Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anna Schatte. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anna, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
This a great question. I think it’s important to step back from the pressure of trying to be a successful creative person and focus on being an active participant in life. One of the greatest lessons I learned early on in my career as an actor is the importance of filling up on art and cultivating relationships. I love spending time with friends and visiting museums, watching movies, eating delicious foods, and listening to live music. It’s inspiring to consume art and it often fuels me to be creative. It’s also a beautiful reminder about the intention of creating things that are worth people’s time and consumption. There is so much vulnerability in singing the same song with a room full of strangers during a live concert or sharing laughter or tears in a sold-out screening of a movie. I love those shared moments and live for them; it makes me feel less alone in this world which in turn inspires me to keep the creativity alive and pass it along. Creativity is an energy that we all share.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an actress and writer based in Austin, Texas. I started acting professionally about a decade ago after completing an intense two-year acting program with Richard Robichaux. Working with Richard and the actors in our class was transformative. I not only learned how to be a better actor and collaborator, but I also learned how to take care of myself as a creative person. Early on, like most actors, I was frustrated by how little control I had over acting roles. When you’re studying acting in class, you often get to work on rich materials by writers like Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard. You’re always a leading role and you have pages and pages of dialogue to dive into. But when you first start out in the biz, you’re lucky if you get to audition with dialogue for a fast food commercial.
So, I started writing A LOT. I didn’t really have plan other than I wanted to create opportunities for myself and friends. I wrote, directed, and acted in my first short film “Over Again” in 2014. Writing and directing my own work allowed me to have agency over my artistry instead of waiting for auditions. Since then, I have collaborated with my partner Calvin Millar and have written and directed many short films, commercials, and online sketches. We always try to approach our collaborations from a spirit of play and fun, and I know that is what makes our working relationship so successful; we truly enjoy doing the work. Our shorts have been featured in TIME, People Mag, and Alamo Drafthouse. Last year, I completed by first feature screenplay, PLEASANT CHILD, which was a finalist in the Austin Film Festival. And now, I am gearing up to direct a comedic short film that I wrote, MAN-CHILD, which just advanced in The Script Lab’s screenwriting contest.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
First, I will say that my life and work changed for the better when I incorporated daily habits to take care of myself. Being a working artist is a very unconventional path. Most of us are not working every single day, we aren’t going to a 9-5 Monday through Friday. It’s easy to fall into bad, lazy habits and trust me – I have and still do sometimes! It’s all about mindfulness and catching yourself during those times before you get too deep. When work is slow, I prioritize writing. I try to write every single day, if only a page. Sometimes it’s journaling, other times it’s writing out ideas or outlines for a script. But the discipline of writing helps keep me in motion and gives me purpose when work is slow.
Next I will say, and this may be the most important lesson I continue to learn over and over again, that it is wasted energy to compare yourself to others. This is a hard one, especially with social media. It’s easy to feel like everyone is doing all the things and you’re behind in some way. It’s also easy to fall into a negative mindset and root for people to fail. And through the years, I’ve learned that rooting for others to fail never made me good at succeeding. Most of the time when I catch myself feeling jealous of other’s success, it’s because that person is putting themselves out there in a way that I am not. So I try to clock those moments and redirect my mindset, and use it as fuel to get back into motion!
Lastly, I try to remind myself that it is never too late to start over. It doesn’t have to be so complicated, and if it’s not working, it doesn’t have to. So many artists fall into the trap of creating endless suffering and pain in their lives. The “pain body” is so tempting to live in. It can be misleadingly comfortable. But it is insufferable to live in that state for too long. I really do believe we have the ability to create whatever life we desire. It’s ours to design, time and time again. No one is thinking about us as much as we are thinking about ourselves, so give yourself permission to start over, reset, whatever.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I love reading self help books! As an actor, I spend a lot of time reading scripts, so I like to balance all of those stories with non-fiction. Reading a lot of nonfiction also allows me to view characters in new ways and find empathy or understanding for their circumstances.
“The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer changed my life. This book taught me that I have the ability to monitor my thoughts, allow them to pass, and not let them consume me. I read this book slowly; A few pages every morning to really let every word seep in, because I didn’t want it to end. And it never ended, because I revisit it all the time. It’s one of those books that I started highlighting important parts that spoke to me, and then halfway through I realized I was just highlighting the entire book. One of my favorites quotes is “No expansion or evolution can take place without change, and periods of change are not always comfortable. Change involves challenging what is familiar to us and daring to question our traditional needs for safety, comfort, and control.”
Contact Info:
- Website: annaschatte.com
- Instagram: @annaschatte
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/annaschatte
Image Credits
Calvin Millar, Various Characters Productions, Bennett, Aaron Arizpe, Alisha Banks
