Rising Stars: Meet Philip Lester of North Hollywood/Studio City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip Lester

Hi Philip, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I came to Los Angeles in 1989, with a degree in Theatre from Florida State University. I had plans to start a touring Shakespeare company, having worked for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. for two years after college. In the process of doing so, I met a man already doing something very similar, and ended up joining his company, Will & Company. I served as Associate Artistic Director there while also participating as actor, fight choreographer and director for eight years. I left the company in 1998 and began working in murder mystery dinner theatre, when I also began writing, all the while doing film and television roles when they came along. I have written two screenplays and a stage play to date. I also learned American Sign Language when working with Will & Company, and was cast in a play in Chicago as the lead in “Sweet Nothing in My Ear,” in which I had to sign my entire performance, as half of the cast were deaf characters. I was seen by Marlee Matlin during that performance, and subsequently cast in her Lifetime movie “Where the Truth Lies” with Regina King the following year, in which I played Marlee’s sign interpreter. Other television roles came along, including parts on “24,” “CSI: Miami,” and “Strong Medicine,” in which I played the sign language interpreter for Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur. My play, a murder mystery entitled “Murder: Stage Right” began getting attention in the early 2000’s, and to date has been produced in over 25 different venues in 12 states and 3 foreign countries.
When the pandemic came, my wife Jenny, Director of clinical trials for the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Med Health had to begin working from home. At the time, I was not doing anything more than auditioning for commercials. After two weeks of working from home, she informed me that I would need to “get out of the house a couple of days of the week, or she was going to kill me.” I started marshaling at a local golf course one day a week as a volunteer, which allowed me to golf for free. Then we heard that the local food pantry, the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry, was looking for someone to drive their vehicles. It was a part-time job; just a few hours a week, and I applied and got the job. The Director at that time, Barbara Javitz, suggested I work at the pantry during distribution hours on Monday and Friday mornings, which would give me more hours each week. Two weeks into the job, the volunteer who was the unofficial “Supervisor of Distribution” decided it was time for him to “retire,” and Barbara told me I would be the new Supervisor of Distribution. After a few months of this, she informed me that she would be stepping down from the Directorship the following year, and that while the position was not currently a paid position, she was going to recommend to the Board of Directors that it needed to become a paid position when she left, and that I was her first choice as her replacement. The following year, I applied for the position and was hired as the Director. It has been 3-1/2 years since I took the position, and since that time, we have moved our distribution center to a space occupying 3 times the square footage of the area we had for 40 years. We now operate from a storefront on Moorpark Street, rather than the parking lot behind the church. We have more than doubled the amount of food we distribute to those in need. The pantry began in 1983, by a small group of ladies with a common goal of feeding those who faced food insecurity. They were from different religious backgrounds, but joined together to do something they all felt was important. Today, we hand out an average of 440 bags of groceries each week, Mondays and Fridays, and have expanded to include fresh produce, bread and pastries, and meat, along with the staples of non-perishables we have been providing for 43 years. We also provide pet food, diapers, and hygiene products to those who need them. We involve more than a dozen different congregations of churches and temples, and several local schools, which hold regular food drives on our behalf. We have been recognized by the City of Los Angeles and several different Districts in the San Fernando Valley as one of the most important resources in the area for our citizens, along with grants from those offices. We work with the L.A. Regional Food Bank, which provides us with a large portion of our non-perishable food, and has organized regular donations from a local Target Store for produce and more. We are recognized by the LARFB as one of the few “large agencies” in the city. Funding comes from private donations, grants and corporations. Private donations and volunteering opportunities can be found by going to nhifp.org – our website which I helped to envision and create.
Two years ago, while trying to get my screenplay ” . . . somewhere, a dog barks” in front of an important producer by inviting him to a round of golf, I ended up securing a $100,000 donation to the pantry from his boss instead. These days, the Board does not mind when I tell them I’m on the golf course!
While I don’t actively still pursue acting work, I still do some dabbling now and then. I’m doing a reading of an original screenplay this month about the life of composer Richard Strauss, in which I am reading several roles, including Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. I also have several hobbies, including hosting karaoke, amateur photography, and selling used golf balls online.
Last year, we had planned to do a gala fundraiser for the pantry by putting on my murder mystery dinner theatre show, but the logistics with the restaurant we were working with did not work out, so we are currently looking for a new venue! Looking for a restaurant with an open floor plan, which seats about 100 or so, in the North Hollywood/Burbank/Studio City area. Anyone with ideas can email me at philip@nhifp.org with information.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As an actor, nothing was smooth. I had difficulty getting the right representation, and most of the work I got, was just being in the right place at the right time. I missed out on a few opportunities, because I made poor decisions when they were put in front of me, or lacked the confidence necessary to think I could do what was being asked of me at the time. On the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, I was performing “The Three Musketeers” in front of 500 kids, playing D’Artagnan. There was an error in one of the first swordfights in the show, and I ended up with a sword in my eye socket. Luckily, I did not lose my eye. I did, however, do some damage to the muscles which move the eyeball permanently, and I had to wear an eyepatch for several months after the incident. Because of this, I did not take advantage of at least one opportunity given to me, when I auditioned for the lead in a pilot, and the producers told me they wanted me for the role. I was uncertain that I could work without the eyepatch, as I had double vision, and did not know when or if the eye was going to heal. So I turned the job down. The next week, I was asked to do another audition without the eyepatch, and I booked the job. It was a much smaller job, but it proved to me that I could have done the work, if I had taken the chance.
As a writer, I have enjoyed the success of seeing my play performed by other companies in other states, which is one of the most gratifying things I have experienced in life. Trying to make a film, from my own screenplay, was probably the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do. I was not successful. However, I don’t take full responsibility for that. I spent a full year putting together a production team, rewriting a 20-year-old script, forming a pitch deck and getting ready to raise money, only to be met by COVID. That was a momentum-killer. I would still love to see that film get made, but I don’t think I have the energy anymore to do it myself.
As Director of the pantry, there are constant obstacles; fires to be put out. Luckily, I have volunteers and board members who are willing to step up and help me when I cannot overcome those obstacles on my own. Getting to the position itself was something I just kind of “fell into,” honestly. I did not pursue this work, nor did I envision myself doing it five years ago. It just kind of happened, and now I run the place. I think I do a fairly good job of it, and I believe that I make the people I work for happy they hired me. That’s what matters.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This is a hard question for me to answer, as I am currently employed as the Director of a non-profit food pantry, but I also consider myself a lifelong artist, having spent most of my life working in theatre, film and television, and commercials. I have also written 2 screenplays and a full-length stage play, which has been produced by more than 25 different companies in 12 states and 3 foreign countries. I have extensive experience acting, directing, and choreographing sword fights for Shakespeare and classic works for many years. I also did murder mystery theatre with several different companies over the course of three decades. I have performed in sign language, Spanish, and German, all of which I am conversational in. I also dabble in French.
As a food pantry Director, I suppose my specialties include being able to see a problem and find a solution rather easily. I try to create an atmosphere in which those who volunteer or work for me feel good about doing what they do, and they look forward to contributing. I believe I am a good manager of people, and that those who I manage enjoy their time with me. I’m proud to have helped the pantry grow in the past four years to meet the demand, which is growing every day, for our services.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I am of the mind that “luck” is better defined by “when preparation meets opportunity.” I’ve had many situations which I have had the good fortune of being presented with, but I was not necessarily prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. That was “unlucky” for me, but also my own fault, because I wasn’t properly prepared. In other instances, I was prepared for opportunities which I was “lucky” to have been in the right place at the right time, and also prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. I was lucky to have met my wife in the manner that I did, and that I made a good impression on her at the time, so that she was interested in having a relationship with me. I was fortunate that I was talked into moving to Los Angeles by a couple of young men, who decided not to do so themselves, but they guided me here; something I never would have done on my own, most likely. It was unfortunate that when presented with an opportunity early on in my career, to be represented by a large, prestigious management company, I turned them down, because I did not realize those offers would not be abundant in my future, and that I didn’t think I could do what they were asking of me. I was not prepared. I have had the fortune to find employment in various areas throughout my life, just by knowing someone, and making a good impression. I never had to struggle too hard to find work, outside of acting. My current job with the food pantry just sort of “fell into my lap,” when I was looking for something to get me out of the house during COVID.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nhifp.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nhifp?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHIFP