Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Soraya Gonzalez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Soraya , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

One of the most important lessons I learned while in college was when a business professor of mine was explaining the importance of choosing the right company to work for after graduation. She said that if you want to move up in a company, to start at a small company therefore you will be able to move to the top of the pyramid quicker because you only have to move up through 20 other employees. This is in comparison to starting at a larger company with 200 employees, meaning you would have to move up through way more employees, taking you a longer time and more effort. This taught me a great lesson that it’s not always a good move to work for a larger company just for the sake of telling others that you work for a household name. If moving up the ladder is a goal you have for yourself in your career, work for the smaller company, give it your all, and work your way up to the top that way. This lesson has always stuck with me, and I’m very grateful to have learned this before I graduated.

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

I have held many jobs, from social media manager to marketing and outreach, but at the bottom of it all, I am a producer. That is what I went to school for and that is what I love to do the most. I got into the film industry through the documentary space and made my way over to scripted. Documentary will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the independent doc filmmakers that took a chance on me when I was just a newly grad and learning.

I am currently working on a few scripted short films along with a couple features that I plan to produce alongside my producing partners at Verloren Productions. I am especially excited for a short film in the early stages of pre- production titled “Gotas de Arte” that follows a young Latino boy and his father as they navigate their relationship. This story is important to me because it gives a voice to a group of people that we often don’t see on screen.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

One resource I wish I knew about earlier in my career is an application called “Notion”. It is an organizational tool that I absolutely love! Think of it as being similar to the Google workspace but everything can be done in one app. You can create lists of to-do’s, make spreadsheets, and organize documents. It helps me so much with collecting all the things I need for each film I work on. I highly recommend using it if you have multiple projects going at once like I do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a person in the creative space is seeing others watch the films you worked so hard on. As a producer I spend a majority of my time in pre- production working on planning, and scheduling, and budgeting, that I often forget that at the end of the day, I am working on a film that others will get to see on the big screen. I love seeing how others perceive the story as they watch it and it is my favorite part of being a film-maker.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorayahaivengonzalez/
• Other: Email: [email protected]