Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Day.
Hi Laura, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I originally moved to Austin with the intention of moving to LA once I graduated UT’s screenwriting MFA program, and who knows what the future may hold, but it sure would be difficult to leave now. I’m so in love with this city. I had hoped I’d come out of my Master’s program having obtained some level of artistic mastery, but I’m still working on writing a full length feature that feels truly solid.
That said, I’m incredibly proud of the short I produced alongside Madeline Northway at the top of the summer. We’re still moving through post, but from what I’ve seen of the footage so far, the film manages to express what I hope to convey in all of my work, an unsettling sentimentality that pushes us to see humanity in places that make us the most uncomfortable. Thanks to our entirely Austin based crew, the footage is also absolutely stunning.
Titled “Good For Somethin’”, the neowestern dramedy features an aspiring country singer hustling men for money. When she meets a disarmingly sincere aging cowboy, their time together moves her to be more honest. I thought about these characters as a modern day Gus and Lorena. As a native Texan, I love stories that embrace Texas culture in a way that feels both timeless and clear eyed about the state’s complex social and political landscape.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I grew up in a fiercely conservative community just outside of Dallas, and by 18, I was beyond ready to get out. I was raised by a single mother who was also responsible for caretaking both her foster mother with dementia as well as my maternal grandmother, a paranoid schizophrenic. Home life was hard, but the judgement I faced from families in that area for not being raised in the church, and for being a child of divorce- that was devastating.
I moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, and I quickly went from feeling like the nerdiest kid in the world to an uncultured country bumpkin. I had never been exposed to the level of privilege that existed amongst my peers, and while that was jarring, I wouldn’t trade my education for anything. At Northwestern I was exposed to such an incredible breadth of ideas and critical thought, and that still shapes the way I navigate the world today. I’m immensely grateful.
From there I landed an internship and a small production company and moved into commercial film production. I learned so much about production from my first EP, and he’s still the person I call when I don’t understand something or need to talk through a project. There’s a lot to love about the commercial space, but the reality was that I was working jobs that made me feel I was negotiating with my own strengths.
What was hard was being honest with myself about where I did want to expend my energy, so I started taking on more independent projects. I’m incredibly proud of the work I did and the connections I made as an assistant director in Chicago. Eventually I was so inspired by the writers I met I realized I wanted to do what they did, which eventually brought me here to Austin and UT.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a huge psychology nerd and that shows up in my writing. We’re all a product of our upbringing, and I for one love to explore a psychologically fractured character doing their best. Something I thought a lot about while writing Good For Somethin’ is my experience dating. More than once, I’ve invested my emotional energy into a man who promoted himself as much more equipped for a committed relationship than he turned out to be. That experience has given me a lot of appreciation for men who are truthful about their needs and their emotional capacity.
That in turn led me to explore a character who would rather pay for a woman’s emotional labor because of his own self awareness rather than in spite of it. He can’t bear the inevitable consequences of loving someone: disappointing them. So the transaction makes him feel safe while he’s still tangibly contributing to a woman’s wellbeing. I haven’t seen that play out on screen before, and I think that perspective is something really uniquely heartwarming about the project.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m really more of a book nerd than a film nerd, I’m just incredibly extroverted for a writer so I relish the collaborative nature of writing and directing for film.
I’m a huge gothic literature fan. I think it’s the perfect genre. There’s intrigue, beauty and existentialism, as well as offbeat humor. I’m endlessly inspired by Daphne Du Maurier ‘s work. One day, I’d love to produce a film adaptation of Rebecca. I know it’s been done, but I think it should be done differently. So much of her work exists in the hauntingly small moments that never seem to make it on screen, but I think it would be such an honor to translate her brilliance into something more accessible. I also think the novel would really brilliantly lend itself to an adaptation in the American South.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurannelafaver
