We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Ruth Starrett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nicole Ruth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?

I always feel that referrals (from other industry colleagues that you trust) are the strongest way to create a strong initial foundation with potential representation — and thinking outside the box on referrals to new rep is helpful.

For example, I was introduced to my current commercial comedy agent (who is THE BEST – shoutout Adam Lieblien!) through a comedy organization that I’ve worked with for years, called The RubyLA (also the best – Shoutout Lindsay Barrow and team!).

Because there was mutual trust between the organization and I, and trust between the rep and the comedy organization, the initial meeting went really well. Note that this wasn’t a referral from another actor, but rather through a slightly different industry referral where there was a great working relationship. I think that this is a pretty strong way to initiate a representative meeting.

Beyond that, for my money, the best advice on signing with an agent is to treat it like any relationship. You want to make sure there’s good communication (on both ends! you gotta talk too!), and that your career goals are aligned. Most important is that you guys “get” each other, and are able to work through difficult moments — as there always are, in life, and in this crazy industry.

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.

So, I’m an actor and Creative Producer. I got into the industry by following my curiosity, taking calculated risks, and trusting that if I helped where I can, that friends would appear.

After being theatrically trained as an actor in New York (at Circle in the Square), I started working with film school friends who needed actors with their projects. I started to notice two things at this point. The first was that the quality of my acting work naturally was more understated, which worked for camera; the second was that I needed to be more technical with this medium, in ways that I knew I was lacking.

So, moving to Los Angeles with no job or network (after having grown up on the East Coast of the US) was a big risk, and fueled by curiosity about camera work. But I also trusted that if I kept saying yes collaborating with friends, that the path would appear… and this has worked out for me. It’s not always glamorous, but it’s my next step has always been guided by curiosity, taking smart risks, and helping friends.

In my work as a creative producer and consultant, these principles have also applied. It’s been a wild ride as a woman in this field, but generally I find that if I choose to produce or consult on projects that are fueled by passion, make me curious, and have the aim of helping heal the world, these projects tend to succeed. They resonate with people. And they do make a difference.

An example of this is the feature film that I associate produced and acted in, called LITTLE BROTHER. This movie stars JK Simmons, and the amazing talent of Philip Ettinger. It’s the story of two brothers who take a road trip, and along the way, gently uncover the roots of Ettigner’s character’s suicidal tendencies.

At talkbacks all over the United States, people have approached the team in tears afterwards, saying that the film reminded them of their brother, sister, friend, uncle… and they were grateful to have a chance to process in this way.

This is because the writer/director, Sheridan O’Donnell, based the script off real conversations he’d had with a close friend about his own suicide attempts. To bring it home, the way I got involved with this beautiful film is because my friends, (the amazing producing duo of Dylan Matlock and JP Oulette), asked me to jump onboard as an associate producer, to help get the project made. So I did.

I recently heard John Mullaney say that he’s auditioned for literally hundreds of things, but has only been a series regular on two shows: his own, and his best friend Nick Kroll’s.

All this to say – all boats rise together. Stay curious, take risks, help good people. They’ll help you when they can.

Plus – friends make the whole thing more fun.

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

I travel back and forth between Los Angeles and Toronto, and the differences between the way that arts are supported in both countries is vast.

Mainly, I notice that in Canada, there is a huge government-driven priority and societal value shift towards indigenous, BIPOC, and nonbinary creators. While I feel that this is also somewhat the case in the United States, the main difference is that the government in Canada truly supports the “ecosystem” of creators financially. Plainly put, there’s just more government money for the arts, especially focused on First Nations artists.

My personal opinion is that the Canadian society benefits enormously from this prioritization. There is more of a connection to each other, to the land, and a sensitivity to Native sovereignty, and a vision of stewardship for our collective future.

I think if you’re working in the United States, the best way to create a bridge to healthy artistic future is to collaborate internationally, and where possible, support and elevate unheard voices with these deep cultural roots in storytelling.

We forget that borders are a relatively recent invention. We now have the power to connect people and resources throughout the globe.

Be a bridge.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I don’t really like the terms “non-creatives” and “creatives” — I mean, guys — cooking is a creative act. So is raising a kid. Anytime you synthesize information into a new form, this is creativity. We’re all creative.

Semantics aside, in terms of taking a non-traditional career approach, I think the hardest thing for people to understand is the uncertainty. Not to get too deep, but the truth is: uncertainty is the underpinning of all of our lives – the only certainty is really death. We’re all coming home to this truth thanks to the pandemic, and one upshot of this is that people are re-orienting their lives around more non-traditional paths — even though this involves living with a lot of fear, and uncertainty.

Everyone is looking for their purpose, to some degree. I feel that the more that we are able to sit with our own fears of not knowing what will come next, and trust doing what truly moves us in spite of this, the more that we are able to follow the path that is truly our own.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nicolestarrett.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/truenstarr
• Facebook: facebook.com/nicolestarrett1
• Twitter: twitter.com/truenstarr
• Other: www.jubileeprod.com

Image Credits
Marcus T Thomas, Native American Media Alliance, Gregory JM Kasunich, Roberta Perrone