#FemaleFilmmakerFriday: Gloria Calderon Kellet, our Inspiration

Lyra and I started this series, a couple of months ago, for one reason, and one reason alone: Gloria Calderon Kellet. After all, we attended the “Women Rocking Hollywood at Comic-Con – Panel of Powerful Female Filmmakers” during this year’s San Diego Comic Con just to for Gloria, and then we walked into the press room, once again, just for Gloria.

What we found, however, was something amazing: We found a group of women we were inspired by, a group of women we didn’t know about, but that we felt everyone should. So we endeavored to correct our mistake, and hopefully, shine a little light on these talented female filmmakers.

And we end where we started, with Gloria. With the woman who took not some time, but all the time she had, and likely a little more, to talk to two latinx writers who were probably looking up at her like she was God, and treated us like she was just an older sister – with patience, care and understanding.

The woman who was quick to offer advice, praise others, and attempt, any way she could, to pay it forward.

So, we’ve been trying to do just that – follow on Gloria’s example. And that’s why today, I wanted to avoid doing the same kind of profile we’ve done on everyone else, not just because I was already lucky enough to try to put into words the amazing interview we did with Gloria on that day into words, but because I no longer feel like I can profile Gloria Calderon Kellet as I would a stranger.

Never meet your heroes, they say. Unless your hero is Gloria Calderon Kellet and then trust me, you should endeavor to meet her. You’ll come out of that experience a better person.

In her honor, today, I wanted to end with something she taught me: hope.

Hollywood isn’t a female friendly place, and it’s especially not a female POC friendly place. But, as we’ve discovered during the past few months, there are tons of women putting in the hard work and getting much less recognition and opportunities than men. So, we want to open our comments, and our platform to those voices.

If you are, or know of any female filmmakers who could use a bit of love, or a little light shined on what makes them special, please, send them our way. This series might be taking a break for a little while, but we want to come back, we want to be here showcasing the work of the people who rarely get a showcase, and we need your help to do exactly that.

The comments are open, and so are our inboxes and our Twitter. We’ll do our research as well, but we aren’t perfect, and we can’t be everywhere, so that’s where you come in.

It’s been a pleasure for us to be here, the last eight Fridays. Thank you all for reading, for amplifying, and for the love you’ve shown these wonderful women. And thank you to Gloria Calderon Kellet, in particular.

For inspiring us. For being a role model. And for teaching us that you can always, always, help lift someone else up.

Lizzie (and Lyra)

Lissete Lanuza Sáenz

Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Eternal optimist. Fangirl since the dawn of time. Hates the color yellow, olives and cigarettes. Has a recurring nightmare where she’s forced to choose between sports and books. Falls in love with fictional characters.