Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Edi Tingle. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Edi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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 definitely happy as an artist. I definitely wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. That’s the piece of advice I always give people; If you could be happy doing anything else, do it. Being an artist is not for the faint of heart. In my early twenties I kind of fell off of the path of being at an artist and was vey focused on making my then long-term relationship work and advancing my assistant manager serving job. When I was offered the position of replacing my boss that I truly loathed, I decided to quit because I had that wake-up moment of “I’m in too deep, what have I done, who am I?”
So I quit that job and was a freelancer, which I was not very successful at. Then I got a pretty flexible day job. Then what followed was the worst year of my life: getting into a near fatal car accident (I was stuck in an overturned car), my long-term relationship ending, my mother being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, me becoming her primary caretaker and later that year her passing away.
I kind of lost my way in 2019 due to grief, which I’ve been told is completely normal. Then I snapped out of it in early 2020, and it was going to be my year. We all know what happened next. I struggled to find my place as an artist during the pandemic, since my main medium was performance and acting. Just before the pandemic started my talent agency closed it’s doors, I hadn’t booked a gig in a year at that point. I was starting to think that maybe the whole “artist” business wasn’t for me.
Just as I was starting to lose faith in myself and my identity as an artist when a friend of mine, Ravikash Saini, reached out to me and wanted me to be a part of a Halloween special his production company, Action Show Studios, was doing. I respect him so much as an artist and person that I was very honored that he wanted me to work with him. I quickly hopped on and we were off to the races. I acted in the movie, assistant directed, executive produced, you name it I probably did it on that project. At the premiere that Halloween, I sat in my seat at The Plaza Theatre and when my name appeared on the big screen it felt very validating and like I had returned home in my own heart.
In 2021 I had the massive pleasure of meeting Zach Echols and Tylere Brown. I immediately knew I wanted to be creatively involved with them. They are both massively brilliant. We all worked a bunch of Lifetime movies together so we had a lot of down time between set ups. Zach came to me with a short script called “Lovestruck” and wanted me to read it. I immediately fell in love with it and asked him “When can we make this?” I read it in August and we were rolling by October. Zach, Tylere, Christian Blaque Meier (who I have been working with for 10 years at this point) and I knew we wanted to start making things together immediately. In early 2022 we started Trash Mouth Productions. These guys restored my faith in what I wanted to do. In the industry as a woman I often get overlooked and not listened to. In our company it is a priority to give everyone a voice. Which is so very important to us.
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?
My name is Edi Tingle. I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite things my mom used to tell me is that in the neighborhood where I used to live in as a kid in Maine we would put on all these little plays. I would know everyone lines, including the stage manager’s cues. That’s the kind of level of commitment I had from a young age. When I first auditioned for 7 Stages Theatre’s Youth Creates program one of the people I was auditioning for told me I was “the most jaded 11 year old she ever met.” I still wear that as a badge of honor many years later.
When I graduated from high school I had no ambitions to go to college, I just wanted to start in the industry. I had been interning at 7 Stages Theatre for a few years at that point and I had no interest to rack up thousands of dollars of debt for something I did not even want to do. I was very lucky in the sense that both of my parents are artists and they supported me 100%. My mom was a baker by trade and painter by passion. My dad was a video playback operator with the local IATSE479 and a musician by passion. Their number one goal with me was for me to be happy and loved.
When I was 19 I started working in the independent film industry. I have had every job imaginable on a film set. Because if you try hard and believe in yourself, anything is possible. That and they just needed someone and I was confident enough. Throughout my 20’s I continued doing theater work, both backstage and on stage. I was a part of 7 Stages’ annual Krampus shows, a fun take on the ever popular anti-holiday show. I worked dozens of shows doing everything from spotlight, to special effects blood work, audio playback, projector, etc, etc; like I said I was confident and smart.
My first true love will always be theater. But we broke up eventually and I started flirting with the film industry. I am completely in love with my career and what I do. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
One of the many lessons my parents instilled in my head is to be patient and kind towards people. I try to take that into every single project I do. If you treat people with those two things and meet them halfway, who knows what you could accomplish?
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I was younger, I was usually made to feel like I was the dumbest in the class, group, etc. It really affected my sense of self. I was made to feel small, less than. I think growing up a girl that was kind of embroiled into our consciousness. Much through my teen years and my early twenties, my ideas and feelings took a back seat to the wants and needs of others. I made myself feel and be small. I made myself small in every aspect of my life. When I did have the courage to speak my mind my ideas were trampled over, even by my most trusted collaborators.
It took me removing myself from a cesspool of toxic situations to realize that my ideas, thoughts and feelings are important and valid. When I started standing up for myself and making my voice heard I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders that I didn’t even know I had. It felt freaking AMAZING.
So I think my advice is, do not make yourself small for ANYONE. I stress this to my friends that are in their early twenties, probably too much and they’re just like, “Okay, thanks weirdo.” But it’s so important. Like Dr. Seuss says, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.editingle.com
- Instagram: mistereditingle
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/editingleactor
- Twitter: mistereditingle
- Other: TikTok: @mistereditingle
Image Credits
Lola Scott