February 5, 2024 • 32 mins
Christina’s journey from child star to adulthood (and still working in the business) is a wild tale. But when you throw in her social media branding and the fact that her dog is actually the breadwinner in the house…then it becomes a story like you’ve never heard before.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
My guest today is actress, comedian, and stage mom to
a dog Winston, Christina Kirkman. She's best known for her
role in the final two seasons of Nickelodeon's All That.
These days, fans know Christina from her TikTok videos her
dog Winston. My producers didn't even include that because they
didn't know about Winston, who's also famous and she has
(00:33):
over a million followers.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
This is just be influenced. Let's get into it. How
are you? Where's your doggie? He's literally you're like in
your body, He's in your body.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, he has to be touching to me. He's a
bellcrow dog.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Wait, his name is Winston. Yeah, and he's famous.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He is significantly more famous than I will ever be.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So how famous is he?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Like?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Does he make?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Does he Because I had a dog named Cookie that
one year made fifteen thousand dollars because I think Farmer's
Dog paid me that year, and I love Farmer's dog
or paid Cookie. They didn't pay me paid, they didn't
deal with Cookie's manager. But I look at Biggie and
Small as they pee, I'm like, you fucking cost me
what you don't make one goddamn time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
They're so cute. They're little rascals, but like I don't
market them. They don't make anything.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You got to get them ships working.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They're just a drag on the ticket.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
He fucking carries his weight and then.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Son, well he doesn't weigh that much.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Will true? But he like I used to joke and
be like, all right, dude, you need to like pull
your own weight. He he rakes in the checks.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Man, So how much money does wins to make a year?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He makes six figures?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Winston makes six figures.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Amazing, this this wow, this dog saved me.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Can we see him.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Let's let's see him. Yeah, yeah, this is it's raining.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So he thought, right, so he doesn't what's he working Winston?
What are you working on right now? What is he
working on?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
You got any projects coming? I mean, we've been so
lucky that like we work with like a lot of
the same brands over and over again, which is like
we've developed really good relationships. We work with, you know,
like the same dog food brands. We've worked with Amazon
several times. We just like have built really good relationships
with these brands and it's been a blast just kind
of like you know, making commercials for them. I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's on. It's all social media.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Too, social media.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, okay, so did has he helped your career? Like
did he get you into TikTok?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Christina is a social media influencer. She's very funny, and
then you like sort of we're a little against yeah TikTok,
and then you like.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
We're bored.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And your career it was blown, was about to escalate
and then blew up, and then you got into it.
So tell us about like your story and where are
you in Los Angeles?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Now? I'm from a small town outside of Boston, which
is a normal ass kid. I was a gymnast and
there was a competition on Nickelodeon called are you all that?
The search for the Funniest Kid in America? And I
was like, oh I got I gotta enter. And my
dad both my parents are very funny, but my dad
is the goofy one. My dad was like, let's talk
and do it, and he went downstairs and got the
(03:16):
video camera and we like went on the website and
there were all these prompts. You basically had to do
a few sketches and then some impersonations and like original content.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
So I just like recorded this in my kitchen, didn't
think anything of it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
How old ten.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Okay competition ended up being over ten thousand kids that
entered and dent it off, and then I think I
made like top one hundred. We got I think we
got a call first and we were like, holy shit,
top one hundred, and they were doing castings like in
Los Angeles, in New York and all, and like, now,
(03:51):
being an actor, I'm like, all right, like if there's
an in person casting and there's self tapes, like the
in person people have a better shot, like no one's
watching the fucking sassays, right, So like, and most of
the kids that were doing the castings were child actors,
so like they this this shit was like normal for them.
May top one hundred and then we were like, oh shit,
(04:13):
this is this, this might happen. And then from Top
fifty to Top five every Friday night they would air
I think it was after SpongeBob, they would air like
the top ten contestants every week.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So this was fun, Like it was like an exciting
like in order, Like there.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Was no social media, right, so if you wanted to
see who was moving on, like everybody had to get
together and watch. So we would have these watch parties,
and I remember I made top fifty, and then once
I made Top ten, that was the moment that my
parents were like this this bitchment actually fucking win. And
I remember Top five. I was the last person that
(04:53):
they showed and we had this like big viewing party
and I was the last one before the commercial break
and they show like your photo, they show like a
little clip of your audition tape, and then like that
was it. I was Top five. The next week, they
flew us all to California. I remember landing at LAX.
There was like paparazzi, there was the news, like Nickelodeon
(05:14):
was there. We were going to be shooting at the airport,
and I'm like always super outgoing. I'm an only child,
and I remember being like what the fuck is this
is like mild like we I think they had me
like sit on a suitcase going around the like baggage plane,
like it was nuts.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And then you remember it that good now, like you
really are Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That was like I mean, you know, I'm walking off
the plane at LAX and there's just like cameras and
interviews and you know, oh my god, congratulations and I
was just like, holy shit, this is I knew that
things were gonna change for me. I just didn't expect
it was going to be this abrupt, you know, like
(05:56):
it was nuts. It was nuts. And then okay, so
Top five we had like a bonding week where they
like took us Nickelodeon studios. We met everybody. At the time,
my icon was Amanda Bndes. She kind of ended up
being like a mentor to me.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I just loved her to you met her, you know her?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, yeah at the time, yeah, I mean I I yeah.
The speculation was that, you know, they were looking for
the next Amanda Bndes because Amanda Vines at this point
was already off all that she had like moved on,
she was doing film like she was just way past that.
And she was one of the There were three celebrity judges.
It was Nick Cannon, Josh Peck, and Amanda Vindes. So
(06:39):
between them and America I won, uh and my skit.
So we had our bonding experience and then we all
got assigned to all that cast members and you were
going to do a sketch and then we were going
to have a you know, live audience tape and they
(07:00):
were going to announce the winner. So I remember rehearsal
for my sketch, which was with Jamie Lyn Spears, Lisa Foyle's.
It was with like all of the tarn Killem, Kyle Sullivan,
all of the like OG's, And I remember I went
to do my rehearsal and like I had never acted,
Like I've always been the entertainer of my family, but
(07:22):
like being on set is just so different, especially as
a ten year old. And I remember I was doing
rehearsal and there's lights everywhere and I just froze up
and I bombed the rehearsal. I mean it was I
even know as a kid, it was so bad, right,
And I left the rehearsal and my parents pulled me
aside and they were like, listen, if you end up
fucking hating this, we'll take you home. Like we don't
(07:44):
ever have to talk about this again. However, we know
how funny you are, and we know that you're going
to regret it if you don't go out there and
just like give it everything. Yeah. So I remember being
like and my dad specifically was like, you know, me
and my dad used to make up sketch is all
the time in the living room and like make up
characters and he was like, listen, just pretend it's you
and I being goofy in the living room. There's nobody
(08:06):
else here. And then I went out to do my
you know, live performance, and I knit like I just
felt the energy of everybody like I was. I remember
feeling if I don't get this, I'm fine, like that
was the best person I.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Say. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It was just such a good feel. And at the time,
while we were doing rehearsal, I actually I haven't seen
this footage until like two years ago, but there's a
clip of my dad asking Amanda, like, what would you
want to tell Christina right now? And she was like, Christina,
you're so so funny, Like I love watching you. You're
so talented, Like just words of encouragement. It was just
(08:45):
everything was was setting up to be exactly what I
wanted it to be. I had no regrets there. I
remember as a kid being like, that's it. Whatever happens happens.
And then we did a live studio audience and Taran
Killham as our host, and he was like, you know,
and the winner of that, are you all that to
search for the freights King America is and they said
(09:07):
my name, and we're backstage and just some pa just
throws me on stage and I walk out and there's
just like a fuck ton of kids, a man to
find Nick Cannon. Everybody's like picking me up.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So you won and I won.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And at this point that hadn't aired yet, right, we did,
like our live studio audience, it wasn't supposed to air
till it the following week we signed an NBA. My mom,
I was a competitive gymist at the time. My mom
called my gymnastics school and my school and was like, hell,
are you so there's a possibility my daughter might have
(09:41):
to stay out in Los Angeles. We don't know yet,
And then I was at My mom quit her job
on the spot, moved out to Los Angeles with me.
I was a series regular on all that, and then
like just my whole life changed. Like back then, if
you were on television, you were famous. Like there was
no influencers. There was no soci media, no no, no,
no no.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
It was another It wasn't so crowd and all that
was the biggest show for my generation because it brought
together like I mean, it was Saturday Night Live for kids.
It was like iconic and it was so diverse, like
it really it really was such a good show for
a pretty large age group of kids.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So god, I would get swarmed when I would go out.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
You're very entertaining and it's all really like just your
comedy and doing voices and singing and performing and not
taking yourself too seriously. Once in a while you throw
in some beauty, once in a while, some food, but
it feels like you're just expressing yourself.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And is this a side hustle? Is it a hobby?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Is it a career yet? Like you know, when people
say what do you do for a living? You say,
I'm an actress, I'm an influencer.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I know you write like what what do you what?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You're You're an example of this world where another generation
doesn't understand like what you do for a living?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Eye better how you pay your BILLI.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Yeah, I mean it's like you said, I was so
anti doing social media. I think like I was an
actor first. My story got all ruffled up in between,
and there were all these signs that like it wasn't
going to pan out the way that I wanted. And
I think a lot of times, like when there's something
that we want to do, and we push and push
(11:23):
and push, and like it's not working. We immediately are like, oh,
maybe this isn't meant for me, rather than being like,
maybe it is meant for me, but maybe my journey
to get there is supposed to be over here, you
know what I mean. So I kept being under your
way in yeah, Like I kept trying to get in
one specific way. I was like, this is the way
I'm going to act. I'm going to be like a
no name. I'm going to be like mysterious on social media,
(11:46):
and then one day I'm just going to pop off
and nobody's going to know that. For the past ten years,
I've been hustling and auditioning and doing that whole thing,
and I was doing that. I was fucking doing that
for so long, and like it just wasn't working, and
I kept I think I knew deep down. I was like,
I think I would do really well on social media
because I'm quirky and goofy and whatever. I think that
(12:07):
I would do well there, but I don't want to
do it. I don't want to get into the industry
that way. I was very close minded about it. And
then COVID happens how people.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's how many actors feel about reality television, right, right,
you may not get the same types of roles because
you just think thought of differently, but it's a different road.
(12:38):
You're saying it wasn't working, Like for how many years
you just weren't getting roles? How are you supporting yourself
as an adult?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Dude?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I was bad.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I okay when I came back up to Los Angeles,
I graduated college, I came back to Los Angeles. I
was super cocky. I've made this very clear to people.
I thought I was. I was a series regular. I
was getting offered great roles, while like I just thought
I was going to come out series regular and everything
was going to be good, And like I was getting
into rooms, I was getting meetings, I was getting the
representation because people knew my name. But then once I'd
(13:08):
get in the room, they were like, d we haven't
seen you in fifteen years, Like we can't just put
you in. We were like you need to start all
over again. Essentially, And that was like the very humbling moment.
I remember having a moment of like, Okay, if I'm
going to do this, I need to accept that like,
I'm not going to be able to pay my bills
and I'm going to struggle, and I'm not going to
know where my next meal tickets coming from. And I
(13:29):
have to fucking love this because I need to start
all over again and like be very green. And that's
what I did. I like went to acting classes. I
did every single casting director workshop in Los Angeles. I
was signed. I went through a bunch of different reps
and I did the dough wide thing where I was like,
oh my god, I'll do anything. I'm so such a
desperate actor, like I'll just whatever you want me to do, right.
(13:49):
I played that game right, and then I was doing
so well. I was on a show before the pandemic
called Ambitions, and that show saved me because it happened
right at the moment that I was about to quit.
I was like four years in. I was like, I can't.
I can't pay my fucking bills. I cannot do this.
My had family members dying. I was missing funerals. I
(14:12):
was missing weddings because as an actor, it's always like,
oh my god, if I leave town, what if I
missed the job or so I missed it. I was
missing everything and I got to a point where I
was like, I cannot do this anymore. A couple of
days later, I got a call that a job I
had an auditioned for I booked. It was going to
be shooting at Atlanta eight months. At the time, I
was in a toxic relationship. My grandfather was about to die.
(14:34):
Like I had all this shit, and that show saved me.
And that show gave me my confidence back because I
was working for eight months.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You are an actor.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
You could be on a set and no pH Yes,
it's funny that you say that the form that it takes,
because I was in La working at La Scala as
a hostess, and I did a bunch of different jobs
and worked for Jerry Bruckheimer and Lauren Michaels and had
every job, and I was trying to act. But I
used to say, I was like, I don't I worked
as a PA and saved by the bell. I used
(15:03):
to be like, I want to be myself, but I
don't want to be a host because hosting seems really canned.
Also like you're staring at words. But I was like,
I would like to be myself, but it didn't exist
because reality TV didn't exist. So to your point, I
found my way into being able to entertain and opine
and be who I am in a circuitous route.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And that's kind of you have to make your own scene.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
You have to make your own you can there hasn't
been like for me. The it just became so saturated too,
right Like by the time I came back out to
LA it was just a different industry every like we
have social media now, and like there's just these streaming services.
There's just so much. It was such a difficult thing
to navigate. And then finally when I made the choice
(15:46):
to go on social media, which happened during the pandemic,
but I didn't commit yet. It wasn't really until last year.
I was like, fucking, I'm going to go ball to
the wall and do this and that.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Like you say that now, now this is your career.
You're a social media influencer.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's this, yes, But my mindset was like, I want
to entertain. I love entertaining. I don't want to wait
for somebody to give me permission to entertain. I don't
want to wait for it anymore. Because even when I
am a working actor and I'm waiting, you're only working
maybe two jobs a year.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I can't.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I can't only entertain for two jobs a year. I
want to know that I can entertain at any given time.
So my thing was, I'll do social media. I'm going
to entertain. I would rather do that as my day
job than work at Starbucks because at least I'm doing
something that is an alignment with what I want to do.
I'm building an audience, so once I committed to it.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
But I will say that it's not only waiting around
to entertain, it's waiting around for someone else to control
your destiny.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It's even with me. I literally was offered.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I'm not exaggerating three TV shows in the last week
or two like Streamer network. Production companies like I used
to beg for this stuff every time. People are always shocked.
And another housewife just propose came to me to ask
if I do something with them, and a production company
wanted it every time. A it's snobby. I'm like, they
can't pay me enough. They can't pay me enough to go.
(17:08):
I will not be going in in a room right now,
like a conference room, meet two guys in checkered shirts,
tell me what's gonna work. It's not gonna work, but
then tell me that it's gonna get picked up, and
then in six months we're gonna start shooting, and then
in twelve months it's gonna air, and then I have
to do a week of bulky weird non you know
of traditional pr versus like here we go, just do
whatever's gonna work, So here's the camera. That's what I
(17:31):
think is the direct to consumer modo. Like Mark Cuban,
who's a good friend of mine, said to me, Bravo
is it's a streamer for old people, like you know
what I mean, Like it's it's it's it's it's archaic
in a way, and only people who get it like
you now get it. You can do that too, but
you're gonna get You don't get that high like you
(17:51):
do when you do something ye direct to consumers.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
As an artist in general, you are always like you're
such a fucking kick me when you're an artist, right,
because it's always like, yes, oh my god, but can
you watch did you watch my tape? What did you think?
Was it good? Like it's just this icky, icky energy,
so desperate, oh desperate.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's what I hated up being an actress in La
No matter what you met someone they asked you what
you do for a living. You feel like a loser
by saying it, not because being an actress being a loser,
but because of being a person working as a hostess
at a restaurant slinging salads. When you say that, they
immediately put a label on you, and they know, oh,
this girl either she's gonna want to sleep with me,
you can take advantage of her, or I'm gonna want
to sleep with her, or I gotta do something, or
(18:32):
she's just another Like, they don't notice you. And even
if you are a talented the people that already know
you never notice you even more because they've just put
you in that bucket over here.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Oh totally, you know, they only notice the shiny new object. Yeah,
I get it. I really just.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I mean, even like this, I've had meetings with like
big agencies, with casting directors where I have said things
where I was like, shit, I would have never said
that shit two years ago, like I had I'm I'm
I'm I only have a lawyer right now, I'm kind.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Of like I did the same thing years ago.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
At this point, I'm like, I'm just I'm looking for
a team. I have two films coming out this year.
I'm looking for a team, but I'm not in the
space anymore where I'm like, who wants to signing me?
Like I just want to sign. I'm in this point
where I'm like, listen, I don't give a shit where
you are. You could be at the biggest agency, you
could be at a boutique agency. I just want you
to be stoked about what I do. I want you
(19:26):
any idea for you. We're perfect, Beth.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Let me I have an idea when we get done.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, you know. It's so funny because two different people
have asked me from the house will I have spear
to manage them? And I've said no, And then a
young influencer with like twenty million followers asked me the same.
And it's just something that keeps coming up where people
are asking me and I have different ideas.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
People that don't understand the industry. They look at you
and they're like, you've been out in LA for a
really long time, haven't really seen you on anything. They
don't understand like all of the bullshit we have to
go through and like the rejection and like how many
times I get called and it's like you're pinned, or
you're unproducer desk, or here's a callback where they really
like you.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Nothing's worse than a call back that's degrading too and
you're calling begging for scrappa.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Wait, what did they say? What exactly? What do I
wear or what it's de great?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
They don't they don't see that. I mean I had.
I had a couple of Auguste's ago. I was going
to be officiating wedding in Vermont and I auditioned for
a really big role on a really big show across
from a really big actor. I was the only actor
that they had called out for this role. I'd been
in for them a bunch. I had a great relationship
with them, huge network. They called me in for this role.
(20:32):
It was like an FBI Asian. It was right up
my alley. It was great. I'm the only one that
went out for it. I went out for it. I
submitted my tape, nailed the fucking tape. My reps call
me and they were like, listen, you're the only person
that went out for this. You're gonna get this. And
I was like okay, And two in two days, I
was flying out to go officiate this wedding, and I
(20:52):
remember being like, I'm letting you know if I don't
have that, Like, I'm on the I'm on the plane,
so I'm not going to just wait and chill. And
my Rex called me like the day before and they
were like, is there any way you can change your flight?
I really think you're like, you know, I wouldn't just
say this. They love you, You're gonna get it. And
I was like, dude, no, until I fucking write my
name on a paper, I'm not rescheduling. They up cutting.
(21:16):
They ended up cutting that role.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
So it's like, that's great, separate.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
But people that aren't have no association to Hollywood, they
don't understand that. They're just like, well, I'm seeing all
these people on TV. You've been out here for a while,
Like what the fuck are you doing? So like when
I posted that video, I was like, damn, I'm gonna
have to kind of admit to failure all of this.
And I've had these successes in between, but it's been like,
you know, a long time, And I posted that video
(21:42):
and I got I got reached out by some big agencies,
some casting directors. I had talked to you right after,
and then I kind of had this like, well, shit, dude,
I got a million people on here. I got a
million people that every day are commenting like what can
we want you in? What do you have coming out?
Like we want to support you. We don't know how
(22:03):
we're not seeing you in things. And that was also
my validation of I got a million people on here
that I'm doing. They like what I'm doing?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Why am I it is a show?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Why am I not going to use this and utilize this?
I think it is so stupid that we have this
mindset that like, oh, if you are an artist, that's
your brand, like you're an actor, then just be a
fucking actor. People will take you seriously if you're just
an actor. It's like, listen, I have a lot of hobbies.
I have a lot of things that I like. Why
not monetize all of them?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So let's do that now, Okay, besides being a stage
mom to Winston and making that money? Okay, how do
you monetize this? First couple of questions three par question
(22:51):
or two part quessions? One who is paying you too?
I bet you just make money because of you? Is
not crazy?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Three? Is it YouTube?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And for what's your schedule? Like do you seriously, I'm
gonna sit down and do this. Are you just fucking
around all day? Because I exploded on social media? But
I'm just fucking around with this is not my primary
source of saying, come, this is a joke. It was
a puppet show. I didn't even know that anyone would
give a shit. I can't even believe what's going on
and why it happened. But I'm just fucking around. I
don't have any any process whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I do what I want when I want.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
It has no organization, as you can tell by looking
at the contents.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
But that's why people love you, right, because you're just
authentic and you're just you know, it's not a job, right,
You're just like giving people like whatever you got at
that moment. I think that's what I try to do
with my page. I really like. I think I'm in
a nice position right now. The what also kind of
pushed me into social media is I couldn't pay my
rent anymore. I couldn't pay rent. I didn't know what
I was gonna do. I'm like, I'm not going I
(23:50):
I don't want to go work. I already did the
serf's job thing I've done that I don't want to
do that. I need to do something where like I
can use my skills. I went to school for broadcast journalism.
I love writing, I love comedy, I love editing. So
once I started momentum with him, I was like, oh
my god, this could be a really full time job.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Like if I buckle down and I do this, and
I did. I you know, years ago, I left the
agency world. I'm a direct to consumer kind of person.
I didn't want an agent. So they have my brand
stuff and a lot of stuff comes in there that
I do and I don't. I'm not sleeping.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
You know that's smart.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
But I run my own rodeo and they're fine with it.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
That's how you got to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, yeah, well that's like.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
He helped me make this media kit and I started doing.
I started making these like essentially these commercials for brands
where I would write. So I did all the negotiation,
I was doing all the contracts, I was doing all
the admin, all my finances. I became an escorp. Like
I just was doing all of a sudden kind of
doing everything overnight. And then I write, I write the
(24:50):
shot list, I shoot it, I edit it, I produced it.
Now I have a lawyer, Like it's who does the contract.
I don't understand what brand for when for when? Any
brand you can imagine arms, Dogs, Sundays for Dogs, Open Farm,
Amex be the paramount.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
This is so you're literally this is not I'm not
making a joke like you're like Winston's business manager.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I'm being serious with me.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I've kind of just been like, all right, well, I'll
just use my page as like fucking around having fun
doing that, and I'll just monetize him. And now that
I've been growing, there's obviously been more of an opportunity
to monetize. So I'm slowly like I accept brand deals,
I'm a little bit more picky about them. They have
to be in alignment with me because it's my brand,
(25:32):
so it's more him.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Can I ask you a stupid this is a very
stupid question, but I have like people who would film it,
et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Would you ever?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I'm being serious because my publicist, Jill Fritzo, like the
guy who works for her, Steve, and I used to
be like, what's the fucking matter with you? Why don't
you manage Biggian Small's Like they're below people? Stop me
on the street, Like I love those fucking dogs. They pee,
They're seven years old. They won't stop.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I can't.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I have a rule.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I can't have rugs anymore, or I have to buy
a backup rug. I have to have outdoor like a
whole life. People want to address them, they get sent
stuff their influencers. They just don't make any money. Would
you ever manage my dogs? I'll pay I'd pay you
to like be involved in my dogs. Take that take
like like they're making my money. Put me on pay wrong,
I'm saying, well, and see also, but like no get
branded deals will come in and then you could you
(26:14):
would make a lot of the money. Like no one's
fucking servicing my dogs. I'm being a thousand percent serious.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Oh I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Why are you not umbrellaing this into your fucking brand?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I don't know, because I just it's in the way
that you don't know in the this is not a joke,
in the way that you haven't you know. Something has
to click, Like it clicked in for you with your dog,
Like it clicked in, but it didn't click in fully
for you.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It's fully clicked in for me. I I it took me.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
It took me, well yes, yes, but it took me
ten years to figure out how to even do a
post on Instagra, Like I'm not the fact that one
day I sat down and TikTok went viral. I was like, what, Like,
I'm bad at social media, so now I gotta I
don't know how to like and you do voice like
voices like I want to find the identity of these
fucking dogs, like.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well this that this alone, Like I people think I'm
wacky as fuck when I like, actually say this out loud.
This is I work from six am to ten pm,
all day, all day I am. If I am not
doing something like acting related or my social related, I'm
writing a script for him. I'm negotiating a deal for him.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I'm okay so and I have an idea, so it's
not a lift. Here's the thing I'm gonna let you do.
It's called hip pocketing. I'd like you to hip pocket
my dog's hip pocket. In the industry, you guys is
like an agent like doesn't want to rep you, but
they're like hip pocket. You means, if something comes up,
they'll tell you and you eat. They eat what they kill.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Across the board anyway. So I'm asking you, Christina Kirkman,
in all sincerity, and I have a woman Emily, who
you know gets paid very well over here.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, we have a lot of winness.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, they oh thousands and hundreds, So that I'd like
you when you talk to these companies like Farmer's Dog
for example, we are talking to and I love them
and I love that food. But like, if you talk
to these companies for Winston, don't don't take. Don't take
a job's what.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
You're gonna plug you you want to throw them in there, let's.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
For you, But you would negotiate the deal like you would.
You would, Yeah, you would, you would. You would be
like the manager of the dogs like and and be
like I might.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I have Winston. It's my number one client.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's my Tom Cruise, Kevin Evan, and Tom Cruise is
number one Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Okay, but Kevin Yvane
has me over there, Bethany Frankel too, So like Winston
is Tom Cruise, and begin Smalls are Bethany Frankel. That's
a big jump, Grant I'm saying. So, like you have
wins and you're representing Tom cruise in your own thing.
It's your number one interest. But you've also got this
new and up and coming duo begin We love.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The industry loves up and coming too. We can really
just sprint. You know.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
They're fifteen pounds difference, and they're one litter. They're twins.
This story hasn't been told.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Sir, It has not been told. We need to tell
the story, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And they weren't in the demo. They were puppies. Now
they're like, they're like like me, I'm a mom. I
speak to the mom generation. They speak to the mom
they're like a middle aged dogs. So anyway, if it
comes up or you want to write them into a
I'm just telling you a training company. Someone dare somebody
to train my dogs. They fucking still pee at seven years.
They've spent twenty thousand dollars on training them. Because they're training,
(29:09):
they've already like you can't. What are you gonna do, Beth, Beth, Yeah,
you can call me back. One person calls anyway. You
don't have to feel the pressure. You have a big
career with Winston. But in the event that something comes
up and it might be good for that, I got
you okay, so so anyway back to you, so you're
more focused on Winston, which I also love, and just just.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Just listen that. Right now, I feel like I am
using all of my skills and that makes me feel fulfilled.
I get the comedy writing, I get the editing, I
get the production from him for me. I get my
own personal entertainment. I get the financial I get.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
The like, you know, you're learning business.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I feel and and yes, and I'm becoming a big like.
I love hiding behind him. I tell brands off all
the time through him, of course, right, and.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I like you a bad cup. Yeah, we'll be a
good cup at all times. He's in talent.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
But it's nice because I being in this job where
I don't have to report to anybody. I can pick
and choose who we work with. And there have been
some brands that we worked with where were like, I
don't like how you do business, like we're good, you
were good. And like being able to be in a
situation where I'm telling people no is just like so
(30:26):
fulfilling because as an actor you can't but you don't
do that. You never like, oh you want me in
that movie? No, sorry, that's not gonna happen, Like you
just don't get to do that. When I first came
out to Los Angeles, or I had been here for
a while and I was just trying to, like, you know,
I was just horny for reps. I was just paying anybody,
you know, and people kept stopping me and they were like,
(30:47):
are you in voiceover? Like you have such a good voice,
you should be doing voiceover, And I like only watched
SpongeBob growing off. I love video games, I love animation.
I've always loved voiceover. And I submitted to a bigger
agency just for like anything. At this point, I was
just like, I don't give a shit. You want to
write me for fuck whatever? Just can I take a meeting?
And I was at Trader Joe's and the booth director
(31:09):
at the time, who ended up being my manager down
the line, responds and is like, the team loves your
real Do you have a voiceover reel? We would love
to meet with you for voices over? Like, have you
done any voiceover work? Never done a fucking any voiceover work.
And this story is what gave me the confidence to
do his shit. I was at Trader Joe's. I'm like, fuck,
I know the voiceover real. I literally just landed in
(31:31):
Los Angeles five minutes ago. So I write back and
I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have one. I'm out
right now. Let me send it to you, like when
I'm home in an hour fucking race home my journalism degree. Like,
I wrote up a bunch of copy. I faked an
old Navy commercial, I faked a Bravo intro, I added
sound effects. I made this like just good reel, sent
(31:54):
it off, acted like those were all jobs I booked,
and within thirty minutes, they were like, the team loves you,
they'd love to meet with you. Walked into a conference
room of twelve ages.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
So you're you're a doer, You're a go getter.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yeah. So that's my story of taking it till I
make it
My guest today is actress, comedian, and stage mom to
a dog Winston, Christina Kirkman. She's best known for her
role in the final two seasons of Nickelodeon's All That.
These days, fans know Christina from her TikTok videos her
dog Winston. My producers didn't even include that because they
didn't know about Winston, who's also famous and she has
(00:33):
over a million followers.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
This is just be influenced. Let's get into it. How
are you? Where's your doggie? He's literally you're like in
your body, He's in your body.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, he has to be touching to me. He's a
bellcrow dog.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Wait, his name is Winston. Yeah, and he's famous.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He is significantly more famous than I will ever be.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So how famous is he?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Like?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Does he make?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Does he Because I had a dog named Cookie that
one year made fifteen thousand dollars because I think Farmer's
Dog paid me that year, and I love Farmer's dog
or paid Cookie. They didn't pay me paid, they didn't
deal with Cookie's manager. But I look at Biggie and
Small as they pee, I'm like, you fucking cost me
what you don't make one goddamn time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
They're so cute. They're little rascals, but like I don't
market them. They don't make anything.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You got to get them ships working.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They're just a drag on the ticket.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
He fucking carries his weight and then.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Son, well he doesn't weigh that much.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Will true? But he like I used to joke and
be like, all right, dude, you need to like pull
your own weight. He he rakes in the checks.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Man, So how much money does wins to make a year?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He makes six figures?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Winston makes six figures.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Amazing, this this wow, this dog saved me.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Can we see him.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Let's let's see him. Yeah, yeah, this is it's raining.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So he thought, right, so he doesn't what's he working Winston?
What are you working on right now? What is he
working on?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
You got any projects coming? I mean, we've been so
lucky that like we work with like a lot of
the same brands over and over again, which is like
we've developed really good relationships. We work with, you know,
like the same dog food brands. We've worked with Amazon
several times. We just like have built really good relationships
with these brands and it's been a blast just kind
of like you know, making commercials for them. I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's on. It's all social media.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Too, social media.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, okay, so did has he helped your career? Like
did he get you into TikTok?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Christina is a social media influencer. She's very funny, and
then you like sort of we're a little against yeah TikTok,
and then you like.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
We're bored.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And your career it was blown, was about to escalate
and then blew up, and then you got into it.
So tell us about like your story and where are
you in Los Angeles?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Now? I'm from a small town outside of Boston, which
is a normal ass kid. I was a gymnast and
there was a competition on Nickelodeon called are you all that?
The search for the Funniest Kid in America? And I
was like, oh I got I gotta enter. And my
dad both my parents are very funny, but my dad
is the goofy one. My dad was like, let's talk
and do it, and he went downstairs and got the
(03:16):
video camera and we like went on the website and
there were all these prompts. You basically had to do
a few sketches and then some impersonations and like original content.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
So I just like recorded this in my kitchen, didn't
think anything of it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
How old ten.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Okay competition ended up being over ten thousand kids that
entered and dent it off, and then I think I
made like top one hundred. We got I think we
got a call first and we were like, holy shit,
top one hundred, and they were doing castings like in
Los Angeles, in New York and all, and like, now,
(03:51):
being an actor, I'm like, all right, like if there's
an in person casting and there's self tapes, like the
in person people have a better shot, like no one's
watching the fucking sassays, right, So like, and most of
the kids that were doing the castings were child actors,
so like they this this shit was like normal for them.
May top one hundred and then we were like, oh shit,
(04:13):
this is this, this might happen. And then from Top
fifty to Top five every Friday night they would air
I think it was after SpongeBob, they would air like
the top ten contestants every week.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So this was fun, Like it was like an exciting
like in order, Like there.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Was no social media, right, so if you wanted to
see who was moving on, like everybody had to get
together and watch. So we would have these watch parties,
and I remember I made top fifty, and then once
I made Top ten, that was the moment that my
parents were like this this bitchment actually fucking win. And
I remember Top five. I was the last person that
(04:53):
they showed and we had this like big viewing party
and I was the last one before the commercial break
and they show like your photo, they show like a
little clip of your audition tape, and then like that
was it. I was Top five. The next week, they
flew us all to California. I remember landing at LAX.
There was like paparazzi, there was the news, like Nickelodeon
(05:14):
was there. We were going to be shooting at the airport,
and I'm like always super outgoing. I'm an only child,
and I remember being like what the fuck is this
is like mild like we I think they had me
like sit on a suitcase going around the like baggage plane,
like it was nuts.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And then you remember it that good now, like you
really are Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That was like I mean, you know, I'm walking off
the plane at LAX and there's just like cameras and
interviews and you know, oh my god, congratulations and I
was just like, holy shit, this is I knew that
things were gonna change for me. I just didn't expect
it was going to be this abrupt, you know, like
(05:56):
it was nuts. It was nuts. And then okay, so
Top five we had like a bonding week where they
like took us Nickelodeon studios. We met everybody. At the time,
my icon was Amanda Bndes. She kind of ended up
being like a mentor to me.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I just loved her to you met her, you know her?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, yeah at the time, yeah, I mean I I yeah.
The speculation was that, you know, they were looking for
the next Amanda Bndes because Amanda Vines at this point
was already off all that she had like moved on,
she was doing film like she was just way past that.
And she was one of the There were three celebrity judges.
It was Nick Cannon, Josh Peck, and Amanda Vindes. So
(06:39):
between them and America I won, uh and my skit.
So we had our bonding experience and then we all
got assigned to all that cast members and you were
going to do a sketch and then we were going
to have a you know, live audience tape and they
(07:00):
were going to announce the winner. So I remember rehearsal
for my sketch, which was with Jamie Lyn Spears, Lisa Foyle's.
It was with like all of the tarn Killem, Kyle Sullivan,
all of the like OG's, And I remember I went
to do my rehearsal and like I had never acted,
Like I've always been the entertainer of my family, but
(07:22):
like being on set is just so different, especially as
a ten year old. And I remember I was doing
rehearsal and there's lights everywhere and I just froze up
and I bombed the rehearsal. I mean it was I
even know as a kid, it was so bad, right,
And I left the rehearsal and my parents pulled me
aside and they were like, listen, if you end up
fucking hating this, we'll take you home. Like we don't
(07:44):
ever have to talk about this again. However, we know
how funny you are, and we know that you're going
to regret it if you don't go out there and
just like give it everything. Yeah. So I remember being
like and my dad specifically was like, you know, me
and my dad used to make up sketch is all
the time in the living room and like make up
characters and he was like, listen, just pretend it's you
and I being goofy in the living room. There's nobody
(08:06):
else here. And then I went out to do my
you know, live performance, and I knit like I just
felt the energy of everybody like I was. I remember
feeling if I don't get this, I'm fine, like that
was the best person I.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Say. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It was just such a good feel. And at the time,
while we were doing rehearsal, I actually I haven't seen
this footage until like two years ago, but there's a
clip of my dad asking Amanda, like, what would you
want to tell Christina right now? And she was like, Christina,
you're so so funny, Like I love watching you. You're
so talented, Like just words of encouragement. It was just
(08:45):
everything was was setting up to be exactly what I
wanted it to be. I had no regrets there. I
remember as a kid being like, that's it. Whatever happens happens.
And then we did a live studio audience and Taran
Killham as our host, and he was like, you know,
and the winner of that, are you all that to
search for the freights King America is and they said
(09:07):
my name, and we're backstage and just some pa just
throws me on stage and I walk out and there's
just like a fuck ton of kids, a man to
find Nick Cannon. Everybody's like picking me up.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So you won and I won.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And at this point that hadn't aired yet, right, we did,
like our live studio audience, it wasn't supposed to air
till it the following week we signed an NBA. My mom,
I was a competitive gymist at the time. My mom
called my gymnastics school and my school and was like, hell,
are you so there's a possibility my daughter might have
(09:41):
to stay out in Los Angeles. We don't know yet,
And then I was at My mom quit her job
on the spot, moved out to Los Angeles with me.
I was a series regular on all that, and then
like just my whole life changed. Like back then, if
you were on television, you were famous. Like there was
no influencers. There was no soci media, no no, no,
no no.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
It was another It wasn't so crowd and all that
was the biggest show for my generation because it brought
together like I mean, it was Saturday Night Live for kids.
It was like iconic and it was so diverse, like
it really it really was such a good show for
a pretty large age group of kids.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So god, I would get swarmed when I would go out.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
You're very entertaining and it's all really like just your
comedy and doing voices and singing and performing and not
taking yourself too seriously. Once in a while you throw
in some beauty, once in a while, some food, but
it feels like you're just expressing yourself.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And is this a side hustle? Is it a hobby?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Is it a career yet? Like you know, when people
say what do you do for a living? You say,
I'm an actress, I'm an influencer.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I know you write like what what do you what?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You're You're an example of this world where another generation
doesn't understand like what you do for a living?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Eye better how you pay your BILLI.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Yeah, I mean it's like you said, I was so
anti doing social media. I think like I was an
actor first. My story got all ruffled up in between,
and there were all these signs that like it wasn't
going to pan out the way that I wanted. And
I think a lot of times, like when there's something
that we want to do, and we push and push
(11:23):
and push, and like it's not working. We immediately are like, oh,
maybe this isn't meant for me, rather than being like,
maybe it is meant for me, but maybe my journey
to get there is supposed to be over here, you
know what I mean. So I kept being under your
way in yeah, Like I kept trying to get in
one specific way. I was like, this is the way
I'm going to act. I'm going to be like a
no name. I'm going to be like mysterious on social media,
(11:46):
and then one day I'm just going to pop off
and nobody's going to know that. For the past ten years,
I've been hustling and auditioning and doing that whole thing,
and I was doing that. I was fucking doing that
for so long, and like it just wasn't working, and
I kept I think I knew deep down. I was like,
I think I would do really well on social media
because I'm quirky and goofy and whatever. I think that
(12:07):
I would do well there, but I don't want to
do it. I don't want to get into the industry
that way. I was very close minded about it. And
then COVID happens how people.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's how many actors feel about reality television, right, right,
you may not get the same types of roles because
you just think thought of differently, but it's a different road.
(12:38):
You're saying it wasn't working, Like for how many years
you just weren't getting roles? How are you supporting yourself
as an adult?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Dude?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I was bad.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I okay when I came back up to Los Angeles,
I graduated college, I came back to Los Angeles. I
was super cocky. I've made this very clear to people.
I thought I was. I was a series regular. I
was getting offered great roles, while like I just thought
I was going to come out series regular and everything
was going to be good, And like I was getting
into rooms, I was getting meetings, I was getting the
representation because people knew my name. But then once I'd
(13:08):
get in the room, they were like, d we haven't
seen you in fifteen years, Like we can't just put
you in. We were like you need to start all
over again. Essentially, And that was like the very humbling moment.
I remember having a moment of like, Okay, if I'm
going to do this, I need to accept that like,
I'm not going to be able to pay my bills
and I'm going to struggle, and I'm not going to
know where my next meal tickets coming from. And I
(13:29):
have to fucking love this because I need to start
all over again and like be very green. And that's
what I did. I like went to acting classes. I
did every single casting director workshop in Los Angeles. I
was signed. I went through a bunch of different reps
and I did the dough wide thing where I was like,
oh my god, I'll do anything. I'm so such a
desperate actor, like I'll just whatever you want me to do, right.
(13:49):
I played that game right, and then I was doing
so well. I was on a show before the pandemic
called Ambitions, and that show saved me because it happened
right at the moment that I was about to quit.
I was like four years in. I was like, I can't.
I can't pay my fucking bills. I cannot do this.
My had family members dying. I was missing funerals. I
(14:12):
was missing weddings because as an actor, it's always like,
oh my god, if I leave town, what if I
missed the job or so I missed it. I was
missing everything and I got to a point where I
was like, I cannot do this anymore. A couple of
days later, I got a call that a job I
had an auditioned for I booked. It was going to
be shooting at Atlanta eight months. At the time, I
was in a toxic relationship. My grandfather was about to die.
(14:34):
Like I had all this shit, and that show saved me.
And that show gave me my confidence back because I
was working for eight months.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You are an actor.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
You could be on a set and no pH Yes,
it's funny that you say that the form that it takes,
because I was in La working at La Scala as
a hostess, and I did a bunch of different jobs
and worked for Jerry Bruckheimer and Lauren Michaels and had
every job, and I was trying to act. But I
used to say, I was like, I don't I worked
as a PA and saved by the bell. I used
(15:03):
to be like, I want to be myself, but I
don't want to be a host because hosting seems really canned.
Also like you're staring at words. But I was like,
I would like to be myself, but it didn't exist
because reality TV didn't exist. So to your point, I
found my way into being able to entertain and opine
and be who I am in a circuitous route.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And that's kind of you have to make your own scene.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
You have to make your own you can there hasn't
been like for me. The it just became so saturated too,
right Like by the time I came back out to
LA it was just a different industry every like we
have social media now, and like there's just these streaming services.
There's just so much. It was such a difficult thing
to navigate. And then finally when I made the choice
(15:46):
to go on social media, which happened during the pandemic,
but I didn't commit yet. It wasn't really until last year.
I was like, fucking, I'm going to go ball to
the wall and do this and that.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Like you say that now, now this is your career.
You're a social media influencer.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's this, yes, But my mindset was like, I want
to entertain. I love entertaining. I don't want to wait
for somebody to give me permission to entertain. I don't
want to wait for it anymore. Because even when I
am a working actor and I'm waiting, you're only working
maybe two jobs a year.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I can't.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I can't only entertain for two jobs a year. I
want to know that I can entertain at any given time.
So my thing was, I'll do social media. I'm going
to entertain. I would rather do that as my day
job than work at Starbucks because at least I'm doing
something that is an alignment with what I want to do.
I'm building an audience, so once I committed to it.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
But I will say that it's not only waiting around
to entertain, it's waiting around for someone else to control
your destiny.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It's even with me. I literally was offered.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I'm not exaggerating three TV shows in the last week
or two like Streamer network. Production companies like I used
to beg for this stuff every time. People are always shocked.
And another housewife just propose came to me to ask
if I do something with them, and a production company
wanted it every time. A it's snobby. I'm like, they
can't pay me enough. They can't pay me enough to go.
(17:08):
I will not be going in in a room right now,
like a conference room, meet two guys in checkered shirts,
tell me what's gonna work. It's not gonna work, but
then tell me that it's gonna get picked up, and
then in six months we're gonna start shooting, and then
in twelve months it's gonna air, and then I have
to do a week of bulky weird non you know
of traditional pr versus like here we go, just do
whatever's gonna work, So here's the camera. That's what I
(17:31):
think is the direct to consumer modo. Like Mark Cuban,
who's a good friend of mine, said to me, Bravo
is it's a streamer for old people, like you know
what I mean, Like it's it's it's it's it's archaic
in a way, and only people who get it like
you now get it. You can do that too, but
you're gonna get You don't get that high like you
(17:51):
do when you do something ye direct to consumers.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
As an artist in general, you are always like you're
such a fucking kick me when you're an artist, right,
because it's always like, yes, oh my god, but can
you watch did you watch my tape? What did you think?
Was it good? Like it's just this icky, icky energy,
so desperate, oh desperate.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's what I hated up being an actress in La
No matter what you met someone they asked you what
you do for a living. You feel like a loser
by saying it, not because being an actress being a loser,
but because of being a person working as a hostess
at a restaurant slinging salads. When you say that, they
immediately put a label on you, and they know, oh,
this girl either she's gonna want to sleep with me,
you can take advantage of her, or I'm gonna want
to sleep with her, or I gotta do something, or
(18:32):
she's just another Like, they don't notice you. And even
if you are a talented the people that already know
you never notice you even more because they've just put
you in that bucket over here.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Oh totally, you know, they only notice the shiny new object. Yeah,
I get it. I really just.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I mean, even like this, I've had meetings with like
big agencies, with casting directors where I have said things
where I was like, shit, I would have never said
that shit two years ago, like I had I'm I'm
I'm I only have a lawyer right now, I'm kind.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Of like I did the same thing years ago.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
At this point, I'm like, I'm just I'm looking for
a team. I have two films coming out this year.
I'm looking for a team, but I'm not in the
space anymore where I'm like, who wants to signing me?
Like I just want to sign. I'm in this point
where I'm like, listen, I don't give a shit where
you are. You could be at the biggest agency, you
could be at a boutique agency. I just want you
to be stoked about what I do. I want you
(19:26):
any idea for you. We're perfect, Beth.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Let me I have an idea when we get done.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, you know. It's so funny because two different people
have asked me from the house will I have spear
to manage them? And I've said no, And then a
young influencer with like twenty million followers asked me the same.
And it's just something that keeps coming up where people
are asking me and I have different ideas.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
People that don't understand the industry. They look at you
and they're like, you've been out in LA for a
really long time, haven't really seen you on anything. They
don't understand like all of the bullshit we have to
go through and like the rejection and like how many
times I get called and it's like you're pinned, or
you're unproducer desk, or here's a callback where they really
like you.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Nothing's worse than a call back that's degrading too and
you're calling begging for scrappa.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Wait, what did they say? What exactly? What do I
wear or what it's de great?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
They don't they don't see that. I mean I had.
I had a couple of Auguste's ago. I was going
to be officiating wedding in Vermont and I auditioned for
a really big role on a really big show across
from a really big actor. I was the only actor
that they had called out for this role. I'd been
in for them a bunch. I had a great relationship
with them, huge network. They called me in for this role.
(20:32):
It was like an FBI Asian. It was right up
my alley. It was great. I'm the only one that
went out for it. I went out for it. I
submitted my tape, nailed the fucking tape. My reps call
me and they were like, listen, you're the only person
that went out for this. You're gonna get this. And
I was like okay, And two in two days, I
was flying out to go officiate this wedding, and I
(20:52):
remember being like, I'm letting you know if I don't
have that, Like, I'm on the I'm on the plane,
so I'm not going to just wait and chill. And
my Rex called me like the day before and they
were like, is there any way you can change your flight?
I really think you're like, you know, I wouldn't just
say this. They love you, You're gonna get it. And
I was like, dude, no, until I fucking write my
name on a paper, I'm not rescheduling. They up cutting.
(21:16):
They ended up cutting that role.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
So it's like, that's great, separate.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
But people that aren't have no association to Hollywood, they
don't understand that. They're just like, well, I'm seeing all
these people on TV. You've been out here for a while,
Like what the fuck are you doing? So like when
I posted that video, I was like, damn, I'm gonna
have to kind of admit to failure all of this.
And I've had these successes in between, but it's been like,
you know, a long time, And I posted that video
(21:42):
and I got I got reached out by some big agencies,
some casting directors. I had talked to you right after,
and then I kind of had this like, well, shit, dude,
I got a million people on here. I got a
million people that every day are commenting like what can
we want you in? What do you have coming out?
Like we want to support you. We don't know how
(22:03):
we're not seeing you in things. And that was also
my validation of I got a million people on here
that I'm doing. They like what I'm doing?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Why am I it is a show?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Why am I not going to use this and utilize this?
I think it is so stupid that we have this
mindset that like, oh, if you are an artist, that's
your brand, like you're an actor, then just be a
fucking actor. People will take you seriously if you're just
an actor. It's like, listen, I have a lot of hobbies.
I have a lot of things that I like. Why
not monetize all of them?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So let's do that now, Okay, besides being a stage
mom to Winston and making that money? Okay, how do
you monetize this? First couple of questions three par question
(22:51):
or two part quessions? One who is paying you too?
I bet you just make money because of you? Is
not crazy?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Three? Is it YouTube?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And for what's your schedule? Like do you seriously, I'm
gonna sit down and do this. Are you just fucking
around all day? Because I exploded on social media? But
I'm just fucking around with this is not my primary
source of saying, come, this is a joke. It was
a puppet show. I didn't even know that anyone would
give a shit. I can't even believe what's going on
and why it happened. But I'm just fucking around. I
don't have any any process whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I do what I want when I want.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
It has no organization, as you can tell by looking
at the contents.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
But that's why people love you, right, because you're just
authentic and you're just you know, it's not a job, right,
You're just like giving people like whatever you got at
that moment. I think that's what I try to do
with my page. I really like. I think I'm in
a nice position right now. The what also kind of
pushed me into social media is I couldn't pay my
rent anymore. I couldn't pay rent. I didn't know what
I was gonna do. I'm like, I'm not going I
(23:50):
I don't want to go work. I already did the
serf's job thing I've done that I don't want to
do that. I need to do something where like I
can use my skills. I went to school for broadcast journalism.
I love writing, I love comedy, I love editing. So
once I started momentum with him, I was like, oh
my god, this could be a really full time job.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Like if I buckle down and I do this, and
I did. I you know, years ago, I left the
agency world. I'm a direct to consumer kind of person.
I didn't want an agent. So they have my brand
stuff and a lot of stuff comes in there that
I do and I don't. I'm not sleeping.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
You know that's smart.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
But I run my own rodeo and they're fine with it.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
That's how you got to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, yeah, well that's like.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
He helped me make this media kit and I started doing.
I started making these like essentially these commercials for brands
where I would write. So I did all the negotiation,
I was doing all the contracts, I was doing all
the admin, all my finances. I became an escorp. Like
I just was doing all of a sudden kind of
doing everything overnight. And then I write, I write the
(24:50):
shot list, I shoot it, I edit it, I produced it.
Now I have a lawyer, Like it's who does the contract.
I don't understand what brand for when for when? Any
brand you can imagine arms, Dogs, Sundays for Dogs, Open Farm,
Amex be the paramount.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
This is so you're literally this is not I'm not
making a joke like you're like Winston's business manager.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I'm being serious with me.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I've kind of just been like, all right, well, I'll
just use my page as like fucking around having fun
doing that, and I'll just monetize him. And now that
I've been growing, there's obviously been more of an opportunity
to monetize. So I'm slowly like I accept brand deals,
I'm a little bit more picky about them. They have
to be in alignment with me because it's my brand,
(25:32):
so it's more him.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Can I ask you a stupid this is a very
stupid question, but I have like people who would film it,
et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Would you ever?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I'm being serious because my publicist, Jill Fritzo, like the
guy who works for her, Steve, and I used to
be like, what's the fucking matter with you? Why don't
you manage Biggian Small's Like they're below people? Stop me
on the street, Like I love those fucking dogs. They pee,
They're seven years old. They won't stop.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I can't.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I have a rule.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I can't have rugs anymore, or I have to buy
a backup rug. I have to have outdoor like a
whole life. People want to address them, they get sent
stuff their influencers. They just don't make any money. Would
you ever manage my dogs? I'll pay I'd pay you
to like be involved in my dogs. Take that take
like like they're making my money. Put me on pay wrong,
I'm saying, well, and see also, but like no get
branded deals will come in and then you could you
(26:14):
would make a lot of the money. Like no one's
fucking servicing my dogs. I'm being a thousand percent serious.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Oh I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Why are you not umbrellaing this into your fucking brand?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I don't know, because I just it's in the way
that you don't know in the this is not a joke,
in the way that you haven't you know. Something has
to click, Like it clicked in for you with your dog,
Like it clicked in, but it didn't click in fully
for you.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It's fully clicked in for me. I I it took me.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
It took me, well yes, yes, but it took me
ten years to figure out how to even do a
post on Instagra, Like I'm not the fact that one
day I sat down and TikTok went viral. I was like, what, Like,
I'm bad at social media, so now I gotta I
don't know how to like and you do voice like
voices like I want to find the identity of these
fucking dogs, like.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well this that this alone, Like I people think I'm
wacky as fuck when I like, actually say this out loud.
This is I work from six am to ten pm,
all day, all day I am. If I am not
doing something like acting related or my social related, I'm
writing a script for him. I'm negotiating a deal for him.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I'm okay so and I have an idea, so it's
not a lift. Here's the thing I'm gonna let you do.
It's called hip pocketing. I'd like you to hip pocket
my dog's hip pocket. In the industry, you guys is
like an agent like doesn't want to rep you, but
they're like hip pocket. You means, if something comes up,
they'll tell you and you eat. They eat what they kill.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Across the board anyway. So I'm asking you, Christina Kirkman,
in all sincerity, and I have a woman Emily, who
you know gets paid very well over here.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, we have a lot of winness.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, they oh thousands and hundreds, So that I'd like
you when you talk to these companies like Farmer's Dog
for example, we are talking to and I love them
and I love that food. But like, if you talk
to these companies for Winston, don't don't take. Don't take
a job's what.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
You're gonna plug you you want to throw them in there, let's.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
For you, But you would negotiate the deal like you would.
You would, Yeah, you would, you would. You would be
like the manager of the dogs like and and be
like I might.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I have Winston. It's my number one client.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's my Tom Cruise, Kevin Evan, and Tom Cruise is
number one Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Okay, but Kevin Yvane
has me over there, Bethany Frankel too, So like Winston
is Tom Cruise, and begin Smalls are Bethany Frankel. That's
a big jump, Grant I'm saying. So, like you have
wins and you're representing Tom cruise in your own thing.
It's your number one interest. But you've also got this
new and up and coming duo begin We love.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The industry loves up and coming too. We can really
just sprint. You know.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
They're fifteen pounds difference, and they're one litter. They're twins.
This story hasn't been told.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Sir, It has not been told. We need to tell
the story, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And they weren't in the demo. They were puppies. Now
they're like, they're like like me, I'm a mom. I
speak to the mom generation. They speak to the mom
they're like a middle aged dogs. So anyway, if it
comes up or you want to write them into a
I'm just telling you a training company. Someone dare somebody
to train my dogs. They fucking still pee at seven years.
They've spent twenty thousand dollars on training them. Because they're training,
(29:09):
they've already like you can't. What are you gonna do, Beth, Beth, Yeah,
you can call me back. One person calls anyway. You
don't have to feel the pressure. You have a big
career with Winston. But in the event that something comes
up and it might be good for that, I got
you okay, so so anyway back to you, so you're
more focused on Winston, which I also love, and just just.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Just listen that. Right now, I feel like I am
using all of my skills and that makes me feel fulfilled.
I get the comedy writing, I get the editing, I
get the production from him for me. I get my
own personal entertainment. I get the financial I get.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
The like, you know, you're learning business.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I feel and and yes, and I'm becoming a big like.
I love hiding behind him. I tell brands off all
the time through him, of course, right, and.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I like you a bad cup. Yeah, we'll be a
good cup at all times. He's in talent.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
But it's nice because I being in this job where
I don't have to report to anybody. I can pick
and choose who we work with. And there have been
some brands that we worked with where were like, I
don't like how you do business, like we're good, you
were good. And like being able to be in a
situation where I'm telling people no is just like so
(30:26):
fulfilling because as an actor you can't but you don't
do that. You never like, oh you want me in
that movie? No, sorry, that's not gonna happen, Like you
just don't get to do that. When I first came
out to Los Angeles, or I had been here for
a while and I was just trying to, like, you know,
I was just horny for reps. I was just paying anybody,
you know, and people kept stopping me and they were like,
(30:47):
are you in voiceover? Like you have such a good voice,
you should be doing voiceover, And I like only watched
SpongeBob growing off. I love video games, I love animation.
I've always loved voiceover. And I submitted to a bigger
agency just for like anything. At this point, I was
just like, I don't give a shit. You want to
write me for fuck whatever? Just can I take a meeting?
And I was at Trader Joe's and the booth director
(31:09):
at the time, who ended up being my manager down
the line, responds and is like, the team loves your
real Do you have a voiceover reel? We would love
to meet with you for voices over? Like, have you
done any voiceover work? Never done a fucking any voiceover work.
And this story is what gave me the confidence to
do his shit. I was at Trader Joe's. I'm like, fuck,
I know the voiceover real. I literally just landed in
(31:31):
Los Angeles five minutes ago. So I write back and
I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have one. I'm out
right now. Let me send it to you, like when
I'm home in an hour fucking race home my journalism degree. Like,
I wrote up a bunch of copy. I faked an
old Navy commercial, I faked a Bravo intro, I added
sound effects. I made this like just good reel, sent
(31:54):
it off, acted like those were all jobs I booked,
and within thirty minutes, they were like, the team loves you,
they'd love to meet with you. Walked into a conference
room of twelve ages.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
So you're you're a doer, You're a go getter.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yeah. So that's my story of taking it till I
make it
Host
Bethenny Frankel
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