It’s not every day a creative type from down under causes ripples in the American movie industry. Yael Grunseit – the writer and director behind top-notch short film Daddy’s Little Meatball – is one of those emerging creative types. We chat to the filmmaker about how she discovered the artform, where she found inspiration for her film, and how it feels for Daddy’s Little Meatball to be selected to feature at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Tell us a bit about you and your background in film. I came to filmmaking through way of writing. I’ve always been writing, whether it be in my diary as a kid and then later fiction or poetry – that’s always been an important creative outlet and practice for me. In 2020 I was studying creative writing in Sydney/Warrane as part of my undergrad, and I was also watching a lot of movies at home (as I usually did), and I thought, what about script writing? It was such a wild moment for me, I’d truly never thought about screenwriting as something I might want to try even though I loved movies and writing. I remember the first three scripts I read – Adaptation, No Country for Old Men and Juno. Those are kind of foundational texts for me. From there I took a short screenwriting course at AFTRS on Zoom and just started writing. Once I’d written my first screenplay, the idea of directing came to mind, and again it all snowballed from there. I became obsessed.

In Sydney, I worked in the art department on a TV show, and also as a writer’s assistant for a comedian putting together a feature script. I moved to New York mid-2022 to start an MFA in film at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. I’d never been to New York but was busting to get out of Sydney after the COVID lockdowns – and yeah, I mean I grew up on Girls and Broad City. It was an easy fit. In New York, I started working on as many student films as I could. I just tried to get myself out there and get involved with as many on-set experiences as possible. I was making student films as part of the program, meeting really talented people and learning about directing for the first time. Since then, I’ve worked on a range of sets from shorts to features in New York – I feel super lucky to be part of an incredibly exciting, warm and inspiring filmmaking community in the city.Snap by Marcus Maddox.

How did the idea of your short film Daddy’s Little Meatball come about? The germ of the idea came from my desire to make something set in New York. The previous short films I’d made never really existed in a real, recognisable place. It was more like a fictional science lab, or a specific girl’s bedroom – I had an intense craving to interact with the already existing place around me. I’d been in New York for a few years and I think there was a feeling of finally knowing the city a little better but of course still feeling like an outsider, feeling like it wasn’t mine. That helped clarify that it wasn’t going to be a short about a bunch of New Yorkers in New York, but it had to be from an outsider perspective. Making a movie about Australians visiting New York then suddenly felt like the most obvious thing in the world. I had to do it.

Who helped you bring the film to life? And where did you find inspiration from? I feel really lucky to have been able to workshop the script for this film in one of my thesis classes. That cohort of super-talented writers and directors were so generous with their feedback, and helped refine the story I was trying to tell.

A lot of people helped bring this film to life, it’s actually wild to think about how impossible it would’ve been without so many of my amazing close friends and collaborators. Manuela Romero was the casting director, and finding the right Sasha and Ed was no easy feat! She worked incredibly hard – researching, meeting people, even going to Australians in New York coffee meet ups (as a non-Australian, I might add), and just leaving no leaf unturned to help us cast the amazing Madeline Sunshine and Benjamin Howes as Sasha and Ed. Jason Gotlieb and Sam Jang-Milsten have been the most incredibly supportive producers throughout this process. Dylan Rizzo, Merrick Craven, Maya Parkoff, Abyn Reabe – all crew members who this movie would’ve been impossible to make without.

I tried to really tap into how much of a brat I was as a teenager to my parents – that’s where some of the inspiration for this movie came from. I remember feeling – on a business trip to Hong Kong my dad took me on in 2012 – that I just wanted to be back home in Sydney with my friends at Bondi, getting a tan. I found a lot of inspiration in New York as well. I would try to spend a lot of time in Little Italy near all the tourist shops and watch tourists. Family dynamics, the fashion, the way they take photos of each other – it was a pleasure to watch. Snap by Marcus Maddox.

How did the selection process work for getting your film selected to be featured as part of Tribeca Film Festival? I submitted to Tribeca in October last year. Then I didn’t really hear much until my acceptance! Film festival selection processes are still a mystery to me, and I think it’s best to keep it that way.

It obviously feels amazing. It’s a real homecoming for our film because it’s such a New York movie. Tribeca is the festival for Daddy’s Little Meatball – I mean, if people love the movie they can go buy a “daddy’s little meatball” t-shirt five minutes down the road. I can’t wait to celebrate with the amazing cast and crew who will be at the screening. I’m just super grateful and honored to be selected this year. Tribeca has been a big dream of mine and it feels like my dreams are coming true.

Any words of wisdom for emerging Aussie filmmakers? I’m not sure I have any words of wisdom ’cause I’m still figuring it out too… I guess just when you find great collaborators and community, nurture that. Be kind and make movies with love. Call your family even if you’re too busy. Call them on the way home.

Eager to read more about creatives making cool storytelling stuff? Spy our chat with theatrical extraordinaire Kala Gare or feast your eyes on our chinwag with the spectacular Megan Wilding. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop.