SPEAKER_00 0:00

The only thing I didn't ask was uh Mary Kill fuck Sundance uh South by and Con Can.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Um fuck Mary Kill?

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Aw man. Well, I I would marry Can.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Yeah. That's fair.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

But hold on. That's France. Fuck Mary Kill. Who would I kill? Uh because I like the comedy, because Southby's funny, but Sundance got the goods.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

I mean, but also Sundance is about to move, so kill Sundance, I would say.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Yeah, I'll kill Sundance and I'll fuck South Bye.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

And then Chicago International is our fuck buddy on the side.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah, yeah. That's just the constant goods.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

I know. Yeah, that's that's our that's our high school girlfriend that we can't get over.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

This should be the intro.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

We're on the same page, dude. We're on the same page. Literally, literally, literally. Welcome back to a very special episode of Ilse Wilsay. Uh, today you are joined by your host, Ilse, and your producer, Jacob Kagel, uh, who's here to hopefully hold your hand as we get deeper into the mind of who this podcast is and for about. We are joined, as always, by the amazingly beautiful, the amazingly kind, the amazingly creative and thoughtful Ilse Rivera. We are so excited, we cannot wait to get her into the studio. She's never been here before, so let's give her a big round of applause and clap everybody. Go crazy, box. My name is a chariot Rivera. Wait, I can't see your middle name. Like, I can't see your name. I'm not doing it. I'm a I'm an editor, I don't have to say names, but I'm saying that for myself. Producer's note. Get someone better. Anyway, like the last six months have been kind of a cool six months for you. I want to dive into the main topic of what this conversation is gonna be because I have a lot of questions for you personally, but then also I think our listeners would have a lot of questions as well. So you've been to a lot of really cool film fests over these last six months, starting back in was it January with Sundance? South by Southwest and Khan, or is it can, or is it Cane's? I like Kanes, yeah. Kanisasada.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Um that should be a clip that we do. Kanitasada.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yes, with actual, like, yeah, I can see like sprinkles of like goodness on the code.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

I just make everybody a canon tacos.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

I love that. So, okay, so um uh first question, and I think I know the answer to this. Um, have you ever been to a film festival like this, like any of these before? What were some of the other fests you've been to?

SPEAKER_02 3:19

I went to the Chicago International Film Festival, the Chicago Latino Film Festival, and Midwest Film Festival, which are all located in Chicago. And I think I had gone to the Chicago International Film Festival first. Um, and I made really great relationships that that even that first year that I went. Um, and then at Midwest, I would go strategically to the advertisement night because um they would show all of these commercials and the commercial directors were also there, and so I got to meet them, and then um they I knew that they would also do indie. So it was like a two-prong approach in my kind of strategy, if you will, where just making connections within that so that then I could book um like acting gigs in commercials and in indie film.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

So those seemed kind of like hyper-localized. What what was the impetus for you wanting to go to some of these other big ones? Like what was the what was the reason behind that?

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Um, I felt like I had sort of met the people that I was meant to meet. I I'm not gonna say like, oh, I met everybody and I knew everyone. No, but you know, I went, I think for the second or third time to the Chicago International Film Festival, and I was like, I feel pretty comfortable. And I'm the type of person that's like, if I feel comfortable, it's the time to stretch. Like we gotta stretch the boundaries again, right? Um, it's kind of like how I joined swimming, where I was like, I feel comfortable on land, let me try water. So it's just like going in, and I thought, well, that kind of scares me. Well, that means I gotta do it. Um, so that's usually like where where I feel resistance when I feel resistance or I sense fear, that that means to me that I have to overcome it. And I think going to Sundance or South By or even Can, which was not in the cards originally, um that that's when I was like, all right, let's dive in. And that's kind of my approach um for anything. I think failure is feedback. So I like to throw as much as possible onto the wall, see what sticks, and then move forward in that way. Um kind of like with comedy, I I you know, I did some improv, I did stand-up, but stand-up seemed to me like the the most return on investment, so I continued to do that and and so so on and so forth. So again, if I think about it in more of like a scientific way, of like, oh, this is research, this is feedback, this is you know, the process to have better and better outcomes, um yeah, I wanna I wanted to test out my theory and going to all of them was part of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

I I love that you said failure is feedback, and to go back to another F-word, uh one of my least favorite F-words, uh fear, which we talked about uh earlier. Do you feel you do you feel like fear is feedback too in a way sometimes? Or where is fear and failure to you? Is that two different parts of your brain?

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Yeah, I think there's different F's. So there's like the fear of like there is a wild animal and I might be eaten.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Like that is totally real, and you do what you need to do. If you gotta hide, you hide, you gotta run, you run.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

But there's like that anxiety, depression, like the the fears that we make up in our minds for ourselves. And once I see that I have this fear that it may or may not be rooted in in reality, usually rooted in some like random shit that I thought of or did at some point, then I'm like, okay, go towards it. In in in like the the in like a thousand percent. If you can just do it a thousand percent, then everything else is just gonna become easier right after. Because if you do, oh, just like a tiny little you dip your toe in the water, no, you gotta just do a cannonball. Like if you do a cannonball, you'll get over it, you'll have some fun in the process, because you know you're gonna it's gonna splash everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

You're like you know it's gonna be a big failure, you know you're gonna make an S of yourself, your butt's gonna hurt, it's gonna be a little red, and that's gonna be okay, you know?

SPEAKER_00 7:55

I love that. I love that. It's it's everything you're saying to me is like things I need to hear. Uh I always love our friendship because like you tell me the things that I needed to hear. And so, like, hearing you, I'm like, oh yeah, like fear and failure, that's very different muscles of the human body. Like, fear keeps us from doing these things, and failure, we can look back and be like, hey, you know what? We fucking did it, you know? And fucking is one of my favorite F-words.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

I was gonna say, can we talk about my favorite one?

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Yeah, that's the best one. I love it. I love it. So, okay, going back to Sundance a little bit, so talk about um what took you there and how that experience was. And also, I think it's the it was the last Sundance in Park City. Yeah. So that's pretty pretty rad to be there at the the last OG.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

So 79th, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Tell me about those days. Like, what was it like getting in? Um, did you see any good movies? What what were some of the who were some of the people you met?

SPEAKER_02 8:57

We'll get into it more, obviously, but so there's another word that I don't think we talk about normally, which is envy. Um and jealousy. Jealousy, I believe, is like a third party. So I think jealousy is like you're dating so and so, but I want to be dating so-and-so, therefore I'm I'm jealous of you. And I think envy is just I am envious of you, right? So I believe I was jealous of this person who was going to all of these film festivals, and instead of being like, well, what a bitch, you know, it I went in and I was like, why am I jealous? And it's like, oh, it's because I want to be living that life. So fear is a great motivator, and so is jealousy because that will show you what you want. Because you wouldn't be jealous if you didn't want it. So that that's how I realized that I actually wanted to go to film festivals because I was like, oh, there's something, there's a part of me that wants to do that. Um, so the the badge was super expensive, so I didn't get to see any films, but I knew that Sundance was one of those film festivals where there is so much to do outside of having the badge that you can potentially just go there, meet people on the bus, meet people in line. Um, there's an impact lounge, there's a chase lounge, there's a United Airlines lounge. There, you know, and you can apply to those separately. Um, and you can apply to go to parties and all of these other events separately. So you wouldn't be missing out at all if you just went without a badge. And I honestly, if you don't want to spend that much money, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything by not having the badge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

So you your focus going into is more of a networking mindset or a curious mind. I mean, networking is curiosity, so it's like it's kind of the same, the same fold.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

So Yeah, I'm a big proponent of of distigmatizing that that word networking. Yeah. Um, because it just it means making friends. Um and I I wanted to expand my circle again with Chicago International and Midwest. I felt like I had made friends with everyone, everyone that I was meant to make friends with. And I needed to broaden my horizons, and making friends with people from LA or New York made me a little scared because I was wondering like, are they gonna treat me less than because I'm Chicago-based? And that is absolutely not true. What I found is that they were super excited about Chicago, they didn't exactly know what was happening there, so I was able to let them know like the entire, like the great scene that is um coming from Chicago. Uh, but I had to get over my shit for that, um, to be able to be empowered and say that I was from there um and that I was in the comedy scene, and everybody loved that because everybody's into drama and like oh the the the theater. Um so to have somebody who came in from the comedy side, I think people really resonated with that and really wanted to hear more about it. Um so that so I yeah, I went in to make friends with people from um other places.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I love that. It ties into in my mind, like fake it till you make it almost. Is that did you feel that at all, or is that something you put aside for the film class?

SPEAKER_02 12:35

I think training, it's kind of like acting where like, oh, what is my character's objective and oh my actions and this. So I think train I think yes, training as fake it till you till you make it, um, and then trying to actually embody it and living in it. So I think yes, have that mentality prior, maybe visualize, do all the things that you need to do to feel empowered once you go, but then once you're there, try and be present. Don't think of anything else.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

That's great advice. I love that. So let's move to another city. We're moving to Austin, Texas. Uh uh a state and probably a place that's closer to your heart. Um talk about your time at South By real fast. Like how how long were you there? What was your experience with that?

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Mm-hmm. So I was there from the first day, which is probably like a Tuesday, maybe like a a Tuesday to Tuesday or something, something to that extent. I went for a longer period of time and I did buy a badge. Those were really expensive. The only reason that I got them is because uh if you're a SAG After union member, uh as an actor, you get a discount. So that's why I got mine. Um if you're gonna go to any of the festivals and you know ahead of the time, I would get the like fr like the pre whatever it's called, like the what is it? Uh were you the Freebird? Early bird, early bird, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Also, also shout out to Sagastra and Unions, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

I know, I know, they're the best. Um that's another episode. Um but yes, if you're gonna go to any festival, try and get the early bird um for any of the badges. So the only reason that I got a badge for South By is because again, another year that was different, similar to Sundance, where next year's gonna be completely different, so you you know, um, we're gonna have to adjust. But this year for South By, apparently the convention center had closed and they're going through remodeling for a few years. So everything was super spread out all across Austin. So you couldn't go from one masterclass to another um because you had to travel 15-20 minutes to the next hotel. Um so that was a little different. And there's also other parts of the industry that they target that's like education, there's uh technology, um, there's TV and film and comedy. But you know, if you were waiting in line at Sundance, you'd meet a producer, an agent, another filmmaker, director, whatever. If you're waiting in line at South by, it could be a technology person. It could be a teacher, it could be somebody who's just there for fun. And I'm not saying don't talk to them because I've of course I'm gonna talk to them. I'm just saying from like a a purely bang for your buck, bang for your time, it was not as fruitful. Um and I don't know that I've aside from like this one crew who I from this one film that I really enjoyed, like we would hang out together all the time. Um, they also had like a Latino uh like happy hour, and I met a lot of people through that, and then that kind of made it better for the remainder of the the week because I was able to continue to um foster a relationship with them. Chicago's best kept secret? It's not Deep Dish. It's Joel MySonette Photography. He's legitimately the best, and it's about time everybody knew. Actors, execs, LinkedIn Lurkers, book at mysanetphotography.com and thank me later.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Can you know Can is one of the it's one of the biggest, most well-known film festivals in the world, in the industry? Um lots of people make their names there, it's a crazy place.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

So, okay, so for Sundance, a friend was like, I'm gonna be there, come. For South By, a friend was like, I'm gonna be there, come. For Can, a friend was also gonna go, and she's like, bitch, you better go with me. And I was like, Okay, I I'm going.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Okay, so is it is it nice to have a buddy with you, or like what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Yes and no. Um, if you are able to be by yourself, like if you sincerely think you can handle being by yourself, I'm an only child that can talk to a wall. Uh so I I actually prefer to go by myself and just meet friends later. Like, I I prefer to have the entire day by myself and then just go grab dinner. Make your schedule, know what you want to do. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't like a Velcro friend, um, but that's just me. That's like my personal uh relationship. If you have like a partner, like a producing partner, then I do think it's really important to go together. Um, because then you can kind of tag team. But you need you, you and your friend need to have a strategy going in, kind of. Not like super strategic, but like a little, you know, just know what you're pitching, know know how you're gonna approach people. Yeah, I get that. Um I'm completely biased. Can is the best freaking festival I'm completely biased. Can is the best film festival, period. Period. Bar none. It was an incredible experience. Triple the amount of contacts that I got for the other two, and on a level that I can't even comprehend. Sincerely. Like the the the the level of contacts that I created there are just like by being around them, you feel like you feel the electricity. You can feel the electricity around. And I think almost you because I didn't go with a project, but going there and be being amongst these people were who take art seriously, who take film seriously, you yourself are energized. And that's the thing that Sundance had too. It's very localized and it's only film. So again, because you are forced to be in a very small town, you you then are forced to make relationships in the best of ways.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

And I I remember in school um talking with a lot of professors who had had like films showed overseas, like, don't ignore those international film festivals, you know. Like there's a spot for you out there. Um, most of the time, they are like free of charge, uh, a lot of them to apply to out there. So go ahead and get those get those badges and like meet those people, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

And actually, a lot of the talk I've heard about international uh film festivals is that they actually pay for you to go. Unlike the American film festivals, yeah. So I mean if you want a free a free stay, you know, in Spain or apply.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Isn't it amazing to support the arts? What a nice thing.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Dude, and that again and can is like the epitome of that from my personal experience, um, because a lot of things were free. Like a lot of things were free. Most of the booze was free. Um, like it it and it seemed like the cagiest people were Americans.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Checks out. Well, we do, baby.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

Everyone else was handing information, handing out, you know, oh my buddy, this contact this person. I can't help you, but maybe my friend over here can. Here's their business card. And I would go up to like some Americans, especially I don't know why, like college students. They'd be like, hi. I'm like, hey, how's it going? What are you doing? We're in university for the arts. I'm like, okay, but all right. I I don't got I don't got time for you. Um but there's like every country has a pavilion. American the American Pavilion is the only one that charges, of course. Um but I would I would recommend getting it if you can, um, because they give you like free coffee and there's a bunch of parties. Um all of the parties that you pay to go into, you don't really want to go. Those are for Instagram people, those are for people who wanna like just stay there where I can and take a picture. Um you wanna go into the bars, uh Uh Le Petit Majestic. Um and honestly, if you just walk towards Le Petite Majestic from the pavilions, you will see all of the people scattered about. Um honestly, you could just sit nearby at a restaurant and you will see people that you saw the first day or the second day, and then they'll come and sit down with you and have a meal. Like it really is that communal. Um and then my favorite part is that it is baked into the film festival experience to try to sneak into parties. Like it is completely and totally acceptable to like you you are almost you almost have to try to sneak into parties.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Like that is the whole thing, and it's so fun and mischievous, and like you're you're you're kind of like a Will Farrell from Wedding Crashers in a way.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Cool.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Yeah, cool. Uh um or Night at the Roxbury, where they're just like trying to just trying to get in and trying to get in. Um, and you just gotta walk in there like you own the place. I usually didn't do that. I let whomever I was with try and like schmooze their way in, and they usually could. Um and yeah, I mean, and the clothing is amazing, and it's just so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

I love that. I love that. I mean, I I everything I'm hearing, I want to be at all of them. Obviously, I've been about by like way back in the day, but that was the only one. So for people that kind of deal with this weird anxiety or neuroticism that they don't belong in that room, what do you say to them for like telling them to show up? Like you like to tell people you belong in that room that you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

I'm not gonna change your mind, right? Because you're the only like the person that has this, they're the only person that can change it. What I can say, and this is what I've told myself several times, from a very small town, grew up super broke. I never thought, like, oh, I'm gonna cry. Like I sent the picture, I I was able to walk the red carpet and I was able to um somebody snapped a picture of me, and I sent it to my parents, and it's like never, never, ever in my entire fucking life did I think that I was actually gonna get to this point. Like that was I would watch the TV and I'd be like, man, that it's so cool. And to finally be there is like a very big pinch me moment. And the thing that always got to me two things look at your life as like a monopoly board or the game of life. I've never played that one, but I mean I guess it makes sense with the title. But picture yourself like a monopoly board. Where do you want to go? And are you taking the steps to get there? Because if you're not taking the steps with fear or without, I would say with fear, if you're not taking each and every step, you're never gonna make it to the other point. And that's okay. Just know that it's not gonna happen. And the second thing is when you are in the last moments of your life, like, are you gonna regret it? Are you gonna regret not going there? Because I can tell you you're not gonna regret trying. Because even if I quit everything tomorrow, I still had a fucking great time.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

And you know what? It's insane that this lends to my last question. Uh it's a little less like um film festival focused, but we're gonna be introspective here for a second. That's okay. Uh, we're about a year out from being a podcast that's been around for a full year. We started it in the summer of 2025. Um, has there what are your feelings about that? And is there anything that you know now that you would wish you would tell Ilse uh back in 2025 when we started this?

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Well, it's wild that it's been a year. I get trapped a lot inside my head, and so to be able to have these conversations and then listen to me again um within the editing process, it it just helps to solidify that everybody has their own story, and that I I really love listening to everyone, and we can find joy in every moment, even if it's one of the because we laugh a lot at really dark shit. And it's like that's that's life, yeah, and that's what I've learned. And I've also learned that a lot of people have really weird ghost alien stories.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Holy crap!

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Um on on so many fronts, we have found out that we are not alone. That's delightful, isn't it? Like it's delightful, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 27:25

It's delightful and a bit frightening. But now, like yeah, well, now that I see some of my friends, I'm like, you asked to project, bitch.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

That's so funny. That's so funny. Well, I so I just have black. Thank you for I mean, I seriously, thank you for letting me take charge of this weird-ish episode. I'm glad that we got to do uh almost a state of the pod and like checking in with each other. I think it's important for friends to do that. Have you learned anything? I've learned a lot. My biggest thing is like, and something you've talked about today is like not not shying away from putting yourself out there, and that's that's always my biggest thing with our friendship, is that you know, like I we're we're in this era where leaning on our humanity is so important, and to be there for each other is so important, and then to find other avenues for good people, that's what we're here for. That's what networking is. Like, networking has this negative connotation, and I'm I'm someone that views I view uh networking with that connotation sometime, but it's not bad. Like, I've met so many great people. I met we networked the hell out of the Chicago Film Festival last year, and we met so many great people, you know, and so uh if I have one thing to say from the quiet producer on those podcasts, is like continue to put yourself out there, bet on yourself, bet on your stories, and you're gonna find your way, you know. And so who knows what this podcast will look like in 2027 next summer, but I'm grateful for I'm grateful for it all, grateful for this talk. And Ilse, I'm grateful for your time and everything you do.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Love you.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

I love ya.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

Ilse Wilson is an Intrepid entertainment podcast produced and edited by Jacob Cagle, music by Eric Bacchus, and photography by Joel MySonet, and I am your host, Ilse Sacharya Rivera. The views and opinions expressed on Ilse Will Say are entirely those of the host and guests, and do not reflect the views of any employers, sponsors, or innocent bystanders. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing said here should be taken as professional advice, expert opinion, legal guidance, or a reason to DM a few conspiracy theories. We're here for the laughs, y'all. Carry on