Meet Nicole Conn

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Conn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I’ve been fortunate to live about 27 life-times in my journey to date. I’ve also survived quite a few tragedies that have knocked me clear down from time to time. I just began my memoirs entitled “Breathing Required – 1029 Cautionary Tales” which begins when I first stopped breathing listening to my father screaming at my Mother as my Sister, Audrey (7) put an arm around my shoulder and became my Sis/Mother the rest of my life at 4. From that point on I knew the world would torpedo you with awfulness if you weren’t careful. But if you stopped breathing…maybe, just maybe, you could keep it at bay.

My Mother has moved 37 times in her lifetime. I easily double that. Vagabond, Travelor, Journey-Woman on a quest to change the world, one creative project at a time – Resilience my recurring theme-song.

Audrey (19) and I were kicked out of the house when I was 16 – yes, our clothes literally strewn about the front yard. From that point on I was an adult. Or I thought I was an adult and began to live my life as one, drinking and smoking scads of cigs, like all good Dorothy Parker cynics do. I fancied I had lived in a French garett in the 1920’s and would live a life of debauchery as I wrote novels. But at 24, it was out with the booze, or I was never going to make it to my first novel.

Getting sober as a chronic drunk that young created an understanding in me, that, despite the odds, people can and do change when their lives are at risk.

Fast Forward: My son, Nicholas James Baba-Conn, was born 100 days early at 25 ½ weeks at 474 grams. His 158 day stay in the NICU, followed by 5 years of constant hospitalizations, created in me what I call the Superpowers of Hope and Faith. Somehow, my God…My Higher Power — who very much resembles Meryl Streep in flowing royal blue, punctuated by Golden beams of loveliness — always takes care of me and mine.

I believe all this life training allowed me to realize I had nothing to fear in terms of failure. Yes, I was an insecure filmmaker who felt like she was an imposter the first 5 films of her career – but I never worried about failing in my work. You cannot fear failure and be in the entertainment business. If so, you will be shredded beyond recognition. So, I believe my ability to jump off a cliff without a parachute has come from those Twin Towers of Hope & Faith – and nothing will knock those down from my landscape.

I also was blessed with my Mommo, who wishes all the world were a Disney Musical. Her sheer rejection of awfulness was pretty remarkable for a Single Mother with three children under 7 at her heels, English a second language to match her Haus Frau Mr. Clean’s optimism that there’s “no clean like Mr. Clean” — anything can just be scrubbed into plausible deniability.

As an Indie-Niche filmmaker, I can barely survive the internet and piracy, but Meryl keeps me in enough money to get by. I used to believe I had to be rich…but I have discovered when I’m down to my last dime, somehow, an unexpected royalty, a film sale, you name it…comes and rescues me. And allows me to continue this love affair I have with creativity.

Now, I guess the question is, am I beyond super blessed because I get to do what I love? Or did I create this world because I love it so much.

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Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I had tried to get a lesbian dating show ala Bachelor Nation made for 15 years, and finally in created “Coming Out for Love” The First Ever LGBTQ dating competition series – Available NOW! Hosted by the stunning and witty Jessica Clark (my lead in “A Perfect Ending”) she became our Cat Deeley and Padma Lakshi all rolled into one. Jessica was just awarded a Webby Honoree for Best Host Personality.

Bucking the typical ad-supported model for series distribution, we decided to create our own platform to create an opportunity to revenue share with TVOD/SVOD models funneled through the global streaming platform at www.comingoutforlove.com. We refer to this as our “Rainbow Playground”. All episodes and bonus content is available and we offer the easiest Affiliate program at 25% right off the top – extremely lucrative for those who have lists. The site hosts full transactional episodes and a subscription (SVOD) model that includes tiered access to livestream events, exclusive promotional material, behind-the-scenes footage, and the offshoot show, Coming Out After Dark, hosted by comedian/emcee Shawba McLaughlin.

The 16-episode series, from Nicole Conn Films Global in partnership with Just Jo Productions and Pelican Films, was filmed entirely on location at the Palm Palace in Palm Springs, CA and features a veritable Who’s Who of queer celebrities as judges and guests, including Sedona Prince (Oregon Ducks basketball star), Stoney Michelli Love (CEO and founder of Stuzo Clothing), Caroline Rose Giuliani (filmmaker, political activist, writer), Whitney Mixter (Showtime’s The Real L Word), Jill Osur (gender, racial and social activist, CEO Teneral Cellars wines), fashion designer Nik Kacy (founder of Equality Fashion Week ), Franco Stevens (Curve) and her wife, Jen Rainin (Ahead of the Curve), Tisha Floratos-Silano with Olivia Travel, singer/songwriter Tanerélle, and country music singer, Brooke Eden.

All of Conn’s other BTS, Bonus materials from “Claire of the Moon,” “little man” “Elena Undone” “A Perfect Ending” “MOMENTS – The Making of Claire of the Moon” “More Beautiful For Having Been Broken” and “Blue Love Dance”.

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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?

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher. I always tell new writers to start with that small little voice. If you’re feeling blocked, write a sentence – that’s all. A sentence a day until you have a paragraph. Then a paragraph a day until you have a page, and so on. That requires silent courage to challenge YOU, daily.

Resilience & Tenacity are two muscles I often work out silently or with great fan-fare. Part of working in this way also implies a third component which is all about the love and passion you have for your work.

I find myself in strong disagreement with Einstein’s adage: “genuis is 1% talent and 99% hard work”. For me, creativity is 100% passion. There is not one area I don’t love. Whether it’s throwing everything and the kitchen sink into a first rough cut, or refining with delicate precision, frame by frame perfection, that is imbued into this process. All of it is gloriously enjoyable for me, so I believe my inherent Passion for what I do is a huge factor in my success.

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One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We are currently looking for Affiliate Partners!!

You make 25% Free & Clear with the easiest Affiliate Sign Up on the planet. Please request our Pitch Deck and let us know if you’d like to come “play with us”. We’d love to get this show in front of the mainstream as we are so proud of our multi-diverse, multi-talented Contestants & Guest Judges. We want to share who we really are! Plus this is the “future of reality TV – a smarter, more socially minded program.” BBC Newsline.

AFFLIATE LINK : https://coming-out-for-love.getrewardful.com/signup?campaign=coming-out-for-love-partner-program&code=pQrRtSZuErFm2Jq7b5Qc8yfa

We are also looking for Sub-Licensees for the entire Alphabet Soup of our Community. Currently Seeking Gay Male Producing Partners for the Men’s Version of “Coming Out For Love.”

Contact Info:

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Image Credits

All photos are by Caroline Russell – Unit Stills Photographer

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