35. The Secret to Being a Multi-Hyphenate Badass w/ Elaine Del Valle

Elaine del Valle can do it all! She's an actress, a director, a casting director, a producer. She does it all. So Darilyn sits down to find out how did she start out, what self-care looks like for her, and if she has any advice for our lovely listeners out there. This is Morenita y te invito.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh yeah, me hint it. I just want to give
you a heads up. The program you are about to
hear may have some explicit language, it may not. It
also depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy Welcome to Morenita, a deep dive into
the Latin X experience. With Morenita, we want to create

(00:23):
a community and a shared space with you while sharing
knowledge and inspiration. This show is about celebrating our culture
with guests who exemplify the best of us. I'm Darylene
Castillo be thaying vehicle. Oh yeah, me hint it. Today
we got a heavy hitter Elaine vil Vayer casting director,

(00:47):
award winning director, actor, writer, producer, and a fellow native
New Yorker. If you've ever been curious of the ins
and outs of the industry, if you've ever wondered what
it's eeks to stand out in the room in front
of a cast and director, or if you wondered how
to handle multiple things at once, Elaine de la Valla

(01:09):
is your woman. She gives us so much of all
of that in this episode. She is a force in
this industry, and she is one of the leaders whom
are changing the game for the Latino community. Honestly, the
number of things that she's involved in is inspiring, encouraging,
and making waves all over not only in Hollywood. Now

(01:31):
hear me out, Elaine wears a lot of hats, so
hang in there on this episode. The one thing that
you will hear her describe is how she loves all
of her duties equally and how they each help her
be better in the other category. Her directing skills help
her with her acting skills, and how those help her
with her writing skills. She also has her hands in producing,

(01:51):
which helps her handle those conversations and rooms because she
has a full understanding on all other angles. The most
pressive thing about all of this is that she does
them all extremely well. I mean, sure, we've all heard
the saying pick one thing and master it, but the

(02:11):
fact that she's becoming a master of all of these
skills shows her enthusiasm and her passion for it, and
also that she's pretty badass. I'm still feeling like I'm
in my young grasshopper phase compared to Elaine's extensive resume,
so this interview was truly filled with so many lessons.
There are a lot of wisdom nuggets in this one,

(02:32):
especially for those of you who are hoping or currently
working in this industry. It's also not just for the
young grasshopper phase, folks. It's for anyone who was a leader,
preparing to be a leader, or hoping to be a
leader in whichever field you are in. Elaine Delvaiez shows
us how she leads her ship. They invite them. Elaine,

(02:57):
Welcome to Monanita. I am so excited to have you here.
It's been a long time conversation that I've been having
with my manager, Melissa Young, trying to get you on here.
So I'm so happy and being veto welcome. Thank you
so much for having me. I love the name of
your of your podcasting, whatever this is, I love your name.

(03:22):
It has to be yeah real, I mentioned in your
introduction a little earlier. Um, all the hats you wear,
I mean, do you sleep? I sleep very well, Yes,
I have no choice. Like my head hits the pillow
and I went out. I mean, you're you're an actor,

(03:47):
you're a casting director. Is there one that you lean
towards more than the other or do you love all
your children equally? Um? Well, if I had my brothers,
I would be writing and directing and are ring in
it right, because I really love all of that. I
love them all for their own reasons, and then each
one of them actually helps me be better at the other.

(04:10):
So as a director, I'm actually a better actor. As
an actor, I'm a better director. As a writer, I'm
a better storyteller, which makes me a better director. So, um,
I produce as well, right, which helps me to be
able to communicate with those departments and understand the realities
of filmmaking in a way that makes it something that

(04:33):
I can actually do, you know, something that gets finished.
So all of these things really helped me be better
at the other. But I love directing. If I had
to do one, it would really be directing. Directing for anything, television, film,
short films. I just love working with actors and then

(04:55):
telling a visual story. Um what draws you about the
process of directing so much? I think it's everything that
comes together all at once, right. So like an actor
can be the best actor and get everything, but if
the director hasn't chosen the right camera angle that's going
to capture that, or even the right selection of just

(05:16):
what we're seeing, everything that that is on camera needs
to be so well thought out, you know, from the
foreground to the background, to the little nuances that people
don't even realize that are happening, to the lens that
you um land on in order to um tell that
story in the best way. Whether it be handheld or

(05:37):
steady cam or on sticks. You know, you make those
choices as a director as much as you do direct
the actors, you're actually directing the camera. And I like
to direct an emotional camera. So if it's a moment
of like, you know, high intense stress and you know confusion,
you know that's gonna be handheld for me all the time.

(05:59):
We want to feel that in the camera as much
as we do. Because the camera choices helped the actor,
help for the perform right. Because the audience doesn't necessarily
know what they're watching that's making them feel that way,
it's as a director, it's your job to make all
those decisions to make them feel that way. And that's

(06:20):
really it's so powerful to be directing from me And
I just love like watching films. So if I'm watching
it as a matter of like, that's my director's monitor
that I'm watching it on, and I know what I've
captured and I know what I got. That really is
very empowering and super fun for me. I just love
it so much. It's very evident. I mean, you're the

(06:40):
one making the audience feel that emotion. Yeah, with the
help of so many others, but it's really you have
to lead them and and be led by their strength
of craft. You know, take the advice of the cinematographer
as to what's gonna make that happen even better. You know,
be ready to listen to your team that know what

(07:01):
they're doing as well. So yeah, it's definitely the director's
vision being on screen if you're lucky. Um, But it
doesn't come with just like it's not just the one person, right,
it's everybody collaborating to make sure that that happens. I
think about it so much as like painting, because I
think about like all the different paint pressures that you're
going to need in the different ways to use them,
and the canvas and yeah, absolutely, it's all those department

(07:25):
heads and the actors and and everybody that is just
even the people taking stuff from the truck, right, because
if you have everything set and your truck driver is
not available that day, all of a sudden, nothing's going
to get done. So if you think about it like that,
you come to appreciate every person below the line and
above the line, you have a great reputation of not

(07:48):
only your work, but of who you are as a person,
and that's something that's very rare defined in this industry.
How do you choose to operate in all the positions
that you're in and how do you maintain the energy
that you bring? I think that's important right now. Well,
I'm just a really enthusiastic person. I have to say, like,
right now, I feel like I'm like settled in the

(08:10):
way that I'm speaking with you, but I can you know,
you you get me rolling on something that I really love,
and I want to say, like, I'm really enthusiastic about it.
I believe in things deeply. I feel things deeply, So
I always wear my heart on my sleeve and I'm
really honest and I always try to um cover my
downside and know what's the worst thing that can happen

(08:33):
and really be prepared for that. And also if somebody's
asking me, I want to be able to relay it
honestly because it may not happen, but it could happen, right,
So we move forward in positivity and prepare for what
could happen in order to protect our downside and to
keep everything moving positively, because that really means everything on

(08:56):
a set, because filmmaking is just so hard, you know,
It's really takes a lot of things that come together.
It can be expensive, and we need all of these
things working um simultaneously and really synergistically, right, so you know,
one plus one with the right one and one can

(09:18):
equal three, four or five, and six doesn't have to
equal two. So that's always what I'm looking for when
I create a team because we're usually working in really
small teams, but these small teams make films with big
impact and that look incredibly as beautiful as as any
like really high budget production. Elaine, How did this artistic

(09:40):
journey begin for you? Where did it start? I think
I've always been an artist, right, I think artists are born.
I mean, at least in my case. Um, my father
was an artist, and I think I really get it
from him. And when I was a kid, my dad
used to put us all in like a group and
a side group, and I used to be the lead singer.

(10:02):
You know. We used to go to parties and the
whole entire dance floor was empty and I was up
there dancing. I was a horrible not not horrible, but
I wasn't a great dancer. It wasn't like I was
like a valerina or anything. But I just used to
get up and dance and I would be the only
one dancing on the floor and it didn't matter, and
I would dance all night because because that's just who
I am. So I feel like that's just a part

(10:24):
of me innately. Um. Then as I grew as an artist,
I started to really be able to rely on the
energy to keep me going, that's for sure. Um. But
little things were happening in my life that really led
me to understand and really got got like I was
bitten by the bug, and not just from my father.

(10:46):
When I was in the sixth grade, there was a
school play. I was the lead, and the teacher would
not let us move past a certain scene until everybody
got all day lines right. And those first two scenes
to the months, it was really like none of us
thought it was gonna end up well, we all thought
it was gonna just crash and burn. And then the

(11:06):
third scene was basically all mine, and I came in
really well prepared and I just gave it my all.
And it was the first time that I really made
a difference in anybody's life, and really anything that I
did seem to matter. So I feel like I carried
that with me as well as an artist, that like
that was the first time that I did something that
mattered as and I was a child, you know, so,

(11:28):
and then as I deepened as an artist when I
grew up, I started going to acting school. I studied
acting multiple places you see be the Pit, Michael Howard studios,
but mostly at and where I learned the most was
actually through Win Hammon Studios at Carnegie Hall, and that
experience really deepened my need as an actor to um,

(11:52):
I want to be a part of telling authentic stories
for Latin X people, and so um I started writing
as a matter of I felt not represented in an
entertainment industry that I was struggling to be a part of,
and so I wrote what ended up becoming an awarded

(12:15):
one woman off Broadway Stage Plane, and it changed my
life to understand the power that I had two tell
the stories that I wanted to hear, and I tell
the stories that I thought were missing in the fabric
of entertainment, and my audiences really let me know that
this wasn't about Elaine telling her story, but it was

(12:36):
about telling the stories that other people wanted to hear
and needed to feel represented by. And so, you know,
as I continued to make content, I really wanted to
I really move forward in that direction, knowing how important
it was to other people that the content was being

(12:58):
put out there. And that's sort of what kept me
moving in the direction that I was as a filmmaker.
And then the more that I directed, the more I
loved it. And then, um, I used to direct myself
quite a bit in the things that I wrote, UM,
and I realized that doing so at times was putting
my directing in jeopardy or like not letting it be

(13:20):
the best that it can be, because um, because I
didn't want to give myself playback. Ever, you know, I
always wanted to, um be the same as the other
actors if I was going to be on the set,
and not take the extra time to watch so even
though I was delivering performances. And I feel strongly that

(13:41):
being an actor and a director at the same time
is it is really using the same parts of your brain.
It really is. And it's no struggle for me to
jump behind the camera to in front of the camera.
I really no struggle, same part of my brain. Now,
if I'm directing and you ask me what time is
the truck coming to pick up the lamp that it,

(14:03):
don't ask me that because that's another side of my
brain that has to work. So I don't mind acting
and directing at the same time. I do mind directing
and producing at the same time. That I think messes
with my fluility to get the most done. Yes, yes,
it messes with my flow. That's a good word for it. Um.
But you know, when you're directing on a little budget,

(14:26):
you don't have the time for playback. You know, I
did actually do a cameo in my latest film, but
no other actors were needed for the shot, and literally
the character was looking down, no words, and I was
watching the monitor the whole time to see what I
what I had, because I understand how everything is going
to affect the screen. And just so, just so the listeners,

(14:49):
no playback literally means playback, Just so you guys are aware.
If you don't know what playback means, it just means
playing it on back rewind and why where if you're
on camera, if you to rewind and watch every single
take that you did. Um, And it's not as an
actor that I don't know that I got it, That's
not It is as a director, did the focus shift

(15:12):
in the way that you wanted it to, with the
timing that you wanted it right? Because those things are
super important and influence the way that a a an
audience is receiving the film. And so that's the kind
of stuff not not you know, did I get it
as an actor? I feel real confident that I got

(15:32):
it as an actor. It's did this happened properly in
the way that my directing head wanted audiences to get right?
There's so many that I don't have to I think
that's the one thing that if you gather anything from
listening to you speak about all of the hats you wear,
There's so many layers that go into creating a piece.

(16:04):
I'm going to dive into your other hats of casting
and producing. I'm curious to hear this from you, but
you've you've been in the industry now for quite some time,
and I want to know the transition that you're seeing
for Latino people in the industry. I mean you're coming
at this now from different areas, right and now you're
casting and producing, so you're behind the table. Are we growing?

(16:27):
And then I'm very curious, um, in that in that growth,
how are we as a Latino community. Are are we
stepping up to make sure that we are showing all
shades and colors and Afro Latinos on screen? And what
that is like? Because as an Afro Latina and actress myself,
that's been a struggle and that's been something that's hard

(16:49):
on this end to understand. And when you're you're on
a different end of the table. So I'm very curious
for the evolution that you have seen within casting and
producing and being in these rooms where these conversations are happening.
What has that been like from let's say years ago
to now? Wow? What a question. Yeah, So first let
me just say it's not like I said I want

(17:10):
to be a casting year. It's actually someone offered me
the job after this all my um, I had been
an on camera commercial talent for and they were like
I saw my play and they were blown away and said,
I want to work with you. Every day. But I
can't hire can actor every day, so what else do
you do? And I was like, what do you need?
I didn't care. I just wanted to be a part

(17:31):
of production in any way before I really started producing. UM,
And they were like, do you cast? And I was like,
I could try. UM, I know a good experience for
a bad experience. I know. I know that I can
improve on the experience of the actor, that's for sure.
And I know a lot of talented people that I
could bring into a room, that's another for sure. So UM,

(17:54):
so I started casting like that. It's now been over
eleven years that I'm casting eleven years. More than that,
even I think, UM like twelve years and and I
love it. UM. I love it because even when I've
always been about diversity, equity and inclusion. So even when

(18:14):
there was a character that was necessary, you know that
they described as being Caucasian, I would give my client
like the full eight hour day of casting in the room,
and I would like not take lunch or go an
extra hour in order to see people of d I
you know, in order to include other people that are unexpected,
and a lot of the times those people would end

(18:35):
up getting hired because they were so unexpected that it
was actually a refreshing moment for the people consuming the auditions,
and so I'm really proud of that. Um. Luckily now
I don't even have to focus on that as much
because it does say like all all colors, and not

(18:56):
just colors, um, not just ethnicities, but actually the old
genders and um sometimes they'll say like all body types,
which is really important too, right, because you have to
be inclusive in anyway, in every way. And um, I
recently was at the Benson Dull Film Festival and they
were they had a panel called Fat in front of

(19:17):
the Camera and how important it was to represent fat
people and black people in Puerto Rican people and all
kinds of Latine people and white people and young people
and marginalized voices, right because this is what makes the
world go around. So um. So yeah, things are definitely changing.
It makes it actually harder for me as a casting

(19:38):
director when I have a client that says to me,
you know a lot, a big age range, and then
all ethnicities. Like basically you've told me that I could
see twenty people and you want to consider all of them,
like narrow it down a little bit more because that,
of course takes even more time. So now I want

(19:59):
to make sure that I have that I'm representing like
Asian and South Asian. Um uh, Latin Latine on this
color spectrum, Latin A on that color spectrum, males and females.
Like that's just like get a better grip of what
you want to see. I'll choose some other people that
that can make it happen as well. But it really

(20:19):
does increase my workload. So it's overwhelming a little bit. Yeah,
it gets overwhelming, and I'm like I need to up
my price, like you have to give me like four
you know what. Don't care about how do cast and
directors get paid? Interesting, So it's it's different. It's different
for every job. Um, like independent and like feature films

(20:40):
go from like two to four per cent of the budget. Um,
so that's like a normal scale. But like commercials, I
mean it depends on how many characters are needed. Voiceover
is the same thing. But um, you know, sometimes I
have a contract like with um like with Alma's Way,
the animated series for PBS IM there their lead casting director,

(21:02):
only casting director. We just entered the second seasons. Thank you,
thank you, So we just you know, I just give
them a set price for this amount of characters, and
then if there's more characters, and then it's per episode,
you know. But that's something that I took into account.
And then I actually asked some of my casting counterparts
to make sure that I was coming in um par

(21:22):
with what they thought was reasonable, you know, because I
knew that I was the best person for the job.
I also knew that it's um it's on a SAGU
educational contract, so I knew that their budgets, especially PBS kids,
that was gonna be a little um less than normal.
So I wanted to make sure that it just made
sense for them to choose me, and it already made

(21:45):
sense for me to choose them, so um but every
job is different, it really depends. I've always been fascinated
by that because I have a lot of friends in casting,
and I realized, I'm like, wait, how did you get paid?
I'm just I was always you know, and it's sometimes
it's like different, working so many our rooms, and sometimes
I don't get paid. Sometimes I'll take a job because
I believe in the filmmaker, and I have to say

(22:07):
no to that a lot more often than I used
to because I just don't have enough time, because I
still have to say yes to me and the projects
that I want to move forward as well. But sometimes
I believe in a filmmaker so much that I'm like, Okay,
I don't need to make money on this. I can
you know, if the film does well, then I'll then
I'll make my fee, honest or but like you know,

(22:31):
that's just a part of uplifting a community that you
believe in that's not getting the same amount of attention
as others. So you know, I take it job by job,
and you know, right now I'm casting a feature film
for a really great director that I believe in. And
yesterday we had in the room callbacks for a lot

(22:52):
of roles, a virtual even in the room. I was like, wait,
you do well, Actually we had scheduled them in the room.
We scheduled them in the room, and then a lot
of the actors said, you know, I'm away. I didn't
know that it was gonna be live, and I was like,
you know what, I really believe that we can get

(23:13):
this done virtually, which is which is how the industry
acts and reacts right now, Like even as an actor
still like you know, I just boot the recurring role
on ABC Queen, a guest star on that was a
It was a guest star recurring on Queens, and then
it was a guest star on The Resident. That was
all virtual that I didn't even have a call back.

(23:35):
My callback was like put yourself on tape with this
new scene and then they decided, so um, that sort
of thing was. It's really as an actor to know
that the big productions do it this way, and now
as a casting director to say, why can't I do
it this way too? It's actually when COVID first hit,
I had already been mostly virtual before COVID. Really, yes, yes,

(24:01):
because as an actor and my whole career, a lot
of the things were happening in California and then and
then casting directors would call me and put me on
tape and then just shipped back. Then it was VHS
and I just shifted to b HSTA California so they
can watch it. And then I've been you know, I've
been brought out to California for for screen tests based

(24:23):
on that. So, so why wouldn't I use those tools
today that are even easier to use them, more accessible?
So when pre COVID. I was already doing that post COVID. UM.
It was during that time that I had first gotten
the job for Alma's Way, and the idea was that
we're going to have everybody in the room, and that's
how I priced it. UM. But then when it came

(24:46):
time to UM do the virtual stuff, like when COVID
was happening, they were like, you know, we're gonna wait
this out, we'll start later. I was like, we don't
have to start later, we can go right now, and
they were like, no, no, we'll start later. I was like,
all right, we'll start later. But then when it was
clear that COVID was not going away, there was no

(25:07):
starting later. We had to act and I was totally
prepared for that. You were ready for it. Every casting
director that I knew was scrambling on how am I
going to continue to work where I was like, I'll
show you and now like it's it's just the norm,
and I was sort of ahead of my time on
that one. UM. Yeah, I had to say when I said,

(25:28):
when I heard you say in the room, um, which listeners,
it literally means to end the room for reasons for
virtual room as well, which is like I have to
say I enjoyed the callback so much. Yesterday I got
a chance to direct actors and a lot of really
talented actors, and I was practicing my craft as a

(25:50):
director so um and as a casting director clearly, but
as a director. It really boosted my confidence to know
that I could just work with the people on material
that I mean, I didn't write it, I was, I
knew it, but I didn't like I didn't do the
case studies on the work like I do on the
work that I direct and right, but it really made

(26:11):
me feel confident on my ability to direct people on
the fly and take what the artists individual artist is
giving me to give them back something that they might
be able to work with, as opposed to like I'm
gonna give everybody the same direction. No, everybody's unique, everybody
needs something different. Um. So it was it was really

(26:33):
nice to be doing that. What I love about hearing
you talk is like how you bring everything together. To me,
it sounds like a delicious suncle showman. So I'm like,

(26:55):
I don't know, because it's like you're bringing all I know.
I know you know it's but it's like it's like
it's bringing in all of these like beautiful like flavors
of who you are as a person, and the incredible
meal that you create from that. I just that's literally
I'm such a visual person and I love food. That's
literally what I think about when I'm hearing you speak

(27:16):
and how you bring everything in the room with you.
And it's so refreshing as an actor to hear someone
in your position bringing that in the room to breath
of freshman, it gives me hope. It gives me hope. Well,
you know what, if you don't feel that you're getting
what you need from a director, you just need to
make all those decisions ahead of time, because not every

(27:39):
director is going to give you stuff. Definitely, you're lucky
if you get ones that say that was good, absolutely good,
because at least that makes you feel supported and now
you can play like that's The best directors that I've
been directed by are actually female and they're very supportive,
and then they gave you like little things and but
delicious nos um. But I like to give that a

(28:01):
lot to my people. I believe an actor so much
and at the end of the day, you know, that's
what that's what's affecting the audience is right, it's their
journeys that are making them feel So I have a
lot of respect for actors and what they bring and
everybody on set. Elaine, what do you And maybe I'm
just bias asking this question, but for our listeners who

(28:22):
are dreaming of being in the in the industry or
being an actor or and just because you aren't casting
now and all of that, what do you look for?
What is the thing for you? And I know everything
is different obviously, you know different roles in different projects
that you work for. What is the one consistent thing

(28:43):
that you look for in the actor, in the artist?
So I'm looking for a lot of different things at once. Right,
So all your mouth as you're listening, because keeping your
mouth open while you're listening it makes you feel like
you're ready to talk instead of listening. So for some actors,
sometimes they just need a physical direction to help them

(29:05):
make a better performance on screen. To deliver a better
on screen performance. So for some actors, it's just like
a little technical note, like don't move so much. You know,
you're like you're you know. I just say, sometimes somebody's
like doing all of this, you know, So I'll say
to the actors. Actor, you know, like, practice stillness right

(29:25):
now and give me everything that you were giving to me,
but in stillness. And because you know that's what the
camera needs, is this stillness in order to capture everything,
all the nuances that are happening in here, all the feelings.
So UM, I think that's a matter of craft and
then knowing, studying what you look like on film and

(29:46):
studying for on camera acting right and then um, for
other actors, I like to be ready with um action
driven stuff to tell them like like I don't want
to say to them loud, are faster, meaner, Like that's
not good direction, you know, but it's it's kind of
the direction that you want them to give that you

(30:08):
want them to put on. You want their focus to
be on the other character. So it could be like, um,
you know, order him around, convince him. You know that's
better than saying like be persuasive, no, convince him. Now
you've given somebody an actionable direction that you're like, I'm

(30:29):
going to convince you right now, and and so now
all of their attention is put out and what they
have to do to the other character and those that's
what makes for better performances. So that's what I want
to do for actors. Also, sometimes I just want to
raise the stakes and what it is that they're trying
to accomplish. So I'll say I'll give them an as if,

(30:50):
you know, it's as if if they don't get this done,
you know that person is going to jail. Those are
things that can really help an actor get there. I
remember as an actor when I was working on the
plate Um that takes place during war in Italy, and
you know, I had to really put myself in a

(31:10):
place where what if the world around me just crumble,
like my house, my buildings, my people around me, and
people were dead, and like just bringing yourself into this
space of utter destruction is what helped me really tap
into the desperation of the character. Because that play is

(31:31):
about like women who sell themselves to soldiers in order
to get food, Like the basic needs of life are gone.
And these are the places that actors, if they're working
hard on their role, hopefully they bring themselves to those
places so that they can lean into the treasures that
they create for themselves when it comes time to um

(31:53):
to do the work. Because a lot of the times
this work is happening at the most inopportune times. Sometimes
it's one of talk in the morning, two o'clock in
the morning. You're entirely you spent the whole day, You're
only like golden time. And now they're saying, Okay, it's
not for your monologue. And your eyes are dry because
you're working in a dry environment and you can't get

(32:14):
to the place where you can be. But your craft
is always going to pick up the pieces for you.
So it may not be the best performance that you
could have delivered in the most ideal circumstances, but at
least you can deliver it. And that's really important for
any actor. Studying acting and studying improv is also super
important to not just actors, with just human beings who

(32:35):
have to pivot in their jobs. And I think we
all have to pivot every day and what it is
that we do. Yes, Elaine, I have some questions for you.
This is the this is the question segment, this moment
we've all been waiting. Go for it. I'm ready, Okay,
mid angry chat, then oh Lord, have mercy. Well, I'm

(32:58):
a good bunch out there, said, but I always choose
salsa because no, I grew up on my father was
a musician, so I grew up with all the South
Sub records that I actually could not stand because I
grew up from Brownsville and I just wanted to hear
rap and disco and house music. But um, and I
didn't like to hear the endless South Sub music that

(33:21):
happened in my house. But as I grew up, as
I became an adult, I came to understand and appreciate
it and embraced my culture in ways that I had
not as a child. And I feel like that's a
personal journey that I like to express on film as well.
So next favorite movie of all time? Oh my god,

(33:42):
favorite movie of all time? So many? That's so hard,
all right, Oh lord, I don't choose the wrong one,
because tomorrow I'll wake up and say, what didn't I
say that? I do choose a silly one that everybody knows. Um,
Aaron Brockovitch, I'm the real person, struggling mother shot beautifully.

(34:06):
Um uh rose to the occasion to help others, in
service of others. I mean, this is a terrific story. Um.
That always makes me cry and always makes me feel
like I could do more in society, and more than
what was ever expected of me. So I choose Aaron

(34:27):
BROCKA thing. That's a great answer. It's a really really
good one if you haven't seen it, ladies and gentlemen,
and then in days go see it. Yes, last and
final question, what is the one thing that reminds you
of home or defines what home is for you? So
home is wherever my husband and my dog are. Um,

(34:49):
that's for me. Now, home is definitely that, So it
could be anywhere I actually am. I live in two
places now. I live in New York still, but A
also spend a lot of time in Miami and most
of my time since even pre covid um in the
winter time, I spend in Miami, US. But it's always

(35:10):
where my husband is, right because that's my heart. And
and yeah, I set up a desk wherever I live.
So like here, I have a really great office. You're
in my office right now. In Miami. I have a
room dedicated to my work as well, with all my
posters up and everything that inspires me and reminds me
of the work that I've accomplished and inspires me towards

(35:32):
the work that I need to accomplish. So um, yeah,
home is where the heart is, and the heart is
where my husband and my dog are. Shout out to
all the husbands and the dogs. And I feel that
very hard. I just got I just got engaged. So
I'm like going through the process of congratulating. Thank you, Elaine.
Thank you so much for coming. I want, I need that,
I want you to come back because I'm like, there's
so much more I want to ask you and like

(35:53):
talk to we cannot happy. I'm happy to answer your questions. Um,
thank you so much for having me on and I'm
happy to join you again. And I salute you for
the work that you're doing in the Motivate that podcast
and you know, just enlightening people as to other people's
works and highlighting people as well. So thank you, Yes,

(36:15):
thank you so much, Elaine. I hope you have an
amazing I can't just see all the things you continue doing.
I can't. I love going in for you. I love
all the work that you do. I know your work
very well. Yes, yes, no, it's always a pleasure. It's
always a joy everything that you're working on. I love
seeing your name and I'm always like, yes, I know

(36:35):
this is gonna be something fun, something that I can
connect with. Thank you. It's a lot of pressure to
keep up with UM what people expect of me. Now
I let that UM also be a guide like trying
to always help my game, I mean for myself as well.
But it is a lot of pressure. And you know,
I I realize that as a Latin, a content creator,

(36:59):
or an any of my job functions, I represent so
many people and the hopes of so many people. That's
It's not what I'm trying to do, but I understand it,
and I want all of UM. Anybody who feels that
they are also representing uh, someone of a marginalized community,
I want them to understand the responsibility of that so

(37:21):
that they take it even more seriously and not as personal,
but make decisions that actually elevate the communities that they represent.
Because people will judge us and put us into one
big pool. And so I always say, I'm responsible for you,
irresponsible for me, so UM, so do your best, always
and always. Yeah, I'll tell you a quick story before

(37:45):
we end on that. That's just a case in point.
One time I went up to I had seen this
big producer that had actually given a really huge financial
support to a to A to a Latino director UM
that I was a huge fan of, and I went
up to them and I said, Yo, you help this person,
thank you so much like this, you know, and the

(38:07):
guy was like, no, I'm sorry that I helped that person.
So so there you go. You know, somebody could be
and now now I could have had a great conversation
and talked about my filmmaking and maybe that person would
have wanted to support my filmmaking journey. But because of
the experience that they had with another person that was

(38:29):
Um Latino, they just shut that door down. So when
I say that you're responsible for others, you know, I
want us to really, you know, think about that and
and let that also, UM help you to operate in
ways that you feel will elevate the community like we

(38:50):
have to together that note, you are responsible for others, y'all. Elaine,
thank you so much again on being here and spending
your very busy, busy schedule giving us a little portion
of that and UM, I look forward to talking with
you again. Thank you so much. I appreciate Mona Nita

(39:13):
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