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I Started Acting at 50 and the Camera Was Sideways | Carin Smolinski · Beyond The Hook

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Five days into it, I realized that the camera was turned sideways.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hi guys, we are back again with another segment for Beyond the Hook in the Plot Twist Lounge.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our next guest is an independent filmmaker whose passion for vertical storytelling has taken her from in front of the camera to producing stories of her own.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: She's been featured on the cover of Eyes on Hollywood magazine.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: She is the writer, director, and producer of Tides of Desire, as well as the executive producer of Crimson Sale.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Please help me in welcoming Karen Somolinsky.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for uh being here with us today, Karen.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're really happy to have you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: My first question for you is for those who may not know your story, can you tell us a little bit about your journey and how you found your way into vertical storytelling?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's great to be here.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I uh turned 50 and decided that it was time to do something for me, and thought, well, I'm gonna go back to my childhood dream of being an actress, and went uh to almost my first audition and booked it and had no idea and got on set, and five days into it, I realized that the camera was turned sideways, and uh that was a couple of years ago.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: So verticals were really new in Vancouver, and uh and I I had no idea.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: All I realized was that the script was really bad, like really bad at the start, where it was so AI translated that there was there were sentences that just made zero sense.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what am I doing?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: What what are these things that I'm on?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: But I was so blessed to get in so early because pretty much since then it's bit to back verticals, um, which what a gift, what a what a gift at to come back to something that you love at 50 and then work nonstop for two years.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that was amazing and completely unexpected.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and I'm kind of a hippie, actually, like I'm I don't wear makeup and all of that.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: So going from that to being a billionaire bitch, like it was pretty awesome.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, whoo, I get to go out and get all fancy and have fancy nails and all of these things.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, but you know, after probably vertical 20, I don't even know, um, you know, all the glitz and glamour was great, but uh the roles for women tend to not align with my values, let's just say that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I decided instead of just complaining that I would do something about it.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so I came up with this crazy idea, which started very little, you know, um, to work with my son, who's a director of photography, Indiana Wilson.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: And we were gonna take a skeleton crew, like four people, and go film in my house in Nicaragua.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: And all of a sudden that turned into 31 people in Costa Rica filming a full-on vertical.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, so that's kind of how I got from A to Z there.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: That is fantastic.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, very cool that you've been able to kind of live uh such different lives in within your one life, and that you get to work with your son.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: That must be such an amazing thing to be able to share together.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, it's I don't want to get all like mushy and everything, but like one of my life's greatest gifts is to be able to work with my son, and you know, it's a little ROI from the investment in him going to film school, you know, and like okay, I got a bit of a bit of payback there.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: No, but actually just getting to work with him and his friends is magical.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's uh those moments are so special, and that's a really nice full circle on the you paid for him to go to film school and look at where you are now.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's fantastic.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, even if we didn't, I still support him following his dream, but it's a nice, it's a nice side effect, right?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah, of course.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: My next question for you is you've been an actress, writer, producer, and director.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Is there one or which role would you say has taught you the most?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh dear lord.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Well, my favorite is acting.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, producing is a means to an end.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Writing is a means to an end because I write roles that I want for myself and for others.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um producing breaks my brain in every way because I have ADHD and uh having that level of organization um is is challenging.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: But in the same hand, with when I get into hyper focus with my ADHD, um, I can move mountains in a very short amount of time.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And as I said before, the we, you know, we did this means me.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: So when you're wearing 45 million bazillion hats, you know, from uh, you know, costume design all the way to transport coordinator to um, you know, making sure people are fed, all of those things, you know, that my my neurodiversity came in to help me at points.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: But I think producing has taught me the most.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Probably taught me to, you know, ask people for more help.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can definitely I can relate to that.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's very it can be very difficult to ask for help for sure.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that makes sense that it's such an all-encompassing position that you would have learned so much.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my next question for you is what inspired you to take the leap into creating your own vertical scenes?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: What inspired me to create my own vertical scenes was I wanted to have my values uh and ethics represented in verticals.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's still spicy, there's still some there's still romance and there's all of those things, but we also feature consent.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's no violence against women, our female characters, you know, are smart and articulate, all of those things.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: We have um diversity, we have multiculturalism, we have people speaking with accents and uh with different color skins.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I wanted to see all those things because I love verticals.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I actually, you know, V is not a dirty word for me.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: And early on, I was a big supporter of verticals when people were like, ooh, you do the vertical things.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Yes, I do verticals.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: I am a paid actress at 51, 52.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, hell yes, I do verticals.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I get to be on set, I'm being paid.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: I have this beautiful little community that you show up on set and it's hugs all around.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I so I'm proud to be part of verticals.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then moving from that from acting to being at the forefront of pioneering independent verticals, like, hell yes, this has brought verticals have changed my life, and I'm super grateful to the industry.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great answer.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um my next question for you is throughout your journey in the vertical space, can you think of a moment in your career that I mean that's probably pretty tough, but something that maybe you caught yourself like that stopped you and made you think like this is why I do this?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, that's a great question.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think probably being in Costa Rica and looking around and seeing my son, his friends.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: We had people from Nicaragua on the crew, people from Costa Rica on the crew, and this amazing group of people who were just giving it their all.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: And like Indy and I just kind of looked at each other so many times and we're like, I think this is happening.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: We did this, you know, and and like that's a pretty crazy moment looking at your 21-year-old son at the time and being like, We're shooting a movie in Costa Rica, oh my gosh, and your friends are here, and yeah, pretty amazing.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds like a great moment, yeah, absolutely.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it's an amazing thing when you kind of can open that door to help people also be included in that world when they have the same kind of passion, right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that sounds like that was one of those moments, which is beautiful.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, and uh it was it's really important to me to mentor and give back.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so we had heads of departments who were 21 and in film school, and like rise up, you know, come on out.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: We had brand new actors, you know.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Faviola, uh, it was her first time acting, and uh she was a lead, and you know, we we gave roles to locals were there that I went to the beat and found them.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, you want to be in a movie, you know, and uh and that so actually one of those is quite sad though, actually.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: James B.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Shore, who played Diego, um, that he passed away this year.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: So also, you know, his family are so thankful to have this footage of him, and it's such a beautiful memory, and the friendships that he made with everyone, and he was from Playa Negra, and he's a pro surfer.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: And funny story about that is that I couldn't find Diego, and I tried you know, casting from LA, casting everywhere, and it was just like, and then I was like, no, Diego's gonna find me, and everyone was freaking out, and it was the day before, and they're like, Karen, you haven't cast Diego.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, no, it's okay, Diego's gonna find me.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: And Turtle Tom ran up and he's like, I found Diego! And then he was at a surf um competition, and we got introduced, and then he became part of our Tides family, and that's just a really beautiful memory.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is beautiful.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry about the tragic part of that story, but that's really it is really beautiful that you all got to share that experience, and he got to be part of the family while he was still here.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and he inspired so many all of us that he was living through, you know, something really challenging that ultimately took his life.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: But he lived every day full of life and full of mm making himself as healthy as possible.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: As we all should, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's great inspiration.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's fantastic.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, the time always goes by super quick.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: We are coming to the end of our time here, so only have one more question for you.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is a finish this sentence question.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, Karen, finish this sentence.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: The perfect filming day always includes My Sun The Perfect Filming Day always includes my son, Indiana.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's it.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great answer, for sure.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Great answer.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being with us today.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're really happy to have you here, and just that you had time to sit down and chat with us.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate it.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me in such great questions, and to Jackie and her team at the Canadian Vertical Film Festival, first of many.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you very much for having me.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Huge shout out to Jackie and Chris from Karen Smolinski and all of us here today that have been enjoying everything.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you again, Karen.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Lovely talking with you today.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: You too.