We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Olivia Scott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Olivia below.
Olivia, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
For me, creating my own content and putting pen to paper really helps me keep my creativity alive especially in an industry like acting where it can be quite up and down. We are so lucky in this day and age that we have the opportunity and the platforms to create our own content and then showcase it. While there is a lot we don’t have control over and it can definitely sometimes feel that way in creative industries, we do have the ability to create our own work.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an actress and also recently co-created, co-produced and co-starred in my own show, called ‘Back of House.’ Back of House is a comedic series that follows what really happens behind the scenes in your local hospitality venue with all the wild and wonderful characters included. I co-created the show with my business partner and friend, Patrick Hogan. ‘Back of House’ is inspired by true events as Patrick and I both grew up in families that owned hospitality businesses so witnessed first-hand what happens behind the scenes.
We came up with the idea for ‘Back of House’ on the way back from acting class one night and were sharing all these crazy stories about things that have happened back of house in our parents hospitality venues and decided it would make a great comedy.
I’ve always enjoyed writing in my spare time and also have a degree in Journalism/Communication so we wrote the script and created a pitch deck and then from there approached a director and started casting.
It was a massive project and creating, filming and releasing the Pilot episode took about 9 months but was so worth it.
We are currently in the midst of chatting to potential distributors.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’ve been acting since I was quite young and have always had such a passion for it, I love everything film related, as a kid the cinema was my favourite place to spend time. I was quite a shy and nervous kid (believe it or not), and I found solace in books and film.
I loved performance and felt most confident on stage and then from there started to get into the film side of things. I think it’s so important to give things a try and even if it is scary to ignore the head noise and go out on a limb sometimes.
It is so rewarding to see your ideas and concepts come to fruition, I love seeing other peoples art and creations, no matter the medium.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I am so fortunate, I really won the jack-pot when it comes to my family, my parents are incredibly supportive, honest and encouraging. I am the oldest of four kids and most of us are following creative pursuits and my parents have only ever been supportive and never fail to show their belief in us.
I am really close to my Mum and she raised us with old movies and filled the house with books and would always tell us that it was okay to be different and to not feel like you have to ‘fit in.’ I think that advice really made an impact when it came to following acting and also creating my own content cause it can feel scary to put yourself out there at times but is ultimately worth it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @oliviascott__ @backofhouse_productions
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-scott-515a43140/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsgpXO2NkGM
Image Credits
Grace Wriggles and Johnny Vision
