Today we’d like to introduce you to Magi Avila.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Everyone is born with some sort of talent, then we set up structures to make them grow into skills. Those skills become our superpowers. But what good is a superpower if it is not in the hands of an action hero? ACTION is a key component to success. There are individuals out there with less preparation, experience, or talent, but because they constantly take the right actions, they go further in life. I didn’t learn this but until later in life. Sometimes we act toward something that just sounds as a good idea and then boom! Our life changes: I was 13 years old when a friend and I sneaked out of school to meet the cute boys at another junior high school. We found there a music classroom with a choir and chamber orchestra. Kids my age were rehearsing music from the golden era, and they were having so much fun. The music maestro, Maestro Jesus Veliz, a short, bald gentleman with enormous and expressive eyes and white mustache, he made them laugh while he disciplined them with just one powerful look.
At the end of the class, the Maestro, and three sopranos, went to the high school next door. I followed them all way without them noticing and then continued to listen and watch from a small window. The three sopranos were training, and I had never experienced anything like it before. Their voices were so beautiful that my heart was filled with deep joy. Then they started learning a musical piece and had difficulty reaching the high notes. The Maestro explained to them that they had loud little birds inside their heads. Meaning they had too much noise in their minds. Nonsense fears. The cadence they were studying is famous not only for its beauty but for its great difficulty. They had just vocalized even higher notes and with the same speed! Suddenly the Maestro said: “Let’s observe how that kid on the window responds. I am sure she won’t have loud little birds in her head. She doesn’t have any fears. – Hey, you, little girl at the window! Yes, you: who else? Come join us for a moment.” The Maestro was inviting me!
Timidly, I entered the room and approached the group, and the Maestro said to me, “Come, come. I need your help with something. Have you ever imitated birds?” Then he played a few notes on the piano. “Repeat these sounds” he said. And so, I did, and the Maestro excitedly played more notes and asked me to repeat them again and again. With all the innocence in the world, those notes came out of my mouth! It was as fun as imitating the seagulls from around in my hometown of Ensenada, Mexico. The Maestro said to me, “If you come to class every single day, you can be like these ladies.” He implanted the desire in my head! I could be like them? The cadences on which they were working were from the Queen of the Night aria, from Mozart’s magnificent opera “The Magic Flute.” A year later, we would present a concert with me singing that aria!
During the following ten years, we toured Mexico singing together. Oh, but it wasn’t that easy at first: Maestro Jesus Veliz was not a well-off person. He was a schoolteacher who had studied before to become a priest. He knew we were in trouble or something when we’d miss class. So, he would drive and pick us up from our unprivileged and dangerous neighborhoods, as many kids as he could fit in his car. He would take us to breakfast, because he knew we hadn’t had any, and start the class with funny drawings of music history, musical notation, and so on, on the little paper tablemats of the restaurant! Then we would continue our studies in the classroom for at least 3 hours a day, six days a week. He did this for years for so many students and without getting any financial retribution! Maestro Jesus Veliz seeded our minds with the possibilities of a life of art, beauty, and harmony that I have had the privilege to manifest and enjoy, unlike the rest of the kids from the neighborhood in which I was born and grew up. He acted on his responsibility of good seeding the minds of the young and good mentoring. He knew that no matter the hardships of life, those seeds would eventually bring fruit.
The right mentoring will make anyone unstoppable when presented with a mission that is bigger than ourselves. My maestro’s and my parents’ hearts broke when I became a teen mother. During those ten years of singing, there were also modeling jobs and TV news hosting. I put myself through school and studied theater and many more things. Any commercial or movie for which there was an audition and bookings were good for milk and dippers! I tried moving to the big city, Mexico, but it didn’t work. I was so naïve to just moved to the USA thinking that my acting career would take off right away. So, with my 7-year-old daughter, a single mommy, with no knowledge of the language, no friends, nor family, I came here 15 years ago to provide a better life for her. It didn’t mean starting from zero but below. After I managed to tame my Spanish accent, finally started booking more acting jobs with amazing people, such Danny Trejo in My American Family, streaming now on Amazon Prime; Bruce Willis and Hayden Christensen in First Kill, in Dog Eat Dog with Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, in A Better Life with Demian Bichir and Joaquin Cosio, and in the TV Series Training Day with the late Bill Paxton.
An opportunity to make a documentary about a beautiful man came across. It was at first to me a chance to prove myself as a filmmaker and a major step in my career. Then I met Michael Warkentin, the subject man of my documentary. As Michael shared his story, it was clear to me that this documentary would improve the lives of many. So, ten days after we met, we embarked on a cruise ship to the Mediterranean with my skeleton crew. We were filming among these gorgeous European landmarks about the five phases of recovery through which we all go after experiencing trauma and how to achieve your full potential, with humorous Michael as an example. At age 22, he had a tragic accident that left him quadriplegic. Despite that, he created a fortune by changing many lives for the better and has traveled to more than 26 countries.
We started filming in early July of 2019. On December 31, my mother had a mini-stroke; she fell and broke her hip. She was in the hospital for the whole month of January of 2020. I had the responsibility of delivering this film on time for the film festival circuit. So, I would drive back and forth from LA, where I was in postproduction, to Ensenada, Mexico where my mother was hospitalized. A five-hour drive each way. My mother’s last 48 hours were the longest I could’ve ever imagined, and I was the only one able to sit by her side as my siblings were falling apart. Protecting them helped me stay awake for that long. My mother was barely breathing so I played her favorite music from the Mexican golden era on YouTube. The songs with which my father used to serenade her. I was telling her “You are almost home, Mommy; you are almost there…” I didn’t know what to do but thought -this beautiful music might help. But you know how those YouTube commercials break in, and suddenly one pops up saying, “If you want to go to heaven, you can use your airline points and go through Canada!” She opened one eye and looked at me as if asking me, “Do I have points?”
Our Danny Trejo award-winning TV series titled “My American Family” started production. To have a semi-leading role in a TV series is an actor’s dream! In between, I was dealing with my mother’s funeral, my siblings and approving the music for my documentary.
I was not going to be the one to hold up a film production! Our TV showrunner and his awesome team had faith in me. That’s why they cast me! They didn’t know anything about my mother. And the last thing you want to do is create more anxiety for a first-time tv showrunner.
Speaking of timing; my late father used to be a big Nicolas Cage fan since I was a little girl. We watched so many films together. He was so happy when he learned of our Dog Eat Dog film with Mr. Nicolas Cage. Unfortunately, he passed away two weeks before the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. I know he would’ve been proud to see his daughter on that magnificent stage, presenting our film, but most importantly, he’d want me to execute my responsibility of inspiring the upcoming generations of talent.
Having clarity about our mission give us the strength to stay focused. When I met with Michael Warkentin, the amazing man in our documentary Altitude Not Attitude to discuss the possibilities of doing business together, he said to me, “I am open to new adventures, Magi, but to be honest, I am all set. I am already helping more than 330 families with their finances!” Then I said to him: “Yes and you can continue to help people even when you are gone because films make you immortal! This film will help so many overcome life’s great challenges. It will also educate society about the immense untapped potential among people with disabilities.” That is Why!
By March of 2021, we were closing the film distribution deal of our multi-award-winning documentary Altitude Not Attitude. At that point, Michael had gone from managing the finances of 330 to over 550 families. Our film is now on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Apple TV, YouTube and everywhere you watch movies. Please know that when you rent it or buy it, a portion of its proceeds will be donated to charities for the disabled, such as Wheel to walk, Creative steps, Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge, and the Dana & Christopher Reeve Foundation. A Why that is bigger than -ourselves- makes us unstoppable.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity of sharing a bit of my story in this platform and looking forward to staying connected throughout all our social media platforms. Please check out our film and my online course, the Six Step Formula to Becoming a Working Actor. A six-module course to be completed in just six weeks! It comes with 24 rich lessons and action steps to start your acting career with a rock-solid structure.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I wish it was fairly smooth, but it was super bumpy. So I had to adjust my mind to start attracting the best people and circunstances in alignment to achieve the most. I had to get used to see the best in all and most importantly, have faith and believe that all good things are possible. Once people see that we understand that we are here to serve one another, and that we are here to contribute with the best of our knowledge, everyone starts trusting and contribuiting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an Actress, Filmmaker, and Entrepreneur. I specialize in films that are in benefit of humanity. I am known for our multi-award-winning feature film “Altitude Not Attitude” an educational, funny and super empowering documentary. Also, for the films Dog Eat Dog, with Nicolas Cage and First Kill with Bruce Willis. Before coming from Mexico, I had already made lots of films, theater and I was a tv newscaster. Also, my Online curse for aspiring and intermediate actors Six Step Formula To Becoming A Working Actor.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I am super grateful for being here and I would love to encourage readers to tell people about this awesome magazine. Please acknowledge people and their super hard work because word of mouth is the most powerful tool. If you found something here that helped or enlightened you in some way, wouldn’t it be magnificent to share it with as many people as possible. Think about how beautifully it would contribute to the lives of others! Also, check out my past and upcoming movies, and my online course Six Step Formula to Becoming a Working Actor. If you use the code VOYAJE I will gift two: one for the subscribers and another one for this awesome magazine team. Subscribe to my free tips on acting craft, business strategies for actors and success mindset. My six weeks online course is $1,257.00
Pricing:
- $1,257.00
Contact Info:
- Website: www.successfulactoracademy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magi.avila.official/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magiavilaonline
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MagiAvila
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/magiavila
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/successful.actor.academy/
Image Credits
Gary Robinson, Edgar Lima, Magi Avila
