Meet Wilder Simmons | Writer, Director & Actor

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

Hi Wilder, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Fresno, CA. When I was 5 years old, my family got a VHS camera for Christmas and that’s when the storytelling seed was planted. I loved making home movies. My sister and I would loosely plan out the characters, start filming and make up the rest as we went. I have my family to thank for my interest in the arts, but even more importantly, they taught me to be confident in my own voice. A trait that has helped me in every facet of my life. Growing up, I was always told my ideas were worth something, that what I said mattered, and that I was capable of doing anything I put my mind to. Having confidence instilled in myself in my childhood wired my brain to push through the fear of failure because I believed I deserved to succeed.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I fostered my creative voice through performing improv at places like the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater, The Pack, and The Clubhouse. The most base lesson in improv is that saying, “Yes, and,” to an idea instead of, “No, but,” always results in a more interesting journey. This concept quickly cemented in my core and I put it into practice in all of my creative endeavors. Improv was the gateway into my addiction to sketch comedy. I started writing and performing sketch shows with my comedy partner/bff, Lilan Bowden in our aptly named duo, “Lilan and Wilder.” Along the way I’ve traveled the country to comedy festivals and have even been declared “Top Nerd” in the duo rendition of “Tournament of Nerds”. Sketch comedy became the gateway into creating and filming comedy shorts, which was then the gateway into script writing.

Filmmaking, creating content and living life are collaborative. I have all of these formative past experiences and people to thank for building up my foundation to be ready for whatever gateway opens up next.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my first business when I began pursuing work in TV and Film, that business was me. At the time, I didn’t realize I was a business, and let me tell you, I started out as a terrible CEO. Which was a real surprise since I’d known the product of myself my whole life. I began my career stumbling into some opportunities and dropping the ball, missing out on others. I wasn’t organized, and the only thing that kept me going was the blind belief that it would all work out. A powerful belief that manifested many opportunities for me against all odds.

Since then, I’ve shaped up my operation. I’ve worked professionally as an actor, writer, director, dialogue coach, voice actor, and content creator. I just finished the film festival circuit with my original comedy-apocalypse short film, “Don’t Lose Your Heart,” which was produced through UVU’s Femme Project. A program which supports and provides on set training for women in Film. Working with an all female production crew of up and coming filmmakers was a rewarding and unforgettable experience. I’m really excited to be currently pitching a concept for a new original series to networks and launching my own production company, Imagehouse, with my husband and fellow filmmaker, Bradley Simmons. Our services include producing videos and creating narrative, corporate, and social media content for artists, creatives, and other clients. At Imagehouse we help people grow their creative concepts and bring their vision to life. We also produce our own dream projects and are currently gearing up pre-production on an original indie short film.

I’ve somehow managed to hold onto my sense of childlike wonder which lends a hand in countless ways in both my life and my work. It helps me think outside of the box, not take life too seriously, keep an open mind, believe dreams can come true and take chances. I’m a very silly person with a lot of heart. When creating projects, my goal is to tap into, and release that feeling of freedom that can get locked up inside a person’s spirit when the world wears on them. I believe the best way to get a message across is disarming your audience with humor, and rekindling that hopeful feeling you had before adulthood bogged you down. I want my stories to invite people to kick back, step into another world, laugh, and come out of it all feeling thoughtful and alive.

I believe when making projects, creativity should always win. Art is a feeling, not a science. A narrative story requires an elegant build and making choices by the numbers doesn’t work. In the industry today, there is a plague of making cuts and choices based on algorithm. In my opinion this always produces a watered down, underdeveloped and sometimes heartless product. We should keep art human, give creatives their creative license and trust the process. An audience will sit through world and character building if a project has heart, and in the end they will feel a bigger catharsis and connection to the project because of it.

Taking risks has brought me to where I am today. Joining improv, moving to LA, auditioning, pitching content, releasing comedy sketches; simply following my dream continues to be a risk. When I was still reeling from my dad passing away, I was offered a job as a dialogue coach on the Disney Channel show, “Andi Mack.” I had never been a dialogue coach before and on top of that it filmed in Utah, so I would have to leave LA. It was a huge risk to drop everything and go, but taking the chance resulted in so many amazing memories, great friends and the building of future opportunities in my career.

When I was working on the Nickelodeon reboot, “Fairly Oddparents: A New Wish” as a Script Coordinator, I was unapologetically myself and took risks often by drifting out of my lane to pitch episode ideas and contribute more than my position would be expected to. My risks paid off because by mid-season, I was raised up to Staff Writer and ended up writing 7 episodes.

Running my own production company feels like a huge risk with an unclear future but I’m gonna forge ahead and see what happens anyway. Following your inner voice and being brave sometimes means taking wild swings. And right now, in this time of struggle, both in the industry and in the world, being in charge of my own narrative sounds pretty appealing.

Has my journey been easy? No. It’s been full of bursts of fortune, famine, happiness, and anxiety. The challenge isn’t only in making opportunities, but balancing yourself so you will be able to mentally, emotionally and financially weather all storms. Maintaining inspiration while stressing about making ends meet or balancing other responsibilities is difficult, and finding the discipline to push through and do the work anyway is even more so. You have to take care of yourself and learn not to base your happiness on material success. If you’re only happy when you feel a certain way or have particular boxes checked, then any small inconvenience, speed bump or road block can shake the foundation of your life, confidence and happiness.

Biggest lesson I’ve learned: Live your life. Life should always come first. There was a time early on where I would rearrange everything around the smallest career opportunity but that was a stressful and unsustainable way to live. Surround yourself with people who support you, but can also ground you. While building your career, taking chances when they arise is important, but nothing should eclipse spending time with the people who you love and taking care of yourself. A funny thing happens when you make your top priority living your life, you become a better artist. You have fresh energy and rich experiences to inform your world view and in turn the stories you tell.

Some rapid fire advice: “Beggars can’t be choosers,” is a fake statement. If a project gets thrown your way that you think is bad or you really don’t connect with, don’t take it. There is power in saying no. Real opportunity always recycles itself. What is for you, won’t pass you. Speaking mantras like these to yourself is helpful. Don’t be ashamed of getting work outside of your art to help fund and make time for your art. You haven’t failed. Don’t lose sight of why you started creating in the first place. Find hobbies and activities outside of the industry. Not everything has to be a monetized side hustle. Create for joy. You don’t have to be a good painter to enjoy the act of painting. Coming up with creative solutions of how to enjoy this capitalist life on a budget, often garners much more interesting and rewarding results. Game nights, hikes, happy hours, thrifting instead of buying new, reading, learning a new skill, working in the garden, the list goes on. Do whatever you need to do to make space for yourself, slow down and enjoy the ride.

There is a saying that when you’re on the right path it disappears. I haven’t seen my path in years and I keep saying, “Yes, and,” forging ahead, creating along the way and having an amazing adventure. When I’ve had enough of forging ahead, I’d like to go live in the woods with my family where I can do my witchy bidding, and you’ll only hear from me when I release books from the shadows.

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.
I would start out hiking up to the Observatory in Griffith Park and then head over to Silverlake to eat breakfast burritos at Tacos Delta. Throughout the week we would do some thrifting in Los Feliz and Silverlake, catch a Dodger’s game and eat dinner at El Compadre in Echo Park. Grab a glass of wine at Covell before heading to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl or the Greek Theater. Spend the next morning writing at Jones coffee shop in South Pasadena followed by an afternoon at The Huntington Gardens and then happy hour at Gus’ BBQ. Brunch at Homestate followed by shopping in Atwater Village and a movie at the Vista Theater. The beauty of Los Angeles is it’s truly a “choose your own adventure” city. There are so many things to do and the itinerary can be completely different every time you visit.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my awesome husband Bradley who is my whole heart, and to my family who has always supported me. And to “Live Nude People with Clothes on,” and The Alaska House circa 2003-2005. The best and most hilarious friends. All gold, all day.

Website: https://imagehousestudio.com

Instagram: @thewildestsimmons

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wildersimmons

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lilanandwilder

Image Credits
Eric Schwabel, Matt Kallish