Daily Inspiration: Meet Daniel Peña and Kimberly Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Peña and Kimberly Lee.

Hi Daniel and Kimberly, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We met in our high school television and film class, and after graduating we both pursued film degrees in college at different schools. When the pandemic hit, we were forced to move back home for some time, and we wanted to start something to keep us motivated and productive while adjusting to our new lives in quarantine. That’s how we got the idea to start Our Hollywood. Our Hollywood is a weekly podcast in which we discuss the past, present, and future of Hollywood through different lens, including those of guests who are other aspiring creators and entertainers. We are planning to expand the brand in the future, moving to Tik Tok, YouTube, and a Zine. Additionally, we are currently working on post-production for our short film ‘All That Glitters’.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For the most part yes, however, as first-generation US college students, it has been a difficult road from the beginning of college to now, as there were plenty of risks that we had to take to be able to have this opportunity. Additionally, much like the rest of the world, the pandemic changed the entire course of our year, but we were able to work with what we had and still be able to create.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Daniel Peña is currently a senior at Cal State University Northridge and is a Screenwriting major with minors in Popular Culture Studies and Marketing. He is passionate about horror and wants to create media that makes people feel represented and seen in ways they haven’t been before. He has a number of short films on YouTube that have garnered over 42k+ views, as well as other content. Kimberly Ann Lee is a recent graduate from California Lutheran University where she double majored in Film & Television and Marketing Communications. She currently creates fashion content on TikTok and is passionate about sustainability, learning about all aspects of the entertainment industry, and thrifting. We are both currently working on our first short film together ‘All That Glitters,’ which was almost completed until the pandemic hit in March of 2020. We are working closely with our editor to complete it and be able to release it sometime this year. We are also incredibly proud of all the guests we have had on the podcast, as every single one of them has shared valuable insight and give us hope for a diverse and inclusive future in the entertainment industry.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Because film is a huge industry in LA, we knew that if we wanted to have a fighting chance to work in this business, we had to make the move. We both moved to LA on our own, which was a huge risk because we were hundreds of miles away from our families and our hometown. However, we became accustomed to life in Los Angeles and grew to love it just as much as San Diego, and are eagerly waiting for the pandemic to settle down to go back. We are both aware that we are taking huge risks by having the privileged opportunity to study Film in college, but we are willing to work as hard as we have to to be able to do what we love.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: anchor.fm/OurHollywood
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/our.hollywood/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv-5zAirXanHHMtV3I3pp2w

Image Credits:
Daniel Peña