Forms of Film and Film that Forms: an Interview with Filmmaker Michela Maria

By: iU Community

From short-form comedy to longform content to deeply personal documentary work, filmmaker Michela Maria has explored the multiple facets of filmmaking to come up with a unique vision and style that’s constantly in motion.

She got her start helming dozens of projects for Adult Swim, Above Average, and Funny or Die and now directs projects for clients like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Pizza Hut, and more. She's also written a number of original scripts that she's working to bring to production, and her Black List script Bury the Lede recently won her literary representation. Her first professional documentary 5 Runners was nominated for a New England Emmy Award and in 2023, Michela was nominated for a Producers' Guild Innovation Award. Read on to learn more about Michela’s career, advice to young filmmakers, and what’s next!

iU: A long time ago you told us about your dream to make a film about your Italian heritage - and now you’ve made Heirloom. How was the process of realizing your vision, and why was it important to you to share your roots in this way?

MM: My Italian-American upbringing influences everything I do, from my work to my outlook on the world. But despite its omnipresence, it was something I suppressed for most of life. Like a lot of kids, I wanted to fit in, I wanted to feel fully American, and so I sublimated that part of my identity for a long time. It was only in my mid-twenties that I had my own personal Italian Renaissance, and realized there was nothing more natural than to embrace it.?

As such, Heirloom isn’t just a film about why Italian-Americans love to garden; it was a part of that renaissance. It was an emotional journey that I needed to go on to solidify what I inside knew to be true, but had never before set to screen. Italian stories speak to who I really am, and I can’t wait to tell more.

iU: Not everyone gets to make a passion project like that. Did you encounter any unexpected obstacles? If so, how did you overcome them?

MM: Honestly, the most difficult obstacle was the most expected, and it was staring me right in the face: documentary. As someone who founded her career on funny wigs and witty one-liners, I needed to take one of the biggest shifts in my career thus far to tackle Heirloom. Documentary isn’t just unscripted –? it’s unpredictable – and so I had to soften my time-hardened instinct to control the narrative. The hardest thing about Heirloom was letting go, and letting the narrative take me where it may.?

iU: What can you tell us about Bury The Lede, which was a recent Script-of-the-Month on The Black List?

MM: Bury The Lede is an hour-long dramedy about Nellie, her newspaper club at Lawrence High, and their investigation into the recent murder of their principal.?

But Bury The Lede doesn’t play out like your classic teenage whodunit, it examines how gaslighting and fake news can wreak havoc on anyone who’s fighting to find the truth. I wrote it when we were in the height of the Trumpian age of misinformation, which, unfortunately, didn't go away when Trump did.?

I think because these themes continue to ring true, readers have really resonated with Bury The Lede. After it was the Script-of-The-Month on The Black List, I was invited to do a live-table read of the script at the WGA in Los Angeles, which then led to me finding literary representation.?

iU: Wow, congratulations! Over the course of your career, you’ve shifted focus from short-form comedy to longform content like HBO Max’s talkback series MaxPop Reacts. What are the pros and cons of each medium, and why’d you make the switch?

MM: I heard an adage in film school that has always stuck with me — a feature is like a novel, a short is like a poem.?

What does that mean? It means the difference between long-form and short-form isn’t just duration; they’re two different forms of storytelling altogether.?

Shorts allow you to work in metaphor, and because of that, sometimes tell more meaningful stories. But long-form pieces, like feature films, give you a larger canvas, more robust colors to paint with, and the opportunity to have an extensive relationship with your audience.

I think it’s important to create both types of work in parallel. I haven’t left shorts behind as I start to pursue long form… and neither should you!?

iU: What did you learn from being associate producer on The Boston Globe's documentary 5 Runners?

MM: 5 Runners was the first real project of my career. Sure, I’d made shorts in film school, but this was my first real gig. I mean, it played on ESPN!

It was 2014, in my senior year at Boston University, and I applied to join the burgeoning video department at The Boston Globe. The Globe wanted to dip their toes into long-form video reporting, and their first piece would be a documentary on a devastating event that happened the year before: the Boston Marathon Bombing.?

I was one in a team of three, so I wore many more hats than just Associate Producer. I helped edit, I helped form the story, I’d even help gaff when we went out to film.

But from this stressful first foray into film, I learned that I could tell stories just like seasoned professionals could. The experience helped cement that I had indeed picked the right career, and I could graduate from BU confident that I could do this thing called filmmaking. The New England Emmy Award nomination we got for 5 Runners didn’t hurt in building that confidence either.???

IU: You got to spend some time with the late and legendary Douglas Trumbull. Did he teach you any lessons you’ve carried forward into your career (and/or life)?

MM: I twice had the honor of spending time with Doug Trumbull. The rumors are true - the man was a genius - and his understanding of where his work fit within filmmaking past and future was inspiring.?

But perhaps more than any technical or career advice I gleaned from him, I was moved by Doug’s generosity. Every year, Doug and his wife invited filmmakers onto his soundstages in the Berkshire mountains to screen his latest work, answer questions about his career, and inspire with his cinematic innovations. In an industry run by gatekeepers, Doug’s generosity was remarkable, and way more inspiring than anything he created for 2001: A Space Odyssey, or any of his other incredible films.

iU: You’ve worked with clients like Broadway Video, Adult Swim, Funny or Die, Amazon, and HBO Max. What has been your biggest lesson from the industry so far?

MM: As we all know, this industry is hard — really hard. We face rejection regularly, we lose more times than we win, and the ubiquity of nepo babies means that hard work isn’t even half the battle.

In seeing that reality play out again and again over the course of the last decade, I’ve become convinced that the only way to survive is to ensure that you’re living your non-career life too.?

Spend time with your family. Travel. Learn how to bake sourdough bread. Whatever form it takes for you, I think it’s paramount to enrich your non-work life.?

That nourishment will sustain you during the doldrums of your career (we all have 'em), and it’ll enrich the work you do make more than you could ever imagine.?

iU: How do you feel being part of the Ideas United Community helps you as a creator, either personally or professionally?

MM: Ideas United was one of the first companies to take me seriously as a director, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful.?

I’ll always be a part of the greater Ideas United community to honor that, and to see how I can repay that kindness to new filmmakers joining the ranks.

Follow Michela’s Instagram @michelamsmith and check out her website, LinkedIn, or the iU Community here. iU Community is a global creative collective of producers, directors, designers, art directors, writers, ideators, editors, strategists, and everything in between. The iU Community is powered by Ideas United, a creative studio and production company based in Atlanta, GA with collaborators around the world. Together, the iU Community and Ideas United produce unforgettable content, campaigns, and events for our partners. We’re changing the way stories are told, one project at a time.