Ellen: You are a beautiful and talented rising actress so it's great that you have attached your name to such a worthy project as helping our oceans. I want to ask you a few questions about that important endeavor.
Tanna: Thank you for calling me beautiful! I don't think I could ever see myself as that - I broke my nose surfing and have a huge bump on it - and always have been kind of the ugly duckling...But thank you for saying that
Ellen: You hosted the Save Our Surf fundraiser in Santa Monica earlier this month and raised over $40,000 to help the marine conservation organization Oceana. What a great project and an amazing turnout considering our economic climate. What drew you to be involved with this organization? Are you a surfer?
Tanna: I began surfing three years ago and surf at least three times a week...Oceana is an incredible organization that addresses environmental issues globally, and creates solid plans of attack to combat important environmental threats and solve them in clear, concise steps. They have made major gains for our planet, and I felt that it would be a fantastic way to merge a grass-roots program (Project Save Our Surf) with a larger global organization (Oceana). We garnered huge support from our local Santa Monica Bay surfers, and from great legendary surfers from all over the Southern Cali coast - Shaun Tomson, PT Townend, Timmy Curran and Tom Curren, Jon Rose, and the ever talented Rob Machado... And friends of mine - Noah Wyle, Elliot Gould, Judd Nelson, Ron Vignone, Jeff Garlin, all coming out to help out with the Gala Event, well, it meant more to me than I could ever express. These amazing people came out and surfed for Project SOS, or helped out in any way they could, and it was an unbelievable experience. From my own selfish experience, it was one of the great highlights of my life to go into the water and be the only girl with twelve legendary and pro surfers for an hour...A couple of the other girl surfers didn't show, and I was a big ball of nerves out there. But I held my own, and I'll never forget looking around and seeing all these wonderful guys shredding one to three foot waves to help save our oceans.
Ellen: This website and ShowTheLove Media have as its mission outlining the little, everyday things people can change to help save our planet. What are a few things you would tell people to do to help Save Our Surf - especially those who are unable to make financial contributions?
Tanna: Bring your enthusiasm to the table! This was a difficult year financially for everyone, with seemingly impending doom looming over all our pocketbooks...Nevertheless, people's hearts were full of hope and creativity and determination to make this an event that was successful not only in raising funds for Oceana, but more importantly to ban together as a family and acknowledge we need to fight this ocean battle together. Anyone can sign up to volunteer for Project Save Our Surf 2010, which will be held in Santa Monica on April 11th, and I can promise above all else they will have fun. I wanted that to be the focus of this year's first PSOS: fun and awareness. If you have those two elements swimming around in everyone's minds as they formulate the game plan for an event, you are assured a big win.
Ellen: I'm sure you have a wealth of information about our oceans - what are the three most important things people should know about our oceans and their conservation?
Tanna: I think the day-to-day awareness and activism that an individual can connect with are the most crucial keys to ocean conservation. This can be as little as checking in on the Oceana website (www.oceana.org) and reading up on current posts, or checking in on the 'Action Center' page of their site...There are always things that can be done, even by sending a singular e-mail - to save sharks, stop bottom trawling, stop offshore drilling, help sea turtles, stop mercury contamination in seafood. There is not one major issue or three major issues - there are a TON of issues that we all need to know about to save not just our oceans, but also our planet.
Ellen: What kinds of projects - in conservation and in entertainment - do you have coming up?
I'm of course working on next year's PSOS, and have been delighted to have a hand in a wonderful organization called Inside the Outdoors which assists over 500,000 students in California in being brought out to California's gorgeous terrain and learning about the ecosystems which preside there.
The Iowa Indie Film Festival I co-founded rolls into it's third year this July, so I'm working on getting all the selections together for that and bringing out this year's honorees, including Randal Kleiser and Eric Roberts.
On June 19th I have a film coming out in Laemmle and Landmark Theatres, Irene in Time, written and directed by Henry Jaglom. It's a touching and magical film about fathers and daughters, which I'm personally really excited about. It's an important film for women, a cathartic film for - well - both women and men...From what I've seen. My uncle watched it, and having two young daughters, was incredibly moved by it...I think Irene really tugs on the heartstrings of people by drawing on such subject matter as girls and their daddies...It's a tear jerker, but also a funny quirky film.
I have another film coming out in 2010 with Henry, Queen of the Lot, which is a sequel to a previous film I did, co-starring Noah Wyle and a breathtaking cast. And coming out next year is a film directed by indie master Ron Vignone, called Katie Q, which is a hilarious comedy about a girl with sexual hang-ups and a very eccentric family.
Ellen: And now some personal, fun questions: What's in your handbag you can't leave home without?
Tanna: I just found the best purses...They're these brilliant recycled bags made out of old woven rugs and flour sacks...
But in my handbag - well, it's kind of embarrassing, but I'm a big planner. I have two notebooks with notes strewn all over them - to do lists, phone numbers, my surfing schedules - and on top of that, a planner. Besides that, my wallet and lip gloss. I've never been a make-up kind of gal. I should be! But I'm not. It's more of, what you see is what you get. So you get me with no make-up and three planners with endless to-do lists.
Ellen: What's your secret to staying fit and feeling good?
Tanna: I have to work out, a lot. And I have to do it with some activity that is outside or in a do jang. Something where I don't think about 'working out', but think about getting better at the sport...So, Tae Kwon Do works for me, surfing works for me, and running works for me. I need goals - like being able to go up a belt or being able to go down four inches in board size.
Ellen: What's your favorite tv show?
Tanna: I love the Sopranos. It's the most brilliant t.v. show ever made.
Ellen: Any pets?
Tanna: A six-month-old Shiba Inu named Garbo. Named after the ultimate screen goddess, Greta. She looks like a big white fluffy clown wolf.
Ellen: What book are you reading?
Tanna: I'm embarrassed to say. But it's the political scientist in me - I like reading strong, opinionated authors - so right now I'm reading 'Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, and Jesus are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World.'
Ellen: Whats on your ipod?
Tanna: I'm obsessed with digging out songs that haven't been given their due and putting them onto playlists and distributing them to all my friends. People know me for my playlists. So my ipod covers the underground and unknown gamut of country to R & B to electric to classical.
Ellen: Who is the one person that you admire the most (alive or dead)...
Tanna: I'd have to name two - my mom and dad. They're awesome parents.
If you don't know about Tanna Frederick, you soon will. She is a rising star and activist with two new films coming out. We had the privilege of interviewing her and finding out things about her most people don't know. She talks to Show The Love's own Ellen McCabe below:
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Great interview, Ellen. I know about Save Our Surf. Now I'm looking into the Iowa Indie Film Festival since I am originally from Iowa and can't quite put the two together. Thanks for informing me about Tanna Fredrick and her causes.