We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Noelle Cope a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Noelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

The most beautiful thing about being a creative is that every part of your life teaches you how to do what you do.
I think that was the first and most vital lesson I was taught as a child by the artistic community in my hometown.
You don’t have a voice ( unique perspective) to add to your projects if you don’t understand how to apply your own experiences and curiosity to the project.
But from a strictly craft perspective I was really blessed to be raised by my mom who was a former figure skating coach. Her unique understanding of how to blend an athlete dedication, work ethic and commitment to artistic excellence really pushed me to apply those qualities to my training and education. While I never studied either writing or acting formally I was lucky upon moving to LA as a teenager to find many programs to enroll that created a fantastic foundation for my professional career. Mostly due to how many opportunities can be found for minors in LA unlike other cities. The most important thing was always making sure to study in places that taught me the craft while helping me maintain my sense of self and voice.
It wasn’t always easy and I tried my fair share of toxic classes but ultimately I’m grateful for all the ups and downs. Each place taught me my own strengths and helped me meet amazing collaborators.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In the past year and half I have become most known in Los Angeles as a poet thanks to the success of my debut collection of poetry “ Notes From The In-Between” . Which I’m extremely grateful for the out pouring of love the book has received.
In addition to poetry I am also a screenwriter, actress, producer and director professionally.

A lot of folks love to ask me what I like most of my professional careers and truthfully I love them all.
Each area helps teach me skills, lessons and techniques that deepen my abilities in other areas.
The more experience I gain as a producer the more I learn how to incorporate that knowledge into the scripts that I write to help ensure it’s collaborative production.
As an actor I apply what I’ve learned to help me feel more confident and aware of what is happening around me so I can not only focus on my character and performance but be a member of the team as a whole.

I also find that the different mediums of writing I explore feed into each other.
How can I use the more minimalist style of poetry that is packed with emotions to enhance the experience of reading a script ? How can I use a script’s visually focused approach to make my poems fly off the page. And so on.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It sounds so cliche but truly getting to be in community with other creatives. The whole reason I was drawn to LA and wanted to live and work here was to be with other people who were able to express themselves in meaningful ways.
I wanted to be able to witness it and be a part of it.
I really love the depth of conversations to be had and the level of compassion and introspection all artists must have. To create something and share ourselves with other people demands a lot but it’s the most beautiful thing to discover.

Without the endless groups and constant opportunities to meet other writers and filmmakers I wouldn’t half the human I am or half the professional.
It has made my daily life more meaningful and my work.

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

Being vocal about the artists you love continuing to show up at events for creatives is huge.
As an author I can say that there is no way to measure how important independent bookstores and libraries are. Without these spaces allowing me to host workshops, readings and signing I wouldn’t have been able to build any type of platform to raise awareness using my writing for survivors of intimate partner abuse.

As an actor I can that so many of us depend on live events. From table readings to screenings to theater performances. It all matters so much.

Supporting indie films is also vital. It’s amazing what can happen to a film when it’s rented on a VOD platform. It doesn’t take a lot of people supporting a film to change the lives of the filmmakers and allow them to make their next project.
If you think about being an artist and supporting artist as functioning like a small town you quickly see how necessary each and every person is to keeping art accessible and artists employed

Contact Info:

• Website: Https://noellecope.shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noellacope/
• Other: https://noellecope.substack.com/

Image Credits

First image photographed by Chris John
Next editorial shots photographed by Jon Del Real
Event photos by C.C. Cope

BTS Photo by Priscilla Chavez Scott