We recently connected with Laura Sweeney and have shared our conversation below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

I had a great friend who I met while doing a theater project at The NYC Fringe Festival. I told her I had written a Television Pilot and she hosted a reading in her home. We had a great reading and afterwards she said to me, “you have to make this project and do it the way you want to do it.” She gave me half the budget to produce it and we worked together to fundraise the rest. It was an incredible gift, not only the funding but the vote of confidence from someone I respected who pushed me forward to create a project. It was a large undertaking, called Mommy Mafia, with a cast and crew of 50 people that we shot on location in Brooklyn in 2017. Stepping into that project changed everything for me. It was exciting and terrifying and a few days before the shoot I almost backed out. Once again my great friend was there for me. She told, me “that’s fine, you do not have to proceed, but let me ask you one question: are you going to be able to live with yourself if you don’t do this?” Nobody succeeds alone and I am incredibly grateful to my great friend Teresa Bolz for believing in me, pushing me forward and steadying my hand.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a screenwriter, director and actress. My produced pilot MOMMY MAFIA won Best Comedic Pilot at
Manhattan Film Festival. I co-wrote the short film SOLSTICE, selected for Genre Lab at Pinewood Studios. Also I wrote a short film adaptation of John Milton’s PARADISE LOST, now distributed by PBS. I created and starred in the webseries: The Mothership. My short films ACROSS won Best
Historical Drama at Manhattan Film Festival. I recently directed the award-winning short, TINA by Sheri Davenport which is currently in
film festivals and just wrapped directing a short proof of concept for writer Jodi Levitan. Laura is a proud member of SAG- AFTRA, Georgetown Entertainment Media Alliance (GEMA) and a Co-Leader of FILMSHOP South Brooklyn Chapter and The Drawing Board. Laura has taught screenwriting for Writers Boot Camp and Open Screenplay. A graduate of Georgetown University and studied acting with the Moscow Art Theatre.

Most of my work centers on women characters overcoming unsurmountable obstacles. I like dark comedy and historical drama. Currently I’m in post production on a self-produced short documentary called “Tiny Movement” about a self-healing domestic violence survivor dancing in her kitchen. I’m also writing drafts of two different Italian-inspired feature films: “Last Night in Arezzo” about two screenwriters at a writers retreat and “Francesca’s Song” about my great grandmother.
I’m a writer first, with years of experience acting who now finds herself mostly directing. I love directing, it’s like speaking 20 languages and is endlessly fascinating and collaborative.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist is a great way to go through life. I’m a phase of life where I get a lot of phone calls from friends who are parents of artistic kids looking for guidance. Usually the concern is how is this kid going to make a living if they go into the arts. It’s such an honor to be contacted for this sort of thing. I always point out how there are many different types of jobs in the arts. But more than anything, for me my art forms have held me through so many ups and downs that life has thrown my way. Writing is always there for me whether I’m earning with it or not. It’s like water or sand or bread. I need it to live.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Create space for artists to work and be together. I so appreciate the communities I have in NY. Filmshop and The Drawing Board especially. Artists need to be together to thrive. Artists making things is extremely important to the well-being of our world. Contributing to crowdfunding campaigns goes a long way. But also things like donating your home to a film shoot or catering is such a gift. Film Festivals are an incredible gift to our communities too. Prioritize the development of artists that you know. We are all connected to some artistic people, find them and ask them what they need to make their work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laurasweeney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura_m_sweeney?igsh=MW4zdmdtNGR2bGtiMw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/laura.sweeney.98031?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_feed-secondary_nav

Image Credits

JBN Media
Toni Ruscio