Film Directing
"Every time I'm in the room with Carly, I feel brave enough to take any risk because the culture they've fostered is rock solid. Actors and crew are often asked to compartmentalize. However, Carly fosters a balance between our shared humanity, beautiful differences, and the fleeting work ahead with precious humility. Having that security from a co-creator and director is key to making it all work. I will jump at any opportunity to tell a story together."
-Christopher Roché (Actor & Executive Producer, Chimera)
Stage Directing
"Working with Carly is a dream. She’s a director who trusts her actors, and creates an environment that’s dynamically collaborative, safe, and intimate. Carly’s particularly dedicated to the human element of artistic creation. Not only does she search for truth and humanity in her productions, she ensures practices of humanity within the rehearsal room, by checking in with her actors about mental and emotional states, and taking their concerns seriously. Her leadership is inspiring, because she’s passionate about her art and telling stories. When you have a director who makes a room so welcoming and collaborative, who cares about you as a person, it makes art flow freely and imaginatively. Carly exemplifies what direction should be - and she has a talent and imagination beyond measurement.”
-Lisa Villamil (Actor, Pericles)
-Lisa Villamil (Actor, Pericles)
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Artist Statement
A joyful spell-caster of stories, woven together that transport us to new ways of being. I want to illuminate and imagine what has been, what is, and what could be. The majority of my work has been stories that center women, breaking down or subverting traditional gender norms and stereotypes, infused with witchy spirituality and social justice.
I am a lover of questions, asking questions and being asked questions. I believe that clarity is kindness. I strive to find this clarity, connection, and understanding through thoughtful questions.
Why this story? Why Now? In my own life and work, I think about how my words can be supported by visuals and the power of the phrase “seeing is believing.” I think about how “types” in the performing world have put people, places, and experiences into rigid containers. I am constantly questioning and reflecting upon my unconscious biases and how they relate to ingrained structures of type and the myriad of ways of existing in the world. I think about how I can dismantle and untangle these learned ways of being.
I believe deeply in the magic and power of storytelling, visually and aurally; a reaction to a tone in someone’s voice, the slight movement of a finger. Do you know the audience's heartbeats sync up when watching a live performance? Divine intervention plays a huge role in the work I create. The influence of otherworldly beings and magic in storytelling is exciting to me and aligns with my own spirituality.
I believe in the power and strength of the collective, for each of us to center our own needs and wants while supporting and uplifting each other. I believe in the messiness of paradox and in the importance of holding multiple truths at the same time. I believe in the exchange of energy and the ripple effects that happen from our actions and reactions.
I believe in humanity first work, in which I meet actors and collaborators where they are as humans, and in their own artistic process. Humanity first also applies to meeting characters and stories where they are. Exploring the world the writer has created and then bringing myself and point of view to it.
I always come back to embodying joy and love in my life and work. It is not solely about the product, the final performance, a completed film or book, it is the journey of how I get there and the collaborators I vision with along the way.
I am a lover of questions, asking questions and being asked questions. I believe that clarity is kindness. I strive to find this clarity, connection, and understanding through thoughtful questions.
Why this story? Why Now? In my own life and work, I think about how my words can be supported by visuals and the power of the phrase “seeing is believing.” I think about how “types” in the performing world have put people, places, and experiences into rigid containers. I am constantly questioning and reflecting upon my unconscious biases and how they relate to ingrained structures of type and the myriad of ways of existing in the world. I think about how I can dismantle and untangle these learned ways of being.
I believe deeply in the magic and power of storytelling, visually and aurally; a reaction to a tone in someone’s voice, the slight movement of a finger. Do you know the audience's heartbeats sync up when watching a live performance? Divine intervention plays a huge role in the work I create. The influence of otherworldly beings and magic in storytelling is exciting to me and aligns with my own spirituality.
I believe in the power and strength of the collective, for each of us to center our own needs and wants while supporting and uplifting each other. I believe in the messiness of paradox and in the importance of holding multiple truths at the same time. I believe in the exchange of energy and the ripple effects that happen from our actions and reactions.
I believe in humanity first work, in which I meet actors and collaborators where they are as humans, and in their own artistic process. Humanity first also applies to meeting characters and stories where they are. Exploring the world the writer has created and then bringing myself and point of view to it.
I always come back to embodying joy and love in my life and work. It is not solely about the product, the final performance, a completed film or book, it is the journey of how I get there and the collaborators I vision with along the way.
Readings, Workshops, and Media
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Love Defined The Musical Premiered Mar 22, 2024
This virtual reading was developed as part of the New Musicals Festival through Theatre on the Verge in January-March 2024 Writer: Matthew Jordan Director: Carly L. Bodnar Digital Coordinator: Kelly Lin Hayes Woman 1: Leigh Dillon Woman 2: Elena Nahrmann Man 1: Thomas Smith Man 2: Christopher Roche |
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Get in Touch With Me
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