Everything is Changing By MJ Sieber

MJ Sieber has been a working artist in Seattle since graduation from Cornish College of the Arts in 2001 with a degree in Original Works. Since that time he has appeared as an actor on the stages of Seattle Rep, Intiman, ACT Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Co, Book-It, The Empty Space, Village Theatre, Wooden O, Theatre Schmeater, and Strawberry Theatre Workshop where he just finished playing John Merrick in The Elephant Man and has directed The Water Engine and The Lady Day. He is a Founding Member of New Century Theatre Company and appeared in their inaugural production of The Adding Machine. He also created the web series Ask An Actor and The Barry Reinhardt Show. This summer he directed his first feature film 'haven't seen a soul in years'.

If I were to be locked in a theatre for the rest of my natural life and exposed to play after play after play with only brief interludes to relieve myself and eat I would still have seen more film and television than theatre. The truth is that while I love theatre and have devoted half of my life to it what caught my eye first was film. Film is what sparked a nerve in me to start acting. Television is what helped me understand how a basic story is told. As a professional actor I can say from experience that there are very few people who have success in both film and theatre. It takes a great deal of time and loyalty to make even a small mark in either of them. I believe that this is largely due to the fact that most actors feel that the only way they can get work is to audition (a process which is debilitating for many people).
Mounting an entire theatrical production can cost tens of thousands of dollars - on the lower end - and making a film can easily bankrupt you before you've even shot one scene. No wonder actors feel helpless when it comes to finding and creating work.

We are lucky enough to be living in a time when everything is changing. The internet has only been used as a household mainstay for 12 years or so. But this is more than enough time for it to completely transform the way we view the world around us. Specifically, what people all over the globe choose to share. YouTube.com was created in 2005 and allowed everyone with a camera to be heard by anyone that cared to listen. The result is not always positive or even interesting to most people but I guarantee you that for every YouTube video that is uploaded there is at least one other person on earth that finds it appealing.

The rules are difficult to establish because the art is moving too quickly for anyone in charge to follow it. I recently made a movie for a budget of $6000. No one was paid, we had a bare bones crew and not a single permit to shoot anywhere. We plan to release it online as ten episodes. In doing this we get to have complete control over our film and distribute it in whatever fashion we choose. Granted we will probably not make a single dime from it, but we are able to offer up our unique vision to the world, uncompromised for anyone to take or leave.

Ultimately this is what the internet had done to media. Before, we would tune into the evening news or turn on the radio and wait to hear about traffic or weather. Now we are able to take or leave any bit of information that is out there, and choose to do so whenever we please. As artists this is our biggest tool. If you want the public at large to see you in a show, reach out to them as they sip their morning coffee and convince them that it is worth getting out of the house. Use the web as an intermediary. The more you produce, the better you will become at figuring out how to tell your story.

Robin Lynn Smith, Artistic Director at Freehold Theatre, asked me if I would be interested in teaching a class about viral video making and I leapt at it. I was trained first as an actor and later as a writer and director. After I graduated from Cornish College of the Arts, I quickly became interested in creating things for myself. It is a compulsion. Over the last four years I have taught myself how to film, write, direct, edit, and distribute videos online. I feel a great sense of pride for any little project I am able to put into the ether for my friends and family across the world to take or leave as they may. I often think of these no budget videos as street theatre; many people will walk by without giving it a second thought, but a few will stick around. They will laugh, be moved or even leave inspired. The greatest gift one artist can give another is inspiration.

MJ will be teaching Intro to Viral Video Making at Freehold this fall starting October 17th. For more information, call us at (206) 323-7499 or go to: http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/training/special.html#IntroViral