NYWIFT Blog

By Lexi Catalanello

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jennifer Sklias-Gahan!

Jennifer is a New York-based actress, writer, and filmmaker. She is the founder of Demivoula Studios and 18 Bleecker Films, an award-winning production house. 

She is known for her work in The Urban Ghost Story: Matilda, a short film she wrote and stars in with actor Sean Avery, produced by  Academy Award-winner Christine Vachon and 18 Bleecker Films. Matilda took home several honors on the festival circuit, including Best Short Film.

She recently completed the indie feature The Cutting Room Floor, and has two other features filmed in 2025 (The Wingers and Windows) being released in 2026. 

Jennifer’s gothic ghost story book, The House in the Middle of the Street, the first in a series of dark tales, is now available worldwide, distributed by Simon and Schuster. A gorgeous vinyl version, beautifully illustrated by Myles Mullen, is available through Rare Bird publications. The audio version, narrated by Jennifer herself, will have a worldwide release this summer.

She’s currently writing the next book in her gothic series, The Last Days and Nights of Ellie Boread. Jennifer plans to create this ancestral narrative into a feature film. 

In our interview, we discuss her career through acting, directing, writing, and owning a production company; gothic aesthetics; and her upcoming projects.

NYWIFT Member Jennifer Sklias-Gahan

Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

My name is Jennifer Sklias-Gahan, I am a New York-based actress, writer and filmmaker. I have acted on stage, television and film. I’m the founder of Demivoula Studios and co-founder of 18 Bleecker Films. My work has been described as atmospheric with darker toned narratives. 

What brought you to NYWIFT? 

A fellow filmmaker [NYWIFT Board Member] Sibyl Santiago mentioned NYWIFT to me this past year. Sibyl is a co-founder of SOHO International Film Festival. We met years ago when one of my films, Data Management, premiered there. This past year, after my short film Clock Shop screened at SOHO, she mentioned her involvement with NYWIFT.

I have always been interested in NYWIFT and the powerful advocacy it creates for us in this industry. As I mature in this craft of storytelling, I want to share what I’ve learned and receive the strength of other women in the film industry. Together we can create opportunities and encourage the gifts we have as women storytellers. We have so much to say and its exciting to see all the diverse ways we can create.

Thank you, Sibyl, for all your support! I am looking forward to growing as a community and making movies.

Jennifer Sklias-Gahan on the set of The Rise of Whore Betsy

How does being a writer and director influence the way you approach acting roles? 

Actors, writers, and directors (as well as producers) are all storytellers; each tells the story with different tools. My experience as a writer and director makes me a better actor; it gives me a deeper understanding of character motivation, the importance of visual storytelling, and the practical constraints of a film set.

My purpose as an actor is to bring my part of the story to life knowing I am following the writer’s arc. Knowing from a director’s position, the time and financial constraints in getting certain shots throughout the day, sound issues and footage needed for editing, gave me more awareness as an actor of what was most valuable to be a part of telling a story.

Having the adaptability to play with preparation and freedom under whatever creative limitation may exist with a positive attitude is a needed strength. When it comes together, its magic. Filmmaking is truly a committed collaboration: nothing like it when it works!

Clock Shop was a film without dialogue, so directing the actors solely as visual storytellers brought home how their behavior, facial expression, and internal world, fully tells a story without a spoken word. Behavior and the internal workings of an actor is essential to the truth of a story. Let the camera have it.  

Jennifer Sklias-Gahan in The Urban Ghost Story: Matilda

Many of your projects, especially your short film Clock Shop and your book, The House in the Middle of the Street, are very gothic in style and tone. What continues to draw you to this aesthetic? 

From a young age I was enchanted by fables, myths and fairy tales, which delve into the classic epic struggles of human nature’s darkest tones. I level the intensity and richness Gothic tradition in literature and films tell the stories of our buried secrets and reveal layers of reality with supernatural possibilities that terrorize us. To me, this genre is the ideal landscape to explore how much goodness we hold within us while we fight our hidden shames and weigh the cultural demands put on us to see what parts of ourselves will decide our fate.

In my gothic tale, The House in the Middle of the Street, the first character I introduce you to is the House. It is a beautiful, decadent and gifted home that sets the stage for one family’s dream of building a bright promised future. Along the way an ancestral sin is visited upon this family and they are taken under a powerful spell that delights in their imprisonment and decay. The gothic genre investigates our deep human truths in such a gorgeously dangerous way. 

My short film Clock Shop was a homage to The Twilight Zone, written by Rod Serling, one of my greatest influences. The Twilight Zone is placed in a sci-fi genre however it shares some gothic vibes in its social commentary, and it highlights our dark side. Serling took a common day in a human life and painted it into a world of extraordinary circumstances and uncanny possibilities.

Clock Shop brings you close to a woman engaged in simple daily tasks at her shop, yet once her first customer of the day enters, she steps into an uncertain moment-to-moment game of life.

What are some of the challenges you’ve learned from co-founding your production company, 18 Bleecker Films and Demivoula Studios? 

Expect to make mistakes and keep working through to completion. You do the work to the best of your ability, work through creative limitations and have a finish date. It might never feel done, but it has to be born and set free, so let it. Move on to the next project and do it all again. 

NYWIFT Member Jennifer Sklias-Gahan

What advice do you have for young creatives?

Go for what you don’t think is possible. Learn the history of your craft. Believe in your unique take of creating, that’s what you have to offer. Be the first one there and the last to leave. Treat every job like its the million dollar one and you will grow the muscles you need to work at your highest level.

Looking ahead, do you have any upcoming projects that you can tell us about? 

I’ve just completed filming The Cutting Room Floor, written and directed by Victoria DeMartin. I’m looking forward to seeing that film released this coming year along with two other features I filmed in the fall of 2025: Windows, written and directed by Andre Degas, and The Wingers, written and directed by Tina Alexis Allen. 

I am writing the next book in my gothic series, titled The Last Days and Nights of Ellie Boread. The series began with The House in the Middle of the Street, which is out in hard copy, ebook, and an exclusive vinyl version. The audio will be released this year. 

Connect with Jennifer on her website jenniferskliasgahan.com and her YouTube channels, Demivola Studios and 18 Bleecker Films. Readers can also follow her latest publication for her book The House in the Middle of the Street at thehouseinthemiddleofthestreet.com. Follow her on Instagram at @jennifer_sklias_gahan.

(All images courtesy of Jennifer Sklias-Gahan)