She always had an idea that she was destined to be a filmmaker, to dedicate her life to art. (Photo Marissa Díaz)
She comes from the land of Selena, though she’s not into music. But not Selena Gomez, but the iconic Selena Quintanilla.
Marissa Díaz was born in San Antonio, Texas, a land with a very unique identity within Mexican-American culture in the country.
“When people meet me in other cities across the country, like New York or Los Angeles, their first reaction is to ask me if I live on a ranch, as if they were also checking to see if I wear Texan boots,” Marissa laughs.
With a very assertive voice, confident in her steps and what she wants to do within the world of cinema, she speaks quickly, as if those ideas crafted in her mind were colliding with her mouth, as if they were traveling at hundreds of miles per hour, but always consistent.
“Yes, Texas is very particular, and being Mexican-American in Texas is very different from being so in other parts of the country. I don’t see it as a bad thing, we arouse curiosity, they look for a particular accent that I lack,” she says.
“We live in the city of dreams, right?” she says excitedly. “I always fall asleep thinking about what I have to do, I’m someone who lives a lot in the present”. (Photo Marissa Díaz)
Marissa has been named one of the three finalists in the McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado contest, from which the winner will be announced on February 11th. She has already received a $75,000 grant to write and direct FANCY FLOREZ’S SUMMER STAYCATION, which she will do soon. The Spotlight Dorado short film finalists are being mentored by an exciting roster of Latino filmmakers, artists, actors – above all – game-changing storytellers.
“It’s been a huge honor to be a part of the program that McDonald’s USA has set up for us so far. I’m so excited to be a part of it, especially as a Latina filmmaker,” Marissa told Script magazine.
She always had an idea that she was destined to be a filmmaker, to dedicate her life to art.
“My family is very talented. My older brother is a very talented artist, as is my dad. My mom is excellent with crafts,” she says.
Marissa Diaz Mexican-American culture has always been a part of her life.
“I never realized I was different, in terms of my race. I read a lot, I wrote. Sandra Cisneros’ novel, The House on Mango Street, had an impact on my life. Reading about a girl who was looking for a space for her life, who wandered from one neighborhood to another, really caught my attention,” she adds.
Against her family’s tradition and the majority of Mexican-Americans, Marissa always thought about migrating, not staying in San Antonio, she wanted to seek different spaces for her art, her ideas, her stories.
Since middle school, she attended a magnet school where she learned the basics of video, production, theater, and video productions.
“There I told myself I was talented, it came naturally to me. Already in high school, I worked as an assistant on a production where I actually made money. It seemed like a lot to me and I thought, ‘mmmhh, and I can also make good money,'” she says, laughing.
Her family always supported her. They didn’t question her, they didn’t think if she had made a good decision.
“I was the black sheep,” she adds, laughing again. “Since I was a child, they started to instill in me all those stories that now mark my career and my projects,” she adds.
One of her desires has always been to develop projects that reflect the stories lived by Latinos in different parts of the country and are not shown, not told.
“There are so many things happening in our community in different parts of the country that need to be told. In New York with Puerto Ricans, Mexicans in Los Angeles, and so on in other cities,” she says.
“I am third generation, our generations have many stories that are not known, I want to explore them, tell them, spread them,” she adds.
Marissa is working on numerous projects, making commercials, projects to seek financing, writing her first feature film, and many more.
“There’s so much room to grow. I’m very grateful. I keep dreaming, like I did as a child. I have so many things I want to do and achieve, projects that may have the opportunity to be successful in 10 or 15 years,” she adds.
She sees a movement of young Latinas seeking their place in the film industry.
“It’s like they’re saying, ‘here they come’,” and she smiles. “Here come the Latinas. I think there are many opportunities. We have the commitment to seek those opportunities, the fellowships, but we have to work very hard to obtain that help.”
Marissa has always been passionate about Indie Films. She thinks it’s her niche. She hopes for the opportunity to develop her projects in this industry.
“It’s like I’m doing my own production with the theme of Lady Bird,” she says. “To seek to tell my story, present it to the viewers.”
For now, Marissa Díaz resides in Los Angeles, a place that motivates her to keep dreaming.
“We live in the city of dreams, right?” she says excitedly. “I always fall asleep thinking about what I have to do, I’m someone who lives a lot in the present, the immediate. If I have to do something, I focus on that,” she concludes.
INFO BOX
The project of the three filmmaker finalists in the McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado can be seen here: https://spotlightdorado.com/vote/
About Marissa Díaz
Marissa Díaz is a Tejana writer, director, and producer. Most recently, Marissa was named a McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado finalist, and received a $75,000 grant to write and direct FANCY FLOREZ’S SUMMER STAYCATION. Before that, Marissa wrote and produced the feature documentary, ORGASM INC: THE STORY OF ONETASTE (Netflix.) She worked on hit series GIRLS (HBO), produced queer teen series GENERATION (HBOMax), and wrote WELCOME TO THE BLUMHOUSE LIVE (Amazon Studios). Previously, she worked at Lena Dunham’s Good Thing Going, Fox Searchlight, MGM Studios, Bravo TV, Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, and The Weinstein Company. Marissa’s half-hour comedy COCHINAS was selected for The Black List + Netflix’s Latinx List, an industry-curated list that highlights 10 exemplary film and television screenplays from talented Latinx storytellers. Her work has been supported by a number of industry fellowships including the Sundance Episodic Lab, Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise, the Producers Guild of America’s Create Lab, and Film Independent’s Episodic Lab and their CNN Original Series Docuseries Intensive. Marissa holds a BFA in Film & TV Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded the Stark Special Production Grant for writing and directing.
(Taken from https://www.diazdemuertos.com/about)
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