We recently connected with Stephanie Terrero and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
The very first proper dollar I earned as a creative was for “principal – on camera” acting back in 2017. My manager at the time sent me on an in person audition for Columbia University in New York City. They were looking for a variety of characters for a scripted web series / hosting series (they had a solid budget behind them). I read for a few roles including the host, the producers and casting seemed to love me! I got invited to do a self taped callback a few days later and learned that I had booked the role of the host a few days after that!
I was through the moon! I had just signed with my manager and this was one of the first few auditions she had sent me on, so to book right away was amazing. I then did a two day shoot at Columbia University, got to read off of a teleprompter for the first time and hosted their series called WORTH. It never saw the light of day and I never got that footage haha! But my manager got her commission and I got my first professional non union credit. Being number one on the callsheet was now in the books and I had earned a decent amount of dollars for that gig.
Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Stephanie Terrero and I’m a Dominican actress and multi-hyphenate filmmaker who splits her time between Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. Originally from New York City, I got into the entertainment industry by falling in love with movies at a young age. Once I was old enough to navigate the industry on my own, I decided to pursue a career in it. It hasn’t been easy but after eight years, I’m just starting to reap the benefits. I audition weekly and am always working on new scripts to film.
As an actress, I’m agency represented in all major markets and as a filmmaker, I’m the founder of Last Laugh Productions NYC LLC. We strive to make films that showcase the work of underrepresented voices. We provide pre to post production services and are focusing on short films at the moment, with the goal to expand to features and television in the future. My clients wanted to be the stars of their own shorts and have unique stories to tell. We solved their issue by giving them the platform to do so, which I think sets us apart from others because we’re not afraid to experiment. We’re also not afraid of challenging the status quo and casting the type of people in lead roles that you wouldn’t normally see, because we believe in breaking the glass ceiling.
We’re proud to have a small roster of incredibly diverse award winning films with even more diverse talent. 99% of our projects have been made with minority talent in front of and behind the camera. The main thing I want potential clients to know (whether hiring me as an actress or filmmaker) is that I have dedicated my life to sharing stories from voices that are not often heard. It’s a goal I will always strive to accomplish be it as crew or talent.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
In my humble opinion, what society can do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem is to provide fully flexible, high paying full or part time jobs. And when I say fully flexible, I mean fully flexible. We all have bills to pay but when employers hear that you’re an actor they tend to get cold feet. They think that you’ll never be at work or will call out to be on set all the time. While this may be true for some, it’s not true for the majority.
I think that if all corporate employers were understanding enough to allow their creative employees to leave work to attend in person auditions (and then come right back to work to finish out the day) or leave early to self tape, then we would be happy creatives. It would benefit us to know that we have supportive companies cheering us on, a steady paycheck and pursuing our dreams at the same time without being in fear of negative consequences.
Post covid (sorta, as it’s ever evolving), I’ve noticed more remote/flexible jobs come up. I myself work an incredibly flexible remote job that allows me the freedom to create my own schedule essentially. While I know not everyone is fortunate enough to be in a similar position as me, it would be nice if jobs like these were more easily accessible to all creatives. The amount of jobs I’ve lost when I first started years ago, because I had to attend in person auditions that were right in the middle of the day is ridiculous and I wish that wouldn’t have been the case had society provided creatives with more flexibility. I hope we head in that direction swiftly.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think non creatives will struggle to understand that our journey is not linear. There is no one clear path to success, otherwise we’d all be successful. When it comes to being a creative, it takes time to work on your craft, build community and network. Eventually you reach a place of confidence with your work but it takes time to develop. I think they expect us to know how to get what we want right away the same way you would in another career path. But that’s not the case for most, our paths don’t come with job security and that can be hard for some to understand.
We take risks not always knowing where our next check will come from or who our next client will be but we take the chance anyways. Our lives are unpredictable and non-creatives just need to be understanding without judgement. I think as long as they support us and let us know that they are rooting us on, then that’s all we really need.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://stephanieterrero.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slickysteph/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slickysteph
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieterrero/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/indepthsteph
- Other: https://dribbble.com/stephanieterrerodesigns
Image Credits
Andrew Steinman, Stan Demidoff, Alex Cho, Megan Arina, Shay Conroy, Rich Nieves, Sapir Matmon