Meet Elizabeth Conway & Frankie MacLaughlin | Filmmakers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Conway & Frankie MacLaughlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth Conway & Frankie MacLaughlin, what do you attribute your success to?
We are Frankie MacLaughlin and Elizabeth Conway. We are a filmmaking and producing duo and we’ve been creating movies, plays, and scripts together for six years! Our company is called Less Precious Productions, and we attribute our success to our core values:

-Championing each other’s creativity, and constantly striving to be “less precious” with our work; there is no such thing as a bad idea

-Always creating from a character-first perspective; coming up with big characters that are fun, compelling, interesting, and make us laugh

-Making our own opportunities on and off screen (acting/writing/producing for Elizabeth, and directing/writing/producing for Frankie)

-A deep commitment to each other, our growth, and constant communication

-Balancing our professional relationship with our friendship, and finding ways to complement each other in both arenas

Our relationship began in 2018 when Elizabeth auditioned for a Hollywood Fringe show that Frankie wrote. Six years later, we’ve created multiple films, plays, screenplays, and formally opened Less Precious Productions, LLC. We just wrapped our latest film, “Princess Party P.I.,” starring Allison Dunbar, Mia Frampton, Jake Robards, Maya Dutea, Joey Ariemma, and Elizabeth Conway. Our first film, “Clean Up Crew” screened at 4 festivals. Our original musical “#CANCELLED” won an Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and is currently being shopped as a pilot.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We always create our films from a character-first perspective. We’re interested in telling comedic stories about bold characters in unique situations. By really carving out the personalities and quirks of our characters first, we’re able to better understand their natural reactions in the circumstances in which they may find themselves. To devise these individuals, we’ll typically improvise and free-play in a rehearsal space so we can really get to know them. We both come from theatrical backgrounds, so getting on our feet and out of our heads never fails to help us find something new and authentic.

We actually met in a bathroom before an audition! From there, we spent our first few years making plays and musicals together. It was a really affordable way to create and share our ideas with the world. We absolutely adore theatre because it is flexible – you can make different choices and no performance is ever the same. When the pandemic hit, we felt we needed a new medium to keep sharing, and that was when we pivoted into film. Film is naturally more expensive, so it requires a more concrete game plan. This also evolved into us making a larger commitment to our creative choices, because they’re more permanent in the film medium. That makes it more challenging, but also very exciting. We felt there was no reason why we couldn’t learn how to make films, and we’ve been lucky to find incredible crew members who have guided us through the things we don’t know. By trusting our instincts, our team, and each other, we’ve come a long way these past six years.

What we’ve accomplished up to now has required an intense level of commitment and communication – Less Precious Productions did not come to be overnight. We meet at 7am before our full time jobs about 3x a week. Our text messages operate like an open diary; we’re constantly sending random thoughts, ideas, and tasks to one another. We keep a running to do list – sometimes we split the work, other times we accomplish tasks together. We’re a complimentary pair because we are both extremely passionate and hard-working, but have different career goals and contrasting skills. You can’t start a business with just anybody – the fit has to be perfect and the work has to feel relevant to each member’s personal goals. We’re very supportive of each other, and focus on creating exciting opportunities for ourselves. Because we want different things, there’s a glorious balance that leaves us a lot of room to cheer each other on. We’re big on celebrating every win, no matter how small. This industry can be tough, and you become an expert at being rejected. Having a fiercely positive and uplifting counterpart is essential to enjoying the process! So every time we write down a new idea, or get a permit approved by FilmLA, or sign our names on a deal memo, you’ll find us somewhere in Los Angeles high-fiving each other.

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.
In addition to doing most things together, we also live quite close to each other in Koreatown, our favorite neighborhood in LA! Here are our favorite spots:

-Seeing all kinds of indie theatre at The Broadwater (Where we first met <3)
-Seeing ANY show or taking a class at The Groundlings!
-The Line LA – We’ve done some of our best writing here, either in the lobby or up by the pool
-Brass Monkey: A killer spot to sing “Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani
-R Bar
-Breakroom 86
-Craig’s – Chicken Parm anyone?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost, we would not be where we are today without the unwavering support of our families. They have been guiding lights, exceptional advice-givers, and our biggest cheerleaders. We love you!

We’re also forever indebted to The Hollywood Fringe Festival and The Broadwater Theatre – this was where we first met and where our story began.

We’d also like to thank Carole Dean and Carole Joyce of From The Heart Productions, who have been instrumental in the formation of our company. From The Heart offers fiscal sponsorship services, fundraising classes, consultations, and grants for young filmmakers – they’re incredibly accessible, kind, and very personable. It’s been really wonderful getting to know them, and having their support all these years.

Finally, we would like to thank our wonderful agents for believing in us since day one!

Website: lessprecious.com

Instagram: @lessprecious_productions

Other: Elizabeth: @misselizabethcontent Frankie: @frankieryanlaughs

Image Credits
Image Credits – photos are labeled with image credits Clean Up Crew Premiere- Big Apple Film Festival – Photo by Mike Cicchetti (Cicchetti Multimedia) Elizabeth Conway and Mia Frampton in “Princess Party P.I.” – Photo by Anysia Deák Elizabeth Conway with DP Jesse Rambis in “Princess Party P.I.” – Photo by Neil Rice Frankie MacLaughlin directing “Princess Party P.I.” – Photo by Anysia Deák “Princess Party P.I.” Behind the Scenes- Photo by Anysia Deák