Written by Kristin Wallace (BA '06)
I have to be honest, I came to Waterloo reluctantly. I thought I should be on the stage in New York where I belong, not at university getting an Honours BA. But the knowledge and experiences - triumphs and tribulations I went through - prepared me for a lot of the realities of the business. I started my time at the Waterloo Drama Department in a bed, pretending I had just woken up from years of being in a coma, having to speak in pros for an hour on stage by myself with my eyes closed, to ending my time at school with the first ever thesis project consisting of three girls all directing, starring and producing a play.
There was one professor's words that stayed with me after school ended and that was Bill Chesney’s advice as I was leaving - create your own work, produce a play, star in it and bring it back to the University - he would do everything to help. Well, it’s a couple years later and it’s not a play, but an Award Winning feature film that I produced, wrote and star in with many other famous faces including an Oscar Nominated Actor and an Emmy Nominated Actress. MOMENTS OF CLARITY is an unlikely friendship film about two girls who find themselves on a wild ride of a road trip that forever changes their lives.
I began writing from my own experiences in LA and feeling very out of place. Feeling like no one understood me, everyone was trying to put me in some sort of box they had seen before, and I just didn’t fit. I didn’t want to change and I wanted to hold on to that inner child we all have that is our truest self - unafraid, optimistic and authentically you. I wanted to create a positive, light image of what can feel like a very dark world sometimes. I took what was a troubling time for me, wondering if I wanted to even be in a creative business that wasn’t encouraging my unique authenticity, to creating a story out of it. It’s been the most rewarding and empowering experience of my life. I’m hooked!
I started my own production company - Long Stem Pictures - and after touring the film around the festival circuit, racking up awards at almost each one like Best Feature Award of Merit and Audience Award at the Catalina Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the San Diego Film Festival, to Best Director and Best Actress (humbly that’s me) at our world premiere in Boston, to many other’s that we were so incredibly happy to receive - the film was then distributed and released. We opened in theaters in my two home towns, now LA, and Toronto! It’s been a dream come true to share my first film with everyone, so Waterloo… buy or rent my film now on all these outlets: iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, DirecTV, Sony Playstation Store.
If you're interested in finding out more please watch our KTLA Interview and check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and IMBd.
