On November 16, the Latino Committee meeting was preceded by a conversation with Director Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell, The Purge). In a conversation moderated by Director Alejandro Brugues (The Inheritance, 50 States of Fright), Guerrero discussed her career in the horror genre.
She recalled how a childhood prank of crashing her older sister’s movie date resulted in a life-altering experience when she saw Alfonso Cuarón’s feature, Children of Men.
“I'd never seen anything like that. This movie made me feel angry seeing something so close to humanity and where our world can go. I loved the shots and I remember screaming out loud ‘It hasn't cut yet!’ I'll never forget this. The movie ends and my sister’s really pissed off at me, but the guy she went on a date with was a film student. He comes up to me and says, ‘I'm learning how to make movies like this in school. You learn about movies in film school. This Director, did you know he’s Mexican? You should check out his other two amigos, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Iñárritu.' I remember thinking, ‘A Mexican make this English-speaking movie!?’ I saw how somebody like me could make that and when I got home I was like, ‘Mom, Dad I'm going to film school!”
Guerrero started her career with several genre short films including El Gigante, Luchagore Christmas and Evil Dead in 60 Seconds. In 2014, she participated in the horror anthology, Barbarous Mexico, with its Día de los Muertos segment. Her other directorial credits include the Welcome to the Blumhouse movie for television Bingo Hell and episodes of The Purge and Into the Dark: Culture Shock. Her series with Warner Bros./Stage 13, La Quinceañera, won the Golden Skull International Audience Choice Award at the 2017 Morbido Fest. Guerrero has been a DGA member since 2019.
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.
See video from this event in the gallery below.