Conversations with Maria Sara Santoro

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Sara Santoro

Hi Maria Sara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Milan, Italy, and I never liked it until I left. I always thought that people don’t make movies in Italy, at least not anymore, so I wanted to grow up and leave, even though I have a wonderful supporting family. I learnt to play piano before learning how to read read and have always had a particular inclination for drawing and storytelling. I studied Ancient Classics, before I moved to England for a BA in Literature and Drama after which I got accepted into USC for an MFA in Film Production. I started working in unscripted tv soon after graduation, and I also found love, unplanned. Life doesn’t like plans apparently, moviemaking is proof of it. Now I am back in Milan temporarily, my husband far across the planet most of the time, but we are in development for several film and tv projects and I occasionally work as a remote producer.

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?
No artist will ever tell you the road is smooth, but then where would be the fun in a smooth road, no discovery, no terribly low lows and excitingly high highs? Coming from a place where everyone always told me I could be anything, I had a hard time narrowing down what I should focus on, only to then find out I hurt my very soul not to doing things that made me happy.
Mental health issues run in my family, like in my husband’s, and I’ve come to realize that most of the time one can’t do anything besides being present, for my family like for myself. During the pandemic I couldn’t even do that, me being in the USA while my family was in Italy, which impacted life significantly. Covid also didn’t help for other reasons: I feel like, as an introvert, I couldn’t fully take advantage of my years at USC to network properly.
Now I have been in visa limbo for a while, like countless others before me, losing job opportunities, but one has to find the positives, so I’ve been networking in other countries and reconnected with my family and artistic side. I left home at 18, so I constantly feel like I missed precious time with my parents and sibling and I’ve been trying to make up for it, but being a freelance filmmaker means you have to dedicate lots of free time to unpaid work to be able to work later.
I consider all of the above speed bumps on the road, some are potholes that break a wheel, but nothing that can stop the journey as long as we listen and care for one another.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a film and tv writer and producer. The most notable thing I worked on is the Emmy winning reality tv show “Love is Blind”; I have also co-written and produced the award winning short proof of concept “Apotheosis” which you can watch on DUST. I am very proud of it and I can’t wait to turn it into a feature film soon. I also produced a feature film, my first one, which should start its festival run soon: “Jack&Lou a Gangster Love Story”, starring Linda Hamilton, Sebastiano Pigazzi and Natalie Shinnick. I loved leading this production, creating a family with cast and crew for the years we worked on it, delving into the period details that would make the story come to life at its best, trying to find 1920s Chicago in 2020s Los Angeles, I loved it all. Another tv show I was associate producer on is “The Pasta Queen” which it recently premiered on Prime. This one was particularly fun because it brings my culture to the screen and I didn’t realize how proud of it I could be. I was the only Italian speaking post crew member and a lot of the show is in Italian, which meant that without me some scenes couldn’t be edited. I loved collaborating with all the post producers, I learnt a lot and it made me fall in love with post production a little more.
I am not sure anything work related sets me apart from others, but maybe because of bullying, maybe because I am not from around here or maybe because it didn’t come natural to me when I was younger, I do try to be as empathetic as I can. I don’t believe in screaming at people to get work done, I believe in listening to them and trying to figure out how to help so that they may feel supported. The result is still tired filmmakers, but a little happier and a less angry at each other. People need to feel appreciated.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is essential. Talent is a given. The entertainment industry is interesting that way because if you are talented with no luck, you probably won’t make it, if you’re not talented, but you’re lucky, then somehow you’ll still be around, and if you are talented and lucky, well, you hit the jackpot. I have always considered myself a very lucky person because of my family, and the fact that anything I put my mind to would come true. Bad luck has also shaped my life and career though, in particular in the past two years. I made a life in Los Angeles, and for a bureaucratic mistake I was untimely forced to move back to Italy, so my career trajectory shifted. Similarly, being in the middle of my MFA when covid hit meant less opportunities, just like starting a career in the midst of an industry recession and strikes. I found a husband during my MFA though, that was luck too. Was it bad or good? We’ll see!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bantambears.com
• Instagram: @thetimeisoutofjoint
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/XlcuKadMBlE

Image Credits
Ben Wilson, Rielle Oase, David Crotty