Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Cece King of 'Redemption Song'
Transcript
- 0:00All right, listeners, welcome back to the BSB podcast where we go beyond and above the spotlight to talk to artists, creators, and storytellers, bringing bold new work from
- 0:10stage and screen.
- 0:12today we are very excited.
- 0:14We're joined by Cece King, the writer and director behind the new original play, Redemption Song, premiering at the Broadwater uh second stage as a part of Hollywood
- 0:24Fringe Festival.
- 0:25But beyond this production,
- 0:27Cece has appeared in many projects, including recently Painkiller, The Wonder Years, and Workin' Moms, plenty more.
- 0:34Um, but she definitely brings a unique perspective to both filmmaking and uh theatrical artistry.
- 0:41So thank you so much for joining us today, Cece.
- 0:44Thank you, RJ.
- 0:45I'm so excited to be here to talk about this project.
- 0:48This is the first time I've talked about it.
- 0:50So I'm excited.
- 0:52my gosh, an exclusive.
- 0:53How exciting.
- 0:54That it is, you know, just like looking over it, it's it's so intriguing to me.
- 0:59Um, but you know, for anyone kind of discovering your work for the first time or really kind of just now hearing about this work, can you kind of tell us a little bit of how you
- 1:10got started or what kind of like drove you to go into writing and directing this play?
- 1:17Yeah, I um so this is an interesting journey, I guess.
- 1:22Maybe, maybe not.
- 1:23I went to film school in LA.
- 1:24I'm from New Jersey and I went to school for producing.
- 1:28That was like my main thing I wanted to do.
- 1:31It was also the only way my family would let me go into this business because it felt like it had an actual career path to follow it.
- 1:37Um and so like me saying I want to be an actor was not exactly the most exciting idea.
- 1:43Um, even though my family's very creative.
- 1:45Um, anyways, so
- 1:47Yeah, I went to film school and then um I immediately just started writing while I was there and I was also acting and I had a lot of friends that were actors.
- 1:55And so, you know, that was a long time ago.
- 1:57And since then I um I always knew I wanted to write and produce and be in something of my own.
- 2:03That's always something I always have looked up to people that are sort of those multi hyphenates.
- 2:07I find that to just be really inspiring.
- 2:10I loved Lena Dunham, I loved girls, I love Issa Rae, like these are just women that
- 2:15To name like a few that I'm a huge fan of that sort of straddle the like writing, acting, producing line.
- 2:21Um, directing was not necessarily something that I ever wanted to do ever.
- 2:26I actually was really intimidated by directing.
- 2:29I always like, I just was like, I have to work a ton and
- 2:33be work under all these amazing directors and learn, learn, learn.
- 2:36And then I can direct something, you know.
- 2:38And so I but I have, you know, gone on to like work as an actor on s with actually like a dream director of mine.
- 2:45I I worked with Peter Berg on Painkiller briefly, but still like, you know, I've I and I've worked with a handful of really talented directors, I'd say, over the last like 10
- 2:54years of my career.
- 2:55And I've I've
- 2:56I have written and produced a feature about eight years ago that was released that I was in and I didn't direct.
- 3:02And that was a huge like learning curve for me because I realized it was kind of like this bad game of telephone of just like, you know, I had written something and I had a really
- 3:11clear vision of exactly how I saw it.
- 3:13And I I sort of instant instantly regretted not.
- 3:17I mean, my director was amazing, but I sort of regretted not directing it and being in it.
- 3:21I kind of wish I sort of directed it and I wasn't in it.
- 3:23Um and so
- 3:25Moving forward, I like cut to now.
- 3:27I have been working on this project for the last like eight years um as a film, as a movie.
- 3:33Um, and I wrote it for the screen.
- 3:36Um, and um I basically it's really hard to get a film off the ground, you know, and especially with COVID and these times, um, I found myself um, we are kind of developing
- 3:49and prepping this for to shoot it in 2027, which I'm excited about.
- 3:53But, you know, I
- 3:54I wanted to direct it.
- 3:55I don't want to be in it.
- 3:57I wrote it.
- 3:57Um, and yeah, it's called Redemption Song.
- 4:00It's um, it's not based off of my life or anything.
- 4:04My first film was.
- 4:06this is just thematically, there's a lot of through lines.
- 4:09Um, I think you know, you write what you know.
- 4:12Um, but yeah, I I come from like a musical background and um I love art and I think art heals, and whether that's acting or music, and so
- 4:21This story is about redemption and about a guy who gets into a car accident, accidentally killing his brother, drinking and driving.
- 4:30And he comes out of that 11 years later and gets taken in by his sister-in-law and his little niece, Emmy Lou.
- 4:37And he starts sort of babysitting her and he finds his old guitar and he kind of is starts to rekindle his love for music.
- 4:43Cause he used to play in a two-man band with his younger brother, Paul, who
- 4:47who passed away.
- 4:48So um it's sort of just like this family drama that is about redemption and healing through music and through art.
- 4:55And um, you know, and I think giving people a second chance and that you're not defined by the past is sort of, you know, the theme of the project.
- 5:03And so here we are bringing it to the Hollywood fringe.
- 5:07Absolutely.
- 5:08Wow.
- 5:08That's I mean, what a incredible premise for a story.
- 5:12Like I I feel like I mean, redemption in general is such a it's it's got like an undertow to it and what a unique perspective, especially from a familial kind of way of having to
- 5:26live through this tragedy and then, you know, so much emotional baggage, right, that can that can happen with that.
- 5:35Um, what was there anything that first like sparked the idea for this story?
- 5:41Yeah, actually.
- 5:43I so after my first feature, I was like, what am I writing?
- 5:47Um and my literary agent, I married to a Canadian and she we I was living in Canada at the time and my agent was like, you know, you should really write something that you can shoot
- 6:00in Canada and that maybe is Canadian and I was like, that's that's great.
- 6:03What can I I'm like, I'm from New Jersey, you know?
- 6:06So
- 6:07I but I rode horses growing up and I grew up in kind of the country, you know, and I grew up with music and and one of my partner's employees, um, he was a roofer.
- 6:18She works in roofing, she works in the trades.
- 6:20Um, and he was quite an interesting guy.
- 6:22And we just kind of went off on this tangent of like, what if he was a singer, you know, and what if he and so it kind of started in this sort of like, what if he did this and and
- 6:31he was in the trades by day and sang at night, you know, and
- 6:35And it the story kind of evolved from there.
- 6:37But also like I I just know so many people that are like journeyman actors or journeyman musicians that are just not like they're not trying to be a stars born.
- 6:47You know what I mean?
- 6:47Like this is just what they do.
- 6:48It's what they love.
- 6:49My stepdad's in uh two bands.
- 6:51My, you know, I I feel like he doesn't work.
- 6:54He works in reinsurance.
- 6:55You know what I mean?
- 6:56So it's like I think there's a lot of people that music is like the heartbeat of their life, but it's not, it's not, they're not trying to like
- 7:02make it as a famous musician.
- 7:04You know what I mean?
- 7:04So I I kind of that's sort of where it all started.
- 7:07And then um and then it just really evolved from there, like the story.
- 7:11And as you do, you know, as a writer, I start to get really creative.
- 7:15And I don't know, I have like my loves like Sam Shepard and certain playwrights and, you know, filmmakers and writers that I love and that I inspire me to write and get creative.
- 7:26So yeah.
- 7:27That's kind of how it started.
- 7:29mean like the the draw of I mean and that's where creativity blossoms, right?
- 7:33Like you're inspired or or thinking outside of drawing something from your real life experience, but like it's not dead on what you're experiencing, but it's the what ifs of
- 7:43the world.
- 7:44Like, how could this if this was the case, this is what would happen next.
- 7:50Yeah, and I think I definitely think too that like my I have I know someone um in prison and I, you know, I I've seen that what that toll kind of takes on a family.
- 8:02I I also like I had a really rough like I lost my dad when I was fourteen.
- 8:08I I went through like a lot of drinking and I I went through a lot and I always hated like being defined by who I was when I was younger and maybe like my past.
- 8:18And I think
- 8:19A lot of people have a hard time like, you know, not the person that needs the redemption, the people that are sort of left to handle it all.
- 8:26Um, th some people have a really hard time like seeing seeing that person in a new light.
- 8:31And it it makes me sad, you know.
- 8:32I think we evolve as people and um I don't know, I just it's a really interesting theme to me that I love exploring.
- 8:39Yeah, I was gonna say, like, how did you approach those themes that are so like complicated um in a way that still felt honest but didn't particularly make you like lose
- 8:51hope, right?
- 8:52Because I think like you just mentioned, yeah, it is really hard to kind of discern what life looks like after that happens or as you're living through it, like there's no
- 9:03guidebook, right?
- 9:04To be like, How how should I behave or or what
- 9:08What is the next steps after we s you know, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but what is that actually?
- 9:14Well, I think I mean, I think as human beings, we're very um resilient and we can overcome a lot.
- 9:21And I think like I I I I'm a I'm not like a I am a pretty optimistic personally.
- 9:29And I have a lot of faith in people.
- 9:31And I think that like I when I'm writing characters, like I I always want there to be a win.
- 9:37You know, I I want to see an evolution.
- 9:40I want to see an arc.
- 9:41Like I want to see them start somewhere and go somewhere else.
- 9:44Cause I think that's life.
- 9:45You know, we're and and it's not not like no regrets, but you know, in a way, it's like acknowledging, acknowledging your past, acknowledging what you've done and and moving
- 9:55forward and like having those hard conversations.
- 9:59I I find that like I like to I I like right I love writing and I love movies and I love plays and I love storytelling because it kind of puts those people, my the family members,
- 10:09the people that
- 10:10don't know how to have those conversations, you as the writer get to kind of expose that and kind of rewrite what wasn't said, you know.
- 10:18And and I think it makes people take a look at how they approach their own familial scenarios or their own, you know, person that maybe accidentally hurt someone drinking and
- 10:27driving.
- 10:28You know, I I think I I'm not sure if that answers your question, but I think that like it hopefully gives people
- 10:34gives people hope, I guess, through through the story.
- 10:37And so I I and also I I find this whole process has been incredible, especially adapting it to the stage, because I've had a lot of time to work with my actors and it's been the
- 10:46coolest experience, honestly.
- 10:48I'm having like the time of my life doing this right now.
- 10:51So it's really great.
- 10:54I love that.
- 10:54my gosh.
- 10:55I mean, and that is that is such the cool part of of like staging something, obviously creating it and then having hav having it come to life in front of you and you being able
- 11:06to say like, mm, like maybe the intentionality was different or you know, maybe can you explore this a little bit further?
- 11:13Um, I imagine that's such a unique like to to have that kind of go from your mind to s something in front of you must feel I mean
- 11:22That's gotta feel awesome.
- 11:24Yeah.
- 11:25I mean, I've this isn't like, you know, I have another f I just directed a short film that is getting into festivals.
- 11:32It's actually playing at the end of the month here in LA at a sapphic film festival.
- 11:36Um, I I again like it's not this isn't my first time like writing and and, you know, auditioning actors and and seeing them bring it's a crazy experience though.
- 11:46Like to anyone who's never, you know, written and then seen your work kind of get realized by actors and them saying your lines and and it's just it's crazy.
- 11:54quite interesting, you know, it and it's really fun.
- 11:57And I think I've really, I'm really trying to right now, I'm in a place where I'm really trying to just I think when I was a little younger, I was really sort of stuck in my own
- 12:07vision of like what I saw and how I feel like it should be.
- 12:11And and I think now I'm really trying to like embrace this like collaborative art form.
- 12:16You know, I really feel like I I'm
- 12:20only as good as like my counterparts, you know?
- 12:23And I think I'm sort of creating this like the foundation.
- 12:26And then like these as an actor, like I really value these actors' opinions.
- 12:31And like obviously I feel so strong in my own story that like I think I will fight for what I want when in those lines or in that
- 12:38scene or whatever, but it actors are incredible.
- 12:41I mean, they have incredible ideas, incredible instincts, and and they're humans and they've lived through a lot.
- 12:46You know, it's crazy.
- 12:47You know, you I get into these conversations, which I've never really gotten to do with film.
- 12:50I feel like with this play, I've had a lot of rehearsal time.
- 12:53I've really gotten a chance to talk to my actors, see hear about their experiences, how they relate to these characters, kind of what they're able to bring to it.
- 13:01And and it's I'm kind of of this mind of like best idea wins.
- 13:04You know, it's like it's like
- 13:07That's great.
- 13:07Let's do it.
- 13:08Let's use it.
- 13:08You know, um, because I we just want to get to the truth and we want the audience to feel and we want to tell the best story we can.
- 13:16So yeah.
- 13:18Absolutely.
- 13:19Yeah.
- 13:19And with obviously music being a big part of this as well, can you tell me a little bit about how that c collaboration happened?
- 13:30Like did you know from the get go that you wanted original music or or was it kind of a brainchild like you just mentioned?
- 13:39Actually, yes and no.
- 13:41I think when I was writing it initially, I was like, I'm gonna cast someone like Ryan Bingham was like one of my early on like poster childs for this role of Joe.
- 13:53And I was like, I'm gonna cast someone that has a singer-songwriter background, and we're gonna collaborate and we're gonna do this thing together.
- 14:00And then it kind of became very evident to me that like
- 14:04I think I am gonna be the one that it this the songs relate so much to the story, which really it's like everything feels really intertwined.
- 14:12So, but I'm also not a songwriter.
- 14:14And my sister's a songwriter, incredible Americana, like folk country artist.
- 14:19I don't know.
- 14:19I just named like three genres.
- 14:21She'll probably kill me for doing that.
- 14:22But anyway, she
- 14:25I've seen she's an incredible writer.
- 14:26And I then I was like, I'll work with her.
- 14:28But you she's in a place where she's working on her own stuff, her own art.
- 14:31She lives down in Nashville.
- 14:32She's working.
- 14:33She just released an album.
- 14:34It's like, she's busy.
- 14:36And so I'm like, I I really would love to work with people that have kind of dipped their toe really in the in the in the cinema world and understand kind of this writing for film.
- 14:47And and so I ended up teaming up with my really good friend Matty Pine, Matt Pine, and his friend Wes Hutchinson.
- 14:54And
- 14:54They are incredible.
- 14:56they've Wes is like Grammy nominated.
- 14:58He's a songwriter.
- 15:01Matt is also a songwriter, a singer, a session player.
- 15:04He's one of like the top pedal steel players.
- 15:06He's incredible.
- 15:07He's played like Shaboozey, Miley Cyrus.
- 15:10Like, he's worked with so many amazing people.
- 15:11Both of them are fantastic and they're friends.
- 15:14And so I spent the last like year and a half in Wes's studio with my script in front of me.
- 15:19Like, how are we gonna make these songs?
- 15:22And my songs were like,
- 15:23really literal.
- 15:24And like there still are a little bit, but um, they helped me figure out the chords and how and they really shaped it.
- 15:30They helped they they made these songs.
- 15:32So I feel so grateful for them.
- 15:34And that process in itself was really like exciting to do.
- 15:38And another reason why I wanted to do the play before doing the movie, I'm like, this is very live experience.
- 15:43I want to hear these songs.
- 15:45I want to see the in time reaction.
- 15:47So yeah, totally.
- 15:49it was a it was definitely a process and something that
- 15:51I'm still I'm still working on the songs, to be honest.
- 15:55Um, you know, just always want to make better.
- 15:59Yeah, I mean, gosh, music can it can say so many things that, you know, maybe just straight uh writing can't.
- 16:07Um but it's you know, it's so interesting as like as you mentioned, like I mean you all you are a multi hyphenate yourself.
- 16:17And so I'm so interested, like, how has that played a role in regards to, you know, you've seen like so many different perspectives and and played so many parts
- 16:28um of this kind of industry.
- 16:30How do you think that kind of plays into your especially original vision when you are you know working with actors or working with musicians?
- 16:43do you think that lends itself well to those collaborations?
- 16:46I do, yeah, I do.
- 16:49I think, I mean, I I feel like directing is something that kind of like has come into my life a little bit by default in a way, because I it's been really hard as an actor right
- 17:05now.
- 17:05I think I went on 150 auditions last year in the last year.
- 17:09Um, I counted, I don't think I know, because I'm that kind of tortured artist.
- 17:14Um
- 17:15And like I'm so grateful, you know, I'm grateful to go in, but it's like, you know, who knows, you know, why you're not booking or whatever.
- 17:24But it's hard to, to, to live in that.
- 17:27And I think um I've been working on this project, and the more, the deeper I've gotten into it, I'm like, you know, I I wanna I wanna direct this.
- 17:36And because I I do have a production company, I I do produce by day.
- 17:41So
- 17:41I'm I'm working a lot with people and directing people, whether that's short form content or you know, I'm seeing a lot of things from start to finish basically.
- 17:49And so I do feel like that really lends a hand to this whole process because I think again, like I have a very clear vision and I see I see it all and I and I understand how
- 17:59to get it from point A to B to C.
- 18:01Maybe it's not always the cleanest, but I can understand that.
- 18:04And I I think it it helps when because I've been on sets where
- 18:09I've worked with really like not great directors.
- 18:11I've worked with like opposite um an actor who's left me in the scene and I'm working opposite a piece of tape, you know, and it's just like getting nothing from them.
- 18:20And I I I just feel like I've I've been in it enough and long enough that I think I have the respect for all the different whether that's like departments or people involved, that
- 18:32I think, you know, a lot of times when it's just a director or they're, you know, a you know, just a
- 18:39There I I don't know, I feel like d some directors m don't have that full scope, you know, and I and I think having that perspective helps me I think be a be a better director and
- 18:49I'm a woman and I think that's great too.
- 18:52Cause I think um there's just communication style that us women have that is good, that lends itself to this this me medium.
- 19:02Yeah, absolutely.
- 19:03I mean, I've definitely spoken to a few folks where it does feel kind of siloed, right?
- 19:11Like they're either a just a director or just a producer, just just actor.
- 19:16And so I think though I have seen this trend recently where there is this development of people who maybe they started in acting and now they're moving into producing or
- 19:27directing, which is really cool to see.
- 19:29I mean, obviously it's like
- 19:30other you know, depending on if it's on stage or screen, you know, kind of flipping the script and seeing things from a different perspective, um, just speaks to though your
- 19:40level of creativity to be able to see through those different lenses um is wonderful.
- 19:45the challenging thing too, I mean it's not challenging, but I feel like even with this play as an example, like and the film itself, it's like, oh, well, why aren't you in it?
- 19:54Like you should be in it.
- 19:55And I think it's really important to like understand your role and where you want to put your focus.
- 20:02Because while yes, I'm a multi-hyphenite person, I think that I have learned, I mean, and I'll continue to learn, sort of when I can't be spreading myself too thin perpetually.
- 20:14project.
- 20:14So it's like, I'm not going to commit to directing is a crazy commitment, I think.
- 20:20And if I was in this, forget it.
- 20:22Like I that that does not interest me, you know.
- 20:24And so I would maybe one day it will, but like for now, like this is, I want to just be fully present with the actors.
- 20:32And, you know, and people will try to say to you, like, you should just be in it.
- 20:37Just be in it.
- 20:38You know, it's like, no, I don't want to be in it.
- 20:40You know, and it's like,
- 20:41I am gonna bring people on that are really good at their job, that are going that that are gonna elevate this project and I'm gonna just be really good at my job.
- 20:49If my job is directing this and I'm the writer, great.
- 20:52But I don't need to do all three.
- 20:53You know, I don't think and so I I think that's sometimes I feel like that's the mistake I see people do.
- 20:59And like I am kind of critical on that.
- 21:01Like if I see a film or project where I'm like,
- 21:05They didn't need to be in that.
- 21:06You know, they could have just wrote it and and directed it or produced it and been the creative force, but maybe they were too old or it didn't really work or, you know, and so
- 21:15I have opinions on that.
- 21:17So yeah.
- 21:19Yeah.
- 21:21like, yeah, like it's a a common just seems to keep popping up.
- 21:25Um but it's at like it's it's rare, I think, for people to have that self discernment of like, no, like here's what I really here's where my focus is.
- 21:38Like here's what I actually want to accomplish.
- 21:40Um, so it's great that you have that and you know like
- 21:44No, like this is my primary I'm s I'm surrounding myself with people that I know and trust and are incredible in their craft and that means that this project itself is just gonna
- 21:55propel forward.
- 21:56Um
- 21:57totally.
- 21:58I I definitely feel that way.
- 21:59And I think that like, yeah, like I it's been said to me so many times.
- 22:03And I'm just like, it it it's kind of it's act it's frustrating because you're just like, I I I would love to, but but at the same time you're like, okay, this is I I I feel it's
- 22:14something I've recognized though, like in myself that I'm I'm able to not let the I think it's 'cause I've gotten older too and like I'm I'm learning because I I think back then,
- 22:22you know, I was like, Yeah, yeah, I should
- 22:25Do all these things, but it's like, no, let's not sacrifice.
- 22:28Let's just high on the prize, focus and on this one thing.
- 22:32And um, and I have to tell you, like the anxiety I get as an actor before like working on a set or even before an audition, like is riddling.
- 22:42Like it's so I am an anxious person.
- 22:46So like for me, that anxiety is is is hell.
- 22:50And so
- 22:51This anxiety is different.
- 22:53This feels more I almost feel like I'm more in my element when I'm directing in a way because I feel like I'm in my power a bit more with acting.
- 23:03It's not until the literally the cameras are rolling and I'm in a scene that I feel great, but all the befores and after like it's just not, yeah, it's different.
- 23:13Yeah, I mean such different roles and um I guess, you know, like you've mentioned that this is, you know, going to be on a screen uh potentially next year.
- 23:26is is that where you like when you first envisioned this project, is that where you wanted it to kind of go?
- 23:32Or did you have any like kind of trajectory that you were hoping this story would, you know, kind of make?
- 23:39I mean, I I I've always I've written for film.
- 23:43It's kind of what I know, it's what I've studied.
- 23:45So like for me, I wrote it as a film, and that's always been the intention.
- 23:50As the years have gone on, of course, like you start to get really like, I'm I should I do this as a play?
- 23:57You know, I've thought about doing it as a play many times.
- 24:01and it wasn't until this movie started to get really real that I realized I really
- 24:07Don't want to miss my opportunity while I still have like full control over the project to do what I kind of want to do with it and have fun and get into this a little bit deeper
- 24:17with actors, et cetera.
- 24:18So like I, I, I did always know I wanted to do it as a film, but I've decided to do it as a play.
- 24:25And it I've never done a play.
- 24:27I've done a play as an actor like twice.
- 24:29And I studied theater and I studied uh scene studies and and did a lot of play work and you know.
- 24:35in in classes and things.
- 24:37So I it's not like foreign to me to be on a stage.
- 24:39What is foreign to me is like understanding light plots and like understanding blocking for the stage and understanding how my story transitions, quick changes, how how it's it's
- 24:50crazy.
- 24:51Like it's a whole other um a whole other thing.
- 24:55And it's it's it's it's nuts.
- 24:58I and and now because I'm doing it, I've had to cut the show down.
- 25:03So like the movie is
- 25:05A 90 minute film, the we only have 60 minutes on the stage for at the Broadwater.
- 25:10We have 15 minutes to load in our whole set.
- 25:13So, and then we have sixty minutes to do the show and 15 minutes to load out.
- 25:17And that's not a lot.
- 25:19And I'm learning about Q lab and how to program all my cues.
- 25:22And I wanted to use a projector.
- 25:24I want to do all these things, you know.
- 25:25And slowly I'm like, Well, I like, you know, it's so it's a lot.
- 25:28I just did my first tech last night and it went so well.
- 25:32I'm so happy.
- 25:32I like I tech.
- 25:34everything and I'm I'm like this is crazy.
- 25:37Like I I can't even my technical director over at the Broadwater Bianca, she's the coolest.
- 25:40She's so good.
- 25:41And I'm like, this is amazing.
- 25:42Like I I think doing it in real time and watching the store, it's just the coolest.
- 25:48So now I'm like, can I get a longer run for this?
- 25:51Like I would love, love.
- 25:52And my cast is incredible.
- 25:55And so like I would just if if if anything came out of this fringe where someone was like hey you want to do this like
- 26:02for six weeks at the Broadwater on the main stage, or would you want to do this?
- 26:06my gosh, sign me up.
- 26:07Like I I would want to continue this further.
- 26:09We only have three shows and it feels like I'm prepping for a a a six week run.
- 26:15So yeah, that's kind of what I would love to do next before the film, to be honest.
- 26:21Absolutely.
- 26:21Well, yeah, so much work like goes into such a little amount of time at the end of it all, right?
- 26:28It's it's I feel like every show like I've ever heard about or worked on, it is exactly that thing.
- 26:34You're like you spend so much I mean obviously years pouring into this project and then you're like, my gosh, like what where do where do we go from here?
- 26:42Um But you know, is there anything that you are hoping, you know, audiences once they
- 26:50once they experience this, what are you hoping they carry um with them after seeing it?
- 26:59I guess I guess kind of what I was saying in the beginning of just like I hope people walk away from this feeling like you know you're not defined by your past.
- 27:13And you know, and art heals and m whether that is a music, writing, um, singing, playing.
- 27:26You know, whether you're a painter, it's such an amazing outlet, an actor, you know, I think there's a lot of stuff happening in the world right now, and it's kind of a scary
- 27:38time.
- 27:38And, you know, we can be so hard on ourselves.
- 27:43And I think so can the people around us.
- 27:44They can be hard on us too.
- 27:46And I think just hoping people come away with this, with like giving people a little bit of grace in life and and
- 27:54also encouraging people to pursue that sort of creative passion or, you know, if that's if they're that's what they're drawn to, if they're journaling, encourage them, you know, if
- 28:06they I was recently just talking to my cousin and he's obsessed with movies and I was like, you should work in in film.
- 28:13Like you don't have to be an actor.
- 28:14You can, you can, you know, there's so many jobs, you know, and you're you love story, you know.
- 28:19So I don't know.
- 28:20I'm a huge proponent of the arts and like
- 28:23loving the arts and and especially now, you know, some of the best art comes out of these times.
- 28:28So hopefully this film will inspire people.
- 28:32We'll see.
- 28:32Or film.
- 28:33What am I saying?
- 28:33This play.
- 28:35This is this play will inspire people.
- 28:37my gosh.
- 28:38Uh hello.
- 28:40I think yeah, like it is I mean, crazy times we're in and while the arts are seemingly being, you know, less funded, um, it is like it's in that like crunch period, I feel like,
- 28:54where people do become inspired because they're so driven, they're they're trying to overcome so many obstacles and that's yeah, it's absolutely where some of the best art has
- 29:04has come from.
- 29:05Um
- 29:06totally.
- 29:07And I will say that the Hollywood Fringe, I have been meeting a lot of people doing shows there.
- 29:12There's like over 400 shows as a part of this festival.
- 29:16LA Theater, like people are don't really equate the two as much.
- 29:20And there's some incredible work that's getting put up and such talented artists.
- 29:25And and it's just get out to the fringe, go see some shows, like go check it out.
- 29:30You know, it's all of June.
- 29:33The Broadwater's great because they have multiple stages.
- 29:35There's like over a hundred shows at that at that theater.
- 29:38Um, make sure you find parking, get there ahead time.
- 29:41Um there it I just think that like I have had a few friends that have done one woman one man, one woman shows.
- 29:48Um recently I've had friends in plays.
- 29:50A lot of film people have been doing theater, but not like famous film people.
- 29:54I'm talking just like
- 29:55people that are like me who are just, you know, want to work.
- 29:58And if you are an actor or a creative, like go support your fellow creatives because they're out there doing the work and it's really inspiring and it's really fun.
- 30:05And so I would really encourage people to get out to the fringe this year if you're in LA or, you know, wherever you live and go see go see some live theater.
- 30:13It's it's great.
- 30:15Absolutely.
- 30:16Well, you heard it here, folks.
- 30:17Go check out the Fringe Festival.
- 30:19Um, but beyond that, Cece where can people find you and and find your work?
- 30:25Um yeah, so we're keeping updated with Redemption Song with this play.
- 30:30Um on we have our we're on the Hollywood Fringes website.
- 30:34Um we also my production company Twisted Valley Films at Twisted Valley Films on Instagram.
- 30:41We've been posting updates there.
- 30:42We're doing ticket giveaways, stuff like that.
- 30:44Um so yeah, follow along there.
- 30:46And then my personal, my Instagram is @_ceceking Um, yeah, because
- 30:54Someone else already have my name.
- 30:55So I have an underscore in front of it.
- 30:58So yeah, that's where you can keep up with all of the things.
- 31:02Awesome.
- 31:02Perfect.
- 31:03Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
- 31:05It's been great to get to know you as an artist and director and you know, multi hyphen it, but also your work.
- 31:12So folks, make sure to go check out the Hollywood Fringe Festival as well as redemption song.
- 31:20Thank you so much for joining us on the BSB podcast.
- 31:24Until next time.