Catharine E. Jones started out as an actor and is now directing as well. We were delighted to be able to speak to her about her career, its exciting trajectory, and the holistic foundation it is based on.
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. Please tell us how you came to be an actor.
I spent much of my childhood watching black-n-white films on Turner Classic Movies and I fell in love with cinema and acting. My mother, who named me after Katharine Hepburn (though she dropped the K for a C), encouraged me and even taught me to memorize lines from various films, including The Bad Seed.
High school was my first opportunity to try out my skills. I auditioned for the Arizona State Thespian Conference and landed a partial talent scholarship to attend the University of Northern Colorado, where I graduated with a BA in Acting and a minor in Dance. (I am a first-generation college graduate.)
Onstage my roles were character-based and moving into leading-lady roles. I relate to what Cate Blanchett says: “I am a character actress trapped in a leading lady’s body.” Select stage roles highlighting my abilities to do accents and physical transformation include Annabella/Pamela/ Margaret/ in The 39 Steps, Georgeanne in Five Women in The Same Dress, Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, Sister Virginia in Eclipsed and Helen in Night of the Living Dead.
Through UNC, I did an actor’s showcase in Los Angeles, CA my senior year. This was a valuable experience. Although it did not provide the agent interest I had hoped for, it did allow me to gain perspective on L.A. and to realize I was not meant to be there, yet. I stayed in Colorado, which proved to be an advantageous choice as it afforded me the opportunity to book professional stage roles, including a part in the Off-Broadway production of the play Conviction. Conviction is based on a Spanish Inquisition file from the 1400s and is about the persecution of Jews for practicing their faith in the shadow of Catholicism. As a cast of three, we carried this story to many audiences and did talkbacks with synagogues and other members of the Jewish community.
After my show in NYC, I shifted my focus to film acting in New Mexico. I was cast in my first pilot as Nurse Heather Bardocz in NBC’s The Night Shift, a role that expanded into three seasons and gave me the best possible on-set education. Thereafter I had recurring roles in the TV series Preacher and Messiah, and in the movies Independence Day: Resurgence and The Ridiculous Six. New Mexico has been a place where I’ve succeeded.
At what point did you decide that you also wanted to direct?
Like Ron Howard and Jodie Foster, I’d always wanted to start as an actor and then direct. This came to fruition in 2014. My husband Adam James Jones’s debut novel, The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa, was coming out and he needed a book trailer. Adam and I had always been great partners and I was pleased to see the level of faith he had in me in this new area of my career as well. This was my first taste of indie filmmaking and I was hooked.
Before making my directorial debut with the narrative short film Pinky Promise, I worked with director Darnell Martin. Having made my first shot lists and storyboards, I had trepidation about how to clearly communicate my ideas on the day of shooting. It was extremely educational to witness how Ms. Martin communicated her shots to the crew of The Night Shift. Her collected manner created a sense of ease on set that made it easier for the crew to have faith in her vision. This experience gave me the assurance that I had done my homework and had natural instincts for how to tell the story. I won Best Director for Pinky Promise in the Flicks4Chicks contest at the International Different Faces Different Voices Film Festival in 2016. It was at this point I felt ready to develop my voice as a director.
Already you’ve won numerous awards for the short films you’ve directed for various local and international film festivals, including a “Best Horror Film” award in the Worldwide Women’s Film Festival 2020. Do you intend to focus on direction or will you continue to act as well?
I have continued to act and enjoy the craft. Though working as a professional artist is tough no matter the trade, I believe I am more empowered as a director than an actor. Nevertheless, I would like to shape my career with both acting and directing, like Greta Gerwig, Zoe Lister-Jones, and Tina Fey.
Tell us about Enedina Films.
My film company is called Enedina Films. The name is both my middle name and my grandmother’s first name. When I told my grandmother I wanted to pursue directing but was intimidated by all I had to learn, she said, “Step up, mija.” And I did. Our mission at Enedina Films is To lead all aspects of filmmaking with conscious collaboration, focus, and radiant imagination.
What drives me to direct is the desire to lead a team composed of various creative talents with many ideas to realize one vision. It is through this process that I feel most alive. My goal is to facilitate bringing the best out of everyone on set so that the story has the potential to serve the audience in a higher manner.
One of my career highlights was working with the Central New Mexico Community College Film II Class students and New Mexico Women in Film on the Public Service Announcement I wrote and directed for Enlace Comunitario, a domestic violence shelter for Latina immigrants. This project involved many new challenges, including managing a bilingual set and pairing student mentees from the college and New Mexico Girls Make Movies high school students with professionals in the IATSE crew union. It was crucial I establish an educational environment that championed the power of collaboration and encouraged creative risk-taking.
What are your goals at this point in your career?
I would like to direct television and make a feature-length film, in the near future. I am also managing book-to-film rights for Vendetta, which has been previously optioned. Adam and I are writing a television pilot based on the feature film screenplay adaptation he wrote. Ultimately, we intend to sell the rights and stay on as producers.
What is Vendetta about? And will you both direct and act in it?
The story describes the manhunt for America’s first serial killer and foreign terrorist, Felipe Espinosa: As the Civil War is raging out east a gunman is stalking the territories on a “divine” mission to kill American settlers. The gunman eludes armies, governments, and posses, until the onset of a fierce high county manhunt led by legendary tracker Tom Tobin, a close friend of Kit Carson. By the end of his spree, Felipe Espinosa claimed at least 32 American settlers. By comparison, Billy the Kid claimed just 9.
I would love to act in Vendetta, and directing it would be a dream. Ultimately, I want to see it made on a large scale, as an HBO, Netflix, or History Channel limited series.
In addition to your work in film, you also have also taught acting classes. Your promotional literature states that students learn character development by “layering the light and shadow attributes of universal archetypal patterns.” Can you expand on this?
When I am not on set, my other passion is helping people become empowered and heal themselves. I employ different approaches and modalities with whomever I am working with. I will do Jungian archetypes, energy work concepts of Caroline Myss, reiki, yoga, hypnotherapy, meditation, aura readings, Integrated Energy Therapy ®, and chakra clearing. I am fortunate to do a lot of this work with Aura Photo NM, a business I co-own. Taking aura photos is an ideal gateway for people to see how the colors of their aura affect their lives and choices. As far as I know, we are the only company taking aura photos in New Mexico. Along the same lines, I blended my energy work career with filmmaking in the short I wrote and directed called OM+ME, which explores the meaning of om, consciousness, and self-empowerment.
You’ve also taught yoga classes. Is there a point where the lessons of yoga and the skills needed to act intersect?
As a yoga instructor, I know that when we fully occupy our bodies, we become more present. When we are more present in front and behind the camera, a deep alignment can occur, just as it does in a yoga class. On my sets, it is not uncommon for me to ask everyone to take a breath with an audible exhale to reset so that the group energy can take us all forward. Yoga has immensely improved my awareness as an actor. Movement work in various disciplines is a necessity for actors.
Where would you like to be in five years?
I am a working storyteller aligned with collaborators who elevate everything around them. I am managing projects that I have been hired to direct, act, write, and produce for independent film scenes and Hollywood-level productions. I am also creating stories on screen that I make alongside my husband. The kinds of films I make are ones that serve an audience and create space for self-expansion.
Please let us know where Occhi readers can learn more about you and your work.
Stay connected at www.catjonesfilms.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enedinafilms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/enedinafilms
The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa book trailer: http://www.catjonesfilms.com/vendetta.html.
Aura Photo NM: https://www.auraphotonm.com/
PHOTO CREDITS:
Headshot by Cyd Gallery
ON-SET of Hatchlings (includes Adam James Jones) by Barb Odell
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