Female Filmmaker Spotlight: Ryann Liebl's Path to Power in Hollywood
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy:Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating your third act with style, power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy Worthington.
Merry:And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you conversations with successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, and people with vision who are making a difference in the world.
Cathy:Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the ride on each interview, recounting the journey our guests have taken to get where they are, inspiring you to create your own path to success. Let's get started. Hello, and welcome to Late Boomers. I'm Cathy Worthington here with my cohost, Mary Elkins, and we are bringing you a guest that Mary and I can really relate to because of our time spent in the entertainment business. Ryan Leibel is an award winning filmmaker, director, and producer.
Merry:And I'm Merry Elkins. Ryan is also the deputy CEO of Light Touch Media Group, helping brands come up with strategies for the most effective visual content. She's also a writer and painter. Welcome, Ryan.
Ryann Liebl:Thanks so much for having me.
Merry:Great to have you.
Cathy:We wanna hear your story, so please tell our audience a little bit about your intro to entertainment and how you got started.
Ryann Liebl:Well, I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and I was a country girl. So I had spent a lot of time outdoors using my imagination and being in nature. And that kind of set the scene for me of wanting to perform and wanting to use that imagination, you know, just put it to use. My parents were both artists, even though they weren't necessarily they wouldn't consider themselves artists. My father plays the piano in the organ, and my mother is an interior designer, very, very highly talented interior designer.
Ryann Liebl:And they love movies. So we always had movies in the house. They bought movies. We had copies of movies. I would watch different movies over and over and over again, and I really got into acting.
Ryann Liebl:And then when I was a freshman in high school, I actually started to audition and put myself out there. And then I started doing plays in high school. I started doing professional theater in Milwaukee. And then I went to school at USC in Los Angeles. And there, I minored in film, and I majored in theater.
Ryann Liebl:And then about two and a half years into doing my degree, I started acting professionally in LA. And that's just sort of how it all began and started. It's been
Merry:an interesting journey. Yeah. Maybe we both ran into you when we were acting. Yes. Exactly.
Merry:Mhmm. So talk about a little bit more about going from actress to filmmaker and creative agency leader. What inspired you to take that leap and reinvent yourself?
Ryann Liebl:Well, you know, I think for a long time, obviously, when you're an actor, you're in front of the camera. Right? And there isn't a lot of opportunity to sort of run the show. Right? You're sort of the effect of what the industry is doing and what they're creating, and you have to kind of fit into their mold, basically.
Ryann Liebl:And I think, you know, really early on, I've been a writer my whole life, so I started to write scripts. I started to move more and more behind the camera where I was helping on different sets and, you know, doing hair, makeup, wardrobe, helping with casting, art directing, and then sort of directing and producing a bit more. I started doing scene study directing, and then I produced a play, and then I started doing short films. So it was a funny transition for me because I didn't really consider myself necessarily a filmmaker, even though I was doing that. I always looked at my as, you know, I'm an actor who's making things happen.
Ryann Liebl:That's kind
Merry:of the viewpoint. And
Ryann Liebl:then I think, you know, I think by the time I was in my late thirties, I started to really see that I was really a filmmaker, that that really was my hat and and that I better take some more responsibility for it, basically. So I started to produce and direct more. I started to come up with different creative concepts, storyboarding, and just really dealing with and running the whole show. And then in 2018, I started my own film production company and decided that I was going to produce my material, right, because I have featured scripts, right? And so that's what I did.
Ryann Liebl:So the first film was you know, 2019. Right? And we
Cathy:got that gonna ask you about it. It's called REL Films, your company. Right? And you directed a comedy feature called Mags and Julie Go on a Road Trip. So Yeah.
Cathy:What drew you to tell that particular story?
Ryann Liebl:Well, I love comedy, and I love clean comedy. I'm a big fan of I Love Lucy and
Cathy:Me too.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. Yeah. And like and I grew up, you know, I didn't we didn't have cable, so I grew up with, you know, the old school stuff from the 50s and the 60s. Just leave it to Beaver and Green Acres and all that. Mr.
Ryann Liebl:Ed, right? Yeah. Just really really clean comedy actors that were dressed beautifully and were funny. They were just genuinely funny, and they could make fun of themselves. It was always situational comedy, and it was never mean comedy.
Ryann Liebl:And so I kind of grew up with that, and I wanted to make a film that had that similar kind of feel. And I knew I could shoot it in my home state of Wisconsin. So Oh. Yeah. That's what we did.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. So was that
Merry:a script that you wrote?
Ryann Liebl:It was. I wrote it. I directed it, produced it, acted in it. Yeah. It was quite something, but it was awesome.
Cathy:I bet you edited it too.
Ryann Liebl:I I did the first edit of it. I did. Yes.
Cathy:Okay. And then you've got some reinforcements and some help. It's it always really helps your acting to have done all those other jobs,
Ryann Liebl:you
Cathy:know, separately before you tackle your own feature. Because I know a lot of actors tackle, you know, a big directing job or something, but maybe they haven't done that as their background. So it's really great Yeah. To have all that background.
Merry:Tell us a little bit about Megs and Julie. Are you Megs or Julie or someone else?
Ryann Liebl:I'm Megs in it. Yeah. Max is this very hardworking, you know, executive assistant who can doesn't know how to stop and doesn't know how to how to say no. And then her grandfather passes away and leaves her a cabin in the woods in the up like up north of Wisconsin. And her best friend convinces her to go see it and take a break.
Ryann Liebl:And none of it goes as planned, right? It's one disaster after.
Cathy:Right? I got to watch half of it. I didn't have time to finish the second half. But, yeah, it was fun. Yeah.
Cathy:Yeah.
Merry:So I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Ryann Liebl:Female yeah. It's about female friendships and finding your way and maybe changing your path, right, if that's a better idea.
Merry:So That's a a theme.
Cathy:And you've done that.
Merry:Many people. Yeah.
Cathy:Yeah. A lot of people we talk to like to have changed, pivoted, and doing something different now.
Merry:Yeah. Yep. And reinvent. Yeah. Yeah.
Merry:Well, on a slightly different note, as the deputy CEO of an Inc. 5,000 company, how do you balance that creativity with your business strategies?
Ryann Liebl:Well, I think, again, and it's something I talk about a lot, I have really good teams around me. Right? I have really, really good people around me that I can rely on to help me get certain things across the finish line. And that really is key. Like, I'm not doing it on my own.
Ryann Liebl:You know? I have I have amazing people who are very hardworking and very focused, and they keep my calendar organized. And, you know, but it definitely is challenging. I think when you know, I mean, I'm working on two more features right now. Right?
Ryann Liebl:I'm working on one that I wanna do in The UK and then another that I'm gonna shoot in the Midwest again. And it's a balancing act for me, right, of making sure that I allocate work. Right? Because I am the type of person, and maybe you guys know this, and maybe you're like this too, but I will take it all on, and I will do it all because I can. Right?
Ryann Liebl:And I think that's also just in general. We're like, oh, yeah. We can do that.
Merry:Yeah. Absolutely.
Cathy:Yeah. So Yeah. And you're based in Florida now, we hear. Yes. Yes.
Ryann Liebl:I'm in Florida, but I'm always traveling for work and everything.
Cathy:So your staff that supports you, are they all local to Florida, or is everybody virtual?
Ryann Liebl:Some of them are. Some of them are virtual. We have a team of 50 people worldwide.
Cathy:Oh. Because we do shoots and
Ryann Liebl:stuff worldwide. So part of that was built up from my background in filmmaking in in LA, right, in the commercial ad world, and I've got people everywhere to pull off different projects and that kind of thing. So
Cathy:Yeah. They're
Merry:super organized.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. You have to be. Yeah. You have to be. And then you have to you have to make sure you create enough time as a creative also to get a bit of space, right, which, you know, artists really need.
Ryann Liebl:You always need to get out of the work and go somewhere and just get some space so you can get some perspective and you can create. You know? So that's also important. You know?
Cathy:Yeah. That's good to know.
Ryann Liebl:It's important.
Cathy:Well, back on the set of your feature, what kind of challenges do you face when you have to move from in front of the camera to behind it, and how do you make it seamless for the whole crew?
Ryann Liebl:You know, that's an interesting question. I think when I when I did the movie, obviously, that it's a much more challenging thing to do, right, to be one of the leads and then also to direct and sort of run the whole thing. But, you know, for me, I actually enjoyed it. And I have to say, when I was just acting, it felt to me like I would get bored. You know what I mean?
Ryann Liebl:I'd sit there and I'd wait. And I didn't like having to wait because then if I was waiting, I would get in my head and I would worry about my choices or what I was going to do or did I do it right or whatever. And I was always talking to crew guys anyway and connecting with everybody. So it actually worked really well for me because it allowed me to get out of my head. Right?
Ryann Liebl:And so when I was performing, I was performing. And when I was directing, I was directing. And there were two very distinct things, but it was actually a lot easier for me to act because I didn't have to think about it. And I could just do it. Yeah.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. It was surprising to me. It was I and and I was like, wow. This is this is amazing. This is really weird.
Cathy:Yeah. You're not sitting for an hour waiting waiting for the shot to get set up. You're setting up the shot.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. And you're just
Cathy:A whole different thing.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. And I love you know? And the fact that I wrote it too meant too I could change things on the fly. So I was changing lines constantly, or I was taking things out that I realized don't really work because I don't have to say it. I can show it.
Ryann Liebl:So that was also nice. It was and it's funny. I I've recently, like, been listening to other directors, and and they say similar things. Like, Steven Spielberg was talking about that. He was like, yeah, your your script constantly changes, and you constantly change what people say and how you're gonna do the setup because you realize things as you're doing the process of making a film.
Ryann Liebl:And and that it's totally true. Like, you you literally like, I'd take out scenes. I'd rip out stuff. I'd get rid of text. I was like, she doesn't have to say that.
Ryann Liebl:We can show that. And that also is an amazing thing to experience as a performer because it allows you to really be causative over the process and what you're doing. You know?
Merry:It's hard to let go of your babies, though, when you're writing it.
Cathy:Totally. Totally. Yeah. You mean by your babies, you mean your choice lines and
Merry:your great jokes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. All that stuff.
Merry:Yeah.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. That happened a few times, right, where I was like, I just have to I'm gonna just I really like that, but it doesn't work.
Merry:Yeah. Yeah. Difficult. Yeah. Well, you're you're passionate about young artists too and creatives.
Merry:So what advice would you give those people looking to break into the industry?
Ryann Liebl:I I would I mean, there's so many things I could say to people who are young and thinking about it. First of all, it's a job just like any other job. Right? It is a business. I mean, they call it business, but a lot of people don't treat it like a business.
Ryann Liebl:They treat it like it's, I don't know, that it's some arty thing that's personal to them. And it's not it's just a business like any other business. So you have to be professional. You have to show up on time. You have to make people feel good.
Ryann Liebl:You have to be part of a group. And there has to be camaraderie. And it's not always about you. It's about the group because everything in the industry is a group process. Right?
Ryann Liebl:So think about that and be a part of the group and contribute to the motion. Also, don't give up. Don't let your doubts or your fears or your worries stop you from creating the things that you want to create. And when you hit those low points, pick yourself back up and evaluate and go, Okay, what else can I do to be better? Also, teach yourself techniques.
Ryann Liebl:Right? Don't think that you know everything. That is a sort of sickness that a lot of young people have where they're like, well, I know everything. You don't. And you're there to learn.
Ryann Liebl:And that's your job. Right? Your job is to learn. And so if you don't know something, go find it out. But, you know, the industry is you guys know is is a technical thing.
Ryann Liebl:It's a very technical thing. And the best actors who work over and over and over again understand that technique. And there's a big difference between stage acting and film acting. You have to know those differences. Right?
Ryann Liebl:Those are that's really important to know. And a lot of people don't know that. They come from theater backgrounds or they do like a scene study class where they're not on camera, and so they move too much or they blink too much or they don't understand lenses or they don't understand how to move their body and keep their body still, right, which is so important on camera. So Right. Yeah.
Ryann Liebl:If you're really interested in film acting, you have to understand what that is and how different that is from just acting. And if you can figure that out, you will work. You'll work all the time because you'll be very valuable to producers and directors and casting directors who will bring you back in, and you'll work. Right? Because, you know, for me, I mean, the the I have friends who work all the time, and they know how to do all of that.
Ryann Liebl:And I didn't, right, as a young person. I I came from a theater background, and it took me a second to learn it.
Cathy:Right.
Merry:You were you were talking to the back row.
Ryann Liebl:Exactly. Yeah. Even that voice. Like, you've got a mic on you. You can speak very quietly.
Ryann Liebl:You can whisper, and it that mic will pick it up. So, yeah,
Merry:there's Mhmm.
Ryann Liebl:But also just and then also create your own stuff. We're in a time where we can do anything. You know? We really can do anything and create anything. You can use social media.
Ryann Liebl:You know? I mean, when I first started acting, they were like people were still using film. Right? Film to shoot things, film for the sound, and it was expensive to do anything. Right?
Merry:Mhmm.
Ryann Liebl:And digital, like, cameras were really bad, so you couldn't use them. You if you wanna do anything like a short film or whatever, you had to use film. And it it's a lot of money. And, like, I remember I did one It cost me, like, you know, $2,900 just to transfer the film and line up the sound and for a minute and a half short. I mean, was ridiculous.
Cathy:Yeah. And the editing is very technical because you're pulling pieces of film out. And cutting them.
Merry:Right.
Cathy:Yeah. Yeah.
Merry:It's a whole
Ryann Liebl:new world. And so I always say to young people, just create your own stuff. Go out there. Learn how to do it. Go shoot your own stuff.
Ryann Liebl:Shoot shorts. Put a feature together. You can do it because it doesn't cost much money anymore to do it. You know?
Cathy:Mhmm. That's true. And tell us about a little bit more the lessons you learned as a female filmmaker. Like, how did that make a difference, and how do you think that you could help another person in your position from some of your perspective as a female filmmaker?
Ryann Liebl:I think no matter what, I think in any industry, unless you're like in hair or something like that, It's very male dominated. And that's always an issue for women. And I don't say that from a victim viewpoint, but there were definitely times in my life and in my career where I got passed up from it. It happened often. Directing jobs, producing jobs, it would go to the guy, right?
Ryann Liebl:And I started to observe that and understand it and go, that's interesting. And I always knew that I was more capable or I could do a better job. Right? I could run the set better. It would be pleasurable for everybody to work with me.
Ryann Liebl:The actors would walk away being really happy, but a guy would get the job. So I think for female creators and female filmmakers, you just have to do it. You kind of have to take it. You can't really ask permission to make it happen. You have to just go take it, and you've got to make it happen yourself.
Ryann Liebl:Because that's you know what I mean? That's your only choice. Or you have to play this other game where you have to sort of get agreement and get approval and shadow and then figure out the ropes. And it's going to take you a while, basically, to get there. Right?
Ryann Liebl:So
Cathy:Yeah. And all of us have had those me too moments Right. In our careers for sure. Yeah. Where you feel cornered or you feel harassed or whatever it may be.
Cathy:That's the scary
Ryann Liebl:stuff too. Right? You just don't get listened to. Right? You get passed over.
Ryann Liebl:But then I think that happens to women in general. And again, it's not like I don't I think half the time men don't even know they're really doing it. You know what I mean? But it just is. So I also love to surround myself with other female creators.
Ryann Liebl:Right? So I have a producing partner who's a woman, and, you know, my almost all of our team at our creative agency is women, like, literally. We have one one one guy right now, and then we have animators and editors who are who are men, but the whole core team is women. Yeah. So it's great to
Cathy:It's exciting to see that happening more and more in the business. Like, I'll be watching something on Netflix. Recently, I was watching Sirens, and literally everyone on that just about everyone on the cast and everyone on the crew and the producer and the director, everybody's female. And it it just it's a different perspective. You're watching a different kind of a movie.
Cathy:Yeah. It's it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
Merry:I'm noticing that more and more. Taking it in your own hands because that's what women are doing and men. I mean, you can't really get much done these days in any no matter what gender you are if you don't take it into your own hands. There's just too many too many opinions, which actually leads me to my next question when you're doing commercials and business films. You have a lot of people around telling you what to do.
Merry:So what lessons have you learned from working with the some of the top companies, and how could other business owners and entrepreneurs learn from those lessons?
Ryann Liebl:You know, the the I think a lot of the top brands are top brands for a reason. Right? They're doing a lot of things right. They understand marketing and promotion. They understand their own PR.
Ryann Liebl:Sometimes companies don't, and then they kind of crash and burn, they have to fix it. Right? But we found working with the top companies, like, they know that what they're doing. So we're really there just to contribute to the motion. And then as much as I can, I try to inject my bright ideas and lead them in a direction maybe that haven't thought of before, maybe that I think would create more return on investment or even bring more eyeballs to one of their products in a more creative way?
Ryann Liebl:I mean, one of the companies that we worked with last year, they had this very simple cleaning product for water dispensers. Right? Very simple and nothing special about it. Right? And we came up with this whole retro ad idea around it, like a dream I dream of genie kind of vibe.
Ryann Liebl:Right? Poppy colors, 1950 vibes, props from the fifties. Right? And we use that to sell the product. Right?
Ryann Liebl:And it was extremely successful, and they, like, sold out of the product. And, you know, so there are times where, you know, different teams will sort they'll trust us enough to sort of say, hey. You can do something different here. You know? You can you can kind of color outside of the box, and and we promise you it'll get results because it'll be something that's fun and, you know, be something that will grab attention.
Ryann Liebl:And that's important nowadays with social media and everything. Have to sort of you're competing with so many pictures and people and voices.
Cathy:For sure. You know? Difficult. Yeah. But, you know, we've learned a
Ryann Liebl:lot of great things too from top brands, you know, just best practices and great copywriting and how to structure different things and what works and what doesn't. And we've been able to test things and then see results, you know, for different companies. I mean, we we we helped the company sell, a billion dollar contract, and they didn't even tell us until a year later. And we were like, hey. How did it go with the video series?
Ryann Liebl:Well, we sold a billion dollar. And we were like, great. Okay.
Cathy:And they didn't even get back to you and tell you that. That's really sad. Appreciation. Yeah. Well, what trends do you see in the filmmaking world and in the b two c b two b marketing world?
Cathy:And please describe what in the heck those are because I don't know what B2C. I don't know what that means, B2C.
Ryann Liebl:Well, I think in the filmmaking world, well, you know what I'd like to see, and I think it would be great, is that obviously, like, the film world has been taken over a lot by franchises and other really big, you know, budget movies. Those are sort of what are getting made a lot Mhmm. Being seen in theaters. I personally love movies and I love going to the cinema. I really love that whole experience.
Ryann Liebl:It's similar to going to the theater, right, where you go see something totally different experience, right, when you go see it with people, right? Yeah. And I think given that it's so easy to make things nowadays, it would be wonderful to see a similar kind of indie revolution that we saw in the 70s with Coppola and Scorsese, or even something in the nineties, you know, when Quentin Tarantino came up and all these, like, indie guys were making these fun little quirky movies. I'd love to see something like that happen. You know?
Ryann Liebl:And if I can contribute to that, awesome. But, you know, I would love to see just more really great indie movies that have are made from individual voices rather than by committee. I mean, that's that's the filmmaking world. And then B2B basically means business to business. So what that means is when you create something, whether it's a video or graphic design or whatever it might be, you're creating it for one business to sell or communicate to another business.
Ryann Liebl:That's what b to b means. Mhmm. And that can be anything from promoting a product or making your company more known or training or whatever it might be. And then b to c means business to consumer. So that's directly to a consumer.
Ryann Liebl:Right? And that's commercials and ads like you guys see all the time. Right? Somebody's selling Eggo waffles. Right?
Ryann Liebl:Or somebody's selling Dawn dish soap. Right? It's business to consumer. And that's more traditional style stuff, you know, magazine spreads and print stuff and billboards and ads, commercials, etcetera. Mhmm.
Ryann Liebl:Oh, you want trends in that? You is
Cathy:that Yeah. Yeah. Please. I do.
Merry:I how how it's changed. Yeah.
Ryann Liebl:It changes so much. It changes so much. It literally seems to change every six months now. The pace of it is actually quite crazy. But Mhmm.
Ryann Liebl:What for b to b, more and more and more people are able to sort of they're able to create things similar to what the to what the commercial and ad and big brands have been able to create forever. Right? So they're able to do things that, you know, Apple can do now and whatever. So video, company overviews, testimonials, great social media content explaining their culture and who they are as a company and how great their products are, and and that kind of thing. That that's gonna that's pretty stable.
Ryann Liebl:Right? Trade show videos, whatever it might be. But that also is newer. That's hard to explain. But the b to b world hasn't been able to do that for a long time.
Ryann Liebl:It's really the last ten years that it's been able to afford to do that. Right? Because before, yeah, production costs were so much, right, to make video or to make a great ad or whatever it might be, but now they can they have the capability to do it. And then b to c, like, it's it's the Wild West. I mean, there are
Merry:How fun.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. It's crazy. So, you know, that is like I mean, obviously, there's still the traditional commercial world, right, when you see those on network TV and streaming and that kind of thing. But more and more people are just using social media as the tool to get the word out about their product. Right.
Ryann Liebl:And people are using you know, they'll use TikTok to, like, find a local dentist. Right? Or to buy some skincare. And that can be done with very simple videos that are just explainer kind of videos, and this is so great, and you should check out this product. Or, you know, building a story around a brand and talking about, again, the culture and how it was created.
Ryann Liebl:People love storytelling. So that's a huge trend. But, yeah, it just changes so fast. It just changes so fast right now. And now with AI coming on, right, you can use AI to create imagery and get things out quicker.
Ryann Liebl:And so it is really the wild, wild west. Yeah.
Merry:Where do you
Cathy:see this going?
Ryann Liebl:I don't know. I mean, I think I think some people are getting a bit burnt out by it. I mean, there are some people now who have this whole viewpoint of they just turn their phone off. Right? Some people are going back to flip phones.
Ryann Liebl:Some people, like, take vacations where they don't bring their phones. Oh. So I think
Cathy:that might be Not too many. Not too many yet.
Ryann Liebl:Not too many. But I think there might be a Everybody
Cathy:I see is addicted to their phone. Yeah. It's crazy. Right? Seeing anybody not using their phone every minute.
Cathy:Yeah. I'm glad to see if you are seeing that in Florida, but Los Angeles.
Merry:Mean, think phone.
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. It's fascinating. And it's even an issue with me. Like, I have to learn to put it away, and I do, and then nobody can get ahold of me. Right?
Ryann Liebl:But I just put it away, which, you know, I like because then I'm not constantly looking at a screen. But, yeah, the younger generation is always on the phone. And I guess in that way, you you always have a captive audience. So then it's just about how do you get the attention of that audience.
Cathy:Right? You
Merry:you really have to be age specific, don't you?
Ryann Liebl:Yeah. I think you do. I think you do. I mean, it's I was just hanging out with my dad over Easter weekend or whatever, and he's never on his phone. He's on his phone once a little bit in the evening, but he doesn't live on it.
Ryann Liebl:He's just in the moment and hanging out and present and communicating. And I and, you know, I think that's good. I think it's a good thing.
Merry:Yeah. So
Ryann Liebl:I don't know. I don't know where it's gonna go. My son never got a smartphone until he was 18. I just didn't give it to him, and and I didn't want him on the Internet and on social media. And I was like, no.
Ryann Liebl:You're not gonna do that. I said, when you're an adult, you can do whatever you want. And it what's great about that is he doesn't care about it like other kids do, which is good. And so he creates, and he's an artist, and he makes music, and he does other things, but he doesn't care about social media. So hopefully, parents, I think, will take those phones away from their kids.
Ryann Liebl:Right?
Merry:If you could give talking about your son and younger people, if you could give one piece of advice to your younger self when starting in Hollywood or into the filmmaking world, what would it be?
Ryann Liebl:I think it would be don't take anything personally and and just keep going.
Merry:Mhmm. Yeah. That's good. That's good.
Ryann Liebl:Because it's not personal. You know? And it's a funny thing when you're older, right, perspective and you're the one who has to put together projects or assemble ideas, right, you see that it's not it's what works, right? It's what cast works, what crew works, and it's sometimes the most random thing. So it's just not personal.
Cathy:Because when you're starting out, it's all about those awful rejections. There's so many auditions and rejections, and it's really frustrating. And you do take it personally because you don't know any better when you're 20.
Ryann Liebl:No. No. You don't. And you think it's something that you're doing wrong. And it's a funny thing because you'll sometimes you know, for me, what happened is I I was actually having success in that I would book, like, one out of every six auditions, which was a crazy statistic.
Ryann Liebl:High number.
Merry:That's
Ryann Liebl:Oh my god. And I would put myself down about the rest. And then also, would be called in over and over again by the same casting directors who really liked me, and they wanted to find stuff for me. And I just thought I was a bad actor because I wouldn't book things. And and and I completely didn't know, right, that this And if
Cathy:they're calling you back again, it's because you are a good actor. Yeah. But you don't Take that to heart. Yeah. Nobody tells you.
Cathy:I know when your agent never gets any feedback. Oh, we could go on and on about that.
Merry:Oh my gosh.
Cathy:But, Ryan, what would you like our audience to have as a takeaway today?
Ryann Liebl:A takeaway? I would say you're never too old to make your dreams come true.
Cathy:Yeah. I love it.
Merry:That's great advice. Great advice. Get moving and get going. You
Ryann Liebl:know, you can keep creating. You can do something newly. You know, you're never too old. I mean, I did my first movie that was my own at the age of 41. And I remember thinking when I was young, that's old.
Ryann Liebl:And it wasn't. It's not. You know? So you're never too old to do it again, and you're never too old to, you know, get up and create again, and you're never too old to have a dream again and just go do it because the world will welcome you. And also, you know more now that you're older, and so you'll be Mhmm.
Ryann Liebl:More of an asset too to everybody around you.
Cathy:That's so true. That wisdom. Wisdom.
Merry:Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Ryan. That's great. Our guest today on late boomers has been filmmaker, director, producer, writer, artist, painter, Ryan Liebel.
Merry:You can reach out to her at her website, lighttouchmg.com. That's lightt0uchmg.com. Thank you.
Cathy:And thank you for listening to our late boomers podcast and subscribing to our late boomers podcast channel on YouTube. Listen in next week when you'll meet another exciting guest, Gina Osborne, former FBI agent. You can listen to late boomers on any podcast platform, and we do appreciate you. Please follow us on Instagram at I am Kathy Worthington and at I am Mary Elkins and at late boomers. And thanks again to Ryan Leibel.
Ryann Liebl:Thanks for having me.
Cathy:Thank you for joining us on late boomers, the podcast that is your guide to creating a third act with style, power, and impact. Please visit our website and get in touch with us at lateboomers.biz. If you would like to listen to or download other episodes of late boomers, go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry:This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and most other major podcast sites. We hope you make use of the wisdom you've gained here and that you enjoy a successful third act with your own style, power, and impact.
