We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophie Emma Wells a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The meaningful project I’ve worked on recently has to be the short film I wrote and directed titled Overworked.

In the summer of 2022, I ended up in the ER. For the previous 4 years, I had been living an unhealthy lifestyle, jam-packing every minute of my every day with work. My body complained to me a lot during these 4 years, but I never listened, until it was too late.

After I checked myself into therapy, my therapist assigned me a task: to write a script about this experience. This story became “Overworked”.

Here in America, we’re told that the path to success starts with being accepted to a good college. Next, we have to graduate with a good degree, get a good job, and then work till we retire at 60. Nowhere do we stress in this path, that you can’t succeed if you aren’t fulfilling your basic needs.

In university, it’s acceptable to miss a shower or two to finish that essay, if you get a good grade on it. It’s acceptable to pull an all-nighter before a test if you get a good grade on it. It’s acceptable to skip a meal to complete the homework if you get a good grade on it. These are the things that Amelia in “Overworked”, as well as all my peers, go through on a daily basis.

The short film’s main theme is self-care, something that I’ve been prioritizing since that summer. I hope that everyone who watches can take something from it, whether it be big or small.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My dream school ever since I was in 5th grade was UCLA. My neighbour had been accepted to UCLA. He taught me the eight clap, the term “ookla”, and even showed me his quidditch team matches! Even as a kid, I knew I had to go to UCLA.

Unfortunately, I was waitlisted.

I didn’t let that bother me. I committed to UCSD and then planned to transfer in my junior year to UCLA.

Then on May 4th, 2020, I got an email (the force was strong with me!). I was to be a bruin.

However, something else in the spring of 2020 stopped me and all of my peers from going to our dream schools–COVID-19.

I didn’t let that stop me. I moved down to LA, found an apartment off campus, and walked to class every day. I would take my Zoom classes sitting at the Sculpture Garden, at the Kerckhoff Patios, or on Janss steps. I memorized where all the outside outlets were, where the best wifi was on campus, and even where all the outside toilets were.

Then in January of 2021, UCLA removed all chairs from the outside patio areas. I was heartbroken. My dream school was throwing all obstacles at me to not be there. I felt my freshman year slowly drifting away–

So, I bought myself a camping chair and continued to take my Zoom classes on campus. :)

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I love trying new things. I always throw my heart and soul into learning a new skill. Once I’m somewhat decent at it, I move on to another skill.

My most recent passion is comedy. As president of UCLA’s Comedy Club, I have gained a love for this art form. After doing comedy sketches with my club for 4 years now, I have a new goal: I want to direct a comedy feature film.

I’ve already got plenty of ideas swimming around in my head. However, once I graduate from UCLA, I plan to complete my comedy feature film goal.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sophieewells
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sophieemmawells