Check Out Effie Spence’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Effie Spence

Hi Effie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It’s been a much longer journey to get where I am today and much more surprising. I was one of those kids who stepped on their school play stage at the age of four and was sold. I always felt meant for the acting life. I was also one of those kids who was so confident coming from their small town in New Hampshire thinking I would make it in the big city within a year. Shockingly, that didn’t happen.

It’s a good thing it didn’t because now I find myself behind the camera as much as in front of it, and am creating my own scripts as much as I am rehearsing others. Recently, I developed and filmed a pilot pitch for a documentary series titled, “Motherlands,” that explores culture through the matriarchal lens. It’s interesting, when I found the stage, all I wanted to do was escape the real world and play pretend, but now I am focused on trying to understand the real world through directing documentaries. I am still in Lalaland, figuratively and literally, as I also direct films that are fantastical and still think I will get discovered while ordering my coffee or something.

I started my career during my last semester of college, taking part in the 48-hour film festival happening in Burlington, VT. I was an English major with a double minor in film studies and dance. Ironically, I studied film to be a better actor to only discover a few years later that oh, I love filmmaking. From there I moved to Australia, danced for a Bollywood company, acted, and met my husband. We did long distance when I moved to LA until we got married when I was 25. I was a nanny, retail associated, art model, copy writer, anything for a few years until my husband and I came to place where I could just dedicate my time to acting. It was during the pandemic that I rediscovered poetry and allowed myself to come to the realization that I am also a filmmaker.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s been a rollercoaster more than a road. I dealt with what was probably undiagnosed depression during the first two years I moved to LA, I remember doing an exercise with my acting coach, Jo Kelly, in an exercise called, “I Feel” where we tap into my actual emotions to put into the words and I couldn’t feel anything. I described a lot of my 20s as being in a fog.

Being an artist is incredibly beautiful and incredibly difficult. In the age of the internet, it is increasingly hard to feel confident in yourself by always comparing what you have and don’t have to others. I’ve lost a lot of friendships throughout my time in LA. It felt like every project I worked on, directed or collaborated with a friend on, I lost that friend. It made me feel like I was really difficult to work with and that I would have to work alone, forever.

All the struggles though helped me realize that it is so important to surround yourself with people who really do root for you. As I lost those friends, I gained people who truly championed me. This town and this industry is hard, so learning how to nourish yourself in all the ways is vital.

I’ve had a lot of luck as well. I met my husband just asking for directions, got my agent through one of my mom’s friends (after submitting on my own for a decade), and met my producer at a dance meeting. I’ve thought about quitting so many times, I buried myself in debt and lied about it, but now I am finding ways to be accountable. Part of that accountability is to no longer waste time not believing in myself or my capabilities. A lot of my struggle came from imposter syndrome and not asking for help in a way I knew I deserved it. I felt like I had to figure it out on my own and that if my work wasn’t perfect, I should not release it.

Perfectionism dragged me down for years. A lot of the stuff I have out there now still triggers my perfectionist but I still produce it. I think the come up is exciting to watch, as well. It’s human.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work as a director, writer, dancer and storyteller is like if Yorgos Lanthimos and Mel Brooks had a baby that Emerald Fennel and Sophia Coppola took turns nannying. The undercurrent theme of everything I do is from the feminine lens. This is a term I coined to describe a type of storytelling not dictated by what the patriarchy values. There usually isn’t a goal in them other than the experience itself and it is lead from instinct rather than adhering to specific structures. Like a child, and like a mother, I adjust what each project needs according to what my intuition tells me it needs and I allow myself to go into a lot of shadow work to bring out the light of the piece.

I work with different deities, inadvertently for each project as well. Each project tells me what archetypes and mythologies and folklore I need to research for it. I come from a long line of witches, to put it simply, though they wouldn’t call themselves that. The women and men in my family were said to have prophetic dreams, knowing when they would die, and oftentimes their dreams would come true. In turn, I use my actual dreams to create film ideas, poetry, and characters from, literally following my dreams. For example, my latest short film, “Bubble & Squeak” was based on a dream I had while I was in Greece. It became clear that the archetype I wanted to embody for it was Aphrodite, coincidentally that is also my mother’s name and my costuming is definitely an extreme version of my memories of her as a young mom, where she would waltz down the staircase in a fluffy robe.

I’m most proud of myself for becoming my own muse. I always knew I could play any part and instead of waiting or instead of continuing to be a modest woman who can’t look at herself on camera without scrutiny, I cast myself and love my work. I love watching that version of me on camera, loving her part. It’s an odd relationship, editing my acting work as my own director. It leaves very little room for that perfectionist because now, I need to just trust myself because it is my money I am wasting if I don’t give it everything because of imposter syndrome. I’m not afraid of improving, messing up, and being inspired by myself. A lot of male actors turn into directors and no one judges them. One of the first pieces of feedback I got when describing my short film, and that I was the director, lead, etc. was that, “isn’t that a little vain?” to which I responded, ‘Ya! I’m stunning! Why wouldn’t I put myself on camera?” because sir, shut up. Women should be vain.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I love helping people with their projects, as well. I am a whiz at Canva and creating pitch decks, editing and copywriting, proofreading, and being a general soundboard. I would love to make more films with creatives and help them bring it to life, or their poetry, dance, or anything they want.

I also run a local film club, where we do monthly screenings. The next one is right before Christmas, so you can submit your film if you want to screen it infant of others. My goal is that enough people come to the screenings so I can actually pay filmmakers.

If you want to support me, my book is currently available on amazon through the link in my instagram. It’s called “A Bloody Mess” and is a hilarious and poignant collection written during three moon cycles.

Pricing:

• 22

Contact Info:

• Website: https://effiespence.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/effiespence/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixielogic

Image Credits
Eve Rydberg
Christiana Charalambous
Alexa Najera