Media Star Sophia Koikas’ Exclusive Interview with Greek Reporter

There isn’t a specific way to describe Sophia Koikas. She has worked as an actress, writer, director and also in other various crew positions. Recently she was working at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival helping to promote Greek cinema in the States. Sophia Koikas is a multi- talented and very interesting person.  We thought it would be a good chance to know her better now that she is completing her new feature film. In the interview she gave for the Greek Hollywood Reporter she talked to us about her work, the many famous people she has met so far and the reasons why Greece will always be a part of her.

You grew up in Detroit.Tell us about your childhood and about your choice of becoming an actress.

Yes, I was born in Detroit, Michigan. Both parents are from Corinth Greece. My father, who was a lot like the father in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING always wanted only Greek music playing in the home. He never took us to an American movie theater. He took us a few times to Greek theater. We only went to Greek picnics and the Greek festivals every year which was in Greek Town in Detroit. Greek church on holidays. We weren’t allowed to go pass our own block to play. He started his family in his late 30’s so he was strict in old tradition. I day dreamed a lot as a kid. My games were role playing, escaping on a venture, which would be a block away. I remember actually writing a play about 3 cops and got 2 other girls to play in it in one of the girl’s playhouse her dad made for her in her back yard. Because we didn’t receive toys like the children today, it took me inside where I created stories but I didn’t know that when I grew up, that it is what I’d like to do also. In 6Th grade my teacher had a book that we could submit any writings and she told me to write. My high school English teacher wrote in one of my paper reviews, ”you could be a writer” and gave me extra books to read, but I never thought of it until I got into my early 20’s to write again. When I left home, I first auditioned to get into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts summer program in California and I was accepted. My dream was to meet Elton John and the go into acting at first. I met Elton within the first 3 months I was here in California.

Tell us about famous actors you had the chance to meet or work with.

The famous actors I had the chance to meet and work with were quite of few…although I have to mention, directors, singers and music really is a major influence and inspiration for me. My most inspiring actor though is Diane Venora. Besides becoming close friends, she inspires me the most personally, has so much life and passion in her. She is always teaching me and encourages me. She knows art, acting, music, dance, personality, psychology, archetypes, what a persons gifts are, she reminds me constantly to look up words and see where they came from. She just introduced me to YOLA, Youth orchestra Los Angeles and Gustavo Dudamel and I would love to one day buy instruments for these children because that is one thing I wish I had as a kid. I worked at the Hollywood bowl for 3 summers and I’d like to go back because classical music has been inspiring to me lately again in my writing. I love Laurence Olivier still, the passion he had from acting, choices he made, his makeup, his clothes and he is in one of my top 10 movies Whethering Heights. I really love Francis Ford Coppola too, he reminds me of family, he’s Italian from Detroit but raised in New York. I’ve met him and he told me his middle name is from the Ford hospital he was born in. I love his images, his story telling and on his new web page, he talks about how he is learning still on how to make movies, he’s so detailed and passionate. I met Clint Eastwood, he inspires me too because, he writes, acts, produces and I just found out he composes his own music for his movies…this is what I love about him. I met Sasha Alexander and I really love her insight in acting and directing and she is so professional. I met Alexander Payne at the Filmmakers alliance awards night for independent filmmakers and I didn’t know he was Greek until I’ve read it. Then I met him a few times more and I really loved About Schmidt and Sideways and how he is particular about his cast when he casts for his movies. I love DAVID LYNCH. I met him briefly at a meditation awareness concert, he was very kind. I only discovered him a few years ago though, even though I was a fan of Elephant Man, on my top 10 movie list but I didn’t know he directed this movie until someone told me that my writing reminded them of David Lynch so when I researched him, he became my first favorite now. I love how he uses dreams and images which I do too, and with bigger budgets, I can really get even more detail. He allowed me to feel, my image I want to show, is OK. I don’t have to follow a book of rules. He inspires me the most. Also, I’ve discovered from the 70’s Aleyandro Jodorowsky of El Topo this past summer and he made me feel, wow, how he had the courage and images in his head and put it on film…some of it was out there but I was inspired by his ability. Another director is Werner Herzog..I’ve met him and I really enjoyed his Q&A about his style, gorilla which so far I’ve done too and for the same reasons as Aleyandro. His images put into film…he’s known for using whole villages of people as Aleyandro and I have another new idea for a screenplay that I plan to write and making notes now for a movie that will take place in Greece. I recently met Beth Henly, she wrote Crimes of the Heart so I was able to ask her about writing for the stage verse film and I loved her insight. I love Graham Beckle, I’m in his class right now and he is an amazing actor that can stand on his toes and makes decisions out of his own imagination. I love the writing of Dwight Yoakam and Bernie Taupin. I really like Dustin Hoffman, Judy Dench, I like the choices of Hilary Swank, I met her only once. I’ve worked with Deniro and love his choices. I love Daniel Day Lewis. I’ve met Penelope Spheeris at the Greek film festival and she put me in her movie and I loved watching her direct. My favorite actress are older Hollywood, Betty Davis, Monroe, Shirley Temple. What are your experiences so far from working in the Greek Film Festival? In what ways do you believe this film festival has helped promoting the Greek Cinema in the States? I loved the idea of a Greek film festival here in Los Angeles, I use to think, there are every kind of festival except Greek and they created theater! Then two months to late, I found out that one was created and I missed it but when I talked to Alexander Payne and he said to call Angeliki Giannakopoulos to get involved, I emailed her the next day and I’ve worked for them for the last 3 years. I am so stoked to be a part of this that I’ll do anything for her to help her. I’m beginning to feel the family and new comers making this grow. When I see some of the films it feels so ‘familiar’ to me. It’s in my DNA. I think it’s growing every year and every time I meet someone that is of Greek heritage, I let them know about it. I think it’s a great way to get Greek filmmakers exposure and I hope Greece bounces back make an effort to get their filmmakers out here.. I would also like to see American Greek filmmakers submit and get accepted too because Americans love these film festival here in Hollywood. Also, I find out that there are a lot of Greeks in the industry and would’ve never known if it wasn’t for this festival.. Good luck for 2011!

You have worked also in other various crew positions. What position do you prefer and why?

Working on sets with various positions makes me understand other positions and have appreciation but I really love the casting process because when I pick someone, I pick someone for the reason that they fit the image in my head…I love producing because I have control of the creativity but I don’t care for the paper work. I loved to direct so far only for my own writing because I understand what I wrote. I started out with acting but en stead of waiting, I just started to read and study and took control by doing the behind the camera. I would love to study and understand lighting because I have the ideas in my head on how I want it to look too. When the movie is finished shooting. I think I really love the editing process but I don’t edit but I sit with the editor. How difficult is it to be both a director and an actress in the same movie? When I direct and act on one project, the most difficult part is my appearance as the character. On a low budget, I make sure, all the actors are made to look their best, and I’m running around doing other stuff that I run out of time to have my hair done or make up done sometimes but with a bigger budget I can get others to do some of these things…sometimes because I try to use my friends who need more experience I find they may not take me to serious and I had to learn to be firmer and to use my voice. Once an actor walked off set because he was taking his direction from another person and when I let him walked, I just kept going. One thing I do is, I use my environment and I make it work…he came back. I never raised my voice though when my actors have a strong point of view too…I give them what they want although, there were some cases where I had to say, listen, right now, I’m not your friend, I’m your director.

Tell us a few things about the upcoming movies you directed “Disappearing Bakersfield” and “The Lady and the Taxi Driver”.

A few of my current projects are all current. I just got a short called Gabriel and Lilly into the LA Comedy film festival. My male lead is Greek too, Gabriel Kalomos. The one called The Lady and the Taxi Driver is in production for 5 years now! But so was Eraser head by David Lynch. It started with an editor that was able to work one day out of the week but got busy with his music videos. Then it went to another editor who got another job and then to another one who couldn’t find the logged footage so NOW, I have Mallory Yarnell who has done a great job but I haven’t seen the final footage yet. I worked with the other editor side by side but Mallory has taken it under her wings now. I have a wonderful actress Sally Wells Cook in it and another Greek actor Tony Pertesis playing a Greek man on his way to his own wedding and his car breaks down, he was so funny and many other actors I used from my acting class. My most current one and the ‘baby’ is Disappearing Bakersfield. I wrote it in 2001 for a friend of mine, Otto Felix with the intention for him to star and direct but as life happened, when I was finally able to produce it,he passed away in 08. He was a big influence for it. He taught physically challenged performers and I had a few actors from his class casted too. One of them passed away, a petite male, blind and on a wheel chair. Buck Owens another, inspiring performer that I’ve met agreed to do a cameo but he passed away and one of the actress in a wheel chair and a tiny person, moved to Florida…it’s been a long journey for this one. When my dad passed away last year, it seemed like the doors all of a sudden opened up for it to be made. My editor for this one is John Schaller and we have our first draft done but may need more money for sound design. I found some good actors who really wanted to work like Stephen Amos, Piper Coolidge, lewin, the Morgan family of Molly, Bonnie, and their dad Gary, Amelia Pawlak, Flo Lawrence, Toni Griffin etc. It’s a dark quirky story…Originally I wrote my character as a Latina because everyone asks me if I am. When I met Nia Vardalos at a Q&A, I told her after hearing her speak on her journey, I said, I’m going home and I’m making my character Greek. And she said, ‘good!’So my lead is a Greek girl trying to get home to Bakersfield California from Arizona to live with her dad again and how she gets caught up in a vortex.

When you don’t work, what are the things you enjoy doing?

When I’m not working, I’m writing! I have 3 more scripts that I started by writing down my ideas. I love going to the movies, I dislike clubs. I’m starting to go to classical concerts again too. I like to workout and want to start classes in Krav Maga soon, I’m booked to take Mime classes this weekend..I love to eat at raw restaurants. One of my dreams is to swim with Dolphins…I saw the Cove and it broke my heart. I love dog sitting, love animals and one day I’ll love to create a home for older dogs that aren’t just ready to go to heaven by providing a place where people can take them because it’s to expensive or they just can’t put them down when it gets close to that time and they don’t want to take the easy way out from the care it takes for them. I love puppies and old dogs and kitties too!

Tell us about your relationship with Greece and what are the things you like from our country.

When my dad passed away, it made me think of Greece more..like I wish he was one of those dads that took us there every year. But whenever I hear Greek music, especially with bouzouki and clarinet, I cry. It makes me feel what a gift he gave me, the heritage of that culture and all the stuff kids get of toys, etc, I don’t care anymore. I plan to buy a bouzouki, I’m writing a story that I want to film there. Someone told me when I was small, when God made the world and he was done, he through the rest of the stones to where Greece is today, I feel it’s an amazing history…I’ve been there twice yet but haven’t explored the islands yet. I want to study more when I catch up with what I have to do…I love the movie Zorba the Greek, that’s what I like about them, when it gets painful, they turn to dance and music. I love the food, belly dancing and how they dance.

What are your future plans?

My plans to come are to complete Disappearing Bakersfield. I’ve written it in a way, that it could be a continuing story for a TV series. I’m writing 3 more screenplays, the next one in line that I want to finish is called MY SWEET BONITA! It’s about a dog. I plan to continue to write, study and learn more. I want to create a little community of artist that work well together and it’s about the story. I want to get more involved with bring music to kids and to help animals…and go to Greece again!