On July 10, The DGA Latino Committee hosted a conversation with Actress/Director America Ferrera (Superstore), who discussed remaining true to her journey and how she curated her career through the directorial lens.
Following a welcome by Latino Committee Co-Chairs Regina Ainsworth, Edward Ornelas and Alicia Zaragoza, Ferrera gave her thoughts on the state of Latinos in the industry, and shared her perspective on hiring practices and her experiences working with Directors and the Director’s team during an intimate virtual conversation moderated by Director Javier Soto (The Strain).
Asked about her motivations to become one of the few Latina Directors in the industry, Ferrera said, “To me it was looking at myself and saying, ‘With my access, how am I using this power? Am I just recreating the same power structures that I learned or am I actually trying to change it for people who have never been given true authority and power to tell their stories?’ I think it begins with interrogating ourselves and how we use our power when we have it. I love directing. And I love it most when I feel like I have something to bring to it. For me, it’s not that I am the best Director to tell this story, it’s that I know I can tell this story and I know that I lived this story.”
In addition to her work in front of and behind the camera on NBC’s Superstore, Ferrera’s directorial credits also include episodes of Netflix’s Gentefied, and is making her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.
Ferrera joined the DGA in 2017.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Latino Committee was created as a networking group to advance career and job opportunities for Latino DGA members by improving craft skills, networking, and making Latinos better known to the Hollywood creative community. The current LC Co-Chairs are Directors Regina Ainsworth and Edward Ornelas and Second Assistant Director Alicia Zaragoza.
See video from this event in the gallery below.