From Eden to the big screen
- Amelia Nitsche
- Mar 24
- 7 min read
Filmmaker Sarah T. Schwab carves niche as writer, producer, director
Surrounded by cornfields and dairy farms, the small town of Eden, New York might seem an unlikely starting point for a successful New York City playwright and filmmaker. But for Sarah T. Schwab, the rural landscape of her childhood proved fertile ground for cultivating her storytelling skills.
Schwab, 39, is the writer and director for the multi-award-winning short film A My Name Is and three feature films: Life After You, Crybaby Bridge, and A Stage of Twilight — which had its local premier at The North Park Theatre last spring. She splits time living in Manhattan and the Pocono Mountains.
“Our goal is to tell great stories that resonate with people,” Schwab said. “You can look in a person's eyes at how something you created impacted them in a good way, in a way that they feel some sort of catharsis. That’s when you know you’ve done your job.”
Life After You was Schwab's first feature film. Before she began, she felt like she didn’t know what she was doing. However, Schwab “dove into the deep end of the pool” telling herself, “you’re going to do this.”
The movie was based on the book Life After You: What Your Death from Drugs Leaves Behind by Linda Lajterman, a New Jersey mother who lost her 19-year-old son, Danny, to a fentanyl overdose.
After reading the book, Schwab and her co-writer Florencia Lozano chose to tell this story on film. They acknowledged that other movies have been made to highlight an addict’s journey, but Schwab and Lozano wanted to illustrate what it was like for loved ones who have lost somebody to addiction. The writers collaborated with Lajterman.
Following the film's release, Schwab’s team and the Lajterman family attended numerous screenings, engaging in discussions with viewers about the story. It is not unusual to hold talkbacks with an audience to gauge their reactions, Schwab said. For a writer and filmmaker, this process is important.
Everyone wanted to hear firsthand accounts of the film's impact. One particularly poignant story involved a woman who had lost her fiancé to a fentanyl overdose.
"She couldn't leave her house for seven months," Schwab recalled. "After seeing our film, she told me it showed her she wasn't alone."
Schwab's work has connected individuals grappling with addiction-related loss, offering a sense of shared experience and community. The filmmaker emphasized the importance of these connections, believing that they often transcend the immediate impact of the film itself.
Early Years in Eden
Schwab credits her upbringing in Western New York for shaping her artistic vision and work ethic.
"Growing up as an only child on 10 acres of forested land with corn fields, I had a lot of alone time," Schwab recalled. "I'd go out into the woods and make up stories in my head and play alone. That's when the story element and interest in storytelling took root."
This solitude, rather than being isolated, became the root of creativity for the young Schwab. As she grew, she found herself constantly writing short stories and sharing them with her parents. Her mother, Laurie T. Schwab, a writer for The Buffalo News, encouraged this budding talent by allowing Schwab unrestricted access to books.
"She was very open to me being open-minded," Schwab said.
But it wasn't just the physical landscape that influenced Schwab. The character of Buffalo and its people left a mark on her work and worldview.
"Buffalo is full of very good people, people who help lift each other up," Schwab explained. She fondly remembers that her late father, Gerard T. Schwab, a welder and carpenter, was beloved for his generosity and skill.
"He was a giver for the community, welding equipment for the dairy farms, going to the local church to help build a gazebo or fix a roof," she said. "The people I met in that community have always been very kind. There was always lots of talking and homemade dinners."
Schwab also explored beyond Western New York. Frequent childhood trips to France, where her father's side of the family lived, sparked a curiosity about different cultures and ways of life.
"Seeing France and Germany and talking different languages from a very young age made me so curious," she said. "Not that I wanted to turn my back on Buffalo, but I wanted to know more about human beings overall — how they live, what they think, and why they think that way."
After graduating from SUNY Fredonia, Schwab landed in New York City, where she found her niche in the theater world.
Schwab was involved in high school and college theater, participating in “The Vagina Monologues” every year. When she arrived in New York City, she submerged herself in theater, “seeing as much as I could afford,” Schwab said.
Cardinal Flix, Inc.
When Schwab met Brian Long, her current producing partner, in 2012, he was the Managing Director of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. He had read previous works of hers and invited her to Rattlestick.
“She fell in love with it,” Long said. “It was fortuitous because she is very talented and led us to the film world within five years.”
Schwab and Long are currently partners at Cardinal Flix, Inc. (CFI), an independent film production company focused on producing high-quality films with budgets under $2.5 million, according to the company's LinkedIn account.
Schwab committed to creating great art and worked relentlessly to pursue success.
“I am not going to put everything on hope, I am going to do it, figure it out, research, and teach myself how to make it happen,” Schwab said. “One of the challenges is finding the money and finding people who are going to believe in you.”
She hopes her dedication will help other people along the way – adding “that is the Buffalo way.”
Despite earning a degree in finance, Long wanted to be involved with the arts. He hoped to find a blend between the two. Schwab’s partnership provided that opportunity.
“Sarah is extraordinarily talented as a writer,” Long said. “That was clear to me since the very beginning. The talent was there, and she just needed an opportunity to be able to express it."
Long also believes that Schwab is “a superhuman being.”
“She has a great core, great values, and a great sense of collaboration and community,” he said. “Those are all things that were important with me when you look for a collaborator on projects.”
Long isn’t the only person who sings Schwab’s praises.
“She continually impresses me with her work ethic and her deep commitment to her own projects and ideas,” said Jeanette McVicker, a former professor and mentor of Schwab’s from Fredonia.
‘You can take the girl out of Buffalo…'
Schwab's creative process often brings her full circle, back to her childhood home in Eden. She visits Western New York often to celebrate holidays and birthdays of family and friends.
"When I’m home, I have a flash of memory of being a little kid," she said. "It's like, this is what I know."
These visits tend to stimulate her creativity.
"I'm always writing something at that point," Schwab noted, describing how she spreads index cards across a table, just as she did in her youth. "It brings me back to that innocent place of when I was a child, and that helps open me up to the story."
Schwab carries the lessons and influences of her Buffalo upbringing. The city's sense of community, its hardworking ethos, and the natural beauty of Western New York continue to shape her storytelling, proving that you can take the girl out of Buffalo, but you can't take Buffalo out of the girl.
Schwab's relationship with her hometown, however, is complex. While she loves Buffalo and considers herself a "Buffalonian," she admits to feeling different from many people there. That is part of what led her into theater and film.
“Sarah understood that ‘being out of place’ wasn't a negative thing; it's what one needs to do to gain the courage to articulate one's voice,” said McVicker, her college professor.
"Because I think out of the box, there were people that didn't believe in me, or judged me, or I didn't fit in necessarily," Schwab reflected.
Rather than discouraging her, however, this skepticism fueled her ambition.
"Anytime somebody didn't feel like I could accomplish what I wanted, it made me feel more driven and motivated to prove that I could do the thing I wanted to do.”
text © 2025 by Amelia Nitsche
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Hamburg native Amelia Nitsche is a senior at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, working towards a degree in communications with dual concentrations in multi-media journalism and public relations with a minor in political science. Amelia intends to write, learn, and explore the world. She is a proud member of the Slippery Rock University’s women's lacrosse team. Her hobbies include gardening, exercising, and reading.
Steve Desmond is an award-winning photographer. With his son, Francis, he is the author of A Life With A Purpose which raises money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. To view more of Steve's work, search Facebook under "Steve Desmond" and "Desmond's PrimeFocus Photography," or on Instagram at "Stevedesmond9."
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