Step inside the real story behind the highlight reels. On this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, host Mia Lepage sits down with photographer, creative director, dancer, and founder of Young CEO LLC, Neely Towns.

From growing up as a competitive gymnast in Alabama to shooting for Chris Brown, Winnie Harlow, Omeretta, and more, Neely breaks down the actual steps that took her from $250 sorority gigs to working with A‑list talent.

They dive into:

How Neely pivoted from college gymnastics to dance and photography
Moving to Atlanta and finding a creative community that embraced individuality
Using free work, DMs, and personal projects to build real industry relationships
Shooting Breezy Bowl, touring, and going to Coachella with Winnie Harlow
The reality of anxiety, people‑pleasing, and downtime between big jobs
Why being more than “just a photographer” gets you rehired
Building Young CEO, escaping the “starving artist” mentality & aiming for financial freedom
If you’re an aspiring photographer, dancer, or creative trying to break into the industry—or just love a good behind‑the‑scenes story—this episode is for you.

JP Stanley didn’t take a straight shot into the Hollywood power seat either. He was a high‑energy kid bouncing between Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Florida, obsessed with performing long before he knew what a producer did. Theater classes, competitive dance, teaching combos at recess, and getting in trouble for making classmates laugh were his first “sets” — years before Apple TV spots, American Express campaigns, and founding Goodwork Productions were even on the horizon. What started as a four‑year‑old’s dream to “make movies” turned into a full dance career, then the LA grind of auditions and agencies, before a single casting internship quietly rewired his entire path.

In this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, JP and I trace how a performer who thought he’d dance, then act, then maybe produce at 50 ended up fast‑tracked into casting director, senior casting director, and executive producer — and ultimately, CEO of his own production company. We get into the artist residency that birthed his first short film Stage Moms, the pushback and praise it received, and how that project became the catalyst for starting Goodwork. JP breaks down what actually happens inside a casting office (intern to assistant to associate to CD), why directability matters more than “perfection,” and how he quietly slipped himself and his friends into breakdowns while learning the system from the inside.

We also unpack what being an executive producer really looks like across music videos, commercials, and indie films — from line producing and UPM responsibilities to managing budgets, departments, and fires that will happen. JP walks through a recent near‑disaster on a Major Lazer video, when a crucial night‑shoot crane simply never showed up, and how a frantic round of cold calls, a random 24‑hour equipment yard, and a genius G&E team turned a potential shutdown into one of their best‑looking setups. He explains why he obsesses over fully built‑out call sheets (for a $50 shoot or a $50M one), what makes a Goodwork production different on set, and why he’ll always invest heavily in crafty that actually fuels 12‑hour days.

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What does it really take to go from church mime and $5 dance classes in St. Louis to choreographing for the Grammys, BET Awards, and artists like Latto, Cardi B, and Lil Baby?

On this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, Mia sits down with creative director, choreographer, producer, and educator Jeremy Green – founder of Behind The Movement (BTM) and creator of the powerful live production Dear Black Boy.

Jeremy opens up about:

Growing up in St. Louis and falling in love with dance after watching Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope tour
Failing his first professional dance class and why passion kept him going
Moving to Nashville and Atlanta with almost nothing, interning at Dance 411, and starting out homeless
Working as an assistant in the agency world and how understanding the business changed everything
How Behind The Movement went from a small showcase raising money for kids to a full week-long professional intensive
The heart and healing behind Dear Black Boy, and why telling Black men’s stories on stage is so important
The real qualifications that get dancers rehired (hint: it’s not just talent)
Why he prefers live stage, loves auditions, and believes work ethic beats talent every time
His advice for aspiring dancers, choreographers, creative directors, and program founders
If you’re serious about a career in dance – or you care about purpose, mentorship, and building something that outlives you – this episode is for you.

If this conversation inspired you, like, comment, and subscribe for more real conversations with the people who keep the call sheet moving.

Paul Becker didn’t grow up with a perfectly paved path into Hollywood, either. He was a self-taught kid from Victoria, British Columbia — one of six boys in a rowdy house where the basement was for fights and he was the one dancing in the corner — turning cardboard boxes into cars and Lego into entire worlds. His “training” wasn’t fancy studios or elite programs; it was VHS tapes of Breakin’ and B-Street, late nights copying moves in the living room, and a mom who let him follow two waitresses from her diner into a hip‑hop class that changed everything. By 16, a Ninja Turtles audition he prepped for in the middle of the closed restaurant earned him his first paid dance job — and a check in the mail that quietly rewired his brain: you can actually get paid to do what you love.

In this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, Paul and I trace how that self‑taught island kid became an award‑winning director, choreographer, writer, producer, and now AI‑driven filmmaker behind projects like Disney’s Descendants, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Riverdale, The Muppets, a Lionsgate feature (Breaking Brooklyn), The Last of Us movement design, and LEGO’s first live‑action musical, Heart Lake. We dig into the brutal realities of being “the afterthought” on set — choreographing viral Riverdale numbers with almost no rehearsal time, fighting for skeleton crews and proper prep, and literally having to explain to a room of producers what a choreographer actually does. Paul breaks down how he used shadowing stunt coordinators and DPs, shooting his own concept pieces, and editing his own work as his real film school after dropping out of the official one in Vancouver.

We also get into navigating egos and vulnerability on set, from life‑changing lessons with legends like Lou Gossett Jr. and Kenny Ortega, to mentoring young Disney and Netflix talent, to the hard conversation about entitlement and “rotten eggs” in the dancer community. Paul talks about reinventing himself from dancer to choreographer to director to songwriter, what it really feels like to stand at the monitor watching actors perform words you wrote, and why he still feels like he hasn’t “made it” — even while living the exact dream he had at 13.

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Ryan Nilsen didn’t grow up with a straight line into Hollywood post‑production. He was a kid from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania — mushroom drop, small‑town Americana, classic suburbs of Philly — whose world was more theater camp and high school sports than red carpets and studio lots. At Temple University, late‑night train rides to New York, PA gigs on grad thesis films, and internships on ABC daytime talk shows became his crash course in how “real” sets run, long before Marvel, Skydance, and Apple TV+ ever entered the picture. What started as an ADHD‑kid’s love of The Office and movie nights with his parents quietly turned into a full‑blown obsession with producing, editing, and post — the part of the process where the story actually comes together.

In this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, Ryan and I walk through how a Temple film major who almost stayed a New York talk‑show intern became a post‑production coordinator on shows like Reacher, Marvel’s Agatha All Along, and big Netflix series, while also stepping into story producing on Fox’s Reality Check with Kalen Allen. We trace the brutal 12‑hour days at a talk‑show network where he literally lived at work during COVID, the furlough that forced him back to Philly, and the single referral from a fellow Owl that dropped him into his first big post job — and changed his entire career trajectory. Ryan opens up about what a post coordinator actually does day‑to‑day (dailies, edits, ADR, vendor wrangling), how union hours, tax incentives, and strikes shape where jobs even exist, why goals are allowed to change after family health scares and industry upheaval, and how a random “think tank” visit led to meeting his favorite filmmaker and acting in his movie. We also dig into navigating LA cost of living, shifting from “corporate post” to freelance story producing, the myths about staying a year at your first job, the reality of nepotism, and why community and networking — from Temple alumni mixers to Marvel hallways with Samuel L. Jackson — matter more than any one credit.

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Reagan Hewes didn’t grow up with a roadmap for touring the world with one of the biggest bands on the planet. She was a small‑town kid from Pennsylvania, dancing at a tiny, non‑competition studio where the vibes were more family cookout than cutthroat convention. Dance was always “the thing that stuck” — soccer came and went, gymnastics came and went — but dance stayed, quietly turning from an after‑school activity into the thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Hip hop companies like Reverb, performance‑based studios, and a drama‑free environment gave her a rare foundation in an industry that can be notoriously toxic.

In this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, Reagan and I trace how a girl who loved Ash conventions, contemporary combos, and commercial jazz went from AMDA dorm rooms and Universal’s Horror Nights to performing with TWICE at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and touring the world with BTS. We walk through her decision to leave a four‑year performing arts program, the grind of retail jobs and 3pm–3am haunt shifts just to pay LA rent, and the nearly two‑year stretch of “radio silence” before her first big booking. Reagan opens up about building a career without an agent, turning Instagram into a visual résumé, navigating rejection without losing yourself, finding real community in a city full of “fakes,” and what it actually looks like behind the scenes when you’re a working dancer on a global K‑pop tour.

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Matt Sonic didn’t grow up on a Hollywood backlot or with industry parents paving the way. He was a shy, movie‑obsessed kid in Minnesota in a no‑video‑games household who found his escape — and his education — in films and TV. While other kids were just watching Pixar, Matt was rewatching DVDs with commentary tracks, studying behind‑the‑scenes features, and quietly deciding he’d move to LA and work in film and television — with no plan B.

In this episode of Call Sheet Confessions, Matt and I talk about how a quiet, nerdy kid from the Midwest became a working filmmaker across some of the biggest shows in pop culture — from The Bachelor franchise and The Kardashians, to the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special and the Euphoria promo, plus our time together on Let’s Marry Harry. We get into what it really looks like to come from “outside” the industry, build a career from scratch, and keep going when your dream feels huge and your path is anything but guaranteed.

We get into:
• Growing up in Minnesota as a shy, nerdy kid who used movies and TV as an escape and a way to learn social skills
• Being in a no‑video‑games household — and how that pushed him deeper into storytelling, film language, and characters
• Rewatching movies with commentary tracks, obsessing over behind‑the‑scenes features, and realizing he cared about how stories were made as much as the stories themselves
• Knowing from a young age that there was no “Plan B” — he was going to move to LA and work in film and TV, period
• Having parents outside the industry who were initially unsure, then became fully supportive once they saw his seriousness and commitment
• Why that parental support mattered, and what it looks like when your family doesn’t quite “get” your dream but still chooses to back you
• Coming into Hollywood as an outsider and slowly finding his place on sets and in production
• Working on major projects like The Bachelor franchise, The Kardashians, the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special, and the Euphoria promo — and what those experiences taught him
• Our time working together on Let’s Marry Harry, what that show was really like, and why we’re still waiting for it to finally drop
• The importance of proof of concept — showing, not just telling, the people around you that this is serious and you’re all in

Matt also opens up about the inner work behind his journey — pushing through shyness, using movies as both comfort and a blueprint for human behavior, learning to operate without a safety‑net “real job” plan, and appreciating the people who believed in him before the credits ever rolled with his name on them.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever dreamed of moving to LA, breaking into film and TV from far outside the system, turning a childhood obsession with movies into a real career, or just understanding what it actually takes to build a life in entertainment when you don’t start with connections or industry parents.

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