Conversations with Siena Streiber

Today we’d like to introduce you to Siena Streiber.

Hi Siena, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My artistic passion has always been split between music and screenwriting. As a teenager growing up in Los Angeles, I had the fortune of having a front-row seat to watching creatives successfully pursue art as their career. It was both inspiring and motivating,

When I wasn’t playing a gig at local spots like Genghis Cohen or the VooDoo Room at the House of Blues, I was furiously writing short stories or unfinished novels. I couldn’t give up one in favor of the other– both endeavours fulfilled me in different ways. While my music was diaristic, my screenwriting was an opportunity to build a world unlike my own. There have been and continue to be periods of my life where one pursuit takes president over the other. I’ve yet to find a true balance between the two. But knowing that neither will go away, I’ve learned to live with that imbalance.

While I continue to pursue songwriting and music, my screenwriting career fully took off about 6 years ago. I worked my way up through several writer’s rooms, going from production assistant to writer’s assistant, eventually co-writing my first episode of television. The writer’s strike of 2023 and the ensuing fallout forced me to reconsider what my career would look like. I signed with a manager, put out my sophomore album, played gigs and finished a screenplay, which led to meetings with producers.

When I feel frustrated with a script, I pull out my guitar. When my music feels too personal, I escape into the worlds of my characters. Each passion informs the other. I’ve learned a lot of difficult lessons as a freelance artist, but the biggest is that following this dream is like climbing a rockwall, not a ladder. Sometimes you slip, you have to climb sideways, or you climb back down and reassess, all to start again.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not a smooth road! When I was in my early twenties, I always said I would never get jaded about the difficulties about pursuing my art. Then, a few years ago, I experienced a rejection that totally changed the way I saw my career. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me, and the vague plan that I had for my future was suddenly gone. In my darkest or most dramatic moments, I thought I might never get to do the thing I loved again. I learned that yes, while pursuing your art takes talent, it takes an equal amount of determination and resolve. Even though my career certainly doesn’t look like how I thought it would just a few years ago, I understand better now than ever before how important it is to keep going. Rejection is inevitable. It’s what you do with the rejection that defines you.

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?
As a writer, I specialize in comedy, specifically romantic comedy. Not exactly niche, but I think experiencing the bulk of my developmental years during the peak of romantic comedies in the mid 2000s played a large role in how I developed my voice as a writer. In college, I joined the improv team and continued to pursue improv at the Groundlings in Los Angeles. Ironically, the first television show I ever worked on was a drama. However from there I moved around until I ended up at Only Murders In the Building for Season 3. A few months in, our showrunner John told me that I’d have the pleasure of co-writing an episode. I was beyond nervous and incredibly thrilled. Getting to see words I had written be brought to life by Meryl Streep, Martin, Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez was career-defining and life-changing. I had never felt more sure that this was what I needed to be doing. But I knew that wasn’t the end of the road.

I recently took out a romantic comedy that I’m looking to get producers attached to, as well as developing two other films and a comedy series. I’m inspired by writers and creators like Aline Brosh McKenna, Mindy Kaling, JJ Philbin, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and more– women who intrinsically understand comedy and have paved the path for women like me to write inspiring and grounded comedies that put women at the center. I am incredibly proud of the episode I was able to co-write of Only Murders in the Building, and am proud of the work I continue to produce as a solo writer. I love collaborating with other artists as well. I’m co-writing a film right now with a writer I met through a screenwriting contest, and I love to co-write music with other songwriters.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’ll probably butcher it, but there’s a saying that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Throughout my career thus far, there have been times where I didn’t realize I was prepared at the exact opportune moment. For example, when the opportunity to interview for Only Murders In the Building came about, I had just finished what ended up being the last draft of my comedy pilot, Screwed, that I had spent the entire first year of the pandemic perfecting. During the interview, my former boss John mentioned how much the script had delighted him– and I got the job. A few years ago, when luck didn’t go my way, I realized that I needed to be prepared for the next time an opportunity presented itself. It’s why I’m currently juggling so many different projects. You can’t sit around expecting the phone to ring. Sometimes to make your own luck you have to pick up the phone yourself!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sienastreiber.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sienastreiber/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siena-streiber-12587737/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sienastreiber