Meet Helen RY Sun & Laura Malatos | Screenwriting & Filmmaking Duo

We had the good fortune of connecting with Helen RY Sun & Laura Malatos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Helen & Laura, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
LAURA: Wait, there’s supposed to be a balance?

HELEN: Yeah that’s a tough one.

LAURA: Jokes aside, I do think the work-life balance has been one of the hardest things to navigate in this career. Especially in our case where we live together, and we’re usually juggling multiple projects at once, there’s this sense that things can and should always be moving forward. So when things pile up, there can easily be a month or two when it just feels like we’re constantly doing work, thinking about work, or talking about when and how we need to do work.

HELEN: Yeah, and, of course, we love the work dearly so it’s really hard to draw hard lines when you care so much about the outcome. Like it always feels like any hour that is not spent on the script, or prep for a film, or the edit is gonna directly affect the quality of the product that is so close to our hearts. We probably exaggerate the stakes for ourselves – and it probably isn’t quite doing a heart surgery but it totally feels like it every time.

LAURA: I think the general culture around filmmaking also doesn’t help. You sort of hear people working the 14-hour days like it’s nothing and there’s a bit of pride around giving into the film life completely and it’s all so romanticized that it’s hard not to buy into it. But we’ve had to really intentionally break away from that, and dedicate time towards non-film activities. And I think we find that when we commit to that and have that mental break it actually makes the work so much stronger and more efficient when we get back into it.

HELEN: And it’s probably only in the past year that we put a real emphasis on being more balanced with our work as much as we can be. We try to log our freelance hours a bit more and we try to allocate hours and days for just relaxing, catching up with friends, and trying new things. We’ve also really enjoyed learning and spending time on other types of craft, like reading, languages, and music – which sort of satisfies the “productivity bug”.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
LAURA: Yeah, we’re a writing-filmmaking duo with a focus on dark comedy and world-building. We met over 6 years ago at USC and started collaborating on music video production, and I think working together creatively really made sense for us. But then when COVID hit we started writing together as a sort of creative outlet in the absence of production, and that ended up being so crucial for our work. We love world-building so much, but it’s not something we were able to do on a large scale with commissioned work.

HELEN: We started out in TV writing, I think because of that need to go after the big worlds and we started to get a little bit of traction in the industry for that. More recently, we’ve been moving more into features because we’ve been moving back into film production, and with movies, it’s a bit more likely that you could see a project through production. With TV – at our level and with the general industry climate right now – it’s so unlikely to actually sell a show that will end up on the screen.

LAURA: Unfortunately, yeah. And in terms of what sets us apart, I think being a duo that’s fully committed to both the writing and the production side of things feels unique. At the entry-level you’ll see people collaborating on a script or two but don’t see a high percentage of writers who are dedicated partners. There are more and more writing partners or just long-term filmmaking collaborators among the people who’ve “made it” in some way, but it feels special to have found that creative collaboration right from the start.

HELEN: Absolutely. I think we are also not just writing partners, we produce together, which brings us into an even smaller pool of peers. But we also do literally everything together: we’ve done random freelancing gigs together, and we’ve held like more corporate marketing jobs together. And all that requires so much trust and respect and “in-synchness” that completely translates to how streamlined our writing process ultimately is.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
HELEN: Oh god, who’s the friend? We’re such homebodies that whatever this week-long trip is, would be very mellow. If this is like the first time in the city, we’d probably be doing some staples (but not like super touristy places). I’d say maybe do the Getty Museum and the Getty Villa – some of the coolest architectural spots in LA. There are a lot of really really cool gardens in LA too like the Huntington Library and the Arboretum are so gorgeous – and it’s really like a full-day affair to have like a pretty relaxed walk. The studio tours are also a great way to take in the scale of Hollywood.
LAURA: We’re also really big on movie-watching experiences – in LA you get the luxury of going to outdoor movies pretty much year-round – Street Food Cinema, Cinespia, and Rooftop Cinema Club are all great. But we also love the vibe of Alamo Drafthouse. It’s a dine-in cinema with some of the best food & cocktails, plus they do a lot of specialty events like brunches, and sing-alongs for musicals, and old movie re-releases. We have some go-to food places as well – highly recommend Le Pain in Larchmont, it’s our favorite brunch spot. Tu Madre’s also a must-visit for Mexican food and margaritas. Also, all around LA, you’ll start to see taco stands in the evening, and that plus In-N-Out are pretty staple late-night experiences.

HELEN: We also occasionally hit up the beach. It’s always a great time going to Manhattan Beach, and dropping by the Lighthouse cafe – they do a lot of cool music events. And just in general Manhattan Beach has a totally different atmosphere of this quiet beach town, especially in the winter. Dockweiler Beach is fun too, especially for doing s’mores and stuff with a bigger group. And even though it’s super touristy, every once in a while we’ll hit up Santa Monica Pier for the Ferris wheel. The nice thing about LA is there are so many different pockets of it and they all have so much to offer – so you really can’t go wrong.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
HELEN: This feels like doing an award speech – so many people to thank, so many experiences to be grateful for, and not enough time. Can we do a couple? I think one of the greatest supporters of our work, who has acknowledged us from the beginning is Peter Cameron – who’s written and produced a lot for Marvel’s TV projects. He’s been miles and miles more accomplished than us before we even knew about the film industry and yet he’s always been so incredibly tactful and encouraging about our craft, which really made us believe that we could do this. I think you have to be so delusional about your prospects to carry you over the bumps and the rough patches. But I think despite being one of the most talented and dedicated people we know, his character and grace with which he has approached his enormously accoladed career is what we have learned the most from. He’s so unbelievably approachable and kind-hearted, and the way he treats people in the industry is what we aspire to most.

LAURA: Completely – Peter has been so crucial in shaping the way we approach our careers. But also Connor Pritchard – who co-created Workaholics – has been so incredibly supportive of our careers as both filmmakers and screenwriters. He taught us a lot of the fundamental things about structure and writing, and has coached us through this really difficult career path, and just in general has been so enthusiastic about our place in Hollywood, which has been completely pivotal in finding our ground in all of the uncertainty and rejection.

LAURA: Oh, and The Black List has helped us enormously in our careers. We were selected for The Black ListxWIF episodic lab last year, which completely shifted the trajectory for us. It’s really been this sort of stamp of approval that has and continues to open so many doors. we’re super super grateful for the support that The Black List and WIF teams have given us since then.

Website: createdbytheduo.com

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