Meet Martha Ruby Clark | Actor/Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Martha Ruby Clark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Martha Ruby, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I used to work in restaurants while I was also producing just a ton of work right when I first moved to LA. I found myself always working a little and really struggled keeping my personal life out of my work. Last year the restaurant I worked at closed, and that pushed me to leave the restaurant industry and start working full time in the film industry. I freelanced very sporadically for a while till I found a great position that allowed me the flexibility and financial stability to keep working on my creative projects with Drover. I am someone who works best with routine and schedule so taking a leap away from restaurants also gave me the peace of mind to set goals and move away from living paycheck to paycheck. I went from sort of always scrambling for time and resources which left my work/life balance completely jumbled to a position where I have structure to my day which allows me to keep that balance a bit more distinct. Creatively there will always be some crossover but thats what I love about this work!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an actor and a producer and I am very passionate about telling stories about women. I have an indie production company called Drover Productions. I make music videos, short films, & new media projects (I’ll do pretty much anything if you can sell me on it). I run by the quote “What is most personal is most universal”. I think the best thing you can do is create art about what is close to you. You don’t have to live in the world of realism by any means, but it’s important to have deep roots within yourself.

I lived in the world of realism with a lot of my past projects, currently I am in what I call my romantic era (romantic in an art history sense). I am intrigued by exploring what emotions look like. How do you take a really complex mixture of feelings and make the audience feel that without having the character necessarily experience them. I think David Lynch is a great expample (duh) as well as Juila Ducournau.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Can I just say this is what I want to be talking about all the time. Okay, must eat: Yamakazi bakery, Bar Chelou, Bay Cities, Christina’s hotdog stand outside Zebulon on Fridays and Saturdays. Must drink: Thai tea gimlet at Spirit House, espresso martini at Bar Flores, La Colombe draft latte (but go to the one on the bike path), Celsius from the new little Target on Silverlake Blvd. Must visit: the reservoir (Hollywood or Silverlake), Griffith Observatory, LA Public Library, my friend Abby at Pinky’s in Los Feliz. Must see: Sunset over the Pacific, the view of downtown from the 210, The Hollywood sign randomly at one point in the distance.

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?
When I graduated college my mother bought me like 5 copies of this book called “The Defining Decade”. She would not stop till me AND all my friends had read it. It’s great for a little 20-something perspective if you’re into that sort of thing. So thats a shoutout to my mom and Dr. Meg Jay. Jen McCabe, who showed me what it’s like to be my best. “Slow Days, Fast Company” by Eve Babitz welcomed me to the city of Los Angeles with open arms.

Website: martharuby.com / drover.productions

Instagram: @martharubyclark / @drover.productions

Youtube: Drover Productions

Image Credits
Stills From Marcy Avenue- Ben Root portraits & still from Nora- Rebecca Loftin