Meet Maria Paula Quesada of Culver City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Paula Quesada

Hi Maria Paula, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in San Jose, Costa Rica, and lived there my whole life until college. I think my background coming from such a small country where family and community is so important really shaped my perspective on the importance of story-telling as a way to connect further with others and your own humanity. My family definitely shaped my values and their constant support led me to allowing myself to dream big and decide I wanted to study Filmmaking (something there really is only an incredibly tiny industry for in Costa Rica). My dad is a huge cinephile so I’ve loved films since I was young, I’m grateful for his support in actually turning it into a career.

USC’s School of Cinematic Arts was my dream school and I was fortunate enough to be accepted and be able to attend. USC changed my life, not only in the way it opened my eyes to living in a completely different country/city, meeting people that challenged my own world-view, introducing me to my biggest collaborators, and shaping my education on film.

After graduating film school, my producing-partner, Gabby Fiszman, and I, decided to start our own producing company so we could keep telling stories that WE believed in, and so we could have the freedom to build our own path. Obviously, having your own business is not an easy path at all, starting from the ground up and having to manage a business while following creative pursuits and having side-jobs on top of that to help sustain our finances has been a huge challenge, but one that I am completely grateful for.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There’s always elements of plain human insecurity, fear, doubt, anxiety, that plague an artist. Bouncing back from times of creative block, or deep fear in your own ability to achieve something or to “make it” in such a complicated industry is always a tough challenge, but one that I always welcome since it’s definitely what we sign up for when we choose this path.

Being a filmmaker is an incredible career path, but it’s also more challenging than a lot of people would think. It’s your passion as well, and it really does take more than 8 hours a day to make things happen. 12 hour set-days, long weekends, countless hours and energy poured into projects, constant producing emergencies, etc. make it really exhausting, and make it hard to build a good work-life balance, which is something I really hope to achieve eventually.

For me, personally, being away from home and my family is always a struggle. Sometimes, even though this is a very community-driven industry, it gets very lonely, and it’s difficult to face situations you’re not used to away from those you love and feel like your comfort-zone. But it’s all part of growing up, I guess.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a producer, director, writer, and actor, currently specialized in short films and music videos. I own a production company called ‘Odd One Out Films’ with my co-producer and best friend, Gabby Fiszman. We are interested in: fresh, original, diverse content that blends genres, independent filmmaking, and working with talented up-and-coming talent. We wanted to make stuff that felt original, and that stood out, so we came up with the name: ‘Odd One Out Films’. We started off with what we knew best: working with our friends. It’s been amazing to champion their stories and our own to produce short films that we love and in the process we’ve also gotten to collaborate with new people in music videos and short films.

I have experience producing award-winning short films in multiple genres including: comedy, coming-of-age, dramedy, and thriller. I’ve also worked producing content for the largest music festival in Central America, and for artists such as Lola Blanc, The Saint Cecilia, and independent LA artists such as Marguerite, and dovv. I’ve also edited content for HBO/WarnerBros Discovery.

I think my background really sets me apart from others, especially in LA where there’s very few filmmakers from Costa Rica. It’s a small country, with a tiny film industry, so I feel I have a very unique voice in terms of my specific background. As a writer/director my voice is very personal and I love blending genres, particularly drama and comedy. I think my closeness to my really large extended family and my interest in the diverse personalities within it informs a lot of the voices of my characters and the themes of my writing (a lot of family and relationship stuff), giving it a unique, diverse voice.

I’m most proud of all I’ve grown and all the collaborators I’ve gotten the chance to work with. I’ve learned so much in very little time and I’m excited to learn more throughout my professional career while growing my company, brand, projects and hopefully elevating the voices of under-represented artists, especially women, Costa Ricans, and latines in general.

What matters most to you? Why?
My family and loved ones are everything to me. Without them I wouldn’t be who I am, or where I am today, and honestly I don’t think anything I do would matter that much to me. Knowing my work, or decisions have been informed by what I’ve shared with those i love, and getting to continue to share the ups and downs of life with them, means the most to me.

I think my family has to take most of the credit for who I am and the things I’ve achieved, as well as so many of the opportunities I’ve gotten. My parents’ support has been unwavering both emotionally and financially my whole life, and I would not have the education, freedom, and values I have if it weren’t for them, they deserve all the credit.

My brother and extended family as well have taught me mostly everything I know about how to be a good person, how to value and leverage the things that make you different and special, how to be grateful and humble, and mainly the importance of love and unconditional support in any aspect of life. It’s a tough industry, a hard dream that not a lot of people understand or pursue, but I’ve always had nothing but encouragement, faith and support from my family and friends and it always keeps me going no matter what.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://weareoddoneout.com
• Instagram: @ooo.films