We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Floyd Strayer . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Floyd below.
Floyd, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I’m Director and Producer of the award-winning comedy TV and Radio series, The Smartlys which is streaming worldwide on many platforms. I’m also Team Leader of the short film, Life After Oblivion, and a stage and film actor.
That’s all a bit unusual, since I retired from the Marines after 21 years on active duty, and I’ve spent the past 22 years supporting Sailors and Marines around the world with Engineering Technical Services as a Navy Civilian.
This has taken me to Iraq three times and to Afghanistan to train Marines. My current path began with a failed interview in 2013. My career was advancing, and I became a bit overconfident.
Even though I knew the answers to the questions being asked, I didn’t listen to what was being asked, so I told them what I thought they should know. MISTAKE!
After I got over my anger, I decided to work on the only thing I could change was me. So I started going to Toastmasters to work on my communication skills, both speaking and listening, but especially impromptu speaking such as interview skills.
I found I enjoyed creating and telling stories. Some of my stories were true, and some were exaggerated for the sake of humor. As I moved through the courses/projects, I found that the topic of my brother’s suicide kept emerging.
I lost my brother to suicide in 1999 and my niece in 2006. I reflected on this message a lot and decided that part of my goal in life was to tell his story so that the tragic loss of my brother might help save another.
While developing the story, I realized I had to be able to release the audience from the dark depths of such tragic events by using humor appropriately, which is a difficult but necessary tool when speaking about suicide.
This led me to trying stand-up comedy to develop my timing. As this progressed, I decided each year I would turn up the heat and challenge myself with new hurdles, raising the bar each time. This led me to trying theater.
Once I was cast in a play, I started acting lessons and I began auditioning for TV, which led to film production classes.
In June 2019, I was cast as Preston Smartly for a TV Pilot of The Smartlys. We were filming in front of a live audience in a senior’s center. Very shortly after that, I became involved in editing the pilot footage and preparing the pitch.
The San Diego Film Consortium, led by Jodi Cilley, held the Armed Forces Film Challenge in January 2020. I signed up as a Team Lead/Director. I gathered a team of veterans to take on the challenge of choosing a story provided by the consortium, writing a screenplay, casting, filming, editing, and completing a film in just 60 days.
We produced Life After Oblivion, a short that took First Place in the Armed Forces Film Challenge and was then showcased at the San Diego GI Film Festival. Jacquie Joy, an Australian composer, created the impressive soundtrack for it.
With the experience I gained from that, Shelley asked me to be Director and Producer of a new, pandemic adaptation of The Smartlys. She rewrote the script while I figured out how we could have our ensemble cast from across the U.S. and Canada self-film with green screens and iPhones, and combine their performances digitally.
Within the year, we completed Season One and had it streaming on Tubi and Plex TV. This month, we launched a podcast of the series, since it makes an excellent audio drama, as well.
The Smartlys has won over a dozen international film awards coming right out of the gate, mostly for Best Sitcom, Best Web-TV Series, and Best Comedy. And we were the overall Winner of one, as well.
Of course, our whole team deserves the credit for this. Our diverse ensemble cast is ages 9 to 79. It includes Quonta Beasley, Cheli Landa, Cat Forrest (Season 2), Tommy Lucero, Dan and Sandra McLellan, Melvin Powell, Allison Price, Monica Sarabia, Willow Seixas, Eric and Shelley Smartly, me and my grandson Dominic Strayer, Gary Tallaksen, and Jim Winkler.
Our snappy, uplifting jingle, Smartly Sunny Day, was produced by La Jolla composer, Hedges Capers. Hedges also helped me make a personal rendition of a song to serenade my wife, Angelina, on our 42nd anniversary.
This year, I received two nominations for Life After Oblivion in the 2022 San Diego Film Awards, which aired on KPBS TV. I was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best First Time Filmmaker. I was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in the short entitled, 1×1 (one by one), which was a locally produced horror film.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being able to see people watch and appreciate the completed product. Whether it is to laugh at my comedy or understand and want to support veterans who are struggling. In other words. Be moved by the story being told.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As far as acting and producing, I’ve faced the standard independent filmmakers’ struggles, which is producing a film with your own money and borrowing the time away from your family to chase a new dream is always challenging.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our team shares the persistence to finish what we started. We’re all very aware that every plan is merely a starting point, and the minute we begin, it’s going to change. When we meet an obstacle, we learn from it and keep moving forward to meet our original goal — and sometimes even a new one!
For example, we didn’t set out to make a radio program out of The Smartlys TV series. But when we were publicizing season one, interviewers repeatedly mentioned that we’d be a great radio show as well and they even advised us on how to do it, during our interviews.
We listened to them, and quickly launched our podcast. Within days, we had listeners from all corners of the world!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Many people measure their reward only in dollars. Being recognized as a filmmaker that others want to work with and value your knowledge and work ethic are much more important, than making the most money from your work.
What’s next?
I’m going to keep learning and growing as an actor and filmmaker. I keep on discovering new opportunities, and as I meet each challenge, they create new chapters in my life.
As I mentioned, we launched the audio podcast of The Smartlys this month. Now we’re producing season two of The Smartlys, with eight seasons planned.
I’m also writing the screenplay for Struck by Lightning, which is based on a humorous romance novel that Shelley Smartly wrote, and shelved, many years ago. We’ll release the book to accompany the movie.
I’m certainly always open to talking to investors or distributors for our indie filmmaking projects, as we love to collaborate.
Our team mission is to spread joy throughout the world. And I want to use this platform help prevent suicide, so please help spread the word that the new (U.S.) National Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 988. Sometimes, even the biggest and bravest of us need a little help to get over the rough spots in life.
On a much lighter note, I encourage everyone who likes comedy to catch The Smartlys, which is streaming free on many platforms, including Tubi and Plex TV, and podcasts and to join us in spreading more joy throughout the world!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thesmartlys.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floyd_strayer/
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10794467/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/FloydStrayer
Image Credits
Images by Tommy Anderson