Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Moore.
Dylan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a multi-hyphenate; an artist, producer and citizen, which makes my story a long one so here are just some of the highlights! I grew up in Los Angeles and went to college in New York at The Juilliard School where I studied acting and spent summers working with the non-profit Artists Striving to End Poverty bringing the arts to underserved communities in New York, Florida, South Africa and beyond.
After a successful couple of years out of school during which I got to work in TV, film, voice-over and off-Broadway, I found myself yearning to redefine what it meant for me to be an artist. How could I gain more control over my schedule, my appearance, my creativity? So I examined some of the things that brought me joy. I loved throwing parties, I cherished my multi-disciplinary brilliant creative community, I wanted to do something different every day, I valued staying engaged in the political and social DNA of my community, and I had a passion for expanding interest in the arts. The synergy of these things developed into my producing career with my company. Our Exquisite Corpse. While in NY, I went on to produce an on-going series of parties called Le Salon in unique spaces all over NY, annual summer Chekhov plays performed in a lake house, puppetry that toured the globe, site-specific opera and much more.
I used those producing skills to stay involved in the world at large by organizing buses to the Women’s March and gather groups of people to face and discuss social injustice and ways to get involved in change. I continued my work with ASTEP and co-founded the Artist As Citizen Conference, a six days gathering of artists 18 -30 who wanted to develop the relationship between their artistry, entrepreneurship and activism. That nexus is where I tried to live in all my work.
And finally, three years ago I moved back to Los Angeles which has been the best decision I could have made! I continue to produce and have spent much of this crazy year in my recording studio at home narrating audiobooks.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has always been a curvy and hilly one. I think that’s true for any freelancer or entrepreneur. You are building the road as you go and that means sometimes you gotta take a right turn when you wanted to go straight. But the challenges have always been the greatest gifts in the end. One funny story I tell is that when I began to transition into producing and away from on-camera acting, I realized that I didn’t have much a real-world technical skillset. Excel spreadsheets? Invoices? Pitches? I didn’t know how to do any of it. But I was eager, tenacious, and living in the modern world, so I took myself to Google graduate school. I spent countless hours over a year or two teaching myself how to do it all (at least in a perfunctory way) and gained confidence in my own smarts that was hard-won.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am so happy for my work to have settled into a simpler place for the time being. I’ve got marriage and Covid to thank for that! My work falls into a couple of categories that feed each other. I work in voice over and specialize in audiobooks. I love telling stories and using all my juicy Juilliard training to bring those characters to life. And after sitting a booth by myself for days on end, I love producing. I’ve been in the process of selling a documentary series with one of my partners Sarah Wittrock. As well as trying to find a bigger home for the second season of a web-series I produced called “It’s Freezing Out There” about a woman on a journey to freeze her eggs. And while this is on ice at the moment for obvious reasons, I still produce parties! I mostly have been working on smaller private events. So next time you need some help making a birthday or office party something special give me a call! I’m bursting with anticipation for all the joy we’ll feel when we can be near one another again.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over the only thing I would have changed is my self-confidence. I wish I had been confident and comfortable with who I am from day one. It’s such a long road to self-love that we all take and I wish the confidence in my authentic self could have come sooner for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dylmoore.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @dylancmoore @our_exquisite_corpse
Image Credit:
Adriana DeGirolami, Rachel Shane, Dylan Moore, Farrol Mertes, Carolyn Amurao
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