what's up

Nana, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I was married for 22 years. During that time, I achieved financial success, a feat no one in my family had accomplished before. My life appeared perfect with a handsome husband, two gorgeous daughters, a large house, and a fancy lifestyle. However, I spent most of those years trying to understand why I wasn’t happy, and I knew he wasn’t either.

Mourning a matriarch is hard enough without her head sitting on the kitchen table talking to you every day. This peculiar situation is a reality for Robert, a wannabe playwright stuck in the family business after the untimely decapitation of his mother. As Robert and his father go at each other's throats, Mama plots the best way to reunite with the rest of her body.

indieactivity: When did you decide to study acting or something like that?
Nana: I think I decided to be an artist, not necessarily an actor very young. Since I was 9 years old I knew I loved to perform, mainly dance and sing. I started dancing flamenco at 9 years old, later I learned music, played some guitar and keyboards, and cuatro – a Venezuelan 4 string instrument-. I also did gymnastics, which I loved too. But I decided to formally purse acting about 10 years ago after resigning to the business world and after attending a basic acting weekend workshop just to relax and have some fun. Those classes sent me right back to my teenage years of art and joy. I also came to the US to do some acting workshops in New York and LA. I studied in LA at Carolyne Barry Entertainment with teachers like Joshua Bitton, Anil Kumar, and Donovan Scott. In New York I studied with the brilliant Susan Batson, personal acting coach to Juliette Binoche, Nicole Kidman and many others. After the work I did in Venezuela as an actress, I decided to come to New York 5 years ago to study acting at Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Today my acting coach is the writer, director, actor, singer and producer Marishka S. Phillips.

Nana Ponceleon is an extremely gifted actress who is constantly taking on challenging roles and reinventing herself to prove how serious she takes her craft. We recently caught up with her again, where we discussed some of her favorite projects over the past few years -and what she has coming up. Here is what she had to say:
Hi Nana, it’s great catching up with you again. Since we last spoke, what have you been up to?
Wow! So many things have been going on since we last met. I will try to be brief. I have worked on 19 additional projects, not including theater or commercials over the past couple of years. Shows like The Perfect Murder where I have been a principal role in 3 different episodes -and I have also had lead roles in feature and short films as well. I have been a principal actress in many commercials for brand names like Johnson & Johnson’s Zyrtec, Glamour Magazine, Clairol, Michelob, Safe Auto, NY City Government, and many others.

The Act Feminine Project is her brainchild, which she created because she is passionate about the human spirit. The vision is to create a movement where women and men collaborate, cooperate, and co-create their shared world together. With her personal experience and research as the foundation, she teaches how to manage the feminine and masculine energy in order to live a better life.

According to Nana, both men and women have feminine and masculine energy; and they should use both energies in equal proportion in order to lower their stress, create better relationships, and live more fulfilled lives. She says the feminine energy is about connection, vulnerability, love, giving and receiving, wisdom, being open; in short, it is about living life as an experience. On the other hand, masculine energy is about conquering, hunting, solving problems, and achieving goals; in short, it is about living life from a results-oriented perspective. She explains this in greater detail in her ebook, where she also mentions that one energy is neither superior nor inferior to the other and that they are both needed for both men and women.

Brugger, along with cast and crew, filmed in various places throughout the area last week, including Time Out Bar in Albion, Beaver Valley Road and Andrew Texley’s Farm.
Brugger said they also filmed on a road outside of her parent’s home and also at her grandparents’ farm.
“Road Kill” is about a road kill removal worker named Tillie who finds a friend in a woman named Wanda who found herself stranded on the side of the road after hitting a pheasant.
Tillie is played by Gamze Ceylan and Wanda is portrayed by Nana Ponceleon.
“I really relate to the character Tillie and feel like I’ve been surrounded by Wandas ,” Brugger said. “This is kind of a thank you to all of the ‘Wandas’ in my life.”

WHY DO YOU DIG HORROR?
Horror is a very difficult genre in every possible way. It is hard to write, to direct, to perform, to edit, etc., in order for it to be good and this makes it very exciting and challenging.
It has a fantastic fan base community of people who understand it and enjoy it which is very gratifying.

THE INSANE ROOT
an excerpt of a story of perpetual war, loosely structured around Macbeth
Written by Julia Holleman
Directed by Elena Zucker

She had the ideal and perfect life everyone dreams of. As a graduate of a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Science in New York City’s Pace University, she was mostly employed in sales. Eleven years of her corporate career were dedicated to Microsoft Venezuela, wherein she worked in corporate sales, mid-market, OEM, loyalty, and distribution channels among other departments.

When she mustered the courage to make a significant career change and live out her passion, she left Microsoft and ventured into freelance sales consulting. While engaging business clients, she would reserve time on the weekend to attend regular acting classes of a renowned actor, director, and teacher in Venezuela.

She later decided to come to New York and study acting at Stella Adler Studio of Acting and graduated with flying colors, doing better today as a working actress than many of her younger counterparts. Since then, she has performed in a principal role in different episodes of the well known Investigation Discovery show The Perfect Murder. She was hired by Columbia University to act in four episodes as a therapist who was helping grieving parents to cope with losing a child. Given the positive comments on her job, Columbia University hired her again to film eight more episodes.

According to Nana, both men and women have feminine and masculine energy; and they should use both energies in equal proportion in order to lower their stress, create better relationships, and live more fulfilled lives. She says the feminine energy is about connection, vulnerability, love, giving and receiving, wisdom, being open; in short, it is about living life as an experience. On the other hand, masculine energy is about conquering, hunting, solving problems, and achieving goals; in short, it is about living life from a results-oriented perspective. She explains this in greater detail in her ebook, where she also mentions that one energy is neither superior nor inferior to the other and that they are both needed for both men and women.