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Meet Flannery Maney

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Flannery Maney.

Flannery, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I had two options; either return to my liberal arts University and continue to pay an exorbitant amount of tuition…or stay in LA. My Dad said he knew from the get-go that I wasn’t going back to Denison….and he was right.

The original plan was to “study abroad” while interning for a casting director who was a family friend. From there, I got an internship at SONY PICTURES TV and assisted the President and VP of casting. This was my first foray into the world of the professional industry. There was certainly a learning curve and the challenge was exciting, but it was also a huge adjustment.

I truly knew nothing about TV, so I had to work my butt off; I came in early and stayed late, watched all of the SONY pilots, and eventually covered both desks as the one and only assistant in casting.

I originally accepted the position so I could learn about casting, with the goal of being a better actor. But a newfound love of reading scripts and discussing TV development was born.

Shortly after moving to LA, I took some time to pursue my classical acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. I had never been in a Shakespeare play and had barely read more than ROMEO AND JULIET. In two months, I went from being completely unsure of myself to playing one of the leads in AS YOU LIKE IT. As a company, we successfully pulled off a complete production in 11 days.

Returning to LA afterwards was, once again, an adjustment. After being so inspired by classical text, I was a little crestfallen when I returned to the world of auditioning for characters named SEXY TEEN 2. No one wanted to analyze text, they wanted to determine that I was too (fill in the blank with some physical attribute) to play the role.

This was when I wrote my first script. It was a Western pilot, I had a blast doing it, and all these years later, it’s still my most “successful” script, as it has garnered consistent interest from Studios and Networks.

Several samples later and a few assisting jobs under my belt, I enjoy focusing on historical, hour-long, female-driven dramas, but I also work in the YA space. I spent a long time with the Pod, Alloy, developing a piece of their IP and learning from their amazing head of Digital Development. I cherish the time I had there, learning how to build a show from the ground up.

Last year, I produced three short films from start to finish. All three included crowdfunding campaigns, which is a tricky route, but with the support of an amazing community, all three films doubled their goals. Writer and Creator Gregory Shelby took a chance on me as a new producer for THROW LIKE A GIRL, a female-driven baseball short, and it was an amazing experience. I then produced SCARS with Nicole Jones-Dion, who has become a producing and writing mentor to me. Finally, I produced a super fun horror short, BEYOND THE CRACKS, with my friend, Daniel Bruington.

This year, I just finished HAIL, BRUTUS!, a comedic short featuring the iconic scene from JULIUS CAESAR in which Brutus is persuaded that Caesar is an unfit King. However, we set it at Julia Caesar’s baby shower and explore the scene through the lens of modern women in a very funny way. I have a lot more on the docket for the year coming up and I couldn’t be more excited.

I also recently founded an LA-based publication that profiles rising creatives and provides a place for artists to get published. I’m excited to keep creating and collaborating…it feels like just the beginning!

Has it been a smooth road?
When working in any creative field, the discipline to get up every day and make creative work can be a daunting task. Sometimes there’s uncertainty and doubt bouncing around my brain and I have to choose to keep plugging away. There’s been periods of time when those feelings of doubt have actually hindered my ability to get good work done.

Earlier on in my career, I struggled with a lot of anxiety. Everyone has a different journey, but for me, I had to slow down and find ways to quell my triggers. Once I began to find balance and stability in my creative process, my anxiety died down from a roar, to a whisper.

This industry is not for the faint hearted and it can facilitate mean behavior. Many people in town aren’t patient with new-comers. I remember being publicly humiliated at a job. I remember being reamed for something that was totally out of my control. I hope in the future to actively fight against this paradigm of disrespect.

The assistant or intern position should not be a person that’s available for you to abuse at your discretion. You shouldn’t be trying to test and intimidate them on a daily basis. They look up to you and they’re nervous and they want to do a really good job. Don’t take advantage of that. Honor them for the work they’re putting in and don’t forget when you were at their level.

That being said, I have had AMAZING bosses who have done nothing but lift me up and are still incredible mentors to me. Without them, this industry would be impossible.

As I mentioned before, as an actress, it was overtly clear that a lot of the scripts from auditions did not pass the Bechdel Test. It was frustrating to read the male roles and see nuance and power and decent dialogue, only to discover I was auditioning for the role of BLONDE NEIGHBOR.

But instead of letting it get me down, I started writing. I think in this industry, if you’re unhappy, get to work. Start making work for yourself. Produce your own content. Do anything but nothing. When I stated writing, I felt empowered and excited to be a part of the industry again and realized that if we can collaborate with the right people, we can tell the stories we want to tell.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I co-founded The Kingdom of Pavement with my good friend and TV writer, Amy Suto. We wanted to create a space for artists to work, share, and get their art out there.

We’ve worked really hard on the design and the aesthetic, and we’ve featured several different kinds of artists from pole dancers to vinyl record connoisseurs. We also publish poetry, podcasts, and short stories with every issue release.

Coming up, we’re hosting a variety of events…mixers, galleries, writers’ retreats, yoga in the park, and we have big plans for the future! In my opinion, we are different from other publications in a few ways…

1. Our Interactive Nature. KOP is not just a publication to read, it’s a place to get your work seen, a community, and a source of new creative events from open mics to writers’ retreats.
2. Aesthetic. The way our articles are edited, and the visual components of our site and our Instagram mean a lot to us…we try and keep everything evocative, cohesive, and relevant.
3. Community. We’re devoted to our artist community and providing visibility to our amazingly talented Pavement Patrons and artists who submit. Come play with us! www.kingdomofpavement.com

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
My favorite thing about the city is also my least favorite…on one hand, there’s ALWAYS OPPORTUNITY… new job offers, new relationships, new neighborhoods to try…

However, I think this can lead to the notion that there’s always something BIGGER AND BETTER on the horizon. I think it can facilitate a lot of feelings of inadequacy, dissatisfaction, and melancholy amongst the Los Angeles population.

The way I reconcile these feelings is by maintaining balance. I try to always strive forward, but I also try to take the time to appreciate what I have, what I’ve done, and the people I care about.

If we’re talking literally, LEAST FAVORITES: SMOG, ROAD RAGE, and A CONSTANT FEAR OF FIRES AND EARTHQUAKES.
FAVORITES: MOVIES OUTSIDE, DIVERSITY OF DELICIOUS FOOD, MANY PLACES TO SEE LIVE MUSIC, and A SUNSET RUNYON HIKE.

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Image Credit:
Lauren Elyse Buckley

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