We recently connected with Lora Lee Ecobelli and have shared our conversation below.

Lora Lee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have been very blessed to have worked on numerous projects over the years that meant a great deal to me but probably the single most meaningful project was my film La Transazione. As a creative, I have always felt that in order to grow one must explore many different disciplines and as an actor/ writer and director I have always been dedicated to telling uniquely personal stories about women.

I am a second generation Italian American and my families immigration history has alway intrigued. me. La Transazione tells the true story of my grandmother and her three sisters who came to America in 1910 for arranged marriages. It is a black and white silent film that parallels the current immigration crisis. I chose to make it a silent film because so many different cultures from around the world traveled through Ellis Island during that time period. No one could understand each other yet they found ways to communicate. America has always been painted as the land of opportunity but the harsh realities of racism and plutocracy soon make themselves known. I tried to focus on the shared humanity that bring us all together.

In working on the project, I had to do extensive research about my grandmothers story. I had only oral history to go on and I knew in order to incorporate all the themes that I wanted to explore I had to dig deep. My grandmother was illiterate, desperately poor and already suffering from the many tragedies that forced her to leave Italy when she arrived in America. Her father sent his three daughters aged 15-18 to be married off to complete strangers who paid him handsomely for the opportunity. My grandmother at age 15 was married off to a nearly sixty year old man and one of her sisters was deported when her suitor rejected her. My grandmother never saw her sister again and went on to have a very harsh life with the man who purchased her at Ellis Island. She lived to be almost 100 years old but suffered with severe mental illness brought on by the many traumas she endured. I knew I needed to tell her story as I am the product of that transaction.

La Transazione-https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9853690/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Lora Lee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in a very tight-knit Italian American family in upstate NY. My family owned a restaurant where my Dad was the chef and everyone worked there from a young age. I think I got my work ethic from watching the way my family collaborated with each other. I was always interested in music and theatre and left home at 17 to pursue a theatrical career in NYC. But like a lot of people I was quickly way-layed by an ill fated romance to a prominent musician. I had three wonderful children before that marriage dissolved and I was finally able to get back to my original goals. It was difficult navigating the waters with three young children but I began acting with a fervor in my thirties It was a late start for most people in my field but I was blessed to study with some brilliant mentors who helped me along the way. Slowly I began getting roles in plays which led to Broadway and Off-Broadway productions then later independent films. In the nineties I began writing plays and screenplays and was fortunate to get many produced and a few plays published. I then started a small theatre company, The Blue Horse Rep and began directing and teaching at the Theatre Institute at Sage College. I love being able to give back to the community that I so adore. Like many artists, I wear a lot of hats and juggle a lot of balls to keep it all going, but I feel so grateful to be able to express myself in such a challenging industry.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the early nineties, my brother Tom Ecobelli and I collaborated on a screenplay called Chickadee. Another poignant and powerful true story about one of the matriarch’s of our family. The screenplay bounced all over Hollywood and we were able to attach a stellar cast of academy award winning actors. Everyone loved the story and we were inches away from production more times than I can count. But in the end no studio wanted to address the provocative issues we were exploring. The film deals with issues of racism, domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse. This was before the Me-too movement and no one wanted to go near that topic even though the film was about a young girls resilience in overcoming such odds. Needless to say we were incredibly discouraged after having the rug pulled out from under us so many times but we never gave up on telling the story. Finally 25 years after it’s conception a young independent producer read the screenplay and was inspired by it. He signed on to help us make the film and suggested that we make a short in the hopes of gaining interest for the project. We did that and renamed the film Laurina . It was challenging turning such an epic story into a short but I feel that we accomplished what we set out to do and honored our ancestors journey in the process. The film is currently winning awards on the festival circuit but we still hope to make the feature someday.

Laurina-https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14698676/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me I would I would have to say getting the opportunity to write or play characters that inspire me and fill my soul with awe. As an actor, I have always been drawn to roles of strong women who face extreme obstacles with resilience and grace. The same goes for writing. I am interested in people whose uniquely human experiences shape their lives in a positive way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Bluehorsereprtory.com
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/lecobelli
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LoraleeEcobelli

Image Credits

La Transazione poster-Logan Rando