Ep 136: Sheila Houlahan - Innovative hybrid feature film on Twitch!

Sheila Houlahan is an Indian-American actor, singer, producer and writer. Houlahan can be seen in supporting role Paige Callahan in Warner Bros. feature film “The Little Things”, written and directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto. The film premiered on HBO Max January 29th, 2021. She is available for interview regarding the project. Sheila Houlahan is the executive producer and showrunner for a new hybrid feature film adaptation of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer prize-winning play Night, Mother, a show that details concentric circles of grief, isolation and suicide. The film screened exclusively on Twitch, and utilized Twitch’s innovative platform for live performance interwoven throughout the film. Houlahan played the role of Jesse in the production, with award-winning actress Ellen McLain as Thelma/Mother. John Patrick Lowrie directed the project, with rising-star cinematographer Trevor Roach at the helm of creating a truly innovative visual storytelling methodology. Legendary photographer Eli Reed handled the still photography for the production. The adaptation is set on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the isolation and mental health crisis generated by a world forced to remain in lockdown for over a year. Houlahan’s goal with the project is to use it as a platform to discuss the impending mental health crisis that has already began to plague people around the world from living in chronic isolation. She hopes that this film can be a gentle reminder that nobody is truly alone, despite how we may feel, and that it will take a collective spirit of grace to get through the trauma of COVID-19 together. The film aired live on Twitch on September 24th, 2021, and can be viewed at https://www.twitch.tv/nightmotherontwitch .As a singer, she has collaborated with Slumdog Millionaire’s composer A.R. Rahman with performances including “"Jai Ho at The Venetian in Las Vegas,” a feature in his 20th anniversary music video of his hit classic “Maa Tujhe Salaam,” and “The Rahman Song Cycle” and “Lord of the Rings The Musical” with the Seattle Symphony as the primary soloist. She can also be heard on the Cirque du Soleil soundtrack for “Volta” as well as the soundtrack for the hit video game “Destiny 2." She is a Celebrity Champion for Project HEAL, a nonprofit organization that helps people suffering with eating disorders pay for treatment. She is also an ambassador for Ability Magazine and their new platform AbilityE, which seeks to increase inclusion and representation of differently abled talent in Hollywood. Houlahan uses her strong following on Instagram as a platform to spread awareness and to help end the stigma surrounding mental health. W: https://www.sheilahoulahan.com/T: https://twitter.com/sheilahoulahanIG: https://www.instagram.com/sheilahoulahan/Find the link to "Night, Mother" here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1159138021Damien Swaby Social Media Links:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/Twitterhttps://twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorWebsite http://filmmakingconversations.com/If you enjoy listening to Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby, I would love a coffee....