Marco and Erica meet the producer of the web series Smoke and Mirrors, the outstanding actress and mother, Holly Mumford!

Hello everyone!

Today, our dear hosts Marco and Erica have a different, enjoyable, even beautiful experience. Marco presents our guest as half Italian, half British, and half a mother.

I think now you all know who SHE is. The beautiful actress and mom, Holly Mumford from England. The woman who doesn’t wait for opportunities but create ones!

So Holly as an actress, mom, writer and producer, Marco and Erica are eager to engage with her between Italy and England, hear about the starting of Smoke and Mirrors, and hear about her being a working mom.

Acting Between Italy and England

Long time no see for Marco, Erica and Holly, hah?

Marco begins to recall Holly’s situation as she goes back and forth between Britain and Italy. Holly replies that she used to go and come back for series acting in both countries, but then she finally settled in Milan in 2018.

Now Marco brings up the big question: What happened to make Holly settle in Italy?

Holly didn’t want to say, but the B two words kept her in Italy, and one of them was her Baby! We’ll get a glimpse of her life with her baby very soon. You don’t wanna miss this, so keep reading!

After this huge transition, Marco and Erica wonder what Holly misses from Britain while she is in Italy now? Besides the five o’clock tea and the countryside.

Well, with a big family like Holly’s, she misses her mom and dad the most and her cousins and friends, of course. And she would never forget the countryside, I mean, no one can blame her. It is magical in England.

But check it up. Holly says that now she feels more Italian than she ever felt British! Wow, 1-0 for Italy.

The Birth of Smoke and Mirrors

Once again, Marco turns the conversation with an excellent question and says, “You gave life not only to a child but also to Smoke and Mirrors, was it a good adventure?”

Smoke and Mirrors was born throughout 2018 when Holly started writing the script for her first web series because she was tired of waiting for opportunities to come knocking on her door. Well done Holly. How encouraging is creating your own opportunity!

Well, what or who pushed Holly to write her own series? Marco asks. He is Holly’s husband! Although he had no experience in her industry, he was a strong supporter of her.

Erica asks: How far would you go in an Italian love story?

Here Holly considers her marriage a great source of inspiration, and some moments and arguments from her own experiences with her friends of different origins were also a source of inspiration. But her husband is certainly different, as he is a source of motivation and emotional support, so he advises her to consider writing a real job and commit to it daily.

Marco values this idea and appreciates her commitment, persistence, and creativity. Really outstanding achievement, Holly!

Yet Holly thinks she was lucky, and after she finished writing, the moment of truth came, and she had a lot to do! First, she had to find a filmmaker, the actors, and the personality of Giovanni in particular.

So, Holly contacted Daniele Russo for Giovanni’s character, and he was AMAZING absorbing and visualizing the text she wrote.

Holly’s goal with Smoke and Mirrors is to show people what life is like between an international kind of couple with all the misunderstandings and arguments that could happen.

She believes that the idea of married people lives, especially newlyweds, should be perfect and colourful is almost imaginary because, for some, this period may be a crisis. Holly wants to show this in the light of rising populism, highlighting that no matter what type of couple, culture, personality.. etc., we all argue about the same thing.

Smoke and Mirrors Selections

Marco wants to know more about what was happening in Holly’s marriage to see if the series was an exaggeration or not. Holly laughs and responds that it was a very exaggerated version of some moments in her life. She described the series as a perfect mixture of comedy and drama.

Marco is fascinated by the structure of the series. And we too!

Now Marco moves on to ask if Holly’s series won awards.

Her series Smoke and Mirrors won the Milan Gold Award for Best Web Series, Best Actor, and Best Original Story.

Holly focuses here on some interesting remarks. She asserts that after you finish your product, you realize that it still needs a lot of work to publish it and get people to understand it because that will not happen by itself unless you have a large production company.

Marco and Erica understand that, of course, as founders of Britalians TV.

Therefore, Holly presented to some festivals, such as the Milan Gold Award Festival, and she was very grateful to the attendees because they made her feel recognition and achievement. Holly sees that when you have a project, you don’t know if it will be liked or disliked because it’s kind of controversial and touches on sensitive topics.

So anyone who thinks her character was horrible and unpleasant can rest. She just cares that you like the product as a whole.

Anyway, having people around- said Holly, such as an employee working on the social media site, helped her a lot. As Marco says, we cannot be excellent in writing, production, publishing, social media matters and everything, so we need help. Holly agrees: Of course, that’s why there are big production companies.

What is Next for Holly?

What then? Marco asks Holly.

Holly always wanted to use the web series to become a TV series or at least to get attention. Because as a script or an idea, she didn’t see it strong enough, but quirky and hadn’t been done before with this mixing of languages. Therefore, she wasn’t willing to take it to the production company as a script only.

Holly knows that she can win the attention of big production companies when she shows them a visual product in a very short time. So, Holly’s next step is to stalk every production company and ask them to “please give me your budget” Good luck Holly!

Maggie Coming to the World

Marco now believes that Holly is at the right moment in her life to know what she wants, the quality she gets from her product, the storytelling and everything. And she is. Bravo Holly!

As we promised to you before, we will hear about the most exciting challenge for Holly, her daughter Maggie.

After everything that happened to Holly up to this point, it had taken her a lot of time to get her to rest and settle down. As an actor, she always questions herself and her abilities, but when Maggie came, Holly felt her power to do whatever she wanted. She’s heard many women say that once they had children, they felt empowered! Since giving birth is so difficult.

Now Marco wants to give birth, even if it’s fake, just to be empowered. Well, go and be a dad Marco!

Holly finds it challenging to face everything at the same time, so she decides not to work much in Maggie’s first three years. These moments in children’s lives don’t come back as they grow up so quickly, says Holly.

Erica gets so affected and finds it amazing that Holly’s baby gives her the strength to do what she loves. Erica loved this point of view for her being lovely, honest, and making a person better!

This is what happened with Holly. As soon as Maggie came, Holly felt more determined and strong, and she saw Maggie as another person on her side supporting her.

And it is really wonderful that the person who was considered by many to be an obstacle in pursuing their dreams inspired and supported the fulfilment of Holly’s dream.

Sneek peak: Pasts, Drinks and Coming songs

Now Marco and Erica are planning to meet Holly as soon as possible. Hopefully, they don’t forget to take us with them.

For more exciting details about Holly’s family and new projects, you can watch the full episode on Britalians TV.