We had the good fortune of connecting with Sidney Bottino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sidney, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve been glued to cinema and television for as long as I can remember. I watched The Sopranos at probably too young of an age (eight) and something about it stuck. The tension, silence… the messiness of it all. I’d read screenplays in my free time. Write my own. Movies like Win Win and Boyhood made me feel like small stories could say big things. Those have always stuck with me.

But I didn’t initially pursue this as a career. Writing, acting, storytelling. Those were things I turned to quietly. I loved them, but the idea of building a life around them felt impossible. So, I took a more rigid professional path.

I was a Division I athlete. I went to law school. I worked in the public defender’s office. I’ve spent years in high-pressure environments that run on structure and control. But even in those spaces, I was always watching. Taking note. Holding onto the quiet details that everyone else missed. And eventually I realized: this is the stuff I want to write about. The systems. The cracks. The people trying to hold themselves together.

For a long time, I treated creativity like a side room I could visit when no one was looking. But it’s the only place that’s ever felt like home. I’m not chasing spectacle. I’m chasing truth. The kind that stings a little. The kind that makes someone feel less alone, even if only for a few hours.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work lives somewhere between grounded and unsettling. I’m drawn to stories that feel honest but a little off-center. Whether it’s a comedy or a psychological thriller, I’m always trying to explore what people hide and why. I don’t think we’re meant to be tidy or easily explained, so I don’t want the characters I write to be either. I like letting the audience sit in discomfort for a beat longer than they expect.

I’m most proud of my upcoming short film, UnPerson. I wrote it after a difficult season with my own mental health. I was diagnosed with OCD last year, and that discovery reframed everything for me. It made sense of years of quiet struggle I hadn’t been able to name. OCD isn’t just about order or cleanliness — for me, it’s about fear, control, the mind’s need to find safety in patterns that don’t always make sense to anyone else. Learning that changed how I see myself. It’s made me more curious. More patient. More compassionate. Not everyone experiences the world the same way, and we’re all just figuring it out as we go. We’re all living on this planet for the first time, trying to carry these invisible things as best we can.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. I don’t come from the industry. I didn’t have connections or a roadmap. I’m a grinder. I show up and do the work. I worked full-time jobs, dealt with rejection, and wrote in the early mornings or late nights when I had nothing left in the tank. I’ve learned to be resourceful. I’ve learned how to be my own advocate. And most of all, I’ve learned that persistence matters more than perfect timing.

What I want people to know is that I care deeply about the work I put out. I want to make people feel something. I want to tell the stories that don’t usually get a spotlight, especially the ones that sit in the ether. My goal isn’t to fit into the system. It’s to build something honest, from the ground up, in hopes that it reaches someone at the right time and makes them feel understood in a way they didn’t expect. And if it can make them laugh a little — at themselves, at life, at the absurdity of it all — even better.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My sister deserves the biggest shoutout. She means the world to me. Her honesty is rare and always exactly what I need, whether I’m ready for it or not. She keeps me grounded, calls me out when I’m getting in my own way, and somehow always knows when to push and when to just show up. I trust her more than anyone.

Sundance 2024 was a real shift for me. There’s something about Park City that’s hard to explain if you haven’t been. It’s cold, quiet, tucked into the mountains—like the whole world slows down for a minute. And in that space, all that’s left is the work. The art. The stories. I was surrounded by people who live and breathe film, not for recognition, but because it’s how they make sense of the world. I saw films that felt like they came straight from someone’s gut. Messy, honest, unforgettable. I left feeling cracked open in the best way. I actually wrote my most recent short on the plane ride home. That week made everything click. It reminded me that this doesn’t have to look perfect to be real. It just has to mean something.

Instagram: @gabagoolcapicola

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidney-b-77375b10a

Twitter: @sidneyjohanna

Other: imdb: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm13207784?s=becba03a-2f68-6b89-dfa7-398fa257813d&site_preference=normal

Image Credits
Cobra Kai / Netflix (laughing photo)
The Time Traveler’s Wife / HBO Max (the costume photo)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.