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

Hi Justin , thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

As long as I can remember, I’ve always known I’d somehow end up in the arts. As a kid I use to perform entire musical numbers for family and friends (I actually cut out little tickets and wouldn’t let them in my room without them so I was pulling double duty as a bouncer too). Once I realized I wasn’t destined to be a pop star, I pivoted to writing, sure I’d be a novelist or something. I found theatre in middle school but didn’t really get serious about it until I went to college. I was too shy to perform once I got into high school so it’d been a few years, but I went to an audition my freshmen year as moral support for a friend and got roped into auditioning too and the rest is history. I went from sociology and pre-law to theatre and have 0 regrets.

Justin , 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 the Associate Artistic Director at Out Front Theatre Company and the Casting Associate at Actor’s Express, both in West Midtown. I was a directing intern with AE right out of college and they let me stick around to help with casting and it’s been a blast. I really do love seeing actors shine. Plus I love getting to organize auditions and make sure things run efficiently, which is most of the work I do with AE.

I’ve been with Out Front since the second season back in 2017. I wear a lot of hats as Associate Artistic Director, but most of what I do revolves around casting and new work development, but I’ve also done plenty of grant writing and some directing too (also more hours than I can count spent working behind the bar).

Out Front is Atlanta’s LGBTQIA+ theatre company so all the work we produce is focused on our community, which I’m extremely proud of. We don’t just strive to make great theatre, but to make sure that everyone in our community knows that they have a home and safe space to create with us. Starting next season, we’ve also converted our huge lobby into a cabaret/lounge space, so we can start programming even more events. Live music, comedy, poetry, burlesque, anything. So if you’re an LGBTQIA+ identifying performer or playwright in Atlanta, email me! Let’s chat about your work and what you’d like to create.

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

Allocate more funds to arts organizations! Georgia ranks last in the nation for funding of it’s art agencies. Artists need to make livable wages and institutions that employ artists need support to better accomplish that. Donors and private foundations are an important part of that equation, but if you consider states like Connecticut (which is number 1 in the country) offer nearly $10 per capita, whereas Georgia allocates roughly $0.14 per capita, that is a HUGE discrepancy. The arts play a critical role in education and creating vibrant communities, but it’s difficult to do much without proper support so if you want to see a more substantial creative ecosystem in our state, talk to your representatives! Help us shed some light and let our state government know that arts funding is crucial.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

With Out Front, we get the opportunity to create a space where artists can feel safe and want to return. That is always our goal and it’s deeply affirming to see actors and other creative come and support the theatre at events, or tell us how excited they are to see we’re producing a certain show. We get the chance to create community and I think it’s really special. And personally, I just love seeing my friends succeed and grow as artists. Shout out to Ibi Owolabi who is taking over the world by way of NYC!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://outfronttheatre.com/
• Instagram: @justinkalin

Image Credits
Photos by Tyler Ogburn and Season Design Graphics by Brandon D Hunt Design