Letter from the Editor (Nivedita) - “Rebirthday”
“Rebirthday”
Some of you may have noticed that the Nuva newsletter has missed the last 3 weeks. Thank you to everyone who has reached out – I am touched and flattered that Nuva is such an important presence in your lives!
I will start off this letter by saying that I am a Pisces (March 5) – heeeeeeey, my fellow Pisces! I once read that every Pisces, around their birthday, goes through a “rebirth” every year. They lose important things in their life and are forced into a new reality.
Well…such has happened for me. In the past month, I had surgery, became incredibly ill, went on medical leave, lost my job, the Nuva platform experienced major tech issues (which my team and Flodesk were not able to resolve while I was out), and I lost both of my important social media accounts that I had spent years building (both were blocked). After a month of pain – perhaps orchestrated by the universe – I will call this my annual “Pisces rebirth."
In truth, something similar has happened to me very often on my birthdays in years past: losing something or someone very important to me, and experiencing deep pain.
I would like to think that the pain has made me better. I think that the painful moments in my life have, every time, made me a deeper, stronger, wiser person. I believe that pain gives us our power, and also gives us our compassion for others.
For me, every time something deeply painful has happened – on the other side, there has been immense joy and power waiting for me. It seems that the painful moments are thrown across our path to block us, move us, shift our perspective, and force us to find a new source of happiness.
I've been through enough painful times to know that this is not the end. But a rebirth.
Thanks for indulging my philosophical side. I'm speaking openly to all of you – not as members of a professional community or as work contacts, but as my friends. And friendship, to me, is sacrosanct. Thanks for being real friends.
I hope you'll accept my humble apologies for being MIA. I can't wait to get back to bringing everything at Nuva to life. Thank you to everyone for being patient and caring as I got back on my feet. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I hope to see you all soon.
Now – onto some brighter news: this week's newsletter! Our co-editor Kathy Fleig interviewed multi-talented artist Sophia Gutchinov. We have a tarot reading from everyone's favorite oracle & medium, Priyanka Vashee. We celebrate some Nuva birthdays, shoutouts some Nuva wins, & read about the state of the media industry.
And, finally – to kick off Pisces season, two birthday party invites below, both from me. ;) Y'all are invited to my birthday parties in New York & Los Angeles in March! Save the dates!
Party Invites! (Nivedita's multiple birthday parties) ;) March 5th evening - Los Angeles March 9th evening - New York
I love you all!
XOXO,
Nivedita
Happy Pisces Season!
Photo Credit: Inspired Stock Shop
Business Corner: The State of the Industry
Photo Credit: The Wrap Pro, January 2024 - “5 Reasons for This Brutal Wave of Media Layoffs"
“Layoffs, layoffs, everywhere…”
Seems like layoffs are everywhere you look in the media industry. In 2024, major media layoffs are happening across the industry, including: Paramount Global, YouTube, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Pixar, Buzzfeed, The Hollywood Reporter, Vice, The Messenger, Sky Group, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, and Sports Illustrated. Why? Largely, due to massive streaming investments with little-to-no profitability, and drastic drops in profitability of news organizations. (Read more about sinking media profits here, via The Dales Report)
So, what can people in our industry do? First things first: for those who have been laid off, know that it's happening to thousands of people right now. A layoff won't count against your changes of getting hired again. For actors, consider seeking out an additional source of income, potentially including unemployment benefits if necessary.
Reach out to Nuva if you're struggling with a job loss – we are always here to help. nivedita@nuva.io
Our February Energy Update:
“February is our month to find new ways to fill our cup and feel loved. Our Ancestors encourage us to rest our worries around the belief that we are not enough. Instead, they invite us to create new rituals and thought patterns that affirm our worth. This is a fresh start to let go of behaviors that don’t serve us anymore, so allow yourself to be renewed and have fun in the process. You never know what energy of love is waiting around the corner!”
Our Tarot Pull For The Month:
Page Of Cups - The Page is our playful companion in finding more love in life. They ask us where we feel a lack within ourselves and gently remind us of our worth. When the Page enters your life, get ready for some fun lessons on how to create stronger relationships with yourself and others. They are here to shake things up, so don’t worry if it doesn’t go as planned. You are bound to find joy when the Page is on your side!
Photo Credit: Priyanka Vashee
Self-Care Tip:
Our Spirit Guides invite us to participate in a self-love bath ceremony. Grab the following items and set up your space with candles, incense, and anything else that creates a romantic atmosphere:
Your favorite roses rinsed and separated into petals
A large bowl of warm water
A small handful of pink Himalayan salt
Your favorite essential oil (optional)
Begin by mixing the pink Himalayan salt and a few drops of essential oil into the warm bathwater until dissolved. As you're stirring, think of everything you love about yourself. Then, place a rose petal into the bowl for every loving thought. You can speak them out loud as the petals enter the water for an extra infusion of love. When you’re finished, add the bowl of water and rose petals into a larger bath, or use it as a rinse next time you’re in the shower. You can also store it in a mason jar to use throughout the week.
Hooray Ari Scott!!
She “Time Qualified” for the 2024 New York City Marathon!!
Ari, approaching the finish line in the TCS NYC Marathon, last November.
Tired (of course) but she finished in 3:47!!
Photo Courtesy of Ari Scott, via Instagram
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MEET NUVA SOPHIA GUTCHINOV
Sophia Gutchinov is an award-winning multi-ethnic and multidisciplinary artist, actress, performance artist, comedian, model, voice over artist and teacher based in New York City. Currently, she is developing her one woman show at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club! She creates art that sparks a conversation, has a message, and makes you laugh. Sophia also makes art for social change and healing. She is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College where she earned a BFA in Acting and minored in Neuroscience. She has appeared in commercials, a web series that she produced through her company The Tadpoles, and performs original sketch comedy characters. Her mixed media collage won the First Salamander International Art Award in Paris, France at the Monteoliveto Gallery and is currently for sale in the “Dream” exhibit in Naples, Italy. Her visual art has been exhibited at various galleries, theatre spaces, and nightclubs in NYC as well.
Q: Sophia, you self-describe as a “mixed woman.” Tell us about that. How has your identity influenced your creative work and your career?
A: Yes I’m bi-racial and spiritually mixed as well because my mom is Italian (Catholic) and my dad is Mongolian (Buddhist). I’m actually indigenous Mongolian, from a tribe called Kalmyk. This influenced my life and therefore my creative work/career so much so where I can’t see things as one thing. I like to always see the balance between things, and don’t like to look at things as black and white.
I like to consider myself a follower of multiple things - like there is a history of shamanism from my Mongolian side and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten less denominational in what I believe in.
I studied acting (earning a BFA) and minored in neuroscience as an undergrad, so I use a lot of psychology in the work that I create. I love the power to create art that allows us to transform and look within ourselves. No matter what we believe in, we all want love, a sense of belonging, community, and purpose at our deepest level of being human. I try to create projects that anyone can relate to since I am an inclusive person, because my identity is inherently inclusive. Something I like to bring up is “what does it mean to be religiously-culturally-racially mixed?”
Q: La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club on New York’s Lower East Side has a long and storied history. You were an Artist in Residence there in 2021-2022. How did you get hooked-up with La MaMa? What has been the most amazing part about your affliction with LMETC?
A: So it’s a beautiful and long (ish) story. I am also an activist and a huge advocate of justice and equality, especially to do with race and women’s rights. So in April 2021, I was at a protest giving a speech against AAPI hate, in support of AAPI equality and representation in the arts in front of City Hall on NBC 4 New York and for a few Senators. This man, Nicky Paraiso, comes up to me after and says he works at La MaMa and wants me to get involved. Funny, I’d been wanting to perform there after discovering it in January 2016 when I took experimental theatre at Marymount Manhattan College as my capstone. It felt really meant to be, and I got involved on Zoom for a La MaMa talk with other AAPI women in theatre. Then I got to be an ensemble member for one of those women for her dance project in May. I met the AD of La MaMa, Mia Yoo, that day and she told me she wanted me to become a resident artist. I was very honored and I started the next season.
There is a thing to be said here about perseverance though, as Mia told me how busy she was, but to continue to email her. So I did, for SEVEN months. Then we finally had my meeting. I never gave up.
The most amazing part of my time with La MaMa thus far, has been the writing retreat I went to in Umbria, Italy that they hold in the summers. After performing for the first time at La MaMa (a year after my AAPI speech) Mia told me I should go to the writing symposium. La MaMa paid for the cost, so I got to write part of my show in 2022 that I’m currently working on.
Q: Your show is called “Those Who Remained.” What can you share about it?
A: The show will be in November of this year! I am so excited as this is my baby that I’ve been working on for almost 2 years! “THOSE WHO REMAINED” is about healing, transformation, and finding your voice, which will premiere at La MaMa’s newest renovated space: The Club. It's a multimedia work about the limits of love, told through indigenous ceremony, survival, and confronting our roots. The style is immersive as the audience is asked to participate and look within to transform themselves, in a tea ritual format. Vignettes are used to bring the audience on a healing journey and experience different art forms including stand-up comedy and a participatory art installation with music. The power of ceremony, spoken word, and gratitude release our experiences.
Questions that are brought up are: Where do women and AAPI/BIPOC people stand? What does it look like to move forward from trauma? How do our parental relationships manifest in our romantic adult relationships and our attachments?
More info on my show can be found here, along with the link to make a tax-deductible donation.
I’m currently finalizing my director and on the hunt for the right producers and investors.
Photo Courtesy of Sophia Gutchinov
Q: Your work has taken you to several countries. How has travel informed your work?
A: I’ve always wanted to travel since I learned geography in middle school. I love culture, food, history, and exploration. I’m the first in my family to go to college and moved to NYC at 17 years old. I started working at 14 and got my second job at 16 so I could move and go to college. I think as an artist/creative type, everything you do informs your work whether that is trying a new food, sharing a meaningful conversation with someone completely outside your circle, getting out of your comfort zone, or seeing a place and experiencing somewhere you’ve never even heard of. I learned especially in La MaMa Umbria how “everything is writing” - like meditating, reading, acting, and walking. I’m not someone who schedules times to create, I need to have an inspiration from within speak to me as I’m merely a vessel for the creativety to come out. Traveling informs my work because it allows me to get to know myself more and what I want to contribute to the world at large, remembering how intrinsically similar we all are despite cultural differences, while connecting with others. A lot of my life and my work is about relationship, not in the romantic sense necessarily but relationship to each other, to creation, to the earth, to film, to theatre, to music, to visual arts and to divinity. This goes along with my shamanistic beliefs. I’ve always wanted to travel and I make sure I seek out opportunities for myself that make it so I can travel. You don’t need a lot of money to travel. I’ve gotten scholarships and grants that have allowed me to afford to travel. There are opportunities everywhere, you need to stay open to them and be willing to take risks in this artistic life.
Q: What projects or career aspirations are you excited about for the upcoming year? Do you have an “ultimate” career goal?
A: I am number one most excited about my solo show. I’m also looking forward to publishing my first book this year that I’ve been working on for almost a year in tandem with my solo show about my time with ayahuasca. I spent time with the Shipibo tribe in Peru and went on a retreat there. Since I’m tribal, I wanted to spend time with other tribes to understand similarities across cultures, while learning about different healing plant medicines. I prepped for this for years.
I started working with the UN last month and am planning a trip this summer to Mongolia to do some research for my show and of course for my life.
I don’t have an ultimate career goal except to stay artistically fed and fulfilled while making a positive impact on others and the world at large.
Q: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to yourself at the beginning of your career?
A: I’d say don’t be afraid to say no. There is so much advice out there to like jump on every opportunity and always say yes, but as a recovering workaholic, I find it so much more powerful to say no. Knowing your worth is key in this business. People will take advantage of you. Nowadays, I am much more intentional with the projects I associate myself with instead of getting involved in things just to stay active. For me, I think it’s better to be passionate about what you’re creating instead of working with unprofessional people just for the sake of being on set, or inviting people to things, or posting actively on social media. This is all to say that there is a balance between having many survival jobs and pursuing this crazy creative life. 


Q: Can you talk about some of the challenges on your career path? How did you overcome them?
A: Living in NYC is very expensive but there is so much opportunity here. I find it tricky trying to juggle between making enough money from means that aren’t as creative but also feeding the creative and hungry soul - like making enough time to have space to record auditions or write while living as a human and doing your dishes. There is never enough time in the day. And pursuing this lifestyle for the life-run is a true hustle.
I took time off from auditioning in 2023 for the first time since graduating in 2017 and I’m happy I did. I couldn’t write grant applications for my show while also recording auditions. I also pursued a lot of visual art last year, that brought me to Paris to win an award and then funny enough to Italy, where my mom’s side is from. The grant apps also took time away from my creativity, which is not something I love but they are one way to gain funding for your projects. Focus and discipline are so important.
You have to be your own cheerleader and boss in this business, which is not easy.
I don’t think you can overcome this work-life balance especially in a career that isn’t linear in any sense.
Q: What is your life motto?
A: My life motto is always evolving. One quote I love is by the rapper Nas: “The further I get, the further I want to go.” Something to remember in this life and industry is, who was there for you in time of need? Words mean nothing without action. I’m very much a believer in knowing someone is in how we show up for each other through consistency over time.
I also like to remember that your vibe attracts your tribe. I am all about community and support. I do my best to be there for my people and I am always practicing gratitude for my network as well. Integrity is something I value along with drive and ambition. I’ve accomplished things in my life because I pushed myself when I didn’t have the means to do so, but where there is a will, there is way so I’d say right now the life motto is “ask and you shall receive”.
Q: Welcome to Nuva! What are your thoughts about being part of the Nuva community?
A: I think it’s great to have a community of like-minded women in this industry and I’m excited to get more involved! Thank you for creating this and keeping it going!
