Screenwriting, Songwriting, and Screaming | Mina Tobias

Actress, musician, and writer Mina Tobias grew up in her dad’s recording studio and on her mom’s film sets — but it took leaving athletics, starting therapy, and a pandemic full of insomnia before she found a creative voice that was her own. This conversation explores how screenwriting, picked up purely for fun with no intention of anyone ever reading it, became the thing that unlocked everything else — and why Mina believes a song and a scene are the same craft in different structures. She unpacks what the athlete’s mindset gave her, and what she had to unlearn from it, starting with the belief that discipline means sacrifice. Mina also takes us inside the rock EP she wrote in the bath, leading the indie horror film The Vanishing Tour on a set that caught fire on day two, and co-founding Don’t Mind Me, the mental health organization she built with her family. Mina proves that your Sparkle isn’t one craft. It’s the curiosity running underneath it all. Listen to Mina’s new song! https://open.spotify.com/album/7GPbsK... Follow Mina Tobias: https://www.instagram.com/minatobias_... Learn more about Don't Mind Me: https://www.dontmindme.org/ 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:02:17 Growing Up in the Studio: The Creative Foundation 00:02:45 The Athletic Mindset: From Competition to Creativity 00:03:49 Therapy as the Turning Point: Finding Your Voice 00:05:30 Pandemic Screenwriting: When Insomnia Becomes Inspiration 00:06:49 Screenwriting and Songwriting: Two Sides of the Same Scene 00:13:15 Discipline vs. Sacrifice: Redefining What It Means to Show Up 00:18:09 The Divorce Dad Rock Playlist: Finding Your Sound 00:20:28 The Rocky EP: Writing in the Bath and Letting Flow Happen 00:26:24 The Vanishing Tour: Fire, Screaming, and Finding Your Edge 00:34:43 Horror as Metaphor: When Genre Becomes the Vehicle 00:38:55 Mental Health on Set: Routines, Fuel, and Preparation 00:40:21 Don't Mind Me: Born from Anger and a Brother's Crisis 00:43:18 Direct Impact: Scholarships and Building a Treatment Center 00:44:23 Artists and Mental Health: The Network That Saves Lives 00:44:43 The Language of Crisis: Learning to Navigate the System 00:47:48 Creating from Anger to Joy: Transmuting Pain into Purpose 00:51:13 Community Over Isolation: The Artist's Greatest Tool 00:54:42 Letting Go of Gatekeepers: Learning the Business to Throw It Away 00:57:41 Building the Catalog: The New Artist's Blueprint