Check Out Alina González-Ferrell’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alina González-Ferrell.

Hi Alina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am the daughter of an immigrant who gave me the freedom to explore my interests. I refer to myself as a screenwriter and credit my first exploration in the field to dissatisfaction with an episode on Disney Channel. I asked my babysitter to write down what I was saying and passionately begged my parents to mail it to Disney as my episode was better than the one they aired. I grew up watching movies, all but horror which is ironic as I mainly write horror now.
I presently work as a film professor at a community college. I hold two degrees in film studies and decided to pursue teaching higher level ed as I often found teachers and filmmakers to not include Latinx figures in our studies. I actually did an independent study class in undergrad where I began writing a textbook which highlighted 20 Latinx films worthy of study. This became my second published book, the first being a poetry book I published at 17.
I pride myself in including all types of identities on my curriculum. I frequently read or participate in professional development to further educate myself with different identities and lenses to then bring back into my classroom.
While I still do screenwriting and hope to one day make my horror films, I advocate strongly for my students to use their voice and their pockets to create an impact in Hollywood. I believe we, as an audience, have an impact on how we connect with studios and films.
I didn’t just end up in my current job and am proud of the hard work that has gotten me here. I didn’t get an interview and kept reapplying for about 4 years. In that time, I worked as a high school english teacher. I cherished that job but left when given the opportunity to teach film. I find that teachers often stay to help mold the dreams of their students, I’ve met many educators who have given up on their own dreams. I felt leaving showed my students that you should always follow your dreams, even if it means leaving stability.
I want to add that I have prided myself in being young in this field. It isn’t a competition, but I have usually been the youngest in writers rooms and among my college colleagues. As I’m approaching 30, I find that it is important to listen to the youths as they are our future and many do want better for this world.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have faced a few obstacles which I’ve decided to be vocal about. In undergrad, I faced racism when teachers wouldn’t let me comment about Latinx filmmakers or the absence of representation of BIPOC identities. I had two great female professors who supported me but even they were sidelined by others. I also developed severe anxiety and an eating disorder, as I was told I was “too fat” to join the writer’s room for the late night comedy show. In addition to this, I was sexually assaulted on my own film set. Despite video and audio footage, I was gaslit and basically blacklisted from the film department. This led me to graduate a semester early. It wasn’t until after I graduated that the #MeToo movement started.
These events led me to take a step back from film. I received my first masters in Teaching and was on track to earn a PhD in Education. However, I decided to give film one last try and applied for the UCLA Screenwriting Professional Program. I am a firm believer that the universe will guide you and told myself I would go in the path of whoever got back to me first. UCLA’s message came a few days before USD’s so I went back into screenwriting and started a tattoo sleeve of meaning film moments. The rest is history.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a proud published and international award winning author. I have worked as “the voice of God” for book awards and local Latinx festivals. I do freelance editing, mostly with local groups who want to preserve their history.

I primary write what I like to call cultural horror. While I am happily married to the man of my dreams–who is white– my films tend to highlight the truths of radical “American” ideology and how that affects (Americans) of color. I am most proud of conducting research and including how different laws, historical events, and the uprising in alt-right ideology impact those in this country. I primary write from the Chicanx perspective, as that is how I self identify. My films touch on subjects such as assimilation, appropriation, and the harm that this country’s history has caused to people of color.

In education, I pride myself in showcasing as many perspectives, voices, and ideologies as possible. I teach aesthetics of film and that allows me to cover so much in the filmmaking process. My goal is to be able to provide a fully free-resource class for my students while still providing the best articles, essays, and academic writings on the subject. I only teach part-time and I teach what is considered an elective course with many students trying to fulfill an art requirement. Despite this being only my second Fall semester, I have students reaching out to know future classes and even students from neighboring colleges sign up at our CC to take my course. This makes me extra proud as I actually teach at the CC that my mom attended before transferring and receiving her teaching credential.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This is hard. I’d say I have more memories of when it was just my mom and I. She was a single mother and we were often compared to Lorelei and Rory from The Gilmore Girls. I once wrote a scholarship essay in middle school–which I won—where said I wanted to be the Latina version of Steven Spielberg. My mom thought I was silly as I had never touched a film camera. I went on to win the same essay contest in college where I was able to then write about award-winning films I had made and my goal to continue to pursue this field as a Latina. My mom gave me those opportunities to do that. She would take me to events, film schools, meet and greets–she always supported me, even when I was annoying about it. She never told me I couldn’t do it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Chicanafright

Image Credits
Ethan Allen, Rosa Hernandez de Allen