We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Grim a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?
Blisters, sweat, tears, and wool on a hot stage in the middle of a Midwestern July for three months of 5 day-a-week, 4 hour-a-day rehearsals for a two hundred dollar check. I considered framing it, I was so proud of it. But, then I remembered I had made myself almost into the negative that summer opting for less shifts at my cafe so I could be in my first semi-professional play: Pride and Prejudice. It was part of a long tradition of classical theatre in the park, a pastime I had attended religiously as a child and longed to be a player in. I knew going into a creative field that paying your bills with your art alone is rare and often inconsistent. But that check, while minuscule and didn’t cover the gad money spent commuting to rehearsals. Felt like the possible was there. It was a step in the right direction. Now, living in Los Angeles, I am still not paying my bills with my art alone, but I make steps everyday toward that goal, with that original two-hundred dollar check tucked in box under my bed.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Emily Grim. I am an actor, writer, and educator. I got my creative start in music and dance lessons as a child which naturally led to a love of theatre, which I studied in college as Ohio State University. I most often am doing live theatre but I moved to LA to pursue more film work as well. I have been in modern plays, Shakespeare, musicals, and a myriad of short films. I am most excited by stories that capture the beauty and tragedy in life, whatever format that takes. In addition to acting, I enjoy writing short essays, poetry, film scripts, and anything in my notes app. I also currently work at an elementary school teaching small group novel studies where I get to flex my love of storytelling. I am excited to continue to explore more theatre in LA, as well as work on more film projects.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Other than give us money? Jokes aside, beyond the fiscal reality of arts funding the greatest pivot we must make as a society is offering reverence to the arts. Part of why it is effortless to cut or eliminate arts funding is because often art has no respect given to it. I work at an elementary school like claims to be a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) school, and yet we have no standard art or creative coursework. Art’s programming exists on the fringes of “extra education” and left to after school or non-profit programing. This early diminishment of the arts leads to a population that doesn’t have the reverence, respect or depth of appreciation of how art is linked to everything that brings us purpose in this life. At the intersection of this lack of respect we find ourselves separating the need for the art and the need for the artist. We hunger for new music, blockbuster films, audiobooks, and binge-able TV shows, but we lack the understanding that all of the artists that collaborate are people in need of respect for their craft and the fiscal support to be fostered into blossoming arts.
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?
The most important thing to understand is simply that pursing an artist or creative career seldom is a journey that exists in any mathematic formula. There is no corporate ladder to climb. Success in an artistic field is defined by the artist themselves. The work that we do does not meet convention. There will be times when all we do is work and there are times when we will have absolutely no work, and “showing up and talking to someone” won’t help. It is still important that you allow the artist to not define their standard of success by a metric system that does not fit their measure and allow them the grace of crafting their own measurement to judge themselves by.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emmiegrim.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: @grimshewrote