We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carlo Fiorletta. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carlo below.
Carlo, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I think my purpose is my closest characteristic to living in the moment.
When I was young, I was the oldest child. I think my age and size made me strive for leadership roles later in life.
At some point I recall my dad saying my word was gold. We had our share of disagreements, but now long after his passing, I try to spare feelings but sometimes truth is harsh, We each have limitations. If we fall short in one directions we can re-direct to find a better path.
My acting evolved from my purpose of finding humor and pathos between marriages and being the best father I can. That evolved into leadership positions within GIAA, the Guild of Italian American Actors where my purpose is usually to help younger people find and share their voices in the arts.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Most of my time is spent looking at and spreading the word about casting and Union issues.
GIAA is a union, underneath the bigger umbrellas of AEMI, DPA and AFL-CIO
GIAA membership is more diverse than when I joined, I am happy when I can find casting and representation possibilities for our members of all ages, races, size and genders.
We have a web page GIAA.us and immediate news on social media.
I try to find acting work in a diverse style of work as well, often staying in touch with past co-workers in theater and on camera. Technology helps me help others outside my New York area with more ease than in prior years.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Look at where you are now. Write a little bit every day. It can be an old fashioned diary or an online blog. What can you provide to help someone else at the moment or near future. Meditate pray focus this is the best place to start from because it is yours and every day is a new start.
2. Think about where you want to be and when. There was an old interview question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? It might be 5 months. Or even 5 days. You can put your goals on a calendar. This will help you get there. It might be a daily building block like reading 10 pages a day. In a month that’s 300 pages.
3. Build yourself up today. Make yourself healthy as possible. Eat some healthy and some fun. If you need help, reach out for it. Get some exercise. Communicate with someone each day.. I make and lose some friends on a one day project. Other friends I keep for decades. One day at a time.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The summation of prior topics leads me to mention people who helped me along the way. When I was young my parents, piano teacher and baseball and Lacrosse teammates and coaches inspired me to perform and to lead at a young age.
Le Wilhelm who founded Love Creek Productions and recruited me to direct and Mara Lesemann, my wife and other writers gave me ongoing things to think about when I worked on their projects and others.
Mario Fratti was a longtime mentor for me via GIAA. A very prolific playwright from Italy, A TONY winner for NINE the musical, he inspired me with his welcoming demeanor,
Deirdre O’Connell, a TONY award winner and a great scene partner in the movie DETOURS, whose acceptance speech included the concept of embracing the weird can be a good concept for us all.
Contact Info:
- Website: giaa.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlov.fiorletta/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlo.fiorletta
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlofiorletta/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlofiorletta
- Youtube: @carlofiorletta
Image Credits
Julianna Hood Tyquane Bates Jermaine Smith
