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Adventures in Filmmaking: A report from Fusion

I have a recurring dream. In this dream, I am a writer trying to write the perfect lesbian film. I type and type but nothing seems to make sense. Should I write about the past? My first love? My first cat? My first feminist book club? My first bar fight? It’s been 20 years now and all I have are questions and more questions. What type of lesbian am I? Am I the right type of lesbian? Why did I get all those strange haircuts?
These are the first words of my feature documentary, Hooters!, a film about lesbian culture and cinema. (It’s also a comedy.)

I know it sounds weird to have a dream sequence in a documentary but I not only put my point of view in my films, I literally put myself in them as well. And, despite sounding egotistical and narcissistic, it allows me to own my opinions and tell stories the way I want to. It’s also cheap therapy.

Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Anna Margarita Albelo – also known as La Chocha – and I’m a filmmaker. I like to make documentaries, fictions, spoofs, art videos, news segments – pretty much everything except porno. I’ll touch upon why at a later date.

For now, I’ve been asked to share with you my adventures in filmmaking, exploring the who, what, where, and whys of how myself and others make stuff. Every character needs a back story. At 40, I am what they call a “mid-career filmmaker.” I graduated from Florida State University in 1993 from Media Production and Film. It was an exciting time because it was the beginnings of the “home video” making explosion that let us make whatever stupid or brilliant idea into a “movie.” No pitching, no writing, no budgets: Just you and maybe some friends, getting together to make something. I became adept at what the Riot Girls had called the “do it yourself” movement and still create with that philosophy today.

I moved to France right out of college (my childhood wish) and managed to live and work there for 16 years as a freelance artist with no full-time job. Now, I’m back in Los Angeles and I’m here to make some movies. I am, as they say, living the dream!

As a Cuban-American filmmaker, I had the immense honor of participating in this year’s Fusion Festival in Los Angeles with my feature documentary, Hooters! The Making of Older, Wiser, Lesbian Cinema.Though it was only my first Fusion Festival, it has definitely been one of the most exciting experiences of my filmmaking career.

What? You never heard of Fusion? Or you have heard of it but don’t know what it really is? Let’s correct that right now! If you live in Los Angeles (but really anywhere around the world) and are interested in issues concerning gay, lesbian, queer, trans, and everything in between, Outfest, the gay and lesbian film festival of Los Angeles is on top of your list. This huge, multi-faceted, non-profit organization is on its 29th year and has, over time, developed several programs to diversify its efforts in nurturing, showcasing and protecting LGBT voices. Along with the Outfest Film Festival in July – a huge 10 day program of films, videos, performances, panels, and all-types of special events, the non-profit has also created The Legacy Project for LGBT film preservation in association with UCLA, and Fusion: The Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival.

Now in its eighth year, Fusion is the only multicultural LGBT film festival of its kind and a true testament to Outfest’s dedication to help under-represented voices get heard, seen, and talked about in our community. The festival includes short films, feature films, panels, workshops, and parties that highlight and celebrate the diversity of the LGBT community. This year’s program featured a sing-a-long with The Wiz (starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross), A Thousand Clouds of Peace (a legacy project gem from Mexico), a multi-ethnic shorts program, and a conversation with writer/director Dee Rees and producer Nekisa Cooper centered around their Sundance-opening film, Pariah (developed from their award-winning short of the same name).

Fusion also presents an Achievement Award acknowledging the career of an outstanding filmmaker of color. Last year’s recipient was Wilson Cruz. This year it was British filmmaker Rikki Beadle-Blair. Fusion screened Rikki’s recent feature film, FIT, a charming high school film that takes an exuberant and funny look at gay and straight love among the new millennials which is, by the way, distributed to every school in the UK. Now that’s a real impact!

Bridging the gap

As a Latina lesbian filmmaker, I know the importance of having my films seen by all types of people, so I support and submit to all types of film festivals. But I do also believe in the necessity of having specifically themed film festivals, like Fusion, that continue to highlight and promote under-represented communities.

What sets Fusion and Outfest apart is their additional efforts for us, the filmmakers to connect with industry professionals and provide us with more tools to navigate the industry. You see, most of us work alone or in the margins, toughing-out the filmmaking adventure as best we can from the outside. We lack the contacts and know-how of how the mega-beast nicknamed “The Industry” works.

For these reasons, Outfest and Fusion have created a program called Access LA. The beauty of Access LA is that it entails an entire day dedicated to uniting filmmakers not only with each other (building community) but also with industry professionals who are interested in sharing their knowledge. These professionals volunteer their time in order to demystify the business and communicate how it really works. Their collaboration with Access LA directly helps us, the “content creators” (just to toss around a new industry term!) build contacts and relationships with people on the inside who work to create more diversity in the mainstream.

This year’s Fusion Access LA was held at Universal Studios and co-organized by OUT@NBCU (The Alliance of NBC Universal Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Ally Employees, created in 1986!) Their mission statement:

OUT@NBCU is part of NBC-Universal’s commitment to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community. It helps develop and retain employees by providing volunteer and networking opportunities and allows people to make the most of their benefits, while advocating for policies that promote an inclusive work environment.
Twenty years ago when I first started filmmaking, I believed that being part of corporate media and film was like joining the devil! In the past few years however, I realized that in order to change the way under-represented people were viewed, some of us needed to be a part of these corporate entities and start to directly create the change from the inside. I now know that to create a real impact on how society at large perceives our communities we need to form a combined effort between independent content creators, like me, and established institutions/corporations, like NBC-Universal and others.

Inclusive and insightful

Our day at Fusion’s Access LA started at 8:30am at Universal Studios with a delightful breakfast and greeting from co-organizer and host extraordinaire, Jayzen Patria (NBCU and Outfest Board Member). This was a great opportunity to connect with some of the 40 filmmakers selected by Fusion to attend this unique event. After, I really enjoyed an inspirational discussion with Karen Horne, Vice President, NBC Entertainment Diversity Initiatives.

From the start, it was clear that diversity is very important to the company, as we were highly encouraged to learn more about their policies, programs and hiring practices. (FYI: There are actually more than 500 job offers at NBCU alone!) I confess, as a Latina lesbian, I’ve never felt like I had much of a place in corporate film or television, but the sincerity of the speakers matched the established number of programs and outreach offered.

All of the panelists and speakers belong to OUT@NBCU and each person throughout the day explained step-by-step how they got to where they are today. That was a real eye-opening experience! Here’s a list of the super-impressive people we met and who are notably all members of OUT@NBC.

Many panelists spoke of NBC-Universal’s Diversity programs and Talent Initiatives but they also included many of the other initiatives created by corporate competitors. Writing and directing programs destined to hone our craft for film and television include future opportunities with the companies that provide them (NBC Universal, ABC, Disney, Warner Brothers, and more). These unique programs are specifically tailored for those who want to break in to the business of film and television. And guess what? They are especially looking for diversity! And they mean all types of diversity, including race, gender, sexuality and more. I’m including some links below for anyone interested.

NBC Careers – Diversity Disney Careers HBO Directing Fellowship/ Brassbrad Contests ABC Fellowships Fox Diversity Team

What do you want to say and to whom are you saying it?

Our first big film panel included several types of executives from Universal (financing, development, marketing), but I also learned that one of my favorite distributors was also part of the NBCU group, Focus Features. Focus Features you might know as the distributor of many high-profile LGBT films like, The Kids are Alright and Milk. This year at Sundance,they picked up Pariah.

These executives, who tend to be nicknamed “suits” were all wearing jeans. They were especially open, down-to-earth and encouraging. Even though they acknowledge the complexities of working within a studio system, they underlined several times that they are searching for true voices and strive to make the best films possible. As a filmmaker, we all have to know what types of audiences we’re making our films for. Some of us want to make movies for wide audiences and they highlighted 3D, family films and international appeal films with big name actors as a route to that. While others of us want to tell more specific tales for specific audiences, their advice is to know who your audience is and how you are going to reach them.

I also spoke to Fusion’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani about the festival, Access LA and why they matter.

AfterEllen.com: Why is it important to have Fusion when Outfest is already so big? Kim Yutani: Fusion is designed to strengthen and celebrate LGBT communities of color in Los Angeles by creating a multi-ethnic, gender-inclusive forum, and to celebrate the work of filmmakers of color, by expanding audiences for their work and inspiring the creation of new work. Fusion as a platform for work by/for/people of color in a smaller festival outside of Outfest in July, creates the opportunity for audiences to focus on these films, support these filmmakers, and give this important work the attention these films in this unique and supportive setting.

AE: What’s your objective for Access LA? KY:Access LA is an Outfest program that directly connects our filmmakers with industry professionals and provides filmmakers with opportunities to help them get to the next step in their careers. Being located in the heart of the film industry, we are in the unique position to create meeting opportunities for Outfest and Fusion filmmakers through special events in collaboration with NBC Univesal, and through the annual Outfest Screenwriting Lab (which will be held this June) and panel discussions.

AE: Is there a rise in people of colors films since you first started Fusion? KY: Since Fusion’s inception, I think that the quality of work by/for/about people of color has become stronger. More filmmakers are committed to telling stories we haven’t seen before, and these stories are told with greater sophistication each year. It’s exciting to see how LGBT work keeps evolving and to be able to exhibit that work in a festival like Fusion is a privilege.

A studio tour, a power lunch, and TV writers

After the film panel, we were off to a professional tour of the studio in order to see how things are shot and done on the lot. We visited the set of Parenthood, the on-set prop making factory (where I saw ET!), and Peter Jackson‘s incredible 3-D King Kong ride made with the largest IMAX screens in the world. I’m not much of an amusement park person, but this experience was out of this world and I screamed my head off. It’s really well done. Then it was time for our “power lunch,” where I had the chance to break bread with Joey Chavez, Head of Drama Development at NBC. If you’re an aspiring TV writer here are a few tips from Joey about breaking in:

  1. Try and get a manager or agent as they rarely if ever except non-solicited materials. This is to protect both you and them from any intellectual property disputes.
  2. Don’t submit spec scripts (a script written for an existing television show). Though that was popular a few years ago, today, execs are looking for original voices and work so Joey recommends: an original series script, short stories, a play, a feature script or basically any work that emphasizes your imagination with characters, dialogue, and story.
  3. Check out the writers programs mentioned above from the companies you’d like to work with. Not only do you get trained and sometimes paid to learn, you also get placed on TV shows they produce.
Back from lunch, we met with a panel of TV writers who shared their stories on breaking in to the business. By that point it was no surprise that many had gotten their foot in the door through some of the Diversity Initiatives mentioned above. Being someone’s assistant was the other common way in and the prevalent advice was, “Be nice. You don’t have to be a mean person to get ahead.” Thank god for that affirmation!

At the end of the day, we exchanged contact information with one another and wrote a list of what we learned. Then we wrote a to-do list of what we felt we needed to do to achieve our goals as filmmakers. This is the main reason Access LA is so effective. Their intent is to give us practical tools to succeed. Thanks to Fusion, Access LA, and OUT@NBCU for this profound experience. I met dozens of important players in TV and film, heard their stories and their advice. I remembered simple lessons I had heard thousands of times: be clear about what I want to do, meet all types of people, follow-up, stay in touch, network, ask for help, and keep on striving for what I believe in. And finally, this experience solidified what I believe truly causes change: people helping people, giving back, mentoring, sharing, and being kind!

The next day at the Egyptian Theater for my screening of, HOOTERS! The making of Older, Wiser, Lesbian Cinema, I was pumped for the event. 1 pm on a sunny Saturday in Los Angeles is not the easiest time slot but our theater was full! The screening went beautifully and the audience was both, enthusiastic and appreciative. Guinevere Turner and Skyler Cooper, who both appear in my film where at hand for an exciting Q & A after the projection. Taking with me the lessons I had learned from my day at Universal, I announced to the audience that I was working on a new collaborative film this summer and needed help. The response was overwhelming! Wow, all these years struggling to DIY when all I needed to do was reach out to my community. I suppose that is what’s at the heart of this article and my appreciation for festivals like Fusion and Outfest: being part of a community and having a desire to share and connect with others in order to make the world a better place.

I encourage everyone to check out all the entities mentioned in this article but also take a look around your own community. If something doesn’t exist, reach out, and be a part of making it happen!

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