Brie Eley Concludes Black History Month On WHY I'LL NEVER MAKE IT Podcast

Broadway World Award Nominee Brie Eley (True Colors) joins host Patrick Oliver Jones for an insightful conversation about truth in storytelling, her transition from stage actor to television and film, and the online community she created for black actresses.

This two-part conversation with Eley begins with her theater training and foundations at the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer program at Oxford University, with plenty of advice for any actor. She recounts her off-Broadway work at New York Theater Workshop and Classical Theater of Harlem as well as regionally at theaters like Actors Theatre of Louisville. But as anyone in the arts will tell you, other work or survival jobs are often necessary between shows. So after moving to Los Angeles, Eley began producing branded content for AOL/Huffington Post while slowly getting roles in television and national commercials.

Eley also found a home behind the scenes in producing and directing and content creation. She was actress and associate producer in one of the early crowdfunding success stories, We Are the Hartmans. The film starred Richard Chamberlain and was acquired by Netflix back in their DVD days. She co-wrote and starred in another film called Acceptance, which received distribution through Viacom after winning best short at the BESLA Film Festival in Cabo. She's also had short films at the NBCUniversal Shortcuts Festival and the Austin Comedy Short Film Festival.

In September 2020, she founded an organization for black actresses called Here and Ready, a dynamic talent database designed to quickly discover and hire Black actresses that also has an active private community group. Both efforts work to increase the visibility of black actresses in the entertainment industry as well as how they see and support each other. Eley shares personal stories of her own experience and the importance of seeing more people who look like her onstage and onscreen. That includes voiceover work and her most recent project with Star Wars as that franchise is making concerted efforts to diversify its cast of characters and storylines.

Any actress interested in learning more about Here and Ready and how to build a profile, head to the Actor Portal of this growing community of black actresses.

Listen to the episode below!

Brie Eley is a classically-trained actress and content creator from Sugar Land, Texas who earned her degree in Theater and Arts Administration from Marymount Manhattan College. Active in both new play development and classical theater, she's appeared at The Kennedy Center and Humana Festival of New Plays. She's also co-starred on shows like Criminal Minds, 2 Broke Girls and Grey's Anatomy. Her films have shown at prominent film festivals and received distribution through Viacom, BET, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. Eley was nominated for a 2019 Broadway World Regional Theater award for her role in True Colors at The Braid. Currently, she can be heard introducing the characters of The High Republic, a new digital series from Star Wars.

Why I'll Never Make It is a weekly theater podcast hosted by Off-Broadway actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones and features fellow creatives sharing the realities of a career in the performing arts. In addition to Eley, guests for Black History Month have included Geoffrey Owens (The Cosby Show), Emmy-winner Erin Cherry (After Forever), and Adrienne Walker (The Lion King).

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