Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) 11/06/2020 – Eve Austin recently won the Best Actress in a drama for Confidant at the Venus Italian International Film Festival. The film was created and directed by Debra Markowitz who also won for Best Director and Best Drama. Confidant is about a mother who confronts her son, a down-on-his-luck stunt man with a broken marriage, to help him move forward with his life. Eve is equally adept at drama and comedy. 2020 has been a whirlwind for Actress and Producer, Eve Austin.
You won several awards for Legit. What was special about this film? Why does it resonate with the audience?
LEGIT is a serio-comic look at the world’s oldest profession and its legalization as well as the political machine that stands in the way of giving sex workers the same rights as any workers. It resonates because it’s more or less a taboo subject we sweep under the rug. The legalization of this would reduce crime, drugs, and disease in our world and would legitimize a profession that is not going away. I’m humbled and delighted to have won several Best Actress awards for myself as well as the rest of the LEGIT team. The film was produced/written/directed and stars a mostly female cast and crew. So far this year have won the following awards for this film:
LEGIT that I co-produced and star in
Best Actress- Venice Shorts-
Best Actress- Crown Wood Intl Film Festival
Best Actress- American Golden Picture International Film Festival
Best Supporting Actress-Rocky Mountain International Film Festival
Best Ensemble, Best Original Story and Best Women’s-Shorts, Independent Shorts Awards
Best Short Film- LA Shorts Awards
Best Short, Best TV Series -Gold Star Movie Awards
How has 2020 challenged you as an Actress and Producer?
Life is constantly moving and changing. Learning to embrace change, accepting it and growing through it is the challenge. Facing fear directly and recognizing it as an illusion that we place on ourselves as a first step to conquering it. I have been challenged to focus on projects that need completion and dealing with new ideas and how to film them, once the pandemic is managed.
Working on myself through more training and education by raising the stakes for my skill set. As an actress drilling new accents. Learning technical skills such as self-taping and editing. Taking zoom workshops. Reaching out to like-minded filmmakers and other industry colleagues to collaborate with. Participating in film festivals and seeing what other artists are creating and winning awards through my placements in the same festivals. Thus far 7 Best Actress wins in different festivals for 3 different projects.
Never too late to have dreams come true.
You won Best Actress in Confidant. What is it like working with Director Debra Markowitz?
Debra is a multi award-winning writer/director/producer that continually creates wonderful new content. I’m so honored that she chose me to play one of the 2 main characters in CONFIDANT. The film is a drama about a mother who confronts her son, a down-on-his-luck stunt man with a broken marriage, to help him move forward with his life. The role of my son is played beautifully by Eddie McGee, a fantastic Actor who makes any partner in performance shine. Debra runs a wonderful collaborative set where everyone is touched by the magic of filmmaking and making her stories come to life.
CONFIDANT
Best Actress, Best Short Drama- Hollywood Gold Awards
Best Actress- Venus Italian International Film Festival
Best Actress-Finalist-Montreal Independent Film Festival
Best Actress-Finalist- Golden Nugget International Film Festival
Best Actress in a Drama- Venice Film Awards
Best actress- Honorable mention- Best Actor Award NY Festival
Your film, Lola Does Manhattan received its 1st festival acceptances. How important is this to you?
Lola Does Manhattan is a comedic TV series that I’ve created/ produced/star in. I have been breathing life into this for a few years now. It is a funny, fresh look at how we consistently ignore our higher self/intuition. The tiny voice inside of us that is all-knowing. Lola is a wonderfully flawed character in her 50’s that learns to live and love herself through alter ego, that comes to her in human form through the Zen like Heidi. Heidi, is also the part of herself she has ignored most of her life. Together they embark on adventures in NYC that are poignant and hilarious and change Lola’s life forever.
Lola is a love letter for the millions of people that feel stuck in their lives because they ignore their intuition- the one that is in all of us It is meant to give us an understanding of our purpose in this world and how we can find it to regain strength, understanding and empathy to ourselves and others
So far the 4 festivals we recently submitted Lola Does Manhattan to;
Best Actress, Best TV Pilot- Top Shorts
Best Actress- Gold Star Movie Awards
Best Actress US & International-Semifinalist-Venice Shorts Awards-
Best Comedy Short, Best TV Series- Gold Star Movie Awards
Tell us about The Sisters Kardos.
The Sisters Kardos is about four mostly teenage sisters, who share the same father and some different mothers, living together in quarantine and trying to rebuild their family. Production states: “It’s Little Women set in the modern-day during COVID-19.” A family saga that moves back and forth in time.
The screenplay is superb as is the casting. My role is that of Sophie the mother who raises these girls. Gabe Rodriguez is the writer and Director with Fallen Heroes films. So of the moment and well done it is in post-production and I expect it to sweep the film festival circuit with its power.
What excites you about 2021?
Looking for projects to collaborate on, in order to promote understanding between cultures and unifying the world through tears and laughter. Playing all types of characters from prostitutes to society women. They all have a place in our world and need to be equally respected- While my look tends to be upscale, I love to play downtrodden characters with mental, emotional, and physical ailments as well.
COVID has taught us many lessons and one of my favorites themes are the ones that show triumph over adversity.
REPPED BY BAKER MANAGEMENT + SEVEN STARS TALENT
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