Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Rosalie Alspach of North Hollywood

We recently had the chance to connect with Rosalie Alspach and have shared our conversation below.

Rosalie, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Wow. So many as of late. I just got off of directing/writing my first feature film, “If We Be Friends,” and It felt like an endless stream of pride for everyone involved. I can’t describe it in a way that does it justice. This doesn’t happen all the time in a creative’s life…but recently I’ve had a lot of work and people around me to be proud of.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Los Angeles-based film writer and director. I started out as an actor—caught the theatre bug at 12 years-old, although I’d been putting on one-woman shows in the living room since I was about 3 years-old—and moved to LA after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University with a BA in Theatre, with the intention to pursue acting. Within a few years (and after a lot of encouragement from my mentors) I started writing and directing, and that’s when my passion completely shifted. I still act occasionally, but writing and directing is where I feel most right. I like to write dark comedies with that very “indie” film feel—that’s a little vague, but I think you get what I mean. I find that it opens up space for grounded character-based comedy, and I like nuanced humor that can be perceived differently. I think that type of humor can be more thought-provoking.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I had a college professor that was pretty instrumental in giving me “permission,” or support, in seeing myself in a different way as an actor. In my theatre education (which was focused on acting before writing and directing), there was always such an emphasis on “type,” and actively finding and staying within your “type,” which…intentionally building walls to confine myself creatively? Not something I’d ever felt comfortable with. I ended up playing very young roles, and always the ingenue type. There’s nothing wrong with either, and playing young was actually an advantage, but I had a really hard time finding material that both resonated and “fit.”

In my junior year of college I took a Shakespeare scene study course with a professor, Chris. On the first day of class we discussed voice work and how important the voice is to how we’re perceived in the world and as actors. We went around the class and when we got to me he asked what the class heard when I spoke. One of my classmates said they heard “sweet little Rosie.” Chris turned to me and asked, “Do you want to be sweet little Rosie?” I quickly said “no.” He then asked if I wanted to play Juliet or Lady Macbeth. I said Lady Macbeth, and he was like “okay then.” (For the record, I would still like to play Juliet too.) It was such a green light! It was a green light like I’d never gotten before, and he was right there saying, “okay…let’s go.”

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
In a sense, but in a sense it was a positive thing, and the notion of “giving up,” I think shouldn’t have such a negative connotation, and shouldn’t be so closely associated with “failure.” I feel like “giving up” is an interpretation or judgement of an individual’s choice, placed on them from those on the outside.

I almost completely gave up acting, which is what I came to LA to do—that is generally recognized as a big fail. When I started telling people this a few years back I was met with a lot of pity, and I had to clarify that it’s a good thing because I was unhappy. Furthermore, it’s not like there’s anything stopping me from going back to acting—I acted in the movie I just directed, I’ll probably put it away for awhile, but who says I can’t go back to it in twenty years if I feel like it? Same with a writer, singer, painter, etc. I believe very strongly that there is total flexibility in leaving something—it’s not permanent and it shouldn’t be scary. So, in a way I kind of did give up on something that I’d spent over a decade loving and learning about, but I also don’t believe that there’s such thing as “giving up,” and it’s a term used far too often in the entertainment industry specifically, treated as something negative or weak. That’s my hot take.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
All of my projects! This very much comes with the territory of indie filmmaking, so it’s an important mindset to have, and I really do feel that way about every project I’m working on, be it in the writing stage or in post-production. Some of my writing projects I’ve been working on for several years, constantly trying to get it right; usually one piece will fall into place and then it’s about getting the rest of the script there. Now that my feature, “If We Be Friends” is wrapped up, I quickly jumped into my back-burner projects—desperately needed something to occupy my mind. My new writing projects look at mental health, collective social trauma over multiple generations (but focusing on Millennials because that’s my generation), and prison reform. They all matter so much to me, and I wouldn’t have even started in on them if I wasn’t in it for the long haul.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Oh, absolutely. That’s pretty much the life of a writer. Or at least most of the time it is. There’s very little validation—from others and from yourself, since you have to be your own constant critic. Each day that I’m working on a script only works if I’m believing in my own work. So, I think, for a writer, it goes with the job, and you just need to really love your own stories and characters, and throw away the idea that someone else will be praising or validating it enough to motivate you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rosaliealspach.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/rosaliealspach
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/rosalie.alspach
• Other: https://instagram.com/ifwebefriendsfilm