We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Astrid Carlen-helmer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Astrid, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

I went to film school in London – a Masters program – which didn’t prepare me for the Hollywood film industry as a whole. In London, I learned everything about exposing film, dressing a set, piecing together dailies, as well as what movies Ingrid Bergman thrived in. I learned very little about how to make money out of all of that knowledge.
The answer, now that I’ve been living in L.A for ten years, seems obvious: get yourself out there, no matter the role. I was trained to get out of school and be a director of photography or an editor. Or at least an assistant editor. Something remotely creative.
It was a pill to swallow for sure, but I had to learn that “something remotely creative” in Hollywood means being a PA. Or being an assistant. And you don’t need film school knowledge for that. I loved film school because that’s where I met some of my best friends. But I’m not sure it was a necessary step towards being a writer.
If I were to do things differently, I’d take whatever industry jobs were thrown my way from the get go, without losing my goal from sight. Then you try to move up as much as you can. But put in the work, even though you think it’s beneath you because you studied for it. No one cares.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a screenwriter and novelist living in L.A. As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a storyteller – the form didn’t matter much to me then, and still doesn’t matter to me now. I just care for good storytelling.

I was born and raised in France, where I got a B.A in film theory and literature, before spending a year as an exchange student at UCLA in L.A – when I fell in love with the city. It changed the idea I had of storytelling (from auteur-driven to an actual job, a craft you can practice). So I strived to continue to study abroad. I did a master’s in filmmaking at the London Film School and then moved back to L.A.

While at that point I knew I wanted to be a writer, the ups and downs of being an immigrant meant I needed money and could only rely on myself. So I decided to go into development, a full-time job, rather than writing, which seemed a lot more precarious. After several years of being a development executive, however, the voice in my head that told me I wanted to write was still there, so I quit my job and dedicated the first year of the pandemic to building a portfolio of scripts.

Writing-wise, I have a passion for genre and fantasy. My first sample script got me a job as a “writer for hire” at Tapas Media (an online platform for comic books and novels), developing and writing romance novels. After that, I got a writer’s assistant job on Disney Junior’s Firebuds, where I got to write for the show. I also continued to write novels, for Webtoon/Wattpad and Union Square Publishing (I co-wrote the novelization of the Amazon movie Space Cadet starring Emma Roberts). I am also a judge for the screenwriting competition NYC Midnight.

The bulk of my work currently is freelance fiction writing, whether taking novels and driving them over the finish line, or helping start-ups with their storytelling department. The way I see it, as long as I have a vision for what I’m asked to do and enjoy the work, I’ll do it. That’s how I see myself as a writer, as an “artisan”, someone whose job it is to write. I love to write and I love that it’s my job.

I work fast and efficiently, something I’ve learned from online storytelling, which I’m so grateful for. I love an outline, as well as a spreadsheet – they let me be more creative, within the boundaries of the story. So far a lot of my work has been based on that: a client brings me a project that’s either at the concept stage or already partly written, and I’m able to turn it around fast, without compromising quality. I pitch lots of ideas and am able to provide constructive notes based on what the client’s vision is for the material.

In terms of career success recently, I’m very proud of having written the Space Cadet novel along with the film director. The form enabled me to color in some of the moments that the feature film didn’t have time to explore. It’s such a fun tale of an underdog succeeding in a world she never thought she’d fit into, and I think we can all relate to that on some level.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I was an insomniac as a kid – for some reason, there was just no way I could go to sleep until about 5 am. Night after night I read and it kept me sane: the adventures, the heroic feats, the exotic landscapes, the relationships… there was an out from my bedroom. People out there were living lives I wouldn’t have learned about save for novels.
And that meant, I could go out there too… That’s why storytelling is so important to me.

Storytelling was a window into another world for me as a child, and I wish to give that back in my personal work. I want to inspire people to look outside the box, to open up to possibilities, to live life on their own terms. Because that’s what stories brought me when I was young. A sense that everything was at my fingertips.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Here’s a quote from Charlie Kaufman:
“Do you. It’s not easy, but it’s essential. It isn’t easy because there is a lot in the way. In many cases, a major obstacle is a deeply seated belief that “you” isn’t interesting. And since convincing yourself that you are interesting is probably not going to happen, take it off the table. Agree. Perhaps I’m not interesting. But I am the only thing I have to offer. And I want to offer something. And by offering myself in a true way, I am doing a great service to the world. Because it is rare and it will help.”

This is me on repeat, which is why I’m sharing the quote. The most rewarding aspect is being myself, or at least attempting to be. On top of that, logistically, I also make my own hours, work on projects I care about, from anywhere I want. I recently bought a horse, which has been a life-long dream, and the freedom of being a freelance writer enables me to take care of her and compete in show jumping. The downside of all of this is that I never know when my next paycheck will come from, or if I’ll be able to pay the bills at the end of the month. It’s a balancing act, but I am committed to doing the things I love and believe in.

And whenever I get carried away, thinking about why I bring value to the world as an artist, amidst millions of artist, I remember the Charlie Kaufman quote. What I’m bringing is me, because that’s all I can offer. And I want to offer something…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.astridcarlen.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/astridcarlen
• Other: https://deardoria.substack.com/

Image Credits

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