In this episode, Bart speaks with Karina Feld, an accomplished actor, director, and producer, about the powerful lessons leaders can learn from the creative world. Karina shares insights drawn from her experience across film and television, exploring what leadership can gain from the disciplines of acting, directing, and producing. She reveals surprising parallels between performance and leadership, showing how both require presence, authenticity, and vision.
From fully embodying a role as an actor, to building cohesive teams as a director, to managing complex projects as a producer, Karina draws on a wealth of experience and breaks down how creative approaches can make you a more effective and inspirational leader.
Karina Feld: It's about the team effort. You know, it's about that collaboration that I think I touched on earlier, making everybody feel heard, you know, giving them that space to, you know, either get creative or bring up ideas, you know, and not, not kind of strangle it with my, with my visions, you know, but kind of allow it to take shape.
Bart Egnal: Welcome to the Inspire Podcast, where we examine what it takes to intentionally inspire. I'm your host, Bart Egnal president and CEO of the Humphrey Group, and if you've ever asked yourself, how can you develop an authentic leadership presence, or how can you tell stories that. Have people hanging off every word.
Well then this podcast is for you, and it's not just for executives. This is a podcast for anyone who wants to influence and inspire others in their work, but also in their life.
So my guest on today's episode of the Inspire Podcast is Karina Michelle. And Karina is an actress, she's a producer. You're, you're also an entrepreneur, though we won't necessarily tap in. Not to that. Uh, that vein today. And like me, she's a podcast host. She's a host of the show, coffee with Karina, where she interviews, uh, creators and creative professionals from the, uh, the world of film and, and acting.
So Karina, welcome to the Inspire Podcast.
Karina Feld: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.
Bart Egnal: Yeah, it's great to have you on. I think, you know, when we started talking about this conversation, you know, I, I mentioned many people listening may know this if they've worked with the Humphrey Group, that the DNA of the Humphrey Group has long had a acting vein to it.
From our very founding over 30 years ago, we've had actors, and still to this day, some of our consultants come from acting, and so I thought. Not only are you an actress, but you're also a, a producer, you're a director, and so we can have a really exciting conversation for people in leadership on all the things that you can learn from a creative person.
So great to have you on, and maybe you could quickly give people listening. A bit of your background, 'cause I know you've had a, you've had a really interesting background that's led you to this point in your career.
Karina Feld: Well, I, I started acting pretty young. I knew I wanted to do that high since like three or four, which is kind of crazy.
and then I later on ended up moving, well I was in England and then I ended up moving over to the US with my family and then going out to la So that was kind of the big professional. Mm-hmm. I guess, you know, making that jump that I was actually gonna. Do it professionally and try and make some money doing it too, so.
But yeah, so I started there and you know, like anything, I just kind of jumped in and I really learned, by going and just doing it, you know, getting an agent. I was lucky to get a great agent when I first got there. Mm-hmm. Just by walking in, you know, to an office and didn't have much of a plan, which just so much now.
I do now, but, but yeah, just went on a lot of auditions. I drove this city, I think, gosh, probably like four or five auditions a day sometimes. Wow. Yeah, so, so
Bart Egnal: For people like me, people listening who aren't, who haven't spent any time in the world of acting. Mm-hmm. Like what is it like going to an audition?
Like how are you invited and like what happens? Other, an audition?
Karina Feld: Yeah. So well back then, I mean this is a while ago now. This is like 20 years ago probably. I. They would, you know, give you a call and say, okay, you have this audition and you know, your phone would just keep ringing if you were, if you were lucky enough.
I guess so. yeah. And you'd just drive. And I had, I think it was called the Thomas Guide back then. 'cause we didn't have Google Maps or anything like that. So it's kind of a good thing now, like when I go to la I mean, I know most of the city I've driven, you know, I drove that thing for like 12.
Bart Egnal: could be, it could be a cab driver.
If this doesn't work out, I really could, you know,
Karina Feld: Uber or something. I dunno. Yeah. but yeah, it's, it's kind of a weird thing. You show up and, you know, there's a lot of other actors there who look very much like you do and mm-hmm. You're like, well this is kind of strange, you know? Yeah, they get, you walk in and they, they give you sides.
Or if it's a commercial, you know, they don't give you sides or like the script.
Bart Egnal: And what's the side? It's a script. Okay. Yeah. That's the
Karina Feld: script. So, so you go in and you would either learn it or you know, you get it beforehand and then, and then you go on to the next. So it was like, it was a numbers game, really, you know, what was your hit
Bart Egnal: rate?
Like, how many did you have? If you go to five a day, how many. How many gigs do you win?
Karina Feld: That's the thing is, you know, you don't book everything and there's hundreds of people sometimes going on, depending on what it is. You know, if it's a commercial. Mm-hmm. I kind of did it all back then, print and everything.
So it just depends, you know, sometimes you'll book a bunch in a row and other times, you know, you have kind of a dry spot. But
Bart Egnal: so I mean, when I look, when I listen to that story, you know, it's almost like. I think about the analogy that people in sales, right? You know, you're having to go to all these meetings, you're showing up and you may not know what you're selling till you get there or who the customer is.
And, and, uh, were, was it scary at first? I mean, you know, a lot of people talk in the business world about rejections. It's tough to deal with public speaking. It's, you face that. What did it feel like when you started that process?
Karina Feld: For sure. I mean, like I said, I, I learned on the job, you know? Mm-hmm. Going things, and I think it made me very resilient, you know?
Mm-hmm. And that's something I still have and is kind of carried on through, you know, my other endeavors, I guess, producing and mm-hmm. Business and. Everything, you know, it really comes in useful for teaching the, I bet. You know, not everything's gonna work out. You're not gonna get hired for everything and you know, rejection, you know, isn't necessarily such a bad thing.
You know, sometimes it's, sometimes it's redirection, you know? So, you know, I kind of looked at it like that, but I. But yeah, it was fun, you know, and after I, one of my first ones that I had was for Baywatch, and that was terrifying. You know? I'm like, what am auditioning for Baywatch? Right? I was like, you watch Hawaii?
Was
Bart Egnal: this Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I, I was old. I'm old enough that I remember Baywatch. Yeah, the original one.
Karina Feld: Yeah. So I didn't get it, but, you know, it was like, they just threw me in, threw me into the wolfs. But, but yeah, it was a good time.
Bart Egnal: That's cool. So how long did you act for? 'cause I know it was really kind of your first chapter.
Karina Feld: Yeah. So I was doing that, you know, with the Screen Actors Guild for probably about 12 years Okay. In la And then the writer strike came along and I met my husband and we ended up, moving. I applied for a job as a producer in in Florida. We ended up doing that move and coming here, and then I started producing.
And I did that for probably the last 14 years.
Bart Egnal: Okay. And so I have to ask you, 'cause you know, I, I, I just went, took my kids to a movie this, this weekend and you know, they all, there's always these credits, right? It's like this person's the lead actor, this person's the director, and then there's always this like.
Amorphous producer credit, and sometimes they're, they're famous people who are producers who were attached. Other times they're people you never heard. So what is a producer? Are there different kinds of producers, like give, give our, give a civilian lay of the lands for us?
Karina Feld: Yeah. It's really like a big unknown when you see those credit.
Mm-hmm. Because even people that are in the industry, it's like you have no idea what a producer does. Right. So, like an executive producer, well, there's a couple things. Okay. So an executive producer can either just put in the, the funds, the money.
Bart Egnal: Mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Or, they can oversee the whole thing. So, that's kind of the difference there.
But yeah, a lot of times it's just the money as the executive side. and then you have producers and they do the bulk of the work, like
Bart Egnal: the working producers, basically.
Karina Feld: They do everything, you know, they're, that's like the bulk of it, I would say. And there's also like creative producing and yeah, there's, there's all kinds of different things, but the creative is actually my favorite now.
Is
Bart Egnal: that what you became a creative producer?
Karina Feld: I mean, it depends on the project. I still, I do it all pretty much, but
Bart Egnal: and so what does a creative producer do?
Karina Feld: Yeah, so that's pretty much like the branding I guess you could say. So it's kind of like when you do a business, but it's the. The creative side.
So it's the poster. It's you know, just the overall feel of everything and, the fun stuff as I like to call.
Bart Egnal: So, so how, so this is like a, if I think about the big movie that's coming out Yeah. This'll be everything that before I see the movie. I see that kind of brands the movie for me and attracts me to it.
Karina Feld: Yes, exactly. Yep.
Bart Egnal: And how much do you, just outta question like for big movies, like what did they spend on this kind of creative production
Karina Feld: on big movies? Yeah. I don't work on a ton of big, like, studio movies personally. Okay. I worked on a lot, especially when I worked in LA 'cause that's where most of them were at that time.
Mm-hmm. But I mean, you, you can spend millions on, you know, yet. Yeah, I
Bart Egnal: bet.
Karina Feld: It's a lot of money, but it depends. It depends on the budget and you know, it all comes down to like percentages and. Yeah.
Bart Egnal: Yeah. But I'm sure you se selling it is as often close to as expensive as making it if, if you're really trying to drive people into the theaters.
Right? No,
Karina Feld: that's true. That is true. And
Bart Egnal: then the last thing I guess, I mean, last but not least, you have also become a, a director, am I right? Yes. With your, your own studio to Lula films.
Karina Feld: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I, tell me about
Bart Egnal: that.
Karina Feld: I started that a few years ago and it was really, You know, I just had, I had so many ideas for either local projects or, we did some in England as well, actually.
We had some London, but it was just a way to, I guess, do things that I was really interested in, you know, that I had passion for. So. So, yeah, and we just did a, a local commercial last week actually that went really well that I directed, which was a lot of fun. But yeah, it's, I would say it's more just passion projects here.
Bart Egnal: So you could now act in, you could direct something, creatively, produce it, and act in it all at once. You could be like. A one person shop.
Karina Feld: You know what I was thinking that last week? And I was like, oh my gosh. 'cause a lot of people do that. You know, they, they direct themselves and I'm like, I don't know if I'm ready for this.
Bart Egnal: Right. That's like harsh self criticism.
Karina Feld: Yes. I mean, it's just kind of, I don't know. I like the whole collaborative effort, you know, where hire team of people that you really trust in you. Right. To work with and everybody brings something. And like
Bart Egnal: a separation of church and state as well.
Karina Feld: Exactly. I don't know.
There needs to be some kind of boundaries, but, but no, I have directed, and produced and written, uh, you know, small, like documentaries and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. Which
Bart Egnal: is
Karina Feld: fun and it's, mm-hmm. That's kind of a fun way to get involved in everything, but with the acting stuff as well. I don't know. We'll see.
Maybe, maybe I'll get, maybe
Bart Egnal: if time. Time will tell.
Karina Feld: Yeah, maybe, maybe soon. Who knows? That's fine.
Bart Egnal: Well, well, you know what was so fascinating to me when we were preparing for this was that you have this, these three distinct experiences that all intersect. Right? And you know, when we look at. So our work and the people listening to this podcast, as we talked about, are really drawn from business, from government, people who wanna influence with inspire.
And so often, you know, they're like, one client I was talking to last week said, you know, look, my whole, this is a person who's a, an executive. In the finance spaces my entire career and all the training I've done has really been around, you know, quantifiable skills, you know, had their MBA and their accounting designation and, you know, constantly retraining on that, that certification.
Right. And yet, you know what I. They said to me was, look, really at this level, my, my success is less dependent on that than my ability to influence people. And so I wish I'd kind of invest in these skills. And so I thought, you know, when you look at what you're doing, whether it's, you know, inhabiting a character authentically, or being involved in promotion or, or directing, it strikes me there's some, there's some real lessons that people in the business world can learn.
So, so first, what would you say if you had to, we can look at each of your experiences in acting. Directing, producing in the moment, but people listening or saying, why should I listen? What value is there from the world of creative for me in the business world? What, what would you summarize for them that they shouldn't think of?
Karina Feld: Right. Well, I mean, I think there's a lot we could probably learn from each other. You know, I prob I could probably learn a lot mm-hmm. As well. But, no, I think it's just not being afraid to, uh, like step out of the box and get creative and try and do new things, you know, as well. Because especially in filmmaking, you know, there's always, there's so many rules.
You have to do it this way. And a lot of people have been kind of experimenting with that lately. A lot of new filmmakers. Okay. Well, you know, because they're getting their, you know, you have access to equipment that we didn't have access to before. Right. That's, that's one way that I would say Yeah. You know, just really
Bart Egnal: to take some risk and be bold.
Take some lot,
Karina Feld: yeah. Mm-hmm. And I think sometimes that's when really beautiful stuff happens, you know, when you're not following what everyone else has been doing. Right. So long. So that's definitely one that could go with. Mm-hmm. Any of those, you know, directing, producing. Mm-hmm.
Bart Egnal: Yeah. And I think, you know, I just thinking about all those roles, like I imagine, you know, you go out there, whether if you're shooting a movie, right?
You don't know how the audience is gonna react, right? You're, you're having to kind of put yourself out there. Yeah, there may be, or same thing with a director, right? I imagine you shoot all these little scenes and then you're like, what will, how will this all come together? It must, must be quite, you have to have real strength, strength of conviction to do that.
So.
Karina Feld: Yeah. No, it's true. And especially with directing, I guess, so. An interesting thing is a lot of times I'll see the scenes beforehand kind of play out in my mind, so I'll have a good idea. It's a vision, right? Same way. Entrepreneur, same way up. So it's really kind of getting that across the team, you know, Hey, this is what I'm picturing, you know, this is what I'm seeing.
This, you know, I see the camera coming like this. Right. You know, so it's really kind of getting that across, but it's also hearing their side as well. Like Hmm. I always have complete trust in like the dps, you know, that I bring on the director of of photography. Mm-hmm. And we really work, together in creating that vision.
Bart Egnal: Right.
Karina Feld: Which
Bart Egnal: really to your point, fits with business, where if you have a leader who's just command and control, it's not gonna be as compelling as someone who can draw in the talents of, of everyone else. So, okay. So good transition then to the three. So let's start with acting, so, mm-hmm. Okay. What, if you had to, what leaders should take from actors, you know, it's on the surface to very disparate worlds, what would that be?
Hmm.
Karina Feld: Yeah, so just for acting. Okay. I would say to be prepared. So if you're going, it's like if you're going into a presentation or something, right? Mm-hmm. You wanna know your script. You don't know if, you don't know if the Internet's gonna go out, you don't know, right? Right. So you don't wanna be standing up there not knowing that.
But now, I mean, really, as an actor, it's about, you know, knowing. Knowing not only your part, but what everybody else is doing as well and what their goals are. I think that can be helpful, but I'm just bringing something to the table, you know? Yeah.
Bart Egnal: So tell me, let's talk about preparation then, like what does it mean?
Because to prepare as an actor for a role, like when is it, I'm assuming it's beyond just memorizing your lines.
Karina Feld: It is, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you start off just by reading it, obviously, going through it kind of slowly. Mm-hmm. I'll read it a few times and then. I mean, depending on what it is too, but they'll start thinking about, okay, who is this person?
What, what's their backstory? Right. You know, where do they come from? What, what makes them tick? What makes them, you know, you start thinking of everything and I'll just kind of make a list and,
Bart Egnal: mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Write all that out, but,
Bart Egnal: and then also I think the point you made around understanding the other characters, you can't, you know Yeah.
Very similar. Everything you're talking about is very similar to how we prepare, is it? Yeah. Clients for speaking. Yeah. Even to the point where we have a tool called the Leader Script, and we'll say, look, you know, this is, you need to be prepared to be spontaneous, right? You need to have clarity of thinking, and you need to think about your audience.
And the people who sound the most natural have often worked unnaturally hard to get there. So it's very analogous to what you're saying.
Karina Feld: It, it's so true. Yeah. And you can get everything down, but once you get on set, you know you're gonna feel for the other people anyway. That's So a lot of times That's right.
It's kind of, you're, you're right about that. Like kind of loosening up and just, you know, going with the flow because you can't mm-hmm. Be rigid that it's gonna come across like, you know, you've been talking, like I'm reading
Bart Egnal: it. Exactly. And then someone's asked a question, you're like, oh, that's not in the script.
So, no, you have to. You have to have that correct. So one thing people ask me sometimes, about actors, they'll say, and I'd like to know how you'd handle this. They'll say, okay, it's one thing you know, I'll say, oh yeah. 'cause we, you know, we have actors, actors really prepare. They learn their, their character.
They'll purchase and they'll say, yeah, but this is, I'm not preparing to play someone else. I'm playing to be me. So what would you say to that person?
Karina Feld: I think that's even more of a reason to prepare though, because you want, you want to make sure that you know where you stand with the issue, or I don't know what you're talking about with, you know, whatever you're saying, but Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You wanna make sure that you have the correct, I guess ideas and, you know, just direction of where you're going so that when someone does ask you, you're not gonna be in a complete pickle about, you know, what to say. Even if you're not preparing for a role, it's mm-hmm. It's super important to just get your ideas down and know the direction and you know the points that you're going to hit, because that's really helpful.
You know, especially if you're standing out there in front of a ton of people, and you're, you know, public. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Bart Egnal: And I do think you, you nailed it. That's a, that's a, I like your answer that you need to get really clear in your own mind. You know, just earlier today I was rehearsing a couple finance ex executives for a fundraising pitch, and you could hear that they were not particularly confident in some of the things that they were saying.
And so I said, you know, what's the real answer to this? You, you're kind of equivocating. And he said, well, you know, the reality is we're not, we don't really think it's a great competitor. I'm like, you need to figure that out before you go out and, and provide, you know, confidence, why we can read that you're not confident.
And so I think you're right. Even when you're, even when it's you, even more so when it's you more so. You need to, to get clarity ahead of time. Know your know, learn your lines and know your character. Otherwise, why will everyone else will be able to read that? Yeah.
Karina Feld: I mean if you're not your authentic self, it that comes across.
I mean, it's just like bad acting, right? You're not That's right. Saying so. That's right.
Bart Egnal: One last thing on acting I wanna touch on that I thought was so interesting is that you raised our prep is empathy. You know, a lot of the times when clients come to us. They're, they're in a difficult position in that they're asked to convey, leadership and inspiration around changes in organizations that they disagree with.
So, just as an example, an organization has said, okay, you know, it's a tough eco economic time. We're gonna, we're gonna lay off 5% of the workforce just for, for sake of argument, and they'll, they'll go to. An executive even say, Hey, you have to lay these people off. And the person says, well, I disagree with that decision.
Right? And so they, they're like, well, unless you're gonna resign, you're gonna stand up and stand behind this decision. So interesting. To me, it's somewhat analogous to when you were talking about having to play a character, like you've talked about playing a drug, drug Lord, and also someone from the Hallmark movie.
Right. Two very different characters. So. How, what advice would you draw on from your acting experience to people who are, who are forced to almost, I don't know, play characters that they don't wanna play, for lack of a better descriptor?
Karina Feld: Yeah. No, I'm, I'm going through that right now. I'm prepping for that, so I'm, I'm deep in this, yeah, I think.
One thing I've learned is that you can't,
Bart Egnal: are you, are you gonna be their drug dealer or drug lawyer?
Karina Feld: It's a drug Lord one. And I'm like, oh my, I've been watching documentaries, I've been watching all kinds of crazy stuff to try for,
Bart Egnal: right. Karina Escobar.
Karina Feld: Yeah, exactly. I'm watching all kinds of crazy stuff.
But no, it's, it's hard sometimes because yeah, if, if you're trying to see through, you know, the lens of somebody else, but this is like mm-hmm. Not natural to you or, you know, it's just something that you don't. Agree with, or, but I know one thing I've learned, from the acting side is that they would always say you can't judge the character.
Right? Hmm. Okay. The second you start judging the character is, is a bad thing. 'cause you're looking down and you know, I. It's just not work. So, so I try to find reasons, you know, why that would work for them. You know, like what, what, right? What's happened in their life? Or you know, why would they react this way or why would they do this?
So, I don't know if you can use that for business possibly. Yeah. Don't judge
Bart Egnal: yourself.
Karina Feld: Yeah. Not just yourself, maybe the organization, maybe it is good for the organization or who knows. Yeah. But I am, I'm on that quest now, so if, if you have any, if you have any
Bart Egnal: ideas,
Karina Feld: I'll take them
Bart Egnal: too. No, I do, I do think that, I like that.
Don't judge, don't judge the character and don't judge yourself. You know, if you, if you're put up there. You know, like what we'd advise a client to do is never say something that's disingenuous. Right. Don't say, I'm totally behind these layoffs. Right? Yeah. But at the same time, you're playing the part of a leader and to be authentic, you've chosen to stay in that business like you haven't resigned, like we're assuming you haven't resigned.
So if you haven't resigned. How do you sit up there without judgment to the organization? Mm-hmm. And without and with empathy to yourself for having to be in that position. Right, exactly. And exactly finding, finding the thing that you can say. Right. Maybe the thing you can say is. This is really tough. Uh, this is a hard moment.
Right, right, right. No one wanted it to come to this, right? So you're not judging the organization, but you're finding that place where you can approach with empathy. So Right,
Karina Feld: it's finding that place. Wherever it is, it's finding that little nook and it may just feel a little more that's, you know, a little space.
But if you can find it, then it should come across hopefully authentic, hopefully,
Bart Egnal: hopefully hopeful. Okay, so let's shift. So we've talked acting and I think some really great things for people to draw. From acting. Let's talk Directing. Okay, so what now? 'cause in some ways, and you were alluding to this earlier, you know, a great director begins with a vision and draws 'em.
So is that really at the heart of what directors should do? Give me your thoughts for leaders.
Karina Feld: I think so. I mean. The directing is a little bit newer to me. I never, I never set out saying, Hey, I wanna be a director. That was not, you know, something that I had really thought about ever.
Bart Egnal: Mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: So I kind of fell into it.
But as I go along, I think, uh, it's really, it's about the team effort, you know, it's about that collaboration that I think I touched on earlier.
Bart Egnal: Mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Making everybody feel heard, you know, giving them that space to, you know, either get creative or bring up ideas, you know, and not, not kind of strangle it with my, with my visions.
Right. You know, but kind of allow it to take shape. So
Bart Egnal: what kinds of things you've worked, you've, you've been a director, you've worked for a lot of directors. What are the kinds of things that the best directors say that give people that license, that psychological safety to share their idea?
Karina Feld: I mean, as far as acting, I would say a lot of times that just like I was saying before, you know, they'll give you that freedom.
Saying, do this then, and then we're gonna move to here. And you know, that just throws me, right? And you're a robot. That's, that doesn't work for me. Maybe it works for others, but, but, so I try and, you know, instill that in the teams mm-hmm. That I work with and yeah.
Bart Egnal: And, and how do they give, okay, here's an error question.
Inevitably as a director. Not everyone is gonna perform literally and figuratively the way you hoped. Right? Yeah. You know, even I think about leaders in the business world, they can, they lay out a vision. They say, Hey, we wanna empower you. Mm-hmm. But sometimes people are just not getting, giving what the production needs.
Yeah. How do the best directors in your experience, give feedback and guide and correct actors, directors of. Is it DP is like director of production or Film? Film. What's, uh, photography. Photography. Like anyone? How do they give feedback in a way that drives change, but kind of remains, keeps people engaged?
Karina Feld: Yeah, that's an interesting one. Again, I try and do it with empathy always, and just kind of like leading with love and trying to figure out, you know, maybe that person is just having a bad day, you know? Mm-hmm. You don't know what's going on. So, but no, I think just being very clear and direct.
Possible and not, sometimes, you know, if someone's getting upset, they're gonna, you know. They're gonna get upset. They're gonna get in like to a mood and be like, oh, this isn't working, da da, da, da. But it's, that's not, you don't wanna go to that place if you can help it.
Bart Egnal: Right. Right.
Karina Feld: It's really about being direct and saying, okay, if that's not working, let's try this.
You know, maybe we can. And just taking that person aside and maybe just having a conversation with them and seeing, you know, what's going on and what I can do to help, you know? Or, and what's going better. Right.
Bart Egnal: So it is amazing though, here we're on a set. It's, you know, and yeah, it's the same principles as in an organization, as in a business or or government.
So. That's true. Good. Good to know. So if anyone listening to this wants to quit and join the, join the world of acting, the skills will be transferable that way. Come on over. Exactly. Sign up for co, for I for inconsistent contract work where every job requires an audition,
Karina Feld: right? There's no, there's nothing.
I can't guarantee you anything. There are no guarantees, no
Bart Egnal: guaranteed paycheck.
Karina Feld: No. No. It's, it's totally. Written that way, but,
Bart Egnal: but people must, I mean, I, I've had a lot of, we have a lot of phenomenal actors in our company and made them tell me, you know, you do this because you love it. Right? And they're, they're on stage.
They're not like, you just have this kind of burning passion to do it and to perform. So I think you've gotta have the calling.
Karina Feld: You really do, and that's it. If you don't, it's gonna be rough because yeah, you'll
Bart Egnal: be in the, you're in the wrong gig.
Karina Feld: It could be hard work. Some people think, oh, you know, it's, it's probably pretty easy.
But it is, it's a lot of fun. But, you know, the, the mornings it's long hours. Mm-hmm. You know, one thing that I think weeds a lot of people out, but yeah, that's, yeah. At least you know,
Bart Egnal: you're in, in it for the right reason. Exactly. Okay, so let's, let's turn to your third and final area of expertise, which is being a producer.
Mm-hmm. So this is, this one's different. We've been talking about how directors prepare, how leaders can learn from directors. Obviously, you know, it's a natural, it's analogous. And also for actors, you know, when you go on stage, when you have to communicate, what generally do you think, uh, someone in the business world or someone in government, someone who leads or aspires leads, how should they think about learning from a producer?
Karina Feld: Oh gosh. I mean, there's so much with producing it. It starts from, you know, the idea stage and it goes all the way until you sell the project. So people don't understand that sometimes you're the first one on and you're the last one off. Okay. So, so it's really about, I would say, you know, having that vision and following through with it and bringing on the right people.
That's, that right there is probably the most important thing. Yeah. Let, let's
Bart Egnal: talk, let's talk about that. 'cause I think you're totally right that that, A, that's not understood, but B, it's incredibly transferable. I mean, every project, whether you're, you're pitching for capital to do a new IT project, or you're trying to kickstart a company and go fundraise, venture capital all require that kind of front end inspiration.
So maybe describe for me when you're going out to pitch a project like what a producer does, and then what the lessons for. People in the world of, uh, non non-production Yeah. Should draw from.
Karina Feld: As far as pitching a project, you know, it's funny, I've actually been lucky. I've, I've funded the last few myself, so I haven't So
Bart Egnal: you've been, have someone pitched you or you've self-funded?
Karina Feld: I have people pitch me all the time.
Bart Egnal: Oh. So you can really tell what makes, tell us what makes a great pitch. So
Karina Feld: I could tell it from that side. yeah. I get a lot of emails now about people that, you know, want me to. from writers usually. Mm-hmm. Or people, you know, maybe they just have an idea. And then I hear it a lot too with people I meet.
I was having this conversation the other day with a friend who's a director, and he's like, do people, does everybody tell you about their ideas? And I was like, sure. I, I do hear,
Bart Egnal: unfortunately,
Karina Feld: I really wanna make into a movie.
Bart Egnal: for those people listening, like, what, what works? What is effective?
Karina Feld: What works? Yeah. I mean, for me it's really about timing, you know, and is it what I'm looking for? Because I usually, I'll go through different times, you know, when I'm looking for certain things or may it
Bart Egnal: mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Something I think is gonna be big next or just something I'm mostly is something I'm passionate and interested in.
You know, so it's really about timing. But no, I think so don't
Bart Egnal: take it personally then. No. If, if it's a no, it might not be you. Exactly. It might not be your idea. It might just be the wrong time.
Karina Feld: Right. And that's it. You know, I think you have to be, it's going back to being resilient and just firing out as many as you can, you know, the different people and, yeah.
To, to keep getting it out there. But,
Bart Egnal: so, so let's assume the timing is good. Let's just put that aside.
Karina Feld: Yeah.
Bart Egnal: What, what would you wanna hear and see? From someone pitching to you that will. Increase the likelihood that you're going to buy.
Karina Feld: Yeah. So the best thing, the thing that I look for is mm-hmm. Because I love the planning.
Right. I know I mentioned significant.
Bart Egnal: Yes. Yeah.
Karina Feld: Very kind of type A in that way. So yeah, I like to see a great EPK, which is, and what's CPK? It's kind of like, like a pitch basically. So it'll, okay. I mean, it's probably something they hit Google. It's kind of involved, but it would have everything to, you know, potential casts like, you know, ideas.
It'll have a writeup about mm-hmm. Potential budget, other films that are like it. So all of these that go into that, and it's just kind of a whole little package, you know, that I would say. So it's like
Bart Egnal: an industry standard package that has everything.
Karina Feld: Exactly. So that would just be something, and you can make one on Canva, I mean, a lot of,
Bart Egnal: mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Starting out do that. And that's fine. But that's, that's really something that's helpful. 'cause you go through and you kind of, everything's
Bart Egnal: back. It, it checks, so you wanna meet the standard. You wanna understand. So I think this fits, like if you're mm-hmm. If you're doing fundraising, uh, like I know we work with companies and people who are raising capital for private equity.
Like there's certain things, there's certain boxes that an audience is gonna expect that you check. And if you, and if you don't meet that, you're just gonna be disqualified. Right. Because they're gonna be Yeah. Saying, well, where's it.
Karina Feld: It just makes you look, it makes you look serious, I think. Mm-hmm. What you're doing.
'cause sometimes, you know, you get an email and it's just, you know, needs a nice email, but maybe it's a paragraph like, oh, I've had this idea for a while. And I'm like, okay. I,
Bart Egnal: I was sitting on the toilet and I was thinking, no. It's
Karina Feld: like, okay, that's probably not gonna hold my time much. Exactly. It's very well put together.
And the thing is with chat GBT and stuff like that mm-hmm. Like that's, you know, to
Bart Egnal: help you build that. Yeah.
Karina Feld: I mean this is something if you're really serious about, I think that's a great place to start, you know, putting something right together and,
Bart Egnal: and it's okay. So now a lot of time, so now, now you've got someone who's right.
Timing. Yeah. They've met the threshold of professionalism. Yep. Now, I'm sure some of them are just gonna inspire you and some you're like all the pieces are there, but this is a dud. Yeah. So what, what distinguishes those from the other,
Karina Feld: So a lot of times, Hmm. There's already a great team or, or a couple people and, you know, they're excited, they're passionate about, I can see, you know, I can sense that with the conversations.
Usually we'll jump on a Zoom call or,
Bart Egnal: mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: Something like that. But yeah, and I can kind of just get a good idea and a good sense of, of them, you know, it's the people really that I invest in.
Bart Egnal: Mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: And we, you know, where they wanna take the, projecting the goals for it. Yeah, they're all different.
That's the thing. Yeah. It's hard to kind of box them together, but,
Bart Egnal: but it, it's fascinating you went to the people because I would've said, oh, I would've expected you to say, oh, it's this one great idea. But you're really, it is the people and their ability to instill their own passion and confidence in you that matters.
Karina Feld: Yeah. And also, I mean, I feel like maybe it's an idea. I haven't even thought about, it hasn't even been in my, it's completely not something I would go to and, but they're so passionate about it and they really, you know, I've done all the research right on it and bringing it to me and I'm, I'm thinking, wow, you know, this is really great.
This is really amazing. Yeah.
Bart Egnal: Well, Corina, clearly, uh, some great takeaways from your, your like triad of experiences here for people outside of the world of, of performance and theater. I mean, what I'm taking away, you know, from acting, you know, from you, from the world of acting, you really have to do the work ahead of time.
To authentically inhabit the character and to not only learn your own part, but learn the part of others. Mm-hmm. And then from directors to be able to create, set that vision, but then empower people to feel safe, to do it their own way. And then from producers, you, you've gotta be organized, but it really is.
Your ability to bring people again, bring people together and convey that that will define whether others believe in you.
Karina Feld: Right, right.
Bart Egnal: So, lot, lot of great experiences there and, uh, to share. So anything, how, any final parting thoughts for people listening who are like, wow, I guess, you know, I. Maybe I don't have time to take an acting course, but how can I start building some of these skills or putting these into work?
What, what advice would you have for them?
Karina Feld: Yeah, I mean, I think just getting involved locally. It depends, you know, if you want to do theater or you know, if you're by like a major market and want to do like TV or film.
Bart Egnal: Mm-hmm.
Karina Feld: There's actually a lot in Canada right now, so I hear I haven't worked there too much, but yeah, and just getting involved locally and seeing where it goes, you know, getting headshots, but a good place.
There's a lot of great information on, uh, my podcast.
Bart Egnal: Yeah. Can you tell us about the pod and we can link to it in the
Karina Feld: Yes. In the, uh,
Bart Egnal: in the show notes as well.
Karina Feld: Sure it's coffee with Carina Entertainment unfiltered, and I kind of created it for like my younger self. Now looking back and I'm kind of realizing this, I'm like, I, what, what
Bart Egnal: you wish you'd had back then.
Karina Feld: So, and it's really for, you know. All different types of creators. It's, it's, singers and producers and directors. And I just had a, a big casting director, actually two casting directors. And what did they look for? I mean, you know, so there's really a little bit of everything on there. Yeah, I think there's, if you're looking for something specific, it's probably on there.
I mean, we've been talking on there for some. Yeah,
Bart Egnal: no, I, I mean, you've got a wide gone through your episodes. You have a wide variety of guests and, and I think you make a great point. You know, if you, if you wanna get into acting, there's ways to do it. But if you're, even, if you wanna just start getting some skills around this, you know, join the second city to do an improv class.
Yes. Go take a standup comment. There are so many easy ways to build your skills. I have one client I'm thinking of, he runs Global Asset Management for a major bank. And he's proudly an improv veteran, you know, and that's built, that's awesome. He built those skills. So I love that, yeah. I think, think it's so wise.
Yeah. That's right. Well, Corina, I really appreciate you coming on. I've learned a lot. I always find, you know, uh, that this DNA of the Humphrey Group, uh, being in acting is something that I'm really proud of. But I, I appreciate all the nuance you brought, not just to acting, but also to production and directing.
So thanks so much for coming on the show.
Karina Feld: Yeah. Thank you so much. I learned a lot too. I love listening to you talk and seeing, you know, the synergies like between the two. It's totally interesting. I never thought about it so much, but now it's making sense. Yeah,
Bart Egnal: well it's definitely at the heart of, you know, if prepare to be inspiring, right?
You have to, uh, so many things you're talking about and even, you know, when we get into eye contact voice. You know, pace we draw deeply from the profession of acting. So it's, it is, uh, it's a privilege to have you on and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.
Karina Feld: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me.
Bart Egnal: I hope you enjoyed that episode of the Inspire Podcast and the conversation that I had, uh, with our guests. And hopefully you left with some really. Practical, tangible tools and tips that you can use to be more consistently inspirational. If you're enjoying the pod, I'll ask you a favor. Please rate and review it.
I love the comments, appreciate the reviews, and the visibility Allows others to discover the pod. It's really how word of mouth has spread the Inspire Podcast to so many listeners and helped us keep making this great content. Stay tuned. We'll be back in two weeks with another inspiring conversation.
Thanks so much for listening. Go forth and inspire.