Stephanie Bell - Award Winning Producer

Conversations with Alya Lei

STEPHANIE BELL, PGA

A member of the Producers Guild of America, Stephanie is an Emmy nominated & multi-award-winning producer and line producer with over 25 years experience in film, TV & digital content. Her films (both features and shorts) have screened in over 75 film festivals around the world, garnering more than 50 awards, including 14 for “Best Feature”.

Stephanie’s goal is to tell daring and provocative stories that spark a dialogue about the human condition and how our actions impact it.

She is the founding partner of three production companies, BelLipoma Entertainment, HatLine Productions, and Remote Films. She is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America. Stephanie is also an adjunct professor at College of the Desert in Palm Springs, CA, where she teaches producing and line producing.

She also serves as a casting director through her casting company, 2 Tall Dames, based in Palm Springs.

In addition to her teaching, Stephanie has served as a mentor to high school and college students in the Coachella Valley. As a member of the Palm Springs Women in Film & TV (PSWIFT), Stephanie served as Co-Chair of the Events Committee. Stephanie also has a background in business and legal affairs, having worked in the legal departments at Paramount Picture, Interscope Communications, and Franchise Pictures.

Stephanie began her career in the entertainment industry as an actress, performing Off- Broadway and regionally. She had the honor of studying in New York City under the tutelage of the Oscar-winning director, Mike Nichols.

www.bellipoma.com www.hatlineproductions.com

IMDb

Show Notes (Timing is approximate):

7sec Stephanie Bell Intro - 1min - 3 production companies - Bellipoma Entertainment, HatLine Productions & Remote films 1min 10 sec - adjunct professor at the College of the Desert in palm springs 1min 20s - casting director at 2 tall dames casting company 2m study under oscar winner Mike Nichols 2m 30 sec oscar winning producers, directors, actors always want to do more 3m 04 sec mike Nichols and improvisation - new actors workshop 3m 20 sec Paul Sills and Second City Improv 3m 30 sec Paul Sills, George Morrison broadway director - 3 teachers for improv training program 4m 07s - Viola Spolin’s sister 4m 43 s - how is Stephanie so prolific, how did Stephanie get started, how is Stephanie so successful? 5m 02s - growing up in family where acting is a hobby 5m 9s - environmental lawyer, english literature major, public relations 5m 28 s- started acting as a young child 5m 35 s - decision to be an actress 5m 54 s - regrets article by Erik Erikson, therapist 6m 20 s - oldest all female theatre company, The Snarks 6m 35 s - left job, in NY city, auditions, etc. 6m 45s - accepted into the New Actors Workshop, acting took off 6m 54 s - workshopping off broadway play brought to Los Angeles 7m 09s - stayed in LA, temp job at Interscope 7m 15 s - hired full time at Interscope, late 90’s, lots of activity in small theaters 7m 45s - involved with Sacred Fools Theater Company 7m 53 s - asked to produce a play 8m 6s - fell in love with producing & why 8m 15s “Don’t wait for people to create work for you, create your own work” 8m 26 s - started doing short films, produced 35 plays in Los Angeles, won awards, segue into features 8m 57 s - always said yes, accepting every offer, can’t give it up 9m 28 sec - recap and timing of decision to act and progress 10m 37 s - great advice Stephanie received from a working actress 11m - get your process and use it to build your acting career 11m 38 s - new actors workshop 11m 42 s - George Morrison taught wesley snipes, edie falco, and more 12m - new actors workshop - so many formats of teaching, find what works for you - your own process 12m 52 sec - 2 years at new actors worksop, then 4 years doing theatre in NYC, then went to LA and never left 13m 22sec - George Morrison said it takes 10 years to hone your craft, ie Sharon Stone, Hank Azaria 13m 54sec - use every audition as an opportunity to work your craft 15m 36sec - everyone has a special quality and finding your special quality 16m 14sec - Stanley Tucci story, right out of school 16m 40 sec - hard part of being an actress - can’t be worried about what other people think about you. Believe in Yourself. 17m 36 sec - remembering who you are 18m - Trust your instincts 18m 51 sec - LA timeline 18m 57sec - 45 yrs old and want to be an actor? 19m 36 sec - involvement with Sacred Fools 21m 50 sec - finding the yes within the no 22m 25 sec - learning which mountains to climb and which battles to fight 22m 50 sec - compromising with other producers 23m 03 sec - producers as writers 23m 54 sec - being too close to the material 24m 57sec - transition out of acting into producing 27m 40 sec - Stephanie teaching 27m 56s - getting involved with the palm springs women in film and television 28m - networking and teaching film development and producing at College of the Desert 29m 02sec - Line producing responsibilities 29m 53 sec - how a producer gets paid 30m 49sec - independent film world 32m 18sec - thoughts of success and failure as an artist 33m 08sec - everything that can go wrong, did go wrong on music video 35m 43 sec - wonderful things about the film industry 36m 28sec - working with people you enjoy 37m 49sec -how to get through when a person is challenged 40m 22 sec - “I am still here” film drama about child sex trafficking in the U.S. on Amazon 40m 58 sec - “Inverse” sci-fi/drama film on Amazon 41m19sec - current projects Stephanie is working on 42m10sec - writer Michael Lipolma 42m 15 sec - writer Mischa Marcus, @sanemenmovie.com 42m 19 sec - Stephanie’s active production companies: Bellipoma Entertainment and HatLine Productions 42m 36sec - how to contact Stephanie 43m 50 sec - Stephanie great at auditioning 44m 10sec - why Stephanie was great at improv