Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan O’Leary.
Brendan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been interested in creating stories for as long as I can remember.
A healthy appetite for books and movies led me to a BA in Film from the University of Utah. Since graduating, I’ve spent the last 6 years as a freelance videographer, building the necessary skills to write and direct feature films.
I am quite pleased that my most recent script, Shorten Your Stride, has since become an award winner, and I very much look forward to getting it shot as soon as possible. A dedicated team of filmmakers is forming around me, and I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve got!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Frankly, I’m not sure if I know what a smooth road feels like! Running a business has been an incredibly trying experience, which has me wondering ‘Is this really worth it’ almost once a month! The more skills I learn and the better my craft, it does get easier, but it is certainly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.
Similarly, writing the script Shorten Your Stride was quite the opposite of a simple task. It took me six years (six!) to create a compelling story. It proved to be quite the balancing act: on one hand, the story must be local and faithfully explore some very serious topics, and on the other, it must be entertaining, funny when it needs to be, and move along at just the right place. I agonized for a very long time as I wrote, and re-wrote, and re-wrote. It took 16 different drafts, but I did finally arrive at a script that I am incredibly proud of, and have no doubt will be a wonderful cinematic experience once complete.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been keenly interested in storytelling since childhood. As a kid, I hoped that by the time I was an adult, a machine would have been invented that would allow one to broadcast their imagination in real-time; sadly, that invention doesn’t exist (nor hoverboards and flying cars for that matter), so I am left pursuing the next best thing – writing and directing films.
Many of the scripts I’ve written are fantastic, adventurous escapes to colorful and interesting worlds, touching on philosophical dilemmas and estranging the struggles of our daily lives through outlandish storytelling. I was not necessarily concerned with the high-budget nature of these works; only that the characters were fun and believable, the plots were varied and interesting, and they moved at a swift pace.
Needless to say, switching to writing low-budget, accessible dramas was quite the gear shift. Before, I would let my characters and the world tell me what the story was really about. Now, I had to work backwards from my conclusion (what a small budget would allow for), and see if I could tease an entertaining and relevant experience from it.
After many years of writing, I am incredibly pleased with my latest work, Shorten Your Stride, which checked the boxes of local and low-budget, but is also a powerful commentary about Utah in its own right. It explores the importance of allyship, and the duty we have to ourselves that we open our hearts to compassion, or be damned to suffer in isolation – told from the perspective of a secluded old cowboy, living alone until unforeseen circumstances thrust him into a decision: to give a damn, or to not.
Pre-production has just begun, and it’s unquestionably the best thing in my life as of now. I can’t wait to share more about it on social media when the fundraiser launches in just a few short weeks!
How do you think about happiness?
Art, and the moments where I am utterly arrested by the beauty of being human.
You really can’t predict those instances, either. Sometimes you can, when a celebration that has been scheduled long in advance comes to pass, like a wedding, or when seeds planted weeks ago start to sprout – but in general, more often than not, the most beautiful moments are both unexpected, and modest. Like right now, for example, the sun is beaming through the leaves of the paperbark tree just outside, making them glow warm and mellow. I delight in the fact that I delight at this observation at all. Or the simple satisfaction in growing closer to the people that enrich my life; it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the meaning of life at 3am on a camping trip, or if I’m helping them do the dishes because you know they’d appreciate it. Closeness takes many forms, and I relish all of them.
Pricing:
- Short Script Review ($15+)
- Feature Script Review ($40+)
- Photographic Print ($20+)
- Video Production (As low as $300)
Contact Info:
- Email: brendan@lanternlight.media
- Website: lanternlight.media
- Instagram: instagram.com/lantern_light_media/
