The Creative Journey: Filmmaking, Writing, and Finding Your Path with Michael Papaeleftheriou

Episode #0018

There's something incredibly powerful about listening to someone talk about their creative process. You get to peek behind the curtain and see not just the polished final product, but the messy, complicated, deeply human journey that led to its creation.

That's exactly what happened when I sat down with filmmaker and screenwriter Michael Papaeleftheriou for the latest episode of Whereabouts Tales Podcast. Michael's story isn't just about making movies – it's about finding your passion, dealing with setbacks, and learning to celebrate the small victories along the way.

From Sydney to Spain: A Creative Evolution

Growing up in Sydney, Australia in a Greek immigrant family, Michael's childhood was filled with family gatherings and community connections. "As a kid, like coming up as a kid, I think I felt like, I just felt like I would get so much attention from everyone. Like I was just the center of the universe sort of thing," he reminisced.

But Sydney changed as Michael grew older. What was once a place where "working to live" was the norm gradually shifted to a "living to work" culture. Housing prices skyrocketed, time became scarce, and the laid-back lifestyle that Australia was known for seemed to slip away – at least in the bustling metropolis of Sydney.

Michael's journey into filmmaking wasn't the result of a childhood dream. Rather, it sparked from watching DVD special features after finishing school. "I just realized that filmmaking is sort of like, it's not this like club that... it's not impossible to do," he explained. "There are plenty of filmmakers that came up in the nineties that made their first movie and like all of a sudden they had a career. And I just realized that like it's an accessible thing."

His immigrant parents weren't exactly thrilled with this career choice. The focus was on grinding, saving money, and buying a house – not pursuing creative passions. But Michael persisted.

The Film School Experience: Expectations vs. Reality

Like many aspiring filmmakers, Michael went to film school expecting to meet other passionate creators. "I expected to meet a bunch of other weirdos that would be 110% passionate about filmmaking and that's what they wanted to do," he said.

The reality? Many students were there because they had to be at university and happened to like films. His closest connections were with international students who eventually left Australia, leaving him without collaborators.

His early experiences on film sets were equally disillusioning. "The first few sets I was on felt very like, not what I imagined," he shared. "It wasn't the cool thing that I imagined... it's like a look behind the curtain and like you see that it's not all magic."

Falling in Love with the Process

Despite these early disappointments, Michael stayed the course. He moved to Spain with his Spanish partner, which opened up unexpected opportunities. Being in Europe connected him to writing communities operating in Northern hemisphere time zones – communities that helped him develop more rapidly than he could have in the isolated creative environment of Australia.

"I got better in one single year of being in Europe and just participating in communities than I did in 10 years in Australia," he reflected.

The COVID lockdowns, surprisingly, became a productive time. "Every day I would wake up like at 4:30 AM... I got to get some writing in," he shared. This disciplined approach to creativity became a theme throughout our conversation.

The Muse and the Discipline

When asked about his creative process, Michael offered wisdom that resonated deeply: "If you're disciplined about it, you can make the muse come to you, especially if you're regimented with what you're going to do every day."

He explained his approach: "When I was at my best, I would say I'm gonna write one scene every day. And when you know what you're gonna do and you put such a limitation on it, like the muse does come, you give the muse like a space to come to you in that scenario."

This balance between inspiration and discipline is something many creatives struggle with. Michael's insight that you can create conditions for creativity rather than passively waiting for inspiration strikes me as particularly valuable.

Crossroads: Making Something Real

Michael's latest project, a short film called Crossroads, represents a culmination of his learning and a testament to his perseverance. He approached it with a practical mindset – one location, two actors with lines, and minimal variables that could disrupt the creative process.

"I wanted to just make a short film to the best of my abilities," he explained. "I made everything as easy as possible so that we can make, like we can put our best foot forward in terms of creativity and art."

The result? A project that gave Michael a sense of completion he hadn't experienced before. "I sort of hit a high that I wanted to hit all these years," he said. "Even if it's weird because doing Crossroads, like there's a part of me that feels like I've left it all on the table sort of thing. Like I did my best and I put it out there."

The Business of Art: Marketing and Festivals

One of the most fascinating aspects of our conversation was Michael's candid take on the business side of independent filmmaking. He created an Instagram account (Crossroads Film Journal) to document the journey of making his film, but not without some reluctance.

"I hate the idea of marketing," he admitted. "The only way for me to come to terms with that was to be authentic in like the stuff that I was putting out there."

As for film festivals, Michael pulled no punches in describing the often opaque selection processes. "A lot of film festivals are just straight up scams," he said, noting how many have become popularity contests based on ticket sales rather than artistic merit.

Yet there was a refreshing pragmatism to his approach. Even with the challenges, he invested his own money (about $15,000) in the project – significantly more than the roughly $1,000 budget of his previous films. "There's a lot of things that I've learned that I couldn't have learned without paying that money," he reflected.

Finding Your People

Perhaps the most unexpected insight from our conversation was about community. Though filmmaking is inherently collaborative, Michael found more genuine connection in writing communities.

"I'm very much into like combat sports," he explained, "and that's a sport where there's no team, but if you do combat sports, I promise you, if you stick around at a gym long enough, even though all of you are competing individually, you are a team. And that's what writing is."

This insight – that sometimes we find our true collaborators in unexpected places – feels particularly poignant.

Home is a Feeling

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Michael whether home is a feeling or a place. His response was immediate and heartfelt: "Home is a feeling, it's not, it's based in a place that might not exist anymore."

He described the experience of returning to Sydney and finding himself taking familiar routes to places that no longer exist, driven by muscle memory and emotional connection rather than practicality.

"I still feel like I'm somewhere else if that makes sense, but I'm not because that place isn't there anymore," he explained. "So it is a feeling, but I think for me, like, I'll always think back to like where I came from and where I came from, like just, you know, time goes forward, not backwards. So it's not there anymore."

Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers

Michael's advice for those starting out in the film industry? "Aim low and just do it."

Far from being discouraging, this advice emphasizes learning through doing rather than waiting for the perfect opportunity. "A lot of people think they can make something or write something without having put in the effort," he noted. Starting small allows you to "get the lesson out of the way" without wasting time on overly ambitious projects.

When I added "enjoy the ride," Michael quickly agreed: "Well said."

The Takeaway

Talking with Michael reminded me that creative journeys are rarely linear. They involve detours, disappointments, unexpected connections, and moments of clarity that can't be planned.

Whether you're making films, writing screenplays, or pursuing any creative endeavor, there's wisdom in Michael's approach: be disciplined, aim low but do it, find your community, and celebrate the small victories along the way.

And perhaps most importantly, remember that sometimes the muse doesn't just arrive – you create the conditions for it to appear.

What creative project have you been putting off? How might you "aim low and just do it" to get started? Share your thoughts in the comments!