Linda Collins isn’t slowing down as she pulls into the second act of her professional voyage. She’s picking up the pace, if anything, and widening her artistic efforts. She has multiple major releases either coming out this year or else coming together in 2022 with an eye towards a 2023 release. Her highest profile project is the short film Three for the Road. This award-winning, nominated, and official selection at multiple film festivals was conceived as a steppingstone toward a series; it has succeeded in garnering the necessary buzz and writer/director David Patrick Wilson has already written episodes for the show’s upcoming first season.
It has amassed an impressive list of accolades. Three for the Road pulled down the award for Best TV Series/Web Pilot from the New York Independent Cinema Awards and the Best Ensemble nod from the Brightside Tavern Film Festival. Official Selections from the Amsterdam Short Film Festival and LA Independent Women Film Awards and landing a semi-finalist slot at the Arthouse Festival of Beverly Hills for Best Comedy Short are plums in the project’s cap.
Another of her marquee projects at the moment is writer/director Debbie Markowitz’s The Prof. It’s a short film like the aforementioned Three for the Road, but Collins orients herself in a dramatic direction with Markowitz’s project playing the role of Marigold opposite Anthony Robert Grasso’s title character. Collins fills the Executive Producer slot for this film, as she did for the earlier Three for the Road, and her hand in shaping the final results further burnishes Collins’ reputation.
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4943150/
She doesn’t serve an important behind-the-scenes role in other projects. They aren’t lesser quality efforts, however, and will likely entertain and satisfy a wide audience. The first is her role as Dolly in Mariam Bakashvilli’s Goat, an offbeat dark comedy. Bakashvilli’s story is about a meek misfit forced to fend off the efforts of an unexpected rival trying to destroy her relationship. Her propensity for character-driven pieces continues with the part of Helga in Andre Irias’ historical short Walkure. It’s her second project with Irias and is currently in pre-production.
She’s making a big mark on short-form television with another series appearance. Ish Productions’ Clique is an indie original BIPOC LGBTQ+ series and Collins plays the supporting part of Katherine Bangel. Her talents, however, go far beyond the film world. Her employment as the well-respected NBRC Youth Drama Club’s Director of Music and Worship Arts requires her to mount two productions a year. She helmed the recent production of The Agape League, a musical comedy, and has received considerable acclaim for diversifying the NBRC Chanel Choir’s Hallelujah Chorus with imaginative instrumental contributions.
This sort of far-reaching work ethic and passion for invention brings life to every project she’s involved in. Linda Collins is obviously a lifer, not some fly-by-night performer indulging in a transient passion, and someone who regularly invests as much of themselves into their work as she does is worth their weight in gold for any collaboration. She’s a prodigious talent and a clear team player.
Trace Whittaker
