Processing & Handling Rejection

The Business

New York

Processing & Handling Rejection

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Begins at 7:00 PM EST
Check-in begins at: 6:15 PM EST

Thursday, February 27, 2020



Shakespeare said, “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” The erratic and exhilarating road upon which performers travel can yield both avenues of abundance and alleyways paved with anxiety and agitation.
 
Join us for a discussion on processing and handling rejection. Topics will include understanding what happens to us physically and emotionally when we experience repeated rejection, separating setbacks from the self, balancing career disappointment with life challenges, strategies for gaining resiliency, and how to avoid undermining future opportunities.

Estimated program end time: 8:30 PM


PANELISTS

Ariel Estrada - Actor, Founder & Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab
Ariel Estrada is an actor, arts advocate, producer, and Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab, a creative studio for Asian American film and theatre artists. As an actor, singer, and puppeteer, Ariel has performed on television, film, commercials, industrials, new media, and Off, and Off-Off Broadway. As company leader of Leviathan Lab, he has produced acting and writing salons, cabarets, fundraising events, staged readings, showcase productions, and short films, and through his grant writing, has secured multi-year NYC grant awards and residencies in support of Leviathan’s work. As a freelance grant writer, Ariel has raised $130K in support of small, acclaimed, nonprofit, NYC-based performance groups including Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, National Asian Artists Project, BalletCollective, Choral Chameleon, and Empire City Men’s Chorus. As an arts advocate and administrator, Ariel has served the Asian American Arts Alliance as both the Interim Manager of Public Programs and the Manager of Communications & Community Engagement. He is also a longtime member of Actors’ Equity Association’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, as well as a member of 15% and Rising Coalition, which advocates for equity and inclusion for Asian Pacific Americans in the NYC budget. Ariel is a graduate of The Broadway League’s Commercial Theater Institute Emerging Producer Program, as well as a graduate of the MFA in Acting Program from the University of Washington. He was designated a 2019 Emerging Arts Leader by New York Foundation for the Arts, and a 2017 Fellow in Theatre Communications Group’s Rising Leaders of Color cohort. Ariel is also an accomplished Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000-level communications designer. He currently serves as the Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator for Actors’ Equity Association. www.arielestrada.com | www.leviathanlab.com | www.arielestradadesign.com

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya - Speaker, Educator, CEO & Founder, The Flourishing Center 
Emiliya is the CEO and founder of The Flourishing Center, a New York City based Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) that is dedicated to increasing the flourishing of individuals, organizations, and communities world wide. She is the creator of the acclaimed Certification in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) program which has been offered in 13 cities across the U.S., Canada and online worldwide and has trained over 1300 practitioners to date. She is the creator the Bounce Back BetterTM (B3) Program, Positive Psychology Coaching Certification, Flourishing Skills Group® (FSG®) Program, co-founder of the Positive Educator CertificationTM (PEC) Program, creator of the PERMA-V Model and the 5i Change Agent Model.  Emiliya holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Positive Psychology and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University. Emiliya holds an Master Certified Coach (MCC) credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), as well as over a dozen certifications in modalities ranging from coaching to yoga, Reiki, intenSati, Thai massage, biofeedback, motivational interviewing and more. Learn more about her work and take free online courses with Emiliya at www.TheFlourishingCenter.com.

Heidi Marshall - Coach, Director 
Heidi has straddled the worlds of Broadway and Film as both Director and Casting Director for the past 20+ years. She started her career as the lead casting director for the musical Rent at Telsey+CO, casting it on Broadway and for the National and International tours. At Telsey’s, she cast over 70 productions of theater, commercials, film, and TV. She has since left casting to direct narrative films.  When she received a Directing Fellowship by the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop For Women, Heidi’s true passion emerged and she started making her films. She’s worked with, and been mentored as a director, by film luminaries Baz Luhrmann and Frank Oz. Heidi’s recent film Muscle won over 30 awards and her upcoming feature, Amber, is in development. Heidi also owns her private acting on-camera studio in New York City and coaches actors privately for auditions, performance, and as actors develop original work. Her Alumni are seen on big and small screens around the world. Most recently, she prepped Halle Bailey for her auditions and screen test for Disney's upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid. www.HeidiMarshall.com

Lillian Gallina - LCSW, Social Work Supervisor, The Actors Fund
Lillian Gallina, LCSW is a licensed clinical social work supervisor at the Actors Fund, a national human services organization serving all professionals in arts and entertainment. She oversees the Entertainment Assistance program which provides emergency financial assistance and mental health services. In addition to her work with individuals, she has developed and facilitated a variety of support groups and trainings on such topics as Sexual Harassment, Workplace Dynamics, Anxiety and Depression, and Substance Abuse. Lillian is a certified financial social worker with a Masters of Social Work from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Science in Creative Arts Therapy from the New School. The Actors Fund Social Services & Financial Assistance

Melinda Hall - Moderator; Actor, Director
Melinda Hall is a director, actor and producer who lives in NYC. Her production company, Willful Pictures (@willfulpictures) produces the online web series (see it on YouTube): HOW SHAKESPEARE CHANGED MY LIFE starring Sir Ben Kingsley, Liev Schreiber, James Earl Jones, Earle Hyman, and Stacy Keach among others. She is directing an upcoming podcast for The Parsnip Ship of the play: An Eco Fable on March 30th and she recently directed her first short film in Italian called: Il Ritorno (The Return). She created & produces the Annual Shakespeare's Birthday Sonnet Slam that features 154 Readers performing all 154 Shakespearean Sonnets every April. (@sonnetslam) She is currently a scholar at the Wertheim Study, NYPL.  For the past 10 years, she’s been the Shakespeare Moderator for the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory. She coaches actors for film, video and theater auditions and teaches the Shakespeare class for Amateru Za, the Asian-American Theater Company in Tribeca.  She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and THE DRAMATIST GUILD. Melinda thanks Melissa Zakri Zareh & all the staff at the SAG-AFTRA FOUNDATION for developing this special panel with her.