Marie Holmes Photography
Meet Lizzy! This momma has brought together her two loves: kids and filmmaking to provide a safe place for kids and youth to explore their blossoming creativity as filmmakers and karaoke stars. Read on to learn more about how Squishy Banana Studios came to be and all the locations for after school programs and summer camps (which are filling up quickly!).
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in town?
Born in NY and raised in DFW. Have been in Austin for over ten years
Tell us about your children…
I have a 7 year old boy and a 1 year old girl.
Sweet! What is something that people would be surprised to know about you…
I was Christian Bale’s assistant during a film shoot at ACL during my film industry years.
What?! Now you’re making all the moms jealous! What is your favorite thing about living in Austin?
How creative this town is – full of artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs.
What do you love to do with your family around town?
We enjoy too much of the wonderful food and love to visit different wineries and breweries around town.
Can you enjoy it too much? There’s definitely a common thread with moms in South Austin mentioning the wineries and breweries as their favorite places to go! Tell us about Squishy Banana Studios and how it came to be, what its all about…
My background is in childcare and filmmaking. I got tired of working in the film industry and decided to merge the two together, creating Squishy Banana Studios in 2013! Each session, kids brainstorm an idea, location scout, write a script, storyboard, act in their film, edit, and everything in between. By the end we have a brand new film to watch on the big screen. We have summer camps, after school classes, and offer filmmaking and karaoke parties. I seriously love everything about it. It’s simply magic to watch these kids get ideas and develop them into a full short film. If I had to pick a favorite part, it would be watching the kids watch themselves in their completed films. All their hard work and talent leads to a finished film they can cherish forever.
Summer camps are filling up at our three locations – Clayton Elementary, Shady Hollow, and Whole Life Learning Center.
We currently have after school classes at Baranoff, Clayton, Cowan, Kiker, Mills, and Menchaca Elementary schools.
I love that there are so many opportunities to get involved in classes! Are you involved in anything else within the community?
During the mornings I run a small MDO program and am part of a number of entrepreneur groups for moms and women.
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
Mom groups are awesome! I’ve met so many wonderful families and their referrals have gotten me to where I am today.