Rising Stars: Meet Sophie Mutiara Nova of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophie Mutiara Nova.

Hi Sophie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started as a novelist. I learned screenwriting to write better novels. Then, I learned directing to become a better screenwriter. Producing to become a better director. And, ultimately for me, I found it all circled back to writing. Storytelling became my North Star.

I’m a horror writer through and through. I grew up on the ghost stories my mother told me about the wronged kuntilanak and cursed princesses. I watched monster movies by peeking through my fingers and sneaking the direct-to-TV specials long after everyone in my household had fallen asleep.

I find comfort in ghost stories. Ghosts– perhaps quite literally– show we aren’t alone in a world at any given moment. (Here’s looking at you, Casper)

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Burnout is hard for creatives. We live in a world of sensory overload where life demands constant attention–both machines and organic. Self-doubt can be difficult too. Sometimes, it can feel like you send stories into the void (and the void looks back at you).

I know, for me, if I don’t write or create, it’s almost like a physical pain. A brain fog rivaling the shadows in Silent Hill. I find healing in community when I can muster the strength to reach out instead of isolating. I am very grateful to hear other artists’ journeys, and it is an honor to create together as opposed to being entirely alone.

I ask humbly that storytellers keep creating their amazing works. It’s in others’ stories, especially those we are unfamiliar with, that we expand our own horizons and find the strength to keep making more art. The world is a better place for it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Writer-Director, creating both film works and books. I write Queer monster stories… things that maybe are or aren’t there, things that are made up, things that are all too real.

I like snarky, sarcastic characters who use humor as a coping mechanism and (often) mess up before they heal and get better. I often say all my characters need therapy, but instead of a therapist, they get the plot as their catharsis.

I am honored to have written the Gamin Immortal Series CATCH LILI TOO and WAKE THE DEAD with Ninestar Press (a Summerween YA/NA monster mystery with comic book vibes). My newest book PHONING FAUST is coming out in 2026 featuring deals with the devil gone wrong (they often do).

I’ve released stories recently in FRUITSLICE and in the Forbidden Fruit anthology coming out with Nico Harlakenden. And I’ve got projects in the works that are quite… glittery, campy, and tastefully gory 😉

I’m a Queer, half-Indonesian, immunocompromised Writer-Director. (2025 Writing Fellow of Lambda Literary and the ACEX TV Initiative, Finalist of the Emmy’s TV Academy Foundation Directing Program, Stowe Narrative Lab, and SAGIndie). My TV scripts have won the Launchpad Pilot Competition, ScreenCraft Horror Competition, and others.

I’m honored that my films have screened in many cool places. To be honest, it often feels surreal in all the best ways to be able to witness so many thrilling stories in a theater screening room together.

I would love to shoutout the Golden Crown Literary Society as an organization and wonderful community. I’m honored to attend their national GCLS conference as a Spotlight Reader this year.

What else? I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and am now based in LA. I learned really cool Indonesian dance from Burat Wangi.

I like alliteration. Goths. Ghosts. Glitter. Gorgeous, gorgeous gays.

You can often find me cheering on scare actors at a haunted house and laughing/screaming when I get scared by them. Then, I compliment them on their makeup.

…boo?

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Waving to a clown in a haunted house and the confused scare actor waving back to a toddler in a Clifford costume.

I had wanted to make a friend.

And I loved Clifford.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sophiawhittemore.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesophiewhit/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-mutiara-whittemore-779a78116/
• Twitter: https://x.com/thesophiewhit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FinalGirlsFilms
• Yelp: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13644102/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/authorsophiewhit

Image Credits
Jordan Oakley, Dani