We recently connected with Melissa Lozoff and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I have worked with kids and teens for over 25 years and I have learned a lot! I teach acting, filmmaking, and life skills and though times have changed the kids and their needs remain the same. There is so much memorizing and uninspired learning that happens in school. We need to help our students be more creative, learn to ask questions, and get excited about learning new things. Schools tend to ignore emotional intelligence (EQ) and focus everything on IQ. Creativity and EQ are the key to not only more successful careers but also happier lives.

I use acting to teach my students about awareness, being in the moment, thinking about their own behaviors and what drives them, perspective and how others think and behave, and how emotions drive our decisions. I wish schools understood the importance of EQ and took the time to better prepare kids for life and what it takes to be happier. Resilience and grit, creativity and curiosity, awareness and perspective; these are all things kids need more education in.

There has been enough research on the importance of giving and service and how that impacts our own joy. With acting we have to focus on others and think about other people’s lives and how their choices have affected them. This opens students up and gives them more awareness and compassion.

My fear is we are raising kids in a stressful world and not giving them any tools on how to be truly happy. What good is educating someone if they don’t enjoy their life?

For now I encourage kids to participate in the arts and find ways to educate themselves on what brings them joy! My hope is our education system will wake up and start to change.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been an actor for over 30 years, acting in numerous commercials, TV shows, films, and even hosted a PBS show (Baby Makes Three) for several seasons. I started Movie Makers over 20 years ago, a company that helps kid write, direct and star in their own movies! We were even featured in an episode of Kate Plus Eight where Movie Makers came in and made a movie with all 8 kids. Studio A Acting Company was my next business expanding my teachings to kids and adults teaching them acting, creativity, and life skills. Many of my students have gone on to star in TV shows, movies and commercials.

My latest endeavor is teaming up with a friend to create our very own production company Magic Mice Productions. We have three YouTube Channels where we aim to inspire and educate through fun and thought provoking media.

I think something that continues to set me apart from others is my relentless pursuit of following my bliss. It is so important to me to truly enjoy my work. I demand that it fills my bucket and feed my soul. If something doesn’t work or is draining I will pivot and change tactics. I continue to pursue what I love while creating as much value for my customer as I can. Proving value and changing lives is important to my bottom line.

When I teach a student about acting I am really teaching them about life and giving them the skills to be happy and successful. It matters to me that my students walk away with much more than acting techniques. This art form, when taught in the right way, can transform lives. You can take what you learn from me and apply it to so many aspects of your life. I am really a life coach who can also make you a star!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I grew up in a very small town in Southern Alberta, Canada. It was very conservative, very focused on sports, no drama or art classes in sight. At a young age I knew I was going to be an actor. I watched Carol Burnett, John Ritter, and Michael J. Fox and knew that was the life for me.

Everyone in my town thought I was crazy. They did not know what to think of me. Teachers laughed when I told them my dream. Nothing deterred me. I knew I did not fit in with this town, I knew I was different, and I knew there was something else out there for me. I felt I had no choice.

When you have no choice you become instantly resilient. When you ha e no choice you just do and don’t look back. As soon as I graduated I moved from my small town to Los Angeles California where I went to theater school. I was in heaven…for about six months.

Halfway through my first year at the conservatory I was not doing well. I did not like some of my teachers, I could not understand what they were teaching, I felt like a terrible actor. However, when you have no choice, you have to keep going. I certainly could not go back home so I figured out my best next option. I quit the conservatory and found a better class and better teacher! From there I learned so many brilliant techniques, grew my confidence and went on to book several gigs on TV and film. I did not listen to anyone but myself and I got to live my dream!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I started my first company Movie Makers I did not have a lot of money. It was born out of a crazy idea I had and I don’t know if it would work. I did not want to go into debt to try so I did everything as cheaply as I could.

I started small. I had a small old studio on my property that I cleaned up, repainted and decorated for very little money. I started with creating only two Movie Making classes for kids and printed flyers myself. I put them up all over town and distributed them around neighborhoods. It was such a a novel idea I started to get interest.

As I was getting ready to teach my first class my only old camcorder broke. I didn’t have money to replace it so I bartered with a family, giving their child a free class if they let me their camera. After these two classes went well I had enough to purchase a camera for my next classes.

I basically started small and built from there. I continued to add classes and camps and within a few years it was a booming business.

Contact Info:

• Website: movie-makers.net
• Instagram: @magic_mice_productions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MovieMakersNC
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@MagicMiceEmpowers?si=lpoZbZDnbNeu8scb