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

Kristen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into screenwriting through a friend of mine, which led me to various mentors who inspired me further with screenwriting. I have written several scripts now, including two feature films, one being a Native American Christmas movie which I hope to get made someday soon.

Something I am most proud of is how I honor my people and our culture with my work. I want to show we are still here today, we aren’t a people of the past. We are our ancestors wildest dreams come true. I hope to inspire the youth of our community that no matter if you’re urban, from the rez, wherever you are, you can chase your dreams and we will be there to guide you and help however we can.

We can create our own cinema and tell our own stories, we just have to work together and lift each other up.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is telling stories from my own perspective. Growing up, most scenes with Native characters are usually not only written by a Native, but typically not portrayed by them. For myself and other Native creatives, we are bringing ourselves and our history and story into the mix, which can bring more authenticity to our roles and our communities. We can give it a positive spin, because we don’t always want to be show in trauma, we want to show our Native joy as well. Only we can truly tell our own stories and seeing that beginning to happen is so rewarding.

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

A lesson I truly needed to unlearn is to second guessing. I came from a career where you almost always needed approval for things, and though you may need approval to get the work greenlit, you don’t need it to write your scripts. I am writing for MYSELF and don’t have to check with anyone to see if it’s good, which is so freeing. I can just get it out of my system, tell the story, then go from there. If I want to make it myself, I can. I don’t have to always depend on someone else to approve my work for me, I now believe in myself so much more.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kristencalderon42
• Youtube: KristenCalderon42

Image Credits
LA Skins Fest