Film Courage: What does it mean to you to be a writer?
Sheila Houlahan, Actor, Singer, Producer and Writer: Writing is putting down in a physical space what only I can see in here. Writing is the act of basically transmuting my inner world into the outer world so that you can see what’s going on inside me in a way that is different from when we have a conversation because writing has a really different voice from when we speak, I don’t know. Some people write exactly the way they speak. I’m like yep I know, especially over text, I know I text the way that I talk but that’s very different from how I approach creative writing. My voice as a creative writer is different from how I speak I think. It’s showing your inner world to the rest of the world.
Film Courage: What compels you to write?
Sheila: Knowing that I have a story that only I can tell and knowing what it could do for people, either it’s a story that I’m really excited about, it’s not as on the nose. My feature script is just literally an excerpt from my life that I think people should know about. In terms of whether it’s something that’s a little bit more lighthearted and fun or not, it’s just knowing that no one else is going to tell it and I have to be the one to do it. It’s like All right make time, schedule in your writing time as often as you can so that it gets told, it gets done, you’ve created the thing and then you can go into the rewrite process and keep playing and exploring and growing and go from there.
Film Courage: Can you walk us through your writing process…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
Sheila Houlahan is a Webby Award Winning Indian-American actor, singer, producer, writer and advocate. Sheila played the supporting role “Paige Callahan” opposite Denzel Washington in the Warner Bros. feature “The Little Things”, which was written and directed by John Lee Hancock. She also has a role in the Michael Bay thriller “Ambulance”. In 2021, Sheila was the executive producer for a feature film adaptation of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer-winning play “Night, Mother” in partnership with Twitch.tv; this film was a “hybrid” film, mixing pre-recorded segments with live performance that was recorded and edited in front of a live audience. Over 8000 people watched “Night, Mother” live, and since then, the film has received critical acclaim and has been screened at 68 festivals in over 24 countries. “Night, Mother” has over 64K views on it’s flagship Twitch.tv channel and has been praised for its’ fresh, innovative approach to filmmaking winning over 60 awards including the Webby Award for Virtual and Remote Entertainment & Media. Sheila is a Celebrity Champion for Project HEAL, a nonprofit organization that helps people suffering from eating disorders source affordable treatment options and pay for treatment. She is also an ambassador for Ability Magazine’s platform AbilityE, a casting portal that seeks to increase inclusion and representation of differently-abled talent and creatives on both sides of the table in Hollywood.
WATCH ‘NIGHT, MOTHER’
CONNECT WITH SHEILA HOULAHAN
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