Haroula Rose is a filmmaker and performer from Chicago, now living in Los Angeles. In 2025, All Happy Families, her sophomore feature film as writer, director and producer, was released in theaters nationwide. The film was executive produced by Michael Shannon and stars Josh Radnor, Becky Ann Baker, Chandra Russell, Rob Huebel, John Ashton, David Pasquesi and Colleen Camp. Her debut feature as writer-director, Once Upon a River, an adaptation of the bestselling novel, won 19 awards at over 40 festivals worldwide. Haroula was selected to be part of Hello Sunshine’s short film series, for which she wrote and directed a romcom fable called Hound of Love. Other acclaimed short films and videos include As They Slept, Lost & Found, Wedding Dress, No Love Song and Baby Crazy. Rose received her BA and MA from the University of Chicago, and attended USC’s MFA program. As a producer she has worked on Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, David Sington’s The Fear of Thirteen, Heaven Adores You, Permanent and Saint Frances. Rose has released three LPs as well as remixes, singles and EP’s with Thirty Tigers and Tone Tree Music. Her latest collaboration is a group of compositions with Oliver Hill, released on Ba Da Bing Records in early 2025.
As we know, there is a whole category of holiday films revolving around the dysfunctional family, and the time of coming together wherein chaos ensues. But is your family more Krisha or the bookends of It’s a Wonderful Life? Is it A Christmas Story or The Family Stone? Pieces of April or Fanny And Alexander? Do you prefer to laugh at the lighthearted classics like Elf or The Muppet Christmas Carol or Home Alone, especially if there are kids around, or go for the depth in something like The Ice Storm or Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (which I absolutely loved)? I have so many problems with Love Actually, and yet when it’s there, I inevitably click on it or if it’s on somewhere I’ll sit and watch at least some of it and let myself get mad at how everyone ends up kinda alright, except for Emma Thompson and Laura Linney.
When I reflect on what drew me into music and theatre as a kid, it wasn’t necessarily about the singing or performing or staging, or solely the craftsmanship stuff per se. At its core, it was about hanging out after school and having leisurely time as well as focused time for play. Whether I was in the cast or part of the crew, it felt like we were making something special together. It made school feel more our own, spending those later hours or weekends there in that space, knowing it more intimately when the rest of the student body was absent, moving toward a common goal. I found people I could feel safe around, be spontaneous, have some laughs. I also began to share some things that I was coming to understand about myself.
As I got older, and being from Chicago, I took some improv classes at Second City and continued being involved in the creative community through working at Steppenwolf for a spell. I also worked at a casting office and a post house that focused on music and sound design, and also assisted a director at another theater company, all the while not fully knowing that I was headed toward becoming a director. These experiences and relationships were all tools being developed organically by instinct and curiosity. I was writing my own material but was not sure how to get it made, and each of these environments taught me so much about the process of making something. For a time I lived in Madrid, where I started filming and doing even more writing. I eventually landed at USC’s MFA program, where Ryan Coogler was my first friend, and his first questions to me were about family.
All Happy Families, my second feature film as a writer and director, came about in a similar manner. As we were filming Once Upon a River, my debut as writer-director, I had this feeling in working with one of my actors, Coby Goss, that it might be fun to write something with him someday. He played a character who would have been so easy to hate, yet he expertly gave him so much dimension, complexity and humanity, in just a few scenes. I had that instinct without knowing at all that he had experience as a writer in an earlier chapter of life and just hadn’t focused on it for a long time.
We set about exploring ideas, and thought, Let’s make something doable. Maybe it’s about brothers? We could explore that dynamic. Modern masculinity where one brother is an alpha and one is a beta. When the pandemic hit, there was ample time to really get a draft of something done together. It turned out we had complimentary skills too, especially at the outset, in terms of bigger picture character and structure stuff being my domain, and the nitty gritty dialogue stuff that made me crack up a lot, being Coby’s. As we progressed, it became clear that the story demanded that the mother character become more prominent, and that became a deeper focus.
Based on the script, we started to get the cast we wanted and brought on board a number of actors who were friends and/or past collaborators. Josh Radnor is a dear old friend of mine, and John Ashton was someone I loved working with on Once Upon a River. We wrote the part of Roy, the father, with John in mind, and had always hoped Becky Ann Baker would play the mother. When she initially had to pass due to some prior travel commitments, we were bereft. Thank goodness she reconsidered, because there is no one else who could have played Sue the way she did. When Michael Shannon read our script and got behind it, we were off to the races. And repeat financier support was also a blessing, having that rapport and trust, as well as some tenacious and wonderful producers. What is a film without its producers? It is a film that just doesn’t happen, is what it is.
I watch this reel of outtakes and it makes me very emotional, especially because we lost John Ashton just before our theatrical premiere. It was pretty sudden, and I still feel a big hole; I miss my friend and great teammate. I am going to write a whole other piece just on John, and the losses of this past year …how much I learned and appreciated him and those who have left us. But I digress, as this is a joyful piece.
I watch these bloopers and it makes me laugh. It makes my heart smile. It reminds me of why I ended up working as a filmmaker. I found a sense of self, a chosen family. We know every film is a miracle. Especially the independent films made based on love, since no one is getting a fat paycheck. So I pray that these projects continue to come to life. Things evolve organically, but I sure wish it was a quicker process sometimes. My third feature is proving to be a bit harder to get off the ground, come to think of it. But again, that is a story for another time!
I hope this makes your day, as it does mine, seeing people having a blast making this movie. It’s very meaningful to me to be able to share how much fun we had, and that the film lives on forever. You can watch it for free now, too, and I hope you do. It lands itself firmly in the dysfunctional family dramedy category, but it’s also more than that. See for yourself – it’s kinda a perfect one to watch over the holidays!
Lastly, in reflecting on this past year, releasing this film in theaters nationwide and now streaming everywhere, I think I need to make more comedies. Happy holidays, comrades!
Featured image shows Rob Heubel and Josh Radnor in All Happy Families.
