We had the good fortune of connecting with Colin Kane Healey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Col, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’m a writer and a filmmaker and a creative professional and I am also a narcoleptic. Being narcoleptic means I’m tired a lot of time and for me includes hallucinations – not dangerous ones, but definitely trippy and sometimes pretty insightful. Work is something that has to get done when I can make sure I’m sharp and productive… but on the flip side, at a certain point of tiredness, wild new ideas come very easily to me! It’s always been a line I had to surf. Nowadays I have a toddler, another kid on the way, two dogs, and my parents are getting older and have their own brain things going on that I help with. Plus I like having time to hang out with my wife once in a while! So I’ve had to become my most efficient creator during work time – always finding new tricks to shorten my path to inspiration and speed up my process. A lot of it is confidence – there is no time anymore for self-doubt, or starting over! And a lot of it is seeing my new situation as a big adventure, and finding inspiration in my growing family. My kid is so funny and gives me new ideas and insights and jokes all the time. I’m also a better parent and partner when I’m balancing that time with getting stuff done and making things. And always keeping a foot in dreamy playland is still good whether I’m writing for money or stomping around the playground with my kid.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I balance three careers that all intersect. I had two parents with different kinds of learning difficulties, and I myself had a lot of trouble in school, and the three of us lived a bit isolated on a dead end dirt road in this little New England town. I’ve realized as an adult that my role in the family was to explain new stuff we were dealing with, whether it was technology or a health thing or something happening in the community, so my skills grew in storytelling and communication. I’m a filmmaker – I made a feature called Homemakers, released by Factory 25, and my last project, In the Cards, premiered at Tribeca, and I’ve just finished a new feature script based on an ancient Irish myth during a writing residency in Morocco. In all my stories I’m trying to smuggle really complex and dark personal lessons into comedy. I’m also a writer and sometimes a creative director for brand videos, and I specialize there in taking complicated product concepts and making them fun and easy-to-understand for people. And then I’m also an educator – I was a teacher at different points and now I’m on the board of a non-profit called Evolve Coaching in Pittsburgh, which supports autistic and neurodiverse college students, job-seekers and artists. I would say that I’m neurodivergent, and likely my parents are, and with everything I do (to different degrees) I’m trying to nudge a world into creation where more kinds of brains can be celebrated and not pushed to the sidelines! The biggest thing I’ve learned in juggling the different things I do is to not compartmentalize – each career makes the others stronger, and they’re all me.

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.
A lot of people from out of town don’t realize this is a hilly city, which is one of my favorite things about LA. I grew up in a part of Massachusetts called the Hilltowns, which are all very small towns, and I always dreamed of living in a big city. But the only big cities I ever knew were flat, and I also kinda need hills! So when I discovered LA was a hilly big city, I instantly wanted to live here. Just driving around the tight hilly roads and seeing how people have built homes into the tricky landscape is so dreamy and inspiring and every visitor should get lost in these hills for a little bit. I also have an extremely enthusiastic and energetic toddler and I like to experience the city with him. We’re big fans of the playgrounds in and around Echo Park and Elysian Park. A friend worked at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater once upon a time, and I got to explore backstage a little and see the incredible craft of those puppets. Everyone who has kids or loves puppets should go there.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife Mary Ashton Burgh is an awesome Creative Director who not only is Mom to our super-fun kid, but also is always willing to lend her talents for making projects better.

Other: trailer for Homemakers: https://vimeo.com/139495192 link for the non-profit I’m on the board of: https://www.evolve-coaching.org

Image Credits
Homemakers poster painted by Kate Nielsen. Stills from In the Cards.

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