 Hi, my name is Veljika and I'm an actress based out of California and today we're going to talk to another actress, Cynthia D. Haller. She contacted me in December to tell me about a monologue book she had written and I read it. She's so talented. I loved the monologues. So today we're going to talk about how she did it, her process and something I talk about a lot on my channel is creating your own work, especially if you are an actor, something that I also want to do a lot more of. So today we're going to talk about what she did, her process and then you can also use her monologues for auditions if you would like. So let's go talk to Cynthia. Hi, you guys, my name is Cynthia D. Haller. I'm an actress and an author based in Los Angeles, California and I wrote a book called A Sit Down with Sin, Monologues to Black Girls and it also comes with a film. So the book comes with 13 monologues and basically it illustrates the experiences of a black girl living during Generation Z. It talks about mental health, microaggressions, social identity and family dynamics. What I did with this project, I took it one step further and I recorded the monologues. And instead of having like plain old monologues against a backdrop like we always do, I decided to make them real cinematic, dress them up, put them in different settings, got a team behind different monologues and basically came up with a film that had seven of these monologues together and the book actually explores this. Not only do you get like the words and things like that to recite, but you actually get visuals and storyboards about how I put the film together. Yeah, I was wondering because I saw the photos and I was like, is this like concept art or did she actually film these? Yeah, yeah. So I actually filmed them and their screen grabs from the actual things. Oh, cool. So when they buy the book, is it a link to the film or how do they get access to those? Well, right now, you can actually download the film for free on my website, CynthiaDHilaire.com. But when you buy the book, you basically get 13 monologues and you get a blueprint on how I was able to really use my words and create all this content. So I published a book and I created a film. And that like blueprint, it's essentially a deeper dive to what we're going to do today of sharing with them how you did it and how they can also create their own word because that's something that I talk about all the time on my YouTube channel because a lot of people are new to acting or aren't getting enough work and they're like, what can I do? How can I do more? It's like, well, you have some time, don't you? Whether it be one day, one hour, that's why I was so excited when you reached out because I was like, you know how to do all of this, you've been through all of this so we can share it with everybody else as well. Exactly. I think as you hear this like in acting school, you have to write your own stories, make your own content like they're looking for artists like that. And I really took that to heart and this is a great example of how you can take your everyday experiences, turn it into a really great story and produce something that you can show your work with. So and stand out too, because that's another thing that a lot of actors that we have to do is stand out. So show casting directors, writers, producers, whatever it is that we are also proactive and we're talented in more than one way. Yeah, I mean, you always got to show that you're continuously working for sure. So tell me a little bit about your process in writing this and how you created the project, how you wrote it. All of these my logs are based on real experiences and that's something when they say like you're going to write, always write the stories that you know that you lived. I was going through like a very vulnerable time in my life. My therapist at the time rekindled my passion for writing. And I found out when I was writing down like these little things that I was going through about how I was feeling that they came out very story like they were filled with characters and settings and things like that. So I really deep dove into it. It took me about like a couple months to write 18 of them, I would say. And then I realized like, OK, like I kind of want other girls to say these monologues to these were the monologues that were probably missing throughout my whole acting career because when you're going through school and things like that, you know, and especially when it's a white school because the majority of them are, they'll throw you like all the shapes, barriers and things like that, which is really, really great to learn. And then for Blacks, they'll give you like links and hues or Lorraine's Hansberry. And I remember like 19 playing Louise from like August Wilson. And that's like a 40 year old woman. And I'm trying to like progress her at 19 years old. So definitely when I was writing these monologues, I was like, oh, like young Black girls need to be able to recite these monologues. They need fresh material, modern material that talks about things that are important to us today, mental health and like the little microaggressions that we feel. So just with all of that, that really birthy idea to turn it into something. The first thing I thought was like, yeah, I'm going to make it into a book. And then I'm just going to have other actors like play it. But then I was like, oh, let's take it one step further. I mean, what best way to sell the product than you doing your own monologues? Right. So I was like, oh, let's take it one step further. I need to like show people that these monologues like are real material that you can work with. Just from talking to different people, consulting with all these other collaborators I had, I decided we're going to make it cinematic. They're going to turn into like many vignettes. And I'm really going to bring you into the world of these monologues. That's so cool. And how do you use these monologues yourself during auditions? I haven't just yet. The monologues came out December of 2020. So I haven't had a chance to personally use them in an audition myself. But I've had had other actors perform these monologues, which has been really, really, really surreal to like see your words on someone else. So other actors have performed these monologues. And yes, I have out of these monologues are me performing them. So that's what I was going to ask you to when you were talking about the monologues. I'm sure a lot of people that watch this video or purchase your book are going to be interested in possibly using the monologues for auditions. So do you grant people permission for this? Or how would that work for auditions specifically? Of course, I grant people permission for this. Actually, like if this is something that really interests you and you're like, I don't know if I really want to make the purchase right now or you can't. Just like email me and I'll send you over a few just to like have in your back pocket. Yeah, that's like a dream of mine just to see this being rotation to be added to the list of monologues that girls can choose from. I wanted to bring up something else too, because like when I meet with different casting directors or go to these different classes, they bring up the idea of writing your own monologues. Honestly, when we go on things like Actorama and the monologue.com or something like that, those are monologues just written out of the blue by people. And that's based on like their experiences. And I think as people of underrepresented groups and things like that, sometimes those experiences are so second degree from us. So it really means something when we can write our own material, recite it and bring it to life. When I was going to college, our professors would say, you can write your own work, but don't audition with it until people give you feedback. Because if you write something that's really bad and then you make yourself look bad, like, you know, like, maybe don't do that. But yes, if it's something that you're really passionate about and you can share it so truthfully, then I mean, your audition is going to be great. Yeah, I'm actually glad you brought that up because another part of my process. So like when I did write these 18 monologues originally in the book, you get 13. So I actually had a panel of black girls read the monologues and give me feedback. And, you know, it was a panel of people from all different walks of life, not just actors and storytellers. And I did that because even though, you know, it's called a Saddamasin monologues for black girls, I also wanted it to relate to just readers in general. Like you didn't have to be an actor just to invest into this book. When I got all that feedback from the girls, it just gave me further confirmation like, hey, like this is very valuable. There's not anything like this really on the market. And it really helped me to narrow down to the 13 that impacted them a lot. And then, of course, I've gotten a lot of feedback from my peers in the acting space as well. So what you were talking about the monologues being very now of our experiences now is really important because like your monologues might not have been relevant to you 10 years ago, 15 years ago, but right now they are. That's really important because the US and all of our experiences in the US really impact us so much more than we think because I think about me in high school, me in college watching all of these shows that today would not get picked up. Now, that really does speak volumes and to take it back to my college experience. I was 19 playing a 40-year-old woman and seven guitars. And it's just like, or when they would give you like, they just love to throw the beneath the monologue on me, the famous Lorraine Hansberry Raisin in the Sun. And it's just like today, I'm not dealing with really assimilating into like white culture. I feel like especially in the last few years, we're really noticing all the programming that has been done and we're like defining the standards that they have put on us. And it's in little ways with like, you know, as simple as like the natural hair movement, having like a resurgence. We're like, OK, we're tired of like trying to assimilate to like white culture in your centric standards of beauty. That monologue, very beautiful, very powerful. I loved reciting it. But like, what about the mental health that we're dealing with today? How are we talking about that and our storytelling? How are we talking about the microaggression that's still here? That's like so loud and has like really come to the forefront with the past presidency and things like that. How are we talking about how that's affecting us and our storytelling? How are we reflecting that to the world? So let's transition to shooting it and building your team. How did you end up making all of these into a beautiful thing that people could watch? I didn't do it all by myself. That's the first one. I had collaborators. But one of the things that my acting teacher kept kept telling me because when this project came about, I was like in cohorts with them. He was like, don't do everything yourself. Like you can't be the writer, actor, producer, director, editor, all of that stuff. And even when you read the the acknowledgments in my book, you'll see that I did wear multiple hats. But the truth is each video that I created had like a different team. So I worked with a different director. I worked with a different editor or coloring guy. I had someone produce one of them just so that I could release some of my responsibilities and focus on what really did want to focus on, which was the storytelling and how I'm going to frame this. And I felt that was really important to do to focus more on like how I wanted to frame this because it's very important for me as like a black storyteller and a black female storyteller to say and present things through my lens, because all the time the black woman's image is told by so many other people. These images and videos and movies that we have on that live forever informs people about us without them like actually hearing from us. Yes. I gave each monologue a different team to work with. And I really reached out to my connects. That's another thing a lot of my frequent collaborators in the art world. And so I was calling and emailing and pitching my ideas to them. Basically like, yo, I have this project. Here's what it's about. Present it to you like, please hop on if you're interested. That's how I got the filming process done. And it really elongated the timeline of this whole project. Made it last about two years. And then for the book part, girl, I just did everything on fiber. I outsourced everything on fiber for the book part. That's where I got the formatter, the book design, all that stuff. Again, letting people with that profession and that skill training handle that themselves. The last part of putting all this together, I think it's like releasing it. How do you release it? How do you plan to release it? And I think a lot of effort has to be put into that as well, especially since we live on the day of social media. As a creator, you have to decide, like, OK, what is my ultimate goal here? Is this for my media platform so I can showcase my content? Or am I trying to show this to industry professionals and have them critique it and hold it to a certain caliber and things like that? So once I made that decision and I decided to release it on Instagram first and then the film itself, I'm submitting to film festivals, came up with like release plan, release content. And I think one of the most important things is like building an audience around it. So I reached out, it's how we got connected. Yes, you reached out to me in December, you sent me an email. Yes, I reached out to other creators within, like, my world with similar audiences as mine, just to, like, introduce, like, hey, you guys, I have this. I think this will greatly benefit your audience, pitched it to them and had them like we came up with this whole concept here. So that's how I did it. For somebody that has never created something of that caliber, like you saying it in these steps makes it sound both really hard and also really accessible because you did contact, you know, all of the people that, you know, and you did use resources like Fiverr, which I've heard a lot of people use, but I've never even gone on the website. So I used them to, like, book design and things like that. I actually, like, sent her, I actually designed this part. And I was like, I think I wanted to, like, look like this, but she's the one who, like, came up with everything in the back. And then I used a formatter to actually format the book because I downloaded the app and I was looking at it myself. I was like, oh, how do I format this? And girl, after like 15 minutes, I was like, uh-uh, I don't believe this. Would you mind sharing, like, how much it cost to create this very elaborate project? You know what? I should probably have the number on top of my head. That would be a really good, like, businesswoman who knows her numbers. If I could give an estimate, I would say between $1,200 to $1,500. This is including the book and the film. Most of the cost came towards filming, especially when I did one of the projects at, like, a location set. And then every little thing that went into it, and that's also including marketing, like, I bought t-shirts and I gave books away for free and things like that. I paid for some advertised thing on social media. Each job on Fiverr cost me, like, $50 to $70. That's really good. Yeah, so I would, I would say about $1,200 to $1,500. $1,500 is being, like, real extra. But again, if I was, like, a bomb behind businesswoman, I'm working on it. I would give you the number straight up. I have a bank account with a debit card that I use for all my acting purchases. So at the end of the year or so, I can just, like... Just look at that instead of having to keep track. Let's look at that, submit my papers. Is there anything else you wanted to say? I would love for you guys to go check out more about the book on my website. CynthiaDHilaer.com. Or you can also find it at CynthiaDHilaer.com slash Monologues for Black Girls. Then it takes you through the full journey. All of her links will be in the description of this video, as always, and we have a couple more videos coming out together. So thank you guys so much for watching. And at the end of every video, I feature another channel. This is today's feature. If you would like to be featured on my next video, make sure you're subscribed, like this video, and leave me a comment. Okay.