Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Paris
Hi Stephanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began my career in Los Angeles working as a camera assistant on low budget horror films. Now I write and Direct my own projects as well as produce full time.
In 2022 I directed a Netflix series for Kevin Smith to promote the new series “Masters Of The Universe”.
I directed my first feature “Portraits” that was just released with Gravitas Ventures in fall of 2024. I’ve also written and directed 2 short films that have made the festival rounds in 2023/2024 , “Antiques” and “The Booker”. Antiques has screened at Flicker’s Rhone Island, Female Eye, Fantaspoa, Brussels, Helsinki, Film Maudit in LA, Horror Underground, and many more.
My latest short film “Speak With The Dead” is a mystery horror that focuses on the Fox Sisters conducting one of their famous seances in 1850. It’s made festival rounds and I’m currently in development on the feature.
Previous to this I produced the feature-length film ”That Guy Dick Miller”, which had it’s world premiere at SXSW 2014. As well as “Easter,” a segment in the anthology feature, “Holidays,” that premiered at TIFF 2016.
My deep love for the horror genre has also resulted in producing and shooting numerous Blu-ray bonus features for such diverse filmmakers as David Cronenberg, Jack Hill, Kinji Fukasaku, Pete Walker, Ted V. Mikels, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, and Roger Corman.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like a lot of young people that move to Los Angeles without much money but a lot of dreams, I definitely struggled with striking a balance of survival and trying to make art. I’d love to say I put art first every time but that would be untrue. Paying my rent and student loans would sometimes mean I had to take jobs that paid better than others. Working on indie projects didn’t always pay the bills. I worked on a lot of projects I later wish were not on my imdb! I also took a job on the weekends as a party princess for little girls’ birthdays. A lot of my 20s were spent trying to hustle up enough money to pay bills. Luckily I was still awarded many opportunities to be creative on projects and began directing my own with very little money. I have no regrets though, I think it built character and helped me with the research needed to write multi dimensional and relatable characters in films.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do lead a bit of a double life in Los Angeles. For many years I’ve worked as a Director and Producer and am known for that work and for making films in the film making and production community in LA. Specifically the Horror community.
Separately, I am also a Burlesque performer in Los Angeles and have a lot of love for that community as well.
Performing has been a huge part of my life for almost 15 years. I’ve done close to 2000 shows in Los Angeles and some internationally as well.
This year I finally decided to merge my worlds and I’m working on a documentary about the history of Burlesque/Boylesque and Chorus girls in Los Angeles. I’m really excited to dive into that world of glamour and grit in Tinseltown.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
When my older brother would show me horror films I wasn’t old enough to see in theaters.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stephanieparis.com
- Instagram: @stephanieclariceparis
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-paris-5ba99211/
- Youtube: https://vimeo.com/user5280874
