We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenna Podell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenna below.

Alright, Jenna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Right now I’m working on a solo clown show called ‘RONALD’. It has been monumental for me because the timing of my production and the contents of it coincides with a huge shift for me in my personal life. ‘RONALD’, which I wrote, perform, direct, and produce, explores the fictional origin story of this global icon to an unnamed fast-food burger chain, and his epic fall from public grace. This show explores themes such as American excess, making a living off of your craft, and compromising artistic integrity to appease the masses. I was inspired to tell this story because of its parallels to my own journey. I’ve been an actor since I was a child, and while my love of the craft has never wavered, my belief in myself and desire for financial stability has. Along my path, I’ve done a handful of odd corporate entertainment jobs such as being a casting assistant, production assistant, talent management assistant (you get it), all to keep a pulse on the world I wanted to be apart of but had been too beaten down to pursue to my fullest abilities. I found a kinship to this famous burger clown, and related to this idea that he just wanted to perform. How did he end up becoming the face of the company, and the engine for selling burgers? These are the feeling that came up for me while sitting behind the many desks where I was working on other people’s careers but not my own. I was essentially let go from my last corporate entertainment job back in December 2023, which was actually the biggest blessing. No shade to the company I worked for, they’re great – honestly! But I was miserable and my artist was starving, so from there, I promised myself that I was going to fully bet on me. I immediately started developing this show, brought on a producer, and am now putting it up at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival. My next steps are to grow this show to a place where I can take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025. Though I’ve definitely lost some sense of stability, I’ve truly never been lighter and happier. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, all of my own doing. The fact that my show has already started to receive glowing reviews and feedback is just the cherry on top. It’s also a reminder to myself, and all creatives, that investing in your art is always profitable. Not financially, but spiritually. You will see returns on your investment in yourself.

Jenna , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m from Dallas, TX, which feels like a hub for child stars. Barney weirdly films there, so you bet I was on it. I grew up auditioning for commercials and Disney shows. I’m pretty sure this all began in my hometown mall’s children’s play area. I was (am) an unmedicated ADHD kid who’d talk to and play with anyone, and felt I needed to be on the stage, in the spotlight, all the time. It honestly could have been the start to such a scam, but thank goodness my parents 1) wanted to support my dreams and 2) took caution in navigating the business to protect me. Soon enough, we were flying to LA for pilot season because I’d done all the non-union work I could in Texas. I fully pitched to my parents the idea of me leaving public school, taking the G.E.D, and doing online schooling during all of this. Also, through the many different classes and productions I was apart of, my desire for fame was replaced with a genuine love of the craft. Being the mid-sized baddie I am, casting me became difficult. I didn’t fit the ‘overweight’ casting calls, but I also wasn’t the average (In the 2010s, skinny), leading lady. Suffice to say, I was pinned as ‘funny’. This was a blessing, because I found so much freedom in character roles. This was when I began improv, and finished UCB’s sketch and improv tracks.

As I got older, jobs became harder to come by and my parents were pushing me towards financial independence. I feared becoming a washed-up former child actor with no direction as an adult, so I looked into college, something I hadn’t really thought I’d needed since I was already working in the field I wanted to be in. At this point in time, I was obsessed (still am) with the women from Broad City and Insecure, and was inspired by their drive to act, write, and produce their own content/vehicles for success, especially when they weren’t fitting into the molds of the industry at the time. I knew I needed to gain multi hyphenate skills. I ended up transferring to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to study film and television production. My idea was to develop relationships with creators I’d go on to make all my content with. At school, I worked on endless student productions as a director, casting director, PA, you name it. I also interned with Jax Media and worked on shows like Younger and Living With Yourself, which actually shared a production office with the final season of Broad City – such a pinch me moment.

After graduation, I moved back to LA and began working in casting primarily because those were my immediate contacts from back when I was auditioning. My goals were also to audition again, and to start carving a path towards development. Then, the pandemic happened. I wanted to continue working on comedy, especially since it was a primary way for me to process the trauma of the world, but improv was a no-go – too many people in one space. That’s when I took a crack at stand-up. At the time, the only type of live comedy happening were outdoor mics. To make ends meet, I was doing freelance script editing, production work, and nannying. I also started volunteering at The Elysian Theater which completely opened my mind to the world of clown and performance art/comedy. Once things began to let up, I landed a talent management assistant gig. This type of work is beyond full-time. Especially post-pandemic, managers seem to be the primary talent contact, and because in-person offices became scarce, managers became reachable 24/7 by cell phone. I wasn’t able to perform comedy or audition anymore. Frankly, I wasn’t the best assistant. Probably because I had dreams of my own. I 100% was the personality hire – Think Meg Stalter’s character on Hacks (but for real). The more I worked on everyone else’s projects instead of my own, the more miserable I became. I’m so not made for a 9-5 (lol, more like 8pm) desk job.

Presently, I’ve since left that assistant job and, candidly, have survived off of more gig work like dog sitting and teaching acting to children. I immediately began to form a year-long plan for myself which involves immersing myself in the clown scene, developing a solo clown show, and finding ways to put it up. And that’s where this article finds me. 100% investing in my own craft and taking the leap to make it all happen.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

My solo show definitely touches on this topic, so please come see it! I post show info on my socials. Support local art. My art :)

Now that I’ve done by obligatory pitch, I sincerely think we need more state-sponsored art initiatives in this country. I think there’s this idea that since Hollywood and Broadway exist in America, you just move to L.A or N.Y and make your dreams come true. That’s it. No guidance. Since my involvement in the clown scene, which is very global, I’ve learned that countries like Australia and England offer many different opportunities for artists to fund and put up their work. This is such an anti-capitalist practice. American artists have to grind unbelievably hard to get noticed in our market. Forget about making money off of their work. You’ll notice that, in America, people who have the opportunity to pursue their dreams tend to come from incredible privilege, whether that be money and/or nepotism. The gatekeeping of it all is so daunting and disheartening. When I was initially introduced to the concept of Fringe festivals, my brain broke. An opportunity for performers to work out their projects in real time, in front of audiences, every single night for a month?! Insane.

By no means am I saying it’s easier to be an artist in countries outside of America, but I do think we have a long way to go in terms of making this type of career/life path more accessible. I genuinely believe there’s room for all of us in this industry. It’s so ugly to see everyone as competition. We all have something unique to say and contribute.

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?

In my hometown, it feels like everyone ends up in nursing, real-estate, or teaching. Also, it’s a given that you’ll settle down and start a family. No shade, at all! I just have a hard time relating to where they’re at in their lives. I feel like, to them, I’m still a selfish kid clinging to pipe dreams. They aren’t wrong. It’s really difficult to explain to someone from this background that I’m in a long-term, committed relationship with my craft, and my projects are my babies. Everything else comes second, third, ect. To realize my art is to give birth. And to pursue my art can be isolating.

With careers like nursing, real-estate, teaching, etc., you can learn these trades and their skills in school. There’s a carved path with milestones and expectations. In most creative fields, it still feels very primitive. You have to fend for yourself. You could go and get a BFA in musical theater or film and television production, but it never guarantees employment in your field. The degree doesn’t book the job, the talent does. That is, talent as in the performer, not ability. Some of the most untalented people I know book all of the time. That’s just how it is. Also, booking one job isn’t assurance that you’ll land another. Entertainment is very much a gig-economy. Some of the most successful creatives out there are still looking for their next gig/source of income.

I ultimately would want non-creatives to know that I constantly have to make peace with the inconsistency and instability of my chosen path. If I wanted those things more than the dream, I would have quit a long time ago. I mean, I’ve partially quit on myself plenty of times because of that fear! This career requires you to have outrageous, almost blind, belief in yourself. I have to remind myself of the times I’ve chosen a stable job and how unhappy I was. Ultimately, being a creative gives me the type of fulfillment and purpose I don’t believe I could get anywhere else.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jen_popo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-podell-77b003105/
• Other: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10781?tab=tickets

Image Credits

Headshot: Dana Patrick
RONALD Poster: Callum Walker Hutchinson