Her Story
About Sarah
Sarah Waller is a Los Angeles–based artist, filmmaker, producer, and writer whose multidisciplinary work spans film, music and writing. She began her creative journey as a dancer, musician, visual artist and writer. She studied film, visual art and writing at Bennington College, where she connected with independent filmmakers who helped shape her artistic perspective. During her college years, she deepened her film education through summer programs at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, continuing her studies in New York and completing part of her training in Paris, building a foundation that bridges experimental and narrative approaches to filmmaking. After graduating college, Sarah moved to New York City, where she gained industry experience working in independent film, television and entertainment public relations. This early professional work provided her with a well-rounded understanding of the entertainment industry from development through delivery. Ten years ago, Sarah relocated to Hollywood. Over time, her collaborations and experiences within the industry inspired her to return more fully to directing and producing, reconnecting with her original passion for hands-on storytelling and creative authorship. In recent years, music has become a central part of Sarah’s creative life. A chance meeting with the artist Ella Vos led her to explore songwriting, which eventually evolved into formal artist development training with CCVM, a New York–based label services company that pairs artists with established songwriters and producers. That experience reignited her passion for music, and she now co-writes original music. Across all her work, Sarah is drawn to collaboration and cross-medium storytelling, keeping her creativity fluid and evolving. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys the ocean, cooking, dancing, live music, film and comedy, all of which continue to inform and inspire her artistic practice.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I’ve been through some very difficult things but powered through it. I know who I am, and it's my strength of character that got me to this moment. I'm a very tenacious person, and I'm probably known for that. There's a degree of respect building around my ability to reinvent myself and start something new from nothing and figure it out.
I came up in the New York City independent film community, which is very DIY and scrappy. I'm really good at resourcing, networking, and putting the right people together. I know how to build, inspire and lead teams. My Bennington College education taught me how to create seamlessly across creative mediums.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Anxiety and overthinking used to hold me back. A fellow musician friend told me to just go for it! Another piece of priceless advice that I received was that getting a late start shouldn't stop me from pursuing music.
I gravitate towards working with people who have this ability to recreate their life paths at various stages, people who don't just accept societal limitations. I'm most inspired by people who have survived really challenging situations and turned their stories into something profound through their creativity. The key is to keep going despite what you've been through, to not let your personal circumstances block you from pursuing your dreams.
I've been through some impossible things in Hollywood and took a break, questioning if I wanted to be in the industry anymore because of the abuse culture. Working in Hollywood no longer felt safe as a woman. It's quite sad that the industry has this toxic pattern of sheltering abusers and attacking and silencing survivors. It's all very backwards and dysfunctional. It's also not sustainable and it's part of the reason the industry is collapsing on itself.
I love seeing films and music created by brave women, who aren't afraid of channeling difficult life experiences into their art. There's nothing more satisfying to me as seeing a woman take her power back, through her creativity.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It’s helpful to have experience working in various capacities across the entertainment industry. You learn what you like and don’t like. If you want to Direct and Produce, just go create your own independent projects. You will learn so much. I think it's totally normal if you don't know what you want to do when you're young. I'm coming back to my first loves now, music and film, and I went on a kind of crazy journey to return here. Some people are very focused and know what they want and go on a straight path to their goals, but I think as an artist and creative, it's not a linear path. Experimentation, discovering new talents and making mistakes are all very important. If you're a multi-hyphenate like I am, don't limit yourself. Keep trying things until you find those mediums where everything comes into alignment. Ask for help and look for mentors. Go to people whose careers you really admire and learn from them. Keep opening doors for yourself, try to get on set, get in the studio, and ask musicians you really admire for advice, feedback and referrals. You have to lean on your community and learn from the best.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I'm at this point right now where I have visibility, but the next step for me is monetizing my music. That means working with a really good music producer, getting my music recorded and out there, and then trying to align with music supervisors to get my work into Films, TV, and commercials. I would love to record an EP. Fortunately, I have people offering assistance and referrals. I took my time because I wanted to find the right producer, who could develop me and I'm having luck with that, I'm meeting the right people now.
With directing, my challenge is to keep expanding my network, so I can direct music videos for bigger artists and build out my body of work. I like the idea of exploring my voice as a director in the music video space. It's very creative. Down the line, I would love to direct, produce and write a film. I enjoy mashing up genres and am working on an idea for a female driven, dark comedy horror film.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is most important to me, along with honesty and supporting people that are coming up. I want to share what I've learned and help inspire people to keep going despite grueling circumstances. Commitment to your craft is essential, as well as caring for people in your community. That's very big for me. I don't want to just take, I constantly want to be giving back. It's in my nature. I've had a lot of people help me, and I love empowering and helping other people .
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