My Road to Authenticity By Renee Carly

What’s my road to authenticity? Creativity.

Whether writing a song, a jingle, a musical, or a screenplay for television or film: It's in those moments of inspiration, getting lost in a soulful melody, a clever lyric, or a surprisingly perfect piece of dialog —ALL OF IT— has fed my soul and given me a sense of purpose and authenticity.

While the roads I have traveled artistically have led me to one form of creativity or another, I have also worked in television development for Merv Griffin Entertainment and for several years now, as assistant to acclaimed film producer Walter Mirisch, whom I have the honor of calling my friend — a sentiment expressed in a song I wrote for him on his 95th birthday, endearingly called "My Friend."

I have had a good ride thus far. I consider myself a lucky lady, and a happy one too, having this opportunity to share some of my creative endeavors with the readers of Palos Verdes Pulse Magazine.

My biggest news so far this year is the release of three singles on Apple Music: "Road to Authenticity," "Don’t Forget Me While I’m Forgetting You," and "High on a Hill," as well as my debut album Road to Authenticity that was released on April 8th.

The songs on the album sprung to life while writing a screenplay inspired by events in my life, the most significant of which was the passing of my eldest brother from AIDS in 1994. Full of heart and humor, it's a touching story about our deep friendship, growing up in a Catholic, American-Italian family, and subsequently searching to find our way as adults. I'm hopeful that the album will spark interest in what I believe is an inspiring and entertaining story, for which music is central to the main character’s storyline. If there are any indie film producers out there who appreciate stories like Terms of Endearment and Begin Again, let’s chat!

Speaking of firsts and films, my first song placement was “A Love So Sweet” for the Hallmark movie Bridal Wave. I will admit, hearing my song and voice coming through the television for the first time during a heart-tugging scene is something I will never forget. And thanks to streaming, I'm still making a little lunch money on that song placement! Hooray for that.

As a newcomer to Palos Verdes, I thought it advantageous to introduce my jingle company, JINGLE BAR, to businesses in the South Bay by writing a jingle for a local company. I happened to go for skin treatment at InjectAbility in Torrance. I was so impressed with their brand and operation, I knew right then and there, that I wanted my co-founder, Don Shiff, and I to write a jingle for InjectAbility. I think we were right on brand with what we came up with, and InjectAbility founder Leslie Fletcher thought so too! Check it out:

“InjectAbility® has a well-established brand identity, and to add anything to that can be tricky; particularly something as distinctive as a jingle, but Renee Carly did just that from the tune to the lyrics and we couldn’t be happier with what she provided for us.”

InjectAbility founder Leslie Fletcher

Having gone through the pandemic, and feeling the collective loss, my desire to infuse some much-needed joy into the world got me thinking of revisiting a fun project called, A Tigglemeister Christmas, about a quirky family of elves. I contacted the co-creator, Rye Randa, who is also my cousin, about working on a new version. I was met with a resounding yes!

Although we originally wrote the piece as an animated television special, theatre producer Paul Panico of Panic Productions fell in love with the material and premiered A Tigglemeister Christmas as a musical at Hillcrest Center of the Arts in Thousand Oaks.

There is nothing quite like seeing your work come to life on stage with such an enthusiastic and talented cast! After seeing it, we knew we had the beginnings of a Christmas classic on our hands and that someday we would develop it further. That time has come.

Rye and I have begun working on the revised book and additional songs, and we look forward to premiering this updated version of A Tigglemeister Christmas in December 2022/2023. Stay tuned!

Well, there you have it. Enough about me. What's your road to authenticity?

Renee Carly can be reached at:

email: Renee Carly

Music site: Renee Carly Music