Producing and directing was not something Carly LeDay planned. She earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and entrepreneurship at LSU in 2019 and her master’s degree in business administration in 2023, setting her on a path she never expected.

In the past few years, LeDay has founded her own production company, Chateaux Rouge Cinema, and her work has been featured at film festivals like Cannes.

The filmmaker started out costuming for LSU short films, and not too much later, she used her talent for project management to become a producer. Filmmaking does not have a set way of learning, and for LeDay, the way she learned was by doing.

LeDay has worked on the artistic side of things, operated cameras and directed, but she said her favorite thing to do is help others produce and market their work.

“I was really good at just gathering people together, forming crews and asking for favors, and negotiating with locations,” said LeDay.

While working as a producer with the LSU film program, LeDay would ask a director what they wanted to accomplish. From there, she’d figure out how to achieve it.

Over the years, she has worked on LSU short films and produced the films of other LSU alumni. In 2023, the first short film to be produced by Chateaux Rouge was shown at LSU’s own Take Film Festival, winning Best Alumni Film.

Kelly Swift is a friend and collaborator of LeDay’s. Though she is the film programming director at Manship Theatre, Swift and LeDay met at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

“It was very serendipitous meeting her,” Swift said, “because how did I have to go all the way across the freaking globe to meet someone so cool who’s really transforming film in southern Louisiana?”

Getting to see LeDay’s and others’ work all the way in France inspired Swift to organize a Women In Film Celebration at Manship. After watching LeDay’s film “There Are Flowers Outside the Door” at the festival, Swift reached out to her and the two became friends.

“When I first watched [the film], I was left literally speechless because I felt like I could recognize some of the locations,” Swift said. “But just the way she got her actors to convey different emotions, I was so impressed with her.”

Swift believes that the culture and community found in Louisiana makes the film industry here that much more unique.

“Our movies are going to pop with that culture and it’s going to show,” said Swift. “The film community here is so tight knit,” said Swift.

LeDay searches out new projects to not only work on, but to uplift the voices and stories of other creatives, especially women and people of color.

“I think that is just so evident in the ways that you’ll see people supporting each other’s films,” Swift said. “People working on each other’s films and trying to uplift each other because we’ve got a small but growing film community.”

Currently, LeDay is working on different projects. Most interestingly, she is the associate producer for an upcoming horror short film called “Morning Shed,” which is a play on the TikTok trend. She is working in collaboration with the production company Femme Regard, a group focused on making horror films feminine.

The project started crowdfunding less than a month ago, and they are already 85% to their $12,000 goal.

“The concept of [“Morning Shed”] is this exploration of beauty and the pressure that women face,” said LeDay. “Kind of similar to ‘The Substance,’ but in a different way.”

Aside from just film, LeDay also works in marketing, strategy and ad creation. A few months ago, she produced a retro-style ad for a video store in Texas called We Luv Video. The ad was inspired by vintage aesthetics and featured a color palette reminiscent of something one might see in an old VHS store.

Cameron Gordon, LeDay’s director of photography on the project, talked about the process and their history of working together.

In the world of film, “things are honestly like easier than ever, but also harder than ever,” Gordon said, “because there is so much access to cameras and social media and just like putting your work out there.”

With the influx of creatives, people have to carve out space for themselves, create their own style and find their audience. LeDay is one of those people.

On Instagram, she documents what it is like to be a producer and the different projects she works on. LeDay also teaches other people how to produce and get into the business. Her social media presence has not only gotten her jobs and new clients, but attracted people who want to see her succeed.

LeDay recently partnered with the French Film Festival in New Orleans, working as a content creator and attending all of the events and film showings.

“[I] just reached out and I found common ground,” she said. “And that’s just something that I didn’t have to read in a book… If you actually like something, then go after it.”

For aspiring filmmakers hoping to break into the industry, LeDay said that consistency and motivation are incredibly important.

“External factors only last so long, and what I’ve found is if I don’t want to do something, I don’t want to do it,” LeDay said.

Like other filmmakers, the eventual goal for LeDay is to make it to the Oscars.

“I really want to be there and be nominated and hopefully win,” said LeDay, “but I know that I’m not going to get to where I want to be if I’m just lazy or if I’m not actively trying to reach out to people.”

That’s why she lives by creating connections. LeDay will go out and find the other artists she wants to work with.

“It’s always having the right people from your corner creatively, professionally, whether it’s mentors, your peers,” LeDay said. “You need to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you, that know more than you.”

Leading a successful production company and becoming a name in the Louisiana film scene doesn’t happen overnight. Still, LeDay has found success since getting her start at LSU by making connections and creating art that matters.

“Nothing happens on accident,” said LeDay, “The people that you meet, be thankful that you met them. I’m always thankful and grateful that I meet people, whether it was just for a little moment or for years.”