We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Savannah O’Neill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Savannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?

I am a big supporter of creating your own opportunities, so I try and apply that in my life and career. As a filmmaker, it’s a constant hustle and struggle to find the next project, gig or group to get in on. In this industry its all about knowing people and working consitantly with the same people. When I moved back to Colorado during covid it took me a long time to get into the tight knit film community. Part of the way I did that was by creating my own group/community. I realized that there is a big film community here and a lot of monthly networking events where people can get to know one another but there was room for so much more. I wanted to build the community even more so I decided that I would create a weekly event to bring all types of artists together. I am proud to say that I am the founder and host of DEN drama. It is a collection of writers, actros, and local musicians. DEN drama started as a cold reading and networking event and has bloomed into an amazing community of artists. Because we meet weekly it has allowed members to bond and have consistent creative feedback.
DEN drama is a place where screenwriters can have their scripts read by local actors, and our actors have the opportunity to play a different character each week. We love to feature local musicians that want to share original music. Every week we open with a live performance from those musicians and give them an audiance of fellow artists.
It is completely free and open to anyone who wants to join! We have Facebook group and Instagram where our members can share their work and find recap posts of the past live event in case they missed it.
DEN drama is truly close to my heart and I hope that our community keeps growing.

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

I always thought I would be a novelist, I used to love creating writing and still do, but then I got into theater not on the acting side but on the tech side. I wrote my first stage play in high school and decided that I was going to go to film school. I learned a lot, about the industry and myself. I really found my passion working on set and behind the camera. In film school, my classmates used to call me the one-woman production because we had to wear so many hats. I guess it just stuck with me and I decided to use it as my own production company name. My production company is called 1 Woman Productions, and my focus is on cinematography. I love storytelling through the eye of a lens.
Contrary to my production company name, I am most proud of the community I have helped build here in Denver. Working with fellow artists is one of the great things about this industry. DEN drama has been so successful because of people’s hunger to collaborate.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When it comes to social media, it was a little surprising to me how active the Denver film community is on Facebook. I am definitely used to Instagram and Ticktok being the go-to apps. So, when I was researching and found that there was a lot of activity on Facebook I knew that needed to be the home of this new group I was trying to make. So DEN drama first had its start on Facebook and it’s still the main hub of communication for our members.
It was slow growing at first but with word of mouth and our live events gaining traction the Facebook group grew. I decided that there needed to be an Instagram account as well. For a second form of communication and a place for people to see the recap videos of the live events.
The only advice I would give is to look at what you need your social media for, look at what has worked for other people, and go where your audience is. Also, don’t be afraid to have multiple platforms, it is a lot to maintain but the growth is worth it.

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

I know I am harping on it, but community is one of the best things about any industry. It’s the place where you find like-minded people who know what you are going through and are able and willing to help you.     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.1womanproductions.com
• Instagram: @1womanproductions , @den.drama
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1333663750373651/