Trying to grab a moment with Louisa Connolly-Burnham means catching her in motion. For our interview, there wasn’t one single sit-down, there were three, over two separate days, both in person and online. What began in the make-up chair (her, not me, sadly), continued over several hours and outfit changes, and ended via a Zoom call one weekend later. 

None of this phases her in the least, though. She is a highly competent multitasker and utterly used to being needed at every step of every process for every project. Despite the chaos going on around her, Connolly-Burnham always maintains her composure and barely bats an eyelid. At least, that’s how it seems from the outside. 

We’re on the set of the cover shoot for Short Stuff’s inaugural issue, which features Connolly-Burnham’s latest short film, The Intimacy Coordinator, which she wrote, directed and stars in. She is needed for almost every set up today, as she was in every scene during the shoot five months ago. When I manage to catch her for part two of our chat, she sits down crossed-legged and corrects me when I tell her that she’s the new triple threat; actor, writer and director. “And producing,” she adds, with a friendly assertiveness. Of course. 

Connolly-Burnham’s acting career began early on in her life, booking her first gig at fourteen – she had no lines, but it kickstarted what became the start of her success story. She recalls however, that her actual artistic roots were planted much earlier, at age four. A self-proclaimed “little bossy boots with lots of energy,” Connolly-Burnham was already creating, writing, directing and, yes, producing plays that she demanded her granddad perform with her while her nan captured everything on camera. 

She followed her passion for acting, joining the Jackie Palmer stage school, and despite her early directorial experience, “If you'd have told me then that I would actually be a director now, more so than an actor, I'd be so surprised,” she says. I, for one, am not surprised at all. As she tells me this with a gentle smile, I visualise four-year-old Louisa directing her family with the same precision and astuteness that she directs with today. And not just sets, but every space she’s in. Even throughout our interview, she calmly but surely commands the room without effort, driving the tone, pace and direction of the discussion. I let her take the reins, leaning back and taking notes, soaking it all in. She is a true professional. Each answer complete, sharp and filled with poise. 

There’s something captivating about all of Connolly-Burnham’s films that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the likes of BAFTA – her short film Sister Wives was longlisted in 2025. So far, she’s directed seven, including three of her own scripts, and we delve into the defining characteristics of her memorable protagonists. “I think I've realised that my niche is sad, horny girls.” The energy in the room shifts, her face brightening when she says this. “Nothing drives somebody like desire. There is no fuel like wanting somebody,” she explains. “I love people reacting to their primal instincts… I love naughty girls. I think that's who I am. That's what I like to watch, and I think that's what I like to write.”

I feel her creative juices swirling around her brain as she describes her leading ladies. It clearly lights something up in her, so I don’t move on just yet. I dig deeper into these characters: flawed, beautiful and painfully human. Does she ever feel concerned that she’s portraying women in a bad light? “There’s normally a lot of nuance in my female leads – they're never overtly bad, they make bad decisions, but they also make good decisions. They try really hard to be good, and they often are tempted into other situations. Essentially, I just love women. We've had a hundred years of bad boys, but you've never really seen any bad girls. And I'm here for that,” she assures me. 

This carries over into other parts of Connolly-Burnham’s life. She has spent years championing women in the industry, most recently through founding Kulty, a group for women and nonbinary filmmakers. She laughs while admitting Kulty came to life as “a complete accident”. What began as a WhatsApp group with twenty friends has morphed into something the industry is lacking – a supportive, uplifting community where people can ask questions, share advice and contacts and celebrate each other’s work. Today, this group has over 1,000 members, a brand logo and merch, and holds annual Christmas parties. Like everything else in her life, Connolly-Burnham does not run Kulty by halves. 

The name is, of course, not accidental. It was voted in by an initial smaller group, and there’s no doubt it was inspired by her almost cult-like leadership role within the short film world, itself a result of the huge success of her short film about cults. (Yes, it all gets quite meta.) The director’s last film, Sister Wives, is a queer drama following the lives of Kaidence and Galilee, played respectively by Connolly-Burnham and Mia McKenna-Bruce, two fictional members of the real-life Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints, an extreme, polygamous sect of Mormons. When Kaidence’s husband surprises her with a second wife (Galilee) and then leaves on a trip, the two women begin an illicit relationship.

This exploration of forbidden love is set to be extended into a feature, boarded by Francis Ford Coppola and Sophia Coppola's production company American Zoetrope, “which feels insane – they barely ever board a film outside of the Coppola family, so this is huge,” Connolly-Burnham says. I ask how much we’re allowed to mention. “I can confirm that Mia McKenna Bruce is back playing Galilee, which is very exciting.” I want to push further, for more details and secrets to be spilled, but she beats me to it with a composed and professional summary: “We’re still waiting for many things to fall into place, but I really am so excited about expanding Kaidence and Galilee's world further, and it feels like people really want it.”

And they really do. The film and its protagonists have garnered quite a cult-following (sorry) online. There’s a hunger for their story, and Connolly-Burnham assures me that for the feature, fans can expect a more “slow-burn” kind of love develop between the two women. I myself receive this news as a win for the girls. 

Connolly-Burnham’s latest project is quite different, though she’s staying true to her bad, sad, horny protagonist. She plays Kate, an intimacy coordinator with a sex addiction whose behaviour on and off set becomes increasingly risky and unprofessional. “I feel like we see a lot of stories about men abusing their power, but we don't see as many women doing the same,” she says matter of factly. “I'm not a sex addict, but I definitely love love, and I love human connection.” Her smile turns honest as she says this. There is a passion and a precision behind every description, every sentence as she carefully but proudly shares the details of the film with me. She goes on to add, as if this might arise in my next question, that it's not actually a film about intimacy coordinating: “It's about abuse of power, and it's about addiction, and that could have been told through a costume designer, a hair and makeup designer, a director – but intimacy coordinators are closest to the flesh of our actors.”

I’ve read the script – it’s wonderfully naughty and smart, and it is purposefully provocative. Not in a marketing way, but as a means of forcing the audience to sit in their discomfort, and then challenge it. It’s also highly entertaining. “I don't think that people fully understand what The Intimacy Coordinator is. I think they're going to be very surprised, probably a bit horrified, but I could not have shown a more different side of myself as a filmmaker with this film, and I think that was the right move.” I believe her viewers will agree. 

Connolly-Burnham’s experience as an actor has influenced the way she runs her own sets. “I've been in both horrendous environments…and really beautifully safe ones. I remember so clearly what worked and what didn't, what hurt my co stars and what didn't, and how much better they were when they felt safe, how much more they could give if they were comfortable. I try to create healthy, fun work environments that people will want to return to. I credit my team wherever I can and give my friends jobs whenever I can, because I love my friends, and I see a lot of my friends work really hard and have talent in abundance,” she says. 

And in many ways, this encapsulates the writer-director-producer-actor’s entire personality. A hard worker who cares as powerfully about those around her as she does the work itself. She wears many hats and yet exudes so much control and professional prowess that if you didn’t know how busy and hectic she was, you’d never be able to guess. 

Throughout this issue, you will find various descriptions of Connolly-Burnham through other people’s eyes. They are full of high praise, deep respect and admiration, they reflect her warmth and generosity, and capture what an absolute force she is. If you’ve ever encountered her, even in passing, you’ll have felt it. If you follow her on social media, you’ll have seen it. And if you’ve watched one of her films, you’ll understand how it translates to her work. She is a leader, a collaborator, a friend and, by her own admission, a bad, sad, horny girl. We are here for it.