Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna O’donnell
Hi Anna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved stories and movies and just the complete escape that stories gifted me. There’s so much to say. If I’ve learned anything, progress takes a long time; luckily, I’m here for the long game. This has been a journey ten years in the making and I’m excited to pursue filmmaking well into my senior years haha.
In high school I began exploring filmmaking as a hobby. Houston isn’t exactly a hub for creative filmmaking, as its main source of filmmaking is commercials and the occasional indie feature. As a complete newbie who had no experience in cameras, lighting, or even editing, I needed a mentor. I was quickly introduced to Houston documentary filmmaker Cressandra Thibodeaux. She ran 14 Pews Film Academy which had week-long summer camps where you would get to learn the basics of documentary filmmaking. It was here where I learned how to use a Canon C100 camera, lighting, and how to mic an interviewee.
It wasn’t until April of my senior year of high school that I knew that I absolutely wanted to study filmmaking in college. The only problem was that it was too late to apply to any new colleges, so I was left with only one option: do my first year of college at Southwestern University (a tiny liberal arts college forty minutes north of Austin, TX) and hope to transfer. I only wanted to transfer to The University of Texas at Austin (UT). UT was the only school that could give me a great film production education without breaking the bank. What seemed like a simple plan got interrupted by me…not getting in. So, I was stuck with another year at my first college. Feeling discouraged, I almost didn’t finish my second transfer application. In the end, I decided to turn everything in on the last day and leave it up to fate. I had already resigned myself to graduating from this college and having to go to grad school to pursue studying filmmaking. Then, two days before my twentieth birthday I got my acceptance to UT’s Radio Television and Film program! It all happened so fast! Within a week I had unenrolled from Southwestern and found an apartment in Austin near campus.
I like to call my years at UT my first season of filmmaking. I came in with minimal knowledge of filmmaking besides the scrappy experiences I had made for myself and my limited documentary knowledge. I had no idea which department to pursue, so I explored all of them. I started in lighting as a grip, dabbled in editing, and spent some time with camera. Finally, I decided to face my fears and try producing and directing. While I try to not use this as a crutch, coming in two years later than my peers pushed me to accelerate my progress and fit in as much as they did in half the time. I was still building my confidence while others had figured it out. I learn a lot from watching others do. So, I spent a lot of time on my friends’ sets, watching them direct and organize the crew in pre-production and production. I especially enjoyed working on the MFA students’ thesis films. My favorite project to work on was Sidi Wang’s undergrad thesis film ‘Lucky Girl’ which was about an eight-year old Chinese adoptee exploring her culture as she wonders if food at a Chinese buffet is “real” Chinese food. You can find ‘Lucky Girl’ on Omeleto’s YouTube page. I was the casting director and the line producer. We were so lucky to find a young Chinese girl who actually was a Chinese adoptee to play our main girl. I think working on ‘Lucky Girl’ was one of the most healing experiences I could’ve had as a Chinese adoptee myself.
I took an additional semester in Fall 2019 to participate in our UTLA (University of Texas in Los Angeles) program. This was a special opportunity to move to LA with the safety net of taking two classes and getting an internship in the industry. I was one of the luckiest of my UTLA cohort and landed a paid internship at The Ellen DeGeneres Show! I worked on the Warner Bros. lot three days a week! The internship rotated us interns between their eight departments each week. My favorite was the control room. I got to prep the room and restock the drinks and snack prior to the rehearsal and then the taping. I loved seeing how everything came together right there in the moment. My internship supervisor knew that I loved the control room, so she’d send me there whenever they needed an extra hand. Once I was brought to the control room so that I could be a stand in for a Human Interest (the real people, i.e the yodeling kid) rehearsal. You can find the rehearsal footage on YouTube by searching “Ellen intern Anna”. As much as I loved my internship, I could feel myself yearning for the scripted television and film world. As the semester ended, I didn’t have a new apartment to rent, so I drove back home to Houston for the holidays. I was going to move back to LA after the holidays.
2020 changed those plans. I’ll skip most of the pandemic era. We all experienced that. As Texas began opening up again, I ventured to Austin to find work as a set PA. I had no contacts in the industry, so my go-to plan is signing up as a background actor and handing my resume to the key set PA or 2nd AD. I eventually landed a coveted full-time gig as an office PA on HBO Max’s Love & Death limited series! I was fortunate to work there with the best office team (shout out to Skip, RJ, Lauren, Eliza, Rachel, Conner, Tyler, and Bonnie!) for nine months from pre-production, production, and through wrap! It was my first long-term gig in the industry. I made friends with crew from every department– especially the art department and the Covid PAs! Being an office PA taught me the ins and outs of how a major streaming TV series gets made! There are so many people behind the scenes doing their part to make sure we get through each day.
After my Love & Death gig ended, I moved to Albuquerque. I additional set PA’d a bit out there before making my way back to Houston for an indie feature film. Sometime in the middle of my set PA days in ABQ I got my acceptance to USC’s MFA Film & Television Production program.
It took FOUR applications to finally get admitted! Two fall applications, two spring applications. Eventually, I got through to them!
Now, I’m in my third and final year of my program. It seems like just yesterday I was walking to our School of Cinematic Arts campus for the first time. I am one of seven students who were selected to put their thesis film into production this semester. Here’s the thing about our program: after your first year, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be selected to direct, produce, or even do the other main crew roles like DP, sound, etc. So, I’m grateful for the chance to direct a script that I also wrote.
My thesis film is called ‘Rebound’ and it follows high school sophomores Julia and her best friend Taylor as they try out for the varsity basketball team. When Taylor makes the team instead of Julia, Julia has to control her jealousy to maintain their friendship. I’ve been working on this story since 2020. ‘Rebound’ is inspired by my experience of getting cut from the basketball team in my high school sophomore year and the complicated feelings I had watching my friends continue playing. It’s a story for anyone who has felt held back while their friends advanced. We’re currently crowdfunding $27,000 via our Seed&Spark campaign page. As of our first week we have met 40%. We have 21 more days as of Friday, February 7th.
The most exciting part about making Rebound is that I get to work with my best friends. Everyone who is working on it– from my wonderful producers to my DP to my sound team, among others– are from my USC MFA community. Our community is made of multiple cohorts who find a way to meet and work together on various sets. Before my thesis, I worked on five of my friends’ thesis films to get a better idea of what to expect of myself. Most of my crew are from my cohort. We started this journey together, and, in a way, we’re finishing our time here working on ‘Rebound’ together.
[not sure this is allowed but if it is, I’d like to include the link to my Seed&Spark Crowdfunding campaign: https://seedandspark.com/fund/rebound-2#story ]
A lot of years of hard work have brought me to this semester. I wouldn’t be ready for this amazing opportunity to direct Rebound without the long hours as an office and set PA, the years I spent studying at UT and USC, and the relentless support from my friends and family.
(I don’t know where to fit this but)
One of the coolest opportunities I’ve ever had was being selected to be writer-director Sean Wang’s Director Mentee for his feature debut ‘Dìdi’. I wanted this mentorship so badly that I applied to both the director mentorship and the producer mentorship on the first day! I was so thrilled when I got the email to be interviewed! I didn’t care that I would have to stay up until 1AM Seoul time for the interview. I got to speak with Sean and producer Carlos López Estrada on a Zoom call. They were impressed by background as a PA. A couple of days later and I got the offer!
Working on ‘Dìdi’ was the best part of my 2023 summer! I found a family friend to stay with a little outside of Fremont– thank you, Cece! Sophia (the producer mentee) and I arrived for the last week of pre-production and stayed through production until our respective universities needed us back to start the Fall semester. ‘Dìdi’ is by far the best production I’ve ever been on! I loved the people I worked with; we were all there with the collective purpose of making ‘Dìdi’ the best it could be every day. I know it’s a bit cliché but ‘Dìdi’ really did feel like a family. I’m so proud and grateful that I got to be part of ‘Dìdi’.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road. That’s for sure. Things definitely didn’t go to plan.
There are two thoughts of philosophy: do we determine our futures? Or are we left in the hands of fate?
I believe in a little of both. We can try to determine our futures by making effort to direct our lives in a certain way. However, sometimes the timing isn’t right and we left to comply with our fate. In other words, what’s meant for you will come to you. What’s not meant for you will pass you by.
Luckily, my determination, tenacity, and enthusiasm for cold emailing and applying to things got me to where I am now.
If I had had it my way, I would’ve gone to UT freshman year and studied film production there for all four years of my undergrad. I would’ve made an undergrad thesis film that screened at multiple festivals and helped me get noticed. I can’t say what would’ve happened after undergrad though. With the Covid pandemic, who knows whether or not I would’ve stayed in Los Angeles? Would I have been stuck jobless in an apartment I couldn’t pay for, in a city I wasn’t able to explore?
Even though it took a few years to realize this, every “setback” has given me an opportunity to slow down and appreciate what I currently had. When I didn’t get into UT after freshman year, I decided to commit to Southwestern, to actually try to be involved and make real friends, to enjoy my college days there. Now I have lifelong friends who I still stay in contact with, which wouldn’t have been the case had I been able to transfer to UT immediately. Despite my setback, I didn’t completely give up on UT. During my sophomore year, I continued to refresh my application materials, and applied one last time.
In terms of the industry, I’ve fought for every opportunity. Like many people, I don’t have familial connections in the industry. The only community I have is the one I make for myself. When I began PA’ing, I didn’t know a soul on set. My tactic for getting hired as an additional set PA has worked every time. I sign up to be a background/extra actor. I come to set with my printed resumé and I seek out the Key Set PA or the 2nd 2nd AD. I tell them that I’m not really an actor, I actually work in production and would love to be there if they need an additional. It’s. Worked. Every. Single. Time! For ‘Love &Death’ my friend Rachel was already an office PA and vouched for me when a position opened up. After a two-day trial run, I was hired full-time!
Towards the end of our ‘Love & Death’ days, I had a subscription to Production Weekly which listed out the upcoming productions nationally and internationally and some listings contained an email. I used to send out ten cold emails a week looking for my next gig.
In terms of USC: I applied FOUR times. For their Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Fall 2022 admissions. USC is the only MFA I know of that takes dual semester enrollment. I was waitlisted for Spring 2021 but a Spring waitlist doesn’t roll over to the Fall. I was outright rejected for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. Similar to UT, I had one last application left in me and submitted for Fall 2022. I got waitlisted! Which meant that I would be going to USC one way or another: either off the Fall waitlist or be rolled over for Spring admittance!
Even after getting to USC, I can’t be complacent. After your first year, you finally get autonomy over the classes you take, with consideration to pre-requisites and cohort hierarchy. Getting into the next semester’s classes is a mad dash of clicks. Things all work out in the end though, one way or another.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My goal is to be a writer-director-producer of scripted feature films and TV shows. One day I’d like to run my own production company called Unremarkably Mature Productions. My Grandma came up with that name this past December. My cousin Steven and I were talking about what we wanted for Christmas. As adults, we usually list out the usual things like gift cards or a gadget but this Christmas we were missing our childhoods. I said I wanted to add to my childhood Calico Critters collection and Steven said he wanted more Pokemon cards. Grandma was in the room with us and jokingly said that we were “unremarkably mature.” I loved it so much! I think it’s fitting for me and the stories I want to tell: comedies, dramas, dramedies, and other genre-bent films. I love heartfelt, emotional stories about coming of age, girlhood, friendship, mother-daughter relationships, and overcoming adversity. Those are the kinds of stories that I like to write and tell. I’d like to get better at writing but I’m not at a point where I could get paid for it, you know what I mean? Unremarkably Mature is also a reminder to not take myself too seriously, to have fun. One day in the near future, I hope you’ll see an Unremarkably Mature Production.
For now, I’m more known as a director, producer, and 1st AD to my classmates. I’ve had one of my directing professors tell me I have good instincts as a director, so that’s always reassuring to hear. Last year, I produced a short documentary ‘A Good Death’ which follows nurse
Karen Morin as she helps terminally-ill patients who choose to legally end their lives, along with their loved ones who support them. It’s a controversial topic– trust me, I know. But whether or not you agree with Medical Aid in Dying as a practice, our film’s message is that death can be a gift. I’m so proud of ‘A Good Death’ because we had our world premiere at DOC NYC in November! Ever since producing ‘A Good Death’, I’ve been reached out to produce more projects! I feel honored that my team recommended me for new projects. I’m currently finishing up my friend’s thesis film which is now in post. After my thesis film ‘Rebound’s production, I will balance my post-production with producing my friend Eem’s thesis film.
I think my hustle, tenacity and occasional fearlessness sets me apart. By fearless, I mean that I’m not afraid to put myself out there. For example, I send out cold emails to creatives whose work I admire. I never expect a response but it sure is great when I get one! I’m not afraid to go up to creatives at their film’s screening and congratulate them on their film. When I’m waiting in line at a film festival, I enjoy striking up a chat with the people around me. I’m an introvert, so it’s not usually easy for me to speak up. Somehow, there’s just something about the filmmaking community that makes me feel safe to open up.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
If luck means the right timing, then luck is everything! However, like I mentioned above, you have to actively pursue luck to get it (what’s meant for you will come to you, what’s not will pass you by). Like, you’re not going to get into your dream school if you don’t work hard on your application and submit it on time.
Honestly, it’s lucky that any of us are able to pursue our artistic dreams. We’re a dime a dozen. There’s better, more talented versions of us out there who do the same thing we do. We’re lucky any time we get a chance to be selected, to stand out and shine. I felt lucky to get the gigs I’ve gotten, to be accepted into UT and then USC, to have friends and family that happily support me. I feel lucky to be selected to make my thesis film. I feel lucky to have had a good friend like Stephanie Peraza recommend me to you Voyage LA magazine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.annaodonnellfilm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaodonnellfilm/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-o-donnell-918696102/
- Youtube: https://vimeo.com/annaodonnell
- Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm10724260?s=68ca7238-756b-ec25-dd79-7d39111abe13&site_preference=normal
Image Credits
Cressandra Thibodeaux, Matty Beavers, Shreya Jha
