We recently connected with Lela Luster and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, particularly with the current strikes going on in the entertainment industry, this is something very important to talk about. I think the main thing corporate America gets wrong about the entertainment industry, when it comes to film and television, is that as much as the “money men” want to make this profession completely about the bottom line, at its core – the writing, the acting, the creation of a project, is what it’s about. This has been true since the beginning of the film industry. That idea changed towards the late 1920’s, when it was seen that film wasn’t going to be a fleeting thing, as so many thought it would be. I am often reminded of a quote from the documentary, The Story of Film, an Odyssey: “the money men don’t know the secrets of the human heart, or the brilliance of the medium of film…” and that’s so true. Capitalism has made creativity harder to explore. It has made the idea of paying a writer or an actor a living wage “disturbing,” and “kooky.”
With streaming ruling now, actors don’t even receive residuals anymore. Let’s keep it real though, the folks getting paid astronomical amounts, people aren’t watching those movies and shows because of them. You’re watching because a director or screenwriter you admire is attached – you’re watching because an actor who’s style you admire is in it. So, at the very least, all these people deserve their fair share of that money bowl as well.

Lela, 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?

I’m Lela Luster, an actress and part-time model from Los Angeles. When I’m not hunting down auditions, I’m keeping up with the lunacy of the world, hanging with my cats, preparing for an audition, preparing for a photo shoot, zoning out in traffic, or grabbing a soda from the Mc Donald’s further down the street and not the one closer to my place because the strength of their Coke is way better. At the moment, my portfolio is fairly small, so I’m proud of all of it! Yes, of course I watch some of the things that I’ve been in and judge every decision I made in this shot or that shot, but overall, I’m thrilled that I get to do it. There is one music video that I was lucky enough to be in, that I am quite proud of. It’s from the artist Margo Price, for her song “All American Made.” I played one half of a queer couple and the song speaks on some of the ignorance surrounding some of the atrocities that our country is responsible for. It’s a wonderful song, with a wonderful message, performed beautifully by the artist.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I chose this question specifically because I don’t have a large audience on social media, however, I do have a small one (UNDER 1,000) that I’ve been building up for a few years now. I used to worry about not posting enough. Now I post when I feel like I have something worth posting so basically, when I feel like it. Sometimes I still think, “damn I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks.” Then I have to tap myself back into reality because for me at least, if I’m posting a video or a photo that I’m just ‘meh’ about, it makes social media not as fun or useful as it can be. Start posting what you’re proud of, post photos and videos of you really feeling yourself, your outtakes of auditions, especially the comedic ones. Whatever you want, not what you think might work for an algorithm. That’s to say, don’t obsess because then you’re not going to want to do it at all – and you will experience burn out!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In all honesty, what I had to unlearn, and still must remind myself from time to time is that I am where I’m supposed to be. I’ve beat myself up for not “being further on.” I’ve second, third, fourth guessed a decision I’ve made on an audition I sent off forever ago, I’ve compared myself to where others are. It’s SO important to stay on YOUR track. What you view as your success, will happen in your time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: lela__luster
• TikTok: lela__luster

Image Credits
Main photo -n/a Top 2- Nolwen Cifuentes Bottom 2 (red filter)- my own