Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbie Georganna.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Abbie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My name is Abbie Georganna and I am an Actor as well as a Producer with the company Mother & Daughter Entertainment (MDE). My story begins in the theatre, where I first started performing in elementary school, but I shifted my emphasis to TV/Film acting when I was in college at California State University, Fullerton. Since graduating, I have been pursuing an acting career in LA, with my latest role being in the MDE romantic comedy, Will You Be My Quarantine?, which just wrapped in November. I play Claire, an airy and fiercely optimistic coworker of lead Vanessa, played by Full House star Jodie Sweetin. (Mother & Daughter Entertainment followed all federal, state and union COVID rules and regulations, safely filming during the pandemic.) I also had the pleasure of being a Co-Producer on the film.
So how did I end up being a producer with MDE? Hard work and lots of googling to figure out what the heck I was doing.
Mother & Daughter Entertainment is a company that develops and produces media content, from feature films to TV episodics, even podcasts and publishing books. MDE was founded in 2018 by real-life mother-daughter duo, Elizabeth and Isabella Blake-Thomas, with the company motto being “Making Content That Matters”.
I officially joined the team at MDE back in July of 2019, but I was a production assistant on two of their projects beforehand. I first met Elizabeth Blake-Thomas through a mutual friend, Julia Parker, from a short film I did. Elizabeth invited me to join one of her sets in 2018, where I had a blast dabbling in all departments (as indie filmmakers know, you wear a lot of hats on set!). I kept in contact and then in April of 2019 worked as a PA on MDE’s film UNSEEN. On the last day of shooting, I expressed how desperate I was to quit my serving job (yes, I was living the stereotypical actor/server lifestyle), and Isabella admitted that her mom could really use an assistant. Elizabeth’s plate was getting more full as her directing/producing career was blossoming, so I jumped at the chance!
I began as an intern at MDE and learned about everything from deal memos to deliverables. I answered emails, wrote script coverage and created pitch decks, all while Elizabeth was flexible when auditions came up for me. Elizabeth recognized and rewarded my strong work ethic by promoting me to a producer with the company, which I am forever grateful for. While acting is my main passion, working in the industry in general still excites me. Being surrounded by creativity daily, seeing how all the moving parts work together from pre- through post-production, makes me a better actor.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In regards to my acting journey, the road hasn’t necessarily been rough, but it’s had its ups and downs. When I first graduated college and moved straight out to LA, I felt the shock of being alone in a new city, pursuing a career that has no one path to follow. There is no checklist that guarantees you get an audition or book a role, so I was honestly winging it! My serving job was flexible for auditions, as I only worked nights. I self submitted constantly on Backstage and Actors Access, landing auditions for student films, short films and non-union features. Soon short film and student film credits began to fill my resume and form my reel. Eventually I was cast in a short called Don’t Let Them In, where I met actress Julia Parker, who later would introduce me to Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, shifting my course for the better! Although serving was fine to pay the bills and worked around auditions and filming, it was mentally draining. Elizabeth has blessed me with a job that still allows me to pursue acting, yet also learn so much more about the industry that I love.
The road at Mother & Daughter Entertainment has been a mix of all terrains. Nowadays our team has grown, with multiple stellar interns and talents that assist with our daily tasks of developing, pitching, etc., making things run quite smoothly. With many projects there is the challenge of securing investors. After each film, you are often right back at ground zero unless you package your projects for funding, which we have previously done.
At the beginning, Elizabeth self-funded many of MDE’s projects in order to keep up creative momentum. The money always seems to be the hardest. People like to say they’ll invest or believe in a project, but when you try and get that said money into an account to start production, people start to get flaky. Being a female-dominant team, there is the added element that still seems to be present, of females having to prove themselves more before being taken seriously or given a chance in the industry. Even today the male-to-female director ratio is still largely skewed towards men in TV and Film. Those hurdles of Elizabeth proving herself and her talents, especially at the beginning, as well as investors and other filmmakers often “talking the talk, but not walking the walk”, have been MDE’s biggest struggles along the way.
Thankfully our loyal team is growing. Together we are expanding and elevating not only our content, but ourselves and the company as well.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Mother & Daughter Entertainment – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Mother-daughter team Elizabeth and Isabella Blake-Thomas started Mother & Daughter Entertainment to have more control over creating content when and how they wanted, rather than just wait for opportunities to come around. From the start, both assisted on the development end, with Elizabeth directing and Isabella acting during production. After working as a PA on two of their films, I officially joined the team at MDE in 2019.
Since then, Mother & Daughter Entertainment has grown to a powerhouse group of women, who all complement one another as we create content that matters. We strive to make projects that either have a social impact, initiate change or even just make you laugh. Every genre of film has a purpose, and we focus on covering a wide variety.
Our recent award-winning short film UNSEEN, which addresses the role technology plays in the facilitation of child trafficking, is being used to educate children on the dangers of lure tactics.
Will You Be My Quarantine? is a romantic comedy we just wrapped, starring Full House / Fuller House stars Jodie Sweetin and David Lipper, alongside Alec Mapa (Desperate Housewives) and Danielle Perez (NBC’s StandUp). While not as heavy a subject matter as UNSEEN, the romantic comedy genre allows for emotional release through laughter, which is vital during tough times like the present.
While there are many film companies out there, Mother & Daughter Entertainment is unique in many ways. First off, we are not just a production company. We like to describe ourselves as an entertainment company, for we not only produce films, but we create and develop as well, and tackle multiple mediums, from film to music to publishing. Mother & Daughter Entertainment also differs because it is a true family. Not only are the founders of MDE a real mother and daughter, the rest of the team is treated just like family as well. Knowing how much harder females have to prove themselves in the industry, Elizabeth has made it a priority to mentor other female filmmakers, bringing them into the MDE family.
We are proud to say that Mother & Daughter Entertainment was started from the ground up through Elizabeth and Isabella’s diligent foundation work and has blossomed into a professional business of hardworking women.
In just the last few years, MDE has made a total of eight feature films, four short films, one TV pilot, two short documentaries, three books, two EPs and a film podcast; and the number just keeps growing!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Personally for the future, my plans are to continue elevating my acting career, as well as learn as much as I can in general about the film and television industry. This year I joined SAG, which was an exciting accomplishment! It is always important to train and finesse my craft, so taking classes and sitting in on SAG’s casting workshops (many available online for safety and convenience). Diving into the behind the scenes of filmmaking through working at MDE has only helped my acting, for I have a more complete understanding of every department involved. Plus, constantly creating even when I’m not on set acting is priceless for my mental health!
As a company, at Mother & Daughter Entertainment we are always looking ahead at the future. With each new project we develop or produce, we think about our target audience and if now is the right time for a project of that nature. For the smaller projects we just put up on our company YouTube channel we don’t have to consider as much, but for our larger scale feature films, we also take into consideration distribution and what our target platform is.
As far as the immediate future, we are really looking forward to the release of our romcom Will You Be My Quarantine? which is currently in post-production. We have an endearing Christmas film titled Evie Rose, starring Oscar-nominated actress Terry Moore (Come Back, Little Sheba) and Disney+ star Isabella Blake-Thomas (Secret Society of Second Born Royals), which will be released on Amazon in early 2021.
Upcoming MDE films for production in 2021 include a musical kids film and a high stakes twist on the Cinderella story.
We strive to elevate Mother & Daughter Entertainment with every step and have taken huge strides this past year by expanding our team and upgrading the film equipment we use. With each project, we become more seasoned professionals, always learning and open to grow with the ever-changing industry. To keep up-to-date on our upcoming projects, follow Mother & Daughter Entertainment on social media.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.motheranddaughterent.com (MDE) / www.abbiegeorganna.com (Abbie Georganna)
- Email: [email protected] (MDE) / [email protected] (Abbie Georganna)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motheranddaughterent/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motheranddaughterent/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/M_D_Ent
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0702427
Image Credit:
Carina Jean Photo, Jacob Mariani, Peter ‘Bob’ White
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