We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Isabella O’Brien. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Isabella below.
Hi Isabella, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
For the majority of my time as a working creative thus far, I’ve had a consistent 9-5 job to help support my goal of eventually being able to be a full-time freelancer. Because of that, I’ve been selective with projects I take on. My collaborations until this point have been with other up and coming artists of different mediums. These artists have often become some of my closest friends, bonding over the hustle of making a living and forging forward with our respective projects. Ultimately, working with other emerging artists reminds me to release the attachment of the outcome, instead focusing on mastering the process. I believe so much in my friends that one day, I’m sure, we’ll miss the simplicity of trekking around Los Angeles and shooting no-budget music videos with no one else attached except us.
One project in particular stands out to me, though. In April of 2024, I made my first ever stop-motion project for the indie-rock band, we shrunk, for their single “Simplicity”. Mentors of mine provided me with the proper overhead rigging equipment needed for a visual story myself and front-woman, Brooke Tannehill, had workshopped. That shoot ended up being an incredibly fun 8 hours and blossomed both a beautiful friendship and future collaboration with Brooke. Shortly after that shoot, I went through an awful breakup, was incredibly unfulfilled at my day job, and feeling disillusioned. I was struggling to finish post-production on the music video. I ended up signing up for an improv class to try and remedy my lack of excitement for the arts. My third week into the class, my car, parked near the building, was broken into. I had stupidly left my backpack with my laptop and hard drives in the backseat after rushing to get to class in time immediately after work. I was devastated, months of footage for other projects and all of the original photos and project files for Simplicity were gone.
After filing a police report with no follow ups, I had to move on and break the news to we shrunk about the lost footage. A glimmer of hope presented itself, though! I had completely forgotten that I had texted them an .mp4 stringout of the original project. We were able to use that preview clip to edit together the final music video and release it in time for Simplicity’s drop. Although the quality decreased exponentially– we were thrilled we still had evidence of this labor of love and were still able to release it with the song. That song and the visuals that accompany it have a special place in my heart. It’s consistently been in my Spotify “On Repeat” playlist since it came out.
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.
My name is Isabella O’Brien and I am a photographer and director based in Los Angeles. I was raised in a small, rural town in California’s San Joaquin Valley. From a young age, I was encapsulated by art, films, and television, relying on them for escapism when there was little to do where I grew up. At 15, I got my first DSLR and began using photography to manipulate my surroundings into something more visually interesting than it actually was, starring my own friends as models and subjects in both photo series and short films.
I ended up going to Cal State Northridge for Film Production, half of which was spent online during the pandemic, and eventually moved out to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry full time. Immediately following graduation, I worked as a full time TV development intern and eventually a production assistant for a company that worked closely with Disney. Currently I’m freelancing as a photographer and creative director. Many of my projects range from commercial work, like event photography and headshots, to more creative endeavors like album art, press-style editorial photos, music videos, and other experimental visuals. In both forms of work, I believe I’m able to bring my own themes of dream-like and nostalgic visuals that help emphasize the personality of my subjects while staying true to my own style.
I love working with other people on conceptualizing ideas. I’m flexible in the sense that sometimes artists come to me not knowing how they want to be captured, trusting me with the creative control to help build their image through photos and video. Other times, I get to help folks build on an idea they’ve already formed from the ground up. I find both paths challenge me on how to be both a better director and a more communicative collaborator and make my work unique.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I grew up a very anxious kid. It’s in part why I ended up leaning so much into art for escapism. While I was in college, I was obsessed with trying to figure out the “right” or “most stable” way of going about pursuing a career in film. It’s a bit of a laughable feat looking back from the current state of the industry. For a really long time, I wanted to figure out, or for someone to tell me what the “correct” next path to take was. It was only once I was boots on the ground, in the workforce, for the first time amongst other entertainment professionals, that I really had to come to the both scary and freeing fact that there is no right way to pursue art as a career. Although the current climate of the entertainment industry is far from ideal for those attempting to find stable footing, I pride myself in my adaptability to such fluctuating times. Unlearning my own dependency on the rigidity of a typical corporate ladder helped me embrace marching to the beat of my own drum as a photographer and aspiring filmmaker.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Looking back on my childhood, I wish my peers and I had more to relate to on screen. Growing up, the lack of multi-racial, working class families from my own demographic in the media was disappointing, and contributed to feelings of abnormality. Although the protagonists in front of the camera have become increasingly more diverse as the years follow, stories like mine come from communities that have yet to be uplifted, let alone have ample opportunity to enter the world of filmmaking with the kind of confidence that comes from hands-on experience. My peers and I didn’t have the luxury of an abundance of art programs to help cultivate budding talent and creativity. As proud I am for making my own opportunities and being self-taught, I recognize that it isn’t an option for everyone, because for me, it was my only choice.
Art is a privilege, but I wish it wasn’t. When a community is shut out from being able to learn and grow in these areas, so are their stories and perspectives, too. To pursue filmmaking, aware of these obstacles, is to be fearless. I owe it to the community that raised me, and others like me, to use the privilege I do have to fight off the suppression of voices. Although I’ll never let my circumstances define me, I’ll also never forget where I come from. These forces continue to motivate me forward with these goals in pursuit of creating a more inclusive, authentic path towards storytelling.
I believe it’s necessary to make art more accessible to smaller, rural, marginalized communities, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, through more programming in school and communal events. By giving students and community members more access to explore themselves creatively, you make the gates of entertainment more accessible to them as professional careers– thus adding to the diaspora of storytelling necessary to reflect the true nature of the world, overlooked communities and all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://isabellaob.com
- Instagram: @home.skillet
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/isabellaob
