Kimberly DiPersia - Blog

Making Art in 2020

10/20/2020

I don't need to recap what this year has been to anyone. We've all been living through it. Every single person on this planet has been affected, some more fortunate than others.

However, with so much of the entertainment industry shutdown -- Broadway closed until Summer 2021, film and television production slowly eking back, even Disneyland shuttered up -- the question of To Create or Not to Create is prevalent.

And of course, the answer is always Yes.

Artists are perpetually in a state of ebb and flow, of ups and downs. If we only created during the ups, so much of powerful art would be lost.

And doesn't art feed our souls and keep us going when times are rough?

"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."
~Stella Adler

I've been fortunate to have creative opportunities this year so far: Performing in the challenging play Marathon in January before it all went down; Making a full season of sketch comedy with The Egos complete with masks, hand sanitizer, and temperature checks; Day-playing on the feature film, The Sisters Kardos, which tackles family life in the middle of the pandemic; Now in pre-production for a Christmas-themed film....

When you add it all up, it's a whole lot of plenty.

If one can make art during 2020, one can always make art.

A toast to all artists out there who are persisting this year -- the lucky ones who never give up.

~Kimberly

2018!

1/4/2018

2017 was a pretty awesome year of making headway on my goals and my transition back into acting after my brief hiatus. I wrote more, I achieved a huge career milestone, and I started working with some pretty fantastic new collaborators. I feel proud of my accomplishments, and I'm looking forward to continuing the forward motion in 2018! :-)

New Challenges

9/1/2017

This past month, I hit a goal of mine that I had been working toward for years:
My first Co-Star role on a TV show.
It felt absolutely amazing!
But it also felt a little bit disorientating.
Working toward something, having one's focus on it for so long, then finally grasping it in all its glory...well, then, what's next? Where do you go from there?

Well, you know me. I'm always moving forward!
I have tons of goals that are next.
Another Co-Star role of course. Then another.
Then beyond the Co-Star, and so on and so forth.
The goals never end -- they just get higher and higher!
Which is absolutely exhilarating!

And this month I'm delving more into another big goal of mine:
Producing my next short film.
I've written the script (and revised and revised and revised it), gotten the director onboard (the excellent Matthew Van Vorst), and...well...now...it's all about doing everything I can to get it made. Yeah!
You'll be hearing a lot about "Junie & Frank" in the coming days, I'm sure.
I'm super excited about it!

And you know what? The most wonderful thing about achieving a goal...is the realization that IT WAS POSSIBLE! And if that was possible...well, that means that so much more obviously is as well.

To new goals. To new dreams. To new challenges.

--Kimberly

July Wrap-Up

7/30/2017

I can't believe it's nearly August! This month has flown by!

I feel fantastic about all of my accomplishments this month. I got amazing new headshots, updated my reels, played a small role in Sonja O'Hara's short film "Anatomy of an Orchid," and acted and wrote with The Egos in a bunch of fun videos currently up on Funny or Die. And how could I forget meeting up with my grandfather and reading through the script for our "Junie & Frank" film?

Next month, I'm looking forward to doing more Egos sketches, continuing to develop "Junie & Frank," and prepping for another semester of scene study class at HB Studio! It's going to be another great rush of creativity and productivity.

So, thank you July, and hello August!
---Kimberly

Some Joyful Inspiration :-)

6/29/2017

Instead of a long blog post, this week I'm feeling like spreading some inspiration! Here are some wonderful quotes that I stumbled upon and really liked. I'm a huge fan of motivational quotes (which you can totally tell from my Instagram page)! They never fail to give me happy boosts of encouragement and drive. I'm grinning right now just thinking about them! :-D

Enjoy!

--Kimberly

From http://www.lovequotesmessages.com/perseverance-quotes/

"Landing Up" Premiere at SoHo Int'l Film Festival on Saturday!

6/16/2017

A couple of summers ago, I had the extreme honor of working as the Production Coordinator on the indie feature film, Landing Up, written by and starring Stacey Maltin, whom I went to NYU Tisch with back in the day (yay for Stella Adler alums making waves!).

Well, I am so excited to share that the film's East Coast Premiere is happening TOMORROW at the SoHo International Film Festival! The team is just coming back from its World Premiere at the Dances With Films festival in LA, so this is part of an exciting tour de force!

The film is directed by Daniel Tenenbaum, and stars Stacey Maltin, Ben Rappaport, Dov Tiefenbach, Jay DeYonker, and the late E'Dena Hines.

Here's the official trailer:

The film screens at 6:30pm on Saturday, June 17th at Village East Cinema. You can still get tickets here.

Hope to see you there!

--Kimberly

Wonder Woman and Me

6/9/2017

When I was in kindergarten, all of us kids would play a particular game at recess. The boys would capture the girls, "tie" us against the fence at the far end of the playground, and try to kiss us. (Don't get me started on the psychological/sexual layers of that!)
Anyway...one day, I decided that I was going to play the Hero. I "broke" myself free, rescued all of the other girls, and we ran away triumphantly.
I felt incredible! I saved the day!
However...after that courageous afternoon, no one really wanted to play the game with me anymore. Neither the boys nor the girls! I had changed the rules and made it a different kind of a game, where the girls could be victorious over the boys and win. And it suddenly wasn't as fun for the other kids playing it. They didn't want to play Heroes and Villains. They wanted to play Flirts and Kisses.

I've always tended to hang with the guys throughout my whole life. First with my brothers and my dad watching action and sci-fi movies (I knew who Yoda was at four years old), then with the neighborhood boys playing Cops and Robbers. Even in high school, I hung out with the guys who played Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. (I was SO COOL, guys...SO COOL.) Today? Yep...still hanging with the guys. We're actually going to play a board game of Battleship tonight. (I'm still SO COOL.)

I think part of why I always hung out with the guys was that all their interests seemed so much more interesting and fun than the girls' did. I mean, playing with makeup and worrying about your clothes....or fighting imaginary battles of wit and brawn? Sure, I did the girly things occasionally, but the boy stuff was always more fun to me.

Last weekend, I saw Wonder Woman in the theater...and it hit me. It was never girls versus boys. It was the "Idea" of girls versus the "Idea" of boys. Because women...and girls...can be strong, can be courageous, can fight imaginary battles of wit and brawn, and they can be Heroes.

All this time, I was thinking that I never fit into the typical "Female" profile that others seemed to glide so easily into. But that "Female" never existed. It was what we thought and were told we had to be. based on some pre-established social paradigms that were as antiquated as the Victorian corset that strapped them in.

I wish that today's kind of consciousness and realization of what really is "feminine" and what really is "masculine" had been around when I was a little girl. I'm happy to have it now though, as an adult. And I'm so excited for all of those little girls out there, who can feel free to play Cops and Robbers, Heroes and Villains, Flirts and Kisses, and whatever it is that makes them happy, passionate, and their true, honest, courageous selves. It's about time.

So thank you, Wonder Woman. God, you're so kickass. My kindergarten self would have donned your cape proudly.

May! What a month!

6/1/2017

I've been reflecting on these past few weeks, and I am so happy! It was a fantastic month, with lots of great things in it:

I officially said "Sayonara" to production office job life! I wrapped on my last gig and said "No" to any upcoming offers. It was scary, I tell you! But I did it! I committed to throwing myself completely into my acting career with all the magic that comes with it.
I got to immediately jump from that to producing my good friend Matthew Van Vorst's short film, Zombied. We filmed for three overnights in upstate New York in a supermarket. It was a blast! And it's going to be an awesome, hilarious film. I can't wait until you can see it.
Then, I celebrated my birthday by going up to Niagara Falls (and Canada!). What a gorgeous, inspiring place! It was a wonderful experience that I'll cherish for years to come.
Even better, John and I completed our first draft of our screenplay, Kitsch! It's a tad bit long and we've got tons of revisions to do, but...we did it! Two years in the making. Wow. It's an accomplishment that I am extremely proud of. I'm excited for our next steps.
Lastly, I rounded out the month by traveling down to Hot Springs, Arkansas to celebrate my niece graduating high school! It was a super fun family reunion, and my niece is really a remarkable young woman. She's spending her summer au pairing in Italy, then returning in the fall to double-major in English and Political Science. Wow, right?!

Plus, throughout the month I've been refining my goals, sparking my creativity with some new projects, continuing to do good work in my acting class, and making some solid plans for the future.

And -- the future is now!
June begins today, and I'm so pumped!
I'm recharged, prepped, and ready for action.

So here's to a Jovial, Jazzy, June!

--Kim :)

New Year, New Goals

1/2/2017

Yes, it's been a while.

I've been incubating.

For the past year and a half, I have dived nearly solely into the world of television production, working in the production office of a few shows. It's been fun and I've learned a lot. A LOT.

I've also been doing some independent producing -- a short film, some music videos, a webseries, a couple of PSAs.

Not to mention continuing to write "Kitsch" (a feature-length screenplay) with my buddy John Olson.

So I've been busy.

However, for the most part, I slid away into the shadows, content to learn and grow in quiet.

But...I have returneth.

Like Luke Skywalker in Episode VI, I'm back with a stronger focus, matured skills (thanks, Yoda!), and ready to face new challenges.

For one, I'm "getting back" into acting. By using quotes I poke fun because, really, does an actor ever truly "leave"? But for all intensive purposes, for the logistical truth, I am back into the world of acting, of seeking roles, of seeking career growth, ectecera-ectecera. And to begin, I'm refreshing my skills with a class at HB Studio, starting in a couple of weeks. (Can't wait!)

I'm also focusing more on writing and creating -- John and I will finish "Kitsch" soon, we will! And I've already written a couple of drafts of a short film I'd love to produce and act in. That's just the start.

And I'm still in the world of production -- I quite enjoy it and it gives me countless opportunities to learn. Plus, I get to meet some pretty amazing people. Can't beat that!

But now I'm finally back to moving forward and embarking upon personal pursuits, and I'm quite excited about it.

Therefore, I dub this year....

I can't wait to share with you my journey, successes, challenges, and, yes, even failures.

Happy New Year! Happy 2017. I'm back.

--Kimberly

Return to The Chain NYC Film Festival

8/5/2015

Happy to return to the Chain NYC Film Festival this year! Last year "Find Love, NYC" screened -- now it's "Tri-State"!

Our screening is at 2:30PM on this upcoming Saturday the 8th -- join us! Get tickets at http://www.chainfilmfestival.com/.

--Kimberly