Either because of lack of resources or budget or both. It definitely was not easy making any of my films. Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community? So, I guess a creative career was the only way I can make sense of the world, understand it, explore it, educate, and as a form of release. I had some great professors who mentored me, as well as my classmates who would become my collaborators even now on current projects. I began to use film and screenwriting to deal with social issues, or just things I felt needed to be addressed, something which needed to be told to an audience, to educate, to start conversations, to build empathy… all of those things.įast forward years later, I began to hone in on my directing and screenwriting skills by attending Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film for my M.F.A. I began to understand issues of inequality, that socially not all of us were equal, things were unfairly askew. I also had a lot of angst about my surroundings (as well as my upbringing), about society, personal experiences which I needed to purge into the form of film ideas. Why didn’t I think of this before?! (Haha) Because I saw an outlet in film and visual storytelling for all of my creative ideas: “Of course my stories I created were meant to be films,” I told myself. I also dabbled in video production along with filmmaking, which is where something sparked in me that said “This is what you want to do!”.

Once I started college at Cal State, Long Beach, I explored more literature as well as creative writing, I began to find my voice I suppose. A guiding theme I would hold onto going forth. It is almost like if you grew up poor in certain areas you were too busy surviving to really think of greater possibilities in yourself. I loved films as a kid, but it never occurred to me that what I was doing in my mind was essentially creating visual stories. Maybe it was my upbringing, maybe it was being an immigrant from Mexico (I came when I was 5) or the type of social environment I grew up in, but the idea of becoming a filmmaker was not even in the realm of possibility. I always imagined these intricate story ideas in my head, from the characters to the music, and visuals but never, ever did I think these were the beginnings of a filmmaker or that these were potentially film ideas. That interest in cool stories and characters then evolved as I grew older into other forms of literature and art. I would come up with comic book ideas and characters.

I grew up as an extremely imaginative kid, reading comic books, watching whatever movies were on TV. Hi Iz, why did you decide to pursue a creative path? We had the good fortune of connecting with Iz Gutierrez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Rio grande film screenwriter