Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emilia Mendieta Córdova. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Emilia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
About a year and a half ago I was tagged in a Facebook post that was looking for a Director of Photography for a short film and I reached out. When I read the script written by Erika Navarro, the director, I knew I just had to shoot this project. DIVINE MOTHER struck a chord that resonated deep within and echoed the recent experiences a few of my close friends had just gone through – whispered to me in hushed tones, almost ashamed to even admit it. Miscarriage or pregnancy loss, although fairly common, is rarely ever talked about and thus those who have to go through it often experience this traumatic event alone and sometimes even feel shame about going through it at all. DIVINE MOTHER really attacked this experience with tenderness and tact without turning away from its darker, more traumatic moments. It paints a holistic picture of both the physical and emotional process of losing a pregnancy. To me, DIVINE MOTHER was an opportunity to capture a unique story that gave voice to the experiences of all the women I’ve known that have gone through pregnancy loss. I was absolutely thrilled that Erika brought me on board to be the Director of Photography on the short and really worked hard to bring the same tactfulness and richness to our images that the script brought to the subject matter and the story. I was really fortunate to surround myself with collaborators that really believed in and connected with the story as well, including my amazing crew and our vendors who supported us (BECiNE and Zeiss).
DIVINE MOTHER is currently doing the festival rounds – having premiered earlier this summer at LA Shorts. To catch a showing at a festival near you, follow the film on Instagram at @divinemotherfilm.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hailing from Wichita, Kansas by the way of Quito, Ecuador, I’m an Ecuadorian-American Cinematographer with a passion for bold visual storytelling. While I was always dead-set on becoming a filmmaker, I didn’t decide to become a Director of Photography until a tea company I was working for in my early twenties as their in-house videographer sent me to the Ecuadorian Amazon to grab footage of their operations with the tea farmers there. As I was hiking through the Amazon Rainforest, I felt woefully ignorant about how to capture the beauty I was surrounded by. I then realized that my true passion in filmmaking was helping craft the image and the visual language rather than directing. When I got back to New York, I applied to the cinematography program at AFI (American Film Institute Conservatory). Upon acceptance, I left NYC for LA and have been actively working as a DP ever since. Prior to going to AFI, I got an undergraduate degree in Film Studies and Chinese Studies from Vassar College and worked as an Assistant Director in commercials in Ecuador.
I’m a two-time Women in Media Altitude Awards for excellence in camera and lighting semi-finalist for 2022 and 2023 and was selected for the 2023-2024 ASC Vision Mentorship Program. I’ve has lensed award-winning films that have screened at the LA Shorts, LAIFF, Portland Film Festival, Golden State Film Festival, Cannes World Film Festival, Cinequest, and the CineGear Film Series. And my notable collaborations include Mark S. Allen’s feature directing debut AMY’S F-IT LIST and over 13 award-winning music video collaborations with Charley Young. I’ve also produced, directed, and shot a short-form food show and PROMAX-nominated promos for ABC10 (KXTV).
Additionally, I have also worked as an educator – teaching cinematography or guest lecturing at the AFI Conservatory, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Universidad de las Américas, University of New Orleans and California State University Northridge. I previously worked at the AFI Conservatory where I helped run the 35mm Visual Essay Program and the Cinematography Intensive for Women Program.
While I work primarily as a Cinematographer, I’m also a member of the Ecuador-based El Viaje Films Collective and am currently one of the hosts and lead producer of The ICF⁺C’s Podcast.
I’m multilingual (fluent in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese), a classically-trained cellist, amateur Astrophotographer, culinary arts enthusiast, and a massive Star Wars fan. I’m also a Part 107 FAA Certified Drone pilot.
I’m an active member of the ICF⁺C (International Collective of Female⁺ Cinematographers), the Chicana Directors Initiative, Women in Film, Women In Media, and NALIP. You can also find me on Free The Work.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
There’s been many! But there are two main pivot points that have had a significant impact on my journey and they unwittingly both involve taking a more “normal” 9-5 job that was still linked to my field:
1) About a year and a half after graduating college, I took a job as a Graphic Designer and Videographer for a start-up tea company. I was the fifth person they hired. It was an interesting experience in that I took the job to be able to support myself as I worked on becoming a film director but my experience there actually ended up shifting my path to becoming a cinematographer. This was also in the early days of social media (2012-2013) so there was a lot of experimenting going on about how we can create content and what content to create. It gave me a different perspective on how stories could be told. But also it was that fateful trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon that I mentioned in an earlier answer that really shifted my career path. I don’t think I realized that I actually really wanted to be a Director of Photography prior to that and so this “pivot” of taking on this particular job helped me get on the path I actually wanted to be on.
2) In mid-2019 I once again took a more conventional 9-5 job, this time out of financial necessity. I relocated up to Sacramento from Los Angeles by myself to work as a Lead Cinematographer and Creative Producer for the marketing/creative department at KXTV/ABC10. I was really torn by having to make this decision because even though intellectually I knew it was just a lateral move from what I had envisioned my career being, it felt like I was giving up on it (at least partially). It ended up being a giant blessing in disguise. I was able to put my cinematography skills to the test as I was consistently asked to think outside the box to find lighting and camera solutions on the fly. It also really improved my storytelling skills and my ability to work fast and efficiently on set. Additionally, I really met some wonderful people at that job that are passionate, dedicated creatives. One of them ended up being Mark S. Allen, their emmy-winning morning TV & Film anchor, who brought me on to be the Director of Photography on his directorial debut feature AMY’S F-IT LIST. Also, I can’t express how lucky I felt to have been gainfully employed with health insurance during the pandemic. A lot of my friends and colleagues were definitely not as fortunate, so I count my lucky stars on that too. I quit my job at KXTV mid-summer 2022 and returned to LA with a lot more momentum and experience than when I left – something that has allowed me to grow my career in the past year and a half. KXTV ended up being a shortcut in my career instead of a dreaded detour. It really gave me an appreciation for looking at pivots as opportunities.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Most people don’t see a lot of creative jobs as being “real” jobs which really bugs me. A lot of people just see the end product and because they enjoy it, they rarely care to see how the sausage is made (so to speak) and just assume it is easy to make.
I think a lot of people just see the glitz and glamour of the job or the “fun” part and rarely see how much work and struggle and luck being a creative involves. People just see us as pointing cameras at actors and having fun – and hey, I love my job, it IS fun. But what they’re not seeing is the fact that we’re pulling 12-hour days at a minimum, sometimes working odd hours (like splits, night shoots, or fraturdays), the amount of prep work and post work that goes into a project that at least in the indie world often goes uncompensated, and the emotional toll that telling stories and being in an intense environment has.
There’s also the fact that we rarely acknowledge that “making it” in Hollywood is rarely a true overnight success or that it doesn’t involve having a support system of some sort. Gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background often play a significant part on how hard it can be to climb the ladder as a creative in the industry. And it often does come at the cost of work-life balance – which is something a lot of creatives really struggle with. Also, unlike in a more traditional job, the industry has no real structured path one can follow to succeed – each of our paths is unique and that can feel really disconcerting.
Understanding that being a working creative is a true job with challenges is sometimes hard – and in my experience most people outside the industry don’t really get it until they step onto a set and really see the behemoth that is running and managing a film shoot.
It’s one of the harder parts about having a career as a creative – really dealing with that lack of respect for your job and being told that it “isn’t a real job” or to “go get a real job” if you’re struggling in your career. Our jobs are real jobs – you wouldn’t have your favorite TV show to binge if we weren’t on set making it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.emiliamendieta.com
- Instagram: @emi_mendieta
Image Credits
Photos by: Ino Yang Popper Laura Hunter Drago