Today we’d like to introduce you to Mindy Fay Parks.
Mindy Fay, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I knew I either wanted to be an actor or Marine Biologist-then I just thought, well, hey, there are already plenty of scientists in this world (I’m joking-I just hated chemistry). I studied theatre at Oklahoma State. That wasn’t the smoothest road and I was about done with theatre when I graduated. Then I spent two years in Japan traveling and teaching English, and ended up playing Ophelia in Hamlet. Something about seeing Japanese women in their kimonos crying in the front row, even though they couldn’t understand what language I was speaking, reawakened my love of acting.
I relocated to Chicago to pursue theater, but decided to take some on camera classes because I had this “smart” idea that I could make a little money doing commercials while performing in all the broke theaters in town, but then I just fell in love with film acting! I really like how precise things like eye movements can be in telling a story on film. I eventually booked my first network credit on ‘Chicago Fire’. I made my TV debut throwing a baby off of a roof in a bathrobe. There were explosions and a stunt double-it was amazing!
Then, I basically got to the point where I was tired of waiting around for people to hire me again, so I co-wrote a short film with my friend Eric Feltes called ‘OFF BOOK’. I knew it was a good story, so I really pushed to get an amazing team behind us even though we were first time filmmakers. Well, post-production took a year, during which time I guess I got so bored and cold in Chicago, I decided to have a baby…ha! So, I became a mom and had my first film premiere a month apart. The film went to something like 25 film festivals and won a dozen awards. We got distribution on Omeleto and over 100K people have now seen our little 8-minute comedy!
The experience of making my own film opened up the whole indie filmmaking world for me and so, after realizing Chicago NEEDED another film festival (not joking this time), I launched the Windy City International Film Festival with my fellow Okie and Chicago filmmaker Josh Hope. Providing a home for other artists to screen their work and meet collaborators has been so fulfilling and brings me so much joy.
After birthing a film festival, a short film, and a human in Chicago, I decided it was time to shake things up! Atlanta seemed like the right fit for both our family and the career. I’ve been here for almost two years. In that time, I have worked behind and in front of the camera on some AMAZING projects. I really LOVE the film industry down here, but I do really miss the lifestyle in Chicago.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I would say that life as an actor or artist is never a “smooth” road. And there are STILL daily struggles. Being a woman and mother in the film industry adds it’s own layer of daily struggles as I’m sure many of the readers can imagine. There are a lot of assumptions made about working moms-things like “oh, I assumed you wouldn’t want this opportunity/promotion since it would require you to travel.” Or, “I didn’t invite you to this business social event because I assumed you’d be too busy with your little one.” I hate that! And it happens in every job market and it’s not fair to women.
For the life of an actor, the hustle is constant, and “no” is so frequent. So many of us are just waiting for permission to do the job we have extensively trained to do. When we do finally land an amazing role or opportunity, the “what’s next” is always lurking. I just listed a lot of cliches, but the truth is, that is the reality for every actor I know-even famous actors talk about this and I just sit there and think, well damn, I guess it NEVER goes away! That’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s something I still struggle with, but I’m getting better. Once I realized no one ever feels like they’ve “made it”, it was overwhelmingly freeing…kind of like that notion of “success looks different for everyone”. For me, overcoming the idea that I’m “waiting for permission” to have a career was the most transformative thing in my life. I started seeing my work as an actor separate from the job if that makes sense. I also remember some wise words from my mother who told me “well, Mindy, you aren’t just here to build a career, you’re also here to build a LIFE”! I don’t even know if my mom knows how much that sentence changed my state of mind. But once I let go of trying to have a successful film career and just started living the life I wanted…woah, life and career got good! It was just a change in my state of mind, but it led to me making my first movie, starting a film festival, writing, and it even led to my job as the Director’s Assistant on Watchmen. Don’t wait for permission, just F-ing do it!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
One story I can share is how I landed my job as the Director’s Assistant on HBO’s WATCHMEN. I went out to a friend’s party and ran into a filmmaker friend that I had met at a little film festival in Indiana that I had attended with OFF BOOK. We had been good buddies at the festival, but hadn’t seen each other in years and had no idea we were both living in Atlanta. Well, after this serendipitous meeting, we reconnected and she actually put my name forward to interview for the position on Watchmen…I wouldn’t call this luck as much as a good example of how carving your own path can lead to unexpected destinations! If you’re out there doing the work and not sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, I believe you’re bound to find this kind of “luck” again and again.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://mindyfayparks.com
- Phone: 4053854705
- Email: mindyfay4@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyfayparks
- Other: Windy City International Film Festival: https://filmfreeway.com/WindyCityInternationalFilmFestival
WATCH OFF BOOK (8min. Comedy Short): http://omeleto.com/248904/
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
