We recently connected with Gregory Blair and have shared our conversation below.

Gregory, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Sooner. Without a doubt. I made a lot of decisions that weren’t bad, but were wrong for the creative path I was meant to pursue. I learned a lot on those other paths, so they weren’t complete wastes of time…but had I gotten on the path I was meant to take sooner, I would be much further along in my journey. And the takeaway from this is to listen to your heart and your gut as much as your head. Don’t let only one of those guide you. The power of using that triumvirate of heart, head and gut will always help you make the best decisions.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been active in the arts for many years as an actor, writer, director and producer. Having been born in Southern California, I’ve studied theatre, acting and writing at various well-known locations, including UCLA in California and Cambridge University in England.

As an actor, I’ve done stage (“Angels In America”, “Working, “Six Degrees of Separation”, etc.), film (“Craving”, “Fang”, etc.), and television and web (“Escape the Night”, “Love That Girl!”, etc.). Of my many acting awards, I’m most proud of my Robby Award for Best Actor in a Drama for “Angels In America”.

As a writer, I’ve been represented on stage (“Cold Lang Syne”, “Nicholas Nickleby”, etc.), and in prose offerings such as “The Ritual”, “Little Shivers” and the Stonewall Award winning “Spewing Pulp”. My film writing credits include the psychological thriller “Deadly Revisions”, the horror/comedy “Garden Party Massacre”, the story for the period horror film “The Convent” and the script for my upcoming feature “The Mystery of Emma Thorn”. I also do script consulting.

Awards previously unmentioned include an EOTM Award for Best Director of an Indie Horror Film, a Claw Award for Best Screenplay and the Flicker Award for “Best Picture”—all for “Deadly Revisions”—as well as handfuls of awards for “Garden Party Massacre”, including Best Feature from the Fantastic Horror Film Festival and Best Director of the Year from the Southern Sykos Film Festival. I was also awarded the 2017 Phil Tucker Spirit Award.

My overriding goal is to entertain and enlighten people to make the world a little bit better for my having been here. If I make you laugh or cry or scream or think–anything to remind you of our common human experience and how none of us are ever truly alone in any of it–then my effort will not have been wasted.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

On “Deadly Revisions”, we were on location (the same one used by “Friday the 13th Part 4” and, more recently, “The Orville”) and it was a night shoot and the owner came out to tell us we couldn’t use our generator. Yeah….the machine that was going to power all our equipment (lights, sound, etc.). I was flabbergasted. He’d hosted many films before us and we could not have been the first to use a generator. But he said ours was too loud and refused to let us use it. I thought we were ruined. How could we possibly bounce back from this roadblock?

Now, I’m the kind of director who always has a Plan B, C and often D, but I was totally unprepared for this. But my producer and I were determined to figure something out. We talked about trying to find a less noisy generator, but the late hour and remote location made that option seem impossible. Luckily my producer was as smart as she was convincing and she told me to go block the scene we were planning to shoot and she’d talk it out with the homeowner. I went off and worked with actors, because I had seen her work her magic on set before. And, sure enough, the producer came back to me in a bit and said she had gotten the owner’s permission to plug into his house’s electricity. So, we forged ahead, having only lost less than a half hour or so.

So, the lessons are: (a) always have a Plan B (at least) and (b) creative problem solving will always be necessary and, often, will save the day. Or night, as the case may be!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think it’s the sense of freedom and the opportunity to use your imagination to manifest something that was inside of you and share it with others. In some ways, I think that’s the greatest gift of life: to share yourself with others. So, whether it’s through film or theater, dance or painting, music or sculpture–whatever form your creative output takes–you’re sharing yourself with everyone. And sharing who we are is always meaningful and touches people in manifold ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://gregoryblair.info
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegregoryblair/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGregoryBlair/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-blair-4217779/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheGregoryBlair
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GregoryBlairFilm
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegregoryblair