Today we’d like to introduce you to Alanna Bayarin.
Hi Alanna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I got started in the film/TV industry as a fluke the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school. Before I could legally vote or drive, before I’d gotten my braces removed, I was commuting on the LIRR every day from Levittown to be a CBS Page.
I didn’t know this was a fluke, initially. I thought I’d wowed the Page Program Director in the interview — I fancied myself a wunderkind. It wasn’t until a few weeks in, when the Director retired and was replaced, that I’d learned he thought I was a college grad. I guess I too prominently listed the courses I’d taken for college credit while in high school. It was an easy mistake to make. Between you and me, since this is almost ten years in the rearview mirror, I’ll admit I did it on purpose. I was a teenager desperate to get out of Levittown — I figured a little resume zhuzh would do the trick. And it did!
I spent my junior and senior years working at CBS as a Page. I worked full-time over the summers working on shows like BET’s 106 and Park, 48 hours, and sometimes Letterman. During the school year, I’d wake up 3 am on Saturdays to make it to the city in time for work on CBS This Morning: Saturday. It was intense, but I was intense.
When I went to college in 2014, I wanted to be a wartime correspondent. I initially declared a major in Journalism and Economics with a minor in Arabic. My freshman year, I was promoted to the News Editor of my school’s daily print newspaper. The next year, I ended up as the Assistant Managing Editor, but ultimately decided career in journalism wasn’t for me. I applied for a program called the Global Media Scholars Program and did three back-to-back semesters abroad: Paris, Shanghai, Sydney.
I realized I was a filmmaker in Shanghai, where I made a short documentary about the underground drag queen scene for school. The film is unwatchably bad, but it sparked something in me. When I got back to campus in New York, I hit the ground running, producing dozens of shorts and music videos. As I made more movies, they became more watchable. Go figure!
After college, I worked in the mailroom at a big talent agency in New York. It sucked. There’s no way around it. After a month, I landed myself an assistant position on a partner’s desk, and that also sucked, but somehow worse!
Through a friend, I learned that a showrunner named Michael Waldron was looking for a new assistant in Los Angeles, so I threw my hat in the ring. I interviewed with Waldron on a Wednesday, was told I got the job the next day, and had to move across the country (and quit my job) over the next three days to begin work on Monday. Y’know ye olde Bushwick to Burbank pipeline?
Michael quite literally changed my life — I have him to thank for any modicum of success I’ve achieved. He taught me how to write story, develop characters, pitch — he even helped teach me how to drive. It was a hard transition, leaving all my family and friends behind in NY, learning to drive, and couch-surfing for months until I could find/afford a place in LA, but Waldron was an incredible mentor and friend.
Now, I’m writing and performing comedy regularly. I’m also a good driver. Isn’t that a nice character arc?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The WGA/SAG strike was a difficult time for me. I had already been unemployed for a few months, which was a first for me, so times were tough. I also separated from my spouse and moved out on my own only a month before the strike, so that was quite a storm of uncertainty and turmoil.
Two weeks ago, ended a fourteen-month stint of unemployment. Those months were the hardest months of my life, between the failed marriage and the financial instability. I babysat, coached soccer, dog sat, house sat — I did anything I could and still struggled to make ends meet. But, if I’m being honest, I think I needed that. I was incredibly anxious and uneasy at the workplace, but surviving those fourteen months proved to me that I can survive on very little and still be ok. I find incredible comfort in that today, knowing that I am reliable, that I can lean on myself if times get hard. Now, back at work, it’s a lot harder to get me rattled. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night in sweats, obsessing over a weird thing I said the day before anymore. And that’s not because I’m any more socially adept; I’m not suddenly cool with zero social mishaps. It’s because I’ve lost sleep over bigger things than a weird social interaction. I’m grateful for this realization and newfound perspective — it’s made life a lot more peaceful.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a writer and actor. I’ve been the Writers’ Room Assistant on a handful of Marvel/Disney+ shows, notably Loki. I learned improv at The Groundlings and began performing last year.
I think I’m most proud of finding my real voice or prospective this past year. A close friend and mentor, Writer Peter Cameron said I have “Tig Notaro humor and timing, but [I’m} way more animated and physical.” That was a stupid, cool compliment to be paid, I’ll tell ya. I aspire to be like Tig Notaro, Mae Martin, Jacqueline Novak, Jo Firestone– y’know just setting the bar incredibly high.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think moving across the country with only four days’ notice is one of the biggest risks I’ve taken to date. I spent my entire life in New York, so to just up and leave for an assistant job in LA — that was pretty risky. It paid off in dividends, but boy, could that have been just another Hollywood failure story.
I fancy myself a risk-taker. I think going on stage and performing improv in front of strangers, friends, colleagues — that’s a big ole risk. My first time performing was an utter fail — I had incurable stage fright, and my partner’s entire family was in the audience. I tanked it! It was brutal!!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @alannasocialmedia
Image Credits
Carlos Parada
Rob Lewine
Julia Feldman
