Directing Life: How Motherhood Shaped The Career Reboot Of Christine Swanson
In this episode of Mom to MORE®, host Sharon Macey is joined by visionary storyteller and mom, Christine Swanson, a multiple award-winning director recognized for her powerful and heartfelt filmmaking.
Christine Swanson, a Detroit native, earned a BA from Notre Dame and an MFA in film from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she was recognized as one of its most promising filmmakers. Her career includes developing and directing projects for major studios such as HBO, Lionsgate, BET Films, and Warner Bros.
Tune in as Sharon and Christine delve into the challenges of balancing motherhood with creative ambitions. Christine shares how she took a 15-year “timeout” to focus on raising her four children and the profound lessons she gained from that season of life.
This episode also explores Christine’s return to filmmaking, her journey through significant family challenges, and her latest project, the award-winning film Albany Road.
This inspiring dialogue celebrates resilience, creativity, and faith, reminding moms everywhere to embrace every chapter of their journey with joy and purpose.
[00:00] Introduction
[02:38] Christine’s story, raising four children in Los Angeles and Charlotte
[04:07] Why Christine paused her career for a 15-year “timeout”
[06:02] Lessons learned as a stay-at-home mom
[10:06] How motherhood shaped Christine’s directing style
[18:04] Overcoming financial and personal challenges
[22:06] Returning to filmmaking and Christine’s journey to success
[23:00] Discussing her new feature film, Albany Road
[27:01] The strength of women in Christine’s stories
[30:28] Finding joy in less
[31:07] Where to Find Christine Online
Meet My Guest Christine Swanson:
Website: FaithFilmWorks.com
Albany Road Instagram: @albanyroadmovie
Instagram: @Cswanson44
Looking for More? Follow @momtomore on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. @Sharon Macey on LinkedIn.
Keep an eye out for episode #28 of the Mom to MORE™ podcast where Sharon is joined by Jo Piazza, international best-selling author, acclaimed podcast host, mom and so much more…. Coming soon - you won’t want to miss it ♥
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Sharon (01:18)
it's Sharon. Welcome back to Mom to More. Okay, today I have a mom that is a total force to be reckoned with, whose story will be a complete and total inspiration to everyone listening. Christine Swanson is a visionary storyteller from Detroit who was also a multiple award-winning director,
three nominations for NAACP Image Awards. She earned her BA from Notre Dame and her MFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Recognized early as a talented filmmaker, was selected by NYU faculty as the Willard T.C. Johnson Fellow, the most prestigious fellowship given to the student who has achieved high standards in his or her work. CNN identified Christine as one of the most promising filmmakers to emerge
from NYU's graduate film program since Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Oliver Stone, and Spike Lee, who, by the way, was Christine's NYU directing teacher. How cool is that? Christine has developed, written, and or directed entertainment projects for HBO films, Lionsgate, Universal Television, Warner Brothers Television, CBS Television Studio, TV One, A &E Networks, BET Films, Stars, and Faith Filmworks.
I think that covers just about every studio out there, right, Christine? Her work is powerful, raw, riveting and real. Christine is fire. And of course she is a mom to four kids. Christine, you had me at action. I am so excited to chat with you today. Thank you. So the more I dug into you, the more I was like, Holy cow, I cannot wait to talk to this woman. So let's just jump right in. All right. We know.
Christine Swanson (02:38)
Yo.
Yeah.
Glad to be here.
Sharon (03:04)
that you have four kids. So where did you raise them? And I also think that at least one of your kids might be following in your footsteps.
Christine Swanson (03:06)
Mm-hmm.
That's right. So mainly I had three of my kids in Los Angeles and we spent a lot of time early on in their youth in Los Angeles. And then by time I had my third child, we decided that we should move someplace slower and maybe a little cheaper than Los Angeles. So we threw a dart on a map and it landed in Charlotte. And then so we lived in Charlotte for five years and that's where we had our fourth.
and final child and my only daughter. And then after spending five years in Charlotte and about 2008 when the whole economy crashed, we decided that we needed to go back to Los Angeles because the industry that we worked in primarily was in LA. So we came back to Los Angeles in 2010 and we've been here ever since.
Sharon (04:01)
Gotcha. Right. And the weather's kind of nice out there versus Charlotte. So Charlotte's a great city. Yeah. Yeah. So your stay at home mom story. Everyone's is so unique. What prompted your decision to stay home with the kids?
Christine Swanson (04:07)
Yeah, it's a great city, it is.
Well, honestly, after I had my first child, now I know what it was, but something in my brain shifted and I couldn't get that creative mojo going at the same time that I'm trying to wrangle managing an infant for the first time. And I didn't anticipate that. Nobody told me that. I just thought like, okay, no big deal. We'll just rock and roll. And it just didn't happen like that for me. And so...
That was the early sign that I just probably need to focus on this child and make sure that they're well. And then I always laugh and say, kind of like in my depression, I have three more kids.
Sharon (05:06)
Or you have four, I've got three. That was enough.
Christine Swanson (05:11)
And then when I had the rest of the three, it just was obvious that this was a full-time job for two people. And the best thing that I could do at that time was to focus on their wellbeing. So it kind of took me out of the workforce and I de facto became a stay at home mom, even though that was not the goal or the plan.
But that's what it was and I stayed a stay at home mom for the next 15 years straight.
Sharon (05:46)
Significant, Now you had
Christine Swanson (05:48)
Yeah.
Sharon (05:49)
a special phrase for your time as a stay-at-home mom. What was that?
Christine Swanson (05:54)
I said, I said, God gave me a 15 year timeout. Sit down.
Sharon (05:58)
Which I love. I mean, is that not so spot-on or what?
Christine Swanson (06:02)
Yeah, I think so because prior to my first child, I mean, I was all all in and kind of ambitious in a way that was just. I mean, it just forced all all my energies and focus into the work that I was doing, and that's why I felt like it was a time out. Like I got like snatched out of that and like placed somewhere and sat down.
you stay here. And then the irony of it is it felt like it was punishment because I couldn't do the thing that I thought I loved so much and turns out...
you look at your year old son, the one that I tell, I say to his face, I'm like, you you ruined my career, you know? And he's the one who's following in my footsteps. He graduated from NYU film school and he's a director. Yeah, director in his own right. But what I find myself saying to people now is like, hey, do you feel successful in your life and in your career? And I'm like, you know,
Sharon (06:53)
Yeah.
Congratulations.
Christine Swanson (07:15)
I do feel successful and most of that had to do with the fact that I raised four children. I'm still raising them, but I had a hand in the development of four human beings that I'm proud of, that I love, and who actually make me a better human being. And I just don't know who I would be without having had that experience. So I'm like, I think I'm already...
Sharon (07:30)
Mm-hmm.
100%. Yeah.
Christine Swanson (07:45)
successful because I did that and I feel good about it.
Sharon (07:49)
also raising the next generation of humans is an extraordinary feat. Just doing that. And I think a lot of us, and I'll include myself, is when you're doing it, like, what am I doing? I feel like I could feel like I'm lost. I'm not contributing, but we are. And I think moms really have to recognize that. And then...
all the skills that we gain while we're doing that. And so that would be my next question to you is, let's talk about what you learned about yourself during your 15 year timeout. I'm going to use that going forward forever. The skills you built that would carry you forward into your next chapter.
Christine Swanson (08:17)
Right.
Right.
Well, here's the funny thing, because now I direct a lot of like network shows that you see on television. And these are like fast movie machines production. And it's a lot of money's on the line. Just the stakes are really high. And honestly, the best skill set that I've brought to the table stems from my experience as a mother. And that pretty much is like,
I'm a mother to a lot of kids on set and that's not to diminish like the people that I work with, but we're always managing crises. Like, my goodness, we don't have this for this shot. And then I find myself having been in worse situations when you're dealing with kids, when one has diarrhea and the other one is projectile vomiting at the same time. It's like, I just don't think this is the end of the world.
Sharon (09:14)
Yes.
Christine Swanson (09:20)
whatever we're dealing with. So I feel like I have this calm where I'm like nothing is insurmountable and nothing like throws me off and you know, I can deal with things that come up in a way where it's like again, it's my mommy skills. It's like what's the need? What can we manage? What can't we manage? And let's focus on what's doable right now. And that I kid you not that piece that calm and that sense of
Sharon (09:24)
Mm-hmm.
Christine Swanson (09:50)
direction that I have with the work that I do comes from being a mom for the past 24 years.
Sharon (09:57)
How true.
you for that. That was amazing.
You're a director. How do you compare being a mom to being a director?
Christine Swanson (10:06)
I think they're the same job, Mainly because you're responsible for a lot of people and you have to get them somewhere by a certain time and everybody needs to feel good about what they're contributing and they need to be well fed and appreciated. That's a mom, 24-7.
Sharon (10:27)
Right,
we first spoke, you mentioned something which I thought was really interesting. You said that you knew that you were never not on the right path. It was just the tying to do what you always wanted to do as a storyteller, but it was going to take some time to get there and you were totally cool with that.
Christine Swanson (11:07)
Mmm.
No, I wasn't in the moment when I was living, when I was in the wilderness. And it just felt like never ending days of, you know what it is in the trenches as a mom. But I have to say there was always joy in that too, because I genuinely enjoyed raising my children and spending time with them and getting them to where they needed to go. It's, cause honestly, and you know this.
Sharon (11:23)
Okay.
Yeah. yeah. Yeah.
Christine Swanson (11:47)
We miss that now, don't we?
Sharon (11:49)
We do sometimes. Yeah, you're right. You do. Yeah. Yeah.
Christine Swanson (11:51)
We miss that. We miss that. And what I realize is, honestly, sometimes I'm like, can I go back and enjoy it in a pure way, as opposed to always looking to see when something new is gonna come on the horizon, something better or something I thought I desired. And in hindsight, when I look back, it's the, know, the scriptures that says God gives you the desires of your heart.
And you think you might know what that desire is, but God knows.
So God knew that the desire of my heart was to be a mom to kids and to help shape them and to make contributions to the world that come through my children. My contributions are not through my storytelling. In fact, sometimes that's a poverty of thought
think about it. Like as an artist and as a creative, the idea of creating a human entity that you shape and that you mold and that you offer to the world in the hopes of making it better, like that's the height of creativity.
so it's ironic that I thought that I was missing out in my career as a creative when I was doing the most high creative work in managing these four human beings.
Sharon (13:19)
Sure.
Christine Swanson (13:22)
really about perspective and where you are in life. So it's not that I couldn't do it all because I knew in my...
gut. Like, I can do it all. It's just that we could not do it at the same time. And I'm glad that it happened in pieces, because in trying to do it at the same time, something suffers.
had to focus on the task in front of me.
And in doing that and not trying to hybrid my life, this part did not suffer. And now, consequently, my kids are adults and they are autonomous and they are doing what they need to do. Now, I don't have to focus so much on that part of it and I can focus on the work and that doesn't suffer. So it's about the timing of doing things
Sharon (13:57)
True, true.
Right.
Christine Swanson (14:19)
When it's the right time, it works.
I'm 53. It took me 53 years to learn that, you know?
Sharon (14:23)
Mm-hmm. Okay. There you go. And I love that attitude and vision. So I'm gonna ask you, list your top three skills that you think you have honed from your time as a stay-at-home mom and the ones that are really helping you in your director world right now.
Christine Swanson (14:43)
One is accumulating and cultivating great empathy.
Two is extraordinary attention to time management.
Lastly, would say motherhood taught me patience and the idea of surrendering, that I can't control the outcome every single time. And so I take all three of that with me to every job that I do. And it's always a pleasure.
Sharon (15:28)
That is terrific. I love your perspective on that, Christine.
Christine, you went through a very difficult period in your family life,
I would like for you to share because it speaks
your internal fortitude and your ability to keep moving forward.
Christine Swanson (15:44)
in 2008 the economy crashed and prior to that we were making a living on residual incomes
the sales of this now antiquated thing called DVDs. And then about 2008 was the entry of a company called Netflix and Netflix essentially wiped out the DVD business.
Sharon (15:57)
Mm.
Christine Swanson (16:06)
as streaming became the go-to movie-watching mechanism. And so what we were faced with was a situation where we used to have an income and it went to nothing, like overnight. And with no backup plans and no trust funds,
didn't inherit money, we're not from generational wealth.
So we actually lost our home and
one time, I remember one Thanksgiving, we had $20 in the bank and we had a discussion as to do we spend it on getting gas or do we get food for today? So we were truly, we were homeless and it's all, it's relative but.
Sharon (16:52)
Yeah.
Christine Swanson (17:01)
in our situation, we lost our home and we didn't have another place to go. So it was a really stressful time and we had four children. So we packed them up in our car and we drove cross country to Los Angeles where my husband did find a job like as an apprentice at a network.
Sharon (17:09)
That's extraordinary, Christine.
Christine Swanson (17:26)
We barely had enough gas money to go cross country, but with the little money that we had, we were like, okay, we're going to go, we're going to stop in various cities where we have friends. And then we would stay with our friends in every city. You know, as we were leaving, that friend would put a hundred dollars in our hand or $200 in our hand. And that was enough money then to get to the next city. We could feed our kids, fill up the tank.
and then we'd stay with some more friends and they're like, here's a little bit of gas money. As if, and we didn't always say like we're broke, but it's as if kindness just surrounded us. That's right. And it allowed us to make it all the way to Los Angeles. When we arrived in LA, we didn't have a place to stay. We're calling around to see where we could rent.
Sharon (18:04)
Yeah.
Yeah, it followed you. Yeah, exactly.
Christine Swanson (18:21)
And then a friend of ours reached out to us and said, hey, my mom has a big house in Los Angeles and she can rent out two of the rooms to you and your family.
for a very affordable amount, we were able to live for six, the first six months in Los Angeles with my friend's mother and all four kids and me and my husband. So I just call that the grace of God tour. And, but by God's grace.
Sharon (18:47)
Truly.
Christine Swanson (18:48)
We made it and fast forward to today, it's shocking to hear how rock bottom that we hit when we're doing just fine now.
Sharon (18:59)
a powerful story that I think probably really shaped you and how you were able to manifest your future from being in that situation.
Christine Swanson (19:10)
Mm.
Sharon (19:11)
you for sharing that. So when did you realize that film production was a real job?
Christine Swanson (19:19)
Well, mind you, I went to NYU film school. So I was doing film production while I was a student at NYU. And as soon as I got out of film school, I made my first feature film. And so I knew right away, like, I could make a living doing this. And I'm to be a rock star. And I'm going to be rich. You know, it's just you're young. you idealize a situation. It's like the very opposite happened.
Sharon (19:44)
Right.
Christine Swanson (19:45)
And it was, that was that kind of situation for years and years and years. Honestly, I didn't really start making real money doing what I'm doing until 10 years ago. So how long was that? It was a 30 year journey before I actually started to really benefit from production and the work that I do as a writer, director, producer. So, you know, it's a long game and it worked.
Sharon (19:57)
Okay. Sure.
Thank
Christine Swanson (20:15)
fine for me, however hard. I don't want to sugarcoat this as if it was always a fun ride, but the path that I went on and the stops that I made were, I think, imprinted in God's design for my life. And you only know that in hindsight.
right where I'm supposed to be. And mostly in those years of struggle, the thing that I've taken away is this idea of peace that I have that defies understanding because it's been a faith walk from zero to 53.
Sharon (20:47)
Right.
so you talked about this path that you have walked for 53 years, but talk about the challenges getting back into filmmaking,
you know, 2008 when the world crashed
Christine Swanson (21:12)
it was a weird time with COVID and then we had a strike. But how I got back into it was I got a call from a studio executive at a small cable network in Maryland. And she said, hey, in 1999, I met you at Sundance when you had a short film in that festival. And I always remembered you. I'm turning biblical stories into modern day stories.
vis-a-vis movies and I want you to direct our first one and I was like How'd you get my number? So that really started me on my path and these were like grueling productions like not a lot of money and we're shooting feature films in 12 days, which is unheard of but it threw me back in and Honestly, like it's as if I never left like the things I had a kid on were
Sharon (21:43)
You're like, what? Yeah.
That was your trial by fire. Yeah.
Christine Swanson (22:06)
Absolutely, but it was so intuitive for me that I just was like boom boom boom and I'm like, I can do this and I just had the things that had to learn were technical but that stuff you that those are skills that you can learn but the intangible skills that are required that makes a good director good I always had it. Remember empathy, time management and ability to not be flustered.
So all of that was built inside of me, in the trenches with my kids. And on top of that, I just know storytelling, I know how to direct actors, I know what's a good performance. And all of that was just coming into play in that first film, and then it led to a second film.
Then it led to a third film. Then it led to a movie at Lifetime. And then it led to me starting to direct my first episode of TV called Chicago PD. And then that led to me direct. So it just, was a nonstop kind of a wheel because once you do something and you're good at it and word gets out, you start to get booked on things. And now it's, it's, have a full schedule of projects to do some of which I have to turn down because I don't have the time to do everything.
Sharon (23:00)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
I love that. Yeah.
let's talk about your most recent film, which has recently come out called Albany Road. It's available now. And I will point out that it won best feature film at the Martha's Vineyard Black Film Festival.
Christine Swanson (24:31)
Right.
Correct.
Sharon (24:45)
and you were also invited to screen it at Spike Lee's graduate film class. So tell my audience a little about this film. I cannot wait to see it.
Christine Swanson (24:50)
Yes.
Road is currently in theaters across the country. Check your AMC listings and go check it out in theaters. But this was a movie that my husband and I 100 % financed ourselves. Talk about a full circle moment. It was a passion project and...
Sharon (25:10)
Mm-hmm.
Christine Swanson (25:20)
This was our first movie together post-children. So it was just monumental in a lot of ways, but it's a movie about two intergenerational women who find themselves at an airport and because of a snowstorm, all the flights are canceled and they're forced to share the last rental car left in the airport to drive from New York to DC. But turns out,
The reason why they they hate each other is because the younger woman used to be engaged to the older woman's son And the reason why they're not together anymore is because the odor the odor woman broke them up So there's this tension in the car In the car ride that is palpable, but what we learn over time is that these women are really
Sharon (25:54)
Eww.
Christine Swanson (26:13)
two sides of the same coin, they're the same person, and they really have to depend on each other to kind of grow in ways that fosters healing, forgiveness, reconciliation. So it starts off like a little bumpy, and then it turns into like really a love story between these two women who learn to rely on each other to become their best selves.
Sharon (26:38)
I love that. I love that. I also, the fact that you have four of your main characters are these multifaceted female characters.
Christine Swanson (26:47)
Yes.
Sharon (26:48)
in this film starring the incomparable Renee Elise Goldsberry of Hamilton fame
Christine Swanson (26:53)
correct.
Sharon (26:54)
is it about strong women that inspires you? Because I look at you and I'm like, you are a strong woman, girl.
Christine Swanson (27:01)
movie also stars Lynn Whitfield. So you have Renee Goesberry and Lynn Whitfield going at it. It's rich, it's really rich. So the thing that I love about Strong Women is that a lot of times we don't have an opportunity to show our vulnerability and weaknesses because that humanizes us. So it's a deep dive into what...
Sharon (27:05)
Lynn Whitfield, my gosh.
Christine Swanson (27:25)
What does it take to become a strong woman and what does it cost us along the way? And in exploring these types of questions, what you have is a fully realized human being
triumphant at times, but that also deeply struggles. And it's in the watching
process of struggling that they go through that we lean in and we understand that we too are these people.
So it's always fun to unpack these stories of strong women, but ultimately we understand that there are steps that they had to take, sometimes painful, to get to that moment of strength.
Sharon (28:07)
So true, so true. And I also realized from our conversation that faith plays a big part of your life. And I assume that's where the name Faith Filmworks came from, which is the production company that you have with your husband.
Christine Swanson (28:19)
Yes.
faith is not so much about the content that we produce. So it's not about making faith-based movies, but the journey that we have been on and from where we started and where we've come took a deep level of faith that we didn't even know that we had. So it's funny that I think we were foreshadowing.
Sharon (28:24)
Mm-hmm.
Christine Swanson (28:42)
our journey and in calling it Faith Filmworks, we really had to dig into what that meant for us, especially in the low time when you're homeless and then in the high times when it's really about choosing where you need to spend your time that could be of most value. So it's every it's still a faith walk for us because I just don't because we just did a whole movie and spent all our own money and we don't know what's going to happen on the other side of it.
Sharon (28:51)
yeah.
Christine Swanson (29:11)
but there's a peace that we have because our faith is grounded in something bigger than ourselves.
is there when you win. God is there when you lose. But because God is there,
you're going to be fine.
I feel like I've been blessed to have an opportunity to work out these skill sets that I have.
in a meaningful way when I get to interact with so many different people and we come together to create something that we believe will affect people's hearts.
in and of itself is a gift.
Sharon (29:48)
is an incredible gift and also how people react to the work that you do and how they take it in and how they metabolize it, you know, and really what it means to them on a very like organic and emotional level. So I applaud that in all you've done and just your journey from mom and your time out and
Christine Swanson (30:01)
Yeah.
Sharon (30:11)
you know, the challenges that your family had and how you have ended up on the other side today is just inspiring and brilliant.
Christine Swanson (30:16)
Yeah.
Sharon (30:17)
We are unfortunately coming to the end of our time together, but
this is the Mom Tomorrow podcast, Christine Swanson, I'd like to ask you, what is your more?
Christine Swanson (30:28)
think my more is being content with less. And by that, it means finding the joy where you are and not where you want to be. And so when we can find contentment, whatever the circumstances, it allows us to have more joy. It allows us to have more peace.
It allows us to have more understanding, more empathy, and just more for the things that matter and less for the things that you cannot control.
Sharon (31:07)
That is so wise.
So Christine, please tell our listeners where everyone can find you online, your website, if you're on Instagram,
this will all be in the show notes, folks,
Christine Swanson (31:18)
two places that I would love people to check out are at albanyroadmovie.com and faithfilmworks.com. And my Instagram handle is Cswanson44.
Sharon (31:33)
Alrighty, well,
highly recommend that people see the movie.
Christine Swanson, what a joy. This has been so much fun.
And I'm so grateful for the time we spent together.
Christine Swanson (31:45)
Thank you for having me.