Speaker 1: 1:25

I want to take a moment and thank First Community Bank for being a premier sponsor of our podcast. Hey Danielle how's it going today? It's good. I'm super excited about our guest that's here in the studio, carla Nemec. I met Carla through a writer's group here in Northwest Arkansas and she has this amazing extensive life story experience working in film and I'm excited for our listeners to hear a little bit about her journey.

Speaker 2: 1:57

You had some pretty big titles, though. Yes, yeah, pirates of titles, though. Yes, yeah, pirates of the Caribbean yes, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Saint. Oh my gosh, with Val Kilmer. Yeah, that was one of my favorite movies growing up. I loved that.

Speaker 3: 2:10

It's a fun show.

Speaker 2: 2:12

Yeah, so okay, moscow and London Really. Okay, so list off a few more. I am Really Okay, so list off a few more. I am Because you have an extensive IMBD page. Yes, which is also pretty cool, by the way 35 years in the business, 35?

Speaker 3: 2:26

Yeah, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 2:31

Okay, well, we have a lot to unpack in a little time. So first tell us are you from the area? And if you're not, how did you get here?

Speaker 3: 2:37

Yes, I grew up in Springdale, graduated or and if you're not, how did you get here? Yes, I grew up in Springdale, graduated high school, springdale Bulldog 1968, and worked in radio and television here for about 10 years. And then I moved to Los Angeles in 82 and they had a freeze on radio and television at the time because there everything is union. And so I went to work as an assistant, a production assistant, on another 48 hours, I think was my first movie with Eddie Murphy.

Speaker 2: 3:05

Your first movie was with Eddie Murphy.

Speaker 3: 3:07

Yes, cool, so cool. And then I just kept working and my early days I worked. I did the Abyss and Terminator 2 with Jim Cameron, which was amazing, working so early in my career with him, and plus the Abyss and Terminator 2 with Jim Cameron, which was amazing, working so early in my career with him. And plus the Abyss was amazing because that's my first love right now is scuba diving. I love scuba diving and I started scuba diving on the Abyss.

Speaker 2: 3:30

What you got to scuba dive, okay, wait. So was that? Did you have to become certified? Yes, and then? So what did you scuba dive for fun or was it part of? Oh no, just fun. Yeah, just fun, okay, yeah. And then Terminator 2, which, by the way, my dad let me watch Terminator when I was like five and my mom didn't know about it. Oh no.

Speaker 2: 3:49

And they got into like a big fight about it. Yeah, it was rated R and, like today's standards of R are are different from then, probably wasn't so bad then, but pretty violent, yeah, pretty violent. Yeah, but a great movie. It is a great movie. Yeah, I'll be bogged. I'll be bogged. Okay, sorry, keep going. So the Abyss Terminator 2.

Speaker 3: 4:09

Oh, there's so many. I did the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, spent five years of my career doing that, and then, when I took a break, my mother was ill so I took off a little over a year to stay with her and Disney Studios hired me to archive all the pirate stuff, so that was really fun. I got to do it from home and I archived everything from Jerry Bruckheimer, who was the producer and used to take photos constantly Jerry Bruckheimer, who was the producer and used to take photos constantly. Johnny, everybody, everybody turned in their stuff and we just did this huge archive of all the Disney Getting ready for Pirates 4, of course, and so that was really fun. I used to always try to get water movies yeah, so I could scuba dive.

Speaker 1: 4:54

That's so cool.

Speaker 2: 4:55

That's really awesome, yeah, because after they didn't renew Johnny Depp because, well, I don't know, there was a lot of reasons. I think that came out in the Depp versus Heard trial, but I was sad. I would have loved to see another one come out, because those were all fun movies.

Speaker 3: 5:10

It's one thing. You do hear so many bad things a lot of times. I know here you hear a lot of people talk bad about actors and things like that, but I had the experience of working with people like Johnny Depp, keanu Reeves. I've never seen people give so much back. Yeah, I mean Johnny. I had one experience with him where a child was in Make-A-Wish Foundation and they called and wanted to and somehow the call went to me and they wanted. His wish was to meet Johnny. We were very busy. Right in the middle of shooting, johnny told me he says, let's make plans. His assistant flew the mother and the child out the very next week, spent a week with us. They were on set every day, sent them all over the place. He does stuff like that all the time.

Speaker 2: 5:56

Oh, I was always teamed up. Yes, I am definitely, I've always been teamed up yeah, keanu reeves same way oh, I've heard keanu's like giving human being in my life just gives, gives, gives yeah that's so funny I've heard the same thing about him because he's not really someone who's like in the tabloids, a lot like. He's not an over-the-top personality. He just seems to kind of keep to himself and do just be Very private.

Speaker 3: 6:21

But very kind and big heart.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Yeah, that's really great. What would you say were some of your favorite experiences working in the film industry in LA?

Speaker 3: 6:33

The travel portion of it. I was on the road for probably 20 some years after my kids all graduated and they were kind of on their own. I just started traveling and I pretty much got to go all over the world. And I love it because I get to stay for like four or five, six months at a time. So I've done a couple of shows in Hawaii, moscow, london, then two in Puerto Rico when we were doing Pirates. We got to go all through the islands. It was every weekend. We would like go horseback riding on one island and then go to another island and go scuba diving and it was like we would just rent puddle jumper planes and just go all over the place every weekend. And how else? I mean I don't know any other career I could have had where I could have had so much fun and and the people that you meet, just the talent and you become like family.

Speaker 2: 7:26

So it's pretty amazing yeah, val kilmer, I'm like kind of jealous right now because I go check out her imdb.

Speaker 1: 7:34

You just will see the list. Well, as a kid, she's worked on.

Speaker 2: 7:37

Batman although I think Michael Keaton was my favorite Batman, but Val Kilmer when I was a kid, totally crushed on him and Johnny Depp, of course. But I mean Johnny Depp, I just remember from what's Eating Gilbert Grape and then Edward Scissorhands. That's how I first you know, but yeah, that would be hard not to be starstruck. You just have to, like, do your job and you know, not be like oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 8:01

I would like to take a step back, Carla, and talk a little bit about what you did in the film industry and how you got involved. You know, you were working in TV and in television or you're working in radio and television and then you kind of took a sidestep over into film and so what. You worked as a production assistant and then made your way up.

Speaker 3: 8:30

And so tell our listeners and tell us a little bit more about what you did and how you kind of got there.

Speaker 3: 8:34

Most people or a lot of people that's where they start is production assistants and I did that, I think, one or two shows and then I started coordinating. Once I started art department coordinating I had thought many times about going into art direction and all, but I pretty much did back-to-back movies. I was very fortunate I never had to look for a movie. I just always was hired pretty much back back and putting my youngest daughter through college and just making ends meet. I just kept working and I paired up with some amazing production designers. I worked with Chris Seekers for about 12 years. He used to do all of Tony Scott's movies and now he's doing all of Ridley's movies and he's amazing. He's from England and just has amazing talent. So I worked with him a lot and I loved working with him.

Speaker 3: 9:25

They used to send me in on some shows. I would go there even before. The only person on the show would be like the producer and myself in town and they would send me early to help set up the offices and just get everything set up with accounts and all, and then the production company would come in. Then I would be like one of the last ones to leave, just making sure everything was taken care of before we left and I just did a little bit of everything, everything from budgeting to research to hiring our assistants that would take care of getting information out. My boss used to call me the heartbeat of the art department, because everything that came in would have to go through me and everything that went out would have to go through me. So we would keep a good record of everything I worked on mostly large budget movies, which means one little mistake can cost you millions of dollars.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Whoa.

Speaker 3: 10:21

You have to be really careful. I remember one set I was on when we were doing Fantastic Four. We'd hired a local graphic artist to help us and he had done a sign and somehow it got past the art department and onto the set. Something was spelled wrong on it. Well, the movie company comes in. They have to put a hold on shooting until we get the sign changed. That was several hours that we lost and it was like you never want that to happen ever.

Speaker 2: 10:52

Oh, hours just cost everyone that's involved.

Speaker 3: 10:55

Yeah, but that doesn't happen very often, because usually usually you know, when you work on big shows like that, you've just got such great talent, and for things like that they're careful, and they, so it passes through a lot of eyes too.

Speaker 2: 11:08

Oh, yes, yeah yes, so because you've been in the industry so long, I'm curious what it you know, what you've noticed being a woman in the entertainment industry. How has that changed from when you started to you know, from when you retired? Have you noticed? Oh yes, definitely yeah, I'm just curious what that journey was like, or your takeaways Like Positive.

Speaker 3: 11:33

There's more and more women that are getting recognition for being directors, producers, production designers, everything and it's growing every day. But I worked with several women that were amazing talent and, yeah, it's about time.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Right, I love that About dang time. We should just make that the episode title. It's about time.

Speaker 2: 11:55

It's about time, it's always dang time. We should just make that the episode title it's about time, it's about time, it's always about time.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Tell us, Carla, just for the listener's sake, a little bit about what the art department does for a film and what an art director's main responsibilities would be.

Speaker 3: 12:11

Our department is in charge of anything that doesn't move pretty much All the sets, furnishings, everything. It includes so much on big projects because you can't use anything without everything being cleared. So you have a whole team that just works with clearances alone. And like getting name brands for beer, sodas, cereals, computers, tv anything that you see on screen has to be cleared or given permission. So that's a big deal. Our department does that. But set designers we have illustrators that start doing concept designs for the production designer that he will share with the director to make sure they're on the right page as far as the look of the film. Then set designers step in and draw the sets up. Construction takes the drawings, builds the sets. Set decorators come in and decorate the sets. Again, set decorators fall under the art department. You work with special effects very closely. If any kind of pieces have to be adjusted for effects you have to work with them, make sure they have all the latest drawings on everything, every department. You have to make sure they're just kept up with everything, every change that's made on set. You work very closely with the first assistant directors and their department because they schedule everything In the art department.

Speaker 3: 13:39

You have to schedule, not only the building of the sets. When you're doing three, four hundred million dollar movies, it's a lot of sets that you're building. You have to schedule when they're going to be completed, when special effects can step in and do their part, when greens can step in and do their part, when set decorating steps in and do their part. When greens can step in and do their part, when set decorating steps in, does their part, painters, everything. You have to have every bit of that scheduled, everything per set. So it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a whole lot. I mean we would have schedules that would go on forever, it seemed. But you get a lot of great professionals that are used to great teamwork and my boss used to always say you're only as good as your team. And boy he built some great teams.

Speaker 1: 14:25

That's so true. That's so true. Yeah, awesome. What are some of your favorite memories of being on set, whether it's been in the past or even just some of the work that you're doing now and the volunteer work that you're doing here in the film community within Northwest Arkansas? What are some of those favorite memories?

Speaker 3: 14:46

My favorite memory would have to be the travel, and I would always try to fly. I have three daughters who are the joy of my life and I would try to fly them and their children out different places. And I remember once I flew my daughter carmen and her two children to puerto rico and the kids were only maybe six, eight years old. But, oh my lord, we had the time of our life and then one of my granddaughters. I was working on jumanji and I flew her to Hawaii you worked on Jumanji Dwayne Johnson one yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:50

Okay yeah. Is he as funny in real life? Yeah?

Speaker 3: 15:55

I've done two movies with him, did Fast and Furious 5 with him in Puerto Rico, and it just so happened my mother's husband died when I was doing the movie and they flew me home for the funeral. And on my way back, dwayne Johnson was sitting behind me. They blessed me with the first class and Dwayne was behind me the whole trip. He talked to me. He hadn't been to Puerto Rico to see the set yet. He was on his way there the first. Well, I'd already been there a couple of months and then I told him about my mother. After that, every time he laid eyes on me he would come over Carla how's your mom doing that's?

Speaker 2: 16:32

and?

Speaker 3: 16:32

he's just such a kind man and he does so many good things too awesome.

Speaker 1: 16:37

I love hearing these stories that you're sharing of actors who are making a difference and who are going beyond their fame and going beyond what they do and just loving on people, and I think that is really awesome and people forget.

Speaker 2: 16:51

They're people too. Yeah, you know like they're very sensationalized, but they're people that have the same kind of you know needs and wants in life. Like they want to, you know, feel love, they don't you know they can get down on people, hating them on the internet or trolling them, like that would be really hard.

Speaker 1: 17:08

I think it would be hard, I think it would be very hard to be in the limelight in just general and just tough skin. Yeah, you'd have to have tough skin?

Speaker 2: 17:16

I don't know that I would ever able to handle that kind of what was your favorite movie that you worked on the pirate movies would have to be.

Speaker 3: 17:25

I mean just the experience going through all the islands and five years with it was pretty much the same crew and you become like family. Yeah, we still stay in touch oh, you do oh, yeah, that's so cool.

Speaker 1: 17:38

Try to have reunions every now and then when we yeah and yeah, yeah speaking of pirates of the caribbean, especially since you worked for the art department, and I think about how the movies came after the ride at Disney, and growing up it was always it's a great ride, by the way, it was yeah, it was always the ride that you wanted. I rode it with Danielle yeah, she, I got to take this year for the first time to Disney World.

Speaker 1: 18:05

She had never gone before and that was one of the rides that I was like we have to go on.

Speaker 2: 18:09

She has a picture of me and I look like a little kid. I'm like it was a candid. I'm like so excited.

Speaker 1: 18:16

Sitting on the boat, and I just love how that they've incorporated Johnny Depp or Captain Jack Sparrow into the ride, but as far as I would be interested to hear from an art direction perspective of having to go from okay, this is taken from a ride, and what elements from the ride were then incorporated into how much? Or maybe my question should be, how much of an influence was that ride on what you did as an art department?

Speaker 3: 18:49

I think it was both ways. I think the movie was an influence on the ride and the ride, because they changed the ride a lot.

Speaker 1: 18:58

Yeah, they did, that's true, and so.

Speaker 3: 19:00

I think it was both. And I just remember when I was working at Disney. I worked for Disney quite a bit and I remember when we were doing a commercial for the Super Bowl, when I did Pirates 1. And they did the commercial, spent a lot of money on doing it, and then I don't think they ever aired it Because the Disney heads at that time they were not so sure Johnny Depp was right for the role and they were trying to get Gore Verbinski, the director, to cast somebody else, and Gore said nope, it's got to be Johnny.

Speaker 2: 19:35

I can't imagine anyone else being. I'm trying to think. If they had anyone in mind, who would that have even been?

Speaker 3: 19:42

I mean, in the very beginning it was a big deal.

Speaker 1: 19:48

Yeah, because they were just some studio heads that weren't sure, they thought he was the disconnect between the studio heads and the creatives. Well, that's always the case, isn't there?

Speaker 2: 19:58

Yeah, yeah I mean, yeah, different mind, different sides of the brain working there. Yeah, wait, so we never got to finish. How you got to Northwest Arkansas, I think. So you were in LA, yes.

Speaker 3: 20:10

And then I moved back when my mother got sick and I bought a house here and, like I said, I stayed here for 16 months and right after she passed away I went right back to work. My boss from England, Chris, brought me right back in the fold and I would average being home maybe four weeks out of the year and I just left my house empty all the time and I was on the road constantly and then three years ago, when I turned 70, I finally retired.

Speaker 3: 20:40

But I'm not retired. I'm busier than ever now working on local movies, which I'm working on, jason Pitt's movie now, the Forest Through the Trees, and last year I worked on Kate Sigenthaler's movie, enthralled. And you asked me what was my favorite movie. I had so much fun on that one and it was just because the kids JBU has the best film department, our entire camera crew, they were all J jbu graduates and our director of photography was from new york and he'd been in the business for years, had a list of credits a mile long also, and I remember tim saying it was the best camera crew he'd ever worked with.

Speaker 2: 21:20

Wow, and his whole crew representing.

Speaker 3: 21:24

They're amazing, steve snyder. He runs an amazing program he really does.

Speaker 1: 21:29

He really does. I got to be right before Steve Snedeker came on board. I was a film student at JPU and so it's kind of it's fun to see the legacy that continues on.

Speaker 1: 21:40

And the students that are making a difference and it's also been really fun. You know, earlier in this we were talking about women in film and there weren't any other women doing cinema not in my class at least and so there were a couple of girls a few classes behind me that were doing cinema and now there are a lot in the program and it is so exciting to see that and just the opportunities that I've had to give back to JBU students and high school students and that's something that I really admire about you, carla, is when I first met you, trent Jones, who's the director of communications For those of you listening, he runs my favorite people in the world I love.

Speaker 1: 22:23

So Carla is very soft spoken and Trent is the loudest person ever, so I love that it's a great.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Sometimes that's us too. Even when I don't have a voice, I'm louder than you are, except for in person. Sometimes I can be really loud. No, in person she's on the mic Intimidated by the microphone. Yeah, when we're together in public, I don't talk to anybody.

Speaker 1: 22:43

But Trent and his team. They oversee a arts festival called Ozark Media Arts Festival that is held in Springdale, arkansas, which is where Carla grew up.

Speaker 1: 22:55

And Carla came back and got. She just jumped right in and she's doing like she said busier than ever doing that and I remember meeting you and I was like, wow, this woman has this amazing, extensive career. You know resume of films that she's worked on and she is giving her time back to students and I was just so impressed by that. I think that was the thing that stood out to me the most was that you have this experience and oftentimes the stereotype, or you know the negative look on people that are working in film or LA like, oh, you know, like people don't give back as much as they should. That's the stereotype. And yet here's someone who's coming back to Arkansas and giving. And so I love that. I love that you are involved and you know talking about JBU students.

Speaker 3: 23:43

And OMAPH that's my. Trent Jones started that program I think 13 years ago. So many students have got their start through OMF. A lot of the John Brown kids that's when I first met them was when they were in high school. Because I've volunteered now for the festival seven, eight years.

Speaker 3: 24:03

And I met them when they were going to high school and entering their projects in OMF and that's why it was so fun working with them after graduating and seeing their amazing talents and I love. I think a lot of the young people don't realize how easy it is to get in the business. All you hear about is how hard it is to get in the business.

Speaker 2: 24:25

I'm so glad you said that, because I have a nephew that wants to get into the business. And I have a nephew that wants to get into the business and he lives in Oklahoma and he feels the only way to be successful to get into it is to go to LA or New York, and I think there is a general, maybe, perception that it is hard to get into the industry, and so I like to hear you say that, as someone who's had so much success in that, I've seen so many PAs.

Speaker 3: 24:52

It's just, I've told this story before but I hired used to. When I was hiring PAs, I would always. If somebody applied from Arkansas, I would almost always hire them because I knew they would have good work, ethics and all, and I was never, ever disappointed. I love that so much. I hired this one guy from Little Rock on it when I was doing Deepwater Horizon. He had never worked on a movie before he came in and I asked him I said what's your dream? What department do you want to work with? And he said I want to work with editorial. But he was great at technical stuff and you always have to hire somebody really good in technology in the art department because you're having so many things, all the departments that you deal with and all, and so the first PA I would always hire would be somebody that was good with technological problems. So I hired John. I told him, I said when you're not busy, go hang out in the editorial department and visit with them and find out and learn what you can from them. Well, he was there first thing every morning. Last one to leave every day was always on top of anything I asked him to do. The editorial department absolutely fell in love with him. Before the end of deep water horizon he was hired on his second movie by the editorial department and they did star wars. So his second was star and I've seen things like that happen over and over again and it's just a matter of and.

Speaker 3: 26:17

Another example is when I first started, true detective had a couple of pas. One of them tell her name, ashley duckworth. She was amazing. She grew up in springdale. Also, if there wasn't something to do, she would find something to do. She just stayed busy all the time, where another person that I hired at one point would sit at his desk on his cell phone all the time. I would ask him to do things and he would get up and do it immediately, but as soon as he finished he would go sit at his desk on his cell phone.

Speaker 2: 26:47

Right, he can't do stuff like that A job not a career.

Speaker 3: 26:50

Yeah right, you can't do stuff not a career. Yeah, you just need to get in there and just always be available to do stuff. Be kind, work hard, never be late. If you're late, somebody else is having to pick up where you're slacking off and your jobs are too busy to pick up anybody else slack yes, so you just you already answered my next question.

Speaker 2: 27:09

It it was going to be. I love to ask successful people. What you know was part of that and you already answered that.

Speaker 3: 27:17

Yeah, show up on time, be kind and just do your job and be eager you know, help people with their other jobs. I know that's what I loved about doing the movies around here. It's not when you're in the union. It's a little different because certain departments you're so relegated to you can do those jobs but then you have to call the other department in. Well, when you work in a right to work state like Arkansas, you don't have those pressures so much. And I know, on the smaller budget movies, every department works together. This little movie that I'm doing for Jason, I have a budget that is so small. I'm production designing it and I thought how am I going to do this? I tell you guys, I'm not even going to spend all my budget Because people here are so amazing and so kind and so supportive of the film industry and that's one thing. When I did Kate's movie, we have to protect the businesses locally so they will participate in the next movie that comes around.

Speaker 2: 28:19

Oh interesting.

Speaker 3: 28:20

I cannot tell you the times. I would go on location in different cities and you'll go to certain vendors and no, no, I got burned by this so-and-so production company. I'll never do that again. Here on Kate's movie, we had so many locations that helped us, that just wanted to participate, and as soon as we mentioned JBU Kids, asylum Springs, they opened the doors to heaven for us. They were so helpful, they were amazing. I have never worked with such amazing, kind people. Now they're doing it for us again Jason's movie. We're filming part of it there. We're filming part at the Ozark Science Center by Clifty. They're doing the same thing and we have to protect all of these people Us in the film business that are working. You have to do what you say you're going to do, be straight with them. If something gets broken, fix it, don't leave it. There's just so many things that we can do to continue to make it easy. You could never go to los angeles and get all of these locations to let you film in their businesses free.

Speaker 2: 29:25

They just wouldn't do it. No, no, but you find that here, here it's more of a community amazing.

Speaker 3: 29:31

It's amazing. The community support and that's my biggest thing right now is, you know, we have to protect that for future movies. Because, once one person gets burned, they spread the word, it goes around and it just hurts us all together.

Speaker 1: 29:47

That's very true. I think the community is important. Speaking of the community, we love to ask our guests a little bit about what they love about this community, what they love about Northwest Arkansas, and so, as we kind of wrap up our time with you today, tell us what you love about the area.

Speaker 2: 30:04

And it can be a personally, not professionally like what do you like to do in the area? What you know? What do you enjoy when you're not working on films?

Speaker 3: 30:13

Oh gee, there's so much here the arts. Like I said, I left in 80. Coming back and seeing how prevalent the arts are and how supported they are, it's exciting we're so blessed In Northwest Arkansas. I think they have more than maybe the rest of the state in many ways Crystal bridges, the momentary. So many parks popping up everywhere, wonderful galleries, it's just amazing.

Speaker 2: 30:41

Oh yeah, I'm a patron of the arts too. I love the arts.

Speaker 3: 30:44

I love being involved in. I applied for my first grant last year. I was working on a documentary about aging, which is another huge love of mine and a very big thing to my heart and I met this lady, Mary Talbert, who just turned 100. Asked her if she would help me with my documentary. She did, and then she got sick and almost died. She was in the hospital so I put my documentary on hold and I applied for a grant with Creative Exchange won the grant. And so.

Speaker 3: 31:18

I spent the money on framing Mary's art. We framed over 80 pieces of her art. We had the medium for over two months. We had 11 artists involved. We sold over 70 pieces of art in that time. The artists got to keep 100% of the money that they made. It was just amazing, and the whole purpose of the program was to make it intergenerational, to get students involved with the older folks, and, oh my God, it was so beautiful.

Speaker 3: 31:48

Opening night we had 20-some kids show up, a lot of them from the Don Tyson School of Innovation, which I love that school. They are so amazing and so supportive of the community and especially the arts. The kids started doing a documentary on Mary that night. They ended up. They came to the fire department, interviewed her there, where she goes and paints every week. They went to her home, interviewed her at her home. She lives at Devil's Den. It's a trek out in the middle of nowhere by herself, kind of, and they're doing a documentary on her and we're hoping that we'll be able to air it on PBS. They're still working on it. How wonderful would that be for these students, though, to get their documentary on PBS.

Speaker 2: 32:32

We're going to have to keep in touch on that because I want to one see yours about aging, because that's such a hot topic with, I mean, I think, men too, but just women especially. There's different schools of thought. There's my mom's, which is just, you know, I think my mom's just always going to be that hippie at heart, the always just like natural and just age. Gracefully she doesn't do anything, she is who she is. But I have one other tugging school of thought, which is there's some other ways which there's nothing against either way. Everyone can do what they want to do with their bodies and I'm a big supporter of that. But then there's like the don't age, the Botox, the filler, the. You know, I'm kind of in the middle.

Speaker 3: 33:18

Mine's not too much about that. Mine's more about planning. Oh, okay, make sure you have all of your ducks in a row that you plan for your retirement, so you don't have Even better.

Speaker 3: 33:32

And it's about planning and also just living life to the fullest. I mean, I'm having more fun right now than I've ever had in my life. Yes, I love that. It's always. You know, we've got to keep moving, we have to be productive. And it's also about intergenerational. I don't feel in the United States we treat our elders with the respect we should.

Speaker 2: 33:56

I agree with you.

Speaker 3: 33:58

They are such treasures to us. I mean Mary, I feel like I am just in awe of her when I'm in her presence. I mean, she's so sharp, she remembers things Oppenheimer, and after dinner. Afterwards we took her to dinner and sitting there listening to her stories about McCarthyism, years and all. It was so fascinating, yes, listening to her talk about World War II. She remembers it all.

Speaker 1: 34:24

That's amazing they are like such.

Speaker 3: 34:27

they're just amazing, and I just wish that we appreciated our elders.

Speaker 2: 34:31

We should because that's how our history, our culture, passes down. Yes, you know, because you know they're not reliable. Yes, there are theories that we've been this advanced before, but we wouldn't know, because it's a spoken, it's a written. So I'm with you. I love to sit down and talk to people that just have so many years of wisdom and just stories, and I love that your documentary is about aging in a different sense, because it sneaks up faster than you think.

Speaker 2: 35:01

I mean, my parents are in their 60s and I will call them and they'll just be like I blinked no-transcript.

Speaker 2: 35:08

mentally, your age yeah, well, I'm 73 now and I feel so young and I used to think that was ancient, but now I know I couldn't believe when you told me that because you have a very youthful energy and presence. So and we just talked today about on brock show that they say studies show that you live longer if you feel younger than you are. I think that's what it was, right it was something like that, which I agree with.

Speaker 1: 35:33

I think that who we are and the things that we're doing with our life, and pursuing dreams, and pursuing passions and living life rather than just like giving up or not living it to the fullest I think that makes us feel younger for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2: 35:49

Yeah, I can't wait to see your documentary. When do you? It's still in the works.

Speaker 3: 35:53

I'm working on Jason's film now. We finished filming that in July and I'm going to take a break and then I'm going to start on it again.

Speaker 1: 36:02

Yeah, I need to get back to California.

Speaker 3: 36:05

I'm missing it. It's been a while since I've been back there.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Anything else you want to share I don't know if you have socials or you're online or how if anyone wants to connect with you, if you want to share that.

Speaker 3: 36:17

We have the Golden Creatives, which is the name of the group, the group of artists that participated in the art show that we had. Right now we're currently I have about three or four people that have agreed to be on a board of directors. We're wanting to start a board of directors for that make a presentation and try to make it a continuous thing. In Northwest Arkansas, maybe even the state, they're proving more and more clinically that art is the best thing you can do for aging. Art and dancing. It's so good for you as you age and a lot of people don't have time to paint and draw and all raising families and all so, as they do retire, trying to encourage them to take art classes, to get involved in art, and it works both sides of the brain. It does all kinds of chemical things to the brain that really benefits and fights against dementia and all kinds of things.

Speaker 3: 37:11

And so right now we're working on that. Besides, that's just all part of my loving our seniors and doing everything that we can to make their lives better.

Speaker 2: 37:20

Yeah, my mom's an artist, but because it's hard to do that for a living, she's a therapist by day, but there's art therapy too, and she's always telling me different things, like my daughter's learning to crochet. She was telling me how good that is for anxiety, because, you know, these younger generations are stressed already, but no art. And it's so true Like even when she's working she doesn't have time to just go paint and it is so relaxing and I'd love to do it myself. I'm just terrible. I think it's skipped a generation.

Speaker 3: 37:57

Because I enjoy doing it but I'm terrible at it Just a matter of doing it.

Speaker 3: 37:59

There's so many people out there that will give you great lessons and everything. That's why we're wanting to keep the Golden Creatives going, because a lot of times the classes are $75 to $125 or whatever. We offered all of our classes for free and then any of the art that was sold in the exhibits. If you go through a gallery, you know you always have to pay the gallery, which is understandable. The gallery has to keep going and pay their bills. But if, through the Golden Creatives, they would get to keep 100% of their money?

Speaker 1: 38:24

Thank you so much, carla, for coming today, and for being part of our podcast and sharing some of your story. I loved it.

Speaker 2: 38:30

We could sit here all day and chat with you. It was so nice to hear about your journey, your career and just you personally. Thanks for coming on.

Speaker 3: 38:38

Thank you, my pleasure, thank you.

Speaker 2: 38:40

Thanks, hey. Thanks so much for listening today. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram at people of NWA. Thanks so much.

Speaker 4: 38:50

People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Daniels produced by me, brock Short of Civil Republic Productions. Please rate, review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen. For more information about today's guests and the show. Please check the show notes. Thanks for listening you.