Should You Go to College for Acting? Two Interns Leaving for Columbia and USC

This is the Dearing Acting Studio Podcast, where we discuss the connection between life and acting. Hello. Happy Friday, everyone. We are here at the studio, at Dearing Studio, today, and I've got with me, we've got Joey, as always. Hello. Um, I've got Phoebe here with me. Hello. And I've got Bebe here with me. Hello. Yes, you heard that right. It is Phoebe and Bebe, and if you guys are all deciding how difficult that is, just imagine it with us every single day, trying to figure out.

There's no good way around it. No, it's Phoebe and Bebe, and you can't. We tried, we, because Joey is Joey, um, we tried Phoebe and Jay for a while. Yeah. That didn't stick as well. Didn't stick. Didn't stick. No, so we just go Phoebe and Bebe, and they both look up, and then we just say, you know, come on over here. So, Phoebe and Bebe, um, commonly known to me, um, very fondly is Phoebe and Bebe.

Yeah. Um, they helped us out a ton this summer. They've been students, um, in our program, kind of grew up in the program, really, um, from the youth all the way up into the adult class, and, um, they interned with us this summer and helped us a bunch with Valleywood, which we'll get into, and they've just been an awesome asset to our team. And they both are leaving us, sadly, and are heading off to college.

Um, yeah. Yeah, we're bummed. Um, but so excited for them, so I'm going to let them talk a little bit about, um, how that works and, and what their, their plans are. Phoebe? Yeah, um, I'm going to Columbia College in Chicago, and I'm really excited, and the major that I'm doing is called Comedic Writing and Performance, and it's, like, one of the only schools in the country where you can actually major in comedy as opposed to just, like, acting, which would be amazing, but, like, to major in acting, but I'm glad to have a more concentrated major where you can specifically learn how to write for comedy and also perform it.

And I'm, I'm very excited, and all the professors at the school are, like, actively working in their fields, which is a super cool thing, and there's a lot of things about the school that I really like, and I'm very excited to be in the city and be able to take classes. Yeah, like, Second City and I.O. and all that while I'm in school is going to be amazing, and I'm minoring in arts management, which I was originally going to minor in acting, but I changed it to arts management because, for the reason that I can do acting classes at conservatories and things in the city, but the specific management classes through the college itself, I think, are going to be really helpful for self-promotion and all that.

It's a great move. Awesome. What about you, Bebe? Well, I will be attending USC and majoring in theater in the School of Dramatic Arts, which I am over the moon about. I am so excited. It's a dream. Yeah, I'll probably be doing an acting emphasis within that major, which is just a few more credits, but it makes it more specified, and you can really get that depth in acting that you wouldn't otherwise get with just the theater major. And then I'm hoping to at least minor, potentially double minor in psychology and then screenwriting because I figure the film school's right there. Right. I've always wanted to write, so might as well try it. So we'll see. I just, I'm so proud of you girls, and it's such an amazing feat what you guys are doing. And I wanted to touch on this because when I was in school, when I went to college, I graduated high school and went off to Cal State Fullerton and then finished my degree here at ASU in, I think what it ended up being was a Bachelor of Arts in stage, film for the stage and screen. It was some long, ridiculous thing that I've never actually had to say out loud. And the crazy thing is, is like when I was in high school, there were three out of our entire theater company that actually went to school for that.

And it was, it was a very, um, big deal if you got to go out to another state, like at my high school, that was really big. And there were only a handful of my entire graduating class of 800 kids, um, that got accepted out of state and got to go, um, which was pretty cool. But when, and one girl, um, a friend of mine, Shannon is continuing with her theater. And then the other girl went to school for theater and now, um, lights like major shows. And she does, um, Coachella, she does all of that and, and ended up with a lighting emphasis, which is crazy. So she went out there for acting and decided to, to be a lighting tech, which is nuts, but, but it's crazy because you, like, I only ever knew like the film school at ASU was, is so big now and so huge. But when I was there, it was, you know, very black and white. You either majored in this or this or this. And now it's so cool that you can go to a school and have so many different emphases and concentrations, um, and just get to decide exactly what, what way you want to go. So that way, cause I graduated with a BA and, um, in general theater, you know, which is great. Um, but I just think it's awesome that you guys get to, get to really refine exactly what you're looking for and that they offer that stuff now. Cause that's just huge.

Yeah. It is really cool. I just think it's, it's wild that you can like, so, so tell me about like, cause you want to do comedy. Yeah. But you want to write for comedy. Yeah. I want to do both writing and performing. And like the school has a program and it's the first semester of your junior year. You can do a semester with second city where instead of taking any classes through the school, you're taking just classes at second city, but it's all for college credit. And then it's also like a study abroad program for other schools. So you're with students from all around the country, but you're all at second city taking comedy classes all the time.

So I'm very excited for that. That's not for a couple of years, but I think that's going to be amazing. And I think you're automatically admitted to it. If you're in the comedy program at Columbia, I'm not sure, but I think it's automatic admission. And then so students from ASU can apply to it and Oh wow. People from all around and people even come from other countries. And so that's going to be really cool. I think to meet other people, but doing comedy classes for college credit.

Second city is a really big deal for, for any college student. That's where our chaos troop gets a lot of their games and, and formats is from second city and UCB together. But that's really cool that you get to do that. That's exciting. Yeah. I'm so excited. And I'll bring some stuff back from, come chat with Joey and Shea, bring some, some games and techniques. Yes. So I want to know what your guys is, you know, cause you guys are young. And, and if you, if you guys know these girls, they're a million light years ahead of where I probably was at 17, 18. And, but I had a dream too. Um, and I'm one of the lucky ones that I've had the same dream since I was like eight, um, which is pretty rare, but I'm lucky to have that. So what is your, what is your plan? Like, what's the dream for you guys?

I guess we're like, Whoa, big question. So the dream, the dream, I think primarily would be to do film and television acting, but I mean, my first love was always theater. So that's always something I would love to do. I mean, it's, it's a dream to do some sort of Broadway play or get that stage experience. Cause I mean, there's nothing, nothing beats, you know, playing out a whole story for two hours instead of like, whereas with film and television, you shoot things out of order and it's, and it's, I mean, it's a very different experience, but nothing beats the live onstage experience, having an audience respond, nothing, nothing compares to that. Um, but I think the dream would be to do dramatic film and television acting. Um, like if I could, I could think of, if there's one person whose career I think I would like to emulate, it would probably be Greta Gerwig.

Oh, I love Greta Gerwig. Yeah. Who not only acts, but writes and directs. Um, because directing is something that I never honestly thought about until a couple of years ago. I was like, that would be really cool to write your own thing and then have agency over that and make your vision come to life. And it terrifies me, but I love the idea of it. Um, but acting right now is my first love. So that's, I think where I would start and where I would ground my training and, and, you know, then further branch off from that. But yeah, the dream would honestly be to just act anywhere. Yeah. Act anywhere.

Yeah. That's the dream for all of us. That's something that, uh, that Matt talks about when he was training me is like, once you can teach something, once he, once you bring your vision to life through the games, through the class, whatever you're doing, it makes it so much easier to do it as an actor afterwards, because you've on, you can see third person, like what it looks like and what you want. And so then when you go into the classroom or you're doing it, you're just like, Oh, this is a piece of cake now. So that's really cool. Totally. Totally. And I, and I feel like there was some, I was talking to someone about this recently, like something has to like be in my bones for me to be able to do it and teaching it. Like it's now in me, like it's unconscious. I know exactly how to do it because like you said, I can explain it to someone and I can articulate why it's important and why it's necessary. And then it's, I don't know where I was going with that, but the idea of, of having like the repetition of some sort of technique or some sort of direction helps it just become ingrained in you as an actor and a performer.

I mean, when I'm teaching, like it's so crazy because it's like the student, you, you have this like out of body experience where they are doing something that you're teaching them and then you get to refine, um, your skills and your teaching by saying, Oh no, that's, that's wrong. Um, I taught that wrong or, or whatever. And, and something that's such a big deal in our studio is, is teaching and acting and responding and doing from, I don't know, you guys have heard that before. Um, and which is, which was really intimidating for me as a, as a coach, because I, I know this stuff, but, um, some of it I don't. And some of it I'm, I'm learning different techniques and how to, um, how to make it easier for students to understand that I've always been an exemplary learner always. So like not visual, I don't like pictures. I don't want any of that. I want you to give me an example of it. And I think a lot of that comes from, cause I love analogy so much. Right. So if someone's explaining something to me in my head, I go, okay, so it's like this and this, right. And they go, yeah. And I said, okay, so that's easier for me to do. So when I'm teaching, it's the same thing. Like I have these, I love that you said that, like you feel it in your bones. Um, but, but in this industry and in this art form, everything is always evolving and we're always finding different ways to do things. Um, something I wanted to speak on cause you guys are both in our masterclass and a masterclass is an intensive, um, scene study weekend that, uh, formats and, and looks a lot like, um, if any of you have ever heard of Larry Moss, which is somebody we look up to hugely at the studio and, and we emulate kind of his format and our studio director, Matt Dearing is the one who, who coaches us through it. And I hear from students all the time as, as a coach and someone who kind of is a part of the team that runs this studio, students will come up to me and they'll be like, Shea, last month he told me to do this. And this month he, he completely threw that out the window. Yeah. And it's happened to me. I mean, I know that's happened to you guys and I can see the looks on students' faces when they're like, what? Because they don't, they don't want to challenge him. But at the same time you should, you should in a way where you ask why. And I, I encourage you guys to do that when you're training is, is go, okay, I don't, I don't understand this. Right. Because that way, um, we get to the truth quicker and that way he's able to say, I know I told you this, but then a month has passed and I've learned and I've evolved and I've learned that this, you know, that, that was what you needed a month ago. And this isn't what you need now. And that's something I've had to explain to students all the time is like, well, how come I was, I was, you know, how come I only leveled up? Somebody said it to me. Um, one of our students, we had a really good conversation and he said, I feel like in last month's class, I was holding a 50 pound weight over my head. And this class, I feel like I was only carrying a two pound. And I said, but you're still carrying, you're, you're still leveling up. And sometimes, right. Again, my analogies, your body, your body needs the 50 pound weight and sometimes it only needs the two.

Um, so that was really interesting. So I just encourage you guys to ask why, you know, and as teachers and as actors, we're just constantly rolling and moving and evolving and figuring out new ways to teach and new ways to connect to our students too. You know, cause everybody learns so differently. I think. Yeah. Phoebe and Jada really had a, uh, huge last two months in masterclass as far as growth and just like Phoebe's unrecognizable on stage nowadays. Let me tell you guys about Phoebe's first masterclass. Um, oh my God. So basically in masterclass, it's very common for a new student to cry. It happens. It's a very, um, crazy experience that you feel when you get this kind of coaching and this kind of very heavy duty, intense training. And Phoebe and I weren't, weren't as close then, but I kind of, I came up to her and I was like, you gotta relax, right? Like it's going to be okay.

Like so nervous. And, and you wouldn't risk like he, he would ask you questions and that you were shake. I mean, physically shaking. Like if you put a glass of water in her hand, like it would be all over the floor. And you know, she's sitting there like, what was the, you did Libby Mae Brown. That was my first one was still proof. I did it with Alex and it was the same scene.

And then you did Libby Mae Brown, right? Yeah. So it was just that what that's wild. How full circle is that? I know it's crazy. I'm doing the same scene now that I did. Yeah. Like my first scene. And she, she didn't know how to just like breathe into it and relax down. And then month after month, after month, after month, it's like always been so different for you because you've just grown and grown and grown. And Bebe was the, was the same way, but, but different.

And so her mom came into masterclass with her and she was, yeah. And she was auditing for a long time. That was when we had the weekly classes and she would audit and her mom was there and her mom's an angel. And I remember, and I, and she was sitting there in her, in her Xavier uniform and you must've been 16. Yeah. 15 or 16 probably. Yeah.

And I'm sitting there going, her mom's never going to let her come back to this class. And I, I asked her about that and she said, no, I'm, I'm coming back. And you know, 16 years old, she showed up and, and ran circles around us. And cause she's been in the program for so long, her and Phoebe both. And Bebe's always been really good with her voice and, and knows how to ask, um, when she doesn't understand something or need something clarified or whatever.

And, um, and she's just grown so much into her maturity and, and how she responds to things. Yeah, for sure. Um, we've got two really awesome girls on our hands that, that I'll just send them emails and text messages every day to make sure that they don't forget about us. But, um, back to, so Phoebe, I wanted to ask what's, what's the dream for you? Yeah. Um, kind of similar to Bebe. I mean, at first, like definitely just getting in a writer's room would be super cool. And I really just want to be able to make money doing it. And I do love teaching. It's something I really enjoy. And I definitely want to continue teaching for a long time just because I love it. It's really helpful for me and really an impactful thing. And it's a good way to make money while you're maybe acting and writing for things that you're not getting paid for. Right. But definitely at first, just like acting in some stage things, community theater, and eventually like getting into a writer's room would be super cool. And then similar to Bebe, I really do have a goal of like being involved in all parts of the production of something like writing in it and acting in it and maybe eventually like directing and producing. And, um, I, I can be kind of a micromanaging person and like to oversee all parts of a process, which is definitely, I think part of that comes from, but also I really, I do love writing and acting and all of that. So an ultimate goal would being a B would be being able to work on a project from the start to the finish and be involved with a lot of the different aspects of it and kind of have more control over it. And I mean, definitely Saturday Night Live has also been a goal, but that's very like a, a big goal, but yeah, anything like that would be really cool. And just to be able to make money doing what I love is really amazing. Joey, it's so interesting because we all start, have you guys noticed that I say that a lot? It's so interesting. It's so interesting. And you'll also hear me say the word essentially a lot. It just makes me sound a lot smarter than I am. Um, but Joey was one of those. I mean, Joey is an actor, but I, I see you, you, you have found your own into the production side of things. And like, so during Valleywood, we split the Bebe and Phoebe up and Phoebe was with me teaching and doing the acting side, directing that kind of thing. Like, um, being able to help the students out, uh, with rehearsal and more of the acting stuff. And then Bebe just stepped right in to doing sound, correct? Yeah. And crushed it. And crushed it. Yeah. So that's always interesting too. Cause I, I love that you guys are like open-minded about the entire process of it because I always just wanted to be an actor too. And then I realized that like production is so cool and something that like I've always wanted to do is learn how to edit. Um, because that's such a, that's such an amazing thing. And the fact that you can do what you do is so crazy. And I will never forget. I had a teacher in college and it was one of those like lecture halls or whatever. And we had, we would have like speakers come in. So we, we would have, uh, managers and we'd have agents and, um, um, people come in to talk to our class and we had an editor come in and something that I have always learned being in this business is you have to be nice to everyone, everyone, right? She was, she was waiting for the answer there. She wasn't going to finish her own sentence. Yes. I needed somebody else to finish it for me. Um, yeah, everyone, you, you have to be kind to everyone. And that's exactly what the editor said. He was like, we will take an actor who is less trained and needs more work, who is kind over the best actor in the world who's not kind. Right. And that like blew my mind.

And I was like, that's so cool. And because the people behind the scenes, a lot of the time, like you, you, we don't even realize what you guys do, especially for masterclass, like on the actors, like we, you know, Joey sets up his table and he's got 1700 wires that I don't even know what they go to, um, plugged in and he's making sure that we're seen. And the editor said, you know, he was joking and he was like, you know, um, like, like not bribing, but he was like being kind, bringing cookies to your editor, you know, because the editor is the person who makes you look good. And I thought that was crazy.

I was like, Oh my gosh, like, that's so true. Like he can decide he or she can decide what shots you're in or what ends up on the cutting room floor and like stuff like that. And it, and I'll never forget it because I was like, Holy moly. So, so. Was that the day that you changed your email header to, uh, with kindness? I always, I always, I always, there were never any blurred lines anymore.

Well, I had to get to a point where, no, sincerely when Matt is best, you know, and Brian, Brian's is like, be a light. And I was like, okay, love you, bright guy. And I, I was like, I have to have something and I can't be, it can't say love. Right. I would love to be like, love Shea, but that's not very professional. So, um, but I just, I, I, my thing being a couple of years older than you guys would be like, go into it, wanting to know everything about everything, you know, be a sponge. And like, you know, if somebody is like, yo, you want to learn how to, to light or to learn how to do sound like you did say yes to it because the more proficient you are in different areas, like that's, I think where I'm trying to be at in my life right now is like, what skills can I learn?

Because if you're an actor who also knows how to, you know, hold a camera and like stuff like that, you know, I'm never going to be able to edit. Maybe one day you're going to teach me. That's an art form itself. Well, it's funny that you mentioned that. Cause I actually, I'm going to talk about Greta Gerwig again. Surprise. Um, surprise. We really like Greta Gerwig in here, guys.

She has a shirt that says Greta Gerwig on it. I have a shirt that just has her name on it. And she wore it to our rehearsal and I was not happy because she was not happy that I didn't know who she was. And so that day, that day I looked it up and I figured out who she was. Okay. Now we're all enlightened. Yes. Um, no, but I was, I was listening to a podcast or an interview of hers and she was saying that, so she actually auditioned for a ton of drama school programs, got into none of them and ended up going to Barnard in New York, which is like the all women's college next to Columbia.

Yeah. And she, what she said though, was the way that she said, no theater was just going to let her come and audition. And she wasn't just going to walk right in and get the part. She, so what she did was she learned how to design costumes and do lighting. She's like, cause if you're the one who can go in there and set up the lights or, or help paint the set, they want you, but they're not going to want an actor who waltzes in. She's like, so that's your way in. So she was always sewing costumes and that's kind of how she met the people there and got to know everybody. And that's, that was her way in. And yeah, I've always, that's always kind of stuck in my mind, which is why the sound thing was really cool. I mean, I just had a blast doing sound anyways, but, but just knowing that those little things could serve me later. Yeah. And they can, they can kind of fill you up too. Like, cause as young as we are, um, you know, you guys are going into your adulthood and I'm sadly in the middle of my twenties of my adulthood. I'm about to be, I'm about to be in my, I'm, I'm going to officially be in mid twenties, which we're not going to talk about. Um, but cause that's so old. Oh, no, no. But you know, we're at different stages and like, just, just you guys being as young as you are and entering into adulthood, like with an open mind and being like, how can I fill you? How can I fill myself up? You know? And I think a lot of that comes from training at this studio too. Um, cause you guys have been both pushed. Um, this is, this is a, a team of people who care so much about this, this place and about our students. And you guys have kind of taken it on full hand and, you know, learned to grow at such a young age. And not a lot of people do that when they're your age, you know, they're more worried about spending time before they leave, you know, which I did too, but I didn't have this opportunity then.

Yeah. And, and you guys both have like this extremely incredible work ethic and I've seen it in both of you as scene partners, but then also just like working Valleywood, just, just in all areas of your life, it seems to show. And so I'd love to hear you both like kind of touch on that and, and what kind of set that mindset for you? Cause you both have it for sure.

Yeah. I mean, I, I know me and Bebe have talked about this before. We both think that it's really important to keep, keep learning and keep growing all of the time. And I mean, you guys also are such good role models for us with your work ethic. Like I, I know like the other night I was Snapchatting Joey and it was like one in the morning and he was like, I'm still here painting the floor of the studio. And like, no one's going to know he painted the floor. Like no one's going to know he was here till one in the morning, but he was just doing that because he cares and he loves it. And if you really care about something, like I know we all do with acting and, and writing or whatever it might be, then you, you want to work hard. And it doesn't matter if someone knows, like you don't need to be like tweeting and being like, I've been up till 2am writing this script. Like you do it because you love it. And because you want to, and knowing that you worked hard on a project that succeeds is so much more rewarding than just skating by. And even if with you, even if you end up with success, if you didn't really put in the effort, it's not going to feel good and it's not going to be worth it. And you're going to end up crashing and burning, even if one thing is successful and you don't have a work ethic behind it, you're never going to be able to sustain that success in like a long-term period. So I don't know, it's just really important to work hard because even just for yourself, if, even if you're the only one who knows how hard you're working, that's what matters. Cause that's what'll keep you going and keep you passionate.

Yeah. What a great perspective. Exactly. Yeah. Awesome. I think it's also for me, I'm someone who likes to have a lot of control over what I'm doing. And I think the work ethic is one of the few things you can control about this profession and this business, because maybe you can't control the genetics that you have. Like you might be a brunette and not a blonde. Like you can't control the fact that they decide to go with the blonde, but you can control the fact that you, you memorized, you worked hard, you did your choices.

You, you know, you, you did all of your script analysis. You can control that and you can control the effort and the care that you put into anything. I mean, this is transferable and across a ton of, across like every field. It's not just for actors. Um, but that's what you can control. And I think Matt stresses this a lot. And I think I didn't, I didn't initially realize this, but it's important to fall in love with the work that you do. It's not about, it's not about the result. It's not about seeing the movie at the premiere at the end. It's about loving the process. And even if that's when you're filming, even if that's when the camera's rolling, or if that's when you go home and you, and you write and you reread the play or you reread the screenplay or whatever you're doing, it's falling in love with that and letting that fill you up. Yeah. From point A to point B.

Yeah. Which is like in the middle, like in, you know, in the middle from point A to point B or point A to point Z, I guess. And that's something that we coach on here is like that there's not an end goal. And I remember that like smacking me in the face when I was a student before I became a coach. And, um, I was like, what do you mean there's no end goal? Like, what are you talking about?

You know, and, and there is, there's a clear end goal. I want this and this is, and that's okay. Like, and that can be a goal and that can be a motivation, but having, but the work is, is here. The work is in masterclass. The work is diving into a character and creating, um, a world for this, this thing and being able to, um, fight to justify this amazing writing that we have on our hands and stuff like that. And then when you go up, you do it, you learn, you grow. Okay, great. How can I get back into the work? Yeah. And it's, it's honestly so scary to, um, accept that. Like, it's terrifying to know that the goal is just bettering yourself. Like, it's so much easier to think there's this one point and I'm going to work. And then once I reach that point, I did it, I'm successful and I'm done.

And knowing that you're, you're never going to be done is like, it's terrifying. It just makes the world seem so big and what you're trying to do. So scary. But I think that once you accept that it's, and you really internalize everything that we've just been saying and you fall in love with just growing and not trying to get from one point to another point as quickly or as easily as you can.

That's when it stops being scary and it starts being joyful and you start waking up every morning, happy to do what you're doing as opposed to just like freaking out and trying to race to the finish line. Yeah, exactly. And that's our, that's our industry is just getting better. There's no guarantee, you know, there's no nothing like, and I have a degree and I've always said to people, cause I get a lot of questions from people like, should I go to college for theater?

I've also gotten a lot of people who look at me like I have seven heads when I tell them I got a degree in theater and they're like, what does that mean? And that's okay that they don't know that. I get that. Um, like I, I just talked to someone last night who knew someone who got his degree in tuba performance and I'm like, I didn't even know that was a thing and how cool that you can do that, you know? But I've always said that if it were against, if it were me and someone else who was more talented, who had worked harder or whatever, um, and didn't have a degree, it doesn't matter that I have a degree. They, it, that doesn't matter just cause I got a degree doesn't guarantee me anything. You know, where you look at like my husband who, who worked really, really hard, did the internship, got his, his bachelors in, in business and, and got a job because he has his bachelors in business and then that took him to another job and then that'll take him, you know, whatever. And like even my dad, um, got the, it was, he was him and someone else up for a job and he got the job partially because he had a master's degree, like, which is wild because for us, that's not how it works. You know what I mean? So coming from someone who went to college and who has the piece of paper that says you graduated and you went to school, take everything that you guys can in college and stick it in your tool belt because that piece of paper is wonderful, but the work starts when you're done. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's when it all starts. Oh yeah. And the more you can do in school, the more you can, you know, cause I think I played the game of college really, really well, but I don't think if I were to go back, I would have immersed myself so much more than I did, but I was just so, I just wanted that that was the end goal was to get the degree, you know? So my advice to you would just be to like, go, go do it, you know? And coming from Joey, like, I'd love to get your perspective here as we end, like what you're, because you didn't go to school and, and how, and how you feel about that and like what you've been able to do, you know, without a degree. Well, for me, it was more, um, I listened to a lot of Gary Vaynerchuk and one of his biggest things is you follow your passion, no matter what you follow what you want to do and you'll never work a day in your life. And he lives that like he does. And he does these amazing, amazing motivational speeches all around the world. And he's like a sports fan, just like me. So he watches his jets.

I watch my Cardinals and that's pretty much that, but he's just this great guy. And one of his videos right before I started was, um, the importance of internships and just doing all you can for nothing. Yeah. Because you'll soak up the knowledge and it'll come back to you 10 X if you sit there and wait. And especially when you're young. Yeah. He's like 18, you are a baby. Yeah. Yeah. Like actually. And we don't look at it that way. It's crazy because of the way the school system is. Yeah. They, they say you're not, but you're not, you're not at all. I'm still not an adult. Exactly. Mercy. Yeah. So you have so much of your life ahead of you. Like if you just keep your head down and grind and do something that you love, it's going to come to fruition in a few years. And what's crazy is that's totally come full circle and worked for me. Yeah. So I, I can't say that I'm never going to go to school because I'm still interested in possibly going to a community college or just taking an online editing course and just learning like how 4k works and like all that, all the more advanced things that I don't know yet.

Yeah. But like you said, now, now I have the skills from sticking with it and doing it and failing a thousand times. Yeah. I can run pretty much everything we own here in the studio. Yeah. You've found your knowledge in a, in a, in a different place. Yeah. Which is so cool. And it came from, from keeping my head down and just, just allowing myself to fail and honestly being a part of the culture here, you know, it's a big deal. Um, Matt focuses a hundred percent on that. He's like, he's like fail all you want. Learn from it. As long as you own your stuff. Yeah. You're fine. And so many places don't do that.

And that's where a lot of people get caught up is like, they'll get ridiculed for trying their best at something and failing. And that's totally wrong. Yeah. Because then you're never going to get it. And all you have to do is acknowledge that you failed. If you never fail. And don't do it the next time. Right. Exactly. And, and I'm, I'm just, there's, there's two sides to this story when it comes to going to school. There always is. And there's, there's also people who don't have the resources to get to go to school. And that's like a huge, that's always been something I've been so thankful for because it's, it's, it's an absolute luxury right now in our world to get to go to college, like huge luxury. And, and there's, so I just, because you guys have that luxury, go in with your head down and work and just get in there, you know, do school, learn what you need to learn and then get out there in the real world and, and figure it out. And I'm so glad that we've been able to, um, give you a little bit of, of experience in that, in that here, you know, so you're not going in blind, which is awesome. All right. Well, we're getting, we're getting close to the end here. Any, any last thoughts from anybody? Well, I, I wanted to speak to the college thing for a sec. I, I mean, like you said, the reason I knew that I was going to go to school was one, because I am blessed to be able to have the resources to do that. So I, I knew that I needed to take advantage of that too, because my parents were not going to have it any other way. And then also, I think the reason that I decided to pursue theater in college, because, because I hear from a lot of people are, I mean, you'll hear from celebrities who went to school that they did something completely different.

They're like, don't go to school for theater, do something different. And then communications, writing, psych. Yeah, exactly. Um, but I think the reason that I, I wanted to in the, and what I intend and hope to get out of it is, is one, the training, obviously, just being in class, having that in the, that intense training in those college level professors, those intimate classes, um, to really work on your craft and to, um, to build your tribe.

Yes. Find your people and, and, and make friends with the theater majors and the film school people. And not just for the sake of like, oh, they're going to cast me later, but I mean, find these friends and, and start making art. And like, yes. And I'm sure Phoebe agrees with this because we really like the idea of being involved holistically in the process. Yeah. That's so important because realistically, we're not going to be able to write a script and, and, and go just bring it to someone and be like, Hey, produce this. You're going to be producing it with your friends. You're going to be putting up trades with your friends. Yeah, exactly. And, and meeting those people who are, you're, you're going to go out into the business with and collaborate with. Exactly.

And yeah, going off of that and going back to like learning yourself, all parts of the process, like when Bebe and I are in college, we're not going to have a budget to go out and hire an editor and a camera person and a sound person. It's going to be us and our friends doing it. So the more we know if we can say, Hey, like other actor friend, like I'll operate this camera for you. And then you operate it for me. That's how we can create stuff. And I will pay you in pizza. Yeah, exactly.

You're going to be doing a lot of that and acting for each other. And my roommate for next year is majoring in interactive design, which is like a dope, which is animating. And she even said to me, we were FaceTiming and she was like, yeah, you can like write scripts for stuff and all animated. And I was like, yes, absolutely. Just like being surrounded with people that really can help you with all parts of the process, I think is going to be super beneficial. And you can find that anywhere too, at a community college, at an acting studio, at a community theater, whatever path you choose, you're going to be able to find people that you connect with and that you can make good art with no matter where you end up choosing to spring your talents. Yeah. Spring your talents.

Start using that. Well, thank you, Bebe and Phoebe, Bebe and Phoebe. Thank you. PB and J. PB and J. Love that you guys are here. Love that you guys are heading out. And yeah. Till the next. Till the next. Peace out.