We recently connected with Leila Majlessi and have shared our conversation below.
Leila, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Growing up I had a love for movies and filmmaking, especially being surrounded by my dad’s side of the family. My dad, who passed when I was young, was an editor back in Iran before he moved to the United States, and in a weird way I feel like movies kept us connected even after he was gone. As I got older, I found myself falling in love with writing throughout high school, and after I got accepted into USC’s screenwriting program, that love for writing just kept growing.
Because I was fortunate enough to have most of my college education centered on screenwriting, I was able to really curate my craft for four years. It took me a while to find my voice – which I never expected to be in the horror genre (I was scared of everything when I was little haha) – but once I did, I was able to make my writing much more specific to my identity and experiences. I also started getting more into directing, which is something I really want to do more of. In college, I directed my first short film – STRAWBERRY SEANCE – which we did on almost no budget and shot in an entire day. It was scrappy and super fun, and wrapping that project made me realize that directing is something I genuinely enjoy doing, and want to try more of. I’ve dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome throughout my life, and a lot of that affected my relationship to filmmaking, believing that I would never actually be able to lead a project or have a story worth telling. But finding a community of artists and friends who want to support each other allowed me to really take a chance on myself and create some really fun (and sometimes scary) art!
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’m originally from Washington state, where I come from a big French-Persian family. I always loved watching movies and tv shows, and definitely was a big “fangirl” growing up… which basically meant lots of Lord of the Rings posters in my room. Being an up-and-coming filmmaker, I really want to dig my claws into as many creative endeavors as I can. While I am working on writing different feature scripts, I am also in the middle of directing my next short film, PRETTY GIRLS GO TO BEAUTY SCHOOL. I’m lucky to have an excellent production crew, as well as my producers Noelle Schwarz and Anna Alexander, who have really been helping make this story come to life. We wrapped up fundraising and managed to reach our goal, one of the ways being a house-show to help raise funds. It was something incredibly special, as we invited different bands and art vendors to come and it ended up being a hub for different independent artists to meet/share their work! A great Saturday in my books.
Having succeeded in our house-show fundraiser, it reminded me of how proud I am of the community of artists I have found myself in, as we are all determined to make the art we want to see on screen. Starting out in an industry like film can be really daunting, and there have been many times where I have wondered if this was the right path. But meeting different artists through school and work has allowed me to find folks who are excited to take risks and try more experimental projects, allowing me to not only trust the long and uncertain road of film, but also trust myself and my own voice.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think one of the biggest rewards is the community that comes with being an artist. So much of the filmmaking experience is around collaboration, and being able to meet other young artists that are passionate about their work makes the process all the more exciting. There is also so much that I find myself learning from my peers, whether it’s new camera techniques on set or different ways to solve a plot-hole in my script with my writer’s group. Sometimes I feel like a sponge because I just want to absorb as much information as I can, but what’s nice about having a community is that you can always fall back on them when needing help or support. And what’s even better, is that the community continues to grow the more I work in this industry, and it makes me even more excited to work on the next project as I know there will be more opportunities for fun collaborations.
Being queer and half-Middle Eastern, it also brings me joy to meet other artists who share the same or similar identities to me. I really try to make it my goal when I write to center on stories of marginalized voices, especially in the horror realm. Most of my protagonists in my scripts are queer and/or Persian, because I want to contribute in any way I can to opening more doors for underrepresented voices in film, as well as share my own identity unapologetically. A part of the reason why I got more into directing is because I want to be able to decide for my projects whose story is being told and how we are telling it. Regardless of how big or small the project is, if there are young Persian girls who get to see themselves on screen – and in the horror genre, hopefully become their own scream queens or final girls – then that would be the most rewarding part of it all. And I want to help create that in any way I can.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
As silly as this may sound – my notes app! Or having a notebook in general. Being a writer, I feel like my brain is always trying to think of a new idea or work through the projects I am developing. That being said, my memory isn’t always great haha, and it can be easy to forget those “breakthrough” ideas that we have in the moment. I try to always have a notebook or my notes app close by because that allows me to keep these little inspirations on hand and look back on them later. Even if it’s three random words that don’t necessarily make sense, keeping myself connected to my writing allows me to figure out my projects in the long-run.
Another big resource is having a network. I am fortunate to have been able to go to a film school where I was able to meet creatives who are in a similar place in life to me. For writers especially, having a writer’s group can be incredibly helpful when it comes to pitching ideas or workshopping different scripts. Two of my friends and I started a small writer’s group out of college because the three of us are women in horror, and it has honestly been such a great motivation to write every week. By having a community you trust to read your work and help find solutions when you hit a wall can really help with getting out of your head – and it definitely helped with me!
Image Credits
Brandy Hernandez, Chris Alderfer, Joey Kao (poster design), Anna Alexander