Life & Work with Sofia Stefou

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Stefou.

Hi Sofia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Like everyone else in the world, my life forever changed in March of 2020. I found myself for the first time ever with a lot more time on my hands than ever before. For some reason, this idea about creating a comedic sketch about toilet paper wouldn’t leave me alone and seeing as I wasn’t going anywhere at the moment, I had some time to write. I am primarily an actor and producer and don’t normally have the inclination to write, but for some reason, this idea just came pouring out of me. I ended up writing another one soon after that which was heavily influenced by a conversation that I had had with my accountant that felt like it was an interrogation and I thought, what if I made this into a police interrogation? Since then, it’s like I’ve unclogged a toilet and I’ve written a bunch more comedy sketches!

I had previously taken comedy improv classes at Upright Citizen’s Brigade and had kept in touch with a few of my classmates, one of which was director/producer Amy Geist, a fantastic director and whose opinion I very much value. She was kind enough to read my scripts and let me know they had potential. I then quickly suggested my friend and fellow classmate, Sandeep Sharma, an incredible comedian and a complete joy to work with, as my co-lead.

The three of us workshopped the scripts for a few months and then finally, we were able to get the scripts into production in August of 2020. It wasn’t an easy feat considering we were still under COVID restrictions and a lot of people were reluctant to be on set. However, we all got COVID tests done before we started shooting, made any necessary changes to production, got all the masks, gloves, sanitizers we could find and made it happen.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our amazing crew without whom these sketches would never would have been made. Our producer Aleisha Force who is not only a brilliant actor, but a lifesaver of a producer, our DP, Ken Stachnik, Editor Christie McNabb, Production Sound Jerhid Hale, Locations Person Jessica Bonner, Makeup Artist Olivia Jackson, Music Director Chris Yearwood, Sound Designers Aeron Z Jones and Akash Singh and Associate Producers Scott Higgins, Eric Kochmer, and Whit Spurgeon.

Recently, I joined forces with Looped, a new live experience platform (think Clubhouse meets Zoom) to create a one hour improv show called “Night At The Improv” basically it’s two back to back improv shows with four performers at any given time incorporating music, video and sound effects.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think COVID was definitely a blessing and a curse in the sense that it gave me time to write the scripts and also gave us time to workshop them and make changes and rehearse in a way that I don’t think we would have if it had been under normal circumstances. For sure, trying to make anything during COVID was a challenge from start to finish.

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?
I’m a versatile actor and producer and now comedy sketch writer who’s worked in Hollywood, Bollywood, and North Hollywood (aka Toronto) on feature films, commercials, short films, and pretty much everything in between. I tend to specialize in comedy given my training at Second City (Toronto) and Upright Citizen’s Brigade (Los Angeles). Another comedy sketch “Poverty Tourism,” which I produced, co-wrote, and performed with the fabulous Caryn Ruby was a FINALIST for Best Dark Comedy Micro Short in the Houston Comedy Film Festival, NOMINATED for Best 3+ minutes Domestic Short in All the Laughs Comedy Awards, and an OFFICIAL SELECTION in the Black Women in Comedy Festival Huntington Beach Cultural Cinema Showcase and The Violette Film Festival.

I’m proud of all the productions I work on as they are always a labor of love and I’m lucky I get to work with amazing people along the way.

I think what sets me apart is my ability to look at things from a different perspective. Taking the path less traveled.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
In addition to the cast and crew on my comedy sketches, I would also like to send a shout-out to the entire team at Looped who have been incredible to work with.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.sofiastefou.com
• Instagram: @nightattheimprov
• Facebook: Night At The Improv
• Twitter: @AtImprov
• YouTube: Night At The Improv
• Links to comedy sketches
  https://vimeo.com/532999365 (The Interrogation)
  https://vimeo.com/514038106 (Snow)

Image Credits:
Night At The Improv Logo Designed by Cherelle Higgins