Daniela, a young girl, finds a bird with clipped wings and struggles to make her new friend fly again. While on this quest, Dani also wrestles to thwart her overprotective single dad, Juan, who wants Dani to stay a child forever.

Interview with Writer/Director Lucien Flores & Michela M. Smith

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

As we created “Fly Lady Fly,” we had a vision that included the following virtues: First and foremost, we wanted “Fly Lady Fly” to deliver an empowering message to audiences of all ages; you can achieve greatness if you possess unbreakable drive, dedication to your dream, and the ability to think on your feet. Don’t listen to anyone who says you don’t belong – just prove them wrong.

In addition, representation in film means a lot to us. As such, it was important to us that our lead is a badass young woman who fights like hell to make her flightless friend fly again. Relatedly, our film explores the field of computer science, which is a male-dominated field. As such, it was important to us to show Dani as a brilliant coder who won't let her equally brilliant father shut her down.

Finally, we set out to make a film with genuine heart and humor. Inspired by Steven Spielberg’s larger-than-life family tales, we aimed to make one of our own. Taking additional influences from the rural melancholia of “Nebraska” and Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” we set out to show the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

At its heart, “Fly Lady Fly” is a coming-of-age dramedy about family and perseverance. You should watch this film because in just over ten minutes, you’ll experience a narrative story with a definite beginning, middle, and end. You’ll see two characters and a bird grow and change and become different people. There are stakes and consequences and fun. There’s a sophisticated performance from a 14-year old actress and a great dramatic performance from a stand-up comedian – plus, we’ve got a very adorable bird at the center.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

There is the universal theme of growing up – it’s a little obvious when you point it out but over the course of the movie Daniela & Lady both “learn to fly”. At the end, Daniela learns to trust herself and her instincts.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

Oh man, it changed a lot! Michela & I come from the comedy world and the earlier version of this film had some darkly comedic moments. In our first draft, Daniela had a history of sending pets on “adventures”. For example, in an earlier draft, we explained how she tried to send her pet hamster to the moon and accidentally killed it when she was younger. Yep, there was a flashback and everything. Because of this, we had her parents try to dissuade her from sending Lady anywhere.

We also had a version where the villain was a prized bird breeder who selfishly wanted to exploit Lady for money. She walked around in with little taxidermy birds attached to her clothing. This version also had a comical last second joke that revealed that Lady was actually a male bird named Sébastien. In another draft, we had a conspiracy theorist teenager who shoots down Daniela’s drone and accuses her of working for the government and spying on him. Also, for the longest time, Daniela wanted to send a canary to the Canary Islands in a childlike dream.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Some people are thrilled that we have a young girl who is interested in science in an organic way. Some people have told us they engage with Dani’s drive and want to see her succeed.

It won best short film at the “Big Apple Film Festival” so we were very pleased that people connected with it there.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

We haven’t shared the film with many people so, aside from a few screenings, we haven’t received much feedback. One thing that has surprised us is that audience members believe that the drone was actually flying in the air during the film. In reality, the drone never took off and instead we animated the drone flying in the air – we were thrilled that our VFX fooled people! It’s always fun when you can create “movie magic” that audience members believe.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We’d love for more people to see the film. Ideally, a young child watches the film and feels inspired to take on their naysayers. Hopefully the story of Daniela makes them feel like they can take on the world. But also, we want parents to realize that children can be mature – it’s up to them to encourage them to try something difficult.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?)

We’re open to any and all festival directors to screen the movie. We want to share it with as many people as possible so if you run a festival and have interest in Fly Lady Fly, please reach out to us. We’re open to it screening at niche festivals dedicated to technology or children’s stories or at festivals celebrating the art form of film. Of course, Michela & I are always down to support the film, whether on it’s on a panel or in some other form.

Similarly, journalists writing about the film would be appreciated in bringing exposure to the short and the message. As would finding distribution on online platforms. Google & Ideas United host the film on www.InfiniteDeviation.com but we’d also love to find a prestige short film web site to host.

As for me and Michela, we’re always looking for producers to fund our next projects. If anyone saw the film and was interested in collaborating or learning more about our other projects, they should reach out to us directly at Lucien@loosesealproductions.com and michela@loosesealproductions.com.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

Ideally this film does two things. Primarily, we want the film to draw audience members in and we want them to enjoy the story and message behind the movie. If we’ve kept audience members interested for 11 minutes, then we’ve done our job. It’s pretty simple – we want to make a movie that engages and satisfies our viewers.

On a personal level, Michela & I hope the film makes audience members interested in our voice and other work. We want to continue to tell longer form stories and hope we’ll find and audience who will be interested in our future work as well.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

When was the first time you truly disobeyed your parents? Why? Do you think it was justified?

And of course, have you seen Fly Lady Fly?

Would you like to add anything else?

Feel free to check out our work at www.LooseSealProductions.com. Here’s our directing reel for a slice of our other projects: www.LooseSealProductions.com/reel

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Michela & I co-write and co-direct. We just finished three short commercial spots and are pitching around various web-series & comedy sketch ideas. We finished writing two dramedy/dark-comedy pilots and now are on the stages of working on new ideas. Essentially, we’re just trying to tell longer form stories.

Interview: November 2017

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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Fly Lady Fly

Length: 11 minutes, 18 seconds.

Director: Lucien Flores & Michela M. Smith

Producer: Angela Palladino & Kami Dimitrova

Executive Producers: Evan Kanernack, Claire Pope, and Matt Scruggs of Ideas United

Writer: Lucien Flores & Michela M. Smith

About the writer, director and producer:

Key cast: Sarah Lynne & Chris Garcia.

Chris Garcia is going to film a half-hour standup special for Comedy Central. http://splitsider.com/2017/11/comedy-central-announces-its-next-round-of-half-hour-standup-specials/

In 2016, Chris was chosen as a New Face at the Just For Laughs festival and sold his autobiographical pilot “Broken English” to FOX. His breakthrough debut album “Laughing and Crying at the Same Time” is available on iTunes.

Sarah Lynne: Since starting her acting journey in 2007, Sarah has appeared in several school plays, live performances with her acting program, a couple of short films, and a commercial / PSA for New York City’s Zero Tolerance program. She also performed off off Broadway at the St. James Theater for “She is King”, a portrait of tennis legend Billie Jean King. Sarah recently starred in a live performance of “A Day in The Life” at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to utilize her acting as a method of activism.

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Producers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists

Social media handles:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/loosesealproductions

Twitter: www.twitter.com/loosesealprod

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loosesealproductions

Made in association with: Ideas United & Google

Where will the film screen in the next month?

Our festival push hasn’t started yet.