Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Farr Schiller.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have always been a very curious person. Curious about how the world works. Curious about life. Curious about what it means to be fully alive. Even as a child, I was always the kid in class with a question.
Growing up, I would adapt stories from the books that I borrowed from the library into full-length plays and then I would produce for my neighborhood. Recruiting and casting the neighborhood kids into different roles, building the costumes, writing the scripts, directing the plays, creating the invitations, baking the cookies, and essentially bringing my neighborhood together in dynamic ways around creativity is something that I have always loved doing. Making magic happen and bringing people together is something that has always been a part of my DNA, even to this day.
This curiosity as an artist led me to my first professional acting job for the Emmy Award-winning Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. I worked with Kaiser for over three and a half years, starting at the age of 17, performing for over 250,000 students during my time with them. What I loved most about this experience was seeing first-hand how performance, drama, and the crafting of words for the stage could be used to transform people’s lives. After every show, we talked with students who were dealing with issues such as teen suicide and depression, domestic violence, HIV and AIDS diagnosis, and theatre was the place where complete strangers came together to feel heard, seen and understood as human beings-often sharing their experiences for the first time with us as artist-educators.
After working with Kaiser, I went on to receive a B.A. in theatre from the University of California, Santa Cruz, completing my final year of study at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. I also studied at the University of Ghana at Legon, Accra and the University degli Studi di Siena, Italy, which really fostered my love for difference as a point for crafting and creating dynamic modes of creativity in my art and the work that I help others to create. After that, I went on to receive my M.A. in Social and Cultural Analysis with an emphasis in Africana Studies from New York University and completed my Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.
Fueled by the spaces where curiosity, critical thinking, and the dramatic arts come together, I have come to love being an advocate for helping other people bring their ideas and creativity to life.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has not always been smooth, however, I live by the motto of no regrets. Essentially, I believe that failure is just feedback that helps me to gain greater clarity around the direction that I am supposed to be going into. When I am clear about who I am and where I am going the “obstacles” (if that is how I choose to label them) are really guideposts on the journey.
Creative Collaborations: Dramaturgy, Writing & Script Development Services – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Everyone has something to say, I help them say it with finesse, skill, artistry, and confidence. As a dramaturg with a PhD, I love using creativity and the written word to better understand and reveal the human experience.
Creative Collaborations: Dramaturgy, Writing & Script Development Services offers a wide range of creative consulting services with the necessary tools expertise and experience to help nurture, grow, and develop creative ideas from the page to the stage. Partnering with my clients from start to finish, I take pride in being able to focus on their individual needs while simultaneously producing new ideas, developing effective strategies, and high-quality end results.
Creative Collaboration offers: a wide range of dynamic dramaturgical services that work to deepen theatrical experiences, traditional writing development and proofreading services such as the crafting of cover letters, term papers, essays, and articles, that support writers in developing their unique voice while strategizing the most effective ways to use the written word to their advantage, and script development services that move a playwright’s work from idea to completion.
Dramaturgical Services:
Deep Dive Review of Script (Director Vision Support)
On-Going Director Consultation
Rehearsal Attendance (Director Vision Support)
On-Going Research
Early Rehearsal Dramaturgical Talk for Cast & Designers
Electronic Dramaturgical Packet
Website Dramaturgical Materials
Dramaturgical Program Note
Talk Back Facilitation
Community Talk Back Series Development
Audience Engagement Events Including: Sip and Script Reading Series, Lunch-Time Talk Backs, Field-Trips to Script Related Locations, Expert Talks,
Facilitation of On-Going In-Rehearsal Dramaturgical Needs
Facilitating Dramaturgical Master Classes & Workshops
Writing & Script Development Services:
New Play Script Development
One-on-One Feedback Sessions with Playwrights
Written Take-Home Feedback Packets that Include Personalized Next Step Prompts & Actions
Writing Roadblock Prompts
Cover Letter Support
Editing Support for Essays, Academic Papers, and Scholarly Articles
Strategic Planning for Finding Your Unique Voice in Your Writing
Proof Reading
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by the level of satisfaction of my clients. I’m happy when they are happy. My job is one of service and I take pride in my clients walking away surprised in their own abilities to produce work that they may not have even known that they could produce.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.creativecollabs.org
- Email: Ang.schill@icloud.com
Image Credit:
Shirley J. Farr, Stefanie Okuda, LaTausha Carter
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
