I’ve been a part of the audience long enough to know that the power stories hold is dangerous. A single story has the ability to create an untrue or incomplete perception of a group of people. Stories can make you cry, laugh, and sometimes even anger you. Stories can teach you lessons or cause you to make the wrong decisions. In my project, I researched the underrepresentation of people of color within the film and entertainment industry. Whenever there happens to be a film or series about a family of color, their story is solely based off of assumptions. Mexicans are oftentimes portrayed as illegal while Black Americans seem to always reside in low income areas where there is heavy drug use. As much as I want to talk about how times are changing and films are focusing on much more, I continue to notice that the same story is shared just through different characters. These families and individuals seem to continuously go through the same struggle and meet the same outcome. In pursuing film and entertainment, my work will not only make the industry more inclusive to actors of color but to an audience of color who does not go through the same struggles they are associated with on the big screen. 

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I remember the exact day I first traveled to America because I watched my first survival film. It was obviously a low budgeted film that was nowhere near as entertaining to me as the “Lion King” or “The Jungle Book” at the time, yet it was what the bus on my way to Brownsville Texas had decided to showcase to its audience of dozens of Mexican immigrant passengers. The movie was about a group of immigrants crossing the border who were slowly killed off by a white man who refused to let them into “his” country. When the struggle of living in America as an immigrant is depicted, the focus tends to be fear and not strength. An immigrant’s sacrifices are not once the center of attention. The industry is focused on creating a story of loss rather than how loss leads to achievement. In my upbringing, I wish I had seen something on the big screen that didn’t further frighten me but instead encouraged me. I wanted a film that made me feel like I belonged, not a film that singled me out. The stories of several ethnicities seem to be told by those who’ve never experienced what they take credit for writing and filming about. My project aims to take back control of the false narrative that currently defines my people. The films I create will allow my audience, no matter the color or age, understand that one can’t change their past nor modify their present but instead write their own future despite what feels predestined. I will create films that refrain from negatively generalizing groups of people and instead help inspire people of color to break stereotypes.

Over the summer, I participated in a film course at the University of Houston on behalf of a program called WonderWorks. There I wrote and directed my first film titled “Absent Father: A Father's Day Shortfilm.” This film revolved around the idea that having an absent father doesn’t necessarily mean being raised by a single mother considering the man you call “Father” can be a stranger living in the place you call home. In my Senior year I began directing a music video for a track titled “Running” by Honey mustard, a duo made up of my two classmates Isaac and Ricardo. This song was about running away from a place you no longer felt like you belonged in. In both works I made sure to convey the idea that despite the circumstance, you continue to grow.