Isabella Muehlinghaus

Isabella Muehlinghaus
Short Filmmaker

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Bio: Isabella Muehlinghaus is a High School Sophomore in the pre-IB cohort of Parkdale High School in Riverdale, Maryland.  She is a member of the Hispanic Committee, Lyrikal Storm, and P.L.U.T.O as a stage director. She spends her days writing stories and creating ideas for short films. She also edits videos when she has the time and inspiration. She finds satisfaction and calmness in revising her own and others writings. A big fan of Studio Ghibli and animation, but lacking the visual arts talent, she creates stories in the hopes to one day have them be formed into an animation or just into a live action film for sheer enjoyment. She is currently working on piecing together a collection of her short stories to publish as her first book, then to study a foreign exchange year in 2019 in Japan. She will graduate from high school in 2020.

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The Interview

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Define Writer/Filmmaker?
My definition of a writer is someone who tells a story from the heart, even something as small as a current event can be from the heart! Someone felt impacted enough by an event or was so drawn to an event that their heart told them to write about it. A filmmaker is someone who makes a story visual, someone who gives life to a story.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My main inspiration to write was to get things off of my mind/chest. When I first started to write, I wasn't going through the easiest time regarding self-discovery but writing allowed me to express pieces of myself in ways that made sense, that made it easier for me to accept and understand.

What inspired you to write?
My main inspiration to write was to get things off of my mind/chest. When I first started to write, I wasn't going through the easiest time regarding self-discovery but writing allowed me to express pieces of myself in ways that made sense, that made it easier for me to accept and understand.

Why is what you do important?
What I do is important because it is an outlet for the mind. It entertains others while educating. Without stories, storytellers, and writers, we would not know of our history. What to avoid doing again, what happened to our ancestors, what led us to where we are today, etc. Without story, storytellers, and writers the world would be an empty, confusing place. (More than it is already.)

What do you think is the most important tool for a Writer/Filmmaker?
I think the most important tool for a writer/filmmaker is a creative mind. Without a creative mind, everything would be bland, and the same, works would just be a long continuation of poorly done rip-offs of one creative idea, which never leads to an astounding product. So a creative mind is important to be able to make new and amazing work and also to properly express yourself or someone else.

What advice do you have for someone that wants to be a Writer/Filmmaker?
Be true to yourself first. Don't hold back on an idea just because others may not like it, work on it first if your heart and soul are truly destined for it, and if you find that it doesn't work out or become what you expected it to be, that's okay! You can always come back to it or build on it or ditch it completely; it's all about trying. Another piece of advice that I have is to find your comfort zone, a place where you can create your feeling of peace, this will lead to a great product and will make the experience more of a joy than a pain. Also, spill your mind. Open it and just let it spill onto paper, it sounds harder than it seems BUT, once you begin working on something, it should just come to you and flow.


What is an interesting fact about you?  
Usually, the most interesting fact about me that I speak about is that I view myself as an author and all of the things that I do involving writing but an interesting fact besides that that I can think to share would be my ethnic background. I was born and raised in a very multicultural family, my dad is from Switzerland, and my mother is from Manhattan. My father is pretty much pure caucasian, but my mother is mixed with everything. Which left my brother and I being at least 2% of every race, a very small percentage, I know but I've always just thought that was very cool. And the stories and records that we've found, relating to our ancestors are really cool and interesting!

Where are you from / Where do you live?
I was born in Berkeley, California, and partially raised in Oakland, California until the age of four, and then my mother, brother and I moved here to Maryland three days before my fifth birthday. I currently live in Riverdale, Maryland.

Who is your favorite Writer/Filmmaker?
I do not have a particular favorite author since I have not focused on mainly one person work but, I do have a variety of books that I enjoy which all fall into the same general category of romance, romantic comedy, romantic tragedy, etc. I adore love stories. My favorite filmmaker would have to be Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola coming in as a close second. I love the stories of Wes Anderson's films, they're so elaborate and interesting and give you a mix of emotions that at some times you are unable to distinguish. The style is also so pleasing for me to view, the colors are soft, and the actors fit so well into their roles, and the music selection just tops it off my perfectly setting the mood of the movie or scene, I love it. I have not seen many of Sofia Coppola's work but the ones that I have seen I've always greatly enjoyed. They're so aesthetically pleasing, and the soundtracks always have such a great selection of songs.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
In five years I see myself with a Bachelor's degree in creative writing, on my way, if not already in grad school working on getting a masters degree in creative writing. I'm in a loving, stable relationship, living in a small loft apartment with a cat and a chinchilla in Northern California or in another country if I'm lucky. I'm happy, or I'm working on becoming truly happy with myself and content with my life choices. I really just want to be happy and enjoying my life in five years.
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Follow Isabella on twitter @pale_assthetic