We were lucky to catch up with Kalyn Elizabeth Wood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kalyn Elizabeth , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project would have to be one that I made, which is in one part why it is so meaningful. My short film ‘Screaming Silence’, has taught me the most and has given me a new found confidence in both acting and filmmaking. The main thing that I’m known for so far in my career is acting, but in the last six months, I inadvertently became a professional filmmaker. I recently finished a Masters degree in text and performance in London, and with that I had to do a dissertation piece. I decided to do a short film, mainly because I know films. I know how to act in them, but I didn’t know how to make one so I took on a huge collaborative effort and by huge I mean it was two people, me and my co director Hal Waghorn. I had no plans of doing anything with it. I just wanted to get a top mark and graduate with my masters and continue my career, but what ended up happening was a mixture of my closest, most honest friends convincing me to do something with the film, my mom telling me I had done something special, and lastly my friend Alba Kaufmann who is a producer asking me to send her the film and then her asking if she could come on as the main producer. I was a bit shocked, but of course I said yes and still didn’t know what I was going to do. When we sat down for meetings we thought we should just start submitting it to film festivals and that’s when it all took off.
The film itself is something that I didn’t think I had in me. I always thought maybe I would be cast in something like this and I knew I could do it on the acting side, but I didn’t know anything else about it, so when I had all this confidence from people who were close to me, but on thing to note is that I surround myself with people who are incredibly honest, so when we decided to take this and say okay, let’s start submitting it to places, we were equally shocked when we started to get selections. Then when we started to be nominated for performance, producing, editing, and for sound design we were so overwhelmed with excitement. Like I said before we are our own self critics and sometimes our own worst enemy, so when the film started to be successful I questioned it. Mainly because I had seen it so many times, that by the 500th time of watching it I thought it wasn’t good enough. I guess you don’t realize sometimes you need the inward self reflection or the self gratification from having people like your work because it does mean something. My heart behind the film was making something for myself and inadvertently it’s helping other people. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me at festivals during the screenings saying that they felt seen or they maybe can’t relate to the situation in the film, but they could relate to the emotions of that character. One juror even said that, “this film is for everyone”. That is overwhelming with joy and so much emotion, because a film that is 17 minutes long, that has no dialogue in it can have that much of an effect. I think now that I look back on that, maybe that was my goal; to simply help people and that’s what I’m most proud of. In the effort to make something for myself, and for my own healing I have been able to help so many other people. Something that was for my dissertation and it was made in 48 hours and then was edited over a week and that was it. We were blessed to have a Michael Crean whose song is at the end of the film say yes to us to use the song. This was incredibly important to us because the song is so evocative, but the song was what inspired me to write the film. The first iteration of the film was very different and I scrapped that first version. Michael’s song helped me see the film in my head first, and then write it. The song provides a release for the audience in a film that has no dialogue.
‘Screaming Silence’, has now ventured into a collaboration with a company close to my heart called 50fifty. Started by Annarose, 50fifty’s mission is that they are a collective that inspires individuals to amplify their voices and promotes a culture of consent, respect and education. They envision a future where sexual assault is no longer tolerated or normalized, and where everyone has equal access to resources & support. A portion of the profits at 50fifty got to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti sexual violence organization. While my film is a tough watch, it’s an important watch because it speaks to those with a voice to be inspired to help the voiceless. I am so excited about what is to come with this collaboration and don’t want to give away too much, but make sure you follow @50fifty.co and me @kalynelizabethwood to keep up to date on what all we get up to. But here’s a little hint, keep your eyes on fall 2024.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
What drew me to acting was the realization that it provided a profound understanding of people and how we, as humans, operate. I’ve always been fascinated by the intricacies of human emotions, relationships, and the diverse range of experience that make each person unique. Acting, for me, is a way to delve into the complexities of the human psyche and explore the various facets of life through the lens of different characters.
I started acting at a young age… mainly in my bed room in front of a mirror, but that counts right? I started doing musicals and plays at my middle school and high school and fell more and more in love with acting. In high school, I was able to join a teen musical theater company outside of school and that was one of the most amazing experiences in my young years because it taught me a lot about responsibility and hard work in the industry. I had my first professional job when I was 16 or 17 years old on a TV show. It was my first camera role I had ever done and It was amazing. It was a two week shoot and I learned so much. While I Loved watching movies and TV I now knew how they were made and my role in it. I became truly obsessed with movies and acting in them. After that, my tv work was steady, but I also knew I wanted to go to college. I decided to go to University and get a degree in History. I love that I got that degree and had a full, well rounded college experience. It’s a life experience that I truly value and am thankful for. Even though I did not get my undergraduate degree in acting, I did perform in a few shows at my University that were open to the whole school to audition for. Soon after graduating I booked my first lead in a film, ‘Undefiled’. It was during the pandemic, so I was thankful to have work coming in. I then moved on to a TV show with the amazing actor, Eric Roberts, and then after that another film called ‘Molar’, which is set to come out this year. After filming ‘Molar’ I decided to move to London and get a Masters in acting. While I was there I met my current agent. I was able to do a lot of worldwide and national commercials while studying there. Then, while studying, I made a short film for my dissertation that has brought me a lot of success and notoriety, which has been an incredible whirlwind that is still going.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Oh wow. Big question. I think I’m currently in the middle of a pivot. In April of this year my dad passed away after a long fight with cancer. He was one of my main pillars in my life, next to my mom. Throughout his fight with cancer he never missed a beat. He was always incredibly present, even if I was an entire ocean away, he was always there. He was and well I guess still is my biggest inspiration in life. He was the hardest working person I knew, and was able to achieve everything he promised himself he would. The pivot I’ve done in my life is to slow down and change my perspective about time. To truly relinquish control, because truly none of us are in control and the minute we realize that and submit to it, it is the most freeing thing. I say all this to emphasize that everyones’ path is different, and everyone has their own time in this life. Yes, my dad was able to achieve all things he wanted to, but it didn’t happen in the time frame he thought it would. It was small and incremental, but that made him live in the moment and appreciate everything around him. He used to say, ‘everyday is a great day’ because we choose everyday to be happy. I carry that with me. To choose to be happy. To be patient. To chase my dreams. To believe in myself. When I submitted to not having control, I was able to easily pivot in my life. I was flexible enough with the present circumstances to readjust and be in the moment. I think that also can apply to acting too. Especially in this industry. Live a life in the moment and then pivoting in your career becomes easier and easier. In my opinion we don’t fall backwards, we fall forwards. Now that’s a perspective thing, but I truly believe it. When you ‘fall forward’ you still move forward and then you can learn.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I think to be open to the unexpected. Sometimes we tend to make sure artists ‘follow the rules’ when it comes to filmmaking. Young artist being told to do it the way it’s always been done, and that there is a system to follow. With my film, ‘Screaming Silence’, I think I broke a lot of those rules in terms of traditional filmmaking without even realizing. I did what felt right and made sense in my head. The reality is that I made ‘Screaming Silence’ for myself, and now it’s become a force of truth for everyone else, which is a true gift. Allow artists to start from a place of truth. Give artists the opportunity to learn, to fail, and to succeed. Allow for new ideas to develop. Don’t tell the same story over and over again, because that’s not the world we live in. We live in an ever changing world where we must celebrate uniqueness and the multitude of human experiences we have. That’s the beauty of art, it is the mirror held up to humanity. Don’t be greedy. When one of us wins we all win. Bring people in, for new thoughts, new perspectives, and new stories. Something that I’ve learned in the past couple of months with the success of ‘Screaming Silence’ is the importance of film festivals. Support your local festivals, go and watch films, get to know the filmmakers, and give people a chance. In this day and age, people seem to be ‘too cool’ to help and give chances to people. I think when you extend that same chance someone gave you, we all succeed and it creates change. We are all able to be seen and have voices the a must be heard. Lastly, never give up. Support your friends, lift eachother up, and know that your voice is important and you have a unique perspective.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.screamingsilencefilm.com
- Instagram: @kalynelizabethwood
Image Credits
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