We recently had the chance to connect with Anthea Neri Best and have shared our conversation below.
Anthea, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Recently, I felt deeply proud after sharing the pilot episode of my new family-friendly vertical series, Emmy Mae’s Kindness Club, launching this fall, with a friend. I created the show as a love letter to my inner child, dedicated to my two nieces, my Godson, and my little brother and sister, who inspired me to create something that celebrates warmth, imagination, and kindness.
When her four-year-old niece watched it, laughing, smiling, completely captivated on her mom’s lap, it meant everything. The next day, she asked to watch it again and said, “Mom, I like Emmy Mae.”
Moments like that remind me why I do this, to see my work and stories genuinely touch people. Watching someone connect so openly and joyfully makes every late night, every rewrite, and every risk worth it. That is the magic of storytelling, when something imagined from the heart becomes real enough to move someone else.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Anthea Neri Best, an award-winning actor, singer, producer, and storyteller based in Los Angeles. Alongside my husband, I co-founded BxB Studios, where we focus on transmedia storytelling, building worlds and IP that expand across multiple formats, from film and comics to short-form digital series, each adding depth to the same universe.
Our 19× award-winning horror-rom-com SHERYL set the tone for what we do: entertainment that moves, surprises, and lingers. We are now expanding that vision with Emmy Mae’s Kindness Club, a family-friendly vertical series inspired by my inner child and the loved ones who remind me why kindness matters, as well as a new vampire horror feature currently in development.
At the core of everything I create is connection, stories that entertain, empower, and remind us of our shared humanity. I am passionate about crafting work that champions kindness, representation, and emotional intelligence, and about building immersive, emotionally rich worlds where audiences can lose themselves in the adventure. Above all, I want to prove that independent creators can build IP as dynamic, expansive, and powerful as any studio.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Losing my mom was the moment that most shaped how I see the world. She was my number one fan, the one who told me that anything is possible if you work hard, dream big, and live those dreams. When she passed, my world shifted. In working through that grief, I began to find my truth, regain my footing, and rediscover my voice. Her loss gave me an urgency to live fully.
Maybe Myles Munroe’s words say it best: the wealthiest place in the world is the cemetery, because there lie buried the dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, and the songs that were never sung. Those words remind me to live boldly, create bravely, and leave it all here—to not let my dreams die inside me.
So I risk it all: make the movie, sing the song, take the trip, dance, and live full out, because our time is limited. What we share with others is what endures.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines when I was four, carrying pieces of a homeland I was too young to remember but would spend years trying to understand, and growing up between cultures, searching for where I fit. I was the kid in ESL classes, learning to translate not just language but identity.
For years, I tried to blend in. I softened my voice, my edges, even my dreams and ambition just to belong. But somewhere along the way, I realized the very things I was hiding were the source of my strength. That was the shift, the moment I stopped shrinking to fit and started standing in my power.
My Filipino roots gave me resilience. My background in genetics and my B.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science, along with my work at world-renowned institutions like Duke University and Mount Sinai Biochemical Genetics and Genomics, taught me precision and discipline. My experience in project management for a global biotech company built the foundation for producing, and my creative life as an actor, singer, and storyteller gave me freedom.
Now, as I work to complete the UCLA Entertainment Business track, I am merging it all: science, structure, storytelling, and heart into a framework for sustainable creative success.
My path may be different, but it is mine. I no longer try to fit in. I trust my intuition, create my own table, and let my work speak for itself. I love telling stories full of heart, humor, and adventure, the kind that remind us we are all connected. I will continue to use my power to build, create, uplift, and empower.
I am not bound by my skin, my title, or my past.
I am me.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
My husband, creative partner, and co-business owner, Justin Best.
Justin is an award-winning screenwriter and director whose imagination constantly inspires me. He has a rare ability to create worlds that feel both epic and deeply human, full of heart, humor, and adventure. His feature Darryn the Bold and the Sword of Boldness ranked #1 Fantasy Feature on Coverfly’s Red List, and his genre-bending horror-rom-com Sheryl, now a 19-time award-winning live-action feature, continues to prove that bold storytelling, courage, love, and fun can coexist beautifully on screen.
His instincts are a guiding light in our production company. Justin’s ideas challenge me to think deeper, dream bigger, and trust that storytelling can still be both meaningful and wildly entertaining. He reminds me that great stories are not just told, they are felt. His creativity does not just influence my work, it fuels it.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I am lost in nature, surrounded by something bigger than myself. There is something grounding about feeling small in the vast, breathtaking awe of the world, the stillness, the beauty, the reminder that we are part of something infinite and greater.
I also find deep peace when I am in creative flow, singing, acting, producing, building something from pure imagination. In those moments, time disappears.
Nature reminds me who I am. Creating reminds me why I am here.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.officialanthea.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialanthea
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAnthea/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theofficialanthea
- Other: https://www.sherylthemovie.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sherylthemovie
Image Credits
Stephanie Girard
Waleska Santiago
