Rising Stars: Meet Daniela Inés Calvo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniela Inés Calvo.

Hi Daniela Inés, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m an Argentine comedian, writer, actor & filmmaker raised between Miami, FL & Chaco, Argentina – now based out of Los Angeles, CA. Ask me where I’m from and I’ll say “el país de los campeones.” I won’t shut up about Argentina winning the FIFA World Cup.

I began stand-up comedy in college in late 2019 but then let it go when the pandemic sent us all home for zoom university. Live performance took a back seat, but I was still defining my writing & comedic voice through short films. Cut to February 2023; I began performing stand-up in LA – under six months, I secured my debut at The Comedy Store for July.

At the 2023 LIFE Los Angeles Latina Int’l Film Festival, I took home the award for Best Editing for my thriller short film, Car Keys. As an award-winning filmmaker & booked n’ busy comic, the fame is starting to get to my head.

My first writers’ room was in the summer of 2021 as the assistant to Emmy-nominated TV writer/director Christy Stratton. Now writing my own half-hour comedy pilot, I stand by the WGA & SAG strike. AI cannot replace human storytelling, but would clearly make for better CEOs.

While we wait for the studios to recover from cognitive dissonance, I’m focused on stand-up comedy & I’m working as Co-Producer to Christy Stratton’s film directorial debut, The Runt (follow @theruntshortfilm).

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?
Impostor syndrome is a constant struggle. Honestly, being asked for this interview and writing it out brought up impostor feelings – what have I achieved that can possibly serve as inspiration for someone else? Hearing Oscar-winner Viola Davis said she still deals with impostor syndrome makes me feel better. Now, I embrace operating on a healthy amount of delusion.

As a Latina brown girl in comedy, apart from feeling ‘not good enough,’ I also deal with harassment (love that for me!). Stand-up is intimidating for anyone to try for the first time, but it’s a lot harder when the male club owner gets handsy with you, or the white guy host makes a racial microaggression comment as you’re getting off stage.

I heard a lot of ‘unfortunately, that’s really common in this industry,’ but I refuse to tolerate an unsafe working environment. After lots of trial & error, I’ve now found plenty of mics for every day of the week that simply don’t condone harassment or hate speech. People of all genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds deserve a place in comedy.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a writer, actor, and producer for short films, stand-up comedy, and one-day TV writing.

My most recent award-winning short film, Car Keys, follows a female college student who is just trying to get home after a late night of studying. She takes every precaution as she walks to her car but gets kidnapped every time, getting stuck in a horrifying, desperate loop. I was inspired to write this by viral videos of women survivors recounting their attacks of almost getting sex trafficked in a parking lot.

When I’ve watched my film in theatres, I can hear female audience members do a lot of victim-blaming, saying “Why didn’t she think of this!” or “how dumb!” and that’s very common for women – the self-gaslighting. Obviously, the point is: it’s not her fault. We need to have the conversation of why we focus on teaching women to be careful instead of teaching men to respect and value women.

My stand-up comedy writing focuses on mental health, dating, and being raised by Argentine immigrant parents who got divorced – which means they don’t give great advice about neither mental health nor dating.

I’m currently writing my half-hour comedy pilot. The lead is an undocumented Latina who just wants to get into law school in the only country she has any memories of, but that very country consistently makes her jump through paperwork hoops for being an “illegal alien.” Though I’m incredibly fortunate to be an American-born citizen, my whole life, I’ve witnessed my mom’s side of the family, my best friends, and many family friends struggle with the broken U.S. immigration system. I haven’t seen enough of this on TV, and I want to celebrate immigrant stories.

I’m most proud when people do a double-take because they mistake me for Jenna Ortega (at first glance, in low lighting… tell me you see it, too).

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
There’s a saying in Spanish my parents taught me, “A la suerte, hay que ayudarla,” which loosely translates to “You have to help your luck.” Instead of sitting around waiting for luck to swing your way, always be working incredibly hard – so when that opportunity finally presents itself, you’re ready for it.

I’ve had my moments of bad luck. I got rejected from all the entertainment internships I applied to during college, so I had to get my internships by networking with alumni. It’s great to be a University of Florida gator alum, but its film program is no NYU, USC, or UCLA.

Then upon graduation, I moved to LA to pursue TV writing just as talks to strike began (#WGAstrong & #SAGstrong, thank you, icons, for fighting for my future labor rights). I couldn’t find a job as a TV writers’ room assistant, so I decided to pivot to stand-up comedy, which forced me back into performing. It all happens for a reason.

I’ve also had pretty good luck. Christy Stratton (Modern Family, Freeridge, King of the Hill) is the 1 (one) UF alum in Hollywood who would often visit our campus to share her wisdom with next-gen storytellers. I went to every talk she gave and asked plenty of questions. When she reached out to our college looking for an intern for the series she was show running (and accepted me!), I was over the moon.

I found myself taking notes & doing research for an animated comedy TV writers’ room during my last summer in college. Getting to listen in on the writers cracking jokes to land on the best-worded dialogue was the ultimate class on the comedic structure and character development – even if it was all through Zoom. Since then, Christy has become the kindest mentor and asked me to work on her upcoming film. After over two decades as a TV writer/producer, she got tired of waiting for someone else to decide her original screenplay is worthy, so she’s directing & producing it herself – something I admire & can definitely see myself doing down the line.

I’m also lucky and grateful for the supportive comedy community I’ve found – scouring for open mics that do not make you want to crawl in a hole immediately after performing is harder than it looks. When I first started out in comedy in LA, I was pointed in the right direction by other rising Latina comedians (shoutout to Isa Quiros & Bruna Portugal).

I think you can create your own luck. You go to open mics every weeknight for months, and you show up to all the Q&A panels you can find, eventually you’ll meet people who will open doors for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danielaicalvo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielaicalvo/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@danielaicalvo

Image Credits
Monique Hernandez Jon Kondelik Mayari Studios