2023 (and 2022??) Update

Does anyone else feel like the years are going faster since the pandemic? Just me? Well, I have a lot of updates since the last time I posted here.

For 2023, I was chosen as one of ten directors for Blackmagic Collective's "Emerging Filmmakers Initiative." It's a year-long program to help us move to the next level in our careers. I'm blown away by everyone's experiences and accolades. Blackmagic Design makes film cameras and the editing program Davinci Resolve. Read more.

In 2022, my feature screenplay "Peaking in the Valley" was a Fellowship Finalist at the Stowe Story Labs. 
Logline: "In the 1960s, young dreamers flock to California to change the world. But Jane feels the pressures of marriage, children, and corporate America as she navigates life after a psychedelic awakening, and the trauma of losing her brother in the Vietnam war."

When you work so hard on your craft - in addition to your full time job trying to get by - it's always the best feeling to open an email like this. So grateful for the opportunity.

In 2022, I also moved BACK to Los Angeles! My mom drove with me across the country. Of course I have to be from the state that is the farthest you can possibly be from LA. We rented a car for the journey and the guy at Hertz Rental seemed like he wanted to give us an award for most miles any of their cars had ever driven. It's not an easy drive! It was also extremely hot everywhere, especially for a couple cold climate people (all my years acclimating in LA had gone out the window). Here's a few pics.

I ended up working at Warner Brothers in Creative Advertising. I​ thought a lot about what 9-year-old Erin would think about the fact that I was working on the Warner Brothers lot, something I dreamed about as a kid. I used to imagine the classic studio lots where there was a western shooting next to a musical shooting next to a monster movie - and it was kind of like that, seeing people walking around in robes and curlers and bringing different props in.

Me at Warner Bros.

​I worked on several campaigns (some that haven't been released yet) like Dune 2, Wonka, and Joker 2, but everyone's favorite has been the Barbie movie!

I had never seen the theatrical marketing process before, and I was privy to Greta Gerwig's directing style when it came to this process (she is smart, kind, gracious, funny - the real deal!). I saw so many different versions of this trailer, but in case you haven't...

My short film "The Getaway" played at the Bates Film Fest at Bates College in early 2022 in Maine, so I was able to actually see my own film in a theater. It was so fun, and I also got to meet John Turturro when we both got lost in the parking lot for his panel event. 

After screening around the country, including Los Angeles, Kansas, and being nominated for Best New England Short at the Massachusetts Independent Film Fest, "The Getaway" had its final screening at the New Hampshire Film Fest, a lovely, engaging (and big) film festival that came back after being canceled for several years due to Covid. Seeing a film I made on a big screen for an audience to enjoy is what it's all about for me!

Also, my conversation with Writer/Director/Showrunner Kat Candler for Age Inclusion in Media is available to watch on Youtube. ​Kat discusses how she got started in indie films and then segued into television, her creative process, navigating the industry, views on how to be inclusive on a project, thoughts on age inclusion, and her vision for her future.

When I went back to LA, I saw Kat at an event for Queen Sugar, the Ava Duvernay and Oprah series that celebrated its 7-season conclusion and was hailed for having all women directors. Seeing a stage full of women directors was one of the most inspiring moments of my life - AND THEN OPRAH came out! I got to share the experience with my friends Nikki Syreeta and V.C. Rhone who I met in our career strategy class in 2019. Nikki is an amazing screenwriter with an award-winning short film on the festival circuit. She also recently worked as an Intimacy Coordinator on Peacock TV's "Bell Air." V.C. is a writer/director/producer who is currently working on "Not Afraid Film" highlighting the impact of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic on indigenous families. 

I'm finishing a TV pilot, revising my feature, and have several short films and projects coming up. Maybe I'll be able to write an update sooner than a year next time!