Meet Allie Doody | Director, Actor & Writer at Allie Finale Studios

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allie Doody and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In the beginning, I created Sasha Says, my web series about a sassy spy who dispenses wisdom to the masses. It was all about lifting people up during the pandemic, giving them something to look forward to weekly. However, I felt this intense creative passion rise in me and knew that I had more ideas that I wanted to see through to completion.

Now that I have my other series out there on the world wide web, my goal has been to create a variety of content to make people happy and thoughtful. Stories have shaped who I am over the course of my life, I would love to be that creator for others. To make the fantasy-esque things that people want to see, to inspire people to be a bit more magical in their day to day life.

I hope that my work can put a smile on someone’s face. If I have brought joy to someone, even temporarily, then I have accomplished my mission.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
When the pandemic hit many projects had to be put on hold. My friends and myself all were in shows that ended up being canceled. I wanted so badly to give them something creatively fulfilling to do. My mind started to race, I had tons of ideas and no clue how to get them out there.

Once I bought my first camera at the start of the pandemic, an entire world opened up to me. With my new Youtube channel in mind, I was able to give my friends the projects they were craving during this dark time. This was a double whammy because I had a lot of interests as a child that not everyone liked or understood. As an adult, I am so happy to be able to share the things I love with others! This channel was just another way for me to do just that.

On a personal level, the time I spent in quarantine gave me the chance to look at myself and change my work life balance. Since I was given this opportunity to change things, I decided to do the projects that I always said I would get around to. I usually work multiple jobs and never had the time to work on my novel or Youtube channel. Now that I have started them I have never felt so fulfilled before, this was just the outlet I needed.

Hopefully, the pandemic has calmed down enough to where I can move into live action filming. In the future I would love to collaborate with more like minded people. It would be wonderful to hire a few more people on my team seeing as I am doing the bulk of the work right now. An editor is definitely next, since that takes the most time for me.

Fascinatingly enough, I have been approached twice to get my radio drama, The Soul Catcher Mystery Hour sponsored. When negotiating contracts it’s best to trust your instincts, if I feel a company will share my vision I will gladly collaborate. It is very flattering that someone else believed in my creations as much as I do.

For now, I have the freedom to produce my projects in any format I choose. I have learned over the course of my first year running Allie Finale Studios that a project can take many forms. Sometimes it is best to try different mediums and see what happens.

What am I most proud of? Two things; first the fact that I created an entire season of my supernatural drama, The Soul Catcher Mystery Hour. Not everyone follows through on their goals, so the fact that an entire season is out there really makes me happy.

Yet, the project that I am most proud of is my three seasons of my web series Sasha Says. People tell me personally how watching Sasha Says impacted them for the better. Nothing spurs me on to finish more projects than that. This was my ultimate goal when creating my channel, to inspire others.

Every company, big or small, faces challenges, mine is no exception. I am in the process of transitioning from just a youtube channel to a full blown registered production company. I have a lot to learn and am on the cusp of big changes!

At the moment the biggest obstacle is budget. I am a working actor first, so sometimes I have to work three different jobs to make ends meet. This thrifty constraint forces me to be creative with my films and use what I already have on hand. It creates this nice homemade feel that I think audiences will appreciate.

I have very quickly learned that nothing teaches you faster than hands-on experience. I learned this when I filmed my first short horror film a year ago. The setting was not looking quite right. I had chosen an open marsh and quickly found out why most horror movies film in closed spaces. This looked too open and I had to scrap what I had. I recently re-shot the short and am so excited for it to go up in a month’s time! Sometimes it is important to look objectively at your work. I could have edited what I had and put it out there, but I want my vision to be realized properly.

Currently, I am editing that short, a suspense called ‘Knock’. I had to teach myself an entirely new editing program for this in order to bump up the audio and color. I am always trying to up my game and make what came before better. I set the standards for myself which can be a problem because I am always trying to outdo my last project. I want to constantly improve and learn, this is my favorite part of content creation.

Branding has always been a fascinating aspect of any business. I take a different approach to branding for AFS than I do my acting career. From the start I wanted Allie Finale Studios to be multiple things. I never like to box myself in as a person, so why would I limit what my company would do? I see many companies trying to do one thing as per their branding and that’s fine, but often I see them reach a wall in terms of what they produce, they feel creatively fenced in and end up deviating from that box anyway. I felt that I might as well introduce the multiple facets of my production company right off the bat so my audience can expect ‘a little bit of everything’. Some people may like the reviews I do, while others may enjoy the Underrated Actors Series, it all depends on their preferences. It is interesting when I look at my analytics on Youtube, my audience ranges from 20-70 years of age!

That being said, we love stories that have a weird or supernatural bent. Always expect some sort of twist with an Allie Finale Studios production. A fascination with Universal Monsters and Gothic poets influenced me at a young age, so I try to channel that energy in all of my works. In the end I tell stories that little me would love to see and that gives me a giddy excitement whenever I sit down to write or edit a new project.

It has been quite a journey so far, I can’t wait to see where this road takes me next!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A perfect day in LA with a friend would start at Miracle Bakery for some delicious Mexican breakfast. After that, would be the Van Eaton Gallery to look at animation cells from classic films and cartoons.

Next, I would take my friend to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery or The Mystic Museum to look at taxidermy and other oddities. Then we would have lunch at my favorite restaurant, Aroma Cafe in Studio City, they have the best variety of foods and the owner Moria is very conscious of Gluten allergies (I’m Celiac, so this is very nice for me).

Finally, I would take my friend to see a comedy show at Flappers Comedy in Burbank. If there was any time I would also recommend going on a hike to Griffith Observatory or Malibu beach for more athletic activities. There are so many fun things to do in LA!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My artist Jeanette Silva-Torres is key to an AFS production. She was the first friend I made at University and we have been close ever since. Jeanette is unbelievably talented. I knew that I had to delegate some of the work to someone else, editing, directing, writing and art is too much to put on one person. I am so glad that she is my designated artist. She’s always early with her art and knows how to put what I’m envisioning on the page. Here is her website if you wish to hire her for graphic design work: https://jstgraphics.myportfolio.com/work

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my cast, all of the actors I have worked with have been nothing short of professional and gifted. Without them, Allie Finale Studios would just be me, haha.

Website: https://alliefinalestudios.weebly.com

Instagram: @alliefinalestudios

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-doody-19503bb2/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliefinalestudios

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDQoTMgmpmpccLduYUzwPA/videos

Other: Actor Website: https://alliedoody.weebly.com

Image Credits
Sasha Says Photography by Nancy Kelso-Doody Director/ On Set Shots by Hunter Cline All artwork by Jeanette Silva-Torres