Today we’d like to introduce you to María Azellea Sanchez-Ordóñez.
Growing up as a Valley Girl her “Heart is in the Hood”. Maria Azellea grew up inspired by the colorful multi-cultural San Fernando Valley where she would spend her days chasing paleteros down the streets of her Abuelos house. At a young age, she realized there was a need to help her communities’ local businesses join in on the ever-growing shift to social media. Many of these companies were outdated and needed to create a new look to be able to continue the shift to the new multimedia platforms.
This focus immediately caused a sense of urgency within her and she established Menacing Marketing “MM” in 2013. “MM” continues to be led by the fierce focus of empowering the voices of these small businesses. As a continuation to her inspiration to help the community she began to volunteer her time within organizations that believe in creating platforms that empower others to rise within the entertainment industry. Various organizations such as Rise Up Animation & LatinX in Animation build great platforms, media content, and strong membership participation. Bringing resources, information, and opportunity to aspiring diverse professionals. While at Woodbury University she championed for diversity within her classwork while studying Animation. After obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree her Senior film, “La Concha Mágica”, it debuted the summer of her graduating year at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con Children’s Film Festival. Bringing up the importance of diversity, representation, and paying it forward during her showcase and panel. Currently, she is a Production Coordinator at DreamWorks Feature Animation by day and a freelance Animator by night. As an animator, her philosophy is “To create new, innovative, and diverse media that empowers the next generation of creatives to tell their own stories.”. Which is a step in her continued journey to bring to life new stories every day.
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?
My journey into Animation began similar to others, beginning as a Marine Biology Major just wanting to make a difference in the world. No matter where you are in your journey transitioning into the world of entertainment isn’t for the faint of heart. Whether it’s been working multiple jobs to support your education, fighting for diversity in my work, or taking opportunities that may not fit in my immediate plan, the most important thing I learned to understand is that everyone’s journey is different. Knowing the struggle of still being on my own journey but having to find ways to support my goals, I am a huge champion for opportunity and growth in the entertainment industry. While it is changing now, I look forward to where this industry could grow to be open to helping underrepresented communities both come into the industry and help them transition into their dream roles.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
While striving to always pay it forward, I am currently known for my volunteer work with the diverse animation organizations and being a mentor for rising professionals. I honestly don’t know if there is anything that sets me apart from others but, I do know that I always prioritize helping to pass along information & resources when I can. As a second-generation LatinX – American, I know the difficulties of being unable to have the same resources, opportunities, or information as others may have had from the beginning of their careers. If I can help someone, whether it is through passing the smallest of information or mentorship session to help empower them in the next step of their journey that is the best thing I could do.
What are you most proud of?
The thing I am most proud of is the impact my Senior Film “La Concha Mágica” had on the audience of the 2019 San Diego Comic Con Children’s Film Festival. The film, which tells the story of a young Latinx girl’s adventure, has as much of a diverse story on the screen as it did behind the scenes.Discovering that when you build your foundations for someone else’s vision that is the ‘accepted standard’ is easy, building foundations for your own unique vision is much harder because you might have to be the pioneer of that movement. By fighting to bring to life this story, I challenged my school to tell this short, vibrant story that would debut in Spanish without subtitles. Bringing to life the idea that Spanish is a normal in today’s society. After a year of struggle, the film debuted at Comic Con to an audience of all ages where subtitles were not needed for the story or vision, and the message resonated with everyone. The proudest moment of all was when a group of children ran up to me after the film’s debut & panel and not only exclaimed their happiness at the film but, they went on to ask me questions about how they could also create their own animations/stories. Knowing that this small senior film had inspired them to look at their own creative visions differently made every argument, every overnight, and every redo in the world worth being able to pioneer into a new future.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
The best thing I like about our city is that it’s one big melting pot of all cultures. Whether you want to eat delicious mochi, dance to banda, or get lost down by the sea there is always something new to discover and a culture to learn from. It’s a blessing to be around such inspiring museums, parks, arts, culture, and neighborhoods. We all should not take for granted the creativity or vision of our past and culture that you see within the city from the beautiful art – deco architecture in downtown la to the amazing cultural stories behind some of our favorite street foods. A main thing I have previously disliked about our city was the lack of resources to underrepresented communities to enter in the undiscovered career fields within the entertainment industry that are not commonly pursued. By understanding that you must be the change you wish to see, I have seen the positive shift while working with the diverse animation organizations and within the studios of the entertainment industry. I am now only excited for the future of entertainment. Seeing these changes in action to reach out, educate, and bring in these same underrepresented communities that previously did not have help has been a motivating force to bring together an opportunity for industry professionals to become that change. Implementing change that is not only immediate but sustainable for many aspiring young entertainment professionals for the years to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: azellea.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_azellea/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_azellea
Image Credits
For the following images they should be credited to Emma Vida IG: @vidadolce: concha.jpg comiccon.png headshot_mazellea.jpg For the following images they should be credited to Jocelyn Naves IG: @ jey_doodle: dreamworks.jpg
