We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monica Matute a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Monica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Growing up, I never saw characters like myself, or my family, on screen. My most recent short film, “Working From Home” is the the most meaningful project I’ve worked on yet because it’s the first project where I really 1000% honed in on a story that highlights my culture and people like me.

My upbringing in the US as a Latina was interesting; my parents raised me with a lot of the same traditional morals their parents did, but there were many times we all, as a family, collectively adjusted to what was seen as more traditional here in the US. “Working From Home” is a dramedy about a young Latina woman who, on Thanksgiving night, confesses to her family that her work revolves around posting sexy finance advice videos online. Any conversation having to do with the world of “sex” was very taboo in my family growing up, I loved the idea of seeing this extremely awkward, but bold, conversation happen at an event as high stakes as Thanksgiving, which in Latin families is seen as a family oriented, important, “you’re-not-getting-out-of-spending-this-night-with-us” holiday.

I wanted a story where our lead was a successful, sexy, confident woman whose work revolved around her owning both her sexuality and her intelligence, but from the Latin perspective- especially because most Latin parents would flip. I wanted to see a character inspired off my mom and other Latin moms; opinionated, loud, religious, funny. Characters like my dad; goes with the flow, tough on the daughters boyfriends, does what the mom says, etc. I feel really proud about the doors and conversations this project is opening for the Latin community, and hope it makes the “awkward” topics and conversations a little lighter and less serious. This project was also meaningful to me because our entire cast came from Latin backgrounds and all felt they related to their characters effortlessly.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a filmmaker that is passionate about telling stories real and raw stories that highlight the good, the bad, and everything in-between of the human experience. I focus on writing and directing for both commercial and film work.

When I was five, I would sneak off with my parents point and shoot camera and stay up for hours filming myself and editing. I loved pretending I was London Tipton and filming my own version of the “Yay Me” show- to this day I still have the home videos. I tried many hobbies growing up and became a competitive cheerleader for 8 years, even then, I would film myself on my trampoline or practices and go to bed at 5-6AM editing the videos.

I took a video production class my freshman year of high school; there was a performing arts program for film production at my high school you had to audition for in order to be accepted. I didn’t think to audition or “care much” about being in a performing arts program at the time. The following year, I see that I’m in a film class part of the performing arts program- my video production teacher had gone and put me on the roster himself, I’m not sure what my life would have turned out like if he didn’t. At 16, I made my first short film and it premiered at an AMC movie theater in the heart of Times Square at the All American Highschool Film Festival. The film won “Best Comedy” and was nominated for “Best Overall Film.” This festival lit a fire inside me, the second I heard a packed auditorium and audience laughing and enjoying my work, I wanted more. I’ve been making short films ever since.

When COVID hit, my school went remote and I went back home to Miami, Florida. I wanted to do whatever I could to stay creative and decided to book freelance sessions; I was filming weddings, working with local sports teams, booking photoshoots for lifestyle sessions, couple sessions, maternity sessions. I was becoming booked 4-5 months ahead of time. In Spring 2021, I took a big leap and decided to stop taking online classes when I received an amazing opportunity to work on the commercial production team at Bang Energy as a Videographer. Three months into the job, I was directing and leading creative on my first professional spot in their first collaborative flavor launch with 7-Eleven for the drink “Swirly Pop.” This job was a major opportunity for me and I learned so much from everyone I worked with and every project we had.

I’m extremely proud of all the work I’ve put into my career since a really young age. My hard work has always paid off and continues to pay off. As a kid, I used to try and hide my culture and background because I wanted to live a more “American” lifestyle- now, I use it as my superpower. I love pulling from my upbringing in the stories I tell and love considering how the stories I bring to life will affect both American and Latin culture.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love that I have the ability to give viewers both an experience and an escape. Filmmaking feels like time traveling or traveling through different dimensions, you get a look into characters that somebody created and curated, you get to know their backgrounds, for a couple minutes or hours, you feel what they feel. The possibilities for the stories you can tell and bring to life are endless, and that is so exciting to me. On a different, random note, something else that is extremely rewarding as a filmmaker is being able to make heart that can help spark new, important conversations.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As an artist or creative, I think we sometimes try to please everyone with the art we make that we blindly sacrifice our creative energy along the way. We’re scared of being told something isn’t good or enjoyable, especially when it comes from such a personal place. To this day, I’m still trying to unlearn this. I am constantly trying to check in with myself in every stage of production to make sure I’m happy with the art I’m creating. Embracing vulnerability is awesome and a powerful tool, so if I’m going to be investing so much from my personal life, emotions, and experiences, why wouldn’t I want to make sure I* am happy with the work I’m creating? It’s hard to not only learn this but be conscious about it when creating, especially in an industry like filmmaking where things like money, reviews, and awards speak so loudly on the success of a project.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.monicamatute.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicamatutefilms/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicamatute/

Image Credits
Images by Katrin Baum and Clifton Carter