Ashley Saress Lemmex - Bio

 Some skills we learn and others come naturally. For me, organizing a drawer, developing working systems, budgeting, and scheduling are skills that come naturally. Always the organizer of the group, I am the friend  who makes sure there is back up safety kit and that no one forgot their wallet. Even better - not only am I good at it, but I love doing it. Beyond that, I always found myself drawn to the power of storytelling and the collaboration of live performance. Luckily, I found that my love of organization and collaboration could collide with my passion for storytelling in production management.

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My production background began in film, where I have a Bachelors of Arts in Commercial and Film Production. For 7 years, I worked as a Film Production Manager and Coordinator – planning travel, scheduling equipment and locations, writing contracts, obtaining insurance permits, creating systems of communication, and managing diverse groups of artists. I gained in-depth experience working with large and small budgets which allow me to create accurate projections with follow through.

After several years working in the film industry, both in production and post-production, I sought to expand my skillset by returning to school.Little did I know that one acting class would return me to my childhood roots in performing arts. During my time in school, I began to translate my film production skillset into a stage management "toolbox".  In 2013, I graduated from SBCC with an Associate’s Degree in Theatre Arts emphasis in Acting/Directing and an Associate’s Degree in Business Management. 

I have spent the last 5 years working as part of a production department, mostly on the Stage Management team.  I am a detail oriented worker with excellent time and schedule management. During my time as a Production Stage Manager, I have served as an artistic liaison and point of contact for multiple production departments – juggling needs and mediating artistic viewpoints.

During this time, I have also held a day a position working as a Production Manager and Technical Director at a K-8 school in Montecito, CA. This included budgeting, scheduling, and acting as an artistic liaison involving both school and community events. I worked directly with students – pioneering a technical theater program that focused on hands-on training and on storytelling through design. It also included overseeing the successful design and technical execution of one live presentation per day and 6 musical productions per year with a student crew.

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For me, stage managing is as much an art form as any other aspect of theater. There is an art to seeing how all the pieces fit together, of finding that perfect beat to bring up the light so that it creates a rush in your veins. There is a collage of collaboration art at work in stage management - consistently problem solving diverse artistic visions to defy elements of reality.  It is about finding productive ways to say "yes" to those things that challenge a production into transforming it's audience. Stage management in essence is the art of creative collaboration.

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Stage Management credits include: The Theatre Group at SBCC's: High Society, The Hounds of Baserkville, Music Man, Noises Off, Present Laughter and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Additional credits include productions of: Or, God of Carnage, and a one-man touring show, Borrowed Time.  Assistant Stage Manag credits include the Theatre Group at SBCC’s Avenue Q as well as Opera Santa Barbara's recent productions of Carmen and The Cunning Little Vixen.  Live event technical and production coordination consists of graduations, memorials, and weddings.