Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Tiberius.
Hi Paula, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a writer, director and musician who loves to create – and my shiny new business is called Death or Story. With my partner Dominique Buda, we’re off and running with a series of screenwriting workshops teaching our signature method of dissecting a screenplay two ways at once. We call ourselves Death or Story because we believe that there’s no point in living if you can’t express yourself – and that everything in life is story. It’s also a riff on that Clash song Death or Glory…
I began my filmmaking career in Toronto back in the 1990s when editing a movie meant cutting and taping film strips back together. You really had to think about a cut back then. The mind’s eye doesn’t get enough credit in the digital age. I moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to shake up my world and be inspired by new surroundings – and it worked. Twenty years later I still feel inspired by this huge city with endless things to do and so many thriving artists. After running a creative consulting business for years (and getting married and having a kid who’s now off to college next year!), I got back to screenwriting and haven’t looked back. I make a living writing romance, family, mystery and thrillers for Brain Power Studios where I’ve been lucky to have my work air on Netflix, Lifetime, Hallmark, INSP, UPtv, GAC and more. My own development slate is moving forward as well with some extraordinary projects in the works.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are always struggles as an artist. How do I make money? How do I get people to look at my work? Why do I even bother? I’ve had all those questions and many more swirling around my brain for decades, but I’m still here. At this point, writing and creating is all I know how to do – it’s my 10,000 hours. So it becomes, how can I give back and make it easier for other people to hone their craft? What more do I have to offer now that I am officially a ‘professional’ in the eyes of others? The difference between an amateur and a professional is really just the discipline to sit at the computer and write when you don’t feel like it. And that in itself can feel like a struggle. But struggle is just another story we tell ourselves…
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
One of my proudest achievements is Goldirocks, a feature film that I wrote and directed in 2004. It’s about a girl who lands in a house of three musicians and romances with all of them – one too hot, one too cold and one that she thinks is ‘just right.’ But then she realizes she doesn’t need a man – she needs a guitar. And she starts her own band at the end of the movie. Goldirocks had a long journey through film festivals (Montreal, Cairo, Brazil and many others) then landed on theater screens in Canada briefly, followed by a TV broadcast circuit. It was available on Amazon for years until recently when they kicked us off for being too rock and roll. Just kidding, I wish that were the official reason. We actually got removed for being too old, technically speaking. So now Goldirocks will live out its retirement on my YouTube channel where a surprising number of people have viewed it already.
You could say that I specialize in writing romance movies, Christmas movies and family television, such as Crossroad Springs out on GAC right now. I wrote all the episodes! That was a huge learning curve and a lot of fun. My Christmas movie “Snowbound for Christmas” became the #4 movie on Netflix over the 2021 holiday season and the more recent spring romance, Hallmark’s “The Heiress & The Handyman” garnered a shocking number of eyeballs – probably because it stars Jodie Sweetin, who is not only a joy to watch on screen, but also a very cool person. I also got a lot of attention for “Hunting Housewives” – a camp thriller starring Denise Richards about four women whose husbands orchestrate a plane crash to get rid of them in favor of younger girlfriends…but little do these jerks know that these ladies are survivors! I feel incredibly grateful to be making a living as a screenwriter.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love how diverse and full of art Los Angeles is. I love that I can go to a Modernist furniture show in the morning, watch a limited release matinee in the afternoon (LA gets movies first!) and hit a comedy club at night – and it’s all world class entertainment. Do I actually do all these things in one day? Of course not. That would be insane. But I love that I can. I also love that the city is so big you can literally never see it all. My daughter and I have this Saturday game we call “destination beverage” where we’ll drive to some neighborhood we’ve never been to and walk around, with a vague goal of procuring a beverage of some kind. It came out of her love for matcha tea, but has evolved into pure exploration of the city. There are always new murals, cool buildings and unexpected store fronts to discover.
What do I not like about L.A.? I don’t like the income inequality. It’s painful to see so many homeless encampments, even as efforts are stepping up with tiny house villages and ADU allowances. Have you ever driven from the ocean to DTLA? Malibu to Skid Row? It is a culture shock, and makes you wish our municipal budget could support covering everyone’s basic needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.PaulaTiberius.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ptiberius
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paula.tiberius/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-tiberius-1a4a75a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ptiberius
- Other: https://www.deathorstory.com
Image Credits
Heather Harris
