We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Deanna Cali a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

DeAnna , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I feel as though doing this Podcast is taking a risk. I love documentaries and podcasts, and I had an idea I had been thinking about for years. I knew that I was not wanting to move back to L.A., and that we have the tools to create our own stuff and put it out there. No one was going to knock on my door and say “Hey, I saw you on this commercial and I want you to play this role in this major movie we are working on!” It just isn’t going to happen that way, no one is going to “Discover” you if you’re not putting yourself out there. The idea, was, what is like when someone who is not in the Entertainment Industry ends up being a celebrities significant other? The regular Jane or Joe ends up dating someone of status? What does that look like for them? How did they meet? How did things work for them in the relationship? There are so many questions I was curious about, and I knew there was nothing out there, that was telling it from this perspective, to truly explain what its like to be a celebrities plus one.
I had an experience like this happen to me in 2014 with an actor who was in Lord of the Rings” and a few other things. I thought to myself, “What if that had gone further? What would that have looked like?” Of course, I tell this story in episode 2 of my podcast “Celebrity+One”, so you’ll have to listen to that tale. The other thing was, I first started “Celebrity+One” as a filmed documentary. I really wanted to make a documentary on this, and to go around and interview people who had real stories and experiences. I also wanted the audience to go along with me, in perhaps maybe I would find love myself while making this Doc. I was inspired by the idea from a film called “My Date with Drew” as in Drew Barrymore from Brian Herzlinger in 2004, which you can still see the trailer and film on Youtube. It was about Brian, who was a “regular Joe” at the time who had a major crush on Drew Barrymore. He filmed himself literally trying to score a date with Drew, playing the six degrees of separation. You follow this whole journey with this guy in the prime of her career, and recently married, yet he still scores the date! I thought maybe this element could work with me asking all of those questions to people who have dated someone famous, and ask why don’t they date more “normal” people? Finally, could a normal gal like me have a genuine relationship with someone of status?
It was really hard to film, I was finding that people didn’t like to be filmed while telling their experiences to someone they never met and who doesn’t have a major streaming platform backing the project. I was doing everything by myself, but I really needed help with editing and equipment. I talked to a really good friend and Creator Sam Felman last year. I told him about the project and that I really wanted to do this, I was tired of waiting on other peoples’ projects etc. He suggested, do this as a podcast, see what can happen, and hey maybe when it gets great traction, they may offer to do a documentary, but the podcast road would be a best bet. I was so bent on not wanting to do that, but the more I thought about it, it made sense. I wanted to progress in this and months had gone by and I was stuck.
I am running around, trying to get all this stuff done, and calling my L.A. friends if they wanted to be interviewed, and most of them thought I was nuts or just didn’t really see the big picture in what I was doing. It made me sad because I had helped these people with their projects without question, hoping they would return the favor. You find out real quick who is truly supportive and who is just blowing smoke up your ass. The other issue was, I am not an editor by any means, that is a hard job that takes a ton of skill I do not have. It took me almost a year to find someone to edit this podcast with pay! I wanted to pay whoever would help me make this dream come true. I had worked with one guy and after one episode he wasn’t interested in pursuing it further, so I just cried and felt like this would never happen after a year of trying to get this together. So, I called Sam Felman back, only to ask him if he knew someone that could help me. I assumed he was already busy with other projects and wouldn’t want to work on a podcast. I was at a complete surprise when he said he would be interested in helping! I couldn’t believe it. I said “Hey man, I have episode one done, take a listen and tell me what you think, and if you’d like to be my editor. You would be saving my life!”
He listened and told me how much he loved it! He said “Lets put together episode two, see how that works and take it from there.” We are now working on episode five and have released four episodes out on Spotify and other platforms. I am so happy and lucky Sam and I work together so well. He understands the tone and quality of what I’m trying to achieve in each episode, and we get compliments all the time on the quality of the production.
Would I like a team of people to help with certain things? Yes! I am looking for sponsorship at this point, we have been doing really well, but there is still ways to go for more growth. Yes, I would like to make money while I’m doing this project because that’s the point, if you can make money, pay your bills, and live doing what you love to do, then to me you’ve “made it” at that point, you hit the big time. You don’t need a second job, you get to create and tell your stories full time.
I would love to get to a point where the doors open for me as far as offers for bigger projects, representation, and for Deeski Productions to start doing films and have the budget and control to do so.
So coming back full circle, the risk is putting yourself out there with that you created on your own. It allows for a certain door to open for people to make judgements about you. We all know how mean people can be when you put yourself out in the world in any fashion. I told my story in episode two, and that was a very vulnerable risk to take, to tell an audience on the lessons I learned during my personal experience. I took the risk telling my vision to friends and colleagues and some of those people don’t even talk to me anymore. I guess they were never really friends anyway right? It sounds so cliche, but if you really know you’ve got something great, and you see the big picture, you’re pushing, you got people in your corner helping you, then keep going no matter what happens. It’s easier said than done, but you cant care about people’s opinions of you. If I cared about people’s opinions of me and let any type of negative review get to me, I wouldn’t get anything done. You can’t please everyone, and its not your job. Your job is to achieve your goals and progress in your life. Life moves pretty fast. Ferris Bueller nailed it.

DeAnna , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been acting since I was 4 years old, and have never wanted to do anything else. I had big plans to move to Los Angeles right after High School, get accepted into UCLA, run the gambit, pay my dues, and hit it big. Everything was lined up, but as life goes, we never know whats coming around the corner. My mother, Debbie got diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39. I was 15 at the time, and for 3 short years she battled the cancer but ended up losing in 2001. So, with that, that obviously changed the course of my life, and school just wasn’t an interest for me anymore. I remember the day my mother passed, it was on a school day, and in my drama class we were to perform a play we had all written 2 months before. I came back to school from the hospital to perform that play with my classmates. Everyone was in shock and told me, “Hey, its ok if you don’t want to do this..” I told them, “I have to do this, I want to be here, I want to be someone else for a moment, it will help.” So, we performed and for an hour I got to just leave “real life'” behind.

I am mentioning this because, there are so many ways your path can go in life when you’re pursuing your passions. Its never a straight line. I ended up moving to Los Angeles in 2014, and did some amazing things, and met some great people. I got my SAG card 3 months into me living there. However, I found it to be extremely hard to find representation that could really work with me and what I had to offer. I couldn’t have made it easier for Agents, I had my compelling Demo Reel, my head shots, my resume, my IMDB, my credits, I knew Kevin Costner for God’s Sake. I was the full package and said “Here I am, this is how we market me, and I need you to get me into those audition rooms to start building relationships with casting directors. I was ready to play with the big boys and girls out there. Yet, I just could not find anyone that would offer me what I was looking for in a talent agent/manager. They all wanted me to “self submit” and I was past that point, I was there for the next level up. I was ready for someone who could get me into the room to read for casting directors and start building those relationships.
I ended up moving to San Diego and did a ton of local plays and absolutely loved living in San Diego and would move back in a second. However, I had broken up with my boyfriend at the time and as most of us know, if you don’t have a second income in California its impossible to live on your own out there. I’m not one for roommates, and I even got a second job, but I couldn’t cut it and had to move back to Arizona where I am from.

Jumping ahead to now. There isn’t much at all in Arizona for Film/TV. Everyone here keeps saying “It’s going to be the next L.A. they’re building studios etc.” It’s not happening, they have been saying that for the last 20 years. Its New Mexico and Atlanta right now.

Like I had mentioned previously, no one is going to just “discover” you sitting on your couch and waiting around for someone to say “yes” to you. You may be waiting for the rest of your life for that “yes.” I’d like to give a shout out to Jason Alexander, yes the Jason Alexander who played George on “Seinfeld” He is more than just George. There was a reel on Instagram of him saying, “You can’t wait for the gig, you ARE THE GIG.” He then went on to explain how we have the power to make our own stuff now, to create movies, plays, skits, etc. and have the platforms to do so. You have the creative control. And if you’re lucky, maybe, just maybe someone will see your work and they may just offer an opportunity.

A little about “Celebrity+One,” Not only do we look for stories from non-Industry people who have dated the famous, we aslo set out to try and get interviews featuring high-profile couples like Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Raven Simone, Wanda Sykes, and Taylor Lautner, we learn about the hurdles they faced in finding genuine connections in the entertainment industry. Their wisdom and experiences shed light on the difficulties of building trust, maintaining privacy, and surviving the intense scrutiny of the online fan base.

Delving deep into the world of fame, we ask thought-provoking questions such as how emotions are handled, the necessity of signing NDAs, and the approval process for social media posts by agents, managers, and publicists. We also explore the ever-present challenge of facing paparazzi intrusion and the impact it has on relationships.

The goal is to keep putting quality into the people I interview, their stories, and the production execution of the podcast. And maybe, just maybe people will love it and it will give me an opportunity to do more of what I want down the road. We are not a gossip podcast or speculation podcast, these are real stories from the actual people who experienced them. We protect everyone’s privacy and share what they feel comfortable sharing. We also make sure that the legalities are in place when talking about celebrities. We also go through a per-interview process where we make sure that the person who is wanting to tell their story had an actual legitimate relationship with the person of status, and they can show proof of that. You can visit the podcasts website at www.celebrityplusone.com for more.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There were, and still are many hurdles I have jumped through in all phases of my life and career. I am just proud of myself that even though I feel overwhelmed doing this podcast and learning how to market, get quality content, reach out for interviews, and learn how to use certain software, I am still going at it. Having a great editor in Sam is also a huge reason why I actually got 5 episodes up and running right now. I am so proud of the quality. There is still so much to learn and how to get listeners more engaged as we are still so new, but I am so happy there is an actual amazing product out there right now that I created and cultivated.

What also keeps me going is my Family. I don’t want to let them down or myself obviously. I have been wanting to succeed in the entertainment business as an Actor for 30 plus years now. If I did not have this outlet, I would be one miserable person. I don’t want to wonder, “What if I had done this,, or what If I had just stayed little longer?” I don’t want to have to ask myself that. I want to keep pushing and see this through and know that all the struggles, all the reasons why certain things didn’t work out was because the road led me to do this podcast, which blew up in such a positive way that it can open all the doors I’ve ever wanted.

I had to go through the trials and tribulations to realize that, I have control, I have a story, I have a great concept that’s never been touched before, and I know how to execute it. Of course I want to be successful and I want my family to relish in that success. My family meaning, my Father who is my number one fan along with his wife, my brother, his wife, my nephews, and for the women who aren’t here anymore in my life. My mother and Grandmother (Rose) my dad’s mom. There is a reason why God put this talent and fire in me, and despite all that has happened in my life, its still very much there, burning brighter than it ever has before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.celebrityplusone.com
• Instagram: @celebrityplusonedoc
• Facebook: DeAnna Cali “Celebrity Plus One” Page
• Linkedin: DeAnna Cali
• Youtube: @celebrityplusonedoc
• Other: Podcast is on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Podcasts. Please rate, review, and follow

Image Credits

Sam Felman did the “Celebrity+One” Podcast banner. All other photos by me.