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

Hi Anthony, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Striking out on my own has always been a passion of mine. It gives me the feeling of controlling my own destiny versus having it be controlled by societal demands. I’m also a believer in the idea of investing in myself and allowing my education to compound, just like interest with money. My father started his own business before I entered high school and built into a sustainable vehicle that allows him to travel the world and earn a decent living, all while continuing his brand of education. He was and is a big inspiration into building my myself and my career. And although my passion is the entertainment industry and my creative outlet is acting, I don’t view it any differently than any other sort of entrepreneurship, sport, or activity. Similarly to a sport and in spite of my talk about all my own personal ideas and experiences, it’s all about working as a team.

In this business, I’m striving to do one or two portions of the creative process really well and shop out the rest to other artists. The popular narrative going around right now is that multi-hyphenated performers are excelling. I’m going against that grain in some ways because it’s much more fun (and to be frank, less work) to work with other people. For my project Convergence, I knew going in that the challenge for me would be acting out the words on the page written by someone else as directed by yet another individual. So, I asked the production executive at my management company for a recommendation and he introduced me to Matt Wilkins, the writer of the script. We went back and forth on some ideas, but ultimately decided that we both enjoy deeply human sci-fi stories. That was almost 2 years ago. After Matt penned a great base product, the script, it was simply a matter of getting it out in front of the right people. The right people ended up being a friend of the writer, our director Zechariah, our fellow producers, Jelena Nik and Frey Dagne, and my co-star, Alix Angelis. They all fell into place on after the other, building momentum along the way.
 
This project taught me to trust the process, something I go through in my journey to the outer reaches of our galaxy in Convergence. What that really means is not trying to push the art forward for the sake of getting it done while also not trying to slow it down in order to understand every minutiae detail. It’s about marinating in the present and enjoying the artistic experience. Or in the case of my space flight, letting the journey inform my final decision. From a team perspective, it’s about being the very best partner possible in your chosen position and placing trust into those you are surrounded with. For Convergence, we were astounded by the support we received, including a team of professional designers led by Kurt Gough to build out our main set piece, my spaceship and two dozen other extremely talented cast and crew members across two states.
 
In the end, I learned “striking out on my own” really means finding a group of likeminded professionals all striving towards a common goals. I’m just happy to have been a part of the process. The next time around should be even more fun now that we’ve all worked together.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Probably the biggest myth that has kept me from becoming the best artist I can be is the standard definition and timing of success. America, especially Hollywood likes to glamourize people in their 20s becoming huge financial and popular successes overnight. And if we don’t have our faces on billboards or a million in the bank by a certain age, we’ve failed. My favorite stories are the ones of people finding a second life after they have achieved their goals and I’ve started to focus on finding mentors and individuals who can help me get become a marginally better person. It’s the people who aren’t in the public eye all the time who are usually the ones most willing to help you achieve your goals. Once I got past my perfectionism, I was able to free up my artistic experience perform every day at the best of my abilities. Another challenge and one I’m starting to embrace is finding roles for myself by purchasing IP and developing projects. I’m trying to think for next year, and the year after that, and 10 years from now and what I might want to take on in that time span. Since these are my prime years, having the ability to pick and choose projects will allow me to craft my own image.

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.
We’d eat at Howling Rays in Downtown LA, In N Out Burger (of course), and Los Amigos in Burbank. The last is one of the best Mexican food joints in town. As a former beach bum, I’d take them to Point Dume to surf and pop over to Malibu Farms after for local produce. Although they are not open now, when they re-open, I’ll take friends and family to the LA Opera or to the Walt Disney Concert Hall when Gustavo Dudamel is conducting. There are also quite a few local equity theatres in the area, not to mention the annual Greystone Mansion mystery theatre show, and it’s always fun to catch a regional performance. Finally, I love the Hollywood Lake for a nice stroll.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Zechariah Thormodsgaard is an amazing entrepreneur and artist and the director of my most recent film, Convergence. Zak has an amazing attitude and focus. He’s going to be a big name in Hollywood within the decade. My acting coach Faline England at The Imagined Life studio, has expanded my abilities as an artist more than any other coach. Finally, I’d like to shout out Tony Lore at Youth Mentoring Connection. I’ve volunteered at their surf camp in past years and just showing up to chat with the underprivileged youth there has opened my eyes. It’s a great cause that I will continue to support.

Instagram: instagram.com/anthonybcaldwell
Other: www.imdb.me/anthonycaldwell

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