Life & Work with April Yanko

Today we’d like to introduce you to April Yanko. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my career acting, not really believing that I could do much more than that. And acting is great, don’t get me wrong, but really embracing my desire to be a professional writer, too, has made everything about moving to LA so much more fulfilling. 

I learned that I had a comedic voice and figured out how to create with it through trusted friends back in Pittsburgh, where I’m from. And what’s great is that each job strengthens the other. I can write dialogue that sounds like real people, and I can look at a script and easily understand why a scene is important and why what’s not on the page is still speaking to the audience. 

My ultimate goal is to create shows and films that I also act in, specifically in the comedy space. It’s weird and fun to look back at my younger self and see hints that this was always what I wanted to do. I loved cartoons and animated films, movie musicals, and “adult” shows. So much of what went into choosing my career was determined by what I saw on the screen, who made me happy and felt like my friends. And then, learning I could do both, be the person who’s on the screen and the one who created what they’re saying, it seemed unreal. But I’m doing it now; I just wish I realized doing both was an option sooner! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Being a multi-hyphenate often means more than just being a writer-actor. I’ve had to learn other skills to get my projects made, mainly producing and editing (which I now professionally do, too). And wearing all the hats is hard! You have to figure out “do I want everything done exactly the way I envisioned it?” or “do I want to see if this other collaborator gets my vision and if they don’t and we’ve already started…then what?” And that is a difficult question to answer. 

I’ve been trying to give “hats” to others as I make more films. A great way to find new people is by making smaller projects together and learning one another’s voice, style, way of communicating, etc. Another setback was when I moved across the country, I lost easy access to the Pittsburgh crew I loved working with. So, I’m experiencing the same process now of finding my people here. And fortunately, I have been finding some success on that front. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I write and I act. With writing, I specialize in sketch and comedy that’s weird, but strangely touching. I love watching funny things that make me think or learn or feel less alone, so that’s what I do my best to make myself. Acting has become this for me too: opportunities to tell stories that comfort the viewer. In fact, I strive to make comfort programming, the stuff you’d want to watch when you’ve had a bad day and want to feel hugged by a proverbial funny blanket. 

My first film, “this is a garden,” finished its festival run and is loving YouTube life. If you’d like to watch it, here’s the link: https://youtu.be/b4eXILF8CIE 

I have two other films on their festival circuit currently: The first is “Pulling the Plug on Mom,” which is receiving a bunch of great fest attention, most notably a Best Comedy nomination from Cannes Shorts and a Best Short nomination from Red Dirt International Film Festival. The second film on its festival run is “Butt Stuff,” which just finished an insanely successful crowdfund. 

I’m incredibly proud of both, but “Butt Stuff” is my absolute pride and joy. It’s about a man’s sentient sex toy becoming jealous when its owner forms a relationship with a human woman. This is the film I learned to edit to complete, and my team helped make all of the weird, funny, and emotional moments soar. My goal is to sell it to Adult Swim, as it impeccably fits their voice and I’m sure their viewers would love to be confused and delighted when a butt puppet fills their screens at 2AM. 

My most recent acting project has been playing Viola in a webseries called “The Party,” which is all about D&D. I play a grad student who infiltrates her roommate’s D&D campaign, secretly taking notes to complete her thesis while also learning to love the game and the people she plays it with. After weeks of filming, I’m confident to say it’s my favorite project I’ve ever been cast in. Not only is it funny and touching, but we have some great D&D celebs and surprises throughout the series, and it was made by an insane group of talented women. It’s projects like this that remind me why I wanted to be in LA in the first place. 

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
That it’s important to make things that you would want to watch. I’ve worried about what others would think of X and Y and have changed things about X and Y to hopefully please these potential critics. But I’ve learned that whether it’s in the way I do a self-tape or in the way I revise a draft, when I enjoy what I did, it has the strongest chance of being enjoyed by others. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aprilyanko.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/post.march/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/post_march
• Youtube: youtube.com/@postmarch
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/nalabedroomeyes/