We recently connected with Marisa Martinez Marquez and have shared our conversation below.

Marisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2019 I attended MetFilm School in London at thirty-eight. I shifted everything in my life – new city and a new career I was unsure about what exactly I wanted to do. It was a 6 month course that culminated in writing and filming a short film. Because I was also acting in this little two hander rom-com about a one-night stand with a younger man, I wanted to make sure I found the right human to play the part of the lovable awkward British bloke. In walks Timothy Mylechreest, 6ft plus blond-haired blue-eyed nugget. The kinda a guy any girl would be lucky to have a coffee with…or spend the last 6 years with – as a creative partner! He thought the little short I wrote wasn’t a film but a TV show. The crazy thing is I never had the confidence to venture into TV writing but when Timmy sent the pilot of this show, the first real pilot I had ever written, to a competition for the BBC and it placed I was over the moon that someone at the BBC had laughed at one of my jokes! Over the past few years we raised funds to film a proof-of-concept for the series, a whole show bible, mapped out the first season and are now going to investors to produce our little labour of love (spoiler it has to deal with baby making). Now, that’s what I aim to do, TV writing!

Marisa, 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 am all about representation. Growing up in vanilla suburban Sacramento, California in the 80’s and 90’s, as a Filipina American it was hard never seeing myself reflected back in the media. There wasn’t a single beauty ad campaign I saw with a girl that looked like me. Nor any heroines on film or TV or any of the books we read in school. The closest thing to Asian representation I read as a youngster was “Farewell to Manzanar.” A bit rough when that is your reference point for making it as a writer. I’m glad that’s no longer the landscape, but it is because of other Asian Americans who grew up like I did. I love creating worlds and projects that still lack that representation such as rom-coms and the supernatural. Yup, you heard that right, I’m a genre writer as well as a rom-com writer. I actually have a podcast with my best friend Siho Ellsmore called Paranormal POC where we talk about everything from yetis, ghosts, to aliens from the perspective and stories of people of color. I get to tap into the wealth of my heritage now in my writing, a heritage that I didn’t explore when I was a kid and often ran from. My project THIRST which earned me the Grand Prize Winner The Coletta Preacely-Garcia Diversity Fellowship, explores the angst I felt as a teen never feeling pretty enough…but I gave the character supernatural powers. I love that every bit of writing I do, I get to not only give a little piece of myself, I also get to learn something about myself.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

You are never going to be able to make it in the entertainment industry or the creative industry if you believe you can do it on your own. You need allies. You need mentors. I was lucky and started applying like crazy to programs and have two of the greatest mentors and allies in my life from two incredible programs. I was lucky enough to be chosen by Executive Producer Francie Calfo through Unlock Her Potential, a mentoring program for women of color in a variety of disciplines. She taught me I was enough. Which is a strange thing to need to be taught, but I think many women of color have been told the exact opposite from the moment they raise their hand and dare to be anything but small. Francie is kind and brilliant, a killer combo to have in a person you want to emulate.

If you are a film and TV writer and serious about breaking in, go to Roadmap Writers. I applied to The Coletta Preacely-Garcia Diversity Fellowship where I met the man, the myth, the badass James Moorer. I won a full paid ride into their Career Writers Program – grueling, rewarding, practical, with proven results. That wouldn’t have happened without James, not only is he an incredible writer but he is an amazing motivational speaker. As a writer, sometimes it is difficult to find the motivation to carry on in this uphill battle of a career, but James gave this speech about doing it for the life you may not know you are going to change. Uncle James, his wonderful moniker, talks about writers as being job creators and how the worlds we build not only create a monetary resources but a place of enjoyment, escape, solace, and wonder. Also, because he woke up and stayed motivated, he changed my life! You never know what life you may change if you simply keep doing the work.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Let’s go back to when I was in my late thirties where I was at an all time low. My boyfriend of seven years broke up with me and I was in a day job that paid well, but I hated, plus my creative pursuits as a playwright were going nowhere. I basically burned it all down. Well the boyfriend had already quit me, I then quit my job, and decided maybe theater wasn’t the home for me. I was living in New York City and also said bye to that. It wasn’t till I stripped everything that had defined me for over a decade if not more, what I realized I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk (ironic that I write all the time at a desk).
I wanted to travel and I wanted to discover who I was creatively.

I moved to London for film school not knowing if I wanted to write, direct, act, or produce and let the journey take me. I realized I could do it all. Now it hasn’t been easy, especially financially, but I took the risk along with my family and partner and now I am seeing my hard work pay off. It has been crazy hard work, but crazy rewarding as well! I bet on my own happiness.

I travelled like crazy, continued to move about in pursuit of a career I love. That move led me to my forever person who I now live with and our family just expanded by 2 kittens, Mulder & Scully.

For anyone feeling stuck. Take the risk on you, you are worth the bet…in fact double down!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mindthegapseries.com
• Instagram: @MarisaMMarquez
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisamartinezmarquez
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/paranormal-poc/id1746793720
  https://open.spotify.com/show/0K2ALdeS8CoNrySSuT0Jk6?si=d4efc13695254bf8

Image Credits

Emily Lin