Life & Work with Dana Kippel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Kippel.

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?
Currently, I am an actor, director, writer, producer living in Los Angeles, CA. You can also just say I am finding myself which we all are doing. I was born in Queens NY, my mother was from South Carolina and she was only 17 so she gave me up for adoption t0 a lovely family who raised me in the suburbs of NY. Growing up, I went to theatre camp, I loved performing for my family and directing and acting in home videos of my friends and (so sorry Glen) my brother. I had many different creative influences visually such as the rolling green hills of Vermont, the beautiful waters of Lake George, and the vast fields driving through Upstate New York. I was inspired by the scary masks in Party City, I loved Beetlejuice and Goosebumps and the idea that in your closet could be a whole other realm (Sabrina the Teenage Witch). I was immediately drawn to things that scared me, I also had some psychic gifts of feeling other’s energy around me and I would sense things that were not there, yes I might of had an overactive imagination which I am sure all creatives can relate too. But what really made me who I am was persevering against the hardships in my life. I was severely bullied as a child, not sure why to this day, I was a nice kid, but I was different and the kids didn’t like that. I spoke what was on my mind, I was weird and quirky and I definitely did not fit in. I would go home and cry and feel I could not tell anyone because I was embarrassed.

I channeled these emotions into writing stories about fantasy characters of other worlds. I started to pursue acting and directing when I was 17 but came into some hardships…I had some traumatic things happen in my earlier years as well as in high school that I still am working on today, at the time they overcame me and I victimized myself, ended up in rehab at 17 and thought my life was over. There were days where I wanted to just give up because I felt I was holding on so hard to life with no direction, my creativity was gone and I was truly depressed. I worked on myself a lot in those years by facing a lot of hard truths. By 21, out of my 2nd rehab I finally started to discover who I was (at least I thought I did) I got into spirituality lightly, I was doing social marketing in south Florida, and at 28, I opened my own food business called Nocturnal Eats. It ended up doing so well that I was offered to bring it out to Los Angeles! I was REALLY excited because part of me knew this was also MY time to pursue what I really really loved which was acting, directing and writing, but I was always too scared to pursue it professionally. I risked everything, packed bags, drove to Los Angeles and moved within a month of that offer. When I got out here very quickly, I realized I had to go after my true passion of the entertainment world no matter how hard it would be, as long as I stuck to my truth and my values I would be ok. I sold my food business, they still operate around LA, and I dove into acting full force.

I signed up for every casting site possible, I interviewed actor friends and watched videos on how other actors succeeded, I took acting classes (I have a lot to say on finding the right acting class for you but that’s another story) I networked, I met with producers, casting agents, directors and got to know them as people and realized we are ALL just creative children inside trying to make our childhood dreams come true! That took some fear away for me because I knew we were all after the same thing, creating. I had A LOT of trial and error, I thought I would be an amazing actor right away, NOT TRUE. I did get a lot of auditions pretty fast and I had beginners luck with booking national commercials for NordicTrack, Poshmark, Clorox, etc… but I was surface acting. I realized I had to do a lot of work on myself as a person to truly connect to other characters and expose their weaknesses and strengths and tell their story with honor. I had to face my demons once again (I thought I already did this at 20 but there were a lot more of them) and I am still currently working on this now, but It makes your acting so much more raw once you know who you are, or at least start to know your own truth. The same goes for writing and directing. After about a year of acting I thought, why can’t I just start to direct and write now? So I bought books on writing and directing and made my first short film with my boyfriend called Want to Hear A Story?… I also am currently writing several features- one sci-fi and one horror that I plan to film later this year or early next year. I am auditioning for better parts now, still not where I want to be, but I know I need to just trust the universe and go with the flow. I filmed my first feature in May 2020 that’s on demand called The Cove, and I have several coming out this year.

I am becoming a better actor every day as I learn more about myself and the craft. I have also found a HUGE love and passion for directing and writing that I will continue to cultivate. My best advice is if you want something go after it and go after it NOW, not in a month from now or when your “prepared”. Who cares what anyone thinks, just do it! Always stick to your values and morals, just know and believe you will succeed, you don’t need to be desperate for a part and risk your values for it, what’s meant for you will come to you. People are going to tell you NO, you can’t succeed, you won’t succeed, you cant do this or that. DONT LISTEN TO THEM, listen to your own inner guidance, go for it and prove them wrong, a NO is not always a NO, and lastly… ALWAYS follow up with your contacts…stay in their mind. I am not perfect, I am not always happy, and that is OK, but I am working towards what I believe is success and trying to be a good human at the same time while also accepting my faults and using them as motivation instead of letting them stop me. I think if we start admitting our vulnerabilities people will go back to realizing it is OK to be human, and you can still succeed (whatever that means to you) no matter what. Just never give up… and have fun sometimes 🙂

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST. It has been very bumpy. I think failures are what lead to success. I have not learned from my success, I have learned from my failures. I have been underprepared for a role, I have had bad business relationships, I have been rejected at countless auditions, I have reached out to people and they have not gotten back to me, I have stopped projects halfway through and haven’t finished them, I have forgot all my lines in auditions, I left auditions crying, I fled an audition before it was my turn out of nerves, I have anxiety, nervous tics, I doubt myself, trust issues…. the list goes on…

But I haven’t given up – everyone who has ever succeeded has failed more times than succeeded, it’s the giving up that is the problem and real failure.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an actor, writer, producer and director. I especially love horror and sci-fi.

I am known for being a great networker and a hard worker who is trustworthy and wacky.

I am most proud of how far I have come in acting in only one and a half years.

What sets me apart is my networking skills, my courage, the fact that I am me and have my own unique voice and storytelling ability, and that if I say something, I do it right after.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
SO MUCH ADVICE and some of it is so paradoxical
– Be kind to yourself
– Be honest with yourself
– Take advice from others more successful than you (with a grain of salt)
– Also, listen to your inner gut and inner truth
– You are perfect as YOU don’t try to be OR SOUND like anyone else
– Work on yourself as much as you can, your confidence, self-love, how you treat others
– Be a kind person to others and help others as much as you can
– Working for free is fine if its part of a good team, use your judgment
– Also value yourself and don’t do a topless role for 100$
– Do the projects that speak to you (I recently learned this bc I took anything I could get at first)
– If you want to do more than act, do more than act… write… direct, etc.
– Make your own content
– NETWORK
– You are the CEO of your own business
– Interview people about how they became successful
– Make true relationships, don’t just network because you can get something out of someone, be of value to someone and really listen to what they have to say and be a real friend
– Have a life outside of acting and self-care
– Read ALOT of books
– Don’t take yourself too seriously
– Stop competing with others and judging other people
– YOU ARE MAGICAL, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF ALWAYS!!!!!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11261632/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dana.thealien/?hl=en

Image Credits:
Isaac Gonzalez and Stephanie nelson