We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Mary Schaefer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle Mary below.

Michelle Mary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have worked on several meaningful projects, and they all are my scripts. They all are significant because they are beyond authentic, written by a screenwriter who is Deaf, me. Most Deaf stories, themes, and/or characters are written by a hearing person and, therefore, not Deaf. You must be Deaf to understand and experience those characters and stories.

“REAL,” my tiny film web series, has been in 24 Film Festivals and was a huge hit, winning awards such as Grand Prize Winner, Winner Audience Choice, A Finalist for Best Original Script, and many more. Before “REAL,” I have written several Features and a TV Series. I knew I had to roll my selves up and make “REAL” happen, to show the industry its importance with authentic scripts, representation matters, and that our voice matters. The outcome of “REAL” has made a difference with the audience, leading it to be optioned with Skyphire Entertainment to develop it further into a full-fledged series in association with my new film production company, Annabelle Louise Productions.
I look forward to working with Thomas Gidlow; it will be a huge game-changer!

“Destiny,” my feature, will be an award-winning, never-been-done film touching many audiences’ lives. I’m working with my line producer, Elran Ofir, and producer, Brandon Lee Torres, to obtain funding and greenlight “Destiny.” I’m incredibly excited, as I cannot wait!

“Always Natalie,” my TV Series, all 11 episodes in Season One have been written and are ready to go! “Always Natalie” came from my 2010 unfinished feature film, which I decided to rewrite and develop into a TV Series. On “Always Natalie,” I want to be a co-showrunner with my hearing peer. I want to give everyone equal opportunities, the Deaf, the Disabled, BIPOC, basically everyone, the experience of working onscreen and behind the camera.

I have also written many other scripts such as “Caught Between Two Worlds,” “Hanneli” (Life of Anne Frank’s Best Friend, Hannah Goslar), “Warr;or,” ” Blanchette,” and many more. Two of my short scripts, “Babe to Blocked” and “It’s a Match,” have been filmed and are currently being edited to go to the Film Festivals. I’m also writing two new features and a new TV Series, which I’m always creating and writing.

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

I’m an Actor, Screenwriter, Playwright, CEO of Annabelle Louise Productions, Director, Producer, ASL Consultant,  Deaf Culture Consultant in Theatre and Films, Social Media Manager, Communication Manager, Project Manager, Intimacy Director/Coordinator who is Deaf. However, I do not allow my Deafness to stop me from following my passions despite society’s ignorance, oppression, assumption, rejection, and discrimination. Once you have the passions within you, the fire keeps going, and it has been burning since I was four years old. I have been in the industry for years and working extremely hard daily, non-stop, which shows my dedication.

I do both Theatre and Film, which makes me a talented Actor with the ability to perform onstage and onscreen; not only that, I’m the most versatile Actor who happens to be Deaf, playing all kinds of roles. Roles include Hamlet in “Hamlet,” Joan in “Fun Home,” Ginny in “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” and many more! I am also known as the first Deaf Female Actor to portray the role of Billy in “Tribes” by Nina Raine, and I have done the part five times. I love playing challenging roles and would love to be Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway!
Not just an Actor; I write scripts because I value authentic stories, as our voice matters, and even to create roles and opportunities for everyone. “REAL,” the tiny film web series, has been a hit in film festivals, a grand prize winner, and the best original script. Now, it’s being optioned to develop it further with Skyphire Entertainment in association with Annabelle Louise Productions.

I wrote a complete TV Series, “Always Natalie,” a 22-minute comedy/drama concerning the chaotic dating life of our Deaf protagonist, Natalie, in the present-day. I have been working on “Always Natalie” since 2010 and am looking for dedicated, passionate, hard-working producers, showrunners, folks, and networks to bring this alive to the screen. I even look forward to playing the role of Natalie and hope Marlee Matlin plays my Mother in the series. “Always Natalie” will show more representation onscreen and give folks more opportunities onscreen and behind the camera.

I wrote a feature film, “Destiny,” hoping to act along with Claire Foy! Working extremely hard on this project with my producers, Brandon Lee Torres and Elran Ofir. We are looking forward to greenlighting this feature when we obtain the funding.

I’m working on a short film/TV proof of concept with a talented producer/writer, Tasha Hardy, and fantastic writer, Keiko Tamura “I Love You So Much.” “I Love You So Much” is an award-winning silent film that’s reminiscent of “Wonderstruck” meets “Coffee Shop,” about a musician (Michelle Mary Schaefer) who loses her hearing and has to integrate into a new community, finding hope in a repeat customer at her new job at a deaf cafe. Having left a singing career behind, she finds a unique way to make a daily positive impact that ultimately leads to saving a stranger’s life. We look forward to bringing this story to life by working with many brilliant, talented Actors on board.
While auditioning, doing theatre, writing, and waiting for opportunities,

I empowered myself to bring the short film I wrote, “Babe to Blocked” alive, to the screen. I worked extremely hard solo for five months in the pre-production and productions as a project manager, location scout, prop master, director, Actor, catering, etc. I could not be even more proud of the project because people have told me that I will fail for years. But this also shows that your passion is the fire, and it kept me going. “Babe to Blocked” is currently being edited to submit to film festivals. I recently wrote, produced, and directed another short film, “It’s a Match,” which is also currently being edited to submit to film festivals.

I’m an Intimacy Director and Coordinator because I value safety and comfort during intimacy onstage and onscreen. Especially as a person who is Deaf, I’m able to consult and communicate with everyone in spoken and written English, and I’m fluent in ASL, which eases the anxiety among Deaf and hearing Actors in intimate scenes.

I’m always looking for new projects onstage and onscreen and even aim to collaborate with other authentic creative artists. We have so many stories to be told, all forms of creativity.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is living authentically, pouring my heart intensely within the career and, believing in myself, rolling my sleeves up, making projects happen. I would not sit around complaining about the lack of opportunities; instead, I create them. I’m all about action and teamwork, bringing things alive onstage and onscreen. I knew I had to be consistent with my words and projects, which it shows. It was not an easy journey, yet it is my pure happiness.

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

There is no DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion without the Deaf, the Disabled, and full accessibility. We, the Deaf and Disabled, are often overlooked, discriminated against, rejected, and oppressed.

Sometimes, we are included in a project but viewed as tokenism to the production’s benefit rather than being accountable for genuinely being inclusive and listening to us by providing complete accessibility to whatever we need, such as ASL interpreters, captions, etc. I have been in numerous productions onstage and onscreen; for instance, in one stage production, we had no ASL interpreters, and the Deaf audience members could not attend the performance, which was misleading since they had a Deaf Actor onstage. This also applies to films that had no actual captions and justified to me that the auto-generated captions are good enough when they originally planned not to caption at all. At other times, filmmakers claim they don’t have the budget to include captions, and even times; they feel it unnecessary to include them. Pure discrimination which it excludes many of us: the Deaf, those with Autism, ADHD, ESL, Elders with Hearing Loss, etc. We all must be accountable for our actions, be inclusive even to recognize our privileges, and do better in Arts and Society.

I would love to see everyone be aware of the accessibility and stop making excuses for its behavior and putting a burden upon the Deaf and Disabled. Since the Law of ADA was passed in 1990, in 2023, I still struggle, and often, my rights and requests to an ASL Interpreter in workshops within the industry, events, performances, hospitals, etc, are declined. At the same time, we have constantly advocated and spoken out on these issues and topics like a broken record. It’s time to step up, be accountable, work with us, and ensure full accessibility. Fix the captions system on Broadway and movie theatres rather than saying, “Oh, I’m sorry, here is a ticket to another show (to a broken system with the same issues nonstop).” Also, please add captions to your films, videos, commercials, and social media. Let’s end this today and make its changes!

Also, I would love to see Theatre, Films, and TV start to be open-minded and hire us, the Deaf and the Disabled, onscreen and behind the camera, writing, producing, directing, etc. Also, do not limit us to Deaf/Disabled roles; allow us to audition for all “Human” roles onstage and onscreen. I played Hamlet in “Hamlet,” which adds many beautiful layers to the story. However, of course, roles written explicitly for the Deaf/Disabled must be portrayed by those who are Deaf/Disabled. Always remember that we are passionate and capable. That’s why I’m empowered to create my opportunities, projects, and even a production company, Annabelle Louise Productions, to make a difference within the industry and society. And it has already been happening slowly, so please join me on this journey. Let’s help each other!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michellemaryschaefer.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@michellemaryschaefer4313
• Other: www.AnnabelleLouiseProductions.com