Unique Interview with Hollywood Grit Author & Actress Kristina Denton

• Electronic mail: neill@outloudculture.com

An completed author, Denton teamed up with Ryan Curtis to pen the upcoming crime thriller  Hollywood Grit. The movie follows the story of a detective who’s pressured to battle mobsters, starlets, and his personal demons to unearth the sinister fact lurking behind LA’s neon lights after his daughter disappears from a Hollywood jazz membership. The all-star forged consists of Max Martini, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Duffy, and Linda Purl simply to call a couple of.

Denton can be set to make her debut as a first-time creator along with her forthcoming memoir You Don’t Know Dick which chronicles her time working at a males’s erectile dysfunction clinic. The e book, which takes a uncooked and humorous method to this delicate matter, explores how the expertise helped Denton develop a brand new perspective as she navigated by way of her personal points surrounding grief, identification, and fashionable masculinity. It’s set for launch in early 2026. 

1. Kristina welcome to OLC! So what impressed the storyline of Hollywood Grit, and the way did you incorporate components of LA’s underbelly into the narrative?

Ryan Curtis, my co-writer/director, referred to as me proper earlier than I moved to Hawaii and requested if I might write a film in two weeks. It ought to’ve been an not possible sure, however I stated it anyway. Ryan was trying to get his first characteristic off the bottom and had a number of the components in place: a restricted funds, a small forged of associates, and he needed to shoot in LA. We discovered the style and as soon as I realized one of many actors was a singer, I had this concept of centering the story round a Hollywood Evening Membership. I pulled from my very own experiences in Hollywood to construct the world. Having chased the “worth of fame” myself as a performer, I needed to seize each the glitter and the grit of town. Ryan is a fight veteran and loves motion and actually needed to pump up the noir components, The darker facet of Hollywood felt like the proper backdrop to discover themes of ambition, failure, and redemption.

2. Are you able to describe your collaborative course of with Ryan Curtis on writing Hollywood Grit, and what distinctive views every of you dropped at the script?

Ryan and I come at storytelling from reverse angles, which is why it really works. He’s a fight veteran and director, so he sees the massive image — the motion, the tone, the world-building. I come from performing, so I at all times begin inside-out: character, dialogue, emotional fact. Collectively we marry these views and get grit and coronary heart. He’ll pitch an explosive chase sequence, and I’ll ask, “Okay, however what’s the character feeling on this second?” That tug-of-war shapes our scripts in the easiest way. We’ve written a ton of tasks collectively, beginning again throughout the pandemic after we’d get on Zoom on a regular basis collectively to work. We developed a fantastic shorthand and know one another’s strengths to drag issues collectively shortly. 

Ryan is an unimaginable visible story teller and actually introduced out the noir components. I needed to discover the stress of creating it in Hollywood and the way the estranged father/daughter relationship from my very own life would play out on this world. I assumed throwing our fundamental character, Grit, into overcoming the guilt that his absence is perhaps why his daughter is lacking would make for a charged thriller.

3. As a author transitioning to her first memoir, You Don’t Know Dick, what challenges did you face in mixing humor with delicate subjects like grief and identification?

The toughest half was giving myself permission to be brutally sincere. I used to be writing about grief, disgrace, and identification — whereas additionally speaking about erectile dysfunction. The absurdity and the ache needed to dwell facet by facet. My performing background helped; I do know if I’m not digging into the uncooked fact of a second, or “bleeding on the web page” I’m not doing my job. Humor grew to become the stress valve. It stored the story human and jogged my memory that typically the one approach by way of heartbreak is with laughter. I believe that’s essentially the most sincere, genuine human expertise, after we enable ourselves to play all of the emotional notes out, even when they really feel misplaced. I don’t suppose there’s one approach to grieve, simply that it’s mandatory. Even a penis that doesn’t work must be grieved. 

4. Amongst your writing credit like Bonded, Ladysitter, and CLIMAX! The Collection, which undertaking was essentially the most rewarding to develop, and why?

Bonded will at all times have my coronary heart. It was the little darkish comedy brief that wouldn’t depart me alone. I ultimately offered my automotive simply to make it — 5 individuals, one sweltering storage, and a script that dared to poke enjoyable at sexual taboos. That undertaking gained an viewers award, traveled the pageant circuit, and put my comedic voice on the map. Greater than that, it taught me the facility of betting on myself when nobody else was handing out alternatives.

5. In your performing profession, what drew you to the function of Betty Hughes within the Chinese language TV sequence Seven Days, and the way did filming internationally influence your efficiency?

Years earlier than this undertaking, I used to be forged because the lead in a graduate thesis undertaking for this graduate directing pupil, Jeremy Chen, who was from China. He took that undertaking again residence and it helped land him a number of work there. He approached me on his approach to make Seven Days and requested me to play Betty. What drew me in was how surreal the entire setup was: I used to be flying to Vegas to shoot an enormous Chinese language TV sequence. I really like studying about new cultures and dealing internationally, so it felt like a dream. In fact, there was a really completely different work ethic and a language barrier. I used to be on name seven days per week and I had scripts handed to me moments earlier than capturing with none prep or context for the entire story. Nevertheless it pressured me to drop management and play purely with actions and intuition, which stretched me as an actor. Filming in Saipan for six weeks was life-changing, the depth of the shoot cracked me open emotionally, and it ended up being a pivotal time in my grief and creativity.

6. Enjoying the Vice President in Redemption Day looks like a departure from a few of your different roles; how did you put together for that character?

That function was a departure from my comedy work, but in addition such a enjoyable problem. Enjoying somebody with authority and composure in a high-stakes political surroundings meant tapping into a distinct vitality, one much less about vulnerability, and extra about management. I did a number of statement of feminine leaders, their cadence and physique language, and layered in my very own tackle what it means to carry that a lot duty underneath stress. 

7. You’ve appeared in quite a few brief movies, akin to Orange Lipstick and After Her; how does the depth of short-form storytelling differ from longer codecs in your performing method?

Quick movies are like sprints, you don’t have the luxurious of time to construct arcs the best way you do in options. You must drop into the character instantly, typically with little backstory to lean on. It forces you to be environment friendly, instinctive, and deeply current. I really like shorts for that motive; they sharpen your craft like nothing else. I additionally love the problem of needing the viewers to care about your character inside a couple of minutes to remain invested. It’s each a problem as a author and actor in brief kind content material.

8. Turning to producing, what have been the largest hurdles you encountered whereas govt producing Bonded, particularly because you additionally wrote and starred in it?

Discovering cash. Discovering cash. Discovering cash. Sure, 3 times over. I’ve by no means been involved about carrying many hats or shifting between roles whereas filming. I thrive having my fingers in every part. Getting any undertaking off the bottom at all times comes right down to discovering the funds for me. I put Bonded on the again burner for years as a result of I didn’t have the cash. I made different tasks with crowdfunding that had a deeper motive why I might get individuals to care and again the movie, however Bonded was purely for leisure and I knew I wanted to finance it myself. So, I offered my automotive and the film was made. Lastly! I don’t suggest this, but in addition… a dream is a dream.

9. How do you resolve which tasks to supply, like Womanhood or So Further!, and what standards do you employ to pick out tales that align along with your imaginative and prescient?

Typically, it’s timing. If I’m between writing or performing, which at all times takes precedence for me. If it’s one thing I’m solely producing, it comes down to 2 issues: voice and influence. Does the story problem a stigma, flip a story, or humanize one thing we often choose? And does it have a standpoint that feels contemporary? If the reply is sure, then I do know it’s value producing and utilizing my assets for. I’m drawn to materials that makes individuals snort but in addition makes them cease and rethink what they thought they knew.

10. Balancing a number of hats, how has your expertise as a producer influenced your work as a author and actress?

It has been instrumental. I really feel like each author or actor must have an expertise producing to allow them to perceive what it takes to place the total scope of a undertaking collectively. It makes you a greater staff participant. It helps you as an actor, particularly, so precisely what everyone’s doing round you on set and helps you notice that you’re only a piece of the puzzle, not the entire present till the digital camera is recording your face. You might be replaceable. As a author, I imagine it’s instrumental and helps with understanding the way to work with a funds so whenever you’re writing one thing, it might really be produced in case you’re working with a restricted funds. We’d all love to write down large Marvel films with seemingly countless budgets, however so many tales could be informed with out large budgets and determining the way to translate that, to me, comes from producing.

11. With upcoming tasks like Hollywood Grit and your memoir, how do you envision your profession progressing as a multifaceted storyteller in writing, producing, and performing?

I see my profession as constructing bridges. Hollywood Grit is a stepping stone to indicate that I can create longer format business tales that entertain, and You Don’t Know Dick exhibits that I can dig into uncooked, uncomfortable truths and nonetheless make individuals snort. Shifting ahead, I wish to preserve straddling these areas with tales which might be each daring and human. I’d love to show my memoir right into a TV sequence and proceed to deliver tales to life that make individuals really feel seen within the messy, difficult locations we often keep away from.

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