The industry has changed a lot in recent years, and women directors are in high demand, which means there are women producers who are looking for more women-focused projects. That’s a great thing. However, it’s also true that it can still be hard to find producers who are looking for African American or Puerto Rican or Latino projects. As a result, you can find yourself feeling like you have a great universal story that’s being held up because it’s not a white story—it’s not told with white characters.
At that point, you may have to figure out how to get the project done on your own, and that’s difficult. It’s easy to feel rejected. Of course, to some extent, that’s the nature of the business, as every writer, actor, and producer knows. But when you see projects that are similar to yours get produced and you think yours could have done just as well, it’s easy to become discouraged. I try to see that rejection as an opportunity—a chance to grow and take matters into my own hands as a writer. I don’t have an agent and haven’t in ten years, and I’ve still managed to accomplished a lot. I’m really proud of that.
At the same time, though, I feel like Hollywood is not looking for my story. I go to symposia and contentions where advertisers say they’re looking for more shows to appeal to Latino and African American markets, but then when I look at television and film, I see very, very few Latino and African American projects. I’ve tried to turn that disconnect into an opportunity by going directly to advertisers to pitch projects. I tell them I’ve got a fantastic Latino animation and that it’s such an unreached market there’s no way for it not to be successful. I take the fact that they label me a minority and turn it into a positive. There are people out there willing and waiting to see what I have in my head and my heart.