Episode 16: Brazilian Actress & Producer Ana Moioli's Journey to Making Film & Theater in New York City
On this episode of The Hollywood Dream Podcast, we dive into the incredible journey of Brazilian actress and producer Ana Moioli as she navigates the world of film and theater in New York City. We explore Ana's involvement in various films, Throughout the episode, Ana opens up about her own experiences as an immigrant in New York City, attending NYU and starting her career as both an actress and a producer.
She reflects on the challenges she faced, cultural shock, and the opportunities she found through collaborations and learning from teachers and experiences at NYU. Ana also discusses her involvement in a full-length play as a producer and lead actress, sharing the journey from stage readings at the Brazilian Consulate to performing at Columbia University and the Jack Theater in Brooklyn. She further discusses the importance of diverse backgrounds in the projects she works on, as she collaborates with a group of international women from different countries who incorporate their cultures and experiences as immigrants.
The episode also delves into the founding of Ana's theater company, Et Alia Theater where she discusses the challenges and joys of running a theater company. Throughout the discussion, Ana reflects on the importance of trusting herself, embracing challenges, and creating her own path. She also acknowledges the importance of personal growth and the value of leaving one's country, even if one ultimately decides to return home.
Join us on this episode of The Hollywood Dream as we explore Ana Moioli's inspirational journey to making film and theater in the vibrant city of New York.
Subtitles are available in Spanish and Portuguese.
Follow Ana on IG @anamoioli
Ana's Theater company https://www.etaliatheater.com/
Transcript
Please note: This transcript is auto-generated, so there may be spelling and grammar mistakes
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Hollywood Dream Podcast. The podcast where we talk to film and TV professionals, the people that are making movies in New York City and all around the world. And today, I'm here with Ana Moioli.
Ana Moioli [00:00:30]:
Yes, Moioli. Great.
Johanny [00:00:32]:
Anna is an actor. She's a producer. She is the co founding and artistic director of the Italia Theater Company here in New York City. A theater company that was created by international women. Anna being one of them. We met at a film festival last year.
Ana Moioli [00:00:52]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:00:52]:
She had a short film that won Best Outstanding Drama, which she co produced in co direct.
Ana Moioli [00:01:01]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:01:01]:
And then she joined us as part of the screening committee.
Ana Moioli [00:01:05]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:01:06]:
How was that experience?
Ana Moioli [00:01:07]:
That was fun. I got to watch so many different movies. Yeah, it was really nice.
Johanny [00:01:11]:
How did it feel being on the other side of things?
Ana Moioli [00:01:14]:
I learned so much. Yeah, I really learned because I feel like there's so much freedom for short films. There's so many different possibilities of structure and stuff. And sometimes because in our lives, we get to watch a lot more features than we watch short films unless we're going to film festivals just because when we go to the movies, it's rare for there to be screenings of short films. So, yeah, I feel like I got exposed to so many different possibilities. And I've also been attending so many film festivals, so I'm like now I feel like I go to one and I recognize so many of them because it's a small world. It is.
Johanny [00:01:59]:
And it's so interesting to see what people can do with the amount of money that they have, whatever resources, how good something can come up, and how so good.
Ana Moioli [00:02:10]:
Exactly. And having the experience of being an independent filmmaker, I really understand what is a good use of a budget and what is a use that could have been better. You have a lot of money, and you do something that you could have done with smaller amount of money.
Johanny [00:02:30]:
Exactly. And you were there this year, too. You had another short film, which you produced.
Ana Moioli [00:02:36]:
Well, you mean out of Brooklyn?
Johanny [00:02:38]:
Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:02:38]:
Well, I'm friends with Ryan Cairns, co directed with me Till Morning, which is a film that I had in the festival last year. And then this year, I was not actually officially involved, even though I was very much part of the process. But they had a short film directed by Ryan and written and performed by Cornelius Boater, who is a great friend of mine. They had a film called Fog around August.
Johanny [00:03:11]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:03:11]:
And yeah.
Johanny [00:03:14]:
You watched it, too.
Ana Moioli [00:03:15]:
I did watch it, too, yes. Highly recommend it.
Johanny [00:03:19]:
Are you working on anything now? I remember last when we first met at the party, you mentioned that you were working on an LGBTQ story.
Ana Moioli [00:03:30]:
Well, was it till morning? Maybe. Because Till Morning is LGBTQ. I'm not sure which one you were referring.
Johanny [00:03:38]:
I don't know.
Ana Moioli [00:03:39]:
I do have a short film that I co directed, again with Ryan. He is my official co director. You're right. Hard to co direct, but you have to find the good people anyway. But we co directed another one called it's called Robert.
Johanny [00:03:57]:
Robert?
Ana Moioli [00:03:58]:
No, it's called Robert. That is oh, that's nice. Yeah, I know. It's confusing.
Johanny [00:04:04]:
What is it about?
Ana Moioli [00:04:05]:
Well, is more of an experience, more than a story.
Johanny [00:04:11]:
And this is a short film.
Ana Moioli [00:04:12]:
It is a short film. So that is the proof that you can do so much there's so much freedom in what you can do with a short film. It's a very David Lynchian movie. I will say that's like the best it can give you. So it's about this character named Nelly Robert. Guess who performed in it? Cornelius Boater.
Johanny [00:04:41]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:04:41]:
And we call him Nelly. And he goes on very internal adventure and he is performing with a cat. We have a cat in the film.
Johanny [00:04:57]:
How is it working with a cat?
Ana Moioli [00:05:01]:
It's a very sweet cat. Her name is Suka. She plays the role of old lady. Well, we have to give ourselves time and shoot a lot so that we can go to the editing room and pick and choose what worked, because most of it didn't. But we were fortunate enough to get some really good moments that we were able to use. She was a star.
Johanny [00:05:31]:
Was she like an acting cat or is just somebody's cat?
Ana Moioli [00:05:34]:
Ryan's cat. Just Ryan's cat.
Johanny [00:05:39]:
I remember a while ago, a long time ago, I had a web series and one of the episodes included a cat. The guy was like walking a cat. And I posted an ad on Craigslist and this girl was like, oh, my cat is an outdoor cat. So I give her $100 to come and this cat wouldn't move.
Ana Moioli [00:05:59]:
Oh my God.
Johanny [00:06:02]:
He was not a good cat.
Ana Moioli [00:06:04]:
There are good cats and not as good cats. I know Suka is a good one.
Johanny [00:06:08]:
You are pretty big in collaborations. You collaborated with your director, Italia. What do you think is the secret to a successful collaboration? Collaborating partner? Because I've had bad experiences.
Ana Moioli [00:06:24]:
Yeah, well, I've also had bad experiences. But I am very fortunate that I have a very good community of artists, both for film and for theater. Yeah, I really work with my best friends. We have this family of friends that we're also collaborators. And I think with my theater company, we've learned so much about collaborating. And I think the fact that we're all international women really bonded us. And there are just many different layers of how much we relate to each other. And we share the same ambitions, the same goals, and we have a lot of discipline and a lot of passion. But we also create a very caring environment. Every meeting that we have, we start with personal check ins. So we start sharing a little bit of our week in our personal lives. And sometimes that goes like over an hour. We try to avoid that because our meetings can last for 3 hours or longer. So sometimes we're like only 15 minutes of check ins. But anyway, we have this relationship of both professional and personal connection, which sometimes I need to find a balance. Sometimes we are working when we're hanging out and we're hanging out when we're working, and we always need to be like, reminding ourselves what we here for. But yeah, I think it's really because we have such a strong personal connection. I think we have an artistic connection as well. And then it's a matter of matching how we work. Right? But yes, I co directed with Ryan twice, which is I feel like many directors are not interested in co directing, but we learned so much from each other and I think we come from different backgrounds, so we definitely complimented each other in different ways. So Ryan took care of he was more responsible for some aspects and I was more responsible for other aspects, but we were always in conversation. And I think we both we have a match, an artistic match, and I think we listen to each other very well. And I think we're not too proud, not too precious, because I think that's the problem. When there is a disagreement, you really have to compromise. And yeah, being comfortable with compromising, I think it's essential.
Johanny [00:09:19]:
How did the Italia Theater Company come to me?
Ana Moioli [00:09:24]:
Well, we co founded it in 2019. It was me, Maria Mueller and Georgia Valenti. Maria is from Romania, George is from Italy. We all met at NYU. We were all studying acting there. And it was Maria's original idea. She had just graduated and she wanted to put up a play. And I had already worked in a school production together and she was good friends with Georgia. I was also very good friends with Georgia, and we decided to put up a play together. We didn't know what it was, but we're like, we should be making our own work. We cannot be just waiting for opportunities to arise. And we really connected with each other. We were great friends. So I was actually already producing a play that I wrote. It was called for the time being. And so I was already in the experience of producing my own work. And then we were trying to choose a play that we wanted to produce together and we realized, why don't we go even further? We could just make this a regular thing and we can all dedicate ourselves to making it a part of our lives and keep going. We did not know anything about running a theater company back then. But what we what is the process.
Johanny [00:11:11]:
To starting a theater company?
Ana Moioli [00:11:13]:
Well, I mean, there is the legal process, which is not as complicated. You just get an accountant might need a lawyer, but we just had an accountant, and we opened it legally. And then we just figured it out as it went. We had to do so much research, but we were all so committed to it and that we slowly started figuring things out, and we grew with time. We started with the show, and then we created a website. We produced the show, which is a lot of work in itself. But in terms of the company, we started building our name. We started marketing ourselves as a company, and then we started fundraising. We did a big fundraiser to start it. And then with time, we learned about applying for grants.
Johanny [00:12:20]:
Do you guys have a space where.
Ana Moioli [00:12:21]:
You we've been performing in different venues for each project. So we fundraise four projects. We either get an opportunity with a venue, or we get a deal with a venue, or we rent with grant money or donations.
Johanny [00:12:44]:
Do you guys just do work that you create or do you outsource?
Ana Moioli [00:12:49]:
And we have different systems. We've done two devised shows that we created together, original work that we collectively devised in the rehearsal room. The first one was this is Me Eating, and the last one was Stellicum Home, which we did last year. But the first play that we ever did was Running in Place, which was a straight play by a playwright from India. And it was a new play. It had been produced in India, but not in the US. And then we did On How to Be a Monster, which was written by Maria in our company. So we've done new plays, but there are straight plays. And then we recently, earlier this year, we did a lab, the first Italia Lab, which was for playwrights. So we opened for submissions, and we chose three plays that went through this whose playwrights went through a program of developing, like, workshopping the play. And we had workshop leaders, and they did rewrites, and we had actors to help them to act out the scenes and stuff. And then we selected one play, which is Until Dark by Federica Borlingi, who is also a great friend and collaborator of ours. And we are going to produce it. So that's our next project. Okay, so Federica is external, even though she is great collaborator of ours that we've worked with in the past.
Johanny [00:14:42]:
And aside from the paperwork stuff and the legal stuff, what has been the most challenging for you guys? Or just maybe for you as an artist, artistic director?
Ana Moioli [00:14:52]:
Well, there's so many. Yeah. Well, I think fundraising is a constant work. We're always looking for opportunities to raise funds for our projects. And marketing is also a consistent task that we have to keep pushing and getting audience. But, yeah, we've grown a lot. It's just like it's just consistent. We always have to be working on those things and yeah, like expanding our audience and raising money. So that we can pay people as much as we can and make this a consistent thing that we can just keep going, keep growing. Yeah. I mean, making theater, independent theater, is just as hard as making film, especially.
Johanny [00:15:57]:
Like, in New York, because spaces here are so expensive.
Ana Moioli [00:16:00]:
For sure.
Johanny [00:16:01]:
When I first was working on the festival that I was telling you that I was going to do, I was looking into space, and I found this one theater at 110th street, and it was like, $5,000, and that was the cheapest one. And then the pandemic happened, and all my dreams came crashing down. Yeah, space here is so expensive.
Ana Moioli [00:16:25]:
It is really expensive. And for theater, you also have to rehearse. Right? Like, rehearsal space is also expensive. Yeah, it's hard.
Johanny [00:16:37]:
You're uptown?
Ana Moioli [00:16:38]:
I'm actually in Brooklyn. I'm in yeah, I was working uptown. I was telling you recording, but yeah, I live in Brooklyn.
Johanny [00:16:45]:
There's a new space uptown that's, like, super cheap for rehearsal. I don't know if you want to go uptown to rehearse, but it's like $10 an hour.
Ana Moioli [00:16:53]:
Wherever it's affordable.
Johanny [00:16:55]:
Yeah. I'll give you the info after.
Ana Moioli [00:16:57]:
Thank you. We also know about some deals, but they're always helpful. It sucks to use most of the budget for renting space. We want to be paying the people. Exactly.
Johanny [00:17:14]:
Looking ahead, what is your goal for the theater company?
Ana Moioli [00:17:19]:
Our goal for the theater company? Well, I will say the main things that we are well, I think it's to be able to be less worried about the administrative parts, make it more of a thing that works by itself and be more focused on the artistic side, because that's the thing. We wear so many hats, and it's a struggle to be so worried about the production and the administrative side and still be the actress, sometimes director, and anyway the artistic leader of projects. So ideally, we would have a system that with external people who could.
Johanny [00:18:14]:
Take.
Ana Moioli [00:18:14]:
Over some of the tasks that we give ourselves, and we could be focused more on the artistic side.
Johanny [00:18:20]:
And you also perform as part of the theater company?
Ana Moioli [00:18:24]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:18:25]:
Okay, so you do a lot.
Ana Moioli [00:18:26]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:18:28]:
What has been some of the memorable moments for the company?
Ana Moioli [00:18:31]:
So many. I feel like every project we make is like there's not been a single project that we were not very proud of. Even though it is a struggle, I think there's no other way I want to live my life than making art with my close people, making art with the people that I love, because we really share our trajectories in the world. We share so many experiences, and we are reflecting on our experiences together, and then as we are together, we're like, let's make a project out of this. And I think that's the most beautiful way of living life. I feel like, really, art that comes from love, art that comes from people who feel comfortable with each other and can be vulnerable together. That is what I believe in. Yeah. I feel like especially the projects that we devised together, they're the ones that end up becoming biggest in my heart. Just because it's our baby.
Johanny [00:19:50]:
Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:19:51]:
I mean, I'm very excited about producing Federica's play now. It's such a wonderful play. And every other project that we did. I also just did another show that I started as kind of external from my company, but I turned it into officially part of my company later in the process. It was called Saldajis, directed by my best friend Marina Zurita. And it's a Brazilian Portuguese word. I mean, it's actually a Portuguese word. It's just a Brazilian theme to play, but Portuguese anyway, that is untranslatable.
Johanny [00:20:36]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:20:37]:
And it means the love that remains after someone or something is gone.
Johanny [00:20:45]:
Is this a full play or?
Ana Moioli [00:20:47]:
It's a full length play. A new play by Fidden the Segao, who is also a friend of mine, a Brazilian playwright. And I produced it, but I was also the lead actress at this play. This show, we had several different iterations for it. We started with stage reading at the Brazilian Consulate, which was great. They supported our project, no pictures of that on Instagram. And then we were part of a work in progress festival called Rough Draft Festival. And then we did it at Columbia University because Fernando is getting his master's there. So it was his thesis project. And then we brought it to Jack, the theater in Brooklyn. It was like a great process. We got support from many different organizations and grants and we had a great team. So it was very rewarding. It was also hard to be both an actress and a producer in it. And ideally, as I said, I will just be involved in the artistic side.
Johanny [00:22:02]:
But I know producing is a lot of work.
Ana Moioli [00:22:05]:
It is, but it's like it's I mean, I have a love and hate relationship with producing, I guess, because it's like I don't think I'm ever going to stop producing because I want to make things happen. As I said, I want to live my life looking for experiences and thoughts and feelings and moments that I want to turn into a project. And who's gonna turn it into a project if not myself? So that's the mindset I want to keep. But hopefully we can get as much help as possible so that it's like a sustainable process. Yeah.
Johanny [00:22:48]:
So if anyone out there has money, send it to Italia Theater, please.
Ana Moioli [00:22:52]:
Yes, I'll put all of the links for you to send us.
Johanny [00:22:57]:
So what does Italia mean?
Ana Moioli [00:22:59]:
It means and other in Latin, because we are the other, the international women from different countries. But we're always trying to use, if not directly, our cultures, our cultural references or our experiences as immigrants. We're always trying to bring that as a lenses to talk about the things that our projects talk about. Like, for example, our next show, Until Dark is not about being an immigrant at all. Actually, all the characters are American in the script, but we still really believe that we are the right people to make this project because it talks about such delicate womanhood themes and issues, dilemmas and I think the fact that we come from different backgrounds, but we connect so much. We just have a more varied perspective on struggles that are universal, you know? So we think that that is our diverse backgrounds is our power, and that's what we want to use in our project.
Johanny [00:24:30]:
And you're from Brazil?
Ana Moioli [00:24:32]:
I am from Brazil.
Johanny [00:24:33]:
Yes. I read that you've been performing since you were nine up there.
Ana Moioli [00:24:38]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:24:38]:
How was life growing up in Brazil as an artistic child? And how is the artistic life of Brazil like the scene?
Ana Moioli [00:24:49]:
Well, I went to theater school outside of my school, even though I did go to pretty artistic schools. But I went to this theater school when I was nine, and I kept going until I was old enough to start studying it professionally. And then I did their conservatory, their acting acting conservatory. And then I got a certificate. It's much harder than here, even though it's also hard here.
Johanny [00:25:31]:
How is it much harder over there?
Ana Moioli [00:25:33]:
Well, it's just that there is less money, there are fewer opportunities, and it's just there are fewer schools that give you the education that you need. And it's just culturally, it's just not as valued. I mean, it's not valued here either, like the arts, theater, and film, but there it's even less. I will say there's incredible Brazilian art and Brazilian artists.
Johanny [00:26:10]:
I went to Brazil for yeah, for Carnival.
Ana Moioli [00:26:15]:
Amazing. This year.
Johanny [00:26:16]:
Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:26:17]:
Where?
Johanny [00:26:19]:
Rio.
Ana Moioli [00:26:19]:
Oh, great.
Johanny [00:26:20]:
It was fun. I learned that Carnival is not just, like, a party thing. It's a competition from oh, yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:26:29]:
Parade.
Johanny [00:26:29]:
Yeah, I went to the parade.
Ana Moioli [00:26:31]:
Oh, you did? Yeah.
Johanny [00:26:32]:
It was fun.
Ana Moioli [00:26:33]:
That's amazing. No, there's like yeah, Carnival is a lot of things.
Johanny [00:26:38]:
Yeah. How is carnival? You're from Sao Paulo. Okay. I went to Rio, so is it the same thing?
Ana Moioli [00:26:44]:
It's the whole country. Yeah, there's also a big parade in Sao Paulo.
Johanny [00:26:50]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:26:50]:
Yeah.
Johanny [00:26:51]:
And is it the same thing where it's samba schools in competition?
Ana Moioli [00:26:54]:
Yes, it's pretty similar. They happen simultaneously. And I remember I would watch it mostly on TV, but we kept switching the channels to see the Sao Paulo and the Rio one. Yes, there's that. And then there's, like, a whole month actually more than one month of parties. But there are obviously the main dates, which is from Wednesday through Sunday, or the opposite from Saturday through Wednesday. But that's, like, the main moment of Carnival. But it's really a whole month of partying.
Johanny [00:27:38]:
Yeah. Were you ever, like, as a child, were you ever part of any of the parades?
Ana Moioli [00:27:43]:
I was not, unfortunately. I would always dress up. But yeah, I would always travel to visit my grandparents as a child because they didn't live in Sao Paulo. And then it was like a family gathering. But yeah, honestly, because I moved to the US when I was just becoming an adult. And then I went to college here and I was in school while Carnival was happening, so I couldn't go to Carnival. And then I graduated and there was the Pandemic, so I couldn't go to Brazil. And then now I work, so it's also hard. I feel like I really need to go to Brazil for convoy very soon because it's expensive to go to Brazil.
Johanny [00:28:35]:
Oh my God.
Ana Moioli [00:28:36]:
And I usually go for Christmas when I can. Sometimes I don't even do that. But I feel like the next time I go I was highly considering going next Carnival because I really need to live that as an adult. Haven't done yet.
Johanny [00:28:57]:
It was so much fun to be in the parade, like in the stadium and after you learn what it is we sat with a bunch of locals and when their school came on, they were all excited and one of the floats got stuck and they were also stressed. It was just funny to be there. Stressed out.
Ana Moioli [00:29:18]:
Oh my God. Yeah, no, it's a lot.
Johanny [00:29:22]:
Did you ever when I was little, in Dr, they used to play Brazilian novellas, but I was not allowed to watch them because they were really crazy. Yeah, I remember the commercial. It was like some naked lady swimming in a pool and my grandfather would not allow really watching. Do you ever have any aspirations to be novellas in Brazil?
Ana Moioli [00:29:50]:
I guess when I was a kid, I had a face that I wanted to but it was never really my dream. But I feel like if the opportunity arises, I'll do it. It's not something I'm actively pursuing, but to be honest, if you want to be an actor in Brazil, that's pretty much the only way you can actually make it. Which is sad. Yeah, like, you can start in the telenovelas and then make a name for yourself and then go to you can then later be more in film and theater. But to really make a sustainable life for yourself without being the big telenovelas, that's really hard. But yeah, I decided that I wanted to be an actor coming mostly from American and international cultural influences like watching mostly American TV and film because I didn't get access to the enough access to the best of Brazilian film and theater as a kid, I think. I mean, not even because of my parents. My parents were always so good at giving me good references, but well, I loved Hannah Montana. What can I do? And so literally, I did not dream of being in telenovelas as much as I dreamed of being in Disney Channel.
Johanny [00:31:38]:
Really?
Ana Moioli [00:31:43]:
Yeah. I mean, no wonder why I'm here now. But it's in the past. Okay. I don't I don't no longer want to be in Disney Channel.
Johanny [00:31:53]:
Yeah, we don't talk about that face.
Ana Moioli [00:31:56]:
That'S little on a phase.
Johanny [00:32:01]:
And what is your personal aspiration for the future, not the theater company. Like, what is your goal in the industry?
Ana Moioli [00:32:08]:
My goal in the industry? Well, I want to be performing as much as I can and keep growing as an actor and develop myself more as a director as well. I have a lot more experience as an actor than as a director. Actually, it's a recent thing that I realized how much I want to direct as well. But that's also something that I'm not really rushing for because I feel like I will naturally start directing more as I get more experience, like life experience and professional experience. But, yeah, I really want to be performing more in projects that I enjoy, and if I have to produce them, I will.
Johanny [00:33:12]:
But you don't want to produce?
Ana Moioli [00:33:15]:
If I cannot, I won't.
Johanny [00:33:18]:
Is acting your number one?
Ana Moioli [00:33:22]:
It's what I studied. It's what my first dream was, and I just love it. I love acting so much, but directing is definitely, as I said, something that is a long term goal to make it bigger in my life. But, yeah, I feel like I want to really focus on acting first, and then later in my life, I'm sure that I will be directing more.
Johanny [00:34:01]:
Is there any advice that you would give international artists who would like to come to the States and pursue a career in the arts? Whether it be theater, film, TV, whatever it might be? Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:34:16]:
Well, I will say life is not Hannah Montana the first one. Life is here is also a struggle. Even though there are so many opportunities here, it is great. I really love my life here. But while there are so many struggles in terms of leaving home and immigration is a really big thing, like visas and stuff, if you don't have that so I think really do the research and be prepared for what's coming and make sure that you're up for it. But I feel like, in general, leaving your country gives you so much experience, personal experience that will benefit your art so much. That just the experience of even if it's not forever going for it, I think even if you end up not liking or suffering or even if you want to go back, it's still worth it because every life experience really is going to enrich what you have to tell the world. But yeah, as long as you're not idealizing what's coming, and you're coming for the right reasons, then it's great. And I mean, I I love New York. Like, I think living here is I'm just learning. I'm learning so much every day because it's really I feel like I'd said this recently, I feel like living in New York is traveling through humanity.
Johanny [00:36:07]:
Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:36:08]:
Because there are all kinds of people here. I know all kinds of places and with the most crazy stories. So if you're here and you're excited to meet those people, meet the people and listen to crazy stories and be and experience crazy stories because there's so.
Johanny [00:36:33]:
Much happening, and create your own crazy stories.
Ana Moioli [00:36:35]:
Exactly. Yeah. Then come here. Then this is the place for you. And it is definitely the place for me. Not sure if I'm going to be here for the rest of my life. Don't ask me what I'm going to do in ten years. There's so many things I don't know. I can tell you, like, general things that I want to happen, but I don't know where I'm going to be. I don't know if I'm going to have kids. I don't know if I'm going to I have no idea.
Johanny [00:37:02]:
One day at a time.
Ana Moioli [00:37:03]:
Yeah, one day at a time. Because it's just hard to plan in this condition of being an immigrant and being an artist, like freelancing with projects and stuff. It's hard.
Johanny [00:37:20]:
Did you move to New York when you moved? Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:37:23]:
Yes, because I went to NYU. I moved because of NYU, so I've been here. Yeah.
Johanny [00:37:30]:
How was NYU?
Ana Moioli [00:37:32]:
It was great. It was great. Yeah, I learned a lot. It's very much in New York. Right? So it wasn't a separate campus.
Johanny [00:37:50]:
Do they have dorms?
Ana Moioli [00:37:52]:
They do. I lived in a dorm for my first year, but then I got out of them. Yeah, it's like huge. So also very yeah, I mean, it's there were struggles. It's also hard to separate my experience in NYU from my experience of just moving countries because I moved countries to go to NYU. So I feel like some of the things that I was struggling in terms of cultural shock, I end up associating with my time in NYU. But it's not because of NYU. Definitely. I definitely have issues with NYU. I'm not just going to say that I love it. I think there are several very important problems with it. But I think overall, I'm very thankful, very thankful for everything because I would not be doing what I do now if it wasn't for it and with the people that I collaborate with now if it wasn't for them. And anyway, the artist that I am right now, I definitely learned. I've definitely developed from the teachers and the experiences and the opportunities that I had in school.
Johanny [00:39:10]:
Okay. All right, so I have a segment called Fast and Curious. You have 2 minutes. Okay. And you're going to answer as many questions as you can. The questions are all about you, so if you don't know, just say pass. Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:39:30]:
Can I say pass?
Johanny [00:39:30]:
You can say pass if you don't know. Okay, wait, let me I will say.
Ana Moioli [00:39:34]:
I'm a very indecisive person. I might regret every answer that I give you, like, immediately after, but I'm still going to try not. To pass.
Johanny [00:39:42]:
Okay, the number to be is 20 and you have 2 minutes. Okay, I'm going to start the clock. The model of your first phone.
Ana Moioli [00:39:55]:
Oh, it was Nokia and I don't know the name, but I would open it and there was like barely a screen in it.
Johanny [00:40:05]:
There was but three words your friends will use to describe you.
Ana Moioli [00:40:10]:
Sociable, determined and and indecisive.
Johanny [00:40:26]:
What is your go to karaoke zone?
Ana Moioli [00:40:28]:
Oh, my God. So many high School Musical. It would be breaking free.
Johanny [00:40:34]:
Okay, who is your current celebrity crush?
Ana Moioli [00:40:37]:
My current celebrity crush? His name is Nombe.
Johanny [00:40:43]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:40:43]:
He's like a singer. He's really hot.
Johanny [00:40:47]:
Is he Brazilian?
Ana Moioli [00:40:48]:
No, he's American.
Johanny [00:40:50]:
What is your favorite emoji?
Ana Moioli [00:40:53]:
This one, the one with the monkey.
Johanny [00:40:58]:
Do you work with background noise or do you work in silence?
Ana Moioli [00:41:03]:
Preferably silence.
Johanny [00:41:05]:
Worst audition you've ever had?
Ana Moioli [00:41:12]:
Okay, you know, the first audition I ever did here in in the West, I had no idea what it was. It was actually okay, there's so many that I can tell you, but I'm going to go with this one. Yeah, I had no idea. I didn't know what, like, a headshot was.
Johanny [00:41:27]:
Really?
Ana Moioli [00:41:28]:
I mean, I didn't know what a headshot was. I didn't know I had to bring one to the audition. I was like, no matter what, it's going to be fine. I didn't know how to slate. I didn't know anything. It was like for a feature film. I couldn't even work back then legally. But I was like, I'm going to go for the experience. And yeah. Favorite TV show still is Game of Thrones.
Johanny [00:41:51]:
Me too.
Ana Moioli [00:41:51]:
Really?
Johanny [00:41:52]:
Great. I love it. Okay, let's see.
Ana Moioli [00:41:55]:
Seriously? I guess I answered maybe three questions.
Johanny [00:41:58]:
No, you did 123456. You did eight. Okay, not to you didn't beat 20, but eight was good.
Ana Moioli [00:42:05]:
Thank you. At least I didn't pass any of them.
Johanny [00:42:09]:
Anna, tell me your top five movies and why love them so much?
Ana Moioli [00:42:13]:
Five? Wow. I wasn't decisive with the previous question. Okay, well, let me start with there is a movie called Copper Gnome. It's a Lebanese movie. I don't know if I pronounce the name right. It's by Ladine Labaki. It's a movie that my friends and I really, really loved. We used to have a Cine club together that we would watch movies every week. And we watched that one and we were all like, whoa, it's so powerful. It's about this kid who wants to sue his parents for having him.
Johanny [00:42:53]:
Oh, my God. There's some girl on Instagram did the same thing. No instagram on TikTok.
Ana Moioli [00:42:59]:
Yeah.
Johanny [00:42:59]:
She sued her parents because they should have consulted a medium to connect to her and ask her if she wanted.
Ana Moioli [00:43:07]:
To come to her.
Johanny [00:43:10]:
Anyway, she didn't win, but it actually happened in real life.
Ana Moioli [00:43:14]:
There you go. Wow. Maybe the girl watched the movie and got inspired, but let me say a Brazilian movie, definitely clever. Minosa Filios Films aquadius and Bakurao They're both incredible. He has other movies, but these are the main ones, the most famous ones. They're very different, but they're like if you're going to watch Brazilian movies, I recommend those.
Johanny [00:43:48]:
What is it?
Ana Moioli [00:43:49]:
Aquarius.
Johanny [00:43:50]:
Aquarius, okay.
Ana Moioli [00:43:52]:
And Bakurao Bakira. B-A-C-U-R-A-U.
Johanny [00:44:00]:
Okay.
Ana Moioli [00:44:02]:
That one is like science fiction, but takes place in a fictional small town in the northeast of Brazil. And the other one is about this old lady who is losing her apartment. It's like a family drama, but it's so good. And then there's one called March by gabriel marchings. That is a more recent I watched it when I was in Brazil earlier this year. It's so good. What is it about this Afro Brazilian family? And each of them has a different storyline. But there's this boy, specifically that is dreams of going to Mars. Machu means Mars One. That's the name in English. Actually, if you want to look for it, probably look for Mars One because he saw that there is going to be this program of sending people from Earth to Mars and that becomes his dream. But he comes from such a poor background and his family goes through so many struggles that are also heartbreaking. But that's his dream. He wants to go to Mars and he still believes in his dream. And then people believe in his dream as well. And then they're like, working for it.
Johanny [00:45:33]:
Did he make it to Mars?
Ana Moioli [00:45:36]:
You should watch the movie. Well, but I think the main point is the dream more than the actual thing of going to Mars. Yeah. Let me think. How many did I say that was? Four.
Johanny [00:45:55]:
No, that was three.
Ana Moioli [00:45:56]:
That was three. No, I guess I said two by clabbermindon safilio. And then I said capernam. So I have one more to go.
Johanny [00:46:07]:
Are there any American movies?
Ana Moioli [00:46:10]:
Yeah, that's a great question. Oh, definitely. There should be American movies that I could find on Netflix, right? God. Can I say a show or does it have to be a movie?
Johanny [00:46:26]:
No, a movie.
Ana Moioli [00:46:27]:
Okay.
Johanny [00:46:27]:
We'll go on a show. We'll name the five shows then.
Ana Moioli [00:46:31]:
Okay. Sorry to bother you. It's a movie that I watched also at Cine Club. It was so good. Have you seen it?
Johanny [00:46:39]:
No. Who's in that?
Ana Moioli [00:46:40]:
Oh, my God. I honestly I'm sorry.
Johanny [00:46:43]:
I feel like maybe I have. What is it?
Ana Moioli [00:46:45]:
It's like a crazy movie.
Johanny [00:46:48]:
Oh, I did see it with that guy that he snorts cocaine and turns into a horse.
Ana Moioli [00:46:56]:
Yes. I just love crazy movies.
Johanny [00:47:02]:
That was insane. That was a good movie.
Ana Moioli [00:47:04]:
It really pushed the limits of how crazy can be. Yeah, it's so good. It's so good.
Johanny [00:47:10]:
How about your five shows?
Ana Moioli [00:47:12]:
My top five shows? Okay. Well, I already said Game of Thrones.
Johanny [00:47:15]:
Game of Thrones. I love Game of Thrones. It took me a while to get into it, but then I was, like, hooked.
Ana Moioli [00:47:20]:
I loved White Lotus. So much.
Johanny [00:47:24]:
Never seen it.
Ana Moioli [00:47:25]:
You really should. Yeah. It's like the one that I know.
Johanny [00:47:29]:
People tell me to watch it, but just doesn't catch my eye.
Ana Moioli [00:47:33]:
Well, I hesitated as well. My parents were telling me to watch the whole time, and then I did, and I was like, I got COVID a couple of months ago, and then that was my COVID activity. It was great. And what else? I love succession.
Johanny [00:48:02]:
People keep telling me to watch both of the shows. I don't commit to it. I know.
Ana Moioli [00:48:10]:
And what else do you watch?
Johanny [00:48:11]:
House of the Dragon.
Ana Moioli [00:48:13]:
I started it. I did not watch the whole thing. I really need to watch it. I know. Is it as good? Yes, that's good. I know. I really need to watch it. I really need to watch it. It's just like I had a whole face that I had no time at all to watch TV shows. I recently got back into it, but I definitely need to watch that. I will forever say Friends as well. I just love it. It's like my go to.
Johanny [00:48:45]:
It wasn't one of my favorites.
Ana Moioli [00:48:47]:
No. Have you ever watched from the beginning, though?
Johanny [00:48:52]:
Yeah, I used to watch it, but I just never really thought it was that great.
Ana Moioli [00:48:57]:
Well, it's okay.
Johanny [00:48:59]:
It's not a bad show. Not that good for me.
Ana Moioli [00:49:04]:
It's okay. I forgive you. And it's, like, so easy to watch it before going to bed, so you just get really attached. Yeah.
Johanny [00:49:17]:
Do you have one more?
Ana Moioli [00:49:18]:
One more breaking bed?
Johanny [00:49:25]:
Oh, I love breaking bed. I love them.
Ana Moioli [00:49:30]:
Yeah, I miss it. I want to rewatch it because it's for Halloween.
Johanny [00:49:35]:
One time I was you know the cleaning company that they had?
Ana Moioli [00:49:40]:
Yes.
Johanny [00:49:40]:
I got this suit on Amazon. Really? And that was my costume. And I went and got, like, this candy that looked like the Meth. So I was walking around with this candy.
Ana Moioli [00:49:52]:
Oh, my God.
Johanny [00:49:54]:
It was great.
Ana Moioli [00:49:55]:
That's a great costume. Yeah, I know.
Johanny [00:49:58]:
I don't know what happened to that costume. Anyways, who are your top five actors?
Ana Moioli [00:50:04]:
Top five actors from all over the world. Oh, my God. Okay, let me start with Sonia Braga, brazilian actress who also has an international career. So she's always been a great inspiration. She was in both of Clever Men, also Felio's films that I mentioned. Let's see. Olivia Coleman. I really like.
Johanny [00:50:37]:
Yeah, she's good.
Ana Moioli [00:50:39]:
Florence Pew is a good inspiration.
Johanny [00:50:43]:
She is the voice. I was watching Poof and Boots, the third one. And she plays the girl with the bear family. Curly sue. I don't know her name, but she was so good. I'm like, who is this voice? No, Robin Hood. Yeah, Red Riding Hood. And she was so good. Like, her voice. I'm like, this cartoon is talented.
Ana Moioli [00:51:11]:
Yeah, but it was hard. Good range. She can play different things. Okay, how many have I said?
Johanny [00:51:23]:
Three. Three.
Ana Moioli [00:51:24]:
Two more to go. Okay, look, I obviously know my actors, but then when you ask me, I just get so nervous.
Johanny [00:51:33]:
This is just my I know it.
Ana Moioli [00:51:35]:
Goes I'm just definitely going to regret I'm going to remember someone, and I'm going to regret it.
Johanny [00:51:41]:
That's what happened to me when I took Improv 101. I was so bad. They'll put me in some sort of situation, and I'll be like and then three days later, I'll think of something that could exactly.
Ana Moioli [00:51:55]:
That's exactly. I know that I'm going to finish the fifth one, and I'm going to remember a 6th one and a 7th one.
Johanny [00:52:01]:
Who's a good actor, though? I don't know. I used to like Angelina Jolie, but I fell out of love. Yeah.
Ana Moioli [00:52:11]:
I wouldn't name her as my I wouldn't name her as my top five.
Johanny [00:52:15]:
Okay, so my final question, if you could go back in time and talk to nine year old Anna in Brazil, what advice will you give her?
Ana Moioli [00:52:24]:
What advice I would give her? Yeah. I feel like I did follow my advice, the advice that I would give her, but it's trust that impulse. Like, trust that seed. I feel like there's so much insecurity in wanting to be an artist and an actress. And as a kid, I always knew that I wanted to be an artist, but I did follow it, so it was good. Yeah, I did follow it.
Johanny [00:53:19]:
Just trust your instinct.
Ana Moioli [00:53:21]:
I did. Yeah. I think definitely my family support was super important, and some of my teachers who believed in me very early on, I feel like, honestly, I want to give my freshman year self more advice than I want to give my nine year old.
Johanny [00:53:39]:
Why would you tell your freshman year.
Ana Moioli [00:53:40]:
Self then, like, that it is okay to feel out of place. And that's when I needed to trust myself more, because I was going through the cultural shock. And really, it was only after I graduated that I really came to terms with my artistry, I think because I was and it came because of from my experience of school. But while I was in school, it was a mixture of finding myself in the country and discovering my artistry and dealing with language barriers and artistic barriers with my teachers as well and receiving feedback from them. And I had moments of not trusting myself then, and I guess believing that it's possible to create your own route, even if it's not the route that people are telling you to follow or that you expected yourself to follow. But I feel like as long as I'm honest with myself in the present moment and I am following my impulses, I will find a way. Yeah. It will just come together. Yeah.
Johanny [00:55:17]:
That was great.
Ana Moioli [00:55:18]:
Thank you.
Johanny [00:55:18]:
Well, thank you so much, Anna. Thank you for being here and now canceling.
Ana Moioli [00:55:24]:
You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I love this. It's so nice.
Johanny [00:55:27]:
And then where can people find you and find your theater company. Can people submit if you were like if they have a young or old playwright wants to submit?
Ana Moioli [00:55:38]:
Yeah, we're definitely going to open for submissions again for the next year's. Lab currently, we're not open for submissions, but if you have something you want to share and you want to share with us, we'll definitely keep it for the future.
Johanny [00:55:50]:
And where do we do that?
Ana Moioli [00:55:52]:
Well, you can find us on Instagram at Italiatheater or our website, WW dot italiatheater.com. Italia is spelled e t space alia. And my personal Instagram at Annamoyoli or my website, annamoyoli.com. Yeah.
Johanny [00:56:18]:
And that's it?
Ana Moioli [00:56:20]:
That's it.
Johanny [00:56:21]:
And you can just follow us at the Hollywood Dream pot on Instagram.
Ana Moioli [00:56:25]:
Yes, please.
Johanny [00:56:26]:
Thank you.
