We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nee Kirschman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nee below.
Hi Nee, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
The first time I got paid as a writer was for an animated movie. I thought working in animation meant I’d only be limited by own imagination– wrong. I was limited by what producers wanted to spend money on animating. It was a lot of “we already have these assets banked so can you come up with something involving a giant wheel of cheese?” “Oh no, sorry, the wheel of cheese can’t spin.” So… it wasn’t the most creatively fulfilling project I’ve ever worked on. But it did end up on Netflix and I got to watch many of my jokes, characters, and situations, brought to life, which was pretty dang cool.
Nee, 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?
In the second grade, we had an assignment to write where we see ourselves at 25 — I said a film and tv writer living in Los Angeles. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. I moved here from New Orleans at 18 to go to USC and never looked back. It was not, however, a straight line to writer. I’ve had pretty much every job you can have in the industry and as hard of a climb as it was (and still is), every job I’ve had made me learn something new about the art of storytelling. And that’s been the unifier of everything I’ve done — from stand-up, to editing, to sound design, to directing, to puppeteering,
(yeah it’s a pretty diverse resume) — it’s all storytelling. And even though the road to writer has been more difficult than my second grade self would’ve liked, I wouldn’t change it. The time it took allowed me to hone my craft, fine-tune my tone, diversify my skillset, discover my love of horror, and work with and support my friends. I have a production company with friends called, Momma Outta Bullets — there isn’t anything we can’t do and we’re only getting better. So if you’re ever in the market for a one-stop shop for all things video production — we’ve got you covered :)
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
What’s most rewarding is different depending on what I’m doing. If I’m doing stand-up, it’s the laughter. If I’m writing, it’s challenging my imagination. If I’m editing, it’s solving the puzzle. In the pandemic, I performed as a puppet for kids all over the country on zoom, and seeing their faces light up when I popped in is still one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. I feel very lucky to have had the experiences I’ve had and I feel like I’m just getting started.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think the best way to support artists and creatives is the same way we should support people in general — allow space for failure. Let people make mistakes and learn from them. Provide an environment where failure leads to self-discovery instead of fear. I was afraid of failure for a long time — I felt like failure meant I was letting all the people that believed in me down — but in reality, failure has been the thing that has made me learn and grow much more lastingly than any of my successes.
Contact Info:
- Website: mommaouttabullets.com
- Instagram: @neehilism