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

Alright, Jeff thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In 2018 I was diagnosed with PTSD from a ridiculous side job I had with a massive internet company It had taken an extreme toll on my mental health. I’d always been a fairly content, positive person. But at this time in my life, it was hard to get out of bed. It was hard to leave the house. It was hard to be alive.

As I went through various therapists and off the beaten path treatments (ever want to hear me talk for a while…ask me about Floatation therapy!) I felt compelled to write a new project inspired by my struggles. A real, gritty, honest portrayal of mental health. No sugar coating or cliches. The real deal. I knew it wasn’t a TV show or a feature film, so I went back to my roots and where I started my writing journey: Theatre.

I drafted a stage play entitled THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK OF TODAY, about a man who cann’t leave his house because of his severe depression and agoraphobia brought on by a horrific incident three years prior. I’d be in a coffee shop with tears streaming down my face as I pounded away on the keyboard composing it. It was probably a little terrifying to the patrons and baristas….but extremely cathartic for me. I healed immensely from writing that play, but had planned to keep it on my computer and never share it with another living soul.

But one day, I told Matt Stabile, my friend and artistic director of Theatre Lab (located on the Florida Atlantic University Campus) about the play and he asked to check it out. We had been writing partners for a bunch of years about a decade ago, so he often helps me shape and refine my scripts with his notes/guidance. And after a few more rewrites, it was officially selected to be presented at the New Play Reading Festival in 2023.

I was terrified as the script was presented in front of an audience. Scared that the main character (based on myself) would be too irredeemable and unlikeable for an audience to relate to. Afraid that people would hate the content of the show. But that didn’t happen. Quite the opposite in fact.

For the rest of the festival audience members kept approaching me to say that they also had mental health struggles and that I had “nailed” all aspects of it in my script. The fact that so many people felt comfortable enough to talk about their own journey with mental health was incredible.

I’m so proud of the script and I’m excited that it’ll be reaching a larger audience. It will receive a world premier performance at Theatre Lab in 2024 (opening night is my birthday!) We’re also in talks with other theatre companies across the country to secure a rolling world premiere, where up to 3 companies present separate productions of the script.

Something that I wrote for myself and was so personal has become a universal story that people see themselves in. I’ve never been more proud of a script I’ve written and can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Jeff, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My first job out of high school was working for a minor league baseball team and donning the mascot costume…and my life only got weirder from there on out.

I earned a BA in Mathematics from SUNY Binghamton and a MFA in Theatre from Florida Atlantic University, where I received death threats for acting in my graduate thesis role.

After graduation I remained in Florida as an educator, writer, and actor. I was a founding faculty member of G-Star School of the Arts, where I became Theatre Department chair and helped create the curriculum and standard of high quality theatre training. The “Jeff Bower Excellence in Theatre Award” is still presented to a graduating senior acting major every year.
As a performer/writer I appeared in dozens of stage plays, commercials, infomercials, and short films. I won the Best Actor Award at the PBIFF: Local Voices of Film. I was Artistic Director for the ragtag professional theatre company Rude Mechanical Productions for five year. I published one of my plays through Samuel French (now Concord Theatricals).

And then my wife and I decided to sell everything we owned and move to Los Angeles. With zero contacts in the city where it’s all about “who you know”, in five years time I was performing weekly on famous comedy stages, had a pilot I co-created and starred in fully produced, and was pitching my original TV pilots to networks like Amazon, HBO, NBC, ABC, and FOX and had a script in development at Kennedy Marshall (Star Wars/Jurassic Park).

I also created a lucrative online script consulting business and became an Audible Approved audiobook narrator/producer in my “free time.” Honestly, I’m not sure when I sleep, but I try to get some when I can.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Throw some money their way! If you enjoy a person’s content, cold hard cash is the way to go. Venmo those poor, starving artists so they can get a snack.

If money is tight, send an unsolicited compliment. You have no idea how hard they’re working or how much they’re struggling to keep on following their dreams, and a quick email or comment on their video might just be the thing that keeps them believing in themselves to push forward and make that next video.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I can sum up my past with the following joke: Question: Would you accept a million dollars if the person you hate the most in the world also got five million dollars. Answer: Of course, why wouldn’t I want SIX million dollars.

I’ve always been extremely hard on myself as an artist. I’m the most critical person when it comes to my writing, acting, hell, even my teaching. I thought that was the only way to motivate myself to be better.

But it’s fools gold. Sure, you can be the jockey that whips the horse over and over to run faster and it might be successful for a while…but then you’re an asshole. And you’re actually whipping yourself. And eventually the horse can’t go any faster and breaks down. And so will you.

I had to unlearn this and become a student of self-care and self love. I’ve learned to not work myself to the point of exhaustion and to cherish quality time with my wife and two unruly cats. And it’s only made my artistic work better and stronger.

Go easy on yourself. Be your own biggest champion. Love your yourself and great art will come from it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jeffrobowa
• Twitter: @jeffbowerLA