{"id":9125,"date":"2021-04-26T15:25:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T15:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=9125"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:05:39","slug":"learn-how-to-tell-the-story-from-all-aspects-of-the-industry-and-it-opens-up-your-career-in-more-ways-than-you-can-imagine-brittney-lee-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=9125","title":{"rendered":"“Learn how to tell the story from all aspects of the industry and it opens up your career in more ways than you can imagine. “-Brittney Lee Hamilton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exclusive Interview with Brittney Lee Hamilton – Actress & Filmmaker <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brittney is an actor and filmmaker whose work includes TV, Film, Theatre, & Voiceovers.\u00a0 On screen, she has been seen (and heard!) in such shows as\u00a0PUBLIC MORALS<\/em>\u00a0(TNT-directed by Ed Burns),\u00a0THE KNICK\u00a0<\/em>(Cinemax-directed by Steven Soderbergh),\u00a0BOARDWALK EMPIRE<\/em>\u00a0(HBO),\u00a0POK\u00c8MON<\/em>\u00a0(Recurring-Cartoon Network and Film), and\u00a0REGAL ACADEMY<\/em>\u00a0(Recurring-Nickelodeon).\u00a0 On the stage, she has been seen Off-Broadway and regionally.\u00a0\u00a0She wrote and starred in\u00a0NO, I\u2019VE NEVER PLAYED ANNIE<\/em>, her NYC Cabaret Debut at the\u00a0Laurie Beechman Theatre.\u00a0 Brittney started her own production company, B.LEE PRODUCTIONS, and opened a location in NJ called THE STUDIO.\u00a0\u00a0She is the creator, executive producer, screenwriter, and star of the short film,\u00a0#PRINCESSPROBLEMS<\/em>, which has been in almost 50 film festivals and has won 14 awards to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NY Glam:<\/strong>\nTell us a little about yourself, growing up and your passions. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in Southern New Jersey. I always\nknew I wanted to perform and I constantly would put on shows for my\nfamily.  I sang in elementary school and\nstarted getting involved with theatre in middle school.  The only real opportunities to perform we\nknew were available was community theatre and school shows, and did all I could\nto take advantage of it. I went to college at Marymount Manhattan and the\nHartford Conservatory for theatre and ended up booking regional shows in\nConnecticut before leaving school and heading back to NYC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nDid you have any specific influences growing up that lead you towards the\nfilm industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mom loves old movies and made sure I saw as many as possible from the time I was little.  Gene Kelly, Clark Gable, and Patrick Swayze were even my first crushes!  That early love of Old Hollywood definitely inspired my deep appreciation for film.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PrincessProblems11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat are you currently working on? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pandemic curtailed the festival run in\nperson for my film, #PrincessProblems<\/em>, and any other projects that I had\nlined up. To try and keep my toe in the film industry pond I opened up my own\nstudio for my production company. THE STUDIO-B.LEE PRODUCTIONS has been such a\ngreat way for me to network and collaborate with other artists in NJ. Through\nmy company I am continuing to promote the film with the overall goal of\npitching it as a series, which I hope to have the opportunity to do soon. I\nalso wrote my next short film which I plan to also direct and star in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> <\/a>Tell us a little bit more about\nthis film<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an actor, I\u2019ve\nobviously had many side jobs.  One of the\nmost interesting by far, was being a birthday party princess for children. I\nhad so many hilarious (and terrifying!) experiences, so I started writing them\ndown. I also kept seeing a theme play out in parties as modern parents struggled\nwith the antiquated themes of the older princess films. That\u2019s when I realized\nthat this could be a great series. I decided to write the pilot which served as\nthe short film script.  It follows BREE, a\nstruggling but very positive actress, who started her own children\u2019s birthday\nparty company, living out her fantasies of being a princess. When JESS, a\nvery practical and feminist writer, is assigned to do a story on female role\nmodels, she follows BREE to parties to see if princesses are still ideal heroes\nfor little girls.  Even through bratty kids, absent parents, and miserable\nparty conditions, BREE tries to prove that princesses can be strong and\nindependent, and sometimes exactly what little girls need in today\u2019s world.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat were your main responsibilities on this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#PrincessProblems <\/em>is my baby! I wrote it, executive produced it, and starred in it. Wearing so many hats can be incredibly overwhelming, but it forced me to learn things I never would have even thought to learn as just an actor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nCan you tell us about your experience in working\nwith your team in this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was my\nfirst time as a screenwriter and producer and the last thing I wanted to do was\ndirect myself.  I brought on a great\ndirector, Maritza Gomez, and Co Producer, Kelly Remenik to help me navigate\nbeing on the other side of the camera. \nTogether we built the full team of the crew and cast.  I am so lucky that my first film had such a\nwonderful group of people.  The kids in\nthe cast are all my students who I teach acting and voice to.  It was their first time on a real set and\nthey were absolute pros!  I made sure to\nuse it as a learning experience and I even had a \u201cdebrief\u201d after the shoot to\ntalk with them about it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat was the most important thing for this\nmovie to achieve from a narrative and character standpoint?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to highlight both sides of the pro and anti princess arguments.  What I\u2019ve learned from my experiences is that both positions are incredibly valid.  However, it doesn\u2019t matter what WE all think the children should learn. They take what THEY need from the stories, and more often than not they see something very different from what we see. I wanted to show a cast of interesting female characters who are all struggling in their own way.  Whether it\u2019s the mom, Michelle, who has an absent husband and needs a break, or Jess who is trying to put a feminist dent in the world, or Mia, who is lonely and wants to make those around her smile, everyone is doing their best (just like Bree) to meet the expectations of their situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PrincessProblems12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nAs a screenwriter, what is the most important aspect of building a\ncharacter? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always respond to characters that I\nfeel like I know personally-not necessarily that I recognize from my own life,\nbut people that I could<\/em> know.  I\nwant them to be deeply layered, dynamic, and as realistic as possible so the\naudience can relate to them in a natural way. \nI find that back story is so important when building a character.  Even if the audience never gets to know any\nof the history, when you create that story for the character it deepens your\nunderstanding for them as you write. I approach my characters this way as an\nactor as well.  I\u2019ll write a backstory I\u2019ve\nnever been given to help mold a nuanced human so it hopefully comes out\nnaturally in my performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What are your ambitions for\nyour writing career?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would love to\nkeep writing Bree\u2019s journey.  It would be\nwonderful to be in the writer\u2019s room developing episodes for the series and\nthen moving to set to shoot it. That\u2019s the dream. No matter what, I love\nwriting strong female characters and I\u2019ll keep doing do it for short form\nprojects I will produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What makes a film\ninteresting for you? What are three qualities that you look for in a movie? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to feel\ndeeply for the characters (which usually means I cry), I want a screenplay that\nsurprises me, and I want to laugh.  That\ndoesn\u2019t mean I am only drawn to comedies. \nI think that the best dramas always have touches of comedy.  Laughter is real and lets us relax into\nallowing ourselves to feel drama deeper. \nGive me an emotional journey, and then also a complicated female lead\nand I\u2019m really hooked! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What are you most proud of? Describe your biggest\naccomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands down, #PrincessProblems<\/em>\nis my biggest accomplishment to date.  I\nam so proud of the success the film has had. Even through a global pandemic\nwe\u2019ve managed to find ourselves in almost 50 festivals and have won 14 awards\n(so far!).  It hasn\u2019t been easy, but I am\nexcited for the film and series\u2019s future, and I refuse to give up. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nDo you have any upcoming projects that you\u2019re\nsuper excited about?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auditions have\npicked up, which is exciting.  I am\nreally excited about my next short film script which I hope to start shooting\nthis fall. My studio continues to collaborate with more artists in the NJ film\nand theatre communities, and as things become safer and open up, events will be\nbooked on the calendar! I cannot wait to have screenings, table reads, and\nconcerts at the studio! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat advice would you give to someone who is aspiring to enter the film\nindustry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t wait for the phone to ring for an opportunity. Make your own work and learn as much as possible. Figure out how to produce, write the screenplay, learn how to use a camera and to edit, and immerse yourself in all the aspects of the industry. We are taught as actors to focus on our \u201ccraft\u201d of storytelling. But, there\u2019s so much more to telling a story than becoming a character. Learn how to tell the story from all aspects of the industry and it opens up your career in more ways than you can imagine.  Plus, it gives you a deeper understanding of how to tell the story in the most authentic way possible.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PrincessProblems23
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive Interview with Brittney Lee Hamilton – Actress & Filmmaker Brittney is an actor and filmmaker whose work includes TV, Film, Theatre, & Voiceovers.\u00a0 On screen, she has been seen (and heard!) in such shows as\u00a0PUBLIC MORALS\u00a0(TNT-directed by Ed Burns),\u00a0THE KNICK\u00a0(Cinemax-directed by Steven Soderbergh),\u00a0BOARDWALK EMPIRE\u00a0(HBO),\u00a0POK\u00c8MON\u00a0(Recurring-Cartoon Network and Film), and\u00a0REGAL ACADEMY\u00a0(Recurring-Nickelodeon).\u00a0 On the stage, she has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19181,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9125\/revisions\/19181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}