Rising Stars: Meet Ana Verde of West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Verde.

Hi Ana, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always been a lover of storytelling, which starts at the most personal level for me. I loved sitting around the dinner table hearing my mom and aunts and grandma tell stories about how they grew up, how they knew every person that lived on my grandmother’s street, and who had a crush on who when they were in high school. Some might call this gossip, but I call this the planting of the seed that would go onto inform my creativity from that moment on. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I didn’t have a traditional pathway into the arts. I sought out opportunities with other individuals on the island who were interested in making theater, and I formed part of a theater group as an assistant director. I was never interested in being onstage, but I loved the idea of putting on a show for everyone to enjoy, and understanding every single piece of it. I knew that being a director would satisfy that craving to understand every part of the artmaking process. I went on to study playwriting and directing at New York University. After school, I worked at the Sundance Institute for the better part of a decade, in arts administration and artist support, where I deepened my understanding of filmmaking, and fell in love with the form. A troublesome part of making theater, my first love, is that it was hyper-specific to the community closest to you, but my family lived so far away. Filmmaking allowed me to share my work wider, with the people I was actually making it for. After receiving several short film grant opportunities, I was able to make and exhibit work about my island all over the country. I am now living in Los Angeles, in development on my debut feature, and saying yes to any opportunity to make art that comes my way!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Right after school, I stopped making art entirely in pursuit of financial stability and making sure I could pay rent in New York City every month. It was a period of my life where I had convinced myself that I didn’t really have anything to say, that there were other, better, more talented Latine artists who were more interesting and that I would be better off in roles supporting their voices instead of cultivating my own. It took a lot of reframing, therapy, and encouragement from my family and friends to convince myself that I should pursue my art first and foremost, regardless of the challenges it may bring.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a writer-director-producer working across the mediums of film, theater, and live events. Most recently, I directed the world premiere of Amanda Dacks’ new play BURL at the Actors Company in West Hollywood. My short film, MARA HAS THREE JOBS IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, and went on to screen at Palm Springs ShortFest, RiverRun, and NewFilmmakers LA. The film also received a rare theatrical run, screening nationwide ahead of Barbie and Blue Beetle. Her follow-up short, TE LLAMAN LAS OLAS, premiered at the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival, with subsequent screenings at LALIFF and the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival.

I love bringing people together around stories where they can recognize themselves in the characters. My work tends to center ambitious, working-class women and girls navigating systems of labor, identity, and familial duty.

I am a 2023 Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today and Rising Voices fellow, as well as a 2022 Orchard Project Episodic Lab fellow and WAVE Grant recipient.

Until recently, I was the Senior Manager of the Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance programs at the Sundance Institute, where I supported emerging filmmakers across fiction and nonfiction. I continue to mentor emerging filmmakers through the WAVE Grant program with Wavelength Productions, and I co-hosted REEL TALK: A WAVE Grant Podcast with Wavelength Productions. I am in love with the process of making art, and sharing everything about my process along the way.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Books: THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron, INNER EXCELLENCE by Jim Murphy, THE GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION by Brené Brown, SISTER OUTSIDER: ESSAYS AND SPEECHES by Audre Lorde

Podcasts: Scriptnotes <3

Other resources: I am a member of Abundance Bound, a financial empowerment program that supports creatives and non-traditional earners make sense of the financial systems and realities of being an artist today. Their coaching has been unbelievable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anaverde.me
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/anamverde

Image Credits
Headshot – María Alvarez
BURL Stills – Wylie Rush