NYWIFT Blog

By Nicolette Page

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jaime Schwarz!

Jaime Schwarz grew up in NJ, the daughter of a Korean immigrant mother and son of Holocaust- survivors, father. 

Jaime earned her BFA in Acting from Pace University in NYC, appearing Off- Broadway in The Doctor at the Park Avenue Armory and on TV in Difficult People (Hulu), Younger (Paramount+), Jane the Virgin (The CW), Sorry for Your Loss, and Elsbeth (CBS). 

She is the director, writer, and star of the short film The Sandwich Line, which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival, and her other writing work has been published in Mixed Asian Media and JoySauce.

She’s currently developing several projects and is repped by Gersh + MJ Management.

In our interview, Jaime discussed her journey from acting to directing and shared her experience of working in TV. 

Welcome to NYWIFT! How did you hear about us?

[Through] Lindsay Grossman. She made The Love List, which is a screenplay “best of” list that I was featured on! 

You’re an actor, singer, and writer. What came first for you creatively, and how did the others follow? 

I grew up doing musical theatre – the first films I ever saw were Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, and The Little Mermaid, so acting and singing started at the same time. I could never figure out how to dance [laughs]). I caught the performing bug and ever since I was six years old, I dreamed of being on Broadway in a musical, being a popstar, or acting in movies and tv shows. Then around 12 I was introduced to some films that just blew my mind! 

I became obsessed with film. I started watching everything that has ever won an Oscar, the films on AFI top 100, etc. I couldn’t get enough and I saw these actors doing things that I didn’t even know actors could do and making me feel things I didn’t even know I could feel. I decided I wanted to do that and I focused on acting. 

Sometime during high school I realized I could write, and thought one day I’ll act, write, direct, and produce my own work, but I spent the majority of my twenties strictly acting and just writing down ideas to write in the notes section of my phone anytime I had inspiration.

Then, during the pandemic, I thought “I hate everything I’m auditioning for, I’ve always said I was going to write and direct… I guess now’s the time to actually start since I have the time” – I’m not good with idle time [laughs].

I started writing, then I directed my first short film, and now I have caught those bugs too! I plan to make my first feature next year! 

Is there a role so far that surprised you, either in how challenging it was or how audiences responded? 

I was in a play called The Doctor at the Park Avenue Armory directed by Rob Icke. In the second act of the play there is a big debate scene and my character was the “woke perspective.”If you read the play, everything I’m saying is valid and correct, however in the context of the play and how it’s laid up, it feels ridiculous in the moment and then later makes you think (the genius of Rob Icke). So I was very shocked when everyone in the audience would laugh at the things I was saying. 

What was even more interesting was that the one time no one laughed and only rooted for me, was when we had a high school performance where schools from the area came in. Kids got what I was saying; it was the older audience members who scoffed. It was very challenging night after night trying to get my point across, but helpful because that’s the point of the debate anyway.  It was also very eye-opening.  

What have you learned from working on long-running TV sets versus shorter, more contained projects?

Long-running TV sets are a well oiled machine. Also, there are so many more cooks in the kitchen, more voices, opinions, people to answer to. Everyone has to be happy with their choices and that’s hard to do. I think what ends up happening is catering to the lowest common denominator option, which isn’t always the best choice creatively. 

What I like about independent work is the opposite. You get to make what you want to make and artistic vision and voice gets to shine through a lot more. I don’t think I understood that until I started making my own work.

Did being an actor first influence how you approached directing? 

Oh my gosh, IMMENSELY! I did not realize directors who don’t come from acting get scared talking to actors or feel like they have to study how to. I just talk to actors like I do when doing a scene study class. I understand the vocabulary, what we’re trying to get at. I feel much more comfortable talking to actors than to any other people in the crew, but that’s because I am one. Also, I care about the acting first and foremost when watching things, so my directing is all about the acting. 

I’m trying to find that magic that I have to find for myself when doing self-tapes. I think self-tapes have really helped actors become their own directors because we’re doing it for ourselves.

How do you choose projects at this stage in your career? 

I’m an auditioning actor, so I only say “no” to certain things for very specific reasons, but I generally say “yes” to most things. I like challenging myself. Choosing projects for writing and directing? Well, I’m constantly writing seven things at once. 

Usually a few more commercially-type things that I just have a great hook for that my reps can sell and then a few indies that are a lot more personal for me to make or give to smaller production companies. All of these are ideas that I can’t stop thinking about. 

For directing,I like to work on a bunch of things at once and directing takes up so much of your life. Also, I know how to be in control and lead a ship, but it’s not my first pick of the jobs.

So if I’m going to direct, it’s because I NEED to, because no one else can for this project. I have a few scripts that I will not let someone else touch and I have a lot of other scripts that I’m happy to give to someone else to direct and make.

What are you working on next? 

I’m working on a few scripts. I have some shorts I’ve written for friends to direct and make which has been super fun! And I have an indie feature that’s a Before Sunrise-esque love letter to NYC. It’s one I NEED to direct because it’s personal. I’m scared about it and that’s very exciting. 

You can find Jaime Schwarz at @jaime.jpeg_ on Instagram and @jaime.mov_ on Tiktok.

(All images courtesy of Jaime Schwarz)