They say that your life is what happens to you while you're expecting it to arrive. And you can observe this principle in action without necessarily "living it out". You'll find it anywhere you look, because it's mirrored microscopically in every contact.

The final figure of a telephone number, for example, is not a number but a person. And when you dial it you had better count off 3-2-1-HUMAN in your head, because that's exactly what you're going to get. A person is a labyrinth of talent and desire, a root system that feeds a tree of skills diverged and intertwined to meet a unique series of opportunities. Wander it if you will. But don't expect to come out facing the same way you came in.

This is something that I've learned from Wendi Smallwood.

Wendi was slated to costar in a DV project of mine called An Untitled Interaction, which unfortunately had to be aborted before her considerable talent had left a magnetic trace on any digital tape.

Feeling somewhat disappointed that I hadn't cultivated her substantial (unpaid) rehearsal commitment into fruition, when Wendi asked me to function as her editor and put together her reel, I (eventually) threw myself into it.

And I discovered not only how versatile an actor Wendi is, but how much I enjoyed just exercising my gaze, without necessarily being the writer or director of anything. It's a self-contained pleasure, to ferret out the best in someone else's material: to cut the excess from those moments in a performance which might not be the most obvious choices, but which hold the power to rivet you if carefully exposed.

Here's what we came up with...


Wendi Smallwoods Reel