Marie-Louise Boisnier starred as Maya in “You’re So Shy.” Director – Writer of the film Ember Autumn Skye is a filmmaker born and raised in upstate New York. Recipient of a UPWIFT scholarship in 2016, Ember was able to pursue a degree in Digital Media at HVCC and continued school at SUNY Purchase in 2020 for a degree in cinema studies and film. Her work commonly expresses coming-of-age and human rights themes, evident in her short film, “You’re So Shy.” The Short Film wrapped summer of 2022 in Upstate NYC Troy, with an anticipated entry into the festival circuit of 2023 after a Private viewing Premiere in February with only the cast members. 

The story highlights navigating trauma, community, healing, and the importance of finding your voice and advocating for yourself. The film follows a group of girls during their cheer practice. REYNA, played by Sage Nicole, is a high school girl who struggles to come to terms with a recent traumatic experience, specifically a sexual assault. While dealing with this internal conflict, she uses cheer practice to process the violation and take the first steps toward healing. Marie-Louise stars as MAYA, a high school cheerleader. Maya, Reyna’s best friend, notices her behavior during cheer practice. 

Ember Autumn Skye decided to make this film because she was ready to turn her struggle and trauma into something that could make a difference. Sexual assault is not an unknown topic, but it is something that people want to ignore. Ember always felt passionate about women’s rights, human rights and the themes of coming of age, and this topic of conversation fits all too well within that realm. That is the problem; rape and sexual assault should not be included in a woman’s coming-of-age story. “Unfortunately, it has been in so many lives. It truly concerns me that so many can relate to this,” Ember says.

The Cast was all female, and Ember quotes, “Casting was a lot of fun because I had the opportunity to work with my younger sister. We talked about the project a lot; we had a lot of conversations about the characters and what was going on for them personally. Sage Nicole (Reyna) is passionate about women’s rights and advocating for these issues, so it was great to work with someone close to get the deeper meaning below the surface,” says Ember. “After watching what felt like hundreds of tapes, I knew Marie-Louise instantly captured the perfect energy for the role of MAYA. Marie-Louise’s talent came across immediately; her original tape reflected exactly what I was looking for in character Maya. As well as her array of skill sets and experience in Musical theater and Dance meant she was able to perform the choreography that this film would involve. She brought this bubbly character to life and made it seem effortless for the two characters Reyna and Maya to work off each other, especially when dealing with these topics,’ says Ember. 

The film was emotionally and physically demanding, and only a handheld few were chosen to be cast as most of them needed to have dance, cheer or acrobatic experience. The first day on set was purely focused on the choreography and learning all the cheer practice and routines, which involved tumbling, cradle throws, and basket tosses, all taught to the Cast by professional cheer captains. Performing strenuous stunts and acrobatic tricks. 

Marie-Louise Boisner is destined to be on the big screen. She has since starred in the Short film LEAD ROLE in “The Christmas Cabin” as DONNA, which is set to be released this summer and is currently in post-production. She is currently filming her LEAD role as MICHELLE in the short film Max Payne: Perdition, which is being filmed in New York. 

More information at www.marie-louiseboisnier.com and to follow more on ‘You’re So Shy’ follow Instagram www.instagram.com/yourresoshy_shortfilm