Meet Courtney Sanello

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Courtney Sanello. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Courtney, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My artistic resilience is deeply rooted in the desire to create something transcendent, to forge connections that touch people’s hearts and minds. Despite battling chronic anxiety, my commitment to crafting art that resonates on an emotional, mental, and spiritual level leaves no room for fear or doubt. There’s simply no alternative to achieving this mission.

As a new director, and particularly as a woman in this role, I’ve faced biases that have long shadowed the industry. Despite shifts in attitudes since the Golden Age of Film, there remains a segment of the filmmaking community that fails to take emerging talents seriously. They may nod and smile, yet they neither understand nor respect your vision. Encountering this dismissive attitude was jarring, but it only fueled my determination to collaborate with like-minded creatives who not only share my vision but strive to elevate it.

Resilience for me is also a legacy of my upbringing—a relentless drive to push beyond limits and cross the finish line, no matter what. Being new to the film industry means confronting skepticism from veterans wary of first-time directors. But I embrace the challenge, eager to defy any preconceptions and to compensate my team fairly, even if it means taking on extra work to ensure everyone is valued.

Throughout my life, I’ve faced daunting challenges and skepticism about my abilities. Yet, it’s in these moments that my resilience was forged, along with a defiant inner voice that says, “Watch me prove you wrong.” Resilience can be a solitary journey, requiring you to blaze your own trail without a chorus of support. It’s about trusting your instincts, pushing through the final hours of work, whether it’s laying down a tile or perfecting a film’s sound design. This is the path I’ve chosen, with all its demands and solitude, is one I embrace wholeheartedly. It’s not just a career; it’s my world.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Finding my purpose as a director was an unexpected journey that began with the Shawna Shea Women in Film Grant. This award, commemorating a young soul lost too soon, became my guiding light. It was a call to honor her independent spirit, and I felt a profound responsibility to create a film that truly reflected this. The raw footage from my initial shoot fell short of this vision; it lacked the essence of my story and the tempo of my voice. I couldn’t, in good conscience, present a work that didn’t resonate with the authenticity and honor that the festival’s namesake deserved.

This realization sparked a relentless pursuit of excellence. As a first-time director with no prior crew experience, my network within the film industry was limited. Yet, this did not deter me. When my preferred Director of Photography was unavailable, I learned a valuable lesson: never compromise on your vision. If the talent you admire isn’t available, adjust your schedule to theirs. Serendipitously, a Union strike that summer opened doors to some of the industry’s finest, allowing me to collaborate with colleagues of my first-choice Director of Photography for the reshoot of First Refusal.

The reshoot was not just a second chance; it was a rebirth of my project and a reaffirmation of my purpose. Working with a team that shared my dedication and artistic standards transformed the film into what I had always envisioned. This experience taught me the power of resilience and the importance of surrounding myself with people who not only shared my passion but also brought out the best in my work.

In this process, I found more than just my purpose; I found my voice as a filmmaker. The challenges I faced were stepping stones that led me to discover the true meaning of my work. They instilled in me a belief that with the right people and unwavering commitment, any vision could be brought to life. This journey, with all its trials and triumphs, has defined me as a director and continues to inspire every project I undertake. It’s a testament to the idea that purpose is often found in the pursuit of honoring others, and in doing so, we inadvertently honor our truest selves.
Learn more about Courtney Sanello and her First Refusal journey at courtneysanello.com @courtneysanello @firstrefusalfilm

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
My journey to developing confidence and self-esteem has been a transformative process, marked by a profound personal evolution. The creation of my film, First Refusal, was a pivotal moment that emerged from one of the darkest periods of my life. It was during this time that I grappled with feelings of despair, feeling like an outcast, a burden to those around me. But it was also during this time that I discovered the power of resilience. This film stands as a testament to the person I have become: someone who has direction, confidence in their abilities, and is no longer adrift in uncertainty.

Creativity served as my beacon through the darkness, guiding me to a place of self-assurance and purpose. First Refusal had to embody everything that darkness was not; it had to shine brightly, illuminating a path forward not just for myself, but for anyone who encountered its story. The fear of regression was palpable during the development of the film. The thought of losing momentum and spiraling back into that abyss was terrifying, yet it was this very fear that propelled me forward. I was determined to live up to the highest version of myself, to not settle for anything less than what I knew I could achieve.

In this solitary pursuit, I found a sense of duty to demonstrate that mental illness does not define one’s destiny, that tragedy is not a foregone conclusion. It’s a message I carry not only for myself but as a beacon of hope for others. The path to healing and restoration is arduous, often laden with setbacks, but it is undeniably possible. My confidence and self-esteem are the fruits of this laborious journey, a reminder that with tenacity and faith in oneself, transformation is within reach. This film, and the resilience it symbolizes, is my declaration to the world that there is light beyond the darkness, and that with hard work, repair, and healing can be achieved.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
One and half months later than promised by my original editor/AD I received the first raw edit of my directorial debut. After watching this at my partner’s house, I found myself on the floor in a fetal position in tears thinking that my life as a director is, without a reasonable doubt, over. Lying there, at very instant I knew without reservation, that every piece of footage needed to be trashed before creating my film.

Nothing was right. My vision, in simplest terms, was not captured, despite tirelessly hand-rendering storyboards and collaborating with a team with whom I believed I was speaking the same language. Unfortunately, I soon realized very quickly that we were not. And that’s okay, because without my experience with my first crew I would not have been able to elevate my work to a finer level captured in my film, First Refusal. So I absolutely have to thank them for creating this incredible stop gap.

Crying still balled up on my partner’s floor, I hear, “So when you’re done with ‘The Dramatics,’ let’s see what we could do with it.” Even my closest Confidant could not fathom that not a single piece of footage could be utilized. He understood that there would have to be reshoots… But he couldn’t accept that everything would have to be scrapped and we’d have to start again. Conversely, it was quite clear to me and I posited this: “Are You a painter? Have you ever tried to match the same color using two different brands of that color, on two different days at two different times a day? No? Neither have I and I’m a painter. Want to know why? Because that’s F*CKING CRAZY.” Nobody does that. While at the time, I never had the experience of working closely with an Editor nor Colorist, I knew that I would first have lost my mind trying to successfully match color for my film, if that was at all even possible. Trying to match footage of two different Cinematographers with different gear? No. Because as a self-taught painter, I knew THAT would be absolutely insane.

So I sat and I thought, and I thought, and naively having no experience working on the other side of the camera, I thought that one month would surely be enough time for pickups or reshoots. In hindsight, I see why many professional colleagues advised not to do a full reshoot and “to use some of what I had.” Going with my gut, and against all professional advice, I believed without hesitation that I needed a full reshoot with a new crew to create the First Refusal in my mind’s eye.

So that’s exactly what I did. With the help of my new Director of Photography, we collected a completely new second crew that I had never met. After being told, that “Sometimes you just have to lower your expectations.” To which I answered, “Yeah, Sometimes.” This fueled me with with the gusto to plow ahead: build a complete film set with zero experience, shoot two consecutive 8 to 10 hour days with no overtime, complete full sound design and score, create a timecode rubric for ADR, compose and record vocals and arrangement for an original song, and have full post-production editing, coloring grading and color correction – all completed and delivered in 25 days.

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