Today we’d like to introduce you to Christi Pedigo.
Hi Christi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 2003, I was Alice in Wonderland, Twinkle the Elf, and other characters at FAO Schwarz on Fifth Ave in NYC, and I was having a baby with one of the Toy Soldiers at the Front Door. Although this led to great cocktail party stories, it also paused my acting career for the next ten years. I consciously chose to leave behind a team of bi-coastal agents and managers to fully embrace the role of being a mom.
Over the next ten years, the Toy Soldier got a desk job and we raised two kids. We moved back to my native California, and I worked as a teacher and administrator. But in 2014, I decided to return to the performing arts. And with more life experience, I had more stories to tell and more skills to use in telling those stories.
I began working in local theatre and taking classes to get back into my groove. I invested in camera and lighting equipment, began writing scripts, and became what I call a “Storyteller.” I started making short films of all genres and short YouTube series based on improvised characters. My kids, now old enough to help, were recruited as my film and theater crew. In 2019 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, they helped me produce and run my award-winning solo comedy show “Bunny the Elf: LIVE!” based on a YouTube series I had created about a failed musical theatre actor who gets a job as Christmas Elf. Bunny the Elf is a culmination of my hilarious experiences as a costumed character at FAO and the wacky people my partner and I worked with. In 2021, I published the script on Amazon Kindle. As an author, I’ve also published an episodic young adult vampire Kindle Vella story, “Vampire Singularity.”
My family and friends are my biggest support, whether I am quietly writing and publishing at my desk or in pre-production for my next short film or YouTube series. This is not how I predicted my career would go, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Coming back to my career after a ten-year break was the biggest challenge. I was not able to just pick up where I had left off. So I struggled with letting go of what could have been if I had stayed, letting go of what other people think success looks like and letting go of expected results. I used to struggle with the questions: Will I go viral? Will an influential person see this? Will someone buy the rights, hire me, or just give me a referral? Shouldn’t I be further along by now? But over the last few years, through meditation and Pranic Healing (energy healing), I’ve learned to be present in the current day and not get swept up in what I think the end results will or should be. Instead, I’ve learned to focus on the process, enjoy the journey, and stay dedicated to my purpose: storytelling.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a dreamer, but I’m also a doer. I love finding new ways in which to share my stories, ideas, and positive messages with the world. I wrote “Vampire Singularity” twenty years ago thinking that it would make a great tv show, but I finally decided to publish it on Kindle Vella where I am now earning royalties. I’m writing another story about Moms to publish soon. I’ve realized that I don’t need to limit myself to just acting, or social media, or creating short films and youtube series of my stories. Last year, I branched out and collaborated with a friend who is an amazing writer to create a youtube series, “Ronnie & Terry: Inside the V.V.A.,” which was so much fun.
I’m most proud of my award-winning solo comedy show, “Bunny the Elf: LIVE!” that I performed nine times in three different theatres in 2019. I basically took an improvised character I created for YouTube and wrote a whole 55-minute stage show with a great, heartwarming coming of age story. I published it on Amazon Kindle to share the story with a wider audience and I get so excited when strangers buy it! I’m hoping other people might want to buy the rights and produce it themselves, just like they do with David Sedaris’, “SantaLand Diaries.”
Before kids, I was Off-Broadway twice, won an award for one of many Off-Off Broadway performances, performed in a festival-winning independent film, and had great agents and managers. I was telling other people’s stories, and that’s fine; I didn’t mind. But love telling my own. And now, I’m finally finding balance as a mother, partner, and storyteller which feels really positive.
What matters most to you?
My family is the most important thing in my life, which helps to take the edge off a career that involves so much rejection! No matter how many times I don’t book a job or I feel like no one is watching/reading my stories, there are people close to me telling me how much they love and support me. I do not take that for granted.
Contact Info:
- Website:christipedigo.com
- Instagram: @pedigoblue
- IMDb: imdb.me/christipedigo
- Youtube: youtube.com/c/christipedigo
- SoundCloud: Ronnie & Terry: Inside the V.V.A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Ejmxj59b4
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09CFXFLR1
Image Credits
Cynthia Price, Jeremy Travis, Harry Pedigo, Christi Pedigo
