Meet Michaela Myers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michaela Myers.

Michaela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Like many aspiring creatives, I came to LA a year out of college with big dreams and a hopeful spirit. Although I was ambitious and passionate, I found myself flailing and drowning in this city, making mistake after mistake. I ended up living out of my car on and off for the first year and a half. It was exhausting and incredibly challenging and often left me feeling broken. Eventually, my tenacity paid off, and I began to find my footing. I landed survival jobs as needed and took classes through Groundlings, iO West, and UCB to hone my comedic inclinations. The training I received through these programs, as well as the Henson Diversity program I participated in, informed my character work and inspired me to create a solo show about my struggle with depression and anxiety. “I Am Vertical” is a dark comedy about wanting to die that premiered to a sold-out audience at the Comedy Central Stage and went on to win the Encore award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Since then, I wrote, produced, directed and starred in a web series called “Happy Thoughts,” an irony-laden series about living with a history of sexual trauma. This project was incredibly fulfilling to work on and opened some doors for me. I’ve since continued to write, direct, and produce, and recently went to SXSW for a pilot I produced and acted in called “Moderately Put Together.” Currently, I’m developing a few dark shorts as well as two comedy pilots.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it’s not been a smooth road! I was essentially homeless for about nine months on and off through the first year and a half I was in Los Angeles. I slept in my car many nights, showered at the gym, struggled to make it through the day and to save any money. I worked my ass off to find work – eventually landing three jobs at once that helped me pick myself up and get an apartment. In addition to that, I’ve always had to deal with clinical depression and anxiety. However, I consider myself a very happy, optimistic, life-loving person, and even with these struggles, I choose happiness and work hard to live a richly joyful, meaningful life!

Tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I enjoy tackling any and all aspects of filmmaking – taking on directing, writing, editing, producing, and acting. Previously I wrote, produced, directed, acted in, and edited a web series called “Happy Thoughts” about the lasting effects of rape trauma and the way we filter ourselves for others, which I made for less than $1500. I also recently produced and acted in a beautiful pilot presentation about adoption that made it’s world premiere at SXSW and am incredibly proud of what we accomplished.

What sets me apart:
I enjoy creating work that gets people to laugh and empathize through their discomfort of facing a difficult subject. Often pulling from the aspects of myself that I can’t escape from, such as my experience with crippling depression and anxiety, I like my work to be first truthful with a strong penchant for irony. I steer towards the dark and absurdly truthful, but never without the funny, the hopeful, and shameless honesty.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Least favorite thing about LA – being away from my family. I miss my sister and her kids terribly, every day. No matter how much we FaceTime, it’s never enough!

Favorite thing – Just about everything. I love Los Angeles. This beautiful, weird, opportunistic city. There’s so much to do here. You can find just about every type of person here, you can easily escape to nature on a whim, the sunsets are consistently some of the most stunning in the world, and if you don’t feel like you have no opportunities, you truly have the ability to create your own.

Contact Info:

• Website: michaelamyers.com
• Instagram: michaelatheweirdo

Image Credit:
Joanna Degeneres, Patrick McPheron (Interiorstate)

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.