Women To Watch: Brittney Powell from Safety Geeks:SVI on KoldCast.TV
By Kate Kotler
Safety Geeks: SVI is a web-series which capitalizes on the SVU, Law & Order, CSI craze of the last ten years, taking a uniquely sexy, high-tech, tongue-in-cheek approach to spoofing the pivotal plots and characters and quandaries which one normally finds in a modern day crime series.
Actress Brittney Powell plays the super smart, savvy and sexy scientist, Dr. Randy Minski on the series and is having a blast doing it. Safety Geeks: SVI is a project the Hollywood veteran is passionate about and I was able to catch her for a quick interview while she was at Comic Con International this past July, appearing in support of the show, which - to quote co-creator Tom Konkle, has recently had "mainstream media come a-callin'."
It's little wonder why, considering that the series averages around a half-million views per episode on YouTube, the first three episodes have risen to the number one spot in the comedy category.
If you are thinking in the back of your head that you recognize the effervescent Ms. Powell, you probably do -she has had a career spanning 20 years. She has appeared on such seminal television series as Beverly Hills: 90210, Boy Meets World, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Xena: Warrior Princess and Friends.
She is what any young woman who goes to LA hopes to become: a working actress.
I have a question that I ask of everyone that I interview for this column, what lessons have you learned that you think are really important to share? You've had an incredibly long career, going back 15-20 years. I think that I would ask that question of you at the beginning of the interview: What advice do you have for young women who would like to have the same kind of longevity in their acting careers as you have had?
Don't take anything personally. Do not take anything personally, you have to have a thick skin if you are going to come out [to LA] to be an actress. Casting Director A might think that you are very good, that you are a good actress, but you might not be right for the particular role you're auditioning for, so you might get turned down for the role. Don't go home and cry about it. Keep a positive attitude you don't know when that relationship you've worked on establishing in those auditions will pay off.
Also, personal opinions, it's like, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a personal opinion is just that: an opinion.
What other tips or pointers do you have for the young actress coming out to LA, like are there any things that you have to do?
First of all: it is feast and famine. When you make a huge check, when you get a commercial or a good supporting role, and you have all those residuals coming in, save them. You're going to need that money for a year down the line when you don't have anything coming in to eat and to keep yourself in the condition you need to be in to maintain your lifestyle so you can walk into auditions looking great and healthy.
If you've spent all of your earnings and you're down and out, you're going to give off the vibe of "please just hire me."
And, needy has a stench. I think it was Chuck McCann or Billy West who said that.
Talk to me about Safety Geeks SVI: what is it about? Why should our readers watch this web-series?
Safety Geeks is the story the P.O.S.H. (Professional Occupational Safety Hazard) team, a elite team of investigators who investigate accidents, even though they have not been invited to.
Reginald Syngen-Smythe, (David Beeler,) is a retired at birth billionaire, created P.O.S.H. when he lost his family in the plush toy department at Harrods. Budwin, (Tom Konkle,) he had "safety glass" display he'd done for science class that his Dad fell on and decapitated himself. My character, Dr. Randy Minki, is the genius who put herself through school stripping. She became a criminal psychologist and forensic scientist, stripping! She profiled the men at the strip club, in the audience.
Those are the main three. Then there is Sparky Van Der Graff (Mary Cseh) the computer geek who stays at the headquarters. Then we've got a butler, Hopkins, (Benton Jennings), who thinks that P.O.S.H. team are idiots The cops don't like P.O.S.H. because the team actually hinders their investigation and cause ten-times more accidents.
It seems like it's a very viral series, you've gone to #1 on YouTube three times, that's crazy-awesome!
Yeah, it is. People are loving it and that's great. Because we all just made it because we loved it and it's great to have fan recognition. Initially, Tom put the series on a credit card, like Kevin Smith and Sam Rami? But, Koldcast caught wind of it and bought it, which was great. Recently we've been getting phone calls from mainstream media.
Can you say who?
I'm sorry I can't - but you should keep your eyes peeled!
You can catch Safety Geeks: SVI on Dave and Tom's YouTube Channel, Koldcast.tv and DaveandTom.com -- hopefully soon you can see the delightfully silly series on a "mainstream media" channel we all know and love!
By Kate Kotler
Safety Geeks: SVI is a web-series which capitalizes on the SVU, Law & Order, CSI craze of the last ten years, taking a uniquely sexy, high-tech, tongue-in-cheek approach to spoofing the pivotal plots and characters and quandaries which one normally finds in a modern day crime series.
Actress Brittney Powell plays the super smart, savvy and sexy scientist, Dr. Randy Minski on the series and is having a blast doing it. Safety Geeks: SVI is a project the Hollywood veteran is passionate about and I was able to catch her for a quick interview while she was at Comic Con International this past July, appearing in support of the show, which - to quote co-creator Tom Konkle, has recently had "mainstream media come a-callin'."
It's little wonder why, considering that the series averages around a half-million views per episode on YouTube, the first three episodes have risen to the number one spot in the comedy category.
If you are thinking in the back of your head that you recognize the effervescent Ms. Powell, you probably do -she has had a career spanning 20 years. She has appeared on such seminal television series as Beverly Hills: 90210, Boy Meets World, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Xena: Warrior Princess and Friends.
She is what any young woman who goes to LA hopes to become: a working actress.
I have a question that I ask of everyone that I interview for this column, what lessons have you learned that you think are really important to share? You've had an incredibly long career, going back 15-20 years. I think that I would ask that question of you at the beginning of the interview: What advice do you have for young women who would like to have the same kind of longevity in their acting careers as you have had?
Don't take anything personally. Do not take anything personally, you have to have a thick skin if you are going to come out [to LA] to be an actress. Casting Director A might think that you are very good, that you are a good actress, but you might not be right for the particular role you're auditioning for, so you might get turned down for the role. Don't go home and cry about it. Keep a positive attitude you don't know when that relationship you've worked on establishing in those auditions will pay off.
Also, personal opinions, it's like, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a personal opinion is just that: an opinion.
What other tips or pointers do you have for the young actress coming out to LA, like are there any things that you have to do?
First of all: it is feast and famine. When you make a huge check, when you get a commercial or a good supporting role, and you have all those residuals coming in, save them. You're going to need that money for a year down the line when you don't have anything coming in to eat and to keep yourself in the condition you need to be in to maintain your lifestyle so you can walk into auditions looking great and healthy.
If you've spent all of your earnings and you're down and out, you're going to give off the vibe of "please just hire me."
And, needy has a stench. I think it was Chuck McCann or Billy West who said that.
Talk to me about Safety Geeks SVI: what is it about? Why should our readers watch this web-series?
Safety Geeks is the story the P.O.S.H. (Professional Occupational Safety Hazard) team, a elite team of investigators who investigate accidents, even though they have not been invited to.
Reginald Syngen-Smythe, (David Beeler,) is a retired at birth billionaire, created P.O.S.H. when he lost his family in the plush toy department at Harrods. Budwin, (Tom Konkle,) he had "safety glass" display he'd done for science class that his Dad fell on and decapitated himself. My character, Dr. Randy Minki, is the genius who put herself through school stripping. She became a criminal psychologist and forensic scientist, stripping! She profiled the men at the strip club, in the audience.
Those are the main three. Then there is Sparky Van Der Graff (Mary Cseh) the computer geek who stays at the headquarters. Then we've got a butler, Hopkins, (Benton Jennings), who thinks that P.O.S.H. team are idiots The cops don't like P.O.S.H. because the team actually hinders their investigation and cause ten-times more accidents.
It seems like it's a very viral series, you've gone to #1 on YouTube three times, that's crazy-awesome!
Yeah, it is. People are loving it and that's great. Because we all just made it because we loved it and it's great to have fan recognition. Initially, Tom put the series on a credit card, like Kevin Smith and Sam Rami? But, Koldcast caught wind of it and bought it, which was great. Recently we've been getting phone calls from mainstream media.
Can you say who?
I'm sorry I can't - but you should keep your eyes peeled!
You can catch Safety Geeks: SVI on Dave and Tom's YouTube Channel, Koldcast.tv and DaveandTom.com -- hopefully soon you can see the delightfully silly series on a "mainstream media" channel we all know and love!
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