#111: 100 Rejections Away: Momentum for Filmmakers and Creatives with Izzy Stevens

Booking a network TV series at 17 sounds like pure luck. But what happens after the early win?

In this episode, I sit down with Director, Actress, and Filmmaker Coach Izzy Stevens, who I have the pleasure of knowing and working with, for a candid, funny, and practical conversation about rejection, resilience, and the bold moves that build momentum.

We talk about what it really takes to keep going in a creative career, and why Izzy says she's more grateful for her challenges than her successes. I also share a little of my own story with beginner's luck, writing, and acting.

In this episode, we cover:

✨ Why she believes in failing and growing publicly

✨ What early success can't prepare you for, and why the long middle of a career is where so much of the growth happens

✨ The mind-body tools, including a surprising car-ride practice, she uses to rewire fear and doubt

✨ Why she's glad her feature, James on Rage, hasn't been made yet, and the bold moves that got it this far

Whether you're an actor waiting for the phone to ring, a filmmaker with a script you're ready to bring to life, or a creative wondering if you've missed your window, this episode is for you.

About Izzy Stevens

Izzy Stevens is an award-winning director, actor, and producer, and the founder of Indie Spunk, where she's helped 100s of filmmakers go from script-to-screen on career-breakthrough films. Her work on screen and behind the camera has been showcased on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and ABC, and at top festivals including Fantastic Fest, HollyShorts, Cannes (Diversity), and Tropfest. Izzy starred alongside Ken Jeong in the global sci-fi franchise Occupation and is known for her lead roles in the network TV shows Underbelly: Razor and Puberty Blues. She is currently developing her feature, James on Rage, with her producing partner, Beck Bennion. 

Resources we discussed in this episode

• Art Meets Market pitch quiz: https://form.typeform.com/to/CvJwhuPy 
• Indie Spunk on Instagram: @indiespunk
• Izzy Stevens on Instagram: @izzystevens 

Resources from The Embodied Way:

Get Your Embodiment Starter Kit here: https://theembodiedwaycoach.com/embodimentstarterkit/

Join the conversation: 

On Substack: https://theembodiedway.substack.com 

On the Podcast Blog: https://theembodiedwaycoach.com/2026/10/14/rejection-as-a-filmmaker-how-to-keep-going/

For show notes and helpful resources, visit https://theembodiedwaycoach.com/podcast.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theembodiedway/ 

Transcript

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Izzy 0:00

This mentality I have is very much like I'm a work in progress and I'm ready to learn, and I'm not, I'm okay with failing, but I'm not okay with not going. I'm not okay with not moving. And and I honestly, you can't humiliate me any more than I can humiliate myself. So if I don't achieve something and someone goes ha ha, I'm like, I don't even know who you are. That's fine. Like, I'm I'm I'm moving forward and I just want to continue to pursue it. I always live by this, and I feel like it just it's so important that we all live by this belief that like I'm a hundred rejections away from my success. Let's get them over with.

Natalie 0:34

This is the Embodied Way Podcast, where creative people come to reconnect with their sole purpose, identify and release their blocks, heal old wounds, and manifest the life they've always dreamed of. Hi, I'm Natalie Neckyfarow, and welcome back to the Embodied Way Podcast. On today's episode, I talked to my friend and mentor, Izzy Stevens, about her remarkable journey as a filmmaker and how she takes big risks and teaches others to fail often as a way of moving their career forward. Izzy is an award-winning director, actor, and producer, and the founder of IndieSpunk, where she's helped hundreds of filmmakers go from script to screen on career breakthrough films. Her work on screen and behind the camera has been showcased on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and ABC. And at top festivals including Fantastic Fest, Holly Shorts, Can Diversity, and Tropfest. Izzy starred alongside Ken Jeong in the global sci-fi franchise Occupation, and is known for her lead roles in the network TV shows Underbelly Razor and Puberty Blues. During this conversation, you'll learn why luck is only part of your success story. Why Izzy's glad her feature, James on Rage, hasn't been made yet. A special embodiment technique you can do in your car, and so much more. So let's dive in. Hi, Izzy. Welcome to the Embodied Way Podcast.

Izzy 1:55

Oh my gosh, this is so surreal. Thank you so much for having me, Natalie.

Natalie 1:59

Yeah, I'm really excited to have you on here. And for those of you who don't know, I've known Izzy for a while now. And I had the wonderful pleasure of working with her for a little over a year, first on my business and then on my film. And she's just such a wonderful person to know. Um, so I'm excited to introduce her to all of you.

Izzy 2:22

Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah, it was awesome working with you in my coaching business. And I feel like, you know, it's one of those things where I love to I like meet these incredible creative people in my programs, and then I'm like, okay, well, we have to work together. Like we make stuff together. So yeah, what an honor to have supported you and just see how much you have grown and all of the amazing things that you're doing.

Natalie 2:45

Thank you. Thank you so much. So obviously I know you, but a lot of the folks who are gonna be listening don't know you at all. So, do you want to tell us a little bit about your background, how you got started in film, and a little bit about what you're doing right now?

Izzy 3:02

Absolutely. Okay, so I am an Australian American. I live in Los Angeles now, but I grew up in Sydney, Australia. Um, and I just fell in love. I was a ballet dancer in the beginning, and then I just absolutely fell in love with acting. I went to a conservatory. I begged, like literally begged my parents to let me audition for a scholarship for this performing art school that we absolutely could not afford. And um ended up getting a scholarship to go there. And that's how I sort of just got my like I would say like cut my teeth on acting and creating and dance and um really just so fell in love with performing arts and actually was at a play when I was 17 years old, um, a school play, like a black box theatre play that, you know, had maybe 60 seats in it, and an agent happened to come to one of these plays, and um she asked me, you know, would you be open to being represented? And I was like, sure thing, like absolutely, you know, just was riding high on the, you know, the greenness of my awareness of the industry. Walked into an audition, first audition, oh actually, you know what? I think it was the second audition I'd ever done professionally, and I booked it and it was a series regular role on network television. And I was 17 and I was like, uh oh my beep legs sense of myself. But um it just really, I went from being a very um outgoing, charismatic, outspoken, kind of outrageous, rebellious teenager to being hardcore professional. I wanted to be quiet on set, I wanted to just see what was going on, understand the dynamics. I was fascinated by the actions that were happening behind the scenes, behind the screen. Um, and I was on that show for most of my 17, 18 years, I like turned 18 on that show. And um, and then went on to a few other series regular roles in network television before I started trying to kind of come out to America. And it was acting that was my gateway drug to, I like to call it my gateway drug to directing, which is really my love now. That's my passion and purpose, and that's the thing that I'm doing the most of. Acting is still fun and and like play for me, but directing for me is is number one. Um, and I just, I just really, you know, I think one of the things that I really relate to a lot of my clients on and people that find me tend to have this experience too. I really believed that I needed to figure it out all by myself. And I I wasted time in that headspace because I thought it was green of me if I looked like I needed help or asked for support. I had a beautiful network of creative professionals around me, but I did not know how to move from job to job and grow and leverage everything and grow with people. And um, that's what I help people do now. Really, you know, utilize their skills and their voice and their talent um to lead to the next and build and grow and make a name for themselves in the industry. And I absolutely love what I do as a film coach and also as a director. So I mean, I we could go into so many different avenues. So that's like the reader's digest version, I guess.

Natalie 6:15

No, that's great. I love that you shared all of that. I had no idea that you did ballet. Um, that was also like my sort of beginning. Um, so that's really cool to like find out new things about you. And I just want to say that it feels to me like you are the luckiest person I know. And I know some of that is perception, right? And some of that is reality, right? So, like, you know, second audition, booking a TV show, um, you know, literally having the agent be in the audience of a, you know, student play, more or less. That's pretty wild and very, very lucky. Um, but I also know that you work really hard and you and you really put in the time. So I don't know, what is the balance for you between luck and making your own opportunities?

Izzy 7:07

Do you know this is such a good question? I'm glad you brought this up because I think that's definitely so easily the perception. Um I think there was certainly some spiritual force happening in my life at that time that really told me you should pursue this. You're meant to do this, you're meant to be here. And I think we all have those to varying degrees in our lives where we're like, I felt this push, this purpose. But you know, statistically speaking, begin people who experience early success can actually have a really difficult time kind of moving through the middle sort of piece of their career. Because, and and that certainly was the case for me. I did have early success. But I would say, and I wouldn't change anything. Gosh, no, like it really gave me my viewpoint on the industry and how I can actually really support filmmakers now and give them sort of actually good advice. It's like I've been through these trenches, but I look at people who didn't have that experience, who worked really hard, worked really hard, and then achieved success. It actually, when you can, you need to develop the fortitude to be able to withstand the trials and tribulations of this industry. And it is, it would, it's very easy to be like, oh, it was so easy. Because what happened was I booked that so young that then I just went, oh, okay, well, this is easy, right? Like this is this is easy. I'm just gonna sit here and wait for the phone to ring because that's how it works, right? And I've made it. Literally be like, I think I've made it. Is this what it is to make it? Right. And then you sit there for years. Like I I had two series regular roles on two different network television shows, and then a period of like three or four years where I booked zero things. And I literally was like, oh, I suck, I've I've aged out, I don't look good. Like all basically all of the stories that you could possibly go through. I went through a deep depression, I thought my career is over. I thought, and I had to really build the skills that gave me the tools to be able to withstand constant freaking rejection that we deal with, right? Like when we're actually working this, we're pursuing this industry. My days, I I'm rejected every day of my career. And it doesn't touch me now because I went through that. So, yes, I'm so stoked that I have like I'm just so grateful that I had those early experiences and that they gave me the pathway to find my way to directing. And I don't think that it necessarily you can't say like that's better or worse necessarily than working hard, working hard, working hard and achieving a little bit later in your pursuit. Um I think we do make our own luck in so many ways as well. Like me knowing what I wanted from an early age. And I've always been the kind of person who's like, if I want it, I'm gonna figure out how to get it. And that's how, like, what you don't see of, oh, I booked that show is that I was the, you know, one of the creators of a program in high school. I was like bugging him every afternoon to help me with screen acting because that wasn't part of the pro that wasn't, it was all stage, and I wanted to understand how to act for screen. So you and you don't see me pitching to my loving but very divorced parents how to, you know, in the same room to how to please come together to put your heads together to figure out how to get me into this high school and keep me in this high school, and like me with a whiteboard literally pitching them, like this is how I'll get to school, and these, and I'm old enough now to take the train and I can do this, this like literally putting myself in those places, in those rooms, and deciding that this is what I was going to do, and like not really taking no for an answer. So I'm I that's always been who I am, but the the the high mixed with that deep low really taught me everything that I now help people with and clients with because oh god, I just I was it was you know, feeling like relevant, going from like being in Australia where people like, oh my gosh, you're Eileen, you're Eileen from that show, like let's take a photo, right? Being noticed on the street to people reps dropping me, to so many, so many different reps dropping me, people not replying to my emails, people being like, sorry, you're not the right look. We're looking for someone skinnier, like these things that come up that, right? And and it's it's that experience. It's not the beginner's luck, it's the moving through the challenge of not booking for three years, and then I booked something and I didn't book anything, and I booked it's just like you know, I've been in this industry for I don't know, I don't know how old am I 15 years, something like that. Yeah, and um and I'm just grateful for the I'm more grateful for the challenges than I am the successes, to be honest with you.

Natalie 12:39

That's really beautiful to share because not everyone gets the early successes, right? And I think that there's such a stress in our culture on like, you know, there are all of these lists, you know, the 30 under 30. And like, and so like there's all this like stress around like if you're going to make it, that you have to make it young. But on the flip side, what I love that's happening in our industry right now, and we just saw it, we're recording this the week of um the Emmys just happened, and there were so many fabulous women, uh over 50 who were whose work was recognized, and we're really seeing that in a way that um I don't think our industry has ever really seen before, which is just a really beautiful reminder that sometimes uh the success comes later, right? And so we can't listen to those noises, you know, that are coming from outside of ourselves or even inside our head because it's been so indoctrinated uh in our culture that say that if you haven't made it yet, you should just give up because it's never.

Izzy 13:48

Oh my gosh, totally. There's I just love like I'm addicted to stories about people achieving late and people kind of having their comeback moments. You know, we see it all the time now because we experienced Y2K, we experienced the, you know, early 2000s and who was really successful at that point. And then, you know, they kind of sometimes go away for a few years and then they come back, and it's like they're older, wiser, cooler, and they're making projects that are edgier. And I just think we the the best thing that we can possibly do for ourselves is stick the fuck around.

Natalie 14:22

Yeah. Yeah. I love that you brought up like the people who have come back, and um, it's not quite the same because Claire Daines has been working all along. But my favorite TV show when I was growing up was My So-Called Life. And I just I loved it so much. I felt so seen and so heard, and um, I it's probably leaks into everything I write as well, but but like, you know, that particular style just really spoke to me. But um, you know, just having um seen uh her in Beast, the Beast in Me.

Izzy 14:56

Oh, I loved the Beast in Me. And Matthew Rhys, are you kidding? Oh, they were I mean, it was that was such an amazing, brilliant show.

Natalie 15:03

And she's so real, she hasn't gotten any work done, and she's so compelling. Like, I I love that. Like, I think she's and I think that that's so true of a lot of people who are, you know, still working and they're getting to do these older, edgier, meatier roles, and it's so delicious.

Izzy 15:25

Oh, I completely agree. It is so fun, and I I couldn't agree more with like the realness of her, her face, her, the way that she is embodied in herself, her voice. It's so uniquely her and identifiable, and it's the thing that makes her so compelling in so many ways that people are trying to erase from themselves that are uh uh you know, pursuing a career as an act as actors, it's a lot a lot of the time they're like, yeah, oh, I have to fix this part about me, I have to look better that way, I shouldn't age that much. It's like, and and I went through that. Like I went through that um as I was talking about sort of the the sort of like middle part of my career where I was like, shit, nothing's happening. Sorry, I'm Australian and I cuss.

Natalie 16:08

That's okay, we're fine. Okay, great, okay. If you say any words that are offensive, I can totally like just flag this episode. But I don't think you've said anything that bad yet. So it's

Izzy 16:18

okay, great. Um, but yeah, I definitely went through that where I was like, okay, well, they're telling me I need to look a certain way, they're telling me I need to be a certain way, they're telling me I should do X, Y, and Z. And really listening to those voices that I remember literally an agent of mine sitting me down and being like, okay, so how do I tell you this? We need you to look more Hollywood. Like, what's that? What do you mean? And I'm like 19 years old, you know, and I'm it's just like the more that I rebecame myself, it was really a a a period of my life where I tried to follow exactly what they were telling me to do and look, then look look this way and do this, right? And then I be and then I kind of went, fuck it. Like if they're going to, you know, if if anyone wants me, they're want they're gonna want me. Like refining, and this is what I love about what you do with embodiment because I uh for me that really is about like refining the spirit, the drive, the audaciousness, the rebel inside of me that was the you know, 16 going on, 17-year-old girl before any of that stuff happened. She, you know, rock and roll, bleach blonde hair, yeah, sings, like, you know, really sneaking out, and I was a bit crazy and wild, and I definitely put my mom through it. But, you know, re- now, like really re finding that person, you know, definitely in the last like I would say like six years, re-finding that that rebel in me that's audacious and a little crazy and wild and and herself and like looks how I look, and and you know, just embracing that part of me. And I and to be honest with you, I have never had more momentum in my career, in my life, than when I tapped back into that person and I stopped listening to all the other bullshit. And I got into my body, I got into my soul, my voice, myself, and really cultivated that relationship with myself and cultivated a relationship with my with the people around me that helped me feel like my best self and that was also um and that that was uh reciprocal, right? We all felt that way with each other.

Natalie 18:35

Yes. Oh my God. So much of what you said was just so juicy. Um and I'm like, I don't even know where to begin, but when you started talking about your early success, I had got I got complete chills over my body when you were talking about how like spirit was really looking after you and guiding you. And I think about this beginner's look because I think we all get a version of it, right? I I feel like I had this when I started writing for the first time. It was like I wrote something and I was taking a class and I was very unattached to the results. I was, you know, literally taking a writing class because a coach that I was working with at the time said, you know, as an actor, you should create your own work, right? And then when I started writing, it was like people were so like loving it. And I was like, whoa, this is really easy. That's so strange. Like, what's wrong with me? You know, that's like way easier than we well, because acting had been so hard and I just felt like, you know, I loved act, I still love acting so much, but I've never felt like acting has loved me back the way the way that writing has in a way. Not that, but the writing hasn't, you know, stayed easy because you know this. It's like you write the first draft, that's the that's the easy-ish part, right? And then there are all the edits and making sure what you want to communicate um is actually on the page. And then, you know, whether, you know, and then there's the whole how are you gonna get it produced? Are you producing it yourself? And and so there's all of these steps. And so I just think it's just so beautiful talking about ultimately our power comes from being ourselves and not trying to be someone else. And that the work that we do to be ourselves and to surround ourselves with people who help us be ourselves is actually the most important work we can do.

Izzy 20:33

I could not agree more. Environment and the people in your environment, I truly believe are like the number one indicator of your success.

Natalie 20:42

Yeah. Yeah. All right. So let's talk about your like very big swing. I guess it doesn't feel like a really big swing anymore, but um, it's been like maybe a little over a year since you kind of announced that you were gonna make your feature, James on Rage, and uh started uh publicly talking about it while you were, you know, fundraising, looking for the money, um, putting together a team. Do you want to share with the audience a little bit about that journey?

Izzy 21:13

Oh my gosh, absolutely. Um, I also actually want to share something that you said. Um you said just before I dive into that, I've always loved acting, but I never felt like acting loved me back. And do you know what? I I have like because this is an embodiment um podcast, I have I have something that I do. This is kind of crazy. Okay, let's let's do it. Okay, so I've done this for the past couple of years. This is so weird. Anytime a love song comes on in the car, I sing it to the top of my lungs as if directing and the industry is singing to me.

Natalie 21:56

Ah! I love it!

Izzy 21:57

Okay, so this is I'm so and you know this, like I'm so obsessed with uh rewiring our brains. Yes, my brain, especially, right? And I teach this to my clients, like rewiring your subconscious brain to believe and see success everywhere. Believe and see that you're right on time, you're meant to be here, you're perfect for this, you're, you know, you're it's working, it's it's you're moving in the right direction, right? Even when things don't work, I still feel like I'm moving in the right direction because of this work that I'm doing all the time. time. And one of these like insane ways that I do it is literally, um, I can't even think of a love song right now, but um it's on like Mariah Carey. Yeah. Yeah.

Natalie 22:38

I will always I will always love you.

Izzy 22:40

I will always love you, right? And and I imagine that like some disembodied voice of the industry is singing to me about how much they can't, they love me. They just want me so bad. They're waiting for me. They're missing me. Like I just love it. And I get because we know like manifestation follows emotion in the body. And so if we're always feeling like negative or bad in our bodies about the thing that we love, that's going to create more of that feeling and more of that experience in life. So I love to create the feeling in my body of like, oh, you're obsessed with me. You love me so much. Like let's go.

Natalie 23:17

Yes. Oh my God. I love this so much. It's like giving me chills just thinking about it. And it's a really beautiful reflection because I think part of the thing about writing has been that like there wasn't as there wasn't the kind of baggage around writing that there was for me around acting because I came to it later and um and I and because it's something you mostly do in private until you share it, it doesn't, it's still vulnerable, but it's vulnerable in a different way. And so I think you know with all of the embodiment work I've done, you know, there's very little that triggers me in terms of my writing or my coaching, but the acting piece hasn't completely found its way out yet. So I'm like, okay, beautiful reflection. I know what's next, you know?

Izzy 24:02

Yes. Let me know what let me know next time you're in the car and you do it.

Natalie 24:05

And okay, I will you bet it you're gonna get a text from me. All right so so tell us about your James on rage story.

Izzy 24:13

Yes. So I started writing I really got to this point where I was I I have been making shorts right for the past uh oof 10 years. Yeah it's no eight years. Um and I knew I was ready to move into features. I had some work to do in so in sort of like reworking sort of the the behind the scenes of my business so it could actually support the the dreams of you know my filmmaking career. So at the same time I was writing I was sort of you know restructuring the back end of my business writing my script and then and and I did that through 2024. 2025 came and I started to I moved into development on that which meant that myself and my producing partner went through Beck Benion um we have a comp we have a production company together now launching this year which is really exciting and we have a slate of five different projects that we're working on. So there's a lot happening with with everything that we're doing but the real catalyst of all of that momentum was James on Rage. We went hard on the development front with with James. It's a psychological erotic thriller it's kind of crazy and wild and it's um it's about a fugitive cult survivor who is brought back to where it all began in the Joshua Tree Desert when the sister that she thought she killed 15 years ago resurfaces and invites her to a family wedding. And it is wild and fun and definitely not for everyone and definitely you know an obsession for some people right like it's it's gonna be an interesting experience. But I'm so excited to um to direct it and there's just so much of me in it and there's so much of I think yeah we could talk about all of that but you're asking me about okay so financing and development.

Natalie 26:02

Yeah and I just like just like I mean the bold steps that you made the things that really stood out for me is that you announced publicly that you are going to make this movie and I think you literally said I'm gonna do it in a year or maybe it was nine yeah like what part of the movie this it was very bold. Yes, which I love a bold move. Yeah and um and we you can talk about this a little bit too but I love a bold move because we don't always succeed at it exactly in the time and the place and the way that we want it to happen. But the bold moves moves us in the right direction and helps us find all of the other steps that we need to find. So I want you to talk about the decision to make the bold move and like how you started moving on that journey and how it's evolved.

Izzy 26:48

Okay so end of 2024 Beck calls me she's like let's have brunch right and Beck my producing partner she was a client of mine in Filmmaker breakthrough for years and we you know hit it off like I do with many of my clients and she you know we became great friends she was like let's have brunch and we sat there and she's like what are you working on right now I told her about the movie and she's like Izzy I want to produce this and I said great let's do it I love you let's go and so end of so beginning of 2026 sorry no 2025 happened. Yeah I called her yeah what is time I call uh I call her and I'm like I've got a crazy idea let's go to Sundance and she was like wait that's we really weird because I was just about to call you and say the same thing. So we both had this like brain meld moment where we were like let's go to Sundance and pitch the movie and just talk to people about it, test the waters, see how the pitch is landing. This is the same um mental that I would say that was a bold move and it's the same mentality that I came to from the space of I want to make this this year. And the reason that you this mentality I have is very much like I'm a work in progress and I'm ready to learn and I'm not I'm okay with failing but I'm not okay with not going. I'm not okay with not moving. And and I honestly you can't humiliate me any more than I can humiliate myself. So if I don't achieve something and someone goes ha ha I'm like I don't even I don't even know who you are. That's fine. Like I'm I'm I'm moving forward and I just want to continue to pursue it. I always live by this and I feel like it just it's so important that we all live by this belief that like I'm a hundred rejections away from my success. Let's get them over with. Let's go. Right? So a hundred failures I should say away from success. So we went to Sundance and we really just started testing the pitch. We did a lot of prep work before we got there to really figure out how we wanted to talk about it. And I we came out of that with collaborators that wanted to join in on the project people who wanted to introduce us way more connections than I had had before because just because I walked into a room and went oh yeah I'm here with a film and they went oh does Sundance take pitches and we were like no no we're just here pitching they're like okay well tell us more that's crazy and we would talk about the movie and really you know the pitch that we had at that time was very polarizing. And I saw that happen in people's faces. Like there's a very different experience from applying to a grant sending something digitally and literally standing in front of someone's face and talking about something and seeing their face change seeing the questions they ask or potentially sometimes the repulsion sometimes it's a very feminist film and not not everyone is a feminist.

Natalie 29:31

What?

Izzy 29:32

Like what? That's crazy. So that was great. We came back with a renewed sense of energy and a feeling of momentum we had people who had signed on to the project just from us talking about it and we kind of followed in those footsteps all year. We had financiers who were really excited about it. We brought on a lawyer we created the LLC we basically did so many steps to get the film up and running and including signed on executive producers, we signed on talent. So we had a lot of shifts that happened in 2025 and the film did not get made and I'm so glad that it didn't because I I've talked about this as well like every time and this is what I love about the WGA shared this on Instagram this week the script of Widows Bay and it said like I'm so glad that this didn't get made a second sooner it took 18 years. Yeah that's what I've been saying to my clients since they get because every single time I go okay what's gonna happen this year right like I was it started 2026 I went okay it's gonna happen this year. And I don't think it's gonna happen until at this point 2027 we've got so we've got like such a momentum building but I don't want this to be made too soon. Yes changes that have gone through the script the people that have attached the pe the things that are happening when you're looking at a feature film at this scale which is you know 1.5 to three million dollar like somewhere in there maybe it's less than that but that's kind of the budget that we're looking at for James on rage like one to three ish right so when you're looking at a film that at that scale you're going to need more cooks in the kitchen. It is a longer roadmap I know more about feature filmmaking than I've ever known before and I'm so glad that I just dove headfirst into the content to figure all of that out and it's how the the other feature that I'm directing next month is now happening because and not only that feature but the short that I just um finished it on post on it's gonna go into festivals next year called survival job. I've got another short that's gonna happen in November um and these projects right there none of this would have happened if we didn't just go full force in development on James on Rage and you know quote unquote fail at getting that made right because now it's like my network's never been so so full and and fabulous and wonderfully filled with and you know it's growing all the time because of the pursuit that we're make that we're going under going for that we're doing um and that's always what I tell my clients like don't be afraid that don't be afraid to fail don't be afraid to fail public like grow and grow publicly and I I had to get to a point where I was okay with that I've not always been that person I've always you know you know historically been like oh no I can only must only appear perfect. And now it's like fuck you know I don't it none of that matters. I just um I just want to connect with the right people and I just want to get I just want to make stuff I just want to make great work that's really my North star is being on set with people I want to work with making interesting stories and working. I just want to work. So yeah that's I guess that's in a nutshell we can there's so many you know pieces of that but many bold moves that we made like flying to Boston because there was a financier that was interested in James on rage and you know we were like it was like too they kept being delayed in getting back to us but every time they did it was ex it was like yes we're interested yes we're excited so we were like fuck it let's just get on a plane and get in front of them and actually have this conversation in real life and there were you know moments like that where it's like you know okay we're just gonna have to put that on the credit card and figure out how to do that because there's taking risks um one of the ways that I I literally we literally navigated this first year of development without any money before you know we had a couple investors join us this year was get and I'm not giving this is not advice this is not financial not do not follow this as financial advice but I'm not mad that we did this we after we formed the LLC we got a business credit card that had a 12 12 month zero APR and we went you know what I believe that we're going to get the money that to pay this credit card when we need to let's go let's just make smart moves with our financial decisions and also bold moves like book that flight do that thing have that meeting yeah you know woo and woo and dine this person right and guess what that's exactly what happened by the time that credit card needed to be paid we had our investors come on board we and so there are just I I I like to make risks calculated yes but um I just am not afraid to do that and I think that really does help in the the growth and momentum building of it all.

Natalie 34:23

Yeah yeah I mean that's really magical I'm I'm not the best I'm like I'm the kind of person that I have to manifest the money first yes totally and then invest and whenever I've not done it that way it really sucks.

Izzy 34:36

Yeah we all manifest differently I totally get that

Natalie 34:41

yeah so but uh but I love that that is how it works for you and knowing that that works for you means that you get to continue to make those kinds of calculated risks in the future which is really beautiful. Let's talk about how I don't know like I think we all experience like when you're when you're making a big bold decision there is that like internal struggle that we all go through sometimes we experience that as fear or self-doubt or the little voices in our head can you talk a little bit about what that's like for you and what you do to work through that

Izzy 35:18

yeah absolutely I would say my relationship with that has changed drastically because of hypnosis I do hypnosis and I do EFT tapping and movement. So I'm almost every day moving my body I love Pilates um but you know movement of choice insert here you know I think it doesn't matter what you do as long as you're getting the energy through your body which I know you preach so much and I love that. But for me hypnosis and EFT and journaling have been just game changing for me. EFT tapping which I'm I'm I'm assuming you know if people are listening to your podcast they might probably know about this but it's essentially where you like tap on the certain meridian points of your hand and your face and your head and it as you kind of speak out loud. And it's um it I this is what I I guide my clients through this I have a whole library of EFT videos now because it really does help you move through resistance. One of the most important things of course is like self-awareness enough to know oh look at that it's coming up again I have the fear I have the doubt I have the resistance I have the stuckness and I don't really want that anymore. I'm done with that I I'm refusing to let that be you know the way that I am and I think for all of the I like all of those things are wrapped up in identity who we believe we are who we have decided it you know that we are in in life who our identity what's for us and what's not for us and basically the belief system that we live by hypnosis and EFT really help change that. I used to be deathly afraid of posting you'll laugh at this on social media. You probably know this what? Yeah yeah I know right and like I share I help people do that now. Yes but you know it it was it was such a process for me and that's why I teach about visibility and I teach about the comfort of sharing yourself and showing yourself because I used to be so like sick about it. I remember when I first started my business trying to share about my pro my pro programs and things that I was doing and I remember would post and then I would go like puke in the toilet. Wow. Wow I felt so naked. I felt so you know exposed and building the fortitude and the mental resistance and the I would not even I would say like the calmness in my nervous system now. And because you see me on social media now it's like very I'm very active I share about my stuff I share about my processes I share about you know my programs on my IndieSpunk page and like what I'm directing on Izzy Stevens like I'm talking about those things all the time and I am so grateful that I went through the processes of like rewiring my brain doing EFT tapping and by the way if you know if you're not in my program with my library stuff like go look on YouTube um EFT tapping who's the guy that's really great oh my gosh I've forgotten his name now but you could basically there's a lot of good people out there. Yes there really are um there's one guy that I use he he's been doing it since like I think 2012 or something on YouTube. So that some of his videos look really uh retro but that and like yeah deep hypnosis to just change the belief systems that are going on in your brain I think those the I what I love about EFT is that it is um the mind-body connection so the tapping is really about like relaxing your nervous system and us women you know our cycles we will have more anxiety you know for me anyway like I get more anxiety towards my period than you know other times and so it's something that it's like that's a great tool for me to be able to lean on when I have big we have like a big pitch with a like I remember I had a pitch this is how um I don't know where this popped into my head but I'm gonna share it I had uh skin cancer last year and minor and like you know not life threatening but I found out that I had skin cancer on a phone call with my doctor a minute before I had to hop into a pitch with a production company that like we all know. Wow wow I had no idea you never you have shared that before so yeah yeah I I and and I don't really share I haven't shared it but you know obviously this is a very comfortable space. Right, right um but yeah I it was and it was fine I'm totally fine and like you know many people in my family have dealt with this as well so it was one of those things that I am Australian and you know the Australian son is she'd be strong down there. So I found out and I went into this pitch meeting a minute later and it was like I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't really know how to settle and calm my nervous system and just get into my zone of genius and my or I should say like my zone of self. Right. Right. And that really has been helped with EFT and hypnosis. Yeah.

Natalie 40:31

Yeah that's great. Thanks for sharing that yeah I don't uh EFT was one of the first tools that I found but long before I started using the word embodiment I I do I haven't used it with my clients a lot I use it from time to time but but what I like about it is you know um especially if you're an empath I don't know if you are but um I'm a I'm a human design generator too for and my um solar plexus is undefined. And so that I take on other people's emotions and I can't always feel my own. And what I find is that when I tap all those emotions that are my own that I haven't necessarily been able to feel or become aware of they they come to the surface. And so then I become aware and when we do anything like movement based or with the body um it it actually it unlocks it unlocks stuck stress and emotions that have been stored in our body but because it unlocks that it also unlocks the memories and thoughts that are associated with them. And so it actually gives us information and ideas about how to unblock ourselves which is just amazing. And so you know so if you've ever like gone for a walk and you like suddenly feel very creative and inspired you get all these new ideas it's because we you know you were talking about doing Pilates but it's like literally by physically moving our body we're moving our energy energy.

Izzy 41:53

Yeah yeah moving it through your body absolutely yeah yeah so good.

Natalie 41:58

Well why don't you tell people a little bit more about what it is that you do um in your business IndieSpunk to support filmmakers.

Izzy 42:09

Oh I I would love to so I have a signature program called Filmmaker Breakthrough and that's where I help my clients with the practicals of going from script to screen with a a project that will elevate their career while we also are doing the subconscious reprogramming and the mindset work to kind of put you in that confidence space, put you in with your best foot forward feeling and moving like a successful person, which in turn feeds into the leverage of their brilliant project that we're working on their script, we're talking about funding, we're getting them through you know the funding development and then into production and um through festivals. And it's just been it has the most incredible success. I love seeing how people move through that program. So that's really my signature mentorship. It's at least you know usually it's a year but people tend to say like I've been I've got clients in there that have been there for like three, four years because they just keep leveling up and moving through and and it's just such an awesome environment because everyone's so supportive. Yeah yeah I you know this like there's no community better. I mean it's just so supportive and everyone's making and helping each other and really cheering each other on and everyone's succeeding and that's it's just so fun to see that.

Natalie 43:23

Yeah.

Izzy 43:23

So that's my that's my favorite space. And then you know I run other things I'm about to I think by the time we do this the workshop will be recorded but um it will be available I help people pitch we're doing a pitch workshop coming up it's like funding and pitching which is really exciting called Art Meets Market. And I have a little quiz actually for Art Meets Market which is really fun for people to go through so I can share that with your with you as well if you want to share that with your peeps. Yes that'd be great. But yeah that's kind of where what I'm doing in Indie Spunk. And then of course I'm just constantly sharing free helpful advice hopefully on on the Instagram page. So if you want to come find me and just have a little peek and check it out go to Indie Spunk that's my I N D I E S P U N K. That's my Instagram there. And then all my directing work and acting stuff is going on over at Izzy Stevens and yeah it's kind of all yeah it's that's everything I guess.

Natalie 44:16

Yeah no I mean that's amazing and I send people to you all the time um thank you. One of the things that I've been doing uh since I'm new to Los Angeles I've been here for less than a couple years is that I, you know, if someone invites me to something, I always say yes. And I have been trying to go to a lot of a lot more um, you know, filmmaker groups and meetups and whatever. And whenever I meet somebody and they're like, oh, I I have this feature script and I'd like to have it made. And I'm like, oh, you need to know my friend Izzy. And uh, so I'm always sending people.

Izzy 44:48

Oh, that's so kind of you. Thank you.

Natalie 44:50

Yeah, and I'm excited to be able to share this interview with them as well.

Izzy 44:54

Me too. I've this has been so absolutely fun. Thank you. What a beautiful way to spend my Friday morning.

Natalie 45:01

You're so welcome. Before we wrap up, I want to ask you my three quick fire questions that I ask everyone who comes on the podcast, and I love hearing people's answers. So this is for me as much as it is for the audience. Sorry. So, what does embodiment mean to you?

Izzy 45:19

Oh, feeling feeling secure in your mind, body, spirit, and whole without needing any external validation.

Natalie 45:29

So good. All right. What's one daily practice that's currently supporting you in this season of your life?

Izzy 45:38

Good sleep. Oh my god, so my favorite. Every time I get into bed, I'm like, I love bed.

Natalie 45:47

I woke up this morning and I was like, I love my bed. It's the thing.

Izzy 45:53

It's so sacred. And as I've been traveling a bit lately, like I was just in Australia, and you know, it's I love traveling. I love, you know, but when you get home and you get into your own bed, it's like, oh my gosh, this is amazing.

Natalie 46:06

Yeah, yeah. When I went through my divorce, that was like the thing. I was like, I am spending money on my bed. I want to be like a queen and

Izzy 46:17

sleep hygiene. I went through a really nerdy sleep hygiene phase.

Natalie 46:25

All right, last question. What's one thing that's inspiring you right now?

Izzy 46:31

Oh my gosh. Um, this is so corny, and this is kind of always inspiring me, but the feeling of fresh air on my face. It's my favorite feeling. Isn't that weird? Like, I love to stand outside and just feel the air on my skin, and it's just so good. It's just like I'm alive.

Natalie 46:57

Yeah, no, I agree with you. It's really nice, and the weather has been really nice in LA this week. I love when it changes.

Izzy 47:05

I love the um the feeling of early autumn. Yeah, yeah, totally, so true.

Natalie 47:12

Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's a joy fun. I'm so grateful to hang out with you for this time and can't wait to share this with the audience, my audience.

Izzy 47:23

Oh, what an absolute joy, Natalie. You're gorgeous. What a fantastic interview, and just like so excited for you to be doing this and sharing this with the world. I remember you talking about it last year. And right, and like look at you go and look at what you're what you're building and what you've built. I'm so just in awe of you, proud of you, excited for you, and I'm always here cheerleading you. So thanks for having me.

Natalie 47:46

Yeah, thank you so much, Izzy.

Izzy 47:48

Pleasure.

Natalie 47:50

Thank you so much for joining us for today's episode of The Embodied Way Podcast. Be sure to join us next week for an interview with Erika Shannon, a certified menopause specialist who helps women rewrite the story of menopause, from something to survive to the best chapter of their lives. If you're a woman in your mid 30s to 60s, you aren't going to want to miss this candid conversation. Hit subscribe to be the first to know when new episodes drop each week. Until next Friday, have a restful weekend.