Meet Caroline King of Bitch Beer Podcast, Film Festival Circuit, and Sweet C Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline King.

Caroline, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a performer and entertainer. From the time I learned to walk I would line up all of my dolls and stuffed animals in front of our picnic table in our backyard and perform shows for them, that’s when my family new that I was going to be in the entertainment industry. For high school I went to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where I majored in musical theatre and I realized my love for not only performing but writing as well. My senior year of high school was turned upside down when Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown. As devastating as this experience was for my family and hometown, it taught me the importance of being resilient and learning how to roll with the punches at an early age.

I moved to Chicago at the age of 18 where I performed and took classes at Second City, iO, and Annoyance comedy theaters. Learning from the same place where all of my comedy heroes got their start was the most inspiring experience of my life. Learning the true art of comedy shaped me into the person I am today. My favorite quote being, “Say Yes and you’ll figure it out afterward.” from one of my heroes, Tina Fey, is a reference to approaching an improv scene, but of course, has shaped the way I live my life and make decisions. After years of performing and moving around the world, I ended up in a corporate job for a few years. I never thought I would stay very long, but I got caught up in the steady income and security. As great as it was to not worry about money, I was dying on the inside. Even though I learned so much about running a business, marketing and the structure of the corporate world, not being able to write and perform made me miserable.

I decided to take the leap and focus full time on my acting and writing career. I settled in Atlanta three years ago and since the moment I arrived, I immersed myself in the amazing community of actors, writers, and filmmakers. The entertainment industry is booming in Atlanta and everyone along my journey was incredibly helpful. I created an incredible inner circle of friends that have been instrumental in my journey to where I am today. I met my friend and writing partner, Kyle Porter while on set for an independent film and that was one of the moments that set the wheels in motion for my success today. Together we wrote our first short film, Church Wives and I formed my production company, Sweet C Productions. Church Wives is a satirical mock-umentary that pulls back the curtain on Southern Church Society in the most hilarious way possible. Kyle and I wrote the script together and we decided we had to film it. We brought on our good friend, Karen Aguirre as our producer and she also starred as one of the lead characters. After filming and funding the project with our Kickstarter, with the huge support of our family and friends, we entered Church Wives into film festivals around the country. We had amazing success in Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, and winning “Best Mockumentary” awards at the Houston Comedy Film Festival and the Atlanta Comedy Film Festival, “Best Webisode” at the Southern Shorts Awards and I was incredibly honored to win “Best Actress” at The Atlanta Comedy Film Festival. Our entire team was incredible and I was so grateful to be able to work with them.

Touring film festivals was an amazing experience, so when I met, Mikel Fair, Festival Director and owner of The Film Festival Circuit, an amazing opportunity came up in Atlanta and I decided that I wanted to run film festivals. It was perfect timing because the director of several festivals in Atlanta was moving on to other projects so I was able to jump in the deep end by taking over as Director for The Atlanta Comedy, Georgia Shorts, Georgia Documentary, and Horror Films in Hotlanta Film Festivals right here in Atlanta. Being able to showcase local filmmakers and other independent filmmakers from all over the world is an incredible experience and since coming on as festival director, Mikel and I have become business partners merging our festivals with The Film Festival Circuit. In addition to the Atlanta Festivals, I was just announced as the director of the Houston Comedy and the Austin Comedy Short film festivals and I am even more excited to announce that we have started The Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta this year. I am ecstatic for the future of these film festivals and being able to grow them. The opportunity to support independent filmmakers is incredibly rewarding and I hope to continue for a very long time.

While I was also diving into the world of running film festivals, I also dove head first into the world of Craft beer by starting Bitch Beer Podcast. A little over a year ago I was trying to learn more about craft beer and found that there were not a lot of resources that spoke to me as a woman. I approached my good friends, Ashley Powers, and Ben Guilbault, who have their own podcast, “Let’s Go to the Movies” and they immediately came on board. Together we have made an incredibly community of people that love craft beer as much as we do and want to learn in a fun, safe and non-intimidating environment. We just celebrated our One Year Anniversary and it was an amazing experience to celebrate with the countless people that have embraced us and taken us under their wings to help us grown and learn. There are several big things to come with Bitch Beer Podcast so stay tuned!

Overall my goal is to create a life for myself where I can wake up every morning and love my job. As stressful as it can be to be an entrepreneur and be my own boss, I have never been happier. I get to work with my best friends and build up the amazing people that surround me every day, it is a dream come true and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No! It’s been like mountain biking on a dirt road with square tires! I struggled for so many years with trying to figure out what I wanted to do and having low self-confidence. Ever since I made the decision to focus full time on being an entrepreneur and being my own boss, everything started to fall into place. I started believing in myself and nearly all of my time was spent listening to podcasts, reading books and studying the ways of other entrepreneurs to try absorbing as much as I could about how to become my own boss. All of my struggles have been incredibly difficult, but I wouldn’t change anything because they have made me the strong, independent, and resilient woman that I am today. I have gotten a much thicker skin and can handle anything that comes my way.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Bitch Beer Podcast, Film Festival Circuit, and Sweet C Productions – what should we know?
I’ll start with Bitch Beer Podcast. Our goal is to make the world of craft beer more female friendly. We talk directly with the people who work in the craft beer industry to learn the ins and outs of what goes into making craft beer and marketing it to the world. Since starting last year, we have had the privilege of being invited to some of the best breweries in the country and interview the most amazing people. We are so proud to have created a community of people that love craft beer as much as we do.

Next, I’ll move on to The Film Festival Circuit. We are a network of artisan film festivals based in Portland, OR, Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, GA that showcase independent films from all over the world. I am so honored and proud to be able to select and screen hundreds of films to be part of our festivals and interact with all of the filmmakers. Being based in Atlanta has given me an incredible opportunity to grow along with the film industry in Georgia. I can’t wait to grow the film festivals and be able to make Atlanta a hub for filmmakers from all over the world to showcase their films.

Finally, we have my production company, Sweet C Productions. My nickname growing up was Sweet C, so I carried it forward into my business. We run Bitch Beer Podcast and Church Wives along with several other short films in the works. My goal is to be a platform for independently produced content for online or shown at film festivals.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Self Confidence. Ever since I started believing in myself and gaining self-confidence in my ideas, everything fell into place with my life. If you would have told me three years ago when I started that I would be in the position I am in now, I wouldn’t believe you, but the common thread was believing in myself and surrounding myself with people that are following their dreams as well. I am constantly inspired by the people in my inner circle and it makes me work harder every day. Basically, if you believe in yourself and surround yourself with people that build you up and believe in your ideas, you will be unstoppable!

Contact Info:

• Website: filmfestivalcircuit.com and bitchbeerpodcast.com
• Email: caroline.king@filmfestivalcircuit.com and caroline@bitchbeerpodcast.com
• Instagram: @carolineking88 and @bitchbeerpodcast
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/b1tchbeerpodcast/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=uwK4fUM0FCCSm6HD9ntl5Q

Image Credit:
Priya Palani

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.