Hidden Gems: Meet Marta Pérez-Coca of Coquita Films

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marta Pérez-Coca.

Hi Marta, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started in the 2000s with a small camera, family and some friends. I used to write and record small horror stories when I was little. When I was in high school, we filmed a short film, and I became more in love with moviemaking. However, I gave up my passion for a few years to try to focus on a more conventional career pathway.

I grew up in a small city by the Mediterranean Sea called Alicante, in the southeast of Spain. When I was 18, I went to college in Madrid, Spain, to study Business Administration. Once I graduated, I started working in finance, but I realized I was not doing what I really love: making movies. So, I decided to quit my job and focus on my dream.

I took a huge risk leaving Business Administration and Finance for Filmmaking, but now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. It was also a shock to my family at first, but they came around eventually. I enjoy their full support now, which has represented both relief and encouragement to me.

After a few years of film school in Madrid, I decided to apply for an MFA in filmmaking in Los Angeles, and that’s how I got here. After I took off to LA a couple of years ago, I feel that my Spanish background has helped develop a dark sense of humor, which definitely informs my writing and movies now. For example, my last short film, called “A Deadly Shoot,” was about two filmmakers moving a coffin through the city of Los Angeles in order to get on time to the last day of the shoot. Watching people’s reactions to the coffin while shooting and in the theater was so much fun. We got a bunch of laughs and gasps in the screening at the Broad Humor Film Festival, and that’s exactly what I had hoped for.

A few months ago, my co-producer and I created our production company called Coquita Films. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and open my own business, and finally I did it. We are now developing a feature film that will be filmed in Natick, Massachusetts in September/October 2023. The movie is called “Here She Comes.” Of course, this will be another dark comedy, but this time about a mother and a daughter who heal their strained relationship through a very dark, surreal situation.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The process wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked, to be honest, but I was lucky enough to have the support of my friends and family. However, if I made it all the way here it is also thanks to my perseverance.

Not giving up, in my opinion, is more than half of the battle. I look at this as a marathon, not a sprint, and endurance is what counts. This doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a fair share of disappointment and frustration along the way, and there have also been some tears at times.

When I was a kid, for example, I had to struggle with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, so I just had no option than to keep going and go through the discomfort. Sometimes, it took double the time for me to learn what other children easily got done. I just stuck to it and didn’t give myself the chance to give up even though I got discouraged. This is an attitude that I think I have taken with me into adulthood and turned those previous difficulties into strength.

Also, leaving my career in Business Administration and Finance was tough. Leaving everything to go back to school and losing the economic freedom I had was difficult. It was a huge risk but definitely worth it. “No risk, no reward” is my motto. It’s part of my personality, and when I think about what would hurt me the most, either taking the risk and failing or not taking the risk at all and looking back, wondering what could have been, I definitely go for the first.

And of course, opening my first business in the US also is a challenge: producing our first feature film, getting the financing needed, etc. I am convinced, though, that with a lot of work and effort, we are pushing through and we will be filming soon.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Coquita Films?
I’m a screenwriter, director and producer and my co-producer Michelle Montemayor is and actress and producer. We both decided to create Coquita Films, it was a “now or never” kind of thing. While writing my first feature film, I knew I had to open up a production company, but it was only when I got in touch with lawyers, accountants and other people of the sort that I thought, “Wow, I’m opening up a business!” This is how Coquita Films was born, out of both courage and necessity.

We are a production company in pursuit of unique points of view, and everybody has a story to tell. Tinges of dark humor or drama could open one up when least expected, making movies something close to magical. Being a Spanish, American and Mexican enterprise, based in Los Angeles, we also look forward to working with anyone with a distinct cultural point of view. There is nothing that we want more than to tell stories alongside you.

Currently, we are producing an ultra low budget movie, with plans to develop a few more with similar budgets in the next few years.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think my best tool in the pursuit of success is perseverance. Not giving up, in my opinion, is more than half of the battle. I look at this as a marathon, not a sprint, and endurance is what counts. I’ve always been persistent and sometimes it took me more than what I expected but I never gave up. It might take longer that expected, but if you are persistent, you can archive almost anything.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martaperezcoca/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAW2nQkVjdqrZgAhNQoQJmg
• Other: https://coquitafilms.com/

Image Credits
Image Credits Zeel Sangoi and Hilary Jones.