Writer/actor/model/filmmaker and now lyricist – Eva-Marie Fredric hails from Steinbeck country. She is honored to have been acknowledged by two Mayors and one Sheriff as both an advocate and journalist. Fredric was instrumental in raising public awareness for numerous non-profits, Leeza Gibbons’ Memory Foundation and late Wendie Jo Sperber’s weSPARK free cancer support center through her freelance work. See her recent interview with Ron Brewington as a recurring guest here: The Actor’s Choice.
Currently, she’s a mom in hell in the recently released feature film, VAL with Erik Griffen, is the iciest of moms in Amazon’s new series: DARK WEB, Episode 7; climbs a mountain of cigarettes in ALA’s SAVED BY THE SCAN, is a prison guard in Lucas Joyner/Chris Brown’s rap video, I DON’T DIE and was featured in the Issa Rae produced, Daytime Emmy winning series created by James Bland – GIANTS, co-produced by Issa Rae.
Shorty & Morty, her award winning dark comedic short film review addresses life’s misfits played on six different Los Angeles film festival screens and 13 in Melbourne, AU. Their unique homeless world continues on from the short films/interviews and additional characters can be savored here: Shorty & Morty.
Tention Free: You wear many hats in the entertainment industry, from director to lyricist to actor. How do you balance these roles, and what do you find most fulfilling about each one?
Thank you for having me. The new word “brand yourself” is the replacement of “type casting” oneself, which I don’t believe in – for me – because it’s limiting. I rarely have been cast in roles that I was right for due to someone’s perception of my appearance. When I first started acting and was up for some really good parts yet I was consistently told I looked “too pretty, too thin and too young.” One role as a young mother the casting director called me when the actor he cast bailed on him. He initially echoed those very words. I just thanked him and was surprised he called to have me do the role. I easily fit the role and the outcome impressed the director.
I have been fortunate to meet and be guided by remarkable talents and friends in the business from Hubert Selby, Jr. (Requiem for A Dream), Jason Miller (The Exorcist, That Championship Season), Andy Kaufman to Howard Deutch (Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink) and Jean Shelton, a revered acting coach in San Francisco. What these people taught me was to dare to be unique by not following the norm, to push myself as an artist in any way I could. To have that in my head and not worry about whether I got the part but to make sure I was prepared to show what I have and just be was the single most valuable lesson. Never interfere with the life of a character presented. There’s such freedom and anxiety in that way of approaching an acting role.
I’ve taken time away from my craft and when I dove back in – I worked hard to get seen by doing any project I could that was a challenge – and it paid off. I booked a Rap video (I Don’t Die) as a prison guard with Joyner Lucas and Chris Brown. Then came a web series (Giants) that was nominated for a daytime Emmy produced by Issa Rae and written, directed and starring, James Bland.A horror short – I played a mother in hell – the night before the Covid lockdown, (Val) and I’ve had an ongoing spot for the American Lung Association (Saved by The Scan) directed by Martin Scorsese’s main DP, the amazing Rodrigo Prieto. The visual is a woman climbing a mountain of cigarettes who breathes easier knowing she’s been scanned and is cancer free after quitting smoking that still airs.
Being directed by others is easier because I just need to show up. Writing and directing whether it’s music videos or short films is incredibly hard work. I end up wearing so many hats for budget reasons – I wish I didn’t have that challenge. I feel that a smaller unit is a tighter which helps keep the vision in focus. I can’t say there is any balance in the things I’ve done – I just surround myself with good people who are excited about any given project as much as I bring myself to others’ projects. It’s much more difficult to direct oneself or to write and have someone direct me. The latter pose the duality of having to sense if the character is true, if the heart of the piece is being captured while being in front of and behind the camera. I have so much respect for directors/actors that do it with far more ease than me! To be in a project I’ve written and have someone directing is similar in that I still have to step outside of my character to see that the other characters are being captured as written. A simple note to an actor’s question changed her entire performance of “Kate” in Shorty & Morty. I told her that if someone chopped off her arms she’d laugh and thank them. She’s one of my favorite characters in the film along with “Jared.”There are so many people I respect that I would still love to work with and hopefully will.
Shorty & Mortyhas two shorts and in-character interviews that I still want to see become a limited series or ongoing. The market hasn’t touched the world of homelessness in the way this extraordinary duo lives and experience the hierarchies with the love of one another. Steve Huber, composed a theme song and created musical nuances intentionally for each character. He’s brilliant.
In all sincerity, the most difficult thing to do is to get anything made and to keep crews going because if you’re doing your own thing, everyone has other gigs lined up. Having to replace someone you’ve established a great working relationship with and having to find another just as good, if not better, is key and not easy. Keeping an open mind, allowing others to express ideas. I love collaborating and if something goes wrong? I was taught in improvisation early on to just say yes and go with that new information. That zone is the tight wire that requires a crew who believes in you to make the best product.
What’s fulfilling about any role I do is the thrill of the final cut and the reactions I get.
Tention Free: Your collaboration with Drake Shining and Frank Simes on the album This Is Life Now has been a significant milestone. Can you share more about the creative process behind writing the lyrics for this album?
Writing lyrics was the best gift the lockdown gave me. I was challenged by a musician I know to write lyrics for a song and then my dear musician friend Drake said he would compose music – which became our first collaborative song:Free My Soul.Little did we know that this would lead to an entire album recorded with the experience and production help of Frank Simes – a long-time friend and collaborator of Drake’s. Ten of the eleven songs were composed – with lyrics I wrote – and the unique virtuoso ears of Drake “Munkihaid” Shining (musical director for the Sugaray Rayford Band) for his debut album:This Is Life Now. The Amazon reviews have been stunning.
I would write and send lyrics to Drake and I’d wait for the no. He never said no! That shocked me but he taught me and continues to teach me what works musically and what doesn’t. Then he’d do the music and we’d go over more ideas and edits.
When I asked him, who are we going to cast to do the talk-back on Luna? His comeback was you are! You’re an actress! Then while he recorded me doing Luna’svoice he wrecked a few takes because he laughed so hard at my take on Luna. He also had me do the wife in Get Outta the Shower. We both laughed a lot because with the wife I had no clue where he was going to put my improvised words, sighs and more, in. The end product is such a reward. It’s about a husband addicted to porn who ignores his wife and buys her a mistaken gift on the fly – a showerhead – to improve the house. He unwittingly ignites her greatest pleasure and she becomes the addiction. The ending of the video is worth the wait.
Working with these two – especially Drake –was invigorating because having him on set gave me the audience I needed to play a whacked out low-end dollar hooker named Denise. The more he laughed the crazier she became. Drake’s laughter helped me shape her while filming.
Each music video, Denise, Rosie, Get Outta the Shower and Luna are stand-alone styles of music and the theme music that surround the storyline and verses were discussed with Frank (ex-Musical Director of The Who). He brilliantly leads us into the songs – and the credits – without distracting from the songsthemselves.
All four music videos have won multiple awards for best song, composer, director, theme, foreign video and songwriting. We’ve had screenings here and around the world. The songs have aired here as well as the United States and Europe.
Tention Free: You’ve worked on a variety of projects, including music videos, feature films, and series. How does your approach to storytelling differ across these mediums?
In music videos, it’s like directing a silent movie. Being specific in the choice of expressions of a character is extremely important or they’d be lost by the words of the song. Blending the music and the storyline hopefully has the audience feellike they’re seeing a complete short film. That is what I strive for and being sure the musician is featured in a way that adds is key.
As a performer my approach isn’t different in that I always try to do what is needed for the project whether it’s stage, film, music video or live story-telling. Each has its own rhythm so it’s just the adjustment and being willing to go all in.
Tention Free: Your dark comedic short film Shorty & Morty has received acclaim at various film festivals. What inspired this project, and what message do you hope to convey through it?
My son – Dylan Bocanegra – is an artist and now an Assistant Art Director (Star Trek: Piccard, Skyscraper, Mad Max Fury Road, Avatar: The Way of the Water) told me it was time to do my art show. We had just had an art show to raise funds for college at Miceli’s Restaurant in Hollywood. The theme was racism, education and cancer. Both, friend and creator of the first fundraising stamp for breast cancer awareness, Dr. Ernie Bodai, and late good friend, Louis Gossett, Jr. with his Erascism Foundation came to speak and sign books.
I sat down and wrote a quick story of a woman – Celine aka Shorty – who was born without her legs, spoke in ever changing accents with not a clue as to where she came from and danced on her colorful stumps for coins that the night Hollywood crowd would throw at her. Then she met Morty, a black dwarf, ex-stuntman – played by Dana Michael Woods – they fell in love and he built her legs, a crutch and mannequin leg so Shorty could see the world through eyes as she should. Dylan read it and told me to keep going.
The script, casting and shooting days were done within a month. Wonderful people came to the project and when the edit was done we were accepted and screened locally for the first time. From concept to screen time was three months. Jaw-dropping. The Melbourne circuit loved us so much we screened in over 13 festivals and I was asked to be a guest four times on a comic’s podcast that is no longer on but made some waves at the time. We also continue to screen.
The message of Shorty & Morty is simple:that with love you can get through anything. In the first short they crash a puppet addict meeting to steal the food and the money to survive another day in Krazytown.
At the time we were also awarded by the Studio City paper for best original story and contributing to the community awareness about the homeless in a unique way.
I worked with Aileen Getty’s homeless organization as a volunteer for 4-5 years – GettLove. Being among this crowd to serve breakfast and lunch, hopping on a metro to take some of the clients to a huge homeless walk in downtown LA when Kobe Bryant also brought a light to the problems we have, going bowling with some of the regulars, watching my son teach art class, doing the yearly homeless count with discretion and respect, shaving one of my best friends – Sir George Miller – in his hospital bed when he called me to visit…he had just been told he had terminal cancer. All of these moments and shared times helped me see what a different world there was that I had never fully understood. That informed me to make the two short films with Shorty & Morty, the in-character interviews of the homeless census guy trying to find the extraordinary duo and I have a blog that has about 20 ongoing episodes that fleshes out their world with characters and situations that do exist, will or have.
Tention Free: As a journalist, you’ve raised awareness for numerous non-profits. How has this work influenced your creative projects and storytelling?
When you walk with people that have cancer or see a baby who needs a new eye and learn to speak with ease by listening first – our world comes into sharp focus for me and it lends me an inside view of the human condition. I’ve helped Leeza Gibbons get her Alzheimer’s non-profit centers off the ground with one article, late Wendie Jo Sperber’s weSPARK’s cancer center free to all who have lived with or know of someone who has/had cancer still thrives and those were a direct result of doing articles about her many celebrity friends who were willing to come forward. She taught me about friendship, laughter and that gallows sense of humor that would get her through. I came to love and admire her and still miss her laughter. Helping a girlfriend’s equine therapy and visiting Camp Ronald McDonald that caters to kids with cancer was as amazing as going up with Children’s Hospital’s critical care team in their helicopter to bring a young girl who was dying for her last chance of survival on a Halloween night. Going to and getting out of jail to report how a female nurse practitioner was replacing a doctor. The behind-the-scenes drama I was aware of between both the medical side and law enforcement. It was he’s my patient, no he’s my prisoner and we don’t want a female, we want the male doctor. All of that drama was easily set aside when I visited because I’m the daughter of a man who worked the prisons and undercover in a high job with the Special Service Unit. The stories I was able to get while writing for Sheriff Baca were inspirational, heartbreaking but filled my soul and my brain with characters.
The importance of the story being about the subject matter and not you are paramount to good reporting and that gets lost in the circus of social media today where everyone has a platform.
I’ve been very fortunate to be given opportunities that placed me in arenas few will go to and come out enriched by the experiences. One of my all-time favorites was riding and having a killer whale jump over my head at a theme park. I’m very happy that opportunity is no longer available. I learned so much from that experience. Freedom isn’t just a human issue and our extinction is as fragile as an animal’s if we’re not careful.
Tention Free: You’ve been featured in several notable projects like “VAL,” “DARK WEB,” and “GIANTS.” Can you share some memorable experiences from working these sets?
On ValI was called by the director the night of the shoot, which happened to be the day the country went into lockdown. I took my G-dawg (grand dog) Django with me. As I was getting my make-up done, Django leaped off of my lap onto comedian/actor, Erik Griffin’s and proceed to lick his horror make-up off. It was a funny way to meet him.
Dark Web was a lot of fun and doing the voice-overs was a challenge because Michael Nardelli is such a gifted actor/director and writer. He runs a smooth ship.
Giants by Michael Bland, actor/writer/director/producer (co-produced by Issa Rae) came about swiftly. He got in touch with me about 10 minutes after he put out a call for a role I normally wouldn’t submit for – but he worded our scene so beautifully I did – never thinking I’d get a response. Within an hour we were talking and I had seen his range of work on his site so I knew I was working with a serious and good filmmaker. The scene is very delicate because the series is about a young actor who’ll do anything to get his career going in LA. Our scene together follows a scene where the audience is introduced to my tipsy husband – a paraplegic – who is explaining to Michael’s lead character (Malachi) why he has hired him to have sex with his wife. It’s a first for Malachi and the wife. In speaking with Michael I told him about my first love being paralyzed in a motorcycle accident and that it was important to me that the scene wasn’t some random bi-racial sex scene. We both agreed on so much of his character and he told me that I was his first choice. I was terrified doing that scene but so glad that I did because it’s not about the sex, it’s all about the husband’s love for his wife and the sacrifice he’s willing to make. Laura – the wife – detaches emotionally. There isn’t a word spoken between us but you see raw emotions and their individual reactions. That scene had his web series leap in ratings and viewership and Michael told me at the wrap party that our scene gave the series a second season! I was so proud of his being nominated for a daytime Emmy.
On Hubert Selby, Jr.’s It// Be Better TomorrowI was able to provide the audio of Cubby (his nickname) saying why he wanted to be a writer. No one else had that and the director was floored that I handed it over. He had asked me to come listen to his friends’ stories about how he became a writer and they weren’t accurate. I had tried to get a documentary going while he was alive. It’s not surprising it came about after his death and I’m so glad it did. It’s well worth finding this gem and seeing it.
Tention Free: Being a solo parent to your son, Dylan, is a significant part of your life. How has your experience as a mother influenced your work in the entertainment industry?
Life in the rearview is how I view my raising Dylan. He was in the backseat while I took him places so I could observe him without his knowing. That and having black lacquer furniture at the time made me seem like a mom with superhero powers because I could see what he was about to do and stop it. He truly believed I had eyes in the back of my head. Dylan in elementary school told a boy that moms have eyes in the back of their heads and when the boy disagreed, Dylan replied, “Mine does. They all do.” His love of drawing and building, creating things all of the time helped me see how much kids need the arts. That need to discover, build, create isn’t to be smashed and so often is. I believe that being a mother who was so focused on letting him have a childhood and be whatever he wanted to be unlocked my own fears of just being myself. The job of anyone being who they are without concern of what others think is a huge hurdle in life – or it has been for me. I would say having my son made me bolder and enriched my imagination by having someone younger to bounce off of. Our youth I have such faith in for the future. I hear the same things our parents said when we were young – no matter the generation you were born into – kids aren’t what they used to be. What’s our world going to be like? Different just as it was for me and for my parents. Our current life experiences and past history has influenced all of my work and will continue to.
Tention Free: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an indie filmmaker and music video director, and how have you overcome them?
Money. Finding financial help to get moving. It’s frustrating knowing people who are up the ladder yet won’t lend a hand down to help pull you up. By sticking it out and choosing my own projects – I’ve overcome worrying that I’ll never do a role I’ve wanted to do because I’ve created so many and as off-beat and unusual in choices as they are – they have proven to me that if you fight for your vision – it can be done.
Tention Free: How does your experience as an actor inform your work behind the camera as a director and writer?
It’s easier to just allow another performer to show you what they’re bringing. If they’re confused about something they usually ask. Then they gift me with a take on my writing that I never saw coming. That’s an awesome feeling.
Tention Free: Looking ahead, what are some of your dreams and upcoming projects that you are excited about, and what can your audience look forward to?
When I was a young ingénue trying to break into this business I wanted my own production company. That was always my dream. I don’t think that’s so important to me as getting a lift and life to Shorty & Morty. It’s the one project I feel that is not complete and has current issue legs that will stand the test of time. I’ve been told that homelessness has never been done the way I’ve presented it by those that I respect.I even screened it for a group of the homeless at GettLove on our final edit. The reaction was astounding. I was afraid they’d think I was making fun of them and then one-by-one to a crowd I heard, “That’s me! That’s me!” Laughter and excitement. What a payoff, it brought tears to my eyes.
I’d love to do a mixed media project with some of the songs on stage. Life is a huge sandbox, there’s room for all of us. I dream of having more opportunities to grow and create. I’ve always wanted to be in a western, I love horses and hail from Steinbeck Country also home to the California Rodeo. Any audience that sees my work – if written by me – will hopefully see a unique take on any given subject. It’s the way my mind works. When hired to do roles, I do my best to serve the writer’s words and love being directed. I just want to work because I love it so much.
You can meet Shorty & Morty, see music videos and more at:
www.EvaMarieFredric.com
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YouTube Channel Eva-Marie Fredric
