We recently connected with Dara Brewton and have shared our conversation below.

Dara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am the happiest when using my brain for creative work, but as anyone who is a freelancer/performer/artist can attest, the constant hustle can be draining. Being self-employed means you spend a lot of your time looking for gigs or tracking down unpaid invoices. It also means learning a different way of budgeting and bookkeeping. Sometimes, it can be a bit overwhelming, and the thought of just clocking in somewhere and cashing a paycheck has a certain allure — especially when talks of recession are in the air.

I recently went back to work a “real job” part-time, and while I enjoy the lack of having to search for jobs constantly…I’m not enjoying the whole sit in this chair from 8-5 part. But for the moment, it is giving me a certain sense of security while I wait and see if we really are heading for some sort of economic collapse.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I consider myself a bit of a dabbler, but I recently heard the phrase multi-passionate and like that description a lot. Sounds more positive, right? I’ve been acting with varying degrees of success since I was in my early 20s, and I am currently repped by Fast Lane Talent out of Charlotte, NC. I started out doing community theater, and now I have a handful of acting credits — both stage and screen. As of last year, I started to journey into voiceover work, and I am in the process of building my home booth now!

To give myself more flexibility to act (and travel), I started freelancing remotely about five years ago. I mostly work as a freelance writer, and I have been able to support myself quite well with writing jobs. I spent the two years leading up to the 2020 election writing and editing for a progressive news site, and I have written countless articles for various online publications. I really enjoy covering politics and travel topics, but I have written on just about every topic.

In 2019, I started hanging out on the other side of the camera when I co-directed a 48 Hour Film Project. The sense of accomplishment I got from filmmaking was on a whole different level from acting. While acting is fun and somewhat therapeutic, filmmaking is empowering. Fast forward to 2023, and I am currently working on my first feature film! I wrote a psychological thriller script that I am hoping to direct later this year. I am a partner in two different production companies, Angry Goddess Films and Queens City Film Project. Both are partnering with another local production company, Patron Saint Films, to try to get my feature, A Visual Disturbance, off the ground.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Obviously, I can’t speak for all creatives, but there is this phenomenon that those in my creative circle have discussed on multiple occasions. There is a weird dichotomy to being a creative where you simultaneously think you are super amazing and also terrible at everything. I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek here. It’s really easy to get in your head and think you are failing miserably, and you’ll never create anything worth reading or watching or whatever.

But once you finish the project, you tend to sit back and think something like, “I did that shit!” Maybe it is a touch of imposter syndrome or something. Like answering these questions right now, I’m thinking to myself, “why would anyone read my writing? I’m so boring!” But then other times, I come across an article with my name on it, and I’m like, “damn, that’s good. I wrote that?” The back and forth probably drives the non-creatives who live with us crazy!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think it would be helpful for people to remember that the arts are a viable career option. Not only that, but remember that they are super important. It is easy to think of acting or painting or writing as a silly way to make a living. But if you consider how much art you actually consume, you may give it a little more importance. Think about when the world shut down for Covid; what did most people spend their time doing? Binging Netflix, right? Well, artists and creatives gave you all that content you spent hours and hours consuming. And it isn’t just the faces you see on the screen — writers, costumers, makeup artists, directors, musicians, etc, etc, etc — all worked on each show and movie you watched. Or how many people spend day after day reading books, or listening to Spotify, or playing video games? Again, the work of creatives.

And while everyone will freely discuss whatever art they are consuming on a daily basis, the minute someone says they are doing an art-related job, there are eye rolls or scoffs. It leaves you feeling like you need to defend your career…and as we already discussed in the previous question, most of us are already suffering from imposter syndrome. We don’t need you judging our life choices too.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/likesarabutwithad/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dara-brewton-7305861b3/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@angrygoddessfilms

Image Credits
Headshot featured image was shot by Eric Campbell with EC Headshots.