Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Mancini.
Haley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Denver, where I knew I loved writing and comedy but had no idea how people made actual careers out of them. In college, I majored in theater “for fun” and Econ “for real”, but after graduating into the recession, Econ jobs were hard to come by, so I figured why not give LA a spin. I fell right into comedy and would tutor six hours a day on the Westside to make ends meet before hustling to Hollywood to see as many UCB shows as possible. That led to a gig performing at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and booking roles on shows like Mad Men, 24, Shameless, and hosting a daily show on HULU. My first friends here encouraged me to also pursue voice acting and writing for animation because I seemed to have a knack for it, and an old pal from UCB brought me in to meet the showrunners of The Powerpuff Girls. I landed that gig, ended up getting to voice Princess Morbucks, and got nominated for an Emmy, which has led to writing and acting on other animated and live action shows, both for kids and adults, as well as writing comics, which has definitely been something I did NOT see coming. My first graphic novel “B.A.B.E. Squad”, about four aspiring models who get turned into crime-fighting mutants, co-written with my friend Gina Ippolito and art by Melissa Ballasteros Parasda, is out this month. My home base is still anywhere they let me perform improv and sketch, so I’ll always be at UCB or The Pack Theater, a place I find to be really up-and-coming. I’m also still a member of the first all-female improv team I joined in LA, Slave Leia. Here we are years later and still incredibly close friends!
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road by any stretch of the imagination for me. I’ve had sick family members since I was a kid, so even “letting myself” pursue comedy has been a constant challenge. This is something I’m only vocal about now, actually. Also, because I didn’t come from a community with the necessary experience or connections in entertainment, it took me a long time to figure out how to work effectively and to stand up for what I wanted. Plus, I mean, let’s be honest, the comedy world when I moved here was definitely more sexist than it is now, which made it hard at times to know when someone was being genuinely complimentary and when someone was hitting on you. I can’t imagine how much harder that road must have been for my female friends of color. It also made it feel like there were only a few chairs for women at the table of success, which took me a long time to shake. However, on the other hand, some of my absolute best allies have been guys who have believed in me when nobody else did. So, I guess my advice is to find good friends and stick with them and to always remember that your friends’ success is yours. Also, get a cat or a dog. Pets rule and they weed out crappy guys.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
What sets me apart is probably how firmly I have one foot in the comedy world and one foot in the animation world. It’s one thing to love animation, which I think we all do, but I learned so much more about its depth as I invested myself in it. It’s not a “wouldn’t it be cool to have a cartoon” thing, it’s something that requires as much understanding as any other mode of delivering comedy. As the guys behind Into the SpiderVerse have so astutely said, animation is NOT a genre, it is a medium. I’ve found that the lengths it allows art to stretch comedy are amazing, and it informs my live-action writing in a powerful and colorful way. I’m also obsessed with Godzilla and have a podcast coming out in April called “Godzilla Vs. Podcast Zero” with my buddy George!
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
I think women are incredibly well-positioned to be showrunners and directors. It’s INSANE to me that 75% of directors and showrunners aren’t women, versus the other way around. We’re multi-taskers, we’re empathetic, and speaking for myself here, but playing with Barbies sure as heck teaches you what a good scene looks like!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.haleymancini.com
- Instagram: thehaleyexperience
- Twitter: haleymancini
Image Credit:
Just Cartoon Network for the Princess Morbucks photo, art for the comic by Melissa Ballasteros Parasda
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