Meet Molly Flanagan & Michael Joseph Nelson from Sherman Oaks

We’d like to introduce you to Molly Flanagan & Michael Joseph Nelson

Hi Molly & Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
“We (Molly and Michael) have been writing and producing together since 2022. We started producing short films together for the 48 hour film festival, where our first film won the audience award and our second year swept nearly half the awards. We learned that our stuff is quirky and fun. Short films are fun to do, but ultimately we wanted to go big. So we started writing a few features together in 2022. “Tangled up in Christmas” was the first one we’d started together so it felt right that was the first one we filmed. Having never produced anything of that size before we dove head first in and made it happen.

I (Molly) grew up performing in community theater. My parents will say I was performing since I was in diapers, taking out my pacifier to sing for family and friends- I’ve always known I loved to sing. I began studying opera in high school, and dreamed of pursuing a career in the arts. When I was 18, I earned an opportunity to study abroad in Chile, so I moved, without speaking any Spanish. It was an adventure of a life time. I earned a Masters in Vocal Performance in Opera and sang internationally in Latin America and throughout Europe. I had amazing opportunities leading performances and concerts, as a soloist and lead roles in performances like Cosette in “Les Miserables”. After 8 years, I had the opportunity to work in a pilot for a tv series in Chile and rediscovered how much I adore film. In 2019 I took another wild leap and moved to Los Angeles, with 5 suitcases holding all my worldly belongings, to pursue film professionally. Just in time for the pandemic to hit, so lucky. I hit the ground running with booking a role on the 4th season of the “Wild West Chronicles”, numerous award winning short films, like “Submittan” by Susumu Kimura. I then booked a number of feature films, most recently “The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” premiering in April of this year (2026) on the Lifetime Network. My most notable role to date, was playing a young Jennifer Jason Lee in Ryan Murphy’s “All’s Fair” on Hulu starring Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Naomi Watts and Sarah Paulson. I’ve continued my musical endeavors here as well, producing and performing my own concerts here in Los Angeles, my favorite being a Halloween themed! Later in 2024, after producing Tangled up In Christmas, I brought my short film,”The Hour” to life, a script I had written in 2020, which is a story about a young woman’s healing journey from domestic violence. I wanted to tell story that brought a message of hope and healing to survivors. “The Hour” is currently on its festival run and has won several awards. I believe mental health is an important subject and one that we should talk about more regularly. Today, I facilitate sound baths at mental health, detox and rehabilitation centers around Los Angeles.

Acting was always my (Michael) secret dream, that or being an astronaut, obviously. While I did a few plays in middle school, my creative outlet was Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve been creatively writing and storytelling since middle school. Roleplaying is acting; it’s the greatest form of improv. I say “secret dream” because I never believed a career in acting was attainable, so I pursued business instead. I opened a candy store when I was 23 and then a locksmithing business at 24 (hire me for your next heist George Clooney). In my late 20’s my father was diagnosed with cancer, so I moved home to take care of him. While my Dad was a military man, his dream was also acting, he pursued it in his 20’s and again after he retired. He passed away 5 months later. What followed is a longer story, but the abridged version; I had a moment of clarity, followed by a moment of insanity- I sold all my stuff and moved to LA to be an actor. As one does. I’ve always been the kind of person who dives head first into things. I don’t need to know anything about it, I’ll figure it out and I’ll succeed. If I want to do it; I’m going to do it. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to be the lead a number of feature films and too many short films to count. In 2021 I opened a production company where we produced demo reels for actors. We called it Damn Good Reels, and they were damn good. I forced myself to learn on hand, via trial and error, how to be a director, grip, gaffer, sound op, editor, colorist, and producer. Over the last 4 years I’ve written, produced, directed, and edited over 300 individual custom scenes for actors. Looking back I realized now that I opened my very first business, the candy store, on Black Friday, I don’t do anything easy I suppose. This last year, as an actor, I’ve been exploding into the vertical space. It’s a new medium, with its own *very specific* style of acting, so that’s been a transition, but it’s been a blessing. I’ll even be speaking at a panel and doing meet and greets for a new convention coming up later this year.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
(Molly) Moving to California right before the pandemic was definitely rough. I spent the majority of my first year here, locked in my apartment alone. I did a lot of zoom plays, so I think that saved my sanity. When we produced “Tangled Up in Christmas”, Michael and I were wearing so many different hats- taking on so many different roles of the production team, so on any single day I was wardrobe, producing, coordinating, 1st ADing- all while being the lead actor. When set wrapped, everyone went to go sit in the hot tub and I went to make the call sheet, organize the wardrobe, coordinate locations for the next days, and memorize lines. It was one of the most challenging experiences – but I have so much respect for every single position on set and I feel like I have grown so much as an actor and a filmmaker from this experience.

(Michael) A smooth road is a boring road. We learn by falling on our face. Truthfully, I think anyone who wants to make a career out of film is mildly delusional. You have to be! There’s more billionaires in the world than there are Oscar winners, but I could talk about being a struggling actor all day long. The real fun bit is the gravel and pot-hole filled road that was making our first feature length film. “Tangled up in Christmas” didn’t just manifest out of Christmas magic and snowy cheer. We made that movie through blood, sweat and literal tears. I told Molly we were going to make the a feature that year and I wasn’t going to be just another person in LA that has a script. We made a plan to make the film for a specific budget, and the first major hurdle started when a month before filming *half* of that money vanished (long story) but that wasn’t going to stop us. I fully financed this thing through credit cards and dreams. I was playing fast and loose with my credit like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What I’d (Michael) LOVE to be known for is actually character/creature work. When the prosthetics go on the mask dissapears, and Michael is the mask. We did a short film for the 48 hour film festival where I got to go full character, and I swear my true soul came out in that performance. I am an entertainer to my bones; the only thing that’s ever inspired joy in my heart is acting, storytelling, and Molly of course. I have lived a dozen lives. Until I moved to LA, the longest I ever lived somewhere was 2 years. I went to school for medicine, I was a licensed massage therapist, a drill operator for a dynamite-blasting company, I’ve been a data analyst, a server, a bartender, a construction worker, I’ve owned a retail business, a locksmithing business, I’ve been so poor I had to donate plasma to pay my bills and I once bought a new car in cash. I have lived a dozen lives. As actors, writers, directors, we bring with us into our work our unique life experiences. If I had come to LA fresh out of high school like I dreamed, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and that is exactly what makes my work unique, it’s who I am.

(Molly) I am a coloratura soprano, the rarest soprano, which means I can hit the breaking glass kind of high notes (which I have been able to do). I have gotten to sing the roles of Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, Cosette in “Les Miserables”, Fortuna & Drusilla in “L’incoronazione di Poppea”. Bringing music into my projects is so important to me. When I produced “The Hour”, I sang for the soundtrack; and our composer Jina created some of the most beautiful music. For “Tangled Up In Christmas”, I sang both parts to the duet of ‘The Flower Duet’ from Lakme, creating one of my favorite and most memorable moments in the film. I also created an original song for the end credits, “Puttin’ Up the Garland.” My parents always say that I sang before I learned how to talk- music and performance is a part of me- it makes me who I am. I’ll always be that little kid singing to a bunch of strangers, and I want to share that joy with the world.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
(Michael) I have a lot of advice for people just starting out. The first one is don’t listen to anyone else. There’s a million people in LA that will tell you how you should do a thing, and most of the people telling you how to do that thing…have not done it. So don’t let them dictate how you feel or how you pursue something. But the most important one, is to be wild and be weird!!! Behind closed doors we’re all goofy, we’re all weird little kids, but no one will show it to anyone because they’re afraid of being judged!!! So BE the weird kid. Life’s too short for anything else, and when you are truly 100% authentically YOU, success will follow. I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m so proud of “Tangled Up In Christmas.” We didn’t just set out to make a movie, we set out to make something that was uniquely US, Molly and Michael. It’s not your normal Christmas movie, the characters are deep, grounded, and quirky (in their own unique ways). They’re written to be the best and worst of each of us. The performances are nuanced and bold, you can really feel the decades of sisterhood between Sam and Elizabeth, Molly and Tess’s chemistry was palpable. We took a cookie cutter model and made it 100% authentically our own. Don’t wait; be you.

(Molly) I think that my advice to people starting out is to know that this is a marathon. From being on the side of casting for “Tangled up in Christmas” and “The Hour”, there were so many actors that I still have in mind to this day that auditioned for us, that were not cast for x, y, z reasons – but I still think about how absotely amazing they were. Every audition that you do will bring you closer to something amazing. So enjoy your self tapes and auditions- because those are the jobs- and they are the building blocks for the rest of your career. Because the work that you do in them – people will remember.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0FQMJ2CFJ/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
• Instagram: @mollykathrynflanagan @michaeljosephnelson

Image Credits
Molly’s headshot – Stephanie Girard Michael’s headshot – Michael Round