We're here on the Sunlight Moonlight podcast program.
I am Dom Dorman.
I'm Ryan Habers.
And we're here on a rainy, rainy and cold night here in the Northeast.
Very cozy.
Ryan's got some coffee, I believe.
No, I have water.
All right.
It is late for coffee.
Oh yeah.
Can't do that now.
I have some tea.
I have some peach tea.
It's very, very delicious.
Yeah.
We are here on the program.
This is the place where we talk about creative people working and working people being creative.
Tonight, I should say, we're used to doing this kind of during the day.
This is the night version.
Very, very exciting, special program tonight.
We have writer, director, actress and filmmaker Laura Sweeney, who is a very long time friend
of mine.
I don't want to say old friend because it makes Laura sound old.
But Laura and I have been friends for a long time.
It makes you sound old too.
I know.
I am.
That's the problem though, is that if Laura and I, let's say Laura and I hypothetically
went to high school together, that would make us the same age.
Old is a state of mind, man.
Ryan, it's been a while since we caught up.
How is life treating you these days?
Life's all right.
I went skiing.
I had a little bit of an accident.
Why are you too old to ski?
Yeah.
I know.
I'm hyper extended my arm.
I'm like a newborn fawn on skis.
It was my fourth time skiing.
My family skis.
My wife, my kids ski.
So they're like, you got to go.
I'm like, oh, okay.
Yeah.
So I hurt my shoulder.
It's much better.
It was a few weeks ago.
I'm on the mend.
I got one for you.
I took my son sledding a couple of weeks ago and I did something to my knee that I can't
describe, but it is incredibly swollen.
Oh.
I can still walk on it, but something is not.
Something's definitely not.
Right.
Did you ice it?
So I have not yet.
I should do that.
Maybe I'll do that tonight.
You're not my doctor.
I play one on a podcast though.
You should definitely ice it.
I have to go see my orthopedist.
It's not something.
Something's definitely broken.
Oh, you have an orthopedist.
I did.
Well, I hurt my other knee.
What are you rich?
No, I just break my knees all the time.
And it's unfortunate because I live in a not a very large house, but a tall house.
So there's lots of stairs, which are fun to negotiate when you're injured.
Yeah.
But no, it's been a good couple of weeks.
I've been listening to a lot of really fun music and I've been watching a lot of sports.
I'm a big NFL fan.
So that, you know, the playoffs have been have been going on.
It's very exciting to me.
I don't have a good time.
A Giants fan.
I don't have a good team.
So it's I take pleasure in the demise of the Giants enemies.
So when teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles lose, it brings me almost
as much joy as if the Giants had actually won, which is probably it's probably a problem.
I mean, that's not a healthy way to live your life.
But that's I think it's part of being a NFL fan.
You know, I don't like there's people who are like, Oh, can't you just can't just root?
You know, like you want somebody like, why do you have to root against or people to say
like, Oh, you're a Yankees fan.
Like can't you just roof in that too?
And it's like, you know, pick a side, like stop with all this ambivalence where it's
like, Oh, it's can't we just like, you know, watch the game and it doesn't really matter.
I don't I don't like any of that.
It really and I know I meet a lot of people who are like that.
Or it's like, Oh, why do you hate the Jets?
I hate that too.
I'm like, because I like be a fan of, as you know, I'm a huge sports fan.
I love all the balls, football, baseball, ski ball, basketball, skiing, you know,
and I, and I, I, I gamble a lot.
I bet a lot of money on these games because I'm really good at stats.
I don't do that.
And figuring out who's going to win.
I have friends who bet like three or four dollars on like very odd pieces of the game.
Yeah.
And it's like this is going to happen in this moment and like in the fourth quarter, somebody's
going to like get injured or something and they bet like, you know, three or four dollars
on these events.
They're going to throw an octopus out on the ice.
Yes.
That will that happens.
I know.
Or fish sticks.
The only reason I know that is from Strange Brew, the Bob and Doug McKenzie movie.
That's right.
They played hockey in that.
Yeah.
And then stole their clothes.
And stole somebody.
Hork their clothes.
Somebody worked their clothes.
Somebody worked our clothes.
So the sunlight moonlight podcast here with our guest, Laura Sweeney, I do, I do want
to get into it with Laura and we'll bring Laura on in just a moment.
I want to, we put together some information because I want you to understand Laura's wearing
many hats.
So I've seen a lot of her work as both a director and actress and filmmaker, writer.
And I think it's really fantastic what she's been doing.
She's been doing it for years.
And so as I mentioned, screenwriter, director, actress, her scripts have been official selections
at the Vale Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, Holly Shorts, Screencraft, Script
Fund, Filmmatic, Toronto International Women's Film Festival, and Cascadia International
Women's Film Festival.
Her self-produced pilot, Mami Mafia, which is extremely funny, won Best Community Pilot
at Manhattan Film Festival and was a finalist at Chicago Amercord Art House Television Awards.
She also co-wrote the short film Solstice, selected for genre lab at Pinewood Studios,
and she wrote a short film adaptation of John Milton's Paradise Lost, which I can't wait
to talk to her about, now distributed by PBS.
So her short film Across won Best Historical Drama at Manhattan Film Festival, and she
recently directed a short, Tina, by Sherry Davenport, which is currently in film festivals,
and it's very, very touching and very warm.
She's currently writing a dark comedy feature called Negotiable, based on her own adventures
in the real estate industry that she plans to direct this year.
And she's also co-leader of FilmShop's South Brooklyn chapter and has taught screenwriting
for Writers' Boot Camp and open screenplay.
And I mean, if you just put all that together as a working mom as well, I mean, this is
really, it's incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, incredibly
impressive.
Yeah.
And she came out of Georgetown University, and she also studied acting, as if that weren't
enough.
She also studied acting with the Moscow Art Theater, which I really want to hear about
too.
So without further ado, Ryan, can we, can we bring, can we bring Laura out?
Can we, can we start talking to this?
Let's start.
Yeah.
Let me see.
This Renaissance woman?
Laura, here, let me get rid of this.
Hi.
How are you?
Hi guys.
How you doing tonight?
Thanks for having me.
This is fantastic.
Thanks for being here.
Oh my God.
What a setup.
Yeah.
I feel like such a slouch.
All of the film festivals and I, and that has to be submitting your work to those film
festivals has to be an incredibly arduous process.
It's a mixed bag.
You know, yes, submitting it, you know, you have to write the film and then make the film
and then show the film to people and definitely getting into festivals and all the submissions,
the background task.
It can be time consuming, but usually at that point you're so psyched that the film is done,
you can't wait to share it with people and get it out there.
It's also pretty exciting.
So yeah.
Do you find that, because in my musical experience, I always had such a problem, like such a difficulty
with that second part, which was like the first part is like, you know, the fun part
and the part that comes like pouring out of you, right?
There's like, you come up with an idea and then you hone it and then you like, you get
it to where you want it to be.
And then you actually can, you know, put technology behind it and film the film, right?
And you're working with talented actors and you're feeding off their energy.
And then you're editing the film, you're doing music, you're finalizing everything.
And then I would always find that like, I just wanted to stop there.
And like the second part of like, let me get this in front of people and let me try and
get shows and let me try and get it.
I'm not using the marketing, I would always like fizzle out there.
How do you maintain momentum from like writing something through the execution and then like
all of that other follow up?
Is that like?
Yeah.
I mean, that's a great question because you can kind of burn out by the time you finish
the thing.
You're just like, oh my gosh, I'm done.
But I guess, I mean, I think with films, you're often crowdfunding on some level or you have
several people involved who've gotten the project off the ground to begin with.
So I found myself in those moments not alone with like, now let's get it out there.
I have someone being like, hey, when is it going to be done to get it out there?
You know, so it's not just me kind of pulling it along.
And in fact, I usually try to do some sort of crowdfunding or something like that, even
when maybe it's not as necessary because that's sort of when you start building your audience.
Before you even make the film, you're building a community around the project.
So you have this kind of village of people who can't wait for this thing to get done.
And often those are the people who kind of are like, hey, are you done with that yet?
I can't wait to see it.
And then you're like, oh man, we really got finished the thing and get it out to people.
And they want to see it.
So I think surrounding myself with people who make sure I keep going has definitely been
important to every project.
But every project is different too.
Some projects come along and there's just all this energy behind it.
People can't wait to get it done.
Others come and it's like all this enthusiasm at the beginning.
Then everyone disappears and you're alone with the thing and you don't have the money
and you just have to find a way.
So each project I always think kind of comes with its own life force.
So you just made me think of something.
As a musician, I have a lot.
I have so much unfinished stuff.
And it's sort of like you go through the archives and you're like, OK, that one's hitting now.
I connect with that one more.
So you get excited about it.
Do you is it the same thing with film?
Oh, wow.
I mean, yeah, I think I have a lot of scripts that are, you know, they say like scripts
are never completed.
They're just stopped.
Like at some point you're like, because I guess with a little different between like
writing music, well, I guess it's similar.
It's like it's a film, a screenplay is not the end thing.
You know, it's sort of a blueprint for the thing you're going to make in a way that
like the book is the thing.
So when you finish it, it's finished, you know, the screenplay.
It's like now I've got to go raise an army and make the thing.
So there are I have unfinished scripts.
Usually it's like spinning plates.
You know, I think I'm moving towards one project.
But then someone out of the blue comes to me is like, hey, I found someone who wants
to be in that.
There's a path for that project.
Like can we do it now?
And sometimes there's like a drop everything focus on this one and see it through.
But yeah, it can be frustrating because you get really like involved in the creative process
of writing a script with a feature film script, you know, it's quite involved.
You're working on like a hundred, hundred, hundred, twenty page document.
You think it's almost done.
And then you get pulled into another project for six months.
And then you've got to get back into it.
You know, so yeah, they are kind of like kind of like house cats, you know, like you run
to that script and be like, oh, I forgot about that project.
I love that project.
Why didn't that one happen?
You know, it's so involved.
I complain about having to write lyrics for a song.
That's like a page.
Yeah.
150 pages.
I mean, it's mind blowing to me.
It's such a different animal, you know.
Yes, you know, you know, yeah.
When you mentioned Laura, you know, crowdsourcing, so that sort of made me think of something.
Do you feel like, and this is I guess is sort of a leading question, but the advent of crowdsourcing,
do you think it creates a sense of urgency or or responsibility that is could be absent
if you just had like 10 K sitting there to make a movie?
Like I because I know like I'm notorious for like starting songs and not finishing them.
But let's say if I had if I started, you know, crowdsourcing and say, hey, you know, I need
1200 bucks to record the song.
Yeah.
And then people gave it to me.
You got to do it.
I feel like I would have to like bring it finish.
Yeah.
Otherwise you're kind of yeah, it's like it does create a sort of accountability.
And also, I mean, yeah, I feel like with every project I do, because I have a lot of people
asking me like, how do you get it done or whatever?
Young filmmakers who want to just like get their first project, they're waiting till
they have the money, they're waiting till they have this, they're waiting till they have
that.
And I always say, and this might be a little crazy, I always just say, just start saying
you're shooting it like the film is happening and we're shooting it at the end of March.
And as soon as you say that, people think it's true and then it becomes true.
You know, and then suddenly people are like, oh, wow, this person's really going to do
it.
You know, and yeah, you put it out at the crowd funders.
I feel like are helpful because yeah, once again, you're committing to an audience.
It's totally totally.
I mean, not totally, but it's mindset, right?
Yeah.
Like, like, yeah, that's that's I want to steal that.
Yeah.
And we're stealing this this idea that and I'm not going to crowdfund my stuff, but I'm
going to pretend that I am.
You know, like I'm just I'm going to tell myself what you owe this song.
Finish the goddamn song because you owe it.
Yeah, you promised it.
Right.
I like the idea of saying, you know, he said, like, like, I'm going to shoot it.
So it's, you know, like these are the shoot dates like it's scheduled for fourth and fifth.
Yeah.
I change, but those are our shoot dates.
And I think I really am a firm believer in if you know, if you think negatively, you
manifest negative sort of results.
If you think positively, you manifest positive results.
So if you if you're saying that, if you're like, these are the shoot dates, then you're
going to start doing the work involved to get to that point.
So you're ready.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's great.
Wow.
I've learned.
I've already learned so much.
We've been talking Laura Sweeney here on the sunlight, moonlight.
Laura gets it done, man.
For for less than 15 minutes.
And I feel like I've I've I've had an epiphany just as far as like accomplishing work.
Laura, speaking about all the different facets and we'll get into sort of the the idea of
the day job and motherhood and things like that.
But if you look at everything, you know, if you really zoom out and look at your body
of work and look at your bio and look at how many hats that you can and do where what is
like, could you pick a favorite or do you love like all of your children equally in that
sense?
Well, I feel like writing is something I can't live without a little different than the others.
You know, it's sort of a survival mechanism in a way that the others are not like I wake
up every day and I write.
It's just sort of like my go to it's like, you know, drinking water.
But I started out as an actor.
So I definitely remember.
Yeah, we leave it on the stage together.
Right.
Yeah.
It's fun in San Anthony.
So yeah.
But I get like a hankering, you know, for one or the other sometimes out of nowhere where
I'm like, I just want to do a really good role in something or, you know, but writing
I'm always doing and I guess what's happening now is that directing is so all encompassing
that I feel like now that I'm tipping into directing more frequently, it just takes over
everything.
So it's like now that I'm directing more, it's like the opportunity to step away from
that and just write or just act.
It's just like, yeah, it's like you're all in when you're a director on the project.
There's no escape until the thing is done.
And I love that.
I love that.
But it's a little more all encompassing than just writing or acting.
So I don't think I have a favorite, you know, they're all different.
All of my children.
No, and it's a good way to put it though.
I found that throughout my lifetime, there were things, I mean, I, you know, the first
the first things I remember doing was playing music live.
And like that was my, that was my drug, right?
That was like, we had to play shows.
I had to do solo stuff like that was, you know, and then I sort of got into writing
and recording and then I was like, Oh, wait a minute, like, I don't have to flat my stuff,
you know, down the subway and like, you know, have two people show up and feel like shit
about myself for weeks.
And I could just, you know, stay in this little cocoon here and write and record.
So I feel like as, you know, my, as far as my creative journey goes, that it has changed
over the years, like what I gravitate toward.
And I've gone through all these different phases and I think that, but what I notice
about you is that, you know, if I'm putting together a rough timeline, like you're, you're
kind of like, it's not like you've grat like you've graduated to directing and you're not
acting anymore.
Like that's not true.
Like you're still doing all of it from what I can tell.
Um, yeah, I think that that's really interesting that you, you can maintain.
It's not this sort of like, it's not your career evolution to go through these different
roles that you're playing.
It is part of your toolkit and you have all like all of these things like really locked
down and you keep going back and, and you know, doing similar processes because you're
obviously good at it.
And so it's like, it's a really cool thing to see.
Wow.
It does seem like a natural progression though.
Like, you know, it's, so it just started out as an actor, right?
Yeah.
And I was like writing, I have been writing pretty much nonstop since I was like a fourth
grader.
So definitely I think it all started with writing.
But then I wanted to be, the actor was the goal.
I was like, I'm going to be an actor.
And then coming out of college did a lot of acting.
And then actually becoming a parent, I was actually working a lot as an actor when I
found I was having my daughter and that really turned me more into writing again.
I was like, oh, this is just easier.
Like I'm home more, you know, it's easier to control my time.
I can be writing more and I get back to writing.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
So.
And then the directing obviously came later.
No, you know, like I was always kind of directing things, you know, in college and stuff.
Like you have like a group project and we'd be in a circle and everybody would be like,
well, Laura, what should we do?
Okay, you know, so I think that I directed, but I didn't directing, I feel like it's the
most mysterious of the three because I'm when I do it, it's I'm like, am I doing something?
Like, what am I doing?
You know, like, you're sort of at the center of everything so much and you're sort of just
like getting other people to change things a little and this and that.
Like a writing is really clear to me when I'm doing.
There's nothing there and then I write words and then there's something there.
Acting is clear.
Someone hands me a script or a project and then I'm there being filmed.
Directing is sort of like being a parent.
You're just like this person who's kind of in charge of everything.
Kind of doesn't.
Yeah, yeah, no, it has nothing under control.
Right.
It's a little bit like you're like, you're going to be fine.
You know, everything is fine in the back of your head.
You're like, oh my God, are they ever going to stop dating?
You know, like, I don't know if everything's going to be fine.
You make it seem like it is and like there kind of is a plan and I think they all feed
into each other though, too.
I think that, you know, being an actor for so long and working with so many different
actors has really helped me work as a director because I think one of the keys with working
with actors as a director is like every actor comes from a very different background.
And when you're on a film set, you often have very little rehearsal or none.
So day one, you know, you're going to be shooting that scene like 20 minutes after those people
step on set.
None of them know each other.
You know, one of them is like some Shakespearean actor or somebody's, the other one's a Method
actor and I've found this quicker I can identify like how to communicate with that particular
actor because you know, it's so different the better.
You know, some actors need a lot of attention and just to know they're doing a good job.
Other actors need to know exactly where the camera is going to be and how they should
tilt their head.
You know, they're all worked so differently.
And I've often said like directing is sort of like speaking many different languages.
You know, you communicate with actors, each actor very differently usually.
You communicate with a cinematographer in like a totally different language, the cost
tumor, you know, the sound person, you know, everybody, you're kind of like, yeah, you're
the person in the middle of the sandbox.
Everybody's like throwing everything at you and you're just the point person.
Yeah.
You're kind of building the, you're building the film in a sense like you're, you know,
you're directing the actors, right?
You know, and trying to get us, you know, you kind of have the vision, right?
So it's like you, you're trying to get a specific performance out of them.
So you got to kind of give them tweaks and.
Yeah.
And make sure.
And you're going to have to roll with it because sometimes actors show up and they do something
completely different than what you expected.
So a lot of it is very ego lists of like, that was way better than the idea I had.
Like let's keep rolling the camera, you know.
Yeah.
You know, I was going to ask you specifically to directing of a very pointed question, but
before, before we do that, I'd like to.
Yes.
You have a couple of clips that you sent us and I wanted to, I wanted to play one of
them so that people, because look, when, when you meet, you know, you meet somebody's
cousin or something and it's like, oh yeah, I like, I make short films.
That's like, okay, great.
You know, and then it's, you know, you can't, it can be easily dismissed where it's like,
all right, this is a guy with an iPhone who like, you know, thinks he makes movies or
whatever, but your, your productions are so professional and they are so legitimate.
And so I want to, what I'd like to do is for those listening, you're going to hear some
dialogue and some, maybe some music and background noise or whatever.
But we have a video platform here and I want to, I wanted to show a clip.
Is there a specific clip I can queue up before I ask my, my next question.
Like if you have a favorite or if there's something specific that you feel like really
represents what's going on with you.
Okay.
Maybe in a cross, I would say, I would do something from that.
And I just, I watched this when you made it.
Yeah, that one was sort of the most ambitious because it's set in the 1940s and we had a
vintage car and there was underwater cinematography and basically every production.
And like flashbacks.
Yeah, it was a ghost.
I don't know what I was thinking.
Yeah, I thought it was going to be so simple.
And then I was on set and I was like, what was I thinking?
This is like overwhelming.
Yeah, I actually liked the flashback section, maybe right around there before the water
dunking part.
Yeah, it's, and it's, it's like, it's super creepy.
I mean, I think it's meant to be creepy.
Yeah.
And I want to, I want to just like a little mini horror movie in the middle of a historic
drama is what it was going to be.
Yeah.
Exactly.
You know what, I'm going to do the night time scene.
Okay.
Oh yeah.
I love how that turned out too.
Yeah.
Because we have the World War II.
Because this is really so, so the setup is that we've got, we've got four and it, will
you allow me to do this?
Can I?
If you like, or I can, whatever you want to do.
All right.
So we've got four friends.
There's, there's two sisters and there's two friends.
Yes.
And this is in the late forties and this is after World War II.
And three of the friends have lost husbands.
Yeah, they're widows, very young widows.
Right.
Of soldiers.
23 years old, yeah.
Right.
And the youngest sister is about to get married the next day and they take her out the day
before sort of like a very small bachelorette celebration at the beach.
And there's a real, you know, a realization that there was an event that was, was mysterious
in the past and it gets revealed what the event was.
And it was a personal event.
I don't want to spoil it, but, and then one of the sister who's the bride to be runs
off into the forest and now the three friends are looking for the sister.
Ruby.
There we go.
All right.
Oh, I moved over there.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm going to go to the next one.
Oh, whoo.
It's like studio in a box, but that, I mean, just the whole project.
Talk to me a little bit about like, where did you get this?
Like, how did you get up with this idea?
So, yeah, so this, this project across which, yeah, set in the 1949.
Well, a couple of things.
So I want, I didn't really want to make something about the American war widows of World War
II.
It's a very untold story.
You know, you hear a lot about the war brides who came back.
You hear a lot about the soldiers.
You know, there's so many world war II stories, but the women in the United States really
like held our country together.
It was an enormous gift to the United States and there's very few stories about them.
So that was one thing.
But the other true part of how this came was I was working with a cinematographer.
It's just sort of a disappointing story of creative.
How it's made my favorite.
I was working with a cinematographer and he said, I want to shoot something for my real.
Can you write me something that's for women in a car and there has to be a bridge.
And so I wrote this thing and the script, like one whole bunch of things.
And I was like, wow, maybe we should make this.
This is crazy to make a 1940s short film.
Like why?
But and then this film, it almost happened like two separate times and then it got delayed,
delayed, delayed.
And then it looked like it was really going to happen again.
We got some funding.
We got some interest and we started putting it together.
And then the pandemic hit like right as we were in the film, but it was so perfect for
the film.
We ended up shooting it in 2021, like right after everybody's starting to get vaccinated.
You know, that moment where everybody's like, the war is over, we can like live again.
So we, most of the people on this set, it was like their first project back on set.
So there was this kind of like, the war is over feeling already there.
And in fact, people were socializing so much that it was like, okay, guys, like we all
haven't seen people in so long, like we got a lot to do.
So we had to get to work.
But it was shot mostly outside, which was perfect for that post pandemic shoot.
Yeah.
And so the price is right.
Yeah.
Yes.
You know, I mean, I remember that from like music videos where it was like, well, fuck
it, let's just go outside.
Yeah.
I mean, this location was beautiful.
We shot in Glen Cove, Long Island.
I knew I knew it was a North Shore Beach.
I could tell.
I could tell by the rocks.
Yes.
I mean, it was maybe the one production, I don't want to say error, but the thing I
learned on this was I was like, it's just one location.
But I forgot that it was like this huge estate.
I mean, it might as well have been three different locations.
So but it was outside, which was how we were able to create the time period.
It was really just having this beautiful car and the costumes and props, you know, we
didn't have to dress any rooms or anything like that.
And the makeup too.
I mean, that was a definitely.
Yes.
Definitive.
Yeah.
I know of that time period.
Yes.
And you had the dialogue was you had a couple of little lines in there that was little,
you know, or three.
You know, yeah.
Totally.
Yeah.
Let's throw back some sassy suds.
Yeah.
No, it was really those were really nice touches that to me lent to the authenticity
again, not to, you know, and certainly not to trivialize the medium of short film.
Yeah.
But there are, you know, I mean, I think about everybody on Newen College who was like, yeah,
you know, I did a short film and it's like, I had a guy and a girl and then they're on
the bench.
Right.
Yes.
And then there's like no ending and then the kid gets up in the class and says, so this
is how it ends.
Yeah.
You can get to shoot it and like.
It was really unusual because it was so cinematic, you know, it was just like, I call it my
Lord of the Rings because you know, for an independent filmmaker, a short, it's rare
that you get to have like a 1940s car and all these departments asking you, you know, which
scarf to wear and getting all the actors like in the same world and and toughening up their
performances a little bit because we, you know, tend to be like, oh, I'm sad and let
it show.
And these 40s women are like, you got to bear up, you know, very different feel behind the
whole thing.
So it was really a wonderful group of people.
I mean, a drone photographer and yeah, it really had a lot of production elements.
For me, the aerial shot of the car on the sort of beach side road.
That was just so it was so cool.
And let me ask you very pointed about directing, though, is it because I'm sure that different
directors and, you know, a car commercial director is going to be different than, you know, sort
of an indie film director, right?
And so there's, you know, different needs for different, I guess, different scripts
and different projects.
But do you ever feel like, you know, you were describing it before about like sort of being
in the middle of the sandbox and everybody's asking stuff.
Like, do you ever, have you ever gotten to a point where you're sort of like, hey, I
need you guys like to do jobs?
Like why is everybody at like, I mean, I know it's part of your job.
Sunset.
Yeah, it's sort of like, you know, in corporate life, right, to bring it back.
And again, we're on the Sunlight Moonlight podcast.
We're here with multi-talented filmmaker, writer, actress, Laura Sweeney, and we're
talking about creativity for work and work and creativity.
And to that end, like I go back to my corporate days of like managing a multi-site team where
there were days where, you know, I had everybody from senior directors all the way down to managers
and supervisors.
There were days where I was like, can't anybody just like do their, like, why do you need
me for everything?
And it's like, sometimes a lot of times it was an environment that I had created where
you make people sort of reliant on you or you don't give people the authority that they
need to get things done.
And so have you ever had moments like that where you're like, look, you're the actor,
act, you're the cinematographer, shoot, you're the wardrobe person, dress the people, you're
the makeup person, like make them look good.
Like, have you ever been overwhelmed like that?
Or is it more of like a, you know, fluid, like you just go with it?
I mean, every project's different.
I definitely have had moments where everyone's asking me something, you know, there's no
multitasking when you're directing.
It's like one at a time.
Let me talk to her and then I'll talk to you.
Give me two minutes.
Just keeping your cool.
Because yeah, everyone's looking to you for how to behave on set.
But I think that this is sort of a non-answer, but it is my answer is that I get pretty involved,
not exactly a producer, but a little bit very early in the process in choosing the team
that is going to be there.
I've only had a couple instances when I'm not super involved with that because, you
know, you're really choosing who to go into battle with, you know, very early on.
And I've had a few things where I've interviewed someone and I'm like, I just don't know about
this person.
And always that's the thing that goes wrong.
So it's that's the person I have a hard time working with because I didn't listen to myself.
And that ability to discern like that gut instinct of like this person is just not,
they might not be a bad person or bad at what they're doing.
I'm just not feeling them for this project.
They don't seem to get what this is going to be like and in the flow.
And I don't want that person there.
You know, I've gotten better at listening to myself on that.
You know, as I have more experience in this kind of thing, because I've learned the hard
way.
I always say I've learned the same thing every time I direct, which is that I should have
listened to myself more than I did after.
And do you feel like, I mean, you've been doing this, you know, long enough where, you
know, you, you know, the players, you know, it's like, I know, it's like, if you want
to, as a musician, throw a gig together or something like, I know who I'm going to call
to do it.
Yeah.
You do a short hand with certain people.
Like right now they're, you know, two cinematographers who I work with frequently.
And then, you know, I always try to get one if I can't the other.
They're good at different things.
We know how to communicate with each other.
We have a good time working together.
So we just bring that on.
It's always a little challenging when you, yeah, you have to work with someone you've
never worked before or worked with before.
And you have to kind of get to know them while you're getting the thing done.
But yeah, exactly.
You do get like a team of people behind you.
I think the thing more answering your question still dumb that I've faced and like, you know,
I guess today and ask all the Oscar announcements about the lack of female director, blah, blah,
blah, blah, is like, I have been brought onto a set as a director where no one is listening
to me at all.
And I have to prove that I'm the director.
And so that happens, you know, when it's just like a thing for hire.
Do you think that's a, do you think that's directly attributed to, yeah, it is, it is,
you know, I feel like it sucks, you know, I feel like I'm so lucky that I'm so clueless.
There's something in my personality where I was a little clueless about all that for
like 10 years.
And I'm kind of glad because I think if I had known I might have given up, but I kind
of like just let it go over my head.
And by the time I realized it, I was just too far in.
But I've learned a few tricks of how to deal with that when that happens as a director,
because usually it's the cinematographer or somebody else who's ahead of a department.
And what I've learned is like whoever is vetting you, I mean, people do this anyhow,
like as this person, I'm going to direct the saying, we have to take it over, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And what I do is I'm like, well, I'm running a rehearsal with the actors.
And they're like, no, we got to shoot something.
And I just start I have to choose whatever department I feel like I have an ally with.
And I kind of know like I'm going to stand between you and the camera with the actors
and run a rehearsal.
And then they're like, all right, I guess they are going to direct it, you know, so,
but, you know, yeah, you have to put up with some stuff.
you do, don't talk to Ryan's wife about any of this because her head looks.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, you know, but it's it's true.
No, I know, I know, you know, I don't I don't mean to make light of it,
but it is a shame.
I think that.
I think the irony, especially of, you know, Barbie.
Yeah, the irony there is is so palpable.
It's like, how could you possibly really, really do this?
Now, I will say this, I will say it's a it's a crowded field.
I'm not an apologist by any means, but it's a it's a crowded field this year.
And they did expand all the nominations years ago, right?
It used to be a lot, a lot tighter.
Right.
And box office as evidenced by things like, you know, Avatar box office
is not always equal, creative, creative triumph.
Yes. Right.
And so.
I think there's something to that.
I think it's really unfortunate if you look at Greta Gerwig's body of work.
Phenomenal.
She's an exceptionally talented.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. And it's not the first time this has happened where everybody gets
nominated in the movie.
I mean, that said, you know, Jane Campion won for best director last year.
It was grossly overshadowed by the Will Smiths punching thing.
You know, yeah, but it's like female director, great female director,
Jane Campion wins best director.
I mean, that should have been the headline.
So, you know, I think that, you know, Greta Gerwig is a great director.
We'll continue direct.
I feel like I see progress in that people are even talking about the
fact that it's upsetting.
I mean, five years ago, this would have happened and nothing.
So there's at least a noticing of that.
But it's a tricky position to be in because like we were talking about
when you walk on set, you want that world to be creative.
You want people to feel safe.
You want to be productive and get things done so you can't like fly off
the handle and scream at the cinematographer.
You know, so, you know, it's a delicate balance.
And that's my generation too.
I feel like, I don't know, I shouldn't say too much, but like different
generations of women, you know, definitely being kind of like a 90s chick.
I'm like, there's a diplomatic way we can handle this.
And that's not maybe I'm wrong, but I just want to try for it.
Well, but, but Gen Xers, I mean, all of us here being Gen X or Cusp, Gen X.
Some of us are all different.
Who is Cusp of Gen X?
Well, Ryan's younger than me.
Oh, not by me.
The truth comes out.
And he reminds me all the time.
And they're like six months.
But, but the idea, Laura, I think it's more of like, yes, I think in years.
There's no, no, no, I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
There's some, there's something about the Gen X mindset that is can be a
little aloof or sort of ambivalent where it's kind of like, that's not a big deal.
Yeah.
You know, and I think that what you have is that, you know, the generations
after us, you ratchet up the sort of, you know, the, there's lots of tantrums
and there's public, you know, public outcry and things like that.
It's a different world.
I will say when I started, you know, screenwriting in this and that when I
would go to meetings and stuff like and meet other screenwriters and
filmmakers, I didn't used to tell people that I was a mom because it was talk
about it.
And now it's totally different.
It's totally different.
So now it's almost like it's a badge of accomplishment.
Yeah.
I mean, that has changed tremendously.
Yes.
Look, I think, I mean, we all have children here and I think it is.
We see what our, what our, not only what our wives went through for the
actual childbirth process, which is brutal.
Another podcast.
But yeah, it's a whole other podcast, but I did, I did want to touch on that.
I mean, I'm really, really terribly constrained by time.
If you're, I mean, if you have time, we have time.
Sure.
Because there's, there's like a few other things I really wanted to get into,
which is I wanted to talk about motherhood and how you,
do you feel like the experience of being, I mean, being a father, I'll
preface this by saying being a father has changed me.
And I have a son and a daughter.
They're both very young.
And I, I have a father.
I have a mother.
Has changed me in ways I could not even predict or comprehend.
And like, I didn't know what I didn't know.
Like I had no clue what I was in for in a very positive way.
And how do you feel like being a mother.
Changed you at all as an artist.
That existed that was different than the artist you are now.
Wow.
That's a big question.
I, yes.
I mean, I was always artisiting.
You know, it wasn't like I didn't do anything.
And then I did once I became a mom.
However, I think I got a lot more picky about the things I worked on.
I cared more about like what I'm putting into the world.
And also I think I beyond to feel braver because it was like,
I'm going to show my kids, you know, if, if in the very least,
my work inspires my children to go after what they're going to do,
then, you know, I've done something.
When my daughter was a baby and my daughter's now 18,
says this a long time ago, when I, my daughter was a baby,
you know, and I wanted to write, I had to pay a babysitter 15 bucks
an hour to go right.
You know, so like, I was not procrastinating at that coffee shop.
Like pages were getting written. I had two hours, 30 bucks, you know.
So it was like costing me money to work on my artistic stuff.
So the level of commitment definitely ratcheted up.
I probably made a world of difference though, in the sense of,
because I mean, I know for me and my wife,
and I think, I think this happens with parents is that,
especially in the beginning, you lose yourself, you know.
And so I'm sure that like having those couple of hours to be able to
Yeah, dig in.
So outlet, you know, yeah, I remember I was writing these like really dark things.
I don't know what that was about.
It was like the hormones clearing out.
I wrote like a thing about a haunted burlesque club that was like a ghost
story or like this burlesque dancer would peel her skin off.
And he was really dark and I was like, but this little baby during the day, you know, so.
Is that the one on 34th? I think I've been to that one.
Yeah, right.
This was like set back in time. It's like, yeah.
I always think of the slipper room. You guys remember the slipper?
I remember the slipper room. Yeah, for sure.
Lower east side.
Yeah, maybe that script will get made.
But I think that's the one.
You know, burlesque is like a hot end. You never know.
Well, nothing goes with burlesque like children.
Yeah, nothing says being a mom.
I guess there was this sort of balancing of like, you know,
I need to write these dark things because like I'm expected to be this perfect mother.
The rest of the time, which is why I wrote mommy mafia.
I see them on the screen now that's there.
I was taking a screenwriting course at the time and writers boot camp.
And I remember one of my teachers said something like, right.
What you know, right? Who you are.
And I was like, who am I? Who am I? What am I going to write?
And it was like, I'm a mom. I'm a mom. And then like,
I had this idea for the show called mommy mafia,
which is like everyone trusted me because I was a mom with this little baby in Brooklyn.
All the time, everywhere I went, they'd be like, can you watch my laptop?
I'm going to do this.
And I was like, why do they think I'm a good person just because I have a child?
You know, it's also given.
It's like the worst thing you could do to a mother because you're just giving her more responsibility.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What's for me? Yeah.
You don't look very busy. Can I give you something to do?
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.
It's a lot more on, but I had this thought like what if moms were to like, you know, leverage that?
A little, you know, like, as for these, sure, sure.
You know, so I was like, what if moms got, they could get away with a lot?
So that's how I came up with that project. So,
Well, also, I mean, the quintessential, stereotypical, you know, Stroller toting, you know,
Park Slope mom. I was, yeah, I live that whole thing.
And that's, that is a culture unto itself.
Yeah. And I remember, I remember going, what was that bar?
I had an outdoor part was the gate.
Oh yeah, the gate.
Park Slope. I remember.
There's a 5th Avenue there. 5th Avenue.
I remember going there way before I was even, I was even engaged or married, let alone having kids.
And I looked around and I was like, I'm not like, I'm not making this up.
Everybody here either has a child or a dog.
Yeah. And they were like, you're, you're in this like outdoor patio.
And I was just around, it was like, you know, boobs were out, like breastfeeding.
And then people have, you know, feeding dog treats.
It's always just like a guy with a beer. And I was like, wow, this is like, I don't understand this culture.
Yeah. Park Slope is, is its own world. And I definitely like, when we live there too, you know, we were like, you know, starving artists who had kids who were kind of like had jobs and we're trying to, we didn't have like a brown stone or a nanotube.
We were like, we don't have a brown stone or a nanny or, you know, we were really just like barely scraping by at that time.
So, but one of the ideas in mommy mafia was like, you know, some of these strollers are like $40,000.
Just like on the curb and I'm thinking I need a part time job. How am I going to work? And then it's like, that's stroller is $40,000.
Why are they so expensive?
And I was like, you know, just one stroller. They could replace the stroller. You know, is it wrong?
I never knew it. I never knew it. But like, you know, the criminal mind, the creative mind was turning.
That's great though. It's fantastic.
I would never serve mom projects.
I mean, I don't know if you ever saw this one. This was like smaller, but I did a web series called the mother ship.
This was right after we moved to Long Island and my kids were in that age where I was just like driving them to soccer.
I was just like always in my car, like always. And I had this idea for this crazy character, like in between dropping her kids in places.
What if she did like crazy things by herself? And so it's me. I'm it's one project where I'm doing everything.
I shot it. I wrote it. I'm the I wear crazy wig. She's like this crazy Minnesota.
Speaking of, I remember this now that you say the way I remember.
But yeah, she just like pole dancing in her car. You know, she does like yoga. I mean, she's making pancakes.
Like it's just, but it was such an outlet for me at the time, you know, because I couldn't really be doing movies and stuff that much.
My kids were in the age where I just was with them all the time. So I was able to make that, you know, start to finish.
So that was really, it's really cool. I think that that is the way to do it is right.
What you know, you know, because you can get you can get so deep into the nuance and the subtleties of of it's a life really, right?
You know, you're getting into the subtleties of your own life and that being able to communicate that is, is it.
I mean, I think it really comes across, you know. Yeah. Yeah. After sir.
There's also the vulnerability there of sharing, you know, putting down on a piece of paper what it is that you think you do know about how you go about your day or or even I mean the risk of being a female and writing down saying,
I'm going to write, I'm going to write something funny and this is going to make people laugh. Yeah, that's really hard because you have your you're not starting from the same.
You're not playing on an even playing field. Yeah.
And I think that that to be able to do that and to make we were checking video before and we were watching the trailer for mommy mafia.
We were both like laughing out loud.
Just completely ridiculous.
Mommy mafia was so satisfying in that way because we did some readings of that and places and I could tell that some of the people who had to read it and stuff like that.
And right off the bat, like, you know, so that was very satisfying. Yeah.
Look, parents sort of behaving badly is something that is immediately I can immediately identify with your sir, because I'm, you know, I'm an older parent.
Right. I had I had my my son, my first child when I was 41.
I think. Yeah.
And so hard to not sleep.
I'm still doing. But I think there is and I remember my sister had children very young. She had children in her early 20s.
And she was like very, very responsible and like did not was not a risk taker and did not, you know, really sacrificed a lot of her time and her life experience to be with the children and to raise them correctly.
And I think there's a there's a difference in an older parent that is just sort of I mean you're just like that much more tired. You're that much more like like zero tolerance for bullshit.
Yeah.
Like and it's just sort of like, I think it affects the children to I think children of older parents are very different than children younger.
Just because of how like, and it's not like behaving horribly or being a bad parent, but the idea of a parent being sort of like, hey, it's it's compete you're competing with your child to live your life because you're so when you're 41 you're so used to doing your shit.
You know, if you're early 20s, you're kind of like figuring yourself out. Yeah, I don't have like you said you're paying babysitters you didn't have a nanny or whatever and we yeah, we had careers established so we could like get more babysitters or we could have a nanny or pay for
a nanny or pay for a nanny and so it's just an interesting yeah how it affects all of that. I wanted to cover two other things before we, before we head out we are here on the sunlight moonlight podcast we're having a fantastic dialogue here.
So, I'm going to be filmmaker and actor and writer. At the very end, Laura will do a segment with you. Okay, called easy uneasy. Okay, and so what happens in the segment is that Ryan, who is very nice and very sweet.
So, we'll ask you an easy question. Okay. And then I will ask you a question that may make you uneasy. Oh, I love it. My father was a litigator. So, all right, perfect.
But before we go. So, sunlight moonlight podcast here we talk about what creative people do for work, and what working people do to be creative and to that end. You know we've talked about motherhood we've talked about your, your sort of evolution, and your different talents and
your different abilities. Let's talk about work for a little bit how you like, I know that some of this short films there is a there is a flexibility there you're not on a, you know, a six week shoot.
You know you're not renting out all of these, you know, different structures and different buildings and stuff. So you have an advantage there where you can probably do more in a shorter amount of time but being in the real estate
process which requires an immense amount of flexibility. How do you sort of reconcile the things because you're committed to so many people in the filmmaking process.
And then how do you reconcile like, bring in home some bacon, while you're indulging yourself on that other side.
Yeah, I mean that's a great question. When I figured out I will come back. No I mean it's a hot mess I think it's really the answer. Well that's an answer though. Yeah, you know it's ongoing.
I mean I will say it, it does somehow work out has worked out you know I got my real estate license I guess maybe going on nine or 10 years ago, when you know to work in Brooklyn.
I worked in Brooklyn as agent, and then moved it out here.
And now I'm with Compass, which has been great. There's a funny enough. There's a lot of.
What's the word like overlap. You know, I'm constantly trying to be like, I should get a job more in the media and let go real estate and blah blah blah blah and then at that moment, you know, I'll be working with a buyer who happens to be on a television show
and I'm in touch with so and so and it's like, did that really just happen you know so a lot of things like that have come my way I also feel like I've been very lucky with the people I worked with in real estate that they like really support my work and like really enjoy hearing about it.
You know, I'll have a screening in Manhattan and I will pack the house was like 85 tipsy real estate agents I mean like I bring an audience, you know, I mean it's so that has been great you have a built in following.
Yeah, but as far as balancing the time and the thing and whatever I my experience has been when I'm busy making a film I get busy with real estate.
When I'm not doing anything, everything gets quiet. It's like one or the other.
It always happens. It always happens, you know, somehow it keeps working out, you know, the bills keep getting paid.
I always say to people like yeah, let me sell your house they're like no but I love your movie they just want to watch your movies and I'm like, well there's a direct relationship between you know me listing your house and making that movie.
Like, let's do this, you know, and then there is crossover in terms of like locations and things like that, you know, certainly the skills of being an agent and negotiating deals on things and getting things written down.
For locations vendors, all kinds of things like that, you know, I'm not afraid to do that because I spend a lot of my professional life on the phone working things out.
There's very similar skills in a lot of ways. In real estate you're bringing a team together to close the thing.
Similar with the film. Yeah.
I like that. What do you do when when the the creative reserves are low, you know, busy with life. You did say you have a daily writing practice.
Yeah, I meditate every morning. That's the big, big part of my morning, like 15 or 20 minutes.
When the creative reserves are low, though, that's such a great question is I always try to go for at least like a couple hours, you know, sometimes it has to be shorter like somewhere in nature and just like everyone needs to leave me alone for a couple hours and refill the well because yeah,
especially being a parent and everything, you get pretty burnt out.
That always helps me. Yeah. Yeah.
I always, yeah, I always feel I feel like there's well, there's probably more but two schools of thought where it's like some people I think right when it hits, you know, when it's hitting and they have like this period of, you know, being prolific and then and then that's over and then they're okay with it, and
they just live their life and then it comes again. And then I think other people have sort of a daily, whether it's hitting or not, just to keep them the muscle, you know, flexed or whatever.
Yeah, I love just the exercise of writing and journaling as far as like getting projects done and being prolific on any level. For me, my experience is these projects are like, this is a little dramatic, but a little torturous like they just keep bothering me turning up until they're done to the extent that I'm like,
okay, all I need is another creative idea. Like, leave me alone until I finish these three. You know, the ideas come quickly, bringing them into reality is exhausting.
Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, you know, and that's I think it's like normal, especially for greater people to just ideas come in, right? I mean, I get ideas all the time.
But finishing it and making it a thing that's not in my head anymore. Yeah, you know, committing to that one where you're like, that one keeps bothering me. Yeah, that's kind of what happened with that documentary.
I was like, kept thinking about it. Yeah, making the movie.
And when I, you know, when I sort of go dry, I go for like inspiration, like I go to like some of my favorite records or some of my favorite lyrics or performances and I kind of immerse myself and even film to like, I will go and like, watch films that have these, you know, like I'll watch Blade Runner where the score was done by Van Gellis, you know, and I'm just listening and I'm like, God, this is like,
it's like he's from another planet. Yeah. Getting that something something that is so different and so outside of what I'm doing.
I try and bring it like out of me to be a doesn't you're in your head like listen to how wide the world is. You know, you could be doing anything like this or yeah, vision people like Peter Gabriel or like, you know, people who are just sort of doing their own thing regardless of what people are expecting.
And then that always reminds me that like, I don't have to write for anything or anyone, but myself. Yeah, because I'm always trying to like, well, what if people don't like that.
You know, if it's just acoustic guitar, like is that kind of boring. And it's like, listen, man, like, Ryan, we talked about this all the time, Twila Tharp, it said a long time ago about sort of being creatively blocked.
She said, you know, it's all been done before honey, get over here. Yeah. And it's like that idea I mean if somebody like her to say that, where it's like, listen, don't worry about coming up with an invention.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, and I think I think that just the fact that we're all human beings. If you like what you're doing chances are someone else is gonna like it as well somewhere in the world. You know what I mean? No one's going to connect with it.
I know, like, I've taught screenwriting a lot and always when I work with writers. I always say like write a really bad first draft like don't get in that mind of later on you're going to need to edit it and make choices.
But it's very hard to have both of those brains going at the same time. Like you just got to let it be whatever it is. And then later on you can worry about what people are going to think or whatever because you can stop that creative process from flowing.
Is that what you do with your daily writing? I wanted to ask that actually.
And my daily writing is like, I forgot to get the thing yesterday. You know, it's very much like sorting out my life on the page. But yeah, but it's a sort of stream of consciousness, right?
Yeah, it's sort of how I talk to myself, I guess, you know, yeah.
I want to say something else though about when you get stuck or need to refill the well because what you brought up about like going to a movie or like a different art form than your sort of like chosen now more important pressurized art form, you know, because now when I make a film I'm sort of like mid career.
So like stuff is expected of me in a way that it wasn't when I was just being creative fun. And even with that is on. Yeah, there's a different level on the street.
Yeah, I love dance dancing is my outlet. And like, I love it because I'm never going to be like I'm never gonna be a professional dancer as many as teachers have attested to.
They're like, you're just so human, you know, like, you know, it's great.
You don't want to go professional. I'm like, yeah, because I don't care. Oh, there's nothing writing on it.
So it's just the back in the backhanded dance compliment.
They're like, you got to stop making those faces but it doesn't matter because you're not.
You're so original.
So fun. I do Zumba. I highly recommend Zumba for like every problem in your life. Well and then it's also look there's endorphins.
Yeah, you're getting your heart rate up. Yes, you're getting your frustrations out.
You feel like, you know, when you're dancing at like exercise class, you feel like you're a pop star, you know, in your head, you, you are a pop star for a second.
You know, just like, God, you know, years ago, I took me and my neighbor, we were living in Queens and my neighbor upstairs was a good friend of mine.
And we took these like really like a very serious series of dance classes that sort of culminated in a recital to recitals, like adults.
And one was swing dancing and the other was salsa.
And I found that it was so amazing that with with both swing dancing and salsa.
You know, you're as as the leading man who's leading, you're sort of like you're doing this thing with your arms.
Right. The one hand in front of you and the other one here. And it's literally like holding a guitar. Amazing. And I found that taking those dance classes changed the relationship I had with my guitar and how I held it how I how I played it, how I approached it.
And it was like just come and it was an epiphany one day and it was like, you know, a couple weeks before the recital, I was like, I can't believe this is happening.
Yeah, it was like so, so amazing. And I think that there's something to that, that discipline, you know, there's a lot of take like Jacques Bapan, for example, who's like, you know, world class historic chef, you know, best friends with Julia Child, he was a pioneer.
And he's an artist.
And he paints these beautiful pictures of like chickens.
Yeah, and stuff.
It's like, everything up to go to this other art form where there's nothing at stake. It can be sort of like your workshop. You know, I come out of a dance class or something. And I'm like frustrated with a project or whatever.
And then it's just like, let it all go. Forget it. And then it's like, something comes to your mind to coming out of that. Yeah.
That's really cool.
Great question.
Sometimes I have good questions.
Well, speaking of which, so let's we're gonna we're gonna wind up with our easy uneasy segment here.
Okay.
And this is gone a couple of different ways. So I'm just gonna throw that out there.
Hey, so now Ryan goes first.
Okay.
Is there a daily task that you abhor?
Anything that's like a long application or something that I have to fill in things.
Yeah.
You don't like filling out forms.
You don't have auto fill ready to go on your on your browser.
No, no, I mean more involved ones.
Like, yeah, or you're doing your taxes.
Blah, blah, blah, anything like that.
Okay.
Yeah, that's a bummer.
That's a good one.
Okay, so that that was the easy question.
I was easy question.
Well, that kind of stressed me out.
Oh, no.
I'm thinking about my taxes now.
No, okay.
Here's the question that may make you uneasy.
Okay.
Should convicted felons be allowed to vote?
Huh.
I would say no.
Okay.
Cool.
I just like I, I, I sort of agree with it in the sense that when you're living in what is supposed to be an organized society.
There are some things that you can do that that pay a really sort of heavy price.
And then that's not good for a family.
That's what you're looking for.
Yeah, that's different in felonies.
When you really look at what's classified as a felony.
Yeah, they're not good.
Yeah, you kind of give up a piece of your citizenship, right?
Yeah, right?
Like you did.
No, I think the, the.
Were those people going to vote anyhow?
That's my other question.
I think that's a good.
Be part to the question.
That's what I was.
Maybe with bad that I just asked that.
understanding and sort of like, you know, how much is a felon?
Yeah. In their felonous behavior contributing to society.
I think the flip side is that, hey, if someone makes a mistake and does a bad
thing and pays a price for it, then they should be sort of like
allowed back into I agree with that.
The other folks of what the other folks are doing.
It's a tough question because, you know, there are it depends on,
like, there's what did they do?
And yeah, was the sentence, you know, was the sentence long enough?
Right. What if they were wrongly convicted?
There's so many and there's so much corruption.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I would say in this in the in the case of a wrongful conviction,
I think it's I would say that they should be allowed to vote again.
Because if you're sort of like
nullifying the actual conviction from the get go.
Well, is the question should they ever be able to vote again even after they do
their time or is the question while they're imprisoned?
No, like what like once you're convicted,
like for your in prison or you're out of prison, out of prison, you're still a
convicted felon. Good point.
OK. I my original answer is based on thinking while someone is incarcerated.
So like, should people who are imprisoned be allowed to vote?
Yeah, I would say no, that would get really dicey.
Yeah. I mean,
but right now convicted felons are not allowed to vote.
I mean, Laura, I'm a convicted felon and I would like to be able to vote.
I'm kidding. I'm not.
I don't have a power in this area.
I'm not. You know what?
You should save this for the you said your father's a litigator, correct?
Yes, he passed away last year.
But yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Well, he may have enjoyed that question.
Oh, he would be arguing with you right now. Yeah.
Well, that's what litigators do, right?
Yes. Yes.
When I was a little kid, I called him a hard-nosed alligator because
it made sense to me I was little anyhow.
OK, that's well, that's fantastic.
And I think hard-nosed alligator.
I like that. Yeah.
But hey, Laura, we covered a lot of ground today.
I was afraid we weren't going to get through it all.
I think I think we covered so much fantastic stuff.
And I'm so happy for you that you've been able to not only accomplish so much,
but to be able to experience so much success and recognition for the things that you've done.
You've always been completely like sweet as pie.
It was fantastic.
Laura and I had one of our I'm not going to say which year,
but we had a high school reunion a couple of a couple of months ago, five years.
And we were and we reconnected and I'm so glad
that we're still talking and I track your stuff.
I think I've contributed to one or more of you.
Yes, you have. Thank you very much. Yeah.
And just a humble rag there just because I know Ryan has not.
So way to go, Ryan.
I do things.
And we're here on the Sunlight Moonlight podcast.
Our guest has been Laura Sweeney, multi talented writer, director, actress,
the whole the whole shebang, Ryan.
Thanks so much for coming on, Laura.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
It's been great to reconnect, Dom, and great to meet you, Ryan.
And I love what you're doing here. So awesome.
Well, thank you so much for coming.
You're welcome back anytime.
And when you finish, I think it's negotiation negotiable negotiable.
Yeah. And that will be that will be there.
Yeah. OK. Feature. Wow.
OK, so we're going to have a
feature, a feature film from Laura Sweeney sometime in 2024, 2025.
I don't want to lock you down. It's 2025.
Yeah. OK. Yes.
And it's going to be awesome.
And we're so happy to have you here.
Ryan, anything any any final thoughts here?
I want to have Laura back on for when negotiable comes.
If you want to.
That would be great. I'd love to come back anytime.
Any time. No pressure.
That's awesome.
Well, Laura, thank you so much for your time.
And we'll get after it soon.
And good luck with 2024.
I'm sure it's going to treat you very well.
You too. Great to see you guys. Take care.
Be safe and keep safe.