artists. Okay. We're all three rockstar. Voiceover artists represented by the top of the business east coast, the west coast. Thank goodness gracious. So we definitely pivoted to align this Lockdown, improv comedy web series to highlighting our voiceover skills and to incorporate it, although it was Improv it on screen, we purposely punned on our voices and did things with our voices to make it character Improv, fun, interactive to highlight, you know, us as producers, editors, creators. So for a Couples Therapy, Nicky Scorpio, talented musician from the bay, did the intro, the outro, all the mixing, all the editing, all the lighting, all the coloring, all the visuals that you see on season one and two, which are streaming on the Sophisticated psychos platform.
You can see the Improv Web Series and we burst and created it during the pandemic. And we can get into that story. Nicky is a self-taught editor. He learned editing from YouTube. Nicky, do you want to share some things about tech and being an entrepreneur and an artist with the editing and the
Yeah, definitely. Well, you know, when we were in the process of figuring out what the next move was when we were in Atlanta, that's really when I started getting into editing because I had enough editors that didn't get the vision to the point where I wanted it to be. And so I went on a journey and I found a couple of different editors, the main one that really taught me how to edit step-by-step his name is max Novak. I just started following the steps and found because I'm more introverted that I have the patience to do the research, you know, and, and to find the way to, you know, to be the most effective. And I found out amazing plugins, like red giant, which really took something that even if it's like a cell phone video, that you can give it a cinematic look.
Yeah. There was a lot of deep breathing because for people who use a dope and know that the rendering process, the process of getting it from point a to point B sometimes can involve your program crashing and things of that nature. For me, it was always enjoyable though, you know, because I, I admire, you know, what? You stand for key, what, what you're about, you know, doing something that everybody can watch all across the board that's for families and kids. So for me, it was never a frustrating process. It was always like the bigger picture of doing something positive. Yeah. I would just share with people who are looking to do something creative and either maybe you don't have the budget, or you're very particular with the vision that you want.
Yeah. Take the time and go on YouTube, you know, go on Reddit. There's a lot of amazing communities and people that love to share and love to teach, and you don't need to go to school to do this. Yeah. Enjoy the process.
Cool. Those take a lot of patients and yeah, I remember the early days of the YouTube channel or, you know, for us when we were putting up your podcast and like, yeah, I remember the rendering. It was like, okay, well, we're just going to like chill for a couple hours. So she would go get some food or what should we do in the meantime? Yeah.
Then, and then the organization of the files, which is, let me, it's just like, oh my gosh. And like making sure people like you're shooting a bunch of content because as a boss lady producer had the outline of what we were shooting. She knew how to ask me the questions and to get the certain things out of me. Well, she came over and I mean, I think did we shoot 12 in one day?
I think 14. I mean, we shot. That was great though. And you know, we just made sure we, we were like a well-oiled machine, you know, we slate every time before we start, you know, as we're starting to film and that way it made Nicky's job easier. I mean, I think the beautiful thing too, about like, when you find a team that you work really well with, it's like everyone has their strong suits and every, but then that way, like when you come together, you're almost like a, like a transformer or like a, whatever that one was from like power Rangers. When were kids, you know, like when they would all join together, I don't remember. And there was one Megatron or something. I dunno. Anyway, the point is like, you know, it's like, we have Nikki's ability for like the patients and the video editing and like making sure that everything's perfect because he has the vision and he knows what it's gonna look like.
Right. And then it's like, Katie, you are like, in this case with the YouTube channel and the podcast, it's like, you are the creative behind it because you know exactly, okay, these are the topics I want to cover. This is what I want. It help, you know, teach people and educate people about since I've been through it. Right. So that was like your, your super power. And then mine was like the organization staying on task, making sure things were like Happening, how they were supposed to, and that we weren't wasting, you know, we weren't wasting footage like time on the, you know, on the camera and that we were just very efficient. And so it sort of this beautiful thing when you find that team, when, you know, okay. All of our skills together make this amazing conglomerate, you know, make this amazing, like whole piece, like a whole puzzle kind of thing.
Yeah.
Oh, so also I wanted to say, you know, part of it is also that it's a process, right? Like we learned about lighting, we learned about like the position of everything, like the actual production of putting everything together. And also along that lines with having a team that for people who don't have that team, that because of technology, you can outsource, instead of trying to do 18 different things at once is you can make an amazing production on like next to no budget. If you don't have the people around you, which is important so that you're not burnt out. And that way it's more enjoyable. And that's what I think what it was for me was it was cool watching the two of you having the chemistry, having almost like the telepathic understanding and connection.
And then for me, that's, then it's exciting where I'm like, all right, cool. I got all these together. And then I can sit down and spend 10 hours trying to figure out how to get like, you know, all the colors to pop and all that cool stuff. So,
Yeah. Yeah. When I was in Mexico, I'm like, where do I need to be? I'm like, where do I need to anchor? So I'm like, and it's really about like feeding and energy. So it's like I knew with Ali Saundra, I would feed her and she would feed me and we'd feed off each other. And, you know, for me, the divine femininity and being like having that interpersonal relationship was so important and is so important for me to, to have that bond. And, you know, I, I was able to like vet out and share things with her, you know, and she was able to hold space and listen, and just be just a compassionate friend and just, you know, like through thick and thin and up and down, it's just one of the best choices I think I could have made as a creative at the time, what I needed as a human, but what a lot of my artists needed as well.
I worked better in I'm very independent, but I worked better. I feel like in a collaborative team, I think we all do being artists. It's more fun that way. Right. Cause we can do it all alone. And along the way, I thought I had to do it alone. And you know, being a young female thinking I have to put up this armor and do it alone, but then finding out that, yeah, I can do it alone, but it's harder. And I, and I, I don't have to do it alone. It's more fun to do it with teammate. Yeah. But diving in prior to Couples Therapy, when Ali Sondra and I were Mastermind in east coast, the west coast, you know, I created a web series called trigger flaws with Nicky Scorpio.
And we would go to Republic of pie on Magnolia, amazing pie on Magnolia and valley village. And they even have vegan pie and the owner. So quite an art show there. And we, we had a table read and all these artists came together. When we, when we were done, like I cast all the people I had to go through the union. I have five non-union actors have an opportunity to be in the union with the new media contract. And it was scripted by Mike Targus. Who's I'm from Detroit or I'm from Michigan. He was the writer on it. And Nicky had the vision. She's like a modern day, Carol Burnett, modern day, Lucille ball. And you know, so like a variety show within trigger flaws.
I called it trigger flaws because I went on an internal journey in 2014 to find out my triggers and what would trigger me. Right. And so any great artist just takes the good, the bad and the ugly. And they just apply it to the canvas and apply it to the, so I know that's what I do. So we had trigger flaws, which was scripted. So while I'm psychologically masterminding with Alessandra, I'm birthing these ideas and we're talking about like, you know, curating something together, independently doing something together. So then we had trigger flaws and we did Season, you know, episode wanting to through the union scripted. And then after that, then by coastal, we were talking about, you know, I talked to my godmother and she said, yes, we could shoot at her place in New York city.
So Ali Saundra, Nicky, we came up with the new show idea and the working title was green beans and only Sandra and Nicky because their hats are more of like situational comedy, the writing. And they were getting together and they had a Google doc and they were writing, you know, the show. And then for whatever reason, like I was even casting it. And I had this Greek guy and this, this redheaded girl odor, rewind really quick though, trigger flaws. Nicki did the Carol Burnett Lucille ball. And I did the, the Sabrina's the teenage, which was, she go like this and she had the special powers. So I would, she put her finger together. So all four girls and trigger flossers, two elderly ladies who aren't elderly, but then the younger generation to get more of a demographic.
And we all had special powers. The sound engineer, everyone had their own whistle when they made their special powers happen. We could think and know what each other's were thinking. So we could all circle back around and make trigger flaws still happen. But pivoting to the green beans on the scenario was like, I was this big, a voiceover star in New York city. And my agent calls me to like, do a last minute audition for Nickelodeon or something like that. Ali Saundra, you were going to play my best friend and come over and be involved in voiceovers. And you have such a great voice being where you're from. We were going to, you know, as a creator, I was like, what do you want to do?
What are you, what, what do you want to do? And you would say, oh, well, this is where my artist is calling this. This is the voice I want to explore with. And so we were open to that as a collective. And we talked about Nicky, maybe he was going to be like the annoying eighties, next door neighbor, who always wants to work out, do green juices in yoga and kind of incorporate
A new thing. He's pushing like every episode, it's like a new thing that he's like pushing Nicky. And I had so much fun writing it. And it was like, again, working as a team, you know, Nicky and I like we're, I think we're both to give myself a little pat on the back. Like, we're both funny, we're funny in different ways, but it's, it's great when you bounce ideas off of someone, right. Nicky will come up with something and then I'm like, wait, that's hilarious. But like, what if this happened also? And then you just keep like playing off of each other. And we had such a blast writing and it was very effortless. I feel like when we wrote together, it just felt like we had been writing together forever. Kind of just
Chemistry is definitely key
Is definitely key. Being able to be open to different ideas and, and to keep an open mind when people have ideas that you might not have thought of. That's where a lot of the magic happens. I feel like in all of our creations.
Oh. And we knew it was good. If we made each other laugh, we're like, oh, if we're still laughing about this, when we read it back, like we know it's going to be funny. Cause we already knew what it was. But even reading it back again, making us laugh like a second and third time, we're like, well then someone seeing this for the first time is going to laugh.
And like we have green beans on a Google drive. Like we, we created and had these visuals come together. Like, and then my cousin Lizzy, since she went to NYU and Tisch film school, she was going to be the cinematographer on it and direct it. And so we were creating an opportunity with family and to give her an opportunity to direct us in this. So that could still happen. You know, it can, it just it's like we created this. So what we're sharing with you listening, you know, the viewer watching is the formulation of all of our projects that have birth. And that's going to lead to Couples Therapy, which is going to lead to where we're going to go in our lives.
But so there's trigger flaws, which still 1000% can come to life and us be creating on trigger flaws on a scripted series. Also we have green beans, which is a scripted series. And instead of trigger flaws was in LA with the spiritual hippie vibe. We did this like New York and, but still like with the green juice and the spiritual vibe and stuff, but incorporated us being voiceover actors. So that can 1000% come to life too. From there, we actually, when we got to New York, we met up with an acquaintance and who had the funding who said from the get, I will fund this, let's come up with this, let's do this, you do the writing.
So I pitched it to Alessandra Nicky. And they're just like the yes team. They're like, yes, let's do it. And we showed up and literally we did all the research. We did a project called Bugsy. It was a limited series. And we've even pivoted to talk about because we got together and we even brought in another male voiceover actor because Ali Saundra me, we did all the female voices. Nikki did half the male voices and we brought in another voice to do the other voices. And since it's the story of Bugsy, it was very specific of eight to 10 episodes where, you know, this potential acquaintance investor who said, you know, he was just write it, I'll pay for the animation.
And then I'll pitch it around to the networks. That was the plan. So I'm letting you know like what another project that we were deciding to do. Again, as creators, as producers, as partners to get together, to utilize our writing, our voices, our talent, our time, our energy for no money. We all got together and we wrote, and we did all this dope research. Yo, that was so much fun doing that ordering and all those lunches. We were going to have an animator. But when we had, I don't know, like wrote it pretty fast, we got to the, the specifics. I don't think this person knew how talented and how quick we were because when we set everything up and even had a meeting at this person's house office and when it was time to pay for the animator and we put you, you know, Oregon organizing a Alessandra, putting in our WIWORK, you know, we vetted out voiceover actors, we put it, you put it in from Facebook on a group.
We cast a voiceover actor. We cast that not only the voiceover actor, but we took meetings with animators and then found someone to do it for like a fair price. And animators are super expensive. And I was very clear with the investor, from the get-go who said, you know, who was, I'll talk, I want to say, because he didn't pay for it and it didn't happen. And so now we also have a scripted Bugsy Series, limited edition, our own take on it, ready to go and like an animated docu-series. Yeah. So then when this person's out of the picture, you know, when I think it was, you know, the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, you know, or maybe it was before the pandemic, I'm like, you know, we should take the audio since we have it and put it up as a podcast.
So the audio is out there. So like someone could hear it and then maybe want to turn it into something. Then we, it was the holidays we were going to do it, but then didn't do it. But then I've been hesitant, hesitant to do it because if someone can just take the idea, so maybe that's not the best thing. So let's wait on that. But I was seeing put out as a podcast, but then like it's only going to be X amount of episodes. So, so maybe that's not the best thing, but we could definitely put it together still for a pitch. So we have things that are, you know, simmering in our back pockets of self we've, all the energy and time. And they all layer together that we've built. So before I move on, does anyone want to share anything about stuff we just talked about?
I would say that again, it's a process, right? It's like you go in through the journey and you say yes to different things and you learn along the way. Right. And there are many successful people, like, you know, Dr. Dre, for example, has hundreds and hundreds of productions that might not ever see the light of day. And you get that down to a certain point where you feel like you have something solid. And, and I think, you know, a lot of times the perfectionist syndrome, that's where having a team is so important, right? Because like the perfectionist syndrome can make things frustrating or overwhelming and we can take these amazing creations we have in the treasure chest and do something powerful and do something cool with that when we have the funding for it, you know, and keep on running with it.
You know,
I just also to piggyback off of that, Nicky, I also feel like, you know, you'll hear a lot of times, you know, someone will be interviewed, you know, maybe a big celebrity or, or very successful person. And they'll say, you know, maybe they'll be, be asked like, well, what were you doing before? Like, it seems like you just came out of nowhere. Like now all of a sudden you have all this, you know, this following this fan base or this fame and fortune, whatever that kind of thing is. And 99.9% of the time that person is saying, well, I had like 10 different, you know, failed businesses first. Or I had, you know, 50 books that I had written before my first one actually had a publisher and wanted to put it on a big scale. Right. You know, you're, it's not an overnight success.
It's like, you're working for a decade or five years or 10 years or 20 years or 30 years or however long. Right. You're doing all these projects, you know, it's like, you know, the, the cartoons where someone's trying to draw, and then they, you know, they, they fall up the paper and they throw it. They go, oh, no, forget it. And they start again. And then they ball that paper and they throw it out. Oh, start again. I mean, that's what it is. Right. People who are successful are actually the biggest failures.
You're just keep
Going, you're failing and failing and you're going, oh, that didn't work out, but that's okay. We still have it in the back pocket. Okay. This one, we didn't really get to do exactly what we wanted, but that's okay. We'll put it to the side. And when the time is right, we'll do it again. Like that's the beauty of it. You know, we, these things, no matter how much they happened or how little they happened, there's still always a time for rebirth for them. Or if not, it's just getting us closer to where we're at now. And I think it really did pave the way for, you know, the idea of like, okay, we're in a pandemic, we're home. We can't see each other. We can't go anywhere. Can we do something creative and fun just for ourselves and then maybe putting it out and seeing if other people will like it.
And I mean, clearly with the response that we've been getting from the Film Festival Circuit, it seems like people thought it was a good idea.
Yeah. I, I, I feel like that reminds me, there's this image that I've saw years ago and it always resonated with me. It's like, there's two people that are mining for diamonds and there's one person who's really far behind and he's like going for it. There's another guy who is one, one hit away from hitting all the diamonds, but he gets tired and he walks away and I feel like that's so important. Just like to your point, all the Sandra's, we just need to keep going. Right. Like Farrell said that, that he was going to quit at one point. And one of his relatives said his family, he said this in an interview, his family's intuitives and one of his relatives said, you don't see what's on the other side of this. And I think, you know, one of the greatest gifts because of the time that we're in, because of the technology that we have is we can take one thing and we can reframe it and do like 10,000 different things with it.
As long as we have the patience and the excitement and the people around us to, to have that, you know, confidence to do that. So what I would like to
Here is in the interim of everything, Ali, Saundra, and Nicky is saying about keep going and about the failures. We also communicate with each other and then separately where it's like, you know, I've asked Ali Saundra, like, Hey, like I just planted a C like, oh, I look forward to, you know, cause we met on a yoga retreat for 10 days in Nicaragua. That's how we met. So I'm saying, Hey, just girl time, you and me, let's, let's plant a seed for the fantasy for the idea that you and me are going to like get together for a long weekend or something and just like have some self-care and honor our souls. So by planting that seed for that to happen, that's really exciting that also we share meditation with one, another essential oils we share, you know, communicate about the self care stuff too.
So well, you know, as entrepreneurs and we keep going, we know when we're like, oh, Hey, like family is going to be in town. I'm not going to be available for a week. Cause you know, we're in nature doing hikes and we're with family. So we communicate those things with one another, like, oh, Nikki's like busy for the next two weeks. And you know, we kind of like check in with one another as like a friend family kind of, you know, collective to look out for one another. You can just go, go, go. Yeah. But we need to be able to make sure we're nourishing ourselves to and watering our gardens. Well,
That's how we're still able to keep going and keep making projects and keep coming up with fresh new ideas and having the bandwidth for it because we're not burnt out because we are saying, Hey, you know what, I'm going to the mountains for a week. Or like, I'm going to go be with my family or I'm going to just, you know, not be on the computer for a week. Like that's why we're able to come back and be rejuvenated. Like we had a nice break between season one and season two for Couples Therapy. And I actually think that was great because I know, you know, we were at home, we could have just been like, let's bang it all out. Let's just do as many as we want in one day. And you know, I'm sure he would have come out with great stuff, but I actually think it was better.
Like we had the break between season one and two and we had time to reflect on it. And like, what did we love about season one? And what can we bring to the table for season two? How can we make it a little different? You know, what's the, what's the, the evolution of, of Katie and Nicky as it relates to them and their relationship with also how it relates to the therapist and how she's changed over the break of seeing them and et cetera. And I think, you know, art imitates life, right? Life imitates art, art imitates life. It's it's one in the same. And so I think that was, that's just so important. We had that break between season one and two, and then we got together and did season two, it was like fresh, new, you know, we're looking at it with, with fresh new eyes.
Yeah. Also I feel like the biggest kind of like secret ingredient is that anytime any one of us had an idea, there's like, everyone's on board. Like I've been in enough projects, I've collaborated with enough people to understand if you have one person who's like one or 2% not interested or doesn't get it that it's, it's that much harder to actually finalize and to do something, you know, magic and powerful. A lot of, a lot of people will tell you that some of the greatest songs and some of the greatest scenes and movies are completely Improv, completely accidental things where someone was like, let's just keep going. Let's just do this. And I feel like that's one of the greatest things in the chemistry the we all share is that anytime there's been an idea that there's always been like a yes.
And to that, you know?
Yeah. And that's number, isn't that the first rule of Improv like yes. And the first rule. Yeah. It's perfect that we were able to channel that, you know, in the series because yeah. I mean, you know, of course just like how curb your enthusiasm, they have an outline of what's supposed to happen in the episode, but then everything else is improvised. That's sorta like the way we sort of went about it, where it's like, you know, we, before, you know, we were recording, it's like, okay, we had an idea generally, but pretty loose. Like this is what we think, you know, maybe we could touch on like, as Katie loves to say the brush strokes right. Of, of what, of what could potentially unfold.
But I really feel like the three of us are just very connected and just kind of played off of each other and did a whole bunch of yes. Ends and just had fun with it and went with it. And you know, there's some hilarious moments. I mean, I've been posting little clips every week on Instagram. And I love going through the episodes to find like a 32nd or 62nd kind of like jam. And I mean, some of them I'm just, I just am cracking up. Cause it's, it's almost like, because it was improvised. I don't always remember every moment because it's not like we were memorizing a script. So I don't remember all the lines and who says what, but I mean, some of it, I'm just like, how did we come? It's hilarious. You know, Katie's talking about, she's a Ferrari in the morning that made me laugh so hard.
And you know, and then me as the therapist is talking about how different pizza toppings link up to emotions and, you know, just like the things that when we're like open and free, the things that we come up with and, you know, I mean, my favorite part too, is just like all of Nikki's like facial expressions and like, he'll try to like say something and he just it's like, forget it, you know? And then there's the banter between us. Like, don't go anywhere where you go and Nicky like engage with us. And just, I just feel like the dynamic is, is just really funny. And I do appreciate, you know, the, the fact that we are so comfortable with each other and that we are so like, we just know how to give each other space to create, to come up with funny things to just be ourselves.
But then also obviously be our characters as well. But it's really such a joy.
Yeah. And to take something that came out of a place of frustration and to be able to capture that into harness that, you know, was, was a really big thing because a lot of times people just want life to be perfect. And I've, I have found from experience that the things that are imperfect that are frustrating are a lot like a lot of the sitcoms and a lot of the greatest songs and art comes from somebody saying like, this is relatable. We need to do something with this as artists, instead of just like letting it pass us by and you know, and that's where the magic happens for sure.
And of course more and more media is all about how just much more interested in things that are just very genuine and real life. And I think it's almost like this rebelling against what we've seen when social media first came out. I mean, it's still happening and media in general, right. It's, it's very like glamorous, stylized, glamorized, glamorized, and you know, just perfection and airbrushed and all this kind of stuff. And there's this push for? Like, no, we want genuine. We want authentic. We want, I mean, we see it in our scripts every day for Voiceover, like conversational, authentic, genuine, like, you don't really care about the product. You're just kinda like sharing about it. And that's what, that's what people like. Right. So it's perfect that we're taking something like Couples Therapy, which may be a lot of people.
I think people now want to talk about THERAPY, but I know when I used to go to therapy when I was younger, no one wanted to talk about that. You know? So it's just like this thing that's real relatable, authentic, genuine, kind of like you said, Katie, good, bad, ugly. We took it. And we're like, this is relatable. And people will probably find it funny. And there are plenty of people that are in Couples Therapy and there are plenty of people that would probably benefit from Couples Therapy. Right. So why not just like put it out there and just be really raw and authentic and real and genuine about it and, you know, hope that people find it funny and think that, oh, this is so relatable. I know exactly what this is like. Yeah.
Yeah. I love everything you both just said. I just want to get more into the brain child to let the listener and the viewer know some formatting. So what we did was we were east coast to west coast and we did it on zoom. We did this on zoom, like we're doing right now on the video. And it was a two-shot and Nikki hooked it up with his lighting and, you know, with the tech skills and the post-production, but we shot it on zoom. And what we did, we did a one therapy session, one therapy session. So it was about one hour, just over an hour.
And then what we did for new media, for Web Series, we broke it down to like eight minute episodes. So we, each segment was like an Improv, or if you do a sketch, it's like, you have a topic, you have an idea. So like it could be anxiety or it could be about like Dominic tricks or it could be about, you know, noise canceling headphones. And so there would be like a bit, and we were like, okay, like we played on that bit. We did the beginning, we did the intros. We found like the thing that was like the thing, like the noise canceling headphones, or like the tents that was the actual funny. And then we built, we all did our bits off of that. And once we felt like fully full off of energy off of just the electronics, we then introduced something else and went to something else.
And then, so that's how we shot it. And then when it was done, Nicky and I, we watched it together and then I'm like, okay. And I told him, Nicky, as a director, I'm like, cut it here, ended on here. So you ended on something big or a funnier. You want to end it on like, what's next. So I was able to say, okay, edit here. And then, and then when we were done, you know, we just like, literally most of it was all usable. Most we didn't, he didn't cut out a lot from season one, season two. There's a bit, he did cut out. And I want to ask you, ask you about that, just so you know, in a minute, but I actually did what you never answered me. So we're going to get raw and real on the podcast in front of the people. So I can know the answer that was ever answered, but season one.
So there's just like, I think we'll use like all of it, honestly, that's how it was edited. And we did Web Series. We learned YouTube business during the pandemic. And so we released one episode per week and we did all the, the vid IQ and the hashtags and, you know, the algorithm of like posting consistently and Nikki made the thumbnails and we got a poster. And so that was season one. And like Ali, Sandra said, we were able to let it breathe a bit. And we were excited. We knew what was going to happen. We just, we took some beats and then we had another conversation about what it would look like. And then we shot season two. Again, we shot it all longer than season one in the session was longer.
Like I milked it and just like kept her on the, on the call. And that's a part of season two, but we shot it all in one zoom session. And then again, Nikki edited them down accidentally one episodes, actually 24 minutes. So, right. I think one episode is like 24 minutes since he's in jail. I'm like, what is going on here? And cause he didn't do the cut where I said, and then, but as a producer, as a director, as an artist, sometimes you have to under known to hook and then understand when to let go. It's I already told them where to do it and it wasn't done. And this is kind of behind the scenes of nitty gritty, but where this miscommunication happens, but it's okay to share it because I had to learn along the way or before I would get really mad at it and I'd get so mad that he didn't do exactly what I said.
And that was my own room as an artist to grow as a producer, as a team player, to have more compassion for my team and for myself that it's not the end of the world that it's going to work out. So I just allowed it to be because he already did all the editing. Like we had everything already uploaded. I already did all the backend work of the hashtags and stuff. And I'm like, I'm not going to go back and do that. I'm not going to have him go back and do it. It was just like backstabbing in a mess. I I've learned along the way just to like, you know, start messy and go and then, and then just, just go and just let it live. So, so I don't know which episode, well, one episode is like 20 more minutes. So enjoy that one. And it's the bonus, the bonus episode.
Yeah, there you go. But the idea and the fact that knowing like people have the attention span of a goldfish seven seconds or nine seconds, I knew from the get, go from the base, from the commitment that we made, we don't allow it to go pass a certain place. But then also, like I said, through the experience and communication and honoring other human beings as a creative and for my own personal sanity learning to like, be like, just let it ride. And so it's totally awesome. It's not the end of the world. It's, it's all good. So I wanted to share that I want to share something else, but before I go on, do you guys want to share anything about those things?
Yeah, definitely. I've I think a couple of different things. Do you know, we, we made this at a time where the, in a sequence of events that we've never experienced before. Right. And for me, when we created this, it was very much from real life experiences, very much, you know, dealing with a therapist who was kind of checked out in, in certain aspects. And instead of being frustrated about it saying like you were talking about earlier, just saying like, we need to do something with this and I'm not just going to sit here and be frustrated. I, I feel like this is relatable and seeing other couples and people that are in love that fight and argue about certain kinds of things and thought how cool would be to, you know, show two different human beings that, you know, very much care about one another and maybe don't have the right answers.
And there's an intensity that's very relatable, you know? And, and also within, for me within the creation of this, there was a lot of stuff just like on the human side of things where, you know, again, I learned how to edit off of YouTube and really I'm a singer songwriter. I'm onstage first and foremost, that's my love. And being able to edit in a way where it's, you know, cool and it's relatable and it's fun and it's edgy. There was also along the way. And again, that's where it team helps that I was having just human. I want to be outside. I want to be with people like not wanting to be trapped inside and going through that and being able to finalize and finish this with all the other human things that are going on in my life.
I think that, you know, that's, again, that's part of the journey now is we can either sit there and there's a million different options, right? Like we could outsource, we could get another editor or we could just say, this is good content. It's relatable, it's raw. Right? Like if you look at a lot of amazing shows, if you look at the pilot episode, it's completely and totally different than the other episodes. And I think the fact that one of the things that I really love about you is that you have the confidence to just let things go and just put it out there and just let it rock and know that it's going to be good content. Cause there's a lot of people that are just hanging on to this creation, like it's their child and they're never going to let it go because it's not good enough. And I think it's cool regardless of my mistakes and errors that they're still like, we're going to go for this and we're going to put it out there and people are gonna love it.
I think I agree a hundred percent. I mean, it's so important to just remember that something just like getting it out there, even if it's not a hundred percent perfect is always going to be a hundred times better than just never putting it out there. It's almost like a no brainer. And I think I just agree. I think it's great that, you know, a pandemic is messy. Everything's been messy for the past year and a half or however long now this has been going on. Life is messy. Things are messy. Nothing's perfect. It's like, you know, an art is never perfect either. So it's just important to put it. It's like, it's sort of just like a time capsule. Like we put this out during the pandemic and it's just a part of what life was like during the pandemic, right?
It's like, we'll look back on it in 50 years and be like, wow, this was a period of time in our life that was bonkers. Right. We made it through a pandemic when a lot of stuff that should have happened, didn't happen. Like it's just like a, you know, a little like timestamp in the whole timeline of our lives. And I think it's actually great, you know, I mean, think about all the best art that you love. It was made in a very specific time. What was going on in that time period? What was it, you know, what was an upheaval? What was going really well at the time? What was going not really well at the time. I mean, it's all, it's a product of exactly where we were and what was going on in the world. And so why not document, you know, it's like we were documenting what was going on during the pandemic.
So there'll beautiful. So that kind of pivots me to sharing this part right here, which is when March happened in 2020, there's a, a platform called actors connection. It's LA New York, Atlanta. And they did Free at threes. That's what it was called based on your time zone. And it was every single day. And I was at the very first one. I was at the very first one, cause I was just sitting in my condo and I'm like, what am I going to do? And so when I saw this opportunity, I immediately, it was my target. Like I was in Mexico and I'm like, oh, I need to go to New York city and be by Alessandra when this pandemic happened, I'm like, I'm like, this is my target.
I'm like, I need to get my head down and just focus on my actor and just create, I just need to create. So I did the free at threes and I remember like, I called you, I called you up. I'll meet yo, we're doing this all we're doing. I'm like, yo, let's go. I'm like, are you ready? And you're like, yeah, I'm ready. And I'm like, let's I called you at the beginning. I got the grip of it. I'm like, let's go, we're going on a ride. And you were down. And we just took off from there. But what happened was when this happened, a lot of people were laid off in the world. The union, there are all these emails, half the people at sag, the office were laid off. They didn't have jobs. So already when you're a producer and an actor and you're creating content with a union, there are hurdles, office emails, papers like 50 pages.
People have to sign things time in timeout. You have to wait weeks, you know, to get a case number and things approved. And it's like, if, if it takes not too long, but you know, four to six weeks in the union, but now half the people are laid off. I'm like, what can I do to create? And I have issues with admin administrative stuff. I'm like the paperwork and all those things. I'm just like, I'm a creator, right? I'm like, how can I remove any loopholes, any nuances, anything that's going to hold me back from creating, like what is going to hold me back? Anything that's going to be in my weight, get rid of it. So I'm like, how can I create without having to go through the union and being an Improv, doing stand up, not calling the union and asking like, Hey, how come Ashton Kutcher is having punked?
And he's an ALA celebrity quote, unquote, but he's doing union projects, but he's Ashton Kutcher and he's doing punked. So there's this thing where a union actor can do other projects that aren't union, as long as they're not playing another character. So as, as long as it wasn't scripted, which it wasn't as long as I am Katie and not another character, it, I can do it, not through the union, but as Improv to create something, that's funny to create something that's just creative that will show people my art and my creation, then gift me an opportunity for producers and directors to hire me in union projects.
So Ashton Kutcher could go and do punk as Ashton Kutcher and do his punk thing as his personality for people to get to know who he was. So then it would build his personal brand to then hire him and scripted union project. So I knew that from years ago. And so then I'm like, okay, I knew I'm in the union. So I'm Katie and Nicky Scorpio sag eligible. So he was just Nicky Scorpio and then Ali, Sandra, she's not union or union right now. So it didn't matter. So she was, you know, the wacky therapist or just the therapist. And so that, that was the formulation of how it happened without it being attached to the screen actors Guild with honoring the ethics of the union and the ethics of being a creator to still be able to create and not allowing anyone to hold us back.
So we didn't have to wait on admin and paperwork. We were able just to do it, Nicky was editing it and then we can get into more things. But I just wanted to, you know, set the tone with letting people know about the backend that happens when it comes to being union and non-union and creating and, and our approach and what we did for this particular project.
And we as artists in that moment, because when March came about, that was right. When my team on the music side was going to do a release and performances and start pushing everything, and then life just went, oh shit. And instead of sitting, instead of sitting there being frustrated, writing sad poems, it's like, okay, like we're artists, we're creative. So, right. Like we love to create and to, you know, share that experience with people. What can we do? And that, that we all collectively were in that mode of, instead of sitting, you know, being stuck, being frustrated that we all said yes, to something that was different without really having an intention, but saying, you know, again, we have the chemistry or brilliant individuals and we can do something that's cool.
And it's real without all of those pressures and you know, of comparing, but also, you know, again, K with you that you gave me a lot of confidence to get on, you know, screen and, and to just not care also because of COVID, I'm like, I can't care what other people think about me. I can't let my image insecurities get the best of me. Like the world's upside down. I might as well love myself now and laugh with myself and do something cool. You know,
Normally Saundra had a gray wig on, which is really cool and has an amazing voice.
I used that way for my other character, grandma Ruth. So I was like, oh, I can repurpose this wig and use it for
No one's ever seen me that way. You know? And it was very vulnerable for me to put myself on screen that way, you know, like Ali Saundra said really raw and real, but that's why people love it so much because it's so raw and real with no makeup. And I'm hideous. I'm like, so stressed out, you can see like how hard and stressed. I looked, I have like veins coming out of my neck and like, I'm just like, my hair is a mess. Of course we're in a Lockdown thing. And so it's kind of like, we're all feeling vulnerable and isolated and, you know, and applying that to the art form of what Ali Sondra said, where we all were as a nation being locked down and, and cooped up inside, you know, it's not like it is now where people are going, you know, if you're on a farm, it's one thing, but it's not like now where people are going, you know, to social distancing and going out, like people were just inside at this point.
Like no one knew what was going on. So everyone was really inside for season one. And then season two, you know, you can see I'm much more relaxed and we're in a different circumstance. And, you know, the therapist went on her cruise. So she's much more relaxed too, from her vacation.
He did not care. She just went, I went on a cruise and I went island hopping. And you two were like, was that a good idea? And I'm like, I'm fine.
Oh, are you being mindful of like other human beings? Not what about other people?
No, but also also Katie, I want to say, you know, there's one R that you left out of that and it's relatable, right? That like I've seen, you know, behind the scenes of influencers and people that are very financially successful that have notoriety. And I see where the cameras are not on, I've always felt like within social media, that if people could actually see behind the scenes of how humans are, their whole perspective would be changed. And I think it's important again now more than ever to have real conversations to say, like, I am a human being, right. Like if you prick me, do I not bleed and all of that. And to say like, people get angry.
And I feel like, especially again, especially now that when you're being like raw, that there's people out there that like, yeah, I want to yell and I want to scream. I'm angry inside, you know, and courageous to be able to share that
Brittany is really setting the tone for that. Right now. I'm loving her on a deep, down on a deep psychological level. I mean, I remember when I was a teenager and it was like, show me the sign, show me the sign. I'm like, I'm like I was seeing all the signs. And then I didn't think like, you know, like what, 19 years later, I would have been on this journey in the entertainment industry with Brittany fantasizing and idolizing and thinking how lucky she was. And, and then the stuff that's coming out now. And so for her fan base and for the era of us, of who who's grown up with her, I know CPS child protective services and like what's online about child protective services and you can see the life and the universal laws, just an unjust.
And you can see with her conservatorship let's happen with her and what she's calling out, her family, how people, I mean, I'm always talking about how people are silently suffering and she's speaking out and by her roaring and speaking out, like all the fans are with her because they know what it's like to, and it's going to give, this is going to be groundbreaking for families to change the way we relate with one another and families, because she's what she's saying about her family. And I'm mad, like Nicky saying how like angry people are like, she's been, she has the, I went on her Instagram yesterday. Cause I deleted it for two weeks, but I tried to reinstall it yesterday and she has the F she has the emoji, the F you see, she's just like, she's like, you're lucky. I'm even posted.
I'm like, yeah, that's right, girl. They are lucky. I'm even posting, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm feeling her sauce and like everything she's saying, and I just, I love it. And I feel like it's going to also give other people our age, our, you know, our demographic, right. To be able to speak up and be the voice makers and changers to not allow these societal norms to be how they are dysfunctional, silently suffering. Like she is speaking up. And this woman always had so much power. I mean, this is just like the tip of the iceberg to, for the journey and the generation of what's to come, I think. And I mean, I know I'm an advocate and I'm team Brittany and I'm standing up and I want to be speaking on some things. I mean, I feel like we're shooting, like, you know, Couples Therapy right now.
Yeah. I mean, I think it is important that moments like this in, I guess, not just pop culture, but in life we're seeing, like you're saying the example of Britney Spears and what Nicky was saying before, when you find out people that have all the fame and the fortune, like it's really, it's, there's a lot going on behind the scenes that a lot of us haven't seen before that maybe we're starting to get a glimpse of. And so I think that's why it's even more important that a people are aware of it, but be talking about art and making art and being real and vulnerable and just genuine raw, that's important because that's actually real life and a lot of what celebrity is, and, and famous and Talent and, and that kind of thing. It's not real, it's, there's so much behind it.
There's the whole, you know, media circus behind it. And there's people manipulating, you know, what's really true and what's not, and what's happening. Like, you know, that's, that's reality.
Well also also, you know, with, with Couples Therapy, I've, I've wanted to like everything pretty much that Kay and I have done has been around Mike for me personally. I just feel like when I turn on television, when I go on social media, that there's not, I mean, it's starting to happen more now, but there's not really like healthy love, real love. Isn't really promoted. Right. You get people that like give you these beautiful quotes and say like, we're all one. And then when like the rules don't apply, then it's chaotic. And you know, w w what do we look to? Like, we look up reality shows and we see people are, you know, have a million followers.
And so like people just follow them. And for me, what I appreciate about this show and what I appreciate the, both of you is it's like, I wanted to give somebody something and I want to make content for people just to watch it. And to again, when people see themselves being represented on screen, right. When people turn on or watch a movie and they say, oh my God, there's somebody who looks like me, who's successful. Or somebody holding up a Grammy, who's like a person of color. And maybe like, they're, they're gay or trans or whatever, you know, all across the board, everybody wants to be, you know, represented in and related to. And everybody wants love, and love is not a perfect thing. It does get messy and complicated.
And when we have people around us, when we go to therapy, when we, you know, meditate or do whatever, or the different products that we were showing on screen, that's from a real place, because we know what it's like. And I, again, I think people now want that more than ever to say, I don't want the perfect Polish thing. I don't. I want to know that when, when I wake up day to day, that I'm good enough and that people will love me as I am.
Amen. Well said, well said, cool. I want to take this to deeper directions. My friend Clinton, H Wallace, the founder of web Fest launched it in 2019. And I was so lucky to have him on the podcast. So it'll be in the show notes below, but he revealed to me on the podcast tune in, if you haven't heard that episode, but he created a wet Fest different than a Film Festival, but created the wet Fest and the Film Festival Circuit before knowing the pandemic, he's always been really ahead of the curve to have an online digital platform for people with the new media to be connected.
And he launched it. And he's the very first web Fest to launch during the international conference festival that happens in prompts every may on the French Riviera. So he created this pre pandemic. And then, so they're booming with the business. We're going to talk a bit about the Film Festival Circuit. He's one of the people trusted sources that I contacted when we were deciding to pivot this into Couples Therapy into the Film Festival Circuit. And what he says on the episode was really beautiful, because what he said was you have to listen to the episode to hear his words. Exactly. But he thought it was so profound that during the pandemic, that's why we won.
And that's why he thinks we're doing so well in the, in the Film Festival Circuit, because we literally did what Ali Sondra said. We took what was happening now. And as creators, as filmmakers, as entrepreneurs, we took and made a lockdown Series during the Lockdown where a lot of other people were flipping out or not creating, or who knows what they were doing. He complimented our skills in our actions, how we went into action and how we like turn this and made it into something. And so I you'll have to listen to the episode, like I said, but I mean, he just he's like, that's why he says it's genius, like how we took something and what we made out of the Lockdown.
Right. And he was like, I dunno if it was, he'll say it on who down in history, but like, you know, like you said, when we move along in life, when we look back, we'll be like, oh, okay, well, this was going on. And this is what we did when we really, what do they say, where you coined something, how you take it and you coin it or something.
Well, you captured, you captured the moment, you know? And, and one of the things, again, like a lot of people wouldn't realize you can take a zoom call and if you don't know how to edit, you can outsource at a very reasonable price and you can submit it to film festivals. I think, I think again, that's where we're a team and where it's really profound when you have somebody, like, I like to create, you told me to create cool, it's creative. It aligns with my intentions core. I wouldn't necessarily think to take a zoom call and submit it to film festivals and, and, you know, that's, that's brilliant. And then, you know, now here we are. Yeah.
So, yeah. So to share a little more, you know, about the Film Festival Circuit at first, I would just like to say, congratulations, Ali, Saundra and congratulations, Nicky. Yeah.
Hey, congratulations. Congratulations to you.
Thank you. Thank you. We have over 15, maybe 20 official selections now with, well, yeah, we still have more that are undecided. So more are going to be coming. We know this, plus we, we did a marketing thing and we got invited to over 700. So we actually have more to sift through, you know, I've, I've gone through some of them and there's more to sift through, but in the terms of where we are right now, we have over 15, 20 official selections all around the world and India and, you know, Italy, Australia in the mountains.
And we have about, I think, five or six wins so far, we're, semi-finalists in a bunch and nominated for a bunch. So we are up there and I won a best director for three of them so far. And I even won best actor for one of them, which, which is really cool, that just came through. And that's really exciting. I'm also pivoting to enter best producer. So, you know, and the best female producers, Ali Sondra, and I can get, have some accolades for that. And then I'm also submitting some, for best music, best tech, best editing. So Nicky can get some awards for that, because now that it's doing so well, I'm like, oh, cool.
Let's spread it out of it. Keep it going. And they're all updated on INDB. If you go to I movie database and look at Couples Therapy, you'll see 'em all the certificates and awards, the laurels that we have up there so far, but it's really, really cool because in my mindset of film festivals, if I can maybe just elaborate on the process of how it happened, please. Yeah. So we have one and two out. We have season one and two out, and they're great. And I'm all over the place on social media. I don't have one platform where I'm a macro, I'm like a micro everywhere. So I'm not a marketer. I'm not a promotions person. I'm not. So it's just not my specialty.
It's overwhelming for me. Right. It's not my thing. So I'm sitting there, I have an assistant who's helped out cause they do the admin stuff, which is great. And I'm telling Nicky and Holly, Sandra I'm scheduling things on all the social media platforms. And I'm sending an email to Alessandria Nikki about, you know, posting and sharing and stuff and okay. And then Ali, Sandra did her bit, Nikki did his bed. It's like, but it's okay. But it's like, it had to be more than just us. I'm like, this is more than just us here. So I'm like, I'm sitting there and I'm just like contemplating. And I'm just literally, I think I'm probably sitting where I am now and I'm, this is where I am all the time people. And I'm just sitting there and I'm contemplating. And I'm like with all of this, cause it's all energy.
Everything we're talking about is energy. And so all the, the journey of where we're leading to right now is energy on top of energy creation on top of creation, you pivot, you turn, you pivot, you turn, and then it, you know, things happen how they are. So I'm sitting there and I'm just like, this energy is going out and how can it be reciprocal? How can the energy come in? Right. And I thought, we need to take all this energy. Where would all this energy go well with TV and film and, you know, Improv and what we're doing as creators, it needs to be in the Film Festival Circuit. So film, freeway.com. I'm not an affiliate. So freeway.com and you, we got a movie poster. We did the bio, like we had to vet it out and can talk a bit about that as well, because it's important for you to know this fundamental part, but I'm like, I talked to the team and I'm like, let's take all of this energy and submit it to the film festivals because when we're submitting it to the film festivals, it can be on the correct train tracks.
It can be on the train tracks for it to be full circle. And which is exactly what is happening now. And it's going so well. So we're going to keep going. But the thing is, when I talked to the team, it was really exciting because I entered into two film festivals before and it was all me and it was so hard and difficult. And I did, you know, when, you know, it was nominated best film director of film festival. And we were in the LA while film festival for hashtag selfie and red egg. My film was in some foam festivals, but it was really I'm telling you, I'm not going to get into the details now, but it was super challenging and lonely, overwhelming doing it alone. And this time I had a team to talk to and I had Ali Saundra and I had Nicky and I had been on so many podcasts last few months.
And I shared this on different podcasts episodes, the importance of Alesandra Levy and Nicky Scorpio and having a team and having team players. And I talked to them and I'm like, Hey, team. I'm like, this is what we should do. This is the idea. And then all these Andre was like, cool. Like, what do you think the budget is? And I'm just like, you know, I'm like, here's, here's the projected budget. She's like, yeah, that's what I was thinking. I'm like, cool. Let's just start there and let's go for it. Yeah. And then, and then we had, and then we got on a phone conversation, we had a plan phone coverage, and then, you know, I shared with Nicky and he was on board and then we all had a phone conversation. And then while we had a phone conversation, prior to that, I already reached out to my manager. My manager gave me this man who was a director at a Film Festival for like almost 20 years.
So he knows the talent coming down. So he gave us the structure and he later, while we were on the call, exactly. He literally
Like divine intervention.
That's exactly what it was. And I literally put him on speaker phone. So instead of me giving the gold information, Dolly Sondra, she was on speaker phone and she heard from his mouth and it was a plan of action of what we needed to do nuts and bolts. And then the assistant gracefully gratefully, she was able to, you know, put that format together and we were able to go from there before I continue all use Saundra. Do you want to share anything? Nicky? Okay.
I mean, I just, I think it was just, it was sort of like, to me, it just was a sign that we were on the right track because we had been talking about, oh, maybe we should submit it. And then it was like the fact that you and I were having our call and then he called right at that exact moment. And then he gave us step-by-step of what to do. And then we were just like, well, let's do exactly what he said. Step-by-step and that's what we did. And we are being rewarded for the end, awarded, rewarded and awarded. So yeah. I mean, it was great. He
Even said, I remember, he's like, oh, don't get too discouraged. He's like, he's like one in every 10 or like, not even, I think he's like, if you get one in every, I don't know, but I mean, it's been, I haven't even told more than that. I haven't even told them yet. I've you know, all the accolades we've got, I will let's wait until the end of the season so we can give them the final tally. Yeah, that's true. And, but he follows us on the Twitter. So three Series, oh yeah, this is what's happening. Yeah. But I've only posted a couple, but I have the assistant schedule to post on TSP, Instagram and Facebook every two or three days just to, just to get them out there. Cause it'll be, you know, for the next couple months, you know what I'm saying?
So I'm like just schedule them two, three days apart. But what happened was we had the phone call Patrick called, who was on a Film Festival board for almost two decades, gave us information. I also reached out to four other trusted sources for other trusted sources. I reached out to my friend, David, who's the director of the Hollywood film festival. And he goes, he edited Renee. He goes, he's from India. He has three master's degree. He went to UCLA, he goes, send it to me. And I'm like, okay. Cause he would be honest. Like, And he, I said to, to him and he loved the editing. He loved the music. He thought it was strong content. He, he loved it.
And he's like, it's marketable. Like, you know, he was, he's very honest. He's, he's very candid about it. And that's what I needed and wanted like, is this worth our time and our money like to do this? Cause I, you know, I've already been in film festivals and spent thousands of dollars, like, is this, is this worth it? And he thought it was very marketable and it was very good. So, so that was great. So those are two people, my friend, Jason Dudek, who is a producer and he hired me in a film called legacy with us that he wrote and produced directed. He has a really cool documentary on Netflix called the LA confidential. It's so cool if you haven't seen it. And I'm like, Hey, I'm like, I have a Comedy. Like what are the go-to comedy film festivals? And he's like Atlanta, south by Southwest he's lake.
There's one like call ha laugh, laugh, laugh, or something. I in Chicago, but he, he gave me some good ones. Another friend gave me some good ones for Comedy specifically. And then my friend Clinton, H Wallace, who has his own web Fest, I called him. And in the interim of calling him to ask him his thoughts on which film festivals, which he told me submit to four years in more because there's thousands of film festivals and they come and go they're here today and they won't they're gone tomorrow. So I was like, okay. And we can talk a bit about that in a minute. In the interim of asking him that information, he then asked me to be on the board of his film festival.
So that goes to show out of creating and just showing up, there was all this other space of knowing him since 2003, where he's like, you're accomplished like who you are, like your, your character, like what actions you've taken, the things you've done. I want you to be on the board of my film festival. And it was such an honor. And I was like, yes. And so that was really, really cool and exciting. And you know, we were an official selection and winners, best comedy, digital Improv, which was really cool. So a lot of gems came out of taking our creation and putting it into the Film Festival Circuit. I learnt so much and I was able to contact other peers in the entertainment industry and connect with them and, you know, shoot the crap and stuff and kind of evolve with other filmmakers during the lockdown.
So that's kind of my stories with film festivals and my experience, but please reflect and share what you learned along the way. And anything else that came up for you? I,
I guess for me, the biggest thing I learned was sort of like touching on what we were talking about before, how, you know, art doesn't have to be perfect to put it out there and get a good response. And I think it was really awesome that we all were just like, well, we didn't have a professional DP. We didn't have a grip. We didn't have a, you know, we didn't have all this kind of stuff. It's like, we just had the three of us and we, you know, this wasn't, this wasn't even a macro budget or a micro budget Web Series. This was a no budget Web Series. And the fact that we were able to just sort of be okay with like, Hey, we're going to submit this, even though, you know, this, this wouldn't be on NBC prime time.
Cause you know, but it's like, who cares? We just were like, you know, like you said, you talked your, some of your trusted contacts in the industry and ask them what their opinion was. And they were like, oh, you know, I think it's funny. I think it's for the times that we're in, why not go for it? So that's what I learned. I learned to just sort of let go of the preconceived notions that things in the Film Festival had to be a hundred percent slick and perfect and you know, a big budget and you know, you have to have the nicest cameras and the, you know, best whatever. Like, you know, that's what I learned.
Yeah. I love that. It's all about the content, the character, the story that's going to move the needle, move it forward. Love that. And then also like India has a really big market for Web Series. I don't know if you know this, but what I've observed on YouTube, Indian culture, they have huge Web Series. And so I purposely, I didn't only go for like, oh, Sundance film festival, Toronto film festival. Like maybe some people would do. Like I said, there was this one in the mountains. I'm like, yo, these people are in the mountains and they could see our Web Series. I mean, if they're living in the mountains, I mean, they could be potential investors to be like, yo, I like this idea.
I'm sitting up here. I'm, I'm in my mountain. You know, like let's make it happen. Like I put it in Australia, a lot of places in India because India is a third world country to, you know, our advantage for, you know, as producers and, you know, for being mindful of being on budgets, I submitted to some of the film festivals where, you know, it was in India or maybe it wasn't for years and above, maybe it was like a three year one or something like that. Or even, even a couple that were first year ones. I'm like, Hey, they're giving it a go. We're giving it a go. It's only $8. Let's do it. So not only were they trying something as entrepreneurs, we're trying something as entertainers and entrepreneurs and we're kind of like supporting each other and we want a lot of those, you know?
And, and so that was really exciting for me to break out of the norm of Hollywood of only south by Southwest or only Toronto film festival. Some of the ones are very pretentious, not the ones I just mentioned, but there are other ones that I don't even know the names of them. They were so much money. It's like, they're just doing it on purpose because they have the Hollywood name or because, you know, it's, there's so many in California just because as a California name, like the price is somewhere like $60, $70. Like, I mean, we were on a budget here. Like, I mean, we, we, you want to be smart too. You just don't want to go for like the ones that are 70, $80. And we also wanted to go, you know, there's early bird, regular deadline, late deadline.
And so, you know, we wanted to get in as many as possible that were early bird because when you're early bird, you, you save the most amount of money. So we were very mindful of, you know, when deciding as producers projects, we were going to be a part of and you have to read the rules and regulations because it's so overwhelming and there's so much, and when it says specifically for us new media web series, we want to submit to those ones. Yeah. So that's kind of like tricks and tips or Film Festival, the psychology, the process, creating anything else anyone wants to share.
Yeah. I w I wanted to say that I feel like the victories that we have speak volumes of what people are looking for. You know, again, you look on social media and like chaos and jewelry and plastic surgery gets more likes a lot of times. And I see so many people that are like this, isn't what I want. I feel like a lot of times when there's been changes in music and art, there was somebody or a team of people that was, you know, courageous enough to say, I feel like people are ready for this. I feel like people are looking for this. And for me personally, when the pandemic started, it's like, you know, again, people want to have love.
People want to have happiness and to be able to create something that's saying like, you know, we're human, we error. And, you know, we make mistakes in that kind of thing. And that we can capture that and do something, you know, that's honest that people are like, yes, I relate to this. You know? And, and I think the fact that we were courageous enough to do that is why we're at where we're at. And I just wanted to acknowledge, you know, us and, you know, specifically UK, because again, it's one thing to have an idea where you shoot the idea. It's another thing to edit it in a way that it's cool and creative, but it's another thing to have the mind and the brain to know how to communicate with people and how to, you know, get our content in the right hands and the right eyes.
Yeah. And thank you. I appreciate, and I acknowledge you and Ali Saundra, and, you know, all of our team efforts, our ideas, our creations, I'm excited to see, you know, more of where this develops and goes, you know, we'll, we will be continuing Couples Therapy. We will be continuing the Series though. We have a lot of ideas to share with you in the near future. So also I would like to say that, you know, I grew up running cross country. So I'm used to being in the papers twice a week. I'm used to hearing my name on the announcements twice a week. I competed and, you know, Michigan, Michigan team, motor city, where I won miss Michigan teen. And I grew up with metals and being on varsity and receiving a full scholarship.
And I went off along my journey and I have a certification for deejaying. I have certification of, you know, studying at Belinda academy music, dramatic arts. And I, I must say, I want to say, like having all these laurels and these certificates and seeing my name, like seeing us win certification for our best project, and then seeing my name, like best director and just Couples Therapy and directed by Katie. Chonacas like, my heart feels so full and it feels so good and natural. It's like, this is what I'm used to. I'm used to getting these accolades. I'm used to getting these certificates and awards. These are, this is what makes it full circle for me. And so it's like, okay, like I'm really happy. And I just want to continue on the train of us receiving these awards and the accolades and the certificates.
Because the people on the Twitter who are very big involved in Film Festival community, you know, like people in the industry, they like to see these kinds of things. And it's showing you as a serious actor, as a serious producer filmmaker creator the industry, no matter what it is, they all take note of it because everyone knows who's in it, what it takes, what it takes to do everything we're talking about and more so, it's really important that we make sure we keep on the road of getting these certifications and these wins. And then, you know, on this project, and then any other projects we're doing also now pivot them immediately into film festivals.
One short example, I'll give, is jot appetite and Leah Dunham. And she did a feature film called tiny furniture, which I saw it was in the spirit awards, I believe. And it was an independent film festival and she submitted it to the spirit awards. And John Apatow was there. Now people are seeing now producers and creators and executive producers are seeing things virtually much easier than going to a film festival or flying to a film festival. And he was in person and he saw Leah Dunham's tiny furniture and he loved it. And they created into girls. They created that into girls, which won a golden globe, I think its first season. And it was a very successful TV show. And they took cast members from tiny furniture and cast them in the TV series.
And so I'm having chills, but you don't know, but that's life then that's how it happens when you show up and you create and you put it out there and you align the train tracks to people who are reciprocal for it. For example, executives, producers, content, people, investors, they can see this and they can take Couples Therapy and say, Hey, you know, one of our inspirations was broad city, you know, with the girls from broad city did, and then they took it to comedy central. It was one of our inspirations for it. That's what they did. But that was during their times were indifferent. They were ahead of the curve because it was when there was very new now, but we're ahead of the curve in our own ways. But this could be an Improv thing. It could turn to a scripted show, right?
Executives, producers, investors could just hear us and be like, oh my God, I love this collective. I love what's that project you have in the, in the works. Let's bring that out. Let's see what that is. You have that project. Let's see what that is. Or, Hey, I have this idea. What, what do you think about this? And then they give us a budget and then we do something brand new. So all of this will happen. All of this can happen and that's how it really happens. So I'm excited. I'm, I'm, I'm grateful and I'm empowered and I'm glad to have you two as my teammates.
Yeah, definitely a thank you. And, and you know, I'm glad that, you know, we're able to do something. And again, you talked about earlier about having no budget. I, I would say, you know, I'm glad that we had a balance of eagerness, but also the patients to say like, let's do this in a way that is original and unique and, and is relatable. And I feel like a lot of the greatest content comes from a place of real life experiences. His greatest scifi is that a lot of times the stuff that's the hardest for us, the most difficult or frustrating, just having the courage to say someone else is going through this and I'm creative. And I want to share this just to see, you know, from like a real place without expectations.
I didn't sign up. I didn't say yes, let's do this thinking like I'm going to win awards. If anything, I was just like, okay, people are frustrated. I'm frustrated. I'm an artist. Like, I want love, like, let's do this.
We take the next step. We pivot it. And we scaled and we pivoted and we scaled and that's what we need to do. We need to check in with one another. Right? Like I was feeling frustrated like, oh, I'm doing this alone. Like, and Ali Saundra's like, but are you okay? Are you really doing this along? So like, you know, she's like, and I'm like, oh, I think we didn't have a call. She's like, yeah, we just need to communicate. And she reminded me like, yeah, we just need to communicate. Cause I was feeling very frustrated. And as a baby, you feel frustrated. You don't have the language, you can't speak and I'm feeling frustrated, but she's like, just, let's just communicate it. I'm like, oh, you know, let's do that. I'm personally excited for what's to come. And
I just think this has just been such a, a lovely thing. That's come out of such a horrible time in our, in our lifetime, in our world, you
Know, for me.
Yeah. Definitely, definitely feel that. Yeah. So if anyone needs a, an editor or someone, you know, contact Nicky, if you need an audio engineer or a producer, voiceover talent, contact all these Saundra, if you need a male voice over Talent contract Nicky, if I'm thinking only Saundra, they both sing and write music and make music. And Ali Saundra is, plays the BA the upright bass and she plays the guitar. And her husband is an amazing musician, you know, with instruments and Nicky is all about the synth and making beats.
So anyone out there, if you want to collaborate and connect, definitely please reach out to the artists. And you know, if you're someone with an idea and you maybe want to hire us to produce your vision of a short film or a Web Series or a project, feel free to reach out to our collective so we can inspire you and add value and support you with your vision and what you're doing. You know, we're here, obviously artists, entrepreneurs, and creators, and, you know, sharing our processes. So, you know, yeah. Definitely connect with us. Everyone's social media will be in the show notes.
So definitely connect with Nicky and Ali. Sandra also, Nicky Scorpio has an amazing new single called irregular. So definitely it's on All street forms. Ooh.
Yeah. The song is rocking and rolling. We're we are international. I also wanted to say really quickly, if you need an award-winning director producer, there you go. Let's not downplay that a lot of people have brilliant ideas, but it takes a certain kind of communication and a certain kind of, you know, intelligence to be able to communicate with people. We can create excitement. It's one thing to have an idea. It's another thing to take the ideas and to execute it. So if you need somebody who's amazing at directing and producing and putting people together and building teams, you know, hit up the boss lady, she's all over the place. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. And I, I love that ring award, winning The award winning. We added that to the title award, winning producer and director voiceover Stars. We are. Okay. Cool. Does anyone else want to share anything else before we wrap it up and close it out?
I just want to say again, just to reiterate, you know, don't get caught up in the perfectionist syndrome, you know, to take your ideas, meditate on them. Don't feel like you have to rush. Don't compare yourself to others, take time and nurture your idea and, and figure out a way to, you know, make it original, make it relatable. And also, you know, build teams look online, do research. You're not, you don't have to do everything by yourself that if you take time, if you slow down that you'll be amazed at how much technology is available, you'd be amazed at how many, you know, like-minded people there are out there in the world and, you know, make mistakes and enjoy the process, you know, because you'd be surprised how many of your favorite artists, creatives and amazing people in your life when you were looking at them and idolizing them, they were hard on themselves and thinking how they failed, that you never knew that, you know, and that's part of the journey is just go for it, stay consistent and keep going.
Thank you for that. And Nicky has a podcast for introverts. If you want to hear more of his wise words to check out a Scorpio, rising podcasts, actually I think on his third episode, he hit top 100 on apple podcasts for mental health. So that was really prolific. So
Yeah. Shout out to all my introverts out there we're meeting. But when we, we don't know exactly when we're going to go, cause we're not really communicating, but yeah.
Cool. Thank you everyone for tuning in too. She's all over the place. And that is definitely going to be a wrap for season three. What a fulfilling, amazing season. Actually, this season, I was only going to do 13 episodes and it was going so well. And growing that in the middle of the season, I decided to extend it to, you know, to 22, 23 episodes. So I'm really excited that I was, I made the choice to do that. And to be here, I would like to conclude with a couple of things. One happy, happy birthday to my ya. I love you so much.
92 years old and going strong. So strong Kula I'm named after Kyriaki she's my heart and my soul. She's 92 going strong, happy, happy birthday. You know, her birthday is September 7th. So yeah, that's seven, seven, right? That's so cool. Yeah. So happy birthday. Yeah, I love . like I said, Season four, we are doing a women empowerment series. So get ready for that to come. I'm going to be taking a couple of months off from the podcast.
I mean, I could only get away eight weeks last time and I just was back. So, so I'll probably, it'll probably be about eight weeks. Give or take, but we'll be back in the fall and then we'll have a full season four and then yeah, the call to action. Like I said, go to chonacas.com. Get on my email list to stay in touch, go to the social media links below and connect with Alessandra and Nicky and myself and go to the Sophisticated psychos YouTube channel, check out Couples Therapy, Season one and two. Also our music is streaming on the Sophisticated psychos platform. You can download it everywhere for free on SoundCloud. You haven't tuned into any of the other episodes, go back and get caught up.
And if there's something specific, just email me at, imagine Katie at gmail.com and I can specifically lead you to an episode if you're feeling up, down in between whatever, if you want a dose of creativity or something for spiritual mental health, I can attune you to certain episodes. Definitely. Like I said, Scorpio rising on Nikki's podcast is great. Yeah. I think that's all we have right now. It's been an amazing season. Thank you so much for being here. I love you. I'm addicted to you and yeah, we're in it to win it and we're just going to keep going. Okay. Cool. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much, Nicky.
Thank you, Ali Sondra. All right. Thank you so much. The listener and the viewer. I love you. Reach out. Say hello. Oh wait. Lastly. Yeah. Also I'll do coaching. So if you need industry coaching, rock and roll, I can coach you for short term, medium term and longterm goals. So get in contact with me. All right. Oh my God. Can I cry? I'm going to cry for a minute. Like, oh my God. Season three. Can you believe it? Season three? Oh my God. Oh my God. What a great rate to roll out with my friends, creators artists, the celebration honoring life.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. We'll see you in season four over and out. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time. Kyriaki, over and out.
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