Hollywood, Medicine Men, and Tapas
Oh, my. We're going to Madrid today to meet American author and former Hollywood Assistant Director Marsha Scarbrough.
Who I’d Rather Be Talking About… Marsha Scarbrough
Welcome to the second installment of Who I’d Rather Be Talking About, where I interview cool and interesting people from all over the world. Today I’d rather be talking about Marsha Scarbrough. Marsha and I met in 2021 while volunteering at Pueblo Inglés in Spain.
Marsha is a former Hollywood Assistant Director with a CV that won’t quit. She’s the author of two award-winning memoirs, Medicine Dance and Honey in the River (both available on Amazon), and a freelance journalist with over 100 articles published in national magazines. Plus, she’s rocking it on TikTok (@mscarxilt2b)!
Today she’s living her best life in Madrid, Spain.
Introducing Marsha….
Abbey: Let’s start with the beginning… Where did you grow up and go to college?
Marsha: I was born in Los Angeles to a working-class family. I was the high school valedictorian of the public high school I attended. I got scholarships to go to the USC School of Journalism where I was awarded a BA cum laude.
After graduation, I was working as an advertising copywriter for a department store chain. They decided they wanted to make some low-budget commercials and assigned me to be the liaison between the producer and the company.
Soon, I was writing, producing, and directing commercials on my own. I grew bored with it and decided I wanted to get into theatrical film production.
A: Tell me a bit about your career in Hollywood.
M: If you’re not well-connected, the only way into Hollywood film production is the prestigious Assistant Directors Training Program, sponsored by the Directors Guild of America. It’s an apprenticeship of 400 days on working film sets learning the complex, intense, and demanding job of the Assistant Director.
It’s extremely competitive - only 20 apprentices are chosen each year.
I started applying to the program. In those days, you had to take an eight-hour test that was only offered once a year. I failed three times and got in on the fourth try. I completed the apprenticeship as a member of DGA. I rose from Second AD to First AD and did the job for almost 20 years.
(*Check out Marsha’s credits! Marsha Scarbrough - IMDb)
A: Let’s talk about your Hollywood days…
Favorite Actor?
I worked with many wonderful actors and actresses. Dolly Parton and Mary Tyler Moore were inspiring. Pierce Brosnan was a dream. He has incredible emotional intelligence.
Favorite movie to work on?
“Bird” directed by Clint Eastwood. I was Second Second AD, so low on the production hierarchy, but Clint was amazing to work with. I learned so much about directing from watching him. He’s a true master and a kind of magical person. It wasn’t easy, but it was a memorable and rewarding experience.
A: Today you’re a freelance journalist and author of two award-winning memoirs. How has your writing evolved throughout your life?
M: I retired from Hollywood at 50, after DGA did a life expectancy survey and the average life expectancy for First Assistant Directors was 58. I went back to journalism and freelanced for entertainment publications like TV Guide and other magazines.
While I was an Assistant Director, I went through difficult times in my personal life. I took care of my dying parents. My marriage dissolved. I had a breast cancer scare. During that “descent,” I connected with a Native American medicine man who, I believe, healed me. I continued to work with him for years.
Looking back on it some years later, I realized that it could be an interesting memoir. I wrote it, and after a long quest to find a publisher, “Medicine Dance” was published. Christiane Northrup, author of “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” wrote, “Just fabulous. I couldn’t put it down. Rarely have I read anything that gets as close to the whole truth about health, disease, and relationships.”
A: What inspired your second book?
M: Overlapping with the Native American medicine man, I started studying with a West African shaman from Nigeria. It was interesting to me that both cultures use drumming, chanting and dance as healing modalities. Both understand, as we know from quantum physics, that we are made up of vibration. We are just sub-atomic particles vibrating at different rates. We are composed like music is composed. When our vibrations fall out of harmony, we can use other sacred vibrations to restore our harmony and our health. Thus drumming and dancing.
I realized that this would also be an interesting memoir, especially because I had a stormy, sexy love affair with the polygamous shaman. I wrote “Honey in the River,” and it was published by the same publisher. “Honey in the River” has a soundtrack. If a chant or a rhythm I describe in the book has a footnote, you can find it on Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, etc.
A: What are your latest writing projects?
M: I’ve written a third memoir about my experiences as an Assistant Director with a lot of crazy stories and insider information. I’m looking for an agent and/or publisher, so if any literary agents are reading this, please get in touch. In the meantime, I’m posting snippets of my Hollywood stories on TikTok - Roaming Crone (@mscarxilt2b) | TikTok. Follow me!
A: Tell us about your retirement & events leading up to your move overseas.
M: When I was 60, I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had spent time there because of my medicine man, so I had a community. My idea was to get away from Hollywood completely and grow my tiny nest egg by investing in real estate and working as a real estate agent.
I love Santa Fe, except for the freezing winters. I enjoyed my life there. Then I got caught in the housing crash of 2008. I had two houses, and they both went $100,000 upside down. By 2010, I was bankrupt and in foreclosure. The tiny nest egg was gone. Real estate sales dried up so I had no income. I had nothing and was in debt to a friend.
I realized that if I was ever going to retire, it would have to be in a country where the cost of living was low enough that I could live on my pensions. That wasn’t possible in the US. Around this time, I got a certificate to teach English to speakers of other languages. In the summer, I was teaching in English immersion programs at Santa Fe University of Art and Design to faculty and graduate students from affiliated universities. In the winters, I’d travel on scouting journeys visiting my former students throughout South and Central America.
A: How did your move to Spain come together?
M: In 2016, I decided to go visit my former student, Alberto, who was a professor of fine arts in Madrid. I hadn’t considered Europe because I thought it would be too expensive. It wasn’t! And it was safe. And the people were friendly.
I loved everything about it.
I traveled around Spain for six weeks including volunteering in an English immersion program where I made more friends. By the time I had to go back to the US, I thought, “I want to live here.”
I started research and realized it was possible.
I collected the documents I needed. I submitted my application to the Spanish consulate in Houston. At the beginning of the process, Trump was just starting his campaign. I assumed it was a joke. No one I knew would vote for him. Then I went to Houston where I was often the only person NOT voting for him. By the time I got my visa, he’d been inaugurated. I felt vindicated! My timing was perfect. It was a brilliant move for me.
I’ve never been happier.
***BONUS**** International Living Magazine interviewed Marsha about her move… watch it here!
A: What advice do you have for someone considering a move to another country?
M: Do your homework. Go visit for at least six weeks. Make friends. Then follow your bliss.
A: Last question… What is something that You’d Rather Be Talking About?
M: Let’s talk about society’s wrong-headed approach to aging. The message we send is that after you raise your family and retire, you’re supposed to stay in one place, do the same thing every day, and be safe. I think that’s completely backward and boring.
Our last chapter is the time to go on adventures. We’re going to die anyway. Why do we need to be safe? Let’s live it up, take chances, and pack every minute with things we wanted to do but didn’t get around to. My goal now is to have as much fun as I can before I leave the planet. I’m not so concerned about how long I live. I just want to be living fully every day that is left. I want to be healthy, happy, healthy, happy, healthy, happy, DEAD!
Thank you, Marsha for sharing a bit of your life with us, and inspiring us to live life to the fullest!
Contact Information for Marsha:
Want to see exactly how movies are made… from an insider? Sign up for Marsha’s quarterly newsletter and you’ll get an exclusive video where Marsha spills the tea. While you’re there, check out her website.
Want even more? Read on as Marsha gives us the lowdown on Madrid.
A bit about Madrid, from Marsha:
I made a brilliant choice moving here. I’m loving my life in Madrid. I think Madrid is Europe’s best-kept secret. It’s a vibrant capital city filled with stunning architecture, rich culture, and non-stop nightlife, which is also safe and affordable. Its first-world infrastructure and excellent public transportation make life convenient and sustainable.
In general, Spain is nocturnal. Madrid is particularly so. Its native citizens are nicknamed “gatos” (cats) because they go out after sundown and prowl around town at night. If you go to bed at 9 pm, you will miss a lot of fun.
Best time of year to visit: Spring and Fall. Summer is way too hot and filled with tourists.
Food not to miss: Chocolate and churros at San Gines.
Insider tip tourists don’t know: Go to Toni2 Piano Bar in Chueca. It’s hard to explain how much fun it is to sing with Spanish people. It opens at midnight and closes at 6 am. (Spain is nocturnal - do NOT go to bed at 9 pm.)
Marsha’s five favorite off-the-beaten-path attractions in Madrid:
Matadero - This contemporary art center housed in an abandoned slaughterhouse fosters avant-garde creativity with spaces for visual arts, installations, performance art, dance, outdoor concerts, and cinema. The real estate itself is worth a visit. The slaughterhouse was a vast Moorish revival compound with work spaces and cavernous naves separated by expansive plazas. Take in a few exhibitions, have lunch in one of the cafes, then rent a bike and ride along the park that borders Madrid’s Rio Manzanares.
Sorolla Museum – Not all Impressionists were French. Spain’s Joaquin Sorolla’s acclaim and popularity rivaled his French peers. Today, his house in Madrid is a gem of a museum that showcases his paintings and the Andalusian-style gardens he designed. An unfinished canvas hangs on an easel in his studio with brushes at the ready. The gently splashing fountains and shady greenery of the gardens offer respite from Madrid’s busy streets.
Senegalese food – Spain is less than 10 miles from Africa. That continent’s culture is one of the colorful threads that make up the tapestry of Iberia. Indulge in a gastronomic adventure and sample the food of Senegal at Dakar in the multicultural/hipster neighborhood of Lavapies. Try Chicken Yasa or Thiebou Diene. You’ll probably pay less than €12 per person. If Dakar is packed, move on to Mandela 100, Bar Colores, or Africa Fusion in the same neighborhood.
Toni2 piano bar – Sample Madrid’s lively nightlife at Toni2 piano bar in Chueca where Madrileños of all ages, economic levels, and origins crowd around a 12-foot piano to sing. A pianist plays Spanish ballads, Broadway show tunes, and pop favorites. This is not Karaoke. Everyone knows the songs by heart. The brave ones take the microphone and sing solo. Bow-tied waiters juggle drinks amid the action of this old-school bar. It’s all good fun. Open 10 pm to 6 am Friday and Saturday, 11:30 pm to 5:30 am Sunday through Thursday. It’s so popular that you will have to wait in line. Your €15 cover charge includes one drink.
Arab baths – Spain was the capital of the Arab empire for 800 years. The traditional, communal Arabic bath house called the hammam is a beloved remnant of that time. In Madrid, Hammam Alandalus offers a serene sanctuary for locals and tired travelers. Candlelight illuminates three pools of various temperatures as seductive Arabic music fills the air. You can soak, sweat in a steam room, or lounge with a cup of sweet mint tea. Various massages are offered as well as the Kessa relaxation ritual where you are covered in soap suds and exfoliated as you lie on a warm stone. Bring your bathing suit. Reserve a two-hour session in advance online or by phone. It’s a dreamy treat.
Thank you, Marsha for these insider tips!
Ready to head to Madrid? Get more info here!
