Rising Stars: Meet Kristina Pupo of South Pasadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Pupo.

Hi Kristina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Miami, Florida making movies with a VHS camera in my bedroom, and sending pitch letters to studios. I was eight, and ambitious—and all I knew was I wanted to tell stories, create characters, and touch people’s lives in a positive way. Flash forward through a wormhole of performing in High School theater, moving to LA for film school, moving to NYC to record a pop music album, working in production, commercials, a stint in Chicago, and a lot of life in between! I finally moved back to Los Angeles in 2019 with a renewed sense of purpose; I realized that no matter how far I feel I’ve strayed, I still just want to tell stories, create characters, and touch people’s lives in a positive way. In a series of fortunate events, I struck a creative partnership (and made a lifelong friend) with an incredible woman named Elishia Constantine, who I met in Vegas at a convention and we decided to make a pilot for a show I’ve been wanting to create for years. “Out in Love,” was written, filmed, and finished in six months—ready to premiere at a screening in the same convention we had met….and then lockdown happened. Like many people all over the world, all plans ceased. I was laid off of my job at the time, and had to accept that life was derailing again. We went back to work creating an entire show bible for that pilot, and in the middle of all this tragedy happening around us, we struck a partnership with some very kind producers and began to shop the pilot. After a few years, and no real bites, I realized I was in a holding pattern just waiting for the right deal, or the opportunity to fund a new project. Countless scripts were written, so many ideas that I wanted to produce, but the same question always plagued me—with what money? How?! The pilot I shot in 2019 was by no means high budget, and I acquired a ton of debt to make it happen—trying to pay every incredible actor, and crew person as much as I could afford at the time. I thought, how could I go backwards from that? The idea of ever asking someone to work with me for no money, or to shoot on equipment that wasn’t professional…it felt like failure. So instead, I did nothing. Sure, I was working full time jobs in TV development, and producing brand content—but my stories were on the back burner. Then came 2025, a year that has been filled with so much fear, violence, and chaos in our country. The palpable despair and hopelessness amongst my community—it really woke me up. What was I waiting for? That’s when I decided I would create one of my stories with whatever I had at my disposal, an iPhone, a sound kit rental, and a very supportive girlfriend. With that, I began the journey of creating “Death is a Babe!”, a digital micro-series about a the Grim Reaper having an existential crisis. From the inception in June to October, we shot 24 episodes and dropped 16 on YouTube, thus far. The project is low budget, campy, and a lot of work—but the goal is create something that resonates with someone. To build community around story.

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’m not sure anyone ever has an easy path getting to where they are supposed to be, but I think that’s how you know what’s truly important—when you witness what you’re willing to overcome for what you love. Shooting “Death is a Babe!” has been a comedy of errors, I mean, the show literally has no crew! Alicia Macer, my girlfriend, takes on the task of operating camera while we setup a boom on a c-stand, light the shot, and then I direct whoever is in the episode and jump into character as Death. It feels like a narcissistic day dream to be acting, writing, directing, producer, editing something…but it’s honestly what I am working to get away from. I would love to shoot the next season with a crew, and grow the production bit by bit. For the time being, I have to build something first in order for anyone to rally behind it. One person can’t be good at everything, and I certainly don’t pretend to be—so there are moments when editing 4 episodes a week that I realize the sound has so many issues. Or realizing the color correction will be almost impossible because of silly choices I made on set. One of the craziest choices I made was to decide we should create our own cemetery set from scratch for a couple of episodes, since we couldn’t afford permits to shoot at an actual cemetery location. We made about 12 tombstones out of styrofoam insulation board from the hardware store. We were carving them and painting for days, I’m pretty sure I inhaled an unhealthy amount of styrofoam dust and paint fumes—but we did it! All of the props, artwork, posters, and music in the show was created specifically for it, and like I said before—we didn’t. have an actual budget for this, so it couldn’t be outsourced to anyone other than me and my partner. That meant that with both of us having a full time job, and all of the daily life challenges—I had to spend every waking moment on the production of this series. Yet, I was so amazingly lucky to have incredibly talented people volunteer their time to perform in the episodes, so—doesn’t feel like I can really complain. The biggest obstacle we’ve faced is truly my own perfectionism. The really cruel voices in my head that point out the flaws, and make me feel like it’s all just pointless. Does anyone even want to watch this? In the midst of all of the production, we made an in person event (the first of many) to celebrate Season 1, but also to create connection and community for those who love spooky/horror/campy fun. That’s when it clicked for me that the self-doubt isn’t always right. Sure, it was hell to promote and gather people in space, but it was magical to see them enjoying the show and connecting with one another. That makes the effort worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a director-producer-writer-actor—the hyphens feel incredibly pretentious, so lets just go with “independent filmmaker.” I will always be incredibly connected to acting, I’ve been doing it since childhood theater, but I never really went down the professional path for it. Admittedly, I was kind of scared off by the lack of impactful roles for women when I was freshly eighteen, and entering the L.A. audition scene. Every role was either a topless slasher film victim, or some “hot girl” in an off-putting male gazey script. Props to anyone getting anything made, but it just wasn’t for me. So instead, I focussed on creating my own stories, while acting in select roles for projects that I felt really excited about. One of those projects I truly enjoyed taking part in was a literary web series called “Rational Creatures”, based on the Jane Austen novel “Persuasion”. It was created by 4 incredible women who made two seasons, while each living in a different part of the globe! My proof-of-concept pilot, “Out in Love”, stood as my proudest creation until now. It was amazing to get to direct a crew of badass women, and insanely talented actors, and get to experience the process of shopping a series to networks. Ultimately, it lead me to understanding that I didn’t want to just write shows and sell them until they are inevitably cancelled after a short 8 episodes. Yes, financially, that would be great I guess–but it’s not actually why I’m here. I want to do it on. my own terms. The reason I create serialized stories, is because television had such a role in raising me. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was like a big sister I didn’t have, and while it was probably disturbing how many parallels teenage me found with the storylines of the show—it was really comforting to feel seen and understood. That’s what I want to create for others. A little world that they can get lost in, a family of characters they can see grow along side them. I want it to feel free, and honest, and I can do that without compromising by going the indie route. “Death is a Babe!” will always be free to watch, on YouTube and TikTok—I don’t want it behind a pay wall. It is the start of something that I’ve been working to build my entire life, my own indie film/tv studio—Fabled & Free. For now, it’s just one show…but the vision carries the spirit of bringing together other people of color and queer creators to tell their stories through Fabled & Free. My career would be nothing without friendships, allies, and people who take a chance and let their guards down to actually connect. I would like to pay that forward ten-fold, and see what we can all build together.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Reach out. Find me on socials, or email me, call me—meet me for coffee and talk ideas. I’m doing this to connect with others in a meaningful way, so I guess I’d urge others not to overthink reaching out to me. The best support for the show right now is to watch it, and if you just so happen to like it—tell a friend about it. Death is a Babe will take time to grow its audience, so I’m not in a hurry, but if you feel compelled to help–you can subscribe, follow on socials, and come to our fun events!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kristinapupo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinapupo/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-pupo-831011221
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeathIsABabe
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@deathisababe?_r=1&_t=ZT-914h1KixQdB