Meet Julie Phillips

We recently connected with Julie Phillips and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Julie, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I am incredibly driven. I think my work ethic comes from my age! Truthfully, deciding at age 51 to go back to acting, writing, and creating was a bold move. I hadn’t done anything creative for 25 years!!! So I constantly feel like I’m playing catch up and I need to work 100 times harder than everyone else. I’m 56 now and I recognize how precious time is. So I work hard every single day to make sure that I am doing everything I possibly can to live fully and pursue what makes me happy.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I love doing an interview like this because it makes me have to sit down and put into words exactly who the heck I am and what it is I’m doing! And at age 56 I find that it changes as I go. But the bottom line is that I am a creator. I write, produce and act.

But I didn’t always do that. I acted some as a kid, and I also sang in a lot of commercials and movies – which is funny because I am definitely NOT a singer. I grew up in LA and my dad was a composer for movies and TV shows (it’s a long list but the theme to Knight Rider and Battlestar Galactica are a couple of the highlights.) So you could say I went into the family business. Only I couldn’t find my place in this industry as a quirky-ish Jewish girl, (I was told to lose weight, and get my boobs and my nose done too many times) so I stepped out of it in my 20s. I went on to raise a family, teach pilates, and go in a different direction.

Flash forward to age 51 – kids are older, don’t need me as much and I am wondering what “chapter 2” is gonna look like for me. Here’s a confession: even though I gave up acting I never stopped daydreaming about it. I even kept paying my SAG dues every year “just in case.” Truth be told I acted every day with my kids, I’d do funny voices, we’d read books like Harry Potter out loud and I’d do all the characters (until they got old enough to find it annoying), I even gave all the trains of my sons Thomas the Train set voices and personalities.

So why the heck wasn’t I pursuing that? I’m glad you asked…No good reason. I had a supportive family and even though I’m now divorced, my ex was never anything but encouraging. I had a SAG card, and I lived in the mecca of “the industry” so what was stopping me? The answer? Myself.

So cut to the chase, I went all in. I got myself into the best acting class in the world, Studio 24/Seven taught by the amazing Mark McPherson. That is where I learned that the kids these days create their own content! Who knew? So I started writing and 4 years later I haven’t stopped. I created the roles that I wanted to play. Roles I wanted to see for women over 50. We’re not all grandmas for christ’s sake nor do we all look like we are 30! We are a diverse and unique group that I wanted to represent accurately, with heart, authenticity, and HUMOR! I like to describe myself as the “post-menopausal Phoebe Waller-Bridge.”

Since I came back I have written, starred in, and produced: 4 short films (with multiple wins in festivals and streaming on IndieFlix), 3 web series (2 Streaming on SeekaTV and IndieFlix, and one winner of Best Comedy Series at WMMFF), and I am currently developing my first feature film and a series for television. Details to come!

I also want to say that I have an amazing tribe of collaborators (thanks to Mark McPherson). And let me tell ya, that is EVERYTHING in this business. There really are too many to list but Steph Martinez is my artistic soulmate. Get yourself someone like Steph in your life who simply makes EVERYTHING BETTER!! She directs, edits, and guest stars in my award-winning web series, BOTHERED (co-starring one of my other collaborative partners in crime, the brilliant Emerson Niemchick.) And I can’t talk about my artistic soulmates without also mentioning Jacob Seidman and David Beatty. Jacob collaborated with me on my first web series in the pandemic. If not for him it never would have happened. David Beatty is my inspiration. He is a prolific filmmaker and artist who has mastered the process of creating his own content without a studio budget. And as consistently as he creates his own projects he is also exceptionally generous in helping others with theirs. There are others, but I am truly blessed to be surrounded by so much talent and generosity.

I don’t want to be preachy but if you find yourself daydreaming about something and you’re not doing it – DO IT NOW! I’ll admit this can be a brutal business and there are days I want to bang my head into a brick wall, but I have never been happier or been more certain I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.

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?
If you are early on in your journey in this wackadoodle industry I would say the first and most important thing to do is get yourself into an acting class. I’m biased but I obviously think my class is the best. I don’t know if I would have stayed on the path if I had gone anywhere else. I’ve done my fair share of acting classes in my day and I’ve heard about countless others, finding Studio 24/Seven was the most impactful thing that could have happened to me. There I found a safe and supportive place to hone my craft, get on-camera experience, find my artistic soulmates, and get educated about how to navigate the industry. Mark covers all the bases and he does it with what I like to call a “childlike enthusiasm” which is infectious and inspiring. My previous acting coaches made me feel like a talentless amateur. Who needs that? This business is hard enough! Don’t get me wrong, Mark doesn’t sugarcoat or placate, but he gets you to where you need to go without belittling you – which is a rare thing for an acting coach.

The second most impactful thing on this journey would be to educate yourself. Get on as many sets as you can. From your friends who are making a movie to whatever film sets you can get access to. Hold a boom mic, be a stand-in, bring muffins, get on as many sets as humanly possible and absorb everything!

And lastly, surround yourself with supportive fellow creatives. Jacob Seidman and I created my first web series, “Searching For Josh Brolin” a few days after the world shut down because of Covid. He was in Chicago and I was in LA, we did the entire show over zoom. And I am telling you had it not been for that show I easily could have given up and never come back. From there I created BOTHERED. Doing that show with Jacob firmly planted my feet into the ground as a creator, it was life-changing. Get people in your life who create content with you during a pandemic.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I will admit the path I chose can get overwhelming. Let’s face it, we all just lived through a pandemic, I just got over Covid, so I’m pretty sure we are still in it! There are a few things I do to combat stress.

I exercise every morning. I’ve been doing it since I was 19. Barring injuries or illness I don’t take days off. Although as an instructor I do know there is value in taking a day off, I don’t like to. Just be smart about it, trade off what you do so you don’t cause injury. Exercise starts my day off with endorphins and I always feel better afterward.

I’ve recently gotten into taking walks or hikes throughout the day. In fact, I did a moonlight hike last night at Griffith Park and for me, it is the equivalent of having a cocktail to unwind….But HEALTHIER!!! There have been days where I have writer’s block or things aren’t going my way and I find putting headphones on and just walking out my door and around the neighborhood work wonders!

I also love a hot bath when I’m feeling overwhelmed. It’s like that boiling tub of water melts the stress away.

Finally, I’ve read some really wonderful books that help me stay mindful. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 4 Agreements, and Buddhas’ Brain are a few of them. It just helps when I’m feeling stressed to focus on what my purpose is, not what result I am seeking. Focus only on my actions and not what I am expecting in return!

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Empathy Unlocked: Understanding how to Develop Emotional Intelligence

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus

Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Boosting Productivity Through Self-Care

When you have a never-ending to-do list it can feel irresponsible to engage in self-care,