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

Alright, Barbara Kerr thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Taking a risk has defined how I’ve lived my creative life. I am a Christian, and it seems God does not want me to become complacent. Over and over I’ve been challenged to do something that made no sense, or I did not feel qualified, or there were other circumstances that made it unreasonable to expect a positive outcome, and yet I felt compelled to go ahead and do it. You asked for one example. I’ll give you several to demonstrate what I mean.

In high school I took Latin to fulfill a graduation requirement. I belonged to the Latin Club, which was going to a big state wide event. Every group attending was to bring some sort of relevant entertainment. I was asked to help create ours. I had no idea how to do that. But I ended up writing, directing, costume designing, and performing in a short play that had a Latin chorus singing the story while other class mates silently performed the characters. We were overwhelmed with the positive response and our teacher was thrilled. This kind of thing had happened to me frequently in my life up to that point, and it has never stopped.

Shortly after marrying my husband who was in the military, we were stationed in Germany. I had never been in Europe and didn’t speak German. Where was I going to work as an actress? The base had a Performing Arts Theater as part of its recreational facilities for the soldiers. There was an opening for the PAT Director position. I had never done anything like that, and didn’t think I would qualify. But I took a risk and applied, using my stage acting and singing with a touring group as my experience. I was hired.

That led to producing stage plays for the community which involved training anyone who was interested in being a part of the production in any way. It was their recreational facility and they had the right to participate. So I was training people not only for acting, but for set design, lighting, sound, costumes, marketing, box office, and everything else connected to putting on a stage play. I also had to arrange for some of the shows to tour to satellite bases around us and set up things for the USO shows coming to our area. This PAT also had to provide places for people to indulge in music efforts. I created voice, piano, and other instrument sound proof practice rooms and arranged for instructors who could give lessons, Even though this was a military facility, our particular status meant we had to be financially self sustaining, making our own way for a great deal of what we did. Our annual budget in large part depended on us bringing in our own money. We gave such good performances that our box office proceeds were well above average and helped boost our budget beyond expectations.

Eventually I was in charge of organizing a total remodel of the facility. That meant it would be shut down for several months. Handling the plans and budget for such major work was daunting, but with help from other experienced people I did get it done. However that meant I was out of work for several months while the remodel happened.

Timing is everything. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying. Several months before coming to Germany I had attended a regional theater audition session for numerous professional stage theaters in the USA. That in and of itself was a risk and something I had never done. I took the risk, but afterward heard nothing. I had forgotten all about it.

At the time the PAT in Germany was shutting down for construction work I got a hiring notice from a theater group in Florida who had seen my audition. Coincidentally my husband was often traveling back and forth between Germany and Florida for his military work. This seemed ideal. I signed a three month contract and off I went. We thought my husband would be seeing me every other week for several days, so it didn’t seem all that challenging. The very week I flew to Florida the military stopped sending my husband there and began sending him elsewhere. But I had a contract I had to fulfill. I was performing seven times a week. We had Mondays off, but worked a matinee one day as well as six evening performances every week.

As my contract was drawing to a close I was offered a year round acting position with the theater. It would be six months in Florida for the winter and six months in North Dakota in the summer. This is an actor’s dream – lifetime employment acting! There were several cast members who had been with the company their whole careers and retired from there. But this would mean continual separation from my husband.

I had also learned from another cast member about a former cast member who was now in Ohio. This man had been doing one man shows all over the USA and Europe. Part of what he did was through the military theaters and chapels. I had several conversations with him about what and how he did this. It seemed I had to come to Florida to speak with a person in Ohio in order to find good work in Germany! I decided it was time to take another risk. So I turned down the permanent cast member position with the theater and flew back to Germany.

It took several months of research to write my own one woman shows based on women from the Bible or from church traditions. I ordered books for research into ancient cultures, customs, clothing, hair styles, biblical concordances, theological commentaries, and much more. I assembled quite a library! I talked with chaplains and ministers about how they thought such performances could be utilized by them. I wrote several one woman pieces varying in length and topics. Some were old testament and some were new testament. Some were from traditions, even if not mentioned directly in the Bible.

I began collecting and styling wigs, costumes, jewelry, and specific makeup looks for each character appropriate to their time in history. I collected small props to use with each character that would be easy to pack, transport, and use in whatever space I was given for my performance. Then I began the process of establishing connections and obtaining contracts for work. Throughout all of this my husband said he thought he ought to be able to claim at least 8 women as dependents on our taxes!

The end result was satisfying. I toured for over two years in Europe to various locations performing my one woman shows in chapels, women’s clubs, men’s fellowship groups, community gatherings, church services, and with other interesting groups in many locations. When I returned to the USA I continued to tour with churches ranging in location from Georgia to Florida to Ohio to California, etc. At one point I was asked to put my monologues into book form and publish them for other actresses to use. I started that process but I did not follow through with that risk. You win some, you lose some.

After my husband had retired from the military we moved to Atlanta, GA. I thought work would be plentiful for me in the film and TV business, as a lot of production had been happening there. But that was at the point when everything began slowing down for film and tv in Georgia and the southern states. Things began moving back to California and up into Canada. Now what? We had built our retirement home and gotten settled into our new life. I had no desire to move again, and this was to be our “forever” home.

Through a variety of people, groups, a book, and a mentor over a period of a few months God made it plain he wanted me to move to California. I did not want to move! And I certainly did not want to move to Hollywood! I fought it every step of the way, citing among other things the costs of the plane ticket, the lodging, the food, the logistics, and lack of connections in Los Angeles. I didn’t know anyone there. And who would go there expecting to work without some connections to an agent? In spite of all that, every objection I raised was answered clearly. In a short time a series of events gave me on a platter the way, the means, and the money to make this happen. I finally agreed to do what God asked me to do – take a BIG RISK!

At the time I was on the board for Women in Film in Atlanta, GA. The Women in Film International Conference was coming up in Los Angeles. It had not been held there in years! It was usually somewhere else in the world. The board voted to pay the admission fee to the conference for every board member. But there would still be lodging and transportation fees. And with less than two weeks to the start date, the flights were expensive and so were the hotels. That added up to no small amount of money! Besides the fact I didn’t know anyone there. God reminded me of a role in a commercial I had done in Atlanta many months ago. The director had come from Los Angeles. He asked me while we were shooting why was I living in Atlanta? He said I should go to Los Angeles where I would work all the time! Back then I had just laughed.

During that time my husband was flying a lot for his job, and sometimes got bumped due to overbooking. It so happened during this time frame he was bumped and given a round trip ticket at any time to anywhere the airline flew as compensation. He got home a couple days late due to being bumped and presented me with the free flight I could use for Los Angeles.

I also sent an email to the commercial director in Los Angeles and asked if he remembered me and what he had said to me. I asked if he knew any talent agents to whom I could talk about representation if I did come out to visit during the conference. He replied he didn’t deal with agents, but he did know some casting directors. I said “that will do!” So he said he would set up a meeting with one of the biggest casting directors in LA for me during the time of the conference.

But there was still the lodging problem. We went to church and afterwards were talking about a lot of different things with some friends, including the conference. My friend said she didn’t know I wanted to go to Los Angeles. She had a friend there who would give me a room to stay. She contacted her friend and in less than a week after I had finally said YES to God, I had Women In Film pay for admission to the conference, a free plane ticket, a free place to stay, and an appointment to meet with a top casting director. I was still reluctant to do this. but I told God if he truly wanted me to move to Los Angeles, I would have a good agent representing me before I left the conference.

At the conference I met a great many experienced people from the film industry who were located in Los Angeles. I had the meeting with the casting director, who did interview me, and referred me to a solid commercial agent. The commercial agent interviewed me and signed me on the spot. This trip began a journey of living and working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years in Los Angeles. During that time I learned a great deal about writing and producing as well as acting.

That trip was a whirlwind of activity. There are other details I have not mentioned about this whole situation. But suffice to say, it was worth listening to God and taking the risk!

I mentioned learning about producing. Let me tell you about another significant risk I took. It didn’t take long to realize that being an actress, as much as I loved acting, was not a position where the serious decisions were made. I had hoped to be a positive influence on the kind of material that got put out into the world. Who read scripts and decided what stories to turn into films or tv shows? Who secured funds to make that project happen? Who chose directors and actors for those stories? Who hired crew for the work? I quickly learned those kinds of decisions were made by producers. I had lots of experience producing stage shows. I had zero experience producing anything on film or tv! And although there are some cross overs between the mediums, there are significant differences as well.

Once again I found myself taking a risk, this time it involved producing. I considered going to film school, but that would take years and a lot of money. So I decided I would make a short film from beginning to end in order to learn what it takes to tell a story on film instead of on stage. That would take some time, but not years, and it would cost some money, but nearly as much as film school. It would give me practical, hands on experience with the process and leave me with a tangible piece of work.

I reached out to some of the new industry friends I had made, asking if they were interested in working on such a project. They had far more technical knowledge and experience than I. The timeframe for hands on work on set was one day. The preparation ahead of time and the work after the shoot would take longer. But no one outside of me as the producer and lead actress, the director, and very few others, would have to spend much time on the project. Some were doing it as a favor, some were doing it to help build credits for themselves in their own specialty, some were doing it for fun while they were not too busy. I had lots of help getting a decent script, friends who agreed to audition for the only other role in the story, a person who allowed me to use their dog for the shoot, a location to use, people doing make up, lights, camera, sound, editing, color correction, poster work, and on and on.

I learned how many people it took to make a five minute short film and to do it well. I learned how collaborative an art form film making truly is! I learned the high level of skill required for each of these essential jobs. I learned a great many other things. But most importantly I learned no one person can do it all. I learned the best skill a producer can have is to know what you don’t know. And to know who to call for any particular job in order to make the film the best it can be.

The end result was not only a crash course in how to make a film, but I had a short film that turned out quite good. In fact, my key team encouraged me to enter it in a film festival. I did, and was happily surprised when I was one of the winners! The prize for the winners was to be featured on a full page announcement in Variety, a high profile industry magazine. What a thrill that was! Following that win, I was invited to screen my short film to several other film festivals. Talk about a great learning experience! As a result of taking that risk, over the years I have produced, co produced, and/or executive produced several other short film projects.

In fact I am now in the process of producing a feature film project, which would never have happened if I had not been willing to take the various previous risks that led to this time in my life. Talk about taking a risk!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was created to be a creative! From birth God had me in situations and circumstances which allowed me to be trained to perform. There is such diversity in the opportunities I was given even as a toddler and young child. I have real life experience in radio, TV, stage, singing, and much more starting in my childhood. So much so, I thought everyone grew up that way and what I was doing was fun, but not unusual. One thing always seemed to lead to another, until eventually I ended up in Hollywood for over 20 years. Was it easy? Some of the time, yes, but certainly not always.

I began singing solos in church before I was five years old. At age 12 I was a recurring panelist on highly rated CBS’s Kid Critics reviewing books for my age group. By the time I was in high school I had already gained experience in many of the performing arts from singing everything from gospel to opera, from stage plays to radio and TV. As an adult while with my husband on one of his military tours in Germany I become the Director of The Performing Arts Theatre for the U.S. Army. This involved handling all USO stopovers and military entertainment in the area. Bearing in mind that the U.S. Military is the largest theatre system in the world, tripling London or Broadway, I became quite confident in my skills as a producer.

Later I found myself both acting and producing in Los Angeles. Co-starring television roles on AMC’s Mad Men, HBO’s Big Love, NBC’s ER, CBS’s 7th Heaven, Lifetime’s Unsolved Mysteries, NBC’s The Others, and repeat appearances on The Tonight Show. My film roles range from appearances in Universal’s Red Dragon and The Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty, to supporting rolls in films like Cineville’s The Affair and Brooklyn Reptile’s Boppin At The Glue Factory.

My own first film project, Doria, which I executive produced and in which I starred, was a winner of the Flickering Image Festival. Another production of mine which I co-produced and in which I starred is Just Desserts, That short film had world wide distribution and a TV deal. It is now available for rent on Christianmovies.com. Other acting roles and award winning films have taken my time and attention through the years. I am currently producing the independent romantic comedy feature film, Three Times A Lady.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Above all else I want to have a positive impact on the world. As a woman, a wife, a mother, an actress, a producer, or a writer, my entire life is about serving God the best way I can. Does that mean I have never messed up or gone through hard times? Of course not. In each of these arenas I’ve had tremendous successes and terrible problems. But I know from experience that my successes are gifts from God. I also know God is never overwhelmed by my problems – self inflicted or not. I can not make a mess so big or encounter a situation so horrific that God cannot turn it for good if I allow Him to do so.

Important lessons I have learned are to constantly listen to God’s guidance, to do my best, and to not expect things to automatically come to me. I have to put my best work into doing what God tells me to do, checking with Him as I go. I am responsible for that, and He is responsible for the outcomes.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The joy I experience when I succeed in creating a full, believable character as an actress or a writer is extremely rewarding. If I feel the laughter, the sadness, the pain, etc. of the character, that is very satisfying. But even more rewarding is when I can share that character with an audience and have them experience those same emotions. When the audience gains a deeper, clearer understanding of what it is like to be someone who has those life experiences they have not had, when they are brought into empathy with the character – that is truly special. Achieving that can bring about a positive impact on society and help bridge divides between people. It can bring a desire to overcome differences and to help one another do better. What is more rewarding than that?

Image Credits

Jim Christopher for the Personal Photo and for the photo with the red hat. All others are candid shots with no credits necessary.