Today we’d like to introduce you to Misha Crosby.
Misha, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve worked in film/TV for the last 16 years and spent about 20 years as a professional actor. I grew up in London and was attracted to the performing arts from a really young age. My dad used to play in the orchestra for West End Musicals so I would get to go along, and as exciting as it was to be allowed in the orchestra pit when I saw the actors up on stage making the audience feel different things, I knew that’s what I wanted to pursue.
I’ve always been technically inclined—I did several years at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I’d be doing three to five live stage shows a day. About half were acting gigs and the other half would be doing the lighting and sound mixing for various artists. After acting on some British TV shows for a few years I was offered a Green Card to come and work in the US, so at 23, I packed my bags and came to LA.
After about a year or so, I started booking some projects out here, well, mostly out of state where the tax credits were better. I was based in Austin a little over 10 years ago when I was in an ABC Family show. Great food, great people, great town—it was a little quieter before Joe Rogan told everyone to come.
I edited to make ends meet when I wasn’t acting and it was maybe the most useful skill I could have gained as a filmmaker. You inherently see all the pieces of the puzzle come back together and it certainly helped me hone my skills as a storyteller. I went onto found Real Reels, an editing company that primarily cut high-quality actors’ reels.
LA’s an eclectic mix of artists. I found myself surrounded by some of the most talented filmmakers in the world. There’s certainly opportunity when you live in a place like that and learning how to put a production together was something that opened up what was possible for me.
Datura Studios was co-founded in 2017 by myself, Gerard Roxburgh, and UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. Our first feature film, a cannabis thriller called Green Rush, was distributed by Lionsgate in 2020. I’ve since taken on the helm of the LA-based company and we have projects in development across multiple mediums in the entertainment space.
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?
Haha, no it’s not been smooth, especially as an actor! It’s no secret that auditioning in this town can be tough. The most talented people don’t necessarily equate to who’s cast. It’s the entertainment business and if you can’t draw comparable ticket sales or viewership, you may not be as attractive to the production, network, or studio, no matter how strong you are in other areas. There were many instances where I’d been told that I was the director’s favorite choice for major pictures and if X was unavailable, then the part was mine. Then I’d see a press release with a much bigger name confirmed for the same role. My agents would pass on messages from the director saying how much they believed in my work, but it would feel like a Band-Aid for a far deeper wound than it could contain. In many ways, I respect the meritocracy of sports more when it comes to celebrating talent. There’s less subjectivity around who gets opportunity.
It’s also no secret you can suffer financially as an artist with no guaranteed income. There was a defining moment for me back in 2016. I’d booked a series regular on a show I couldn’t have been more excited to do. It wasn’t just a pilot, it was commissioned for the entire first season. It was something that I was creatively on fire to do with more money than I’d ever signed a contract for at that point. I loved that role. We were going to be shooting in blocks, so I’d learnt the lines of the entire first eight episodes and was set to move my life up to Utah for filming. We had a cast dinner planned a few days before we moved so we could all meet and I remember getting a call from my agent. She told me it wasn’t happening. Part of the media financing had fallen through and more than 40 people in LA and Utah had been told to stop work immediately until they could come up with a solution. They never came up with a solution.
The solution, of course, was to create my own opportunity and not relinquish as much energy to projects I had no control over. However, when I started creating our own IP, it didn’t get any easier. I’d worked for years on film projects, attempting to get them financed with countless broken promises and parties that, quite frankly, couldn’t do what they said they were going to. I think failure is essential for growth. In our society and in America especially, I feel like there’s a binary benchmark that we use to define success and failure. The problem is that you miss most of the story. Life is not always black and white and the shades of grey are where I’ve learnt the most. Failure is not always negative. If children weren’t allowed to fall over when they were learning to walk, we’d all still be crawling. It’s how you’re able to adapt and move forward that I think defines us.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in different aspects of storytelling. I’ve starred in some very popular TV shows that have been broadcast internationally, including a run in FX’s American Horror Story a couple of years ago. When I first started working in TV and film, it became apparent to me that directors varied in their abilities. Some would be great at working with the DP on a technical front with an eye for the shot. Others would be stronger at getting a performance. I knew that one day, I wanted to be both.
I was blessed with very good ears. I was a musician as a kid and it’s certainly helped multiple aspects of my life today. The ability to hone in on the truth, to identify different accents and have the musical literacy to work with composers during the scoring process has been invaluable. I’m not sure this is unique, but my obsession has served me well when it comes to my work. I believe you have to be your own harshest critic to a point. I don’t care how many hours I have to put in—when it comes to my art, there are never enough hours in the day.
I’m proud of what we’ve got on the horizon. We’re producing a show that I co-created and directed called Unsinkable starring Brian Cox, John Malkovich, Nathalie Emmanuel, Harry Hamlin, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Many people may know Thomas as Sam from Love Actually and more recently from his role as Benny Watts in the hugely successful Netflix show Queen’s Gambit. Unsinkable captures the epic story of the San Demetrio, the ship that would not die. It was one of the most extraordinary maritime events of WWII. Datura Studios and North Atlantic Ridge, in association with B7 Media and AUDIOMARVELS®, worked to assemble a world-class team for the production of this audio movie series capturing this epic journey.
Audio movies embrace the production style and values of cinematic feature films by creating an immersive blockbuster audio experience for the ears. The sound design and mix is headed up by Jimmy Boyle and George Reilly (Casino Royale, Band of Brothers, Wonder Woman 1984, The Northman). We partnered with John Mawson’s North Atlantic Ridge to transform his award-winning screenplay, The San Demetrio, into Unsinkable, and we plan to exploit the rights to its accompanying television series in the future.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
When I was a kid, one of the best pieces of parenting I received was always being encouraged to try and follow what made me happy as a career. This isn’t always easy, of course, and being practical when it comes to surviving in a place like LA, thousands of miles away from any family or support can be very challenging.
I believe that your most valuable commodity is your time. Risking your time on things that don’t serve you well can be very hindering. There’s definitely been a learning process on that for me, and I’ve been forced to be more and more efficient with how I spend my time as my responsibilities have grown. Years ago, I saw Jim Carey speak about how his father could have been a wonderful comedian, but he made a more conservative choice and got a safe job as an accountant. When Jim was 12 years old, his dad was let go from that “safe” job and the family really struggled. He said that it taught him early on that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
Contact Info:
- Website: daturastudios.com
- Instagram: @mishacrosby
Image Credits:
Datura Studios, LLC
