Today we’d like to introduce you to Gillian Rabin.
Hi Gillian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started performing when I could walk — I’ve always been drawn to the stage. I would sing everywhere I could and started performing in community theater productions when I was four. That fire for storytelling and performance has never gone out, it’s only grown stronger. I continued to pursue my passion throughout my childhood, into middle school, high school, and eventually college. I went to Oglethorpe University on a Shakespeare scholarship and that’s what ultimately brought me to Atlanta! I fell in love with this city, its vibrancy, and its creative community. I wanted to venture into film & television, and I had a very interesting path towards getting an agent. I signed with People Store and started to audition regularly in college.
After graduating, I started my apprenticeship with Actor’s Express in Atlanta and booked my first network show, but both were unfortunately shut down due to COVID. I continued to audition and work on both my playwriting and screenwriting projects. I started to gain momentum with auditions, and I’ve been lucky to build up my resume with some truly wonderful productions. My most recent project was playing Lydia on “The Big Door Prize” (Apple TV). That experience was incredible: phenomenal cast, crew, and overall creative environment. I love being on this show. I really wanted to create my own content, though, and so I wrote my first short film and dove head-first into production. I realized that my passion for storytelling goes far beyond being on stage and in front of the camera. I have really fallen in love with producing and directing, too. The entire process is really so incredibly fascinating, so I’m just happy to be a forever student and continuously learn more from the people I’m lucky enough to work with. The short film is called “L-8” and is a not-so-dystopian look at the trajectory of female freedoms & reproductive rights. I’m a big believer in the power of storytelling — it’s the woven, intricate fabric of our society and even our ideas about ourselves — and its capacity to enact tangible change through the empowerment of empathy. That’s what I hope to achieve with L-8 and my future projects.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hahahahha no. Nor should it be! If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth it. The challenges, although in the moment suck, are really important to prove to yourself that you are powerful and capable. If we never try, we never fail. If we never fail, we never learn. If we never learn, we never improve. So, I guess I welcome bumpy roads. I hate them as they’re happening and they’re often filled with disappointment, but I’ve always come out stronger and more prepared for the rest of the “road.”
Struggles along the way happen daily. I mean, as an actor you literally get rejected every day. You get an audition, drop everything and start messaging friends to help you tape (thanks everyone who’s helped me tape!), prepare for the audition (depending on what type of audition, it can take anywhere from an hour to a few days), and then have to set up your “at home studio.” 99% of everything is self-tape now, so you can go to a studio and pay about $40 each time you have an audition, or you can invest in lights, microphones, a good camera/cameraphone, tripod, backdrop, and convert whatever space you have into your own taping room. Then, you give it your all during the audition, edit it, and send it in. It’s like all of your work going into the ether because you never really know whether or not you’ll hear anything back. So, it can be emotionally draining and that can be a struggle. I really miss the energy of in-person auditions, but I’ve started to really have fun with my self-tapes. I break the ‘rules’ all the time! I think we’re all just creatives trying to collaborate, so if they love my ideas, they’ll want me. That’s really all you can do. Your best. Your version. It’s all up to creative interpretation.
Then you have the other elements that get in the way: scheduling conflicts, travel mishaps, payment issues, global pandemics… I try to just focus on the things I can control, though.
Other struggles include balancing a full-time job, other passion projects, and trying to maintain a social life. But, honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the creative chaos.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an actor, writer, director, and producer. I specialize in acting and writing, but have really started to fall in love with directing and producing, especially for film & television. As an actor, my most notable credits include “The Big Door Prize” on Apple TV and “Emergency” on Amazon Prime. With my short film, “L-8,” I really got the chance to dive deeper into the other aspects of the filmmaking craft that I love. I wrote, directed, and produced L-8, and we’re currently in the post-production phase. This project is definitely what I’m most proud of! I think it’s a wonderful conversation-starter and I hope that it helps to build an empathetic bridge between ideologies surrounding reproductive rights. The constant fighting and demonization will only exacerbate the continued degradation of reproductive rights that we’re seeing in this country, so I’m hoping that this film can have an impact that goes beyond film festivals. You can check out more info on L-8 here: l8theofficialshort.com
I’m currently working on a way to create a fund for independent filmmakers in the Atlanta area and capitalize on the untapped talent that exists. I’m a huge believer in networking, in asking questions, in learning, and in not taking myself too seriously. I don’t ever walk in thinking I’m the smartest person in the room, nor do I want to be. I love learning from other people and hearing their stories, then finding ways to help them by connecting them with other people with whom I’ve crossed paths. It’s one of the most fun aspects of what I do– the serendipitous synergy. It’s awesome. I hope I get to keep learning about/from people, connecting others, and telling stories for the rest of my life.
What matters most to you? Why?
Community. Kindness. Appreciation. Love. Empathy. Stories.
I think that we all take life too seriously. We only have a finite amount of time and every second truly does count. I’m prone to anxiety and depression, so to be able to remember that I’m a minuscule part of this floating rock always helps me reorient my perspective. At the end of the day, my life is just a very cool, microcosmic experience that I’m lucky enough to have an active role in. So, I try to just have as much of a positive outlook as I can but also grant myself the emotional freedom to feel anxious, depressed, etc. I don’t think I can always be happy, so I don’t want to set that expectation for myself. I can, however, always focus myself on helping others in my community and abroad. I can lead with kindness. I can recognize the privileges I was born with and appreciate what I do have in my life. I can make others feel loved and be loved — is there anything better than love? That oxytocin gets me every time. I can empathize with others and make them feel seen and heard. I can try to create opportunities that evoke empathy in others and bring them together. I can do all of that through storytelling.
Contact Info:
- Website: gillianrabin.com / l8theofficialshort.com
- Instagram: @gillianrabin / @l8officialshort
Image Credits
Emily Lambert Ashlyn Stallings Josh Hudson JC Olivera Greg Mooney
