I am an African-American/Cherokee/Scottish actor-dancer from Maine, living and working in New York. I also work as voiceover artist, choreographer, and director, and I have been a union production manager for almost ten years. I am also an avid tanguera and dance more hours than I sleep per week.
Mouse over the images below for more information about them.
Check out some of my recent work by clicking on the links below:
What's Doing Currently
I just played the mother of a 13 year old (Good grief!) in a film series for the Department of Education about internet safety. My daughter was being cyber-bullied via a myspace-like social site called myface. It was a funny couple days.
I completed shooting my scenes for the pilot for "Wildflower" in late September. "Wildflower" is a series about a group of dancers who lead second lives as underground vigilantes.
I just shot a commercial for MVP HMO for Media Logic with Working Light Pictures. The shoot and the crew were awesome, and I had a great time.
One of my favorite filmmaking buddies, Kerrie Welsh was kind enough to shoot Tom Wisniewski and myself at an early morning tango practice. You can check out some of her awesome footage here .
Brian Casper and I are hard at work on the next Stickboy Studios joint project. We'll keep you posted!
IMDB
Two films I played principal roles in have won major film awards and one of them has received distribution and can be rented via Blockbuster and Netflix, or purchased at Target and Wal-Mart. This of course means that I suddenly have a page in the Internet Movie Database (imdb). How weird is that? Click on the link above to check it out.
9 Steps from St. Anne's Street
I completed the run of the workshop performance of "9 Steps from St. Anne's Street" by Carolyn Nur Wistrand, as part of the "Girl Power Festival" produced by New Perspectives Theatre Company in August. The Festival is a showcase for work generated by the Women's Work Lab, a structured artistic environment for the creation of new plays by female playwrights. "9 Steps..." is about a family of women practicing voudou in 1800's Louisiana. We ran August 18th-22nd. Click the link above for more info.
Sonny-n-Michelle
We shot "Sonny-n-Michelle", written by Edward Albee Writing Fellow, Brian Casper, over the course of two days in late July. I directed, Kat Green DP'd and provided our awesome location, Kerrie Welsh also DP'd, Adam Chimera was our sound engineer, Monica Coello was our makeup artist, Dan Renkin was our fight choreographer, and Charles Rooke swooped in at the last minute and donated an incredible amount of film equipment. Our AMAZING cast included Lauren Currie Lewis as Michelle, Jason Blaine as Sonny, and in a bunch of random stuff, Josh Hartung. "Sonny-n-Michelle" is the first joint project of Stickboy Studios, a partnership between writer/designer, Brian Casper, and myself. Keep checking back here for updates on this project and future projects produced by the company.
Stonington Opera House
I returned from Maine in late July, where I was performing at Stonington Opera House in "As It Is In Heaven". "As It Is..." is an exploration of a turn of the century Shaker community, complete with reconstructions of Shaker dance and music by a performance historian. We had the honor of performing our last evening at the only remaining Shaker Village in Sabbathday Lake, Maine, for the four remaining Shakers in the world. It was a rather intense experience to put it mildly.
Me
"Me" with Inverse Theater Company completed its run in late May and we received some awesome reviews. Click here and here to read two of them. "Me", a play with rock music, is a semi-autobiographical portrait of Kirk Wood Bromley, the playwright, as told by 12 people playing one character. The run was a blast and the music, by resident composer John Gideon, totally rocked the house. Performances ran May 3rd thru 24th at The Ohio Theater on Wooster Street in Manhattan. Visit the website via the link above for more info.
The Mixed Girl Monologues
I had a great time performing excerpts of my one woman show, "The Mixed Girl Monologues" as part of the Spork Festival which ran February 5-9, 2008 at Theater 54 in midtown. The festival boasted some awesome performances, and it's definitely worth noticing in 2009.
MacBeth
I completed performances of "MacBeth" with Oberon Theatre Ensemble at the Lion Theater on 42nd Street in March. Performances ran in repertory with Michael Weller's "Ghost on Fire" from February 14-March 8, 2008. Check out one of our favorable reviews by clicking here .
Commercials! Commercials!
Uh huh. That's right. I shot some commercials the fall and winter of 2007. I was an angry bride in the on camera, voiceover, and print spots for Bridezillas on WEtv. If you're in the Midwest you've probably seen my spot for Michigan Dental. (Thank you to all my Midwest peeps who have emailed me about it.) You can also see it here . I'm the jogger who can talk without making siren noises. (It's sort of a high concept spot.) Or you can catch me talking about the wonders of Oreck Vacuum Cleaners on late night tv!
Life's Passing Me By
"Life's Passing Me By" is a romantic comedy about a young woman named Dora (played by me) who can give everyone else spectacularly good advice, but whose own life is basically a huge mess. A story about all those people who act like they have it all together, when they really, really don't, "Life's Passing Me By" was written and directed by the wonderful Mark Cabaroy, a Queens-based filmmaker I cannot say enough good things about. Check out the website for the trailer, screening dates, and info on the awesome cast!
UPDATE "Life's Passing Me By" was chosen to be part of Anthology Film Archives New Filmmaker's Series. It screened July 23rd to a packed house at AFA in Manhattan.
UPDATE 2 "Life's Passing Me By" won 1st Place at The Indie Gathering Film Festival in Ohio in the Comedy/Drama Feature Category!
Paula's Reel
Yes. That's right. It's my reel. And you can watch it below or visit my personal website at paulawilson.info to see a higher quality version of it.
Grass Under Ground
"Grass Under Ground" is a film short, written, directed, and edited by the extremely cool, extremely talented Steve Dackson. It was shot over one weekend last fall, and the original script was 34 minutes long. Steve did that wonderful rare thing where he let Jack P. Dempsey and myself shoot the entire script in one long 34 minute master take as the first shot. It was awesome. The finished product is much shorter, since Steve is also a kick booty editor. Check out the finished film by clicking on the name above. You can also check out Steve's other work by clicking here .
UPDATE "Grass Under Ground" screened September 20th at 10 pm as part of the New York Film and Video Festival at Village East Cinemas. Click here for more info.
Pied
"Pied" is a film short written, directed, and produced by me. It was shot over one 14 hour day in lower Manhattan. I had a wonderful cast and crew. My DP was the amazing Yvie Raij . You can check her out by clicking on her name. My fabulous leads were Kira Sternbach and Denise Greber . Check them out also. The CGI portion of the film is being designed and created by the incredibly talented Jason Scott Jones . Visit him too!
UPDATE Since shooting the short, "Pied" has expanded into a series and is being completely revamped and reworked as one of the Stickboy Studios in-development projects. We are also waiting for the return of our lead, Kira Sternbach, who is off in London performing in the premiere of Neil LaBute's new play. Go Kira! Keep checking back here for more details as we get closer to production.
Rising Circle Theater Collective
Rising Circle Theater Collective is a group of young theatre artists of color dedicated to producing work that reflects the world we live in, both through the development of new pieces and unique restagings of pre-existing works. I appeared in their production of "American Family Project", which explores the meaning of family in 21st Century America. A combination of movement and theater based upon actual interviews, "AFP" ran March 1st-March 11th at Teatro La Tea in NYC. Have a look at one of our many favorable reviews here !
73
"73" is an independent sci-fi short by award-winning filmmaker M. Asli Dukan, in which I play the title character, 73. You can check out the trailer by clicking here . Ms. Dukan is also the director/producer of the documentary, "Invisible Universe" which explores African-American's contributions to, and involvement in, speculative fiction and fantasy. Both projects rock the house. Check them out.
Death of a BBoy
An independent feature, directed by Willis Petrie, in which I play a very corrupt music manager.
"Death of a BBoy" premiered to a SOLD OUT house January 4th!!! Thank you to everyone who came out and gave us their feedback.
Due to the great feedback, DOBB screened again, February 10th at 12 Miles West Theater.
UPDATE! DOBB was accepted to The Hollywood Black Film Festival and will screen in Cali in June! Check out the myspace site for more info.
UPDATE 2! DOBB received Honorable Mention at the Paul Robeson Film Festival, as part of the Newark Film Festival.
TWWT & NBT Winter Monologue Festival
This Woman's Work Theatre Company and Next Big Thing present an evening of monologues by emerging playwrights each January, and I was chosen to perform one of them! The show ran January 25-27 at The Rock Theater to packed houses. I had the honor of performing a monologue from Renita Martin's beautiful play, "Blue Fire on the Water". She is a playwright to watch, so keep your eye on her.
Loco 7
A movement based theater company led by artist Federico Restrepo. I appeared in their production of "Open Door" at La MaMa, December 1-17. We've received some great notices. Check out our reviews in The New York Times and BackStage !
The Loco7 website was recently updated with footage of "Open Door". Click here and select "Open Door" to see the show in action! I've also recently become a full company member. Take a look at the Company Page for information on the actor/dancer/puppeteers that make up Loco7!
More Loco7 news! The final installment of Federico Restrepo's dance/puppet/theater trilogy, "Room to Panic" , is running at La MaMa ETC, October 4th-19th, 2008. My schedule didn't allow me to perform this time around, so I am returning to my roots and stage managing the production. It's a gorgeous hour long piece, so if you have the time, come check it out. Click on the link above for more info.
Fluid Motion Theater and Film
I appeared in their production of "The Great Conjurer" which ran at The Kirk Theater October 20th thru November 4th. Check out one of our reviews. And here's another.
New York, New York
The alternate music video for Moby's song "New York, New York" which will appear on his upcoming "Best of" DVD. Directed by Reverend Jen, shot by Kat Fitzgerald of HBO, and danced in by yours truly.
All My Children
Yes. "All My Children". I have a recurring under-5 as Nurse Jeri (a.k.a. Nurse Annie. It's a long story.) in Pine Valley Hospital. My next episodes air October 22, 23, and 24, 2008 on ABC at 1 pm.
Elisabeth Withers
One of the stars of "The Color Purple" on Broadway, a kick booty singer, a total professional, and super nice, too! Her debut album dropped this fall and I danced in the video from her first single. Check out the video by clicking on the link above.
Outworld Entertainment
A New Jersey based production company run by Cesar Cruz and Jodi Murphy that produces hysterical mockumentaries, truly scary suspense/horror, and great sci-fi projects. I performed in two of their recent shorts "Elected: Small Town, Big Issues" and "Can't Keep a Deadman Down: The Real Story of a Real Live Zombie".
Still Curious About Me? Visit PAULAWILSON.INFO
