with how did you get into the film industry?

Like, what brought you to it?

- I made my first film when I was living and teaching in Brooklyn, and it was just a short experimental film that I made with friends that my friend actually directed, but it was about a sort of traumatic experience that I had had, and it was the first time that I created something that I realized that I could use film as a medium to transform something that was really painful.

and when I moved home to Albany, I very quickly got connected with Youth FX, and I had an incredible experience with Youth FX, and worked with them for about 10 years as a teaching artist and a program assistant, and I loved the process of filmmaking.

My background, primarily, was in theater and working as a theater teacher.

There's a lot of similarities, but something very different about the experience of being on set.

- What about that experience being on set brings you joy?

- I love this idea that people come together for this finite period of time to create something, and how just the energy of what that does when you bring artists together to work on a very specific project that you know is just a moment in time.

- Yeah, you get those creative wheels spinning it's really exciting!

- Totally, absolutely!

And it's, like, it's amazing, every time I'm on set, I feel like I'm always learning, because there's so many people that are so specialized in their craft, and it's incredible to watch how those pieces work together.

- Yeah, it's kind of like a giant puzzle.

- Exactly.

- So I know you're a producer, a director, an acting coach, and an artistic educator, an arts educator.

Out of all those fields that you play a role in.

do you have a favorite?

And if so, why is that?

- I think the thing that overlaps in all of the things that I've done is this idea of, like, building community with people and being in community with people, and particularly artistic spaces.

My time at Albany High School, as a theater teacher there with my colleagues and the students was one of probably the most fulfilling artistic experiences I've ever had, because we came together every day and continued to develop new works, and we also worked in collaboration with Youth FX, and there was this space that we created together in which we could be vulnerable and explore, and in which I also felt very much like an artist, creating.

It's not very often that you get to create intentional spaces where people can show up fully as themselves and feel seen and respected by everybody in the space, and people keep feeding into that because the feeling is so good.

So it's like I want you to feel that way, and I wanna feel that way, and so we kept kind of, the best way I could say it is co-creating that space together, and it's kind of a through line to my work, and something that's really important for me.

You know, when I was younger and working in theater, I had experiences that did not feel like that, and I don't know, kind of, maybe, like more fear-based experiences of, like, making a mistake, and I know what that did to me as an artist and how much that constricted me and limited me, and so when I'm working on sets with actors, either as an acting coach or a director, or I'm working as a teacher, that's like a primary goal of mine is to create space where I'm working from a vulnerable space with the person who also has to be vulnerable to explore and create a character, or try something, and, you know, so I think that's...

I don't know that there's one thing that I love more, but that community art piece.

- Yeah, that kind of like just supporting and making sure the other person feels safe, 'cause it can be a grueling industry sometimes, so it is really nice that, you know, you're there for support, and, like, hey, we're just in this all together, we're a team, you know, - It's no one - Totally!

- against the other - Completely, and the best work, I feel like the best work comes, is born of that, right?

Like, when we feel liberated to try something, you know, I just can speak for myself, I guess, you know, when I feel at ease with the people that I'm collaborating with, I'm gonna try something, I'm gonna take a risk that I might not have taken in another situation, you know.

- Yeah, oh, that's so cool.

(both laugh) So do you have any projects you're working on right now?

- Yeah, currently I am working on my own short, which is based on my family's experience.

My oldest daughter, Isla, has epilepsy, and for a period of time, her seizures were really terrible and life-threatening, and so it was a really hard period of our life for about three years, where she was hospitalized a lot, and when the doctor told us that she was at risk for SUDEP, which is sudden an unexpected death in a person with epilepsy, my husband and I went to see a grief counselor, and the experience with her was very transformative, and helped us sort of navigate the uncertainty of her health and also be really present with her and continue to make joyful memories and just sort of, like, be with the unknown of what our experience was at that period of time.

And so the short film is based on that.

And so it's been... Like, when you ask, say, what is your favorite, like, I loved directing that movie so much, I loved the experience.

I worked with people that I was just thrilled to be in space with.

I felt like a little kid, you know, just, like, super excited, and I was so nervous leading up to it, but as soon as, like, the first day came and we started filming, I was just in it, and just felt it was, it was everything, it was - That's beautiful.

- everything - Very organic feeling, too.

- Totally.

- Now ,is it a more documentary style?

What type of style is this film?

- Well, so it's based on our life, and I suppose, in some ways, like, I'm really drawn to very natural performances.

Like, the first feature that I worked on is "We the Animals."

I worked as the acting coach on that film and worked with three first-time young actors.

And, you know, the style of those performances is very, it's so natural that it could feel like a documentary, right?

And so the performances in my film are similar in that way, that you want to feel like you're really in the room with them.

But it is a narrative just based on our story.

- I know you've worked in the past on another movie, I think it was "Hustle", a Netflix movie by the name of "Hustle."

I think you worked side-by-side with Adam Sandler on this.

Would you give us a little bit more detail on what this film was about and how is it different from other projects you've done in the past.

- Sure, so the first feature, the only feature I'd worked on before that was "We The Animals", which was a super indie film experience in upstate New York, and beautiful experience, and after I worked on that film, I just, I went back to teaching, and was kind of like, oh, I loved doing it, but I just didn't know how realistic it was with, you know, the needs that were happening within my family, and it, you know, it's not, it's not the most family-friendly industry to try and, you know, work on these long-term projects, and so when the pandemic happened, Jeremiah Zagar, who is the director of "We The Animals", got tapped by Adam Sandler to work on "Hustle."

He had seen "We The Animals" and loved it, which is a huge, you know, different move for Jeremiah, 'cause the films are quite different.

But the film stars a bunch of NBA players, basketball players, who, many of whom were first-time actors, and so I got to work with them, and, you know, we did a bunch over Zoom.

I worked with Juancho Hernangomez, Dr. J., which was an incredible honor, and it was just an- It was, like, an incredible experience.

I grew up watching basketball with my dad.

I hadn't watched in a really long time.

I love basketball, I love the pace of basketball, the energy of it.

It was one of those experiences where I got on set one of the first days and I was like, how did I wind up here?

You know what I mean?

(both laugh) Like, what is happening?

And, you know, I was, like, on set one day, and Queen Latifa was in a scene with Juancho, and it was just incredible to be that close to her, and to watch her work, and to feel her joy on set, and it was just an incredible learning experience, and yeah, it was awesome.

- Ah, was there anything particular that made it more awesome than any other projects in the past?

- I just think, like, the energy that the basketball players that I got to work with brought was, like, it's hard to express, it's just this, like, this absolute dedication to their work as athletes, and then the joy that they, like, it was just like they were just excited to be on set, and it was, like, contagious, like, positivity.

And it was also really incredible to watch Adam create his character.

Like, that was kind of like a masterclass, 'cause I think he's really quite brilliant at dropping into sort of like the experience of being human.

- I love that.

Well, I'm excited to see all your future films.

And again, Noelle, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, and stay creative, as always.