Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. - 057 Christmas Holidays)

A holiday wish from Geoff Mays in your Thoughts from the Green Room.

With the computer upload issues "fixed" (cross fingers) posts will start again in the new year.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 055 - Rejection)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic Rejection

This week's Challenge: Identify and face your rejection.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 054 - Persistance and Work)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic: Persistence and Work

This week's Challenge: Finish or Start that outlying project.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 053 - Finding Home)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Finding Home

This week's challenge: Identify your safe place.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 052 -No Half Way)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room.

This week's topic: There is no half way.

This week's challenge: Complete something fully.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 051 - Empathy)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Empathy

This week's challenge: Empathize

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 050 - Letting Go)

Back from vacation and Vlogging again.



This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic: Letting Go

This week's Challenge: respond in the moment

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 049 - Find Your Tribe)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Find your Tribe

This week's challenge: Play with your Tribe.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 048 - Shows vs Parties)

This Week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This  Week's Topic: Show vs Parties

This Week's Challenge: Host a gathering.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 046 - Agents and Bosses)

A missed posting.

Here is episode 46

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 047 - Being Busy

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic: Being Busy

This week's Challenge: reflect on what takes you away from desire

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 045 - When you grow up?)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: What did you want to be when you grew up?

This week's challenge: Step towards your dream.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 044 - Life Analogy)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Life Analogy

This week's challenge: Face the hard to face things.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 042 - Reflection)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room.

This week's Topic: Reflection

This week's Challenge: Reflect!

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 042 - Fitting In)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room.

This week's Topic: Fitting In

This week's Challenge: Examining what niche you have.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 041 - Give Yourself Credit)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic: Giving yourself credit!

This week's Challenge: I think it's self explanatory



Enjoy

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 040 - Heroes)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's Topic: Heroes

This week's challenge: Wear your cape and be a hero to someone.

  

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 039 - Being Seen)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Being Seen

This week's challenge: Show someone you really see them.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 038 - Friends and Family)

This week's Thoughts from the Green Room

This week's topic: Friends and Family

This week's challenge: Show someone you care; without the baggage. 

Viable - An Interview with Jake Nothdurft

Interview with Jake Nothdurft

Supervising Producer for Viable (the film) and Director of Marketing for Viable (the brand)

 Following up on my recent interview with Mary Gyulay, co-writer and director of Viable, I recently had a chance to speak with Jake Nothdurft about his involvement in the project.  Viable is a film which tells the story of young woman who, after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, must face the challenges of her dreams being crushed by the prejudice of those who do not understand and who do not see her as viable because of the disease. 

With this interview I sought out another perspective on this project and the impact it is making.  Recognize that the answers are paraphrases and quotes of Jake’s actual dialogue with me; I cannot type as fast as I wish I could.  Jake has approved everything in this interview.

Where did you journey with Viable start?

“I’ve known Mary (Gyulay) and Melissa (Scicluna) for a long time.  Melissa I met near the end of my first year, at Ryerson, and Mary in my second year.  As our friendship formed, Melissa and I, worked on a number of projects together in RTA. After Mary was diagnosed in 2014, Melissa came up with the concept for Viable and a project was born. Mary came on board and I joined the team as the third member in the months following. 

What was your initial reaction the idea?

“With all the work I’d done with Melissa over the years I was already on board with the idea that I would be doing my final year project with her.  After hearing their idea and where they wanted it to go is was an easy decision to make. I think one of the great things about this is that when it first started we were all very excited to share this story. It was not just a school project for us.  As we kept talking more and more elements fell into place; first the film then the social media to promote it, then the soundtrack with the rights to Blue Rodeo’s music - it all just came together.”

Were you aware of Mary’s diagnosis prior to this project?

“A few days after she was diagnosed, the three of us had dinner together, and we just sat and talked.  The evening affected us all and as we talked we saw Mary’s frustration.  It made sense to share this raw emotion and shed light on it.  One aspect of this film which is so important is Veronika Slowikowska’s performance.  It is truly brilliant how her portrayal captures the raw emotions which Mary showed her.”

As he spoke about this question it was clear to me that Jake was capturing the value of friendship and what it means to be recognized and truly seen by those who consider someone a friend or family.  I commented on this and he replied, 

“It is important to recognize friendship in any situation. A friend being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, any disease, affects so many people.  We saw it effect her family, her friends including us, her classmates - so many.  The goal of Viable is to make people aware of that impact.”

When did Viable reach the tipping point, go beyond this school project, for you?

“Throughout this project there have been so many reminders about this project and the traction it gathered and continues gathering.  Going back to the first script and realizing that we have a solid story.  Pitching to our school panel of advisors and teachers to get approval for the project and being confident going; knowing what we had was ready to go.  Getting to camera and seeing it come to life.  Stepping into the editing room and putting raw footage together to give it life on film.  As the Marketing Director of the brand, a big point for me was seeing how much the public, through our website and social media, are asking about the project and inquiring on how to get involved.  We have gathered a number of people who wanted to contribute and we are sharing their story and experience through our website.”

As I listened to Jake I could not help recall what Mary had said about the first table read. For her that moment was pivotal because it had extended out beyond her circle and she was seeing strangers help bring the idea to life.  Jake’s answer mirrored this feeling in many ways - the idea that complete strangers were connecting with him, a result of their strong social media and digital footprint, to get involved. I can only imagine the how humbling that may feel. 

Tell us about the Viable brand?

“Viable is a feature film, a passionate brand and a movement for the awareness of Multiple Sclerosis.  As it grew, we knew it was not just a film. There are so many elements involved in this project; so,  why not share them?  Myself and our digital content creator Melissa Vasiliev have been working ensure that all of the elements are being presented. Those elements include the film itself, social media pages (facebook, twitter, instagram), the campaign and collaboration with the MS Society, collaboration and support from various “authority figures” including the band Blue Rodeo, who allowed us to use some of their most popular songs to add to the film's story.”

I asked Mary this question as I feel it is so important to break the mould and inspire others - something you are doing. So, many people share the tragic belief that “You are just a student”.  So how did “just a student” do it? Please share some of your journey to inspire other students, all of whom are Viable.

“From the very beginning of this project I thought, we all thought, of taking this project beyond graduation - to see this project go beyond Ryerson. I have been working to see this happen, to make it happen and push it forward.  There are film festivals, networking, connections, and many more next steps we need to complete to see this fulfilled and go further.  So, I continue to motivate the team to continue pushing beyond the classroom.  I think, what a great thing to look back on and showcase to others, to do so proudly, with the thought that this is what I did at Ryerson’s Radio and Television Arts program. 

What I find so interesting about this is that the eight of us, who are the core on Viable, all come from the same program (Ryerson RTA) but we all bring such different and diverse elements to the project.  It speaks to the diversity of the program.  There has been a lot of support from Ryerson, not just from our faculty, advisors, professors and teachers, but also from the community in general.

Diversity describes the creative world. If the eight of us, all from the same program, brought the same thing to the table, there would have been no project.  It helps to demonstrate that our program creates a diverse culture and educates us well.  The reason Mary, Melissa and I so carefully selected our team is that we wanted to bring the multiple talents, available to us, so we could effectively cover all aspects of the vision we saw for Viable and it brand.  This variety of talent has allowed us to achieve so much more than just a a school project.  

Coming out of school I will be “just a graduate”, then “just the new guy on the job” and we are all moving beyond those labels with this work.  We have a broadcast ready project which we did as students. Through what our program has prepared us for, and through the goals we set for ourselves we have shown that we are not “just students” but individuals ready to be in the field working and going beyond any “just graduates” labels.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 036 - Just a Student)

This one took longer than normal as I tweaked and edited the interview.

Enjoy it folks.

This week's topic: Just a Student

This week's challenge: Stop being "just a..." and break the mould. 

    

Viable - an interview with director and co-writer Mary Gyulay

Viable, a new film to be released shortly, is the story of Violet, a young woman diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. After being diagnosed with this disease Violet faces the reality that her dreams of becoming a pianist may be shattered because people are no longer willing to accept her. 

What audiences may not know is that Viable is a semi-biographical story of Mary Gyulay the co-writer and director of this heart warming story about challenging the odds and making the most of life regardless of the circumstances. As an actor in the film, I was moved by the reality of this story, its closeness to home and the truth behind it. When I talked to Mary about her story she willing and graciously opened up to share more of her journey with Multiple Sclerosis and how Viable came into being.

(The following answers are quoted to illicit Mary’s words.  Please recognize that I paraphrased her answers from the notes taken. All material has been reviewed and approved by Mary for this interview write up)

When were you diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis?

“My best friend, Melissa Scicluna, was throwing a birthday party for me in June. My birthday is right around Christmas, so this ‘half birthday’ was a pleasant surprise. At the time, I did not know it was a surprise party for me, Mel simply asked me to join her for the night out.

During the day I got a horrible migraine headache which was causing some blurred vision in one eye. I really was not feeling well and called Mel to tell her I could not go out. She insisted that I come that night; so, I went home, took some Advil, and slept it off as best I could. I made it out and I’m glad I did. The next day I was no better and my vision was still blurry. At the time I had no idea that migraines were associated to MS; but, I did know something was not right.

Off to the optometrist who did a number of tests on me, many of which I failed. I was moved along to a retina specialist as my optometrist thought it was retinal related. After seeing the specialist, I was told I needed to get to emergency immediately as the vision problems were brain related. I was getting somewhat scared as I headed to St. Michael’s Hospital. While waiting in triage, a nurse did some tests and let me know I was being diagnosed with MS.  It was at this point I started to break down. I was fast tracked to an MRI and while I waited for results my doctor began talking to me about having MS. My main concern during all of this was whether or not this disease would stop me from having a family.”

Mary qualified this time as a whirl wind of information: getting treatment for her eye, observing patients at various stages of MS in the doctor’s office and seeing herself in their shoes, imagining what her life may hold, going for an MRI and simply taking in a lot of information.  Mary was 23 at the time, which although is not that uncommon, is still a young age to be diagnosed. She expressed that receiving the official diagnosis via phone was relatively easy for her having gone through the whirl wind. Having already managed much of the news for herself, she expressed turning to and helping her family who now had to manage the information and understand what it meant to them and their relationship with her.

It is my understanding that MS will not stop you from having a family, is that correct?

“That is correct. I am capable of having a family. Actually that fear was one of the key points as to why the film was made. I have an ‘aunt’ figure in my life who recently passed away due to MS. My only understanding of the disease, up to that point, was what I experienced through my ‘aunt’. She had a very aggressive MS progression, and although I never saw her physical deterioration, due to her living in California, I was updated about her condition and felt I had an understanding of the disease’s effect. Based on what I knew, prior to my own diagnosis, I thought MS was a disease that affected ‘older’ people. With me being diagnosed so young, it quickly brought to life that this is a disease that affects a wide variety of people and it covers a huge age range.  It may surprise you to know that it is common for people at the age of fifteen to be diagnosed with MS. It may surprise you more to know that they are not the youngest; in some rare cases the diagnosis is given to toddlers. I knew very early after my diagnosis that I wanted to bring an awareness to this disease.”

Mary to me you have no visible signs of disease or MS. If I met you anywhere, I would mistake you for a healthy young woman. What is it like having this disease and not having or demonstrating any visible symptoms?

“That’s an interesting point. My first relapse was at age fifteen. I had not been diagnosed at that time; but, in hindsight, I know that I had been living with the symptoms of MS since I was about the age of thirteen.  As someone who is always on the go and always pushing myself, I now  must recognize what the warning signs are. Having a migraine, or extreme fatigue is no longer just me pushing to hard to the finish line; it is my body letting me know that things are really not right. Now I have to decide when to stop due to disease or just being tired - it is a huge lifestyle adjustment and self awareness that I never had to consider before.”

”It has also brought my attention to the fact that you can never really tell or understand what someone is going through. I’m the first person to stand up and offer my seat to an elderly person, or pregnant lady or someone who visibly needs a seat on the TTC. But sometimes I am that person on the TTC who truly needs the seat offered to me.  But when I am sitting there, in discomfort due to disease, and an elderly person gets on the bus, there is a social pressure for me to stand up because no one can see that I am truly hurting and ill. It really has opened my eyes to what little we know of what people truly go through.”

Having worked with Mary on Viable and in talking to her for this interview I know full well that regardless of social pressure Mary is still the first person to get up and offer her seat on the TTC to someone in need.  It is this spirit of kindness and giving, among many other things, that helped to fuel her vision for Viable the film, the brand and the light she is shedding on MS.

When did Viable the film become a target project for you?

“As a Ryerson University student in the Radio and Television Arts program I always knew I would have to do a practicum component to my degree.  On my first day of university, they showed the students a reel of what a practicum could look like and I immediately knew I wanted to make a film and I wanted it to be big.”

“I’m not the kind of person who would approach others with the thought “Hey lets do a film about me and my struggles” so the idea sat idle in my mind. Melissa is my best friend, she was there there with me from day one of my diagnosis.  She is also a talented producer who everyone hoped would produce their final year practicum.  Instead, Mel came to me with this idea to make a film about MS.  I was so touched. That is true love between friends.  We shared the same goals: a film, with multiple platforms, that would create a brand.  Less than a year after my diagnosis I went to camera.”

Many people share the tragic belief that “You are just a student”.  So how did “just a student” do it? Please share some of your journey to inspire other students, all of whom are Viable.

“We approached everything knowing that many people would see us as just students; as a result, we really made sure we had an answer for everything so that we stood out beyond everyone else.  This made our presentations and our pitches stronger. The first thing they teach in film and TV is that you must believe in what you sell or it won’t sell.  So we approached everything with a lot of confidence, which is funny because I don’t consider myself confident in many ways.”

“Approaching this idea with confidence, resulted in us gathering a strong support system of industry professionals who believed in our project and were willing to mentor us.”

“Melissa and I are big fans of Blue Rodeo and one of our desires was being able to include their music in our story. Through various contacts and loose connections, we reached out to the band, told our story, and it lead to them lending their voice and their music to our project.”

Mary and Melissa started talking about this in spring of 2015 and by November they were going to camera. So knowing what they wanted, where they wanted to go and a strong belief in where they were taking it was the foundation to growing their dream.

It is just under two months away from your first screen of Viable.  When you look back on this process how do you feel?

“I get caught up in the whirl wind of the project.  Every now and then I will step back, when I really stop to and think about all the people who believe in this, all the people who got on board for what we are doing, I am so touched because I am living with this disease. The project is for the greater MS community and I’m touched by all who are making it happen.”

“The first table read of the script was one of the first moments that struck me and let me realize who big this idea was and how it was growing. That was the first time that it went beyond me.  All these strangers, not friends from school, but strangers who were getting involved in the idea. It was amazing.”

Where does the Viable brand go from here?

“A long time ago we all dropped the idea that this was a school project and we were getting graded. It has always been a big idea. Going forward from here the next steps start with the screening which hopefully opens more doors.  The MS Society will be there and it will hopefully further our discussions with them. I’ve done some interviews with others who have been diagnosed with MS and those will be released bit by bit which will further help our social media pages. The final step is film festivals, with TIFF being the top of the list.”

You can stay connected to Viable through these social media links:

Twitter: @viablefilm

Instagram: @viablefilm

facebook: facebook.com/viablefilm

website: viablefilm.com

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 035 - Multiple Sclerosis)

This week I talk about Multiple Sclerosis.  The part I played in Viable inspired me to do some research and share some valuable information.  There are so many things which we can stand behind for a better world.  Take this one to heart, even if for just one day, and spread  the message a little further.

Thoughts from the Green Room (Ep. 034 - How We Play)

Happy New Year!

This weeks Thought from the Green Room!

This weeks topic: Play

This weeks challenge: Put technology down for one day and imagine