Blissful Spinster

This episode’s guest is, actor, director, producer, improviser, and all-around wonderful human, Jennifer Clymer. Jen’s journey is a rich tapestry of creativity, resilience, and community building. From founding Chicago’s Playground Improv Theater to producing and directing both indie darlings and major studio projects ( Spider-Man , Charlie’s Angels ), Jen brings heart and hustle to everything she...

This episode’s guest is actor, writer, voiceover artist, and unapologetic improv nerd, Roxana Ortega. Roxana is one of those rare artists whose vulnerability, honesty, and humor hit you all at once – and leave a lasting impression. If her voice sounds familiar, it might be because she’s voiced everything from the passionate Frida Casagrande on The Casagrandes to characters in Call of Duty , Final...

Welcome to the Relaunch of Blissful Spinster!  🎙️🐈‍⬛ After a long pause (thank you, menopause, ADHD, and burnout!), Blissful Spinster is officially back—and I couldn’t be more excited to share this next chapter with you. In this short trailer, I talk about what pulled me away from the mic, what brought me back, and what you can expect in the new season. Here’s a snack bite of what’s coming to yo...

Meet Oren Soffer!  Oren lives in Los Angeles and is an up and coming cinematographer with a bold cinematic eye. Oren’s work includes two feature films; “ Fixation” that premiered at TIFF and “ Allswell” that premiered at TriBeCa in 2022 as well as Co-Dping the film “ The Creator” with cinematographer Greig Fraser. While studying film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Oren was nominated for the ASC...

Meet Randall Park, the multi-talented artist who has captivated audiences with his comedic acting, writing, producing, and directing skills. Hailing from Los Angeles, Randall is not only known for his comedic prowess but has also ventured into the realms of producing and directing. His journey in the entertainment industry began during his time at UCLA, where he co-founded the LCC Theatre Company,...

Meet, Nina Menkes! Nina lives in Los Angeles and is considered a cinematic feminist pioneer and one of America’s foremost independent filmmakers. Nina’s work includes, the narrative films “Queen of Diamonds”, “The Bloody Child”, “The Great Sadness of Zohara”, “Magdalena Viraga”, and “Phantom Love”. Nina’s work has been shown widely in major international film festivals including Sundance, the Berl...

Meet David Casey! David is a Showrunner, Director, and TV executive. He lives in Detroit and is an award-winning filmmaker who specializes in directing, writing, showrunning, show development, and leading logistics for large-scale teams in challenging environments around the world from preproduction through post. Much of David’s work focuses on high-impact storytelling in travel, social justice, n...

Meet Sara Eckel! Sara is an Author and she lives in Kingston, New York. She’s been a full-time freelance writer since 1997, Sara’s essays, arts criticism, and reported pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The BBC, and The Boston Globe to name a few. For five years, Sara was a nationally syndicated opinion columnist, with a weekly column that appeared in mo...

Meet James Ellis Deakins! James is a Digital Workflow Specialist, Filmmaker & Podcaster. James lives in Los Angeles and is both a creative and business partner of cinematographer Roger Deakins. James came up the ranks as a script supervisor for such films as Thunderheart, The Shawshank Redemption & Mercury Rising. She has transitioned into a Digital Workflow Specialist, working in a role J...

Meet Amy & Nancy Harrington! Amy & Nancy are Women’s Empowerment Activists and Podcasters, Amy and Nancy live in Los Angeles and they’re sisters on a mission. Amy had a long and successful career in film & television, where she worked her way up the post-production ladder at Warner Brothers, to eventually become the first woman in the history of the film industry to hold the position o...

Meet Venita Ozols-Graham! Venita is Director, Writer, Producer, and First Assistant Director. Venita splits her time between Washington State and Los Angeles and is an award-winning filmmaker and veteran of the film festival circuit. After graduating from Pratt Institute in New York City, Venita moved to Los Angeles and was accepted into the D.G.A.’s Assistant Director’s Training Program. Venita j...

Meet Joel Stoffer! Joel is an Actor. He lives in Los Angeles and is that rarity in the business a local, having grown up in the valley. Joel has been a professional actor for nearly 30 years and he’s portrayed everything from criminals, demons, and vampires to doctors, lawyers, and government agents. Most notably, you may have seen him in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as Enoch the Chronicom. An...

Meet, David Bolen! David lives in Los Angeles and is a highly sought-after Cinematographer with numerous, narrative feature films, Television projects, and documentaries under his belt. David’s work includes 2020’s Sundance documentary darling “Some Kind of Heaven”, his feature film “Soni” which premiered at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival, and "Beast", which was in competition at the...

Meet Carl Hansen! Carl is a Director, Producer, and Disability Advocate and he lives in Los Angeles. He's an award-winning filmmaker and Emmy-winning producer who has been a Co-Executive Producer and Supervising Producer on such shows as the cultural phenomenon Shark Tank and the groundbreaking Boston Med. He's also an acclaimed timed-short filmmaker with his team, Cultural Detritus. Since 2005 th...

Meet Caroline Liem! Caroline is a Producer & Casting Director. She lives in Los Angeles and has worked as a Casting Director for over 20 years, Caroline has cast studio features, independent films, television series, and pilots for Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney Studios, Sony, Warner Bros. ABC, CBS, and NBC. She has also worked with many prominent producers and directors including La...

Meet Susan Littenberg! Susan is an accomplished editor who lives in Los Angeles. She’s been an editor on over 15 feature films including, Charlotte’s Web, Bride Wars, Easy A, 13 Going On 30, and And Everything Is Going Fine, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Susan was nominated for an ACE award for Easy A and she also edited the music doc The Ballad Of Ramblin’ Jack which won a grand jury prize at Su...

Meet Adria Dawn! Adria is a talented multi-hyphenate who shines both in front of and behind the camera. In front of the camera, Adria is most known for playing the dysfunctional outcast April Tuna on Ryan Murphy's first series, the high school cult hit, Popular. Behind the camera, Adria is an accomplished director, writer, and Producer, who is most known for her films about social change. She’s re...

Meet Leigh Medeiros! Leigh is a published author and screenwriter who’s been supporting creative people in various capacities for 30 years. Her book The 1-minute Writer is a fun handbook designed to help you flex your writing muscles and create your best work. And amazingly she’s recently co-produced a climate-related Pitchfest for TV and film with Young Entertainment Activists in L.A. and founded...

Meet Carolina Groppa! Carolina is a Producer and Podcaster. She’s worked as a freelance producer for over a decade across all platforms and in both narrative and documentary mediums. Carolina earned her first, of what I’m sure will be more to come, Emmy nomination in Producing for the documentary Autism in Love. Most recently, a narrative film she produced this past year – Honk for Jesus, Save You...

Meet Mike Medavoy! With a career spanning six decades and over 300 feature films, you can imagine my surprise when I got a response to a Twitter DM I sent out in a moment of boldness. Oscar-winning Producer, Mike Medavoy, agreed to be on Blissful Spinster. Being the kid that grew up wanting to find out who was MAKING the films I loved, I’ll admit, I was a mix of nervous and starstruck to meet Mike...

Meet Gina Fattore! Gina is a published author & seasoned TV Writer. Her first novel is the very funny Spinster Diaries, which you can find wherever you get your books. She also has a TEDx Talk about spinsterhood called Become What You Believe. Her TV credits include being the creator & showrunner of Dare Me, being a Consulting Producer on the STARZ limited series Gaslit, and a writer on Be...

Meet Jack Perez! Jack is an Independent Film Writer/Director. He’s a member of both the DGA & the WGA and has over a dozen feature films under his belt including the indie genre hit Some Guy Who Kills People, La Cucaracha, which won best feature at the Austin Film Festival, and The Big Empty which won Best New Writer at the AFI Film Fest. Jack also teaches and is the head of the directing trac...

Meet BD Gunnell! BD is my lead Creative Producer on Alone Girl. She’s got multiple producing credits in the independent film field and is a member of the P.G.A. You can check out her bio below. In this episode, you’ll hear how I met BD and was able to attract her interest in Alone Girl and how she ultimately signed on to be my lead producer. You’ll also hear about some of the ups and downs we’ve a...

Hi! My name is Cris Graves and welcome to Blissful Spinster, a podcast where I’ll explore my place in the world as a happy single woman in her 50s, and how that intersects with my journey as I hustle to get my first narrative feature film, ALONE GIRL off the ground as a writer/director. Links & Love If your ears like what they’re snacking on, follow, rate, and drop a review—it helps others fin...