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[0:04] Samantha Tuozzolo: Hello everyone, thank you for tuning in to Survival Jobs: A Podcast in collaboration with Broadway World.

[0:12] Jason A. Coombs: My name is Samantha Tuozzolo, and this is my lovely co-host, Jason A. Coombs.

[0:19] Samantha Tuozzolo: Hi, Jason. How are you?

[0:22] Jason A. Coombs: Hi, Samantha. I'm doing well. How about yourself? What's your temperature check like today?

[0:27] Samantha Tuozzolo: Thank you. We haven't done this in a while. I'm good. I just got to Massachusetts. As we spoke about a couple weeks ago, I'm seeing the Aerosmith concert with my mother.

[0:37] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[0:38] Samantha Tuozzolo: We just arrived. So I've been traveling all day, which is why I have this hat on. Just, you know, keeping it going.

[0:44] Jason A. Coombs: That's so much fun.

[0:46] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, I'm excited. I've seen Aerosmith concerts with my mom since I was seven. So nothing new. And here we go, keeping it going.

[0:57] Jason A. Coombs: Yes. What's your check?

[1:01] Samantha Tuozzolo: Oh man, I'm just like, I don't know. I feel like I have so much to do still. And like I feel like I've been just kind of like pushing it off, you know, because I'm just still like trying to catch up from life, you know.

[1:17] Jason A. Coombs: And I feel like I feel like I never, yeah.

[1:21] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, yeah. You like you just need a break, but then like stuff just keeps piling up. So probably like a little bit anxious, but um, you know, we're here, right? Living the dream.

[1:31] Jason A. Coombs: Um, I I don't know if I've shared this on the podcast, but I um preparing for an acting gig that's shooting um later this year.

[1:42] Samantha Tuozzolo: So that's been very fun to like dive back into a script, right? Because that's something I haven't done in a long time, and to start breaking it down and doing the work that people have been talking about so much on this podcast, and like to be on the other side of that again is pretty fun.

[1:59] Jason A. Coombs: I didn't, I I know you shared that with me. I didn't know it was coming up so soon.

[2:04] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, it was supposed to be September, but they pushed it back a little bit. Sorry, I'm like no Zitchy. Um, but uh yeah, they pushed it back a little bit, but um, you know, I'm just like it's a lot of stuff to memorize.

[2:16] Jason A. Coombs: So I'm like, gotta start now, gotta start getting ready, gotta start doing this work.

[2:20] Samantha Tuozzolo: And I haven't acted, you know, in a long time. Because I feel like even during the pandemic, I did a couple like you know, under fives, um, like co-star stuff, but uh it's been a while since I've actually had like a larger role to dive into, so yeah, it's fun.

[2:40] Jason A. Coombs: Wow, I can't wait for this to come out so I can watch it and we can share it with all of the stuff.

[2:45] Samantha Tuozzolo: Gotta shoot it first.

[2:46] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, let's shoot it first.

[2:47] Samantha Tuozzolo: Let's memorize it, let's do the work and then we'll do the thing.

[2:51] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, for sure.

[2:52] Samantha Tuozzolo: Jason, I had a crazy dream last night that it was their survival job season three launch party, and I had to miss it because I had to come to the Aerosmith concert.

[3:05] Jason A. Coombs: And I was like, Jason.

[3:07] Samantha Tuozzolo: Tyler's very important.

[3:08] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, and Jason, I I can't miss the concert with my mom, but how am I not gonna be at the party for the podcast?

[3:17] Samantha Tuozzolo: And you were like, it's all good, I'll hold it down, and sort of combined my dream with the Bridgeport Film Festival because I was like, Oh, I think in my dream you're like, it's okay, we'll just change the date.

[3:29] Jason A. Coombs: And I said, Jason, we can't change the date.

[3:32] Samantha Tuozzolo: Like, filmmakers are flying in from California to watch their movies.

[3:37] Jason A. Coombs: And wow, that was a very layered dream.

[3:40] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, I woke up very stressed about it, and I was like, what season of the show are we in?

[3:45] Jason A. Coombs: And then I was like, oh my god, we have to film the we have to record the mic check.

[3:49] Samantha Tuozzolo: I don't have time to record the mic check.

[3:51] Jason A. Coombs: And here we are recording the mic check.

[3:53] Samantha Tuozzolo: So it all works out. That's where I'm at.

[3:56] Jason A. Coombs: It all works out always.

[3:58] Samantha Tuozzolo: We always make it work.

[3:59] Jason A. Coombs: Thanks, Cleumsey.

[4:01] Samantha Tuozzolo: I'm so excited about our guest today.

[4:04] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, me too.

[4:06] Samantha Tuozzolo: Wait, yeah, let's talk about Marc.

[4:09] Jason A. Coombs: Wait, so you so I didn't know that you had known him.

[4:12] Samantha Tuozzolo: You're like, look at this cool guest I found.

[4:14] Jason A. Coombs: I did my research on him, and I was like, oh my god, this guy is amazing.

[4:18] Samantha Tuozzolo: And then you started telling me a little bit. So can you how did you guys really meet each other? What did you work on together?

[4:25] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, so um, shout out to my really good friend, my stage bae, Alana Johnson. Um, we were in acting class together for a couple years, and we were probably the only two minorities in the class, so we got paired up together a lot.

[4:42] Samantha Tuozzolo: But um, she uh shot this really she wrote uh and co-created and produced this really fun web series called TWO GROWN, which is streaming on uh BT Plus, I think, or BT, something on BT, but um yeah, it's really great.

[5:01] Jason A. Coombs: It's just two seasons of it anyway. Long story short, I got to meet Marc because Marc was their DP, and because Alana and Jordan, who's also amazing, the co-creator of the show, were both in it, they're both acting in it.

[5:12] Samantha Tuozzolo: Mark was like also like directing it as well, and like helping them, and um it was such a great day.

[5:17] Jason A. Coombs: Um, I had like a little cool part on set with them, and Marc was so great, he was so funny, and so like you just knew his stuff, you know.

[5:24] Samantha Tuozzolo: And and and I feel like sometimes men, because men are you know, men they try to like take over stuff and you know these are two women who were like doing the doing the work right doing the business who created this thing and he was just like there to support and to facilitate he didn't try to take over like anything and he didn't try to like you know he was just really pleasant to work with in general and I really enjoyed that it was really cool to be part of TWO GROWN so maybe we'll throw it in the link my episode um okay salt and pepper people are dying for this opportunity death death and you two just walk in here like it's some kind of joke no sir no we don't think it's a joke we're really serious wow me I never even knew this.

[5:24] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, it's a really cute show every day.

[5:24] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, no it's really fun and um that was back in like I think we shot that in 2018 so it's been a while right four years ago but we kept in touch you know and and I would see him occasionally in New York City just like randomly when before the pandemic happened but yeah so no he's such a great guy and um he's super talented and then having this I guess when you know somebody in one way right you see them on like social media and he has like a really funny like social media presence and has like all these followers and he makes these really crazy videos and to like only worked with him once on set right but to have this conversation that we had with him to learn more about his craft and and his journey was like really inspiring.

[7:03] Jason A. Coombs: So I left like he really um after the conversation, I was like, I'm gonna get this script right now and like dig in.

[7:09] Samantha Tuozzolo: Like I really was like motivated, and I I thank him for that because I was like, no, I'm gonna sit down today after we recorded it and was like, I gotta get to work.

[7:16] Jason A. Coombs: He he was the catalyst for that.

[7:20] Samantha Tuozzolo: He inspired me too a lot after that. After our talk with him, I was like, oh my god, this guy is just doing it all with like such a good attitude and and so motivated.

[7:30] Jason A. Coombs: I was like, okay, let's go.

[7:32] Samantha Tuozzolo: Let's like get this shit moving.

[7:35] Jason A. Coombs: Let's put some fuel in that engine, girl.

[7:37] Samantha Tuozzolo: So I'm so excited for everyone to listen to this episode.

[7:42] Jason A. Coombs: Me too.

[7:43] Samantha Tuozzolo: You want to kick off his bio?

[7:44] Jason A. Coombs: I would love to kick off his bio.

[7:48] Samantha Tuozzolo: Thank you.

[7:49] Jason A. Coombs: Marc Reign is a Puerto Rican full-time artist from Spanish Harlem, former mechanical engineer, AAS and mechanical engineering technology.

[7:59] Samantha Tuozzolo: Turned actor in 2012 after gaining a BA in theater from CCNY.

[8:06] Jason A. Coombs: Nice.

[8:06] Samantha Tuozzolo: At the same time, he found and fell in love with the art of photography and filmmaking.

[8:11] Jason A. Coombs: And after 12 years of doing it all from acting, directing, producing, Marc has become a force in the art of storytelling, y'all.

[8:18] Samantha Tuozzolo: And you'll learn a lot more about him when uh you listen to this really great episode.

[8:24] Jason A. Coombs: He's the truth.

[8:32] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah, enjoy everyone.

[8:51] Jason A. Coombs: Peace.

[9:05] Samantha Tuozzolo: Awesome. Welcome, Marc Reign to Survival Jobs: A Podcast.

[9:05] Marc Reign: Thank you for having me. This is awesome. Um, I love I I love this, and y'all have great energy.

[9:05] Marc Reign: And so I'm just really really happy to start my week and spend Labor Day with y'all a little bit, you know.

[9:12] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yes. Thank you so much.

[9:55] Jason A. Coombs: I know we were just chatting a little bit before we recorded about what this podcast is, but this podcast is called Survival Jobs: A Podcast.

[9:55] Samantha Tuozzolo: As we just told you, Jason and I have worked so many survival jobs together.

[9:55] Jason A. Coombs: And so we uh, you know, grew this podcast based off of our experiences and wanted to talk to other artists about their experiences.

[9:55] Samantha Tuozzolo: Right. So to kick it off, do you have a favorite survival job that you feel has like positively impacted where you are now and like you know sculpture you are as an artist in a way?

[9:55] Marc Reign: That's a good one. Um because there's see my brain was like survival job. I was thinking like jobs outside of the industry, you know, uh the things we gotta do, the things we must do.

[9:55] Marc Reign: Um, but if we're putting it all together and then saying my favorite survival is uh survival job, I mean I was a DP, you know, and then we were talking about that a little bit before we we hit play, and that's how I met Jason.

[10:08] Jason A. Coombs: That's great.

[10:09] Marc Reign: Um I was, you know, because so I went to school for acting, but I also self-taught myself how to shoot, you know, photos, videos.

[10:18] Marc Reign: I self-taught myself how to edit, I self-taught myself how to do lights, audio, I mean everything.

[10:24] Marc Reign: I was in survival mode.

[10:26] Marc Reign: And um a lot of times um those those ended up being my survival jobs, which was cool because it was in the you know within the realm of of acting.

[10:38] Marc Reign: And um, you know, it got to a point where some people only knew me as a DP.

[10:38] Marc Reign: Some people only knew me as a as an editor.

[10:45] Marc Reign: You know, they didn't even know that I was an actor.

[10:47] Marc Reign: And um and but that's how hard I was working at it.

[10:51] Marc Reign: That's how, you know, how good I was doing it.

[10:52] Marc Reign: People just like, oh yeah, oh he's an editor.

[10:54] Marc Reign: Wait, what? He does headshots.

[10:56] Marc Reign: Wait, he's doing the play.

[10:58] Marc Reign: Like, what?

[11:00] Marc Reign: Um, and so I think DP, though, out of all of them, to be very specific, is probably the the my favorite.

[11:07] Marc Reign: Um, because there's something about you know being able to capture human experience, you know, uh, through your lens, you know, like with what you see.

[11:18] Marc Reign: And I'm I'm I'm really grateful for that because that definitely gave me great insight and and and you know, I want to say information as an actor, you know, that you really can't get in any acting class.

[11:34] Marc Reign: You know, of course, because you're seeing people like on set doing the thing, and you're like the DP, so you're right there, you know, you're doing up close, you're doing far away, like you're in it, you're in it.

[11:45] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, I know, and and you know, just being on the other side, you know, of the fence, seeing it and going like, you know, having the the experience, right, and the knowledge as an actor, watching this and go, okay, like something translates now, you know, as you're shooting it, you start to see what other people do, and you know, whether it's good or bad, in your opinion, you know, you you can ingest that, you know, into your own craft and go, oh yeah, real subtle, or you know, it's almost like you either inspired what uh by some by what someone does, or you learn what not to do by sub what someone does, you know.

[12:24] Marc Reign: Yeah.

[12:25] Jason A. Coombs: Um, our friend, me and Samantha's friend, Rob Alicea, he um talks about how he like did like a background work and on a Holly Halle Berry movie a long time ago and he was talking about how like she was so nice blah blah blah but she was like talking to him and um she was like she knew how to set the shots for herself like she knew like what her angles were like as an actor like she just knew like what what how to frame herself in a way which is like pretty remarkable that someone who you just that we know it's just an actor knew that kind of background knowledge and he was able to see that first hand.

[12:25] Marc Reign: Yeah no I I sorry Samantha.

[12:25] Samantha Tuozzolo: No no I was just saying like yeah I was gonna say background work for me when I did it I learned so much by watching and like listening to directors speak with the actors and talk about the intention so it is so beautiful that these gigs are jobs that we're considering like survival jobs because it's not ultimately what we want we're essentially getting paid to go to class right.

[12:25] Marc Reign: Yeah yeah no I I always say you know having that experience and just know having that awareness um as an actor on set you know um it really it really has given me you know a lot of like um a lot of work you know because people then see my work ethic they see how I work they like how I work and a lot of times you know especially I I I heavily exist in the indie you know filmmaking realm of things for now um and and the flow of filmmaking can be tedious you know on any whether it's indie or or mainstream you know or whatever and yeah and and you know just knowing as an actor that you know what lens that is oh this is a really tight frame so I I can't even move like I can't move forward I can't move back if I got any left and right it's like maybe this much you see so now it just now I know that it it really becomes like a five degree pivot with my eyes you know like knowing that it's a tight lens you know and then if it's a wider knowing it's a wide shot a wider lens then I know I can be a little bit bigger you know not to overact but there's space now that I can move and and bring movement to the scene you know and a lot of times I've gotten a lot of compliments because then the director doesn't have to waste time on telling uh on directing the actor there you know it's just like oh it's like director's going crazy figuring out what the shot needs to be and then the act then she's the actor already ready already doing it it's like man I don't got roll the fucking camera like so excuse my name I love this guy you know what I'm putting in my next movie you know I can't tell this person about you know this actor and and and that's really how I've been able to to stay busy you know thank god and and and continuously work and and and grow and yeah let's flip it and reverse it do you have uh worse survival job that's something that you're like oh my god it's like was it kind of soul breaking or or uh something you would never go back to yeah um you know there's a couple right like that one's like a top five or survival jobs um I've done all kind of things you know uh because I like you know I like to work I like to you know I'm hands-on so you know I've done moving jobs I've walked dogs you know then I've done some I've done security jobs like not too long ago actually last year I was doing uh uh door security for bape in Soho and like you know I got the whole mask I got the you know vaccination you know it's like the most boring like you feel so useless you know I mean sometimes I had to I had to actually step in and and you know diffuse or facilitate a situation but luckily I'm good at that because I'm a people's person you know um are you no obviously you're so charismatic but I'll tell you this it was so funny because one of them recognized me from Instagram you know even with my mask on even with my mask on you know I think they heard my voice and they were like are you Mark Rain and I was like get out of here you know like the one and only I was like uh I was like yeah and then it was funny because then they were like well what are you doing here you know what I mean it's like that question you know and that can be really hard on actors you know yeah uh because you know as y'all know we're we're chasing this this imagination you know that we're trying to create um and and you know anytime we take like we hit stuff like that it hits us right we're like uh yeah I don't know what I'm doing here I'm supposed to be in Hollywood don't get it the muggles like non-artists think like you're on TV once and that's it.

[17:31] Marc Reign: You're sad.

[17:32] Jason A. Coombs: Right.

[17:33] Marc Reign: Right.

[17:33] Jason A. Coombs: Right.

[17:33] Marc Reign: Right.

[17:34] Marc Reign: I was gonna say they don't really know what it looks like in real life, you know, for the artist that has to still struggle or do something on the side so that they can make ends meet.

[17:46] Marc Reign: Because guess what? That TV show that you show me still said you saw me on still hasn't paid me because I gotta wait like 90 days or something. You know what I mean? Like it gets rough, you know. And um, so yeah, I, you know, that was rough. Um trying to think worse survival job.

[18:07] Marc Reign: I mean, and I mean, not that that not that she when she, you know, I'm pretty confident secure. So when they said that I was like, Well, what are you doing? It was like, well, I told them the truth, like, I'm gonna make money. What are you talking about?

[18:19] Marc Reign: Yeah. Gotta hustle. And then like, then it's more respect, you know. Like, uh I don't understand the people that try to like to front and act like you know, you know, they're not struggling or they're not human, you know.

[18:31] Marc Reign: Um, no, I remind people all the time, like, you know, I'm just a person, just a human being. You know what I mean? Just like you. Oh, hey, you can go inside now, it's your turn, you know.

[18:42] Marc Reign: Um it's funny because then they want to like I'm in like full blown, all black, crazy, looking crazy, and they're like, Can I get a photo with you? And I'm like, yeah.

[18:54] Marc Reign: They're gonna be like, yo, this was Mark Lane, his survival job.

[18:57] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, exactly. It's funny. We uh a few of our other guests have shared similar stories where um Alison Psycho, who is on Law and Order in the Law and Order universe for years, was ushering at a Broadway theater for a while because that's just what she had to do.

[19:16] Jason A. Coombs: Like in the beat, she wasn't like really working as much. And people would be like, Oh my god, like Kathleen Stabler. So, you know, I think that happens more often than muggles, is what I'm calling the non-artists who understand no, you know.

[19:32] Marc Reign: Um and and so beautiful, yeah. You know, like in Harry Potter, they called them I was like, yeah, that's Harry Potter.

[19:39] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, like the non-witches and and wizards are muggles.

[19:46] Marc Reign: Yeah, yeah, that's true.

[19:48] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[19:48] Marc Reign: I actually love that.

[19:49] Marc Reign: But it's so good, yeah. And I and I think those stories are so humbling and and also so beautiful that, like, hey, listen, one second I can be like on TV or like doing this fierce gig, and the next second I'm a security guard, and that's okay.

[20:03] Jason A. Coombs: Right.

[20:03] Marc Reign: Because you know what? This is what I have to do.

[20:06] Jason A. Coombs: Um so when did you when did you know that this is what you had to do? Like at what age or what moment were you like, I need to tell stories, I need to make movies, I need to create so it actually came like lightning.

[20:24] Marc Reign: I mean, like, literally, I I'll be honest, like being an artist, you know, being a performer, uh, uh a storyteller wasn't something that like I had thought about as like from I was from a kid, you know, from growing up.

[20:41] Marc Reign: You know, I didn't I didn't, you know, uh as a Latino growing up, that wasn't even a thought. It wasn't even a possibility that I could do something like this.

[20:51] Marc Reign: Um my family was like, you gotta let's go, like lawyer, doctor, fucking sorry, you know, something solid, secure.

[21:01] Marc Reign: That's you're gonna get a paycheck every week and benefits.

[21:04] Marc Reign: Right, right? You know, social security, blah, blah, blah.

[21:07] Marc Reign: All of that. As long as they have that. They were like, you know, that's that's that was the thing.

[21:12] Marc Reign: And um, and so I did that. You know, uh, my dad was an engineer, my mom was a social worker, so I went and I got a mechanical engineering degree, uh, an associates from Citintech.

[21:22] Marc Reign: I was really good at math. The idea was to be an inventor. I was still in the creative place. So I thought I could design my own cars.

[21:30] Marc Reign: But then this lightning bolt hit me, and I was going to City College, CCNY, and um, I I I at the time I had transferred to pursue a bachelor in mechanical engineering since I did the associates.

[21:44] Marc Reign: Uh, and I had my first day of class, I was a full-time student, five classes of just equations. I'm talking about calculus two, uh physics calculus, thermodynamics, metaphysics.

[21:56] Jason A. Coombs: That sounds like hell to me.

[21:57] Marc Reign: It was it was it was heavy.

[21:59] Marc Reign: And uh I in some weird way I just enjoyed solving problems, like those equations, you know. My brain still functions in this way, but anyway, you know, and then I was sitting in front, long story short, and I saw the I was in calculus two, and and and the professor wrote the longest equation I had ever seen, and I was just like, and then it hit me, and I was like, this isn't it.

[22:20] Marc Reign: Like something was like, this isn't it, like this doesn't feed you. This, you know, literally something was like, There's a theater department, two buildings away, go check it out.

[22:30] Marc Reign: I had never thought of doing this, and like I was like, okay, I had those big ass binders. I was like, z. Sorry, professor, I gotta go.

[22:40] Marc Reign: I did. I ran to the to the theater department, you know. I walked into the first office that I saw, and uh, I told him my story.

[22:47] Marc Reign: I was like, listen, you know, hang on. And he was like, Well, listen, you know, uh, I'm sorry, but you missed the deadline to switch your major. It was yesterday.

[22:58] Marc Reign: Oh no.

[22:59] Marc Reign: Oh my, I gotta do five classes of this. And I I remember feeling defeated, and I don't know, he saw something and he said, Listen, you know what? Let me get your stuff.

[23:09] Marc Reign: Let me just walk to the uh walk to the you know the head office and see what they say. I think like 10 minutes later he walked back in.

[23:15] Marc Reign: He was like, Congratulations, you're now a theater major. He was like, and you're late for your first class, acting one on one.

[23:22] Jason A. Coombs: Wow.

[23:23] Marc Reign: And so then I was like, Who is this guy? What's such a blessing?

[23:25] Marc Reign: Yeah, oh no, he was my mentor. His name is Julio Augustin. He's still in the scene. Check him out. He's amazing.

[23:32] Marc Reign: He's teaching, he's a you know, an amazing, an amazing teacher, amazing coach, an amazing performer. At the time, he was on Broadway, you know.

[23:42] Marc Reign: Um, and yeah, that changed my life, you know. I I I I kind of just knew at that point.

[23:49] Marc Reign: And just to give a little bit backstory, you know, prior to that, uh, one of the other survival jobs that I had at that time was I was an usher at the Jazza Lincoln Center on 59th in Columbus.

[24:03] Jason A. Coombs: Oh wow.

[24:04] Marc Reign: And I was the only non-artist employee there. Everybody else was artist of some kind, whether you played an instrument, you danced, you sang, you acted, you're a filmmaker, something, right?

[24:17] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[24:18] Marc Reign: Um, and at the time, I was um I was uh assistant head usher, so I had the little earpiece and I had the little thing right here, and I'd be like, Okay, okay, security or but I had moved up the ladder, you know what I mean?

[24:29] Marc Reign: Like, surveillance. I work hard. I work hard, so they were like, yo, we gotta give this kid a you know a rate, put him in the assistant head usher, he knows what he's doing.

[24:36] Marc Reign: So I was like, yeah, sending one of the workers to break. And I'll never uh forget this moment because then Paul, shout out to Paul Rona. Haven't seen him in a while.

[24:44] Marc Reign: But um he he was like, Yo, you know, you can go to break now. And he goes, Hey, you know, what but what do you do? And then I told him I was a mechanical engineer, and he's like, Really? For real?

[24:56] Marc Reign: And I was like, What? Puerto Rican can't from Spanish Arm can't be a mechanical engineer. What's up?

[25:03] Marc Reign: Defense mode immediately.

[25:05] Marc Reign: He's like, No, no, no, no, no, no. He's like, you know, it's not that. He's like, you know, I just thought you would have been an actor. Your energy, you know.

[25:12] Marc Reign: Have you ever tried it? And I was like, actually, I haven't. I mean, I did something in high school, you know, but that was a play that we came out with, so you know, you know, but and he was like, you know, I think you should try it.

[25:25] Marc Reign: He goes, acting's one of those things that you'll know immediately if this is for you or not when you're on that stage.

[25:30] Marc Reign: And that kind of just I guess resonated. And then, and then shortly after that, school has started, and I was like, and then the thought just like just do it.

[25:41] Marc Reign: And um, and then yeah, I was like, and it was the best decision ever, you know.

[25:47] Marc Reign: Um, honestly, because he was right. Like, literally, I remember that first semester, I did three productions, which was like supposed to be on allowed from like freshman theater majors, but I threw my whole entire existence at it, and people like I went to all the auditions, and people just they wanted, you know, me and their stuff, and then when my parents saw finally on stage, they were just like in tears, like, yes, yeah, yeah.

[26:16] Marc Reign: And it's so funny because I actually remember the moment that I was on stage, and I remember seeing it was it's it was an amazing story, but and I remember being like, holy cow, like this is what he was talking about.

[26:29] Marc Reign: This this right here, I can live off this feeling.

[26:33] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[26:33] Marc Reign: Just the all feel that we all feel that's what it means.

[26:36] Jason A. Coombs: We all love it.

[26:37] Marc Reign: To choose this is to love it, right?

[26:40] Marc Reign: Um because otherwise, you know, you'll you'll slip and fall through the cracks.

[26:46] Jason A. Coombs: So I love that so much, and I think that's so relatable. Anyone who's ever who who still wants to do this, who's like listening wants to do, they know that feeling as soon as you said it, like I got like the chills in my fingers and my arms, like it's so true.

[27:01] Jason A. Coombs: And so, okay, so Mark, you you said you were do DP, you act, you write, you produce, you have this whole like online presence of like these amazing funny ass skits that you do.

[27:14] Jason A. Coombs: Um how do you how did you get into wearing so many hats? And like you have a favorite one, is acting your favorite, is writing your favorite, is com like primarily comedy.

[27:25] Marc Reign: You know, um it like I told you before, it started with you know acting. I uh um I took my leap of faith, I was in it, I was in it for life at that point, and I remember that my mentor, the same guy who got me in, was like, listen, like, you know, you're gonna have to on average, he was teaching the class, the business side of acting in the real world, and he was like, You gotta do a lot of self-tapes, and sometimes that can cost anywhere between 75 to 150 dollars.

[27:54] Marc Reign: And I was like, okay, Scooby. Remember, my brain still functions in equations, still today, when I'm coming up, when I'm writing anything, when I'm coming up with a skit, when I'm doing anything, there's a formulation to this arc, to this progression of this story. And so I was like, in my mathematical head, I was like, 150 a self tape. I was like, I plan on doing a lot of self tapes. Where am I getting this money from? You know, and um, long story short, I had auditioned for this military thing, it was an industrial. I got it, gave me like $4,000 while I was in school, and I went and I bought a camera. I bought a Canon T3i, I bought a couple lenses, the whole thing, and that. And this is where the journey of self-teaching started.

I call it YouTube school, YouTube university. You know, I just went online and started how to do this, how to do that, how that and I started reading and just trying to try and everything. I started with the thing, I started taking headshots, and I remember I showed my mentor, and he hit the first headshot, he was like, this actually looks pretty good. He was like, listen, start taking more headshots, and he's like, and charge like $50, you know. So I everybody in the theater department got a headshot. Forget it. You next, you get you get a headshot, you get a headshot, you all get headshots. Okay, you're the opening. And then uh, and and through then like the curiosity and exploration and the passion of then falling in love with, you know, composition and and all this stuff around setting up the cameras.

Then I started learning lights. I started learning this, I started learning that. And that's how then I started doing all of it. I mean, you know, I started working, you know, weddings, baby showers, I was doing products, photo shoots, lifestyles, fashion, I was doing headshots, I was doing, I mean, you name it, I was doing landscape photography, animals, I got insects all the way closed up. Closed up. Um, and so it really just became like this passion of like exploration and learning and being better and better at these things. You know, um, because that was the other thing where like we have to have that self-reflection uh, you know, through through the lens of honesty. Like, okay, this was cool, but how could it be better though?

Right? Like everyone's gonna tell you how good and great something is. Like, thank you. That it's a great headshot. How do I get it better? You know, and that was always my thing on every side, every side, every side. And then um, and then it just became honestly a lot. Like it became a lot. Like I was busy, I mean, 24-7, it was something else. It became overwhelming, I'm gonna be honest. And then, you know, I started to feel like my acting career was suffering. Because now, you know, I wasn't creating enough film or being on stage enough, you know, social media wasn't ex, you know, wasn't what it is today, but you know, it just started taking over, you know, and uh I found myself not finding them the same happiness, you know, working the weddings, right?

Because I made amazing, I'll tell you, I made amazing wedding videos, like like because I'm I'm an actor, so it was like movies, like I made people weddings, like it was a movie, you know what I mean? Yeah, um, and and it became tedious, and then also a big part of that is because I also because I'm so human, I'm such a people person, I always made sure that the prices were either fair or just like almost like a no-brainer for them, you know. Yeah, um, which then didn't help me out because the workflow and the workload didn't, you know, didn't change. I was still working and doing 100% of the work for like less money, because and so it just got it got, and then I had to like come back and go, okay, I have all this experience, all this knowledge, all this inside perspective everywhere.

And I remember the moment in life where I had it was like everything, and I needed to go, and I needed to just focus that on acting. And I was like, that's where the root of all this came from. That's where I'm truly the happiest. And um, and so acting is definitely my favorite thing. I think in total, though, what I've become is uh something that I think I created a term called creative engineer, you know, and wow, I I created that term for people that are like me that wear many many hats, um, and that can do the job, you know, like because anybody can say they can do something, but can you actually do it? Right, you know, can you do all engineer? Yeah, you know, and and I remember I was like coming up with my resume, and it was like title, you know, and I was like, oh, I'm not just an actor, I'm not just this, I'm not just that.

And I was like, you know, and I started thinking about what I do, and in any in any angle on any side of the storytelling that you want to do, I can fit. So I'm I'm a creative. And then I thought about my equations, and I was like, and I engineer stories, yeah, you know, like if you you know that's that's how a lot of the the stuff happens for me.

[33:06] Jason A. Coombs: That's amazing. Congratulations for being so like poised about it, also, and and it's so hard to navigate this industry and what we do. So congrats to you, by the way.

[33:20] Marc Reign: Thank you for you. I want to talk about your social media presence a little bit. Uh so you created this amazing platform, this amazing presence for yourself on social media with your comedy skits, and it's so good. And you have like over 30,000 followers, which is amazing.

[33:39] Marc Reign: Oh, we for sure reclimbing, you know.

[33:41] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, do you have advice for actors who are trying to break into building their social media presence a little bit stronger? Because by the way, it is it's important for actors nowadays to like have that together build like followers. It's not easy, it's not easy.

[34:01] Marc Reign: Yeah, you know, um, it's so crazy how this social media thing happened. Because again, that wasn't something that I I thought uh, you know, of having like I didn't in my mind I was like actually when when Instagram when like the social media culture started coming out, it started with like vine, right? With like five seconds, I didn't care for it. I'm gonna be honest, I just didn't care for it. Um, you know, I'm I we're actors, we're thespians, right? We come from the core of this thing, and here comes this internet and these little ads and these people look at that. And they're like, there's like a million views, you know, and and at first it was a it was a strong frustration, you know. I had a little bit, I won't I don't want to say resentment, so it wasn't resentment, but I was just like, you know, I was like, what is this?

Man, it's whatever. You know, I didn't care for it at all, honestly. And then I had reconnected with an old friend who was pursuing the social media um thing. Because at the time it wasn't even called influencers, you know. You know, I remember he only had about 15,000. And you know, just going back a little bit, when I was in college at CCNY, I was going viral on YouTube, doing YouTube sketches with a group. These two brothers, I mean, like, forget it. They these they were German and get it, they were just on another level creatively, they went on to be YouTube stars because they ended up creating like a musical, a Disney musical YouTube page. You can find it. Amazing, amazing, amazing work. Anyway, point is we did, you know, we had over a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube back in like I'm talking about 2000 like eleven, you know. Back then that was like a lot, you know.

[35:47] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[35:47] Marc Reign: And so then when this thing started happening, and I started seeing what it became, and then Instagram moved to 15 second videos. They completely annihilated Vine. And then um, again, now coming back to where I was at, I reconnected with a new friend, and you know, he was doing very silly videos on Instagram, but he had 15,000 followers at the time. And I was like, dude, like, what up? Like, we gotta reconnect, you know. Uh, let's see how we could how we could collab, you know, because I could tell he has no experience technically, you know, what he's doing. Like, he has this raw comedy, you know, not all of the content was funny, but the silliness and the vulnerability and the willingness is there, and that's what it takes to be successful on social media.

You have to be, and and we are these things as actors, that's what we do, right? We are the vulnerable ones, you know what I'm saying? We are the willing, the uh, you know, we are these things, but I think for some reason, when we when we come from the training background, this social media it it's hard for us to translate in our in our in our craft, right? Because the process of creating is different. You see, uh, and and so and I learned that because then I just started doing videos, you know, helping him do videos. I was like, yo, you need to shoot it like this, right? Because every shot has a purpose, it's information, visual information for the audience. So it's not just that, you know, and and and I get it, social media culture is still that today where they just want the camera there.

Oh snap, they just want things like really basic, basic camera, and um, you know, uh, but for me, I was like, yo, you gotta shoot like this, edit like this, put music here, sound effects here, and you know, we started boom, then we started going viral. We started going viral, and I told him, like, I don't care about no followers, like, I wanna he wanted to be social media king. So I was like, of Instagram, I was like, listen, you know, nobody, you know, not to sound crazy cocky anything, but I was like, but nobody has me right now, like there's other social media presences, and they're out there personalities doing their own thing, and you can see their content. They don't have somebody who has experience behind them creating these progressions, these arcs, these punchlines, these shots, this movement, all of these.

[38:05] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, you knew your worth, you knew what you could bring to the table, and that's so and so now speeding up the story, not to talk too long about this, but this is like the origin of the social media for me, and and then through the process of helping him create his platform, other people that we were working with was like, yo, Mark, like, why aren't you doing videos? You know, because they could see that the person that was directing this was me, the person that was coming up with the shots. A lot of the times I was coming up with punch lines, yo, say this, say that, and they'd be like, yo, that's hilarious. You know what I mean? Um, yeah, and then they were, you know, and then you know, a lot of them went viral, and then a lot of them didn't, you know, they just did okay on on whatever platform or page it went up on.

But that's the that's the nature of social media, and so then I just thought about it and I was like, you know what? Yeah, I gotta have fun with this, and that's one of the gems about social media. You gotta just have fun with it. Don't overthink this, don't worry about the result as far as views or or comments or any engagement. I tell people the time, when I'm creating, this is why it kind of takes me longer to create a skit than like most other content creators. Because for me, I truly gotta love it. Like, I gotta love it. I gotta I gotta see it, I gotta shoot it, and at the end, I love it. I don't care if anybody else likes it. Yeah, and I think that being true to me has you know, I've been lucky and uh luckily enough for other other people to for that to translate, and and for other people to relate to to me, to my humor, to my comedy, you know, and me just being true to that.

Um, but also being again having the training and being aware of your target audience, and so anyway, so people were like, yo, Mark, you can do this too. And then it's I just started, you know. I was like, you know what? And I'm gonna be honest, I'll never forget the first video I posted. My heart was like this. I mean, it was like the first time that you go on stage in your life. Yeah, you know, that first, first, first, first time you get on stage, your heart is like almost out your chest. You're like, oh my god, am I really doing this? And then you know, and so it feels like that with social media the same way. I mean, with anything you do remove, right? Yeah, especially if you hear about it.

And I posted the first one out and it did okay. You know, for somebody with like less than 3,000 followers at the time, it it did all right. Numbers, you know, because there's like a a percentage for uh percentage proportion. Like you got this many, you got 2,000 followers, 20% engagement would be a solid engagement. So 2,000 followers, what is that? 200? Yeah you know, if 200 people liked it, you're all you know, yeah. I don't know what the numbers are today, honestly, but at the time I remember like a 20% engagement was like a solid engagement average for you. I love that like anything below that, you were like, ah, anything above that, you're like, oh yeah, you know, 20, you're solid. And so then it just started, and then you know, I'll tell you, I'll be honest to anybody listening that wants to get into it. It is infectious, you know.

[41:11] Jason A. Coombs: Sure, yeah.

[41:12] Marc Reign: The clout, the clout. We're gonna call it what it is. The clout is infectious because you know, and there's documentaries on it now. You know, what do they call it? The endorphins or or or what's that thing that we're gonna do? Yeah, but the likes and the yeah, yeah, that thing that we get when we get happy and we're like, oh my god. Yeah, yeah, they love me, they really love me.

[41:37] Marc Reign: Well, we're coming towards the end of the interview. I want to talk about really quickly your work on the play Candlelight with um that was written by John Patrick Shanley, who is like an icon of legend and film legendary, right? Like, how amazing was that, and what that experience was like. Congratulations to work with someone like that. You know, um because my answers can be very long. I'm sorry, this these thoughts are really like elaborate and articulated.

[42:07] Samantha Tuozzolo: No, we love it.

[42:08] Marc Reign: But um, you know, it was I was a little nervous at first. I remember, you know, um just starting at the origin of the story. I remember I I I was kind of feeling frustrated in my craft, like, you know, I was like, you know, I'm doing a lot of film, I was doing our skits, all this stuff, and my spirit really does call for the stage sometimes. And I remember I was like, I manifested this play, you know, or at least my involvement in because I was like, God, like, I need a play, you know. I swear to God, I was like, I need a play. I need something to do, I need something that's gonna really feed my soul. I swear to God, later that day, I got an email, Candlelight, John Patrick, Pillager. I was like, and it was uh it was uh it was uh a New York story.

And I'm New Eureken. So I was like, no, no way. I was like, God, I see you. Audition. I remember I went in so nervous, but I'll say this my auditioning is is pretty seasoned. I like I I prepare a performance. I tell people I'm going to perform, I'm not going to audition. You see, I'm gonna give you the show that I created. Um, and so I went in and I just I did just that. And I remember seeing John Patrick's Chanley's face, and you know, he was like, like, whoa, you know, and I remember I got the thing after that. I had got a call, and they were like, he's really impressed with you. Like he's like this between you and like some other people in our minds, but in his mind, he already wants you.

And that was like already a win for me. I was like, holy shit, like, you know, excuse my language again, like handpicked, you know. Um, so that kind of like that was a little bit pressure there, you know. Because I was like, oh my god, I can't fail. Yeah, um, I was like, I gotta be at my top A game, and you know, that process was absolutely amazing. I I I I grew so much in so many ways, and working with Yvette, you know, I've worked with her before. She's you know, uh, she was my my co-lead, I guess you could say, and but she also is the producer, and um it was a whole it was you know, I I didn't expect I've never worked with a writer that was like so specific, and that was amazing. It was it was very tedious to deal with because you know, us as artists, we we we have our own thing and we bring our own ideas, and you know, we we we want to explore and play, right?

Um, and so you know, he allowed us to do that. That you know, the director, Lori Key, I love her, she was amazing too. She, you know, but it was a very big collaborative process with John Patrick Shanley. He was there every rehearsal. I mean, like, he probably missed a handful of rehearsals out of like the two months that we were rehearsing, but out of other than that, he was there, and I mean, it literally was like, hold, what was that line? Change that, we're gonna make it this. And he was editing on the fly right there. I'm telling you, what is literally it didn't stop till the last show. Last really, it was 23 performances. Wow, 23 shows, 23 days, 21 days, because it was two two days and one uh two shows in one day, uh twice.

Um, and it never stopped. Like that kind of refining and refining and that sharpening of the blade of the blade. And and at first, I'll be honest, it was a little frustrating because I wasn't used to that process, you know, I was used to having the writer, you know, to add a few rehearsals, maybe giving some notes, you know, and then the director just kind of full force taking over the vision and where this thing goes, and then the writer kind of like leaves and it goes, All right, I'll see you at opening day, right? Yeah, um, no, no, you know, he was there, and you know, it it it was challenging because I had to really be water, you know, because I had my own ideas of how I wanted to do this thing, then the director had ideas, and then you know, I had to follow what the director wants, right?

Of course, all the collaboration, right? And then, and then, but but but it wasn't over because then there was John Patrick Shanley, you know, and that you know, working with someone like him, you know, who it was just such a high regard, you know, people holding him such a high prestige as he is, you know, you couldn't you couldn't express your own artistic opinion ever if if if he had just said what he said because it was over. John John had spoken, yeah, and that's it, you know, and it was it was it was challenging, you know, because I was like, but wait, like I understand, but what about you know, and and and and you know, and so luckily we had great communication. The play went so good.

I mean, like it had its theater live moments, no show was the same. I mean, like, literally, something would change all the time, you know. And and the way I had to improv and fix certain scenarios, I had to jump out of this big squirrel outfit that I had like maybe I had like 15% visibility through this squirrel. I was literally moving by the number of counts of steps. One, two, three, turn left. One, two, three, four, five, duck, duck again. Like, literally, all my other senses in this squirrel outfit. And um, truly, truly an amazing, you know, experience, honestly, working with John Patrick Shanley and the whole Nylon Fusion.

[47:40] Samantha Tuozzolo: Congrats. You're amazing. I'm so I feel like a such an inspiration and like a little fire under my ass. Like, let's go. So we have to like we didn't need to do more. I just I hate when I talk about myself in third person. Literally keep it going. I can't wait to see you continue to climb. And Jason and I can say we had him on our show.

[48:05] Marc Reign: Thank you. And I'll be I wouldn't. I would love to come back. You already know. Thank you so much. You know, uh again, thank you so much for having me. And uh yeah, let's I'll see y'all soon. Okay, we gotta link up. We gotta go a play or something. Or do a play.

[48:23] Jason A. Coombs: Um Jason, I know he said that we always like to end the episode with a game because we always like to end it like light and fun and having a good time. Not that we don't have a good time through the entire show because we do. Um, but we are gonna play a little fun game. Jason, you want to talk about it since this came from your brain?

[48:41] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, we're doing a game called Sketch to Screen. So it's a true or false game about actors who may or may not have a history of writing and performing comedy sketches. So just because that's your forte. So it's really quick game. Uh it's like five questions and a bonus. And yeah, you want to take the first one, Sam?

[48:59] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yes. Okay, are you ready? Do you have your your game pants on? Are you wearing pants over there?

[49:07] Marc Reign: Yeah.

[49:10] Samantha Tuozzolo: Okay if you're not.

[49:11] Marc Reign: I know.

[49:12] Samantha Tuozzolo: I was I was like, should I tell them?

[49:14] Marc Reign: No.

[49:17] Samantha Tuozzolo: Should I tell him that's why I need the extra 15 minutes?

[49:20] Marc Reign: No.

[49:22] Samantha Tuozzolo: I'm kidding, dad. Okay, first one. Will Farrell.

[49:26] Marc Reign: Oh my goodness. Wait, hold on. You say true or false. If he if he was uh an an actor who may or may not have a history of writing comedy.

[49:39] Samantha Tuozzolo: Okay, yes, yes.

[49:40] Marc Reign: I already uh true.

[49:42] Samantha Tuozzolo: Correct.

[49:43] Marc Reign: Correcting Will Farrell was with the Groundlings, which led him to SNL audition.

[49:49] Samantha Tuozzolo: Nice. He definitely has okay, Will Smith.

[49:55] Marc Reign: No.

[49:57] Samantha Tuozzolo: False.

[49:58] Marc Reign: Yep, false.

[49:59] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yep. He was just a rapper.

[50:02] Marc Reign: Who got got that, got got an acting gig.

[50:06] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah. John Leguizamo.

[50:10] Marc Reign: Ooh, this is a good one. He does have stage, but was it sketch? I want to say true.

[50:18] Samantha Tuozzolo: Correct.

[50:20] Marc Reign: Correct. He created the show House of Buggin with the predominant Latino cast.

[50:30] Samantha Tuozzolo: You know, I just got very distracted because I'm I'm at my parents' house this weekend and my mom is on the phone and she is screaming. And I'm laying out.

[50:36] Jason A. Coombs: We can't hear it.

[50:39] Samantha Tuozzolo: Sorry. I couldn't hear it.

[50:42] Marc Reign: Oh Donnie.

[50:43] Samantha Tuozzolo: House of Buggin. Wow, I forgot about that.

[50:45] Marc Reign: Yeah, it was very short-lived. And uh yeah, check it out. Okay, Viola Davis.

[50:52] Samantha Tuozzolo: Ooh, such a great actress. I wanna say with the way she she did uh Michelle Obama's lips, it's possible. Possible. But I'm gonna say false.

[51:07] Marc Reign: Correct.

[51:10] Samantha Tuozzolo: False. Yes. Okay, next, Luis Guzman.

[51:15] Marc Reign: Louise Guzman? Yeah. Uh let me think, let me think. I wanna say, I wanna say true.

[51:29] Samantha Tuozzolo: Correct.

[51:30] Marc Reign: Yes. He was also on House of Buggin.

[51:34] Samantha Tuozzolo: I you know, my brain, I was like, I feel like him and John had to be working together. We had to be doing sketch together. I love that. Alright. Yeah, was that like five for five? I think I got five for five. And then we have a bonus to see if you get it.

[51:49] Jason A. Coombs: All right, bonus. Jennifer Lopez.

[51:53] Marc Reign: Ooh. She don't got no sketch background. She's sketch background. She's a dancer. She was she was a color, but as a dancer.

[52:01] Samantha Tuozzolo: But as a dancer, you were right, correct.

[52:08] Marc Reign: Yeah. We killed it. Killed it. You know, I'm gonna be honest. It's not that I knew these things about these people, like specifically. Um, I feel like what comes with sketch is a certain energy.

[52:21] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah.

[52:22] Marc Reign: In a person, you know, and uh if you look at the people that actually have sketch background, it it they have a certain energy. You know, you you you have to be very, you know.

[52:36] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah.

[52:40] Marc Reign: Thank you so much. You're amazing. Congrats on getting a perfect score on the game plus the bonus. That doesn't happen often. So you killed it.

[52:49] Marc Reign: Thank you. Thank you again for having me. I love this. Let's wake up. Let's do a Survival Jobs play.

[52:57] Samantha Tuozzolo: That'll be our next our next project, Jay.

[53:01] Jason A. Coombs: I like it. But for we go, can you tell all of our listeners where they can find you on social media? How to keep up with what you're working on, all of the fun things.

[53:10] Marc Reign: Oh, yes, yes. Uh, you can follow me on my main platform, which is Instagram, at Marc M-A-R-C underscore Reign R-E-I-G-N. Um, and then I'm also I'm also on TikTok, you know. Um, and that one I think is just underscore Marc Reign underscore. Uh I'm on Twitter, I'm on Facebook, but you know, I'm I mainly exist on Instagram. Yes, and then uh and then uh man I got so much stuff coming out. I'm simultaneously shooting two feature films right now. One's a comedy, one's a drama. Uh those should be coming out next year. Hopefully, you know, you know how those editing process goes.

[53:51] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah.

[53:51] Marc Reign: Um but but more uh recently I I have uh next week at the New York Latino Film Festival. It's coming it's it the week is coming, and I have a really amazing short film called Fuego on there. Shot that out in San Diego. It just won Best Screenwriter in the last film festival, so I'm really excited about it.

[54:10] Samantha Tuozzolo: Congratulations.

[54:11] Marc Reign: And also have another feature film coming out. It's already the trailer actually drops tomorrow, y'all. It drops tomorrow. It's called Playing Sam, and it's actually a film for us for actors. Um, it's actually really clever. I'm super super proud of my brother Ramon Persante. It looks amazing. I just I can't wait. Uh put it in the show notes. Congratulations. So prolific. I should be your middle name, Marc Reign.

[54:37] Marc Reign: He actually. I love y'all. Oh my god, a creative engineer, y'all. Thank you so much for being on today. And yes, we'll link up. We'll definitely link up. And if you guys are if you guys are tuning in to us for the first time, be sure to follow Survival Jobs at Survival Jobs Pod on Instagram and Twitter. Survival Jobs A podcast on Facebook. Shoot us an email at survivaljobspod@gmail.com. Leave us a review. We love you, survivors.

[55:06] Samantha Tuozzolo: We love you, Mark. Thank you. Have the best day.

[55:11] Marc Reign: I love you guys too. Have an amazing rest of the Labor Day. Thank you.