Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Elizabeth Blake-Thomas Of Medicine with Words Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
An Interview With Guernslye Honoré
Make the films you love, if you don’t love them then it won’t turn out as you want it to. On my second film I knew how I wanted things to look and feel, and had to pivot quite a lot on set. I’m pleased I did because it meant the end product was everything I imagined, and meant I could be so happy with what I put out into the world. One of my other films had an executive producer that gave opinions about various locations that I knew wouldn’t work. I had to listen and make the best of it, but every time I see that scene I know what could have worked better.
As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Blake - Thomas.
ELIZABETH BLAKE-THOMAS is a British award-winning director and philanthropist based in Los Angeles. She is the founder of mind coaching practice Medicine with Words. Through workshops and sessions, Elizabeth shares mindful tools to help others navigate life and live intentionally. Elizabeth is the author of Filmmaking Without Fear, a multi-medium resource curated for indie filmmakers. Her FWF podcast is available on all streaming platforms, and the book of the same name is available on Amazon and Walmart.com. Her next book, Living with Intention, is soon to be published as an interactive guidebook for her Medicine with Words practice. Elizabeth frequently speaks on panels and at events, both as a creative and as a Medicine with Words coach, sharing her passion for storytelling and healing with others.
Elizabeth is also the co-founder and resident director of entertainment company Mother & Daughter Entertainment. Her latest directing projects include wrapping up a TV episode of Sony AFFIRM’s upcoming show Shadrach, as well as YA supernatural thriller Karma’s A Bitch, starring a stellar ensemble cast including Disney Plus’ Isabella Blake-Thomas, Candyman’s Tony Todd, and Disney Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3’s Terry Hu, Matt Cornett, and Pearce Joza.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a small village in the center of England. It was a world away from the world we live in today. I would get on my bike with friends and disappear for the whole day. Unaware of time, or technology; a sense of freedom would take over. We would pack up sandwiches, butter thickly spread on white bread, on our ride we would stop in a sweet shop and buy 20 pence worth of pick ’n’ mix, it was a time of happiness and simplicity. Riding around the roads with hardly any cars, I’m not even sure we wore helmets back then. I would often encourage my friends and my brother to play make believe games, I loved drama, making characters, dressing up. I felt like my make believe world was the place I would go to to feel safe and hide from anything that was going on in the outside world. Attending school, the arts was my main focus, drama, singing, art, anything creative. Getting lead roles in school plays and then local playhouses meant I was able to turn my skills into running my own theater company.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
No matter what I turned my hand to, it was always with a creative angle. Running a public speaking company, running theater camps, becoming Head of Drama at a prep school, and running a creative non profit called U-Plus; so it was inevitable that my daughter would have similar interests. encouraging her to follow her heart even aged 4 meant that I became her support system as a chaperone. I continued to write my children’s books and we decided to make the move across the pond to LA in 2012. LA opened up a whole new world to us. My daughter was the deciding reason we came to LA. She was a full time actress and I was on set with her. I decided to produce a short film for her, the first thing I had done in film, and bring together friends and people that I had gotten to know as crew. “Broken Wings” was written by me and Isabella and was about bullying in schools. I entered it into various festivals and as we were traveling around, I decided this was an industry I could see myself in full time. A friend suggested I should be a director, so I made a decision to make that happen.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I think one of the strangest moments was when covid hit. For me it became the busiest time in my directing career. I made 11 films during the COVID period (2020–2022). This was a time when we were tested on set every day and had to wear masks at all times. A time when films could be shut down at any moment. The last thing you wanted was for a lead cast member or director to catch COVID. I never expected to be on set worrying about more things than whether we would wrap on time, or stay on budget, but keeping everyone happy and healthy became the priority. So our budgets were split into making the movie and COVID safety. I decided to make our schedules less days so our risk of illness on set was lower. One of the films I directed was called “Just Swipe” and I filmed it in 8 days, one location and one actor at a time each day! It was a crazy time. In the seven years of me being in the industry we have seen huge changes. The streamers grew, the budgets got lower, theatricals altered, COVID appeared and changed the landscape forever. Now a strike is changing the indie filmmakers world once more.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I never consider anything a mistake, everything is a learning opportunity. In fact the best thing about these moments can lead to something magical. Every film has given me wonderful moments and memories. I think becoming a film director in my late thirties also meant I had a better understanding of the world and what was necessary to be able to work in Hollywood.
What I love about making movies is the film family. I’ve worked with my DP on nearly every film as well as the other members of the crew. We often live together during filming and socialize together as much as possible. Cooking after a long day filming. Everyone connects over mutual interests and builds friendships that last a lifetime. This could be considered a mistake because I never realized how much this would prove to be crucial in my filmmaking career. Even when I lived on my boat and had a VW bus, everyone was a good sport and would sleep wherever they could!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I have a couple of people. Director Sean Mcnamara was the one who told me I could be a director. I met him at a film festival and he became the voice that not only told me to make a movie, but that also I need to make a second and third one. I was exhausted after the first film, and he said, “…and now move straight onto your next one”. I was so grateful I learned this at the beginning because it meant I didn’t become too precious about my work. The next person was Larry Schapiro. He taught me what it meant to elevate in this industry. Finding me better locations, sourcing fabulous cast and improving the actual stories. He taught me that it’s all about the story. He also kept me realistic about what was possible to sell and why.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Sean taught me that we make our own hollywood, there is no failure. If anyone can write a screenplay and then put together a team to make it a reality, then complete this and watch it on any size screen, then that is success. This isn’t an easy industry. You have to be so proud of any achievement. If you have a dream or a passion to make a film then just go for it. Don’t worry about whether it’s perfect or not, just make something. Don’t try and make your “baby” until you’ve learned everything you can. Every film teaches you something new. Even after 24 films I still have a lot to learn. Decide who your audience is, are you making this for you? To sell? For your experience? Once you know this and can then have a clear idea on what you’re making and why.
Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?
An awareness of self care for everyone. This industry is brutal from the perspective of the hours and sometimes the conditions. I’m not talking about me as a director with the help and support and tools I need, I’m talking about everyone else that’s expected to get in early, leave late, and not be paid as much per hour as other department heads. The PAs are life savers and not always treated this way. To me it’s about the entire team. Trying to fit films into budgets that are sometimes impossible. When people cut back on the quality of food, crafty means our bodies suffer. Having proper days off, having time away from decision making for a couple of days is crucial to the whole process of making a movie. Enough time for paid pre-production is also important.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
My projects are very exciting for the next couple of years. I have one incredible true and inspirational story. We have an academy award winning writer as well as some other fabulous crew attached. Then I have some fun rom-coms as well. I know that I want to take my time when filming, and planning, and ensuring a positive experience for everyone.
We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?
I first became conscious of this concept in my rom-com Just Swipe. I made it my mission to bring as much diversity as possible to the project. By me casting a lead who happened to use a wheelchair showed other people how easy it is to be inclusive. The crew had to learn to do things in a different way, but this isn’t a bad thing. Also by having a cast member who was hearing impaired, meant we had to again have alternatives to the way we work. Extra crew, an interpreter and an ASL director. I love the fact that my audience could appreciate who they were watching. Accepting that anyone can be in a movie. As a female director I like to lead by example. I had a PA once come up to me and say how much she appreciated seeing a woman dressing in her feminine style on set. She commented on what I wore and how that gave her courage to be herself. That was a huge compliment.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
There isn’t the top rung of the ladder, it keeps on growing. I believed that once I made a certain type of film that would win a high accolade award like Cannes or Sundance then I had done it. I must be a success. Actually it’s just another rung on the ladder. You want to keep on going. This is important to realize so that you understand the “why” of filmmaking. I became focused on not thinking about having a blockbuster but more about what I wanted to make, and see, and put out into the world.
Make the films you love, if you don’t love them then it won’t turn out as you want it to. On my second film I knew how I wanted things to look and feel, and had to pivot quite a lot on set. I’m pleased I did because it meant the end product was everything I imagined, and meant I could be so happy with what I put out into the world. One of my other films had an executive producer that gave opinions about various locations that I knew wouldn’t work. I had to listen and make the best of it, but every time I see that scene I know what could have worked better.
If you have a vision, stick to it, but know that even getting 80% of what you want in the end is a win. I’m fortunate to be able to have most films edited in the way I want but I’m fully aware that when a studio gets involved, then they have final say. It’s important to know this so before you even begin a project, you can understand whether it’s worth it to you to make the project.
Don’t seek perfection, it will never be perfect, you will never have enough money in your budget, but don’t let that stop you. It doesn’t mean you don’t try your best or do whatever you can to get your vision on the screen. If I had worried about perfection I wouldn’t be able to say I had made one film after another and kept on going. Making four features in a year was my film school!
Have fun, enjoy it. Otherwise what is the point? I believe this with everything in life. It’s easy to get taken in by the stress of making movies, getting short tempered or stressed. This doesn’t help anyone achieve their best. Supporting each other is crucial and working as a team. I had an experience on one set that was a situation where no one was able to enjoy themselves. It was a negative environment and the people at the top didn’t see how damaging the situation was. This moment changed the way I decided on any film jobs.
Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive?
I run a mindful practice that helps me live with intention, it is called Medicine with Words. This is how I live everyday. Here are five examples of how I thrive:
- Each morning I ask myself how I want to feel at the end of the day. This then reminds me how I want to live and what my choices should be.
- I create something every day. Whether that’s a piece of art, a poem, or I journal ideas.
- I try to walk and be in nature for any amount of time every day.
- I read, this could be an article about something I’m interested in or something new. I love learning.
- Every 6 weeks I take a reset. This is time away or time off for either a couple of days, up to ten days depending on what I’ve been doing. This is time for me to sleep, read, create and give my brain time off.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I live by the philosophy that we don’t have long on this planet so why waste it! I focus on making good choices, choices that enhance my life experience, otherwise why bother? I make clear decisions each day as to how I want to spend that day and who I want to see or spend time with. What I want to have achieved and what legacy I want to leave behind. If I have a clear purpose in my life then I am happier and more successful. When making choices on what projects I want to work on and how I want to spend each minute, this clarity affords me the knowledge that I’m living my best life.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
To live with intention. This means practically using mindful tools and exercises, engaging in meaningful activities that serve a good purpose that will have a positive influence on your life.
Intentional living makes you more aware of your thoughts and actions during the day, it improves your mental fitness, reduces stress and helps you surround yourself with the things that matter to you. This in turn then helps the world. Becoming aware of the why behind what you eat, do, see, and feel will connect us with ourselves as humans. Simplifying life is key to living with intention as well. Consuming less, or purchasing with purpose. Eating vegan or at least vegetarian. Really making conscious decisions as opposed to doing things “just because”!
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. This might be controversial as a Brit, but I believe that they can do a lot of good in this world, and if they believed in my practice then they could be part of the tipping point to help make the world a better place.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
I am! My Instagram is @elizabeth_b_t, as it my X (fka Twitter). My Facebook is Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, and my websites are www.motheranddaughterent.com and www.medicinewithwords.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About the interviewer: Guernslye Honoré, affectionately known as “Gee-Gee”, is an amalgamation of creativity, vision, and endless enthusiasm. She has elegantly twined the worlds of writing, acting, and digital marketing into an inspiring tapestry of achievement. As the creative genius at the heart of Esma Marketing & Publishing, she leads her team to unprecedented heights with her comprehensive understanding of the industry and her innate flair for innovation. Her boundless passion and sense of purpose radiate from every endeavor she undertakes, turning ideas into reality and creating a realm of infinite possibilities. A true dynamo, Gee-Gee’s name has become synonymous with inspirational leadership and the art of creating success.
