We recently connected with Carrie Zurliene and have shared our conversation below.

Carrie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

For as long as I can remember, whenever someone would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “I want to be an artist”. Being a relatively quiet kid, the fact that I decided to audition for my middle school’s production of Beauty and the Beast when I was eleven was shocking for me–and others who knew me well! I was cast in the ensemble as a town villager who got chased by a dancing palace spoon, but my life changed for the better when I joined a community I never wanted to leave.

When I was in high school, the question of what I would pursue in college would constantly circulate my mind. Sophomore year I “wanted to be a nurse” (thank you Grey’s Anatomy), junior year I “wanted to be a lawyer” (shout out to How to Get Away with Murder), and heading into senior year I had a brief conversation that solidified my career path. After telling my uncle I wanted to be a lawyer, he turned to me–laughed–and said “Do you want to be a lawyer or play one on TV?”

By that fall I was preparing my audition material for acting programs across the country. My high school theatre teacher would always say that if you could see yourself doing anything else for your career, do that. But that was the thing-nothing brought me more joy, more laughter, more challenges, and more growth than the creative world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am originally from Leesburg, Virginia which is a town about 45 minutes out from DC. Growing up my dad would take me to the movies, and this would become the place I would fall in love with stories and the actors that would tell them. I would write, direct, and act in my home movies with whatever camera I could find. I would get together with my family friend Kaylie, build our own world (and force our siblings to act in them with us), and it was here that I discovered the joy of getting the freedom to create your own work.

Getting to make these little movies became my favorite thing in the whole world– but I was too shy to share with anyone: even my family members. I made those films for no one except myself, and I started to find who I wanted to be as a creative.

I got my BFA in Acting from Penn State in 2022, and moved to Los Angeles in July of that same year. In the 14 years I’ve been a part of the creative community, I have found my love for all things that go into making a film. I’ve gotten the opportunity to work on two films made in Duluth, Minnesota in the wardrobe department. Working wardrobe you learn what it means to be the first one in, last one out. I’ve always loved the way costumes play such an important (and sometimes under appreciated) role in film making.

Since high school I’ve been involved in the costume world, leading my theatre program’s wardrobe department for 2 years, and then getting the chance to work in costumes for Penn State’s production of Clybourne Park in 2018. Since graduating college, I’ve been the costume designer for Unblessed Unseen (2024), IYKYK (in post production), and now I have an upcoming film that is scheduled to shoot in December of this year titled Pretty Girls Go To Beauty School written/dir. by Leila Majlessi!

Outside of the costume world, I’ve co-written, co-produced, and co-directed Unblessed Unseen which premiered in February of this year. Later that same month, I directed IYKYK written by Jodi Norton. I also had the chance to co-wrote and produce the upcoming horror short MIMIC with the incredible Grant Donghia, which will begin filming in January of 2025. This will be my biggest and most exciting project yet!

In a time of endless sequels, prequels, and spin offs, there are important stories that we don’t see being made by the big studios. There is a community of people in my generation that want their stories and their voices to be heard. I am so lucky so be surrounded by a group of creatives out here in LA that are hungry to make art, and who are inspired by others who take initiative in producing their own work. This is a big mission of mine.

Los Angeles is a very expensive city to make independent work in, and what I think separates my creative community from the rest is our resilience and our tenacity to achieve the goals we set for our selves. It feels like staring up at a mountain where the question of “well how do we reach the summit?” constantly arises. I feel that I come alive when I get the opportunity to problem solve and find a solution of how to climb that mountain.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I realized the importance of a strong community. Everything that I achieve is due to the group of people in my life out here, and those who send their love and support from the east coast. Community may be one of the most important resources I have out here because there is nothing that compares to people saying “Yes!” when I ask them to join me on a new independent film endeavor.

In my community, there are creatives that have experience in a multitude of fields, and who are excited to be a part of a project. The best part of this kind of resource, is I am ecstatic when anyone asks me to jump in on their next project in return. That is how I am able to continue the work– the community of people out here that will always be there to extend their support and expertise. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish any of the work I have dont without the amazing community of people that will say “Yes!” to creating a new project with me.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A goal of mine is uplifting females and queer artists in the film industry. Like so many other fields of work, the space for women to become successful is one that we have to fight for. I admire female writers, directors, and producers like the incredible Celine Song, Greta Gerwig, Ava DuVernay, and Nora Ephron. The gifted ability that these women have to tell such beautiful, complex, heartbreaking, heartwarming, inspiring human stories–I don’t even think I can describe it in words. Their gift changed the world. Their perseverance has paved the way for young directors, writers, and producers like me.

In the pre-production of my upcoming film MIMIC, it has been an absolute priority of mine to hire as many female and LGBTQ+ identifying artists as possible. The story of MIMIC follows a female DJ named Carmen, and the music in the film is a character all on it’s own. It is my goal to work with an actual female DJ/musician with the score’s creation, keeping my word on creative spaces to uplift my fellow female artists.

There is this impulse to “armor up” (that sounds so dramatic, haha!) when I work on film sets. This armor that women have to build around themselves to be taken seriously; something that their male counterparts are unaware of being another hurdle in this goliath of an industry. It is a passion and goal of mine to create more spaces and film sets where females and queer artists are uplifted and supported. That they feel not only safe, but empowered to make the art that matters to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carriezurliene.com/
• Instagram: @carriezurliene
• Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13823504/

Image Credits

Nikolai Sunday, Hasan Crawford, Hannah Perala, AJ Poindexter, Lei Deng