Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andy Garland. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My parents sent me to the Artstrek theatre camp when I was sixteen years old, and it’s no exaggeration that their decision changed the course of my life. Prior to that, I’d struggled to make connections and build friendships during elementary and junior high, and being around all that wild, joyful creative energy for a week straight helped me understand exactly what I wanted to do with my life. The theatre camp was held at Red Deer College, and I became determined to audition for and join their performing arts program. I auditioned for their program shortly after completing high school, but didn’t make the cut. Instead of choosing another path, I decided to attend the college anyway for a year of General Studies, taking all the entry-level theatre courses I could that weren’t reserved exclusively for theatre majors. While I was taking those beginner courses, I met plenty of other hopeful actors who wanted to take another shot at auditioning for the program, and we formed our own impromptu theatre company. I wrote, directed and produced a one-act play, borrowed an unused lecture hall, and staged a bare-bones production of my first-ever show. It was a rousing success, and the following year, eight actors involved in the production were accepted into the acting program… myself included.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! I’m Andy Garland, a playwright and screenwriter based in Vancouver, British Columbia. I got into writing during my first year of theatre school and earned the Special Merit Prize in the Canadian National Playwriting Competition. Since then, I’ve written several other plays before branching into screenwriting. In addition to my own scripts, I’ve also accepted commissions to write screenplays based on stage plays, treatments, life stories, or even just a few random ideas scribbled on a notepad. I love taking ideas from seed to finished product, and helping creative projects overcome challenges when it comes to dialogue, pacing and plotting. I’ve also worked in radio dramas, self-producing over 30 episodes of a serialized horror podcast, and now I’m beginning my journey into the world of writing, directing and producing immersive theatre alongside my fiancé with our new company, Dreamqueen Immersive.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

First and foremost, get away from AI generated content. Nothing turns me off more than seeing someone trying to cut corners by employing AI in their artistic endeavours. The slop that we’re seeing spread throughout the online ecosystem is harmful not just to creatives, but to the audience; art is about making choices, and an AI program can’t do that in the way a human brain can, and defaulting to AI filler sets the wrong expectations for both creators and audiences alike. Art takes work… why cheapen that?
Secondly, take risks! I was recently talking to a film financier who was sharing his frustrations about trying to raise capital these days for smaller, independent films. Many of the potential investors he spoke to were expecting wildly unrealistic returns on their investments, but not every film is going to be the next runaway indie darling that blows the lid off the box office. There’s seems to be a general diminishment of the “middle-class” of movies, and it feels more and more like we’re only seeing mega-million studio pictures or scrappy independent films put together with moxie and duct tape with less and less filling the ranks in between. If investors aren’t willing to bankroll projects without an expected twentyfold return on their dollar or more, we’re going to see a continued reduction of that creative ecosystem.
Lastly, get out there. Go see your friend’s local improv troupe. Buy the ticket for your colleague’s one-man show. See some poetry at your local cafe. We spent years cooped up at home only able to access what we could stream on the internet, but the internet isn’t nearly the level playing field that it used to be and smaller creators are getting elbowed out more and more. By logging off and going to support your local artists, you’re not only helping them and telling them their work has value, you’re also supporting a whole network of theatres, bars, independent movies houses and more that will vanish like the dodo if we don’t keep showing up. Don’t just like their post, show up in real life. It counts.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative is watching a group of strangers, friends and colleagues come together to create something bigger than they could have alone. The communal power that goes into creating independent theatre, films and podcasts is inspiring, and fostering those connections continues to fill me with happiness and satisfaction every day. I don’t think I ever experienced a true sense of belonging until I went to theatre camp all those years ago, and watching the cast of the last play I worked on come together in times of adversity and crisis to pull off an incredible show made me remember exactly how it felt the first time I realized “this is where I’m meant to be,” all over again. Theatre can trace its origins all the way back to a form of worship, and I still carry that same sensibility with me in my artistic practice to this day. It’s meant to bring people together in common, joyful purpose.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andyhgarland/
• Other: For professional inquiries, please contact Andrew Webster of Webster Talent Management at [email protected]

Image Credits

4th Photo – Zemekiss Photography