Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Madeline Coronato. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Madeline, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

In fifth grade, my friends and I often got in trouble for our obsession with The Sisters Grimm, a book series about two adolescent girls solving crimes involving fairy-tale characters.

In the back of the classroom, we would get in trouble for giggling and passing notes, filled with inside jokes about the characters. We would play fight over who had dibs on the main love interest if he ever came to life. We would even disrupt group projects to theorize over what was going to happen next in the series.

For me, girlhood was defined by these moments. Moments when a younger version of me–one who had never had her heartbroken before, bonded over stories and characters I loved most with friends who loved them just as innocently and uninhibitedly as I did. These books created a shared language and a medium for us to imagine all that we could possibly become. Meanwhile, the two main characters validated us exactly as we were at that stage in life. We were kooky, silly, innovative, smart, hormonal, playful, and strong little girls with nothing but potential ahead of us.

I was fortunate enough to meet The Sisters Grimm author, Michael Buckley, at a book signing. Unlike so many adults at the time, he genuinely took the time to get to know each of his fans and truly listen to their stories. I remember how rare and special it felt that this author I had admired so much was not just polite but fully engaged and present with me. We cracked jokes, and he asked me and other fans thoughtful questions. Unlike most adults, he wasn’t the least bit perturbed by my endless list of inquiries.

At the end of my questioning, I asked if he ever planned to adapt the series into a movie. He responded that they had just sent in a pitch for it. In pure, pubescent impulsivity, I blurted out, “I would love to play Sabrina!” And rather than cringe at my enthusiasm, Mr. Buckley simply smiled and said, “You look exactly like her,” as if casting me in the role was only natural.

Unfortunately, a movie adaptation of The Sisters Grimm was never made. But from that day forward, I begged my parents to sign me up for acting classes. That led to community theater, school plays, a college degree in acting, and eventually, the need to create my own actor’s reel after graduation. In turn, that led me to making short films and working in film production.

Ultimately, I’m still chasing that middle school, fan-girl high—the kind that only comes from obsessing over a beloved story with a beloved group of people. The difference is, now I get to do it professionally. These days, I still giggle over characters and pour myself into stories, but instead of disrupting a math class, I am constructing different worlds through producing films with my best friend, Sadithi De Zilva.

Madeline, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Right after graduating college, I took an actor’s showcase class. While everyone in the class was incredibly talented, none of us secured representation by the end. That’s when my classmate—now close friend—Makayla McIntosh had a brilliant idea: gather all the actors for drinks to network outside of class.

That initial meetup led to an incredibly supportive friend group and a group chat of female filmmakers and actresses. These women have the most positive mindsets and attitudes toward both the industry and life. Over time, we’ve taken turns helping each other land acting and film gigs. My friend Susanne McDonald connected me and our friend Cat to a job at a production studio in Jersey City—a place that ended up teaching me everything I know about film production.

Working at the studio, I discovered just how much I love film producing and the entire process of bringing a project to life. The only thing missing was the inability to choose the stories and types of projects I personally wanted to create.

While I was learning the craft of film producing in Jersey, my best friend, Sadithi De Zilva, and I were also co-writing our first short film, Just One More Thing. That project was a revelation—it showed me that we could create whatever story we wanted, with whomever we wanted, on our own terms and timeline. Through the process, we discovered just how much we trust and thrive as creative partners. We left that experience feeling like we could take on any challenge together.
That trust, combined with our shared optimism, led us to form our own production company: Scrappack Productions.

Scrappack Productions is built on the principles of resourceful storytelling and community building. The “scrap” in Scrappack represents the very essential scrappy, resourceful spirit that is needed for independent filmmaking, while the “pack” reflects the collaborative nature of a film crew—because bringing a project to life always takes a village.

Our company logo features two raccoons, a fitting symbol of creativity and resilience. Raccoons are scavenger and gatherer type animals that always make the most of whatever resources they find, transforming the overlooked into something valuable—something we strive to do with our filmmaking. Moreover, Sadithi and I’s friendship was founded over a shared love of raccoon and “trash animal” memes, making it the perfect emblem of our partnership.

So far, the stories we’ve created have centered around rich, character-driven narratives where the protagonists serve as foils to one another. Our first project was a dramedy about two best friends racing against the clock to complete important projects—while also battling their own tendencies for self-sabotage. Our second project is a genre-blending mix of horror, comedy, romance, and drama, following a couple’s chaotic quest to find a pair of prescription glasses in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Moving forward, we plan to continue telling bold, genre-melding stories that explore fresh, untapped concepts. At the same time, we’re committed to building a supportive, solution-oriented filmmaking community where optimism and positive collaboration come first.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

A guiding force in my creative journey is the desire to become the adult my middle school self always dreamed of being.
In an industry where so much is beyond our control, I choose to focus on what is within my power—taking actionable steps, making tangible plans, and pushing forward despite rejections and redirections. While I’m in my prime, I owe it to her to explore every possible avenue to grow and challenge myself as a producer, actor, and writer.
This mindset has reshaped my view of failure. It’s no longer about rejection; failure, to me, is the inaction—the choice not to start or complete a great idea. Eleven-year-old me wasn’t afraid of stumbling along the way—she was afraid of becoming someone who had dreams but never acted on them.
For her, I refuse to be the woman who didn’t try with everything she had to make those dreams a reality.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

On almost every set, emergencies, accidents, and mistakes will bubble up and threaten to derail an entire day of shooting. There are so many logistical details that need to fall perfectly into place for a day to be fully wrapped. Every crew member, every piece of gear, and every prop needs to arrive on set in working order, ready for action. If say, camera batteries were missing on set, every department on that project would become superfluous and an entire project could not even begin to shoot. So many different moving parts all have to be aligned and properly coordinated within their tight schedules, in order for a day of shooting to be successful. So it really is a miracle that any project ever comes together and gets completed.

However, despite the chaos and seemingly impossible “there’s no way we can get this done” moments, people always find a way to make it happen. To me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is knowing that for every high-stakes, seemingly unsolvable problem, there’s always a creative solution waiting to be found and every part of that process has significant meaning and purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.scrappackproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelinecoronato?igsh=dzM0b3gxZmt0MnJh&utm_source=qr https://www.instagram.com/madelinecoronato?igsh=dzM0b3gxZmt0MnJh&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeline-marie-coronato-a383361b2

Image Credits

Any of the photos with the pink lighting on the walls were taken by Cat Yudain.

Any of the photos with Sadithi De Zilva and with the blue skies and us wearing black clothes were taken by Pam Torres.

Any of outdoor photos minus the first one with the late were taken by Sadithi De Zilva.

And the first one where I’m holding a slate was taken by Amy Fess.