Meet Melissa Ortiz | Actor/Producer/Coach

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

Hi Melissa, what role has risk played in your life or career?
That’s an interesting question because I personally am very risk-averse, which makes being an actor really hard. In the beginning of my career I followed acting as a craft because I loved it and I didn’t really think about anything beyond that. And then as I continued to pursue it as a career I always had a safety net of a part-time job or a full-time job that would give me benefits and security so I wouldn’t have to deal with the risky business of acting. But at a certain point in my life I realized that I was unhappy because I wasn’t giving myself fully to this art form. I wasn’t taking the risk and seeing how far I could actually get with this career. So once 2020 hit and the pandemic happened I decided that it was time to risk it all on me; to bet it all on my acting career. Since then I’ve given all of my time to that and it’s been really, really rewarding and I guess that, yeah, with no risk no reward right?

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m an actor and I feel like every actor is unique and brings their own unique life experience. I had a kinda rough upbringing with a lot of trauma, a lot humor, a lot of irony… and because of all these life experiences and, you know, the personality I was born with, I coped with that life through telling stories, through being an actor. I most proud of my vulnerability, my work ethic and my ability to take a note and build on it. I’m really excited about upcoming collaborations with some really kick-ass artists. I’ve also just signed with an new manager, Eric Pirooz, Founder and CEO of NOVA Talent Group, so I’m stoked to continue my career development with such an invested team at NOVA.

I got to where I am today professionally through a lot of education. I got the acting bug in high school I was into musicals. I went to college, I majored in music (singing and voice). I did an apprentice program at Actors Theater of Louisville in Kentucky where I pivoted more into acting. Then I spent some time in New York and realized that I needed more in order to compete in that market, so I applied to grad school and got my MFA at the National Theater Conservatory in Denver. Then I moved back to New York as a little acting robot and I have been learning from that education ever since. It was not easy. Mostly because I didn’t know how to balance what I needed artistically with what I needed to survive. So when my husband and I left New York and we started doing theater in the San Francisco Bay Area, it gave me the opportunity to do acting part-time and to have a full-time career which was awesome because I got all the stability I needed and I was still getting the artistic fulfillment, you know, after work or in my spare time. But then, you know, after a while the full-time job, it sort of broke me, you know? I sunk into a depression because I was spending so much time on someone else’s dreams and not enough time on my own and that was a really scary realization. So I quit my full-time job, which was terrifying, and I started pursuing acting full time because I realized that I had to invest in myself, I guess.

I thrive thorough kindness and gratitude and I try to bring that energy to everyone I work with,

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I don’t’ know. I still feel so knew to LA! I’ve taken my family to Griffith Park and The Griffith Observatory. I’ve heard a lot about The Museum of Jurassic Technology. I think I have to go there next.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I definitely wouldn’t be here without Christian Haines. He’s my husband and he’s the reason I’m a producer, he’s the reason I’m still acting. Without what we produce, which is Shotz (an evening is six short plays), I wouldn’t have the network that I have today, I wouldn’t have the creative family that I have today and all of the producing experience that I have is because of that too. He’s the one who tells me that I can do anything I want and he really believes that. I don’t always believe that myself but the belief that he has in me, and in everyone else, is what really inspires me, and inspires a ton of people to make art and to pursue their dreams.

Website: https://amiosco.wixsite.com/melissaortiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbel426/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.ortizhaines/

Other: https://www.novatalentgroup.com/

Image Credits
Leah Huebner, Amy Kersten, Davi Armanino, Christian Haines