Hannah and Eliza Reilly

Hannah and Eliza Reilly: Multi-disciplinary creatives

As multi-hyphenate creators working across film, television and theatre, sisters Hannah and Eliza Reilly mitigate the uncertainty of the industry by having multiple projects on the go.

“You can't put all your eggs in one basket,” says Eliza. 

Currently the pair have a lot in their basket ­– “a year's worth of work condensed into one day of press releases” to be exact. The highlights reel includes funding from Screen Australia to develop and eight-part drama television series, Hannah announced as a Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission winner, and their comedy series Growing up Gracefully now streaming on STAN. As well as some other super secret project they couldn't talk about.

By the time one project is announced, the duo are already knee-deep into the next. “You do have to remember and stay present and celebrate, even though you're stressed about other projects,” says Eliza.

“There are also so many nos before you get a yes, but people don’t hear about the nos,” adds Hannah.

As sisters, there is also a sense of shared celebration when the yeses do arrive. “When something happens for one of us it feels like a win for both of us,” says Hannah.

While the pair have been busy, large workload, they also recognise the importance of spending time with friends and family, and being in the world. “As storytellers, if you don’t have experiences, you don’t have stories to tell, and you burn out pretty quickly,” says Eliza.

Having each other as bosses also helps. “We keep an eye on one another – if we are stuck creatively we might switch to doing something tangible or some admin. But then sometimes we do just call it a day and say, see you tomorrow,” says Eliza.

Midday

Hannah: There is no such thing as a lunch hour or taking lunch – I find it hard to get back into it if we take a break, it's always eating at the laptop. It’s probably very unhealthy, but it’s a pretty firm habit now.

Afternoon

Eliza: Some days we might finish up at 2pm and others we might have meetings or be sitting in a writer's room. TV work is pretty around the clock, you could work until three in the morning and then have to get up for an AM call. 

Hannah: If we have been up since 6am and had a tough day we will try to finish by 3pm so we can have a life and see friends. Also, the older and wiser we are becoming, the more we trust that we will get things done.

Eliza: The other day we were on struggle street and so we just sat on the couch and watched a movie and talked about it and that can be a real circuit breaker. 

Also, if you bring a bad mood into your work, I’ve learned the hard way you are only doing yourself a disservice, so spend just a few minutes cleaning and preparing my workspace is a really great warm up for me.

Evening

Eliza: Even though we spend hours and hours together in a work sense, we really like spending time together as a family with our parents and my partner.

Hannah: Also in the evening, we might turn to our solo projects. When I was recently working on my comedy show, I’d write that in the evening or on weekends.

Eliza: One of us might have something extra that we are doing, but it’s all flexible – there is an ebb and flow where we might be working 16 hour days and neither of us will take on additional solo stuff, unless we really want to do it and then if that’s the case we will find a way to do it. 

Bedtime

Hannah: I definitely don’t have a set bedtime but I’m not really into staying up super late. I guess I try to keep it before 1am during the week.

Eliza:  Sleeping the whole night through is a rarity for me. I’ve never really been able to sleep for longer than five hour stretches. The US work day starts at our 2am; so when my phone starts beeping I have a horrible habit of getting up then to tackle those emails.